Genre:

• Rosemary’s Baby is part of the supernatural and psychological horror sub-genres. This is shown through the use of low-key lighting, tight character blocking, and most obviously the enigma established in the unnatural movement of the previous apartment resident’s wardrobe.
• The panning shot of the city during the opening shot is extremely reminiscent of the panning shot in Jacob’s ladder (Lyne, 1990) which establishes the setting, atmosphere and conditions of the city.

Establishing expectations:

• The opening is largely representative of what the audience can expect from the film. It is established as a largely dialogue-driven supernatural horror movie, in the context of the 1960s middle-class. Although the threat of Rosemary’s pregnancy is only implied, it still has a looming presence.

Attitude to convention:

• The text is mostly playful with the conventions of the genre. It is a more romanticised than is to be expected from horror, as Rosemary and Guy frequently joke together and hold hands.
• There are instances where the extract does abide by the typical horror conventions. Both Rosemary and Guy are dismissive of the hints that there is a darker secret to the apartment building, such as the death of the old woman that used to live there and the unfinished letter she left.

Camera:

·         The high angle, bird’s eye view of the apartment building implies dominance, and the extreme long shot that includes both Rosemary and Guy allows the building to loom over them ominously.

·         The group is often framed in a medium close-up to create a sense of claustrophobia and unease.

·         There are a number of tracking shots, most notably one’s that follow Guy as he squeezes past the apartment block owner through a doorway, again reinforcing the sense of claustrophobia, and ones framed in a two shot that reflects the relationship and like-mindedness of the Rosemary and Guy.

Editing:

·         The apartment building has dated architecture and a gothic look to its dark bricks

·         Guy and Rosemary motivate many of the cuts and a shot will often hang on them when they get distracted by something and should be moving to look at another part of the apartment. For example when they are supposed to be shown the bathroom, they are still looking at the house’s herbs.

·         There are largely very few cuts throughout the extract, most of the transitions between rooms happen through tracking shots which makes the tour seem smooth and fluent while highlighting that Rosemary and Guy aren't being given long to look at each room.

·         The extremely slow cutting rate gives the apartment tour a somewhat laid back atmosphere before events become more serious later in the film.

Misé-en-scene:

·         Rosemary’s costume, a white dress, and the white flower fountain connote innocence and virginity.

·         The tight character blocking again feeds into the notion claustrophobia.

·         The prop of the letter left on the table is unfinished, and appears to foreshadow the dark side of the apartment building. It reads “I can no longer associate myself” but ends there.

·         One of the workmen repairing a door looks disapprovingly at Guy who looks into the room he’s working on, showing that his behaviour is not appreciated.

Sound:

·         The dialogue is used for character exposition, for example, Guy repeatedly lies to the apartment owner in an attempt to stop him asking questions, but Rosemary says Guy is joking, and tells the truth, showing that she is the more honest of the two.

·         A piano plays during the tour as diegetic sound to create a welcoming and pleasant atmosphere to the apartment.

·         The voice of the apartment owner showing Rosemary and Guy around is frequently heard off-screen to show how easily distracted they are from the tour and are more interested in the specific details of each room.

Titles:.

·         The titles fade in and are positioned in the centre of the screen. These are fairly generic ways to present a title, which is to be expected as they are placed over a long pan across the city, something mostly done to establish atmosphere and the location of the apartment building Rosemary and Guy will be shown round. The text does not cover much of the frame, however, so most of the city is still visible.

·         The text is coloured pink and written in the stylised to look like eloquent handwriting, to look romantic and feminine, but is also fitting of the middleclass 60s setting.

·         There is a faint bloom effect coming from each title which them a vague eeriness

·         For the most part, the titles follow typical film conventions with the director’s title being shown last.

Narrative:.

·         The opening follows Rosemary, the film’s protagonist, and her husband Guy who are being shown around a prospective apartment building they are considering buying.

·         The apartment building tour is a fairly stock situation and the apartment owner is a fairly stock character. His old age, somewhat closed features and soft voice make him seem vaguely unnerving

·         The audience is positioned with Rosemary and Guy-they motivate the cuts and their entry into the unfamiliar setting of the apartment building helps the audience relate to them more

·         The main narrative themes are maternity, trust, and religion.

·         The tension is first hinted at by the gothic appearance of the apartment building and the soundtrack during the opening, which has a slow, ominous beat, and is first fully alluded to in the dialogue regarding the previous resident dying. It is further built upon with the appearance of the broken floor tiles, the unfinished letter left by the previous resident and the strange movement of the wardrobe

Representation and Ideology:

·         Women are not widely represented throughout the extract, but they are quite positively represented. Rosemary often walks ahead of Guy on the tour, explores the rooms on her own and drags Guy away when he gets distracted by flushing the toilet. The previous tenant “Mrs. Gardenia” is said to be “the first woman lawyer” in further support of the notion of female independence.

·         There is one black character represented in the opening, Diego, who operates the apartment block lift. This is a theme throughout the film where black people often have the lower paid, sometimes manual jobs, which is a clear statement about the role of minorities in 1960s American cities. The text seems to be critical of the marginalisation present in the time period, shown by Guy mocking the apartment building owner picking some dirt off Diego’s suit.

Media Audiences:

·         The target audience is 30-50 year-olds, which is more of an art house audience. This is the same audience as the book the film has been adapted from.

·         This audience would likely see Guy as a suspicious and untrustworthy character, who unnecessarily lies early in the extract and mentions marijuana when the couple looks at the herbs the previous resident was growing.

Institutional Context:

·         Bankable stars include Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes play the protagonists and Ruth Gordon who plays a secondary character.

·         The film is an industrial film and had the associated distribution of one but was funded by Paramount when they were in financial trouble, meaning it was made with the fairly modest budget of $3.2 million.

·         The actors and talent of the cinematographers and director lead to some impressive tracking shots and long takes in the opening.

Genre 

•   The horror film has sub genres which is Super Natural Slasher horror. In the introduction, there conventions which show off the supernatural side however for slasher, the audience see someone putting on a bladed glove which is suggests murder which relates to slasher horror.
• The audience expect this movie to be scare them from the opening sequence due to the use of props (bladed glove), the sound (Screams, intense loud music, mise-en-scene (lighting is dark)
• The location of the opening scene is set in a building where the main action takes place in the boiler room which is unusual and the audience expect strange things to happen

Film Language    

Mise-en-scene 

• The LS of the protagonist where she is walking/looking around shows her centered in the frame. She has been centered so the audience can see the size of her and where she is to easily detect an uneasiness and that she would feel lost.
• At the beginning of the sequence, they have chosen not to show the antagonist's face but only show his hands and feet to show the action he is doing. This creates a mysterious feel to the opening sequence and leaves the audience wondering what he is doing which is seen as unsettling as he is handling sharp items. 
• Much of the lighting of in the sequence is dark which is generic for a horror movie as it creates a more frightening atmosphere. 
• The use of costume for the female protagonist is there to represent she is in a dream. She is wearing a nightgown which indicates that if she were to be attacked, she would not be able to defend herself due to her unsuitable clothing. It also makes her look vulnerable and weak. 
• The use of costume for the bladed glove is an unusual weapon which immediately grabs the audiences attention and causes them to feel nervous. At the beginning where we see the antagonist preparing the bladed glove, one of the sharp blades is turned around making the audience notice it so they can see how dangerous the weapon is. This causes tension and nervousness. 

Sound 

• There isn’t much dialogue in the sequence until the end however we can assume that the man with the bladed glove is the antagonist and will carry on being the antagonist throughout the story due to a) the weapon he has b) the fact he come up behind the antagonist with a clear intention to murder her. 
• From the dialogue at the end, we can detect that the female protagonist is shy and has had problems due to her mother saying she needs to stop dreaming horrible things.
• The non-diegetic sound used is high pitched which creates uneasy listening and the volume increases at different parts where it is supposed to be more scary. There is also the sound of growls of the the presumed antagonist who is not present on screen. This creates a nervous atmosphere as we realise she is being watched.
• The diegetic sound used is the sound of breathing from the antagonist and protagonist which is loud and fast paced therefore showing an uneasy feeling. Also there are high pitched screams which cause a jump which helps to build up the scare factor and tension.

Camera

• There is a long shot where we see the protagonist walking/running while looking around. This conveys that she is confused and lost. 
• There are Close up's of the preparation of the bladed glove. This puts emphasis on the bladed glove to show it will be an important part of the film
• There is a POV shot of the boiler room from the antagonist and you can very subtly see the protagonist on the ground floor of the boiler room surrounded by steam and metal work/frame. This adds the to tension of the sequence as the audience are fully aware the antagonist is watching the protagonist. 

Editing 

•  The presenting titles appear at the very beginning when we see the antagonist making the bladed glove. The font colour is in white and rounded font. The opening sequence is dark therefore the white on dark is easy to read and makes it more tense as it reinforces how there isn’t much light coming from the actual sequence.
•  The title of the film comes onto the screen after we see a scene of the antagonist making the bladed glove. The actual title of the film appears on a black background with the words “A Nightmare” in red and a very big bolded font with “on elm street” in normal font in white. The red connotes blood which can be interpreted that the film will feature a lot of blood.

Narrative 

• In the sequence, we see someone who starts to make something that includes sharp items. We are not presented with his face but it soon revealed he has made a bladed glove. A woman is then on screen seen running down a wide hall looking confused. She runs around a place that looks like an abandoned building and a she is being watched. When she is confronted with the thing that is following her, she wakes up to imply she dreamt it all and her parent walks in to ask if she is okay and tells her she needs to stop dreaming such things.
• The tension in this sequence begins when we see the hands of the supposedly antagonist starting to make someone that involved sharp objects. The tension is maintained through the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.

Representation & Ideology

• A female protagonist is being featured in this extract. Her character reflects dominant ideologies of women being weak and the damsels in distress as she is seen frightened in the horror by screaming and running away. She is also shown in her nightgown which suggests vulnerability and stupidity as she is seen walking around an unsafe place in a nightgown. The audience feel that she would need saving and would not be able to stand a chance defending herself to danger. This reinforces stereotypes and beliefs of women in film always needing saving and being the weak character. However, the film is an older film from the 1980's where this kind of representation of woman would be the norm for all films as well as horror. This means the female audience, who may have watched this film at the time, would not find the way the female is presented as that bad due to it being normal for them. 

Media Audiences

• The target audience for this movie would be older teenagers to adults ages 15 – 25 years of age and male.  As we are presented with a sharp weapon and we see the antagonist come up behind the protagonist intending to kill her, it is clear the film will be bloody. This age group and gender are more likely to appeal to the blood factor of the film.
• As a teenager, I can easily detect that the film would appeal to this age group and gender due to the opening sequence implying there will be more blood shed in the film. The way I have read this opening sequence causes me to think that the film’s scare factor will be blood and murder and can guess that a big part of the film will be involving the bladed glove as the main weapon. Also the music for the opening sequence automatically makes it obvious for me to know it will be a scary film.

Institutional Context

• At the time this film was released, the actors in the film were not classed as A list actors but since then, they have become more famous overtime due to starring in this film. An actor in the film who is considered an A list actor today is Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp portrays a character called Glen Lantz.
• The film is an independent film that was produced by Media Home Entertainment and Smart Egg Pictures. The budget for the film was $1.8 million and the box office was $25.5 million.
• The film had a limited theatrical release and was considered an instant commercial success
• It can be detected that this film is independent due to the actors not being well known

 

We started off the day doing a location recce. We found different areas of the woods that we thought would be best suited for the idea we initially had. We also evaluated the practicality of the different locations in terms of what styles shots we could achieve and how we would do it.

We used Adobe Premiere Elements 9.0 to edit our footage.

Sound

• For the sound we used non digetic sound and muted all the audio tracks from the footage. This was in order to remove unwanted and unavoidable background noise from the footage due to filming in close proximity to other groups.
• We found the sounds we wanted on royalty free music websites. We chose sounds that created an uneasy and intense atmosphere. We replaced the sound from the footage with ambient woodland sounds and sound effects on significant movements to keep a sense of realism in what is otherwise a fairly surreal sequence.

Editing 

• We chose the establishing shots to be shown first to set the scene and suggest that there is another presence in the woods beside the protagonist. This was enhanced by layering the wood chopping sound effect over the top of the footage. This sound was captured by us on location by hitting together large pieces of chopped wood.
• For one sequence we filmed a specific action from many different angles in order to provide ourselves with a variety of shots to choose from in post. We made the decision to use the shot with the camera focused on the protagonist's arm, moving as the arm moves. This, coupled with a stinger while focusing on the phone, created a great sense of uneasiness in the sequence.
• To release the built up tension and provide a satisfying end to the sequence, we chose to intercut between 2 different lines of action. We ramped up the pace of the sequence by using a quick cutting rate between the still shot of the protagonists' face and him running through the woods and eventually meeting his fate. In the software we completed this simple technique by cutting up the tracks of footage we selected to use, which included three different takes of the close up shot and a three minute continuous take of the protagonist running around the woods in a circle as the camera pivoted to follow him, and spliced the lines of action together by dropping them between each other and closing the gaps. 
• Using stingers and sound effects found online we added impact to the cuts by aligning loud, sudden sounds with the changing of action. 
• In addition to this we placed elements of sound on certain movements, such as an abnormal blink in the close up at the end, adding to the disorientation and surrealism of the sequence.
• Part of the sequence mentioned above included a disorientating shot, made more intense by a slow colour drain to a greener hue. We achieved this by key framing a colour correction effect to change the tones of the colour slowly throughout the clip. 

What we learnt from the filming experience and ideas we can implement into our main production

• We learnt how use a location to create different camera techniques. For example we used the slant of the hill to create a unique uphill panning shot using the tracks. This is somewhat innovative and could definitely be used in our main production for originality purposes.
• Having to film around other people often proved challenging. Obviously having other people in the background that weren't characters would break audience immersion, so we needed to wait for them to move or we had to film another shot with an angle and position that would exclude them from the frame. For the main production, it is important to choose a location which would have little to no people in the area. Our idea of filming in a church would certainly be a solution.
• One of the most significant things we learnt was time management when filming. Filming often takes considerably longer than is expected, and the more technically impressive a shot, the longer it takes. The tracking shot on the hill using the track took the longer to set up and perfect than any of the other shots.

Techniques that worked and techniques that didn't

• The tracking shot up the hill using the track worked fairly well. The camera was a little shaky because of the uneven ground but the length of the shot was good.
• There low angle shot with a tree stump obscuring the right hand side of the frame was effective as the twisted shape of the tree stump and the angle was good at implying threat
• Pulling back the camera while zooming in to change the perspective didn't work. It's difficult to balance the speed of the zoom with the movement of the camera.
• Harry's fall didn't work well because we didn't have crash mats that would allow him to fall in a believable way.
• Shaking the tree branches to create an ominous effect largely didn't work because we didn't have enough people to surround the camera with moving branches.

Production:

• The film was initially titled Book of the Dead in reference to the work of the author H.P. Lovecraft
• Sam Raimi directed the short film Within The Woods with a budget of only $1600 in hopes of attracting investors to Book of the Dead which had a similar premise
• Raimi and Bruce Campbell (who starred as Ash Williams, the protagonist, and a childhood friend of Raimi) managed to scrape together funding themselves, the actual amount being unclear, although it is estimated it was between $90,000–400,000
• The crew was comprised almost entirely of Raimi and Campbell's friends and family
• Gallons of fake blood was produced using karo syrup
• Filming took 12 weeks and 4 days of re-shoots, and the remoteness of the cabin led to many issues, such as arguments between crew members, cold that forced the crew to burn the cabin's furniture late into filming, for warmth, and little access to medical help if someone was injured
• The film's first cut ran at around 117 minutes, but was shortened to a more marketable 85 minutes

Distribution:

• Raimi first screened the film with a "big premier" at Detroit's Redford Theatre, and ordered ambulances outside to build atmosphere
• Irvin Shapiro suggested Raimi change the name Book of the Dead because it wasn't marketable and advised him to sell the film internationally
• Shapiro, the founder of the Cannes Film Festival, allowed Raimi to screen it in 1982 where it was seen by Stephen King who listed it as one of his favorite films and reviewed it positively, gaining the interest of distributors
• Stephen Woolley decided took the risk of marketing the film in the UK, and it received a campaign more typical of higher budget films, with an emphasis on print campaigns
• New Line Cinema also helped distribute the film and made the unique decision to release the film in cinemas and via VHS at the same time, making it one of the first simultaneous releases
• In it's first week of sale in the UK, the film made $100, 000 and became that week's best selling video release
• The film made $600, 000 domestically and $2, 000, 000 overseas which qualified it as a "sleeper hit"

The poster for The Evil Dead. Note the quote from Stephen King.

• Psychological horror is heavily reliant on enigma.
• It often hinges on an implied threat rather than one that is explicitly shown, and while the danger may become apparent and visible at some point within a film, it is, for the most part, hinted at or concealed.
• It would be fair to say that the sub-genre lends itself to being part of a hybrid.
• Seven (Fincher, 1995) is a good example of a film that strikes a balance between psychological horror and gore, the murder scenes left by the antagonist John Doe being shown to the audience, but the psychology of the character and background of the murders is still being left somewhat ambiguous.
• Shot composition is often pivotal to psychological horror, as the concept does not typically lend itself to pro-filmic effects such as blood packs and prosthetics.
• The Shining (Kubrick, 1980) is heavily reliant on the rule of thirds and use of colour to create an unnerving atmosphere.
• As a few noteworthy examples have proven, psychological horror can lend itself to character studies.
• Both May (McKee, 2002) and American Psycho (Harron, 2000) have proven that a psychological horror film can operate on the disturbing personalities of their protagonists
• The thought processes of their leading characters, communicated through narration and dialogue respectively, cause concern not only over what the characters are capable of and willing to do, but concern for their well-being also, if the characters prove to be likable.
• Additionally, surrealism can often tie-in well with the sub genre, as is very clearly demonstrated by the widely unknown film, Beyond the Black Rainbow (Cosmatos, 2011).
• This is a particularly interesting example as it is psychological horror that use prosthetics, costume, make-up and filters to create a strange, unnatural environment that the audience struggles to relate to and comprehend.

Re-positioning of women within the genre

• Traditionally women were represented as weak characters who needed saving by the typically masculine hero, essentially filling the role of the “damsel in distress".
• However, with the changing times such as the Vietnam War, race riots and the increasingly popular feminist movement.
• Famous horror directors such as George Romero, Wes Craven and John Carpenter responded to world events.
• Throughout the 70s women were re-positioned with the release of now well-known horror films such as Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968) and Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)
• Female characters became more independent, seeking out a threat themselves in order to destroy it.

Stalk and slash

Content:

• Mark Whitehead in his book Slasher Films describes the stalk and slash genre as American in nature and extremely formulaic.
• Nearly all entries into the genre follow the same plot, a mixed group of teenagers travel to a remote location where they are murdered one by one by a masked killer.
• In the third act, the remaining member of the group must confront the antagonist and fight them alone, at which point the identity and motivation of the killer is revealed.

Audience:

• Research found that the core audience was teenage boys and young men who watched for both the depiction of violent deaths and scenes of female nudity.
• The popularity of the sub-genre led to the increasingly gory depiction of character deaths to maintain audience interest.

Significance of the sub-genre:

• It is responsible for the creation of two highly recognisable horror icons, Freddie Krueger from The Nightmare on Elmstreet franchise and Jason Voorhees from the Halloween franchise
• More notably however, some argue that there is a strong moral core to the sub-genre, as it is, on a basic level, based on the punishment of a group of people for either the trespassing upon special grounds, or for some kind of earlier wrong-doing
• There is a case to be made that these films ultimately promote good morality to young people, as core plot serves as a kind of cautionary tale for giving into a desire to be free from the protection of society and their parents.

The Final Girl

• The Final Girl is widely recognised as a trope of the Slasher genre.
• It involves a female character who is the most sensible member of her group of friends.
• Carol J. Clover in her essay “Her Body, Himself” describes the character as “intelligent, watchful, level-headed”.
• Typically she is morally pure and the first to identify the danger the group is in.
• She ties into the moral idea behind stalk and slash movies as The Final Girl is depicted as the somewhat “powerless” in comparison with her more “adult” friends, but her sensibility helps her overcome the threat and defeat it.
• Some, such as Clover, believe that the character becomes more masculine as the plot progresses, having to use a phallic weapon to kill the antagonist, such as knife, axe or chainsaw.
• Some even suggest that through the act of murder The Final Girl becomes more mature herself and an “adult” on her own terms.

Some examples of The Final Girl trope:

Alien (Scott, 1979)

Scream (Craven,1996)

Production

• The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company which is famous for producing the 'cult classic independent horror film The Blair Witch Project'
• It was developed during 1994
• The directors advertised in Black Stage magazine for actors who had good improvisational abilities
• While filming, the actors were given clues on where their next location would be through messages in milk crates that were found with Global Positioning Satellite systems
• Low budget of $25k
• Box office of $248.5k therefore was a success and one of the most successful independent movies of all time
• Shot of hand held cameras
• Filming lasted 8 days
• Much of the action was improvised
• There was 19 hours of footage that had to be edited down to 90 minutes
• Editing in post production took more than 8 months
• It was originally thought that the movie would be on cable television as the filmmakers did not anticipate a wide release

Distribution

• The film was first aired at the Sundance Festival in January 1999
• Artisan Entertainment bough the rights for $1 million
• Haxan and Artisan used the website for the film as the main focus of the publicity campaign
• The film was limited release to only 27 screens which created an impression that tickets for the film were hard to get hold of so audiences would not want to miss out
• They spent approx. $1 million on promotion
• Low budget trailers were shot
• On the opening weekend in July 1999, a full page in Variety Magazine was dedicated to the film that noted the amount of hits the website had (Over 21 million) which was a strong marketing tactic

Marketing Campaign

•  The film had its own website that still exists today. On the website, it documented the history of the Blair Witch from 1985 to 1997.
• The website featured information about the filmmakers and photos, there are also parts from the film of the recovered tapes and the protagonist Heather's journal.  This helped the film to increase beliefs that it is based on a true story so audiences would be more eager to watch it
• The website was gradually updated to show new information being discovered on the story
• Photos, videos and interviews appeared on the website at different intervals which added to the uncertainty about if the film was a true story or not
• The adverts they made were low budget and were shown in college campuses and a special feature on the Sci-Fi Channel
• The film avoided advertising on mainstream cinema ads. This saved them money but also caused audiences to believe the film was very special and in hope they would discover the film themselves
• For the viral marketing campaign, on IMDb before the film was released, the three main protagonists in the film were listed as 'missing, presumed dead'.
• Missing persons leaflets and posters were handed out to the public on the three characters
• The film was the first to be widely marketed online using web 2.0

Production

The iconic mask can be seen in this image of the main character Michael Myers

• The film had a very low budget, just $300k, this meant that the budget for the costuming was stretched. This resulted in many of the costumes being actors own clothes and the iconic mask being made from a cheap Captain Kirk mask sprayed white and with the eye holes widened.
• The whole project was shot in just 20 days due to financial strains putting pressure on the shooting period.
• The film's budget also restricted the number of marquee name actors that were able to be cast. The biggest star cast was Donald Pleasence after both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee declined due to the low pay offering.
• The soundtrack was scored by the film's director John Carpenter to save costs, and is regarded as one of the most influential selling points of the film.

Distribution

The Theatrical release poster for Halloween

•  The film was produced by Falcon International Productions and distributed by Compass International Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.
• Despite the small $300k budget, the film received a $70million box office revenue, having very comfortably received five times it's budget in profits and much more.
• Halloween was first released on 25th October 1978, cashing in on the suitable Halloween holiday market.
• Since it's theatrical release the film has been released on VHS, LaserDisk, DVD, UMD and BluRay, however at the time of the film's release home video was a very young format and was not widely supported, hence the majority of revenue came from the theatrical release.
• Due to the film's low budget there was very little marketing beyond the traditional trailer and poster releases, however this lack of marketing is not reflected in the box office. The main marketing contributor for the film was buzz, with people spreading excitement about it's slasher style violence and fear factor.

Purpose - K.H

• Primarily we intend to assess whether Wilderness    Woods is a suitable location to film our proper horror opening
• To practice in managing the potential problems that may arise when shooting on location.
• To gain experience in filling in the paper work required for shooting on location
• Time management is one way we are in experienced in planning a shoot and the 

Risk Assessment - M.P

• Weather - It could be raining which could cause harm to the camera equipment. To minimise this risk, we need to wear waterproof clothing, e.g. waterproof coat and wellies. Also take a waterproof bag with us to put the camera in to minimise the risk of it getting wet.

• Tripping over - There will be uneven ground and different terrain on the ground which could cause us to trip over. To minimise the risk, we need to make sure we are not running and look where we are going.

• Getting lost - There is a chance we could get lost as surroundings could look similar. To minimise the risk, we need to make sure we have a phone with us to contact someone if we should get lost. Also make sure we follow signs and do not go off the pathways.

• Low hanging branches - There is a highly likely chance there will be low hanging branches which could cause harm to someone. To minimise the risk, we need to aware to very aware of our surroundings and try to avoid walking near them if we can.

Planning - H.P

We want to use the location to give us practice in the shooting style we are intending to employ for our real shoot. Elements of the style will include

·         An uneasiness generated by an extremely low cutting rate and abnormal long shots

·         Tension caused by an uneven non diegetic soundtrack, using sound effects and groups of sounds rather than music.

·         A jump scare element, built up to during the course of the sequence.

We plan to create a short narrative sequence set in the woods, based on the idea that the protagonist has already encountered the antagonist and has been attacked by it and knocked unconscious. The sequence will follow the protagonist waking up and coming back to his senses after the attack, with the antagonist suggested to be lingering still.

We will use elements that suggest that the protagonist is drifting in and out of consciousness, including pulling the focus abnormally and applying a wobble to most shots. Interesting shot angles and extreme close ups and long shots should help to add the disorientation of the piece.

Key Iconography Of Gothic Horror

This sub-genre of horror is arguably the oldest and most established of them all, and still defines what many people see horror to be today. Some significant iconography of the genre are as follows:

• Gothic buildings, for example churches and graveyards. Large, stone buildings with plenty of dark corners and an unnerving sense of scale and grandeur.
• Classic monsters including vampires, werewolves and beasts. The sense of fear is generally created by preying on the fears of people at the time of the film's creation, for example the vampire in Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922) depicted the fears of the German government and disease. See the history of horror blog post for more on this subject.  
• Darkness, rain, fog and lightening. Grim, overbearing weather is a common image used in gothic horror, indeed the genre has made such weather a cliched element in film due to its famously iconic atmosphere in gothic horror.
• Damsels in distress. In most gothic horror films there will be a female character that is in need of rescuing or that serves as a victim for the antagonist to prey on.
• Black and white images. Due to the sub-genre being one of the oldest not just in horror, but in the whole history of film, the majority of gothic horror films are devoid of colour, making this an icon of the genre.

 Why are we so afraid of Zombie Horror 

The resemblance of Zombies to human faces has been said to be the scare factor that we find so frightening when watching zombie horror. Zombies have lifeless, empty eyes in a human face which is uncomfortable and frightening for a viewer. It is unsettling to watch therefore this is why Zombie Horrors have a great effect to unsettle and disturb people hence why we are afraid of them! There was a study by a psychologist tested on 3000 people where results showed that there was ‘widespread’ repulsion at near human faces. Uncanny Valley was an effect discovered in the 1970s that was research to see if giving robots human faces would be reassuring for humans. However, instead of being reassured, it was seen as sinister. It is described as a ‘sense of unease that accompanies the sight of something almost, but not quite human’
Zombie Apocalypse!



 

Key points after reading the blog:

• People think they love the idea of a zombie apocalypse
• The appeal of a Zombie apocalypse is questions such as "Can I survive it?"
• Most people think they will be able to survive one due to TV shows and films making it look so easy
• There are different scenarios that are appealing: The Plague scenario, The Post Oil Depression scenario, The Nuclear War Scenario, The Rapture scenario
• With each of these scenarios, there needs to be a distinction between fast and slow zombies as no one wants to fight zombies they can't win against. For example, zombies in the film World War Z causes the idea of a zombie apocalypse look less appealing.  
 
• Survivors of zombie apocalypses in films/tv shows, are always given free stuff such as cars and mansions - even though there is no electricity left on earth. The appeal of free stuff is what causes audiences to like the idea of a zombie apocalypse.

World War Z

Overall, the idea of a zombie apocalypse seems fun and exciting. However, the truth of it is that it may not be as simple as it is portrayed in different forms of media. It is an exciting concept to think about but no one would really like there to be a zombie apocalypse, they just think they would!  
Why do we love Zombies?  

• Zombies came to be known in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead which has been inspiration for other zombie movies
• Zombies seem to be everywhere right now
• Zombies are more gruesome and intense than vampires which can be seen as more interesting 
• There is a lot of creativity with the design of zombies
• People enjoy the different possibilities of zombie design and what parts of them can be missing
• Zombies movies show what happens when everyday people are put in extreme apocalyptic situations 
• Zombies can be funny e.g films like Shaun of the Dead causes zombies to be funny
• Zombies are very entertaining   

• I experimented with practical and typical visual conventional horror effects to produce this image. The mise-en-scene aspects that align this with the genre include the dark tone, silhouetting of the humanoid subject, the unwelcoming orange tones and the inclusion of a bludgeoning weapon. 
• Practically, this was a very guerrilla style set up, but with what I believe is a satisfactory result. The setting is my garden, with a tungsten balanced work lamp clamped to a spare tripod behind the figure to provide the backlighting.  
• The figure is me with a towel draped over me and an axe, standing in the way of the light. 
• The effect is sealed by the use of a fog machine and a long exposure on the camera, which both creates the strange swirling mist effect, and allows the silhouette to be seen at all as the fog was required to give the light something to bounce off.

Why are stories that 'aim to scare their audience' so popular?

• Horror stories play on the fears and worries of people, featuring commonly included themes like death, disease and stalking. They relate to people who recognise these fears and draws them into the story and the action.
•  More recently, the use of 'jump scares' has given horror films an addictive quality, providing the audience with rushes of adrenaline at various intervals during the film, fueling their excitement for the next scare.

What insight can the study of horror monsters give?

• Horror monsters have traditionally been portrayed as representing certain overriding fears and tensions at the time of the film's creation.
•  In the case of Frankenstein's monster, his situation resembles that of the racial tension in the west at the time. He is marginalised in society and is unable to join the culture of the people around him, resulting in his eventual death which resembles the case of lynching. 
• The monster's creation raises questions about the aristocracy and preys on fears about science going too far. At the time of the film's creation in 1932 these were very relevant themes, especially with the eventual dropping of the atomic bombs in 1945. 

What did Nosferatu (1922), one of the earliest horror films use the vampire as a metaphor for?

• The vampire in Nosferatu is rat like in appearance and attacks by invading villages, spreading disease and transferring bodily fluids with victims. 
• This concept for a monster could be seen as a metaphor for the effect of corrupt, expansionist politicians and the diseases that plagued war torn Germany in 1922. 

How has horror changed through the decades?

• In the 1960's films like Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) and Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960) started to create a phase of domesticated horror, films that used normal looking monsters in regular settings. This linked in with the abnormal amount of violence being covered by the media, with the murders of the Kennedy brothers, Martin Luther King and the images of the Vietnam war being broadcast on the news. 
• This led to the more sadistic human monsters of the 1970's, with films such as The last house on the Left (Craven, 1972 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, 1974). The horror films of the 70's eventually turned to the subject of social change, including the growth in reliance on science and the increasing number of single parent families. These subjects were made themes of The Exorcist (Friedkin, 1972). 
• In the 1980's, home video led to the growth of cheap, gory slasher films. In one sense the horror genre appears to have lost its way in this decade, as the dominant sub-genre strays from the dominant fears of the time. 
• More recently the sub-genre of torture porn has appeared, dominated by franchises spawning from films like Saw (Wan, 2004). Again these films stray from the dominant fears of the time, but push the boundaries of desensitisation and CGI gore.

According to Steph Hendry a teacher of media at Runshaw College and an AQA examiner, the reason the horror genre still survives is it's ability to adapt and tap into each generation's concerns and it's metaphorical approach deals with issues that relate to a wide audience.

For this, I decided to use the woods as it is a generic horror movie setting. The location I picked where you can see the antagonist standing, was picked purposely as the sunlight made her skin very pale which is what I wanted, so a cold tone would be created. I used pro-filmic effects such as Ketchup for the blood on her hands and wrist. I also used a skewer for a prop to look like the weapon in the scene. I made the actress put her hair over her face so there is a sense of mystery to her. Overall I wanted to create a mysterious scary photo where an audience could identify that she has perhaps murdered someone.