Our Film Opening 'Hunted'

Evaluation Question 7

Question 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation Question 5- How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 3. Who would distribute our film opening & why?

Who would distribute our film opening & why?

Question 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question 1 - In What Ways Does Our Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

Audience Feedback

After seeing their reactions we decided to interview four members of the audience.

Audience Reaction

We showed a class of girls at our school within our target audience being teenagers our media product. 

Alan Smithee

Research on Alan Smithee and information on why we chose to include him in our film opening 'Hunted'.

Horror Masks

Horror Masks

Leather face, Texas Chainsaw Massacre:


Ghost Mask, Scream Franchise:


Horrifying Grinning Faces, The Purge:


Smiley, In Smiley:


Saw mask, Saw Franchise:


The horror mask in our final opening is similar to those above with the mouth being prominent and the white colour. The majority of the characters in these films are wearing dark black clothing as in our film opening, we sourced the mask from Emily Francis who made it from cardboard and then painted it. This gives it a slightly cracked look adding authenticity and originality.

Our Mask:

Editing Techniques

One editing technique which I suggested we use in our film opening was the use of chopping up a clip and changing the order of them so that the figure in the shot appears to be twitching.







My first suggestion was that we would use it on the figure walking in the beginning of the film sequence making it appear like it jumps quickly forward and back.

I then suggested that we associate the cuts with the villain, and every time the villain appears, or something occurs in association with the villain we would use this technique.



As the villain was intended to be a figure of our main character's imagination, we wanted to use the technique on some of the shots of the girl.

We started to use it on the rotation of her head as she woke up and we really liked the overall affect. It looks like a twitch and represents a glitch in her mind telling the audience there is something wrong with her mentality.

I have since noticed this technique used in various other horror films such as The Grudge to replicate twitching in the same way we intended.

Sound Inspiration

Our Sound

We found our sound on FreeSound.org as Benedict as spoken about. It needed to fit the eery look to our film opening a create tension for the audience, our inspiration for using this particular score are many horror films with similar, in the sense of eeriness, music. It has slow creaky music which sends chills up the spine and leaves the audience waiting for something gruesome to happen, this is the case in many other horror films as well. Such as Nightmare On Elms Street:

NightMare On Elm Street

Nightmare On Elm Street uses similarly slow creepy music which puts the idea in the audience head that something is going to happen. In films such as horror music is key to create this panic in the audience: 



The Hills Have Eyes II

The Hills Have Eyes II has a soundtrack very similar to that of our film. It is a slow creepy track with consistent beats building up the tension allowing for something to happen, this is very similar to our openings soundtrack which has a similar format:

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Hallucinations

After filming, editing, experimenting, and eventually changing our idea, we decided to include features related to hallucinations. This would allow us far more freedom and creativity in our filming. In order to understand it more, we did some research on hallucinations.

"Hallucinations are vivid. They are distinguished from dreaming, which does not involve, illusion, imagery, and pseudohallucination. Hallucinations can occur in any sensory modality — visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, proprioceptive, equilibrioceptive, nociceptive, thermoceptive and chronoceptive." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination

Types of Hallucination

Visual - Seeing things that are not there/Seeing things that are there, but incorrectly or distorted

Auditory - Sounds (hissing, whistling etc) and voices/music

Olfactory - Smelling odours that are not physically present (e.g. Watching a romance movie and smelling the scent of roses)

Gustatory - Experiencing an imagined taste in the mouth (e.g. Watching a horror movie and tasting blood etc)

Tactile - Feeling pressure on skin or organs (e.g. Bugs crawling under skin etc)

Proprioceptive - Individual's perception of the body, joints, movement etc

Equilibrioceptive - Sense of balance

Nociceptive - Pain receptors/nerve system (e.g. Feeling imaginary physical pain with no cause)

Thermoceptive - Perception of temperature (e.g. Feeling cold when imagining ghosts/spirits)

Chronoceptive - Perception of time and the passing of time

We have decided to focus predominantly on visual hallucinations, as it will allow the audience to believe that the images our character sees are real. This will cause confusion and unease, which in turn will create the tension needed for our opening.

Some hallucinations we have decided to present in our opening are:
1. A cloaked, masked attacker
2. Bloody hands
3. A hanging body

We are going to look at adding a different filter to the clips which show these hallucinations, in order for the audience to differentiate them from the other clips, without making it obvious as to why.

Sound Creation

Film Certificate and Target Audience Research

In doing some research we found that an 18 certificate will permit nearly everything as it's the highest rating in the UK. The certificate that is below 18 is 15, so we did some research into what qualifies as a 15 certificate film to see whether our film would be a 15 or an 18 certificate, and the table below shows what is permitted in 15 rated films.

	15
Language	There may be frequent use of strong language; the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable. Continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.
Violence	Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain, and of injuries. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.
Horror	Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable.
Drugs	Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable. The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use.
Sex	Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handled responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
Imitable techniques	Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).

The main qualities we feel our film touches on are violence, horror and drugs. All of which we feel our film would fit the guidelines for a 15 certificate.

To be sure our film would be of a 15 certificate we looked at some other popular horrors that are rated 15:

(Carrie, Warm bodies, Scream 4, Insidious, Dark Skies, The Cabin in the Woods, The Purge, Mama)

Foley Sound Experiments

What Makes Things Scary?

The main feature of a horror film is fear. The "scare" factor. 
With this in mind, I decided to do some research on what actually makes things seem "scary", "creepy" and "unnatural". Therefore, we will be better able to make the decisions about our film opening that will make it suitably "creepy" for our audience.

First, what is fear?

The right amygydala is the portion of the brain associated with the learning of fear. Research by Christof Koch shows that it responds more to images of animals than people, landmarks or objects, even though those things could be deemed as more dangerous in the present day.
Research by Nobuo Masataka also showed that children as young as three years old found it easier to identify snakes on a computer screen than flowers, showing how much fear and the inescapable instinct of survival are linked.

However, Thomas Straube, from the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, showed through brain scans that horror films don't actually activate fear in the amygdala at all, but rather fired up other parts of the brain instead. This would mean that, in actual fact, horror films don't actually scare us in the expected way that brain chemistry suggests.

A psychologist by the name of Dr. Glenn D. Walters identified the three main factors which make horror films so alluring to us.

1. Tension - This is created through mystery, shock, terror or gore.

2. Relevance - This is how far the film and its themes relate to the audience. The more it relates to the group or individual viewer, the more likely that group/individual will be drawn to watch the film.

3. Unrealism - However graphic a horror film may be, there is always something inside our minds that reminds us that what we are watching is not actually real. This is shown through a study by Haidt, McCauley and Rozin, who looked at disgust. Students in 1994 were shown a series of gruesome documentaries, and very few could make it to the end. However, these same participants would pay money to see worse on a movie screen. This is perhaps due to the fact that when we walk into a movie theatre, we know that what we see is fabricated. It is also why children should not watch scary films when young, as they have more difficulty separating fiction and reality, especially when seen on a movie screen.
  With all this in mind, films that cause high levels of tension, are relevant to multiple groups of people, but still retain an air of unrealism, will hold more horror appeal for the viewer.

Why do people watch horror?

There are various reasons why people are motivated to watch horror. One study looked at adolescents who watched "Slasher" films. It was found that there were 4 prominent categories as to why these adolescents chose to watch this type of film. These are identified as:

1. Gore Watching - Characterised by people with low empathy, high sensation seeking and males in this category usually have a stronger identification to the killer.

2. Thrill Watching - Characterised by high empathy, high sensation seeking and is motivated by the suspense of the film. Viewers in this category will show more identification with the victims.

3. Independent Watching - Characterised by high empathy for the victim. Viewers in this category use the fear within the film to positively overcome their own fears.

4. Problem Watching - Characterised by high empathy for the victim. Viewers in this category are shown to be negatively affected by the film, showing feelings such as a sense of helplessness.
  Horror films require us to face the unknown in order to understand it and make it less scary. They allow us to see our fears played out on a screen, and be able to evaluate and reduce them without being in immediate danger.



After completing this research, and much more, we can narrow scary films down to three predominant categories:

1. Gore
2. Unrealistic
3. Psychological

Although gore can be shocking, it loses tension very quickly, and it becomes repetitive after a while. For this reason, we decided to focus on the other two possibilities.
Unrealism can work very well, and we felt that, coupled with the psychological aspect of hallucinations, this would be the most effective, and budget-friendly idea for our film opening.

We also looked at this video, by a YouTube channel called Vsauce. This is a channel which uploads many different videos looking at the science behind the mind. In this one, it attempts to explain scientifically why we may find things creepy, uncanny, or scary.

WHY ARE THINGS CREEPY?

Health and Safety

Hanging Scenes

Our Hanging Scene

Our hanging scene is relatively simple but effective, it is pair of legs wearing black clothing contrasting the paleness of the feet. This paleness confirms the idea that it is a hung body, the shot has the legs dominating the shot and our girl in the background. This type of shot shows how she is the victim even off this hanging body, it is tormenting her even though it is dead:

Gladiator This technique was used in the film Gladiator which is where we got our inspiration from, it shows Russell Crowe as the victim after his Wife and Son are murdered and hung outside his house, as you can see at the end of this sequence a similar shot is used to show his Wife and Son hanging:



The Conjuring
The conjuring almost as a similar hanging scene however the hanging body is behind the main character as if it is creeping up on them:

Logo Research

In order to design a suitable logo, we did research into other similar production companies, who focus predominantly on the horror genre. Here is what we found.

1. TWISTED PICTURES

As you can see, this logo and animation uses a font with a gradient, making it appear to be partially hidden. They also use a spike and reddened barbed wire, which are suggestive of violence and gore.

This company's filmography includes movies such as SAW, Dead Silence and Texas Chainsaw.


2. DARK CASTLE ENTERTAINMENT

This logo uses horror iconography, with the image of a large, foreboding castle and lightning. It also begins with a screaming gargoyle.

This company's filmography includes movies such as House On Haunted Hill, Orphan and Splice.


3. LIONSGATE

This logo shows twisting, rusted gears inside a lock. There is also a strong tint of reds and blacks.

This company's filmography includes movies such as SAW and American Psycho.

Cameras

Initial Camera

We initially used my Nikon Coolpix P500, it is typically used for still shots and produces quality pictures in that aspect. When using it to film our opening we found that it was extremely affective for slow shots and still shots as we could mount it easily on the tripod. However for faster moving shots it shook too much and did not produce a clear shot, such as the point of view shot of the young girl looking up at the sky as she wakes up. Initially we had used this camera to film this shot but we found that it did not focus well when moved at that speed. 

Our Second Camera

To replace some of the original shots with better focussed ones we moved on to try out using my iPhones camera. This the iPhone 5 was much more consistent at focussing and provided us with shots equal in quality if not better. We were worried that moving from one device to another would mean the shots looked different however with iMovies editing software we were able to make the shots consistent.

Katanas

The Use Of Katanas In Film

The Katana is a classic Japanese weapon seen in many Japanese films and many war films. Most famously Quentin Tarantino uses it in his film Kill Bill. This film is one of the reasons the katana was chosen for our opening sequence, it is an iconic weapon and stereotypically linked to 'ninja' like characters. Our character is stealthy and confusing, the katana adds a slick look to the character and is its deadly force. In Kill Bill the female character uses her Katana throughout the film rarely picking up another weapon. Other characters in the film also have a Katana as a weapon, it is an antique but deadly weapon which is shown throughout Kill Bill.



Quentin Tarantino also uses the Katana in another of his famous films; Pulp Fiction, where it is Bruce Willis' weapon of choice.



Quentin Tarantino was the main reason we chose to use the Katana as it is iconic and stealthy like our villain.   

Recent Examples Of Horror Films

We've done a lot of background research on popular horror characters, popular horror locations and we've also researched common and effective themes.

So now, this post will be looking at some of the recent releases of horror films. Whilst there are many older horror films that are absolutely brilliant, and have remained so, by looking at more recent films, we can find out more about our target audience (which is, of course, the people living in the present).

By investigating the elements of these films, we gain a better understanding as to what actually scares people these days, and therefore gain more knowledge about what we should consider including in our opening.

THE CONJURING

A very good, and interesting film. The movie begins with a kind of interview about a very scary-looking doll. In fact, the doll is the very first thing we see, however it is not the focal point of the film. This use of dolls is very effective, especially as the movie centres around a family with 5 children, and the children are the first to experience the horror of the spirit.

Throughout the film are many close ups, or shots where not all is shown. This creates fear as it allows the mind to form a most likely exaggerated image of what is hidden from view, and this can create far more fear than actually seeing the whole object or being - "Fear of the unknown."

The ending was surprisingly happy, which certainly went against the usual codes and conventions of a film from the horror genre. I expected either a dark ending where not many survived, or a nice ending leading to a jumpscare. However, I was intrigued by the fact that there was something that suggested a jumpscare was about to happen, but was an anticlimax, and so was instead very eerie.

Common themes: Children, Dolls, Demonic spirits, Motherhood

THE LAST EXORCISM

I found this movie rather good, and very effective. It was in a mockumentary filming style, using handheld camerawork, and seemed to be quite everyday/not scary. There were talks of exorcisms, and for most of it there was little to no actual horror footage, mainly just showing how exorcisms can be faked. This led to the audience being more convinced of the realistic aspects and therefore made the horrific ending quite a shock.

Common Themes: Exorcism, Children (Teenage Girl), Demonic Possession 

THE PURGE

Completely different to what was expected, this movie was more action-based than horror-based. Common codes and conventions of the horror genre include knives, swords or other handheld, close range weaponry. This is because it makes the death or crime more personal for the audience. This is different to other genres, such as action and crime, as they often use guns and explosives instead, as it is louder, and therefore more exciting.

The Purge is an Action-Horror, as it contains many aspects such as low-key lighting, close ups, silences, tension etc. however, guns are used and there are also high tech gadgets and security systems, which are again more common in Action than Horror.

This movie is a very brilliant, yet disturbing film. It challenges the idea of peace and civility, and is actually unnerving to watch, as it delves far deeper into the negative and savage side of human nature than we would normally go.

Common Themes: Violence, Savagery, Children (Being Threatened/Innocent), Peace

HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

A veryaction-packed film, with various horror codes and conventions. Low key lighting, mysterious, mythical creatures such as witches, being among some of the features.

It puts a very unconventional twist on the usual tale of Hansel and Gretel, and so captures the audience through the use of a widely known and traditional tale, which often engages audiences due to the familiarity, and the curiosity of how this version will differ from others.

Common Themes: Children, Witches, Hunting, Magic

The Process Of Creating Our First Draft

Influential Directors

John Carpenter

His films are characterized by minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, use of steadicam, and distinctive synthesized scores (usually self-composed).

With the exception of The Thing, Starman, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and The Ward, he has scored all of his films (though some are collaborations), most famously the themes from Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13. His music is generally synthesized with accompaniment from piano and atmospherics.

Wes Craven

Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold visions and keeping them on the edge of their seats. 

Craven's works tend to share a common exploration of the nature of reality. A Nightmare on Elm Street, for example, dealt with the consequences of dreams in real life. New Nightmare"brushes against" (but does not quite break) the fourth wall by having actress Heather Langenkamp play herself as she is haunted by the villain of the film in which she once starred. At one point in the film, we see on Wes Craven's word processor a script he has written, which includes the exact conversation he just had with Heather — as if the script was being written as the action unfolded. The Serpent and the Rainbow portrays a man who cannot distinguish between nightmarish visions and reality. In Scream, the characters frequently reference horror films similar to their situations, and at one point Billy Loomis tells his girlfriend that life is just a big movie. This concept was emphasized in the sequels, as copycat stalkers reenact the events of a new film about the Woodsboro killings occurring in Scream. Scream included a scene mentioning the well-known Richard Gere urban legend. Craven stated in interviews that he received calls from agents telling him that if he left that scene in, he would never work again.

David Lynch

Known for his surrealist films, he has developed a unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", a style characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound design. The surreal, and in many cases, violent, elements contained within his films have been known to "disturb, offend or mystify" audiences.

Film Opening Questionnaire Results

We created this questionnaire which has previously been published on this blog where 14 individuals from our media class answered our questionnaire in order to enhance our production post draft through constructive criticism.

Sound In The Opening Credits

I have implemented some non-diegetic sound in the form of the soundtrack which is played throughout the  opening credits of Hunted. 

I created this effective continuous stretch of sound which falls perfectly within the change of shots through finding various sounds online and overlapping them to create a drone lilke soundtrack on various royalty free websites such as Freesound.org.

Film Opening Questionnaire

Serial Studios - Hunted

(1) Q. What genre would you say our film opening is?

      A.

(2) Q. What would you rate our film opening out of 10?

      A.

(3) Q. Are there any features which you liked and if so which ones?

      A.

(4) Q. Are there any features that you would change and if so which ones?

      A.

(5) Q. Are there any shots that you would include?

      A.

(6) Q. Did you understand the end part of the film opening?

      A.

(7) Q. Do you have are constructive criticism that would benefit our film opening?

      A. 

Target Audience

Horror Jump Moments

Jump Moments In Horror Films

We have a few jump moments in our opening sequence in this blog i have put together some of the best jump moments in horror films:

The Conjuring

Se7en

The Descent

The Last Exorcism Part II

Who prefers Horror?

AGE

From the table we can see that horror is generally more appealing in the younger age categories. Popularity with horror decreases as the age categories get older. The 18-24 age category is 18% higher than the 14-17 category but I predict that this is because a lot of horror movies have an 18+ certificate and so cannot be watched by people aged 14-17. For these reasons, we feel 15+ would be a good age range for our target audience as it allows for a broader audience and also fits the criteria for a 15 certificate.

GENDER

As you can see, horror is popular with both men and women but as suspected, men are more prone to consume horror than women are. From this research we feel that we do not want to prioritise a specific gender for our target audience.

Two other studies I found proved to be particularly interesting in relation to gender with horror:

STUDY 1

Zillmann, Dolf; Weaver, James B; Mundorf, Norbert, Aust, Charles F

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

 Exposed 36 male and 36 female undergraduates to a horror movie. It was found that men enjoyed the movie most in the company of a distressed woman and least in the company of a mastering woman. Women in contrast enjoyed the movie most in the company of a mastering man and least in the company of a distressed man.

STUDY 2
Krcmar and Greene (1999)
Krcmar and Greene investigated both gender and sensation seeking and found that males were more likely to prefer certain kinds of violence in media.

Filming

Filming

The Creation Of Our Logo

We created the 'Serial Studios' logo through an application on an iPhone. It has been implemented into the beginning of our film opening 'Hunted' to identify who we are.

Editing Schedule

Storyboarding (basic timeline)

After filming our first session in a house we realised it was very hard to artificially light an interior, and make it look dark whilst keeping the action visible, so this timeline was updated since then for a woodland area as we decided it would be a more appropriate location for our story and also for the convenience of natural light.

 

Filming Schedule

9:00 - Arrive at High Brooms Station.
9:15 - Arrive at the Filming Location after walking there.
9:15 to 9:20 - Set up camp and get the camera and tripod ready.
9:20 to 9:25 - Create a foley sound by stabbing a watermelon with the Katana.
9:25 to 9:30 - Film the villian walking through the leaves.
9:30 to 9:35 - Film an Establishing shot of the female protagonist sleeping.
9:35 to 9:40 - Film the female protagonist waking up through a POV looking at the villian.
9:40 to 9:50 - Film the female protagonist running away and falling over.
9:50 to 9:55 - Film the female protagonist touching a tree to leave behind a blooded hand print.
9:55 to 10:00 - Film the hanging scene.
10:00 to 10:15 - Film the beheading scene with the Katana.

Location Scouting

To follow up Ben's post about typical Horror locations, we explored the possible locations available to us locally. Below you can see our vlogs documenting the location scouting process.

Vlog showing a woodland area we considered, but did not use for filming:

Vlog showing the bus stop used at the end of 'Hunted' to show that the story continues and the film begins:

Props and Equipment

Title Sequence Research

We researched into how other films order and present their titles in a film opening so that we could take inspiration and conform to the codes and conventions of our genre.

The general order in which titles are presented are:

• *Name of the studio/corporation* presents...
• Starring (main actors)
• Film Title
• Other names (other actors, casting by, costume designer, co-producers, sound design by, music by, edited by, production designer, director of photography, executive producers, produced by, screenplay by, directed by)

The other names are usually in a  variation of orders however directed by is usually always last.

The following clips conform to our general order:

Scream Opening Scene

Woman In Black Film Review

Casting

Last week our media teachers held a casting event where we assessed the acting skills of our fellow class mates who do Theatre Studies A Level. Since we have changed the female protagonist in our production we found Bethan Williamson, also known as Bee to play the female protagonist in our production.

We found that she was one of the most talented actresses at the casting. After speaking to her and showing her the storyboard she instantly decided that she wanted to feature in our media product not only to improve her acting experience, but to potentially improve our production.

David Lynch

David Lynch

David lynch is a film producer and director, his films are known for there so called 'Lynchian' nature. They are mysterious, violent and disturbing imagery is used. Some of his most famous films are; Eraserhead, a surrealist body horror filmed in black and white and was his first full length film. This film has odd features such as floating heads and creatures revealing themselves out of peoples mouths. Another of Lynch's films is The Elephant Man, another with a disturbing plot, primarily about a man with a deformed face living in the 19th century, also shot in black and white.

These films are linked to our film opening with their odd imagery and disturbing plots much like our own opening sequence. Eraserhead has disturbing imagery throughout we have tried to use this imagery to make our own 'scary' moments.

ERASERHEAD


THE ELEPHANT MAN

Filming Session 1 Documentation

We have successfully completed our first session of filming and we thought we'd update you as to how it went. 

We learned a lot during the filming process and what you think wouldn't take long in fact takes a great deal of time. We had to make many sacrifices and adaptions according to our resources. 

The first factor we needed to adjust to was the lack of darkness. The majority of our film opening was to be set at night but we needed some light in order for everything in the shot to still be visible. One technique we tried was blacking out the windows and instead artificially lighting the space which deemed harder than we thought. As you can see from the picture we had to peg extra pieces of clothing and blankets to the curtain rails in order to black out the natural light, as the curtains cast a reddish tone over the space. 

We also wanted a tracking shot in our sequence and we weren't sure how to transition the camera smoothly forward. One method we tried was to put Frankie in a child's buggy with her holding the camera and Conor to wheel her along. This was our low budget equivalent of the machines that do it on professional film sets. However watching it back the shot wasn't perfectly smooth which left us with not particularly successful footage.