Titles choices and Connotations
All teaser trailers need to include not only the perfectly fitting main title but also the mini titles/catchphrases that appear throughout the teaser trailer. We have done research into what titles make it into the teaser trailer and how they are distributed within.
Movie title
With the title of the movie being one of the biggest things to think about when making a film/trailer we put a lot of thought into what would go well for our zombie/cannibal genre. We decided it couldn't be to lengthy as the title needed to be snappy and remember able. Whilst discussing which title would go best we looked at other successful zombie genres and what titles they used. One that stood out was the recent film 'World War Z' (2013) as the title used a different connotations on the meanings of a world war. Instantly looking at this title indicates the film will not be about your average war as instead of being labeled with 'World War 2' etc. it is labelled with 'Z' standing for zombie. With this in mind we wanted to choose either a key word or something that conveys the zombie genre and could relate to any senses, sights or feelings within a zombie apocalypse. We had three different ideas for the main title of our teaser trailer.
-The Demise: With the translation of the word 'Demise' meaning death, loss of life and passing away we thought the short title very appropriate for a zombie apocalypse themed trailer as loss of life is inevitable.
-The Salvation: Similar to the title 'Demise' we zoomed in on another key word this time being 'Salvation'. Salvation meaning 'The attempt to escape from ruin or loss' fits in perfectly with our story line of the group who have experienced loss and are trying to escape from this wide spreading infection.
-Dead End: The title 'Dead End' plays on the whole genre of the zombie apocalypse as the word 'Dead' conveys a lot within a zombie apocalypse as death and destruction are the main things usually associated with the genre of zombie. Also the play on the word 'End' suggests the characters of the story are to come to some sort of end whether that be death or finding somewhere to survive and end there struggle.
With looks into all the titles we came up with we decided to go with the first idea of 'The Demise'. With this being what we said to be the best idea we think we can really play on the meaning of 'Demise' as death and loss of life can be a real gripping topic within a zombie horror. We also want to convey the idea that the zombies to are part of death. Although our infection does not technically kill the infected patient it will have no reverse or cure so they are as good as dead if they catch it. We have also made a working look to the title which we think will suit the connotations of a zombie genre title.
Movie title
With the title of the movie being one of the biggest things to think about when making a film/trailer we put a lot of thought into what would go well for our zombie/cannibal genre. We decided it couldn't be to lengthy as the title needed to be snappy and remember able. Whilst discussing which title would go best we looked at other successful zombie genres and what titles they used. One that stood out was the recent film 'World War Z' (2013) as the title used a different connotations on the meanings of a world war. Instantly looking at this title indicates the film will not be about your average war as instead of being labeled with 'World War 2' etc. it is labelled with 'Z' standing for zombie. With this in mind we wanted to choose either a key word or something that conveys the zombie genre and could relate to any senses, sights or feelings within a zombie apocalypse. We had three different ideas for the main title of our teaser trailer.
-The Demise: With the translation of the word 'Demise' meaning death, loss of life and passing away we thought the short title very appropriate for a zombie apocalypse themed trailer as loss of life is inevitable.
-The Salvation: Similar to the title 'Demise' we zoomed in on another key word this time being 'Salvation'. Salvation meaning 'The attempt to escape from ruin or loss' fits in perfectly with our story line of the group who have experienced loss and are trying to escape from this wide spreading infection.
-Dead End: The title 'Dead End' plays on the whole genre of the zombie apocalypse as the word 'Dead' conveys a lot within a zombie apocalypse as death and destruction are the main things usually associated with the genre of zombie. Also the play on the word 'End' suggests the characters of the story are to come to some sort of end whether that be death or finding somewhere to survive and end there struggle.
With looks into all the titles we came up with we decided to go with the first idea of 'The Demise'. With this being what we said to be the best idea we think we can really play on the meaning of 'Demise' as death and loss of life can be a real gripping topic within a zombie horror. We also want to convey the idea that the zombies to are part of death. Although our infection does not technically kill the infected patient it will have no reverse or cure so they are as good as dead if they catch it. We have also made a working look to the title which we think will suit the connotations of a zombie genre title.
Other titles within a teaser trailer
As well as the main title, other titles that are seen within a teaser trailer also need to be researched and planned when making a trailer as they are just as important as the moving image. The titles need a lot of consideration when planning as text and font are all key factors. The titles that are needed within a teaser trailer to make it as professional and successful as possible are the following:
-Release Date: This is key as the people watching the trailer need to know what date the film is realsed, it also adds excitement as what they are about to watch should entice them to watch the full thing. Some films we looked into also use catch phrases which we took ideas from when making our release date, other films used ideas such as 'Slashing into cinemas, Sink your teeth into this etc.' Our release date title will be 'Swarming into cinemas this autumn'. We used the word 'Swarming' which plays well on the whole zombie theme and also connotes well to the idea of zombies swarming in groups and again links into our genre.
-Catchphrases: Catch phrases and slogans can be just as important when building suspense than the moving image itself as it speaks directly to the viewer. We looked through previous work and took ideas of all successful catchphrases, slogans and sayings. From our research we saw that the most interesting titles are usually set in between 3-4 different shots/slides and the most effective ones are based on top of some sort of moving background. We picked a list of which ones we deemed successful and griping and used them to help with our own:
-Game of survival, Will be lost, The city falls, The infection grows.
-Slaughter is better in numbers, Two heads make one.
-She will keep you safe, She will keep you close, She will keep you forever.
-There new home held so much promise, once you've seen her your blood is hers, Theres always hidden secrets, No ones protected.
-Do you, Believe, In ghosts.
-When fear knocks on the door, Everyone has to answer.
We looked through lots of different catchphrases and slogans and we came up with a four slide saying. 'It has been said, Within panic and desperation,Man kinds biggest threat, Is themselves. This links back to our genre of zombie as the biggest threat being themselves conveys the ideas of zombies and un dead beings who are no longer themselves. It also makes reference to the cannibals they encounter as they are the risk from humans (themselves).
-Final Title Page
The final title page which is sequenced at the end of the teaser trailer is key as it needs to include the release date and some sort of way of keeping in reach of the film such as Facebook, Twitter and snapchat. Most films we looked at had ending slides with there release date and either 'follow us on twitter' or 'like us on Facebook' they also normally have the link to there horror website an example being last years 'Imidiate Evac' the titles read 'Coming soon to all cinemas, www.evac117movie.co.uk and LONELINESSISADISEASE' which is the hastag to there teaser trailer. We decided it would be a good idea to use the quote "Add us on snap chat" at the end of our teaser trailer as snapchat is a very successful and highly used way of keeping in contact with others and so we though it a good idea to create some sort of account which took the theme of a zombie apocalypse. We are also considering some kind of hash tag to add to our site as it can then be easily researched and found on various social networking sites.
TB