Research and Planning - Horror Genre Standards

1. Horror films often exhibit the theory that if left alone, adolescents will form into cliques of psychopaths and lemming victims. In these horror films, adults are seen as dangerously skeptical fools, jaded by their own several experiences with psychotic peers.
2. Horror films often exploit the dangerously slippery path into damnation modern youth exhibits; Having intercourse, preparing to have intercourse, kissing, experimenting with herbs, taking part in interracial activities (such as dancing), being mean to others, etc...
3. Horror movies effectively signify that the overpopulation of police are really useless and the underpopulation of virgins are the most useful.
4. The typical killer in horror is an expression of the dangers of a bad childhood, including spending too much time with relatives, being pushed around by even bigger psychopaths, or having a conservative Christian upbringing.
5. Often, horror movie villains will live in a totally secluded environment. This is not necessarily to provide a cheap way to explain away absence of authorities, but to heighten the fear of the killer, who doesn't even need food to survive all on his own.
6. Fear of the unknown and forbidden is employed in horror films. When characters stay on the ground floor of a place, things are usually all right. However when going upstairs or downstairs, danger is ever present. Bad things also occur in forbidden rooms such as the bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen.
7. Horror uses a sense of hypochondria to toy with the viewer. Knowing a pencil in the side can instantly kill, being whacked into a tree will split your skull open, or that tripping and falling can cause a broken leg, brings a sense of sheer terror to the viewer that more realistic wounds cannot.
8. Horror films exemplify the real dangers of those ugly, filthy people who live alone. Hillbillies are never good, taken to rape and incest because they can't get any chicks to fuck like normal civilized beings, taken to cannibalism because hunting is a lost art, and taken to witchcraft for revenge because they are all stupid and cannot understand forgiveness or the right to a fair trial.
9. Horror films show that all technology is evil; cars never start the first time, and weapons are useless. Not to mention the fact that even more evil technologies such as computers, televisions, and washing machines are all instruments of the devil. Inversely, in some cases the killer is seen as a sort of messiah, delivering humanity from the evils of technology; The killer never uses wicked things such as guns, except for impalement, and can always catch up with evil cars!
10. The villain of a horror movie never really dies. This is not truly to exploit the fear of an "invincible killer", but to exploit the fear of more scary movies!
11. A sense of foreshadowing may be used with characterization.

Research and Planning - Checklist #2

Research

• Soundtrack research (non copyright music)
• Costume and location research
• Actors and props photos
• Audience Research (typical audience member and similar films)
• Uploaded YouTube videos of teaser trailers and titles analysed in detail
• Upload YouTube videos of similar genre films analysed in detail
• Institution research (Paramount etc)
• Certificate research
• Font research for magazine/poster etc
• Film Magazines researched and analysed
• Teaser posters researched and analysed

Planning

• Own film idea brainstorm
• Own film treatment
• Shot lists
• Questionnaire (and feedback)
• Photos etc of filming
• Diary of filming/editing etc with photos and screen grabs
• Mood board
• Storyboard - prezi
• Script
• Practice titles created and uploaded

Research and Planning - Typical Vulnerable Young Teen Characters In A Horror Film

As I have done similarly with the villian character on the post below I thought it would be a good idea to do research into the typical, vulnerable teen character that you would find in a horror film, to get to know what kind of character we are going to need to include in our teaser trailer.

• The typical vulnerable young teen in a horror film usually plays one of the main parts in this type of genre, as usually the film is based around a vulnerable girl and a villain etc. This main character in some horror films could be an attractive young girl who is the queen bee, being all centre of attention it's all about 'me me me', has the typical joc boyfriend, and will normally have two best friends however, she picks on the 'nerd', 'geek's at school and they get nasty revenge which goes too far.  

• However, in some horror films this maybe different and the typical vulnerable young teen isn't the most popular girl in school, she is just a sweet innocent young girl living her day to day life. This character will usually be, pretty, slim, popular with the boys, vulnerable, trustworthy towards others.

• This character usually goes through a lot during the film, and it is always 50/50 whether they will die or not but most of the time they manage to survive and defend themselves, it is usually very unlikely that they die in this genre, it would usually be their friends or family that get hurt and die.

Below are some typical protagonists in horror films;

Research and Planning - Typical Villian Characters In A Horror Film

I thought it would be a good idea to do research into the typical, villian characters that you would find in a horror film, to get to know what kind of character we are going to need to include in our teaser trailer.

• A horror film can't be a horror film without a 'killer' of some sort. The typical killer in horror is an expression of the dangers of a bad childhood, including spending too much time with relatives, being pushed around by even bigger psychopaths, or having a conservations Christian upbringing and finally simply acting paranoid due to an overprotective serial killer boyfriend. 

• Often, horror movie villains will live in a totally secluded environment. This is not necessarily to provide a cheap way to explain away absence of authorities, but to heighten the fear of the killer, who doesn't even need food to survive all on his own.
   
• Often in horror movies the villain will try to disquise himself from everyone, some films it maybe that we think someone is the killer throughout the film until we find out at the end that it is someone completely different. Villians tend to stick to themselves and not really get involved with other crowds of people as they see themselves and different from everybody else 'loner'.

• The protagonist maybe smart, dumb, thick, possibly pretty and usually a nerd. They can easily drift from popular to unpopular, this makes them more realistic and more relateable to the audience.

 

Below are some typical protagonists in horror movies:

Research and planning grade

There is basic research into costumes, props, locations and actors with limited explanation as to why they are appropriate.
There is proficient evidence of storyboarding and shotlists.
There is proficient research into similar products, and minimal research into target audience
There is proficient use of ICT and a good level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.

12/20 = C

Targets:
Research target audience - Pearl and Dean for similar films, questionnaires etc
Develop explanations of why you chose your actors/locations/props and costumes
Analysis of trailers - be specific about which elements you want to use and why they are effective.

Research and Planning - Costume ideas (Guy)

Below I have added costume ideas that we are thinking of using for the guy/killer character;

 

Black coat/jacket, represents the killer look and to cover up as much flesh to not give away who the killer may be. Also we have beared in mind that we don't want the guy to look like too much of a killer as we don't want to give it away, although it will be fairly obvious, as the guy who we see at the start of the trailer will also be the killer.

Checkered shirt, represents the guy having good fashion. My group and I have thought a lot about not having a stereotypical killer by the representation on how the killer dresses.

Black jeans, blends into the rest of the outfit. represents disquise later on in the trailer.

Black boots, represents disquise and matches in with the rest of the outfit.

Black gloves, to show that the killer is hiding their trace marks and to keep the killer dressed up in as much black as possible to not show any flesh and is a stereotypical feature of what a killer would wear.

 

All of the above costume ideas will be used however, they may not be the exact same but we will try and get them to look very similar. 

Research and Planning - Costume ideas (Girl)

Below I have added costume ideas that we are thinking of using for the vulnerable female character;

Jacket/coat, to go with the rest of the outfit and to keep warm as she will be walking through woods/alley ways, showing good fashion and a vulnerable look to the character.

Cardigan, represents vulnerability to the character and wants to dress up warm 

Black leggins, blends in with the rest of the outfit.

Boots, represents comfy walking shoes when walking through woods and alleyways.

Over the shoulder bag, represents the character being able to put her valuables in a bag, instead of putting them in pockets or carrying them.

Research and planning - Props

• My group and I are starting to plan further into our research and planning, I have added some images of the types of props that we will need to prepare and bring onto different scenes. By including these props it will make our film look believable and realistic.



Flowers, represents that the guy character 'likes' the girl character and is giving them to her as a nice gesture to get her under his spell

Mobile Phone, will be used for when the girl character is on the phone to a friend before she is kidnapped and when the character recieves a text from the killer 'hope you got home ok?!!'. We have chosen to use a mobile phone as it is a stereotypical prop that is used in most horror films, usually it is used to ring for 'help'!

 
Picture frame, will be used for when the male character is stalking over the female character's photos around her house

•  The props that will be used in the house (living room, dining room, outside) will already be found in the house, this is because the setting is set in the house. For example, the types of props that will be used in the house, sofa, tv, cd stereo system, cars parked outside the house, computer etc.

Research and Planning - Location photos

•  The setting location of the film is going to be based in Oxshott. This is where I live and my group and I feel that this is the best location for the film to be shot.
• The reasons as to why we have chosen to set the film in this location, is because it has allocated alley ways, woods, train station and railway all nearby to one another and also my house is right by which will be easy to get to from the different locations. This is a great location for the genre that we have chosen 'romance horror'. I feel that this location choice will be affective, and it will create a tense, eerie vibe to the audience which we will try to portray.
• The house itself where the scenes will be filmed inside, is set out perefectly as to how we need it however, we will need to move a few things around that we may feel are not needed to be shown in the film.
•  The filming will be taken when the day is light as this will be effective for our teaser trailer, as last year we had trouble shooting in the dark because you were unable to see anything on the camera due to there not being a flash light, which made us have to change our location.

Research and Planning - Characters

The two main characters will be played by Emma and Matt, I have added pictures of actors in films that fit the same genre and follow a similar journey to what emma and matt will in our teaser trailer.

Brittany Snow plays the innocent female who is being lusted over by a stalker played by Johnathon Schaech. The pictures show a resemblence in the roles the actors and both matt and Emma play.

Research and Planning - Story Board

1. The 1st shot is an establishing shot to show the audience the setting of where the first few shots will be taken. The sound will be non-diegetic music that will represent the genre of the film, the type of sounds will be intro music and there will be a voiceover over the top.

2. The 2nd scene is a long shot of the two characters standing at the platform at the train station. There will no non-diegetic music and a voiceover.

3. The 3rd shot will be a medium shot of the two characters walking towards eachother and then sitting down on the seat and there will be diegetic sound. The two characters will start talking to eachother and exchange numbers.

4. In the 4th shot it will be a medium shot to show the female character walking through the woods and a zoom to show the guy character following her through the woods. The sound will be diegetic with a voiceover over the top.

 

5. In the 5th shot it will be an over the shoulder shot showing the vulnerable girl character getting a text from the guy she has just met at the train station. The sound will be a voiceover and non diegetic sound.

 

6. The 6th shot will be a medium shot of the girl character sitting on the sofa and looking out the window seeing that the guy character is outside, the door bell then rings. The sound will be non - diegetic and diegetic sound from the door bell that will ring.

7. The 7th shot is an over the shoulder shot/medium shot from different angles show the girl character open the door and finding the guy at the door, she is very confused as to how he knows where she lives but at the same time she is happy. The sound will be diegetic of the characters talking.

8. The 8th shot will be a medium shot, over the shoulder shot and a high angle shot of the guy character looking at photos of the vulnerable girl character. The sound will be a voiceover and non - diegetic music. I reckon at this scene in the movie we should have tense/dramatic music.

9. The 9th shot will be a medium shot of the girl character walking down an alley way on the phone to a friend. The sound will be digetic sound.

10. The 10th shot will be of a close up and a medium shot of the killer coming up right behind the girl and putting his hand over her mouth and face. The sound will be diegetic because of the screaming and non - diegetic for the background music.

11. The 11th shot will be of a medium shot showing the killer dragging the girl character through the alley way. The sound will be diegetic.

12. The 12th shot will be of a close up showing the girls hand moving throwing the mud, leaves. The sound will be diegetic from the movement of the hand moving/non - digeteic sound.

13. The 13th shot will be a close up shot/zoom of the phone still being connected to the friend on the phone and them shouting down the phone. The sound will be diegetic not non - diegetic.

14. The 14th shot will be a long shot of the killer walking towards his new victim. The sound will be non - diegetic from the talking of the two characters and non - diegetic music in the background.

Above i have posted pictures of our storyboard, we will reflect on this whilst filming.

Research and Planning - Ideas For Our Film

Below I have produced a slide show of our final ideas for our teaser trailer, I have produced this on a software called 'Prezie' because it is a useful and handy new software and helps broaden my skills on using different programmes to produce my work on. My group and I have not included any intertitles as we are yet to decide on what they are going to be.

Ideas For Coursework on Prezi

Research and Planning - Ideas For Our Film

This is an idea of how how we would like our teaser trailer to be in order;

• Approval Screen
• Production Company
• Establishing shot of the train station (voiceover)
• Long shot of the two characters bumping into eachother (voiceover)
• An intertitle (voiceover)
• Zoom/Medium shot of the two characters sitting down next to eachother, some dialogue
• Long shot/Zoom of the girl walking home and the guy following her
• Over the shoulder shot of the girl recieving a mysterious text (voiceover)
• Medium shot of the girl sitting on a sofa and seeing the guy at the window
• An intertitle
• Over the shoulder shot of the girl opening the front door
• Medium shot/over the shoulder shot/ high angle shot of the guy looking at photos of the girl
• An Intertitle
• Medium shot of the girl walking through the alley way on her phone
• Close up/medium shot of the girl getting kidnapped from behind
• medium shot of the girl being dragged through the alley way
• An Intertitle
• Close up shot/zoom of the girls hand moving through the dirt/mud
• Close up shot of the girls phone still connected to a caller
• Long shot of the guy meeting another vulnerable girl walking through the opposite end of the alley way
• Title of the film 'Love Hurts'
• Credits
• 'Coming Soon'

Research and Planning - Final Idea For Coursework

My group and I have discussed many ideas for our teaser trailer and have come up with our final idea;

• At the beginning of our thoughts on what we were going to do, we decided to do a romance however, we thought that it would be hard to make it realistic throughout the whole trailer so have decided on a 'romance horror'.

• Our final idea includes two characters who both bump into eachother at the station, straight away there is tension between them both however, the guy has something quite mysterious about him. They both get chatting and before you know it the young vulnerable girl has given him her number..

• The guy (stalker) then decides to follow her home without her knowing and so he then knows where she lives. Once shes home she gets a text from the guy saying 'get home ok?'.

• In a few days time after they meet, the guy decides to turn up to the girls house, at this point the audience will be able to sense that something weird is wrong with this guy and as you can assume the girl is a bit confused as to how he knows where she lives. Being the vulnerable girl she is, she invites him inside her house.. she starts to fall for him..!!

• We then see the girl leaving for work and walking through an alley way near her house, she is walking to work and chatting to a friend on the phone about the new guy she has met. Until she gets a stranger (the guy) kidnapping her from behind dressed in all black. We will next see the girls body being dragged through the alley way and the phone on the floor still being connected to her friend on the phone.

• The final shot will be of another young vulnerable girl walking through the opposite end of the alley way and the guy walking up to her and starts being 'friendly'. It is obvious to the audience, that this guy is a bit mental and he is not quite right, he seems to be a serial killer.

We came up with this idea through watching many 'romance horror's' and thought 'Valentine' had the best plot line out of them all and gave us inspiration on our own ideas.

Research and Planning - Teaser trailer

We still have not decided on the exact plot of the teaser trailer as everytime we brainstorm new ideas come up which leads to other ideas and so on. We know that our teaser trailer we include a type of obsessive love that leads to stalking however we are not exactly sure of the specific locations that the trailer will be set in. We have thought about going into london and shooting on the tubes and near the london eye however, we have also debated whether to set it mainly at emmas house as she lives near woods, train stations, alleys and cobham town. We will try and come up with a deffinate plot and location asap

Research and Planning- Ideas for our film

We have asked Matt to play the stalker in our teaser trailer as his is a drama student so can deliver a effective and believable performance. Emma will play the main girl lead and we may ask other drama students to be extras or friends of emmas in particular scenes.

Horror Mood Board on Prezi

Research and Planning - Friends With Benefits Film Titles

Titles:

• 0.16 seconds into the trailer, the production company is shown but only quickly. This is used to give away the genre of the film and possibly the budget. Whilst watching film trailers some audiences maybe familiar with the different types of production company's for example, when seeing 'Dreamworkds' or 'pixar' most people will familiarize that the film is going to be an animated family film, rather than something of the horror or action genre.

• The font is big and bold meaning it stands out for the audience to see, and the use of colours (orange and white) connects with the genre of the film, romance, and is continuous throughout the trailer. The beginning of the letter from each word is in orange and in capitals which catches the audiences eye as it's bright. By changing the colour of the first letter of the word it connects to the audience by defining to them this is what the film is about. The titles are scrolled quickly onto the screen from the left and this is a typical feature in a film trailer. I am thinking about using these different title affects in my teaser trailer as i reckon it would look affective and realistic.

Narrative:

• The trailer does not include a voiceover however, the characters are the ones who are talking and giving away the storyline. My group and I will soon discuss whether we will use a voiceover or not.

• As the film is a romance, the audience can usually guess the typical narrative. The film doesn't really have an in depth storyline and so it is easy to guess how the story will end. (good friends, with benefits, fall in love).

• In this film trailer there is a lot of dialogue used, seeing as their is no voiceover, this in some cases can ruin the trailer as it may give away a big chunk of the plot. However, this film is a ramnce and not a horror which can use very little dialogue to keep the audinece tense. In my own film there will be dialogue used but not so much that the whole plot line is revealed.