Research and Planning; Influences within our Production

There are many things that have influenced our ideas for our film:
The overall story line was influenced by films such as the ‘Scream’ franchise, ‘The Ring’ and 'Friday the 13th’. Revenge based crimes which often end in the isolation and death or a group of teens. In these films many of the scenes involve fast paced editing and music that makes the audience jumpy and raises their heart beats as the characters fight for their lives. The trailers start with equilibrium then break out into flashing shots of the characters fear and struggle to survive.




We want to include scenes that make the audience jumpy of the dark to create tension. Surrounding the characters in darkness will make the audience edgy and unsure of what the it is concealing, as films are often viewed in the dark this will make the audience wary of their surrounding as if they are in the characters shoes. The close ups of the characters faces show there expressions and emotions clearly.

We got some inspiration from Scream 4, when the big empty house is isolated and in the middle of nowhere. This isolates the character making them more vulnerable and this therefore adds suspense.

Often in horror films the antagonist creeps up behind the victim in a shot where only the audience can see the threat to the character, making the viewers want to shout out, encouraging audience participation. This creates more of an effect on the audience, meaning that a trailer will be more effective in capturing the audiences attention and making sure it is memorable.

Research and Planning; Pie Chart Questionnaire Analysis

 

 

 

 

 

Question 2 - Which components of horror films do you find most effective?

Question 3 - Which is your favourite features/styles of horror films?


 

 

 

As you can see in the pie chart above, the significant most popular style of horror film is paranormal effects and this could help us in viral marketing if we include that our horror trailer/film would include these types of horror styles and techniques.

 

 

 

 

Planning Targets

Well done Jordan. By the end of half term you need to have designed titles and evidenced your storyboard. You need to interview some of your actors, which can be done by video-blogging. You need to revisit my last targets Jordan ans be more evaluative in your analysis. A good start so far Jordan - keep it up!

Research and Planning; Successful Directors and Actors

Successful actors within the film industry during 2013 horror genre films have starred -

- Patrick Joseph Wilson who has been included in the successful horror genre film insidious and the 2013 the conjuring. From having a recognised actor which starred within the successful ‘Insidious’ gave the film ‘The Conjuring’ have a fan base before the film was released within the film industry. However, films within the film industry use famous actors which sell the film towards the audience. Furthermore, horror genre films don't tend to have as many famous actors than other genre films which creates an advantage for us as we are doing a horror genre film and the audience aren't attracted to watching the horror genre film because of the actors compared to when they go and see action films as they include famous well-known actors which sells and appeals towards the audience. Such as Gerard Butler, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, because these actors are known for being in various genre films from romantic comedy to Action/Adventure, there still aren’t too many horror actors known by the public. As we are doing a horror genre film our unique selling point is not including recognised actors which shall make it successful within the film industry as people would be more willing to watch it despite our inexperienced actors.

- Tobin Bell is the main character within all seven saw films. The film saw is a sequel and is a continuous narrative and storyline. From Tobin Bell starring in the sequel, he raised his reputation as an actor and more people recognised him as a great in this horror film industry.  The success of this sequel reflects on Tobin Bell’s career and because it was such a global success, so was Tobin Bell, becoming recognised in this film industry and now probably one of the most well-known horror actors.

- James Wan is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is known for directing horror genre films which are successful and popular within the film industry' which include saw and creating Billy the puppet. Furthermore, he’s also directed Dead Silence, Death Sentence, Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, and The Conjuring. By Wan directing these successful films it shall make him well known within the film industry and his certain films shall create a fan base before the films are released which shall make his films successful within the film industry.

James Cameron is one of the most recognised and successful directors of all time. Directing the global hit 'Avatar' and many other films which grossed in a lot of profit including 'Sanctum', the emotional romantic film 'Titanic', 'The Terminator' and even the film 'Aliens'. 'Avatar' was the most grossing film of all time, after 9 years of planning from James Cameron, he eventually had the technology he needed to complete the film to the best of it's ability. Because James Cameron had this film planned for so long, he was able to market the film so much that it was already making profit and already successful before the film release, making websites and releasing images of characters and the setting of another world called 'Pandora'. This suspense of not knowing the full story of 'Avatar' intrigued the audience, making it sell even more copies and in the premiere, being the first ever 3D film shown was certainly something to watch.

Moodboard; Research and Planning

 

 

1- Represents our antagonist when she was younger, this picture represents the creepy, slightly haunting feel that we want to create around the background of the character ‘Martha’. The General appearance connotes innocence however this is contradicted by the cruel dark expression on her face.

2&3- This shows the character after she comes from the asylum both the images represent the unstable troubled air around the character, her appearance and facial expressions show that she is detached from reality.

4&7- Is the outfit of the antagonist, which is going to be a hospital like gown thing connoting that she has lost her mind, this image links with horror films.

5- Shows our typical and unsuspecting teens that represent our main characters.

6- Represents the typical setting of a teen horror, a house in the middle of nowhere, this picture gives the feeling of foreboding that we want our setting to have. These settings are associated with the genre.

8- This is supposed to give off the same effect as the first picture, starting a feeling of foreboding as the family appear unnatural.

9&11- Represent the weapons and forms of murder and how the victims are threatened this is designed to scare the audience as the objects are every day and easily assessable making them feel unsafe. The scissors appear scarier as they are a very mundane object.

10- The completely black eyes represent appear uncaring and cruel, this gives the character a scary flair as it implies that she has no mercy or remorse. 

Film Brief; Research and Planning

The genre of our film is a horror, and this means that our target audience would probably vary between the ages of 15-25. The plot of the film is about a stereotypical mental woman who lives alone, Bryony will play this character and this stereotype of her living alone and in an isolated house in the woods is the exact factors that scares and excites the audience. This idea of a woman having an unstable mind, creates the atmosphere that this could happen in real life and makes suspense for the audience. The setting will be held at Shanie's dads house, which is quite isolated and is perfect to match the genre of our film. This is where most of the camera time will be spent as it is the main setting of our film production.

Most of our camera shots used will probably be extreme close up shots, because this shows the most emotion in the characters faces and this is an important factor in a horror film. Other camera shots used would be long shots, extreme long shots to get the setting in the shot as well as various characters, and jumpshots which are also often used in horror films to scare the audience, the camera is usually on the villain when this shot is used.

We have decided that Bryony will be having her hair either in a scruffy backcombed style or in pigtails as this stereotypes the girl being trapped in society and could suggest she either has a personal hygiene issue and doesn't care about her appearance, or that she is trapped in thinking she is still a child.

The sound we use in the trailer will slowly build up as the trailer shows brief showings of the characters killings and stages of how her mental rage builds up throughout. The sound will begin happy and when the camera shot converts to showing text, the music will come to a sudden stop and this will be effective as it will make the audience focus purely on the text and not be distracted by the sound in the background. The music used when the clips are shown will link to the facial expressions and will contrast with the events happening in the trailer.

Answers to Questionnaire; Research and Planning

We asked 20 people in total, all the questions so all answers would be divided between 20.


What features would you find appealing in a Horror film and why?
Editing 6/20
Mise en Scene 5/10
Camera shots 2/10
Sounds 7/10

Why would you choose to watch a horror film?
Thrill 9/20
Social 6/20
Pleasure 1/20
Casual 4/20

What is your favourite horror film?
Most people said Insidious, various people said Sinister and a few random horror films like The Exorsist, The Shining and Friday 13th.

If you had a style of horror film, what would your favourite be and why?
Gore 10/20
Thriller 1/20
Paranormal 6/20
Abnormal 3/20

How many horror films would you watch a week?
1-2 11/20
3-5 4/20
6-8 3/20
9+ 2/20

What makes a horror film scary for you and why?
Most people said the build up of suspension and being drawn in by the anticipation of whats going to happen. Not being able to judge or know what will happen next is what excites the viewers.

What is your favourite series of horror films?
My personal favourite series of horror film would be all 7 Saw films, this is not only due to the gore and fear factor, but is also because of the intelligence behind the plots within the film. Others agreed but varied between Paranormal activity and The Ring.

Audience Profiling- The Ring

 

This target audience has been some what subverted as people would assume it would attract more of the male gender. Although it is still an even percentage, statistics show that more females have seen this than males, this is surprising as it is a horror film. This proves that the film attracts the grouped audience of the ages 15-24 preferably couples as they often watch horror films together.

This film audience for a horror differs from the others in the respect that there were more females watching it than males, not only is this unique but could market the film even better because the audience would wonder what it is about the film that attracts that audience so much and this would make them want to watch it.

This stereotype of middle-aged people watching horror films is portrayed in this audience profiling and this is because they purely enjoy the thrill which they get from watching horror films and the rush of adrenaline that they receive from this genre.

Questionnaire ;Research and Planning

 

We will be asking a questionnaire to find out more about our film from other peoples point of view and what are the good and bad things about our film so far. The advantages and disadvantages of picking a horror film for our 2 minute clip.

What features would you find appealing in a Horror film and why?
Editing
Mise en Scene
Camera shots
Sounds

Why would you choose to watch a horror film?
Thrill
Social
Pleasure
Casual

What is your favourite horror film?

If you had a style of horror film, what would your favourite be and why?
Gore
Thriller
Paranormal
Abnormal

How many horror films would you watch a week?
1-2
3-5
6-8
9+

What makes a horror film scary for you and why?

What is your favourite series of horror films?