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Questionnaire Results

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Audience Questionnaire

TITLE SEQUENCE -The Conjuring

For the title sequence that i am hoping to create with the group, I would hope to pay homage to the comjuring's title sequence as i think that it would relate quite well to the film we are hoping to create, a abandoned house and a book, its because i like the idea that in the title sequence the book is in the background including the book which we could use a similar idea as we would like to include a book as the object that the character will find to start things off.

Screenshot number 1

This screenshot shows how the trailer progresses as the newspaper, i assume because it isn't clear as the shot is an extreme close up, moves through, i think we are purposely not able to be able to decide what the 'newspaper' is whether it even is a 'newspaper' at all, this makes the viewer unsure as we have no clue of a date, location or the characters yet. This is a signifier for a newspaper flicking through and that the signification is the way that it actually looks like a old newspaper. But all in all with the sound effects and music the signification is that something weird is going on we also know this from the writing above the picture 'Haunted Artifacts Museum'.

Screenshot number 2

I think that this screenshot yet again shows the signification of the 'newspaper' because of the heading on this particular story. it also shows us some information about the producers as we now know the editors name 'Kirk Morri.

Screenshot number 3

screenshot number 4

Screenshot number 5

These screenshot's shows us how this particular opening sequence shows us the the characters presumably the main characters in the film, i presume this because they are in the title sequence, this shows they're role in the film and they're authority, including the camera angle as i would say that we are slightly looking up to the character.

Screenshot number 6

This is the end shot of the title sequence personally i like this one because i thing it is a good establishing shot of I abandoned location I presume, i also quite like the framing of the building i think the trees act as a good framing device for the final shot. I also think that the noose also gives a clear insight on whats to come in the film. Hopefully as i have said i would like to pay homage to this title sequence when we are doing ours and this shot may be something that we use, something like this as we are thinking about using a abandoned building to film in so this shot is very relevant to our ideas.

My idea is to take shots of each of the places we will visit in our filming and use them in the title sequence as this on does, this is to give a sense of what is going to happen in the film. then with these shots maybe put a filter over and use a old book to five the same impression that it does in The Conjuring's title sequence.

 The Conjuring (2013) — Art of the Title  -  link to The Conjuring's opening sequence 

Script idea 1

This is our first script idea, we decided not to do this as it was hard to find a location that fit with our idea, therefore we had to change the film idea.

Similar film independent analysis

THE GRUDGE (2002) japanese version  - first 15 minutes individual analysis

The film can be viewed here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS40p64q_x4


The film opens with title screens introducing the film, written in japanese, and then it cuts to a path that we later find out is just outside a house where the grudge seems to be. It then shows a few shots of the exterior of the building and then it shows a man who appears to odd, and therefor we think has something to do with the grudge.

The man who appears to be odd 

Then following this the man seems to be out taking odd movements and repairing a ripped photograph that has part of it ripped out, this we later out find out is a woman's face. He is then seen grabbing a cat, slashing noises can be heard and then a boy is shown to move towards the man with the cat to possibly save it, we later see that this boy is locked up in a cupboard with the cat. Clipping into these scenes is a woman's face that appears to be cut, in some kind of bathroom, this we assume is the woman's ace from the photograph.

It then cuts to blackness which indicates a passage of time, to show the exterior of a social welfare centre, in here we meet three characters, two of which are men who we think will play a vital part in the film, one asks the female character to help him out with work and he will buy her dinner.

We are then took to the same path that was shown earlier in the film with the woman from the social welfare centre walking down it, we instantly assume that she may be visiting the house from earlier that was situated down this path where the grudge appears to be.

she then enters the building and is shot from above, we here assume that she is the victim and that the grudge is present, the light fitting is shaking, reflecting the mood of the shot, shaky and unsure, the house is for some reason a mess almost as if someone has broken in, the door was wide open as well, which builds upon this point of vulnerability and isolation, typical features of a horror film.

She then meets a woman who seems to be the owner of the house, she seems paranoid, scared and traumatrized, she has obviously been influenced by the grudge, she is silent and has the power in the shot because both the audience and the younger woman are wondering what is happening.

As the mess is cleaned by the younger woman, she finds a photograph that has a hole in it and seems to be damaged, this is the same photo from the title scene when the odd man is repairing a photograph.

The younger woman goes upstairs and carries on cleaning, whilst she is there she hears a noise that is low, slow and scary, she hears it and stops what she is doing, and moves towards the camera where we assume that the noise is coming from.

She enters a room and there is white fluff all-over the floor, the room is dark and light is limited, light is only used where nessecery to highlight key parts of the room, and we are drawn to what looks like a wardrobe because this is where a new noise appears to come from, a scraping noise that sounds odd again and out of place. After removing the tape from the outside of the wardrobe, she enters it to find a cat, she is relieved as this explains the scratching / scraping sounds, however she then looks to the left of the wardrobe and sees a young boy, this makes both her and the audience jump. 

She retreats and runs downstairs to question the older woman about the boy in the cupboard / wardrobe, she says nothing much and the younger woman has a moment of epiphany, searches and locates the photograph in which the young boy can be seen.

She stands in the hallway and the phone rings, this again makes her and us jump, she lets it ring and it is a message off of the older woman's daughter, whom we expect is the woman that is missing in the photograph, this the puts the opening title into the future and the scenes following that are the events leading up to the title scene.

The younger woman the runs toward and up the stairs, she is stopped in her tracks, as are we because she encounters the boy on the top of the steps, who again makes us jump, because the boy appears to be creepy and weird, odd again.

We are looking up at the boy who is looking down at the younger woman, this makes her the victim and the young boy the villain \ evil presence. The younger woman then runs away from the boy back to the older woman who speaks.

'i told her'

'please stop tormenting me'

This is odd and doesn't really relate to any of the film up to this moment, then a black shadow / silhouette appears to take over the older woman, the younger woman is horrified and the older woman seems to die, then the younger woman looks to the shadow and catches eye contact which is odd because it shouldn't really have eyes, the younger woman the appears to die / faint, the little boy's feet are shown at the bottom of the shot and it pans vertically to show his face - as if he had something to do with it, he is odd because despite the shadow 'killing' the other characters, he is still alive and unphased by the events.

FILM DISTRIBUTERS-havana films

For the film we are going to make an independent film distributor would be Havana Films, this is because they are a relatively new film distributor and have not got a specific  genre so at the moment they appeal to a large target audience.

Another reason they would be good a good film distributor is that they have already distributed some horror films such as Re-cut which is also a film where something strange is found in a abandoned area that starts something off.

Other films include;
Nude Nuns with Big Guns, Fathers Day, Samurai Avenger-The Blind Wolf, Take, Reykjarvic Rotterdam.

Screenshot of the Havana Films website showing the film 'Re-Cut'.

www.havanafilms.co.uk- link to there website

Work to do

Genre conventions - Horror Film 

SETTING

Example of a abandoned house 

Horror films are usually set in a abandoned location often an abandoned house, its normally always dark and something is never quite right for example the connotations of fear are shown by the one light left on in the ''haunted house'' or a unusual entrance like a broken window. The setting is usually very isolated and miles away from any other civilisation creating a sense of isolation and loneliness.  

CINEMATOGRAPHY 

|Example of a low angle shot looking up at the villan (bad guy)

Horror films also use the cinematography to their advantage a shown clearly in the example the camera is looking up at the ''bad guy'' in the shot and making him look more important and have more authority and power over the innocent character.

Example of a high angle/crane shot looking down on the ''innocent guy'' (good guy)

whereas this shot makes it again look like the villan again has all of the power which we can also see from the situation that the two characters are in and the camera angle i think emphasises the weakness of the ''innocent guy (good guy) 

MISE-EN-SCENE

Example of a typical villans costume

This is a typical example of a villans costume because the villan is wearing a mask which makes us question the villan as to who he/she is, also the villans costume must be simple so that it will easily blend in with the background as in the example the costume is almost entirely black.

Example of the ''last man standing in a horror film''

the ''last man standing'' in a horror film is usually a brunet, who is a bit of a ''odd one out'' because typically the ''dumb blonde'' does a stupid thing by moving towards the threat which the most who seems to be dominant make figure follows in a attempt to save her then he dies and typically the example is the ''last man standing'' even though usually in a horror film it is the girl who creates the problems for the group and the others get killed off trying to help her / prevent the problems she has caused.

Typically the colours in the horror film will be dark colours connotating things such as blood and violence, and the lighting will usually highlight what the audience can see but the characters on screen cannot so if someone is following someone we will be able to see the follower but the person being followed will not.

SOUND

This is a typical ''scary'' sound they are usually high pitch and very ''sharp'' and sudden to match the actions on screen this is again to emphasis the feeling of suspense and fear to add to the ''scariness'' of the film

Independent distributors

Independent distributors research -

Entertainment
largest independent distributor in the UK, it has distributed films which are pretty famous such as broke back mountain, rush hour and the departed.

Contender Films
Contender Films has also recently launched a theatrical strand. The company was also recently acquired by Entertainment One.
UK films include: Daddy's Girl, A Very British Gangster

Guerilla Films
A unique UK distributor which deals exclusively with British and Irish films, It has released a few films released over the years such as - serial killer, White Angel (1993)
UK films include: Frozen, The Truth, Cheeky

Horror related film certificates

Film certificates related to the horror genre 

U - suitable for all - mild peril

PG - parental guidance - usually ends well

12A - cinema release suitable for 12 years and over - fantasy 

 

12 - video release suitable for 12 years and over - fantasy 

15 - release suitable for 12 years and over - usually is more psychological 

 

18 - suitable only for adults - usually includes nudity and indecent images, gore and is gratuitous 

I would say that our film is likely to be of a 15 certificate because it will not consist of any nudity or indecent images, and will not be gratuitous, however it will be likely to include psychological horror and not fantasy horror, it will try and be realistic as oppose to the fantasy style of horror

horror film genre research

HORROR FILM GENRE RESEARCH


SETTINGs that are opften shown in a horror film:
- attic / loft / basement
- churches
- graveyards
-  hospitals

CINEMATOGRAPHY that is often shown in a horror film:
- diegetic sound to show realism and give the atmospheric affect in the audiences views
- monster / villain sounds to scare the viewer and give the actual horror effects
- high / low camera angles to show both power and weakness
- jump cuts to make the film jumpy and give it the required pace of a horror

ICONOGRAPHY:
-blood - death and horror
-low key lighting and high key to emphasise the most important parts / conventions of the film
-weapons / guns / knifes to add violence and horror to the film
-religious symbols
-dark colours and clothing, these emphasise the mood of the film itself

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE:
- beginning - middle - end
- equilibrium - disruption - attempt to repair the equilibrium

 CHARACTER TYPES:
- hero (often a villain)
- villain (or some evil force)
- children
- ghosts or monsters

THEMES:
- good vs bad
-death
- hate
- suicide
- religion
- depression

Similar film: The ring(2002)

The establishing shot for the ring, is of the house where the first action takes place, as we see the house we can hear the diegetic sound of rain which indicates the weather. It also shows that it is a horror film as it looks like an isolated house with some trees around it like a typical horror film house.

 

 The first two characters we see in the film are two teenage girls who are talking about a video tape that is meant to kill you once you watch it, they are two characters that are normally seen in a horror film, as one of them is the first one that dies, which is a usual thing with horror films. The mid-shot shows both characters clearly, so we see both of them in the picture so we know who is who.

Then after the girl on the left has died it cuts to a young boy in a classroom drawing, seeming very innocent but as his mum walks in and talks to the teacher the audience see that he has drawn pictures of his cousin dead before she actually died showing that there may be something wrong with the boy.

The music/sound in the first 15 minutes gets ominous i.e. when the girl Katie dies in the beginning of the film, the sound is non-diegetic but you can tell something is going to happen as it gets worse the more mysterious things that happen.

Genre conventions of horror: characters

The main person in the film is normally the victim/hero in the movie.
 They include a stupid teenager that gets killed.

Children that are used are normally very creepy, they look innocent but you can tell there is something wron with them, such as in the shining or the orphan.

The villain usually is a monster, mutated person, serial killer or alien, depending on where it is set determines whether or not they are human or something else as they have to match the setting.

Genre conventions of horror:mise-en-scene

This can include visual style which uses dark colours such as red or black as it can link to blood and evil.
The lighting is normally quite low key but will create shapes and shadows in the darkness, they use things like fireplaces to change the view of the film.
Creatures are used to show fear or extreme terror such as vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein etc.


This for example is the original Frankenstein even though it is black and white, it uses the different shades in the background to show that there is something strange going on so it highlights this to the audience.

This also includes props that are identified with the horror genre. sometimes a weapon will be identified with a character or villain such as chainsaws, machetes. common items are masks, weapons, icons of supernatural or religious importance.

Genre conventions of horror:angles

Camera angles play a big role in showing fear in a film. the low angle shots are normally used for the murder/killer they show that they are more powerful in the situation. the high angle shots are used on the victim so it shows their fear and powerlessness.
This for example shows that the man we see clearly is stronger, he will most likely be the murder as he looks more malicious from this angle.
Then this iconic scene from psycho puts emphasis on the woman as we see that she is powerless and can't do anything.