Screenplay Draft 2

Screenplay Draft 1

Empire Review Pages

 

 

Here are 17 film review pages that we looked at that we found within the film magazine Empire.

Audience and Representation Theory

Ideology

An ideology is a set of ideas that constitute ones goals, actions, and expectations. There is no set dominant ideology for short films; however there are dominant ideologies that are withheld for feature films that follow the horror genre. When creating our film we will be attempting to appeal to our audience’s dominant ideology of horror films whilst also attempting to create our own ideology for short films, this will allow us to easily establish that our film is categorized as a horror as it will follow the general consensus of feature horror films.

As our target audience is primarily teens and young adults, the film we are creating will need to fit the expectations that our focus group want, one of the features that our focus group mentioned that they liked about horror films was being able to relate to the characters of the film, we feel we will be able to fit this ideology by using actors that are around the same age group as our focus group, helping to fulfil this expectation for our focus group.

Short Horror Films Codes and Conventions

Here is a Prezi which sums up all of our codes and conventions for short films from Blackboxtv each section in the Prezi has an example of how it can be used in an existing short film and how we could potentially learn from this and use it in our production.

The Strangers Poster Codes and Conventions

Here is some codes and conventions research into the Strangers film poster. I have discussed why the codes and conventions have been used and to what effect they give the viewer and to how they relay to the theme and tone of the actual film. From this poster I believe we would be able to take certain things from this existing poster, in the sense that I think the minimalistic style will help to convey the tone and atmosphere of our own film, as well as this the use of one image I find that it helps to add mystic around the film as well as keeping the poster looking professional and effective in it’s use.

Film Spider Diagram

Total Film Review Notes

Page layout

-          Some reviews are longer than others, making it more text dense as opposed to picture heavy. Stills of the film are used as backgrounds, and limited in other aspects.

-          Typography; black text white background

-          Rating system on some of the film reviews

Written techniques

-          Formal writing style

-          Sums up the film; positives and negatives

-          Primarily critical

Empire Film Review Notes

      Page layout

-          The majority of major films seem to be double page spreads

-          Stills from the movie occupy the majority of the page

-          Half of the page is text, other half is often used a picture, or the image is used as a background

-          Typography; mainly black text on white background

-          Colour is used in headings and subheadings for emphasis

Written techniques

-          Colloquial; starts with brief explanation along with history of theme, genre, director etc.

-          Moves onto interview style through use of quotes from actors and directors

-          Analysis of the effectiveness of the film; good and bad points

-          No ratings

Short Film Research - Virus

 

Whilst watching 'Virus' the expanse of space surrounding the protagonist made his vulnerability and isolation apparent. It seems that this is a common convention of short horror films, using a big expanse of space to dwarf a victim not only makes an eerie tension in the film but also creates an atomosphere with the viewer. I also noticed a lack of dialogue throughout the film which helped with building a tension, this is because the audience cannot make a connection with the protagonist due to there being no speach or call for help. However, as the audience we know that something will happen due to the focus being directly on one person and the knowledge that we're watching a horror film. The concept of lonliness and silence is further emphasized by the phone line being disconnected which completely isolates him from the outside world or any means of help. This is a common code of short films which increases the tension and atmosphere throughout the clip.

Blackbox TV Shortfilm - INSIDE

Whilst this isnt a short horror film, I felt this would be a good film to mention within our research into short horror films. INSIDE does not follow all of the general codes and conventions of short films, for a start, there is a lot of dialogue used which helps to create an intense atmosphere as we here many voices trying to talk over one another, this almost creates a bond between the main character and the audience as we experience what he is experiencing.

Seven Poster Analysis

Blair Witch Project Poster Analysis

Screenplay Research

Codes and Conventions of Silence Of The Lambs Poster.

Blackbox TV shortfilm - Not Tonight!

The opening shot of the film 'Not Tonight' is an exterior shot with distorted imagery due to the lack of clear focus. The image is also an unusually low angle shot making our focus lay even more on the house. This is an establishing shot as we are able to associate that the storyline of the short film will take place here. This shot also evokes the feeling that we are not alone in watching the house, that we are seeing through someone else’s eyes, these shot ideas could link to our production.

With the found footage aspect to the film we could use these types of shots, our killer will be watching his old house and therefore we need to portray this idea in our film. Distorted imagery will help our audience to grasp the idea that the house being watched is where the action will take place as well as making our audience feel uncomfortable due to the strange nature of the shot.

The next shots reveal the unknown person who was watching the house, the woman in shot is walking towards the house from the woods. This shot would be effective in our production due to the idea of the woods being shelter for our killer; the idea that the house is being watched from an eerie place such as the woods makes the scene more uncomfortable. The trees from the woods flashing through random shots also evoke the idea of an unclear image, which is what we want to create for our killer. The idea that no one really knows him.

When we see the interior shots of the house we see that the room is lit in a dark red colour, this effect sets the idea that the house is dangerous. In our production there is a 'Shrine' like room which is lit in a deep red colour to set this feeling also, the idea of the intricate shots of the different elements of the room from 'Not Tonight' could be worked into our film also, adding a unusual sense of interest into menial unimportant things. The impression of handheld camera shots is also given by the distorted imagery which is not in focus, the shot of the girl also turning on her phone light shows that we may be seeing the house through her phones camera. This could be an important element in our film as a way of establishing our killer is infact recording his every move.

Blackbox TV shortfilm - Final Exit

Final Exit is a short film by blackboxtv it features a lone protagonist attempting to flee from a group of aggressors. The film uses a lack of dialogue in order to establish a sinister tone as well as create tension; this tension that is created is further enhanced with the use of the music that sounds rather unsettling to the viewer’s ears. The music is effective in its use as it creates an atmosphere about the film as well as establishes’ the fact that the film is a horror film, for our film we should use music in order to establish the tone of the film and keep dialogue to a minimum to create tension and convey the theme of horror throughout our film.

Throughout the film there is a few useful and effective camera shots in regards to the chase scenes for instance at around 0:20 the tracking shot behind the protagonist creates the idea of a chase and fear in the characters face. The swaying from side to side of the camera creates the illusion that we are witnessing the chase from the point of view of an aggressor to the protagonist, this instantly establishes’ the fact that the protagonist is being chased and the fear on the face of the protagonist suggests by some kind of antagonist. This similar chase format is used constantly throughout the films entirety.

The film is predominantly dark throughout as, this low key lighting represents the theme of the film and also shows the mystery and danger surrounding the protagonist, the darkness represents the unknown in the eyes of the viewer and we are instantly met with a fear of the unknown. This darkness could be used in our film to represent the unknown and to re-establish our tones and create a sense of tension throughout.

Blackbox TV shortfilm - This Is For You Baby!

In the short film ‘This Is For You Baby’ Music has been used throughout the film such as at the very beginning at 0:19, this use of music helps to establish both the tone of the film as well as creating a tense and suspense filled atmosphere. The music fits in with the attempted message and theme that the film is attempting to convey throughout the film. Another use of music in the piece is in the constant flashbacks throughout the film such as 1:59 that use music in order to establish a different camera change, this is something that would be effective in our own film in the sense that we are having two different cameras and we should show this through non visual cues such as the music changing. The effect that the music gives to the entire film is adding atmosphere and the particular music adds an air of tension and suspense from the unknown.

The amount of dialogue in this short film goes against the normal codes and conventions in the sense that the film has a vast amount of dialogue; this is not very effective in the sense that this breaks codes and conventions but the budget of the film means that the effect of dialogue is gone. The reason that the dialogue doesn’t seem to work is mainly down to the films budget; short films are often very low budget and the acting can leave a lot to the imagination of the viewer. The fact that the dialogue comes across as tension and tone shattering means that for our film we should perhaps consider considerably limiting dialogue in order to keep the tension and atmosphere of our film.

Blackbox TV shortfilm - Leave Me Alone!

Starting from around the 1.50 mark of the film some of the camera shots show the woman as alone and almost as though she is being watching by something or someone this is the tone that we will be attempting to convey with our film and also attempting to bring unease and tension to our audience. One specific midshot at 1.55 captures this tension and feeling about the film perfectly as the foreground to the shot is obscured and it gives off the impression that the girl is being watched and is not actually alone.

From 0:40 in this short film the camera is positioned in front of a computer screen that has an instant messenger conversation happening, the original idea for our film is that our protagonist has a phone conversation which will get across the idea that she has recently moved into a new house and has brought it for a little amount of money under semi suspicious circumstances. Using a computer as the main form of conversation in our film will help make the film seem more professional as the acting level of our actors may not be completely up to scratch in order to have a convincing dialogue on a phone. It will also take less time to have messages pop up for the audience to read than it will in dialogue. Using computer‘slang’ or abbreviations in this conversation may help our target audience to be more engaged with the character and may find the character more relatable, this will help to meet our requirements that our focus group have suggested for us.

Target Audience

Horror films have a wide target audience, primarily ranging from teenagers to young adults as the certificates for horror films are usually either 15, or 18.

 The target audience would be males and females ranged from 15-25, the younger audience for horror films are often teens that are daring and curious, they may also watch these films due to the gore and graphic scenes. Horror films often also portray naive and unknowing teenagers as the protagonists who are targets for psychopaths and serial killers.

Scream - Intro Research

The Introduction to scream follows a similiar plot to what we intend our film to be about. I have looked into different camera shots, sound, and editing used within the introduction to see how we could use this to help us create our own film.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Documentary Scenes Research

Here I have done some research into the documentary scenes of the film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, our original idea was to create a horror film that incorporated scenes that would appear to be from a real documentary but we decided to change this upon further thought into what we wanted our film to be about, in case we decide to change our minds we decided it would be a good idea to research into a film that has used this style in order for us to gain a basic understanding of how it could be done if we changed our idea.

Blackbox TV shortfilm - THE GIRL IN THE BASEMENT

At 0:23 the handheld camera shot through the woods is a good establishing shot that makes it clear to the audience that someone is filming a house secretly, the fast paced movement suggests that the person filming is on edge as they are ensuring they are hidden by hiding behind leaves and trees. This shot could be used within our shortfilm to establish that someone is also recording the house secretly.

At 1:30 the medium longshot shows the audience that the man is walking into a new room, when this cuts to the mid shot at 1:35, the way the man is acting makes it clear that he has heard something and is cautious, this technique could be something we use when the protagonist hears the antagonist from outside to show to the audience that the protagonist is on edge.

At 1:48 when the man is knocked out, the quick cut between the victim and the antagonist creates suspense quickly, I like how it cuts then to a black screen to show that the man is knocked out, this is something we would like to test with our own film as we feel it creates a dramatic effect.

Blackbox TV shortfilm - ZOMBIE

At 3:18 the camera cuts rapidly between around 4 or 5 different shots, once the boy is hit it cuts to a black screen, this builds up a huge amount of tension for the audience and also leaves them wondering what has happened to the victim

At 4:20 I liked the use of the quick cuts between the camera shots as it helped build suspense, this use of parallel editing will be ideal within our film to help quickly create tension for the audience in a short space of time.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Poster Analysis

Scream Poster Analysis