RESEARCH AND PLANNING TASK:REPRESENTATION

Teenagers/young adults are conventional in horror films, in order to relate to the target audience, aged between 15-25 years. 

Representations in horror films are based on stereotypes. Although stereotyping is seen as very negative, they are conventicle in the genre. This is because the target audiences for horror expect and respond to the generic codes.

 

It’s a cliché in horror films for the female characters to be seen as weak, submissive, vulnerable and the damsel in distress. This is based on the stereotype women are physically weaker and inferior to men.  

The most common female character, in horror films, is the “dumb blond” for example Casey Becker from Scream.

This character is usually the first one to die or manages to avoid death until the very end; gets killed in a gruesome and graphic way by the antagonist. They tend to be shown as annoying, naïve and stupid. The traits the  ‘dump blond” character has, causes the audience to dislike them. Therefore the audience actually wants the character to die.

However, the stereotypical character does keep the audience at the edge of their seats by building up suspense and tension.

In our film, we want to subvert to the representation of the female characters found in horror. We will do this by portraying Ivy, our protagonist, as independent, confident and a strong individual.

On the other hand, the male characters are usually portrayed as the hero or play the role of the antagonist. This is based on the stereotype men are more aggressive and violent then women. 

The antagonist can occur in many forms such as the killer, Zombie, monster and demonic possession etc. This character has the most impact on the viewers because is causes us to be fearful and scared.

Moreover, a female plays the antagonist in our film. We will follow the generic convention of this character, in order to make our antagonist appear scary.   

RESEARCH AND PLANNING TASK:LOCATION

Horror films are always set in an isolated place, for example, small communities, haunted house, and dark streets etc. The reason why horror films are mostly set in these locations is because they imply being lonely and isolated.

                                                                           Address for our location   

For our opening two minutes, it will be set inside a house. In horror films, it’s common for the storyline to be based in the protagonist's home for example in Scream.

The setting is suitable for our opening two minutes because it makes our film feel more realistic and relatable. It adds a sense of reality because our target audience (teenagers) have probably had the experience of being home alone late at night.

In the winter it gets darker earlier. The dark lighting gives the illusion of our film being set late in the evening, which is the ideal location for our film. This further makes our setting suitable because we are able to film in the dark without it getting to late. 

Down below are the pictures of the different locations inside the home, where our filming will take place.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING TASK:COSTUME,PROPS AND MAKE UP RESEARCH

The use of costume & props & makeup is a part of mise en scene. Mise-en-scène means the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play. It's made up of 5 elements. They provide key information in front of the camera that communicates crucial information to the audience.

Costume, hair and makeup act as an indicator that allows the viewers to identify characters personality, job, and status in society. Likewise, costume and makeup may imply the role of the characters in the film. This is because certain costume and makeup are associated with a specific character in a particular genre.Additionally, it also informs what time era film is set and what society the film is based around.     

Furthermore, props provide extra information about a character allowing the audience to learn more about them. In addition, props can also be a part of a character's costume for example masks to conceal the identity of antagonist or weapons used by the killer. In horror, the antagonist usually has one specific weapon to symbolise the character. This then helps the audience recognise them through the film.         

Costumes are a good indicator to inform the audience where and when the film is set.

In our opening two minutes the costume for our protagonist (Ivy) will be Pajamas/Nightwear. The costume reveals the time and setting of our film home late at night. This is because Pajamas are clothing made to sleep in hinting the period of time and location.

Furthermore, the Pajama's imply protagonist Ivy is cosy, snug and warm in the comfort of her home. The colour of the costume is white/neutral to suggest venerability of our protagonist/victim. In addition white connotes pure, innocence and youth. Moreover, the colour is very visible. This highlights the significant role of Ivy’s character in our film.

Our protagonist's hair will be down and neatly done to make her look youthful.Furthermore, her make-up will be minimal and simple. 

The protagonist hair and make-up in horror films is always nicely done at the beginning of the film in order to make them look appealing to the audience. Towards the ending near the protagonist death is when they appear rough and untidy. To show the protagonist had hard time trying run away from the antagonist to avoid death.   

To show the antagonist has a dark aura. The character, played by Pear, will be dressed in black.

It’s conventional for the antagonist to wear dark clothing in horror films because the colour black has negative connotations such as evil, sinister, and indicates death. This enables the viewers to evoke strong emotions such as curiosity, mystery, and suspicion.

Our antagonist will be wearing loose black clothing to hide the character's identity from the protagonist and the audience. Likewise, it also creates enigma and suspense because the loose costume doesn’t show any definition of the character's body. However, the viewers will be able to identify and recognise the antagonist due to the costume.

Our antagonist will be wearing loose black clothing to hide the character's identity from the protagonist and the audience. Likewise, it also creates enigma and suspense because the loose costume doesn’t show any definition of the character's body. However, the viewers will be able to identify and recognise the antagonist due to the costume.

The appearance of the character is important in films as it will determine if the character is good or bad. 
In order to frighten the audience, our antagonist needs to look the part.By using special effects makeup it will make our antagonist believable and fearful to the audience. Furthermore,  make -up adds detail to the character to make the antagonist appear scary and threatening.

We will use special effects make- up on our antagonist to create burnt skin. It's common in horror films for the antagonist to be disfigured, unattractive or scarred. 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING TASK:SOUNDTRACK

In the genre horror, the use of diegetic and non -diegetic sound effects have a significant role in helping create a specific atmosphere, mood, and tone. The sound effects prompt the audience to evoke emotions such as scared, frightened and terror.

Furthermore, non- diegetic music/sounds are key for a horror film. This is because it helps build up tension and create suspense. Additionally, the use of non- diegetic sound effects helps to inform the audience there is a danger.      

Likewise, the use of diegetic sounds is just as important in horror films because it helps clarify time, place and social circle. Speech used by the characters in a movie is an example of diegetic sounds. Despite that, in horror, the tone of voice used by the character to deliver the dialogue reflects fear, alarm, and panic.         

Common conventional types of music in the genre horror are isolated instruments that typically used before a key event occurs. Isolated instruments help show the audience the character in the movie is venerable, defenseless and unsafe. In addition, long suspenseful notes in contrast with short sharp notes are commonly used to shock and startle the audience.  Furthermore, change in pitch tone e.g. brass notes with a sudden change too fast high-pitched notes help create an atmosphere of tension and anxiety.

In the clip above it contains the non-diegetic music for our film. Additionally, it also shows why we chose the track and when it will be used.

The website we used to get our sound effects is called FMA (Free Music Archive). It has a variety of free non-copy write music to pick from, for all genres.

We picked our three few tracks appropriate for our film and then put them in a short clip using the software moviemaker.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING TASK: RESULTS FROM OUR QUESTIONNAIRE

We asked people a list of questions to do with the genre Horror. In the pie charts above it shows the results from our questionnaire.

For the title of our film, 60% of the people we asked said they liked Read 23:59. One said, “It’s mysterious and intriguing”. 

When asked what themes people enjoyed in horror, 40% said horror films based

around a killer. Additionally, the second most popular theme was paranormal 30%. The result of this question was expected because most horror films are based on a serial killer or paranormal activity. This is because the target audiences for horror are thrill seekers. The two popular themes are classic cliché in the genre.    

Surprisingly, the result of our questionnaire, showed gore and disturbing was one of the least preferred themes. I didn't expect this because in horror films we usually expect blood and gore.

The result shows 50% of the people we asked didn’t mind which gender the protagonist was. However, 30% said that they preferred having a male protagonist and only 20% said female.

This could be because in most films the male characters are always seen as the hero, due to the stereotype males being aggressive and physically strong.

Despite that, no one disagreed with the idea of having a female, as the main protagonist. 60% said that they like the idea of a female protagonist, whereas 30% said they liked the idea of a male protagonist.  

The ideal characteristic people liked for the main protagonist was the female victim -40% and hero- 40%.  The least favorable characteristic was the Mr. Know it all- 20%. I expected this because people like to see the protagonist, as humble and someone who they can empathies with.

50% thought the best location for a horror film is inside a house. I also agree with this because I think it makes the film more realistic and believable.

From the results of our questionnaire, I can see what people are looking for in a horror film. We will use the result from this questionnaire and include them in out opening two minutes.