# 2 Media studies; HORROR

Mica Dublin

Examples of clips I admire from various horror films…

'The House of the Devil'

'REC 2' orphan

Research and Planning

The genre I have chosen to follow is Horror. I have watched Drag Me to Hell and Orphan and thought the opening sequences and the overall theme was very good and well represented. I especially admired the make up in both films. I hope to use some of theses aspects in my own short production as mine will focus on a stalker following a group of young girls.

Orphan is a 2009 American horror film. The film centres on a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a young girl who is hiding a dark secret behind her sweet disguise. From this movie I will use the element of surprise, revealing who the stalker is at last moment so my audience will be in suspense.

Drag Me to Hell is a 2009 horror. The plot revolves around a loan officer who tries to impress her boss by refusing to extend a loan to Mrs. Ganush. In retaliation, Ganush places a curse on Christine which, if not passed on to someone else within three days, will plunge her into the depths of Hell to burn for eternity. From this film I would like to focus on the costume, especially make-up.

This photograph inspires me. I think this woman was already old (explaining the wrinkles) but her powdered

face adds to the effect. They have used false rotten teeth and her expression looks scary. Her eyes are wide and they have chosen to change the colour of her left eye

making her look odd and even more creepy. She has two staples in her forehead thanks to good art effect. I also hope to use my art skills to make the make-up effective.

Photo from Drag me to hell.

Characters

Annie; shy and funny. She is respected because of her honesty and is a peace maker. Representing the sweet caring girl from next door, many teens will be able to relate to her style and positive personality.Costume; quirky rose earrings, vintage vest top, jeans and flowery pumps.

Tiara; loud and bubbly. She is intelligent, mischievous and a brilliant singer. She comes up with creative ideas to keep the group entertained. Representing the typical teenager who has big dreams and works hard.Costume; cheetah printed leggings, long vest top cute black shoes.

Sophia; Fun, rebellious teen who is daring and outgoing. She is liked because of her ability to cheer the girls up but is mysterious and leads to trouble in the film…

Representing the typical outspoken teen, who breaks rules and has fun.Costume; gold top trendy skinny jeans and fashionable Nike boots. Lots of jewellery,

Halena; loud but the most mysterious. She’s an artist who at the park draws the scenery- including the mysterious figure…Representing a wild child teen who dispite what people think can be very responsible when neededCostume; mostly seen with a wkd in her hand. Wears a lot of bangles, tight jeans and sandles

My short film idea

• My idea for my short film is of a group of friends having fun late at night in an isolated park. They’re loud and troublesome and after an argument, one of the girls injure themselves after trying to chase a shadowed person lurking behind the trees.

• Thinking they’re safe they carry on mucking about not knowing that someone is watching them and is a dangerous and very unstable young man. The man chases them and grabs the injured teen and the friends are against the race of time trying to save her.

Definition of a storyboard

• Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture.

• The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at the Walt Disney Studio during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation studios.

• The next slide is my story board.

Story Board…

View of a beautiful park zooming out to see the full view. Soft beautiful music showing calm.

Opening sequence

Music switches to upbeat to represent a party. Friends laughing and trying to scare each other in the dark. Zooming up on smiles but including long shots also.

Notes; Cuts being used to break the scenes up quickly and to give the impression everything is fast so the audience doesn’t become bored and i give a quick overall preview of my short film.

Zooming on the beautiful trees and flowers to contrast the next clip…

Continued…

A figure is seen and the girls become frightened wondering who the creepy man is and what he wants. (mysterious music)

One of the girls show off and run to find him, but he disappears and she injures herself after tripping over a rock. Its starting to become exceptionally dark. (Heart thudding in the background)

Her friends try to help her get up. Then the man comes back running at full speed towards them and grabs the girl. (Echo of screams)

Show a knife maybe dripping blood and freeze the frame for

emphasis with a sudden bang of a drum

and a gasp.

Last frame of a close up shot of eyes showing fear from the victim or a friend who have seen the horror. (Non diegetic sound)

The Blair Witch Project

Ending of opening sequence

Setting and Purpose• The setting will be in a isolated but

beautiful park. I think this is a good place because it makes the scene ironic as bad things happen unexpectedly.

• It will be at a time where it’s getting dark, to make the scene mysterious but not to late so the film is still of good quality.

• The purpose of my film is to entertain and scare. There will be some humour to keep the audience entertained and horror to make my audience on edge. I think both points are key factors so my audience want to continue watching.

• I would also like to educate so they watch the film and learn something new so it may help teenagers who may come across a similar situation.

Target Audience

• My target audience is teenagers –specifically females- as the film is based on them. I think the film will target them because they can relate or have heard of similar situations. Adults, although not the main focus, may also be interested.

A few example of types of font

• Teens, looks girly, neat and handwritten. Can be used when a piece is supposed to be an example of handwritten work.

•Teens, clear and quite bold can be used as a formal title.

•Teens, fun and creative can be used as a decorative piece when talking of something fun.

•Teens, clear and simple but slightly informal ( casual text)

• Teens- Simple and popular choice when writing essays as its clear and easy to read.

Titles/ credits

• I will incorporate the credits to slightly merge in. For instance, in the opening scene, it could be chosen to sit In the trees. It will be in

the style of chiller to show fear and horror plus will be in the red to stand out and have a quiver effect to make it look like the writing is shaking. I think it is effective as it goes with my theme.

• My short film challenges and re-in forces the conventions of my genre, which is horror. I have achieved this by looking at other horror movies and opening sequence, and trying to find an effective way.

Conventions/ expectations