Holiday Homework Posted by Jon

Horror Conventions~

Convention: An agreement, compact, contract, a rule or method.

Horror films:

- Shocking and Gore scenes (blood)

- Jumpy and Frightening

- Fast Shots (build up of tension)

- Little amount of clarity (fast and unstable shots to suggest the sense of imbalance)

- Dark scenes/ isolated setting/ storm or midnight

- Music and Sound effects (tension/ atmosphere control)

- NVC (facial expressions & body language)

- Evil/ violence/ religion/ ghost/ death/ murder/ screaming

- Villain/ Victims (usually young)/ monsters

- Haunted houses/ chase sequences

- Invoke our hidden/worst fears

Fears created by horror:

- Nightmares

- Our vulnerability

- Fear of the unknown

- Fear of death

- Alienation

- Supernatural/ Ghosts/ religion

- Fear of sexuality

- Lose of identity

Genres~

- Slasher/ Splatter

- Zombie

- Vampire

- Supernatural/ Psychological

- Thriller

- Monsters

- J-Horror

Examples~

- Scream

- Zombieland

- Twilight

- Paranormal Activity

- Buried

- King Kong

- The Grudge

Plot~

- There’s usually a survivor

- Characters disobeying the rules of surviving a horror movie

- A characters death

- Usually good against evil ~ characters conflict

- Outcomes the good person always survives

Sound~

- Fast pace music to build tension in action scenes

- Common use of a beat in the time of a heart beat drumming

- Piano/ violin: minor keys give the spooky sense whether it has a slow or fast pace

Locations~

- Dark

- Isolated

- Religious (eg. Church)

- Country roads

- The woods

- The fields

Slasher Conventions~

- There is lots of blood and gore is why is named Slasher genre

- Usually a lot of deaths through out the film

- Can be extreme which brings the audience out of their comfort zone

- Usually lots of nudes shown in slashers e.g. Saw 3: The Freeze Trap

- Usually a connection of rebelling (Drink/Drugs/Sex) and Death e.g. Scream (1-4)
‘Final Girl' is common in Slashers, typically a teenage girl who defeats the enemy e.g. Scream (1-4)

Psychological/Supernatural Conventions~

- Sometimes including ghosts, spirits, religion or a haunting e.g. Haunting in Connecticut

- Often related to the mind of the human being and effecting people psychologically.

- Usually reveals a certain evil behind something in reality or based on a true story e.g. Haunting in Connecticut

- Often includes subjects that are unrealistic – Supernatural

- Sometimes involving religion and bringing out the negatives e.g. Angels & Demons/ The Last Exorcism

Japanese Horror (J-Horror)~

- (In my opinion) Most effective in their sound effects/ music. Creates a very accurate atmosphere around the audience during a tensed shot.

- Colour white connotes death

- Yuri; usually pale skin/ white messy dress/ long, dark, messy black hair/ parts of face covered by long black hair/ either crawling or walking slowly towards something or someone.

Haunting in Connecticut~

Director: Peter Cornwell

Disturbutor: Lionsgate

Released: 27 March 2009

Genre: Supernatural/ Psychological

Worldwide Gross: $77,527,732

Budget: Unknown

The film was based in a true story which took place in 1988, that has occurred to Karen Parker and her family. In the film, Matthew is a teenager suffering from cancer when his mother moves closer to the hospital that was administrating his experimental treatment.

However, their new home is haunted, reason for that the house was once a funeral home, where a previous owner had contacted the dead. The family experienced many disturbing experience, and with the help of a reverend, the family attempts to free the house of he tormenting spirits.

I am inspired by many factors of his film. One of my first is a shot of the mother taking a bite out of a healthy looking apple and found it fully rotten on the inside, and which she had just taken the apple out of the fridge, she then turns back to look in the fridge and found that everything was horribly rotten. The sound effects were very tense with heavy minor keys which had given the audience goose bumps and the atmosphere was very accurately set by the sound.

Scream 4~

Director: Wes Craven

Disturbutor: Dimension Films

Released: 15 April 2011

Genre: Slasher

Worldwide Gross: $97,037,610

Budget: $40 million

Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro to promote her new book, however, evidence of a murder case was found in her car, purposely done to keep her in Woodsboro for a longer period until the case was solved.

As the film goes on, the storyline becomes more and more twisted causing a confused audience which is good because the audience becomes more attach, trying to solve the situation themselves. After many deaths of other characters, in the end, Sidney finds out the killer was her cousin Jill who has responsible for the murdering all for the fame and attention. After an extremely tensed battle, Sidney finally defeats the enemy.

I am very impressed by how many characters breaks the rule of surviving a horror movie which creates a tensional and frustrating atmosphere for the audience to become more worried and curious for the character. Also I am inspired by the complex and twisted storyline. This technique and cause the audience to become fasten to the film, trying to solve the circumstances themselves.

Horror Film Director~

- Wes Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer, who are best known as one of the best director of many horror films.

- Best know for directing Scream films

- Undergraduated in English and Psychology and designed a Halloween logo for Google

- Directed his first film: The Last House on the Left

- Craven’s work tend to shared a common explanation of the nature of reality

- In the film Scream, the characters frequently reference horror films into similar with their situations

Horror Conventions Posted by Peace

This powerpoint presentation explores the different features and principles in making a teaser trailer, and things to consider. However before I could do this I had to first understand the key objectives and words...

When making a teaser trailer it is so easy to suggest a story line but it's the way you narrate a story line that makes all the difference. The slide below defines the meaning of narrative and representation.

Below are the coventions that have to identfied and considered when making a
teaser trailer Posted by Peace

Holiday Homework Posted by Ryan

Horror Conventions:
-Supernatural/Surreal -Violence
-Evil -Villain
-Monsters -Victims (usually young)
-Blood -Storms
-Ghosts -Chase Sequences
-Killing -Haunted Houses
-Screams -Isolated Settings
-Death -Darkness
-Gore -Weapons (shank weapons, not guns)


Conventions of a Horror Film Teaser Trailer:


-Jumpy and Gore Scenes -Fast Shots (emphasises the tension and suspense)
-Snippets of infliction or pain to attract and ensure the horror representation is implied
-Little amount of clarity (leaves viewer in suspense)
-Music (tension) -Language
-NVC (facial expressions & body language)


Horror Films

The Evil Dead is a 1981 comedy horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi. The film stars Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss and Betsy Baker in which five college students go on a vacation in an isolated cabin in a wooded area. The vacation then becomes gruesome when they find an audiotape that releases evil spirits.

When the film was premiered in Michigan on October 15, 1981, the film was under public disagreement for its graphic terror, violence, and gore. The film was turned down by almost all U.S. film distributors until a European company finally bought it in the Cannes Film Festival marketplace in May 1982. The film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing a total of $2,400,000 in the U.S upon its initial release against a budget of approximately no more than $400,000. Regardless of the film getting mixed reviews by critics at the time, it has since developed a cult following. The film spawned two sequels, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, and also a stage musical. Work on a script for another film has started, however it was announced on July 13, 2011 that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell would now focus on a remake of the original film.

Children of the Corn (also known as Stephen King's Children of the Corn) is a 1984 horror film directed by Fritz Kiersch, starring Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton. Set in the surreal rural town of Gatlin, Nebraska, the film tells the story of a demonic entity referred to as "He Who Walks Behind The Rows" which entices the children of the town to ritualistically murder all the adults to ensure a successful corn harvest. A couple driving cross-country hit a child and drive to the nearest town to report it (Gatlin) and find themselves trapped with little chance of getting out alive. Stephen King wrote the original draft of the screenplay which focused more on the characters of Burt and Vicky and depicted more back-story on the uprising of the children in Gatlin. However, this script was disregarded in favour of George Goldsmith's screenplay which featured more violence and a more conventional narrative structure. Filming took place mainly in Iowa, but also California. Seven sequels and a television remake have been produced.

Brain Dead is a 1990 horror/psychological thriller starring Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton and George Kennedy written by Charles Beaumont. Bill Pullman plays a neurosurgeon, Dr. Rex Martin, who is active in studying brain malfunctions that cause mental illnesses. High school friend Jim Reston, a successful businessman at Eunice, requires Dr. Martin's aid in reaching the mind of John Halsey, a former genius mathematician who once worked for the company and is now a paranoid psychotic at a nearby asylum. Dr. Martin's surgery is intended to successfully alter the patient's mental attitude, unlocking the secrets within Halsey's brain or leaving him unable to accidentally share them with anyone else. As Martin begins the surgical procedure, he starts to experience the same paranoid dreams as Halsey. The episodes grow in intensity until it becomes unclear whether Martin is a doctor imagining he's the patient, or a mental patient who succumbed to the delusion that he was a brain surgeon. Martin floats further and further from reality, caught between his loyalty to his business colleagues and his own humanity.

James Wan

James Wan (born on 27 February 1977) is a Malaysian-born Australian producer, screenwriter, and film director of Chinese heritage. He is widely known for directing the horror film “Saw” and creating Billy the puppet. He has also directed Dead Silence, Death Sentence and Insidious.

Before becoming popular in the film industry, James Wan made his first feature film Stygian with Shannon Young, which won 'Best Guerrilla Film' at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2000. He then met future business partner, Leigh Whannell, while studying at RMIT. James Wan then went on to co-create and direct the 2003 horror film (and franchise), Saw, with the help of Leigh Whannell, who wrote the script. Wan and Whannell made a short version of the film to showcase the script. Whannell played the role of David in the short film, and the leading role of Adam in the feature film. The three producers who saw the short film and read Whannell's screenplay agreed to produce the film before Wan and Whannell even landed in Los Angeles. Wan and Whannell decided to forgo upfront salary in return for gross profits. Shot for a low $1.2 million budget, the producers had a straight-to-DVD release in mind. However, Saw was to become a surprise record breaking theatrical horror franchise, earning Wan and Whannell much more than they had originally predicted.

Holiday Homework posted by Eilish.

Conventions
Antagonist – normally the villain who is disliked.
Protagonist – normally the victim and potentially the hero.
Red herrings – a Misleading clue, character who the audience presumes is the villain but who isn’t.

Slasher Conventions
There is lots of Blood and Gore is why is named Slasher genre
It usually makes the audience cringe and brings them out of their comfort zone e.g. Saw
Usually lots of Nudes shown within slashers Such as Psycho - Shower scene
Usually a connection of rebelling (Drink/Drugs/Sex) and Death e.g. Halloween
The Antagonist is usually male although there are exceptions
‘Final Girl' is commonly seen in Slashers, typically a teenage girl who manages to defeat the
Male Gaze - this is commonly seen which means we see the killers point-of-view
Its common that the killer is using a disguise or mask of some kind like Halloween
Zombie/ Monster/Alien Conventions
Sub-human creatures or adaptations of Humans are the Villains.
They usually are extremely hard to defeat or have a certain weakness about them. E.g Zombies - Destroy the brain.
It’s often filmed using A Hand-Held Camera such as Rec.
Often surrounds a group of people who are unfortunate and unaware of what's happening until they start dying off one by one such as 28 Weeks later.
A lot of mistakes are made, making the wrong decision resulting in a death
A lot of blood and use of ugly costume such as The Thing which are obviously scary.
J-Horror
Japanese horror has its own conventions and sometimes goes completely against them.
The main sub0genre they relate to would be Psychological and supernatural horrors as they build tension.
Yokai come from Japanese horror, it’s a class of supernatural creatures which have several different forms.
One missed call, Ringu and The grudge are some well known Japanese horror films.
While in most other cultures you are used to seeing werewolves ect, within Japanese horror you are more likely to see yurei which is a commonly pale faced female dressed in white symbolising funerals within the Japanese culture, also long black hair which covers most of their face.

Psychological/Supernatural
Sometimes Including Gods, Ghosts, spirits, or similar things which are extraordinary.
Sometimes Supernatural can be combined with Religion such as Sleepy Hollow and Always.
Often related to the mind and effecting people psychologically.
It normally reveals a certain evil behind something real which people can relate to such as Paranormal Activity.
Often includes things that are not real – Supernatural
Links to traditions like death, afterlife and the devil.
Thriller
Usually rely on tension and lead up to a point where the audience presume they will jump however, there is no scare.
Also relies on excitement and anxiety.
They relate mainly to your mood and like the audience to feel and include red herrings and cliff-hangers.
Often are linked to other genres such as Crime thrillers, Psychological thrillers, political thrillers and mystery thrillers.

Wes Craven
an American Actor, Writer, Director, Producer. Not only had he created some of the best horror films, he has also written books and several television series and created the original bases for some of the best re-makes in today’s horror films.
Here are some of his work:
1972 - The Last House on the left
1977 - The Hills have Eyes
1978 - Stranger in our House (TV Movie)
1981 - Deadly Blessing
1982 - Swamp Thing
1984 - Invitation to Hell (TV Movie)
1984 - Nightmare on Elm street
1985 - Chiller (Tv Movie)
1985 - The Hills have Eyes Part 2
1985 - The Twilight Zone (TVSeries)
1986 - Casebuster (TV Movie)
1986 - Deadly Friend
1988 - The Serpent and the Rainbow
1989 - Shocker
1990 - Night Visions (TV Movie)
1991 - The People under the Stairs
1992 - Nightmare Cafe (TV Series)
1994 - Wes Craven's New Nightmare
1995 - Vampire in Brooklyn
1996 - Scream
1997- Scream 2
1999 - Music of the Heart (Non Horror)
1999 - Fountain Society (Novel)
2000 - Scream 3
2005 - Cursed
2005 - Red Eye
2005 - Paris Je T'aime
2007 - The Hills have Eyes (Re-make)
2009 - The Last house on the Left (Re-make)
2011 - Scream 4

Other
I have been to see The Woman in Black and Ghost Stories in Theatre which have a different perspective on Horror and how it’s portrayed compared to film.

Woman in Black
- Good Build-up/ Storyline
- Only 3 cast members
- One setting throughout
- Sound and Lighting essential
- Included an Interval
- First half they were acting out the play and then it became real.
- Most like a Psychological/ Supernatural film


Ghost Stories
- Narrator almost in the way they presented the story, however he was then brought into it.
- 5 Cast members
- Its several different stories within the one Story
- Several settings throughout the Story - Always in darkness
- Sound and Lighting essential
- No Interval
- The setting the Audience was in, the theatre set as an old derelict house with numbers painted on the wall which is similar to a pre-set and gets you thinking.
- 4D in a sense, it got cold when it was mentioned and the smell of bleach was in the air when mentioned.
- Most like a Psychological/Supernatural Film

Tension is a huge similarity in Theatre and Film, and is essential in most horror related things. Such as Insidious where there is a scene following a small boy through his attic towards a door which was very theatrical and was in darkness apart from the significant red and the hallway accessories. Tension is crucial in ANY horror film as it means the audience is on edge and more scared, and throughout all good films your emotions should change in some way. However, throughout any theatre production your emotions are effected much more as it’s happening in real time and hits me personally more. In comparison though, there were a lot of similarities with lighting and sound and it gave me an insight into how much more flexible you can be with a film.

Intoduction

This Blog has been Set up by Ryan McKean, Peace Oluwatobi, John Ngo, and Eilish Roche.

We as a collaborative team will be showing youour progression through our A2 Media course. We have been asked to create aHorror teaser trailor to last approximatly 30seconds to 1minute. We will be working with new equipment and with new concepts, our aim is to make our teaser trailer look as professional as possible and to enhance our skills relating to every aspect of the media. To create the best teaser trailer possible we will have to ensure that all research and planning is of up most detail andcan inform us of everything needed. Part of our task also consists of creating a poster advertising the film.

Our Blog will be organised into

- Pre Production

- Production

- Post -production

- Distribution

Name: Ryan McKean

Age: 17

Role: Ryan is a keen photographer which is very vital for our project poster, he is used to working with cameras and is able to spread his knowledge between us. He can produce creative ideas which is why we have allocated him Director as well as him being able to assist with the creative writing aspect. He is comfortable with photoshop and knows how to edit photos, he also has been allocated the role of control of the lighting.

Name: John Ngo

Age:

Role: John is very a creative person who is good at graphics and art, he is skilled in photoshop as well as drawing which is why he has taken charge of the storyboard. He has taken the role of Graphic Designer and the overall design of the project; He is also assisting the Lighting.

Name: Peace Oluwatobi

Age: 17

Role: Peace is a very outgoing person who has clear visions, she is good at telling people what she wants which is why she is Co-Director. She likes acting and is also comfortable with photoshop and has assisted the Storyboard. Shehas also taken on the role of Organising props.

Name: Eilish Roche

Age: 17

Role: Eilish is a keen actress who will be the main character for our teaser trailer, she is also taking on the role of mark-up Artist as she has had previous experience with horror make-up styles. Eilish is the main writer for the group, which means that she has written the treatment assisted by Ryan. She will take charge of organising the blog and also the project as a whole which is why she is allocated as Producer. She is comfortable with Photoshop and has also used Final Cut briefly meaning that she will be able to assist the technical design and Editing.

As you can see, we take our roles very seriously and hope to create a great Teaser trailer: