Main Task Planning: Cast

Here is the cast for the opening of "Murder Studies"

Fred- John Power
Jase- George Hopkins
Mike- Jamie Oliver
Tom- Mateusz Zbielski
Teacher- Mr Cradock
Media Classmates- Deet Bains, Josh Thorley, Robert Corbishley, Matt Ingram, Deepika Singh, Oliver McMahon, Ava Markie.
Female victim in vision- Holeigh Perkins

Main Task Planning: Mise-en-Scene

Costume

• Black long sleeved shirt, all buttons fastened with shirt tucked in
• Brown Tie, tied up smartly
• Grey pin stripe uniform trousers
• Black dress socks
• Black slip-on formal shoes

Props

• Media Notebook (Red school exercise book)
• School desks
• School chairs
• Media iMacs
• Knife (vision chase sequence)
• Fake Blood (vision chase sequence)

Set

• Media classroom
• Dark Corridor (vision chase sequence)

Lighting

• Classroom lights on, daytime sunlight
• Hallway, very dim lighting, night time

Main Task: Treatment

The film starts with a teacher (played by Mr Henton) explaining that now his media class has done their research for their task they must now go out and actually complete their main task of filming their very own teen horror film.

We now cut to a shot of Fred (played by Me; John Power) looking into the camera with a blank look lacking any emotion. A slow heartbeat sound effect begins and Fred has visions of killing people, this shows he is not right in the head and also shows the ideas he has for his movie, real murders! As the heartbeat gets faster the visions get gradually more violent.

A point-of-view vision of Fred chasing a woman with a bloody knife, as he gets closer with the heartbeat now faster than ever.... A book is suddenly slammed down on the table (a fake scare). The book contains the words "Murder Studies" on the front of the book.

At the beginning there will be establishing shots of certain areas around the school, with eerie deep bass music to create a horror atmosphere. Titles will be included during this time apart from at the end when the film title is included.

During the close up of Fred, The other class members will be blurred out so the audience's point of focus will be completely on Fred. Also the background sound e.g. Classmates talking or other noises will be drowned out by the heartbeat, getting inside Fred's head.

From the 3 best ideas we picked out we decided to build on multiple ideas instead of just one for example we are using Robert's idea of having a normal day for students, We are using Man-Lok's idea of using a sinister figure or person in the opening having something eventful happening also.

This is just a basic idea at the moment but we will build on this in group discussions deciding on what shots to use and setting our ideas into stone. Some things might change but for the time being this is the opening that Twin Pine films has agreed on and will build on.

Main Task Research: Opening Titles (Se7en)

Below is the complete A3 research sheet for the audio, visuals and titles of the opening titles of a horror film. My research sheet is based on the film "se7en".

 

 

Main Task Research: Horror Openings

During the lesson we were told to research and evaluate the first 2 minutes of an existing horror film (this is to give us some ideas on how to set out our opening 2 minutes of our own horror films). In order to help us with this task, sir directed us to the website "Art Of The Title" which allows you to watch a number of different film opening titles. In order to carry out our research we needed to do two things:
1) Choose a Horror film opening - I decided on the film "se7en"
2) Get an A3 sheet of paper and fold it into 4 columns and title them: Audio, Visuals, Time and Titles.

Audio:
This column should include any sound that can be heard throughout the opening - this includes anything from humming to drilling or screaming to heartbeats.

Visuals:
In this column should be all of the things that you see within the opening of the film, picking up on the smallest of details such as the colour scheme or the font that the titles are written in and everything in between.

Time:
This is just a timeline of when the opening titles apear.

Titles:
In this column, write down all of the opening credits that apear within the opening of the film.

Main Task: The Interview

Below is the footage of our interviews, edited together by Mateusz Zbielski.

Main task: Synopsis

During the lesson we were asked to write a synopsis for our film "Murder Studies". In short, a synopsis is a brief piece of writing, often a paragraph or two that gives the reader an overall idea of the film that it has written for. Our Synopsis is as follows:

Fred, Jase, Mike and Tom are 4 average sixth form lads who are assigned the task of planning and creating a teen horror movie. After indulging themselves in lots of research by watching horror movies, they have their plan; A psychopathic killer who kidnaps teenagers and tortures them in new and inventive ways...
While filming for their horror movie they get carried away with their roles and begin actually killing and torturing victims in the style of the murderers from the films they have researched. The style of their killings are loosely based on the Saw films along with hints of other horror classics such as halloween and Friday the 13th.

After we had finished writing our synopsis we were asked to go out and ask people within our targeted age range (15-25) how the thought Murder Studies should begin after we had shown then our synopsis. We filmed our interviews and in my next post I shall put on the footage of some of these interviews.

60 Second Pitch

Below is the link to our 60 second pitch. Please skip the video to 4:45 and watch up to 5:45 to see TwinPine Film's 60 second pitch.


http://kbaas2013.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/your-60-second-pitches.html#!/2012/11/your-60-second-pitches.html

Planning: 60 Second Pitch

Below is the script for TwinPine Films© 60 second pitch for the teen horror flim 'Murder Studies'

John: I'm John Power
George: I'm George Hopkins
Mateusz: I'm Mateusz Zbielski
All : We are twin pine films
John: Our fourth member Jamie Oliver could not be here today due to illness. The working title for our film is "Murder studies" which is wordplay on "Media Studies"
George: It follows four sixth form media studies students: Fred, Jase, Mike and Tom. They are given the assignment of making a horror film in lesson.
Mateusz: While filming they go on a murderous rampage, inspired by the horror films they watched for research.
John: The film is shot using the Point-of-view technique which is seen in The Blair Witch Project and Diary Of The Dead.The target age certificate for "Murder Studies" is aged 15. That was our 60-second pitch for "Murder Studies" I hope you all see it in cinemas thank you for listening good day, good night we love you.

Planning: The Decision

After much discussion within our group, TwinPine Films has decided what the plot for our teen horror film is going to be. The working title for our teen horror film is 'Murder Studies' which is a word play on 'Media Studies'. In this film we follow 4 sixth form Media students (Fred, Jase, Tom and Mike(we gave our characters these names because they are also the names of 4 memorable horror villains-Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees, Thomas 'leatherface' Hewitt and Michael Myers)) who's task it is to make a teen horror film. Whilst doing their research by watching lots of different horror movies they  start really getting into it. This leeds them to eventually go a bit crazy and start actually killing people for their movie, in the styles of different horror icons they have watched. It will mainly be shot in the point of view of the characters, apart from when they film the killings which will be in the point of view of their video camera. This film will be rated 15 as it has images within that are unsuitable for younger people to see.

Planning: Brainstorm

During our lesson we were told to make a mind map, discussing the different ideas we had for our main task project. Below is a photo of our finished mind map.

Research : Dead Mary, Dead Wood and Wrong Turn

During our double lesson on Friday we watched the opening 2 minutes to 3 teen horror films- Dead Mary, Dead Wood and Wrong Turn. Whilst watching the openings we were looking for different Conventions that are usually found in horror films for example is it set in a secluded location, does anyone die during the first 5 minutes, is there a fake scare along with many others.

We saw whilst watching these openings that all 3 were set in a secluded location e.g. the woods.

The opening from the the film 'Dead Mary'. This first shot shows the audience that this first scene is set in quite a remote location. The sign reads "Gas Station Just Ahead. Last Drop for 100 Miles". This shows us that it is a remote location because the sign is on a long stretch of road and there isn't anything around for miles- only the forest that the road goes through and the gas station which, from the state of the sign is probably quite old and un-used or possibly deserted. Also, as the opening progresses we see a young girl in a car, she trys to use her mobile but is unable to as there is no signal. This also shows that the area is secluded because sh cant get a phone signal as there is no telephone poles around.

 



This is the Opening scene from the film 'Wrong Turn'. This shot shows the audience just how secluded this place is- all you can see for miles and miles is forest. As the opening progresses we see two people rock climbing and at one point the male character says to the female character "You know we're 50 miles from anybody, who are you screaming for?" This line really emphasises the fact that these characters are miles away from anyone or anything.

In the opening of the film 'Dead Wood' we see a young man running through the forest, away from an unknown being. As with the two previous films, the fact that it is set in a forest area shows that it is very secluded because there is nobody else around. Uunfortunately I was unable to find any good images/footage of the opening for this film as there is also an American television programme with the same name and all results of my Internet search were related to that programme and not the teen horror film. 

Research: BBFC

Recognise any of these??

The BBFC (British Board of Film Clasification) are responsible for giving every film that is released in cinema an age classification to clearly show the age range the film is suitable for. These BBFC raitings can be found on DVD cases, at the beggining of a film at the cinema and also on the cases of video games. When deciding on how to rate a film, the BBFC look at a number of factors. These factors include:

• The Language- How bad is the language, what (if any) bad/swear words are used and in what context are they used?
• Sex- Is there any scenes of sexual nature, any nudity?
• Violence- Is there any fighting or use of wepons?
• Drugs- Are drugs used or spoken about? 
• Discrimination- Are there any racial or discriminative references used?
• Horror- How scary is the contense of the film?

All the different classifications show you what factors the particular film includes and what age group the film is suitable for.

U (Universal):

Films with a BBFC calssification U can be viewed by all ages. These films have little or no violence, no sex or drugs, no discrimination, no elements of horror and little or no bad language. Most Disney films are classified U with some exception’s for example 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

PG (Parental Guidance):

Films classified PG are suitable for all, however in some films there are scenes of mild violence, possible drug references, some mild scenes of nudity and the odd bad word such as 'Arse' or 'Crap'. This being the case some parents may feel the need to check the film in advanse to see if they feel it is suitable for their child.

 

12:

Films with a 12 certificate are not suitable for anyone who is under the age of 12. These films often contain some violence with mild use of wepons, some references to sexual experience and also some stronger language like 'B*****d' or the F word. 

 

 15:
If a film is rated 15 it means that it is not suitable anyone under the age of 15. Films with this certificate usually contain lots more violence, with u the use of wepons, more drug use and references, stronger scenes of sexual nature, more discrimination towards people and more strong language such as the 'C' word. 

18:
If a film is rated 18, it must NOT be viewed by anyone who is under the age of 18. Films rated 18 include very strong language, very strong violence and gore, very sexual scenes including full frontal nudity and lots of drug use. Most horror films are classified 18 due to the amount of violence they include. An example of an 18 rated movie is 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. This movie is rated 18 because of the numerous, grafic scenes of murder.

R18 (Restricted):
Films with this rating can only be found at special 'Adult' shops and are only shown in adult cinemas. This is because of the high amounts of sexual activity within these films. These types of films are basicly pornographic videos. Under no circumstances should this type of film be seen by anyone under the age of 18.

Horror Research: Survey Results

Overall I had 20 responses to my survey. Below I shall show the questions asked and the answers I recieved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horror Research: Audience Views and Expectations

I am going to Create a survey about horror films to find out about the audiences views and expectations on horror films. In a later post I shall be showing the results of my survey.

Horror Research: The 2000's (Extended)

Spoofs:
Although the noughties didn't really bring any actual horror movies, spoofs of already existing horror films were released. For anyone who doesn't know what "spoof" means it more or less just means a micky take. Two of the main spoofs of the noughties were "Shaun Of the Dead" (Spoof of Dawn of the Dead) and "Scary Movie" (Spoof of Scream with hints of other clasical horror films such as The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sence along with many others).

Horror Research: The 2000's

The noughties wasn't really up to much in terms of horror films. Not many original horror films were made but there were many remakes were made such as Friday the 13th, Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

As well as seeing old films being re-made, we also saw characters from seperate movies going against one another in new films. Two prime examples of this are Freddy vs Jason (2003) and Alien vs Predator (2004).



Although there wearn't many good horror films in the noughties, one film started off mass horror story, filled with blood, guts and psychopathic killers; Saw! The saw films really brought something new to the horror game; instead of the killer chaising their victim(s), in saw the victims of Jigsaw (The crazed psycho killer) have to play his "games" in order to try and survive, whether it be harming themselves or another victim who has also been captured. When Saw was realised it really got people thinking "how far would you go to survive?".

 

Horror Research: The 90's

The Slasher genre of horror was truely in its prime during the 90's. The gallons of blood and piles of guts and corpses no longer fazed people, they wanted something a little different. The 90's saw the birth of "Psychological Horror" which really delved into the minds of the killers to see how they think and plot. The sophisticated way in which these types of films were done meant that there was less of the blood and gore and more psychological aspects, showing cat and mouse type chase going on between the killer and their victim(s). One of the most iconic horror films of the 90's was "The Silence Of the Lambs" which is about a young FBI agent who uses the criminal yet genius mind of a serial killer to help find another serial killer.



Although there were many slasher films during the 90's such as "Candyman" and "I Know What you did Last Summer", one of them would become the greatest films of the 90's. As well as releasing the 7th sequal to his Nightmare on Elm Street (New Nightmare) Wes Craven also released "Scream". Scream is about a masked killer known as "Ghostface" who goes out to kill a whole group of teens after the one year anniversary of the Sidney's (The main character) mother's death. Scream is one of the first and one of the best true Teen Horror films that was followed by 3 just as great sequals!

Horror Research: The 80's (Continued)

As well as the numorous mass murderers that the decade brought, the 80's also saw the return of Sci-Fi Horror movies, even bigger and better than before!! Because of the new and improved technology, it gave the writers and directors of horror movies a chance to really go all out and make aliens, monsters and un-human beings look realer and scarier that ever! Two films released at the time that really pushed the technowlogical boundries were "Alien" and "Predator". Both films used the new found technology to the max, creating various flesh eating beings.

Other Sci-Fi horror movies of the the 80's include The Thing, The Fly and The Toxic Avenger.

 

Horror Research: The 80's

The 80's was when teen slashers were at the best. After Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the 70's, the 80's saw many sequals made to carry on scaring audiences. However, the 80's saw the introduction of two of the most iconic mass killers of the horror genre; Freddy Kruger (Nightmare on Elm Street series) and Jason Voorhees (Friday The 13th series). These two crazed murderers prey on teen victims. Freddy Kruger kills his victims when they are most vunerable; in their dreams, and Jason Voorhees tracks and kills a group of teens who go camping. Because the victims in both sets of films are just normal teens doing normal things it made audiences fear that it could happen to them and this really scared people at the time.





Another crazed killer of the 80's was an unusual one; a doll that goes by the name "Chucky". "Child's Play" is about a young boy who recieves a doll for his birthday. Little does the boy know that his doll has been posessed by the soul of a cereal killers who goes by the name the "Lakeshore Strangler". In an attempt to leave this plastic body, Chucky goes around killing anyone who gets in his way!

Horror Research: The 70's

The 70's is most commonly known as the era of the creepy kids. Horror wanted to scare their audiences with something new and unexpecting. In the past, children in films are very harmless but during the 70's horror writers decided to change this image by making children scary! Films such as, the Exocist, the Omen, Carrie along with many others are examples of horror films which had young people as the main character/ killer.

The 70's also brought about the true birth of the sub-genre 'Slasher'. Slasher films consist of a crazed killer going around, killing anyone and everyone. 'Halloween' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' are just two of the 70's slasher films.

Horror Research: The 60's

The 'swingin Sixties' brought about yet another new era of horror. The fear of nuclear attacks from the 50's had passed so the horror genre needed something new to do. One of the most iconic horror directors of the 60's was Mr Alfred Hitchcock, who directed some of the most well known horror films in history such as 'The Birds' and 'Psycho'.


This scene from 'Psycho' is arguably the most famous scene in horror history!

The 60's also brought the start of the 'Undead' craze. In 1968 the horror film 'Night of the Living Dead' was realised. This film is about a group of people running from hoards of undead Zombies trying to feed on living flesh. Below is the trailer for Night of the Living Dead.

Horror Research: The 50's

The 50's brought the world a new sub-genre of Horror; Sci-Fi (Science Fiction)!

Because of the horrific ending of the Second World war when American Troops were ordered to drop nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more that 150,000 people, horror in the 50's aimed to prey on the peoples fears of nuclear warfare. Films such as Godzilla, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Beast with a Million eyes along with many others are examples of horror using public paranoia to their advantage.

 

Horror Research: The 40's

Many sequals were made in the 40's for the popular horror characters of the 30's (Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy). House of Dracula, The Mummy's Curse and The Ghost of Frankenstein are 3 of the sequals to be made in the 40's.

However, we also see some new faces on the horror scene, such as The Wolf Man and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

All in all, the 40's wasn't really Horror's best moment as the world was at war for the second time, therefore, people were too busy either helping with the war effort or trying to stay safe!

Horror research: the 30's

The 1930's was the real birth of the horror genre. 1931 was the year that the two most well known horror films were released: Dracula and Frankenstein. These two films were adapted from the books which they are based. Dracula was played by a young Transylvanian man named Bela Lugosi and the part of Frankenstein's monster was played by Boris Karloff.



Karloff as the monster

 

Lugosi's version of the Count.

 Other horror films that were made in the 30's include: The mummy (1932), Freaks (1932) and King Kong (1933).



 

  We see Karloff once again in 'The Mummy'. A beauty and the beast love story of a mummified man who wants to bring his dead lover back to him.

 

Freaks is about a circus that goes around, showing off its acts, these are in fact various people who have dis-figurements or un-natural atributes to their bodies (sort of a 'Freak show') These 'Freaks' include a dwarf man, a man with no limbs, a bearded lady and many others with mental or physical disabilities. Towards the end of the film we see all the 'Freaks' cralling through the mud and chase the peolpe who had laughed at them. This film was banned from many countries because of its horrific images.

 King Kong is about a giant ape is brought to America from foreign lands who runs riot through New York City, destroying buildings, crashing planes and climbing atop the famous Empire State Building. This, like the Mummy is about a beast that falls in love with a beauty.