Me and Eve are ready to film this weekend :)
We have our time plan, which says we start filming at 7 and should be finished by 8! If this changes we will be ready to change our shooting schedule!
Our costumes are typical, as i am the murderer i will be dressed all in black - a long black coat, black trousers, some black shoes that make a noise when i walk (to add to the horror iconography), and maybe a hat to conver my face.
Eve will be wearing her normal attire as to look like a teenager, this will most likely involve a pair of jeans and a hoodie.
We intend to use natural lighting, as there is a large window that shines street light onto the landing, therefore we should be able to manage with just that. However, if this fails, we will use extra lamps, that are hidden, to provide a faint glow.
All our sound will be non-diagetic, this will be the song and music that plays through the opening and the line, 'I Found You' at the end. However, the only piece of sound which will come direct from filming, is the tapping of shoes as the Murderer walks across to the door, if this does not succeed we will enhance it during editing.
Friday, 30 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Shooting Schedule
This is mine and Eve's shooting schedule for the filming of our Film opening, after beginning to film we may change our schedule but we have allowed ourselves time to do each bit of filming.
Friday, 23 January 2009
Research for Horror Film
Me and My partner, Eve, have been looking for types of music that can add to the sinister opening of our film. We looked on the internet for different songs and came across the idea, from looking at other horror films, that it would be a good idea to include music that resembles that of fairground music. At the minute, we have not got a particular song, but are still searching.
To first of all figure out what genre of film we wanted to do, we set up a survey. We worked out who our target audience was and then applied a few genres to the question 'If you could make a film, what genre would it be in?'. We then asked them what kind of events they would like to be included in their film. The majority of people chose a comedy, thriller or horror. We then decided that it would be difficult to get across the point of a comedy in 2 minutes and felt strongly about doing a horror. We combined horror and thriller to make a hybrid-genre that we felt comfortable doing. We reviewed the examples of horror/thriller given to us and using other films as back-up, we came up with our plot.
To first of all figure out what genre of film we wanted to do, we set up a survey. We worked out who our target audience was and then applied a few genres to the question 'If you could make a film, what genre would it be in?'. We then asked them what kind of events they would like to be included in their film. The majority of people chose a comedy, thriller or horror. We then decided that it would be difficult to get across the point of a comedy in 2 minutes and felt strongly about doing a horror. We combined horror and thriller to make a hybrid-genre that we felt comfortable doing. We reviewed the examples of horror/thriller given to us and using other films as back-up, we came up with our plot.
Mine and Eve's Treatment for our Horror Film - 'I Found You'
This film is based around people paying for their sins – in this instance it is parents paying the price for neglecting their child, missing all 7 of his birthdays due to work commitments or just forgetting altogether. We can tell straight away that the film is going to be a horror due to the tension building music and iconography.
Throughout the first sequence, leading to the title, we can hear slow tempo music in the background – resembling that of a fairground. We can also hear a child’s song, being sung by a young girl, that is sung slowly until the close up of an eye at the end – the song is sung…’1, 2, I’m coming for you, 3, 4, better lock your door, 5, 6, pick up sticks, 7, 8, stay up late, 9 , 10, never sleep again’. The first shot we see is of the back of a house, where it appears that something or someone is lurking in the dark watching – from this angle, we see a young girl closing the curtains in a room and then turning the light off. From here the camera follows a shadowed figure to the door of the house, showing him creeping through doors to the lower landing. As he creeps up the stairs we see a shot of the young girl leaving the room – by a worm’s eye shot – she is a babysitter. As the figure enters the room, which later turns out to be a child’s room, the camera cuts to the babysitter in another room who can hear something happening. She is just about to leave the room to check on the child when she sees the figure walking out of the room; in a panic she closes the door. We are now viewing things from the figures perspective as he enters the room.
The babysitter is sat in a closet trying to contain herself, but can’t help but to breathe heavily. She can see the figure stalk past the slit in the door, then a loud bang is heard and the music slows down. Still from the babysitter’s perspective, we see the figure walk back and look through the slit. As he says ‘I found you’ there is a close up of his eye, through the door, then a cut to the main title – I Found You.
After the title sequence we see a car pull up to the house and two adults stepping out and approaching the house. They walk in to find the murderer sat in their living room waiting for them. He explains that he has taken their son and put him somewhere later to be revealed. He describes the hardship their son has faced due to their neglecting and tells them that they must par-take in 7 tasks if they are to see him again. As reasoning, the murderer decries how the parents have been neglecting their son for his entire life, missing all 7 of his birthdays – and for this they must pay.
The first task the murderer sets them on is to destroy all their technologies, because the source of all their problems lies within their being able to be contacted – they focus more on their work than on their child. To their horror, there is a bomb planted in the power line of the houses electric that, if they do not disable everything, will explode causing the house to burn and them along with it.
The second task starts to get a little more twisted as they are asked to skin their family dog alive. The dog receives more attention and love than the son and so by killing it, they are taking away the main distraction from their son. We see the parents hang their dog, by the legs, above a bath tub; where they skin him and drain all the blood – this task in particular takes the parents a long time to start and finish.
The third task is one that benefits the murderer. We see him ask the parents to cut open their son’s rabbit and re-stuff his insides with cocaine – the rabbit is a gift for their son after they forget his 4th birthday. We see them being forced to drive the rabbit to the airport and set it aboard a plane – all the time, the tasks are taking their tole on the parents and they already look as though they have been through a life time of struggles.
The fourth task is for the work-a-holics to torture and murder their boss, who has been bound and gagged in the boot of the parent’s car – much to their surprise. The murderer takes the parents and the boss down to the basement where he has set up a wheel, where the parents are forced to place their boss and spin him till he regurgitates. We then see them place him on top of a spike; they are then forced to pull on either side of him until he starts to move down the spike –screaming in agony. We do not actually see the death of the boss but are led to believe that he is dead due to the screams; cries of the parents then utter silence.
The 5th task they are to under-take is to cut up the babysitter the murderer killed and cook her. It is then served as a dish to them and we see them being forced to eat it all. The killer reasons that this is because the parents have never cooked a proper meal for their son or the babysitter when she has been round.
The penultimate task is not for them to do. The murderer brings in a very frightened paediatrician and takes him and the parents to the other end of the basement, where there are two chairs set up with retraining straps, next thing the audience sees is the murderer letting some form of gas go into the room then a fade out. During the fade we can hear mumbles and screams and sounds of people trying to get free. It fades back in for us to find the parents restrained but bleeding from their reproductive areas – the paediatrician has performed hysterectomies on them both as he claims that they neglect their child so therefore do not deserve to be able to have another.
After much needed calming tactics to get the mother to stop crying, we hear the murderer tell the parents that the final task will get them their son back. He informs them that he is trapped somewhere with a bomb strapped to his chest that is going to detonate. He gives them a riddle, after he plays them a recording of children singing ‘1, 2, I’m coming for you, 3, 4 etc…’ the riddle reads ‘Cries of abandonment, cries that you’ve caused. Find the cries, find the child’. To help the hysterical parents along he informs them that because they took so long to perform each task, they only have fifteen minutes left until the bomb explodes – killing their child.
After five panic stricken minutes, the parents figure out the riddle; their son is at his nursery. They leave in a hurry and rush down to save their son, but as they arrive they find the door is locked. Being unable to work out how to get to him they bang on the door, shouting and screaming his name, trying to reassure him that they’re here and that everything is going to be okay, while doing this, they turn and realise the only way in is to smash a window. After doing so, the father struggles his way in and retrieves his son, then passes him through the broken glass to his mother. (‘I found you’).
There is then a fade out and when the focus returns the area is crawling with police and fire fighters, who are sorting the wreckage of the nursery.
When they return home, they try to apologise to their son, but as their emotions rise the police knock at the door and arrest the parents for the drug smuggling, murders and destruction. So in the end, the parents lose their son for good as they are put into prison.
The child is sent to live with his Aunt in the backstreets of Birmingham, but he sadly still has a poor home life.
A fade shows an ellipsis to then show the child as a successful adult with a high flying job, but he is unfortunately not as successful socially. He doesn’t interact with other people much and pretty much focuses on his job.
We then cut to a scenario mirroring the first scene, with the camera behind some railings focussing on another house, looking into a window. A light switches off and then all goes dark.
Throughout the first sequence, leading to the title, we can hear slow tempo music in the background – resembling that of a fairground. We can also hear a child’s song, being sung by a young girl, that is sung slowly until the close up of an eye at the end – the song is sung…’1, 2, I’m coming for you, 3, 4, better lock your door, 5, 6, pick up sticks, 7, 8, stay up late, 9 , 10, never sleep again’. The first shot we see is of the back of a house, where it appears that something or someone is lurking in the dark watching – from this angle, we see a young girl closing the curtains in a room and then turning the light off. From here the camera follows a shadowed figure to the door of the house, showing him creeping through doors to the lower landing. As he creeps up the stairs we see a shot of the young girl leaving the room – by a worm’s eye shot – she is a babysitter. As the figure enters the room, which later turns out to be a child’s room, the camera cuts to the babysitter in another room who can hear something happening. She is just about to leave the room to check on the child when she sees the figure walking out of the room; in a panic she closes the door. We are now viewing things from the figures perspective as he enters the room.
The babysitter is sat in a closet trying to contain herself, but can’t help but to breathe heavily. She can see the figure stalk past the slit in the door, then a loud bang is heard and the music slows down. Still from the babysitter’s perspective, we see the figure walk back and look through the slit. As he says ‘I found you’ there is a close up of his eye, through the door, then a cut to the main title – I Found You.
After the title sequence we see a car pull up to the house and two adults stepping out and approaching the house. They walk in to find the murderer sat in their living room waiting for them. He explains that he has taken their son and put him somewhere later to be revealed. He describes the hardship their son has faced due to their neglecting and tells them that they must par-take in 7 tasks if they are to see him again. As reasoning, the murderer decries how the parents have been neglecting their son for his entire life, missing all 7 of his birthdays – and for this they must pay.
The first task the murderer sets them on is to destroy all their technologies, because the source of all their problems lies within their being able to be contacted – they focus more on their work than on their child. To their horror, there is a bomb planted in the power line of the houses electric that, if they do not disable everything, will explode causing the house to burn and them along with it.
The second task starts to get a little more twisted as they are asked to skin their family dog alive. The dog receives more attention and love than the son and so by killing it, they are taking away the main distraction from their son. We see the parents hang their dog, by the legs, above a bath tub; where they skin him and drain all the blood – this task in particular takes the parents a long time to start and finish.
The third task is one that benefits the murderer. We see him ask the parents to cut open their son’s rabbit and re-stuff his insides with cocaine – the rabbit is a gift for their son after they forget his 4th birthday. We see them being forced to drive the rabbit to the airport and set it aboard a plane – all the time, the tasks are taking their tole on the parents and they already look as though they have been through a life time of struggles.
The fourth task is for the work-a-holics to torture and murder their boss, who has been bound and gagged in the boot of the parent’s car – much to their surprise. The murderer takes the parents and the boss down to the basement where he has set up a wheel, where the parents are forced to place their boss and spin him till he regurgitates. We then see them place him on top of a spike; they are then forced to pull on either side of him until he starts to move down the spike –screaming in agony. We do not actually see the death of the boss but are led to believe that he is dead due to the screams; cries of the parents then utter silence.
The 5th task they are to under-take is to cut up the babysitter the murderer killed and cook her. It is then served as a dish to them and we see them being forced to eat it all. The killer reasons that this is because the parents have never cooked a proper meal for their son or the babysitter when she has been round.
The penultimate task is not for them to do. The murderer brings in a very frightened paediatrician and takes him and the parents to the other end of the basement, where there are two chairs set up with retraining straps, next thing the audience sees is the murderer letting some form of gas go into the room then a fade out. During the fade we can hear mumbles and screams and sounds of people trying to get free. It fades back in for us to find the parents restrained but bleeding from their reproductive areas – the paediatrician has performed hysterectomies on them both as he claims that they neglect their child so therefore do not deserve to be able to have another.
After much needed calming tactics to get the mother to stop crying, we hear the murderer tell the parents that the final task will get them their son back. He informs them that he is trapped somewhere with a bomb strapped to his chest that is going to detonate. He gives them a riddle, after he plays them a recording of children singing ‘1, 2, I’m coming for you, 3, 4 etc…’ the riddle reads ‘Cries of abandonment, cries that you’ve caused. Find the cries, find the child’. To help the hysterical parents along he informs them that because they took so long to perform each task, they only have fifteen minutes left until the bomb explodes – killing their child.
After five panic stricken minutes, the parents figure out the riddle; their son is at his nursery. They leave in a hurry and rush down to save their son, but as they arrive they find the door is locked. Being unable to work out how to get to him they bang on the door, shouting and screaming his name, trying to reassure him that they’re here and that everything is going to be okay, while doing this, they turn and realise the only way in is to smash a window. After doing so, the father struggles his way in and retrieves his son, then passes him through the broken glass to his mother. (‘I found you’).
There is then a fade out and when the focus returns the area is crawling with police and fire fighters, who are sorting the wreckage of the nursery.
When they return home, they try to apologise to their son, but as their emotions rise the police knock at the door and arrest the parents for the drug smuggling, murders and destruction. So in the end, the parents lose their son for good as they are put into prison.
The child is sent to live with his Aunt in the backstreets of Birmingham, but he sadly still has a poor home life.
A fade shows an ellipsis to then show the child as a successful adult with a high flying job, but he is unfortunately not as successful socially. He doesn’t interact with other people much and pretty much focuses on his job.
We then cut to a scenario mirroring the first scene, with the camera behind some railings focussing on another house, looking into a window. A light switches off and then all goes dark.
Monday, 19 January 2009
30 Days of Night Analysis
Institutions :- Ghost House Productions, Columbia Pictures in association with Dark Horse Entertainment.
The establishing shot sees a close up of a mans face illuminated against a background of snow. Through the camera angle we can see that the man has been through something traumatic, although it isn't apparent what that was. The mise-en-scene adds to this effect - by having dull, torn, scruffy costume and make-up, that makes him look asthough hes been bleeding, depicts the rough experiences hes had.
The non-diagetic music plaed above the wind adds to the eerie set, showing that the film is a horror. The sound of the wind howling has been enhanced to emphasise the isolation and so adds to the terrifying ambience.
There is a shot of a ship, which appears to be rusty and perhaps broken, therefore establishing that people have either tried to leave and could not or people have been stranded - a typical start to a horror film. The first sign of movement is when the man walks across some amount of snow, toward a village - the camera angles show the man walking from long distance to close up therefore demonstrating the vast amounts of snow and so distance he has had to travel. From an eye-line match of the camera we can see how the village appears to this man, yet it appears to be empty - this is shown through the lack of sound, with emphasised wind in the background.
For the opening shot, there is no dialogue - which goes to convey the isolation of the village. Although it is usually common during conversation, there is a 180 degree rule, whilst the man looks down to the village then the village looks back - and vice versa.
There is no imediate representation, other than perhaps a traveller - who appears to be lost. The lack of background information of the man leads the audience to believe what they want about his character and reason for being there. The target audience would be young adults, as younger and older people tend to scare easier and so would not appriciate the film. It targets the younger generations as it is full of thrillers and suspence.
The establishing shot sees a close up of a mans face illuminated against a background of snow. Through the camera angle we can see that the man has been through something traumatic, although it isn't apparent what that was. The mise-en-scene adds to this effect - by having dull, torn, scruffy costume and make-up, that makes him look asthough hes been bleeding, depicts the rough experiences hes had.
The non-diagetic music plaed above the wind adds to the eerie set, showing that the film is a horror. The sound of the wind howling has been enhanced to emphasise the isolation and so adds to the terrifying ambience.
There is a shot of a ship, which appears to be rusty and perhaps broken, therefore establishing that people have either tried to leave and could not or people have been stranded - a typical start to a horror film. The first sign of movement is when the man walks across some amount of snow, toward a village - the camera angles show the man walking from long distance to close up therefore demonstrating the vast amounts of snow and so distance he has had to travel. From an eye-line match of the camera we can see how the village appears to this man, yet it appears to be empty - this is shown through the lack of sound, with emphasised wind in the background.
For the opening shot, there is no dialogue - which goes to convey the isolation of the village. Although it is usually common during conversation, there is a 180 degree rule, whilst the man looks down to the village then the village looks back - and vice versa.
There is no imediate representation, other than perhaps a traveller - who appears to be lost. The lack of background information of the man leads the audience to believe what they want about his character and reason for being there. The target audience would be young adults, as younger and older people tend to scare easier and so would not appriciate the film. It targets the younger generations as it is full of thrillers and suspence.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Horror/Thriller
These are the common associates of a horror/thriller genre of films:
Narratives
Narratives
- Cannibalism
- Phsycos/Phsyciatric wards
- Trauma - maybe in childhoods
- Disease
- Zombies
- Vampires
- Supernatural
- Teenagers in Abandoned houses/warehouses, or being left alone at night
- Getting lost - either abroad or in a forest
Settings
- Adandoned ware/house
- Isolated places
- Foreign countries
- Forests
- Suburbs (everyday homes)
- Schools
- Phsyciatric Wards
- Museums
- Cities
Stock Characters
- Hero/Heroine - figures everything out, most of the time he lives
- The Prize - often the Hero/Heroines boy/girlfriend, gets captured then saved
- The Villian - can be more than one (e.g. a bunch of zombies0, often had a traumatic childhood (reason for killing)
- The False Hero - can be the Prize's partner but lets them down when in trouble (so Hero/Heroine can take over
- Helper - best friend to Hero/Heroine
Iconography
- Blood - red
- Black - connotes evil/darkness
- Teeth (often in vampire films)
- Cross (as above)
- Isolation (places that look abandoned or lonely)
- Forests (can hide from the people who could save them)
- Dark Skies - shows somethings bad going to happen
- Weapon (either sword, gun or axe, whatever to help Hero/Heroine
- Graveyard - land of the dead
- Smog - misty/foggy smoke because it distracts the Hero/Heroine
- Eerie music - makes it sinister
Audience
- Young Adults (16-28)
- Enjoy the suspense and gore
- Any job - generally watched at night
- Not necessarily religious - may not agre with the language or motive
- Not sqirmish people - cant watch the murders
Films
- 30 Days of Night
- Gothika
- The Grudge
- The Ring
- The Hills Have Eyes
- Wrong Turn
- the Saw films
- The Strangers
- Dracula
- Frankinstein
- Final Destination's
- Hollow Man
- Sleepy Hollow
- Scream
- Chuckie
- The Shining
- Jeepers Creepers
- May
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc...
Box Office income = not sure
Editing Techniques
- Non-diagetic sound- to enhance smurder noises, eerie music, footsteps, wind etc...
- Colour - sometimes colour is black and white with hints of red to emphasise
- Fades - text at the beginning fade in and out slowly to make it creepy
- Text - iconography for horrors
- Camera Angles - to add to the effect of somebody watching (hidden in shadows e.g.)
- Continuity Editing - so they cna do a chase sequence
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Coursework
We have decided to do a horror genre film that falls into the catergory of thriller - therefore classes as a hybrid-genre!
So far we have planned to aim at the younger generations, probably teenagers onwards - 15-24. This is because it would prove to scary for young children and may not capture the attention of anyone older tahn late twenties.
Our characters have no names yet, but within the first 2 minutes it is not apparent! It consists of a babysitter, hiding terrified in a cupboard whilst a physco killer walks around the house attempting to find her - a childs song is played over the top as well as music that resembles a fairground to make it sinsiter. The title is undecided as the title we had chosen was already in use. However, we do know that the opening will cut after the killer says "I found youu" with a close up of his eye. This is yet to be discussed and planned out :)
So far we have planned to aim at the younger generations, probably teenagers onwards - 15-24. This is because it would prove to scary for young children and may not capture the attention of anyone older tahn late twenties.
Our characters have no names yet, but within the first 2 minutes it is not apparent! It consists of a babysitter, hiding terrified in a cupboard whilst a physco killer walks around the house attempting to find her - a childs song is played over the top as well as music that resembles a fairground to make it sinsiter. The title is undecided as the title we had chosen was already in use. However, we do know that the opening will cut after the killer says "I found youu" with a close up of his eye. This is yet to be discussed and planned out :)
Woman in Black
We watched the opening sequence for 'The Woman in Black', although it was over 2 minutes the first 3 included the title sequences with no action.
The iconography of the horror genre is used within the title sequence to express to the audience the type of film they are about to endure. The texts itself is a dull colour, yet illuminated against the black background - which, in my vuew, reminds me of flesh and when put against a black background symbolises a mythical theme such as ghosts. The smog that we see floating across the screen and text is eerie and connotes horror, resembling that which we see in slasher movies or graveyards - again displaying the death side of the film. To add to this, is the style of text. It resemebles both a wanted poster and the writing seen on a headstone thus matching the smog to create a graveyard effect - explaining that the theme is indeed death. The non-diagetic music being played on top of the title sequence is in minor key and puts a sadistic twist on the film by sounded much like fairground music, or even that which is on babies toys.
The establishing shot is done at eye line level and makes the audience feel as thought the character in view is being watched from some hidden place. This is further demonstrated by the fact that the camera is situated behind railings, indicating that perhaps the person watching is hidden for a reason. As the character steps out the car his wealth is demonstrated immediatly, this is because of his clothing and the fact that he can afford to pay for a taxi.
Although the sun is shining, showing that it is morning time, there are still shadows surrounding the building into which the character walks. The continuity editing of the man walking to the door and putting his hand on the door emphasises his importance. The camera does a close up of the plack by the side of the building - which reads 'Sweetman Haigh and Sweetman Solicitors'. From his profession and the obvious period, we cna work out that the man would have great power and status.
As he walks down the corridors we notice that the setting is dark which connotates fear or evil. The position of women is dictated by there being only one female secretary there, who is quiet and well behaved unlike the male solicitors - who are undoubtedly younger than her.
Through the mise-en-scene we note the difference in social classes as the better paid are dressed more opulantly than those who are less fortunate.
The genre of this film is the same as the genre we have chosen to do our film opening in, therefore has helped to give us ideas about the type of iconography and mise-en-scene we must include.
The iconography of the horror genre is used within the title sequence to express to the audience the type of film they are about to endure. The texts itself is a dull colour, yet illuminated against the black background - which, in my vuew, reminds me of flesh and when put against a black background symbolises a mythical theme such as ghosts. The smog that we see floating across the screen and text is eerie and connotes horror, resembling that which we see in slasher movies or graveyards - again displaying the death side of the film. To add to this, is the style of text. It resemebles both a wanted poster and the writing seen on a headstone thus matching the smog to create a graveyard effect - explaining that the theme is indeed death. The non-diagetic music being played on top of the title sequence is in minor key and puts a sadistic twist on the film by sounded much like fairground music, or even that which is on babies toys.
The establishing shot is done at eye line level and makes the audience feel as thought the character in view is being watched from some hidden place. This is further demonstrated by the fact that the camera is situated behind railings, indicating that perhaps the person watching is hidden for a reason. As the character steps out the car his wealth is demonstrated immediatly, this is because of his clothing and the fact that he can afford to pay for a taxi.
Although the sun is shining, showing that it is morning time, there are still shadows surrounding the building into which the character walks. The continuity editing of the man walking to the door and putting his hand on the door emphasises his importance. The camera does a close up of the plack by the side of the building - which reads 'Sweetman Haigh and Sweetman Solicitors'. From his profession and the obvious period, we cna work out that the man would have great power and status.
As he walks down the corridors we notice that the setting is dark which connotates fear or evil. The position of women is dictated by there being only one female secretary there, who is quiet and well behaved unlike the male solicitors - who are undoubtedly younger than her.
Through the mise-en-scene we note the difference in social classes as the better paid are dressed more opulantly than those who are less fortunate.
The genre of this film is the same as the genre we have chosen to do our film opening in, therefore has helped to give us ideas about the type of iconography and mise-en-scene we must include.
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