Shot Types

 In our production, we plan to use many shot types, I'll mention a few of these and explain why they are effective.

Close-Up:

The close-up is used to show emotion on the characters face, this is especially effective in a horror film as the emotion of the characters (usually the victims) is shown frequently.












Low angle shot:

We have a shot idea for this angle that we feel will be hugely effective in our production, it will be used as almost a POV shot from a characters perspective, looking up at someone, almost as if they are inferior to them. From watching other horror films we see this as a really good shot type which wee want to use in our film.








Extreme Close-Up:

The extreme close-up is a show which shows a face really close-up. It usually shows an eye, or a mouth, but most commonly an eye. Eyes portray many emotions, they dilate in fear, get tears when the character is sad etc. We are thinking about using an eye dilating in our film, however this is merely a contemplation.

Psycho shower scene

This is one of the most famous scenes from a horror film, i wanted to do some research of this. I have found that this iconic scene has many stereotypical horror conventions that we plan to use in our film. Some examples being

- Eerie music
  - We want music to be our strongest point in the film, the use of music in horror films is key to sucess, this is an ideal example; with the fast paced, scary music giving an ominous feel to the entire scene, even before anything happens it is obvious that it will, this is because of the music.
- Screaming
  - When people are asked about screams in a horror film they usually remember the scream in this scene.We have many screams planned in our production as they were very effective in  other horror films like this one, both Michael and Rowen have showed us how they scream and we feel it could be a stand out feature in our opening.
- 'Fear factor'
  - The fear factor is a common feature in all horror films, especially in this scene. We want our film to have a similar effect on the audience to this film and this scene in particular, we class our production as a slasher, however it could be considered psychological as n the introduction no-one is seen being killed. However, it is implied.
  - With the use of music and the screams mentioned above i feel this will give our film the fear factor, i already have some ideas for music and we hope that this we be a strong point of our production.
- Stereotypical victim
  - In this scene there is a stereotypical horror victim; this being a defenceless, attractive girl. Through casting, we have found a suitable character in Rowen, we thought as a group that she matched the criteria of a horror victim. We also have Michael, who will play the younger brother, however he is the weaker of the two, possibly challenging the conventions of a horror movie; our roles of the cast may change and we may keep Michael as a weak child who gets killed almost instantly.

Preliminary Task Video

Location Photos

The image shown in this post are the initial ideas for our horror film opening scene  location, the selected scenes are subject to change. However, we expect that we will use a majority of the areas shown below. We decided upon this location after much research and saw this area as an ideal location to fit our storyline and also the stereotypical setting of a horror opening. We film be filming when the area is darker to add suspence and a more realistic scene. The location is named pocket park, a local nature reserve, when the area is dark, it is a scary place which makes you feel uneasy.

The image above shows our initial idea for where the two victims will be introduced playing with the symbolic ball, this area will be a key scene, with the bridge showing the cross from safety to death, this is also backed up in the title sequence when a dead body is shown on the other side of the river.  



The image above shows the crossing of the bridge, this does not occur as such in film but is insinuated by the flight of the ball.

This area was set to be the main area of our opening, however through looking around the area we found a better location, the reasons we were going to use this was to link with our title, 'The River', which is to the right of the camera and would have always been in shot.

With the above scene we initially thought we could use this for Michaels death, but later discovered a different area which suited the scene better and allowed a most conventional camera angle to be used.

In the initial plan, this was the location of the two children playing catch, however, we decided to directly link the initial scene to the river and panned to a location close to the river itself.

The tree in the above image was used for Michaels hanging sene, the space around the tree and the river in the background made this an ideal location.

The above image shows where the majority of the final scene was filmed, behind the cameras location is the tree Michael was hanging from and shows the reval of the last masked man from a good perspective.

This was teh initial plan for the second murder scene, but after some delegation we decided it was too open and bright, which doesn't suit our film or a conventional horror.

this tree was used when the scenes cut from Michaels scream to the forest. The use of first person benefited this shot as it showed the masked man hiding and watching secretively with some obstruction of the view rather than in the open.

This shows the scene where Michael picks up the ball, just to the right of the cameras location was the bush which had a masked man hidden within.

This shot shows the location in the forest where Rowen was being watched from a better angle.

This concludes this post, this post showed the many different ideas we had before filming, many of which have stuck and been used within the final cut. We chose the best locations which fitted the convential horror genre, the loation i feel, was one of our videos strong points.



Character Research

Within our production, we hope to have two main characters who are identifiable and relatable to the target audience. I have researched films of similar genre and have a cast specification for the two speaking caharacters.

Character 1:

Gender: Female
Age: 16-20 (will be playing a 17 year old.)


Character 2:

Gender: Male
Age: 15-18 (Will be playing a 15 year old, younger brother of character 1)

We want the actor and actress to look similar as they will be brother and sister in the production, they need to have some on screen chemistry and this will be judged the two actors/ actresses practising a script together. We want the girl to be the more dominant of the characters and she pushes her little brother around, getting him to do things he is unhappy doing, which will eventually lead to his demise.

*Update*

We have now found two people to act in our production, these being Rowen Elliot and Michael Walters, they matched our character specification, in the practise script, Rowen was also the more dominant of the two, we hope this occurs within our production. They also look quite similar making their acting as brother and sister believable.

Horror Film Openings

In preparation for our horror movie opening i watched three openings to horror films. I analysed the openings for Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween (2004).

Scream:

-Sound
The sounds within the opening sequence of scream are of a wide variety,the initial title sequence is accompanied by a non-diagetic scene, which, if not already known would give the instant assumption with the horror genre. the title sequence is linked to the opening scene via a telephone which also becomes the key to the plot within the first six minutes. Whilst the unknowing victim is on the phone subtle, non-diagetic music is played in the background. A plot twist occurs whilst the killer and victim conduct diagetic conversation and the tension builds from the conversation when the initial threat is given, the music quickens and gets repetitive to add tension, a dog also barks off screen, presumably from the television to emphasise the change in pace.
-Pace
The previous section highlighted the way music is used to enhance the changes of pace which occur during the opening sequence. the pace is initially slow, then begins to quicken when the phone call has entered its peak, when the killer reveals he can see her the pace dramatically quickens from this point and is continuously heart pounding until the scene reaches its climax.
-Storyline
The main storyline is very stereotypical of a horror movie, a girl with little defence feels unease during the night, home alone. The phone rings and the person claims to be a wrong number, then continues to ring her, slowly revealing more and more information of who he is, he then reveals that he can see her. Whilst he is on the phone to her intextuality occurs, this is when a reference to another film is made, this becomes key to a latter part of the scene. The killer then asks her a question about the previously spoken of film, saying if she gets the answer correct she lives, if not she dies. She gets the question correct, her boyfriend is then revealed outside her window, tied up. She must answer the question or he dies, she gets it wrong, he is killed. The killer then breaks in and kills her.
-Setting
The opening sequence is set within a house during the evening, the garden is also a key location as the first murder is there and the murderer is, i presume within the garden during the scene. The house then becomes a prison and the woman is unable to leave.
-Camera/Editing
A wide variety of shot types are used during this scene, they give the stalkers perspective of the victim from a high angle, showing how vulnerable she is. During the entire scene a variety of mid shots  and close ups are used, very few long shots are shown as they would kills the tension and not show the change of expression and pure fear which is portrayed on the victims face.

Nightmare On Elm Street:

-Sound
The sounds in the opening sequence are similar to those of Scream, they both have an equal balance of diagetic and non-diagetic sounds. Some of the non-diagetic sounds within the opening sequence of this film are the music which plays constantly throughout the scene to emphasise the tension and suspense.The diagetic sounds add realism to the scenes, a good example of this is the constant rattle and banging of metal whilst in the junkyard, matching his actions.
-Pace
The pace is unusually fast at the very beginning, this is when Freddie, the killer, is clattering through a junkyard, with the clattering and the show of his infamous hands giving an instant unease amongst the audience. When in the warehouse the pace is extremely fast, this is benefitted by the music and mise en scene, the pace then slows dramatically when the woman wakes up.
-Storyline
The opening scene begins with Freddie crafting weapons in a junkyard, presumably weapons he uses against his victims, we also get a first glimpse of his infamous claws. The scene then cuts to a woman who is running away from a mysterious being, running through an eerie, dark warehouse, Freddie constantly uses props to scare the woman, torturing her emotionally. The woman then wakes up, thinking it was only a nightmare, she then sees the claw marks on her shirt, showing it was more than just a dream. The scene then cuts to a school where children are singing the Freddie song which says about him entering your dreams.
-Setting
The opening scene is in a junkyard, which i have described above. Th scene then cuts to a warehouse which has many places to hid in, presumably an abandoned one. The woman then wakes up, showing her in a bed, in her home. A school is the final section, showing that she is a student. The two contrasting sections are in night and day respectively.
-Camera/Editing
First section has many close-ups, never showing the killers face. When the scene cuts to the warehouse a variety of shots and editing take place, wit a majority of mid shots and close ups being used. It also shows the scene from the killers and victims perspective, tracking shots are used during this to show that the killer alwas has the victim in his sight even though she can never see him.

Halloween (2004):

-Music/Sound
The sound in this scene is mostly diagetic, with the music coming from the radio which is on camera for the majority of the scene. Dialogue is the main body of the sound within this scene, with vulgarisms used frequently. Towards the latter staged of the scene, a child is shown in a bathroom, killing a rat, he is presumably the killer when he is older, screaming dialogue adds to this scene whilst his mother is shouting ata him.
-Pace
The opening to this film is very uncharacteristic and unusual to any other i have seen, the pace and dialogue could be that of any other genre, no fast paced moments occur, with only a few indications of death and the horror genre used. With this said the opening is very slow paced, with the dialogue making me assume this is a comedy film. When the boy is killing the rat the pace is slightly increased but is more dark and disturbing than scary.
-Storyline
The storyline begins with a stereotypical family in which the wife is cooking, the husband is being abusive and the children are arguing. Th Father is cruel to the children, this may have an impact on the storyline in the latter stages of the film but i am unaware as i only analysed the opening sequence. The implication of murder from the youngest child is the only thing relating to the horror genre.
-Setting
The setting is a bright morning in a stereotypical American home with upbeat music playing on the radio. The child is also in the bathroom wearing a mask, leading me to think he will be the killer, and that the name is contrived via the mask,
-Characters
Mentioned above.
-Camera/Editing
the 180 degree rule is followed throughout the dialogue, this paired with the shot reverse shot gives a sense of realism. When the child is in the bathroom the mirror is used togive two perspectives of the child, emphasisng his importance to the storyline.

Preliminary Task

This is our initial task for A level Media, in which we had to plan, then film a simple sequence involving a character entering a room then sharing some dialect with another character, we decided as a group to film an interrogation sequence in which the interrogator walks into the room. This is shown in the image below.

 The second image shows him opening the door, emphasising the importance of his entrance. A close up is used to show this, showing how he enters the room and adds continuity when the camera cuts to a mid shot.

 This image shows me after i opened the door, giving the audience a taste of the new scene by looking through the door. a mid shot is used once again, in the same position as the initial scene to show the entire character and to show continuity, keeping a similar distance to the character to emphasise his superiority to the audience and other characters.

This image shows the interrogator entering the room, showing the final scene, also showing the initial scene receding into the distance emphasising the redundancy of the old scene.The body language of the character in this image shows that he is ready for conflict if necessary, with a serious face to show his determination.

The 180 degree rule is used in this sequence, showing the suspect for the first time, his attire and facial expression matches that of a criminal giving the audience an instant understanding of the character.

This shot is purely of the suspect. His initial dialogue is spoken here, exposing his Russian accent. a close up is used to emphasise his importance and also the first piece of dialogue. 

The interrogator is shown, whilst the 180 degree rule is being applied, he responds. It is made obvious he is responding to the suspect due to the 180 degree rule. His facial expression shows his determination once again.

The final shot we used was once again a 180 degree  rule close up, once again of the suspect who replies to the interrogator. He has a shocked facial expression to show how surprised he is that the interrogator knowshis secrets, he then makes up an excuse. This is left as a cliff hanger to attract the audiences attention. The scene is ended on a fade to black the emphasise that the scene has ended.