Monday, 28 April 2014
Sinister Film Review
Film Title: Sinister
Genre/Genres: Supernatural Horror
Director: Scott Derrickson
Brief Plot and Outline-
The film opens with Super 8 footage depicting a family of four standing beneath a tree with hoods over their heads and nooses around their necks. An unseen figure saws through a branch acting as a counterweight, causing their deaths by hanging. mothes later a faily move into the house. the father of the family is a struggling crime writier and he moves his wife and kids into the house where a family once died. throughout the film the father is seen in the cellar watching old films of familys being murdered that he found in his new house. his family are oblivious to the past of the house. as the movie goes on the family see weird dpirits in thoe house and there youngest daughter is especally affected by the presence living ith them. as the caos hits and the wife of the writier finds out the truth of why he was so desperate tomove to this particular house they are driven out to live with parents and the end of the film shows the faimly being murdered by there daughter and being filmed.
which sence impressed me and why?-
i really liked the scene that showed all of the scary children, it starts with the ather creeping rounf the house with a bat, the lighting is very dark and it is almost hard to see him in thelow key lighting. the first shot shows him in a medium long shot and then as he hears a noise cuts to a close up reaction shot of his face. this shows the fear that he is feeling as he is sweating and his eyes are wide open. as the camera pans across a small child with a demented face jumps out and this creates a jump scare. along with the sharp music that is added this sends a shocking fear through your body. as the small child then runs off the footage is slowed down to slow motion and this makes the scene very creepy.the high pitched music that runs along this scene builds suspence and tells you that something else is goin to happen. as he walks into thr darkness from the light he is standing in he is almost walking towards 'fear' from the safety of the glimpse of light he is standing into the unknown and unpredictable darkness.
How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
watching this film has helped me understand the genre of film making because it shows how the film is shaped round a nuclear family, this is there there is a mum a dad and 2 children there is also a dog. this is done in almost every horror film and is essentual to the genre. this film has lots of low key lighting and creepy enclosed locations. the use of slow montage during the super 8 style scenes make the horror drag out making the act much more real. hand held camera is also used during these shots which adds to the realism. the psycho serial killer isnt revieled until the very end but he is there the whole way through. this film has an unhappy ending not open to another film.
Genre/Genres: Supernatural Horror
Director: Scott Derrickson
The film opens with Super 8 footage depicting a family of four standing beneath a tree with hoods over their heads and nooses around their necks. An unseen figure saws through a branch acting as a counterweight, causing their deaths by hanging. mothes later a faily move into the house. the father of the family is a struggling crime writier and he moves his wife and kids into the house where a family once died. throughout the film the father is seen in the cellar watching old films of familys being murdered that he found in his new house. his family are oblivious to the past of the house. as the movie goes on the family see weird dpirits in thoe house and there youngest daughter is especally affected by the presence living ith them. as the caos hits and the wife of the writier finds out the truth of why he was so desperate tomove to this particular house they are driven out to live with parents and the end of the film shows the faimly being murdered by there daughter and being filmed.
which sence impressed me and why?-
i really liked the scene that showed all of the scary children, it starts with the ather creeping rounf the house with a bat, the lighting is very dark and it is almost hard to see him in thelow key lighting. the first shot shows him in a medium long shot and then as he hears a noise cuts to a close up reaction shot of his face. this shows the fear that he is feeling as he is sweating and his eyes are wide open. as the camera pans across a small child with a demented face jumps out and this creates a jump scare. along with the sharp music that is added this sends a shocking fear through your body. as the small child then runs off the footage is slowed down to slow motion and this makes the scene very creepy.the high pitched music that runs along this scene builds suspence and tells you that something else is goin to happen. as he walks into thr darkness from the light he is standing in he is almost walking towards 'fear' from the safety of the glimpse of light he is standing into the unknown and unpredictable darkness.
How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
watching this film has helped me understand the genre of film making because it shows how the film is shaped round a nuclear family, this is there there is a mum a dad and 2 children there is also a dog. this is done in almost every horror film and is essentual to the genre. this film has lots of low key lighting and creepy enclosed locations. the use of slow montage during the super 8 style scenes make the horror drag out making the act much more real. hand held camera is also used during these shots which adds to the realism. the psycho serial killer isnt revieled until the very end but he is there the whole way through. this film has an unhappy ending not open to another film.
Sunday, 27 April 2014
Draft Different colour schemes for final product: magazine
These are the first drafts of my horror magazine cover that I made. I created three different colour schemes that I could use for my final product I really like the way that these have turned out but I think that they don't look 'horror' enough even though I wanted to go for the more 'glamorous' approach. I called my magazine 'DIVA', because it's definition is a 'successful women'; I thought this was a clever technique in implying the target audience and drawing women in to the cover before even picking it up. Personally, I believe it's a catchy title (and memorable too) which is very important in assisting distribution.
The issue that I did for my magazine is called the glamorous horror issue; this meant that I wanted the magazine to look more 'girly'. Due to the target audience of our magazine being for females I believe this would therefore bring in a greater profit. I think that the pink background looks really good but possibly a little bit too child like. The header of my magazine is 'diva' the font that I used for this is an old Hollywood style I like this because it connotes old fashioned film. On my magazine cover I also have a bubble with speech in it, I like this because it makes your eye catch the text. I think that the contrast between the cream and the black on this bubble means that the writing is very easy to read. The image of one of my actors from my film is covering some of the header for my magazine but because it would be an iconic logo, this shows that it is an established brand which already has its own audience.
I think that something that could be improved on my magazine cover is that it needs to be a bit more horror like. I also think that I want to change the background colour of the magazine to something more simple, I think that this would make my magazine look less feminine and more 'classy horror'.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
The Demented: Final Cut (with annotations)
The Demented Annotations
Below are the annotations you can see in
the video for The Demented.
We used these to analyse and evaluate our
final product.
0.01
This shows the audience the film is rated
15, clearly indicating it is a psychological horror rather than a gory one.
0.07
Here we used a handheld camera which adds
to the sense of chaos.
0.18
We zoomed in on Frankie here to show a
close-up of her walking towards the house. The close-up adds to the emotion of
the moment, and tells us she’s walking towards somewhere important.
0.21
We filmed a point of view shot at this
moment, to establish that someone is behind the tree as if watching the car.
Seeing through the eyes of the antagonist is unsettling for the audience.
0.32
We panned the camera here to create a sense
of drama and scale to the enclosed location.
0.37
This shot shows the psycho/serial killer
peering behind a tree. Her black hair connotes evil, but her white gown
connotes innocence. This creates a conflict in the audience’s minds. Can she be
trusted?
0.42
For this shot we had the psychotic serial
killer on a swing. Reminiscent of similar shots from The Conjuring, this
again shows her child-like side.
0.56
A close-up of Libby’s face shows the
audience her terrified emotions. It also introduces the idea that the psychotic
killer is targeting the group of teenagers.
1.08
The psychotic killer smears blood on the
wall, connoting the sense of a murder and the general life threatening danger
of the narrative.
1.20
The heartbeat sound effect in the
background create a sense of urgency, and offsets the continuous shot to
maintain the energy and tension of the trailer.
1.25
This is the vital “jump scare” that
features at the end of all horror trailers. This utilises collision cutting –
moving from a lengthy, slow shot to a quick one – to suddenly shock the
audience.
The Conjuring Film Review
Film Title: The Conjuring
Genre/Genres: psycological horror
Director: James Wan
Brief Plot and Outline-
The Conjuring is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of haunting. Their reports inspired the Amityville Horror.The Warrens come to the assistance of the Perron family (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor), who are experiencing increasingly disturbing events in their farmhouse in Harrisville, Burrillville, Rhode Island in 1971. the family later find out that the house was previously owned by n accused witch who had tried to sacrafise her week old child to the devil and later killed her self after putting a course on 'who ever would take her land'. the faimly want to perfom an exoercicim on the house and have to gather evidience to show the catholic church to do this. carolyn is then possed by the spirit and tries to kill her daughters but is restrained and the exorcism is the performed on er daving her self and children. the catholic then approve the rights to exorsise the house and investite the area.
which two sence impressed me and why?-
the first of my favourite two scenes is where daughter annabelle is woken during the night by a storm out side and gets out of her bed to find her dad, as she walks down the stairs calling for her father the camera follws her, i like the way this is shot because it feels like a point of view angle and like someone is watchig her and following her down the stairs. as the scene procedes i like the way the lighting flashes when the lightning hits and lights the room up so that everything can be seen for a sudden moment and then goes back the the darknesss f night leaving a lot to the imagination of what could happen. the camera angles throughout the whole scene are canted angles and to a point hand held camera, where ever annabelle moves so shoes the shot giving the illiosion there is something following her. as she retaracts from the stairs the lighting gets even darker showing a presence and the darkness cannoting death. the music during this part of the scene builds tention as the audience know something bad is going to happen. once annabelle has caught a glimpse of the spirit in the cellar the misic changes completley, the high pitches and fast paced music creates drama and strikes fear as the daughter tries to get away. once the chair has hit the watt the music stops and gives you a second to catch your breath.
the sec ond scene i really liked was the scene when one of the daughters hears noises coming from their wardoribe during the night, as she gets up to look inside the wardrobe her sister sits up in bed and sees a spirit sitting on top of the wardrobe as her sister opens it. i like the camera angle of the shot that shows the spirit, she is at a high point in the shot and shows that she has power over the two girls as she jumps down to grab the older daughter. the lighting in this scene again is ver low key and dark i like this because it is a very simple way to make the scene moch more creepy and suspenceful.
How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
this helped me understand the genre of film making because it used many of the features that are on our horror genre checklist the first that i noticed was the use of a creepy enclosed location, which was obviously the house they were living in, it was old fashioned and cluttered with creaky floorboards and big wooden doors. in the house the lighting was also always low key this represents that the house is 'doomed' and connotes danger and death. other miss en scene includes the use of music to create tention and other feelings such as feer throughout the entire film.
the editing throughout this film included lots of canted angles espessially when building tension, i think that this is done specifically to lone characters when they are about to be attacked by the spirit, an example for this is buring the build up for annabelle to be attacked in the cellar.
the male hero is represented in this film by the dad he is the saviour in many sences including the one mentioned above when he saves annabelle.
Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? Why?
the aspets of this film that i will try and use in my trailer is the low key lighting because i think that that is a really easy and effective way to convey fear to the audience. i also liked the creepy isolated location that they used which i hope that we can find somewhere similar that gives the same effect on our low budget!
Genre/Genres: psycological horror
Director: James Wan
The Conjuring is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of haunting. Their reports inspired the Amityville Horror.The Warrens come to the assistance of the Perron family (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor), who are experiencing increasingly disturbing events in their farmhouse in Harrisville, Burrillville, Rhode Island in 1971. the family later find out that the house was previously owned by n accused witch who had tried to sacrafise her week old child to the devil and later killed her self after putting a course on 'who ever would take her land'. the faimly want to perfom an exoercicim on the house and have to gather evidience to show the catholic church to do this. carolyn is then possed by the spirit and tries to kill her daughters but is restrained and the exorcism is the performed on er daving her self and children. the catholic then approve the rights to exorsise the house and investite the area.
which two sence impressed me and why?-
the first of my favourite two scenes is where daughter annabelle is woken during the night by a storm out side and gets out of her bed to find her dad, as she walks down the stairs calling for her father the camera follws her, i like the way this is shot because it feels like a point of view angle and like someone is watchig her and following her down the stairs. as the scene procedes i like the way the lighting flashes when the lightning hits and lights the room up so that everything can be seen for a sudden moment and then goes back the the darknesss f night leaving a lot to the imagination of what could happen. the camera angles throughout the whole scene are canted angles and to a point hand held camera, where ever annabelle moves so shoes the shot giving the illiosion there is something following her. as she retaracts from the stairs the lighting gets even darker showing a presence and the darkness cannoting death. the music during this part of the scene builds tention as the audience know something bad is going to happen. once annabelle has caught a glimpse of the spirit in the cellar the misic changes completley, the high pitches and fast paced music creates drama and strikes fear as the daughter tries to get away. once the chair has hit the watt the music stops and gives you a second to catch your breath.
the sec ond scene i really liked was the scene when one of the daughters hears noises coming from their wardoribe during the night, as she gets up to look inside the wardrobe her sister sits up in bed and sees a spirit sitting on top of the wardrobe as her sister opens it. i like the camera angle of the shot that shows the spirit, she is at a high point in the shot and shows that she has power over the two girls as she jumps down to grab the older daughter. the lighting in this scene again is ver low key and dark i like this because it is a very simple way to make the scene moch more creepy and suspenceful.
How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
this helped me understand the genre of film making because it used many of the features that are on our horror genre checklist the first that i noticed was the use of a creepy enclosed location, which was obviously the house they were living in, it was old fashioned and cluttered with creaky floorboards and big wooden doors. in the house the lighting was also always low key this represents that the house is 'doomed' and connotes danger and death. other miss en scene includes the use of music to create tention and other feelings such as feer throughout the entire film.
the editing throughout this film included lots of canted angles espessially when building tension, i think that this is done specifically to lone characters when they are about to be attacked by the spirit, an example for this is buring the build up for annabelle to be attacked in the cellar.
the male hero is represented in this film by the dad he is the saviour in many sences including the one mentioned above when he saves annabelle.
Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? Why?
the aspets of this film that i will try and use in my trailer is the low key lighting because i think that that is a really easy and effective way to convey fear to the audience. i also liked the creepy isolated location that they used which i hope that we can find somewhere similar that gives the same effect on our low budget!
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
choice of trailer type
for part of my planning we looked at two different trailer types, here i looked at a highlight trailer. this type of trailer takes the best parts of the film and puts them all together in one trailer. i like this type of trialer because i think that they are the most interesting and the most trilling as they have all of the goof bits.
here is an example of a highlights trailer that i really liked:
the other type of trailer that we could have chosento use is the scene trailer, this is where one scene from the film is shown i dot really like this style of trailer because you dont really get the full idea of what the film is about although it does man that there are still good bits in the film that wont have been seen yet.
here is an example of a scene trailer:
here is an example of a highlights trailer that i really liked:
the other type of trailer that we could have chosento use is the scene trailer, this is where one scene from the film is shown i dot really like this style of trailer because you dont really get the full idea of what the film is about although it does man that there are still good bits in the film that wont have been seen yet.
here is an example of a scene trailer:
Sunday, 20 April 2014
Analysis of a horror character - Leatherface
Leatherface is the main antagonist in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films and was inspired by real life murderer Ed Gein. His name is Leatherface due to the fact he wears a mask of skin which has been sewn
together using the skin of his many victims. The original Texas Chainsaw
Massacre (1973) was released
with various problems over censorship (it was banned in Britain until 1999) but it still made over 30 million at the box office.
Leatherface's main role in the film involves the torture and
killing of his many victims, he waits in his basement until the time is right
and lunges from his hiding place to attack his prey where he drags them back to
suffer is obsession.
Throughout the film Leatherface is seen is many shots more
are ‘frantic’ and he is presented as a particularly rash and scatty individual
in the way he attacks the friends that explore his home. The lighting Leatherface is seen under is frequently very low key connoting that he is dangerous. None of the
shots in this film show Leatherface having much power, which is unusual for the
killer in most horror films. Other characters in the film such as Drayton
Swayer, display much more power particularly mentally and is very creepy and
deceiving.
The miss-en-scene in this film shows Leatherface in a suit
and shirt I think this connotes the he liked to present himself in a classic
way and ironically took care in his appearance. I think that this is also shown in the
fact that he wore the Leatherface, this is because he cared so much about his appearance
that he felt the need to make an entire new face and kill many people in the
process. It also shows him challenging the mainstream "good looking people" by wearing the same posh clothes as them but by killing them off.
The lighting throughout this film is very low key connoting that something bad will happen especially in the house where Leatherface lives it is very dark and this tells you that something bad will happen. The props used in this film such as the jars of body parts kept by Leatherface show that he was very crazy and that he liked to keep certain parts of his victims. Another prop used on one scene was the room of chickens with all the feathers I think this showed a cluttered house with lots of hording again connoting that Leatherface liked to ‘keep’ lots of things.
The lighting throughout this film is very low key connoting that something bad will happen especially in the house where Leatherface lives it is very dark and this tells you that something bad will happen. The props used in this film such as the jars of body parts kept by Leatherface show that he was very crazy and that he liked to keep certain parts of his victims. Another prop used on one scene was the room of chickens with all the feathers I think this showed a cluttered house with lots of hording again connoting that Leatherface liked to ‘keep’ lots of things.
Overall I think that this character is one of the many
inspired by infamous killer Ed Gein and in my opinion the best. I like the way
that this character was portrayed and also the style of the film all round.
History of Horror: An Overview
Horror films often deal with the viewer's nightmares, hidden fears, revulsion and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage, commonly of supernatural origin, into the everyday world.
Prevalent elements include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies,cannibals, and serial killers. Conversely, movies about the supernatural are not necessarily always horrific.
Early horror films such as Nosferatu (1922) revolutionized the 20's horror genre through Max Scheck's sinister vampire like villain, which include rat-like make-up. The same happened with Frankenstein in the 30's with the eventual ban of the film due to it being inappropriate (such as the scene when the little girl is drowned by the monster) and far too violent for the audience of this time. These days the restrictions of how much gore and violence can be shown in a film are much more relaxed and directors can get away with much more.
Class Feedback: Positives
1. the music used was very appropriate
2. the titles on the trailer are vwery effective
3.their is a good use of a lot of close ups
4.the use of hand held camera looked really good
5. the props for the killer looked really good (make up, wig, gown)
6. good text
7. lots of different shot types
8. the location and the setting for the trailer was very good
9. the music at the beginning of the trailer worked really well
10. interesting jump scare
2. the titles on the trailer are vwery effective
3.their is a good use of a lot of close ups
4.the use of hand held camera looked really good
5. the props for the killer looked really good (make up, wig, gown)
6. good text
7. lots of different shot types
8. the location and the setting for the trailer was very good
9. the music at the beginning of the trailer worked really well
10. interesting jump scare
Class Feedback: Negatives
1. the trailer need more effects
2. the music needs to be improved- more music during the second half
3.the heart beat sound effect needs to be louder
4.there are too many random close ups
5.some of the shots need to be shorter
6. the jump scare needed to be improved
7. the narrative of the trailer was slightly confusing
8. the trailer needs more shots of the psychopath
9. the continuity of the swing wasn't quite right
10. music was a little too slow
Original Images For Ancillary Products
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
The Demented (ENSFC Horror Trailer) Rough Cut
This is the rough cut for our trailer for the film The Demented, i really like the way that our tralier has thurned i think it has mystery and also suspence, my favourite shit is at the start of the trailer, about the 3rd shot when the demented girl reaches for the light in the crack in the window, because of the back light it looks very creepy and you can only really see the sillowet of the demented girl and the light shining onto her into the dark room. i think that one main thing that we really need to work on now is to correct the filters that we have put onto some of the shots. we were trying to make it slightly darker but we have finished with all the shots being differet and this looks like the conternewerty does not match. i think that another thing that we could have done differently on our tralier is whilst filming shots not 'zoomed in' on so many shots because i think that this looked a little unprofessional.
The Demented Shot List
this is the first part of our shot list for our film trailer The Demented, we think that we stuck to the shot list pretty well and did all of the shoots that we needed to as well as some additional ones that we decided to do on the day that we added to the trailer that really added to the different techniques that we wanted to have in it. i think that the shot list is a vital part of filming a trailer and without it i don't think that we could have been as organised with our filming as we were. adding how long we wanted each shot to be was really hard because we had never made a horror trailer before and didn't know what was the 'norm' for a shot. I think that we could have made a few of our shout shorter so during the editing process we had to cut the best parts out of each shot and make them shorter to make the editing much more choppy and fast paced i think that this adds to the 'scaryness' of the trailer.
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