Film / Artist – Hostel

Web Address - http://www.hostelfilm.com

Genre/ Subgenre – Horror, Slasher.

Brief Plot Synopsis - Paxton, Josh and Oli are backpacking across Europe when they are told about a hostel in Slovakia. Once they

hear that this hostel is infested with beautiful European woman who only want tourists, they quickly get on a train to the wonderful

promise land. As soon as they get there, they start having the time of their lives. Soon after they arrive, they slowly start to realize that

this hostel is hiding a terrible and dark secret.

Briefly describe the content of the homepage / first impressions.

Slow build up of lighting to slowly reveal different aspects of the set, then finally a victim tied to a chair. Everything goes black

and when the light comes we see the antagonist holding a weapon. The website is flash based and in continuously

moving.

Was the site easy to navigate? Describe the navigation tools used e.g. drop down menus/banners etc.

The site was not very easy to navigate. The buttons were not very prominent and you had to scroll down the page to find them. At first, you cannot even tell that they are buttons are there is no

defining features about them, or any sort of theme to them except the use of font, although all are a different colour. You also have to click on an obscure picture which reveals a buttons menu. It is

difficult to navigate the site.

What colours were used principally on the homepage ? How many colours were used in the palette?

Black, red, sandy orange/yellow, lighting has a greenish hue.

Was there a specific site style e.g. layout / typography i.e. a common look for the page? Describe it?

The font is a recurring theme, as almost all of the writing is the same font. There is also a theme of flickering lights that is also included in the intro.

How many and what images did the page contain? What was the purpose of the images? Technical construction?

There are two main images on the page. One is of the antagonist holding a weapon. This is the prominent image and the weapon is emphasised by using

flash animation, making it constantly a focal point. This suggests that the violence is the focal point of the film. There is also an image of the victim, much smaller

and in the background, making her appear weaker and more vulnerable. The light around her is flickering, making you constantly look between her and the

weapon, therefore making a link.

What was the tone of the copy – i.e. style of language formal/humorous etc. What could you find out about the film/artist from reading the text?

Very basic text, not much writing at all. Just the necessary straight forward information about the site features. There is information including

the title, the director and writer and the producer. It is very formal. You can tell it is not remotely a comedy, and is essentially all about the

violence. This is indicated by the picture/writing ratio.

How many pages did the homepage link to? What were these pages? How did the links operate? Where were the links positioned?

There are links advertising for a different film which are more prominent that the navigational links in the site. These links open in a new tab taking you to

the films official website. There were more links then to navigate the actual site that was found by clicking on a small tab on the site. This opened a

“button menu” within the page. When you clicked on the buttons, they opened a new page within the window.

Does the website promote a CD/showcase the film poster – where were these located within the site? How were they promoted? Style/layout etc.

You could find a copy of the film poster within the downloads section of the website. It could be downloaded as a desktop wallpaper.

Were there any examples of Interactivity/Flash/Video Streaming or Real Audio? How were these used? What did they add to the homepage?

There are buttons that allow you to leave the page to view both the trailer and clips from the film. I think making these pages separate to the homepage

is better as it means they are not forced on the viewer, and aren’t annoying.

Could you tell by the style of the site which genre the film/artist belonged to? How?

+ You could tell that the genre was horror due to the dark colour pallet, as it was mainly blacks, dark green and deep red used.

+ Another indicator was iconography. There is a masked man holding a pulsating chainsaw and a female victim who is restrained and much smaller than the man.

+ The critics ratings that keep appearing on the screen often refer to violence within the film, this also suggests horror.

Is this a typical web site for this type of genre? Compare to at least one other.

+ This site is very similar to SAW, a film of the same genre.+ They both included an animated intro that features flashing and often

disorientating images meant to disturb or frighten the viewer.+ The colour pallet is roughly the same, stick to dark, low key colours.

+ The is a photo of the antagonist featured on both websites.

Initial Like/Dislikes.

The flickering lights in the background gives a good effect overall. I also really liked the colours used as it really gives a gory and dirty feel. The font is also very fitting.

However, I think the use of flash on the chainsaw looks quite cheesy and could have been done better, and the fact it is in the foreground of the picture makes the flaws

more noticeable.