LLM and HG: Production log - Wilderness Woods

Here is our recoded production log for the trip to Wilderness Woods

LLM and HG: Wilderness Woods Short

• To edit our Wilderness Woods clip we used Premier
• We began by transferring all our video files from our documents into Premier
• We then took a look at all our clips and tried to place them in an order we thought suited best to create a short film
• At first we thought we got it spot on, but as we began to edit our different parts, we saw that we needed to place different clips in different places to where we first placed them
• We then decided we needed to add sound effects to our short film; we gathered sound effects from our document folder, where we were able to pick out 3 or 4 sound effects that we knew we would use in our short film – placing the sound in the correct place was a difficult challenge
• After completing the adding of the sound effect we moved on to looking at editing certain parts of our short film; We used the dissolve edit at the beginning and end of our clip which we decided was very effective; also we used the colour effect to make certain clips darker or lighter to convey the mood
• Finally we added a title reading ‘To be continued’ in bold red lighters placed on the black background to convey a gory atmosphere to our short clip.

HG: Analysis of Title Sequence

Analysing an opening title sequence

Order that titles came up :

1.

2.


The difference between this title and the next was 8 seconds

3.


The difference between this title and the next was 2 seconds

 

4.

The difference between this title and the next was 3 seconds

5.

The difference between this title and the next is 6 seconds.

 

6.


The difference between this title and the next was 3 seconds.

7.


The difference between this title and the next is 15 seconds

8.

Analysis:

The start of the title sequence shows who the produced the film in this case it was “ BEX productions”. It then was quickly followed 4 seconds afterwards by the director “ Rebecca Mathews”. After this there is quite a large gap of 8 seconds when a name associated with the film appears on the screen “ Kelly Sirens”. Then  a very quick transaction of 2 seconds see the next slide” The fear of the unknown”  this induces the audience and breaks up the  title sequence. The next title to come up is the art director, this came 3 seconds after the slide before. Then 2 titles with names associated with the film are shown before a large gap and the film title is shown “ The insider” 

The titles are engraved within footage conventional of the horror genre. The way the titles come up and disappear with the footage make the title sequence ( which is normally boring) very exciting and makes the audience want to watch on after seeing this title sequence as the film is going to be related to the horror genre portrayed.  

All the titles are in a white colour and appearing in different ways. The white colour on a black background in most cases or dark help to show the titles better because of contrasting colours. This is an effective way for your titles to stand out on the title sequence. Conventional of the horror genre is red titles to represent blood in this title sequence white might of been used to create enigma.

The sound in the background creates tension as it is slow. The music creates enigma along side with the footage being played really set the tone for what the film is going to be about. This title sequence allows the audience to see the titles in way that is innovative as it action behind the titles makes is less tedious. 

This is my attempt of making part of a title sequence:

 

I made the title mostly red as this connotes blood and is very conventional of the horror genre. I outlined it with a black pen to help make it stand out. If made it so the text looks like it is dripping of blood to try and make it look scary. If I could make it again I would probably use a black background so that the two colours contrast each other so it stand out more

 

LLM and HG: Call sheet and Risk asesment - Wilderness Woods

LLM: Analysis of Title Sequence

Order of Titles

• First showing on screen is text, lasts 2 seconds
• Next text is 2 seconds later, same layout, lasting also 2 seconds
• Text on screen explaining ‘true events’ and is narrated 3 seconds on
• 1 second later another reading comes on to the screen, still narrated. Continues again twice with different readings and then screening starts; there is a pattern present between these 3 screenings because the narrator is reading as the texts unfolds, and there is a link between each text, involving crime
• The title ‘The Strangers’ is shown at the end of the sequence in block capitals and bold letters
• The content an order of the titles as they appear are very clear; the narration of part of the readings help to outline a clear understanding of what is displayed

Typography

The first title on the screen shows two present company’s, being ‘Rogue Pictures’ and Intrepid Pictures’; this is done using block capitals and orange coloured writing to show the importance of the two. The words ‘and’ and ‘present’ are in lower case letters, but are still visible to the audience, but clearly not as important as the Company’s names. The same format is used in the next title showing with ‘Vertigo Entertainment’ and ‘Mandate Pictures’ being in block capitals as the production companies.

The next three parts of text which is illustrated on screen is narrated to the audience; this is telling the audience that the film is based on ‘true events’ but events are not ‘entirely known’. In these three screenings text is all in orange, placed on black background, but is not in block capitals because its importance is less than the film titles.

The final screening shows the film’s title ‘The Strangers’; this is revealed in block capitals, again in orange font on black background.

The reason that all titles have been in a colour such as orange, displayed on black background is because the contrast in colours is very conventional of the genre horror, giving a scary and spooky look to the film. Also the difference in two colours show the titles clearly so the audience can identify certain importance’s.

Relationship between texts and visuals

In this opening sequence, the relationship between text and visuals is outlined by the dark orange text placed on a black background. Both these colours convey the narrative of the film. The black background connotes an uneasy atmosphere and the horror genre because darkness is very conventional of the horror movies. Further, even though the text is not in the usual red colour which emphasises a gory slasher movie; the orange shows that the movie has a thrill factor and there is going to be some taunting of characters involved, alike to the film ‘Halloween’.

Own production title

• For my production, I am looking at the slasher sub-genre of horror and have an idea that the film title could be ‘Who’s Next’ .
• For this I have created a few fonts in ‘Photoshop’, ‘Premier’ and have gathered ideas of the internet.
• I have an idea that the title will be in bright red conveying blood and a gory scene, placed onto a black background exploiting a spooky atmosphere.
• Another Idea I have come up with is, at the end of my scene, the antagonist has blood on his hands from the killing, and so writes the words ‘Who’s Next’ on the mirror, to create a scare factor to the audience. 

Here are some of my trials:

H.G: Analysing an open sequence ( Halloween 1978)

Analysing an open sequence (Halloween 1978)

Genre:
• Halloween is a horror film which fits under the sub-genre of slasher. There are some conventional indicators that shows Halloween fits under the slasher sub-genre. For example, iconic to this sub-genre is the use of the prop by the antagonist in this case a knife. Another film that shares this convention is in psycho when the antagonist stabs the female in the shower
 • The audiences generic expectations of the text would have been fulfilled by the opening sequence. This is because there were iconic symbolisers conventional to this genre. An example of these iconic symbolisers is the use of a point of view cam used by the antagonist to make us feel like we are antagonist
 • I think the texts conform to the characteristics of this genre and does not treat them playfully or ironically can see this when the women is being frighten by unknown male character is a generic convention.

Film Language Camera:
• A significant camera technique used in this opening clip is the iconic use of a POV shot. This is seen when the young boy ( the antagonist) is watching the young man leave and is walking up the stairs. This is conventional of this sub-genre in horror and lets the audience see the view from the antagonist.
 •Another significant technique used in this clip is the use of crane shot right at the end. This is when the antagonist has stab the protagonist and is standing outside of the house with the large knife in his hand and helps to add to the enigma in the scene.

Editing:
• There is very few cutting rates in this clip which creates the effect of continuous action making the audience feel tense and un easy as they are expecting something to happened. This is a very bold technique as fast cutting rates are conventional to horror as it builds tension. I think they have used this to build up the tension slowly, and to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Mise-en-scene:
• The location used in the opening scene of Halloween is of a normal house. This is iconic as it represents a safe place for the audience. So when these bad things are happening in someone’s house it creates dramatic tension quickly as it is in someone’s safe haven.
• The unusually large knife used by the antagonist is there to create fear as the knife being used is bigger than needed for the damage to be done. This is done to add to the brutality of the killing

 Sound:
• An example of sound in this clip is the use of non-diegetic sound. The sound before the protagonist get stabs is sharp high pitch sound which is very conventional at for slasher and for the horror genre . • Another way sound is used in this clip is the diegetic sound of the women (protagonist) screaming when she is being stabbed. These screams are very loud and make the audience feel uncomfortable when hearing these loud screams.

 Narrative:
• The plot for the opening is quite simple but effective one. The sister is babysitting her young brother, when she thinks she is asleep she is downstairs with a boy. They decide to go upstairs which indicates to me they were going to have sex. When the boy leaves the brother of the sister the Antagonist gets a large knife, walks upstairs and stabs his sister to death. He then walks outside to be met by his parents who can’t work out what has gone on ( as he is holding a large knife with blood on it). The stock characters in the scene are the boy who the sister has sexual intercourse with and the parents of the two who turn up at the end.
 • The audience are seeing the sequence from the antagonists situation, this builds suspense as when you don’t know it’s the sisters little brother you have no idea what creature this might have been lurking in her house.
• The main themes in this narrative is the boy being possessed, this makes the audience feel at ease that one of the family members killed another because of them being possessed.
• The way the tension was created was mainly using the POV camera technique which net the audience see the killing from the antagonist view. Also the high pitch sound when the antagonist is getting closer to his victim builds tension very quickly and effectively. I think hearing the stabbing and screams of the victim also add a lot of tension to the scene. I think the enigma code was created early on the film so that for forthcoming scenes they don’t know why the boy killed his sister and this is what keeps the audience engrossed in the film. There was also an action code when the boy is stabbing his sister which is quite symbolic of this sub-genre

Representation and ideology:
• The young social group in this film opening is represented negatively in two ways. Firstly the young sister having sexual intercourse with another young boy when she was meant to be babysitting her brother which reinforces the stereotype that youth are reckless and naughty therefore the ideological discourse is regressive one. The other way that youth is resented badly in this clip is when the younger brother stabs the sister, this is represented the youth as extremely violent this is challenging stereotypes as hardly any children are extremely violent in this way. Therefore the ideological discourse is a progressive one as it challenges normal stereotypes Media audiences:
 • I think the target audience for this film would be for teenagers as in the opening scene that was the dominant age and think they can relate to what happened in early moments of the scene. I think there is a negotiated audience reading as, you can’t really question what happened as I think the producer created the enigma like that on purpose for the audience to question it and find out what happened later on in the film.
• Me being a British teenager see the text as quite frightening as these are things that I carry out. I help out my mum and dad by babysitting sometimes and in doing this find the film a lot scarier. 

Institutional context:
 • Directed by John Carpenter
 • Produced by Debra Hill
• Screenplay by John carpenter, Debra Hill, Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis
• Starring P.J.Soles, Nancy Loomis
 • Production company : Falcon International Productions
• Distributed by Compass International Pictures
 • Released on the October the 25th 1978
• Budget 300,000-325,000
• I think that due to budget being quite small I would say that this was therefore an independent film. I generated a box office revenue of 90 million so therefore this production was a huge success.

LLM: Deconstruction of an opening sequence

Analysing an opening sequence (scream) from louismason98

LLM and HG: Concept Development

LLM: Institutional context - The Strangers

 

 

 

The film 'The Strangers' is a 2008 American horror film which is written and directed by Bryan Bertino and stars actress Liv Tyler and actor Scott Speedman; these two play a young couple who are at their holiday home, and are terrorized by three masked assailants who destroy all means of escaping.

 

Production 

- Produced a 9 million dollar budget.

- Inspired by a series of breakings that occurred when Bryan was a child.

- The film was shot on location roughly ten miles out of Florence, south Carolina, and the 2000-square-foot (190m squared) house interior was constructed by a set crew.

- Film was largely shot in chronological order.

- The 2006 French film 'THEM' is a very similar plot.

 

Distribution  

- Bryan and the stars attended San Diego Comi-Con event to promote the film, all were present for questions and answers panel session, as well as the films official teaser trailer.

- Official trailer released March 2008.

- Television advertisements began airing on networks in early-mid April to promote the films May release.

- Two one-sheet photos were released in August 2007, one showing the three masked strangers, and another showing a wounded Liv Tyler.

 

 

 



HG: Institutional Context - Paranormal activity

Paranormal activity is a 2007 supernatural horror film written, co-produced, photographed, edited, and directed by Oren Peli. The film budget was 15,000 dollars but the filmed earned nearly  108 million dollars at the U.S box office and a further 85 million dollars internationally making a worldwide total of 193 million dollars.

Production:

• It was produced by two companies: Blumhouse productions and Solana productions
• It had two main producers which were Oren Peli and Jason Blum
• Oren Peli wanted to concentrate on believability rather then action and gore and this is why he used a house for the film to be set in.
• Oren Peli didn't have a complete script so let the actors and the production team improvise when needed to, and with all these ideas portrayed in the film some say this is why it was successful

Distribution:

• Paranormal activity was distributed by Paramount Pictures 
• This came about after the film was shown at Screamfest Horror Film Festival and was a huge hit.
• It was redesigned with some scenes getting cut and the ending changed.
• It was then distributed with a higher budget,  and was released into 42 countries
• It was huge success making 193 million dollars internationally. 

H.G : Moodboard - Haunted house

This is a moodboard of the sub-genre Haunted house

H.G: Still frame experimentation

• The use of light in this picture helps me to show the scary face and empathesise the emotion on the face.
• The use of the mask (prop) helps me to capture a conventional image of the horror genre as it is not human and creates fear to the audience.  
• I used a medium close up to try and expose the mask and in doing this made the mask easier to see, so that it creates fear.
• I also used the camera technique of a low angle shot, this is used to show prevalence to the character as he is seen to be above everyone else and this gives the character authority. 

LLM: Still frame experimentation

• Low key lighting - Light from the top of the stairs shines down to show an outline of the character.
• Non-verbal language - the figure is standing tall on the stairs, implying dominance and connoting violence.
• Props - The character is holding a knife which shows his intentions to harm and kill.
• Low angle shot - This shot shows the dominance of the character, and creates a sense of jeopardy for the audience.

LLM and HG: Research into horror and thriller

We were set a research task in the two genres Horror and Thriller. We are establishing are initial ideas and from the research have answered some questions set.


Answers to source 1

1. When, and in what way were women repositioned within the horror genre?

Women in films are often seen as the weak and are to be saved by the heroic male characters, but since the 1970, American horror went through a major change, meaning women in horror movies where now the main focus and would not only protect themselves but also look to fight back.

2. What are the conventions of the 'stalk and slash' subgenre of horror?

The conventions of a 'Stalk and Slash' horror is that the story begins, usually, with a group of teenagers or young actors who travel to an isolated place and indulge in sex, drugs and drink; as the night goes on, one by one someone is murdered by an unknown - this happens until there is one person left and has to try and defeat the murderer.

3. Who originally watched these films and why?

Originally, the core audience were teenage boys and young men. This is because the scene which involved female nudity and the graphic depiction of assault and murder.

4.Why does the author argue that the films were 'significant'?

The author argues that the films are significant because they illustrate and reinforce the stereotype of male and female teenagers acting older than they actually are and rebelling out of the control of their parents – the murderer is in a  way representing the teenagers parents, in punishing them for their actions. 

5.What is the concept of ' the final girl'?  Summarise and give examples.

In the final girl, the female character is, in summary, seen to be the more mature of her friends, who does not participate in the use of drugs and drinks - further, she is seen to be intelligent and level headed, leading to her being seen as 'different' to her peers; this means she is seen as a self-conscious teenager who is weak and frightened by the adult version of her friends. But, in saying this, as the story begins to unfold and the murders begin, the female character appears as the strong character and can overcome the threat.

The concept of 'Gone Girl', is to show the change in ones character when in different situations; at first, she is shown not to be keen on the way her friends are foolishly acting, but because of her other attributes, when herself and her peers are challenged, she is shown to be a powerful character and take control of the situation. The concept also shows a developing of a masculine character within a female, showing confidence and heroism which helps her in the difficult situation.

Answers to source 2

1. Why are stories that “ aim to scare their audiences” so popular?

They are very popular because they convey characteristics most people have not seen. They exploit fears that the audiences have, hoping for a response that gives the audience adrenaline. They show the audiences things that they would never want to see in real life and these non-fiction stories allow them to showcase the possibility of fears that humans have coming alive in real live.

2.What insight can the study of horror monsters give?

The study of horror monster can give an insight into the worries and concerns of modern societies. As every person is different this can’t be used individually but to be seen as general and contextual trends through the monsters created within the horror genre.

3.What did Nosferatu (1922), one of the earliest horror films use the vampire as a metaphor for?

Nosferatu was the creator of the vampire just after the first world war. The vampire was seen as an invader and came from someone different. This isolated it from anything human related, with   his method of attack involving penetration and the exchange of body fluids, with this in mind the vampire could be seen as a sexual metaphor. Probably the more realistic is using the vampire as a metaphor of death or infection. In a disease riddled community just after the 1^st world war people could associate with the vampire and this is what scared them. I think the most important metaphor is the vampire being an invader or someone that had come from elsewhere. This is because in this time period community and nationality was essential as they were fighting over countries, so when a foreigner was seen in the form of the vampire it scared them as it could be related to the war that had just happened.

4. Read to the end of the article. Make notes on how there are different readings of horror based on socio/cultural contexts of the decade  

1960s- This decade was reflecting on the impact of Freudian theories on the cultures understanding of the human psyche . This was seen through Hitchcock with his film Psycho(Hitchcock,1960) and Peeping Tom (Powell,1960).

1970s-   Horror reflected secularisation, this means that religion was having a less authority within society. This is because it was the first time possessed characters were cured through scince going against the common views of religion as it disproves it to a certain extent. We can see this from the film The Exorcist (Friedkin,1972).

1980s- Horror was becoming a big film genre, the trend for this decade was the on screen fighting or conflict but this started to die out towards the end of the decade.

1990s- Advanced technological improvements made it easier to emphasise horrific effects making the film incredible scary and making the films more realistic.

2000s- CGI is used effectively showing more advances in technology in the film industry. Films were taking longer to make with remakes occurring more often, showing that films were becoming a work of art and wanted to be perfected.         

5. In the final paragraph, why according to Hendry is horror still relevant to audiences?

Hendry States that horror is still relevant to audiences because it has the ability to adapt to new generations and new cultural trends. It can relate to modern issues and appeal to a range of audiences making horror ever relevant.

Answers to Source 3

1. Read the BBC article - why are we so afraid of Zombie horror? summarise.                                                                                                                                               
The BBC article of, Why we are so afraid of Zombie horror’, in summary, explains that when an audience is viewing this particular subgenre, encounters some signs of discomfort because of the faces of a zombie character being so alike to a natural human. In addition, it’s a scarier version of a humans face which brings agitation to the audience, with the pale face and the bloodshot eyes having major effect, through the use of make-up.

 2. Mythology article

 

• Audiences tend to love a zombie apocalypse scenario because in watching it, they believe they will be able to survive one.
• If a zombie is too fast and agile, an audience might find it difficult to image themselves surviving, and so dislike the idea.

• But, if it is slow moving and immobile it may be appealing to want to find yourself in that particular situation.
• Main point – zombie scenario makes it easy for everyone to want to get involved.
• The idea that one will have to use their brain to survive; involving planning plotting and killing, without consequences.

• Also, the idea of freedom entices an audience – not having to live by any rules and gaining equality because everyone is in the same situation.
• Changes ones appearance and outlook on things during a zombie apocalypse.
• Very popular because it excites ones evil and violent side.
• Makes one think about their heroic and compassionate side.
• Zombie apocalypse makes the audience be more honest with themselves.
• Zombie apocalypse, overall, provides escapism.

3. Watch the 'Why do we love zombies' video and note

·         Zombies often slow.

·         Bitten by one, you become one yourself.

·         Intense chase scenes.

·         Very Gory – shows body parts; blood spurting out of mouth.

·         Not very interesting characters.

·         Not mainly the interest in zombies, but instead, the idea that humans have to act quickly to get out of a difficult situation.

·         Environment can have an effect on zombies to audiences. 

·         Never fully safe in any environment.

·         Getting used to the terror excites an audience.

·         Audiences love the possibilities of what will happen in a zombie apocalypse.

Answers  to Source 4

1. Why do audiences seek out thrills vicariously?

Audiences seek out thrills vicariously because they put themselves in the situation of the character feeling their emotions and acting in the way they would. This means that the audiences become involved in action and feel connected to the media themselves this is very important in keeping the audiences occupied in the film.

2. What are the different types of thrills that may be presented in this genre? What is the audience appeal?

The audience appeal is what attracts people to the film this can be seen normally through a unique selling point. The  thrills presented in this genre are ones that make you physically jump or extremely scared. These are extreme thrills that no other genre offers. This is why horror films are so iconic and so popular.

From this research we have some ideas that we will be trying to use in our production. We have some key ideas about what scare people. From our research we also came to a conclusion that we can use modern trends and cultural trends can help influence our work.
 

LLM : Moodboard - Slasher horror

 Key Iconography of Slasher horror:
- Violent psychopath killing several victims
- Use fierce and forceful equipment to kill
- Damsel in distress
- Chase scenes
- Built up of a lot of mystery and suspense
- Sometimes overlaps with crime
- high volume of deaths

Mise-en-Scene: Character blocking - all characters with the intention to kill or commit are crime are given prevalence in each picture. They are clearly shown to be the antagonist placed either behind a character or by standing tall, along with being intimidating. For example, the picture of the Scream standing behind the women with a knife in his hand shows he is in control and will determine what happens next.

Mise-en-Scene: Props - props are very important in slasher horror movies because the main antagonists usually have a favoured weapon in which they carry out there killings with. It tends to be a knife but in some films it differs, for example in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, quite clearly the main weapon is a Chainsaw.

Camerawork: Low angle shot - the low angle shot in horror movies is very important because it shows an antagonist dominantly standing over other characters with a furious intention to kill and harm horrifically.

Mise-en-scene: Make-up - Blood in slasher horrors is used greatly because it provides verisimilitude for the audience. Blood on a character shows they are suffering or could be in a near death situation. In many films blood is smeared all over the floor to build up tension that an unfortunate event has occurred.

Mise-en-Scene: Lighting - Many pictures are very dark, giving a scary feel to the scene. Further, some pictures use lighting to put there characters in shadows so they are able to build tension and hide the faces, so that when they come out of the shadow there is a greater impact of what the character looks like.

LLM and HG: Storyboards

These storyboards are ideas for some shots that may be involved in our final video.


This is work produced by Louis Leipsegar-Mason:

Analysis:

• This image shows a face off between an antagonist and protagonist but on the opposite side of the road.
• The first shot will be an over the shoulder shot of the protagonist, this will be then assisted by a pull focus, so that the audience can identify the antagonist.
• These two shots create tension between the two characters and builds suspense for the audience.
• The prop in the characters hand illustrates that he is the antagonist with the intention to kill.
• The characters facial emotions shows he is angered by something, so there will be consequences.

This is work is produced by Harry Gammer:

Analysis:

• The character blocking of the protagonist in the picture shows vulnerability as the protagonist cant see the antagonist behind him.
• The antagonist is represented very stereotypically with the face not being shown and the use of the chainsaw.
• The set includes a full  moon which is very conventional of the horror genre. 

LLM and HG: Initial Ideas

Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) - Shower scene

Technical Codes:

·        Non diegetic sound – sudden loud music ( violin, orchestra)

·        Character blocking-  The women can’t see the antagonist in the clip

·        Close up – helps us to see the women’s emotion ( she is scared, fearing for her life)

·        Props – The unusually large knife

·        Extreme close up -  Women’s eye was not moving connoting death

·        Diegetic sound -  loud high pitch scream

·        The cutting rate is not fast, this builds up dramatic tension

·        Extreme close up – on women’s mouth when she screams to empathises the scream

·        Set – it is set in the comfort of the home making the experience relate to home environment

 

      The women is represented as vulnerable with her clothes off in the shower therefore the ideological discourse is a regressive one and it reinforces mainstream stereotypes of women being defenceless.