Research: Analysis on horror film

First and foremost the initial title for lions gate film is adapted from the traditional lions gate logo. This due to the fact that the original logo is less suiting due to its white background. The Non - diegetic music/sfx's at this point are also very rough and grating giving connotations of stress and putting the audience on edge. 

Behind the opening titles there are background titles their are sound effects, such as water drips, which build a sense of anticipation as he audience is yet to observe anything beyond black. The non diegetic soundtrack is very eery, with connotations  of a tense stress. The darkness of the titles then flows subtly into the darkness of the film again building a sense of anticipations because several minutes have passed and there is still no obvious source of sound effects. When there are finally some visuals, the main features are a rusty drain, and blue light on a mans face, the former preludes the idea of the environment they will find themselves in, the latter connoting stress. 

When the characters finally speak, their is a juxtaposition of the voices is clear, the first man is panicked, the second is calm, the immediate insinuation suggested is that the second voice is the captor.

It continues and is still exceptionally dark but there are very small details which can be made out, the reverberation. A chain rattle can be heard, again this creates suspense because the audience cant see the source of the sound effect.

Between the scenes of darkness where the light is at a minimum compared to the stunning light juxtapose and in a dark cinema where the titles and the long opening of darkness would have adjusted the audiences eyes to darkness. When they are hit by a sudden bright flash of light they would be largely disorientated. This disorientation in the audience mirrors that exhibited by the characters, this is further connoted by the shaking camera. The camera also blurs in and out of focus, which creates a sense of mystery and makes the audience apprehensive. The scenery connotes a forbidding sense with rusty pipes damaged tiles and  broken pipes. 

The camera effects continue to disorientate viewers, with a spiraling upward movement to force home the shock of the dead body that is now on the floor. The non diegetic soundtrack also becomes more frantic  and sharp. Close ups are then done on a gun and on blood which are very easily associated with horror, but in-between is a tape player which seems out of place to the audience, this again is creating anticipation because its presenting the audience with further enigmas to the audience. At this point the characters realizes they are chained up at the same time and as the narrative is clearly restricted this is the first time the audience realize as well, the cutting becomes faster along with the non diegetics, this helps to convey the panic amongst the characters to the audience. 

Furthermore its from the victims perspective, rather then the villains which helps to increase the anticipation and the fear amongst the audience, because they can sense the audiences terror.    

Planning: Locations / Props

iconic imagery of london adds to the affect, dark though, which makes it difficult to shoot as per previous post.











Delapidated pub














the car i would use if i take the car option

Planning: ideas for a location

I have three main ideas for the location of my horror film, they are ;
- central london , south bank , night
- car , road through a forest , night
- abandoned pub , wallington , night

Each site has an advantage, the imagery in London is iconic, and if incorporated, could provide an amazing backdrop to the scene, something familiar subverted into something daunting. The car at night would be a very conventional location and scene and the abandoned pub would add a very dark atmosphere and is a set already made up in its own right. However they all have related problems.

The fact that all of them are intended to be filmed at night creates an issue with lighting, in media projects i have assisted in i know for a fact that lighting in central london at night is atrocious, and even with extra illumination (flashlights and video camera lights). A car could have its internal lights switched on but this would detract from the atmosphere, but as it is a more enclosed enviroment it would be easier to use extra lighting and the car headlights could be used to illuminate other areas if neccessary, the abandoned pub could actually have spotlights set up within if neccessary again though , this would be problematic for the entire atmosphere of the film.

There are further issues with each location, seeing as London South Bank is all private property it can be difficult to film uninterrupted without a permit, which, in itself, can be difficult to get. Furthermore at night, their are plenty of pedestrians to ruin the shot to shot continuity aswell as a large police presense who will always question the people carrying large bags around at night. Using a car would be difficult in itself, making it look realistic at low speeds as well as finding a clear road at night with the right forest setting by the sides. The abandoned pub would, unfortunalty, be trespassing if i did not get permission from the council, which, considering its conditions is improbable.

Pictures to follow .....

Research on horror

"Horror films are movies which strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from there audience"
-from wikipedia

The earlist forms of horror were genarlly based on gothic books such as "Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde"and "Frankenstein", both of which have been made and remade a great deal of times. These films, due to being based on gothic fiction, tended to play on the fears of the supernatural

Post world war more forms of horror have emerged, at this point it could now be split into three sub categories.
-the personailty ("american phsyco")
-armagedon* ("28 days later")
-super natural ("constantine" )

*Due to the development of the atom bomb during world war and in the insuing cold war their was a fear of a nuclear armagedon. This fear of waking up one morning and the world ending or finding your country occupied by a hostile force, naturally spilled over into the horror genre and armagedon does become quite a previlant theme, examples can be seen in "the mist" which mixes armagedon with the super natural along with most zombie films especially the works of George A Romeo, zombies, in this context, being compared to an invader. Docu-Dramas such as The War Game also fead this perspective, with its horrific depiction of a post nuclear war britain, while not intended as a horror film, a modern audience could be forgiven for thinking otherwise, contempory audiences where band from even watching it as the bbc deamed it too horific especially while a nuclear attack was a feasable senario.

Another way horror can be sub catogarised is:
-Psycological - which relies on mind games and suspence to scare the audience ("the others" or "I am Legend")
-Gore/Slasher - use's exagerated violence to scare the audience ( "Aliens" "Grudge")


These traditional horror elements are frequently mixed with other genre, most notably
- "Alien" , which mixed traditional elements of supernatural horror with science fiction
- "Shawn of the dead", is a fusion of gore horror and comedy

Lastly their is the more saddistic natured films such as "Saw" and "Hostel" which have been dubbed "horror porn".These films tend to be gory to the extreme and feature people usually being graphicly tortured to death. The film "Vacancy" uses this kind of "horror porn" in its plot showing the two main characters checking into a hotel where a group of me try and kill them for pornographic film which they sell to saddistic people. This is considered quite a new sub cultures compared with the others listed emergencing post milenium compared to the other kinds which have existed post world war two.

sources: wikipedia , IMDB, www.videosift.com

Reflections on preliminary coursework

Overall i was happy with my preliminary coursework, i obeyed the 180 degree rule through out and i think my match on action works well. The sound while, quiet, works overall because of the way the narrative works. Then main issue within the preliminary film in my opinion is the sound, in some areas, although the female actress in retrospect is meant to be quiet and meek, she is so quiet that the opening cant be heard. This ruins the effect of the seen along with the fact that the gun effects from the game the actor is playing is too loud so the already quiet voice of the actress is overpowered, while it does show that the actor is paying more attention to the game then her, but that is only clear again in retrospect. The static is also a large problem and for the actual coursework all these factors have lead me to believe i should record with a microphone and then lip sync it onto the footage to avoid the camera static and sound issue. Another problem is that in certain shot a tripod was not useable therefore it looked far to unsettled. I have, however, already compensated for that buy purchasing better camera equipment e.g gorilla pods and glass mounts, so i can work in tighter confined spaces where a tripod cannot fit.