Research and Planning - Horror Genre Standards

1. Horror films often exhibit the theory that if left alone, adolescents will form into cliques of psychopaths and lemming victims. In these horror films, adults are seen as dangerously skeptical fools, jaded by their own several experiences with psychotic peers.
2. Horror films often exploit the dangerously slippery path into damnation modern youth exhibits; Having intercourse, preparing to have intercourse, kissing, experimenting with herbs, taking part in interracial activities (such as dancing), being mean to others, etc...
3. Horror movies effectively signify that the overpopulation of police are really useless and the underpopulation of virgins are the most useful.
4. The typical killer in horror is an expression of the dangers of a bad childhood, including spending too much time with relatives, being pushed around by even bigger psychopaths, or having a conservative Christian upbringing.
5. Often, horror movie villains will live in a totally secluded environment. This is not necessarily to provide a cheap way to explain away absence of authorities, but to heighten the fear of the killer, who doesn't even need food to survive all on his own.
6. Fear of the unknown and forbidden is employed in horror films. When characters stay on the ground floor of a place, things are usually all right. However when going upstairs or downstairs, danger is ever present. Bad things also occur in forbidden rooms such as the bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen.
7. Horror uses a sense of hypochondria to toy with the viewer. Knowing a pencil in the side can instantly kill, being whacked into a tree will split your skull open, or that tripping and falling can cause a broken leg, brings a sense of sheer terror to the viewer that more realistic wounds cannot.
8. Horror films exemplify the real dangers of those ugly, filthy people who live alone. Hillbillies are never good, taken to rape and incest because they can't get any chicks to fuck like normal civilized beings, taken to cannibalism because hunting is a lost art, and taken to witchcraft for revenge because they are all stupid and cannot understand forgiveness or the right to a fair trial.
9. Horror films show that all technology is evil; cars never start the first time, and weapons are useless. Not to mention the fact that even more evil technologies such as computers, televisions, and washing machines are all instruments of the devil. Inversely, in some cases the killer is seen as a sort of messiah, delivering humanity from the evils of technology; The killer never uses wicked things such as guns, except for impalement, and can always catch up with evil cars!
10. The villain of a horror movie never really dies. This is not truly to exploit the fear of an "invincible killer", but to exploit the fear of more scary movies!
11. A sense of foreshadowing may be used with characterization.

Research and Planning - Own Film Treatment

Here is the rough plot line of our teaser trailer 'Love Hurts'.

• two characters who bump into eachother at the station, straight away there is tension between them both however, the guy has something quite mysterious about him. They both get chatting and before you know it the young vulnerable girl has given him her number..
• The guy (stalker) then decides to follow her home without her knowing and so he then knows where she lives. Once shes home she gets a text from the guy saying 'get home ok?'.

• In a few days time after they meet, the guy decides to turn up to the girls house, at this point the audience will be able to sense that something weird is wrong with this guy and as you can assume the girl is a bit confused as to how he knows where she lives. Being the vulnerable girl she is, she invites him inside her house.. she starts to fall for him..!!
• We then see the girl leaving for work and walking through an alley way near her house, she is walking to work and chatting to a friend on the phone about the new guy she has met. Until she gets a stranger (the guy) kidnapping her from behind dressed in all black. We will next see the girls body being dragged through the alley way and the phone on the floor still being connected to her friend on the phone.
• The final shot will be of another young vulnerable girl walking through the opposite end of the alley way and the guy walking up to her and starts being 'friendly'. It is obvious to the audience, that this guy is a bit mental and he is not quite right, he seems to be a serial killer.

This is just a rough plotline of the trailer and it could change whilst filming, however we will try to stick to this plotline as much as we can, to make it look realistic as possible.

Research and Planning - Title Choices

Here I have gathered the titles of our film that Sarah, Kate and I have brain stormed together, and have picked out some of our favourites which are highlighted below:

• Love Hurts
• Trust
• Good vs Evil
• Let the Right One In
• Betrayed
• I think I Like You

After spending some time on thinking about what would be the right title for our teaser trailer we have come to the conclusion that our trailer is going to be called 'Love Hurts'. We have chosen this title as we feel this represents and pretty much sums up what our film is going to be about. This title does not give the immediate effect or suggestion of a horror film, but after the images of the trailer, the audience will soon be able to notice the genre of this film, and a romance horror never starts off with uneasy tension, usually with happy feelings, and our film isn't going to be a stereotypical horror film, as you can tell.

Research and Planning - Shot List

In class today my group and I decided to plan  out the shot list. Below I have written out the shots and angles that we have decided on (it may be easier to refer back to the story board when talking about each shot):

• Approval Screen

• Production Company

• Shot 1: Establishing shot, with the camera on the tripod. This will be at Oxshott train station taken from the alley way opposite the station.

• Shot 2: This is going to be a long shot of the two characters standing at the platform at the train station, both of the characters keep looking at eachother when the other is not looking.

• Intertitle

• Shot 3: Carrying on from the second scene, this is going to be a medium shot of the two characters walking towards eachother and then sitting down on the seat. We have taken into consideration that as the location for this scene is at a public train station there will be other people around they may be in the background.

• Shot 4: We have decided to make this a medium shot and a zoom. However we may change the medium shot to a long shot depending which shot looks better out of the two. This shot will show the female vulnerable character walking through the woods and the guy character following her.
• Shot 5: This shot will be an over the shoulder shot, where the camera will show the vulnerable girl character recieving a text from the guy she has just met at the train station, and zooming in showing the text, bearing in mind she has know idea that this guy has just followed her home.

• Shot 6: This shot will be a medium shot of the girl character sitting on the sofa and looking out the window seeing that the guy character is outside, but thinks she is just seeing things, the door bel will then ring.

• Intertitle

• Shot 7: This is going to be an over the shoulder shot/medium shot from different angles moving with the action, showing the girl open the door and finding the guy at the door.

• Shot 8: The 8th shot will be a medium shot, over the shoulder shot and a high angle shot of the guy character looking t photos of the vulnerable girl character.

• Intertitle

• Shot 9: This shot will be a medium shot of the girl character walking down an alley way near her house on the phone to a friend.

• Shot 10: This shot will be of a close up and a medium shot of the killer coming right up behind the girl and putting his hand over her mouth and face.

• Shot 11: The 11th shot will be of a medium shot showing the killer dragging the girl character through the alley way.

• Intertitle

• Shot 12: The 12th shot will be the most disturbing shot in my opinion our of the whole trailer, of a close up showing the girls hand moving throwing the mud and leaves.

• Shot 13: This shot will be a close up shot/zoom of the phone still being connected to the friend on the phone and them shouting down the phone.

• Shot 14: This is the final shot and it will be a long shot of the killer walking towards his new victim.

• Title of the film 'Love Hurts'

• Credits

• 'Coming Soon'

Research and Planning - Checklist #2

Research

• Soundtrack research (non copyright music)
• Costume and location research
• Actors and props photos
• Audience Research (typical audience member and similar films)
• Uploaded YouTube videos of teaser trailers and titles analysed in detail
• Upload YouTube videos of similar genre films analysed in detail
• Institution research (Paramount etc)
• Certificate research
• Font research for magazine/poster etc
• Film Magazines researched and analysed
• Teaser posters researched and analysed

Planning

• Own film idea brainstorm
• Own film treatment
• Shot lists
• Questionnaire (and feedback)
• Photos etc of filming
• Diary of filming/editing etc with photos and screen grabs
• Mood board
• Storyboard - prezi
• Script
• Practice titles created and uploaded

Research and Planning - Typical Vulnerable Young Teen Characters In A Horror Film

As I have done similarly with the villian character on the post below I thought it would be a good idea to do research into the typical, vulnerable teen character that you would find in a horror film, to get to know what kind of character we are going to need to include in our teaser trailer.

• The typical vulnerable young teen in a horror film usually plays one of the main parts in this type of genre, as usually the film is based around a vulnerable girl and a villain etc. This main character in some horror films could be an attractive young girl who is the queen bee, being all centre of attention it's all about 'me me me', has the typical joc boyfriend, and will normally have two best friends however, she picks on the 'nerd', 'geek's at school and they get nasty revenge which goes too far.  

• However, in some horror films this maybe different and the typical vulnerable young teen isn't the most popular girl in school, she is just a sweet innocent young girl living her day to day life. This character will usually be, pretty, slim, popular with the boys, vulnerable, trustworthy towards others.

• This character usually goes through a lot during the film, and it is always 50/50 whether they will die or not but most of the time they manage to survive and defend themselves, it is usually very unlikely that they die in this genre, it would usually be their friends or family that get hurt and die.

Below are some typical protagonists in horror films;

Research and Planning - Typical Villian Characters In A Horror Film

I thought it would be a good idea to do research into the typical, villian characters that you would find in a horror film, to get to know what kind of character we are going to need to include in our teaser trailer.

• A horror film can't be a horror film without a 'killer' of some sort. The typical killer in horror is an expression of the dangers of a bad childhood, including spending too much time with relatives, being pushed around by even bigger psychopaths, or having a conservations Christian upbringing and finally simply acting paranoid due to an overprotective serial killer boyfriend. 

• Often, horror movie villains will live in a totally secluded environment. This is not necessarily to provide a cheap way to explain away absence of authorities, but to heighten the fear of the killer, who doesn't even need food to survive all on his own.
   
• Often in horror movies the villain will try to disquise himself from everyone, some films it maybe that we think someone is the killer throughout the film until we find out at the end that it is someone completely different. Villians tend to stick to themselves and not really get involved with other crowds of people as they see themselves and different from everybody else 'loner'.

• The protagonist maybe smart, dumb, thick, possibly pretty and usually a nerd. They can easily drift from popular to unpopular, this makes them more realistic and more relateable to the audience.

 

Below are some typical protagonists in horror movies: