Shot List

This is the shot that I drew for our key shot list. It shows a long high-angle shot of the two characters finding the dead body from its point of view. This shot is set in a woody area in the park where the body was found. The trees would be in an arch around where the two characters are standing to look as though the woody area was 'opening up' to the characters to show them the body.

This is an extreme close up of the hand of the dead girl. This hand would be stretched out to the side of the girl and this shot would be one of the shots which shows the features of the girl. This is so that the audience gets an idea that someone has died but they do not yet know the identity of the person who has died.

Plot Synopsis

Our film is set in a city in England, It is about a serial killer who, after he kills his victims, hides their bodies in a place where other people would be able to find them. He also writes a note which says, "You're next..." and places it in the victim's hand. If someone finds the body and reads the note, they are the next to die.

A couple are walking together through a park when they come across the body of a dead girl in the woods. The dead girl is holding a crumpled up piece of paper which tells the couple that they are next. The couple do not take any notice of the piece of paper - they think that it is a prank but are still startled by the body. They call the police but before they say their location, the phone cuts out.

The character on the phone looks around to see that their partner has disappeared. They spot the killer and as they try to run, the murderer kills them. When the police arrive at the scene after tracking the call, all of the bodies have been moved.



This causes a chain reaction as the police keep recieving phone calls which cut out before the caller can say their location. The police set out to find the killer. They manage to track the killer down and there is a confrontation. The main charater who is also one of the policemen manages to arrest the killer who is put into prison.



An image of what the note from the killer would say.





One of the possible locations where the dead girl could be found.



Questions that the audience will ask would include, "How did the girl die in the opening sequence?" and "How does the killer know when the bodies have been found?" Another question that the audience would ask is, "What motivated the killer to be a murderer?"

During the opening sequence, we would reveal that the girl was murdered and that the couple were next. However, we would not reveal who the killer was or what actually happened to the couple until later on in the film.

Our film fits the horror genre because it involves the murder of people by a serial killer. There would be a lot of jumpy parts to the film and there would be a lot of conventions that the audience look for in horror films such as blood, murder and death.



Initial Ideas

Vox Pops

The vox pops that we shot showed us that people like horror films because there is a lot of suspense and scary moments.

From the vox pops, we learnt that people expect to see a lot of death, danger and suspense in horror films. This will inform us of what we could put in our plot because we could put in the death of a character which was unseen by the audience. This would make them ask questions such as, "How did this character die?"

People who watch horrors also expect the pace of the editing to be quite slow which also mixes with fast paced editing at the point where the characters are in danger. This helps to build up the suspense in the film so that the audience know that something is about to happen. This informs us that in our opening sequence, the editing should be slower paced to build suspense and then once the suspence has built up, the editing gets quicker to show the danger that the characters are in.

Survey Results

Survey results. from LindsayB96

  This is the powerpoint presentation that we made presenting our results from the questionnaire about people's thoughts on horror films.

Q3) How often do you watch horror films?

From this question, we learnt that the majority of people prefer to watch horror films quite often; either once a month or once a week. This shows that most of the people in our target audience enjoy watching horror films as they may prefer to watch them rather than movies of other genres in their free time.

Q4) What do you expect to see in a horror film?

From this question, we discovered that the majority of people associate horror films with blood, death and murderers. This shows that the main conventions that are noticed in horror films are the fact that there are a lot of murders, death and blood and people are more likely to notice these conventions over the other conventions of a horror film. This will inform our work on the opening sequence because we will put conventions suchas death and murder into our opening sequence.

Q5) Where do you prefer to watch horror films?

This question showed us that most people prefer to watch horror films at home rather than the cinema. This means that people may prefer to watch at home because there may be a better atmosphere for a horror film at home whereas at the cinema, it may be harder to acheive an atmosphere suitable for a horror film. This is because a lot of horror films are set in a house so a more frightening atmosphere can be acheived at home.

Q6) Why do you like to watch horror films?

From this question, we discovered that a lot of people enjoy watching horror films because they find them exhilarating which gets their adrenaline pumping and because horror films hold a lot of suspense and make the audience jump. This shows that people watch horror films for the excitement of the plotline and because it has a lot of tension. To fit this, our plot will include suspense and tension by putting in danger and death.

Q7) Where do you expect a horror film to be set?

Most of the responses from this question showed that people expect to see locations in a horror film such as dark places, woods or forests and abandoned buildings. These settings are usually associated with a horror film because they connote danger and they have a grim, eerie atmosphere. Characters who are seen in this locations in a horror film are generally in a lot of danger and they are seen as vulnerable because the setting is unfamiliar to them. This information will inform our work because we will have a location such as a woody area in a park to set our opening sequence in.

Q8) What characters do you expect to see in a horror film?

From the questionnaire, we discovered that people would normally see a murderer and a stereotypical villain and hero. When watching horror films, people expect to see a villain or a murderer who needs to be stopped by the hero. In our horror film, we are going to have the conventional characters of a villain and victims of the villain.

Q9) What kind of music do you hear in a horror film?

In horror films, people hear intense, slow music that builds up as the amount of danger that the characters are in builds up. This music puts people on the edge of their seats as they know that something bad is going to happen to the characters on the screen at the time. This informs us of what music we should put into our opening sequence; slow, low pitched and quiet music that gradually builds up as something is about to happen.


Q10) When watching a horror film, how does it make you feel?

The majority of people who took part in our questionnaire said that horror films make them feel nervous, scared and puts them on the edge of their seat. These feelings are caused by the build up of tension and the danger that the characters are facing. This informs us of how we should plan the plot of our horror film because we should plan an opening sequence that puts people on the edge of their seat because of the suspense that is being built up.

Horror Film Questionnaire

This is our questionnaire about horror films that we gave to 18 people to fill out. The questionnaire shown here is the blank questionnaire which we used to make notes on during our analysis of the questionnaires.

In our questionnaire, we used a mix of both open and closed questions. We put open questions such as "What do you expect to see in a horror film?" and "Where do you expect horror films to be set?" These were put in to get an idea of what people were expecting when they saw a horror film.

We used closed questions such as "How often do you watch horror films?" and "Where do you prefer to watch horror films?" These questions were put in to get more of an idea about what people in our target audience are like and how often they would watch a horror film like the one which we are are making an opening sequence to.

Location Research

This is an image that I took when in Collingwood Park. I thought that it would be an effective place to film our opening sequence because the lighting in this setting would have lighting that is low-key. The park around this clearing is very open and it is sort of park where you would find couples walking together like in our plot.

This is an image of a clearing in a woody area. This would be suitable for our horror film opening sequence because it is an area with very low-key lighting to enhance the dangerous atmosphere. The area is also next to a path so it is likely that someone walking along the path would see what is in the clearing. In our opening sequence, a couple of people find a body in a woody area. By walking along the path, the characters in our opening sequence would be able to see the body if they were looking in that direction.

This image shows another clearing in the same park as image 2. Although it does not have low-key lighting, it is in direct view of a path. It is very spacious and remote which would be suitable for our plotline where two people find the body of a dead girl in an area like this.

I chose to take a picture of this setting because it is in the same park as images 2 and 3. This image has a path running under trees which look like an arch and has woody areas on either side of it. This would be suitable because it is a wide open space and the woody areas are in sight of people who are walking on the path which is what happens in our opening sequence.

Titles

 The font of the titles are also important because they create the atmosphere of the film. A serious thriller or action/adventure film will have a serif font whereas a romatic comedy will have a sans serif font. The font of the titles in horror films may resemble blood dripping down a wall.

Conventions of a Horror Film

The characters in a horror film usually consist of a female victim, a male protagonist and a male murderer. The females are generally victims because they are represented as being weaker and more vulnerable. This contrasts with the males who are seen to be stronger and more able to defend themselves which is why they are seen as either the protagonists or the murderers.

The plot of horror films generally starts with an incident where a charcter gets injured or killed. The attacks continue until the protagonist finds the murderer and finds a way to defeat them. For instance, in SAW, Jigsaw is killing people in horrific ways for his own entertainment. Horror films can also have supernatural activity which has become a danger to the characters. For example, in Paranormal Activity, a demon is trying to harm to the main characters physically and emotionally.

The theme of horror films usually consist of death and murder by a serial killer or a group of murderers. Other themes include a paranormal or supernatural activity that is a danger to the characters in the film. The films that include this is Paranormal Activity and Resident Evil.

'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' Analysis

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From the opening sequence, the audience ask questions such as:
"Who is the person screaming?"
"Who is calling Emily?"
"Where is Emily?"
"Who is the man that visits the house?"
"Does he have anything to do with Emily?"
"Is there anything or anyone in the barn?"

The soundtrack for 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose'. It is low-pitched, quiet and slow which builds up suspense for the audience.

'Resident Evil: Afterlife' Analysis

This is a mindmap of my analysis of 'Resident Evil: Afterlife'.

This is the opening sequence of the film, 'Resident Evil: Afterlife'