Saw VI

Saw VI
Originally uploaded by rmansfield29

The Hitcher shot analysis

The Hitcher
Originally uploaded by rmansfield29

My bloody valentine shot analysis

My bloody valentine
Originally uploaded by rmansfield29

Finished ancillary tasks

Existing movie magazine covers

These are existing film magazine covers. They helped me to learn the conventions of film magazines. As I chose to make an Empire magazine cover, the two from this magazine were of great help. I used the middle one as a template; however, the main image was very different.

Photos taken and used for my ancillary texts

I took this photo to appear as the main image on the magazine cover. It features Skin Deep star fern Anderson. The photo was then edited on Photoshop. The colour and contrast levels were changed. The Empire masthead was also added between the person’s head and the existing background of the photo.













Another member of my group took this photo of me wearing the killer’s mask. The lighting was then severely edited to make it look much scarier and mysterious. I also removed the parts of my face not covered by the mask and my hair, to leave only the mask.

 
 
 
 
 

These pictures of my group were taken to be used on the magazine cover. They were cropped and placed into the film strip graphic. They give a preview of what else is in the magazine. This being details of Skin Deep’s production, and an interview with cast.

Sketches and templates

These are sketches of what I want my film poster and magazine to look like. I sketched designs that I would be able to produce using Photoshop software. Having these designs helped to know what I was attempting to create before going straight into it.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Following the completion of our teaser trailer we obtained audience feedback. This feedback was gained during a media studies lesson. Each group’s trailer was screened to the audience. Each member of the class then had to come up with one thing good about it as a horror text and one thing bad about it as a horror text. They then had to comment on one thing good about it as a teaser trailer, and one thing bad about it as a teaser trailer.
The age rating for our film was 18. This was decided upon as we wanted people to feel that it would be a mature film and that it would contain a lot of gore conventionally of the horror genre. We also realised that people under the age would still find a way to see the film and want to see it more because they are not suppose to.
The target audience are teenagers and people in their twenties. Men are also more partial to the horror genre. This worked out well as our class members were all 17-19. So our feedback was from our target audience.

The audience had some negative comments on the trailer as a teaser. The audience felt that the soundtrack only works during the first part of the teaser that ends with the car screeching to a halt. After this it was commented that the music fell flat as the clips build up pace however the music remained the same. Some also felt that the soundtrack could have been improved by some dialogue, although others liked that there wasn’t any. It was commented that the shot of the eye closing at the end of the teaser didn’t fit in with the rest of the teaser. It was decided that the photoshoot sound effects were overused, although some people were in favour of these. This sequence gained praise from others as they liked the binary opposites of models and then the death/bloody bodies.
There was also a lot of positive feedback on the teaser as a horror text. Many people enjoyed the mise-en-scene especially the forest location and enjoyed the darkness of the lighting. Many of the shots angles were praised for example the shot of the hand being dragged across the ground, the axe going into the tree, the shot of the girl running following her closely then switching to be in front of her, the killer emerging out from behind the tree and the close-ups of the girls tied up. It was noted that the rain and blood made it look like they were sweating and in true panic. The part where there is a close-up of a text, a reaction shot from the girl, followed by the shot of the killer in the rear-view mirror was also praised as working well together. There were also positives about it as a teaser trailer. Our intertitles were praised by the way the cliché term “beauty is only skin deep” was twisted by adding “a knife goes deeper”. The opening of the teaser with the car driving sequence and ending by screeching to a halt was praised by our teacher. He stated that it looked like a professional production and the continuity was praised. It was also liked, how not too much narrative infromation was given, as it teased the audience into wanting to see more. There were many positive comments on how well the teaser advertised the film. Many commented that they did want to see the film after seeing the trailer. One person commented that they wanted to fill in the gaps in the narrative. Another though the idea of models being turned upside down was very interesting, and that they would want to see more of the film to gain insight into the killer’s mind

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The movie poster works very well with the main product (the teaser trailer). The poster is very dark and black much like the lighting in the teaser. This is due to horror being conventionally set at night time and black being a colour associated with horror. The main image on the poster is of the killers mask. Only half of the face is seen and the brightness of the picture has been adjusted on Photoshop. This keeps the killer as mysterious as only half the face can be seen. The lighting on the mast is very important with some parts being shadowed. This makes the killer seem dark and dangerous. I chose to use a picture of the killer as the main image for the poster for a few reasons. Firstly it is scary – something that is needed so that the audience can work out that it is a horror film. Also the killer is often the most promoted part of horror films and this allows for sequals even if the other characters are killed off. Overall I think this image is very effective and represents the teaser trailer well as a horror text. The title of the film is white against a black background. This makes it stand out so that the audience will easily see the title. It is also in very large writing to be seen. The font style and smudged/worn away effect also gives it an edgy horror look with the bottom of the “p” looking much like a knife.

A tagline of “a knife goes deeper” is used which links to the intertitles from the teaser. “Knife” being used on the poster leaves no room to mistake the genre as weaponry props are a key convention in horror. The films stars are written across the top. The two actors credited first and second are billed at the top along with the actor in the special ‘and’ credit.

This allows the audience to know who is in the film and if they were actually famous people they would attract their fan base to the film. This text is written in red which connotes blood, danger and anger. Red in one of the most associated colours with horror. A release date is also given to tell the audience when it will be in cinemas. The billing block at the bottom of the poster lists all of the important cast and crew of the film. This is mainly there for contractual reasons however it does give information such as the production company, writer and director. Links to a movie website is also given to create an online marketing campaign. Overall I think that the poster works very well and the image could be very recognisable. This would be displayed in cinema foyers, bus stops and other places. The film must have a good poster as there are only approximately 250,000 billboards at the roadside, so if the company is going to fight for one of there spots and spend a lot of money, they need to have a good poster representative of the film. The image from the poster could also later be used as a DVD/Blu-ray cover saving money of having to make another one. The age rating for our film was 18. This has positives and negatives. It prevents people under that age from watching the film legally. It may also make people pass on the film as they predict it will be too gory. On the other hand a lower rating may make the older audience feel that the gore would be too ‘watered-down’. We decided to go with the 18 rating as we wanted to appeal to the main watchers of horror which are teenagers to people in their twenties. The 18 rating would allow people in their twenties to feel that they are watching a mature film. Teenagers under the age would want to find a way to get into see the film, as they would want to feel more grown up and feel cool for being able to see it.

The movie magazine cover that I have created would be publicity for the film. A cover of a magazine would not be directly in the control of the distributor however they would encourage promotion of the films stars. While the film poster is directly advertising the film the magazine is promotion the stars trying to create buzz about the film. If a star becomes well known they will have a build in fan base that will go to see the film. Promoting the star on a magazine makes them recognisable keeping them in the limelight so that they and there connection to the film will be well known. For my magazine cover I felt that the most marketable actor would be Skin Deep’s “final girl”. Fern Anderson also received top billing in the film as seen on the movie poster. This character will have the most screen time in the film therefore making her the most recognisable actor of Skin Deep. The killer is not a good idea to be marketed in this instance as the actor wears a mask the whole teaser trailer and would not be recognisable. This would also break the mystery of the killer as when watching the trailer they would know what is under the mask as they would have recently read the magazine cover that will come out around before the films release. The main image of the movie magazine cover is of the star of the film. This works well with the teaser as this actor has the most screen time and close-up establishing her as the protagonist of the film. The girl is in a typical magazine pose with a photoshoot background. These do not tie in with the horror genre as this is only a promotion of the star and not a representation of the film itself. The empire masthead has been tuned black from the usual red to work better with the main image. This helps to keep the simple colour scheme however gives it a darker edge hinting at the fact that she stars in a horror film. This is also very thinly lined red to once again link to the fact that she stars in a horror genre film. This line is very thin and does not distract from the colour scheme. It would likely not be noticed by many readers.

The main text on the poster reads “Fern Anderson” in capital letter to promote the star as the magazines main attraction. Underneath it reads “interview with the star of Skin Deep”. This promotes the film and is why a distributor would be so happy to receive magazine publicity. It also says “the must have issue” to make people want to buy the magazine. Cover lines read “EXCLUSIVE blockbuster sneak peaks, must read interviews and set visits”. These are used by magazines to get people to but the magazine. At the bottom of the magazine there is a film strip with a few other skin deep cast members pictured. This is very good for the film as it shows that the article inside the magazine will talk a lot about the film. Overall this sort of promotion would work well with the teaser trailer as it would get the audience familiar with the stars. At a time when people only have seen the teaser then the star is most recognisable from the film as she received the most screen time in the teaser trailer. Less time was spent of producing this ancillary text as a magazine cover is not something the distributor could control and it does not directly represent the film or tie in with the teaser trailer.

The distributor would not be able to control what is featured on a film magazine. So what is listed above is an analysis of why I created the text the way I did. As the distributor who created the teaser, my role would be very different. The distributor would hold screening of the film to advance audience and critics. This would create word-of-mouth. These critics would write about the film in their publications or other Medias. This would gain publicity for the film. If an upcoming film becomes well known then a film magazine – such as the one I created – would be interested in making them their cover story. This is one of the many ways that a distributor could encourage publicity. Once it is gained it would be very useful. My magazine cover promotes Skin Deep star Fern Anderson. Promoting the lead actress would be very helpful to the distributor as it would get people knowing who is in the film, and weather they want to see it for them.


With a poster and teaser released, the marketing campaign should be in full swing. The internet can be used to provide an official website, promote the film and for discussion forums. All of these create the buzz that the distributor would need to be able to land a major magazine cover. A film première should be held. This expensive ‘red carpet event’ should be glamorous and star filled. The films stars should attend and ensure that they are photographed heavily conduct interviews and sign autographs. The star would need to be photographed to gain publicity. If the star starts to receive notability then a film magazine cover could be offered to them.

All of these techniques would be employed by the distributor to try and land the sort of cover that I have created. The magazine feature would then lead to further promotion and interest in the film.

To improve the integration of these and to enforce the central marketing message I would do the following: Although the magazine would not be controlled by the distributor, I would ensure that the actress talks about the film a lot during the interview. I would ensure that such interview takes place to coincide with the film’s release. To improve the poster I would add some blood splatters as blood is a key visual signifier of the horror genre. This would have to coincide with the teaser trailers release to ensure that they are familiar with the killer.

Existing horror posters

Before beginning my film poster, I have done research into existing ones. I took the idea of showing only the killer from the My Bloody Valentine poster as I though it added mystery to the character. This poser also used a red and black colour scheme conventional for horror.

Preperation for our horror teaser

To prepare for our horror trailer my group took part in a lesson to learn about fake blood. The lesson began by watching several horror film sequences where fake blood is used.

We learned:

• How to fake blood

• How to fake sick

• How to hide the impact of punches

• How to fake being shot

• And other ways to make it appear that people have been hurt by weapons.

The main part of this session was however to learn how t create fake blood. Grenadine is syrup that is used in cocktails. This makes a good fake blood as it is has a thick texture and is eatable so it will not be a problem if it is used in someone’s mouth. To create a fake wound a layer of latex is put on the skin to outline the shape of the cut. This dries up and more layers can be added. After this eyeliner or another black substance should be added to the centre of the cut to give it a dirty inner wound feeling. The fake blood is then applied to this.

These two pictures show a finished bullet whole and an arm gash.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

(1) Adobe Garage Band - This piece of softwae was used to record a scream sound effect that we would later add to he soundtrack of our horror teaser. It also allowed us to create our music soundtrack so that we could have copyright free music.

(2) Adobe Photoshop CS4 - This was used for the ancillary texts. Both the film poster andthe magazine cover were made using this software.

(3) Dafont.com - This website provided me with the font I used on my poster. It also created the "Skin Deep" intertitle in the teaser displaying the films title.

(4) Digital camera - With this I took my stills for the ancillary texts.

(5) Digital video camera - With this we filmed our teaser trailer.

(6) Adobe Final Cut Pro - This software was used for the editing of our software. It alowed us to upload all of our rough footage and edit it into the final trailer

(7) Youtube.com - This was used for a lot of research into existing teaser trailers. Trailers found on this site was ver useful to view to get insperation for our own trailer. Several have been analysed on this blog. Our final product was also uploaded to this site to self distribute.

(8) Blogger.com - This is the site that hosts this blog. It has alowed for a more modern way of producing and displaying coursework and allows for multimedia inputs.

(9) Adobe Livetype - This program was used to create the intertitles for the teaser trailer. They were then imported to Final Cut Pro.

Google has also been very useful for earching for information as well as researching existing horror posters and film magazines. Social networking sites such as Facebook have also been useful to gain audience feedback. Flickr.com has also been used to annotate images.

Adobe’s Final Cut Pro was used for the editing of the teaser. This program allowed us to upload our group’s footage from each shoot. Once uploaded on the system, we could then view it in the left-hand-side video player shown above. Once decided upon which shots should be included in the trailer, we used the “in” and “out” tools to select which parts of the shot is needed. This was then placed onto the timeline, which can be seen at the bottom of the screenshot above. The footage that had been cut and place on the timeline could be viewed on the right-hand-side video player. Effects were placed onto several shots to make them look darker. To give a night time look, we darkened the shots and added a blue filter. The speed of several shots was changed, depending on how slow of fast the shot worked best. Different edits could be chosen including: cuts, fades and dissolves. Cuts were mostly used for continuity editing. Fades were added to intertitles. Intertitles were added to the teaser. These gave the films title and the text, “beauty is only skin deep”, “A knife goes deeper”.

The soundtrack was also added during the editing process. A main score was added through the duration of the teaser. Sound effects placed to match with certain shots, such as the car break sound. Many of the tracks overlap playing at the same time. Adobe Garage Band was used to record a sound effect of a scream. This was simple to do and was then imported to the timeline, to match with the correct shot. Final Cut Pro was quite difficult for me to use when we began the project. However, as I used it more frequently, I became more confident. By the end of the project I was able to use the software with ease.

Working with Blogger allowed a more modern way to complete the coursework. I feel that completing the work via internet is a clever way to integrate as much media into the project as possible. Blogger allows images to be added to the blog to provide visual aide. This is very important when analysing existing products and when producing an audio-visual project. Videos from youtube were embedded to the blog. This allowed me to analyse the text, and provide the examiner with what is being discussed. This prevents having to write a plot summary as they can view it themselves; it allowed me to get straight to the analysis. Our finished product – the teaser trailer – was also posted which was very useful. I feel that using Blogger allowed to extent my creative ideas, instead of pain blocks of text that are seen in essays. A more traditional form – such as an essay – may have helped during the evaluation stage. This would have ensured that I would have spent more time on the structure of the evaluation. This may have made the points to work better together and to build to make a better analysis. By using Blogger, I sometimes do not think about what I am going to write before hand, and just start to write the post. This may have had a negative effect on how strong the post is.

Stroryboards

Before filming our horror teaser trailer, we storyboarded it. This allowed us to plan out each shot of the teaser so that we would know what shots were needed when we went to film. This allowed us to pay specific detail on the type of shots used, the type of edits used, the mise-en-scene and other aspects of cinematography.

Main product

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In the horror genre it it conventionally a killer, monster or something supernatural that takes on the role as the villain. The shot from our teaser trailer Skin Deep is very comparable to this shot taken from the My Bloody Valentine 3D teaser. The killer is only shown briefly in teasers to intrigue the audience. This keeps the killer mysterious and scary. Using the killer too often in a teaser would cheapen the shock of seeing the killer perhaps making them less scary. The audience should be left wanting to see more after viewing the teaser. Both of these killers are wearing masks to conceal their identities. This is very conventional for the horror genre as it makes the killer scary, mysterious and hidden. Not knowing who they are makes the film's events much more unpredictable. The mask should make the audience fearful of the villain and the character in the film would also be terrified of the killer. Both of these shots are extremely similar with nothing being seen past the killer, making the situation more mysterious and intriguing. The masks also have a large focus on the eyes helping to add to the scare factor.

The point-of-view shot from inside the car is very similar to one taken from The Hitcher (2007) teaser. Both shots are framed very similarly. The mise-en-scene for the Skin Deep shot involves a dark road. This is lit only by the car headlights creating interesting lighting and also connoting that the road is in "the middle of nowhere" as there are no streetlights. This is very conventional for horror as the genre is usually set in small suburban areas. This makes the audience question where the characters are and they expect something bad to happen as the setting looks deserted. The shot from The Hitcher is very similar by connoting that the characters are in the middle of nowhere. Less scenery is shown outside of the window screen creating a sense of mystery not knowing what is outside the car. The blue lighting also adds to the mystery as does the rain. While these two shots are slightly different they both achieve the same goal which is to leave the audience wondering where the characters are.

This shot from the One Missed Call teaser shows a close up of a phone message and is very similar to one that we used in our teaser. The use of a prop to help give important narrative information in the trailer keeps it different and interesting. These shots are only on screen for a brief time so that the audience can quickly get the needed information from them. These shots help create an enigma for the situation with the audience wanting to know who has contacted them. The killer contacting the victim through without physically talking to them helps to keep them mysterious. In the Skin Deep teaser this shot is used in a very quick sequence???with the following shots being very fast ending with the killer being seen and the car breaking to a stop. This creates excitement for the audience.

Towards the end of teaser trailers the title of the film is conventionally given. This is saved for the closing moments of the teaser so that the audience are intrigued into finding out what the film is called. The title of the film is usually given, so that the target audience who respond to the trailer will learn the name so that they can go and see it at the cinema. Howev, sometimes a title is not given to add more mystery. This intertitle from A Nightmare on Elm Street uses the same colour scheme as the one used in Skin Deep. Red against black is very common for horror as red contains connotations of blood, anger, danger etc. and black has connotations of the unknown, scary and is very dark. The use of red on black highly contrasts each other making the film title very visible to the audience. The Skin Deep font is very rounded and stylish and looks like blood  dripping. The A Nightmare on Elm Street one contains a blurry smudge also giving a blood like effect.

Saw VI contains a very similar shot of a car driving. In both of these shots the headlights are the main focus. This creates interesting lighting and also connoted night time. Horror is usually set in night as it is much scarier, mysterious and things can not be seen properly. A shot of a car driving creates an enigma as the audience do not know when in the film it is taking place so therefore they are left to wonder if it is the characters before they are tied up and tortured, or if it is after and they have escaped. In the Skin Deep teaser the driving shots create suspense showing the character in a dark scary environment with climatic the reveal of the killer being in the back.

This still is very similar to one taken from the Eden Lake teaser trailer.  Both show the film's "final girl" running through the forest/woods which is a typical setting for the horror genre. This very brief shot of the character running connotes the danger that she is in and that she is trying to escape. The depth of frame is utilized well (a key convention of the horror genre) with the killer being present in the background. The antagonist/villain/killer  is in the background in both the Skin Deep and Eden Lake shots. The mise-en-scene is practically the same in both shots. The gitl in the foreground, killer in the background with rows of trees/plants lining the path in the forest. The costume colour for both "final girl" are very similar with a white/light colour clothing to connote their innocence.

Both of these shot involve a character tied to a tree. Both have visible cuts on their face and have a very scared expression. The shots from the Skin Deep and Eden Lake teaser's are both close ups of the characters face from a weird angle. This is very conventional for horror trailers as it is disorientating. The character is likely to be tortured or to have already been due to the cuts. Shots of scared victims helps the audience to sympathize with them. It also helps to show how evil the killer is and to create a fear for them.

Extreme close-ups are very conventional shots for the horror genre. The use of an extreme close-up in a horror teaser is very common as it does not show where the character is or other important information that tells the audience what is happening. This is disorientating as the spectator do not know what is going on. This is an enigma to the audience as they would want to know more about the situation and to find out what is going on. It helps to create mystery and tension. The eye itself can show how a character is feeling as in the My Bloody Valentine 3D shot the pupil is looking off screen making the character look very scared and alluding to the fact that someone is there likely to hurt them. A close-up helps to identify with a character. Both shots have interesting lighting with the My Bloody Valentine 3D shot being heavily lit creating shadow and a high contrast. The Skin Deep one is lit to give shadow. The pupil is the focus of these shots.

This shot from My Bloody Valentine 3D's teaser is very similar to the shot from our teaser. Both of these shots include the killer standing in similar postures and dragging an axe. This introduces a murder weapon to the teaser to help make the killer appear as very dangerous. The killer is very small and seen from far away, This is to keep the killer as mysterious and to not over use them. It provides tension and suspense as the audience will want to know if/who/when it will be used against. Their identities are concealed to add mystery. Both wear very dark costumes and a mask. While the shots are in different locations the use of the shot serves the same purpose.

The teaser lasts approximately a minute. A longer theatrical trailer would be released sooner to the films release date. Teaser trailers are shorter as they want to tease the audience. The audience should be teased about the narrative, not getting all of the information. This should leave them wanting more. Keeping the trailer short is also good as it is more likely to hold the audiences attention that one that is 2 ½ minutes. Teasers are produced while the film is still in production. Therefore they can only put together a small collection of clips from the film, before the rest of the film is filmed.

For our teaser we chose to make it short for the reasons listed above. The audience learn several element of the narrative. The teaser provides the audience with the certain information. They learn that someone is driving their car and see a “killer” in their rear window. A text message is received reading “don’t look up”. This creates an enigma as to who sent it. Following this it cuts to people tied up in the woods. The audience do not know who these characters are and why they are tied up. They also do not know that there is a connection to the person who is driving the car. The intertitles “beauty is only skin deep” and “a knife goes in deeper” hint at the fact that beauty will come into question in the film. Shots from a modelling photo shoot are shown, containing both the person who drove the car, and someone who was tied to a tree in the woods. This establishes the connection between the female characters and links with the intertitles. As the photo shoot is contrasted with the same characters seriously injured, the audience should understand that the killer seen in the car is killing models.

Following this sequence more shots are shown from the film. This includes the main character running through the woods, close-ups of eyes, faces, hands and weaponry. The audience do not have details of how the character got into this position. They do not know if she had also been tied up, or if so, how she got free. They do not know how the girl who we see in a series of close-ups got to be tied up and injured. Although they can guess that the killer is responsible. The weapon also adds an enigma as the audience will wonder if the killer uses it on the characters. As no dialogue is present it adds a further enigma as to what is going on and what the characters are thinking.

Overall I feel that we included just enough narrative elements to tell the audience what the film will be like. However we saved much information from then so that they would want to watch the film to fill in the gaps. The audience should want to find out if/how the characters escape and who the identity of the masked killer is.

Intertitles were used in the teaser. There are two near the beginning. This includes a sentence that is fragmented across two different intertitles. The first reads “beauty is only skin deep”. This is a well known phrase and gives the first hint to the model characters. The second reads “a knife goes in deaper”. This puts a twist in the phrase. There are several shots in between these intertitles. The intertitles really help this sequence, providing information about what is happening, and carry the audience along into the story.

Sound was very important for the teaser. A slow and mysterious score is used during the car sequence. This creates the dark and mysterious mood, taking the audience into the diegesis. A loud “boom” sound effect is used when the killer is first seen by the character. This is designed to make the audience jump/scared, and also show the panic of the character. Screeching breaks are then used to tell how quickly the character stops the car in fear. Sound effects are placed on top of the photo shoot scene. This was the sound of a camera “clicking” noise. The effect works with the shot to ensure that the audience know that a photo is being taken, and that the shot isn’t just randomly freezing. The non-diegetic music during the rest of the teaser is slightly different. The music is a little faster, and uses repeated notes. This pairs with the more exciting part of the teaser where the character is running through the woods, while still keeps the tone the earlier parts had. More sound effects and “booms” are used to gather excitement and pace. It is used as a build up to the eye closing close-up.

A protagonist is clearly established. This is due to amount of screen time the character portrayed by Fern Anderson is given in the teaser. The character receives a lot of close-ups and also point-of view shots.

Our group idea

Ria, a typical teenage girl from the small town of lowestoft, was spending the evening at her boyfriend's house. At about half midnight, Ria decided it was time to leave as they both had to be up early that morning. She said her goodbyes, got in her car, turned her music up and began her 25 minute journey home. She was singing away and tapping her thumbs on the the steering wheel when something in her rear-view mirror caught her eye. Her head sparply turned towards it and she had a closer inspection, nothing was there. She shook it off and carried on driving. Wary of what she saw, she turned down her music. As she drove along the deserted, dark roads, she could feel soft, warm air blowing her hair forward on the right hand side of her face. She frantically checked that all of the windows and doors were fully shut, they were. She couldn't understand where this warm air was coming from, she turned her music off. She began to hear faint sounds of someone breathing near her head. She inhaled deeply through her nose, her eyes widened and she pulled over immediately. She got out of the car straight away without even turning behind her to look in the backseat, she turned off the ignition and slammed the door. She figured if there was something or someone in her car that she would be able to see them through the window, and at least then she would be outside of the car. Her palms sweating, she looked closely through the window, she saw nothing, she opened the boot, she saw nothing. She slammed the boot shut and looked back along the road she had driven down, she put her hands on her hips as she breathed a sigh of relief. Before she knew it, she heard her engine start, she whipped around and watched her car be driven into the woods nearby. In a desperate attempt to get her precious car back and without further thought, she found herself sprinting as fast as she could after her car. The ground was bumpy and uneven and as she tried to keep up with the car she stumbled. She didn't give in, she could hear the sound of her cars engine so she knew it wasn't far away. She thought maybe the driver had freaked out, left the car and ran off, why could she still hear the car? As she got closer the car got louder and she could see the headlights peering through the branches. She finally got to her car and was horrified at what she saw and was possibly about to happen to her.

This idea was based upon the idea written by a group memeber and we have decided to develop it further. The idea developed as we worked on it as a group. The develops included that a killer has some kind of obsession with models. This turns to him abducting, torturing and killing them. The need to kills models is likely due to some repressed sexual memories, with models displaying a sex symbol. The protagonist is driving their car when they are abducted by the killer. While in the woods she finds several of her friends tied up and some dead. She tries to escape the killer who chases her through the woods with an axe. The killer has several modelling pictures of them and is seen touching them inappropriately and invading their personal space.

What are the key conventions of the horror genre?

Horror is a popular genre of film. Within this gene there are many sub-genres. These include “slasher”, where a serial killer slashes his victims. Monster movies and creature flicks where the antagonist is a monster/creature probably fictional. A sub-genre referred to as “torture-porn” is also common. In these films the victims are brutally and graphically torchered attempting to shock the audience with violence and gore. The genre horror brings with it a list of well know conventions. However one single horror film cannot contain all the conventions.

There are many conventional themes in horror. One is that there are usually binary opposites for example good Vs evil. This is usually the protagonist Vs the antagonist. Freud coined a term “the Return of the Repressed”, the idea of a painful memory being blocked out by the mind. Return of the repressed is a popular theme in horror as it makes the audience question what was so bad that it has to be blocked out and creates and enigma code. The film Halloween uses this as the antagonist cannot remember his childhood. The hidden evil inside is a conventional theme as the antagonists are usually evil. Science being out of control is also a theme mainly due to the audiences fear post WW2 following an atom bomb being dropped in Hiroshima, Japan. This caused a distrust in science particularly in the 1940s-50s.

The setting is a very important convention, haunted places, grave yards, cellars, attics and other creepy places to scare the audience are often used. The communities are usually small and isolated to give a disconnected feel. The time of day is usually night time to give a dark atmosphere. At night time things cannot be seen well making it easy for the villain to hide and jump out making the audience jump. Houses in horror films usually contain many floors. These include a dark and creepy cellar, different floors and attics. This allows for a killer to enter a house and have a lot of room to hide in. Having many floors is also important when a killer is chasing a “final girl”. This allows the fight to take place on many different floors keeping and gives the victim enough room to run and hide in.

A house with several levels is typical of horror films - specifically slashers. This is so that the victim can be chased about their house by the killer.

Horror has many character types. The protagonist is the victim/hero of the narrative. The antagonist is the villain/murdered/monster of the narrative. In slasher movies there is usually a final girl. This girl is usually morally righteous and watches her immoral friends be killed off. She makes it to the end of the film and then defeats the antagonist or dies. In the film Psycho the audience are lead to believe that a certain character is to be the final girl only for them to be killed during the movie. The law/police are unable to do their jobs as they cannot compete with the monsters/very dangerous killer.

A killer from the film Friday the 13th.

A ‘final girl’ is usually virginal, and wears white costume. This contrasts with the darkness of the genre, signifying that she is good and the protagonist. The audience are positioned to side with the victims, feeling sorry for them. The audience are also placed into the point-of-view of the murderer sometimes, however this only highlights further how disturbed the character is. The killer in a horror film is usually mysterious. Their identity is usually hidden. Masks and other costumes are usually worn to make them scarier and mysterious. The killer is not overexposed in the start part of the film, to have a greater impact when it is finally shown in its entirety.

Technical code plays a large role in the forming of horror. POV shots are very common from the final girl to identify with the protagonist. They are also common from the antagonist especially when gazing at the victims. This puts the audience in a voyeuristic position as they are seeing into the mind of killers something they would not do. Depth of frame is used well with protagonists in the foreground and the killer lurking behind them. ECUs are common to scare the audience as they do not know where the certain shot is taking place. It can also invade personal space. Camera work is expressive using weird high and low angles. Editing usually includes jump cuts for example form long shots to extra close ups for sudden change making the audience jump. An increase in editing speed may make the audience think that something is about to happen. Lighting is often from low angles to create creepy shadows. This plays about with the type of lighting people are used to as most light usually comes from above (such as the sun). Close-ups also help to show emotion of the character’s if it is of their faces. For example a close-up of someone screaming is used to show how scared the character is and how dangerous the situation is. Sudden extreme-close-ups on the killer/monster are often used to add shock value. These invade personal space. Handheld camera is often used for point-of-view shots. This places the audience into the eyes of the characters, so that they see what they see, and think what they think. Clover notes that this usually changes from the killer’s POV to the final girl as the narrative progresses. This is audience identification. The audience are supposed to identify with the victims and feel sorry for them.

Final girl in foreground with killer further behind to utalise the depth of frame.

Depth of frame is very important in horror. This allows the killer to be hiding in the background, with the victim in the foreground unaware of this presence. It helps to add the mystery to the killer and to display the danger that the victim is in. Focus pulls can be used to suddenly focus on the killer/monster and shock the audience. Editing usually includes jumping from long shots to close-ups. With no medium shots to ease the transition, it is more shocking and unexpected. A close-up of a killer can be very shocking. A sound effect may accompany this edit (such as a “bang” or “boom”) to add further to the shock. The pace of editing is also usually increased even when there is not apparent threat, so that the audience wonder what is going on and to add suspense. Other sound effects are often added such a heavy breathing. This can often be off-screen to make the audience wonder what is out there. Footsteps are also very common and they display the killer creeping about. This adds to the idea that the killer is there watching even when he is not seen.

Visual signifiers are very important for the genre. Iconography is also important. The colours black and red are the most common in horror. Black has connotations of darkness, the unknown, night etc. Red has connotations of blood, evil, anger, danger etc. Lighting is very low key and high contrast to highlight shadows. Lighting from below is different from the usual ambient lighting. Light from below can indicate hell. There are many objects in the mise-en-scene for example props including weapons, ghosts and moving objects. Weapons such as knifes, axes, guns etc. are used by the killer. This gives them something dangerous to use and to injure the character with. Close-ups of only the weapons can also be frightening as the audience fear for how it will be used.

The trailer for The Strangers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1TBlPelvbE) displays many key conventions of the horror genre. It is set in a house in the middle of nowhere. Depth of frame is utilised at 0:47 seconds. At 1:36 a close-up of a knife is used. This leads the audience to speculate how it will be used.

Todorov’s ‘the classic realist Hollywood structure’ includes: (1) an enigma, path to resolution and closure or (2) hero, agent of change, quest, resolution and closure. The horror genre can also be seen to take this form however there are obviously some exceptions. “False-closure” is often provided to make the audience think that things are resolved and then have another shocking moment. The actual closure is often left ambiguous so that the audience are unsure of what has happened and to keep the mystery of the monster, and to allow for a sequel to take place. Propp’s character roles can also be applied. A protagonist is present (such as a ‘final’ girl’ in the slasher sub-genre). An antagonist al also present (such as a monster in a monster movie sub-genre). Horror used the return of the repressed on many occasions. This allows for a character to have repressed memories, such as a childhood trauma, as a key motivation for killer’s actions. It as also thought that watching horror allows for people to live their ‘inner monster’ as they are often in the point of view of the killer.

Audience Research

Are you male or female?

Male- 14
Female- 14

Do you like Horror?

Male

Yes- 11
No- 3

Female
Yes- 7
No- 7

Overall

Yes- 18
No- 10

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What type of Horror do you like?
 
 

What setting do you like?

The results to the "other" were warehouses and abandoned buildings.

From this we learned that the majority of horror fans are male. Slasher and torture sub-genres were the most popular. We will therefore choose one of these sub-genres. Forrest was the most popular setting among the target audience sample. This will be the setting we will choose as it is popular.