Key:
Green - Improvements
Red - Peer Assessment
Pink - Teacher Marking
Unit 10 Thriller Film
For this unit I had to make a short horror movie, I made mine about a teenager being stalked.
Codes and Conventions
Some of the codes and conventions of my films camera movement and shots are high-low perspectives, side to side shots, over the shoulder positioning, panning shots and point of view shots. Normally in horror movies when it comes to the the codes and conventions of characters there will be someone or something that is supposed to cause the feeling of horror and a character who will be the victim of that horror. The causer of horror/villain in horror movies will usually have the edge over the victim, the victim will mostly be made vulnerable to the attacker.
Mise-En-Scene
Mise en scene is everything in the scene you can see.
Lighting
Setting
Makeup/Special effects
Props
Movement/Expression
Cinematography
Angles
Movement
Shots
Sound
Sound is what you hear in the scene.
Ambience - Atmosphere. If a scene were set in the woods then there would be nature around so natural sounds like birds or the wind would be used. If it were in an urban area however sounds such as cars or construction machinery may be heard.
Diegetic - This is sound with a visible source, if a car could be heard in my scene and was filmed driving then then this would be diegetic.
Non Diegetic - Sound without a visible source. Hearing music from coming another room would be non diegetic.
Synchronous - Sound in sync with a source. Seeing someone play an instrument and hearing the sounds as the keys are played is synchronous.
Asynchronous - Sound not in sync with a visible source. Seeing a woman screaming but hearing a car over the scream.
Bridges - Hearing before seeing. Hearing a car and then having the scene cut to an image of the car is an example of a bridge.
Aural Signifier - Identification of a sound associated with an image. Example: The Jaws theme
Volume - How loud something is.
Tempo - Sound speed.
Editing
Montage
Trailer
Linear
Nonlinear
Titles
Matching Action
Ellipsis
Continuous Editing
Question and analysis
Everyone who answered this question suggests modern is their favourite theme in cinema. Based on this I will use modern cinematography techniques and styles when making my film. I may however still use the other themes as just because they aren't the general populations favourite theme doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't like to see it in my film. I will still mainly use modern techniques though.
All 5 of these people's favourite movies have similar horror aspects in them, this is what I will use in my movie. Hush is filmed in almost total silence as the main character is deaf, this means that it was filmed almost entirely from the characters point of view. Grave encounters is a found footage type which has a similar style to my production. IT uses children to convey emotion in the audience. Disaster movie uses black humour to get a response from the audience and friday 13th uses a classic damsel in distress type of style.
The majority of people said 1-3 characters in my 2 minute movie would be the most appropriate choice. My film will have me as the victim and someone else as the villain.
There are a total of 3 locations in my movie. The walkway, where the main character is first stalked. The bridge underpass, where the teen is attacked. And the forest where the film ends.
Knife and machete were both considered the best slasher weapons so I chose knife as it's the easiest prop to find and use.
Storyline
My idea is to create a fictional film that will have a horror theme. The storyline is about a teenager that is walking home from somewhere when he is attacked by a mysterious stranger with no known motive. The teen must fight to survive against his attacker in this dramatic 2 minute short film. Costumes that are going to be used in this film will be casual attire. The teenager will be wearing a hoodie and jeans with an overcoat. The attacker will be wearing mostly black.
Narrative Structure
In every film there is a narrative structure. Narrative structure is made up of two things, story and plot. The story is what your movie follows, mostly in chronological order and plot is how the story is told. The story is about trying to specify the key concepts of characters, settings and events. Plot is about how, and at what stages conflicts are set up and resolved in the story.
Treatment
My film is about a teenager being stalked and attacked by a mysterious stranger. The introduction to my film is a sequence of text displaying my name, followed by this is the first scene. In the first scene we see the teenager walking along a pathway with the mysterious stranger stalking from a distance, erie music will be playing in the background. The colours used in this scene are quite dull and grey, showing average british weather. We next see the teenager walking towards a bridge underpass before the scene then cuts to a title displaying the second character's name. After this what we see is the teen walking through the underpass with the mysterious stranger peering from behind the tunnel. After this the camera shot changes to the stalker's point of view, in this show we see what the stalker sees as he peeks into the tunnel where the victim (me) is walking. My character turns during this shot but just before I can spot the stalker the camera showing the stalkers view hides back around the corner of tunnel.
Horror Genre
Horror movies are made to invoke fear in us and cause paranoia. There are many different types of horror movies, old and new but they all share at least one or two similar techniques.
Some of the things you might expect to see in movie with horror as the genre are:
Villain(s) - Every horror movie needs a villain to be responsible for the horror. Without a villain, there is no horror. Entities, monsters and people can all be villains depending on the film. Different techniques in cinema are used to create horror in the audience depending on the villain. If the villain were a thief then we might see a physical attack between two humans but if it were some kind of entity then we may just see inanimate objects movie on their own.
Damsel in distress - The damsel in distress in horror movies are the victims of the horror. This type of character is usually quite useless at defending themselves and used to illustrate the villains killing capabilities.
Hero - The hero in horror movies is usually the person primarily fighting against the villain. A hero can start out as a damsel in distress and then adapt to save themselves and fight the villain.
Blood - Blood may be a possibility in my film if I were to purchase red food colouring or fake blood from a joke shop. Blood is used if someone is injured in a movie to illustrate the severity of the situation.
Weapons - Weapons are what the attacker uses or the victim fighting for survival. These can range from physical appliances such as a knife or supernatural abilities used by entities.
Dark colours - Dark colours are used in films to hide attackers and intimidate the audience. Most movies involving paranormal encounters are primarily shot at night.
Jumpscares - Jumpscares are used to make the audience jump and be scared as a result. These weren't often used in older movies but are in more modern ones. They can be quite cheap depending on the circumstances, if a movie relies heavily on jump scares then when you leave the cinema you may not be as paranoid as if the story was decent and left a mark on you. A jumpscare is an in the moment scare whereas an after scare would be thinking about the movie and being paranoid because the story got you.
This shows my scenes individually as different text boxes and indicates the corresponding actor in each scene with colour. Tyler who plays the stalker in my movie is allocated as red and I who plays the victim is indicated as blue.
Script
Victim: *Walking towards alley along a path*
Attacker: *Stalking victim from a distance*
Victim: *Enters alley*
Victim: *Walking through alley alone*
Attacker: *Peers through alley behind victim*
Victim: *Turns around* (feeling of being followed)
Attacker: *Hides behind corner before seen*
Victim: *Turns back around, continues walking*
Attacker: *Paces and catches up to victim*
Attacker:*Pulls out knife*
Victim: *Attacked from behind and pushed to wall*
Attacker: *Shanks victim*
Victim: *Screams and hits attacker in the face*
Attacker: *Is punched in face and falls back*
Victim: *Flees*
Attacker: *Recovers from punch and starts chasing victim*
Victim: *Runs to woodland*
Victims: *Running on path injured*
Victim: *Turns and falls over*
Attacker: *Catches up to Victim*
Victim: *Reverse crawling in distress looking up to attacker*
Attacker: *Raises knife and smiles*
Attacker: *Pounces down to victim with knife*
Victim: *Dead*
Assets/Equipment Used
Camera
The camera is used to capture photo's and or video footage. It can zoom in and out to view things close up or from a distance, filters can also be changed to make more interesting visuals. Camera focusing is important as it can be used to highlight certain things.
Tripod
This is used to keep camera shots still and leveled when filming. The tripod can rotate at a 360 degree angle clockwise or counterclockwise. The handle is used to change height of the tripod. The tripod in my movie is used to steadily track characters as they move. It's also used to shoot shots from a ground perspective.
Props
Props are used to make the setting/scenes more realistic. In my movie the only prop used is the attacker's weapon.
Costumes/Makeup
Costumes and makeup are used in cinema to make scenes more realistic. For example if a scene was set in Germany WW2 then the outfits would have to suit the time and place. You wouldn't see someone wearing a pair of Nike' stood next to Hitler. My movie features casual attire from today as it is set in the present. Both my characters will be wearing a hoodie with jeans and an overcoat.
Special Effects/Stunts
Special effects in cinema are made up of things such as explosions, fight scenes and CGI (Computer-Generated-Imagery). Special effects can be created through the use of computers, an example of this would be how the dragons are made in Game of Thrones.
Locations
The location is where the filming happens. In my movie a bridge underpass is used as a grounds for my main scene to take place and be set up. After this a woodland is used as a means for more drama and an eventual end.
In depth analysis
Walkway leading to bridge underpass. This shot captures both characters walking towards the tunnel, the camera cuts to the next shot just before they are seen entering. This type of technique can be used to speed up the pace of a scene and make it less boring. Both characters were walking towards the tunnel before the cut shows the audience how they got there. We don't need to see them walk into the tunnel to know that's what they did to get to the next scene.
This is inside the tunnel. Here the teenager walks past the camera and then we see the stalker emerge from around the corner. This gives a good view of the victim walking towards the audience and the attacker peering around the corner. The attacker looking around the corner might make the audience feel uneasy as it's like they are looking at them. This is the emotion that needs to be conveyed in the audience in a horror/drama production.
This shot is of the stalker's point of view. After the teenager walks past the camera and we see the stalker emerge in the last shot the camera cuts to the stalker's point of view to illustrate a predator stalking its prey. Heavy breathing can be heard in this shot to show it's the stalkers view the audience is looking through and make him seem more creepy.
This scene shows the stalker about to attack. The shot is over the teens shoulder and slightly lowered to make the audience feel more small and helpless.
This next shot shows the stalker's point of view again, the character runs in this scene to pounce at the victim. When the stalker runs the camera becomes more shaky to illustrate it's a point of view shot. The fast speed makes adrenaline build in the audience as speed often comes before a climax. Just as the stalker reaches his prey the camera cuts to the next shot. This quick pace of this shot should make the audiences heart rate go up in speed similar to the pacing.
Following the last shot we now see the attack happening from a different perspective. The stalker pulls out his shank and then plunges it into the teenager. Sound effects are added here to make the stabbing sound.
This shot was taken from the top of some steps. The over angle shot of the chase is similar to what is shown on police television programmes where a view of a police chase is taken from an overhead camera.
This is another shot of the chase just as the victim turns around before falling. This shot was taken quickly so that, like the character the audience would be shocked by the fall in the next shot.
This is the final shot of the film. It shows a clear view of a foggy woodland in the background. The fog represents the unknown of the who the attacker was and what the motives were for the murder. Furthermore it also represents the afterlife that the victim is about to enter.
Risk Assessment