To create the logo and the font I used the website dafont.com as it contains a lot of fonts and different types of special effects. I chose this particular font because it looks scary and it fits in with the genre of horror.
Thursday 25 February 2010
Production Logo
For the background I used photoshop to create a creepy effect which looks like some woods which reflects the story line from my film and also fits in with the genre of horror.
To create the logo and the font I used the website dafont.com as it contains a lot of fonts and different types of special effects. I chose this particular font because it looks scary and it fits in with the genre of horror.
To create the logo and the font I used the website dafont.com as it contains a lot of fonts and different types of special effects. I chose this particular font because it looks scary and it fits in with the genre of horror.
Monday 22 February 2010
Risk Assessment
For my piece I am going to film in some woods in the middle of Bishop Cuthbert estate. Although this is seen as an isolated location I will have an adult present with me in order to film and get all the camera shots and angles. Also there are many potential hazards in the woods such as steep drops, even though there are proper footpaths, and therefore I will need to be careful while filming. Another aspect I will need to keep an eye on is the weather forecast so the equipment doesn't get wet or damaged so when carrying the camera and tripod from each location I will need to keep them protected in their bags. Also I will need to be careful not to drop any of the equipment whilst in the woods. Another potential risk is that I am taking a weapon in the form of a knife with me so I can slice the occult symbol in half off the tree. I will keep the knife protected and safe at all times until I need to use it which comes towards the end of the sequence, to add effect and keep with the horrific theme.
Monday 8 February 2010
Assessment 6 Organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props
Actors- For my opening sequence only 2 actors will feature. The actors are me and my mother, as I will play the teen who becomes obsessed with the occult and goes missing in the woods and my mother will play the upset and concerned mother trying to find out why her son has gone missing. She phones the police and tells them he's never went missimg before and that he's been acting strange lately. I go into the woods pull pieces of paper with notes and symbols on out of my pocket that I have been making over a period of time. At the very end I slice a symbol that's stuck on a tree with a knife and then the camera cuts to my mother dropping the phone. The sequence will feature close ups but not of our faces just the sides of our faces and the backs of our heads while moving and walking this doesn't give our full identities away and creates more of a horrorific effect and makes it more of a mystery.
Locations- There are going to be 2 main locations in which I plan to use throughout my sequence in the local area. The locations are my house and various rooms in it such as the living room for the scenes were my mam is on the phone, the kitchen, the study and my bedroom were I plan to film the the scenes were I make notes and draw mysterious occult symbols. The other main location is the reservoir around the back of Bishop Cuthbert Estate and the woods surrounding it were I go missing and I'm seen walking through the long grass pulling notes and symbols out of my pocket and then use a knife to slice one that is stuck on a tree. This particular location is big and isolated which is a typical theme for a horror film. Both locations are easily accessible for filming purposes.
Costumes- The costumes I plan for the actors to wear are everday casual clothing such as jeans etc. However because I'll be filming outside I'll be wearing my black leather jacket with my hood up and my face can't be seen only the back of my body is seen and from the neck down to show me walking. This fits in with the theme of horror and makes it look more spooky and suspicious to the viewer.
Props- I will not need to use many props for my sequence. However the props in which I do plan to use are a knife for when I slice the symbol on the tree, a phone for when my mam phones the police to report me missing, a fake newspaper article for my mam to hold while she's on the phone to the police relating to teenagers obsessions with the occult and the number of deaths it has caused and some paper scrumpled up containing coffee stains to make it look old fashioned for when I write notes and draw symbols relating to the occult. All props are typical of would be featured in a horror movie and relate to the theme of horror.
Locations- There are going to be 2 main locations in which I plan to use throughout my sequence in the local area. The locations are my house and various rooms in it such as the living room for the scenes were my mam is on the phone, the kitchen, the study and my bedroom were I plan to film the the scenes were I make notes and draw mysterious occult symbols. The other main location is the reservoir around the back of Bishop Cuthbert Estate and the woods surrounding it were I go missing and I'm seen walking through the long grass pulling notes and symbols out of my pocket and then use a knife to slice one that is stuck on a tree. This particular location is big and isolated which is a typical theme for a horror film. Both locations are easily accessible for filming purposes.
Costumes- The costumes I plan for the actors to wear are everday casual clothing such as jeans etc. However because I'll be filming outside I'll be wearing my black leather jacket with my hood up and my face can't be seen only the back of my body is seen and from the neck down to show me walking. This fits in with the theme of horror and makes it look more spooky and suspicious to the viewer.
Props- I will not need to use many props for my sequence. However the props in which I do plan to use are a knife for when I slice the symbol on the tree, a phone for when my mam phones the police to report me missing, a fake newspaper article for my mam to hold while she's on the phone to the police relating to teenagers obsessions with the occult and the number of deaths it has caused and some paper scrumpled up containing coffee stains to make it look old fashioned for when I write notes and draw symbols relating to the occult. All props are typical of would be featured in a horror movie and relate to the theme of horror.
Assessment 5 Pitch Idea
Plot Synopsis
A small town in the North East of England has been hit with a number of deaths particularly amongst teenagers and young adults. This is due to them becoming obsessed with the occult, by researching it on the internet and making disturbing notes about it and drawing peculiar symbols. Then mysteriously getting killed, about ten people die a week because of this and hundreds have been killed over the past few months. No one knows the causes of these deaths it’s surrounded in mystery.
Opening Sequence
A teenage boy goes missing after making notes about and becoming obsessed with the occult. His mother reports him missing to the police while holding the notes he made before he went missing. Some dialogue features while she is on the phone to the police and the camera keeps cutting between the mother on the phone and her son walking through the woods with narration over it and incidental music. As the son is walking through the words he pulls some notes out of his pocket and then walks up to a tree and pulls a piece of paper off with a mysterious symbol on. There’s a lot of darkness and a lot of cuts to a blank screen while cutting between the boy walking through the woods and his mother on the phone. The titles will come on the screen as the boy is walking through the long grass. Also there’s flashbacks to the boy making notes at the beginning in black and white. It ends with the son putting the symbol back on the tree and slicing through it with a knife and then it cuts to the mother dropping the phone.
Target Audience
Although my sequence is going to be an 18 certificate it will appeal to a wider target audience, people over that particular age as it is illegal for anyone younger than 18 to view an 18 rated movie. The main target audience will be the 18-35 age range as they will be able to relate to it more and have a better understanding of the youth orientated theme as the main plotline focuses on teenagers and their obsession with the occult.
Creative Techniques
The creative techniques I plan to use in my sequence are mocked up newspaper articles explaining the amount of teenage deaths that have occurred relating to the occult. A knife to slice the symbol off the tree and after this happens the camera quickly cuts to my mother dropping the phone, this adds effect to make it more mysterious and creepy which fits in well with the horror theme. The location of the woods is usually seen as a peaceful place were people take their dogs for walks and not much happens there, however in my sequence it becomes this haunted eerie place were teenagers go missing and mysteriously die. So therefore it’s a contrast compared to every day life. Other creative techniques include visual effects and the camera cutting between me walking through the woods pulling pieces of crumpled up paper out of my pocket, with coffee stains on to make it look old fashioned, so it fits in with the genre of horror, and my mother on the phone to the police reporting me missing telling them that I haven’t gone missing like this before.
A small town in the North East of England has been hit with a number of deaths particularly amongst teenagers and young adults. This is due to them becoming obsessed with the occult, by researching it on the internet and making disturbing notes about it and drawing peculiar symbols. Then mysteriously getting killed, about ten people die a week because of this and hundreds have been killed over the past few months. No one knows the causes of these deaths it’s surrounded in mystery.
Opening Sequence
A teenage boy goes missing after making notes about and becoming obsessed with the occult. His mother reports him missing to the police while holding the notes he made before he went missing. Some dialogue features while she is on the phone to the police and the camera keeps cutting between the mother on the phone and her son walking through the woods with narration over it and incidental music. As the son is walking through the words he pulls some notes out of his pocket and then walks up to a tree and pulls a piece of paper off with a mysterious symbol on. There’s a lot of darkness and a lot of cuts to a blank screen while cutting between the boy walking through the woods and his mother on the phone. The titles will come on the screen as the boy is walking through the long grass. Also there’s flashbacks to the boy making notes at the beginning in black and white. It ends with the son putting the symbol back on the tree and slicing through it with a knife and then it cuts to the mother dropping the phone.
Target Audience
Although my sequence is going to be an 18 certificate it will appeal to a wider target audience, people over that particular age as it is illegal for anyone younger than 18 to view an 18 rated movie. The main target audience will be the 18-35 age range as they will be able to relate to it more and have a better understanding of the youth orientated theme as the main plotline focuses on teenagers and their obsession with the occult.
Creative Techniques
The creative techniques I plan to use in my sequence are mocked up newspaper articles explaining the amount of teenage deaths that have occurred relating to the occult. A knife to slice the symbol off the tree and after this happens the camera quickly cuts to my mother dropping the phone, this adds effect to make it more mysterious and creepy which fits in well with the horror theme. The location of the woods is usually seen as a peaceful place were people take their dogs for walks and not much happens there, however in my sequence it becomes this haunted eerie place were teenagers go missing and mysteriously die. So therefore it’s a contrast compared to every day life. Other creative techniques include visual effects and the camera cutting between me walking through the woods pulling pieces of crumpled up paper out of my pocket, with coffee stains on to make it look old fashioned, so it fits in with the genre of horror, and my mother on the phone to the police reporting me missing telling them that I haven’t gone missing like this before.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Assessment 3 Timeline Of Horror
1890's-1920's
Horror films began to appear in the late 1890's with silent shorts created by film pioneers such as George Melies. His most notable film being Le Manoir du diable (aka 'The House Of Devil') which was released in 1896 and is sometimes credited as being the first horror film. Another one of his horror projects was 1898's La Carverne maudite (aka 'The Cave of the Demons').
In 1910, Edison Studios produced the first film version of Frankinstein, thought lost for many years, film collector Alois Felix Dettlaff Sr. found a copy and it saw a 1993 release.
The early 20th Century saw more milestones within the horror genre including the first monster to appear in a full-length horror film.
Earlier full length horror films were created by German film makers in 1910's and 1920's. This era also produced the first vampire-themed feature, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922)
1930's-1940's
The horror film became more popular in the early 1930's by American film producers, particularly Universal Pictures Co. Inc. They brought a series of successful gothic features to the screen such as Dracula (1931) and Frankinstein (1931) some of which blended sci-fi films with gothic horror. These films were designed to thrill but also included more serious elements and were influenced by the German expressionist films of the 1920's. Some actors began to build careers in these types of films, such as Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. In 1931, Fritz Lang released his epic thriller M, which chillingly told the story of a serial killer of children played by Peter Lorre. Universal horror films continued into the 1940's with 'The Wolf Man' (1941) not the first werewolf film but certainly the most influential. During the decade Universal continued to produce more sequels in the Frankinstein series as well a number of films teaming up with their monsters. The first horror film produced by an indian film industry was Mahal a 1949, Hindi film and it was a supernatural thriller and the earliest known film dealing with the theme of reincarnation.
1950's-1960's
Advances in technology developed in the 1950's therefore the tone of the horror film shifted from being gothic to the late-Century audience. The horror film then fell into three sub-genres the horror-of-personality film, the horror-of-armageddon film and the horror-of-the-demonic film. Film makers continued to merge elements of science fiction and horror over the following decades. The most noticeable film of this era was 1957's 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' from Richard Matheson's novel. In the late 1950's and early 1960's production companies focused on producing horror films including the British company Hammer Film Productions. Hammer enjoyed huge international success from full-blooded technicolour films involving classic horror characters often starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, such as 'The Curse Of Frankinstein'(1957), 'Dracula' (1958) and 'The Mummy' (1959) and many other sequels. Hammer and director Terence Fisher are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the modern horror movie. Alfred Hitchcock's Physco (1960) had a feature-length orginal, two feature-length films, two television movies and a feature-length remake of the original. The horror has a human explanation, steeped in Freudian psycology and repressed sexual desires.
1970's-1980's
Due to the huge success of 'Rosemary's Baby' in the late 60's, more films with occult themes were released in the 1970's, such as 'The Exorist' (1973). 'Evil Children' and reincarnation became popular topics particularly in Robert Wise's 1977 film 'Audrey Rose', written by Frank De Felitta and 'Alice, Sweet Alice' (1977). In the 1970's horror author Stephen King debuted on the film scene as many of his books were adapted for the screen starting with 'Carrie' (1976), which was nominated for academy awards. John Carpenter created 'Halloween' (1978) which went on to become a successful independent film. In 1975 Steven Spielberg began his rise to fame with'Jaws'. Similar animal stories which followed include 'Orca' and 'Up From The Depths'. However 'Jaws is often credited as being one of the first films to use elements such as horror and mild gore in a big-budget Hollywood film. The 1979 film 'Alien' combined the naturalistic acting and graphic violence of the 1970's with the monster movie plots of decades gone by and used science fiction and became a landmark film for that particular genre.
The genre boomed at the start of the 1980's with Sammo Hung's 'Close Encounter's of the Spooky Kind (1981) launching the sub-genre of 'kung-fu comedy horror', a sub-genre often featuring hopping corpses and tempting ghostly females known as fox spirits with the best known examples being 'Mr Vampire' (1985) and 'A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). The 1980's were marked by the growing popularity of horror movie sequels. 1982's 'Poltergeist', which was directed by Toby Hooper, followed by two sequels and a television series. The endless sequels to 'Halloween, Friday the 13th' (1980), and Wes Craven's supernatural 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984) were popular horror films in the 80's. 'Creepshow', spawned two sequels in 1987 and 1990 respectively, 'Creepshow 2' and 'Tales from the Darkside:The Movie' aka 'Creepshow 3' as did 'The Evil Dead' (1981). Another trend that appeared in the 80's was the infusion of blatant comedic elements most commonly 'one liners'. 'Motel Hell(1980) was one of the first 1980's films to mock the dark conventions of the previous decade. The laughs were generated by the gore, defining the archtypal splatter comedy.
1990's
During the first half of the 1990's, the genre continued the themes from the 80's. Sequels enjoying some commercial success include 'Child's Play' and 'Leprechaun. Films such as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', 'Frday the 13th', and 'Halloween' all had sequels in the 90's. In the latter half of the 90's horror became more self-mockingly iconic and outright parodic. Wes Craven's 'Scream' movies, starting in 1996, included teenagers who were fully aware of, and often made reference to, the history of horror movies, and mixed ironic humor with the shocks. Along with 'I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and 'Urban Legend' (1998)'. Amongst the popular English-Language horror films of the late 90's, only 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) attempted straight-ahead scares. Thr horror was accomplished in the context of a mockumentary or mock-documentary. Hideo Nakatu's 'Ringu', which is a Japanese horror film found international success with a similar formula in 1998.
2000's
At the start of the 2000's it was a quiet period for the genre. A re-release of a restored version of 'The Exorcist' in September 2000 was quite successful. A revival of 'Final Destination' (2000) spawned three sequels featuring teen-orientated humor. There was a major return to the zombie genre in horror movies made after 2000. The Resident evil video game franchise was adapted into a film in March 2002,three sequels followed. A larger trend is a return to the extreme, graphic violence that characterized much of the type of the low budget exploitation horror from the seventies and the post-Vietnam years. Films including 'Wrong Turn'
(2003), and the Austrailian film 'Wolf Creek' (2005), took their cues from 'The Last House on the Left(1972), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre(1974), and 'The Hills Have Eyes'(1977). Remakes of late 1970's horror movies became normal in the 2000's. Some of these include 'Dawn of the Dead'(2004), 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'(2003) and in 2007, Rob Zombie wrote and directed a remake of John Carpenter's 'Halloween'. Not living up to the original it was criticised by most, but was a success in its theatrical run.
Horror films began to appear in the late 1890's with silent shorts created by film pioneers such as George Melies. His most notable film being Le Manoir du diable (aka 'The House Of Devil') which was released in 1896 and is sometimes credited as being the first horror film. Another one of his horror projects was 1898's La Carverne maudite (aka 'The Cave of the Demons').
In 1910, Edison Studios produced the first film version of Frankinstein, thought lost for many years, film collector Alois Felix Dettlaff Sr. found a copy and it saw a 1993 release.
The early 20th Century saw more milestones within the horror genre including the first monster to appear in a full-length horror film.
Earlier full length horror films were created by German film makers in 1910's and 1920's. This era also produced the first vampire-themed feature, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922)
1930's-1940's
The horror film became more popular in the early 1930's by American film producers, particularly Universal Pictures Co. Inc. They brought a series of successful gothic features to the screen such as Dracula (1931) and Frankinstein (1931) some of which blended sci-fi films with gothic horror. These films were designed to thrill but also included more serious elements and were influenced by the German expressionist films of the 1920's. Some actors began to build careers in these types of films, such as Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. In 1931, Fritz Lang released his epic thriller M, which chillingly told the story of a serial killer of children played by Peter Lorre. Universal horror films continued into the 1940's with 'The Wolf Man' (1941) not the first werewolf film but certainly the most influential. During the decade Universal continued to produce more sequels in the Frankinstein series as well a number of films teaming up with their monsters. The first horror film produced by an indian film industry was Mahal a 1949, Hindi film and it was a supernatural thriller and the earliest known film dealing with the theme of reincarnation.
1950's-1960's
Advances in technology developed in the 1950's therefore the tone of the horror film shifted from being gothic to the late-Century audience. The horror film then fell into three sub-genres the horror-of-personality film, the horror-of-armageddon film and the horror-of-the-demonic film. Film makers continued to merge elements of science fiction and horror over the following decades. The most noticeable film of this era was 1957's 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' from Richard Matheson's novel. In the late 1950's and early 1960's production companies focused on producing horror films including the British company Hammer Film Productions. Hammer enjoyed huge international success from full-blooded technicolour films involving classic horror characters often starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, such as 'The Curse Of Frankinstein'(1957), 'Dracula' (1958) and 'The Mummy' (1959) and many other sequels. Hammer and director Terence Fisher are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the modern horror movie. Alfred Hitchcock's Physco (1960) had a feature-length orginal, two feature-length films, two television movies and a feature-length remake of the original. The horror has a human explanation, steeped in Freudian psycology and repressed sexual desires.
1970's-1980's
Due to the huge success of 'Rosemary's Baby' in the late 60's, more films with occult themes were released in the 1970's, such as 'The Exorist' (1973). 'Evil Children' and reincarnation became popular topics particularly in Robert Wise's 1977 film 'Audrey Rose', written by Frank De Felitta and 'Alice, Sweet Alice' (1977). In the 1970's horror author Stephen King debuted on the film scene as many of his books were adapted for the screen starting with 'Carrie' (1976), which was nominated for academy awards. John Carpenter created 'Halloween' (1978) which went on to become a successful independent film. In 1975 Steven Spielberg began his rise to fame with'Jaws'. Similar animal stories which followed include 'Orca' and 'Up From The Depths'. However 'Jaws is often credited as being one of the first films to use elements such as horror and mild gore in a big-budget Hollywood film. The 1979 film 'Alien' combined the naturalistic acting and graphic violence of the 1970's with the monster movie plots of decades gone by and used science fiction and became a landmark film for that particular genre.
The genre boomed at the start of the 1980's with Sammo Hung's 'Close Encounter's of the Spooky Kind (1981) launching the sub-genre of 'kung-fu comedy horror', a sub-genre often featuring hopping corpses and tempting ghostly females known as fox spirits with the best known examples being 'Mr Vampire' (1985) and 'A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). The 1980's were marked by the growing popularity of horror movie sequels. 1982's 'Poltergeist', which was directed by Toby Hooper, followed by two sequels and a television series. The endless sequels to 'Halloween, Friday the 13th' (1980), and Wes Craven's supernatural 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984) were popular horror films in the 80's. 'Creepshow', spawned two sequels in 1987 and 1990 respectively, 'Creepshow 2' and 'Tales from the Darkside:The Movie' aka 'Creepshow 3' as did 'The Evil Dead' (1981). Another trend that appeared in the 80's was the infusion of blatant comedic elements most commonly 'one liners'. 'Motel Hell(1980) was one of the first 1980's films to mock the dark conventions of the previous decade. The laughs were generated by the gore, defining the archtypal splatter comedy.
1990's
During the first half of the 1990's, the genre continued the themes from the 80's. Sequels enjoying some commercial success include 'Child's Play' and 'Leprechaun. Films such as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', 'Frday the 13th', and 'Halloween' all had sequels in the 90's. In the latter half of the 90's horror became more self-mockingly iconic and outright parodic. Wes Craven's 'Scream' movies, starting in 1996, included teenagers who were fully aware of, and often made reference to, the history of horror movies, and mixed ironic humor with the shocks. Along with 'I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and 'Urban Legend' (1998)'. Amongst the popular English-Language horror films of the late 90's, only 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) attempted straight-ahead scares. Thr horror was accomplished in the context of a mockumentary or mock-documentary. Hideo Nakatu's 'Ringu', which is a Japanese horror film found international success with a similar formula in 1998.
2000's
At the start of the 2000's it was a quiet period for the genre. A re-release of a restored version of 'The Exorcist' in September 2000 was quite successful. A revival of 'Final Destination' (2000) spawned three sequels featuring teen-orientated humor. There was a major return to the zombie genre in horror movies made after 2000. The Resident evil video game franchise was adapted into a film in March 2002,three sequels followed. A larger trend is a return to the extreme, graphic violence that characterized much of the type of the low budget exploitation horror from the seventies and the post-Vietnam years. Films including 'Wrong Turn'
(2003), and the Austrailian film 'Wolf Creek' (2005), took their cues from 'The Last House on the Left(1972), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre(1974), and 'The Hills Have Eyes'(1977). Remakes of late 1970's horror movies became normal in the 2000's. Some of these include 'Dawn of the Dead'(2004), 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'(2003) and in 2007, Rob Zombie wrote and directed a remake of John Carpenter's 'Halloween'. Not living up to the original it was criticised by most, but was a success in its theatrical run.
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Assessment 3 BBFC Target Audience Research
I've decided that my horror opening sequence is going to be an 18 rated certificate. This is because I am 18 and an 18 rated certificate can reach a wider demographic audience as anyone over that age can view it. Also there isn't a particular age where you have to stop watching an 18 rated certificate all adults can watch them. With it being an 18 it can be more edgy, feature more violent scenes and contain the use of stronger language. It can be also a lot more thrilling and horrific and scare the audience which is the main aim of a horror film. If I wanted it to be a 15 rated fil I would be very limited to what type of content I can include. Whereas with an 18 certificate I can include what I want within the BBFC guidlines.
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