Storyboard - Wendy

This is a sketch of an idea, for what we want our trailer to look like we all individually drew out sketches to decide which one we liked best, plus the best sketch will be the one will be based around our teaser trailer and additionally if we like any ideas from other we will use aspects of the sketch!

Movie Poster Draft - Martin

This is a draft of one of our movie poster ideas it was designed by Martin and it was designed to show two sides of our villain as you can see one side is untidy and evil whereas the other side is neat and innocent.

Planning and Research - Martin

Introduction To Horror

Some Horror films are sometimes combined with the sci-fi genre, and a usual plot may be that the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when earth is threatened by aliens, demons etc. The fantasy and supernatural film genres are not synonymous with the horror genre although thriller films may have some relation when they focus on the revolting and horrible acts of the killer. Horror films go back as far as the onset of films themselves, over a 100 years ago, From when we are young people have used there vivid imaginations to see ghosts or some sort of scary entity in shadowy or dark places, or rumours have been spread that a certain place has been haunted, which all adds or reinforces the fear gained from horror films.  Watching a horror film gives an opening into that scary world, into an outlet for the essence of fear itself, without actually being danger. There’s also a very real thrill and fun factor in being scared or watching disturbing, horrific images, and people like to put themselves to the test whether they are able to get through the movie without being scared, this further supports the popularity with horror films.

The conventions of Teaser Trailers

·        They are much shorter than theatrical trailers.

·        They can’t give away too much information about the film- they must leave the audience wanting to know more.

·        They don’t follow the narrative and a re usually not in chronological sequence (they usually use a non-linear structure).

·        They are released a long time before the film and are the first trailer to be released.

·        You might not see any actual characters in it.

·        A teaser trailer might not contain any footage from the film.

·        The Teaser Trailer may promote the director (sometimes known as an Auteur)

·        Montage editing is common (though not mandatory).

·        The pace is usually slow and picks up momentum.

Current Horror Films

Scream

Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film follows the character of Sidney Prescott, a high school student, who becomes the target for a mysterious killer known as ‘Ghostface’.

In this Film the protagonist and final girl is called Sidney (unisex name), and the antagonist is the masked killer known as ‘Ghostface’, which ends up being her boyfriend Billy Loomis. There are several people who can be classed as ‘red herrings’ in the film such as Sidney’s father Neil Prescott, her friend Randy Meeks and town deputy Dewey Riley. This all adds to the tension and build up to the film, which I believe added to the success of the film.

Release Date: December 20^th 1996

Director: Wes Craven

Genre: Slasher

Studio: Woods Entertainment

Distributor: Dimension Films

Running Time: 111 minutes

Budget: $15 million

Box Office: $173, 046, 663

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film written by and directed by Oren Peli. The film focuses on a young couple, Katie and Micah, who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. It is presented in the style of ‘found footage’ from a camera set up by the couple in an attempt to photograph what is haunting them.

Release date: October 14 2007

Director: Oren Peli

Genre: Supernatural horror

Studio: Blumhouse Productions

Distributor: Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks Pictures

Running Time: 86 minutes

Budget: $15, 000

Box Office: $193, 355, 800

Paranormal Activity 3

Paranormal Activity 3 is an upcoming 2011 American supernatural horror film and third film of the paranormal activity series, which will be set 18 years before the events of both Paranormal Activity 1 and Paranormal Activity 2.

Release Date: October 21 2011

Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Genre: Psychological Horror

Studio: Blumhouse Production

Distributed: Paramount Pictures

Final Destination 5

Final Destination 5 is a 2011 3D horror film written by Eric Heisserer and directed by Steven Quale. It is the fifth instalment to the Final Destination film franchise and stars Nicholas D’agasto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koecher and Tony Todd (who is only returning cast member of the series). The motion pictures world premiere was August 4, 2011 at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Canada. It was released in real 3D and digital IMAX 3D.

Release Date:  August 12, 2011

Running Time: 92 minutes

Budget: $40 - $45 million

Box Office: $102, 109, 713

Studio: New Line Cinema, Practical Pictures

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

The Woman in Black

The woman in black is an upcoming 2012 supernatural thriller film based on Susan Hill’s novel ‘The Woman in Black’. It is a remake of the 1989 film of the same name and will star Daniel Radcliffe as lawyer Arthur Kipps. Jane Goldman for Hammer Films is writing the film. Originally planned to be shot in 3D, it was eventually shot in 2D. It is due to release in the US on 3^rd February 2012 and in UK cinemas on 10 February 2012.

Release Date 10^th February 2012

Directors: James Atkins

Genre: Supernatural Thriller

Studio: Hammer Film productions

Distributed by: Momentum Pictures (UK) CBS Films (US)

Film Director: Oren Peli

Born in 1970 (age 41) 

Occupation: Film Director, producer and screenwriter

Oren Peli is an Israeli-born American film director and screenwriter best known as the director/creator of Paranormal Activity. He is also a video game programmer. Oren Peli has also worked on the PC version of the game Mortal Kombat 3 as a programmer. He wrote and directed paranormal Activity. He directed the film Area 51 which will be released in 2011. He also produced with Steve Schneider and Jason Blum the thriller film insidious, which is directed by Leigh Whannell. On September 22^nd 2010 it was announced he would be producing Lords of Salem and the film will be written and directed by Rob Zombie. On November 17, 2010, Dread Central reported that Paranormal Activity 3 will hit theatres on October 21 2011.

Horror Film Conventions

In Horror films there tends to be something iconic in the film whether it’s a specific colour scheme, a prop within the film, an actor etc. but it becomes iconic of the film.

Another convention is there tends to be a death in the first five minutes of the film however many films don’t follow this convention such as Paranormal Activity.

The basis of a Horror film is there’s been an intrusion of an evil force of supernatural origin, into the everyday world.

Another convention is the Final Girl Theory, which is usually associated with ‘slashers’ this refers to the last female alive to confront the killer, the one left to tell the story. They also usually have a unisex name and challenge the stereotype by gaining masculine traits to overcome the antagonist at the end of the film.

Another convention is the background or décor, most horror films are set in suburban or countryside areas where it is isolated and uncommon, and this is in contrast to what the audience may think.

Horror films are unsettling films designed to:

·        Frighten and Panic.

·        Cause dread and alarm.

·        Invoke our hidden worst fears.

·        Captivate and entertain us in a cathartic experience.

·        Often conclude in a terrifying and shocking finale.

·        Focus on the dark side of life.

Fears created by horrors

For different types of audiences it can deal with our fears of:

·        Nightmares

·        Our Vulnerability

·        Alienation

·        Terror of the Unknown

·        Fear of Death

·        Loss of Identity

·        Fear of sexuality

Characters

There is always a lead character that often results as the survivor in the film otherwise known as the protagonist.

The killer/monster otherwise known as the antagonist often has a trademark characteristic in the way they kill for example the people they kill or the weapon they use to kill them.

There are also usually stock characters, which usually fall victim to the antagonist one way or another.

There is also the ‘red herring’ this is used to make the plot of the film more interesting by fooling them to think that a particular character is the antagonist and keep the audience guessing but later revealing they aren’t in fact the antagonists.

It is usually good against evil, the two characters conflict

The outcome is the good person always survives or defeats the ‘bad guy’/Protagonist.

Poster Idea

Titi
 This is the primary image which we took using the image using the Canon Camera although it was a dull day which meant that the lighting wasn't very good thus effected the quality of our image although when looking around we finally found a decent lighting additionally through using the camera we were able to enhance the lighting thus improving our skills of using the camera.

Titi's face and Fola's hands - edited picture
We should have used Titi hands but instead we used quiet masculine and ugly hands to create the effect of the hands having control over our main image although through using Photoshop it showed that our Photoshop skills are quiet limited but by practising our skill will be more enhanced thus get better. Furthermore we wish in the latter future to maybe use this image as a basis of what we want our front cover to be. As from looking at the image below is very exquisite and of something we all felt inspired from.

Original image
We were heavily inspired by this picture so we intended to design a replica of this image as it conveys a powerful message which we wanted to replicate we tried to do this by using Photoshop which is a software which is used to enhance an image!

Planning and Research - Titilope

                                     A2 Summer Homework:  Horror Movies & Conventions.

Horror movies are unsettling films created to scare and terrify its audiences. It sometimes invokes our unknown worst fears, while fascinating and entertaining. They are filled with the forbidden, strange and disturbing events in life.  Horror films were firstly introduced in the year 1931; Dracula. There are various genres of horror films; for example, super natural horror, thrillers, slashers, psychological horror, gothic horror and science fiction.

 

Conventions of Horror movies:

·         Killing

·         Death

·         Shadowy/Dark lighting

·         Isolated settings

·         Evil

·         Victims (female)

·         Monsters

·         Violence

3 Different Horror movies:

1.     Orphan

2.     Friday The 13^th

3.     Somebody Help Me

Orphan:

A couple are rebuilding their troubled marriage. Kate, had a drinking problem, but is in therapy and it things are successful. They then decide to adopt a child. When they meet the nine-year-old Russian girl, Esther, at an Orphanage, they immediately fall in love with her as she was also well-educated. Their young son, Daniel is unfriendly to his new sister, Esther; but their deaf-mute daughter, Max is pleased with her; at the beginning. Eventually, Kate starts to get the feeling that Esther is manipulative and even mentally disturbed. John refuses to listen to his wife's suspicions, and it almost seems impossible to rebuild their marriage. Kate calls Sister Abigail at the orphanage to inform her about her worries and suspicions. The nun tells her that Esther has a disturbed and unexplained past. Kate goes into further investigation into Esther's history and discovers she is not who she pretends to be.

·        Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

·        Genre: Psychological Thriller

·        Box office: $78,3337,373

·        Distributor: Warner bros; Optimum releasing; Studio Canal; Village road show.

·        Release Date: July 24 2009

Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Friday The 13^th:

This group of teenagers build a tent near the neglected summer camp; where a lot of horrible killings are believed to have occurred in 1980. The perpetrator was a sorrowful mother that is driven insane by the drowning of her son, Jason whom she supposed was abandoned by the camp counsellors. The last survivor of the attacks beheaded the woman. However, Jason has come back for revenge and is an unstoppable killer. The story proves is true and these campers quickly find out. Months later, the brother of one of those campers gives out posters of his missing sister. The police suppose she left with her boyfriend; but he knows better. The brother meets a young rich guy who is having his girlfriend and friends over in his parents' cabin. The brother is then left in the cabin by himself just before his sister's attacker (Jason) attempts to murder each and every one of them. 

Written by J .Spurlin

·        Director: Marcus Nispel

·        Genre: Slasher Film

·        Box Office: $91,379,051

·        Distributor: New line Cinema; Paramount pictures

·         Release Date: February 13^th 2009

Written by J .Spurlin

Somebody Help Me:

The script focuses on characters Brendan Young and Darryl Jennings who go on a trip to the Lake Arrowhead with a group of friends from college to celebrate Young's girlfriend's birthday. One-by-one the friends begin to disappear from the cabin around the Lake. However, this mystery begins to unravel when a strange young visitor arrives to help them solve the puzzle. 

Written by Chris Stokes.

·        Director: Chris Stokes

·        Genre: Horror Film

·        Box Office: ------

·        Distributor: Paramount Pictures

·        Release Date: November 13^th 2007

Written by Chris Stokes.

Research on Horror movie director:  

Alexandre Aja is a French film director. His became internationally successful because of his horror film “Haute Tension” (known as “High Tension” in America, and known as “Switchblade Romance” in the UK). He acted minor roles in his father’s movies such as “Le Grand Carnaval” at a very young age. Alexandre directed his first film at the age of eighteen, “Over the Rainbow” which received a Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm Award for the best short film. He also directed films such as, “The Hills have eyes”; “Mirrors”; “Piranha 3-D”.

Haute Tension was released in 2003 in France as a French slasher. It contained a lot of make-up effects over computer-generated imagery, because of this; it gained respect among horror audiences. His next project was a horror film titled “Mirrors”. It is about a strange mirror that brings out the worst aspects of people whenever they see themselves in it. The film is a remake of the horror movie “Into the Mirror”. Alexandre also directed “Piranha 3-D” a horror movie about ancient piranhas in Arizona. It is a remake of the film Piranha.

Fears that are created by horror movies:

• Hidden Fears
•   Nightmares
•  Alienation
• Loss of Identity
• Fear of Death
• Terror of the Unknown

  Conventions of horror films; Teaser/Trailers:

·        Teasers are usually short presentations usually 30-60 seconds long.

·        Some tend 2 ask questions which may link to what the movie is about.

·        Teasers make the audience aware that there is a new film being produced or edited.

·        They don’t give the audience every single detail about the movie but they give a rough idea about things that will happen in certain parts.

Planning and Research - Gradice

The Conventions of Horror

Horror films involve codes and conventions that give the audience an idea of what film genre they are watching.  They are films/movies that aim to tease the emotions of disgust, fear, anxiety from the audience.  They play with the viewer’s hidden thoughts, nightmares and force us to undivided attention.

When it comes to Horror movie posters, there are several codes used to portray the genre such as having dark or shadowy lighting, this is used give a sense of fear towards the audience and immediately notifies the audience what sub genre the movie may be.  Most advertisement posters of the horror genre display conventions and codes within the narrative of the film. These are portrayed to have an effect that will suggest important aspects of a film such as the lead character and their position (good or evil character).  This is important because it informs the audience of what to expect from the film and it gives them an idea of the narrative structure or plot.
Horror films have common elements such as ghosts, torture, ancient curses, diseases, demons, vampires, haunted houses and zombies.  In most horror films, women seem to be slower, less powerful, and simply less dominant, in contrast, men who are in the same films die too, but are not shown as being so defenceless.  
There’s always a lead character that often results as he survivor of the film. The killer or monster usually has a trademark characteristic with the way he kills or uses a specific weapon to kill. The film usually has two characters that conflict with each other and the outcome is mostly positive where the good character defeats the bad or the film ends leaving the viewer with suspense.

The Conventions of horror film teaser trailers

Horror teaser trailers normally leave the audience hanging in suspense, often leaving them puzzled, which is the full intention of a trailer. This can be done in different ways, such as building the music in the trailer up to a climax and then to either stop or slow down the music, this is used to frighten the audience.

In addition, most trailers are fast paced and often consist of quick cuts; this could be flashing images of weapons, monstrous faces- depending on the sub genre of the film. This often builds up tension and suspense to the audience who like horror films.


They set up a premise or a situation, and then leave the viewer wanting to know more. One example is the original 'Alien' (1979) trailer. The camera ties shots of the film with a long, slow pull back of a large, alien egg. The egg cracks, giving off an eerie glow and the trailer ends with the subscript "In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream." The trailer does not really tell us about the characters, does not establish much at all. All we know is something horrible is going to come out of that egg, something that makes people screams. We, the audience, want to know what is in that egg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oYNvmNZP2o

The main conventions in horror teaser trailers are:

·         The use of quick cuts with little amounts of clarity, this is very effective and leaves the viewer in suspense, pushing them to want to watch the film

·         The use of consistent dark lighting, this is used to make the viewer feel nervous

·         The use of isolated areas is important because it makes the viewer feel alone and very conscience. Using an urban location could give the viewer a sense of belonging

·          The use of props (weapons) and showing blood and wounds to make the audience feel uneasy

·         The use of a victim, whether they’re  defenceless or not

·         Many horror  film teaser trailers also leave their viewer in suspense with one last scare

·         The editing of the piece, most of them are filmed unsteadily to put across the emotion of anxiety and fear.

 Horror Film Director: George Romero

George Romero is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor best known for his daunting and ironical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse.  After graduating in 1960, he began his career shooting short films and commercials.  He had done one commercial film, which was a segment for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in which Mr. Rogers underwent a tonsillectomy. This inspired George Romero to go into the horror film business.  This then lead him to form an image ten production with nine in the late 1960s, and produced Night of the Living Dead (1968). The movie, directed by Romero and co-written with John A. Russo, became a cult classic and a defining moment for modern horror cinema.

Later on, he had produced three other movies ‘There’s always vanilla’ (1971), ‘Jacks wife/Season of the witch’ (1972) and ‘The Crazies’ (1973) unfortunately, these films were not as successful as ‘Night of the Living Dead’ or his other works, but in the year of 1978, Romero went back to the zombie genre Dawn of the Dead . This was shot with a budget of $500 000. The filmed had made over $55 million and because of this, the film was ranked one of the top cut films by weekly entertainment in 2003. He then decided to leave the franchise from Image Ten, which screwed up the copyright on the original which then allowed the film to enter into public domain. This meant that Romero and his original investors were not entitled to any profits from the film's video releases.

In the late 1980’s Romero’s career began to decline. His last widely released film was the ‘Day of the Dead’ (1985). It did not take in much at the box office. His latest two efforts were ‘The Dark Half’ (1993) and ‘Bruiser’ (2000). Even the remake of Romero’s first film ‘Night of the living Dead’ (1990) was a box office failure. In 2005,(19 years after) ‘Day of the Dead’ (1985) with major studio distribution, he returned to his most famous series and horror sub genre he created with ‘Land of the Dead’ (2005), a further exploration of the destruction of modern society by the undead, that received both excellent and indifferent reviews and even topped the United States box-office in its first week of release.

On October 27, 2009, Romero was honored with the Mastermind Award at Spike TV's Scream 2009.

Three Different Horror Films

Orphan (2009) Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

The film opened at number 4 in the box office for its opening weekend, making $12,770,000 total, its gross altogether was $78,337,373.

The tragic loss of their unborn child has devastated Kate and John, taking a toll on both their marriage and Kate's fragile psyche, as she is plagued by nightmares and haunted by demons from her past. Struggling to regain some semblance of normalcy in their lives, the couple decides to adopt a child. At the local orphanage, both John and Kate find themselves strangely drawn to a young girl named Esther. Almost as soon as they welcome Esther into their home, however, an alarming series of events begins to unfold, leading Kate to believe that there is something wrong with Esther--this seemingly angelic little girl is not what she appears to be. Concerned for the safety of her family, Kate tries to get John and others to see past Esther's sweet façade, but her warnings go unheeded until it may be too late-for everyone.

The Crazies (1973 & 2010) Directed by George Romero and Breck Eisner

The film opened at number 3 with $16,067,552, by May 2010, the film has grossed an estimated $50 million worldwide.

David Dutten (Timothy Olyphant) is sheriff of Ogden Marsh, an American town with happy, law-abiding citizens. One night, one of them comes to a school baseball game with a loaded shotgun, ready to kill. Another man burns down his own house, after locking his wife and young son in a closet inside. Within days, the town has transformed into a sickening asylum; people whom days ago lived quiet, unremarkable lives have now become depraved, bloodthirsty killers, hiding in the darkness with guns and knives. Sheriff Dutten tries to make sense of what's happening as the horrific, nonsensical violence escalates. Something is infecting the citizens of Ogden Marsh...with insanity.
Now complete anarchy reigns as one by one the townsfolk succumb to an unknown toxin and turn sadistically violent. In an effort to keep the madness contained, the government uses deadly force to close off all access and won't let anyone in or out ,even those uninfected. The few still sane find themselves trapped: Sheriff Dutten; his pregnant wife, Judy ; Becca ,an assistant at the medical center; and Russell ,Dutten's deputy and right-hand man. Forced to band together, an ordinary night becomes a horrifying struggle for survival as they do their best to get out of town alive.

The hills have eyes (1977 & 2006) Directed by Wes Craven

It earned $15.5 million in its opening weekend in the U.S.

An idyllic American family travelling through the great American southwest, but their trip takes a detour into an area closed off from the public, but more importantly from society. An area originally used by the U.S. Government for nuclear testing that was intended to be empty. When the Carter's car breaks down at the old site, they're stranded. As the Carters may soon realize that what seemed like a car casually breaking down, might actually be a trap. This trap might be perpetrated by the inhabitants of the site who aren't pulling a prank, but are out to set up a gruesome massacre.