assignment 2.1 Horror Research

The following links guide us on what makes a good horror, movie and what mistakes to avoid…

http://www.avclub.com/article/how-make-good-horror-movie-9-lessons-genres-latest-216315

This web link contains a guide of key components that would be used to create a horror movie.

This particular paragraph illustrates that in order to make a good horror movie, one must focus on the genre of their movie rather than attempting to make theirs original and stand out.  This useful information will help me to produce an effective movie as it indicates what the moviemakers should be thinking about when creating their movie. This is because “about every species of monster imaginable has been unleashed on audiences.”

Another tip this webpage gives us to relate our horror movie to real life events, this could be fears that many people share such as spiders, or betrayal from friends or family etc. The purpose of this technique is that it has an effect on the viewers, which makes them feel as if they are in the movie themselves. If the viewers cannot relate to the movie then they won’t think much of it. “In this case, newlyweds Paul and Bea arrive at their honeymoon getaway in a less-than-populous lakefront village, and Paul almost immediately begins to wonder if there’s something terribly wrong—not with the locals or even the surroundings, but with the person he just married.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201410/the-top-ten-things-make-horror-movies-scary

This web link tells us what elements can be formed to improve the scare factor of a horror movie, relating to our fears. I will refer to this webpage through the process of making my horror movie to ensure that I have implemented these elements to the best of my ability.

One of the main elements I shall focus on is the suspense as this is what keeps the viewers scared and focused on the movie.

http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-horror-movies/

This website lists what are regarded as the best horror movies of all time. This would benefit me as I can learn what each horror film did to become successful and popular. The purpose of the top 50 list is to help me pick up information on what these movies included to be regarded as good movies

 http://www.imdb.com/ 

IMDb is a popular website for researching movies and films, it contains information about the movie, and a rating provided by viewers. When in the process of making my movie, I will use IMDb to research horror movies that I have watched, for information on the characters, use of elements and reviews to see what people liked about a specific movie

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/4rq5y2/in_your_opinion_what_makes_a_horror_movie_good/

This webpage is very important, it consists of information on how to prevent myself from making a bad horror movie, this helps as not many website tell one what to avoid. Also, it also includes information on how I can create a quality movie.

What is great about Reddit is that it’s a forum page, allowing many different people to talk and express their opinions. This gives me more ideas and inspiration. This screenshot provides very useful information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1-GLLM_Elg

This video titled ‘How to make a horror movie’ was uploaded to YouTube and is very helpful for numerous reasons. The video explains how to create a horror movie by describing scenes that could be used in the film. For example, the narrator tells us to have a main character with friends that enter an abandoned school at night; we are told to provide a reason as to why they are entering the school and shown tips to create an even scarier scene.

http://www.slideshare.net/isaac97media/horror-film-target-audience

This would be very conducive to increase the total amount of sales for my movie

This website gives me a rough idea on the audience I am going to sell my movie too. This is important as I want my movie to be suitable to the targeted audience otherwise it wouldn’t be considered as a good horror movie.

Magazine clippings of horror movies

The following magazine pages contain advertisements or knowledge of horror movies. I will try to use these examples for my own horror movie.

The first magazine I noticed was this advertisement for the horror movie: Splinter. There are a combination of elements used in this advertisement such as the use of imagery and the pun. The imagery can be seen with the hand on the DVD cover, it has splinters coming out of it which relates to the name of the film. We also notice the pun on the cover which reads “It will get under your skin.” (May be hard to read.) Another use of imagery is the images at the bottom which quickly summarise the movie without giving out too much information.

This advertisement of Night of the Living Dead uses a combination of large fonts and colour to stand out. It used a black and dark green colour which reflects on the hand. The use of this colour clearly represents the dead, hence the name of the film. It also includes some short reviews to advertise it as a good movie.

This page also uses colour to demonstrate a mood. Notice how the title reads “Out of the dark” with a dark black surrounding the character.

                                        

This article is based on a very old horror movie (1922) the purpose of using this article is to learn about the different camera angles, costumes and special effects that were used in this movie. The reason this article is important is because I can learn about the conventions that this horror movie once displayed. If I were to implement the use of these conventions into my own movie, die hard horror movie fans will notice the resemblance and enjoy the effects of my film. The article also talks about how the film survived the test of time and could possibly see a remake. This is inspiring as it allows us to be inspired to make the perfect horror movie.

Pages of books

This page in the book depicts the process of the making of this movie in 1922; we learn that despite not having the rights to the original book, the movie makers were still able to create what is regarded as the most disturbing horror movie made, simply by changing the names of the characters and location in order to face legal issues. This proves that anyone can overcome difficult obstacles when making a movie. This page also informs us on how some of the film relates to modern day such as “the link between sex and disease are more topical than ever in the aids era.”

On this page, we see a comparison between two movies: Fritz Lang’s M and Nosferatu. Fritz Lang’s M is a movie based on a paedophile that is wanted by many people for his crimes. Whilst this page is mostly about comparison, I believe that it is important to include as it lists what both great movies did to be regarded as good films. If I follow the footsteps of these film directors then it will help my film become successful.

I found this book to be very useful, it notifies us on how a good horror movie can relate to certain events in time “In Britain, in recent months, two of the most sensational Murder trials of the century have involved discussion of the same rental video; Child’s play 3. The first case was that of James bulger, a toddler who was beaten to death by two ten year old; the second case was that of Suzanne Capper, a teenager who was kidnapped.” What this sentence means is that, horror movies that have a similar genre to recent events (a killer child’s toy movie being released the same time as two children are kidnapped/killed.) this means the movie becomes more relevant and increases its audience.

Queston1. What is your age?

Question 2. What type of sub-genre do you like?

Question 3. What scares you the most in a horror?

Question 4. What do you expect in horror movies?

Question 5.What aspects don’t you like of horror films?

Question 6. Any favourite horror films?

Question 7. How often do you watch horror films?

Question 8. How long would you expect a short horror film to last?

Question 9. Most memorable horror film you’ve seen?

Question 10. Do you enjoy any horror films and do you know any stores that could be turned into a horror movie?

Interviewee 1# Marie Mosconi

Queston1. What is your age? 51

Question 2. What type of sub-genre do you like? Ghost/demon movies

Question 3. What scares you the most in a horror?  Graphic gore

Question 4. What do you expect in horror movies? Jump scare, eerie music, interesting storyline

Question 5.What aspects don’t you like of horror films? Unnecessary music

Question 6. Any favourite horror films? The exorcist (1973)

Question 7. How often do you watch horror films? Very rarely (once every two months)

Question 8. How long would you expect a short horror film to last? 15 minutes

Question 9. Most memorable horror film you’ve seen? The exorcist

Question 10. Do you enjoy any horror films and do you know any stores that could be turned into a horror movie? Not a particular fan of horror movies, doesn’t know any stories that could be turned into a horror movie

Interviewee 2# Mark Mosconi

Queston1. What is your age? 25

Question 2. What type of sub-genre do you like? Zombie

Question 3. What scares you the most in a horror? Jump scare

Question 4. What do you expect in horror movies?  Jump scare, blood, music that fits with a scary moment

Question 5.What aspects don’t you like of horror films? Characters that make stupid decisions

Question 6. Any favourite horror films?  28 Days Later

Question 7. How often do you watch horror films? Once a month

Question 8. How long would you expect a short horror film to last? 25 minutes

Question 9. Most memorable horror film you’ve seen? Sinister

Question 10. Do you enjoy any horror films and do you know any stores that could be turned into a horror movie?  Enjoys some horror films, a horror movie could be made based on current riots in the US

Interviewee 3# Mitchell Taylor

Queston1. What is your age? 18

Question 2. What type of sub-genre do you like? Zombie

Question 3. What scares you the most in a horror? Jump scare

Question 4. What do you expect in horror movies? A good amount of gore, jump scare, average storyline 

Question 5.What aspects don’t you like of horror films? Bad editing (CGI) and lack of props

Question 6. Any favourite horror films? The Conjuring 2

Question 7. How often do you watch horror films? Once a week

Question 8. How long would you expect a short horror film to last? 20 – 30 minutes

Question 9. Most memorable horror film you’ve seen?  The shining

Question 10. Do you enjoy any horror films and do you know any stores that could be turned into a horror movie? Horror movie fan, possibly make a movie based on serial killers

Interviewee 4# Ryan Gorey

Queston1. What is your age? 17

Question 2. What type of sub-genre do you like?  Murderer

Question 3. What scares you the most in a horror? Jump scare, gore, leading up to an intense scene

Question 4. What do you expect in horror movies? Gore, dark music, dark environment (night time)

Question 5.What aspects don’t you like of horror films? Too much jump scare, lack of action

Question 6. Any favourite horror films? As Above, So Below

Question 7. How often do you watch horror films? Once every two weeks

Question 8. How long would you expect a short horror film to last? 15 minutes

Question 9. Most memorable horror film you’ve seen?    As Above, So Below

Question 10. Do you enjoy any horror films and do you know any stores that could be turned into a horror movie? Likes horror movies, make a horror movie based on terrorism.

Interviewee 5# Laura Farrugia

Queston1. What is your age? 32

Question 2. What type of sub-genre do you like? Ghost movies

Question 3. What scares you the most in a horror? Suspense, graphics scenes

Question 4. What do you expect in horror movies? Good storyline, gore, scary scenes, action

Question 5.What aspects don’t you like of horror films? Slow build up, uninteresting characters

Question 6. Any favourite horror films? Psycho

Question 7. How often do you watch horror films? Very often

Question 8. How long would you expect a short horror film to last? 30 minutes

Question 9. Most memorable horror film you’ve seen?  The shining

Question 10. Do you enjoy any horror films and do you know any stores that could be turned into a horror movie? Fan of horror films, could base horror film off events in recent times such as murder, or kidnappings.

assignment 29.3

Andrew Mosconi                        

Assignment 29.3

Production Portfolio

1a   Initial response 

Genre: The genre of the music video follows a sad genre of music, this can be identified in the slow and mellow style of music that the song follows.

Style: The style of the song is pop music; this is very popular with the younger generation of music listeners.

Pace: The song follows a slow rhythm which relates to the sad genre. This will be ideal for our music video as we aim to create a video with a similar genre.

Meaning: The meaning of the song displays a sadder tone towards the listener, when we hear the song we can hear the sadness thin the singer’s voice.

Imagery The song itself relates to everyone, when one hears the song they visualise their own sad thoughts and emotions. This makes the song very effective.

Semiotics: in the music video, we will use semiotics that emit the genre and emotion of the music video, we will have a character on their own throughout the music video to represent isolation and sorrow.

1b. Music video production Proposal

Basic information:

The song is titled “This Is How It Works” The song doesn’t leave any particular message to the listener but does come across as sad and emotional. The targeted audience is teenagers to young adults as this age group seems to like pop music, I also feel that they would find the music video touching. The concept of the music video follows one lonely person who is mourning the death of a friend (represented by a dancer in black and white scenes which indicate the past.) We as the audience watch the pain inflicted upon the main character and how he finally overcomes the pain.

Technical information:

Throughout shooting the music video, we will aim to use a mixture of techniques regarding the camera angles and editing techniques to create a professional standard music video. In terms of camera shots, we will use a mixture of close up and extreme close up shots to capture the pain on the main characters face. I will also use tilt shots to capture scenes which show the main character on his own with a group of people behind him to show that he is isolated.

Regarding editing, I will edit the dancer’s scenes to be black and white; this is a representation of the past and indicates that she is the character that is deceased. I will also use a cutting to the beat technique that allows each scene to be introduced in time with the music video.

Financial information: The elements used in our music video are: Camera and tripod, the song, dancer, dance studio, graveyard college grounds and editing computers. The dance studio, camera, computers and tripod are funded by the college; the cost to hire a professional dancer would be around £100 an hour. The music video would be a low budget as most equipment and filming areas were provided by the college. Also, to hire out a cemetery would cost around £150.00 an hour as it would be cut off from the public.

1c   Shooting Script

Duration of the song: 2 minutes and 20 seconds

My interpretation of the music video could be based on someone reminiscing

Over a deceased friend or family member who died in a car crash: this can be heard from a car crashing sound effect and is the introduction of the music video along with the opening credits.

Scene1 - This scene could introduce the sad character to the music video. They could come across a box of belongings that once owned to the dead character with their name on it. As the box opens, all items can be seen, each are triggering a memory that we then see come to life.

Scene 2 – We are then shown a flashback memory based on one of the props. In this memory we see the deceased character dancing in a harmonious manner, along with the relating lyrics of the song. This scene could reappear throughout the video.

Scene 3- the alive character starts to cry to demonstrate the pain they feel. As they continue to look through the box, we later see scenes of the main character on their own, sitting on a lonely bench. In the background we see their friends having fun and laughing.

Scene 4- they then visit the graveyard that their relative was buried in, once they visit this place, they smile whilst looking into the distance. This represents that the main character has finally found tranquillity and peace.

Task 2: Group planning

Prop assessment

Alfie: Dark green hooded jacket, black ripped jeans and trainers.

Alfie wore a hooded jacket as the hood allows him to isolate himself from society around him and he appears unknown to the viewer.

Dancer: simple dancing outfit.

The dancer wore a dancing outfit at this would be best aid her for the dancing scene.

Background extras: coats/ jackets, jeans and trainers.

The background extras wore normal clothing as they represented society. The clothes worn in the music video allowed them to look the part.

                                                                            

Personnel list:

Samuel: Director

Samuel was the director of the music video, he gave advice to everybody which led to a better quality music video.

Andrew: Cameraman

I recorded all of the scenes that were used in the music video

Alfie: Main character

Alfie was in most of the scenes. The story was mostly based around his character 

Dan & Jasmine: Background extras

 Dan and jasmine were background extras in a few scenes along with Sam and I. They also gave tips to Alfie on how he should position himself to display sadness

Kelly: Dancer (other main character)

Kelly’s character was the dancing lady seen throughout the music video, her dancing segment was very important as it portrayed sadness which is the main genre of the music video.

Risk assessment:

A potential risk that the group could have faced was related to the cold and wet conditions. Due to the low temperatures, slippery surfaces were created which increased the chances of one of us from slipping and injuring ourselves.

To reach one of our filming sites (the graveyard,) we had to cross a busy road. This created the chance of being struck by oncoming traffic.

Finally, electrical equipment such as a camera and stereo were used during the filming production, if one were to spill water over the electronics they could have received an electric shock.

BTEC MEDIA EVALUATION

Student name: Andrew Mosconi

Group members (if applicable): Sam, Jasmine, Dan and Alfie

Title of Project:

Submission date: 19/01/2017

Applying pre-production planning for a media production
Element observed	Innappropriate	Basic Standard	Moderate Standard	Professional Standard
Production meetings				✔
Personnel management				✔
Resource management				✔
Time management		✔
Teamwork		✔
Individual work			✔
Risk management				✔
Documentation	✔
Generating ideas				✔
Analysis of music track			✔
Research		✔
Shooting Script				✔
Storyboard		✔
Selection of job roles				✔
Carrying out responsibilities				✔
Production organisation and schedule		✔
Director				✔
Camera operator			✔
Location scout			✔
Editor		✔
Script writer			✔
Costumes/props			✔
Carrying out responsibilities				✔
Production organisation and schedule		✔
Final product				✔

Summary of your production process with what went well:

I believe that the overall teamwork was a success. Everybody had an input that helped push the group in the right direction of producing a better music video, our communication as a whole was good. We managed to speak with a dancer who was originally unaware of our project, despite this we still managed to book a time with her so she could record a dance for us. Our main actor Alfie was very successful in his task of portraying a depressed, mourning teenager. Finally, I felt that we used a good amount of filming scenes and recording areas. We went from a simple bench, to a dance studio and then a graveyard. This allowed us to take the viewer on a rollercoaster of emotions by using different areas of scenery.

                                                                  

Main points for improvement:

Our time management could have been improved as we did leave our recording till a later timeslot than expected. Had we struggled with this music video then we may have not been able to finish the project. Also we could have re shot some scenes that were blurry or featured a shaky camera as this looks rather unprofessional and hard to view. We could have worked on our teamwork in terms of completing simple tasks and coordinating ourselves better so we (individually) could get more work done. Finally, I feel that we should have continued to shoot more scenes so we could have a better selection of scenes when shooting the music video.

Feedback from audience/peers:

Three people reviewed my music video; all three gave a positive response regarding the editing and the overall music video. The first reviewer mention how they liked the use of black and white dancing scenes to represent the past, they said it was a nice touch and made the music video clearer. The second person commented on the good use of cutting to the beat. The third reviewer did enjoy the music video but did mention that I could have used a wider range of transitions. As they felt they were rather repetitive.