Unit 19 - Learning Aim C
INTRODUCTION
The film's genre will be horror. A teenage girl who has traveled alone to her hometown to celebrate Christmas with her family. She has a dream the night before the trip that someone is trying to kill her. The next day, the dream creates more tension and worry. Steps appear behind her as she approaches the home, like someone is following her. She is scared when she first comes to the house because the lights are turned off, she instantly switches them on and begins opening the bag. The lights go out on their own and a scream can be heard just as she feels everything is fine.
RESEARCH
Primary Research – Survey
This question was focusing on the gender of the audience. In my overall survey 63% of the audience are female, 31% are male while 6% chose not to say their gender.
This question was focusing on the target audience. As can be seen 50% or half of the audience are aged 16-17, 25% are aged 18-19, 19% are aged 20 and over, and only 6% are aged 14-15 years. All this data gives information that most of the audience is teenagers. Therefore, my short film should be made in the style of this part of the audience to attract them to watch.
This question was asked to see what type of film the audience prefers and enjoys watching. According to my research, most of the audience like action and dramatic films, these two genres overlap in most of my film ideas, leading me to believe that horror has a good possibility of being seen. But I am most happy with the fact that horror is best positioned after these two genres that are great. With this graph, it is clear that my film genre is interesting and famous between a large audience.
4. Which genre films do you dislike watching?
This is one of the most important questions in my research. The information in the question tells me what kind of film it should not create because it will not be watched by the audience. Romance and Documentary got the most percentage of the popular vote (20%), followed by Science-Fiction (13%). These film genres are incompatible with horror, which is a good thing.
This question provides information that attracts audiences to see a film. As can be seen in the graph, they are most attracted to the poster, suggesting that creativity should be valued. The Actors, the Location / Culture, and the Popularity of the Film come in second respectively, with the same proportion of interests. The other elements are not as important for people as the audience of a certain movie.
Regarding the inclusion of a subtitle in the film, most respondents (75%) say they have no problems, while 25% say they would prefer no subtitle at all. This information is important for me because it helps me to include a subtitle in my short film without interrupting the audience.
This is a not important question for me because the narrative of my film will probably follow a different path. However, it's good to know that if I change my mind and want to make something about a specific country, the audience will not be turned off because % of them agree that they love and like films about their own countries, whereas 25% do not.
This question is helpful to my work because it pertains to one of the most important facets of my film. For a specific time in the film, the sound has a much better effect. In this section of the research, 56% of the audience thinks that sound effects in a film are extremely important, which is the majority of them, 31% think that sound effects in a film are somewhat important, and 13% think that sound effects in a film are neutral. This information presents a picture of how the film's sound effects could be improved for better quality.
This question shows a lot about my film genre, because I want to make a horror short. This research is important because the majority of the audience (69%) wants to watch a horror film, while 31% do not.
The audience is interested in watching horror films on this question. The average number is 7.19, suggesting that more than 70% of the audience is interested in seeing horror films.
As can be seen in this question, each member of the audience has a different actor, which is natural given that everyone has a different favourite. For this section of the audience, Leonardo DiCaprio is the favourite actor with 22%. The other actors get 11% of the audience's choice as a favorite actor.
Sound effects are one of the most important facets of a film because they provide the audience with a more dramatic, terrifying, or stunning experience. Furthermore, one of the most popular types of music in horror films is scary music, which appears at various points during the film. The audience chose scary music with 44%, dramatic music with 25%, threatening music with 13%, and suspenseful music with 19% as the most effective music in horror films. This knowledge will help me in selecting music for my own film.
13. What's your favourite film of all time?
Audiences have differing viewpoints on all-time favourite movies. All of them have different film titles and genres, but action and horror films are the most famous. Most of the audience loves to see action, horror and drama movies. There are more genres, but those two are the most chosen and intriguing.
Audiences have had differing viewpoints on the worst film of all time. As a bad film, they all have different names and genres, but the most famous genre is romantic comedy. The majority of the audience dislikes romantic comedy films, and this genre has nothing in do with the theme of my film. Other genres have been chosen, but these are the most popular and interesting.
Audiences have differing viewpoints on the greatest film of all time. Action, comedy, and thriller films are the most popular genres. The majority of the audience enjoys watching films of the genre. Other genres were considered, but those two were the most famous and interesting.
Short Film Analysis
SLASH-IN-THE-BOX - NICK EVERHART (2011)
Narrative: The film begins with the husband presenting an old box holding a toy to his wife. When he opens the box, his wife is less than impressed. Later, it turns out that she was correct in her dislike of the box because her husband gets up in the middle of the night and walks to the kitchen where the box is placed. In the kitchen an unbelievable scene awaits him, the box begins to open on its own and kills him. The wife heard some noises and walked down to the kitchen where she was met with a real drama, the box began to open again when it was shown that her husband had been killed. In the end, the box kills both the husband and the wife.
Character: Two people, a husband and wife, are featured in this film. They are shown as terrified and hopeless because their lives are exaggerated by a box. They have a short dialogue at the beginning of the film when they open the scared toy box, the rest of the film is silent. The opening of the dialogue, in which they are both worried about an old box with a toy, gives the impression that something is not right.
Mise-en-scene: All the scenes take place in the spouses' home, but the kitchen has the most impact because it is where the main and important moments take place. So, the box has a supernatural power that is tragic to people, the location in this horror film is used to make the kitchen in where the box is placed unsafe. Their clothes are created for everyday use and do not provide any suggestions for something awful. On the other hand, the movements and lights are strong indicators of a sad end. Their movements, which are less weird and frozen (they are not comfortable, they are afraid), have an extra impact and meaning which produces an awful feeling, because all the scenes are darkened to give an uncomfortable feeling. The handle of the box that turns to open the box on its own without anybody opening it astonishes the audience because it is impossible to open a box on its own. All props give meaning to anything unexpected and out of the usual.
Cinematography: The camera is set up in the best possible way to record the most important moments at any given time. There are some close-up angles that have a big effect on the audience because they show the actors emotions and how they feel at separate moments. For the audience to improve the impressions, zooming in and out of every element is important. The whole style of camerawork in this short film is given in the best edition, giving the film a much higher quality.
Editing: The camera is moving at a good pace that has an important effect. Every important scene in the film is presented in more detail, implying that the film's effect is noteworthy.
Sound: The sound is shown in two examples in this short horror film. One is a diegetic sound that is shown at the beginning of the film when the pair are talking in the kitchen when they open the box, and the other is a sound that is shown at the end of the film when the two are talking in the kitchen when they open the box. On the other hand, non-diegetic sound is any dramatic or terrifying music that shows every moment in the direction of a tragedy, making the audience uncomfortable and scared. The non-diegetic sound is more effective and beneficial than the diegetic sound because of the added musical effects that are presented at the proper moment of the tragedy and given more meaning to the panic.
Conclusion: The sound and lighting are the most effective elements of this short horror film because they create the most terrifying and dramatic images. The sound pays more attention to the ambience and improves the effect of the situation, while the lighting directly contributes to the final glow and atmosphere in tragic or horrific scenes. Definitely, the main elements that I plan to employ in my short horror film to improve the quality and impression on the audience will be light and sound.
Secondary Research
5 Things Every Horror Screenplay Needs
More action than dialogue: Show the audience, do not tell them what the characters are afraid of.
Mounting suspense: Pacing the story and the action to take viewers by surprise.
Jump scares: Sudden loud noises or unexpected images that make viewers jump.
Gore: Gruesome death or torture scenes with blood and guts to further unsettle the audience.
A villain or a monster: Anyone—or anything—that is beyond control. The audience needs to know what drives the bad guy and what they are capable of.
Writing The Perfect Horror Movie
Think about what scares you?
Make sure something scary happens. Any longer and the audience forgets they are in a horror film. Every scare beat needs to feel genuine. A “cat jump scare” is startling and only effective upon first viewing, so your horror needs to be authentic and memorable and not simply jump scares.
Think about a concept
Your film does not need this but if you want to sell your screenplay a lot of companies are going after movies with a high concept.
Market tests your idea with strangers
Your idea may seem right to you but may not to others. Rember you are writing a screenplay for an audience not for yourself. Your plan can be an excellent test to see if you are on the right path. When doing this exercise, test with mostly strangers. The reasoning for this is people who you do not know have no obligation to lie to you to spare your feelings. People you know aka your mom will tell you-you are a genius even if you are not. So, in this case, unless you know, the person will not lie use strangers.
Create the atmosphere
A lot of fan-favorite horror films have a certain atmosphere. The tone and mood can scare people alone. Things that create a great atmosphere are:
The Weather
Weather can influence the feeling of a scene. Rain is scarier than sunshine. Blizzards can make a shot seem hopeless; Thunderstorms can make the audience feel trapped. Think of the earth’s natural elements and your feelings toward them.
Time of day
The night is significantly scarier than the day time. Why because you cannot see, think about that movie Riddick starring Vin Diesel. The only reason the night scenes had that effect is that of the unknown. The same thing happens with The Blaire Witch Project. Day scenes can work as well just because we would not expect it. Think about the Insidious film series. Its day scenes scared me the most.
Location
A foggy location like London works for many scary storylines, and the same goes for the woods in The Hills Have Eyes films. Sometimes the place does not need to be remote a wooden house will do.
Space
How big or small the location has a physiological effect on the atmosphere. Very small or huge places represent an uncomfortable feeling to an audience. Think about cramp areas like a vent or big places like a mansion.
Get rid of all the whys
There are two ways to avoid why questions from an audience.
1) The story was so dam engaging that your neocortex could not see them. Remember the first time you feel in love; the feeling overwhelms your judgment.
2) They got rid of all of them. They thought genuinely about every angle in every scenario in the movie and fixed it in the writer’s room.
Create empathic characters
Make relatable characters
If the audience can relate to the characters, then they can see the horror happening to them and thus making your screenplay not scary.
Make relatable situations
Goes back to getting rid of all the whys. The situation has to feel real. Think about paranormal activity, the only reason the man stayed is that the women he loved told him too and he could not leave her.
Watch horror movies for analysis
You have to find a couple of films that scare you then analyse them. Reverse engineer why they frightened you. From the characters, the build-up and their situation. This exercise is going to teach you what horror is.
Slower equals scarier
Unlike comedy which goes fast scary works better going slow. A build-up of ideas and information keeps people on edge. Think about the last frightening movie you have seen. Any of them will do. What was the pacing of the film like? When the pacing of a film is slower you more aware of the little things, like a door that was already open or a man with a mask waiting hiding in the corner.
Use sound effects while writing
The sound is said to be the most underrated aspect of filmmaking. When writing a horror film, write out sound effects. All the …STRETCHING…. THUMPING… noises that build the anticipation of what is going to happen.
The unknown is always more terrifying
When writing your screenplay think of which things you want the audience to know and what things are better left unsaid or unseen.
Don’ t writes a bunch of horrifying Scenes
Rember tip number ten slower equals scarier. If the whole movie is straight horror, it loses its effect.
Know the difference between Horror & Thriller
Thrillers are more of an adventure and suspense type movie. Horror is full of acts that can repulse the audience. Both of these genres can scare so keep that in mind. Knowing the difference will save you from your horror becoming just a movie with a bunch of suspense scenes. If their character is not afraid of being disbudded in some sort of way it is a thriller.
Do not use excessive narration or exposition
The narration is the action or process of narrating a story. Exposition is the description and explanation of an idea. Both of these in my option ruin all movies yet alone horror movies.
No Use of Dread
Dread is causing or involving great suffering, fear, or unhappiness; extremely bad or severe.
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