Kimberley Eden A2 media: Research and Planning activity

Oh, how foolish you are... You've walked straight into the murder scene. As most Antagonists know, planning is crucial when it comes to tormenting their victims. Therefore, one must go through a process before carrying out their putrid plans. (It's a bit like film making... )

Research:

This section consists of my research on film making and I have also included sections on how I will apply what I learnt into my final piece.

The creepy conventions of horror films

I see, you're eager to delve deeper into the study of this horrific genre. Be weary, all this curiosity never ends well in horror films...

When watching a certain film genre there are a set of ways and things that help make it distinguishable and custom to that one genre. These are called Conventions and are a way in which something is usually done.' This will include; imagery, technical aspects, settings, plot lines etc.

Setting

In the Horror film genre, one often sees locations that make the audience feel isolated or make them feel as though they are alone. Conventional horror film locations include: forests, towns which feel empty or run down i.e. 'ghost towns', alleys, dark streets, and small urban towns. These locations may feel unfamiliar to the audience as they connote isolation. This helps when creating tension throughout the film, as these places will keep us unsettled from the start. This is because we watch films passively and choosing an appropriate setting is an easy way of creating meaning within the media text.

One can also see the use of locations such as asylums, hospitals, hotels and 'haunted' buildings. These are often locations where there have be many unsettling, mysterious stories which have now created a sense of fear in the audience. The use of locations with 'somber' pasts again relate to the audiences fears of these places. Thus, we see locations in horror films such as: Haunted mansions, Old run down buildings, small apartments, hotels, houses in small towns, forests/ woods, factories/ industrial buildings, churches, lakes and even supermarkets! In these settings, mise-en-scene plays a key part in the location of the film for example; fog and mist will create an eerie atmosphere.

Narrative

In order to understand the narrative structure of Horror films, it's essential that we study the theories which bring guidance to all film makers from Rom-Coms, Musicals and Horror, theorists have thought of ideas as to how to get the most out of a film's narrative structure.

Perhaps the most well know theory is one by the philosopher Todorov is this structure:

1. Equilibrium (State of normality)

The opening scenes establish the normal life within the film, the day-to-day events, the characters back stories and the normal settings of life in the film.

2. Disruption of Equilibrium (An action or Character)

This is where an event within the realm of the normal life destroys and something unfamiliar and threatens happens within the film which stops the protagonists living their day-to-day lives.

3.Recognition of disruption

This I where the protagonists realises that the disruption to their daily lives is a real threat.

4.An attempt to repair the damage

For example in a horror film could be; the protagonist has been captured and is now trapped in a building and can't escape. The character would try to think and find ways to actively stop the situation. E.g. distracting or causing harm to the antagonist and trying to escape the building or calling for help from another source, such as a priest or the authorities.

Steps 3 and 4 are often repeated several times within a film and forms the main body and plot of a film.

5. New Equilibrium

In a film, this happens when the damage is repaired. However, in horror films this means facing and living with the consequences and repercussions e.g. dead friends, family members, destroyed towns, living with losing limbs or significant injuries. Though, we must note that in order to reach resolution, for the audience, the repercussions are never shown to effect the victims too much.

This theory can be applied to thousands of films that we have seen.

Another famous theory is by Vladimir Propp. Propp studied hundreds of storiesbefore deciding that they all have a common structure. This theory has emphasis on the characters shaping and developing the plot. Although there are more than 30 stages of possible narrative a single film does not have to use them all. This is the list of characters in each narrative:

Hero- Goes to search in order to help the 'Doner' and 'Helper'
Villian- Often the antagonist, the person on the opposing 'side' of the hero/ against the hero
Doner- Assists the Hero with something to help them defeat the Villian e.g. magic, advice, weapons or information.
Helper- The person who aids the Hero often seen as a 'side-kick'
Princess- The goal of the hero, recognises the hero and is often the 'reward' of the hero.
False Hero- Prentends and acts as though they are the 'Hero' but they are not.

Levi Strauss came up with the theory of binary opposites as the narrative in films.

These are:

-Good vs Evil

-Young vs Old

-Man vs Woman

-Pretty vs Ugly

-Savage vs Civilised

-Peace vs War

-Protagonist vs antagonist

-Strong vs Weak

-Ignorance vs Wisdom

-Alien vs Domestic

-Human vs Nature

With the horror genre, we often see films that don't stray too far from one another. There exists features which all sub-genres in horror use. These are mainly stories centred around isolation, a threatening 'creature' or antagonist and the protagonists must escape this threat. The ultimate goal in horror films is mainly staying alive.

MISE- EN -SCENE

Mise-en-scene is a french phrase which means; 'Put in Scene.' This covers the production, he lighting, costume, props and iconography in films. In the Horror genre mise-en-scene are often similar depending on the sub-genre.

Reoccurring mise en scene in horror films: We often have iconography in paranormal films including- pentagrams, religious imagery and objects related to spirituality. For some reason, this has become a popular convention in horror films. This may be because we relate 'Satan' the ultimate horror with religious imagery. For thousands of years, we have had fears of 'hell' engraved in us and we've learnt of the terrible torture brought upon us if we ever face 'a creature from hell.' Religious iconography is therefore a good use of mise-en-scene as it connotes these perhaps intrinsic fears.

In most horror films there is a lot of blood which obviously connotes death. It scares a lot of people into believing there is a real serious threat to the characters. Lighting is often limited, very dark, dingy and minimal lighting is used in most horror films. Often they take place at night time and the characters use; candles, torches or dimly lit and weak lamps. To the audience, a shot with dark lighting will make atmosphere more ambiguous and ominous as we want to be able to see all that's happening but we can't. Thus, we feel very uncomfortable and have fears of what might be lurking in the dark.

Characters will often be monsters or ghost with effective costumes. The victims we seen in films are seen in groups and eventually they are killed off, one by one. The use of costumes that make a character look unfamiliar, this often taps into the common fear 'of the unknown.' In the slasher genre there is a common character convention of 'the final girl' this the character in the film that witnesses the horror and participates with the other victims from escaping the danger. Eventually, everyone in the group is killed off, but not the final girl who survives the horror and lives 'till the end.

SOUND

Sound plays a very important part in creating a horror film. For example, when you watch a horror film and turn the sound down, it does not have the same effect as to when the volume is loud. Special sound effects are used such as the 'roars' and noises of the monsters, which make the unreal character become 'alive' on screen, thus, they become more convincing and threatening. Loud screams, bangs on the floor, footsteps, giggles, loud surprising noises, heart beats and so many more are edited as diagetic sound. These noises make the film a lot more intense and feel realistic.

CONVENTIONS OF A SHORT FILM

There is a difference between making a full length, feature film and a short film. These are the features of all short films, no matter the genre:

-Concise plot line = This will enable to cover the narrative within the short duration of up to 40 minutes.

-Limited dialogue = this is often use as dialogue can open up more complex story plots, this will not be efficient for the short duration.

-Limited characters = again the more characters there are in the film the more complex and difficult it will be to finish the narrative within the time of the film.

-The focus of the film, is quickly directed to the audience.= This allows the audience to understand the main point of the film that they must understand. This is often partnered with a quick climax, where the tension starts right at the beginning and the climax is met soon within the film.

-Online distribution= The film is often not long enough to be showed in films as it's often very expensive to do so too.

-Niche Audience = The film will be aimed at a small audience, this is because short films are mostly very experimental and won't appeal to the mass.

- One location/setting = This allows for a less complex storyline, which will be easier to meet resolution within the time frame.

I dare you to click on this link...

http://www.slideshare.net/KimberleyEden/the-economics-of-horror-films

Grotesque (Sub-)Genres of Horror films

Keep reading or else...

Not only do the conventions help with the production of the horror film but they often help define the sub-genre of the horror film. Sub-Genres exist because some conventions are used in some horror films whereas others are left out. The subgenres of the Horror Genre are:

-Slasher The main convention of the sub-genre is violence and the plot revolves around a psychopathic killer out to kill a group of teens e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

-Psychological

-Supernatural

-Apocalyptic

-Body Horror

-Comedy Horror This sub-genre combines conventions from the Horror and Comedy genres e.g. Scream

-Creature feature

-Action Horror

-Gothic Horror

-Science Fiction Horror

-Zombie These are films that portray brain eating, mindless corpses e.g. Dawn of the Dead

Many poor souls have spent their sad-sad-sad lives pondering the significance of genre...

John Fiske- Genre 'Attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meanings that circulate in our culture for the convenience of both producers and audiences.

Tom Ryall- Genre provides a framework of structuring rules in the shape of pattern, styles and structures, this guides the production of the texts for the audience.

Steve Neale- The conventions help builds the expectations of the audience this helps them interact with the text that they are viewing.

Tormenting theoretical Approaches to horror films

Oh dear, you've let me down. I thought you would be stronger than this, but your curious mind has led you here. Somewhere-where no one wants to be. Perhaps, you don't know why you want to carry on reading or maybe you've been possessed by some sort of demon... Who knows? Well, you can either yell for help but I doubt anyone will hear or you could just carry on reading... because I know that you want to!

The following is my research on theories:

The American philosopher Noel Carroll who is famous for studying the aesthetics of horror films has a theory as to why audiences watch horror films. His main idea is that people are attracted to the gore and violence. Have you ever found yourself so grossed out by a scene but can't stop watching? That is his theory in practice. We don't want to look but we just can't help it! We enjoy the antagonist Point of view as we get to identify with them (maybe as escapism into a fantasy world?) we also fear vampires because of what they can do but at the same time we may be attracted to them. We are attracted by the repulsion.

Laura Mulvey and the Male Gaze theory can be applied to audiences of the horror genre. The theory suggests that the film that we are watching positions us as a heterosexual male viewing females as objects rather than a person. I think that most horror films have females that are considered good looking rather than ugly and some people say that they'd rather watch a beautiful person get murdered rather than someone considered not pretty and even would prefer to watch a women be stabbed to death than a man. I think that this way we feel more sympathy for the victims as in society it's commonly considered a tragedy when a beautiful person dies. Women are more visible in horror films too. For example, the Final girl is present all the way throughout the film. However, this theory can also be argued as the women are often to been as more active than submissive as they tend to have to be the strongest person to get through all the horror.

The Texas Chainsaw Masscare (1974) is a good example of the male gaze. There is a shot that can be considered an example of the male gaze. The low angle objectifies the women as the shot is obviously not establishing the setting as we mainly focus on her body.

The psychologist Sigmund Freud believed in the Uncanny... This is one of my favourite theories and I hope to include it in my horror film. The Uncanny is something so strange and disturbing yet feels so familiar; It is something that is suppose to be a secret even we don't know what. But it comes to light from the unconscious mind. He suggests that it is the return of the repressed and it is projected onto people, objects and places. This is linked to the uncanny valley; where things are beyond familiar they become frightening to us. This could be why people are so freaked out by clowns because they look just like humans yet the drawn on smile, and edited features become sinister, so something recognisable has become unrecognisable and we see the danger in it.

Even though Pans Labyrinth is generally not a horror film the monster taps into the uncanny valley. In my opinion this is one of the scariest characters in film because of the way it looks. It has human feature which we are so familiar with yet it is creepy because it isn't human, we don't know what it is! We don't know what it could do to us because it's like us but on a whole other level!

Watch my prezi (below) for further information on the uncanny valley...
http://prezi.com/ixbftqfetn5i/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

The agonising Auteur theory

By now, you must be most curious about the creators of such a horrific film genre. After all, they are the mad scientists that conjure up the ideas for the films. An auteur is described as someone who creates their visions, thoughts, beliefs and opinions about a subject matter or world view. Often they are considered the 'author' rather than the writer of the screenplay. This theory focuses on how texts are determined by the artists' vision and creativity.

“A true film auteur is someone who brings something genuinely personal to his subject instead of producing a tasteful, accurate but lifeless rendering of the original material”

To add to their vision the auteur can use: sound, lighting, camerawork, staging and editing. The way they use these makes their work distinctive which creates their signature style, they enables them to have complete creative control over their film.

I have researched two iconic auteurs from the Horror film genre: Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick.

Hitchcock:

His film 'Psycho' is considered the mother of the modern horror genre. Inspired by the cannibalistic killer Ed Gein, the film includes some dark humour which managed to stir fear within it's audience. The success can be measured in part by it's box office success generating $15 million at the end of it's first year of release but it can also be measured by it's cult/ classic film status where the film is continuously watched by movie lovers. This is all down to Hitchcock's genius. An important technique that helped build Hitchcock's style is the use of camera shots: "The point is to draw the audience right inside the situation instead of leaving them to watch it from outside, from a distance. And you can do this only by breaking the action into details and cutting from one to the other, so that each detail is forced in turn on the attention of the audience and reveals its psychological meaning." In his film 'Psycho' there are some iconic examples of his camera work: The shower scene which uses quick jump cuts which was used to suggest to the audience horrible violence, without actually showing it.

Hitchcock was also unique in his narrative structure. He would have had several storylines within the film with many leading to dead ends. The structure of his films are very complex as there is so much within the film that connects which makes the film unique. This was emphasised by his use of repetition which he managed to pull off successfully as he left a lot to the imagination of the audience.

Kubrick:

Kubrick took inspiration from books and often turned those stories into his visions for his films. He had a distinct style which often included cold colours to create a sense of isolation and bleak atmosphere. He is known for his use of long shots which are usually a loner duration than most films this helps make the audience feel unsettled. A theme that is present within most of his works is: Fear, the fear of the progression of humans and where we are going and what will happen to us. His films use juxtapositions to create a dystopia e.g. tranquil nature vs. violence, scary/threatening images with humour which in turn makes the films often feel dark and profound. These techniques can be said to be a reaction to mankind and 'the system' which all tackle the flaws of it.

Textual Analysis 1

In order to create a good film myself, it is essential to understand what goes into making a good text. This will ensure my understanding on the use of and importance of conventions within a genre.

SMILING MAN:

Camerawork- Begins with an establishing shot, this way the audience are aware of the location of the film. Locations in horror films are important because the often limited and are where all the horror takes place. A wide angle and mid-shot are used when the girl sees the still, red ballon. This technique is used in horror films because the audience expect to see something out of the corner of their eyes or expect a jump scare. An aerial shot is used to make it seem as though the little girl is being watched by something, it also represents hierarchy suggesting that because she is being looking down upon she is weaker and in danger. We feel scared for her.

Mise-En-Scene- It is used simply and effectively in this short. The costumes are stereotypical such as a young girl wearing bright colours connoting her innocence but also represent her in a positive light. The ballons are used a iconography and symbols of the threat that she will face. A red and black ballon are used. Red often connotes danger and violence, Black connotes fear and mystery so the audience understand that the girl is in trouble. The location is a normal family home which suggests that there is an invasion and this is scary because a home is where people feel safest. The Uncanny Valley theory is used for the antagonist because it looks human but by the end we are not sure whether it's human or not.

Editing- Shot-reverse-shot is used to establish the protagonists personality. She's a normal girl watching TV. The camera cuts back to the girl, the audience can see her facial expression.

Sound- There is diegetic sound used to make the film seem more realistic and emphasise the innocence and normality of the protagonist. The music in the cartoon is upbeat which juxtaposes the storyline, which make it disturbing to watch. Dialogue is not used but the antagonist voices some weird expressions, emphasising that it is not quite human.

Reaping the readings of horror films

You poor soul, how have you wound up here? Well, you might as well stay now...

How do you interpret horror films?

Watching a film can be a completely unique experience for every viewer. Some people interpret film meanings differently and it's true that the meaning of many horror films are subjective. All media texts have a series of encoded messages and signs which the audience must decode. Polysemy is the capacity for a text to have more than one meaning, it relates to how different audiences can have different interpretations of media texts depending on the context and culture. With this it's important to note that audiences aren't a mass and are made up individuals so their readings will often be complex and varied.

There are two types of audiences; PASSIVE and ACTIVE

Active- This audience reacts and responds to the media texts in different ways and engages with the messages

Passive- This audience does not engage actively with the text, they do not challenge the codes and messages and therefore will be more affected by them.

Stuart Hall a theorist and sociology professor has looked into the audience positioning and has come up with three interpretations of how audiences may read media texts:

Encoding + Decoding

Dominant reading - This is when the audience read the text in the way the director intended. The reader fully accepts the preferred reading, this way the code seems natural.

Negotiated reading- This reading is when the reader almost considers the preferred reading but also modifies it so that the reading reflects their own position.

Oppositional reading - The readers social position means that they are placed in the opposite position to the dominant/ preferred reading. Ultimately, they have rejected the reading.

The Petrifying psychology of horror films and who even watches them anyway?

There has been many of studies, into why people want to watch a film that is explicitly violent and why audiences seek the sensations they feel when they watch this genre. I will explain how these theories relate to the Blumler & Katz theory of Uses and Gratifications.

Dr Jeffrey Goldstein has stated that: 'people want to be frightened or they wouldn't do it twice. You choose your entertainment because you want it to affect you.... But people have the ability to pay attention as much or as little as they care to in order to control what effect it has on them. emotionally and otherwise.' Suggesting that people can watch horror films because they know it's only a film, they seek out the thrills in movies because they don't experience them in real life. In line with the Uses and Gratification's theory, Goldstein's interpretation suggests that audiences are watching the films for entertainment as a way of escapism, to temporarily forget about reality. Goldstein's idea is supported by other psychology experiments such as in 1994. Haidt, McCauley and Rozin conducted an experiment on disgust, where they used college students to watch real-life horrors. The study found that 90% of the students turned of the videos before it reached the end. However, these students could easily sit through a gory horror, equally as graphic as the films. The results found that 'the fictional nature of horror films affords viewers a sense of control by placing psychological distance between them and the violent acts they have witnessed.' Thus, this supports the theory that people watch horror films for entertainment.

However, there are studies which don't support these theories. Some researchers believe that choosing to watch a horror is related to cognitive and emotional factors. Dr Deirdre Johnston, published a study on the motivation behind watching horror films and found that ' The four viewing motivations are found to be related to viewers' cognitive and affective responses to horror films... viewers' tendency to identify with either the killers or victims in these films' These means that viewers can relate to events, characteristics, personalities and plots in the story lines within the film. To correspond with the Uses and Gratifications theory audiences find a sense of identity in the films. The audience recognise the product of the fictional characters therefore they become role models that share their values and beliefs. Ultimately, the viewer can watch a horror film because they idolise certain aspects and characters in the film. They identity and have aspirations to become like them and do things that they do.

Another cognitive related study is by Dr. Carl Jung who believes that horror films 'tapped into primordial archetypes buried deep in our collective subconscious' that we recognise the danger within the film i.e shadows, the unknown, danger etc. and so our fight or flight instinct kicks in and the audience experience a pump of adrenaline which makes us feel good when we finish watching the scary film. This relates more to the uses and gratifications idea that it suggests we do watch films for information we learn of the potential dangers and so we prepare ourselves for fight of flight. However, I believe that is a unlikely explanation to watching a horror film because it contradicts the idea of entertainment and largely many people don't watch horror films for gaining information on survival. Others, believe that Horror films reflect our atavistic fears. We watch horror films which depict our primitive past and our fears which we have repressed but when watching the films it's a way of facing the fears

Catharsis, is the theory that people watch the Horror films as a way of purging negative feelings and emotions. We can let out built up anger and agression by watching the violence on screen and be relieved when it's all over. This fits in the Uses and Gratifications theory that people watch the films for 'Escapism' and to get away from the negative emotions by watching someone suffer without them having to do anything equally as agressive because they can just watch a film of someone else being hurt. Sigmund Freud has a theory about human instinct called 'Eros' where we seek out death. This is why we do activities that are thrilling and threatening and self-destructive. We like the idea of the risks and almost facing death maybe for 'escapism' and maybe for 'entertainment' too.

Applying the theory that Horror films can be watched for social interaction, as a psychologist put forward the idea of Gender Socialization aka the 'Snuggle theory' where the researched found that men preferred to watch a horror film with a distressed female and women preferred to watch the film with a mastering man rather than a distressed one. However, this does not complete the explanation as it does not explain why someone would watch a horror film alone.

I think it's clear that there is no clear reason as to why we choose to watch films. We all fit into the Uses and Gratifications theory, some watch the films for entertainment, social interaction, escapism or information. Audiences engage in watching these films for different motivations and that's why someone might watch a shark film but will not watch a vampire one. However, when making a horror film, the main motivation of the production company is to make money!

Choosing a target audience

Part of plotting a crime is carefully selecting an unsuspecting victim, this is a similar process to choosing who you want to watch your films. You must consider a number of factors such as: Age, socio-economic background, gender etc. It's also important to make sure that your film is age rated appropriately; so that film content is suitable for the audience that can watch it.

1-The problem that needs solving

Consider; Problem/ Gap in market, Competition, Current Audiences, Current Market and Conducting market research.

The starting point of choosing a TA is identifying a gap in the market that needs to be filled. In this case it's a need for a different kind of horror film, unlike the modern day 'money maker movies' which are repetitive and lack creativity. This is a problem that I have identified, therefore my aim is to create a horror film that my TA want, that will scare them and be truly horrible. Referring back to a previous post on the History of the Horror genre, one aspect that is important to my production is that the most effective horror films reflect the times. In the context of today: Uncertainty is a collective fear within our society. People are becoming more aware of hidden truths and feel powerless to control what could happen next. My film's aim will be to reflect this sense of helplessness onto a niche audience. Today, horror film's are more likely to be big productions, consisting of a dozen spin-offs, these have become accessible for thrill seekers. But I will challenge this, with my production- by creating a short film that will define horror in a less conventional sense and will project the horror onto a passive audience, allowing them to become more active.

2-Deciding who faces these problems

Consider; The characteristics of the audience, e.g their job, socio-economic background, gender, religion, ethnicity etc.

Secondly, painting the image of who the target audience is, this person is the person that you cater your film towards. Everything within the production and post production must be aimed at appealing to this exact person. I have done some target audience research via interviews and have found that there is a niche audience that enjoy independent culture. These are people that enjoy films as art, as well as a use of entertainment. They are aged 15-40. This is a wide age range, as nostalgia plays a part when discussing film and their references. Please, refer to the SlideShare below, this has further research on audiences and I have also decided on my TA.

Representation

Of course when those all seeing eyes are spying on your every move, they often present characters in a certain way to make the distinguishable and recognisable for a passive audience who accept the text for the way it is...

There are four main representations to focus on in horror films. They are: Villains, Hero's, Women and Men.

Villain- These characters often cover a vaste range of representations because antagonists can be subjective to it's audience For this reason, we they can be paranormal, psychological and many other types of 'being;. In Horror films, Villain's are often the male gender, but they can also be old women, children, dolls and animals. Their characteristics aren't limited and they only have one aim or reason for being in the film which is: to cause terror and kill everyone.

Hero- The 'Hero' is often represented to be dominant, brave and strong. They are expected to win over the villain. The Hero is predominantly male but in modern films they too aren't limited to characteristics.

Women- Women are often the main victims in horror films, this can relate to the 'Male Gaze' theory because it would appeal to men to watch women get killed as they are often represented to be weaker and male audiences do not like to be degraded/ to be presented as weak. They are often teenage girls 16-21, very pretty and innocent. However, in the slashed genre there is a convention of 'The Final Girl' she is the female character that survives through to the end without getting murdered. She is often the most innocent of the characters, therefore the audience are more attached to her character.

Men- Men, as mentioned above, are represented as the strong hero but in some films the can be presented as non-believers of the danger in the film. This often makes them an easy victim. Despite being victims in the film, they often die in 'masculine' ways e.g. taking the bullet for a female character.

Age- Age is diverse within the horror genre. Old women can be wise and help the protagonists in danger, we often sympathise with this character and hope that they do not endure the terror within the plot. However, they can be the antagonist, they can be portrayed as evil demons too. Children can be seen as victims in films because they are innocent and this helps use despise the antagonist further. Teens are often presented as being naïve, this naivety gets them into the danger that they face within the film- this is a negative representation.

FILM POSTERS- Ancillary research

I know-who'd want to watch a ghastly film, filled with gore, ghouls and guts? It would only have grave consequences! However, there's a little bit of mind control that takes place when trying to get the victims (target audience) to put themselves through such gruesome experiences. That's right, i'm talking about film posters...

An important part of marketing the film is the use of posters. They are created in order to entice the target audience to watch the film, they usually consist of conventions such as: a main image, film title, slogan and credits to the producers, directors and actors.

In class I had the chance to experiment making my own poster, using similar conventions to some famous movie posters. The conventions include

This is the film poster for 'The Exorcist', a classic and iconic horror film. The main image is conventional for this genre. The main image consists of: a cold, dark palette and a dark silhouette. From this main image, it is immediately evident to the reader that this film is within the horror genre. This is because of what the images connote. Dark, cold and limited colours suggest to the viewer that there will not be much 'light' in this film- meaning that it is a dark and heavy subject. The silhouette is ominous and makes the viewer wonder who this person is, thus leading them to watch the film so that they can find out what role they play. Overall, the image is ambiguous, this is a good way to make the audience question what they are seeing; making them curious, which will lead them to watch the film.

The film's main title stands out amongst the rest of the text. This way the audience are aware of the film's title. There is also a slogan on the top of the image, this is used to entice the audience.

This is the movie poster of the famous and influential 'Slasher': The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. This poster relies on text, more than the main image. Today, this would be considered unconventional, as the main image is usually the first thing the audience see. In this case the main image is an illustration of action. It consists of the antagonist and a victim. It is evident that this film is gruesome, due to the facial expression of the victim.

One's eyes are naturally drawn firstly to the antagonist; holding the chainsaw. Then to the bold slogan at the top of the page. This text poses a question to its reader, this means that they will have to watch the film to be able to find out the answer. The audience are further enticed by the caption on the image, which is ambiguous, thus the audience become intrigued.

FILM REVIEW DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

This is my research on the conventions of film reviews in magazines and newspapers.

PLANNING:

This is where I will update what is taking place during the planning and production of my film, this is how writes, directos, producer & editors of real media texts plan their films.

Premise, Synopsis and storyboard

Premise

A girl walks unknowingly into a house, after seeing a dead body in a bathtub, she swiftly exits. Little does she know it’s not that easy to get away from your troubles…

Synopsis

The basis of my film is to capture the feeling of existential dread, projecting this unconscious knowledge onto the audience rather than the audience relating to a story line. It all appears uncomfortably familiar.

It begins when the main character walks naively into a house which has been broken into, we do not know where this character is or why she has done this.

She walks up a flight of stairs with ease, and after seeing a dead girl in the bathtub she leaves the same way she comes out. Once again, we hardly see who is the victim and we do not know why she is there. What is certain is that, she has suffered a significant amount of torture.

The world at first appears normal and as expected, but after she leaves this world is no longer familiar.

Through her perspective, we watch her journey of trying to run away from what she’s just seen. This trauma is heightened and emphasised by flash backs of uncanny figures which torment her mind-Flashbacks to the known and unknown.

Eventually her journey has only returned her back to the location of the body, where she looks with disbelief into a mirror and realises that the person who has is in the bathtub- is herself.

I've created an image mood board which inspired the overall feel and themes of my horror film. This allows me to explore intertextuality within my film. I have drawn inspiration from a number of media texts from films within the psychological thriller to art works by Francis Bacon and Salvidor Dali. From creating this image board, the main themes which I will include in my short film will be: the mind (in particular the unconscious), the self and beliefs.