Actors

In our trailer we only need two actors: Georgia- who is the main girl whos story we are telling, and Leanne- who is playing the role of Danny's (Georgia's) mother.
We are also using news reports for the riot scences, but we don't need any actors.

Propps

Here are a list of propps that we will need when we are shooting specific shots:

Smoke
Trainers, hoody, leaves.
Car, Brick, smashed glass
Aeroplane
Tree, blood
Dog, Patio door
Phone, posters, clothes (clutter)
Water, Sink, Eye make up, blood
Blackberry's, Table
Computer with internet
Train, hooded person, eye make up, black gloves
Bus
Black clothing, blood, eye make up, innocent clothing, characters
Blackberry
Leanne, Danny, Eye make up-Chavvy dress
tv, dvd of info, chavvy dress, characters

Other Trailers

Storyboard

Rating: 15

We decided to rate our trailer/movie at a 15, these are the requirements, and we believe we have kept our trailer and the storyline to the requirements below:

- No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
- The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
- Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
- Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
- Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
- There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
- Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
- Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
- No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
- Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)

The BBFC is an independent, self-financing media content regulator. They operate transparent, consistent and trusted co-regulatory and self-regulatory classification, as well as labelling systems in the UK.

Their motive is to:

- Protect the public, especially children, form content which might raise harm risks.
- Empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices.
- Recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law.
- Respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research.
- Provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit.
- Work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems.
- Provide an effective service to enforcement agencies.

Other Theories

Relation to other Theories


Throughout our horror, especially in the bedroom and bathroom scenes with Danni, we feature a large number of voyeuristic scenes and through these scenes we aim to include some instances of male gaze. However when doing this we aim to subvert the obvious 'beautiful' and sexual connotations of the male gaze and instead portraying Danni to be awkward, and not yet developed making the audience feel bad and uncomfortable for watching.

In many ways we have aimed to follow Todorovs basic narrative theory

-State of equilibrium

-Disrupted by an agent

-Leads to a process of final resolution

-Return to a new equilibrium



We have followed Todorovs conventions of a narrative however we have included that the initial stage is a false sense of equilibrium, where the 'elders' believe that everything is fine, sitting in a false sense of security but the youths know that something is developing.

Practice Shots

We went to Pollards Hill to take an establishing shot of the estate, the weather helped and we also used our imagination and chose to blow smoke towards the camera lense to help create the atmosphere.




This was an intresting shot we had to get the actor on to the tree and set the tripod at the right height, we had to get as many shots as possible, and make sure atleast one was perfect, reason being we needed our actor to jump off, and she wasn't very keen on the matter, and didn't really want to do it again but it turned out ok in the end.




This was a very easy shot to think of, but rather difficult and challenging when it came to shooting it. We had to get the timing and the angle of the camera just right, we also needed the jump to be landing in the same place everytime for all the different angled shots. It was a fun shot to film, and we had think of different ways and angles to shoot it, but the we were happy with the end result.




We took a high angle shot of the station's sign so we could have a cut away of where the shot would be taking place.




Whilst on our jorney we noticed a car that had been smashed and just left on the road, we immediately thought this would be a great shot for one of our riot scenes in the trailer. We found this shot by luck and so had to make sure we got it as perfect as we could because we would not have another chance to get such a shot.





In order to get this shot one of the group members squeezed the fake blood from the tube whilst me and another member were in the process of getting the shot. One of us were giving direction of where the drops of blood needed to be and the other was focusing on filming the actual shot when it happened. This shot was about timing we didnt want it to look too fake so it had to look just right.




This shot is personally one of my faviourite shots, it;s a very quick and 'to the point' kind of shot, we had the actor just turn and look at the camera, to give the dramatic effect, it needed to be quick and it was, and with a bit of added music, like we did in our prlimenary trailer it would help give off the effect we were trying to portray.

Preliminary Task Horror Trailer

This was the final copy of our prelimenary task, we had a deep learning day where we were told to go out and take some practice shots with our groups to think about different angles and different shots we could use in our final horror trailer. This helped us think about different problems we might face and we were rather proud of our final outcomes. We took different shots and used the weather and the enviroment to our advantage.

Shooting Schedule

The group came up with a shooting schedule, this table shows us what shots need to be completed and by when, and also tell us who is going to be completing these shots.

Below is the table which consists of the relevant information:

Our Narrative Story Line

In a modern society we as humans are faced with many pressures. Religion, fashion and the constant pressure of adapting to the world progressing around us. With a growing population, we are at higher risk of spreading contagious diseases and infections. The latest outbreak to hit London is yet to be pin pointed, side effects causing youths to become violent and lose all sense of sanity. As the bridge between generations is growing, those older than 26/28 fail to see the true effects of this outbreak and are completely unaware of their behaviour. BEWARE! They have been known to carry weapons and you will not see the difference in character.
In the local Croydon area, there have been many upsets in the past. However, it is currently in a state of what they know to be equilibrium. The rise in crimes is becoming even more noticeable. Danni lives in Norbury, South London. Her mum is a single parent, and Danni lives with her alone in a small council flat on the edge of an estate. Recent events within have caused major up raw within communities and several people have been killed. The source of what has caused these events in unclear, but what Danni does know is that this extreme violence is heading towards where she lives.
After seeing such events on the news, the government has looked further into the case and have found that a violent virus has out broken and can only affect the bodies of those that are not fully matured. The infection has found to be contracted through the use of technology and appears to be a whole new type of technology bug which can penetrate the human body through broadcasts.
As this wave of violence gets closer, we start to see the effects in Danni herself. Danni owns a blackberry and is completely obsessed with it like most teenagers her age.
What she does not know is that a broadcast through the BBM system is causing this violence to escalate through a cross bred technological/human virus; in turn effecting both technology and the human behaviour.
We see a shot of Danni in her room looking out of the window. Her phone starts to vibrate violently as she has receives the broadcast. The sender appears unknown and Danni is unaware of the effect given by opening the broadcast.
As she fights against the virus which is trying to take over her, she encounters many youths effected who want her to become sucked in.
She is constantly on the run from people affected by the virus and people living around her are becoming infected. Without thinking about it she allows herself to be violent against those infected making herself just as bad as they are.
She encounters an affected teenage girl. As she tries to attack her, she hits one of them down to the ground and runs away. The shot focuses on the attackers face on the floor with Danni running away in the background (the back of the shot is unfocused so is blurred).Danni and her mum have an argument leading to Danni pushing her up against the wall in a violent outburst. Once she realises how she is behaving she backs away, she then runs and locks herself in the bathroom. Here she runs water and splashes it on her face to calm herself down. As she looks up from the water basin she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She is visibly paler and has rather dark circles around her eyes. The coloured part of her eyes has become darker. The shot ends and she looks deeper into her newly darkened eyes and the camera focuses in on the darkness.

Appropriate Titles

We were told to think of appropriate names for our Horror Narrative, We had loads of ideas but couldn't make them sound Horror related, we have finally decided to name our Trailer 'Broadcast of the Dammned', but we are still thinking of possible names:

Coming up with ideas

We were put into our groups, and were told to come up with ideas for what we wanted our horror narrative to be about, the ideas came from the research we were told to conduct. These are some of the ideas we came up with:

Terminologies

Intertextuality: The way, in which film texts refer to and relate with other texts, assuming that the audience will recognise those suggestions.
Parody: Mocking in a critical and playful way
Post-feminism: a position that suggests that women should take respect and equality for granted after the success of the 1960s and 1970s feminist struggles, and should enjoy the ironic and playful pleasures associated with traditional ‘femininity’.
Postmodernism: the social, political and cultural attitudes of production and consumption of film products in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The term carries several meanings but is usually associated with the self-reflexivity of contemporary culture and media.
Self-reflective: texts which display an awareness of their own artificial status as texts.
Self-referential: a text that makes a reference back to itself, usually in a self-ionising and playful way.
Pastiche: texts which are made up from different sources, favouring practises of copying or simulation and rejection authenticity. The term is often used negatively for texts that do not display originality; an approach that has, however, been revised by many theorists.

Results

Definition: In the broadest sense of the world, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the development of knowledge. 

Effects of Audience Theories

Cultivation Theory:- Concerned with the effects of television programming on the attitudes and behaviour of the american public findings suggest that those that watch more television perceived the real world as it is portrayed on the television (the mean world syndrome).

Copy Cat Theory:- Relates to how something is publicised in the media and findings suggest that the public naturally copy what they see to gain the quantiles etc of those that appear on screen. such as copy cat murders etc.                                                                                           

Hypodermic Syringe:- Audience passively receive information transmitted via a media text without any attempt on their part to process or challenge the data.

Desensitisation:- The over expose to varying behaviours on screen makes the audience immune to these and thus harder to chock. As a result the effects are generally move widely spread.

How does Hitchcock create tension leading up to and during the shower scene?

The film ‘Psycho’ was voted as one of the top 15 scariest movies of all time, it was one of the very first movies to use a psychological disorder in a horror genre. This movie was seen as a very scary movie in the 1960’s as not many people were aware of some individual’s psychological state of mind, which Alfred Hitchcock’s was able to use to his advantage.

Hitchcock misleads his audience to create shock in Psycho. At the beginning of the film we are taken in through the window and we see Marion and Sam in the bedroom together. This makes us think this is a romance story, although after we see Marion steal money from her boss, we start to doubt that the genre of the film is of crime. However the genre is neither of the two, it is in fact a horror and the main character Marion dies a little more than half way through the film which is unexpected as she is the main character, and also not a bad person.

Alfred Hitchcock realizes that in order to grab the audience’s attention straight away for the dramatic shower scene he needed the audience to feel as though they were inside that situation, he says “the point is to draw the audience right inside the situation instead of leaving them to watch it from the outside, from a distance. And also you can do this only by breaking the action into details a cutting from one to the other so that each detail is forced, in turn, on the attention of the audience and reveals a psychological meaning”.  The scene where Marion's character is in the shower is the film's most essential scene and is also the best known scenes till this day, the reason it is so important s, his is the scene where by the tension had been building up to, this is the main scene, this is where it starts. It was shot from December 17 to December 23, 1959, and features 77 different camera angles. The scene runs 3 minutes and includes 50 cuts. Most of the shots are extreme close-ups, except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. The combination of the close shots with their short duration makes the sequence feel more personal than it would have been if the images were presented alone or in a wider angle, this is an example of what Alfred Hitchcock would describe as "transferring the menace from the screen into the mind of the audience".

Tension is a type of atmosphere that is created by making the audience, nervous and expectant of a tragedy. This essay will explain how camera shot and sound, help Alfred Hitchcock complete the shower scene filled with tension.  The shower scene in Psycho shocked and horrified audiences, which resulted in some so horrified that they left the cinema. The tension in the scene was so frightening that when the attack does actually come you are so worked up with anticipation yet are still disgusted by the attack made by Bates’.

The shower scene comes into action when Marion undresses in her room and puts on her bath robe; the fact that Alfred Hitchcock is following her through her steps towards the bathroom creates suspense and makes the audience wonder what is going to happen. She takes off her gown and steps into the shower, suddenly, an anonymous figure enters the bathroom and stabs Marion to death, it is a sudden shot that is only 3 minutes long, and results in her death. Norman then finds the corpse, and immediately assumes that his mother committed the murder. He cleans the bathroom and puts Marion's body in the shower curtain and wraps it up with all her possessions, including the money she had stolen in the back of her and sinks it in a swamp.

One of the main ways tension is created is by making the viewer so calm and relaxed before the attack as Marion is doing normal, everyday things, although the strange and creepy atmosphere does make you nervous and you feel slightly on edge.

Marion enters the shower, and the music noticeably stops, leaving just the diegetic sounds of the shower and general noises, which creates a lot of nerve wracking tension. After turning the water on, Marion steps into the shower and walks towards the water, becoming calm from the gentle flow of the shower on her, this also relaxes the audience, only for them to be shocked and become startled when a figure appears behind Marion in the shower, there is suspense created through the music. The camera then slowly points towards the shadow of the person who is getting closer and approaches Marion. The figure then swiftly draws the curtain, and rapidly stabs and kills Marion.

One of the camera shots used well in the shower scene to create tension is the over the shoulder shot. This is used when Marion’s killer is creeping behind her and you can see the silhouette of the killer through the curtain. This is a good camera shot as we know something is going to happen but we don’t know what or who is doing it, which creates a huge amount of tension.

Another shot that creates a lot of tension is the close up of the knife the killer is holding to kill Marion. This shot, which shows Marion’s killer holding the knife over his shoulder about to stab Marion makes us rise up and worry with terror as we realise what is going to happen. It is also at this point in the film we discover that the real plot of the film isn’t all about Marion on the run, and she may actually die.

Another technique used to create tension in the shower scene is by using diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Diegetic sounds are sounds that you would actually hear in real life, such as the toilet flushing and the shower running. Non-diegetic sounds are noises that would not happen in real life, such as the music score in the background. Using a lot of diegetic sounds in the shower scene makes the film very realistic, which creates a lot of tension. People are often more fearful of something if they believe what is happening could actually happen, and more essentially, it could happen to them. Sounds such as the toilet flushing, the curtain being drawn and most importantly the shower running create an air of realism which makes people anxious and intimidated as these are things that they do in their everyday lives. The fact that all the non-diegetic sounds stop once Marion turns the shower on create an atmosphere of suspense and tension, which makes the audience know something is going to happen but leaves us guessing. It is often worse to watch a film when we know what is going to happen and we are waiting for the event to happen as, although you aren’t surprised by the incident we are still shocked and tense as we didn’t know when it was coming.

One was that tension is created in the shower scene by the use of non-diegetic sounds is that in the scene there are allot of different instruments, including violins, cellos, harps and violas. String instruments are particularly good at creating tension due to the variety of things that they can do. Short, sharp, high pitch notes make us shoot up in fear, whilst long notes create an atmosphere of calm, often relaxing you before the action. The high notes playing when Marion is being stabbed emphasises the realism, adding a lot of heart racing tension.

When the murder was committed, a powerful shot shows Marion with her arm out stretched, grabbing the curtain with desperation seemingly trying to hold on for her life, before she leans forward and collapses. This shot creates sympathy from the audience as Marion’s hand is shot extremely as her face is blurred, making it seems that it is reaching out of us but we can’t help her. Also when Marion’s hand is sliding down the wall, being tracked by the camera, shows how, like Marion’s hand, Marion’s life is no longer being controlled by her.

The next shot is of the blood swirling down the plughole, which makes you feel sympathetic and creates tension as Marion is losing a lot of blood and you see it going down the drain. This could also symbolise the sins washing away, with the water. In this dramatic scene this shot becomes extremely powerful as the drain shot cuts to an extreme close up shot of Marion’s eye, which then slowly zooms out.

        In conclusion, I think the main way that tension is created by Hitchcock, is by the use of sound, essentially the non-diegetic sounds of the music. The stringed instruments add suspense and create an incredible atmosphere. The other way I believe is effective in creating tension is the camera shots, which let the audience believe whatever they want without being too violent or tasteless. Lastly is the way that a sense of calmness is created before the ‘storm’ of action, the death of Marion.

I believe the film had a good storyline, was a highly original picture, used every technique to the best of its ability and I can understand why the film was as successful as it was. In summary, a fantastic film of its day, although it is now too out-of-date to shock as it did in its prime. It still uses powerful methods of creating tension which have been the inspiration of many films of today.

The shot taken straight after the murder is also a shot to create tension, there is a shot of the camera panning across to the bedside table to remind us of the money that started the journey for Marion.

Final Girl

The theory of the final girl refers to the final girl standing in a horror movie, that ultimately stands victorious over the villain. The theory has been embedded in many different horror movies, some of which are:
- Carrie
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Halloween
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Scream
- SAWII


It is said that within films that contain the final girl theory, the audience generally start of by sharing the perspective of the killer but eventually end up experiencing a shift as they realise who the final girl is.
The final girl is usually the one who is sexually unavailable, which avoids the common errors made by characters in horror which end up ultimately with their deaths. 
Clover also states that sometimes the final girl may have some sort of shared history with the villain.
Clover further states that the final girl becomes more masculinised when in confrontation with the villain especially if she takes up a weapon like a knife or a gun.
Clover also argues that in order for a horror (mainly slasher) film to work properly, it is vital that the overall victor is a female character who has been objected to terror, as it may not seem as effective if it was a male.

Male Gaze

'..film has been called an instrument of the make gaze, producing representations of women, the good life, and sexual fantasy from a males point of view..' -1998 Jonathan Schroeder
Laura Mulvey is a British Feminist Theorist, she wrote a very influential essay, 'Visual Plessure and Narrative Cinema' -1975

- Women are represented as sexual spectacle and objects of pleasure for the characters and audience

- Men have this gaze to avoid being ‘cast rated’

- Men fetishise women imbuing them with an overvalued and unrealistic status – ‘fetishistic scopophilia’

- The gaze is constructed through the camera man and production team establishing and framing a shot; by the ‘look’ within the film of male characters objectifying female ones; the spectators gaze is thereby constructed through these mechanisms.

Anne Doane-1982

‘..male bodies are only on display in certain conditions, they are always in active poses as if they can walk away from the women gaze..’

Van Zoonen-1994

‘..men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at..’



Paul Well's Research 2000

Paull Well researched on a small focus group study looking at the relationship between audience and the horror genre.

After looking at this table with Paul Well’s research we are able to conclude that the way in which you are frightened changes with age and also relate to emotional response.

Also younger audiences are harder to shock and are more aware of artificiality.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

Tzvetan Todorov simplified the idea of narrative theory whilst also allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.

The theory is simply this:

- The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be)

- It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium)

- New equilibrium is produced at the end of the narrative

There are six stages of Todorov's theory:

History of Horror Films

Below is a list of different Horror Films which have been made at different times, and also in bold it explains what type of a Horror film it is. This gives us a feel of what type of films scared people in that specific year. By taking a look at this I was able to realise that the audience were frightened by different things every year, from aliens and monsters to vampires or human killers, even psychological horror scared many.

Vladimir Propp's Character Theory

Propp is a Theorist who believed all stories/movies had the same characters in them: hero, villain, donar, helper, princess, princess' father, dispatcher, false hero. 

Character Types	Definition	Examples
The Hero	Generally leads the narrative Story of the hero usually looking for something As the audience we generally want the hero to succeed	Shrek
The Villain	Struggles against the Hero and is morally bad Turns audience against him and drives them to support the hero Serves to highlight the goodness of the Hero	Lord Farquaad
The Donor	Gives the hero something special, such as a weapon or wisdom or clue The gift enables the Hero to complete their journey Maybe combined with that of a helper	Dragon
The Helper	Supports the Hero at critical moments to provide a helping hand May be a support role throughout They may have limitations which highlight the Hero’s defining characteristics	Donkey
The Princess	Deliberately sought after by the Hero or she could be the reward Maybe seen very little in the story or may even be seen as an important character	Fiona
The Princess’ Father	Gives the task to the hero  and is a key figure for the hero to persuade as the Father is protective May be in competition with the Hero for the princess’ affection	The King
The Dispatcher	Sends the hero on his mission, this can be a family member like the princess’ father Gives the hero a set of quests to be completed before the hero can claim his award	Lord Farquaad
The False Hero	Appears to act heroically but may be initially mistaken for the real Hero Will try to steal the real hero’s thunder and will grab the credit	Prince Charming

Why the Theory is useful?

It avoids treating characters as if they are individuals and reminds us they are merely constructs. Some characters are indeed there just to progress the narrative.

The main criticism for Propp's Theory. . .

Propp’s theory of narrative seems to be based in a male orientated environment (due to his theory actually reflecting early folk tales) and as such critics often dismiss the theory with regard to film. However, it may still be applied because the function (rather than the gender) of characters is the basis of the theory. E.g. the hero could be a woman; the reward could be a man.

Critics argue that Propp’s strict order of characters and events is restrictive. We should rather apply the functions and events randomly as we meet new narratives. E.g. the hero may kill the villain earlier than Propp expects. Changing the traditional format will change the whole way the text is received.

Some critics claim there are many more character types than Propp suggests and we should feel free to identify them. E.g. the stooge in a sci-fi film, who is usually nameless and usually killed early on to suggest the power of the alien force, is a typical modern character type.

Conventions of Horror Films

Link to real life/documentary style (to make it more realistic)
Settings-trapped in a dark isolated place, rail, cloud, wind, darkness, deserted

Camera and editing-dramatic, a range of short and long shots, hand held camera shots

Iconography- mise-en-scene (weather), blood, weapon, music

Music and sound-use of silence, heart beat, heavy breathing, instruments

A hybrid- is a mixture of two genres, such as Scary movie, I know what you did last summer, etc.
Voyeurism- the compulsion to seek sexual gratification by secretively looking at sexual objects or acts, the actions of a peeping tom.

Define Horror:

"Horror is what you might feel if you went, for example, into a jungle, or a place where you had lost all your bearings, where you were no longer sure of anything. A place where you begin to suspect that there was something present which you couldn't pin down; something which you wouldn't be able to identify but which could be dangerous and destroy you" - Nigel Kneeled in Wells, 2000

Brief

To create a promotional package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• 
  
  A website homepage


• 
  
  A poster for the film


• 
  
  A film magazine front cover, featuring the film