Evaluation - Question 5

"How did you attract/address your audience?"

We addressed our audience by giving them an opening sequence with farmilar forms to others and addressed the horror fans by using horror conventions. We attracted them by getting in touch with their feelings and filling the film with unique attributes.

The opening sequence conventions are mentioned on Question 1 but I will outline them here:

• Consistent credits with a main title at the end.
• Clear location and setting (establishing shots of the basement and good mis-en-scene).
• Introduction of characters (a minute of dialogue and interaction between them to get a feel for their relationship and personalities).
• Good continuity by use of shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule continued throughout the conversation scene. Also, the use of matched on actions such as the killer putting the victim to sleep with the cloth before pulling his arm away in the next shot as he turns to leave the victim sleeping (1.40 mins). This prevented distraction from the film because of lack of flow in the continued story.
• Use of enigma codes to get the audience to interact and fall into the film world.

The first thing we did to appeal to our audience was chose a popular genre with our core audience of 18-25's, and we thought horror was extremely popular, especially the 'Saw' and 'Hostel' films. Therefore we had to conform to their expectations by making our horror similar to that of the 'Saw' films.

My favourite aspect of the openings to 'Saw' was the variety in pace. It began very steadily, holding back lots of information and the actual appearance of the characters. Instead it focused on miscellaneous objects such as walls, pipes and bulbs, and the characters tied up were revealed bit by bit, with CU's of feet, eyes and mouth, before the shots moved further away from the character. It was 30-40 seconds before the actual character and location was revealed. We tried to achieve this affect in our film with opening credits appearing alongside random objects, helping establish the basement atmosphere, and a confusing montage of the victims face waking up to give a dazed effect. There was not an establishing LS until 33 seconds in, which helped lure the audience. Like 'Saw' the film did not pick up unnecessary pace and continued steadily through the dialogue. [The following compare 'Saw' on the left to 'Reservation' on the right, comparing first victim CU and then lightbulb shots].

There are 2 times when our film picks up pace:

• When our killer begins to get angry and ends up shouting at his victim (1.27 mins) - he manages to compose himself to bring the film back down to slow pace again (helped by the rise and fall in the musics dynamics).
• At the end of our film when the hand appears on the door (1.59 mins & below) there is a sudden rise in the music to accompany the shock of the action, ending in total silence and again a slow pace helped by a long mysterious fade to title.
  
  

The suddenness of these dramatic moments is amplified by the slow pace of the rest of the film, as tension builds in the audience who are always anticipating something. This helps add a jumpy affect to our film.

Other aspects we focused on to meet expectations of horror fans:

• Cinematic look with half-dim lighting in a pitch black room, added to by use of blue gel to create a blue tint (right) unique to our film (similar to use of neon green in 'Saw II' - left).

• A confusing montage of the victim waking up at the beginning (0.20-0.30 mins & below) unnerves the audience by disturbing the time period (similar to scene used in 'Hostel').







• Scrawly disorganised font on the credits and title (right) add to the confusion, being a bit like messy handwriting as if the person writing them is in pain. It is unsettling how the titles appear almost randomly throughout the sequence in different sizes, and how the title at the end fades in with each letter appearing at different times in no order at all. It created a mysterious code-cracking effect, as if you had to work hard to realise what the title said and that you may have to look deeper into the film to discover the answers (much like the titles in 'Cloverfield (Reeves, 2008)' (left - best picture I could find) are crackled such as on a fuzzy TV set, representing how the film is more meaningful than it looks and you have to search deep for clues [e.g. the last shot of New York which is set in the past before the whole story happened, a faint line can be seen falling into the sea and this is meant to be how the alien reached earth before the film started] because it is artistic.








• Low-key lighting (right) added to by the flickering lights. We filmed with 3 fairly dim studio lights to highlight shadows in all areas of the characters much like the characters in this particular scene in 'Sin City (Miller & Rodriquez, 2005)' (left) This highlights the expressions of the characters in a particular deep and meaningful scene such as our opening sequence - it is an important part of the story.








• Realistic atmosphere created by added on sounds (diegetic) such as lighting buzz (0.05-0.08 mins) and dripping water (0.15-0.18), giving our film a new dimension - a "spotlight" kind of effect where every little bit of action stood out and was detailed - bringing the audience into the world of the film (e.g. the amplified dripping water and ringing telephone in 'The Ring' (Verbinski, 2002)) [all added on sounds from http://www.soundsnap.com/].
• Use of moody music (non-diegetic) to create a tense atmosphere beyond the reality of the film [music called 'The Platform' from http://www.freeplaymusic.com/].

As well as giving the horror fans a farmilar form we had to offer them an original product. What stood out from our opening sequence compared to other sequences and what made it special? Our uniques selling points were:

• An intriguing plot carrying a hotel-theme and a well-mannered killer. Enthusiasts would want to know why he is acting this way and what the hotel-theme represents. Our film has a carefully written script, giving the audience subtle hints and clues (e.g. "would you like a glass of water?" said by the killer in a hotel-host kind of way.
• The title helps promote this plot and stir interest. 'Reservation' refers to a hotel reservation. However, I believe it could have been far more effective if it had been called 'The Guests', which is much more to the point and possibly sinister if not easier to remember. Reservation is too long and has too many meanings, making it not mean much at all to the audience in terms of the plot.
• Plenty of enigma codes because of heldback information (this links to the point about the pace of the film), raising questions within the audience and making them want to watch more. The ending to our sequence poses such questions as to whose limbs the hand and foot were and how these victims got there (see 1.50 & 2.00 mins). There is loads of information still to find out (character details such as names are not known at all yet).

To make our sequence really special we tried to tap into the feelings of our core audience so they would almost physically participate in the film. We did this by hitting at audience pleasures, fears, reactions and popular themes.

We focused on audience pleasures and physical reactions:

• We made our opening scene very intimate with the tight claustrophobic location of the basement (low ceilings and not much space) and the expressions of characters were highlighted by low-key lighting. A combination of good script-writing and excellent acting made the dialogue scene very intense. The audience would immediately feel sorry for our victim as he seems innocent (he is a lot smaller than the killer and is almost being bullied) and the humiliation and tease of this victim seem unnecessary. All the audience can see of the killer is evil as they do not know about his past and just think he is getting a "kick" out of torturing and killing people. Our scene plugs into the audiences emotional pleasures as they are on a characters side and may begin to care for the safety of this character. In scenes where the killer is particularly evil just provokes more of this responce to the film, with emotions such as sadness, anger, sympathy and desperation (we feel these emotions watching films such as 'Saw' as we capture the intense desperation of the characters in their situations due to the realims). The audience are helpless to do anything and may forget the character is fictional.
• Emotional pleasures can lead to visceral pleasures, which are the stimulated physical reactions of the audience to our film. Our opening sequence could provoke many, with sadness causing tears, wittyness causing laughter and anger causing people to tense up. Other than these emotions, the actual sequence itself is stop-starty and up and down a bit like a 'rollercoaster ride'. The pace quickens and slows with the music and the anticipation is high to go with the shocks that make people jump and the twists that make people admire the film in a physical way (i.e. shaking their head in disbelief or crying out). The most common physical reaction to emerge from watching our sequence is a sense of revulsion to what the killer is implying subtly and how he strokes the crow-bar. People cringe thinking about what might happen to the victim as you can faintly see the weapons lined up in the background. The audience are scared the film will become gory and they might often feel the pain (as you do watching 'Hostel' because it is horribly realistic). From our sequence, the gag being ripped off (0.45 mins) could cause someone to jump back or scream out in pain, and the thought of gore and death can cause a nauseous feeling.
• The enigma codes in our film provide the audience with something to solve so anyone can predict what might happen and try and link the important information together to find out what is going on (such as in 'Psycho', we try and guess who is commiting the murders). Solving something can give a sense of pleasure and not being able to know something can frustrate the audience until the end of the film when they find out.
• There is a counter-culture attraction stemming from our film as we release the audience from all rules and regulations. Our opening scene is private, away from authorities, and the killer has complete control. He can do whatever he wants and there are no limits (such as Michael Myers's unlimited power and freedom in 'Halloween'). Our audience get to feel a pleasure from the feeling they have broken rules by watching extreme situations such as our capturing scene.

We also tried to tap into our core audiences biggest fears (see Ortenberg quote, question 4) and most of these were represented by themes of revenge, needless violence and agression as well as life and death. They all stem from real-life experience (see question 2) making the audience fear them more. These fears could be applied to any audience and most horror films try to hit alot of them:

• A sense of claustrophobia, being trapped or captured.
• Voyerism and the idea of being constantly watched or monitored.
• A sense of being alone in a situation in which you have to try and save yourself with your own thinking - nobody else knows where you are.
• Sense of darkness and night time and being stuck in a creepy-looking location.
• Being surrounded by strangers and bodies.
• Fear of the unknown, what is happening to the victim?
• Fear of the anger of someone you don't know and cannot reason with.
• Fear of unbelievable pain that you cannot defend.
• The fear of death and never being able to see loved ones again.

We see these fears in other people because of the bad things that happen around us and on the news, but we never actually think it will happen to us. This makes us fear them more. Our audience will be unsettled and worried throughout our sequence as they have all these fears to think about and mull over in their minds.

We applied all these audience factors to our sequence and every decision made that I discussed in this question was made for a reason. It is hard to sum it all up in one question so I tried explaining some thing in detail and others in less detail, but they were all meaningful to appealling to our audience. Whether they were successful or not was down to our audience feedback.

After having an audience screening in front of thirty 17-18's we were able to summarise their opinions and criticisms. It was successful feedback with 11 sample questionnaires (many who had a particular interest in horror) all stating that they enjoyed our sequence and thought it was attractive, so our attention to detail in image and style were helpful. Good points for the film were its clear narrative, depth in the killer's character, scariness of the killer's acting and the shock of the hand at the end. This was very pleasing with both dramatic parts being effective on the audience and making them react (everybody in the room jumped at the shock-ending). The holding back of the pace must have worked to amplify the jumpy moments. There was some constructive criticism; not everybody liked the lights flickering because regular intervals of darkness remained distracting (right). This is something we had thought about before but could not eradicate after shooting. People also had their reservations on the title, which I discussed earlier in this question. The last critical comments were mainly on our victims's acting when the gag was pulled off (0.45 mins) and that this could have seemed more painful and shocking (left). This was a hard shot to film as the gag kept coming off for certain reasons, so we understand how this moment seemed particularly flat at the time. I believe our groups attempts to appeal to this type of audience was very successful (most people stating their desire to continue watching). This was also evident in feedback I recieved elsewhere with my brother and cousin (both between 18-25 years old) getting a feel for the film and being more involved in possible improvements, whereas as 40 year olds like my mum were confused by the plot and dazzled by the lights - so did not get the modern horror genre so much.

Target Audience

Now our group has finished editing and we have until this Wednesday to edit, I have looked back at all my individual blog posts and re-done the labels to tidy the whole thing up.

One thing I have realised I have not cleared up on this blog was the intended audience for our film, which is a typical horror audience. We thought 18-30's (teenagers and young adults) would probably be the most likely audience with our film meriting an 18 rating due to the horrific violence. However, this does not mean people over 30 cannot watch our film, as I am sure they would. Also, I am sure many under 18's would get hold of the film somehow on DVD and could certainly become popular with younger "hardcore" kids. Simply, the main bulk of our audience would come from the 18-30 bracket. Gender-wise, I think both genders would watch our film even though it could be seen as more male-orientated (actors, violence and plot). Alot of girls I know are into this kind of horror anyway and have an attitude in which they enjoy scaring themselves with their friends. Boys would simply watch it for the gore element and narrative. Many couples would also probably go and see a film like this as horror gives them the opputunity to "snuggle up", so I think there would be an even spread across both genders.

All in all, thrill seekers and horror enthusiasts (especially those of the gore subgenre) are our core target audience, with fans of the Saw and Hostel films being typical target-ees. Our film however, is open to all ages, genders and anyone who wants to come along for the ride!

My Favourite Horror Movie Clips

These are some of my favourite clips of all time from horror films. These include the first alien sighting in 'Signs', the famous tv seen from 'The Ring', the dramatic ending to 'The Descent' and the unbelievable opening scene to 'Saw II' (don't watch if you don't want to spoil the films for yourselves!).









I have analysed 'The Ring' clip for shot types, the 'Saw II' clip for opening sequnces and mentioned 'The Descent' clip in my influences and character types. The 'Signs' clip is just another clip I find inluential and have mentioned the fact this first sighting comes very late in the film in my influences. Other than that, these are purely for your entertainment and so I can refer back to these at any time for ideas etc.

My Influences (contains spoilers!)


1) Sir Alfred Hitchcock
(August 13, 1899 - April 29, 1980)

The "master of suspence", born in Leytonstone, was one oof the most influential filmmakers, and I regard him as the founder of the horror genre due to his advanced ideas and techniques. He was very much ahead of his time. Hitchcock is most famous for his films, 'Psycho' and 'The Birds'.

Psycho - 1960
Our media class watched 'Psycho' one night after school and I regard it as the basis of all my ideas in the horror genre. The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane and the motel owner, Norman Bates. For most of the film we are kept in suspence about who is doing the killing - the scene where Marion is murdered being an all time classic (my favourite of all horror icons - see my post titled 'my top ten pieces of horror film inconography). The famous shower curtain scene sums up Hitchcock's technical genius in suspence and horror. The plot is amazingly clever and the techniques used to build suspence are superb for its time (6 years before the birth of colour television). The twist at the end take you completely by surprise, with Norman turning out to be a skitzophrenic - his "mum" side being the killer everyone was looking for.

The Birds - 1963
After studying a clip from 'The Birds' in media for continuity, I decided to watch it, and I believe it to be even better than 'Psycho' technically. It is perfect, with stunning scenes of voilence and gore for search an early period film. The films plot does not really make much sense apart from the fact a town is terrorised by groups of bird attacks. I use scenes such as the where the neighbour is found dead in his house with his eyes pecked out, as the default for continuity techniques, simply because Hitchcock masters it. The film does not have a clear ending, with the family driving inot the sunset towards an uncertain future.

Nowadays, there are numerous websites and foundations based on the technical advances Hitchcock brought to film (most notably the "Hitchcock zoom" or better known as the "contra-zoom" - changing the perspective of the background whilst keeping the subject the same size by moving the dolly backwards whilst zooming in on the subject). He was always good at improvisation because his films did not always have large budgets. This skill was shown when filming 'The Ropes' in 1948 - a film appearing to be shot in entirely one take, but actually consisting of about 10 shots pieced together, with changes in shot disguised by an object taking up the entire screen for a second. These types of techniques have influenced low budget film makers worldwide.


2) The 1970's Killers

After the Hitchcock era, a new breed of horror films was born; the teen slasher. There was a trio of serial killers and they were 'Michael Myers', 'Jason' and 'Freddy Kruger' (from 'Halloween', 'Friday the 13th' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' respectively).

Halloween - 1978 (directed by John Carpenter)
'Halloween' followed an evil character 'Michale Myers', who had a love for killing teenagers after killing his sister when he was 6. It was the first of its kind, giving rise to a seemingly immortal killer, and featuring shocking scenes of slash murders. It was an extremely violent film in its day. The franchise of 'Halloween' still exists today, with 'Michael Myers' one of the most frightening and notorious killers of all time.

Friday the 13th - 1980 (directed by Sean S. Cunningham)
Much like 'Halloween', 'Friday the 13th' followed a serial killer 'Jason', who murdered teens at a holiday camp after being drowned in the lake a few years before. The film was very similar to 'Halloween', with an immortal and almost supernatural villain seeking revenge or pleasure in the mass murder of teens. The films were brutal and ruthless.

Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984 (directed by Wes Craven)
The film featured another serial killer 'Freddy Kruger', who was the "dream killer", killing children in reality but only appearing as part of the dream world. He terrorised the dreams of children living in Elm Street, thus making him the third immortal and "supernatural" killer of the 70s and early 80's.

The predictable plots of all 3 films and how they create absolute terror through an unknown but unstoppable killer have influenced me in the horror genre. The faces of all 3 killers are very iconic (masked or unmasked), 2 of which feature in my top ten pieces of horror iconography. The closeness in narrative of the 3 films inspired a 2003 film by Ronny Yu, 'Freddy vs Jason', featuring 2 of the 3 notorious killers, crossing both plots to create conflict between the 2 killers.


3) Tim Burton
(August 25, 1958 - present)

I regard Tim Burton as the founder of gothic horror, and enjoy his films because of their fun, quirky nature despite the dark and terrifying atmospheres he creates. I admire Tim's wild imagination and clever underlying messages that make his films so special and unique to him. They are their own brand of films - 'Tim Burton' films. It is funny that my childhood nightmares always stemmed from 2 of Tim's films; both of which I fully adore now.

Edward Scissor Hands - 1990
The film revolves around a stereotypical American suburb and follows the fantasy-horror tale of manmade 'Edward' who has adopted scissors for hands, and lives alone in a terrifying looking castle overlooking the suburb. The film is inspired by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' and the french legend, 'Beauty and the Beast', with a misunderstood character being hunted down. When I was little, the character of 'Edward' used to scare me as he could carelessly murder somebody and I used to find him creepy. Looking back, I have full sympathy for the character now, and the imagination of 'Tim Burton' strikes me as amazing - to be able to think up such a uniquely inspired character who stirs up such deep emotions inside you, yet keep the humour of a man with scissors for hands! It is unreal - and the moral message that comes with it (a common convention in gothic horror) is inspiring to me - not to misjudge on appearance. That is one thing I have learnt from the film as I have grown up, and banished any fears I originally had of 'Edward Scissor Hands'.

The Nightmare Before Christmas - 1993
This is a truly unique film that I used to watch every Halloween and Christmas when I was little - and it used to scare the hell out of me! It follows the goings-ons in a fantasy town called 'Halloween Town', as the residents try to capture christmas with the help of 'Jack', the main character. The film is famous for interwining gothic horror elements with the imagination of fantasy, humour and wit of alternative comedy and true magic of a musical - and all this from a motion stop animated film! It even inspires me now, the ideas that 'Tim Burton' had in his head, with the visions of the 'Gambling Boogeyman', the monster under my bed and the evil pumpkins giving me nightmares when I was little. Yet now, I can see how Tim played on the myths and legends of childrens nightmares and put entirely his own spin on the stories to create a totally different world - the 'Tim Burton' world. I hope to convey some of Tims gothic style in my film as my way of making it totally alternative and unique as my own style of horror film.


4) M. Night Shyamalan
(August 6, 1970 - present)

'Manoj Nelliyattu' Shyamalan is probably the cleverest director I know, with every single one of his films panning out to be something noone has ever thought about before - and while some ideas are whacky, they always seem to make some kind of sense in the end. Every aspect of a 'Shyamalan' film is summed up in the following 4 films.

The Sixth Sense - 1999
A psycological horror film, which follows the life of a boy called 'Cole', who sees dead people. The film plays with your mind throughout and keeps to horror conventions during scenes where 'Cole' is confronted by terrorfying images of the dead. However, it provides my favourite ever twist-end to a film, with Bruce Willis's character (who tries to give 'Cole' psycological help) turning out to be dead too. If you go back and watch the film again, you realise that 'Cole' is the only character who ever has conversation or even eye contact with Willis. The film inspired me to write equally powerful and clever plots - which will be a hard feat to achieve nonetheless!

Signs - 2002
Again, a thriller horror, but inspired by 'Steven Spielberg' style sci-fi, the film follows the story of a family living in a farmhouse and are terrorised by crop circles - only for a worldwide alien enslaught to follow. I find it different to any other alien film, with far more focus on the characters (you do not see an acutal alien until about an hour and fifteen minutes into the film) and I feel it brings out human emotions in an otherwise supernatural event. I find the structure of the film clever, in keeping you tense about what the aliens look like and who they are, by only giving you split second clues and glimpses until the final 15 minutes of the film - a dramatic climax. It is one of them films that you have to pay very close attention to to really understand what the film is all about, and what role the aliens creatures play in the movie.

The Village - 2004

I did not enjoy 'The Village' as much as Shyamalan's earlier films, but I find the plot of this film so clever - following an insular turn-of-the-20th-century village who fear from leaving the village because of monsters that roam the forest that surrounds them. The twist is that the monsters are villagers themselves who have chosen to keep the villagers from entering the outside world (the actual date is 2004, not the earlier stated 1897) and have rolled back the dates to a simpler more peaceful time. The way in which each twist is revealed in stages completely decieves you and your initial thoughts, and plays with your mind.

The Happening - 2008
This film defies all other films as completely odd and ridiculous, yet it still manages to make a strange kind of sense. It is certainly Shyamalan's whackiest attempt at a film, but the apocalyptic film is scientifically plaudible at the least. It shows how people inexplicablly begin committing mass suicide and this is revealed to be because of a substance in plants that they release in order to reverse neurotoxins in the human brain, so humans go against their survival instincts. As ridiculous as it sounds, I love the idea of plants killin humans simply as their way of getting rid of humans in order to preserve earth. The moral messages of global warming are evident, and it reminds us of how powerless we are against nature and how little we really could know about the planet we live on. Another amazing 'Shyamalan' idea that I never would have thought of before.


5) The 1990's Killers

There was a re-birth of the slasher subgenre made infamous in the 70's, in the late 1990's. This sparked a slight rejuvination and a new subgenre in horror. The source of this new birth was the film 'Scream'.

Scream - 1996 (directed by Wes Craven)
This marked a new style in the teen slasher subgenre, as Wes Craven offered a more tongue-in-cheek approach to horror. Much like the killers of the 70's, the film involved a serial killer in a mask killing random teens in an act of revenge - but the difference was that it was modern. the 'Scream' villain terrorises the main character 'Sidney' over phone calls, and the whole killing spree is a ploy between two of her best friends (one is her boyfriend). Murders are almost comic-like, stereotyping American teenagers as stupid - those with a sense of humour appreciate the underlying tones of irony, and the way the villain mocks his victims. 'Scream' has become a franchise deries and created the most highly sold Halloween costumes because of the famous 'Scream' mask.

Scary Movie - 2000 (directed by Ivory Wayans)
'Scary Movie' brought the comedy value of 'Scream' to a whole new level by providing a parody of the horror genre. It is a spoof of 'Scream' and in many ways is similar, but exaggerates the comedy and irony, bringing in a new grotesque and vulgar humour never before seen in horror. I found the series of 'Scary Movie' films highly entertaining and funny, and at the time people could not take the horror genre seriously. In a way it created a horror setback, but I believe 'Scary Movie' provided new life and new ideas - challenging directors to rejuvinate the horror genre by making stories less predictable, and by bringing in their own alternative ideas by mixing subgenres much like 'Scary Movie' itself. Certianly after 2000, the horror genre came to life again, and the 'Scary Movie' films became progressively weaker on its way to number 4 - a sign that horror films were becoming great again.


6) Japanese Remakes

There were a few new types of horror born in the 21st century - the first being the Japanese remakes. Some could call it lazy directing, but some of the stories born from Japanese horror films were simply too hard for horror based directors to resist. American directors felt they could make them better from the raw, dragged out Japanese versions, and whilst technically the Japanese were more successful in scaring the audience, I was more inspired by the remakes.

The Ring - 2002 (directed by Gore Verbinski)
'The Ring' was one of the first pure horror films I watched and it really freaked me out. It should be impossible to make a little girl so stunningly scary, but the way the character Samara moves around with such power whilst creeping stutteringly towards you with the hair dragged across her face, really does creep you out. The story is really original, telling how the girl who fell down a well, cursed a video tape, sending her supernatural form to kill whoever watched it, seven days later. I love the suspense built in this film, how time seems to stop and you just know Samara is there. This is helped by the dripping water and the crackling television screen with its disturbing grainy images of random but significant iconography linked with Samara's location of death. The climax of the film (where Samara walks out of the television) really is one of the scariest you will ever see, as in the running of the film, it just makes your heart stop - it takes you by such surprise. The power of the supernatural and mystery of curses are never better than in the Japanese horror seen in 'The Ring'.

The Grudge - 2004 (directed by Takashi Shimizu)
The same can be said about 'The Grudge' (personally which I feel never quite meets the standard set by 'The Ring'). The film is a remake, and tells of a curse that is born when somebody dies in the grip of powerful rage or extreme sorrow. This again brings out the horror of supernatural forces and curses. The film itself contains many incredibly disturbing and creepy scenes, and contains so many jumpy moments that it is almost hard to watch in complete comfort - the aim of any horror film. I think the building of tension is brought to a new level in which Hitchcock did not have the resources to find; and this is done by confusing camera movements, flash montages and inconsistent but extremely eery music.

These aspects of Japanese horror have inspired me as I believe these to be the films that scared me the most growing up, simply due to their jumpy nature and the presence of cursed children that never seem to leave you after. The techniques of the films prove how powerfully scary you can make a simple horror plot - by really bringing the horror to the audience.


7) The Handheld Style

I have only ever seen 2 films using the handheld effect, but I have fallen in love with it - the 2 films being 2 of my all time favourites.

The Blair Witch Project - 1999 (directed by Daniel Myrick)
The film was amazingly unique as no film had ever been shot fully by a handheld video camera (or in that style). The film is made up of basic footage shot fully by a group investigating the myth of the Blair Witch in North America - all of whom go missing with the footage being retrieved a year later from the forest. This is what we are shown, as evidence of their trip and disappearance. Presented as an amateur documentary, the film is incredibly up close and intense. You really do feel like you are in the film, and are gripped by the horror of what happens to the group you are constantly with. The shaky camera is also incredibly diorientating, but is fascinating at the same time, telling the whole story entirely from one perspective. Further still, the story does not even make much sense and is totally open to the viewers interpretation, with the realism of the situation spot on - that in that situation caught up in a supernatural mystery, you too would not have a clue what was going on! The eventual fate of the filmmakers is unclear, but the amateur side of the sotry would be very easy to shoot on video camera. Therefore, the fact that the film was successful using this method shows that with the right techniques of suspense and not giving much away, we could make an equally effective horror film for our own projects.

Cloverfield - 2008 (directed by Matt Reeves)
Since 'The Blair Witch Project' no director tried to copy the handheld effect so unique to the film - until Matt Reeves. He applied the technique to a far less isolated and lost situation, but to one of pure panic and mass destruction - a disaster. The film was anything other that a disaster, showing the attack of a 'Godzilla-like' creature on New York, with the whole film shot in a video found in the wreckage after the event. You feel so part of the adventure and the pace of the film is incredible - it just never lets go of you. That is the power of the handheld effect, using pauses in the video footage to skip time, but never quite giving you a rest from the tension a real-time situation brings. At points the footage is so chaotic and disorientating it can make you feel quite queezy! The film was my favourite of the year by far.

In both films, the ending comes from the character with the video camera being killed (or thats what we assume) shown by the camera being stopped or breaking. The endings are unclear but the effect brings out realism that no other film could possibly achieve. It is truly inspiring for the amateur project we are about to tackle.


8)The "Splat Pack"

The "Splat Pack" are a group of directors who have been deemed responcible for a new type of rekindled twisted horror. I believe the films cover many subgenres of horror - mainly gore, torture and tongue-in-cheek irony. The directors include the likes of Eli Roth, James Wan, Greg Mclean, Leigh Whannell, Alexandre Arja and Rob Zombie. I will focus on 2 of these, who I believe were the most successful - the first being El Roth.

Cabin Fever - 2003
'Cabin Fever' created a new type of horror, stemming from 'Scary Movie' style comedy, but introducing pure gore. The film follows a group of college graduates who hire a cabin in the woods to celebrate, but fall victim to a flesh eating virus. The film was designed to go against many modern horror films with its comedy value making us laught at the characters in pain and the lack of support they recieve from the authorities (again stereotyping Americans as stupid). We feel uneasy throughout the film as it is all very sinister much like the similar setting shown in 'The Blair Witch Project', but the irony is extremely funny and we feel the characters learn a lesson from their bad characteristics - drinking, smoking and having sex - by enduring the disease and eventually dying. The film bought out an unknown audience characteristic; that we often enjoy watching people in pain and wondering just how far directors could bring pain. 'James Wan' pushed us even further.

Saw - 2004
I recently watched the first 4 'Saw' films and took alot of inspiration from how the films create a situation of pure helplessness and pain - where nothing else matters but rescuing your life from the clutches of death. The film follows 'Jig Saw' - a man diagnosed with cancer who is dying - who punishes people who do not appreciate their life by setting them in horribly disturbing traps. There is always a way out, but the characters have to endure enormous physical or mental torture whilst thinking on the spot in order to prevent an impending gruesome death. The film is incredibly disturbing and brings gore to an extreme level. The traps are very modern and the ideas so advanced and clever, giving us ways of dying that we never would have thought of before. The film almost does make you appreciate your life and you feel very comfortable in the safety of your living room, watching it. The camera techniques are incredible at making your heart race faster, increasing the pace of the film until you cannot bare it anymore. This is done by flash montages and seering techno music that is jumpy but simply will not let go at the vital climaxes of each scene where it really kicks in. All in all, the film, brings out a new level of anxiety, of torture and of pure terror inside you that you never knew a film could bring. 'Saw' pretty much defies the power of modern alternative horror.

After 'Saw' had become an amazingly successful franchise, Eli Roth tried to swing horror another way by creating the film 'Hostel'.

Hostel - 2006
With the help of 'Quentin Tarantino', Eli Roth's mission was to make the most disturbing film possible with 'Hostel' - a film about some American backpackers who get caught up in a hostel organisation who gain sexual pleasure from torturing and eventually killing their customers. The film is extreme in gore and violence and focuses around themes of pain, suffering and unbearable agony. The powerless situation of the characters is brought out in how close you get to them and their situation, making us feel uncomfortable, queezy but somehow excited at how far the torture can go. This links back to Eli Roth's 'Cabin Fever', showing how audiences can thrive on peoples pain and suffering. 'Hostel' gave birth to the new subgenre - "torture porn" - a genre that 'Saw' adapted for its third, fourth and fifth films, making them more focused on the torture aspect than the actual cleverness of the original storyline. To some extent, I believe the films go too far in extreme violence, but I take inspiration from the churning effect they have on their audiences.


9) Neil Marshall
(25 May, 1970 - present)

I regard Neil as the rejuvinator of the horror genre, as I feel he is the only modern day director to stick fully to horror conventions of the past (such as seen in Hitchcock films) and not rely heavily on alternative ideas. Also, his stories are completely original and he has his own indescribable style of which I find fascinating - based on deep relationships between characters being completely shattered and forgotton due to the events that follow (usually ending in humans being hunted down in some way). Neil is my favourite British director.

Dog Soldiers - 2002
His first big horror film was 'Dog Soldiers' set in the Scotland Highlands, following a group of army soldiers who become trapped in a house and hunted down by werewolves. The film was a simple film with simple characters but was almost an experiment by Neil to test out his trick of bringing the audience false hope (the main character escaping, only to be hunted down again). The film ends in an uncertain fashion with most characters dead but leaving the others to inevitable death anyway. I admire the way Neil achieves this effect of impending doom on the characters because of consistent sinister happenings about the characters at all times during the film.

The Descent - 2005
'The Descent' is a deeper more meaningful version of 'Dog Soldiers' but set in America's mountains rather than Scotland. The film follows a group of female adrenalin junkies who become trapped in a cave whilst caving, and hunted down by creatures who have evolved to live in the dark. The plot follows incredibly closely to that of 'Dog Soldiers' but holds more underlying meanings due to the many relationship-based subplots involving the main characters. These plots effect how we view each character and seem to have some sort of bearing on how each is killed - their deaths are more significant. The climax of the film shows the main character escaping, but in a horrible twist we learn this was just a dream, leaving the character trapped underground as the film ends. This finale is both chilling and disturbing and leaves us very emotional as we wanted the character to survive. Neil almost drives a knife into our hearts and twists with such an ending - and I admire this effect. I think he is a very clever filmmaker, and I may base alot of the deeper meanings of my film such as character subplots, on those found in Neil Marshall's 'The Descent'.


10) Modern Niche TV

During half term I became fascinated by the 'Dead Set' series on E4 (which I believed not to be particularly impressive nor successful in what it was trying to convey but simply a good idea and doing the basics of simple zombie flick well). It turned the cult TV show, 'Big Brother', into a living nightmare by applying simple horror conventions and a basic horror plot to reality TV, effectively creating a horror story into something very real and possibly happening to Britain. I believe it produced a similar effect to that of the handheld effect shown in 'The Blair Witch Project', but with more filmic camera movements to steady the film and create clearer character types and a clearer narrative.

Dead Set - [to be released on DVD] 2009 (directed by Yann Demange)
The first thing that was successful to match average E4 viewing figures. The awareness of this horror spin of the situation of being in the 'Big Brother' house spread amazingly fast via the internet and with the help of Channel 4/E4 advertising. The actual show was also very effective, as we find out very little about the housemate characters (they are as shallow as a stereotypical 'Big Brother' housemate would be). However, we get to know members of the crew in more detail, leaving us with more knowledge about how the show is filmed. The horror aspect is very simple but effective, with nearly the entire thing shot in an eery silence that easily depicts an empty, lifeless Britain. At moments we catch characters simply looking into the zombie-filled distance with utter disbelief and scared silence. This makes the show feel empty, taking away the livliness of a normal 'Big Brother' show and taking away the real life still cameras and replacing them with moving cameras using film techniques to portray the shock and fright of the active parts of the show (i.e. the zombie chases). I studied these techniques and they seem so simple but effective, making the show my final influence. I am using it to generate ideas as to how I will film a simple horror sequence.

Scripting
(4 Horror Techniques from the 'Saw' Series)

1) Use catchphrases that are immediately associated with the film. Introduce these early on in an opening sequence or in the first killing scene; and use them more than once throughout a film or series. In the 'Saw' movies these catchphrases are associated with the killer 'Jig Saw' and the way he kills (or sets up people to either escape or die). The following are good examples: 'I wanna play a game', 'remember the rules', 'x marks the spot' and 'game over'.

2) Give the audience familiar horror conventions by involving the usual phrases. Alot of the time these are questions or cries of desperation. These should be included in trailers and most scenes of the film, letting the audience know of the horror genre. The following examples I picked out from the 'Saw' films are regularly heard in all horror films: "I wanna go home", "I don't wanna die", "where are you?", "where am i?", "what are you doing to me?", "is there someone there?", "hello?", "i'm scared", "let me go" and my own personal favourite "help me!".

3) Base sripting of particular characters on the characters role in the film. For main characters it is important to not give away everything about them at the beginning, but through scripting you can gradually give away different parts of his/her story as you go along. For example, in 'Saw', the character 'Lawrence' is the main character and reveals his name and occupation (doctor) at the beginning; but he does not reveal much about his family until the middle, and his history or background to the end. This is all done through what he says in conversations with the other character, and as we get to know him, we grow closer to him. For subcharacters, we should know everything we need to know about him (name, stereotype traits etc) within a few lines of what he says, as he does not hold such a deep and detailed character. We give everything about them straight away. For example, in 'Saw II' the subcharacter 'Xavier' (stereotyped as the bully or macho man) reveals straight away his name and that he used to be in prison. He immediately makes it clear he will use force to get out of the trap laid for him, and that he is only worried about getting himself out and not any of the other characters with him. Scripting characters in this way makes it clearer to us what will happen, with the subcharacters usually dying and the main characters either getting far or surviving all the way.

4) Through scripting you can use subtle hints throughout a film as to what might happen. This makes outcomes either inevitable or ironic at the end. A good example of this is in 'Saw II' where 'Jig Saw' tells father 'Eric' that he will see his son in a "safe and secure state" if he can talk with him for a while. It is later revealed that the son is inside a safe in the room they are sitting in (exactly what was said earlier in an ironic subtle way), which is opened after the intended hour in which his son was supposed to die. By then, the father has gone to the house shown on the monitors to rescue his son, but does not know these were showing pictures an hour or so in the past and his son was rescued by the killer and kept in a "safe and secure state". The irony is laughable and very clever. It is fun for some audiences to spot these ironic statements in the scripting of a film to try and predict what will happen and what the twists will be. Others will be completely unaware of the irony all along, which is why scenes from earlier in a film are often played again to show what was really meant by that line and to help the whole audience piece everything together. This works very well in horror and thrillers.

"I want to play a game."

The Present Horror Film Market

Current cinema listings (Enfield Cineworld - starting Friday 24th October):
- Burn After Reading (comedy)
- City of Ember (family/history)
- Eagle Eye (action)
- Fly me to the Moon (family/animated/history)
- Ghost Town (comedy)
- Gomorrah (action/drama)
- High School Musical 3 (teen/musical)
- How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (comedy)
- Igor (animated/family/fantasy)
- Incendiary (drama/thriller)
- Journey to the Centre of the Earth (action/adventure)
- Kung Fu Panda (animated/family/adventure/comedy)
- Mamma Mia (family/musical)
- Mirrors (horror)
- Saw V (horror/thriller)
- Taken (action/trhiller)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (family/fantasy/adventure)
- The House Bunny (comedy)
- Tropic Thunder (comedy)

2 out of 19 of the films shown are of the horror genre. One is a film deemed as weak and a farce by critics with the 'Mirrors' plot involving mirrors possessing humans to carry out evil deeds. The other is the heavily successful successor in the 'Saw' series - 'Saw V' - already an established cult blockbuster hit. There is an obvious gap for a new unique horror film with no sequel or predeccessor.

List of horror films released (or yet to be) in 2008:
100 Feet, the Alphabet Killer, Amusement, Anaconda 3, April Fools Day, Asylum, Cloverfield, The Cottage, Dark Floors, Day of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, The Eye, Feast 2, Grizzly Park, Gutterballs, The Happening, Insanitarium, Killer Pad, Let the Night One in, Lost Boys 2, No Mans Land, One Missed Call, Prom Night, Quarantine, Rovdyr, The Ruins, Saw V, The Strangers, Shutter, Zombie Strippers.

The small total of 30 in a year is low for the horror genre (with over 50 being released in 2007). Most of these were unsuccessful, generally low key films. They show signs of directors experimenting with new alternative ideas and some have not worked such as 'The Happening' - a mixed horror/science/nature - which has been heavily criticised. Some are typical but weak zombie flicks such as 'Zombie Strippers' and 'Day of the Dead', with people running out of ideas in the genre.

The successful horror films of 2008:
- The Eye (a remake of the Hong-Kong based film - a supernatural thriller focused on psycological "creep-out" horror).
- The Strangers (a psycological supernatural killer thriller showing a combination of popular horror subgenres today).
- The Cottage (a tongue-in-cheek alternative comedy slasher with slapstick gore and witty irony).
- Saw V (part of the cult franchise series of torture films - significant in the rejuvination of modern alternative horror/thrillers).
- One Missed Call (a remake of the Japanese film - a psycological killer thriller focused on unique ways of being killed by the killer).

The common themes of Far-Eastern remakes, sequels, classic remakes, torture films, supernatural horrors, psycological thrillers, slapstick comedy slashers and alternative modern horror can be seen in the list of films ready to be released in 2009:
- Final Destination 4
- The Descent 2
- Friday the 13th
- The Grudge 3

Conclusion:
- There is a gap in the market for new unique ideas that are original narratives not based on true events or previous films.
- There are plenty of zombie flicks, dry humoured slashers and torture films - these are not new and original.
- There are not many real classic killers such as in the 70's, with obvious horror conventions.

I can either target niche markets with alternative horror ideas similar to those shown today, or target the gap of classic obvious horror which does not feature so much anymore. I feel this is missing from cinemas today, but could be risky. I will consider the advantages and disadvantages of both markets when planning my ideas.

5 Things a Horror Film Needs

1) Iconography

Shadows, candles, darkness, lamps, lightning, rain, blood, knives, dripping water, corpses, limbs, scary trees, masks, weapons, smashed glass, ghosts, scary faces, scary objects (i.e. hooded jackets, cloaks, white sheets, open curtains), dirty bathtubs, old furniture, mansions, fireplaces, crackling televisions, slightly opened doors, colours (reds, blacks, purples, blues, whites, browns, greys), chains, litter, flashing lights, silk, guns, bullets, black boots, sharp teeth, crucifixes, medallions, jewellery

2) Narrative

Chases, serial killers, secrets, mystery, breaking down of technology, car crashes, loss of cell phone signal, twisted sexuality, surprises, shocks, twists, media/police first to be killed, bad police (useless or corrupt), lawlessness, secret watching, stalking, running away, extreme psycopaths, revenge, deep subplots, stereotypes killed, one or two main characters killed, heroes survive, high body count, lots of victims, monsters, creatures, supernatural happenings, being locked away or locked in a room, torture, falling over, escape, struggle, fights, climax betweem hero and killer, killers killed often, heartbeats faster, slow to quick editing to build up tension, not everything revealed, ECU's, distortion in spaces and tilts, low angles, not showing faces, hiding certain things, tracking, handheld or shakey movements.

3) Characters

Geeks often survive or help, smart girl survives by taking initiative half way through, bullies and cockey macho boys killed, ditzy blondes killed, bitchy good looking highschool queens killed, stereotypes such as stupid or macho often first to go, enemies often last to go before hero survives, police often killed trying to help or being led wrong way, media often killed for being nosey or ignorant, psycopaths, twisted men, killers, mass murderers, monsters, villain often with a motive or deeper reason behind kills (misunderstood), creatures, ghosts, women are haunted and followed by demons, little girl ghosts, scary children who see things, reassuring parents, teens who are ignorant of sinister going ons, victims wear silk dresses and lots of make up, killers wear cloaks and masks and carry weapons, victims in bright significant clothing or half naked, killers in dark ambiguous clothing, hidden features such as half a face, zombies, vampires, spirits, real animals, dogs.

4) Themes

Mystery, suspence, secrets, forbidden actions, evil deeds, revenge, surprise, love, sex, obsession, mental illness, twisted games, contrast, death, gruesome, torture, pain, anguish, misery, family, friends, forgiveness, sin, suffering, punishment, stupidity, panic, confusion, the devil, hell, possession, law and order, haunting, isolation, lost, trapped, claustrophobia, deceipt, loyalty, treason, seperation, togetherness, greed, passion, fright, terror.

5) Atmosphere

Low key lighting, shadows, darkness, pitch black, night time, thunder and lightning, rain, dripping water, echoes, whistling wind, wolf howls, owls, rustling, footsteps, creaking doors, creaking stairways, sudden bangs, clanks, clicking, strange noises such as creatures or supernatural noises, crackling televisions or radio signals, beeping, evil laughter, screams, sounds of agony, crying children, rustling trees and leaves, window bangs, slamming doors, deep voices, scary music, long high pitched violin noises held on one note, 'Psycho' music, deep musical notes held for long time, crashes, loud base drums gettting faster, variations in tempo and dynamics, orcestral music, sometimes techno music, minor key, organ music, church bell sounds, clowns, childrens toy noises, forests, mountains, castles, deserted cities, hills, mansions, isolated manors or cottages, long narrow corridors, hallways, large rooms, prsion cells, basements, bathrooms, torture chambers, large bedrooms, hospital wards, emptiness, attics, lairs, watch rooms, abandoned alleyways, bad ends of cities, underground caves, rivers or lakes, coasts, fields or crop fields, hotels, farmhouses, motels, warehouses, factories.

MY TOP TEN PIECES OF HORROR FILM ICONOGRAPHY

1) Psycho Knife

Iconic of the horror genre itself - you are told to think of a typical murder in a horror film and you think of the 'Psycho' shower scene, with the silohette of the murderer holding the knife (and music) the iconic image. The scene is so well built up and shot that it has become the basis of horror convention and how to create tension - the image immediately creates fear through its meaning.

2) Halloween Mask

The mask immediately makes you think of 'Halloween' and the killer Mike Myers, who has become a typically iconic villain figure in the genre. What makes him iconic is the blank expressionless mask, which is what makes him scary and stand out from other killers. You know it is Mike Myers when you see the mask - with it representing fear of the unknown.

3) The Shining Quote - "Here's Johnny"

This is a typically famous scene, being the climax of 'The Shining', as it completely depicts the emotion of the killer more so than any other film. We can see how the character has gone totally mad and psychotic, with the "Here's Johnny" quote not only brining this side out of the villain, but giving it a sense of humour and inevitability. The image in the gap of the door he has produced with an axe is also iconic.

4) Nosferatu Shadow

Possibly one of the oldest horror film icons is the shadow of 'Nosferatu' (the original "Dracula"). Countless times in the movie we know he is on his way to kill as we see his shadow creeping around the hallways and up the stairs. The shadow was so technologically advanced in its day due to the lighting source and shape of the character, making it one of the outstanding horror icons.

5) The Ring Well

This image was used on all types of promotion of the film as well as on the cover, making it a horror icon for modern day film. The shot is taken inside a well with a lid on it, creating a ring from the oustide sunlight - this creates 'The Ring' shape that is always associated with the film as it is central to the symbolism and plot, espically on the video tape in the film.

6) Scream Mask

The 'Scream' mask has become a huge icon of the horror genre - originally based on the painting titled 'Scream', the mask has become even more famous than the painting due to its simple but effective look. The fact that the mask was bought from a Halloween shop during the movie meant the mask became this in reality, and is now one of the most commonly bought costumes on Halloween.

7) The Exorcist Man

The image shown on all covers and types of promotion media for the film 'The Exorcist' shows the man looking into the light of the house he is supposed to "exorcise". It has become iconic with the old housing, fencing and lampost setting an immediate eery scene, and the light showing an unkown power. The image itself is powerful and fairly creepy without giving much away, creating mystery and suspence, rather than a striking icon.

8) The Omen Child

The child from 'The Omen' has become extremely iconic due him being labelled "the devil chil". He is sinister looking, and has such an evil stare that you cannot help but feel freaked out when you look at him in an image like this - his eyes follow you. You immediately think of the devil, making it a horror icon. Arguably, the cild from the new "Omen" film is even more iconic nowadays.

9) The Amityville Horror House

What makes the house from 'The Amityville Horror' so iconic is that it is based on a real supposedly haunted house. It is a typical American Mansion but is sinister looking with its pillars creating a "mouth" at the front and its wooden structure creating "creakiness". The shape of the front is church-like with a point upwards, making it stand out from normal houses (becoming the basis of what you would think a "haunted house" would look like). The legend of the house makes it even more iconic.

10) The Blairwitch Project Man

The image of this character makes you think of 'The Blairwitch Project' because it is so iconic and used on the film covers. It wholly depicts the "in your face" handheld nature of the film by mis-framing the character (only partially in CU range), and inserting real fear into their expression. It shows vulnerability in the outdoors using the hat and torch light - bringing a new realistic dimension to the horror genre.