Preliminary Task

FINAL PRODUCT - The Slender Man.

Here is my final product. The Slender Man opening scene.

EVALUATION - Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Underneath are both my preliminary task and my final piece.

The main part of the preliminary task was to show that you can create a match on action and shot reverse shot. As you can see from mine I have done this well. When the boy opens the door the camera turns to the other side without you hardly noticing which I think is very successful. However, I think the shot reverse shot could have been better as an effect was added making the shots look not as good.

After doing this preliminary task I decided to take on what I had learnt from it and try to make it work in my piece. Firstly, I have used a match on action at 0:51 where the girl opens the door. I think that this was not as good as it could have been as when it gets to the second shot of the door the handle looks like it's not at the same level, making the pace of the shot seem a little uneven. Another example of using a match on action in my piece is at 1:30 where she closes the door. I think this example is a lot better and is very smooth and keeps the shot flowing.

As my piece didn't have any two characters talking to each other I wasn't able to use shot reverse shot very well. However I was still able to use it. At 0:53 where the girl is looking up the stairs you firstly see her from the front as she calls upwards then after a couple of seconds the shot is then from behind her, over her shoulder. I think this worked well as could lead the audience to believe that she is talking to someone, but when you see the next shot you realise no one is there.

EVALUATION - Question 6

What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Underneath is a prezi that I created showing you all the different programs I used and the processes I made.

EVALUATION - Question 6 on Prezi

EVALUATION - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I have used many features that you would often find in a real film to try and attract/address my target audience such as...

~I used an actress of the same age as the target audience for the opening sequence so as they can relate to it, making them feel as if if they were in her position what would they do?

This is a good way to attract your target audience because if they see something or someone that they could imagine themselves doing or being then they will feel a connection with it, making them feel involved.

~The location of where it is set is very homey, making the target audience feel comfortable within it.A place which may look a lot like their own homes.

This is another good way to attract the target audience as they will firstly feel all warm to the idea that it is happening in a place just like their own but then this target age has a need to be scared and so knowing that something bad is going to happen in a place just like their own will be a thrill for them as they may feel that it could also happen to them.

~The sounds and music are very jumpy, adding to tension being built throughout the scenes.

This is also good because, as I have already said, the audience that has been targeted love being scared so if they hear jumpy music and can feel tension being created they will be sucked in as these are all things they've seen in other horror films so they know what to expect.

EVALUATION - Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My media product would have a rating of 15, meaning that it would only be suitable for those older than that age. I think this would be best because there will be many scenes of horror, but not enough gore or strong language to make it an 18.

I think the main audience for my film would be from around 14-20 year old's as this age group are ones who tend to enjoy watching films together and will enjoy the tension and like to get scared easily. I think this age group would also be good as from doing research I found out that these are the ones who tend to go to the cinema the most as it is something where they can go out and do in a group or just as two.

I showed my media piece to a group of 14-20 year old's and this was the response

'Very scary, made me jump and I love the tension built up'

'Understood the story line, which I think is a good twist on a normal babysitting horror. Maybe the end was a bit comical?'

'I thought it was very effective, good job, I think the story line really played out'

'I loved it! I loved the twist and it was very scary! When the girl was going outside I was shouting 'don't go out there!''

I also received some comments on my video on Youtube.

I agree with all these comments and think that they are understandable.

I also looked up the statistics on my Youtube video to see what type of audience I was getting from my film.

From this you can see that the main audience is female 13-17 year olds, then female 18-24 and then female 35-44. You can also tell from the map that it is very big in America and United Kingdom and also a little bit in Australia, Canada and China.

EVALUATION - Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

After doing a lot of research, I believe that Paramount Pictures would be interested in distributing my media product.

They are an American film and tv production/distribution company who distribute a wide range of genres from children films to horrors. I took a closer look into the genre of my film to find out how successful these types of films have been whilst being distributed by Paramount pictures.

From looking into this genre I found out that some of the films were distributed through Paramount Pictures smaller company, DreamWorks Pictures.

Firstly I found The Ring. The ring is a film based around a tape which, if watched, will kill you 7 days later. In this film we see a woman and her daughter trying to find the real meaning of this tape and trying not to be killed by it. This film was very successful and won many awards as well as much success in the box office opening a way forward for American remakes of Japanese films.

Next I researched into the franchise, Friday The 13th. These are all distributed by Paramount Pictures and were obviously very successful as they were able to make 11 films after the first one. It is known to be the most-profitable slasher film in cinema history.

From this research I have done I have come to a conclusion that I think either Paramount Pictures or DreamWorks Pictures would be interested in my film as it is like some of the films they have already distributed and I think that it would make as much success for them as the films they have already created.

EVALUATION - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

On the left I have a picture of the girl in my opening scene, and on the right I have the girl from the opening scene of Scream 4.

A big part of these films is the representation of girls, especially teenage ones. I tried to recreate this image that they are given in my piece so that it was obvious what kind of film it was.

One main aspect of the representation is having blonde hair. Blonde girls have a stereotype of being 'bimbos' meaning that they are very dumb and clueless. This is very effective when in the opening scene of a horror film because you know that they will be killed as you know their type and you know they will do all the stupid things like follow the bang, or go upstairs in the dark.

Another main aspect is the fact that they are teenagers. This is used because teenagers are often known as not really fully grown yet and maybe a bit immature. This is also used because teenagers are most likely to become scared more easily than older people if they hear noises or see something peculiar. However, there is the other kind of teenager who think that they are smarter than they really are and may act more confidant and not scared when they are. This adds even more effect to a horror opening scene because you know that they are fighting for their life and you see them fall apart.

Makeup on these girls is always neutral, as if she is just at home doing nothing. This also gives off the idea of innocence, that they are not fake and are real people who don't really deserve to die.

I tried to recreate the outfit that I have seen in many other horror films on the girl in mine. I did this by giving her normal dark wash jeans, which as you can see, are very like the girls in Scream 4. I then decided to give her a plain coloured tank top as these as very common within the age group and genre but I added a jumper over the top to show that it was cold. I think that I recreated the outfit very well as the girl in my film looks like she could play this role in a real horror opening scene. However, the only thing I didn't do was give her any earrings which are also big within horror films, as you can see, in Scream 4 the girl has big dangly earrings as this represents the age group even more.

EVALUATION - question 1

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

Watch the video above, and click on different pictures to see information about that shot.

Once you've clicked on a picture, click on the screen again to get rid of the boxes. When you have finished with that picture click where it says 'click to go back' and then once it's back to all nine pictures click on the screen again to get the boxes back to pick another picture.

FINAL take.

In my final take I decided that I needed to make it clearer what was going on, so when 'The Slender Man' Passes the door I decided to add an effect which looked like a white light go across the window. This added more effect as you are now drawn towards the window from this light, wondering what is out there. I then decided to make the music more dramatic giving them more tension as he walks up the stairs and gets to the child's door. I also changed the ending with the pictures of the slender man making them slower so you can really tell whats going on and I made a fake newspaper article that said on it 'Child missing, slender man' making the audience fully aware that this film is about children going missing and people finding out that it's all to do with the slender man.

5th Take.

In my fifth take I have decided to start adding some music to create suspense and changed the ending even more. I changed it by taking out the sequences and adding in pictures of the Slender Man and missing children. I did this because I was told by people who had seen it that they didn't really understand what was going on and so I needed to add something to let them know that a child has gone missing and it is the slender man hat has taken him.

7th take.

In this take I decided to change the font of the opening titles and main title itself as they seemed a bit comical and not suitable for a horror film. I then added some more music and sounds throughout the film to create more tension because without it it seemed dull and boring, as if nothing was really happening. After making this take I realized you still are not to sure what is happening.

6th take.

In this sixth take I have added the credits to my piece. These are just a plain white text at the start whilst the action is taking place. I have also changed the song at the end of the opening sequence as the one that I already had didn't sound right and maybe a bit comical? So instead I decided to just add some piano and strings as these seem to create tension very well. another thing that I changed is I took out one lot of pictures that I had put in because it didn't make sense and made it a lot longer than it was needed to be.

4th Take.

In my fourth take I decided to start adding some sound to my film and created a voice over for the other line of the phone call. This firstly didn't sound right as it sounded to loud as if it wasn't coming from the phone but I messed about with it and now it sounds a lot better. I also put in the bangs in that she hears at the start of the film. I changed the ending a little bit by taking out a sequence but it doesn't still seem right to me.

3rd Take.

In my third take I have not edited any of the parts I have already created and have now finished the whole film as a rough. I think it all flows really well until it gets to the scene in the little girls room which doesn't really make sense as of yet and doesn't really fade into the opening title very well. I am very happy of the match on action I have created when opening and closing doors so far and hope that I can make the rest of it up to that standard.

2nd Take.

During my second take of editing I decided to shorten the long opening scene as it was far too long. I then decided to cut the scene going through the window as planned in the first take. In my second take I also made the film a bit longer and created it up to after the girl has been outside and has rushed back into the house as she couldn't see anything. This is all I have got up to so far and it seems to be flowing a lot better than the first take.

1st Take.

My first take on editing. This was only a rough take on the first minute. In this video I had just put the clips that I had created together, not very well edited, to get an idea of how they will go together properly. After watching this I was able to see that trying to make the camera go through the window would be very hard to do and decided to scratch that idea. I also realised from this video that the second clip that is aimed at the girl is very unstable and doesn't look right so I decided that I needed to sort that out and maybe use other shots instead.

Filming.

I filmed my whole piece on Tuesday 21st February. I filmed it all once it had got dark so I had to be very careful with the lighting. However, I thought once I had filmed these shots that the lighting wasn't as good as it should be. I decided to check them out on Sony Vegas to see how they looked and in the end I thought that they would be fine as there is just enough light to see everything that is happening without adding to much which would make it look happier.

Slender Man Song Copyright

I asked the owner of the Slender man song if I could use his song for my film and he replied saying it was ok as long as I credited him for it. Above is the email from me asking about it and his reply.

Shot List

1st shot: Long short, pans slowly into building and turns slightly to focus on girl

2nd shot: Medium shot of side of girl

3rd shot: long shot of front of girl

4th shot: close up of her face (when bang)

5th shot: Long shot, girl walks from chair to door

6th shot: medium shot of behind her, goes into close up of door nob.

7th shot: long shot door opens, girl comes out

8th shot: medium shot of girl at bottom of stairs, camera looking down at her slightly

9th shot: long shot, looking up stairs

10th shot: Long shot from top of the stairs looking down at girl

11th shot: Medium shot from side of girl as she shrugs

12th shot: medium shot of girl at bottom of stairs, turning away

13th shot: long shot, girl walks through door

14th shot: long shot of her looking out window follows her round

15th shot: carried on from other shot over the shoulder of girl sees a shape in window

16th shot: close up of girls face, slowly moves sideways

17th shot: back over her shoulder, sees figure move

18th shot: close up of girl end call

19th shot: close up of sofa where phone lands

20th shot: long shot of girl walking towards camera then camera follows her round to see shes walking towards door

21st shot: close up of door handle

22nd shot: long shot sees girl come outside, goes round behind her to see nothing there

23rd shot: long shot of her going back into the door quickly

24th shot: medium close up of her locking the door, focuses on her face when she hears bang

25th shot: long shot follows her walk towards the other door out to the bottom of stairs

26th shot: long shot of her at bottom of stairs

27th shot: long shot, looking down on her as she starts climbing stairs

28th shot: close up of feet

29th shot: long shot behind her, looking upwards

30th shot: long shot, walking up towards the camera, becomes medium shot of her

31st shot: long shot of her, follows her round to door

32nd shot: close up of door nob

33rd shot: long shot of window (followed on from close up of door nob)

34th shot: long shot girl walks towards camera

35th shot: medium shot of girl bend down pick up toy

36th shot: close up POV of toy

37th shot: close up of note fall to floor

38th shot: Medium shot of girl as she bends back down to pick up note

39th shot: carried on to long shot of girl and people behind her

40th shot: close up of note

41st shot: long shot turns round as the girl turns round, moves behind the girls head then on out into the window

Slender Man Screenplay: Rough Plan

Underneath is my first version of a screenplay for my film that I am making. If you click on the picture below it will make it bigger. This screenplay doesn't include the opening titles, which I will probably be putting over the opening scene, depending how long this scene is.

If this scene ends up being shorter than expected I will make an extra bit which will consist of different pictures and articles of the slender man, slowly panning over them all with a fire and old effect, whilst one of the slender man songs will be playing. It will be like the video underneath but will have titles over it.

Distribution

Who would distribute your film and why? Research into a real distribution company.

Below is my research on Distribution companies.

EVALUATION - Question 3 on Prezi

Location

Photos/props/ costume organisations

Props:

Mobile phone - For the main character to be talking on

Toy - To be in the childs room, one that looks like it would be something a child would love but somthing that a note could fit in.

Pice of paper (note) - For the main character to pick up and read.

Location:

It will be set in a normal looking 3 bedroom home. One that looks like it is part of a nice, family friendly neighbourhood. The house will look like an ordinary modern home, but will also look like a family home, and it needs to seem like a little child lives there.

Costumes:

Teenage girl: Ordinary girl, wearing a jumper, uggs and plain black jeans. her hairs sort of scruffy, not all in place and blonde. Wearing make up but not too much.

Mother: Wearing a smart top and trousers with heels. hair is all neat and wearing make up and strong coloured lipstick.

Slender man: All dressed in black, can only see his hands.

First Idea Plan

Rough Plan

The film will start with an outside shot of a window, it's raining, and inside you see an ordinary 17 year old girl sitting on a sofa just watching television and talking on the phone. This shot then gets closer to the window, and goes through the window and focuses on the girl. When the camera is outside all you can hear is rain and wind but as the camera goes through the window you can then hear the girl talking on the phone and the television in the background. The girl is talking to her friend on the phone when you hear a loud bang. The girl gets up and walks to the bottom of the staircase and shouts up to the child she is babysitting. When she gets no response she lets it go and she then walks back into the room she was in where she sees a shadow in the window, she gets closer to it but after 3 seconds it moves quickly away. She starts feeling worried and tells her friend theres someone outside and has to go. She goes back out to the hallway and picks up an umbrella and opens the door to look outside to see who was looking in through her window. When she looks outside she sees no one there. Then there is another loud bang upstairs. she keeps hold of the umbrella and starts walking up the stairs, shouting up to the child. The tension is building up till she gets to the room the child is supposed to be in. She then opens the door of the room and screams, causing the audience to think something bad is about to happen to her. The camera then turns round focusing on the room. The child is not in there and there's blood on the floor next to a little toy that the child had been holding. When she picks up the toy a note falls out, saying upon it Slender man...he knows you...now. Behind her you then hear a gasp and a scream, She turns around and the parents are there. This then fades out to black and the title The Slender Man comes up.

Slender Man Songs.

As a film needs to have sound and music I decided to search online for songs that would fit the idea of the slender man. I searched on youtube and found these two songs that I thought would go very well.

This first song is very dark and mysterious sounding and I think it would sound great over opening titles leading in and out of the first scene.

Here is another song that I found that is all about the slender man. This song is strange as it makes it seem all happy about the slender man which is not what people really think of him. I think this song would be good to hear in a scene as it'll make it feel creepy because this is all happy yet something bad is happening.

Both of these songs are just ones that people have created themselves so because of copyright I am going to ask for permission from the creators to use these songs in my film.

ScreenPlay

Here is the screenplay for John Carpenters horror Halloween.

A screen play is a written piece that is used for a film or television programme. It is most commonly written in the way that one page is equal to one minute of screen time. It consists of everything that is going to happen in each scene. It tells you mainly the action that is happening and the dialogue.

Slender Man Idea

THE SLENDER MAN

The slender man is an alleged paranormal figure which is said to have been in existence for centuries and has been known to be in many different areas across the world.

Appearance

There are many different descriptions on the way the slender man looks but the main aspects that they all consist of is a tall man, wearing a black suit and having no face, no hair, just an egg shaped head. He is also said to have many extra limbs which can be hidden and that he uses for mobility or as a weapon.

Here is a video documentary i found on youtube about different sightings and a closer look into what the slender man is.

I think that the slender man is a really good idea for a film and I am surprised that it hasn't already been done. This has given me some ideas.

Instead of having a normal horror film where theres a babysitter and she gets killed by some stranger with a knife, I have an idea that it looks like the slender man is going to kill her, so the audience thinks that its just like a usual horror film but instead she goes upstairs and finds out that the child she was looking after has been taken by the slender man as the child is gone and theres a message from the slender man and blood.

How to market to your target audience..

The easiest way to market a film to its audience is to pick the perfect time within a year to release it. The best time to release a horror film is october as october is the month that holds halloween and so the audience will be in the mood to watch a horror film them relates to the same sort of mood.

To market the film 'saw 3' they created a whole musical evening inspired by the soundtrack of the film. It featured bands such as Helmet and The Smashup. Shawnee Smith, who starred in all three saw films was part of the show along with appearances from other cast members. There was also a saw museum created for the event and a fan club that people could then join to get early access, meet and greets with cast members and goodie bags. This was a good idea to market the film. Since the saw films there has been even more success including The Saw Ride and maze in the theme park Thorpe Park.

Research into target audience

In 2010 there was 31 horror films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The top title of that year was Paranormal activity 2. Only 5.3 % of the box office is usually horror films. The average age group that a horror film would have is 18 such as saw 3d but only 3.4% of the gross box office has this age rating, therefore showing that not many horror films are released in the cinema and its mainly only the big named ones that do. However, the most popular horror film to be released that year was actually a 15. I think that this was successful as most horrors are usually an 18 so for them to make it a 15 the target audience would be a little bit younger making it more successful as more people would go and watch it. You will not get a horror film that has a younger age rating than 15. This is because it is a horror film, meant to scare and creep people out therefore it is not suitable for people younger. Out of the top 10 '18' classified films there was 2 horror films and in the '15' band there was just one. This shows that there isn't really many horror films but when there is they are very successful in whichever band they are in.

From doing some research online I have found out that horror is just a genre that never gets old and it has the highest rate for risk/reward ratio in the movie industry. They also have lower budgets than other genres but still often enjoy box office success and video/DVD sales without having to fork out for major stars. They have a loyal audience, mainly in the area of 18-35 year old males.

Still Frame Analysis

Shot 1: Medium shot of teenage girl, she moves from right to the left side of the screen. Looks like a normal kitchen at night and the girl has just made herself a drink and as she moves she goes to take a sip of her drink. When she gets to the left a light of a Tv is reflected into the window, she stops and looks frightened. She slowly brings her glass down from her mouth.

Shot 2: Close-up of her face turning round looking very afraid and frightened. girl goes of the screen to the right.

Shot 3: long shot looking into a hallway, a white double door straight in front of the camera. Slowly pans round to see a Tv on. Camera keeps going round so you can see all the decoration of the living room.

Shot 4: Medium shot, looking slightly upwards towards the girl, shes standing on the right and theres a wall next to her. She looks around looking confused. She then moved forwards towards the camera so its a close-up of her face.

Shot 5: Close-up of a leather sofa with a remote control for what we presume the Tv.

Shot 6: Medium shot of girl she bends down to pick up the remote and then points it slightly left of the camera.

Shot 7: Quick close-up of the Tv as it turns off.

Shot 8: Back to the medium shot of girl as she drops the remote. She then walks back the way she came from. When she gets back to the wall that she was leaning on you can see the reflection of the Tv back on the window and she stops walking, hesitating. She slowly turns back round and it starts to pan closer to her. It pans all the way to a medium shot and shes shouting. She then moves closer to the camera again then runs straight past it.

Shot 9: close-up from the side of the Tv, the girl runs straight to it and puts her head right next to it. She then looks really frightened and goes round to the back of the Tv.

Shot 10: Close-up of the plug socket as she pulls it out.

Shot 11: Back to the close-up of the Tv as it turns off. It turns round to her looking at the Tv. The camera then turns around at the same time as the girl to look at some windows which lead to the kitchen.

Shot 12: Close up of the girls face, shows the fear she is feeling. She slowly walks past the camera.

Shot 13: Medium shot of a doorway, the girl slowly makes her way up to the door way, looking towards the camera she stays there hesitating.

Shot 14: Long shot of the kitchen, the fridge door opening on its own.

Shot 15: Back to a medium shot of the girl, walks towards camera again

Shot 16: Back to long shot of the kitchen, the girl runs straight over to the fridge

Shot 17: Close up of her slamming the fridge door back shut. It stays, focusing on her as she turns around slowly. This then turns into a long shot as it focuses on the background and the doorway behind her.

Shot 18: Long shot looking down a staircase. Girl slowly comes round the corner on the left and looks upwards towards the camera. This makes her seem vulnerable and small in comparison to what ever is upstairs. She moves slowly towards then stairs, then runs up them.

Shot 19: Close up of the staircase from the side, see her feet running up the stairs.

Shot 20: A close up of a hallway, you see what coming from a door on the left and then it focuses on the background, see the girl at the end of the hallway. The girl moves slowly down the hallway, coming towards the camera.

Shot 21: Close up of girls face, looking very frightened.

Shot 22: Close up of a door nob, see her hand coming into focus to grab the handle.

Shot 23: Back to the close up of the girls face.

Shot 24: Long shot of what looks like a normal teenagers room, the door bursts open and you see the girl just stand, staring into the camera.

Shot 25: A close up of the television, showing an old fashioned looking tape, black and white with a picture of a well in a field. This zooms out so you see it's in a room.

Shot 26: Goes back to the girl, her face now shocked and her mouth open wide. This quick zooms in on her face to a close up, her face has changed and gone all green and scary looking.

Shot 27-34: Same effect as on the television, lots of different clips put in at about 6 per second, different things like an edge of a house and a ladder.

Shot 35: Lastly, there is just the fuzzy effect you see on a television, like the girl saw earlier on on her own television.

Conventions of horror genre

Main Character Types

In a horror film there will always be a main character who will be the victim/hero. They tend to be the person that the villain is after and in the end they are normally the ones who kill or capture the villain. The hero/victim also tends to be a women who doesn't seem normal and will always have a story behind her either adopted, parents killed when younger or maybe that she killed someone but she will have a story and that's why the villain wants to kill her. By the end of the film she finds these things out, becomes stronger and kills the villain.

The villain, who tends to be either a monster, mutilated freak, alien or serial killer normally has some sort of grudge against the victim/hero who won't rest until they have killed them and don't care who else gets in their way whilst trying to do that. There is also the type of villain who was bullied when they were younger, or has had something bad happen to them which has made them that way. I found a good example of this in Texas Chainsaw Massacre where the killer and his family's town went bankrupt and so everyone else from the town left except from then and they had no way of making money so his family sent him out to kill people passing through the town for them to eat. The villain in this film also had a condition and so didn't really know what he was doing. The villains are also often men. However, in some films we find villains aren't just people but are fate or have some weird background such as films like final destination and the ring. In final destination the victims were meant to die in a plane crash but got off but fate won't let it be and kills them all off in the order they would have died on the plane. In the ring there is a tape and if you watch it 7 days later you will die. This film is abit more logical and you go through the process of one women trying to uncover the truth of this tape before she dies from it.

We then have a stupid teenager who gets killed by the villain so easily. These characters are helpless, think they are more powerful than they really are and mostly they are clueless. we see these characters alot in the start of the films such as in scream, where an innocent teen is just at home when she starts getting mysterious calls and in the end ends up dying as she can't cry out for help even though her parents are right in front of her.

Next we have creepy children, these children are always wise and you see them alot as the child of the main character such as the ring. In these films things happen to these children but they don't seem as scared of it all as the main characters and this leads them on to seems creepy and disturbing.

We then have a police officer who is trying to help the case but doesn't really know as much as the victim/hero or doesn't believe them. This person tries to help them out and sometimes in the end kills the villain when the victim/hero is trying to kill the villain but isn't quite able to. They are sometimes known as a second hero, who saves the victim/hero in the end. Sometimes there is a relationship them and the victim/hero but that is not always and when there is a relationship formed between two characters in a horror film one of them isn't always a police officer but has this role throughout the film where they are still trying to help the main character.

A typical villain with a typical prop. LeatherFace in texas chainsaw massacre.

The villain from scream on the left and Sidney Prescott the typical teenager and lead role who survives. Otherise known as the heroine.

Themes

In a horror film there is many different themes. Most common themes include:

.Lust

.Envy

.Suicide

.Insanity

.Revenge

.Religion

.Madness

.Nightmares

.Supernatural

.Beyond death

.Good versus evil

.Childhood issues

.Science gone mad

.Zombie apocalypse

Settings

Many settings that are used for horror films are all built around the thought of isolation and being alone. These include small communities, urban environments, dark streets, narrow alleyways, large cities and small ghost towns. There are many different places that can show this type of loneliness.

Another type is places with a dark history like abandoned or haunted houses, hotels, factories and insane asylums.

Setting for texas chainsaw massacre. A deserted town and a large, scary looking house.

Nightmare on elm street, setting is dark and mysterious revolving around your dreams and typical teenage life.

Technical Conventions

The camera work seems to come out as not very natural using high and low angles to connote fear and nightmares. It is also very common to find POV shots roughly at the end or about the middle of the film. You can find them when the monster is chasing the hero. These are very important as they allow the audience to see whats happening though the monsters eye. Handheld shots are also used. This is to make it difficult for the audience to really see whats going on giving them the impression of the unknown and making them feel terrified of what will happen next. Sometimes the framework is used, making it harder to see the monster creeping up behind it's victim. Close ups of the victims face are used to show the real horror and feelings that they are feeling, this is also used as you don't see the monster making it seem like more of a threat. The editing of a horror film can make tension and suspense. When the editing starts getting quicker you know something bad is going to happen soon. Non-diegetic sounds are also very common within a horror film such as footsteps and heartbeats as they make it seem disturbing.

Narrative structure

The most common ending for a horror film is that the hero tempts to kill the villain, thinks they have done it but in the end the villain gets away leaving it open for a sequel. Usually at the end the hero, who is usually a girl, has to go on some quest to kill the villain.

The most common horror storyline is that the villain had either a horrible childhood or went insane and after many years go back to their hometown and start killing teenagers. The teenagers represent stupidity, usually they start the horror in the first place or they just get killed quickly on the villains road to killing the hero who is usually the only survivor, most likely a female character.

Props

In horror films the visual style is always the same with dark colours, usually black and read which link to death, evil, blood and danger. Lighting is used in a non-natural way, using low light to express shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the darkness. Props are used to show that the film is in the horror genre. Specific props can be linked to a certain villain such as a chainsaw for the texas chainsaw massacre and a knife for scream.

Michael Myers from Halloween with his typical prop of a knife.

Continuity Edit: Practise

Halloween: Art of the title

Halloweens opening titles seem to be very simple but yet very effective. The plain black background is very specific because black is a very common colour to find in horror films as it normally signifies death and grief. The pumpkin, which you can hardly see apart from the orange flickering light inside, is very useful as pumpkins are always associated with halloween and so it gives a clear picture for the audience to understand what the film is about. The flickering light within the pumpkin is another point that shows this is a horror film because within many horror films they use this technique to show that danger is near and so by using this in the title sequence it is telling the audience that there will be danger and horror throughout the film. The dramatic, creepy non-digetic music adds even more to this effect as it seems to be very uncomfortable to the audience with the high pitched notes clashing together but then holds them in suspense with the long low notes.

In the opening titles the font ITC Serif Gothic is used. This font worked well because it is very bold and stands out. It also worked well because it seems very gothic and even though it's a bright orange colour the gothic look makes it feel very dark and mysterious. The orange colour matches the colour inside the pumpkin and when it gets darker the font colour gets darker too.

John Carpenter: Horror Director

John Carpenter is a American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and composer.

He is mostly known for his well known horror film Halloween (1978) His film Halloween was a smash hit and helped to create the slasher film genre. For this film Carpenter worked with a very low budget of $320,000 and the film grossed over $65 million which made it one of the most successful independent films of all time. Carpenter made Halloween more scary than gory like you see in newer horror films as it made the audience more afraid of the main character, Michael Myers. It is a film full of cheap tricks but this is why this made it such a successful horror.

The next horror film he created was The Fog (1980) which was a ghostly revenge tale that was inspired by horror comics. Carpenter found The fog to be very difficult and with the rough cut he was dissatisfied. He decided that it didn't meet his standards and decided to film more footage and approximately one third of the final film is newer footage. It had many problems and negative feedback but it still created gross of over $21,000,000 in the United States when the budget was only £1,000,000.

His next film was The Thing (1982) which is known for its high production values. It was made with a budget of $15,000,000, the largest amount John Carpenter had worked with up until that point and it was distributed by universal pictures. However, this film was called a box-office disappointment but once it was out on video it became very successful and is know known as one of the best horror films ever made.

In the late 80's many of Carpenters films starting becoming let downs and this caused him trouble as he was finding it harder to get financed for a film. This led him to create more lower budget films again such as Prince Of Darkness (1987)

His career became even worse in the 1990's as it was full of box office disappointments. In the 2000's he still made a couple of films and in 2007 Rob Zombie created a re-imagining of Carpenters Halloween and then two years later created a sequel.

In 2011 Carpenter said that he was working on a new gothic western movie, but didn't see it working out as western movies are not selling so well anymore.

From his Career John Carpenter has had many ups and downs, Seeing some failed movies and some great success. However, I think he will really only be known for being the creator of Halloween as this was his most successful and most known movie.

History of horror films!

The Gothic Tradition

The term horror was first used for Horace Walpole's 1764 novel, The Castle Of Otranto, a story full of supernatural happenings and mysterious melodrama. This started a craze, making many imitators into what they call gothic mode of writing. There then went on to be better writers such as Ann Radcliffe ( The Mysteries Of Udolpho) and Matthew Gregory Lewis (The Monk) who took the genre to new heights and suspense. The first great horror classic was Frankenstein, written in 1818 by Mary Shelley.

Nineteenth Century Masters

In the nineteenth century many great novelists tried their go at horror fictions, paying tributes to the gothic traditions. Many of the novelists included Emily Bronte with wuthering heights in gothic situations, Dickens with many ghost stories, Herman Melville with many supernatural elements and so did Nathaniel Hawthorne.

End Of The Century

Sigmund Freud began exploring into the human consciousness which made the literature take on a more psychological turn, taking a toll on the boundaries we call sanity. These stories consist of slow unravelling of the mind, so the reader is left to decide whether the causes are supernatural or psychological. H G Wells then went on to make science-themed novels which have elements of horror as well as fantasy. Then the great war came, causing horrors that none of these great minds could have conceived.

The First Horror Movies

The early horror films were surreal, dark pieces. However, they did not have the technology that they do today and so they didn't turn out as well as they'd like. Many of the early horror films are lost because of the fragile quality of film and so there is only three classics left on DVD.

The Golem ( 1915/1920)

There were several versions of this film, and it was known as the 'first monster movie'.

A golem is designed to save the ghetto, but when his job is finished he refuses to cease existing, and starts causing chaos but is eventually to be confronted and defeated by a little girl.

The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari (1919)

Also known as the 'granddaddy of all horror films'.

A man named Francis relates a story about his best friend Alan and his fiancée Jane. Alan takes him to a fair where they meet Dr. Caligari, who exhibits a somnambulist, Cesare, that can predict the future.
When Alan asks how long he has to live, Cesare says he has until dawn. The prophecy comes to pass, as Alan is murdered, and Cesare is a prime suspect.
Cesare creeps into Jane's bedroom and abducts her, running from the townspeople and finally dying of exhaustion.
Meanwhile, the police discover a dummy in Cesare's cabinet, while Caligari flees.
Francis tracks Caligari to a mental asylum.

Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu is the very first vampire film telling the normal story of Dracula. It is described as the vampire movie that actually believes in vampires and gives us a more frightening vampire they'd ever seen.

Horror films from 1930's - now

In the 1930's the horror movies started getting better as sound was introduced making the experience even better. Since then the horror movies have been getting better and better.

There has been remakes of the classics and even more psychological thinking added to make the audiences really get involved with the film.

During the 1940's horror films were cranked out by hollywood. They stuck with the same ideas that they knew and made variations of one theme. Within the 10 years from the 1940's- 1950's the horror genre had changed very much. As many people had their own horror stories through the war they needed to get new ideas that would scare people, creating new fantasy monsters including films such as Mutant madness and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.

In the 1950's the horror genre were dominated by the 'B' picture. These were budget films, made in a hurry and mostly aimed at teenagers which is shown through the names they used such as The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini. Also in the 1950's they started thinking about the ideas of outer space and aliens creating the idea of the unknown.

The 1960's saw a great change in what the audiences found horrible. They were used to explore new ways of perceiving sex and violence. They saw much more on-screen violence, nudity and other things that pushed society rules. They wanted to make the horror more believable, more realistic and more sophisticated.

Horror movies in the 1970's reflected on the grim mood of the decade, causing the society to go bad, making the horror films good. The big-budget films came back focused mostly on fears and society's problems.

In the 1980's special visual effects finally caught up with horror films and they were able to make less humanly figures making the monsters look much more realistic and different. However, they still remained to use the same types of monsters such as ghosts, werebeings and slimy things.

By the end of the 1980's horror films had become so reliant on gore causing the audience to be more shocked and amused rather than scared.

During the 1990's most horror films were decribed as thriller films as they didn't want to be associated or compared to them. They had seemed to run out of original ideas and started to make big budget remakes of older horror films and ideas such as Dracula and Frankenstein.

As September 11th 2001 came, it became very hard to sell horror films during that year and there were even calls to stop horrors to claim world peace. however, by 2005 horror films were even more popular than before. During the 2000's the monsters had to changed, from fate killing people in final destination to deseases spreading and causing zombies in films like 28 days later.

Thriller Opening

Here is a thriller opening I created as a practise. This didn't really work out as well as we planned because we didn't have the right props and didn't have enough to to edit as we didn't plan it all out very well. This showed me that when you are making a film you need to be ahead of it and make sure you know exactly what you are doing, making sure you save yourself time at the end just incase something goes wrong.