30/11/15

Today I have been able to get the test shots for our filming location which I will be able to upload and discuss in tomorrow's double lesson. Also in the double, we hope to complete our student focus group and finish any remaining work from the previous week.

Focus Group

Focus group media from Dan Neary

Hypodermic Needle Model

Work by http://charlieball27.blogspot.co.uk/

24/11/15

In today's lesson, our group discussed a lot of ideas for our production, which we chose to present in a written format. We discussed crucial elements such as our overall plot line and the location we wish to film at.

23/11/15

Our aim for this week will be to look into form research, technical research, analyse and evaluate our pilot survey results and also to begin thinking about audience profiling.

Genre Theory

Representation Theories

16/11/15

I have now completed all my genre research and as a group we are completing our theoretical research. I have began to do my textual analysis of another student's work, focusing on a production that got full marks as it would be beneficial to us to see the standard which we should be aiming to achieve.

Production Company Titles

We then collected a tally of results for our potential title, which demonstrated that 'Neurosis' was the most popular option.

Textual Analysis- Student Work

Captive
Captive is an AS Media production made by Kieran Panchal, Josh Manley, and Isaac Randall. It focuses on a young man, strapped to a chair in an abandoned broken building, who sees a demonic child holding a toy doll. The production is two minutes long, and has many good effects, and just a few negatives. One positive that is present throughout is the quality of the camera. It produces an HD quality films which creates a brilliant effect for the whole of the film. At the start, when blood is dripping down the boy's face, it's made to look very realistic due to the camera being able to focus on several different details. The make-up and camera combined make a more powerful intro to the production. This is because of how well done the make-up is. The blood dripping out of his mouth looks stiff, as if it's been in his mouth for a long time. The boy's face looks battered and bruised too, which suggests that he has been in a fight. We only see flashbacks of all that happened before he got to the chair. It appears that he was acting as a photographer or journalist, and got captured whilst on the job, he was then held Captive, hence the title of the movie. The title of the movie pulls you in, as with one word, it's more powerful, and really gives you an insight to what it is about. It's relevant to the content of the film too.
There is limited dialogue in this production. The only words said are "HELP", which shows the desperation inside of him. These words are screamed, making the whole scene more intense, as it happens towards the climax of the film. The rest of the production is rather quiet, with tension building music planted into it, which has a very good effect on the production, as it makes it clear it's a horror film. There are a variety of different shots used in this production, ranging from extreme close ups to long shots. Most of them are close ups due to the fact that the whole thing takes place in one small area, bar the flashbacks. The flashbacks themselves may have been implemented so that the producers of the film could shoot more scenes from different angles. Without them, the film would be very empty, with very few memorable moments. The guy acting didn't have to do much that required a lot of skill, however what he does act is done well, and is believable throughout. The use of CCTV looking cameras is exceptional, as it suggests that him being there is all set up, and the antagonist planned for somebody to end up there. We also don't see any weapons around, therefore we can only be left to guess what will happen to him.
Despite all of these positives there are some negatives of this production. Whilst the shots are good, as is the camera quality and make-up, the actual content leaves a lot to be desired. The shot looking out of the window is good, when you see the possessed child. However, besides that nothing much really happens.

- Charlie Ball

9/11/15

Our aim for this week is to complete all theoretical research and any remaining research into the horror genre. We would also like to complete our textual analysis of an existing student project using the OCR Media Weebly website so that we can gain inspiration for our own production by looking at what has already been successful.

Auteur Theory

Auteur theory is the theory of filmmaking in which 'the director is viewed as the major creative force in a motion picture' and it arised in France in the late 1940's. It states that the director, who oversees all audio and visual elements such as camera placement, blocking, lighting and scene lengths, is more to be considered the ''author'' of the movie than is the writer of the screenplay. These fundamental visual elements convey the message rather than the plot line. An auteur is someone whose style and practise is particularly distinctive such as Alfred Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock is one of my influential figures and he is widely considered to be an auteur. He has reached auteur status by being the 'Master of mystery and suspense' as he likes to play with the audience's nerves through his directorial style. His style involves the visual expression of thought and psychology. Hitchcock's signature technical style involves the use of camera viewpoints , elaborate editing , a soundtrack to build suspense and he focuses on the creation of set pieces where he is able to demonstrate his talent for detail and suspense. He was known to collaborate with the same people when making his films and this allows him to create a consistency with his filmography.

This mind map summarises the ways in which applying the Auteur theory to our own production would be effective. This is something we would have to consider carefully when deciding on final ideas for our production as it is important to create a distinctive style that will keep the audience engaged and wanting more.

Pilot Survey

Genre Research

For our production, we have chosen to focus on a sub-genre of horror: psychological horror. Some characteristics of psychological horror films are suspicion, distrust, self doubt and paranoia. Plot twists are often used as a device and the tension is built through atmosphere, eerie sounds and the exploitation of the viewer's and character's psychological fears. 'The Black Cat' and 'Cat People' have been cited as early psychological horror films and other examples of psychological horror films are: Jacob's Ladder, Session 9, The Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho.

'Psychological horror aims to create discomfort by exposing common or universal psychological and emotional vulnerabilities/fears and revealing the darker parts of the human psyche that most people may repress or deny' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_horror

Psychological Horror from meganwest789

4/11/15

This week I will aim to collect information and research into the horror genre and the conventions of our chosen sub-genre: psychological horror. I also hope to begin some theoretical research into theories such as the Auteur theory.

Influential Figures

Some institutions that are heavily involved in the horror industry have influenced me when I have been thinking about ideas for our own production. One of these is Twisted Pictures, who are an American independent production company, who have grossed more than half a billion dollars since they were founded in 2004 by Mark Burg, Oren Koules and Gregg Hoffman. Twisted Pictures mainly focus on creating films of the horror genre and they were formed after the 'box office success of Saw in 2004', which lead to them securing a 'nine-picture distribution deal' with Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures went on to produce six sequels in the Saw film series. They have only been present in the horror industry for the past decade but have already had substantial success. Their parent company is Evolution Entertainment and Twisted Pictures produce both motion pictures and video games. More recently in October 2009, Twisted Pictures landed a deal with the right-holders of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that was for 'multiple films'. This is another example of their focus on creating films of the horror genre.
They have influenced me because of the huge impact that they have had on the horror genre in such a short amount of time, by being responsible for one of the most popular horror movie series after only being founded in 2004. Other influential institutions for me include Universal Pictures, as they have experimented with producing some horror films like 'Dawn of the Dead', which was directed by Romero, who is a key director in the horror film industry. Another institution is Blumhouse Productions, who have produced very successful horror films such as Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister.

A director who I would consider to be influential is Alfred Hitchcock, who is often 'renowned as England's best director' and who was born on 13th August 1899 in Essex. He was often nicknamed the 'Master of Suspense' after he influenced so many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres. This is part of the reason that he is influencing me as we would like to focus on the more psychological and suspenseful element of the horror genre, and Hitchcock demonstrates effective suspense in his films through the fact that many of his films have 'twist endings and thrilling plots'. Hitchcock had a career spanning six decades and by his death in 1980, he had directed 'more than fifty feature films'. He had many specific stylistic trademarks including the 'use of camera movement that mimic's a person's gaze'. This style may be important to consider for our own production as it will make the audience feel like they are more involved in the film itself, so could be used as escapism with linking to the Uses and Gratifications theory and also provokes the audience to feel more empathy and fear for the characters and their situation. One of Hitchcock's most notable films is Psycho, which was released in 1960 and is of the psychological thriller/horror genre. This also adds to his influence as one of his most notable films is focused within the genre that we would like our production to be based around.

I found this interview interesting as Hitchcock is asked what he thinks is important for a director who has the aim to frighten an audience, and he responds by saying that they must understand the 'psychology of audiences'. This will be important for us to consider because we are focusing on the sub-genre of psychological horror, so in order to understand how to frighten an audience, we must focus on the psychology behind their fear. Hitchcock elaborates further on this point by saying that audiences 'love to enjoy fear' in order to 'see what it's like'. He then goes on to talk about Psycho, which was an upcoming release at the time and he describes it as his 'first attempt at a shocker'. Hitchcock says that the horror of this film 'only comes after you've seen it' when you may be at home by yourself. This is influential to me because for our own production, we want to create a piece that will be thought provoking, even long after the audience has watched it.

Someone who I would also consider to be an influential figure is Christopher Lee. He is an English, singer, author and World War II veteran who is mostly known for his role of Count Dracula in a sequence of Hammer Horror films. He also played the monster in 'The Curse of Frankenstein' and another one of his most notable characters is 'Saruman' in the Lord of the Rings films. This is one of the reasons that he is especially influential for me as Lord of the Rings are some of my favourite films. However, they are obviously not horror films but despite this, Christopher Lee does still play one of the major antagonists, which is a character type that we need to focus on for our production of the horror genre. Unfortunately, Christopher Lee passed away on 7th June 2015 aged 93, and has since been considered a 'horror legend'.