Practice Test

This short task made us focus on using different camera shots to increase tension. This was our second version (The first version was lost from technical difficulties) and it greatly improved on the points that needed work on the original. 

- Don't always film from standing, get down to the action or above it. (We knew this already so we didn't need to improve on it.)

- Lighting is important, make sure you can see what you are filming. (We moved the iPod into the light so that it was clearly visible, as in the original it was hard to see what it was which broke what the enigma code for it was.)

- Make each shot count, show exactly what you want the audience to see. (In the original we tried showing the protagonist sad, but it was not clear. In the revised version we had him wipe his eyes and even have a tear roll down his cheek to get over exactly how he is feeling, making sure the audience understood this so they don't have their own ideas.)

Repressed – Horror Opening Scene Brief

The opening starts off with a teenage boy walking home. He walks to the woods where his friend was murdered recently. Taking a deep breath, he walks straight through the woods, haunted by memories of the fateful night his friend died. When he finally reaches the end, he hears the footsteps of somebody behind him. This spurs him into overdrive and he races home in a paranoid frenzy. He gets to his empty home, throwing the door open and running into his room. He checks out the window and sees a man, who looks straight up at him. The teenage boy hides in the darkness of his room as we can hear the footsteps walking into his house and up the stairs, and the scene ends with the killer just outside the boy’s bedroom door.

Codes and conventions of the Horror genre

The horror genre, like all genres has its specific codes and conventions, and iconography's that define it.
There are the locations that horror films are generally set in:
- Abandoned house
- Woods
- Isolated islands
- In space
- Underwater

The antagonist of the films are generally:
- Vampires
- Werewolves
- Zombies
- Psychopath
- Unknown evil (Spirits, possessing people etc.)

Other iconography of the horror genre are:
- Night time
- Darkness
- Blood
- Running
- Knives
- Flesh
- People missing
- Creepy noises
- Masks
- Distorted voices
- Screaming

Location study

We decided that we could use our local woodland area for a small part of our opening sequence. We thought it was location because of the darkness and isolation, along with the worry that there may be something hidden behind the trees. These are a few pictures that we took, and we shall get some more to show what it will look like at night, when it will be set.

Audience profile

Using the information we gained from our questionnaire we were able to create a audience profile for our target audience.

Questionnaire video

This is a video containing several responses of the questionnaire we had created earlier. Using this information we will be able to make a profile for our target audience that includes their interests as well as their views on films/horror films for us to incorporate into our horror movie opening sequence.

Target Audience and Horror Film Questionnaire

This is our questionnaire using demographics and psychographics, used to find out the target audience we will be aiming our horror movie (opening scene) at  and why they enjoy horror films:
- How old are you?
- What do you do in your spare time?
- Favourite music genre?
- Which shops do you go to?
- Do you enjoy horror films?
- If so why?
- How often do you watch films approximately?
- Of these films, how many would you say were horror films?

A later post will contain the data gathered of the questionnaire in an informative form
Here is the results we got from the questionnaire
And this is a audience profile, using data from the questionnaire

Preliminary Exercise: Finished video

This is our compleated preliminary exercise. It contains all of the editing techniques needed:
Match on action is seen when the protagonist walks up the stairs (0:02 - 0:15)

Shot/Reverse shot is used when the two main characters are talking to each other
(0:26 - 0:31)

The 180-degree rule is follwed throughout the exchange between the two characters and is not broken (0:26 - 0:40)

Horror Film Ideas

1.) A teenager wakes up in a college, with no memory of how he got there or who he is. He has to unravel the mystery before it is too late.

Setting: A college at night.

Characters: Teenage boy.

Codes and Conventions: Isolation, darkness.

2.) A teenager walks home late through his deserted town. Unknown to him, he is being followed by a monster who attacks in the dark surroundings of the woods.

Setting: Town, woods.

Characters: Teenage boy.

Codes and Conventions: Isolation, darkness, supernatural beings.

Shot/Reverse Shot

A shot/reverse shot is an alternating shot, usually used on a conversation between two people. The two shots that are used must be equal in distance from an object and on opposite sides. This is used so we can see both of the people's faces when talking as well as their reactions.

Match on Action

Match on action is a cut between two shots of the same action from different positions. This makes it a simultaneous movement and keeps the continuity.

180-Degree Rule

The 180-degree rule is a line of action not to be crossed. The camera can be placed in any position as long as it remains on one side of the action. To show the other side of the action you will have to physically film the camera moving to the other side of the action.

Preliminary Exercise Idea

For the preliminary task we have to film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite someone else and have a short conversation, whilst making sure that we include the 180-degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot.

For this task we decided we would have our scene as a business deal between two formally dressed men and try to have it set in an office.

Mise en scene:
- Briefcase
- Envelope
- Suits
- Ties
- Computers
- Chairs
- Tables

Director Edgar Wright

Although Edgar Wright does not dabble in horror films (although Shaun of the Dead is classed as a horror film, it does not follow the codes and conventions of most horror films and is not thought of in the same way), I admire him as a director for his editing skills. The main example that many people know is the quick cuts, showing a selection of different actions in rapid speed timing. Although this may not feel like it should belong in a horror movie I feel  that it could work, for example if someone was running into their home from something, the cuts would add a sense of fear and panic to the hectic nature to the cuts, and will make the audience feel the tension of the chase.

Scream - Opening Sequence

The film starts off with a sound of a bang, followed by a phone ringing, along with the title credit, which pulsates red. This shocks the user, and grabs their attention for the movie. A scream can be heard, which unnerves the audience before the film has begun. The scene is set in a modern domestic house, with white as the main colour which has connotations of innocence, which is juxtaposing to the dark outside, where danger lurks unseen in the shadows, the man on the phone for example. The TV is on standby, mainly to remove any background noise so the audience can hear all of the conversation and to increase tension when there is a silence. The use of popcorn is also used for tension, as the diegetic sounds of the pan whistling and popping adds a feeling of franticness to when the woman was running around scared, this makes the audience feel like they’re in the scene in that moment of panic with the quick cuts in editing and sounds.

The change in representation of vampires Part 3: (Let the Right One in)

One film example of the twist in the genre is “let the right one in” a foreign film which has the vampire as a forever 12 year old girl, who gets people to kill for her so she can drink the victims blood. This works for a modern audience as the twist is that it’s a young girl, with connotations of innocence and purity, instead of this blood thirsty vampire. It keeps the audience on edge as they do not know what to expect and therefore it is a good way to scare the audience.

The change in representation of vampires Part 2: (An Interview with a Vampire)

The largest change between vampires is when “Dracula” the film based on the book of the same name had its vampires shown as romanticised aristocrats which has been a staple for many other vampire films, “Interview with the vampire” starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt being a good example. I believe the main reason that they have been shown as these suave, sensual beings instead of the monsters they were first shown to be like is because sexual topics in recent times have become less taboo, and the director’s play on these forbidden desires of humans and vampires to get interest whilst keeping the acts of horror intact. One key example of this is of having a vampire biting a person’s neck which in one sense can be seen as quite sensual but also quite horrific, as it goes beyond that and shows the vampires true intent. In modern times though, the vampire subgenre has been shook up, as the modern audience need something different to scare them.

The change in representation of vampires Part 1: (Nosferatu)

The most significant differences that I can identify of the representations of vampires is the way that they look. They originally were made to look like hideous monsters, which would scare the audience as vampires were shown as un-human killers that the audience couldn’t relate to. Vampires were used in the horror genre during the early 1920’s to play on the fears of the audience of that time. The way that vampires look and act have changed dramatically, mainly because as time went by vampires were seen being less scary to an audience, and so had to adapt to twist the vampire image, and therefore playing on different fears whilst still keeping the key conventions of the vampire: The teeth, feasting on blood, fear of sunlight and the death by a wooden steak.