Planning and Roles

Adam- Locations and sound- I am in charge of these concepts as I know of some areas near my house that could present us with a very good setting for our horror film. They are locations which are typically conventional for the horror genre as there are lots of trees and deserted areas. Sound is my other job and I took this role as I enjoy listening to the sound in a film particularly non diegetic as I know how powerful this can be against our emotions.

Eboni- Make-up and Costume- Eboni has this role as it is her sister that we are using to play the main role in the film. She therefore, will have a good idea of how she wants her sister to look. The costume will be easily accessible and she has the make-up to make the character look very professional and in-role.

Beth- Locations and lighting- Beth has a professional camera which she can get some very good shots of locations with. She is prepared to travel around to get pictures of these places so that we can choose the ones that we want for scenes in our sequence. From this we can decide on the lighting that we need and provide it; Beth will be in control of this.

To enhance our understanding of what is going on in the film we have begun to create a storyboard of ideas. This will be very beneficial as we can refer back to this and use it during the process to help us along with thoughts and ideas when we come stuck.

Title sequence analysis script

Firstly, we are shown group and long shots of 2 families which we can assume are the people who will be involved in the film. The pictures look very old which could tell us that it may be set in the past. In both shots, a white background is used to represent innocence of the family who will later experience negative events but to inform us that they are the protagonists of the film. The transition to the next shot uses a fade-in and fade-out effect which could symbolise a light, showing hope for the family. We are made aware that the director of the film is James Wan as his name is printed here in the centre of the frame as the point of focus in a thin white font to make everything seem vulnerable when in and around the house. This is used in contrast with the house in the background which is made to look imposing through the use of a low angle shot and low key lighting; a stereotypical setting of a horror film.

POV shots are then used as we look at old newspaper articles, some from an overhead projector as we can see here, which begin to concern the audience based upon the stories that they tell.  The grey colours could represent the lack of clarity in the film and the problems that need to be solved.  They could also have a ghostly or supernatural link which is a typical convention of a horror film. Grey is a compromise between black and white which highlights the difference between good and evil but it is also very quiet, subdued and reserved; similar to the setting of a horror film. Within these articles we are shown and informed of the actors and people who have helped to put the film together. Over the top of this is some very intimidating non diegetic sound from a trombone which is very high pitched and loud but at a rather slow tempo suggesting that the film will control the emotions of the audience, making them feel fearful with a lack of comfort, but always intrigued due to the spine chilling effect of it. Non diegetic sounds of what seems to be a rolling film and bells play alongside the pictures.

All transitions at this point have an effect of turning over pages. This is used to represent how the film is a whole story and that turning over each page will reveal a little more of what the audience need to know. The sequence then allows us to see some more of the characters using a group shot who we can assume play a large role in the film. Again, this black and white format is used to confirm to us that the film may well connect to past or previous events however the dimmer black colours coincide with the conventions of a horror film which revolve around darkness in order to intensify the mood of the audience. As the sequence cuts again we see 2 consecutive pictures of the family however on both photos different members seem to be missing. White lines then prevent us seeing the faces of some of the characters which convey the idea that they may disappear or perish at some point in the film and the audiences thoughts are continually provoked by these ideas. The white colour is used to inform the audience that they are innocent however some negative ideas about their fate are put forward in this shot.

Towards the end of the film here, the shots become much darker and the colour black is used a lot more in an attempt to cover up any events at the climax of the film. The lack of clarity intrigues the audience to find out what is going to happen. The next shot is a wide shot of a graveyard; a typical setting for events in a conventional horror film and this instantly portrays a sense of death or an idea of reincarnation. After this section, we can hear the non-diegetic sound of wind to possibly represent demonic or supernatural occurrences that may be evident in the film itself. The thoughts of the audience are again provoked at this point. The non-diegetic sound of bells then returns and we understand that maybe this repetition could convey a series of recurring problems. The sequence then becomes much more sinister with sounds of birds and unnerving looking pictures on the articles. The constant black and white theme gives the audience an idea about the good and the evil in the film as the final title picture reveals a little bit more to us regarding events within it.

Audience Profile

AUDIENCE PROFILE

Demographics

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Social Grading: D-E

Religion: None

Education: GCSE school pupil

Occupation: Paper round

Marital status: Single

Income: £30 per month

Nationality: English

Psychographics

A lively, young individual with an eye for entertainment. He goes about his daily life in a structured manner and takes huge care

with his school studies. He is a typical boy who loves sport and is 
always up for a laugh with his friends. Is happiest around these

friends but loves getting together with family too. He loves to
attend gigs from his favourite bands along with house DJ.s and 
spends a lot of time in the outside world of social media.

Joking and banter is a part of his daily life but he does not have 
a bad bone in his body. He enjoys watching films particularly at
the cinema and his favourite genres are comedy and horror.

Likes: Watching and playing sport, music festivals,

dancing and Shadow Child (DJ).

Dislikes: smoking, reading, boredom, ignorant  

people, pressure and writing.

The Editing process

For our preliminary task we had to create a short scene where a person walks into a room. The film had to include a match on action shot where the events in a scene continue in consecutive shots. It also had a to include a 180 degree rule and a reverse shot. Using a camera and tripod, myself, Eboni and Beth set up a scene in an empty classroom. We had previously worked together to create a storyboard to present and our ideas and to work off during the film.

A section where we have produced a match on action shot is evident between 15 and 20 seconds where within 5 seconds, there are 3 short shots where I walk into the room. I am pictured opening the door from a mid-shot from the side shortly followed by a close up of my hand to pull the handle of the door. The next shot shows me entering the room from the inside of the room so here we have produced a successful piece of match-on-action.

Another requirement was a reverse shot and this is evident during the main piece of dialogue in the sequence. This comes at 42 seconds in and lasts until 1 minute and 2 seconds where the camera is filming from over the shoulder of the character. It is a very good angle for conversation between 2 people and is often used for dialogue as we have done here.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary task camera shots

For our preliminary task we had to create a short scene where a person walks into a room. The film had to include a match on action shot where the events in a scene continue in consecutive shots. It also had a to include a 180 degree rule. Using a camera and tripod, myself, Eboni and Beth set up a scene in an empty classroom. We had previously worked together to create a storyboard to present and our ideas and to work off during the filming.

So when we went to record our film we had all the ideas needed to put together a successful scene. We decided together that Eboni would play the role of a student and to prove this we ensured that used a high angle shot to look down at her which proves her low status compared to the headmaster who will soon enter the scene. She is filmed as she waits for the headmaster to enter and she is biting her nails and looking very twitchy to ensure that it is evident that she is nervous for the imminent arrival.

Here we have ensured that my character (the headmaster) is not given away early so that the audience can understand that he is a very imposing and intimidating person. In this picture we have used a low angle shot whilst focusing on just the feet of my character. This shot will bring across tense feeling and an understand that this character is very important or of high status as he walks towards the camera and stops. This could also make the audience intrigued or excited to see and find out who this character is because they only know at this point that he is important.

Here I took a POV shot as I walked towards the student (Eboni). Through the use of this shot I have made sure that again my face is not seen until I face the student which again shows the importance of my character. This shot was also used so that the audience can see Eboni acting nervously as she waits for my arrival. A low angle effect is evident to again look down at her which proves that I am the teacher who is controlling the situation and that Eboni is the young vulnerable student.

Here have used a reverse shot or over the shoulder shot as it is sometimes referred to. We used this shot as it was part of our criteria for the task but it is also a very good shot to used when there is dialogue between 2 people. It presents the speech of the people very well but it also creates a tense atmosphere during the conversation.

Focus group and feedback

To help me understand peoples opinions on films and the film that we had briefed I conducted a questionnaire to give me ideas. I asked people about where they like to watch films and their favourite genres, many of which said horror. Some people said that our film was a little too similar to Sinister so from this feedback we will have to alter a few ideas to ensure that it is a unique film that only takes a little inspiration from other films. When asked if people liked the end of the film, many said yes because it keeps them on edge and leaves them wanting more for a possible sequel. It seemed to have a good effect on an audience. I explained the elements of the film by which it flashes back to the past and asked if they liked this idea. Many replied in favour because it would be interesting and keep them focused to aid their enjoyment of the film so we will definitely ensure that this is evident in our film idea. The ideas were highly complimented and lots of people said that they would pay to watch the film and this pleases us as a group as it encourages the ideas that we have come up with. I asked for any changes that they would make to the film and they responded by informing me that they would need a clearer explanation of the ideas for the narrative and a unique selling point that would make the film thrive.

We took on board the feedback that we had and made changes to our ideas based on what the focus group had to say. One person made the point that they didn't want the ending to be very basic and wanted us to create more of a cliffhanger in the conclusion of the film. From this feedback we have discussed the ending of the film and made some alterations so that the audience will be intrigued to watch a second version of the film. This is the main unique selling point for our film and we have effectively taken on ideas from our focus group and incorporated these points into the basis of our film.

Pitch for our film

Pitch After observing a series of modern horror films, we have decided to create a film which falls into two different sub-genres which are; paranormal and Possessed child. The background story of our sequence is about a paranormal demonic creature that haunted the Walker family after one child dreamt about this creature which came alive and took over their family and life. After each generation moved into the spine-chilling family abode each mother of the household mysteriously went missing without a trace. As the new generation of the family move in, they reveal the mysteries of where and how the family members went missing. As they realise that the demonic presence only occurs to the 3rd child in the generation they realise that they are stuck in their home with what is realised to be the 3rd child in the current generation. As they recover the bodies of mothers around the house…they find out that the only way to stop the presence was the sacrifice the soul of their birthing mother. But will Miss Walker make it alive or be covered within the rest?

 Title sequence In our title sequence we will include short clips of the dream that occurred to cause the mayhem in our films and include newspaper clips of the stories of the mothers that went missing; this will make the audience have an idea of what the film will be about without actually giving anything away. We will also take inspiration from the conjuring and use old and modern family photos to show who the families were. Each child will have a significant object shown in the pictures that ties them to the unknown occurrences. Our title sequence conforms to the narrative of a typical horror film by using all the conventions. We used a typical story of a demonic child to represent the conventions of characters. By using the children route, we linked our film to films such as sinister and insidious which also have the conventions of a normal horror film. By using the idea of dreams and the past, it made us have the conventional theme of insanity and the supernatural. Due to our title sequence having the possibility of ghostly font and an old effect, it makes the audience feel uneasy and mysterious which is the usual feeling that an audience gains from a horror film.

Horror character representations

Character Types- Vladimir Propp’s character theory can be used to identify the types of characters from the films that I have watched. • The Villain- This is often a creature or person from the supernatural which fights and struggles against the protagonist. They tend to be: zombies, mutants, demons, or possessed people. • The hero- This is the person who struggles against the villain. It is predominantly the Father of a family so their mission is to protect their family and others from this evil. • The donor- This is normally a team or individual expert who understands the situation as is experienced within it. They share their knowledge however they normally see things that they cannot help. E.g. Ed Warren in the Conjuring. These people can also be classed as the ‘helper’ in a horror genre. • The false hero- This can often be a member of the family. They may become possessed and therefore act as evil against the protagonists however the quest is normally to reverse this. These films do have other characters involved too. There is usually a full family involved whilst police services are always tending to investigate the situations. Different horror films may choose lots of different types of character.

How are these character types portrayed and represented? These character types are portrayed in different ways. The hero tends to be a stereotypical father of a family who wants to protect and save his family from evil. They are represented as very powerful characters who tend to take matters into their own hands whilst the female characters e.g The mother of the family will often just be a passive object. This powerful male character is evident in the film Sinister where Ellison ‘the Father’ is played by Ethan Hawke. At many points in the film he finds himself looking for evil with a baseball bat. This is similar in the Conjuring where Roger Perron (the father) played by Ron Livingston as he is always the first to react when there are signs of danger in the house. These types of characters are often over the age of 35 so they are represented as wise men who attempt to use their experience to free their families of any danger. The race of the main characters in all 3 of the films I watched were white British or American whilst these people are often represented as fairly wealthy people with a family who own a large house. This large house is the general setting for a horror film so it is only correct that these people can afford them otherwise the audience would become confused.

What research and theories have been done into representations for my genre? In other horror films the final girl theory is often evident. This is where the last woman alive will confront the killer and they are left to tell the story. It was designed by Carol J. Clover. An example of this is Laurie Strode from Halloween 1 and 2. Some suggest however that Clover's image of supposedly progressive final girls are never entirely victorious at the end of a film nor do they disrupt male order. Another key theory that is evident in horror films is the Levi-Strauss binary opposition theory. The idea of this is to show how opposites are key in these types of films. In a horror film this is almost always the idea of good VS evil. The films will be based around a constant struggle for power between these two sides. In the film Sinister, the side of good is Ellison and his family along with the deputy police officer and Professor Jonas (the expert). They battle for freedom against the illusive ‘Mr Boogie’ and the children that he has captured. The outcome however is not always a happy one and this is evident in Sinister.

Research and Ideas

There are 3 members in my group and they are Eboni Birchall, Bethany Symonds and myself. All of us have studied media at GCSE so we are very familiar with the ideas and terminology involved within the subject which gives us an advantage in the creation of our sequence. Together we discussed different genres and our preferences and the two which we decided as our favourites were Horror and Comedy. We decided upon horror as we believe the sequence would be much more effective and achievable in the making process and therefore I began individual research into the typical conventions of a horror film so we could ensure that the sequence we make is accurate according to that genre. I produced a powerpoint to present my findings and here it is.

Horror Research PPT