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Well done Lauren, a good blog thus far and excellent analysis. You need to include posts about your initial ideas for plots *, storyboard animatic*, script*, interview with actors*, questionnaire results*.

*you can create these pasts together and cut and paste them.

The Ring

• The first shot in this film is an establishing shot of an old creepy house at night, which can create a tense atmonsphere for the audience as there are no other houses around and since the house is all by itself, it is clear something bad is going to happen.

• There is then a zoom shot of two girls in a room, watching a film talking. This is effective as it makes the audience feel safe, so that if something bad was to happen they would not expect it. Also it helps to establish the characters in the first scene. 

• The camera then flicks between the girls in a quick reserve shot to show their conversation about a 'tape that kills you in 7 days.' The effect of the shot reverse shot, is that the audience know who is talking at what time, and also they can see the facial expressions of the characters in order to understand fully how they react to it via their emotions. 

• The zoom shot of the girl talking is effective as what she is saying is supposed to be scary, and by the camera zooming in; it is like the audience straining to hear what she is saying, keeping them on the edge of their seats.

• Throughout the first few minutes, there is a big absence of sound, which is effective at building suspense because the audience are waiting for something loud to happen. For example a bang on the window - as there is no sound, the noise would be enhanced and therefore scare the audience more. As the film goes on, there is a loud sound, which is the phone ringing from downstairs. Because there is such a lack of sound, the phone ringing can be quite scary, as the audience are not used to hearing loud noises.

From analysing the opening of this film, a good technique for our film could be to apply the absence of sound, as this way the audience's suspense is built up as there is nothing else going on to distract their attention so when a loud noise suddenly goes off, the audience are more likely to jump than they would be if there was a lot of sound going on anyway.

Costume research

• We have not yet decided on final costumes for our film, but we could possibly have plain clothes for our bad guy, and victim. By having plain clothes, the audience would not be entirely focused on what they are wearing as it would not be an important thing to look at. If we had writing on their clothes the audience may be more interested in looking at what it says on their top, instead of what is happening in the film.

• For our bad guy, he could possibly be wearing all black, in order to hide his identity until we want him to be seen. Also if he was to be all in black, and we filmed at night, he would be basically impossible to see; therefore creating a fear factor for the audience because they would be in the unknown. He could be wearing a plain black hoodie and black jeans so that his identity is fully covered.

• For our female; we could put her in two possible colours for her plain clothing. One colour could be white, to show the innocence and purity of her, as she would be the victim in our film we did nothing to deserve what she was about to indure. By putting her in white; the audience would see that she has got nothing evil inside her and was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. The other colour of clothing we could put her in is pink, as it would show the characteristics of her gender, and how she is a girly girl, so would be helpless and not able to fight for herself as the stereotype of girly girl's are that they are not as strong as a tomboy may be. The clothes we would put them in would probably be casual to show that they are just young girls (teenagers) so they would be in jeans too, as they would just be in clothes to be in the house and/or walking around.

Possible setting 3

• This setting could be a good location to do our film as it is very misty, and you can't see the top of the road. This is good because there could be a figure lurking in the mist, which would keep the audience on the edge of their seats waiting to find out. Also it could be a good place as it could look ghosty so the audience would be scared of something hidden in the air. Also the sky is all gloomy, and if it was to be filmed at night it would look even more scary as there are no street lights around so the audience would be out of their comfort zone as they wouldn't be able to see much.

• The only problem with this location it is not always going to be misty, so that effect may not be there all the time. Also since there are no street lights it may be too dark for filming.

Font Research

• For this horror film, the background is dark and sinister, so that the writing is the first thing that catches your eye. The font here is big and in capitals, so that it is very clear what the writing says. It is put in white as it contrasts with the black background, and by putting it simply in black and white, there is nothing to distract your attention from what is on the screen.

• For this film, the font is in capitals again, but this time the 'Davis Entertainment' part of it is in a larger font to show the important of it. They have put it in a simple clear font so that the audience has no difficulty in reading it, and finding out who produced it.
  

• The font is this film is a browny orangy colour and not in capitals, which is different to other horror films. The effect of this is that although it is not in capitals, it is still eye catching as the font used is one that is slightly different to most as it's not just clear and like a block. The 'Rogue' and 'Intrepid' is in bigger font than the 'and' and 'present' so that the production companies names are highlighted. The writing looks kind of ghostly - which catches your eye as it is different to most other films, and also makes the film look scarier.

• The font is this film, follows the typical horror conventions of white and bold. This is done to make it stand out and show the importance of the name. 'Twentieth Century-Fox' is put in a larger font so that your eye is more focused on to it. Like many other horror film openings, it has the black background, which makes it dark and mysterious, and engages the audience into the unknown.

Certificate Research

• From researching the different certificates that films can have, it is clear that a lot of them are unsuitable for a horror film as they would mean that people of a too young age would be able to watch them and they would be too frightening for them. The certificates that would be unsuitable (PG, U, 12) are below; 

• When you view a horror film the certificate is generally higher than these ones, as the content of the films is completely different. If you watch a film with any of the above certificates, it would not scare you, as that is not what the aim of the film is. Horror films are generally aimed at an older audience because of the fright it may cause.

• The two certificates above would be more suited for our film, as we are aiming to do a horror film, and by having either of the other 3, the target audience wouldn't be a high enough age, so not many people would want to view it, as it would be too scary for them.

Conclusion

•  In conclusion, I think the certificate we will most likely use for our film will be a 15, as people of this age are more likely to watch horror films, and it would reach a wider audience as people may believe an 18 will be too scary for them. Also if we were to do an 18, less people would be able to watch it as it would be a too high age rating for them, but with a 15, anyone from the age of 15 upwards are able to watch it, so we would get a wider audience with this lower certificate.

Film Institutions

Dream Works Pictures -


Although this film brand is very popular, a lot of films produced are animated and aimed more for children, so it is not the most suitable film institution for the genre of our film. Only a select few of the films they have produced match our genre of film, one of them being 'The Ring' so we will not be using it. Some of the films 'Dreamworks' have produced are

• Shrek
• Meet The Parents
• She's The Man

From looking at the films produced, I don't think we will be using this logo during our film because it would not reach the audience and genre that we want it too.

 Paramount Pictures -

This brand is a well known one among many people, as they have produced some very popular films. The types of films they make are aimed at all different types of genre's, so we could possibly use it for our film. Some of the horror films they have produced include

• Friday the 13th 
• Paranormal Activity
• Sleepy Hollow

From seeing that they have produced these films, it shows that Paramount Pictures could possibly be one of the best film institutions to use for our film. 

Ghost House Pictures -

From researching this film institution, I have found that they produce a lot of horror films, so this logo could possibly be a very good one for our horror film we are thinking about making. Some of the films they have produced include

• 30 Days of Night
• Drag Me To Hell
• The Grudge
• Boogeyman 2

If you continue down the list of films they have made, it is clear that they are widely associated with the horror genre as most of their films are not suitable for young children. Most of the films they make are widely successful in making people jump due to the different editing and camera shots. For our filming we could expand our ideas by looking at films like 'The Grudge' and '30 Days of Night' because the shots used are there to create maximum fright. 

Warner Bros Pictures 

From researching this film institution, I do not think we will use it, as they have not produced many horror films, and are mainly associated with every other genre. Also a lot of their films are aimed at a younger audience, and most people's assumptions when they see this logo is that it is going to be a light hearted film. Some of the films they have produced are

• The Harry Potter series
• The Exorcist 
• The Matrix series
• Star Wars

Overall from the research I have done of these few film institutions, I think the logo's to use would either be Ghost House Pictures or Paramount Pictures as they have produced more horror films over the other companies. When it comes to our filming 'Ghost House Pictures' may be slightly more suitable than 'Paramount Pictures.'

The Strangers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLDdPW5yfR4

• The beginning of this horror/thriller film starts with black screen titles to establish who produced it, whilst playing quiet creepy music to enhance the build up of the film. There is then non diagetic sound of a man talking, whilst writing comes up on the screen saying "What you are about to see is inspired by true events." By putting this here, which proves some of it is true; it intensify's the horror experience for the viewer due to the reality of it.

• The man then says when the event happened and to who, which makes the audience tense as they can put themselves in the other persons shoes as they known when and where it happened. Also by saying 'brutal' it shows what happened to the people would have almost killed them, or killed them entirely. It also warns you of what the film is going to be like.

• There is then the sound effect of a car starting up although the screen is black, which suggests the people are about to leave home to set off to the wedding reception. The scenes then fade in and out as the people in the car are passing houses, which could suggest that we are seeing their journey as they pass many houses. Also it looks as if it is filmed from inside the moving vehicle. 

• It also shows the gaps inbetween houses, as they start off close to eachother, then trees and big gaps come between them which shows they are going further and further into the countryside, and leaving a busy town, which is effective as the audience assumes they are going to be somewhere completely empty like the woods, and no one will be able to help them if something bad happens. Because the audience may think this, it makes the atmonsphere more tense and you want to continue watching the film.

• You then hear a distressed 911 call from what sounds like a young boy over a black screen which shows that they have discovered the people and all the events have already happened. You then see a car with a smashed windscreen, whilst the boy says he is in danger, which makes the audience think that the bad person/people are still there waiting to strike again. The scene then goes to what seems like the end of a corridor, and watches two young boys walk in an open door. Because the door is portrays to the audience that the bad people have done what they wanted to do, and just left the door open so someone will see what they have done - in a way like they are proud of what they have done. 

• There is then a close up of a bloody knife, which leads you to believe that the people have been stabbed, and their blood is all over the knife, so they are probably dead, which makes the audience want to continue watching to see what has happened to the people. You then see a blood spat all over the wall, which could suggest that someone got shot as well as stabbed as a knife wouldn't usually do that. This is scary when you think back to when it said it is based on true events as this could have happened to the people. 

• The gun is then showed which backs up the audiences assumptions, and makes them frightened as to what happened to these people. The scene then goes black again, although the 911 call hasn't stopped all the way through the different scenes and still carries on, which suggests to the audience the extent of it, as the call has to be so long as the boy is so frightened. 

• The opening 3 minutes of 'The Strangers' is effective as it does make you want to continue watching, as you see all the mess the bad guy's have made, but you don't see who they have done it too and why the people aren't where the weapons are. Also because the boys find them after the bad things have happened, it suggests that the film will be showed different, so that the present is shown, then the past of what happened, then the present again. 

'The Strangers' could help with our film making, as we could use the idea of showing the audience what has happened after it happened, then go back in time to show them what happened, as it was happening. Also the idea of an emergency call could be good as it can show the fright a person feels towards something bad that has happened that they have discovered.

Initial ideas

• A possible idea for the film we are going to make, could be a horror film. A horror film might be a good thing to make as it appeals to males and females, whereas action may appeal more to male and romance more to females. Also by doing a horror film, there are many different things you can do to make the audience feel tense, and you can use a range of camera shots to create fright.

• An idea for the horror film could be a girl in a woody area all by herself, possibly at night, walking down a badly lit path when her phone rings and someone in a hushed voice says scary things to her, making her run down the path, where we could have music that demonstrates her heartbeat and loud music that shows how fast her breathing is. Our film could end up being thriller/horror as it would keep the audience on the edge of their seats and make them want to continue watching. Also the bad guy could possibly not be shown until the end so the suspense of knowing who he is and what he looks like could build. At the end she could possibly be caught by the bad guy, and the opening two minutes could end with just the fright in her eyes shown so the question "what happened next?!" can arise.

• Another possible idea could be a zombie film, where we film it in an area with a river and woods, which is dark. We could have person walking along when zombies start to appear out of the water, and start to follow the person. Or we could make a film like '28 days later' where someone wakes up and there are just zombies all around, and they need to find survivers. Another way we could do a zombie film is like 'I Am Legend' where day by day the person is looking for a cure, and still has hope of finding people who are not infected. 

• Although a zombie film could be a good idea, I don't think it will be very easy to do as costumes and make up will take time, and if they were to come out of water at night it would be freezing cold, and it may be difficult to find people who would want to do that. Also with zombie films it is very easy to make the mistake of making it funny, so we could aim for a serious scary one, which in reality ends up being funny to the audience, so our aim is not met, and instead we just make the audience laugh at how ridiculous it is. 

When A Stranger Calls

• At the beginning of this film, there are black screen titles, to help establish the film company and everything that the producers believe is important for the audience to see. There is non diagetic sound, where a man is talking to what sounds like a worried girl over the phone. This is effective as the man's voice is hushed, and mysterious, and also a little scary as if you were to ring the wrong number, you would not continue to talk to the person and ask their name etc.. you would just hang up. 

• The scene then goes to an empty looking scary house, where there is no life around it, where you assume the person inside is. By doing this the audience can make assumptions that the man on the phone, could be around here somewhere, as otherwise the house wouldn't be an important part in the film. There is then a panning shot, which moves around to show a carnival, which could suggest that if something was to happen to the girl in the house, no one would be able to hear because the carnival is so loud. The size of the carnival could also make the house and the girl look insignificant in the film as something bad might happen in the carnival instead, proving the audience's assumptions to be wrong.

• There is also creepy ghost like writing when the actors names are displayed, to show that it is a horror film, so the font needs to match the mood that the directors want the audience to feel. 

• As the camera shot zooms into the carnival, you see the business and loudness of it, and the excitement among the children within it. This is effective as it causes the audience to feel tense as they assume something bad is going to happen in the carnival since the scene is focused on it. There is then a man with a dog dressed all in black, who the audience basically cannot see, which makes you wonder if this is the man who is going to do something terrible throughout the film. This man alone may make the audience feel fright, and stay on the edge of their seats.

• You then see the house, and hear a phone ringing again, like at the beginning of the film, and it is all quiet in the house. The scene then goes back to the carnival and the loudness of it, and shows the contrast between what is able to be heard and what isn't. By doing this, it makes you wonder if the carnival is not going to be the place where something bad happens, but the house is as the scene is going back to it again. The audience may then feel scared and worried for the girl as she is getting another phone call, and the person at the other end of the phone is saying nothing. 

• As the film goes on, it goes to a street full of houses which looks like a safe place as there are people sitting outside, and it is reasonably busy. You then hear a mother continuously calling out for her children, with no response, then walking out her house for a further search for her children. The man and his dog then appear again, which makes you wonder if her children missing is in fact down to him. 

• The film then goes back to the carnival, and portrays how happy people are in it, but then puts a downer on it again because the house appears and the girl is rung again by possibly the same person, but again with no one talking back to her. Creepy music is all put in to show the lead up to an event that is going to happen, and to help set the mood.

• The carnival is then shown again and there is a panning shot back to the house, where it is dark, and a light then gets switched on where you see a man in the window, and hear a terrifying scream from the girl, which no one can hear because of the sound coming from around the house. This makes the audience feel fear as you feel like you are the girl because of the build up, and wonder what has happened to her. Also you feel fright as the girl's scream goes on for so long, yet no one hears it, possibly making the audience feel in distress as no one knows what has happened to her except from the bad guy and you. 

'When a stranger calls' could help us with ideas for our film, as I like the idea of having a phone call where the bad guy hardly says anything, but lets the audience know he is around. Also by having a girl in a house all by herself, she seems more vulnerable and this stops the audience from feeling safe. Another idea could be having a window where it is black, but then when the light is turned on, a figure is standing there, waiting.

Possible setting 2

• Another possible setting could be this old abandoned ferry.

• This could be a good place to film a horror film as it is all rusty and broken, so it could be like a maze to be in as some doors may be blocked and not open. Also it is very big so there are lots of places where a bad guy could be lurking, ready to cause fright to the audience.

• The way the water looks can also cause the audience to be scared as it is very dark and misty, and looks as if something could be hiding in it. It could also be good in a horror film as someone could fall off the ferry and drown in the water as it looks so easy to fall off. By having the thought of someone being able to drown so easily, it could make the audience tense and on the edge of their seats as they are waiting for something bad to happen.

• Also since it is so big and old, it can cause tension to the audience because they will never fully know every end of the boat and where all the entrances and exits could be. So when our victim is on the boat, they could be by themselves and then the bad guy could enter the boat.

• Although this location could be good and scary, realistically we can't use it because it is too far away, and is private property. Also since it is so old, it is probably very dangerous and hazardous to people's health.

Preliminary task

• For our preliminary task, we filmed two people walking into a building and having a quick conversation, which involved the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot.

• For the match on action part of our shot, we filmed someone walking towards a door, and holding the handle, then the next shot was a focus of their hand opening the door. This is an effective way of filming as the scene follows through with what the person is meant to be doing, and you are able to see every stage of them opening the door.

• The 180 degree rule was a good thing to use as you could always tell who was on each side, so the audience did not get confused as to who was where. We also used the shot/reverse shot to show the conversation the two characters were having.

Possible setting 1

• One setting for our possible horror film we thought of using is this pathway near a river. We thought of using this as a location as it is very woody and secluded, and there are no lights, so it is vertually pitched black at night. Also since there are no lights, it is a very scary place to be as anyone could be lurking in the bushes waiting to jump out. This location could be ideal for our horror film, as the location in a film, is something which builds the tension, and causes people to feel fear.

• The pathway seems like it never ends, because you can't see the light, which could be like a tunnel, causing the audience to want it to end, and to see the light again. Also tunnels have no way out once you get into them, you just have to turn back or carry on with your journey.

• If we were to film here, we could have people walking from the darkness into the light, so when they are far away they look just like a silhouette. If the bad guy was the one walking from the distance, we could make it like 'Nightmare on Elm Street' where you don't see the bad guy for a long time, so suspense is built up. We could also have a scene where the 'pretty young blonde girl' is walking by herself and veers off the path as something catches her eye. Then as she veers off her path, the bad guy appears and follows her, keeping well hidden so she doesn't see him.

Twilight

• At the beginning of Twilight there is non diagetic sound, which is effective at making the audience wonder who is talking, and why she is talking - the importance of her words. The first thing she says is 'I've never given much thought to how I would die - but dying in the place of someone I love, seems like a good way to go.' Because these are the first words she says, it makes the audience ask questions as to why she would need to think about dying. For example if she has some sort of illness that is going to kill her, or someone in her family is going to get killed and she's going to stop it. Since the audience have questions that they want answered in the first 40 seconds of the film, they may feel encouraged to watch it so they can find out more about this girl.

• The scene then cuts to a woody area, where there is nature everywhere, and focuses on a deer. This is effective as it makes the audience wonder what is going to happen to the deer, and why the deer is of any importance in the film. The music then cuts in which is fast paced to show that the scene is going to happen very fast, as something is chasing the deer. As the deer starts running it is like an eyeline match as the object that is following the deer is running also, and since the ground is uneven the camera is going up and down. This is a good thing to do as the audience feel as if they are chasing the deer, so they are more in the film than just watching it.

• The scene then cuts to a girl, who the audience then find out is the one who was talking before. Because of where she is, and how she is all by herself, it can make the audience question if she doesn't have many friends, and if that is why she is leaving Phoenix. She then talks about missing the heat, which is comical as she is VERY pale. 

• She then continues from where she was, which is about her life and how her mum and her new boyfriend are going on the road to travel. This is effective as it gives the audience an inlook into her life, and make them show empathy towards her as she has to leave her hometown because her mum and boyfriend no longer want to be there. 

• She then talks about going to live with her Dad, and they then drive away from their old home in the car. The scene then cuts to an airport with planes taking off, which shows that her Dad doesn't just live around the corner, but infact miles away, meaning that she would have to leave all her friends and everything she knows. 

• The scene cuts from a nice bright sunny day, to a gloomy dark miserable day which shows that her Mum and Dad live in completely opposite places, and how her life may have gone from happy and bright, to dull and gloomy. She impact of doing this is the audience want to continue watching the film to find out if she likes it where she now has to live with her Dad, and if she will see her Mum again. 

Twilight could give us good ideas when making our film because we could show someone's emotions by the brightness and gloomyness of the day, and the change of place by the weather. Also it could be a good idea to have the non diagetic sound over the top at the beginning of our film, to help engage the audience in what our film is going to be about.

The Dark Knight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuaUcGr32SM

• At the beginning of this film there is a long shot of loads of buildings, which suggests to the audience that the setting is going to be in a city compared to the countryside or a quiet town. It then turns into a zooming in shot, which leads to a loud smash of a window, as something is shot out. This is effective as it leads the audience to question what has just happened, and who has caused it. It then leads to two creepy men in masks, which force the audience to be tense as they cannot see the characters face. This can also lead the audience to believe that the characters in masks are the bad guys, because if they weren't why would they want to hide their faces? There is then a high angle shot from above the character to see what they are doing, and where their eyes are looking.

• The scene then cuts to a zooming in shot of a man holding a mask. This is effective as since he is holding a mask you can see he is a partner to the two previous characters so is going to be bad as well. Showing their masks is also helpful at establishing to the audience what genre of film it is, which appears to be a thriller as there is no talking, and just action. Since there is no talking, it engages the audience more because they have to just watch to find everything out, not just hear. 

• He is then seen running to a car that has just stopped for him, and music comes on which is fast and dramatic. This is effective as watching the film, you know that they are going to do something that requires the fast, tense music.The scene then cuts back to the two in the building, who are standing up and getting ready to glide down the rope which they have attached to a building. 

• As they are gliding across the road to the other building high in the air, suspense builds up as you don't know if someone is going to see them, if they are going to fall or if they are going to do something very bad if they succeed at getting across. They then land on a building, but the sound of them skidding on the roof is emphasised to make the audience believe that someone may have heard them. 

• Three people in masks are then shown in a car, which shows the audience that there is a group of them, who all look like they are going to the same place to do the same task. This is effective as since there is a lot of them, confusion may be created as you may think you know who is doing what, when you don't because they all look similar. You also see one of them loading a gun, which shows that they are definitely the bad guys, because they are willing to possibly shoot people to get what they want. 

• There is then a close up of their masks, which shows just how creepy they look. It makes the audience feel tense as if you saw them out, you would run in the opposite direction. The scene then cuts back to the other two, who are using a hammer to break into something. This leads the audience to question what they are trying to do overall with their different tactics of getting to the destination.  

Overall this film even throughout the first two minutes creates a tense atmosphere for the audience, which is effective as it makes them involved in the film, and want to carry on watching it. This film could help us with our film production as the idea of masks is interesting, as they are mysterious and destroy a sense of security an audience may have. If we were to use the idea of masks in our film, we could create a film that keeps our audience on the edge of their seats, and also a film that could land in many genre's, so could appeal to many audiences.