Blair Witch Project (1999)

People mainly thought the film was real because the way it was presented. Throughout the film, there is only hand-held footage which makes the film look realistic as it shows it may be a real life documentary. 

The film focuses on three students that make a documentary based on the blair witch legend. The audience can then see the remaining footage of what occurred throughout their journey in the woods.

Blair Witch Project was made in 1999 and is a psychological horror film, written and directed by both Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanche.

The film was made with a very low budget with only one camera and this relates to my horror project so taking notice of different camera angles used to make my trailer more effective is important. 

The "recovered footage" is presented as the film. 

The way the film is marketed is really clever for example the poster below is mystique. They also used actors that were not known which made the audience question who the people were. This yet again made the whole film seem more real as the poster looks serious. The poster also features short descriptions of each character which yet again will intrigue potential audiences as the poster was put up all around America.

Both trailers for the film are also effective and captures the audiences attention. 

The first teaser forces the audience to listen closely as there is a blank screen. This raises suspicion and there is also a close up on the girls eye which expresses her emotion which are shock. This puts the audience in a very uncomfortable position as they don't know what is going on. The trailer doesn't give anything away and successfully makes the audience more curious. The film reflects the ghost of Ely Kedward who was banished from the Blair Township for witchcraft in 1875. The second trailer features a lot of screaming and darkness which makes the audience wonder what is going on and there is ongoing panic with tension gradually building up. 

Are horror conventions subverted or followed?

By analysing the Blair Witch Project, I have learnt that special effects are not really needed to create a scary atmosphere as it can be done with just one camera with the use of different camera angles. I also have to keep in mind for my trailer to follow the conventions that the Blair Witch Project used for example they didn't give their storyline away which successfully attracts the audience to actually watch the film.