Chosen Genre
We at 4 Degrees Production have chosen the genre horror for our film opening. We have researched types of horror films to find out the generic conventions of a horror film such as The Ring. We have found that high and low angle shots are used in horror films to build suspense and give us the sense of something mysterious occurring. Typical mise en scene of a horror film is dark lighting and surroundings, this makes the scene scary and mysterious. The typical setting of a horro film is dark, gloomy and isolated place.
(Opening scene of The Ring)
Industry Research: Miraz Uddin
The definition of horror is an intense feeling of fear or shock. Horror films are created to play with the emotions and thoughts of a person. The first record of horror stories being told is the 1764 novel ‘The Castle Of Otranto’ by Horace Walpole. This century marked the upcoming of horror novels by authors such as Ann Radcliffe and Matthew Gregory Lewis. From then horror had been incorporated in many different genres such as romance. The first horror classic was Frankenstein in 1818 by Mary Shelley.
The horror industry aims to play with the audiences’ feelings by revealing their nightmares and worst fears. Many horror films consist of the supernatural or ghosts, torture scenes, zombies, curses, Satanism, demons, cannibals, haunted places and serial killers.
Psycho is a famous American suspense horror film made in 1960 produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film is about a lady who steals a large amount of money from her boss and stays over at a hotel where she meets a man who turns out to be a serial killer. The cleverly film created by Alfred Hitchcock separates itself from all the typical horror films of the era which where about monsters and ghosts. Alfred Hitchcock had the idea of making a normal average person the ‘evil guy’ in the film. The budget for this film was only $806,947 and generated a gross of $32,000,000.
Another top horror movie is the Film Alien, 1979. The budget of the film was $11,000,000 and made a gross of $185,000,000. The production companies were Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions.
The Shining, 1980 was another famous horror film. The budget of this film was $22,000,000 and made a gross of $44,017,374. The production companies of The Shining were Warner Bros. Pictures and Hawk Films.
The Thing was made in 1982. The production companies were Universal Pictures and Turman-Foster Company. The budget of the film was $15,000,000 and created a gross of $19.629,760.
The final film is called The Exorcist, 1973. The budget of this film was $10,497,444 and created a gross of $357,500,000. The production companies were Hoya productions, and Warner Bros. Pictures.
This image shows different types of horror films.
Carrying out this research has given us an insight on the generic conventions about horror films and the background of it. We are now able to research further into the work of the directors and producers which will help us in making a successful horror film.
Title Research: Mizanul Hussain
In order to create my own horror opening, i have to research and plan to gain knowledge and ideas about the horror genre. i will be exploring the effects of the technical aspects and also how horror is presented through this. Their are variety of different conventions that create a horror title sequence.
The typography is enlarged and appears like flashing lights almost to like a figment of imagination , creating suspicion and paranoia. The application of distorted words gives the audience an insight into the killer’s mind.The scratchy handwriting constructs his handwriting and the positioning of the text is fragmented which is another reflection of the killer’s mind. The tile "Sev7en " appears to be scratched by a razor or scissors making you associate it with the objects used by he killer such as scissors, razors, paper etc. Such things are everyday objects , which create a sense or verisimilitude and realism.This creates more of a psychological thriller , the fact that these objects could actually be used for something
extremely dangerous.
Sound is used constantly almost as a drone.The effect of the non diegetic sound of the amplified screams and metal on metal builds tension and reflects the kills about to be made. The music seems distorted and erratic, combined with the increased pace it causes a sense of anticipation to the audience.
In the Grudge, the sound plays a very big part to make the title sequence. Their is a very slow piano sound which sounds very worrying, this song is played throughout the title sequence. THe slow music creates suspense and and make the audience wonder if something scary is about to happen. this sound gives a hint that the genre will be horror.
Other editing techniques are use throughout the title sequence. on the title sequence the writing is quiet blurry and distraughted. The colours used are a red background with black text, this is very stereotypical for a horror films because the colour red tells us about danger and death and the colour black tells us about darkness. this tells the audience that it is a horror movie.
Soundtrack Research- Mominul Islam
Horror soundtrack- often the music for horror used is very dark and creepy mainly creating suspense
Popular soundtracks
· Halloween (Jhon Carpenter)
· The Exorcist (William Friedrick)
· Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
· Jaws (Steven Speilberg)
· The wicker Man (Paul Giovanni)
Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:
◦ Voices of characters
◦ Sounds made by objects in the story
◦ Music represented as coming from instruments in the story space
(source music)
Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world
Diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screendepending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame.
Sound in any film is crucial; the sound is half the success of any movie if combined correctly. It represents the genre as well as the tense, action or horror based scenes. In my research of sound I looked at horror movies as well as re-watching a few of my favorites’ like “Blare Witch Project” and “The Ring “. I picked out a few aspects that I think will work best with my horror genre. Most of the time horror films like to use diegetic sounds, the reason behind this is to make a more realistic and intense feeling. It’s a director’s way of trying to relate to the viewers, for example rustling winds, someone screaming, dripping water, loud breathing etc. generally these sounds are heard by viewers on a day to day to basis.
The purpose of the horror soundtrack is to represent the tone and genre through the music. Without any speaking the film, non-diegetic sound is crucial in making a film, especially of h horror genre. Some films become famous and recognisable through the soundtrack however our short opening sequence wont have as much sound, but our the sound that will be used is mostly diegetic sound I feel using this will represent the genre and over all tone.
Character and Costume Research:
Movie characters are brought to life by several factors during the preproduction and production stages. One of the most essential elements when building a great character is the costume. Thorough research is conducted for each costume you see on screen. Whether the movie is contemporary or a period piece, an incredible amount of energy is spent on ensuring each costume is accurately designed for the character. According to Leighton Bowers, an assistant costume designer to two successful Hollywood costume designers, the process of researching movie costumes is "fascinating" and requires obsessive organizational skills. "The costumes are like story telling," informs Bowers. "The more clear you are, the more clear you are to the audience." Bowers holds a Master of Fine Arts in costume design from UCLA.
In horror movies costume is a major factor, the costume of a character usually indicates what genre the movie is, along with costume, colour is a factor as well, usually horror movies use colours like black, red and white, as you can see in the pictures above. When the colour white is used there usually is a dark background to make the character stand out, black is used for darkness and red for blood.
Character Costumes - Miraz Uddin
Opening Film Analysis
The Eye opening scene-
Lionsgate (production company)
Paramount vantage (production company)
Lionsgate and Paramount Vantage present
JESSICA ALBA
ALESSANDRO NIVOLA
PARKER POSEY
RADE SERBEDZIJA
RACHEL TICOTIN
OBBA BABATUNDE
DANNY MORA
CHLOE GRACE MORETZ
CASTING BY
NANCY NAYOR BATTINO, C.S.A
AND KELLY MARTIN WAGNER
MUSIC BY
MARCO BELTRAMI
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
JAY FAIRES
COSTUME DESIGNER
MICHAEL DENNISON
EDITED BY
PATRICK LUSSIER
PRODUCTION BY
JAMES SPENCER
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
JEFFREY JUR , ASC
LINE PRODUCER
JACK MURRAY
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
MIKE ELLIOTT
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
PETER CHAN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
ROY LEE
DOUG DAVISON
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
MICHAEL PASEORNEK
PETER BLOCK
TOM ORTENBERG
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
DARREN MILLER
PRODUCED BY
PAULA WAGNER
DON GRANGER
MICHELLE MANNING
BASED ON THE CHINESE-LANGUAGE
MOTION PICTURE “THE EYE”
(aka “GIN GWAI” AKA “JIN GUAI)
BY JO JO YUET –CHUN HUI,
OXIDE PANG AND DANNY PANG
SCREENPLAY BY
SEBASTIAN GUTTIRREZ
DIRECTED BY
DAVID MOREAU AND XAVIER PALUD
THEEYE:
- · The names of cast members are written in a big bold font
- · The main actors and actresses name is shown at the beginning of the film opening by itself
- · The font fades in and fades out
- · The music also prepares the audience for the genre of the film which is horror.
The opening sequence of "The Eye" is really long which explains all the credits that were shown in the beginning of the film.
The credits only start to appear at the disequilibrium of the story when everything is at it's pace.
The credits appear slowly following by the still calm music that plays in the background.
The font is white and the names of the cast members are shown in capital letters.
THE GRUDGE
COLUMBIA-A SONY PICTURES ENTERTIANMENT COMPANY
GHOST HOUSE PICTURES
WHEN SOMEONE DIES IN THE GRIP OF A POWERFUL RAGE…
A CURSE IS BORN.
CURSE
THE CURSE GATHERS IN THAT PLACE OF DEATH.
DEATH
THOSE WHO ENCOUNTER IT WILL BE CONSUMED BY FURY.
FURY
SAM RAIMI AND COLUMBIA PICTURES present
A GHOST HOUSE PICTURES PRODUCTION
A FILM BY TAKASHI ZIMIZU
THE GRUDGE
JASON BEHR
KADEE STRICKLAND
GRACE ZABRISKIE
ROSA BLASI
RYO ISHIBASHI
YOKO MAKI
TAKAKO FUJI
WITH CLEA DUVALL
AND BILL PULLMAN
CASTING BY NANCY NAYOR BATTINO
KELLY WAGNER
This is one of the location we plan on shooting some of our scenes in.
This is a graveyard in Shadwell E1
Genre Research
Media Genre:What Lies Beneath
The Ring:Media Genre Essay
In the film ‘The Ring’ there are a lot of features that shows the genre of the film, which is horror. This is shown through technical features, camera shots, editing, sound and mise en scene.
When the film starts immediately the establishing shot helps us identify the genre. The first shot is taken outside the house and the camera begins to zoom into the very slowly to build up tension, within the shot we see that it is dark and we see a leafless tree which looks very scary and old, the house is very big and dark, it also looks very old, this also helps us identify the genre.
After zooming into the house the camera instantly cuts to two student girls in the house, at this point the camera begins to zoom into the girls, this is also done very slowly, this connotes that something is about to happen, the angle this shot is taken from is from where the TV is.
A second factor that reveals the genre is editing. When the editors use an eye line match from the girls to TV.
This shows their concentration to the TV and it also codes that something is about to happen. The editors also use a shot reverse shot from the girls to the TV and also from one girl to the other. This helps us identify the facial expression of the girls, which leads the audience to a more structured idea of the genre; the shot reverse shot between the conversation highlights that they are alone.
Another factor that helps us identify the genre is through sound. When we hear dark sounds, loud, scary, electric guitars, orchestral, we usually find it creepy. When the establishing shot is taken we hear rainfall, as the camera zooms the rainfall begins to get louder. It begins to sound creepy, this connotes that something is up. When the camera switches to the girls we can slightly hear the TV, the girls begin to talk. However very quietly, this symbolizes that something is going to happen because the way they speak tells us that they are scared of something.
A final factor is the mise en scene. We see that the film begins on a dark night at home with two students in a bedroom watching TV. We know that they are students because of the costume they are wearing which is a school uniform, whilst the film goes on we witness that one of the girls is more scary looking, more of a ghostly looking girl, she has long black hair going down and a pale face. This reminds us of the genre because of the way she looks, between the girls there is a conversation taken place, the camera shots are close-up so that we can see their facial expression and experience their fear. The blonde girl is scared and stutters whilst speaking, we can tell she is worried and we can tell something is going to happen, it shows her innocence and fear, again this reminds us of the genre.
Media Essay: Blair Witch Project
Mizanul Hussain
In the Blair Witch Project, there are many technical features that allow us to know that it is a horror film. Theses technical features are through camera, editing, sound and mise en scene.
There are a variety of technical camera features that make up the horror genre. In The Blair Witch Project, they use free hand camera shots. They did not use any tripods; this was done because they wanted the film to look realistic as it was set as a documentary. This makes the audience think that the film is based on a true story and the actors were actually in danger, which creates more impact and fear towards the audience. They have used old cameras that where not made for movie purposes, this made the recordings have a static effect, which made the film look as if all their footage that they had recorded actually happen. This also creates a sense of danger to the audience, immediately as the audience sees the static recordings they will assume the genre of this movie is horror.
Even though they used free hand recording they did use different camera shots for example, when one of the characters were scared they showed them from a high angle shot which made them seem as if they were weak and not as brave as the others. They also pan the camera up and down the tree that this gives the audience a vibe that the tree has something mysterious.
They used a lack of editing in my opinion this was because they wanted the film to look more realistic and not just like a normal film. They never used modern editing because they wanted the movie to look like it was set in the passed and as if it was made long ago. They cut out a lot of the recording because they did not want the audience to get bored they wanted to keep the audience entertained they also done a shot reverse shot they done this to keep the film simple and not puzzle the audience for example whilst they were having a conversation they only showed the person that were talking and they person they were talking to and recorded their face expressions if they hadn’t done this it may have puzzled some of the audience which may make them loose interest in the film. In the opening sequence they had old footage of they characters in the film to create a sense that something bad may happen or had happened later on they done this because often when people pass away at funerals they may go over old films of them during birthdays and other occasions. This straight away creates a negative atmosphere and the audience will know that there is something wrong. Finally they have an introduction of each character just before they go on the search for the witch, this is done because we will know who each character is and their background information and what kind of person they are, this will allow the reader to have a clearer understanding of how each character is and will allow the audience to think about what may happen later and how each character will react when all the horror begins.
After watching the opening of the film it intrigued me that there was a lack of additional sounds to the film. This made the film seem more realistic and made the audience feel as if that theirs something scary that’s going to happen all they time. Also there was a lot of silence and heavy breathing which created a horrific atmosphere, and constantly kept the audience worried and made the readers think about what might happen next. This will make everyone think many different things and which made it grab the audience’s interest.
The final factor is the Mise en scene. We see that they live in a small town which tells us that they are not very rich people, we also see their costume which is not very classy but casual clothing this tells us that they are maybe working class or middle class, the clothing also suggest to us that they may be students working on project maybe for university. Most of the film is taken during the night this gives the sense of horror and worries.
The film is set in a forest with a group of people and the audience have the common knowledge to know that the film will not have a happy ending and that something will go wrong the automatically directs the audience to know that the film will be horror
From this research i have gained knowledge on the different type of horror films. this horror film is like a documentary this will give me and my group ideas on how to do our movie.
Genre Research On
The Grudge
The opening sequence of the grudge opens up with n establishing shot of the river an a bridge going through it, the weather and atmosphere seems very positive, which you wouldn’t usually associate with horror but as we later find out it is. The film starts with disequilibrium were the man commits suicide and later on in the film the lady goes out to find out why.
There are a wide variety of camera shots used in the opening sequence of the grudge, for example a Birdseye view is used to show the mans body lying on the floor distorted also it shows the distance that he fell in that shot
This is a close up of the woman looking down at the dead man this close up is used here to show the lady’s facial expressions and as we can see
she looks very scared and venerable
Which links to the horror genre
The sound used in the opening sequence of the grudge is very slow piano tune which sounds quit eerie this tune is played throughout the titles in the beginning. The slow music creates suspense and gives an indication that something bad is about to or has happened, this use of sound is immediately linked with the horror genre.
There is a lot of editing techniques used in just the opening sequence of the film, a shot reverse shot is used to show a conversation between the man and the lady, their conversation heightens the fact that they are alone and venerable which makes it more likely for something bad to happen which once again links to the horror genre
Other editing techniques are used throughout the titles of the opening as you can see in the image below the text is quit blurry and unclear quit hard to understand, this is a convention of the horror genre
The colours used are red background and black text is very stereotypical for horror films as we associate the colour red with blood danger and horror and the colour black associates with darkness, after seeing this we can immediately assume that you are about to watch a horror film.
After watching the titles I was personally very impressed as I thought it was very affective as the colours used and what they signify is very appropriate for the opening sequence we are making. I think our group should definitely consider using these colours for our opening.
Media Genre: Nightmare On Elm Street | Miraz Uddin
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