Sound Research

Let It Be: 

Cabin in the Woods:

In my horror film opening, I will need to include a variety of sounds. I will need non-diegetic, such as soundtracks to create the mood of the scene, and maybe use a contrapuntal soundtrack. I will need to use diegetic sound such as dialogue and need to make sure that any diegetic sound that matches an action is synced well. I will also need to include ambient sounds to create a realistic setting for the audience. The genre of my horror opening is horror, and so I will use stereotypical horror elements so that it clear to my audience what the genre is. 

Logo Research, Planning and Construction

Research:

Hush: Blumhouse Productions and Intrepid Pictures

Blumhouse Productions specialize in horror films. In the opening if Hush, there is an animation of stereotypical horror elements such as an old chair, a creepy girl in a white gown and blood, all in an old house.

Intrepid Pictures has an animation of a man embracing a thunderstorm as the camera zooms out and the sky turns red. There is lightening effect transition that shows the name of their company. There is no sound in either this of Blumhouse Productions.

Cabin In the Woods: Lionsgate

Lionsgate uses an animation of giant cogs turning as the camera zooms out as if moving backward out the room and through a keyhole where the text them appears. The sound is parallel to the cogs turning and a swoosh sound matches the camera movement as it exits the room. 

Filled in page black 

Added white rectangle 

Added white text and underlined

Added black text 

Added image layered behind text 

Initial sketch of the logo 

Inspirational Mood-board - Horror

Costume and Props Planning

Following my textual research and audience research, I have created a Pinterest of costume and props that I will use in my production. 

https://uk.pinterest.com/christie0335/costume-and-props/

Research into a Potential Target Audience - Secondary Research

The Conjuring: 

This film is mainly aimed at 15-24 year old and is on average aimed at both male and female. The class is majority C1 so working class. The age has to be over 15 as horror films are generally too intense for under 15's and as people get older that 35 they start to loose interest in being scared for entertainment. 

Insidious:

This film is mainly aimed at 15-24 year old, is nearly evenly aimed at male and female. The class is spread almost evenly between AB and DE but the majority id in the C1 class.  

The Purge: Election Year 

This film, much like the others, is mainly aimed at 15-24-year-olds and is almost even between male and female. However, the social class is a lot more evenly spread out with an average of about 20% in each one. 

How will this research affect my ideas? 

For my film opening, I will take this research into consideration when I decide what imagery, actors, font and narrative I should use. By understanding what audience other horror films have targeted at, I will be able to target my film opening towards the same group of 15-24-year-old, male and females. For example, I will make sure that my film is tense and scary enough to keep over 15's interested. I will also use both male and female actors so that both genders have a character they can relate and connect with. As for social class, I will aim for C1 as they populate most of the country.  

My Target Audience: 

I used my research to help me locate my target audience. I have used films similar to mine as tweaked their target audience to specifically fit my film. This means that my target audience will be more accurate. I am targeting mostly 15-24-year-olds, slightly more female than male as most of the main actors will be female and spread through the classes with the majority in the C1 category. 

Research into a Potential Target Audience - Primary Research

Researching Student Work

The Edge 

What have they made in terms of genre? 

• They have made an action / thriller opening
• we can tell this as it has similarities with other action films, for example, the men in suits and dark sunglasses chasing the boy

What type of narrative does it follow? 

• The narrative is that the boy seems to have a bomb, maybe he stole it or is planning to plant it
• He is clearly doing something wrong as he is being chased but we see the boy as the hero as the men look like classic villains. 

Is it a simple concept? 

• Yes the concept is simple as the story is easy to follow but still creates a sense of mystery 
• The opening seems easy to make with simple shots that a put together in an effective sequence

How many titles have they used?

• They have used around 25 titles throughout the 3 minutes 

Placement of titles?

• The titles are cleverly placed, sometimes in the background on walls, and in some cases they move with the actors
• This makes the titles fit in perfectly with the characters and the action 

 Font of titles?

• The fonts of the titles stay the same and use technological type font which connotes the modern setting of the film
• The colors are mostly blacks, whites, and greys with some red and yellow 

 How many locations?

• They use three main locations which are inside the building, the outside and the underground car park that is all on one big premises.
• This gives the impression that the building is very big and it's a big company building that the boy is trespassing on, this makes the situation fell more dangerous. 

 A variety of camera distance, angle and movement?

• There is a wide variety of camera distances and angles, with a lot of movement in the chase scene
• There is an establishing shot of the building first and then a few medium, and some close ups

A variety of costume?

• The costume of the men gives the impression that they are the villains and are dangerous as in many other films men in black suits and dark glasses are usually the villains
• The boy is wearing casual clothes which the target audience can relate to and makes them put themselves in his shoes and so can feel the tension and danger that he is in. 

Torn  

What have they made in terms of genre? 

• The opening of this film is horror, we can tell this as the music is quite sinister 

What type of narrative does it follow?

• The man goes out to his garage to chop up dolls

Is it a simple concept?

• The concept is quite simple as all he is doing is walking to the garage and cuts up barbie dolls which simply implies that he is quite strange and so give a creepy vibe  

How many titles have they used?

• They have used 21 titles within the 2:32 minutes

Placement of titles?

• All the titles are in the corners of the screen so that they don't draw too much attention to what's happening on the screen.

Font of titles?

• The font of the titles is quite simple and white which could imply that the man thinks that what he doing is normal and innocent. 

How many locations? 

• The main location is the garage but the first shot shows the house that the garage is attached to and the man walking out the house, down the back gate and into the garage. 

A variety of camera distance, angle and movement?

• The camera movements are very simplistic as they follow him from the house to the garage. The quick flashes of the dolls give a horror vibe and creepy feel.

A variety of costume?

The man is wearing a dressing gown which shows the cutting of dolls is a casual normal activity for him which makes him look very sinister. 

Hidden 

What have they made in terms of genre?

• They have made a disturbing horror film opening

 What type of narrative does it follow?

• It shows a man giving a monologue and talking about how he has emptiness and anger and that he had commited a crime.
• A girl is shown and we are led to thing that he has either killed her or is going to

 Is it a simple concept?

• The concept is simple as all they had done is found a good locatation and taken some cool shots
• Then they have done a voice over to which created a creepy and disturbing tone alsongside music

 How many titles have they used?

• They use 9 titles within the 2 minutes

 Placement of titles? 

• The titles fade in and out and are positioned in the corners of the screen so not to draw attention away from the shots of the actors and scenery

Font of titles?

• They have used simple titles in a white and simple font. 
• This simplicity shows how the film handles the horror in a sophisticated and professional way

 How many locations?

• They have used few locations to keep it simple, one outdoors and used the space to create the illusion of different locations and the car which is brought in in the end

Variety of camera distance, angle and movement?

• There is a lot of variety between shots as they use many different distances, some movements and unusual view points

Variety of costume?

• The costume show that the setting is cold which indicates the mood and tone of the film
• The costume also shows that the grl is very normal and so could be relatable to the audience
• The man is wearing black to show how his mind is dark and dangerous 

Textual Analysis - Reflection

Practical Ideas for my Film Opening: 

To Do: 

• Keep It simple
• Make sure titles don't interfere and do fit well with the on-screen action
• Make sure the mise-en-scene accurately 
• Use a variety of shots
• Keep editing smooth
• Use appropriate sounds that create the desired effect
• Put thought into composition of framing 
• Make sure the genre is clear 
• Give some narrative 
• Be practical with locations, props and actors

Not To Do:

• Break continuity rules
• Break the 180 degrees rule
• Use sounds that don't match the genre 
• Give away the whole plot line within the first two minutes 

Cabin in the Woods - Textual Analysis 3

Hush - Textual Analysis 2

Let It Be - Textual Analysis 1

Institutional Research

1. Distribution companies of the films I have researched:

Let It Be: YouTube: Youtube

Cabin in the Woods: Lionsgate

Hush: Netflix



2. Links to the distribution companies 

Let It Be: https://www.youtube.com

Cabin in the Woods: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0173285/?ref_=fn_al_co_1

Hush: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0393977/?ref_=fn_al_co_2



3. Other films that they have distributed: 

YouTube - Bertie Gilbert:

• Stray dog
• The 56 Year Old Boy 
• Tick It Where It Hurts 
• Grey Area
• Rocks That Bleed
• Blue Sushi
• Let It Be 

Cabin in the Woods: Lionsgate 

(a few examples)

• You're Next
• Jessabella
• Texas Chainsaw 
• Daybreakers
• The Descent
• The Haunting in Connecticut
• Hostel

Hush: Netflix

(a few examples)

• The Host
• We Are What We Are
• Let The Right One In
• Oculus
• Day Of The Dead
• The Babadook
• Creep

5. Their target audiences

YouTube - Bertie Gilbert: Teenagers-Young Adults 

Lionsgate - Teenagers-Adults

Netflix - Children-Adults

6.  Independant or Major distributer? 

YouTube - Bertie Gilbert: Independent 

Lionsgate and Netflix: Major

An independent film would have less budget to create as professional content as major film companies and would have less money to widely distribute their content.

Major film production companies would create a lot more profit as they would have a bigger budget to create a higher quality film and distribute it widely. 

7. Is it a subsidiary of a larger company? 

YouTube is owned by Google which is search engine company owned by Alphabet Inc.

Lionsgate is owned by the Distribution Service Platform who also own, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Paramount Pictures

Netflix is owned by Reed Hastings who also works for Facebook. 

8. Would they be interested in distributing my film?  

My film has the potential of being distributed on all three platforms as Netflix and Lionsgate both have distributed many horror films and with Youtube, anyone can upload whenever but my film would more successful if it was distributed my a major film production company such as one from the Distribution Service Platform. 

9. What distributer would develop my film? 

http://www.independentfilmcompany.com/screeners/?cat=110

The Independent Film Company could be interested in my film as the specialise in small independent films and have previously distributed horror films in the past. 

10. Would mainstream distributors, distribute my film? 

Some mainstream distributors might be interested in my film as they already produce many horror films which mean that horror films are popular and successful. Distributors such as Lionsgate may be interested as they produce a lot of horror films. 

11.

How will this affect my research? 

By knowing about the different distributors this will make my research more knowledgeable and useful. This will help my Textual Analysis as I will now know more about the films and will help me in my institutional research withing that post

Inspirational Shots and Mise-en-Scene

• This close-up shows both the fear and desperation on the protagonist's as well as using deep depth of field to show the zombies running after him. 
• Rule of thirds is used here to show how he is the main focus and how his life is important and the zombies aren't. 
• The setting of the fresh grass and nice country houses contrast with the man's facial expression and the situation that he is in which give the audience a fear that this could happen to them.

• This close up denotes the gruesome and gory details of the demon child and gives us a haunting image.
• The white dress implies how she was once innocent and this contradicts the blood and scars on her face.
• Rule of thirds is used her here as she is in the left line focus point to show her significance and importance. 
• The low-key lighting gives a sense of evil and reflects the darkness in her mind.  

• Long zooming shot puts the audience in the perspective of the demon child which portrays the fear of the woman.
• The woman slams the door in the child's face which shows the danger that the woman is in. 
• Her costume shows how she was just relaxing at home, which gives the audience the idea that this could happen to them. 
• The dark lighting shows the evil that is in the house but the light on her implies that she is innocent.man implies that she is the only innocence in the house. 

• This image combines three of some of the most well-known elements n a horror film. A child, clowns and a knife. This combination insinuates to the audience that this film is scary and uses character, costume, and props to do this.
• The low-key lighting in this image could reflect the child's dark mind and foreshadow his actions. 
• Putting him in the center of the frame could portray how his actions will affect everyone around him.  

• This medium over the shoulder shot of a knife instantly gives the audience fear as to what is about to happen. The shot is from the perspective of the person from the knife which makes the audience feel uneasy about what is going to happen. 
• This image is slightly blurred which could signify the lapse of judgment and clearness of the killer's mind. 
• The use of props - the knife - is a well-known horror movie prop and so the audience is put in fear as they can expect that the next scene will be gory. 

Researching Genre

Initial Title Research

Prelim Storyboard