The Amityville Horror

My teacher suggested looking at the trailer for Amityville Horror as the start of it is how I described the start of my trailer- it's a very happy atmosphere with establishing shots of the house and surrounding area. I want to do something similar to this in my trailer as it contrasts the horror which will take place in the trailer/film.

Here's what I analysed..

Did I Meet My Targets 25th September

My target for this week was to decide whether I was going to make a trailer or a short film.

I printed off my plot and showed it to my teacher and one of my classmates, we each went through and highlighted the parts of the plot that we thought should be in the trailer, if that's what I was going to make, and then discussed whether the parts that we had highlighted would have been enough in length for a trailer.

We concluded that I had enough plot for a trailer and that it would still be entertaining and scary as a trailer.

Short film or trailer 2

Last week I printed out a copy of my film's plot and gave it to my teacher and one of my classmates and asked them to highlight the parts which they thought would be essential or good to include in the trailer and how they would put those specific parts in the trailer. I did the same.

After doing this I feel more confident with my decision to do a trailer and think that I can make a decent sized trailer with lots of good camera shots without revealing too much of the plot or any of the twists.

Trailer or Short Film

I've been a bit stuck on what to do lately because I don't know whether to do a short film or a trailer.

My plot would work better as a short film because of the back story and plot twist which I wouldn't really be able to include in the trailer without giving too much away, but I really like the style of trailers and I would much prefer to make one.

I'm going to ask people in my media class for help deciding which parts of my plot I could include in a trailer. If these parts would fill out a trailer then I will make one rather than a short film.

My Poster Thoughts

For my poster image I think I might use the image which will be taken in the film of the boy with a ghost in/around him as I think this would look effective and also convey that it is a horror film, or I could do a shot of him being possessed as it's a pivotal moment in the film.

TAGLINE at the top

IMAGE in the centre- face?

BILLING BLOCK at the bottom.

Horror Poster Analysis 2

Horror Poster Analysis 1

I've been analysing a few horror posters recently to help me with ideas for mine.

Horror Film Title Conventions

The title of horror films usually indicate the genre by sounding unpleasant. For example: The Grudge, Paranormal Activity, The Exorcist, The Devil Inside.
I found some examples of titles from the posters I was analysing

Targets For This Week 14th September

I spoke with my teacher and class about my horror plot and they all said that it would perhaps be better as a short film because there is a plot twist and quite a lot of backstory which would be difficult to put in a trailer without spoiling the film.

So my target for this week is:

• To decide which parts of the plot would be in a trailer- to plan the trailer out, so that I can work out whether it would be long enough or whether it would work better as a short film.

Did I Meet My Targets 11th September

My targets for this week were:

• To think more about the plot as I have rough ideas but I haven't really tied them all together or thought about the ending.
• To come up with a definite list of characters and think about who would play them. Also to think about which of the characters would actually be in the trailer as not all of them would need to be.

What have I done this week?

This week I was going to hold a focus group to get some advice for  my plot but instead I came up with a questionnaire to give to lots of people as I thought this was more effective than a focus group because I could get much more detailed answers.

I came up with a entire plot for the film which took me a while and I used some of my questionnaire answers to help me with what to include. I'm almost certain about it but there a few bits which may change as I go along. I spoke to my media teacher today and after talking it through we thought that as the plot is so complex and there is a plot twist and back story it might be better to create a short film rather than a trailer- I will look more into this this week.

I also came up with a list of characters which would be in the film and which of hose would be in the trailer according to the scenes I would feature in the trailer and also the number of actors I have.

How My Questionnaires Helped Me

I gave out some questionnaires yesterday and they really helped me.

Most people said they thought the victim of horror films is typically male, however some said female.

Everyone said that they like plot twists and back stories.

The majority of people said their favourite type of horror film is possession horror.

Casting characters

I'm starting to think about who is going to play each of the characters.

I think my friend James who helped with my media coursework last year is going to be the main boy becomes possessed.
My friend Tasha is maybe going to play his best friend.
And my sister is going to play his sister.

I have chosen these people because I feel comfortable telling them what to do and I know they'll listen to me.

Cast

I've come up with a list of the characters which would be in the film:

• The main boy who becomes possessed in the film
• The cleaner of the house
• His mum and dad
• His sister who is affected by the possession

Finished Plot

BEGINNING

The family  (mum, dad and their teenage son and daughter) move into a new house and it’s a typical happy fresh start for the family. At some point the mum asks her son to take some boxes up to the attic, he finds that there are already some boxes there and goes through them- he finds a music box and intrigued, opens it, the music starts to play and he gets a headache and appears to be thrown back by something- he becomes possessed. He returns downstairs after passing out in the attic and waking up unaware of what happened, we get a shot of the music box open and playing- throughout the film the music box music plays at times of horror so the audience can identify with it and know what’s going to happen. The brother and his sister argue like most siblings and they argue the next morning.

MIDDLE

The next few days are normal aside from a few lights flickering in the girl’s room which she just puts down to her lamp being broken. The boy begins to look unwell and every time he is asked about it he gets really angry. At some point it is mentioned that the cleaner is ill and due to start next week because of this. The sister becomes very haunted as she tries to sleep- she hears noises, footsteps, lights flicker and doors slam etc. meanwhile her brother appears in some kind of trance as he sits upright smiling in his bed at his sister being terrified. The next day she asks her brother if anything has been happening to him and when he says no she asks him if he was trying to scare her- he gets very angry and tries to attack her, the cleaner walks in and he suddenly turns on her, angrier than before- the sister manages to get him off of her and he manages to think as himself not as the ghost that is possessing him. He apologises and the cleaner introduces herself as Katie Smith, she leaves as she was hurt when she was practically attacked. The sister calls her friend on skype and says that she thinks there is something wrong with her brother- he looks ill and strange things have been happening to her and not him. She suggests that he may be possessed and remembers an article she read - to see if someone is possessed you can take a picture of them and it shows a ghost around/in them. She tells her mum and dad but they don’t believe her and say that she’s been watching too many scary films, they agree that he looks ill though and take him to the doctor who says that he can’t tell what’s wrong with him but he expects that it’s just a virus so he sends them hope and tells him to rest. She tries the photo trick and it works. She is terrified and in despair as no one will listen to her so she cries until she hears a child laughing. She is startled and see’s ‘come to the attic’ on her mirror. So she does and finds the music box which is open and playing she looks at it in more detail and sees the name ‘Catherine Smith’ on the bottom of it. Desperate to find something out, she searches this name in google along with the house address and finds that a fire destroyed the house that was on the land before the current one was built, the fire killed a little girl, the younger step sister of Catherine Smith who inadvertently started the fire by lighting a candle when there was a power cut. She recognises the name Catherine Smith but she doesn’t remember where from but she suspects that the ghost who possessed her brother is the little girl who died in the fire, but why? The cleaner has returned and asks her how her brother is.

BACK STORY

She suddenly remembers that the cleaner is called Katie Smith- she is Catherine. She confronts her about this and, after denying it for a while she realises that her sister has taken of the boy’s body and he is in danger so she confesses. When she was little her mum died and gave her the music box, her dad remarried and she got a step-sister who she never really liked as she got more attention and she missed her mum so much. She lit the candle when there was a power cut and put it in her and her sister’s room which her sister was in, the candle must have fallen over and the room set fire but she didn’t know about it because she was downstairs until she smelt burning and it was too late and she stood at the doorway to the bedroom and watched her sister die before she could save her and could get help.

After the accident and the house was rebuilt and she lived there with her dad who was now divorced after his wife left him because she couldn’t stand to be around Catherine who lit the candle. Catherine experienced the same sort of things that the girl experienced and was haunted by the ghost of her sister which she realised after some time. She purchased a book on her possession and found out how to seal a ghost in an object and found that ghosts normally haunt people because they are trying to get revenge. She realised that her step sister must have been trying to get revenge because Catherine couldn’t save her in time. She sealed the spirit in the music box and hid it in the attic, she became the cleaner so that she could keep an eye on the house and the music box to make sure that no one open it but while she was ill and not working there, she couldn’t monitor the attic.

END

She tried to re-seal the spirit in the music box the same way that she did before and she manages to do so, or so she thinks- until at the end of the film when everything returns to normal and the boy is fine again, we see the music box filing open and the music starts to play.

Questionnaire

I've come up with a questionnaire to give to lots of people as I think this would be more effective than a focus group because I can get much more detailed answers.


These are the questions I've come up with...


1. Are you male or female?
2. What type of films are your favourite? For example Comedy, Action
3. Do you like horror films? Do you have a favourite?
4. Do you think horror films are suited to your age group?
If you do watch horror films, how do you watch them? For example: on Tv, Internet etc…
5. (If you do watch horror films)Do your parents allow you to watch horror films or do they not know about it?
6. Do you ever watch films which are a 15 or an 18? (above your age)
7. Do you think the victim in a horror film is usually male or female?
8. Would you say there is normally a happy ending in horror films? Everything is resolved?
9. What type of horror films do you enjoy eg. Ghosts and possession, gore, crime…
10. Do you like horrors where there is a mystery involved which the characters have to solve?
11.Do you like when there is a plot twist in horror films?
12. Do you like when there is a backstory to horror films?
13. What would you say are the typical characters in a horror film?
14. Do you think the location of a horror film is important? 


I will post some of the answers later because they have helped me with my plot.

Targets For This Week 7th September

My targets for this week are:

• To think more about the plot as I have rough ideas but I haven't really tied them all together or thought about the ending.
• To come up with a definite list of characters and think about who would play them. Also to think about which of the characters would actually be in the trailer as not all of them would need to be.

I am going to try to hold a focus group and ask them about what they like to see in horror films to help me with the ending and then I can create a list of characters from my finished plot.

Today's Media Lesson

In today's lesson we talked about what we'd done so far for our coursework and the things we had been putting off doing.


I need to finalize a list of characters that I am going to put in the film and then work out which of these characters I am going to put in the trailer and who is going to play them. I've been putting off doing this as I don't know who to cast as each of the characters because I was struggling with how many I need.


I am going to look at my plot and come up with a list of characters that would be in the whole film and then work out which of those would be in the scenes I'm including in the trailer.

Horror Film Conventions