Synoposis of My Horror Film

Synopsis of My Horror Film(Vicini)

 

Mr vicini is moving into a new neighbourhood and he is going to be a bit different to everyone else. He looks through the newspaper finding a house crossing out the houses he doesn't like and then circles the house he decides to move into.

 

Mr vicini is just doing everything a normal man would do preparing his dinner in the kitchen, slicing the carrots and cooking them in the pan while listening to the jazz music on the radio.

He dragged the rubbish bag, out of the back doors and threw it into the rubbish bin but this is when he changes, he looked at the bin bag and saw an arm hanging out but acting as nothing happens he makes sure nobody is looking and slowly puts it back into the bag... A young boy is sitting on his bicycle holding a lollipop watching mr vicini and he rings his bike bell, mr vicini looks at the boy and next minute you see the bike being put in the rubbish too, who knows what has happened to the boy?...

Mr vicini goes back into the house and tidies up his rubbish. He finds out more about his neighbourhood and let's hope he doesn't destroy the whole neighbourhood he could change the neighbourhood forever! 

Mr vicini is not the ordinary new neighbour that you see moving in he analysed his house carefully and could take the neighbourhood down and death could be all around!!   

Storyboard for our opening scene final task

Initial Ideas

These are some mind maps of our initial ideas of the film opening before the alterations were made.

Horror Mood Board

 

This is our mood board of the horror genre.

Advertisment Idea

This is our original poster sketch we made up before the alterations happened and its drawn by malcolm, the child in the film.

My Pitch Script

Pitch Script

·         Open prezzi, Ryan and Harry talk about opening titles and give an introduction to it.  

·         Click onto the page titled summary and Harry and Ryan carry on talking.

·         Go onto inspiration bubble and watch the trailer of Stepfather:

·         JESS: We have been inspired to create this opening title after watching the stepfather in our lesson. How the opening was all calm and tranquil then it showed the dead family was a surprise giving it that horror element. After looking into similar horrors we came across the film Dexter, which is another horror based on everyday things seeming sinister.

·         Lucy and Jess go on to the Sound slide:

·         LUCY: At the start of the opening we hear a knife chop first this leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen but then we see Mr Vicini cutting vegetables which should be opposite to what the viewers are expecting giving the genre of the film. There is a radio playing and it has jazz music on to link in with the 1950s theme and it’s also there to juxtapose against the horror genre as it’s seen as uplifting music. You hear a violin to add tension and suspense to the mood. A bin bag is rustled as Mr Vicini places the victim in the trash which is there to add effect and link in with the murder aspect of horror films.        

·         Harry and Ryan talk about location and lighting

·         Lucy and Jess talk about costume and character:

·         JESS: We are going to have two characters, Mr Vicini and Malcolm.  Mr Vicini will be seen wearing a smart black 1950s style suit we have chosen to dress him like this to stay within the theme of the 1950s, the idea of happiness and joy in that era.

·         LUCY: Malcolm will be wearing shorts, t shirt socks and converse. This is done to make him look like a typical boy from 1   950s America and once again stay within our theme. He would look unexpected to be murdered as he looks like a very innocent child who hasn’t done anything wrong.

·         Harry and Ryan talk about props

·         Audience

·         JESS: We have chosen age 12, as it has an element of comedy but has scenes of violence

·          HARRY: we haven’t chose 15 because there is murder in our film but you don’t see any of the murder you just see the after effect of it when the character is dead

·         LUCY: as violence in 12 shouldn’t dwell on detail there will be evidence of blood but it will not be emphasised but the occasional moments of gore are ok.

 

 

 

Media Classification

 

The Film, DVD and video game regulations.

*HORROR is in capitals  and higlighted because my final task is horror so thats what im focusing on.

• 
  Suitable for all
• No discrimination
• No drugs(illegal or the misuse of drugs)
• HORROR- Scary sequences these are mild, brief and also it is unlikely to cause anxiety to young children.
• No dangerous behaviour.
• No frequent bad language.
• Only natural nudity (no sexual content)
• Mild sexual behaviour.
• Mild Violence

• 
  Parental guidance
• Some scenes may be unsuitable for children.
• These films shouldnt disturb children aged 8 years and over.
• Parents are to choose whether the film could upset their children.
• Discriminatory language isn't going to be acceptable unless it is educational/historical or it is clearly disaproved.
• Illegal drug use must have a suitable anti-drug message or innocuous.
• HORROR - scenes shouldnt be intense.
• No dangerous behaviour  that children could copy.
• Mild bad language.
• Natural Nudity.
• Sexual activity should be discreet and not frequent.
• Mild Innuendo.
• No serious issues should condone unacceptable beaviour.
• No detailed violence.

• 
  Cinema release suitable for 12 years and over
• Same criteria as 12.
• The category only exists in cinema films.
• The adult may take a child if under 12 but they must be accompanied.
• HORROR- Moderate. physical and psychological threat may be permited provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained.
• Nudity is allowed, sexual content must be brief and discreet.
• Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly potrayed.
• Mature themes are acceptable.
• Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail.

• 
  Video release suitable for 12 years and over
• Same criteria for 12A

• 
  Suitable only for 15 years and over
• HORROR- Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
• There may be frequent strong language for example ('fuck'). The strongest terms for example ('cunt') may be acceptable if justified.
• Nudity is allowed without strong detail.
• Sex may be portrayed but without strong detail.
• No theme is prohibited provided it is appropriate.
• Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the pain or injury.

• 
  Suitable only for adults
• Any theme
• Violence is allowed in almost any way.
• Sex education at '18'
• Sex works at '18'.
• Adults should be free to choose their own entertainment.
• Any detailed portrayel of violent or dangerous acts or of illegal drug use which may cause harm to public health or morals is not acceptable.
• Sex works is confined.
• Original sex scenes.
• Violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault is not acceptable.

 

 

Analysis of the opening titles of Insidious

Analysing the opening titles for insidious



The opening titles of insidious have many aspects that can establish genre, character and narrative. These aspects are,setting, props, lighting, costume and make-up, movement and framing and composition.

 The mise en scene of the opening titles includes the setting,costumes,lighting,characters,make-up and props. The costumes aren't very clear on the opening titles as we only see ghostly figures and shadows, we see a ghostly lady holding a candle and she is wearing very dark clothing, a connotation of dark is bad and evil so this suggests the woman is evil. The lighting is low key in the opening titles this creates a scary , mysterious feeling to the audience. These feelings link to the conventions of the genre which is horror. The setting is a family home the opening titles show every room in black and white which creates a sense of mystery and spookiness which also links to the horror genre. The characters in this film aren't really shown in the opening tiles, only in a family photo of all four of them together so we can't find out much about the characters in the titles. There are alot of props used in the opening tiles to create a realistic feel to the house of the family. One of the props the grandfather clock is shown alot this could be suggesting importance. We don't see much make-up in the film only on the ghostly woman holding a candle her make up is done to make her look pale which creates a sense of ghostliness. The titles of the film are in red, connotations of red are danger and blood this links to the horror genre. The sound in these titles is there to create a tense feeling for the audience and at the start there is non diagetic sound. The music that cover the rest of the opening titles is eerie and creates a sense of mystery.

The title sequence attracts the audience because we are made to feel like we want to know more as we don't see much of the characters and don't find out much so we want to know more by watching the film. Also the tense feeling and fear gives you a nervous feeling but you also want to find out what is going to happen for example, who is the ghost? why is she in the house? I consider the target audience to be teenagers as they are at an age where they aren't too scared to watch the horror film and they also like to have a laugh with friends being scared at watching it too. The age rating is a 15 so this suggests the main audience age as it is too scary for younger people to watch and it could make them really uncomfortable and frightened. The film is produced by FilmDistrict and this is not shown in the opening titles which could be a bad thing as you don't know who the film is produced by which is an important piece of information.

Analysis of opening titles to The Conjuring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preliminary Task: In the making

This is a short clip of the work of my group while we are planning our preliminary task.

 

Things I notice from horror opening title analysis

In my first two analyses of horror I have analysed zombie land and insidious, this is because I prefer to watch comedy horror and paranormal supernatural horrors.  I realised that I preferred analysing Insidious out of the two because overall paranormal supernatural horrors are my strongest liking. I have also noticed that the opening titles can tell the story of the film really well before you even start to watch it. Different elements such as sound and mise en scene help us to understand the titles further and what they are trying to put across.

My overall opinion on analysing the opening titles of horror films

This is a video of me explaining what i thought overall about analysing the opening titles to horror films.
Thanks to my brother who recorded it and interviewed me but sorry about how noisy he is in the background at times (especially at the start), also he isn't the best at keeping the camera still while videoing either. Also there is a part somewhere where we get words muddled up too oops!!

Evaluation of preliminary task

EVALUATION

 

Our preliminary task was the first time we had ever filmed a short piece of film, considering this we did quite well.

I think the positives from this was we used all of things we needed to which were demonstrate match on action, the 180 degree rule and shot/reverse shot. We could of improved by filming each scene more than once because if you only film once we noticed we had quite shaky camera movement and due to not being able to film again this made this task look quite unprofessional.

It was our first try filming so we tried our best and this is what we came out with:






Our Preliminary Task Shooting Schedule

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

1. A medium shot of both characters standing opposite each other.
2. Point of view shot Bfrom female's (Lucy's) view looking at the male (Sam) talking.
3. Point of view shot from male's (Sam's) view looking at the female (Lucy) when she replies to same talking. Staying within the 180 degree rule. Shots 2 and 3 will be edited together to show a use of Shot Reverse Shot.
4. Zoom towards the male's(Sam's) face when he sees the female (Lucy) walk through the door and walk across the room.
5. Close-up from behind the female's (Lucy's) shoes when she walks through the door.
6.  A close-up from the front of the female's (Lucy's) shoes when she enters the room. Shots 5 and 6 will be edited together to show use of Match On Action.
7. Tracking shot of female's (Lucy's) shoes as she walks across the room towards the table where the male (Sam) will be sitting.
8. Close-up of Lucy's mouth when she smiles when she sees the male (Sam).

 

 

Some shots we used in our preliminary task

Preliminary Task

Our Preliminary Task Final Video 

 

Me, Elle, Rebeka and Lucy worked together over a few weeks planning, filiming and editing our preliminary task to come up with this video that we filmed over 1 lesson.

 



 

 

Questionnaire

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vXWHDEzNwApoiaPc7WTwROwRCBEp6Ydy8NZ7hEB0HRs/viewform
This is the link to my questionnaire.

Evaluation of  Lewis Barnard's questionnaire

 

This questionnaire is very simple, it doesn't have too many questions which is a good thing because it will attract people to take part in the questionnaire if they know that it wont take up too much of their time. It also includes a picture which also adds interest to the questionnaire. It gets to the point, the point of the questionnaire is to find out people's expectations of horror films. There are different types of questions too.

An improvement would be make sure you set the write question boxes for the right answers, for example: on the age question you can select more than one answer and on the gender question too, the only other improvement could be to make sure that you add a few more questions involving horror films and about them.

Analysis of opening titles of ZOMBIELAND

Analysis of ZOMBIELAND opening titles

 setting, props, lighting, costume and make up, movement, framing and composition

 

 The setting for the opening titles of this film is a mixture, it goes from a street in a town to a wedding day. The setting can tell us a lot about the film, well the title tells us a lot as its 'zombieland' but the setting can say a lot about the film too, the setting is a connotation of a zombie film in a town. Some of the props in these film opening titles are, riot shields, crow bar and guns. These are also a connotation of a zombie film as they are weapons and in many zombie films there are weapons as we associate the weapons with the killing of zombies. The lighting of these titles is high key lighting, high key light is made up of more filler lights and produces bright lighting and it looks natural and realistic. The costumes used in the opening titles are what you would expect to see in zombie films , every day wear by the zombies and other characters in the opening titles too. This shows alot about the film because these are the characters that will be in the film as they are being foreshadowed in the opening titles. The make-up is very effective making the actors/actresses look like zombies and look scary which is what people expect from a zombie film. Also scariness attracts viewers to the film as many people enjoying watching horrors and having laughs with their friends as everyone gets scared. Movement of the titles is a very fast pace this is related to zombies. We think of zombies and think of running away or fighting which is fast pace. The framing and composition is very good because most of the time the focus of each shot in the titles is in the centre. For example on the wedding day shot we see the bride and groom in the middle and our attention is drawn to the important part of the shot.

The titles of the film are red, a connotation of red is danger which is what we expect in a horror film so this shows how the titles and film are linked. Overall the opening titles of Zombieland are what we expect to see, running away from zombies, weapons and blood these are all conventions of the horror genre which zombieland is a part of.

 

 

 

 

Representation of People in the media

Conventional Represenatations - What we expect

Mean Girls

• Hair and Make Up
• Pink- related to girls
• Clothes- Skirts and heels
• Long Hair

Representation that challenges stereotypes. - What we dont expect

G.I Jane

• Shaved Hair
• Dark
• No Make Up

JACK WILSHIRE (ARSENAL PLAYER)

 



Here jack is being negatively represented as he is smoking while out socializing this shows that he isn't behaving properly and makes the audience that usually see him as a footballer(below photo) are shocked as smoking can impact his health and others around him.

 

Here jack is being positively represented as a talented football player that he usually is playing  for Aresnal this is what the audience like to see.

Analysis of the opening tiltles of 'Seven'

The props in these opening titles tell us a lot about the setting/location. You can see a lamp and a desk this automatically gives us a connotation of a study or office. The props also tell us about the genre, there are scissors and blades this connotes a horror genre because of the connotations we get from blades and scissors being dangerous and weapons, which are often used in horror films.

Self Evaluation:
I think this work us at a grade low D. This is because i have only given a simple analysis with very little explanation. To improve i need to make sure that i include detailed analysis and expand on my points further to secure a good grade.

Changes in location

Changes In location

 

We had to change our original location which was the school dance studio due to the fact that we couldnt access the studio anymore, so we changed it to a different area in school.

 

Our new location is a space behind the stage in the theatre.

 The effect the change in location had on our preliminary task was that we had to start filming from the beginning again to ensure with had continuity but we then had a very tight time scale but other than that there wasnt any big problems because it still had the same features that we needed for example,  the table, chairs, the door for the entrance and the props because we was still in school so we could still get all these things if anything it was a better location because we could access it whenever we wanted because there was no lessons going on in that space but in the dance studio we had the risk of there being a lesson taking place so we couldnt't film and that could cause delays in when we could film.

We can make sure this doesnt happen again by checking that we can always use the space and that it is easy to access and can't get taken away from us.

 

 

 

Representation of characters

Representation is basically when people are re-presented to an audience.

This is the spider diagram we made in class to plan how are characters will be represented. It will be representation that will challenge the stereotype.
The lady will be blonde but not the stereotypical dumb blonde she will be a smart/intelligent blonde. She will look sexually provocative, with over the top make-up but like i said she is very smart, which will appeal to the audience.
The man isn't going to be the stereotypical strong confident male he will be very self-conscious and nervous and will also have a low self esteem. This will be shown in his dialogue as he will keep speaking and asking questions because he is so nervous.

Mise en scene for our preliminary task

THE MISE EN SCENE FOR OUR PRELIMINARY TASK

Settings/props
The setting is a cafe we will be using the school dance studio for this and the table will be set up for the couple, a candle and two glasses.
Costume/Hair + Make - Up
Both characters will be wearing nice clothes, the woman will be wearing a dress and heels and she will have blonde hair and pretty make up. The man will be wearing a suit and will have slicked back hair and wearing glasses.
Facial Expressions
When you first see the man he is smiling and so is the woman this represent the happy mood of the blind date as they meet each other.
Lighting and Colour
The lighting will be high key with a candle as a filler light, to make a happy/romantic mood which relates to the genre.
     
  

Location of our preliminary task

Location is very important and plays a big part in setting the scene in films/TV shows etc...
The factors you need to consider when choosing your location are:

• Accessibility
• Weather
• Relevance to the movie/TV show etc...
• Time of the day
• Safety
• Spacing
• Hygiene/health
• Permission

 This post will say about the location of our preliminary task and why we have chosen it.

Our idea for the preliminary task is a blind date in a cafe.
We have chosen the dance studio in school, this is because we can access it easily as the teacher that uses the dance studio is a form tutor of a girl in my group and we can use it in one of our media lessons as the dance studio is not being used then.There are mirrors in the dance covered but these will be covered by curtains to make it look more realistic. The floor is wooden which suits the task well because when the lady walks across the floor you will hear the sound of her heels which will create good effect. The dance studio is a blank canvas, this means we can adapt the room to how we want to make it look like a cafe, with different props. Props will be easily accessed because the school has table and chairs that we can use any time.

Storyboard

This is a video about the storyboard we made in class for our preliminary task.

Mood Board

MOOD BOARDS

 

• A mood board is a collection of images or words that create a particular mood or feeling.
• Mood boards can be used by many different people to illustrate a mood in a creative way.
• Mood boards can also be created to set a storyline.

 

This is my mood board.

This mood board was created for my preliminary task which is going to be a blind date.
The mood we wanted to put across was love and dates. We put across this image by finding many different images related to love and simply glued them to the card. We also chose a red background as red is a related to love and passion.

Sound

 

Sound

 

 

 

 
 
Sound Terminology

•  Soundtrack - The recorded sound element of a film
• Theme Music/Tune - A recurrent melody
• Ambient Sound - Buzz and/or surrounding sound
• Dialogue - Speech
• Voice over -  When someones voice is being dubbed over the top
• Direct Address - When characters speak directly to the camera
• Diagetic Sound - Any sound that has an onscreen source and belongs to the film
• Non - Diagetic Sound - Any sound that doesn't have an onscreen source and characters on screen do not hear it.
• Sound Bridges - Sound/s that continue from one shot to another.
• Parallel Sound - Sound that complements the image track.
• Contrapuntal Sound - Sound that does not fit with the image track.

How is sound used effectively in my extract?? IRON MAN

 

The extract I am looking at is from Iron Man this is an action film with many different sounds in it to make it very effective.

 In the extract there is a part where everything is quiet and I have described this as being very 'tumble weed' like, as there is not a lot of action at that moment. Also in the extract there is diagetic sound, this is a sound that has an on-screen source and it belongs to the film. This is effective because brings everything to life, with no music then the film would be very boring and the viewers would not be intrigued. In part of the extract the characters are travelling in a car and there is speech this kind of sound is called dialogue. There is a very large car explosion and gun shots this is effective because it is dramatic and this is also an expectation of an action film, the viewers are expecting to see a explosion if they are watching an action film, this is a convention of the genre. Sound can build tension and there is a part in this extract that makes it very tense, the main character is trying to get away from the gun shots without getting injured.

Mise en Scene

Mise en scene is basically a description of everything in the scene, the visual information in front of the camera. The key elements of mise en scene are:

1. Setting and props
2. Costume, hair and make up
3. Facial expressions, body language
4. Lighting and colour
5. Positioning of characters/objects within the frame

Setting and props

Setting and location play an important part in film making and are not just background, the sets are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent to try and find a setting that already exists. Setting can also build certain expectations and then take a different turn.

Costume, hair and make up

It acts as an indicator to us of a character's personality, status and job, and is also an indicator of feelings.

Positioning of characters (composition)

This can draw our attention to an important object and can also show relationships between characters.

Colour

This carries certain connotations, e.g red=danger etc... It also gives a scene a particular mood, look or feel. It is also used for dramatic effect.

Lighting

To highlight importance and can make characters look mysterious by shading sections of the face. The different types of lighting are;
Low key which is created using key and back lights, produces sharp contrast of light and dark areas. Deep distinct, shadows are formed for horror films.
High key which is created using filler lights and gives a natural and realistic effect and can be used to set a sunny day as its bright and can be used in romantic comedies.

Camera Angles

We have learnt about the many different camera angles that influence media and I will explain now with images.

These are different camera angles

• The canted angle: this is where the camera is tilted rather than level, to create different effects.
• Pan: the camera is normally fixed to a tripod and moves from left to right horizontally
• Tilt: The same as a pan but vertical.
• Tracking Shot: The camera is in a vehicle usually and is driven along the action.
• A zoom: Where the camera zooms in or out of the action to create significance and effect.
• 
  Extreme long shot: This usually sets the scene
• Long shot: This shows the full length of a character.
• Medium shot: This is a shot from the waist up and is usually to show dialogue.
• Close up: Concentrates on a face and shows very little background and usually shows importance of things or feelings.
• Extreme close up: it is magnified on a object and usually shows eyes or mouth.
• Bird's eye view: Shows the action from directly above.

 

• High angle: Its above the action and gives a general overview of the scene.
• Eye level: Camera is at eye level usually in conversation between two characters and camera is usually behind one character looking over their shoulder and at the other character's eye level.
• Low angle: Increases height of a character because camera is looking up to action and makes characters seem taller and makes audience seem weaker.

 



The first couple of days in media AS

The first lesson we had in media was about Reality TV shows we discussed what reality TV shows and what they are. We also discussed as a group if we thought that reality TV has had its day.

These are my notes from the first media lesson

These lessons were based on group discussions, this helped us gain knowledge on the subject.

The second lesson of media we stayed on the topic of reality TV shows and investigated the concept of reality TV.We also discussed in groups what we could do for our own reality TV show and we wrote notes on format, location, scheduling of the show, presenter/s and characters.

These are my notes from the second lesson.