To See or Not to See?

As my group and I have chosen to do a paranormal type horror trailer we have now got the decision of making our ghost apparent to our audience or do we play with their minds a little more and never show the ghost at all. Some horror films. For example ‘The Others’ (2001) feature the ghost in their films, it is very effective and at times can really make the audience ‘jump out of their skins’. On the other hand there are horror films such as ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999) which does not feature the ghost of a certain witch and has a very uncomforting psychological effect on the audience watching as the subject that is scaring the characters is not shown.

After careful consideration my group and I have decided that because of time, money and resources it will be much more effective to show the ghost in our trailer. When ghosts are not featured in horror films there are a lot of post-production that has to go on in order for it to be apparent that there is a ghost without showing it, this may be through chairs being picked up and thrown across the room. As we would be doing all of our post production in our sixth form we do not have access to the programmes that all the Hollywood horror films do have, which would make not showing a ghost extremely hard. We are going to feature the ghost in our trailer but use music, makeup and lighting to make our ghost come across scary. Also the timing of our shots, movement and shot types play a major part in this.

Image from 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)

Image form 'Grave Encounters' (2011)

Examples of Mirror Scenes

This YouTube Clip demonstrates just how effective using a mirror scene can be, as it tends to scare the audience. In mirror scenes you can play with the audience’s head, as in some mirror scenes you see someone in the mirror next to the ‘Final Girl’ and then they disappear and then they suddenly appear again, when you least expect it. This is what my group and I are trying to do as we have found out due to target audience research that the most successful and popular horror films are the films that scare people, so this is what my group and I are aiming to achieve.

Filming a Mirror Scene

Here is a short clip from YouTube explaining how to film a perfect mirror scene by either physically changing the angle of the camera or in post production. The reason why I have chosen to research into how this is done is because I hope to use a mirror scene in my own horror film trailer.

Dates For The Diary

NB: These are not personal deadlines set by myself but by my teacher. Dates may be extended and result in some changes to the date.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard which myself and Beth drew and coloured in. This storyboard is going to be the key thing that we follow closely during our film production as it will remind us of what shots we need to do and what mise en scene and characters need to be featured in. Without a storyboard it is easy to get lost which can result in you being behind deadlines or shooting a variety of shots which do not work cohesively together.

Narrative

The narrative of our film features a young girl named Annabelle, aged 15, who lived with her mother, father and younger brother. She loved to write, especially poems. Every day she would write in her diary; a new poem and a chapter about her day concerning her emotions and feelings especially about how she was tormented and labelled about having mental health issues as she would hear voices and see ghosts. She believed that she haunted by a ghost who she named ‘Guinevere’ (around the age of 5, but no one knows) or otherwise known as ‘The ghost that lives at 134 Queens Road’, who manipulated and antagonized her constantly because all she wanted was someone to play with her and love her, like her mother never did. This eventually made Annabelle commit suicide; from a drug overdose, due to the constant hassle of people calling her ‘crazy’ and the continuous terrorizing from Guinevere. All she wanted was to be left alone. Guinevere was finally at peace when Annabelle died, as she finally got the friend she always wanted, now that Annabelle is in a spirit form. Leaving her at 134 Queens Road. When Annabelle died, all she left was her diary, and the mystery of her death unsolved. Until now. 17 years later, a family of four moves into the house that Annabelle committed suicide in. The family consists of single mother thirty six year old ‘Sandra’, her two brothers ‘Anthony’ (11 years old) and ‘Matthew’ (5 years old) and finally are main character ‘Tara’ who is 17 years of age. Tara finds a diary in her room and it happens to be the diary of Annabelle. She tells her mother about the diary and its contents and Sandra insists that she stops reading it and throws it out. Tara disregards what her mother says and still continues to read it and gradually creepy and abnormal things start to happen for example the noise of a young teenage girl crying. Sandra asks around the neighbourhood if anybody has ever heard of anything on the history of the house, one neighbour expresses that they heard of a teenage girl committing suicide, with this information Sandra goes on to the internet to research the house and finds an article on a blog website form ex neighbours about the ghost of Annabelle that they believe exists in 134 Queens Road. Sandra goes through Tara’s room and tries to throw away the diary believing that this would put a stop to all the unusual activity, but it does not. Tara believes that something is watching and haunting her and a series of events occur that makes it apparent that the ghost of Annabelle does actually exist. This results in Tara becoming mad and she leaves her house. To this day she has been missing. Without a signal warning or sign to know where she has gone. Leaving her family to believe that she may be missing forever, and even the possibility of her being dead. Now all they can do is wait for a knock on the door, a phone call, or a spiritual sign, just something that would tell them that she is still with us.

The start of my horror trailer journey



Is Todorov's Theory Demonstrated in Drag me to Hell?

The film trailer starts with calming music to enhance the sense of the equilibrium being in balance. Christine is having a conversation with her boss at work, so they are in a normal setting and the equilibrium is still apparent. An elderly woman called Mrs Gaunush turns up Christine’s workplace asking for an extension on her mortgage payment but is refused as this is not first time. Mrs Gaunush starts to beg and holds on to Christine’s leg. Christine calls for security and Mrs Gaunush falls, this is when the agent of change occurs and after this a series of events start to happen to Christine which pushes her into finding a resolution by seeking help from Rham Jas. Even though not shown in the trailer, the second clip shows the ending. The audience are tricked into feeling that the equilibrium is back in place but it is not as Christine is dragged into hell.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

Which Producer?

Blair Witch Project Parody - A2 Media Prelim

Target Audience Research

This is me and Ellesha Martin’s target audience research which we conducted over a few days, the whole reasoning behind doing this research was to give us a better view on what individuals from our target audience enjoy and dislike about our horror . This research will go on to help us when we start our work on our horror trailer.

Audience Research Survey

Here is a short survey I created on survey monkey which I am going to ask a range of horror films lovers to complete as a part of audience research.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N7FYZXF

Web.2.0 - Audience Theory

Paul Well's Audience Research

Silent Hill Poster Analysis

Scream Poster Analysis

The Purge Poster Analysis

The Eye Poster Analysis

Why do we like to be scared? (Part 1)

Here is a clip from YouTube explaining the scientific reasons for why people love being thrilled. Next week I am going to interview a selection of horror film lovers and ask them what it is that they love about being scared.
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Propp's Character Theory Presentation

Click the link below in order to watch my online presentation of Propp's famous theory. http://prezi.com/up72cckgnh9a/present/?auth_key=j71usvo&follow=62ovfqbjrq1p

Everything comes from something...

Scream Essay

Below is a 700 word essay which I wrote on Scream (199). The question for this essay was ‘How does Scream (1996) subvert and conform to the conventions of horror films’?

This American slasher film which was brought to our screams in 1996. The hugely popular film was written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wez Craven who also directed the very successful Nightmare on Elm Street and the film made a crazy total of $103,046,663 in US box offices. It follows the story of a teenager named Sidney Prescott and her friends who are being targeted by the mysterious town’s killer who goes by name of ‘Ghostface’. The film was the first of its kind to bring a tongue and cheek approach to horror film and its conventions and this is why I mostly feel that Scream subverts the conventions of horror as well as conforming to horror conventions.

I feel that this modernist film is one of a kind and it undermines horror films and through this it shows the stupidity of horror films and how they are all quite similar and all follow the same structure which is outlined by Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative theory. If you look at all the horror films that came to our screams before the first Scream there is a significant films between them and Scream as none of them make the conventions of horror known through dialogue throughout the film as other horror films follow horror film conventions but make sure the audience don’t feel that they can see the horror film conventions laid out and this is why I feel that Scream really does subvert horror film conventions due to this. An example scene of when Scream subverts horror’s mainstream conventions is when Ghostface says to Sidney “Do you like horror movies”? And Sidney replies “What's the point? They're all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. It's insulting”.

Scream bought something extremely fresh in terms of horror in media as before this horror films were not as popular as they once were when Psycho and Carrie first hit the screens but Scream brought a fresh of air to the horror genre as it was something completely innovative and different as it mixed comedy with horror which is not a horror film convention. Randy one of Sidney’s friends states the rules of horror films in a particular scene, stating that “You may not survive the movie if you have sex. You may not survive the movie if you drink or do drugs. You may not survive the movie if you say “I’ll be right back”, “Hello?” or “Who’s there?””. Randy is stating the conventions of horror films which can decrease the chances of you living.

As well as hugely demonstrating the subverting of horror films Scream also conforms to many horror film conventions for example the mise en scene of the film. Scream has a masked killer just as in Halloween and Chainsaw Massacre a perfect ingredient for slasher films as well blood. That jarring screeching sound of piano keys that are found in loads of horror films in order to build up tension was found in Scream. And how can I forget then sinful teenagers as well as the use of a final girl and the parents that just always turn up just too late.

Scream also referenced to a lot of horror films which most horror films do. Steve Neale (1980) said that ‘genres are instances of repetition and difference’. Which I agree with as every horror film is influenced by horror films that were produced before it. Scream mirrors scenes from Halloween for example when Sidney is making popcorn at the start of the films as so is Annie in Halloween.

So Scream satirizes the horror film genre by subverting many horror film conventions by following it’s own not to do rulebook of horror films but it also conforms to the conventions of horror films by using ingredients for horror films such as blood, knives and masks.

How camera effects are used to add meaning in the horror genre...

Horror films are surprisingly very cheap to make and the factors that make these films so successful is the storylines, music and camerawork an excellent example of this is Halloween 1978 one of the most successful independent films and also the film that gave birth to the subgenre of slasher horror. Halloween costed at total of $320,000 and grossed over $65 million and through analysing parts of Halloween I am aware that it is the techniques in which the directors and editors use in order to make a film such as Halloween and Psycho such great and iconic films. So a range of cleverly selected camera shots, angles and movements are used in horror to create the perfect scary moment or suspension for example a jump cut to a close up of a demons face could be used in order to scare the audience who are watching that particular scene. These camera effects are also used to inform the audience of what is happening in the film for example in Carrie towards the end of the film a long shot is used to show us that Carrie’s mum was dead and she symbolically looked like Jesus when he was pinned on to the cross during his crucifixion. Below is a trailer of a film called Grave Encounters which I had analysed it previously here are my notes on how camera effects were used to create a horror in the short clip. ‘The overall camera shots and angles used in Grave Encounters trailer created emotions of fear, tension and the feeling of the unknown. Most of the clips shown were done in a subjective way so I felt like I was there in the majority of the scenes and this was because the director of the film choose to use a handheld film recorder rather than having the film recorder on a dolly or a crane. There were many low angles used for example when they were looking up the stairs which was a very suitable angle to use in this scene as ghosts are usually found in horror films above us rather than on the floor so a high angle shot would be very well suited to a film such a Snakes on the Plane where the factor that is scaring people in the film are found mainly on the floor. There was also a low angle shot used when the cast of this mockumentary were introduced and they were posing for the camera I felt this gave the impression that they had authority at that present moment which was soon lost as the castoff this TV programme were being mentally and physically attacked by the unknown. Regarding camera shots there was a lot of close ups used to show the facial expressions of the characters and this is how I knew that authority had been lost on their behalf as they looked extremely scared and vulnerable. An over the shoulder shot was used during a conversation with the owner of the physcological unit and this gave the effect of voyeurism as I felt as viewer I should have not been listening to the conversation. Finally panning was used a lot to demonstrate emotions of panic’.

Grave Encounters Trailer

Ingredients of Horror

This is an animation I created on a website called 'PowToon', highlighting some of the key conventions in horror.

Words Associated with Horror

'Shower Scene'

This week I analysed the shower scene from 'Carrie' the famous 1976 horror/thriller which was directed by Brian De Palma a very successful and well known director who also directed the classic films 'Scarface' and 'The Untouchables'. From closley watching the tiny snippet of Carrie it demonstrated how much De Palama appreciated Hitchcock's work as the scene where Carrie the main character is in the shower mirrors the scene of when Marion was in the shower in Psycho (1960).

The Beginning of my Horror Journey

So over the past two weeks I have been closely anaylsing the great work of Vladimir Propp who was a Russian formalist scholar who created a theory that in every story there is eight character types: -The hero -The Villian -The donor -The dispatcher -The false hero -The helper -The princess -Her father After closely analysing this theory I have come to the conclusion that this theory is even applicable to the horror film genre. What makes this theory so effcetive is that it treats the characters as functions who's roles are to make the narrative what it is. I will be posting a powerpoint showing the connection between this theory and the film 'Silent Hill'.