Our script

This is our initial draft for the script for our horror film.

News Report

Reporter 1: Late last night, Mansfield library was supposedly broken into and burnt to the ground.

Reporter 2: No casualties have been reported so far. Police are looking for any witnesses that were around the area at around 1am and saw anything. If so, please report to the local police station.

Opening sequence

(News report playing in the background, Jacob sat on chair watching it)

Claire: - Have you finished bringing in all of the boxes yet? (off set - in kitchen)

Ryan: - Not yet, I'll do it in a minute.

Claire: - (sound of something dropping) ARGHHHH! Get off your arse and get them boxes done!

Ryan: - But...

Claire: - Now

Ryan: - Hey Claire, do you know what this book is?

Claire: - It probably fell from one of the boxes, just put it in one of the boxes.

(Claire walks through hall, looks in mirror and sees figure)

BBFC classification guidelines

Horror films are usually given a certificate of a 15 or 18. This means that the film can only be watched at a cinema or bought by a person over this age. The BBFC have specified guidelines that are used to specify a film a certain age.

12 years and over

Theme: Mature themes are acceptable, must be suitable for young teenagers.

Language: Strong language must be infrequent. Racial abuse is of a particular concern.

Nudity: Allowed but must be discreet and brief.

Sex: Sexual activity may be implied. May reflect what is familiar to most young adolescents.

Violence: Must not use major detail and must not emphasis on blood or injuries. Sexual violence must only be discreet and briefly indicated.

Imitable techniques: Dangerous techniques (hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not be shown in an imitable manner or appear pain free. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamourised.

Horror: Sustained moderate threat and menace are permitted. Occassional gory moments only.

Drugs: Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or instructional.

15 years and over

Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Language: There may be frequent use of strong language, but the strongest terms will be acceptable only in terms when justified by the context. Continued agressive use of strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity: Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual way or educational context.

Sex: Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.

Violence: Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain and injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.

Imitable techniques: Dangerous techniques (eg: hanging, suicide or self harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accesible weapons should not be glamourised.

Horror: Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

18 years and over

The BBFC's guideline concerns will not normally override the wish that adults should be able to choose their own entertainment within the law. However, exceptions are most likely to be made when the material appears to the board to risk harm on individuals, through their behaviour or to society. For example any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use that is likely to promote the activity. They may also intervene if they feel that sexual assault is being endorsed or if explicit images of sexual activity is being shown, unless they can be exceptionally justified within the context.

Our Horror film

Our horror film would most likely be a 15 as it would contain quite a bit of violence and frequent use of strong language, as they are being haunted and violated by a ghost. This isn't shown in the opening of our film as it occurs at a later stage. Our film wouldn't qualify for a 12 as it must show infrequent use of strong language whereas ours has quite a bit. Violence must also not dwell on blood whereas our film includes blood and gore at a later stage.

Typical horror movie fans

Typical Male fans


16/17 year olds



Like: Sport, Comedy, Video Games
Dislike: Reading, Animals, Moaning, Work
Shops: Burton, Sports Shops, HMV, Game
Music: Heavy Metal, Rap, Rock
Clothes: Designer labels, Jeans, Hoodies, Shirts
Job: Paperround, Shop worker, Sports related
Money: Medium wage
Class: Middle Class
Other Films: Comedy, Action/Adventure, Thriller
Education: GCSE's, A levels or at college. Average grades

The boy in the middle is wearing a sports hoodie and the boy on the left is wearing a designer t-shirt.



Typical Female fans



17/18 year olds

 Like: Make-Up, Celebrity Gossip, Accessories
Dislike: Sport, Insects, Video games
Shops: Primark, New Look, Topshop, beauty.
Music: Pop, R&B, Boy bands
Clothes: Labels (Hollister, Jack Wills), Jeans
Job: Paperround, Hairdresser, Shop worker
Money: Medium wage
Class: Medium class
Other films: Rom-Coms, Comedy, Musicals
Education: GCSE's, A levels or at college. Good grades

The girl on the right is wearing a designer jumper.



Stereotypical horror fan

Goths are stereotypical fans of horror movies. They relate to the genre as they wear darker clothes and make-up. They also generally have a darker behaviour. This implies that they are more drawn to gore and violence featured in horrors compared to the romance or humour in romantic or comedy films.

However as shown above, not all horror film fans are like this as they are seen as ordinary people that generally like many different genres of film and clothing. The girls in the above image are also wearing minimal make-up compared to the pale face and dark eyes and lips in the gothic image.

Our initial horror film ideas

Plot of Film

- A cursed book is delivered to a house. Every Occupant that ever lives in this house becomes cursed. They begin to see ghosts and strange things begin to occur. The author of the book is the ghost and they all eventually die, as the ghost/author is taking revenge on the house.

The Production Company

We came up with the idea of 'Big Scream Productions'. We chose this because it relates to the 'big screen' as it connotes media/hollywood. However we used this as a play on words to come up with scream instead. This relates to the idea of the horror genre.

Title of Film

We came up with a few ideas for our film. These were: -

• Squattors rights. This could be because the author of the book sees the house as his and therefore everyone who lives in the house afterwards is seen as squatting and therefore takes revenge on them.
• Household vengeance. This could also be appropriate for our film as it again relates to the author having a hatred towards the house and is therefore taking it out on the occupants.
• Elimination. This would be an appropriate film title as it connotes getting rid of, therefore implying death which is common in a horror film.
• Provoked Removal. The word 'provoked' suggests that the author is making them rise to his challenge of the book and is therefore removing them from "his" house.
• Chapter 4. This title provides the element of mystery and also relates to a book as they have chapters. This could also suggest that at Chapter 4 in the book something bad happens in that chapter of the film.

Actors and Characters

Elizabeth Jones (Author/Ghost) - Played by Amber Kibble
Ryan Jacobson (Man) - Played by Ollie Roberts
Claire White (Woman) - Played by Laura Browning
Newsreporters -  Played by Shara Hobbs and Adam Thompson

Settings

Inside a House (Bathroom, Living Room)
Outside the house (news report)

Film Production Companies

20th Century Fox

The company has used Gold font for the title. This could connote that the company is rich and the Best as Gold is associated with winning. The writing is in Bold to stand out amongst the rest of the image to show its importance.

Paramount

This logo shows a mountain surrounded by stars. A mountain connotes the biggest suggesting they are a well-known and top production company. The stars might suggest celebrities or awards. The word 'Paramount' means the biggest. This connotes that this production company is the biggest and the best.

Universal                                                          

The logo for Universal uses space. This connotes that it is out of this world and uses the word 'Universal' which suggests it is International, therefore very well-known. They have used a gold outline around the text suggesting that it is Rich and the best as gold is associated with winning and money.

Dreamworks

The logo for dreamworks productions is also set in space as it shows a young boy on a moon with a fishing rod. The setting of space could suggest that it is out of this world. The young boy could suggest that this production company specialises in child friendly and fictional films. The boy could also be a metaphor for fishing for dreams.

Film 4

Film 4 is a well-known production company as they have their own television channel therefore appeal to a mass audience. They have chosen the colour red for the background. This colour stands out as it is bright and is a simple and easily recognised logo.

Warner Bros

Warner Bros uses Gold font for its title which connotes rich,
expensive and the best as it is associated with winning. The logo uses the first two letters of the word which suggests that it is a well-known production company as they don't need to use the whole name and can still be recognised.

Take Two Productions

Take Two Productions uses similar images to negative film strips. This connotes media and filming, suggesting it is a production company. "Take Two" is another media term as they do takes after each scene until they get it right.

Preliminary Task

Our Preliminary task was to create a maximum of a 2 minute video of someone walking through a door, sitting down and exchanging a couple of lines of dialogue. The video must have included the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot reverse shot.

From this task, I have learnt what the 180 degree rule and match on action is. The 180 degree rule is when their is two characters in a scene and should always have the same left/right relationship. If the camera crosses the imaginary axis connecting the two people it is called crossing the line and therefore breaking the rule. Match on action is when a small section of the narrative is missing making the audience gather what has happened. For Example in our preliminary task we show a person entering then skip straight inside the room to them sitting down. This is match on action as we don't physically watch them enter the room fully. I also learnt/recapped how to use adobe premiere pro to edit my task. I learnt how to add titles, cut out unwanted clips and add transitions.

Structure of Title sequences

The Italian Job

We studied the 'Italian Job' title sequence to research how the openings of films were structured. The title sequence for this film was 2 mins 21 seconds. The structure was as follows: -

• Production company logo: - Paramount, well-known and popular production company.
• Main Actors names appear with keyhole images of iconography. These images included maps, a plan of some sort, magnifying glass and establishes the city - Venice.
• Introduces Characters

Se7en

We studied the title sequence of se7en from second to second to see how it is structured and how long the clips or images are shown for.

Seconds               Image

2 seconds           - Extreme close-up of an open book.
3 seconds           - "New line cinema presents" over previous image.
7 seconds           - Intertitle - Black screen & "an Arnold Kopelson production" in white font.
8 seconds           - Close up on distorted hands - black and white.
13 seconds         - Intertitle - "Brad Pitt" in a hand written type of font
16 seconds         - Close up on fingers holding a blade
18 seconds         - Intertitle - "Morgan Freeman"
23 seconds         - Title of film "se7en" with streaky white lines on left side.
24 seconds         - Title flashes bigger.
29 seconds         - "Gwyneth Paltrow" over image of book opening
34 seconds         - "Richard Roundtree" over close-up image of pen writing on paper
36 seconds         - Red Filter
39 seconds         - Extreme close up of scissors cutting negative film.
43 seconds         - Black and white photographs
52 seconds         - Open book turning pages with a shadow of hand.
54 seconds         - Actors names
61 seconds         - Point of view shot - black marker pen crossing out words in book.
71 seconds         - Black background with boys face having eyes crossed out and names in
                             foreground.
74 seconds         - Boys face scribbled out with red filter
76 seconds         - Photo with red filter at top and pen on paper at bottom with no filter.
79 seconds         - Negative film and book
85 seconds         - Close up on thumbs and hookswith titles.
88 seconds         - Close-up on thumbs placing binding hooks.
90 seconds         - Photographs stuck on paper.
96 seconds         - Close up on dirty thumbs playing with a needle.
102 seconds       - Close-up of threading needle
107 seconds       - Binding pages together - threading
118 seconds       - Close up on a range of photographs
121 seconds       - Close up of the word "God" being cut out
127 seconds       - End of Title sequence

The title sequence shows close-ups of books, photos and blades. This gives us a clue as to what to expect in the film which is danger. These are all iconography of this film as it is a crime drama.

1408

Seconds               Image

14 seconds - Black screen with white font saying "Dimension Films Presents"
29 seconds - White font saying "John Cusack" on an Extreme Long shot of Road at night with car headlights in distance. Pathetic Fallcy is used. Weather sets tone (Raining) and Low key lighting
35 seconds - Camera pans across screen revealing more of the road. White font appears "Samuel L. Jackson.

42 seconds - Title '1408' blend around the title appears in time with music and fades in with the cars 

headlights.

45 seconds - Camera tracks the Car reversing - suggests he is lost?

53 seconds - Close-up on Bloke flashing torch.

59 seconds - Close up of bloke looking at a map.
75 seconds - Car pulling up outside house in woods. Isolated therefore connoting horror.
77 seconds - Same as previous shot but with white font "Len Cariou" and "Isiah Whitlock" on back
window.

84 seconds - Long shot of man running across bridge in terrential rain.
87 seconds - More zoomed out Long shot of man running across bridge. Isolated - surrounded by trees and river seems almost moat like. Connoting Horror.
91 seconds - White font "Jasmine Jessica Anthony" on shot of Large house/hotel through arch of trees
almost although someone is hiding and watching the house.
94 seconds - P.O.V shot but not from man, feeling of a mystery presence.
97 seconds - Switches to shot of inside the hotel. Very old-fashioned decor, obvious change in lighting
as it becomes high key and almost comforting.
106 seconds - Dialogue of Mike checking into hotel reception.
119 seconds - Shot reverse shot between old couple and man. Dialogue exchanged "I think you'll probably wanna hear about our haunted history".

Questionnaire results

How often do you watch films?
Everyday - 1  Often - 8  Occasionally - 1  Never - 0

Where do you mostly watch them?
Home - 9  Cinema - 1

When do you mostly watch them?
Evening - 2  Weekends - 8

What is your favourite genre?
Rom-Com - 3  Horror - 0  Sci-fi - 0  Comedy - 2  Action/adventure - 3  Animation - 1  Thriller - 1  Other - 0

How often do you go to the cinema?
Every week - 0  Monthly - 1  Occasionally - 6  Rarely - 3  Never - 0

Do you think the cinema costs too much?
Yes - 7  No - 3

Does the cost of the cinema prevent you from going as often as you would like?
Yes - 6  No - 4

Do the actors/actresses affect your choice of watching a film?
Yes - 3  No - 2  Sometimes - 5

From the questionnaire we can see that most people watch films at home on the weekends. We can also tell from the results that these people watch films often. The results suggest that there is not one most popular genre but they are mostly Romantic comedies, comedy or action adventure films. With just one person choosing animation and thriller. This suggests that the people I asked don't particularly like horrors or sci-fi films.
The people who answered the questionnaire thinks that the cinema costs too much and the majority said that the cost prevents them from going to the cinema as often as they would like as they only go occasionally. The actors/actresses in a film sometimes influence their choices of watching a film.

Questionnaire on film habits

I produced a questionnaire to see what people thought about the cinema and what their film habits were. I asked 10 people to fill my questionnaire, of different genders and ages ranging from 13-39.
My Questionnaire looked like this: -

How often do you watch films: -

Everyday
Often
Occasionally
Never

Where do you mostly watch them?
At Home
Cinema

When do you mostly watch them?
In the evening
Weekends

What is your favourite genre?
Romantic Comedy
Horror
Sci-fi
Comedy
Action/Adventure
Animation
Thriller
Other

How often do you go to the cinema?
Every week
Monthly
Occasionally
Rarely
Never

Do you think the cinema costs too much?
Yes
No

Does the cost of the cinema prevent you from going as often as you would like?
Yes
No

Do the actors/actresses affect your choice of watching a film?
Yes
No
Sometimes