This type of genre strives to educe fear and apprehension from their viewers by colliding supernatural into reality situations. Everything a normal society values is systematically destroyed throughout the film. It often can be completely paranormal without any reality whatsoever and are based on classic literature of the gothic/horror genre. They can also incorporate elements of other genres such as science fiction (sci-fi), fantasy, black comedies or thriller. Modernized horrors usually contain graphic violence or bloody gore. Horror films differentiate due to the years and so it is much harder to compare or group them largely and so contrasts between them become very clear.

o Preliminary introduction into ordinary lifestyleo Type of bizarre murder/death – killer maybe known or unknown
o Credits follow horror theme – creepy font, title movement, image eg pumpkin, weapon, etc
o Main characters introduced – young/ youthful
o Teenage kids – easy target also vulnerable – home alone
o Teenagers usually a couple – football jock boyfriend and cheerleader blonde bimbo girlfriend.
o Mysterious phone calls – dubbed sinister voice “Who’s There…?”o Family ties broken
o Sisters killed by brothers e.g: Halloween
o Sometimes unsuccessful acts of heroism
o Victim unprotected
o Superhuman killer – doesn’t die successfully = sequels

-Source; http://smay-fuller-suttonmediaas.blogspot.com/2008/12/codes-and-conventions-of-horror-film.html

Meeting

Today, myself, Connor and Liam had a short meeting with Mr Davita to discuss the production of our Opening scene. All our basic planning is complete and we are up to date. We now just need to plan the dates of filming, carry on with research. We will need to take notice of the weather when planing dates for filming as it tends to change alot during this time of the year and it could mess up continuity.

Health and Safety

we have had to consider our heath and safety for our project, this because we are using realistic weapons in a public place. we have considered members of the public being scared or worried about the goings on in our horror (e.g. the kill scene). to combat this problem we will have a member of crew,l wearing a high visibility jacket with a dedicated phone line on the back (a mobile number, where they can call for a brief description of what we are doing); along with that the in tire crew will be wearing a high visibility jackets that say crew on the back. we will also ask Scott if he will over see our shooting as a responsible adult. we may also consider having a trained first aider on set.

we have also got in contact with the local police dept. and are awaiting for a response to our phone call to set up a recorded meeting to explain our project and our intentions. we have also written a letter to inform them of our goings on. this is shown below

9^th December 2010

To Whom It May Concern

I am writing to inform you that we will be shooting a horror film sequence for our AS Media Studies Project.  This will include the use of realistic looking weapons (e.g. knife). This will be shot around dusk/ night near Olympus house. We will inform you of the dates nearer the time of shooting this. We will also inform Olympus House of these events.

This is part of our Media Studies course and it involves filming an opening scene for our chosen genre. We have selected the Horror genre. We have planned out our script and costumes for this over the last few weeks. All members of our group will be wearing high visibility jackets during filming.  Group members include: Connor Page, Francesca Williams, Ryan Newson and Liam Oliver. Also Sophie Stokes will be involved as an actress on this day.

We will have a dedicated help line displayed around the set where any member of the public can call to be informed of the current events in place.  A risk assessment will be carried out prior filming.  We kindly request your Consent to these events; if you have any queries please contact Connor Page on  07807 070458 or contact Roberto DeVita at Ken Stimpson Community School.

Yours sincerely

StandHardProductions                      R De Vita

                                            Media Studies Teacher (KSCS)

Analysis

MISE EN SCÉNEMise en Scéne is a French term meaning what is put into the scene or frame. What is put in or left out can make a big difference to the signals we, the audience, receive about what sort of film it is and how we are supposed to feel at this point.

A simple shot of a tree can be made to look threatening by stripping it of leaves, adding a vulture and some lightening and shooting it in darkness. The same tree can be given a very different look by having children playing beneath its sunlit branches. As an experienced film audience we are able to read these hidden signals of lighting, colour, props and characters and add these to our understanding of what will happen in the film.

In this way, the elements of mise en scéne are an indicator as to the genre (type) of film we are watching. We have certain expectations of the mise en scéne in different genres of films; e.g. Horror; Dark, creepy, evil.
Comedy; Bright, colourful, lively.

The elements to consider in the mise en scéne are:
a) settings & props
b) costume, hair & make-up
c) facial expressions & body language
d) lighting & colour
e) position ing of characters & objects within a frame

Heres a brief look at each of these in turn;SETTINGS & PROPS

SETTINGS:
The settings used in a film are very rarely just backgrounds to the characters' dialogue and indeed we will often see shots of places without any action taking place. In this way the setting of a film is far more significant than the setting of a theatre and is almost always infinitely more detailed. Filmmakers can choose to build a setting from scratch using the bare walls and floor of a studio set; alternatively, a great deal of time and effort is put in by a location manager in the initial stages of making a fil;m to find a setting which already exists. Invariably this location will then be altered further to reflect exactly what the filmmaker wants to convery.

Settings can be used to manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then the action takes a different turn, for instance, a tale of horror set against the familiar background of modern everyday urban life is showhow more disturbing than one set a century ago in a house in the wooods. This can be particularaly effective if the setting goes against what we would expect from this genre of film.PROPS:
Props is the term we give to objects in the setting which play a part in the action, rather than just being part of the background, for example, the glass containing the poisioned wine.
COSTUME, HAIR & MAKEUP

COSTUME:
Costume plays a large part in the mise en scéne because it can be an instant indicator to us of a character's personality, social status and job. It tells us immediately whether the film is set in the present and what society and/or culture it will centre around. It may also provide a clue as to the part of the caracter will play in the action. Certain types of costume are identified closely with indicidual genres, for instance, the black cloak of the vampire with a horror film.MAKE UP:
In the early days of cinema, make-up was used to highlight facial features as black and white film stock could not register detail very well. Certain genres traditionally use make-up more than others.LIGHTING & COLOURLIGHTING:Lighting can aim to give a particular scene a very realistic look or to bring out the dramatic nature of it and we associate these different lighting styles with different genres. It can be used to achieve a variety of a effects, for example;

• To highlight important characters or objects within the frame by drawing our attention towards them with a bright light source.
• To make a  character look mysterious by shading sections of the face/body.
• To reflect a character's confused state of mind may be suggested by alternating bright and dark light quickly as in a strobe effect.

COLOUR:
The connotations that colour carries with it are an important influence as to the mood of a scene. We tend to associate certain colours with certain genres particularly with reference to film posters and publicity materials which rely on the public quickly being able to identify with a film even from a distance.
POSITIONING OF CHARACTERS & OBJECTS WITHIN A FRAME
There are various ways in which the filmmaker can use positioning within the frame. For instance;

• If the filmmaker chooses to position a character or an object in the foreground of the shot we know that we, as an audience, should attach importance to this character or object; the mise en scéne is being used to direct our attention towards them. Likewise, we recognise that background events have less significance at this particular point in the narrative.
• A moving body or object placed against a stationary background will immediately draw our attention as it would in real life.
• If characters or objects are positioned evenly within the frame this will give a balanced feel ot the shot. If all the figures are at one end of the frame for example, this will create an imbalance for the eye by making the shot feel heavy on one side. These different types of spacing within the shot can be used to make the audience feel settled or unsettled, thus involving them in the action.
• If the positioning of figures and objects draws our atttention to the diagonal lines of the frame, this will help to inbalance the eye, especially if the lines of the background follow horizontal and vertical planes. This can be used to make the audience feel uncomfortable about the action that is taking place.
• The filmmaker can use positioning to indicate relationships between people, for example, if lovers are having an argument they will often be placed at the outside edges of the grame so there is a lot of physical distance between them to reflect the emotional distance they are experiencing at this point.

Clothing research

We have started research into clothing for our Opening Scene. We have also looked into buying hi vis jacket to alert members of the public that we are part of the filming. The below print screen shows that 4 high vis jackets would cost £5.20 and 4 Jackets with print on the back would cose £16.20.

The i-pod we will have to borrow of someone and the Machette we will eaither had to  borrow or buy.

The below screen shot shows the estimated price of buying a Machette:

Becasue of the weather being cold we have done some research into buying a read coat for the actress, below is a print screen of the estimated price for this, the price would be £3.69 including postage;

 We have experimented with various fonts for out titles, these are shown below:

We have decided on the last font. We will do this in red and white so it flashes on the black background like a heart beat. The sketchy text indicates the disturbed mind of the killer, and the red colour indicates danger.

For our final production, we wanted to use a song called Possibility, by Lykke Li. This song uses an acoustic piano and vocals, this gives it a slightly eerie affect; this will add a great atmosphere to our thriller/horror. Problems:we encountered some inconveniences such as:

• Copy right issues
• How to alter a single level (e.g. piano)
• How to alter the intire song

the way we overcame these problems was to, ask a musician to preform a cover of the song and give us permission to use it; This will also allow us to control the audio editing. after asking Sophie if she would preform the cover, Liam and myself set up the recording studio (with the guidance of Scott). We used ...... mics to record the audio, allowing us to alter the recording circle. We also decided to record the in tire recording session on a camera, documenting the event; i then took this fotage, and mixed it with the audio that we recorded. This was using premire pro, this gave us a profetional looking, behind the scenes video.
For our final production, we wanted to use a song called Possibility, by Lykke Li. This song uses an acoustic piano and vocals, this gives it a slightly eerie affect; this will add a great atmosphere to our thriller/horror. Problems:we encountered some inconveniences such as:

• Copy right issues
• How to alter a single level (e.g. piano)
• How to alter the intire song

the way we overcame these problems was to, ask a musician to preform a cover of the song and give us permission to use it; This will also allow us to control the audio editing. after asking Sophie if she would preform the cover, Liam and myself set up the recording studio (with the guidance of Scott). We used ...... mics to record the audio, allowing us to alter the recording circle. We also decided to record the in tire recording session on a camera, documenting the event; i then took this fotage, and mixed it with the audio that we recorded. This was using premire pro, this gave us a profetional looking, behind the scenes video.

 Possibility Cover - Behind the Scenes (low res)




This video shows the audio in the raw format, it hasn't been enhanced. Before we add this into the back of our video we will add an echo, this will depend on wether it works/sounds good.