Thursday, 17 December 2009
Questionnaire Results.
A lot of the people we asked to fill the questionnaire said they only watched 0-3 horror films in the past month, which is showing that people haven't really been intrested. When we asked what peoples favorite horror film was the film that came up the most were the Saw films and Evil Dead came second. Halloween, The Ring and Friday the 13th came in at joint 3rd.
Questionnaire.
15 – 17 18 – 21 Other
What is your gender?
Female Male
What is your Favourite Genre of film?
Romantic Comedy Horror Thriller Other
What is your favourite setting for a horror film?
House Woods School Work Place
Other please specify: ______________________
What do you expect to see in a horror film?
Blood Violence Gore Chasing scenes
Other please specify: _________________________
How many horror films have you watched in the past month?
0 – 3 4 – 6 7 or more
What do you like about horror films? Why do you watch them?
Please specify: _______________________________________
What is your favourite horror film?
Please specify: ____________________
Have you seen any of the recent horror films at the cinema?
Saw VI The Fourth Kind Halloween II Triangle
Other please specify: _________________________________
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Research; Horror Films.
The first horror films were mainly monster movies. They were silent short films.
The 18 certificate is suitable for adults only. No persons under the age of 18 are allowed to watch these films in the cinema or be able to buy them.
They contain violence, sex adult and mature scenes.
In 2008 there were 28 horror films released.
The most expensive horror film was The Exorcist (Warner Bros., 1973) it got $402,500,000.
The top 10 horror films are;
10. Hellraiser
9. Evil Dead
8. Dawn of The Dead
7. Nightmare on Elm Street
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
5. Alien
4. Halloween
3. The Thing
2. Videodrome
1. The Shining
Horror films are more popular around halloween because people want to be scared. Horror films are not normally released at christmas or in the summer.
People expect blood, voilence, gore and they want to be scared. A horror film would not be a horror without these conventions.
There are different types of genres within the genre 'Horror'
Horror films are often combined Sci - Fi films, this is when there are monsters, aliens, derranged beings or the corruption of technology are involed.
The fantasy and supernatural genres are not usually synonymous with the horror genre. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.
- Comedy Horror Films
- Zombie Films
- Cannibalism in Popular Culture
- Monster Movie
- Psychological Horror
- Slasher Film
- Survival Horror
- Urban Gothic
- Vampire Films
- Werewolf Films
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Certificates.
PG - PG means Parental Guidance. Some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. PG films are aimed at children 8 years and older. There may be an odd curse word in a PG but nothing that would disturb children. PG films do not contain offencive language or sexual scenes.
12 - 12 certificate are suitable for children over the age of 12 and is more of a 'teen' film certificate. There may be swearing in a 12 certificate film, but nothing too offencive. They may be discrete nudity and there may be drugs/violence reference. No one under the age of 12 can purchase a 12 rated film.
15 - No one under the age of 15 can purchase a 15 rated film. This rated film will contain strong language. It may be offencive and disturbing for children under the age of 15. There will be reference to drug and violence. There may be sex scenes and nudity in these films.
18 - These films are only suitable for people 18 and over. Strong language is used. Strong drug and violence will also be in these films too. There may be sex scenes and nudity in these films too.
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Short Film.

Characters;
Amy - Tasha
Joe - Karl
Amy's Boyfriend - Matt
I worked with Karl and Matt on my short film. They were fun and easy to work with.
Our short film was about and boy named Joe (Karl) and a girl named Amy (Tasha) they meet in the corridor and start talking. Joe asks Amy how things are going with her and her boyfriend, when she tells him things are not going so well he gives her his number in case she ever needs to talk to him. After Amy walks off Joe heads off down the corridor and is tripped over by Amy's boyfriend (Matt)
We filmed in the corridor which was hard because of all the people walking past, and none of them wanted to be in the film. Finally we found some extras but they was not doing what we wanted and they took up our filming time. In the end we found three extra that did want we wanted and then after that filming became easier. The only bad thing was that our LED screen wasn't working on our camera and for all three of us to look back after every clip took up time instead of being able to watch it all at the same time.
Story board;
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee298/anig901/storyboard.jpg
Textual Analysis.
The romantic comedy open scene i have chosen to write about is Pretty Women. It starts with a bright joyful party where everyone is happy. There were people talking and happy music in the background. Everyone is there for Richard Gere's character, that is rich and powerful and cares a lot about his job. You can tell this from the way people are acting around him; I could tell he cares about his job a lot because his girlfriend breaks up with him because he is never around. Then he gets into one of his employees car and does not know how to drive, this shows that his never had to learn to drive because his always had someone to drive him around or his not driven in a long time and also shows how powerful he is. You can tell he is respected because the tone of voice everyone uses with him, they are very calm around him. Then the there is a change from this happy joyful party to the dull dark backstreets of LA. Then you see prostitutes and Julia Roberts's character that is the complete opposite to the man. She is living in a shabby old apartment that she can't afford to live in and leaves with out playing the rent. The music in the background changes it turns to a dirty rock song. The conventions in this film are that the characters are made to be together because they are so opposite. She needs to someone to help her get her life sorted and he needs someone he can be interested in. The title screen was showed when the man was going into the backstreets of LA. It has a Cinderella theme to it which helps with the conventions of a romantic comedy.
I have chosen the opening scene from the film Old Boy that we watched in class. This film is a Thriller. This film’s opening does not follow the conventions of a normal thriller themed film. The start of the films begins with a man holding another man over the top of a roof top by his tie. The man he his holding has a little white dog in his hands, which is odd and a little funny. The man who is holding the man by his tie says that “he wants to tell his story” Then the other man asks who he is then he replies "I am" then it flashes back to a drunken man in a police station who is acting disorderly and is making a lot of noise. He shouts about wanting to see his daughter because it is her birthday and he has a present for her. It flashes backwards to him rolling on the floor with his top off and then he is hand cuffed to the wall. Then another man comes and bails him out and as they are leaving he swears at the police men and runs which is funny. Then he phones his daughter from a phone box and it is raining very heavily which makes you think about what going to happen next? Then the man who bailed him out talks to her and wishes her a happy birthday and when he goes to give the phone back the man is gone. Then tense music comes on and its still raining and a car speeds past and it zooms in on the present the man has got for his daughter on the floor in the rain. This makes you want to know where the man has disappeared too this part sticks with conventions. There was no tense music or anything that made you feel uneasy during the opening part of the film, until he disappeared. Then the films starts.
One of the horror film opening scenes i have chosen to write about is Day Of The Dead. I have wrote about all the Horror films because i have chosen Horror as my genre. At the start of the film there is a women in a room with a calendar. There is non digetic music in the background that make you feel uneasy and know that something is going to jump out on you. Then there is a shock where hands come out of the wall and that is suppose to scare you. It made me jump. This is good with sticking to the conventions of a horror because it keeps you on edge for the rest of the film. Then it jumps back to the women in a helicopter so she must have been dreaming this? The helicopter makes you want to know more and makes you ask questions e.g. Where are they going?
Then when they land they start to shout like they know that they are doing or what is about to happen. Then it goes from clips of "Zombies" waking up and walking towards them.
From watching the 3rd film in the trilogy , i knew what was going on with out watching the other films. I think the make up was very cheaply done and very low budget but they still make you feel uneasy about it. You know what the film is going to be about, which helps with the conventions of "Horror"
The next film we watched was Scream. The titles is a black screen with light flashing in the background. Then it comes up with the title “Scream” in red bold writing which automatically puts the picture of blood into your mind. At the start of the film it is a young girl on her own in a house. She gets a phone call from someone who has the wrong number. Then they phone her back and start pasturing her. Which leaves you in wondering what’s going to happen next. She is cooking pop corn which she forgets about and that helps build tension because the pop corn is going to pop and then you know something is going to start. The person on the phone tell the girl that he can see her. She then starts to frantically run around the house locking all the doors and windows. The house has a lot of windows which means he could have been looking at her from any angle. You can tell that this is set in the middle of no where because there is a lot of greenery outside and there is crickets in the background. So you know that the police are not going to be helping in this film.
The next film is The Grudge. The films starts with old Japanese music in the background that you can not really understand but it still makes you feel uneasy and a little scared about what’s happening. The title comes up in old Japanese writing. The film starts with colorless and pale people. A women who looks like she is in the bathroom and a mad with a scalpel. You know that the man is going to do something to the women because of his eyes and her blank face and her terrified eyes. You see red splatters over them both, on their faces and clothes. You think about blood because it is red. The man then grabs a cat, you do not see him hurt the cat up you can hear the sound of cracking bones in the background. This puts the image of the cat being killed in your mind which makes the film relate to you and what you think is happening.
The last film we watched was Switchblade romance. It starts off with a girl on a bed whispering words repeatedly. She was clutching some sort of Rosemary beads. She has cuts and scars on her back which automatically shows that she has been attacked my someone or something. This makes the audience to want to know what has happened to this young girl. The it flashes backwards and forwards to a car driving to driving down a dull road with their fog lights on, to the same girl running trough a forest covered in blood clutching one side of her body. It looks like early morning so that makes you think that the attack must have happened at night and this is her escaping. The car and the flashback to the girl get quicker from each time this tells you that the two are connected or are going to bump into each other, until eventually she jumps out in front of the car and it swerves then she bangs on the window for help with her bloody hands. This films has all the conventions that a Horror should have because, it has blood, suspense, edgy music, and makes the audience want to know what is going on or what is going to happen.