KT: The Institutional Context of The Exorcist (Friedkin, 1973)

The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror films directed by William Friendkin. The films deals with the demonic possession of a 12 year old girl and her mothers attempts to win her child back through an exorcism conducted by two priests.


Production:

• Budget was $12 million
• Film was adapted from William Peter Blatty's novel in 1971 also called 'The Exorcist'
• The film earned 10 Academy Award nominations, winning two (Best Sound Mixing and Best Adapted Screenplay), and losing Best Picture to The Sting.
• First horror film to be nominated for Best Picture.
• The film has had a significant influence on popular culture.
• It was named the scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly
• It became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, grossing over $441 million worldwide
• Produced by William Peter Blatty
• Aspects of the novel were inspired by an exorcism performed on a young boy from Cottage City, Maryland, in 1949 by the Jesuit priest, Fr. William S. Bowdern, who formerly taught at both St. Louis University and St. Louis University High School. Hunkeler's Catholic family was convinced the child's aggressive behavior was attributable to demonic possession, and called upon the services of Father Walter Halloran to perform the rite of exorcism. Although Friedkin admits he is very reluctant to speak about the factual aspects of the film, he made the film with the intention of immortalizing the events that took place in Cottage City, Maryland in 1949, and despite the relatively minor changes that were made, the film depicts everything that could be verified by those involved. It was one of three exorcisms to be sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the U.S. at that time. In order to make the film, Friedkin was allowed access to the diaries of the priests involved, as well as the doctors and nurses; he also discussed the events with the boy's aunt in great detail. Friedkin doesn't believe that the "head-spinning" actually occurred, but this has been disputed. Friedkin is not a Christian of any denomination
• The Exorcist contained a number of special effects, engineered by makeup artist Dick Smith. In one scene from the film, Max von Sydow is actually wearing more makeup than the possessed girl (Linda Blair). This was because director Friedkin wanted some very detailed facial close-ups. When this film was made, von Sydow was 44, though he was made up to look 74.

Distribution:

• Distributed by Warner Bros.
• Release date was  16th March 1974 (UK)
• Opening Weekend Received $8,175,666   
• Box Office received $441,071,011   
• The Exorcist was released theatrically in the United States by Warner Bros. on December 26, 1973.
• The original film with restored film and digitally remastered audio, with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio
• A limited edition box set was released in 1998; it was limited to 50,000 copies, with available copies circulating around the Internet. There are two versions; a special edition VHS and a special edition DVD. The only difference between the two copies is the recording format
  

KT: Analysis of Opening Sequence of Scream (Craven,1996) )

KT:Analysis of Opening Sequence of Scream (Craven,1996)
Genre
This film partakes in a number of different sub genres of horror including mystery and slasher/stalker. In the opening sequence the title of the film in shows in red with a non diegetic scream following. The scene opens with a phone ringing and a woman picks up, the man who rung starts asking her questions to which she responds "I think you have the wrong number."
The woman hangs up and walks away yet the phone rings again, this starts to create a sense of mystery and tension as the mans voice seems to be very calm and confident.  The woman then puts something on the stove and the diegetic sound of the phone ringing again occurs. She picks up and the conversation that follows seems to be flirtatious no her part and concerning on the mans part. He asked a number of personal questions which seem alarming yet she is willingly answering. This is almost a cliché in horror in that the woman does not seem alarmed. While talking on the phone the woman stands by the kitchen knives and pulls one out; this is a use of iconography in horror however it is ironic as she is the victim in this sequence. A non diegetic background music is introduced which creates suspension as the conversation turns more sadistic. "I want to know who I'm looking at" the man says, the woman now gets concerned and starts locking doors and hanging up the phone. This action has the audience alarmed as the situation is getting more serious.
Film Language
This opening uses a number of different techniques to ensure that the audience gripping technique is effective. As the scene is fist shown the title sequence fades with non diegetic use of screams and a diegetic use of a phone ringing. This effect has the audience on edge as it is foreshadowing the outcome. A handicam is used to follow the woman as she moves around while speaking on the phone. A close up is used on her face to ensure her expression is being read while still having some background included in the shot so the audience knows where the location is. The scene then changes to a tilt angle shot which pans down on the house, this creates a motion of unease. A swing then moving back and forth is shown which again create tension as it seems mysterious as there is a thought that there was recently a presence there. This motion grips the audience as they feel on edge.
Narrative
The plot in the opening scene of Scream has a young woman who is the babysitter answering the house phone. The antagonist rings and begins making conversation with her. The woman responds in a flirtatious manner, not sensing the seriousness of the situation. She hangs up yet the antagonist rings again. The protagonist once again hangs up but the man begins asking questions. The woman then starts to lock the doors and shut the curtains, becoming more scared and aware of the sinister tone the conversation has taken.
Representation & Ideology
The social groups represented in the opening scene of scream are gender and age. Gender is represented by the woman as being flirtatious and playful. This connotes a sense of ignorance to the issue as the woman has not realized she is in danger at first. The woman is sexualised at first as she her tone of voice is teasing to the man and she asks if he wants to take her out. Gender is also represented through the antagonist being a man which is a use of iconography in horror. Age is also denoted through the young woman. Youth is shown to be naïve and innocent as the young woman is unsuspecting at first of the conversation and begins to flirt.
Institutional Context
The actors who star in this film were not A-listers at the time with the exception of Courteney Cox who stared in friends so was known at the time by audiences. However, Drew Barrymore went on to be very successful and have an A-list status. The production budget for the film was $14 million. The film then went on to have a Total Domestic Gross of $103,046,663. Scream was released in December 20th, 1996. On the opening weekend it received $6,354,586.
The movie had a wide release and was viewed in 1,994 theatres. The film was distributed by 'Dimension Films' and has gone on to release another 3 films in the series. The film does not have any extreme special effects as in 1996 the technology was not a developed as it is now. In the opening sequence the non diegetic scream that we hear sets the tone and genre of the movie. In the opening scene there is little evidence that the film should have cost that much to make as it is in a simple house which could be a set or a location.

Group: Wilderness Woods

We edited this footage on Adobe Premier Elements 9.0. We tried to create a continuity piece of work, full of different camera angles, shots and movements.
First we had to put all our footage onto the D drive on the school computers. We then had to upload our footage to Premier. Every clip we wanted to use we had to drag and drop it into the visual timeline. Once it was there, we then had to cut it and trim it down in order to make our work look like its continuous action. To do this we had to use the cutting tool and cut it where we wanted the clip to start and finish. We had to organise and select our clips and place them in chronological order and intercut them. It took a lot of re-arranging and re-ordering in order to achieve the look of the piece we were going for. Although we didn't manage our time well enough for focus on the sound of the footage, we managed to add in a few areas of sound. To do this we had to upload the sound to Premier from freesound.org and then drag and drop it into the audio timeline. The majority of our sound is from this website so we had to drag and drop this non diegetic sound onto the audio timeline.  Once we had completed our work, we had to render and export our piece and upload it onto YouTube in order to share it.

MC: Analysis of Opening Sequence of A Nightmare On Elm Street (Craven, 1984)

Genre
This film belongs to the slasher sub-genre of horror. In the opening sequence, some conventions that make it evident that it is a slasher film is the fact there is someone watching a girl, however we don't know who the mysterious person is yet. We only see glimpses of him so it builds the suspense within the audience. Another film that shares conventions with this film opening is Scream (Craven, 1996) because in the opening of Scream, we see a girl on the phone to an unknown character. This builds suspense in the same way that A Nightmare On Elm Street does because it keeps the antagonist hidden so it causes the audience to wonder who they are, what they look like, and why they're after this girl. The audiences generic expectations of this film opening are fulfilled as they go to watch as slasher horror film to be scared by the fact someone is being watched. This opening sequence sets the tone for the rest of the movie as it straight away gets the audience gripped with action that relates to what the film will be about. It allows them to question what is going on and it incises them into continuing watching to find out what's going to happen and ask why the girl is having dreams like what and how it managed to actually rip her clothing. The text does conform to the characteristics of the genre as it is quite a serious opening and none of it is ironic or playful. It makes the audience feel worried for the character, instead of laughing at her misfortune.

Film Language
This opening involves a lot of variation in camera distances, movement and angles. It starts off tracking the movement of the antagonists feet. By filming only his feet, it creates the mystery of who the character is and by keeping him a mystery helps to signify that he is the antagonist. Various different angles are then used to show the variety of tools he has and what he is doing with them. A birds eye view shot is used when he tips out all the tools onto his work area, it then cuts to different close ups of him picking up other tools and then using them to allow the audience to understand he is most probably going to be making a dangerous weapon as all the shots lead us to believe that. Multiple close ups are used on the female protagonists face to clearly show the audience all the details of her face. It allows the audience to see her scared facial expressions as well as the sweat dripping from her, which could partly be from the boiler room and partly be due to fear. Editing in the sequence is done as continuity editing. As soon as the female protagonist enters the scene she is the one who is given prevalence and who motivates the cuts. This means we are following her so we are therefore made to care for her. The mise-en-scene in the sequence helps to convey meaning. The female's costume is a white, long, floaty nightgown dress. The connotations of white are innocence and it makes her seem quite angelic so it signifies that she is the one we should care for and that she is quite vulnerable in this situation. The location of a boiler room is quite a dangerous place to be so it adds to the sense of danger she is in and it also gives the antagonist multiple places to hide. The use of the knives as hands prop for the antagonist is what makes him such an iconic character. It shows her is a dangerous character and someone to be fear. It conveys that he is planning to brutally harm someone which therefore causes the audience to dislike him from the start. The lighting in the sequence is also very effective. When the female comes into the sequence, she is shown with a bright light behind her. This helps to create the effect of the fact she is in a dream as we don't know where she has come from or how she got there and it also helps to emphasize how angelic she is. The lighting within the boiler room is a lot darker and there are a lot more shadows which are used to help keep the antagonist a mystery. There is a shot of the antagonist peering round to look at the girl however we can't fully see his face due to the effective shadow lighting placed on his face to keep him a mystery for a more shocking reveal later on to continue to build the tension. In this particular opening sequence there is no dialogue within her dream other than some grumbling noises from the antagonist as extra diegetic sounds and and a scream from the female. This is because the antagonist is being kept secret and the female has no reason to talk in it. However, once she wakes up from her dream, her mum walks in to check on her but does not seem very sympathetic. From the way the female protagonist says her dialogue we can sense that she is very terrified after her horrific nightmare as she has a sense of shakeyness to her voice. Her non verbal language within the dream is a lot of scared facial expressions and flailing arm movements. This signifies her frantic fear and how she just wants everything to disappear. The sound is what helps make the sequence tense and scary. Right from the start there is a creepy, quite high pitched undertone to it which builds the tension within the audience and it goes on to continue when the female comes into the shot and the sudden high volume, short bang noises are what make the audience jump and keep them feeling scared within the scene. The director does not use any other visual post production techniques within this opening so the tension built is purely due to the camera work and sound. At the beginning of the opening sequence, the first thing we are shown is the distributors name. It is written in big, bold, red text as red has connotations of blood to add to the effect of it being a horror film. Then, whilst we see the antagonist is creating his knife hands, other companies and people involved within the making of the film are writing underneath the shots in white writing. It's placed there quite subtly to not take away your interest from the scene as the text is simple and not boldly coloured. There is also a few text graphics throughout the scene but in the same text type and colour and to the sides to not take away from the action of the scene.connotes blood and danger so it is an effective colour to choose and place on a back background. Then once that scene is complete, we title of the film pops up from the bottom and the words 'A Nightmare' are written in red, bold writing, with 'On Elm Street' written within it. Again, the redness of the text

Narrative
The plot of the opening sequence is that first off we see the hidden antagonist in a boiler room, using different tools to create sharp knives that he attaches to his hands. We then see a young woman run through a boiler room, hearing different noises and getting increasingly more scared as she works out she is being stalked. Then, when the antagonist finally catches her she awakens from a dream with cuts down her nightgown like the ones made by the hands of the antagonist. This is a typical stock plot of a slasher film as they are all about people being stalked. The female protagonist is a stock character seen within this genre of films as stereotypically it is always a young woman who gets herself into trouble and is the victim. She is an archetypal character of horror. The antagonist is also a stock character as, even though we only see him in the shadows, we can work out he has some sort of face disorientation so is scarred and is older than the victim. This shows that he is a stereotypical antagonist and it allows the audience to clearly understand who plays what role in the film. The sequence is in chronological order. It shows us how the antagonist gets his knife hands, then the girl in her dream, and then her waking up from her dream. The audience is positioned in a way to feel bad for the female as she motivates the majority of the cuts and we don't know what it is that is after her, so due to the fact we can see her and are familiar with her, it positions the audience to be on her side and feel worried for her safety. Tension is created and maintained through the use of sound and keeping the antagonist hidden. The sound mix of the sequence increases in volume certain parts to try and make the audience jump. For example, there is a sudden bang of noise and the female turns in fear to see what it was, but it turns out to just be a goat however it does make the audience jump and create tension within them. The crafty camera and use of lighting to keep the antagonist hidden also helps to create the tension as it adds a sense of mystery to the sequence. It causes the audience to question who it is and what they are after.


Representation & Ideology
The social groups represented in this sequence are gender, and possibly age. Gender is represented in a way to make the female look weak. It has the male/female binary opposition within it and it sticks to the dominant ideologies of males being the more dominant, violent characters and females being weak and the damsel in distress stereotype. In the sequence, the female is quite a young woman which makes her more vulnerable. It obvious to tell she is younger than the antagonist due to the grumbling extra diegetic sounds we hear which we assume are coming from him.


Media Audiences
The target audience of this film will be horror movie fans. They will most probably be quite young as the plot of the film is based around a young group of people. The possible audience readings of the text can be quite different. The dominant/preferred reading is that a female is having a dream in which there is a killer after her, but what happens in her dream effects her in real life. The negotatied reading could be that the audience wonder how her dream has actually effected her real life clothing and become confused by the concept. The oppositional reading could be the audience understand the point in the film's idea, but do not like the fact the whole opening sequence was a dream and don't like how what happens in her dream happens in real life as it can be quite confusing. They might much rather have just a whole real life film. As a female, British teenager myself, I read and evaluate the text as the dominant reading. I understood the concept of it and I quite like the idea of the antagonist getting into her dreams and harming her that way. It's quite unique and effective, even though I am not a horror fan myself. I think my reading and evaluation of the film is influenced by my age, gender and background as I am quite girly so not a fan of horror films but I have seen part of horror films my family have watched so I like the uniqueness of this one. I also like how this film includes young people around my age so I am able to relate to them and feel for them.


Institutional Context
The actors used in this film were not A listers at the time when they were cast. However, they have now become well known for their role in this film and many others. Some of the actors were Johnny Depp, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund. Robert Englund played one of the biggest contemporary horror icons to date. Freddy Krueger is such a big horror icon now and everyone who watches horror films will know about him. This film was produced by Media Home Entertainment and distributed by New Line Cinema so is now seen to be an industrial film, however at the time it was made, New Line Cinema was an independent company and was not owned by Time Warner. It had a budget of $1.8 million. The original budget was meant to be $700,000 on production but it ended up being $1.1 million, with half the funding coming from a Yugoslavian man who wanted his girlfriend to be in movies. The opening scene doesn't involved any computer generated images or any prosthetics as we don't see the antagonists face. It's quite a simple sequence of a girl being followed, with quite simple costumes, so the only thing that could be quite costly in the scene is the location. It is set in a boiler room before she wakes up from her dream so if it was a real location it could be quite expensive to pay out to use it or if it was done on set then it could have been quite costly to build everything. This shows the production values to be evident in this opening sequence as it's nothing like what would be in a high budget film opening.
 

MC: Institutional Context of Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)

Halloween is an American independent film made in 1978. It was directed by John Carpenter and distributed by Warner Bros Pictures. It's about a six year old boy who kills his sister and then it shows him fifteen years later and that he has escaped from a psychiatric hospital and is now stalking some teenager girls.

Production

• It was produced on a budget of $325,000 and made $47 million at the box office in the USA and $70 million worldwide. 
• The film was originally going to be called 'The Babysitter Murderers' however the film producer Yablans suggested setting the movie on Halloween night and calling it Halloween instead.
• The films financier Akkad set the budget for the film at originally $300,000. This was considered low at the time. He was worried about the fact they had a tight four week schedule, a low budget and Carpenter had very limited experience as a film maker however he said that Carpenter told the story to him in a very suspenseful way, basically frame by frame, and that he said he didn't want to take any fees. This showed that he had confidence in the film. Carpenter received $10,000 for directing, writing and composing the music for this film, retaining rights to 10% of the films profit. 
• Costumes and props were often hand crafted or something that could be bought inexpensively due to the low production values. Wallace (who was the production designer) created the trademark mask worn by Michael Myers throughout the film from a Captain Kurk mask bought for $1.98. Many actors wore their own clothes.
• The film was filmed in 20 days due to the low budget dictating the location and time schedule. Local families dressed their children in Halloween costumes for the trick-or-treat scenes. Many artificial autumn leaves had to be reused. 
• Due to the low production values of this film, it featured no A-listers (at the time) and the actors got very little compensation. Jamie Lee Curtis, who was cast as the heroine of the film, was an unknown actress and was not the filmmakers first choice. However, once they worked out she was the daughter of the main Pyscho actress, they thought it would be great publicity for the film. 
• Film critics said the camerawork of the film was what made it a 'resounding success'. POV shots and steadicam were used quite a lot to encourage audience participation and help to build the tension and suspense. 

Distribution

• Distributed by Compass International Picture in Canada and the USA and it was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally. 
• The film used many traditional marketing techniques such as film posters, trailers, prints and TV slots. 
• The film posters were distributed to many different countries; all of which being a bit different in order to suit the type of audience there. 
• It had a platform release. It was first released on the 25th October 1978 in Kansas City, Missouri. It then gradually was released in the rest of the states, going from Chicago, Illinois and New York. It had its LA release on the 27th October 1978 and then went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 22nd November 1978. 
• The film grossed about $47 million from the United States, and another $23 million internationally so it had a total gross of $70 million. 
• There was a re-release of the film on the 25th October 2012 to mark its 35th anniversary. 

Group: Horror Genre Research

Reading Source 1 - MC

1. When, and in what way were women repositioned within the horror genre?
   In the horror genre, women are often represented as the weaker characters. They were usually the ones in danger who end up being saved by the masculine hero. However, in the late 1970s American horror cinema underwent a change as many directors like Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero and John Carpenter all used the context at the time, of war, race riots and the growing feminist movement to incorporate them into their films. Films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1974) slowly began to change the position of the female character in the films into a person that can protect and defend themselves. These type of women became the 'new women' of horror.
2. What are the conventions of the 'stalk and slash' sub-genre of horror?
   The conventions of the Stalk and Slash sub-genre was usually a stock plot of a mixed sex group of teenagers who travel to a remote location and almost immediately indulge in drink, drugs and sex. Then suddenly, one by one, each character gets murder by an unknown being. The film usually ends with one member of the group being left who must confront the murder who then kills them and their reasons for their murder spree gets revealed.
3. Who originally watched these films?
   Research into the stalker/slasher films shows that the core audience who watched these films were mainly teenage boys and young men. This is due to the possibility of female nudity in it and the amount of graphic assult and murder shown. This became so popular with this demographic so film makers were starting to decide to make their films more gory in order to keep the interest of their core audience.
4. Why does the author argue that the films were significant?
   These films were seen as significant because it created two of contemporary horror cinemas most enduring icons (Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th series and Freddy Krueger from The Nightmare on Elm Street series) which meant the outcome of a sustained narrative and income revenue through popular horror franchises.
5. What is the concept of 'The Final Girl'? Summarise and give examples.
   The concept of The Final Girl is smarter, more courageous girl than the stereotypical girl in horror films. She is the sole female survivor and is usually morally pure so does not involve herself in things like drinking and drugs. Due to her having these qualities, it makes her seems a more repressed teenager and as if she is scared of the adult activities her friends are taking part in. This makes her seem powerless however when the murderous acts start to occur, she is the one who is able to overcome the threat. She is now no longer powerless, but instead is now powerful and uses her intellect to outwit the killer and murder him. The way she does this is usually quite bloody and gory which makes her go from a weak/passive female to a strong/aggressive male. The way this is usually visualized is through the female defending herself with a phallic object such an an axe or chainsaw. Examples of a Final Girl is Jess (Black Christmas, Bob Clark, 1974), Alana (Terror Train, Roger Spottiswoode, 1980) and Sidney (Scream, Wes Craven, 1996).

Reading source 2 - KT

1. Why are stories that 'aim to scare their audience' so popular?
Stories that aim to scare audiences are popular and still make massive box office statistics because they give the viewers a powerful feeling of catharsis and reinforce traditional beliefs about morality. Horror films fulfil the viewer’s lust for ‘horribly sweet sensations.

2. What insight can the study of horror monsters give?
Certain cultures create meanings to monsters, presenting them with characteristics derived from their most ‘deep seated’ fears and taboos. This gives an insight into the worries and concerns of the modern culture.

3. What did Nosferatu (1922), one of the earliest horror films use the vampire as a metaphor for?
The vampire is used as a sexual metaphor as they are ‘invaders’ and a vampires method of attack involves penetration and exchange of bodily fluids; although the outcome of an attack is death or infection it can also be seen as a sexual metaphor as in films such as Twilight the vampires are seen as attractive and seductive.

4. Read to the end of the article. Make notes on how there are different readings of horror based on socio/cultural contexts of the decade
In the 1930’s, the main readings of horror involved a corrupt and abusive aristocratic class. For example in Frankenstein (Whale 1932) the son of Baron Frankenstein turns his back on aristocratic duty and locks himself away to create life in the form of a monster. There were also aspects of a sympathetic representation of monsters at the time.
     In the 1960’s there was a time of social change which mirrored in the horror monsters of the time. The film “Psycho” reflected the cultures understanding of the human psyche. A popular theme of the time was that the monsters seemed to be normal people. This may have been popular as it created fear of the unknown and the worry that anyone could potentially be a monster or killer.
    In the 1970’s horror, the monster became more sadistic. ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘The Last House on the Left’ were infamous for their graphic violence. These films show social and economic isolation in rural families and small towns.
    The 1980’s reflected slasher films and became a essential of the home video market. As the audience for the genre grew, the films became more outlandish and extreme to maintain audience interest. However, many films repeated the same ideas multiple times and the genre grew out of fashion and cliché.
     Modern horror has replicated some old time classics into the 21^st century using CGI to create verisimilitude to enhance audience reaction. ‘Saw’ presented the audience to a deeply moral monster who gives second chances and punishments to those who he sees to have disobeyed. The Vampire Diaries and The Twilight saga are sub genres of horror which sexualizes vampires into being attractive to humans and having sexual relationships with teenage girls. These films/tv programmes change the face of vampire representation as they are seen to be friendly towards humans and are less of a threat.

 5. In the final paragraph, why according to Hendry is horror still relevant to audiences? Horror is still relevant to audiences as entertainment is available at the click of a button. On-demand tv, and internet sites such as Youtube and Netflix provide an unlimited supply of horror films, however this could potentially lead to running the risk of over-stimulation and may impact our reliance on technology for entertainment and social interaction. 

Reading Source 3 - MC

1. Why are we so afraid of Zombie horror?

A BBC article talking about why we love zombie horror and why we are afraid of zombie faces states that the reasons as to why we are afraid of them is due to the fact the human brain becomes uneasy when it sees a face that disrupts the way it processes human faces. A sense of disquiet is left when they come across something that doesn't match their expectations. Also, being able to 'read' another person's eyes is particularly important in interpreting human faces so seeing a face with darkened or no eyes makes the human feel uneasy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24711244

2. An article on pop mythology talks about why people love the zombie apocalypse. It gives the main reason of why people like the idea of it as being because it presents the zombie apocalypse in a way that people believe they can survive it. People don't actually think about the disaster it would leave such as the dead piled up in the street, failed plumbing, nuclear rods uncared for etc. They just love the idea of being able to bash someone over the head and get away with it due to the fact we are living in a highly militarized media culture that is saturated with the ideals of blowing things up and destroying things.

http://www.popmythology.com/why-people-love-the-zombie-apocalypse/

3. In the Why Do We Love Zombies YouTube video, he talks about reasons as to why people enjoy watching horror TV shows like The Walking Dead, and zombie films like World War Z, and 28 Days Later. He spoke about how people enjoy watching zombies because it shows people who live a completely normal life, like the person watching, and how their life gets turned completely upside down. It allows the audience to see how people react to situations like this and it makes them question on if they would do the same and if they think they would be able to survive. With The Walking Dead, it is an on going TV show and the audience becomes so emotionally involved with the characters that is becomes horrific for them to see them die. The fact it is still on going means the audience are able to relate to these characters over a long period of time so can see relationships and fully understand the scenarios taking place. It's able to slowly show how people become so used to zombies being around them that they aren't even phased by them anymore which is quite exciting and almost humorous for the audience to watch as zombies have now become a part of their every day life.

Group: Production Log - Wilderness Woods

Whilst at Wilderness Wood, we learnt a lot about the production of our horror film. We realised that filming a continuity piece requires a lot of the same shots to be taken but from different angles. We also learnt that filming certain angles proves a lot more difficult than we thought, for example when we tried to film a 360 pan, it was hard to position the camera in the right place and keep it still to get an effective shot. Shots we found effective were extreme close up of a phone, the tracking shot and POV shots. The variety of shots we used made our piece interesting to watch. We will mostly likely use these in our final production.

 

We decided the stock location of a woods was suitable for the type of horror film we want to shoot as we would quite like to do the slasher/stalker sub-genre of horror. We are thinking of using it along with other locations such as derelict ruins for our production.

KT: Slasher/Stalker Horror

Slasher and Stalker is a sub-genre of horror typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and murdering a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a bladed tool such as a knife, machete, axe, scythe, or chainsaw. Although the term "slasher" may be used as a generic term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder, the genre has established its own set of characteristics which set it apart from related genres like the splatter film and psychological thriller. We are looking into both of these as we thought it was be an appropriate genre to film in Wilderness Woods.

The iconography used in these sub genres mainly consists of masked villains, with chainsaws or similar weapons, long corridors, secluded areas and staircases. These locations and props will become essential to us in making our horror movie and they are symbols recognised as associated with horror. They create a sense of unease and suspension which is the effect we aim to achieve.

MC: Paranormal Horror Sub-Genre

Paranormal horror is a sub-genre of horror and is all about the fear of the unknown and unusual behaviour. It is often the part of horror that is the scariest. Paranormal horror covers many different aspects from ghosts, to haunted houses, to possession and demons.

A classic convention of paranormal horror is trying to frighten the audience with jumpy scenes or something popping up behind someone through the use of mirrors. The non-diegetic sound of these films usually helps to build the tension within the scene and the increase of volume in the sound mix helps to make the audience jump. The mise-en-scene is also important in creating a visceral experience. The lighting in the scene is also very effective as things like the flickering of a candle can be used to give the audience hints that something is about to happen or something is going to disappear. Also the use of shadows makes the scene more creepy as it means the audience knows that something is there. A typical stock location of paranormal horror is in a haunted house as the connotations of them are ghosts and the unknown. The stock plot of a paranormal film is the protagonist gets haunted by something in the house. There is often someone who angers the paranormal being through the use of cameras or crucifixes so it makes it reveal itself. These archetypal characters help the audience to relate to what type of film they are watching so they feel they can predict what is going to happen next, even if they get it wrong.

For example, in Paranormal Activity 4 after meeting the little boy Robbie, he starts to show signs of unusual behaviour like going into the main protagonist's, Alex's, room at night and sleeping next to her, which she knows about from her friend Ben recording their web chats. Due to this, they decide to set up webcams around the house to record all unusual behaviour. This helps to reveal the possessed type character that Robbie is as he is seen talking to invisible figures. This clip shows a stereotypical example of possessed behaviour that is common in most paranormal films.
Some common iconography of paranormal horror films are ghostly symbols, dark places, unusual occurrences like a door slamming on its own or a rocking chair moving with no one in it, haunted houses and screams (usually female).

Paranormal Mood Board:

Group: Location Reccie Planning

Purpose:

To assess the location and surroundings for filming a horror sequence. We are going to test out different shots and techniques and see if a woods is a suitable location for our film. We will do a risk assessment of the area to ensure its a safe area to film.

Risk Assessment:

A risk assessment is analysing the potential dangers of a location. The potential hazards we have identified at Wilderness Woods are slipping over tree roots and on the mud, getting lost in the woods, burning yourself on the barbeque, poisonous plants, hurting yourself on machinery, hitting low branches, dogs and other animals.
To minimise these dangers, we will take extra precautions and stick together as a group as well as watching our step and being careful around dangerous objects.

Planning:

We are going to use this location in preparation for our coursework to try out different shots and angles. Experimenting with camera movements is a main priority for us and getting used to using a tracker and a dolly. We will also see if the iconography of the woods is suitable for our sub genre of horror which is slasher/stalker.