Looking Back at creating the project

Script
I wrote a script for the opening of my film as in the first task this is what it lacked and was my target for the main project, however when it came to the day of filming because I couldn't find any toy blocks to use which was what the twins conversation was about whilst playing I had to edit it for what toys we had, this showed also good initiative skills.

Filming
The main problems I had whilst filming was the weather as all my scenes are set outside, the heavy snowfall meant I wasn't allowed to film when I planned, another problem was that on the first day of filming we started late which meant it got too dark to finish the last shots. This meant I had to borrow a camera on another day. Other weather problems was rain and when it got further into the month and I really need to finish filming and there was more snow we had to brush away the snow! You can still see this in some of the last shots! Another problem was the lack of water in my Nan and Grandads pond which we had to refill which was very time consuming.
But once all the weather problems were overcome I enjoyed filming with my family as they did what was asked and it was nice working together.

Editing
I enjoyed editing my film and logging and capturing and putting all the pieces together. One thing which I didn't like doing was the EDL and the recording log as it was time consuming and fiddly! But once I did that compulsory bit of paper work, the rest went well learning about the different effects and what different things you can do.

What I would change if I did it next time?
If I'm honest I wouldn't really change anything I did as I tried my best and I think the final project shows this, Some things could of been done better but for me it was the best of what I could do with what I had. If I were to do something like this again I may choose a different genre because it would be contrasting and good to try something different and learn about another genre in the depth I learnt about the Horror genre, has I don't watch horror films because they scare the life out of me even the seriously minor ones and films which aren't even classed as a horror e.g The Little Mermaid! :D So It was a challenge researching this genre and watching the opening of some pretty scary films!

Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
A convention of a horror genre is the element of aversion I used the affect of the unknown when using a mask and the different camera angles which created an uncertain atmosphere. The music I used made the scenes creepier and the music is a vital convention to horror as it is used to create a rise in tension. I also decided to keep to the typical conventions so it would be recognized as a classic horror film.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The main characters I used are children that are from a religious influence typically children are seen as innocent when watching the opening sequence that is what I portrayed the children as. However I go against the stereotypical expectations with my idea as the possessed twin goes on to be evil which is expected in my chosen genre as evil characters are expected.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
When researching British distribution companies I found Entertainment Film Distributors which is a distributor of independent films and was founded in 1978. I reckon that they would distribute my product as looking through the films they already distribute it shows a lot of variety of all different genres and they are particularly interested in supporting British Films.

4. Who would be the audience is young adults around 30's as in my questionnaire this was a popular age range. The gender is mixed as it can appeal to both and I had a balance in the amount of males and females I asked. The audience should be people who like to watch something which is unpredictable as this was a concern for people so I didn't fall ino the typical patterns of horrors.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
I addressed my audicene as the sophisticated editing software I used allow me not to make it too childish and not mak eit innappropriate to keep a decant standard to my work. The music used was not specific to a gender or sub cultures so it would be appealing to the target audicne and not single anyone out.

6. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From contructing my product I learnt bout the software Final Cut Pro and actually using Mac computers. The editing was different to anything I used before as this was a muc better software as it is used in the industry but It was good being able to the different and complex editing technics. I also as introduced to blogging which was new as I have experience with creating website and html but never have used a blog before so I learnt about how that works.

7. Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the finished pruduct?
I worked on my product on my own which meant I was responsible for everything and didn't have anyone to rely on, so considering this I feel my time management worked well as I finished within the deadline. I already had some experience with cameras but now I feel more confident and my skills have improved it was also new to use a tripod as I never used one of these before so it was good learning how to use one and how I create the different camera angles and shots.
By filming I had to be aware of the filming rules for example the 180 degree rule and match on action which I felt I did quite well compared with the premilinary task where the match on action lasted to long.
From the premilinary task and the final product I created a script which was stuck by and helped the sequence flow as my initial task the lack of script hindered the scene.

Main Idea Storyboard

Pitch

Other Ideas:
Idea 1:
Cindy lives with her ‘evil’ stepmother who has a split personality however only Cindy sees her other side. When the old grandfather clock strikes 12 each night Cindy needs to escape from her evil stepmother and tries to run because every night at 12 something horrible happens to her. Cindy tells people but nobody believes her because they always see the nice side of her. In the end the evil stepmother splits in half and because they thought that Cindy was insane she feels free when she is put into a mental asylum.
Idea 2:
It’s Halloween and all the kids are trick or treating when they knock on the old mans house, the old man gives them their treat – which is a poisonous sweet that lures them in. Once in he kills them violently. The old man has a phobia of children he believes they are evil so he makes it his jobs to kill all the children so the world will be safe, the man moves round leaving no trail and no evidence, the parents are tricked and don’t suspect a thing, until one day when he comes to a town and finds a child who has the same feelings however towards old people.
Idea 3:
In the back garden of an old woman’s house is a graveyard full of open shallow graves where you can see all her victims lying covered in blood. At night the lady taps the old oak tree and brings the dead to life, there quest at night is to add one more zombie to her collection. However one night a victim doesn’t completely become a zombie its his mission to save the human population. In the end he kills the old woman and chops down the tree he believes he has saved everyone or has he?

Chosen Idea - Idea 4:
Some boy twins, who are your usual 9 year old boys getting into mischief when one day one of the twins see a mask in the water this possesses him and gives him the power to control people and things with his mind, he brutally murders people who seem to anger him, when he discovers his next task is to kill his brother, however the good twin realises the only way for him to save his brother is if he dies, so he dies to save his brother from the possession of the devil.

Storyline:
Adam and Ashley are playing outside one day when Adam sees a white mask in the pond in the back garden, after staring at the mask unaware to Adam he has become possessed by the devil, Ashley wonders what happened to Adam as he is quiet and appears spaced out. The next day they go to school, and Ashley being his usual self gets himself into trouble. Ashley gets shouted at by the Mrs Davison which angers Adam – Adam is still unaware of his supernatural powers to control people and objects and unknown to him makes the scissors in the classroom levitate and stab the teacher who dies in a pool of blood, the twins are seen watching the paramedics carry out the body bag carrying their former teacher. At home dinner that night is silent and they are sent to bed early, When everyone is asleep Adam in some kind of trance walks out to the pond where he originally saw the mask, writing appears explaining that he has been chosen, and its his destiny from the devil. The twins and their family are Christians and are very religious. Adam and Ashley go to the park they are playing on the swings when a spoilt child pushes them off and the little girl carries on playing on the swings Adam makes the swing twist resulting in the girl being strangled. They run off and it looks like an accident. Later on the two recent deaths make the news, this makes Ashley think that the deaths only happen around him. Adam is aware of what he can do, so when one day the are in the supermarket with their mom who they have a lot of respect for. A woman is quite rude to her this offends Adam has no one should be so nasty to his mother as being religious without her they wouldn’t have life, uses his mind he makes an empty trolley with speed push into the lady pushing her into the pyramid glass display she is shredded to pieces. The story continues with Adam brutally murdering anyone who upsets or angers him. When his murdering habits come to the household. At home Adam sees his sisters boyfriend hit her, he possess the family dog who attacks him and tears his limbs off. The family need to hide the dead body and throws the corpse in the pond. The Dad shots the dog to stop any repeat performances. After a tough family life the Dad threatens to leave and an abusive argument Adam takes it upon himself and takes the butchers knife and kills his Dad. The Mom is distraught but she knows she will be blamed she hides the body in the cellar. Adam returns to the pond and Ashley closely follows and hears him chanting that his next task is to kill his brother.
Ashley knows he needs to will fully die to really save his brother from the devil.

Character Profiles
Adam 19.08.00
Appearance:

• Black Hair
• Brown Eyes
• Preppy Look
• Dresses Identically to twin
• Fairly Tall
• Healthy Weight
• Centre parting hair, gelled back to sides
• Pale Skin

Attributes:

• Smart
• Religious
• Innocent Devilish behaviour
• Adores his mother
• Respectful
• Dominant Twin
• Likes: cars, building things, helping his Grandad, playing with Ashley, Jam sandwiches, Interested in animals, watches childrens tv
• Dislikes: things being unfair, people shouting at him, sprouts, doesn't like girly tv programs, going to school even though he is good at it!

Ashley 19.08.00
Appearance: (identical to Adam)

• Black Hair
• Brown Eyes
• Preppy Look
• Dresses Identically to twin
• Fairly Tall
• Healthy Weight
• Centre parting hair, gelled back to sides
• Pale Skin

Attributes:

• Average Intelligence
• Religious
• Innocent Devilish behaviour
• Adores his mother
• Respectful
• Follows what Adam does
• Gets into trouble more
• Likes: cars, building things, helping his Grandad, playing with Adam, Chocolate, Interested in how things work, watches childrens tv
  Dislikes: people shouting at him, carrots, doesn't like girly tv programs, going to school, Mrs Davison

Location Ideas

For the opening scene, I will need a house with a backgarden pond I will more than likely use my Nan and Grandads house has there garden matches this description.

Idea of Opening Scene Sequence

• Begins with black screen and you can hear the creepy children singing ring a roses.
• For the credits, the names will look like they are appearing on the water.
• Then the film begins, you can see the twins playing with the pond in the background
• Zooms in and is just the twins playing with there toys its is set in at Dusk
• The camera move to the pond as it tilts in to show the name of the film 'Possession'
• There is brief conversation with over the shoulder shots and a match on action of giving a toy block
• There is quiet tension building music playing in the background
• The Mom shouts the boys in
• Ashley runs in leaving Adam alone
• You can see Adam with no expression looking into the pond
• After different angled shots
• We can see a mask appear and then disappear, the music rises
• Then there is a shot of use looking up at Adam as though we are in the water
• Mom calls Adam again and he backs away slowly

Genre can be identified through the opening sequence by the use of creepy sing song from the children and the quiet tension building music, as there is alot of features on the unknown as we are unaware what is happening in the pond and the use of the iconic mask is a key image. Twins are deemed as quite frightening to audiences and so is the use of children as I found this out in my questionnaires.

Research into Chosen Genre

Box Office History for Horror Movies
US Gross: Total: $9,550,597,924 Average: $22,210,693
Worldwide Gross: Total: $15,109,922,618 Average: $35,139,355
Budget: Total: $3,752,706,000 Average: $18,041,856

UK Film Council

UK film releases in the UK and the Rebulic of Ireland by genre in 2007 ranked by box office gross. Horror had 6 releases and was 5.6% of releases. Gross at the box office (£ million) was 9.8 and the % of gross box office was 3.7 the top performing title was 28 weeks later.

Proportion of releases by genre for UK films and all films, 2007

% of all releases: 4.7

% of UK releases: 5.6

Films on release in the UK and Rebulic of Ireland by genre, 2007, ranked by average box office gross per site.

Average box office per site: 7,266

Gross box office (£ million) 28.8

Total sites: 3,970

Films on release in the UK and Rebulic of Ireland by genre, 2007, ranked by average widest point of release.

Average number of sites at widest point of release: 165

Number of releases: 24

Gross box office (£ million) 28.8

Following is from a Love Film Article on 'What makes a good horror film' (I have extracted the important points)

• the stars of a horror film should look everyday and mundane
• the baddie has to be believable
• your baddie has to be realistically bad, and not someone that cause’s the audience to scream with laughter every time he appears.
• horror fans say that events based on a true story are often better than those made up.
• The setting is key, with deserted houses, woods and lonely islands the favourite.
• Music is also vitally important, as without some guy strumming on a violin

The following research is from slide share (again I have extracted the important points)

Origins - from Gothic tradition in literature dating from the 18th and 19th Centuries. Described at the time as Romantic literature, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are the most enduring, but the Werewolf and the Mummy can also be traced back to novels from this period. Film versions of these stories have been remade many times from Universal in 1930s, to Hammer in 1950s and 60s to recent versions by Coppola and Kenneth Branagh and Stephen Sommers’ ‘Van Helsing'. The American Gothic tradition derives from the work of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. Roger Corman made several films in the 1960s based on Poe’s novels.

Two European Artistic Movements combined to create the classic horror film od the 1930s -

Expressionism: German theatre in particular featured low key shafts of light, sets that were off-kilter, often without right angles or with exaggerated perspectives, black and white make up. The idea of expressionism was to express emotions rather than external reality

Surrealism: Representing the unconscious and dreams. Drew from psychologist Sigmund Freud’s ideas on sexuality and The Uncanny. Represented in the horror film by the flow of disturbing imagery and the presence of a ‘monster’.

Narrative Conventions (themes)

• Hauntings and Demonic Possessions - These films play on our fear of the unknown, superstition and the idea that evil forces exist in the world. These forces can remain spiritual presences or can take the guise of witches, ghosts or demons. Fall prey to an evil force that is trying to victimise them in some way. Sometimes the evil force wants to corrupt its victims or the evil force wants to take control of its victim - take over his body or his mind or soul. Vampires and werewolves turn you into one of their own kind. The fight between good and evil in the Christian sense- temptation and sin.
• Apocalypse - Mankind is threatened with extinction by inhuman creatures, threat comes from outer space or the threat is a plague or virus, the threat comes form everyday traditonally harmless creatures. A set structure: there’s a sudden proliferation of these creatures as if from nowhere and they descend upon a group of survivors who have barricaded themselves in a house. Usually the story ends with the people dying and the creatures winning out.
• The Human Monster - With horror of the personality: psychopathology and murder (the serial killer) or psychosis and insanity. Audience is taken inside the mind of a killer or of a person who appears to be going insane. Often children are the subject, the idea that some people are born bad, with no sense of morality.

Iconography of the Horror Film - Symbolic images which recur throughout the history of the horror film include: The haunted house, Symbols of death, The disfigured face or mask, The screaming victim, The phallic murder weapon: knife, stake, chainsaw, Oppositions of good and evil, Darkened places where the ‘monster’ lurks: woods, cellars, Blood and body parts.

The Horror Film - Phases of Popularity

- Universal Studios Horror Films (1920-48)

- The Cold War Sci- Fi Horror Film (1950s)

- The Modern American Horror Film (1968-79)

- The Slasher Movie (1978-82)

- The Postmodern Horror Film (1983 onwards)

Changes in Audience Expectations

The Classic Horror Film:-

• Production Context
• Stars (Lugosi, Karloff, Chaney,)
• Studio Produced (Universal, RKO)
• Medium budgets
• Genre Narrative Conventions & Formal Signifiers
• ‘ Foreign Monster’
• Monster is a supernatural being
• Equilibrium is restored - ‘good’ triumphs
• Society ie. religion, science, family is ‘good’.
• The horror is suggested off-screen
• Expressionist lighting style, hard shadows
• Classical Mise-en-scene & continuity editing.

Modern American Horror Film

• Production Context
• Independent Productions
• Unknown Actors
• Filmed on location
• Low budgets
• Genre conventions and formal signifiers
• Indigenous monster
• Monster is psychopath/cannibal
• The horror never ends - nihilism pervades
• Society is to blame. The family is seen as an instrument of repression.
• Graphic on-screen horror
• Documentary realism, flat lighting, location sound.
• Post French New Wave camerawork and editing.

Why do audiences enjoy being scared to death by horror films so much?
Carlos Clarens believes that the horror film renders on film ‘the immanent fears of mankind: damnation, demonic possession, old age, death.’ Ernest Larson believes that horror films that incorporate the apocalypse theme ‘advance the notion that modern technology is so overwhelming that it tends to obliterate any possibility of its liberatory use...science has, in the hand-maiden of capitalism, created an uncontrollable monster.’ Charles Derry believes that films inaugurated by Psycho represent ‘ a response to the escalation of violence in American culture. Walter Evans attributes the popularity of horror amongst young audiences to ‘the most universal and horrible of personal trials: the sexual traumas of adolescence.’ Robin Wood argues the monster represents all the things we repress in order to function as ‘monogamous, heterosexual, bourgeois patriarchal capitalists’, namely sexuality (in its fullest sense) and creativity. The tensions caused by such repression and the threatened return of the repressed are siphoned off ‘through the projection onto the Other (the ‘monster’) of what is repressed within the Self, in order that it can be discredited, disowned and if possible annihilated

The Following Research is Key Notes from the book Film Art by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson

• Horror is recogniseable by its intended emotional effect on the audience it aims: to shock, disgust, horrify

What can horrify us?

• Monstor - typically dangerous breach of nature, violation of our normal sense of what is possible, vioulate boundry - dead/alive. Charatcter convention: threatening and innatural monster

Horror Plot

Monsters attack on normal life -> characters need to destroy it -> various ways -> attacks -> authority non-believers -> blocking characters effect

Iconography

Settings: Monsters may lurk in dark house fill of victims, cemeteries and Laboratories.

Heavy Make-up

Horror - emotional impact with make-up and other low technology special effects is favoured by low budget film makers.

Continuity Piece

Questionnaire: Results

After asking willing volunteers to answer my questionnaire this is the following analysis of my results. In total I asked 31 people, 14 of these were male and, 17 female.

Within the different age groups I asked 22 people aged 15-24, one person 25-34 and one person 35-44 and for 45+ I asked 7 people.

My next question was crucial to how the attitude to there responses was determining on them watching horror films or not. 24 watched them and 7 don't the reasons for not watching them were they found them traumatizing, they don't find them exciting, it will keep them up all night! Generally don't like them or would prefer to watch a different genre.

Question 4 asked what do they usually expect to see when watching a horror film this was an open question and produced qualitative data. People who didn't watch horror films popular choices were darkness, blood and generally scary things. Other answers were, ghosts, horrific images, music, suspense, trees and gore.

People who do watch horror films popular choices were: blood, things that make them jump or shocked, gore, a culprit, suspense, murders and death, the unexpected and zombies. Other answers included vampires, the scare factor, mystery, weapons, ghosts, masks, element of evil, and to do with the UN-natural.

Question 5 wanted know what element of a horror frightened you, people who didn't watch horrors answered: unnecessary jumping, true stories, seeing gory images, the unexpected, people sneaking up on others. People who did watch horrors popular answers included the unexpected, making them jump, psychological aspects, gory parts, suspense and the music. Other answers included were, vampires, silence, possession, fast pacing and true stories.

The next question asked what they like to see a popular answer from people who answered no to watching horrors said comedy/humour other answers were: people getting back together, no blood/gore, a decent plot, originality, psychological games and nothing. A popular answer from people who do watch horrors were, tension/suspense, good ending which is well explained, a good twist, along with a good storyline/plot, the unexpected and blood. Other answers included, vampires, nudity, something different, a happy ending! scenes shot in daylight, death, cliffhangers, shocking items, zombies, and the ability to empathise with the characters.

Question 7 asked what people disliked to see when watching a horror a popular answer from people who didn't watch horrors was gore other answers included unnecessary nudity, cliches, blood which was another popular answer, children and everything in general!

Answers from people who did watch horrors were: predictable this was a popular answer along with, unrealistic, gore, blood, boring plot and bad endings other answers were, stereotypes, love, not understanding the genre, sci-fi, murder, unnecessary things, too much violence, and body parts.
I wanted to find out the what characters to use so I asked the next question giving them options they are presented bellow in the pie charts:

I also gave an option for other 4 people ticked this and some commented vampire or monster.

The last question asked whether they watched the same horror film again, 21 said yes and 10 said no.

After receiving all the answers to the questionnaire the results will help me when creating the film as it will let me make my film better for the different ages.