Shot Ideas

Here are a few shot ideas we came up with before we filmed.

Production Logo

Our Production Logo is a simple but effective design. The black background helps to contrast the silver title. The name came about from the idea of using the initials of our first names. Euan,Charlie,Kieran and Steven.

Research Of Target Audience

Female Target Audience

Male Target Audience

Ideas For Horror Film Setting's

Lighting Research For Horror Films

Most horror events that occur in a horror film take place at night. They do this as it provides the killer with some form of cover to make him more mysterious. We also have the fact that many people could be scared of the dark which would make the experience even more frightening and also the way that many people are asleep and less likely to help save the victim allowing the victim to appear more vulnerable. Due to the lack of natural lighting , low key lighting is used when needed. This allows the producers of the film to provide light to the places they only want it. Trickery lighting can then be used to add more tension as the lgihting is being controlled i.e. flickering and flashes of light.

Horror Film Props

Many props used by the main character in thriller/slasher horror film's have some potential to hurt someone. Typical props could include :
 
This is a typical large knife seen in many horrors. The knife is sharp and demands some form of movement to stab or cut someone. Generally in horrors we can see this weapon being repeatedly used in brutal kills by the killer and due to the shiny surface the light reflects of the knife which makes it glisten. This adds tension as the audeince knows whats going to happen when the knife is pulled out. Most knifes are shown after the kill with great amounts of blood on to signify someone has been injuried.



The axe is a very large and chunky weapon which we would generally associate with more servere kills. Similar to the knife this weapon is very cliche as they are repeatedly seen in many different horror films. Again this weapon would have to be swung to injury someone so the horror can be empahsised further in the aggression the axe is swung.


The chainsaw has to be one of the most brutal weapons used in a horror production. Shown in films such as "Chainsaw Massacre" the chainsaw easily kills the toughest of victims. The sound of the chainsaw is a important part when included in a horror, especially when shown in the way in which the speed and sound gradually builds. Similar to the music used in horrors, which in affect adds tension as we know something bad is going to occur.

Horror Music Research

Most horror music is used to build tension throughout the film. The majority of this music starts at a slow tempo and low sound then gradually builds up as the event or danger becomes closer. In affect this cause the audience to panic due to the use of a dramatic irony as we know something is going to happen by the suggestion of the music but the character doesn't. The music also sometimes includes short raises in volume to scare the audience.

Here's an example i found on a free music website that i thought suited a horror film.

Horror Setting's Research

Human Centipede : The setting of this film is in an isolated house in the woods. The isolation adds to the tension as the people are more helpless. The crack in the window signifies danger and the low key lighting sets a dark mood. Very little colour is used in the image above emphasising the negative mood presented.



Paranormal Activity : Again we see another setting including a bed. I believe this is done as we feel safe in our own beds, which adds more tension if something was to happen. We could also say that when your sleeping your more vulnerable. The image above is very dark suggesting the negative mood and the girl sitting beside the bed shows something is wrong. Very little lighting is used which helps the film to be more mysterious and dramtic.



Halloween : Halloween uses yet another setting that is based in your typical house adding to the tension as the safe environment is broken. Low key lighting is used again to add tension as the connotation of darkness is fear.

Title Idea's For My Horror Film

Box
Ancestry
Visual
Revolution
Dillusional
Spectre
Insanity
Entrophy

Due to our horror film being a psychological horror we tried to think of names that didnt give to much away and work the audiences mind. Hence the reason for the slightly strange titles which some may have a link to psycholigical affects.

Initial Idea's For Our Horror Film

As a group we started to think of ideas to what we could include in our horror movie. We discussed what would work well and what wouldn't. Here are a few of our idea's

Plots - School , Home, Train Crossings.

Themes - Psychological / Insane - the character becomes insane and thinks that he is hearing and seeing things that are not really happening.

Characters - Insane female character of a young age which in affect will help to add tension due to her vulnerability.

Narratives - Self Inflicted pain
                   Hearing things/voices
                   Hallucination
                    Fast pace images.

Title Sequence -

Scrap Book with images linking to the events in the film.
Family Tree with other insane residents which shows a link through generations of the family.
Fast pace editing - images/pictures
Disturbing images.
Hallucinations and optical illusions

Research On Horror Film Title's

When looking at horror titles i can see that some make more sense than others. For example "Saw" sounds like a horror film and "Insidious" sounds less obvious.

List of films titles that sound like horror films ;

Scream : The word scream is related to panic therefore suits a horror film well.

Saw : Saw is a sharp object which could inflict pain therefore it would be appropriate to use as a horror film title.

Paranormal Activity : The word Paranormal is associated with ghosts and other imaginative spirits.

Devil : The word devil is associated with fire and hell therefore is suitable as a horror film title


List of film titles that sound less obvious;

Last House On The Left : it doesnt sound that scary as it has no link to anything scary.

Orphan : Again this title doesnt sound that scary however the film is. But looking at the title you wouldnt be able to tell straight away if it is a horror.

IT : Very small title gives away very little to what the story is about.

Psycho Title Sequence

Psycho is an older horror film released in the 1960's. Due to lack of technology the opening sequence is very basic and very dull.However sound and editing helps to add tension due to fast pace editing and scary music.
No images where include in the title sequence, only lines which shows its basic opening sequence.

When A Stranger Calls Title Sequence

A stranger calls is a more modern film. In the opening sequence shows a strong contrast between two moods. We see a happy mood at the fair ground as the children go on the fair rides however a more conscious mood when the mysterious phone call is made to the young girl. This is very effective as the young girl appears very vulnerable. The repeated phone call adds tension and the tone in which the girl talks expresses her vulnerability. The scream of the girl is blended in with the screams from the fair ground which may suggest a link but at this stage the opening sequence reveals very little which makes it more dramatic.

There are no main links to characters in the opening sequence as they are kept anonymous which emphasises the  mystery. The involvement of young children helps to contrast the two moods which leads the audeince into a false sence on security.  

1408 Opening Sequence Analysis

14 seconds - Black screen with wording "Dimension Films Present"
29 seconds - Road appears with a long shot on a car, low key lighting to the left in the form of lamp posts and its raining. Wording "John Cusack" appears on screen, very dark sets the mood.
35 seconds - Camera panning across screen. "Samuel L Jackson" name appears on screen along with the car moving closer to the camera
43 seconds - Car brakes then comes to a stop as the title "1408" fades into shot.
46 seconds - High angled shot on the car stopping besides sign emphasises its vulnerable.
53 seconds - Close up on male character shinning flash light inside car.
56 seconds - Point Of View (POV) on male shinning torch on the sign.
59 seconds - Close up on male looking at map
70 seconds - Car reverses and turns around.
75 seconds - Car pulls up to house in the woods.
77 seconds - Names of actors are still appearing on screen.
84 seconds - Weather becomes worse as male walks across the bridge.
91 seconds - More actors names appearing on screen
94 seconds - Becomes obvious that someone may be spied on the man due to the camera shot.
97 seconds - Switch in shots also shows a switch in mise-en scene as the man enters what looks to be a hotel.
100 seconds - sound of bell suggests the setting of a hotel.
107 seconds - Dialogue exchanged between two characters "Mike checking in"
113 seconds - Shot reverse shot on the two males at the desk.
119 seconds - Man at desk says "You probably want to hear about our haunted history"

Stereotypical Horror Characters Research

When planning my horror film i did some research into typical horror characters. This allowed me to identify what makes a good horror character and also give me ideas that i could use in my own horror film character.



This is the horror character out of the film " Halloween". The mask worn by the character hides his identity which adds to the tension as he remains anonymous. The clothing he is wearing is also very dark suggesting a dark side to him.The character is also holding a knife which emphasises his danger.

 

This horror character is out of the film "Scream". Again the character is wearing a mask which helps hide his identity which in affect makes the audience feel uncomfortable, as he could be anyone. We can also see dark clothing being worn again with the colour red shown with the blood on the knife emphasising danger.




The character from the film "Saw" also wears a mask to hide his identity. He also wears black clothing which suggests darkness. The colour red is incorporated into his mask which signifies danger and the colour white helps to contrast this, which helps emphasises the colours importance.






This character is from the film "Human Centipede". This horror character differs from the rest as he is not wearing a mask however he is still wearing dark clothing. He also follows the stereotype of a typical antagonist as he's not physically attractive and also slightly insane with his creation.



From analysing these typical horror characters i have identified that dark clothing is important in the making of our horror character as all the above dress in dark colours. Masks are also used a lot in horror film characters however this is very cliche therefore i probably wont use this on my horror character.

Research On Popular Horror Films

I Looked at a number of horror films to try identify key aspects of horror films which could give me ideas for my own film. For this i looked at the Setting, Characters Narrative.




Paranormal Activity : This film in particular focuses on the haunting the environments we feel most safe and therefore most comfortable in e.g. your own home. This allows the film to easily scare the audience making the overall experience more dramatic.  They also use prolonged silences to add tention followed by a jump  shot to freighten the audeince and in affect add more tension. The main story consists of a couple who have recently moved into a two story house. The female companion believes that a ghostly presence has followed her to her new house so she puts up camera's to see if she can find anything out. The movie then goes on to revealing super natural activity which most viewers find freightening.
Paranormal Activity also uses young stereotypical characters as they are more vulnerable combined with the super-natural presence of ghosts which adds to the tension.




Human Centipede : This film follows a cliche storyline with two typical helpless young girls, who get a puncture whilst driving through deserted woods. In need of help they walk through the forest alone where they stumble across a house. The man who lives there is insane and wants to create a human centipede out of the two girls and one other man. The film focuses of scaring the audience with the aspect of helplessness. The deserted setting emphasis this along with the two helpless girls.

Production Company Logo's and Information

  20Th Century Fox: The large structure suggests it's a large global comapny whcih makes good quality movies. The quality is emphaisised with the lights shinning on the logo suggesting its importance. 20Th Century Fox is a very popular production company making films such as Avatar and Maraduke.




DreamWorks :The images of clouds,moon and the text "Dream" suggest its surreal nature of production of more animated movies. All the images are images taken from great heights suggesting there involvement in the production of good quality films. Examples of films produced by "DreamWorks" are "Shrek" and "Madagascar"


Film 4 : The basic design of the "Film 4 " Logo which is suitbale for all ages suggests its wide range of films they offer. An Example of a "Film 4" production could be the "The Inbetweeners Movie" which was very popular in the younger ages.Again this is typical of "Film 4" as they have used a popular series of programmes and succesfully created a movie for the same audience.




Paramount : The logo of Paramount encorporates stars, which similar to the other top movie production comapany's. This suggests its production of top quality films aswell as this being emphasised by the peak of the mountaining suggesting the very top. Examples of films produced by "Paramount" could include the "Paranormal Activity" films. Similar to the other three production company's above Paramount is a high budget production company.


  

Vertigo Films: This prodcution company is one with a lower budget to the above. This production comapny can be recognised from films such as "Dirty Sanchez" and "The Business". However they are also involved in many horror films such as "I'm The Angel Of Death " and "Children" which could suggest they're more suited to the production or our horror film as we too are low budget horror film producers.

The Italian Job Title Sequence

The opening sequence to "The Italian Job" is very similar to "Se7en" where small sections of the film are shown or relevant information suggesting what happens in the film.

As we watched the opening sequence we recorded the order in which certain features appeared.

1) The Production Company Logo.
2) Introduces the Actors/Characters, Visions on maps and settings.
3) Main Title Shown, Visions of maps and settings.
4) Opening Sequences introduces the main Characters.

Most films start of with a similar structure of opening sequence like this one. As it allows the audience enough information about the film without giving the whole story line away adding to the suspense and thrill of most movies.

Results of Questionnaire

Results:

Male 16-21

Question 1 ) Comedy,Action,Action,Crime.

Question 2 ) Cooling running's ,Avatar,Fast and Furious,Casino Royale.

Question 3 ) Nightmare on elm street ,Paranormal Activity 2,Black Christmas, 28 days

Question 4 )All Answered "Once a Month"

Question 5 ) Simon Pegg,Cameron Diaz,Jason Statham,Tom Hanks.

Question 6 ) Real, Surreal, Real, Real

Question 7 ) Most Popular answers where Film Stars and Genre

Females 16-21

Question 1 ) Comedy, Comedy, Comedy

Question 2 ) Step Brothers, Team America, The Ringer

Question 3 ) Paranormal Activity,Scream, Paranormal Activity

Question 4 ) All Answered "Once a Month"

Question 5 ) Johnny Depp, Zach Galifianakis, Zach Gilifianakis

Question 6 ) Surreal, Real, Real

Question 7 ) Film Stars, Film Stars , Genre

Over 40's

Question 1 )Comedy, Thriller, Action

Question 2 )Johnny English , N/A, The Bourne Series

Question 3 )Seven,The Shinning, N/A

Question 4 )Every 2 months, Once a month, Once a year

Question 5 )Will Smith, Matt Damon, Matt damon

Question 6 )Real, Real,Real

Question 7 ) Genre, Film director and Film star, Film Stars

My Questionnaire On Film Habits.

Media Horror Questionnaire

Name :                              Age :                  Gender :


1) Whats your favourite genre of film ? ...................................................

2) Whats your favourite film ? ................................................

3) Whats your favourite horror film ? ..................................................

4) How Often do you visit the cinema ? ..................................................

5) Who's your favourite film star ? .............................................

6) Do you prefer real or surreal films ? ..................................................

7) What do you look for when your buying a film ? ( Please circle)

     Cheap Price          Film Director          Film Stars        Genre         Other

Title Sequence Break Down For The Film "Se7en"

  2 seconds - Extreme close up on an open book with pages.
  3 seconds - " New line cinema presents" appears on screen with the book still in the background.
  7 seconds - Intertitle "An Arnold Kepelson production ".
  8 seconds - Distorted hands appear in black and white.
13 seconds - "Brad Pit " name appears on screen.
16 seconds - Razor blade shown removing skin from grubby hands.
18 seconds - Name of actor "Morgan Freeman " appears on screen.
23 seconds - Title of film "Se7en" appears on screen.
24 seconds - Flash of title appears then disapears.
29 seconds - Bok opening and " Gwyneth Dattrous " appears.
34 seconds - Close up on pen writing on paper and name "Richard Roundtree"
36 seconds - Red filter used.
39 seconds - Extreme close up on scissors cutting up a roll of film.
43 seconds - Black and white photo's
52 seconds - Pages of book and newspaper cuttings.
54 seconds - More actors names.
61 seconds - Marker pen crossing out paticular words.
71 seconds - Marker pen crossing out the eyes of the man in the image,black background and castings.
73 seconds - Face fully crossed out with marker pen.
74 seconds - Red filter appears again.
76 seconds - Red filter highlighting photo, bottom half of screen is black and white.
79 seconds - Book containing writing.
85 seconds - Dirty thumbs and small hooks.
88 seconds - Bandeged thumb.
90 seconds - Range of photo's stuck in book ( very dark and dull ).
96 seconds - Dirty thumbs shown playing with needell's.
101 seconds - Hands threading string through needell.
107 seconds - Binding the book together with string.
118 seconds - More pictures.
121 seconds - Cut out of word "God".
127 seconds -  image of typical American street with the word " Monday " appearing bottom left of the screen.

Overall i was pleased with my movie i made. We used a range of shot types from long shots to close ups and also included match on action in places in which the audience can identify what has happened. An example could be when Steven walks up to the door and then the next shot being him closing the door. We also followed a number of rules such as the 180 degree rule and used a shot reverse shot on the dialogue used in the movie. If i was to re-do this prelimenary task i would change the begginging of my opening sequence as the opening title screen with my name, candidate number and title was too short due to uploading the movie onto my blog the title page was reduced in time length as it was originally 10 seconds on the movie maker.