Sub genre
A sub genre of horror movies normally still contain elements of a stereotypical horror. There are several types of sub genres. For example:
>action horror
<Action horrors combines the intrusion of evil, the supernatural or an event. In horror films with frantic chases and gun fights that are also performed in the action genre.
<Themes and elements are often prevalent in an action-horror which include most commonly zombies, along with demons, gore, vicious animals and vampires.
>Teen slasher
<During a teen slasher the killer is typically a psychopath stalking a sequence of victims normally involving teenage protagonist allowing the demographic to relate.
>comedy horror
<crosses over into the black comedy genre and is greatly used as a tool for spoofs.
>action horror
<Action horrors combines the intrusion of evil, the supernatural or an event. In horror films with frantic chases and gun fights that are also performed in the action genre.
<Themes and elements are often prevalent in an action-horror which include most commonly zombies, along with demons, gore, vicious animals and vampires.
>Teen slasher
<During a teen slasher the killer is typically a psychopath stalking a sequence of victims normally involving teenage protagonist allowing the demographic to relate.
>comedy horror
<crosses over into the black comedy genre and is greatly used as a tool for spoofs.
Carrie 2013The mise-en scene for the remake of Carrie conveys Carrie as the dominant protagonist as everything in the background of the frame is blurry. This is used because it allows Carrie to be the main focus and the wide mid shot shows the sinister expression on her face.
However, the colour values of red (shown i the background) indicates a sense of danger and the devil as the protagonist is covered in blood. In contrast to this, red also has the connotation of love and this is foreshowed throughout the movie with the relationships Carrie has with her Mother and Tommy. The typography of the movie slowly transforms so that there is blood dripping down each individual letter. This foreshadows the rest of the movie because it keeps within their chosen genre (horror) and indicates that a lot of blood will be lost. This also represents the innocence that the main protagonist has lost as she goes from being sweet and religious to be possessed by the devil. |
The Island of Dr Moreau
The typography resembles a sense of isolation and independence as every letter has been written in capitals letters except for the letter I. This hints at the idea of seclusion and abandonment that becomes from owning an island. The titles seem to be positioned in small lettering and in different places on the screen. This could suggest the loneliness living on an island may cause and the movement and travel one would take whilst spending time on the island.
The soundtrack of loud beating drums conveys a sinister tone and starts the demographic asking questions about how and why this person found themselves on a island. |
The Conjuring
The opening sequence start out with the Warner Bros institution logo but in a totally different colour scheme. This is effective as it creates a sense of unrealism for the demographic, which helps identify the genre as a horror. This is then followed by the New Line Cinema logo, which is a generic convention of any film as they must all show all institutions and production companies used before the movie even starts.
Following this, there is darkness for ten seconds with dialogue edited over. In effect this makes the demographic pay close attention to the dialogue as it is a crucial part to the narrative. At ten seconds, an image of a creepy doll's face appears on screen, which transitions onto a shaky camera movements moving away from the doll's head. These shaky camera movements suggests to the demographic that the doll is dangerous and causes pain and nervousness to those around her. This later fore shadows throughout the rest of the movie as we later discover she causes death.
The camera then goes onto show a low lighting mid shot of three protagonists accompanied by dialogue about the story of Annabelle. This is crucial to the narrative as it foreshadows what has previously involving Annabelle.
At 1:21, a mid shot of Annabelle appears on screen and zooms out in a slow steady speed. This indicating the emphasis on tension that is caused by the blank expression on Annabelle's face sending a message across of death.
Wan then goes onto show a flash back of the story starting with a mid of the two women, from the beginning, coming through the door having a loud convention. This is effective as it conveys to the demographic by cutting from a quite atmosphere to a loud and disruptive one. After entering the door, the woman at the front bends down and picks up a worm stained piece of paper. Wan then uses a POV shot showing the point of view of the woman behind her, showing writing stating 'Miss Me?' in red crayon. The red crayon represents blood which is a stereotypical convention of a horror movie.
The next crucial shot is a long shot of the creepy doll sat down in the hallway, leaning against a wall. This illustrates personification as a doll cant normally act out normal human qualities. This is crucial because the camera movement is very shaky, suggesting it is being filmed on a hand held device, which makes the demographic feel as if they have ben placed into the movie and are seeing it from the woman's POV. This then makes the demographic feel every emotion that the protagonist is feeling at that crucial moment.
Wan then goes onto use a low angled close up of a blonde haired women which is then followed by the spare room covered in red crayon, which creates the conclusion for the demographic that Annabelle created the damage in the room. The next scene is shown the use of a POV shot which establishes the room and shows the damage caused by Annabelle. The non-diegetic sound accompanying the scene creates tension and panic throughout the scene.
This is then followed by another POV shot showing the ceiling which indicates that 'Miss Me?' as once again been written in red crayon. The repetition of the lexis 'miss me?' conveys that Annabelle has previously came back and is actually alive. This creates confusion for the demographic and leaves them second guessing.
Following this, there is darkness for ten seconds with dialogue edited over. In effect this makes the demographic pay close attention to the dialogue as it is a crucial part to the narrative. At ten seconds, an image of a creepy doll's face appears on screen, which transitions onto a shaky camera movements moving away from the doll's head. These shaky camera movements suggests to the demographic that the doll is dangerous and causes pain and nervousness to those around her. This later fore shadows throughout the rest of the movie as we later discover she causes death.
The camera then goes onto show a low lighting mid shot of three protagonists accompanied by dialogue about the story of Annabelle. This is crucial to the narrative as it foreshadows what has previously involving Annabelle.
At 1:21, a mid shot of Annabelle appears on screen and zooms out in a slow steady speed. This indicating the emphasis on tension that is caused by the blank expression on Annabelle's face sending a message across of death.
Wan then goes onto show a flash back of the story starting with a mid of the two women, from the beginning, coming through the door having a loud convention. This is effective as it conveys to the demographic by cutting from a quite atmosphere to a loud and disruptive one. After entering the door, the woman at the front bends down and picks up a worm stained piece of paper. Wan then uses a POV shot showing the point of view of the woman behind her, showing writing stating 'Miss Me?' in red crayon. The red crayon represents blood which is a stereotypical convention of a horror movie.
The next crucial shot is a long shot of the creepy doll sat down in the hallway, leaning against a wall. This illustrates personification as a doll cant normally act out normal human qualities. This is crucial because the camera movement is very shaky, suggesting it is being filmed on a hand held device, which makes the demographic feel as if they have ben placed into the movie and are seeing it from the woman's POV. This then makes the demographic feel every emotion that the protagonist is feeling at that crucial moment.
Wan then goes onto use a low angled close up of a blonde haired women which is then followed by the spare room covered in red crayon, which creates the conclusion for the demographic that Annabelle created the damage in the room. The next scene is shown the use of a POV shot which establishes the room and shows the damage caused by Annabelle. The non-diegetic sound accompanying the scene creates tension and panic throughout the scene.
This is then followed by another POV shot showing the ceiling which indicates that 'Miss Me?' as once again been written in red crayon. The repetition of the lexis 'miss me?' conveys that Annabelle has previously came back and is actually alive. This creates confusion for the demographic and leaves them second guessing.
Mood Board
For our mood board we came up with the overall concept and sets the atmosphere for our opening. We chose the colour black as it unconventionally signifies good rather than evil as this is because the shadows murderous activities take place during daylight. This conveys that as soon as the protagonist is in the dark they are safe. This challenges the conventions of a horror as the demographic would normally used to the opposite. The representation of the colour of 'good' being white normally signifies purity. To further emphasize this idea are 4 shadows walking as one which shows unity and how they work like a family to overcome any obstacle in there way.
The main two images shown in the middle section are crossed over to represent good and evil. Evil is shown by taking the persona of the villain which in this case would be a shadow. The image to the middle right represents the idea of purgatory which the shadow is trapped in as it remains in the spirit world on Earth murdering innocent victims for revenge on his own death. Due to this the shadow is incapable of proceeding to the next realm inn the spirit world. However, the image to the left of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde connotes how in reality the shadow was/is only a child when he sadly died and how he created another persona( murderous monster).
The yellow section represents the general overall that is evil in the film. Yellow connotes the sun and how we plan on making the film set in the daylight. In contrast to this the evil being dark will convert expectations and will show the deadly side of the shadows. The writing looks as if it is dripping with blood which indicates the death of the helpless victims.
To set the setting we chose to add the location and how it appears as a innocent relaxing gateway, when on the contrary it is not. The field adds to the realism and recognition of a horror being in a secluded location.
The upside down cross symbolises the act of evil but also the reality of the spiritual with the shadow holding a knife. This representing the villain and his chosen weapon.
The main two images shown in the middle section are crossed over to represent good and evil. Evil is shown by taking the persona of the villain which in this case would be a shadow. The image to the middle right represents the idea of purgatory which the shadow is trapped in as it remains in the spirit world on Earth murdering innocent victims for revenge on his own death. Due to this the shadow is incapable of proceeding to the next realm inn the spirit world. However, the image to the left of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde connotes how in reality the shadow was/is only a child when he sadly died and how he created another persona( murderous monster).
The yellow section represents the general overall that is evil in the film. Yellow connotes the sun and how we plan on making the film set in the daylight. In contrast to this the evil being dark will convert expectations and will show the deadly side of the shadows. The writing looks as if it is dripping with blood which indicates the death of the helpless victims.
To set the setting we chose to add the location and how it appears as a innocent relaxing gateway, when on the contrary it is not. The field adds to the realism and recognition of a horror being in a secluded location.
The upside down cross symbolises the act of evil but also the reality of the spiritual with the shadow holding a knife. This representing the villain and his chosen weapon.
Horror film opening pitch
Audience Research
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> Due to our audience research we found out that the majority of our candidates preferred the villains to have a more standard weapon like a knife , rather than a more machine like weapon such as chainsaws and guns.
> The main age range that answered our questionnaires were teenagers between 15-18. This key information will allows us to focus our opening sequence around this particular demographic and make it more appalling and relatable. By making our actors play protagonists roughly the same age as our audience will encourage them to watch it. > The most commonly remembered opening sequences for our candidates were horrors that started with a disequilibrium/ disrupt to the norm. For our opening sequence we can film an opening that too starts off disrupting the narrative structure as this way it will appeal to our chosen demographic. |
Story Boards
Before we planned our story boards we first wrote down a brief list of the plot of the narrative structure and what type of characters we are going to portray.
On our story board to make it as clear as possible and easy to follow we added information on everything we needed to do. In order of the scenes and how it will run we added time frames, transitions, camera movement, title sequences. This will allow us to know exactly what we have to shoot and how to shoot them.
Shooting Script
Before we started filming we wrote a shooting script explaining the time, dates, what we are going to film, how long it will take, what props we need and who we will be filming. This allows us to have an efficient time filming as everything will run more smoothly and nothing can go wrong.
Script
The making of the blood
The ingredients;
>syrup
>red and black food colouring
>water
Equipment
>bowl
>spoon (anything preferable to mix with)
Method
>begin by mixing into a bowl enough syrup and water. Keep adding more water until it is the right consistency.
>next add the red and black food colouring to add a bold and vibrate colour to the mixture.
>lastly pour the mixture into a container (a bottle) and then you have your fake blood.
Protagonists and Actors
The protagonists were chosen to play an unconventional take on the stereotypical protagonists usually portrayed in horror movies. This helps the audience as throughout the scene they will keep second guessing about what is to come. Our main aim is to subvert the typical codes and conventions of a horror as it makes for a unique and interesting opening sequence.
Character Organisation
Whilst organising our actors we found that due to having scheduled independent study lessons meant that we were able to arrange appropriate timing schedules on which we could film. Although two of our chosen actors had scheduled lessons it was not a problem as they were at a point in their own lessons where they were able to be taken out as they were up to date with any work that needed to be done. We personally asked their teachers in advance prior to filming if it was acceptable to withdraw them from their chosen lesson.
Character Organisation
Whilst organising our actors we found that due to having scheduled independent study lessons meant that we were able to arrange appropriate timing schedules on which we could film. Although two of our chosen actors had scheduled lessons it was not a problem as they were at a point in their own lessons where they were able to be taken out as they were up to date with any work that needed to be done. We personally asked their teachers in advance prior to filming if it was acceptable to withdraw them from their chosen lesson.
Caitlin Taylor ( Actress)
This protagonist is known as the 'non-believer' or the 'contemporary hippe'. Our actor will play the role as naïve as possible as the protagonist doesn't believe in things like the supernatural and things beyond her control. Instead is focuses on the important things like life it's self. Her positive attitude shows throughout the opening scenes as she tries to reassure the others and promotes peace and love.
This protagonist is known as the 'non-believer' or the 'contemporary hippe'. Our actor will play the role as naïve as possible as the protagonist doesn't believe in things like the supernatural and things beyond her control. Instead is focuses on the important things like life it's self. Her positive attitude shows throughout the opening scenes as she tries to reassure the others and promotes peace and love.
Jess Eccleston ( Actor)
This character is represented as the 'troubled teen'. Our actor will convey her as being shy and quite but during the dialogue scene we will learn that there's more to her than you may think. Not only is she portrayed as shy and depressed but we will also learn that she has thoughts and feelings of wanting to end everything. She hates the world and being in it. She portrays this negative attitude throughout the opening sequence.
This character is represented as the 'troubled teen'. Our actor will convey her as being shy and quite but during the dialogue scene we will learn that there's more to her than you may think. Not only is she portrayed as shy and depressed but we will also learn that she has thoughts and feelings of wanting to end everything. She hates the world and being in it. She portrays this negative attitude throughout the opening sequence.
Thomas Smith ( Actor and Editor)
We decided that for this character he would be perceived the stereotypical male 'jock' but instead of having him being the hero we have gone against the stereotypical codes and conventions and made this character be the first to die. He depends on the smartness of the three women as he is no real use to help keep them alive. Our actor will portray him as being weak and useless. |
Kadie Williams (me) ( Actor and Editor)
This character is known as the 'final girl' and has a critical role in a horror movie particularly in ours. The final girl is crucial as she is the key in saving the community. Our actor will be portraying her as being the loud and bubbly person who puts the life and soul into any situation. The audience may suspect her as being the first to die but in actual fact is the key to survival.
This character is known as the 'final girl' and has a critical role in a horror movie particularly in ours. The final girl is crucial as she is the key in saving the community. Our actor will be portraying her as being the loud and bubbly person who puts the life and soul into any situation. The audience may suspect her as being the first to die but in actual fact is the key to survival.