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.