Baseball bat- The baseball bat will be in the hands of the clown who will use the object to break into the house and also kill the actors in the film at the end of the opening scene. The baseball bat will be an integral piece of iconography ,for the clown, which will be closely associated with the character.
Props list
Jade was assigned the role of making a props and costume list for the day of filming which will be seen on screen. We decided on the use of a black hoodie/tracksuit for the clown in order to make them appear like they are in their youth and also show that the clown is a real person who has a mental problem leading them to think they are a clown. The gloves also belong to the clown as this means that the fingerprints of the clown are not going to be detected and therefore they cannot be caught. The lounge wear belongs to extras who are the dead bodies in order to make it appear that they were just round a friends house for the day.
We decided to use make up in order to make our clown in our film in order to make the film more unique and also show the human side of the character so that we know that the person is just mentally fragile- which will make the film more scary as we can actually see people becoming like this in real life.
Many film logos are very simplistic yet bold. For example Jurassic Park has a three tone colour scheme however still works effectively. The red makes the logo stand out whereas the black makes the dinosaur appear as a shadow but, also makes the dinosaur appear more vividly due to the contrast in colour.
Due to this for our film logo we went for a very simplistic design which would work well but look effective. The red of the clown nose makes the logo appear as bold and the film name has been incorporated into the logo design in order to make it look like the teeth of the clown. This logo was created using Adobe Photoshop and the font which was selected for the film title was selected as it has a style which could be associated with Circus' as well as being bold.
Many of the major film instituion logos use the background of the sky as this can be easily adapted in order to fit different genres of film. For example, in the horror genre the clouds can be darkened so that the logo is given a more eerie tone. Futhermore the font is the boldest aspect of the logo design as this means that they can easily be read when they appear on screen.
For our logo in order to make it fit the horror genre we made the insitutions names drip with blood to link to the iconography of blood and horror films. Also the insitution logo is dark as this means that it is more mysterious due to the colours black and dark blue being associated with mystery and the unknown. This logo was created using Adobe photoshop and the components of the bird and the moon have been added to a background of clouds that have been edited in order to make them appear darker.
Clown- As a group we decided that the use of clowns in our film would be a good link to the context of clown sightings in the news. Our clown would not have any speaking lines and would appear evil, due to the mask they are wearing. This means that the audience are more scared as they can visibly see that the clown is evil rather than just viewing a normal children party clown. The clown would be wearing everyday causal clothing in order to make them seem like they are a normal person who has gone mentally insane. The clothing of the clown would be black so that the clown had connotations of mystery and unkown characteristics due to them not talking.
Extras (dead bodies)- The dead bodies are going to be a group of friends who have gathered at their friends house and are killed by the clown. The dead bodies will be a mixture of males and females in order to use traditional gender stereotypes (especially ones found in horror films)later on in the film.
Recce- For our main brief we decided to use a house as this connotes safety and closure. However, we can break this traditional stereotype as the clown has been able to get into the house and therefore the audience will panic as they could see this happening to them and realise how easy it is to break into a house. Also the house would be an easy location to adjust lighting and create the best shot. The door way will be used in order to show a long shot of the clown breaking into the house and the narrow path will make the audience feel like there will be no escape for the people in the house. The living room will be used to display the range of dead bodies on the floor ,as well as highlighting the intrusion the clown has had on the live's of the people as they have been able to get into their personal space.
Mise en scene:
‘Hush’ uses mise en scene in a creative way as it uses a dark colour scheme in order to connote certain feelings from the director to the audience (the director has coded the film with a certain message which the audience has to deconstruct and realise). In the film ‘Hush’ the use of the door ways which are very dark are a good use as symbolism of suspense and mystery as, the colour black is known for its connotations of mystery and the unknown and also helps to symbolise that it is night time- meeting a common convention for horror films, that they are set in the night. For the audience the dark doorways make the film even more scary as we are unable to see what is inside the room and therefore the antagonist may be lurking in the room waiting for the protagonist, which leaves the audience on edge.
Also, as the house that the film is set in is located in the woods the film immediately becomes even more frightening due to the audience already being able to highlight that the protagonist is far from any sort of civilisation thus meaning that they will not be able to gain help easily. This is shown as the woman’s wifi has been cut off by the antagonist whom knows that by doing this the protagonist is not able to gather help or attention quickly. For an audience this heightens the terror within the film as we are left feeling that the protagonist is becoming even more vulnerable to the action taking place outside. Also where the house is covered with glass windows and doors the film gains another layer for it being scary as the audience know that the antagonist is in control of the situation as they could decide (at any point) when they want to break in by smashing through the glass.
Camerawork and movement:
In the film close up reaction shots are used well in order to build tension and horror as they are used in an effective way which clearly highlights that something major is about to happen and gets the audience anticipating what is going to happen in the film. This is key in ‘Hush’ when the woman reads the texts (which contain pictures of herself inside her home) from an anonymous person. Without the use of the reaction shots we would not be able to gather a sense of emotion from the protagonist as we would not see their reaction properly.
Another camera work technique which is used to good effect is the tracking shot of Maddie- the protagonist- running from door to door in order to lock them so that she is able to feel safe in her own home. The tracking shot allows us to see both the character and her surroundings so we can gather potential weak points in her home which could be breached by the antagonist and keeps us anticipating what will happen next. Also the use of the tracking shot makes the film appear more smooth and fluid and therefore it appears as a much more professional film.
Sound:
One technique which is interestingly used is the use of silence in the film in order to build anticipation. Without the dramatic silence the film would lack character as it would have no suspense and no places to start the soundtrack for a specific reason. The silence which is incorporated in the film makes the narrative more scary due to the audience being left in anticipation of something smashing, breaking etc. Also, sometimes the silence was used effectively as the female protagonist was death and therefore when it cut to shots of the woman or P.O.V. shots the sound would be completely gone as to make us feel like we are in the woman’s shoes.
Furthermore, when sound is used it either quickly goes off or glitches when something important happens in the film. For example, when the protagonist, Maddie, sees the antagonist for the first time the music glitches as this symbolises the importance of this part of the narrative and suggests to the audience that they need to pay attention. Another example from the film is when, the music quickly turns off when the antagonist cuts the wifi of the house off and this is used as, as an audience we come to a realisation that this leaves the woman with no hope of gaining help as she is already in the middle of the forest, where civilisation is out of sight ; now she is unable to call anybody for help either. Without these subtle hints the film would be very flat and would lack any hints from the director at what parts were important and which parts were not.
Editing:
The editing in Hush builds tension and panic throughout as it is very fast paced and frantic which establishes a clear sense of panic as it is a film which is from the viewpoint of the protagonist who is unaware of what is actually going to happen. If the film was from the antagonist’s perspective then the editing would be a lot slower as they know that they are in control of the situation and are less stressed than the protagonist. The editing becomes more frantic when the woman is running around home in order to lock all of the doors (a typical situation in horror films as it makes the character feel more safe in their own home) which shows the viewer that the protagonist is panicking and making simple decisions which they think will help to save them.
Finally, the film uses constant cuts back and forth between the antagonist and protagonist means that the audience is always drawn to the fact the two characters are now increasingly involved in each other's life. The cuts between one another, highlight that the characters are in a constant battle between one another as they show that they are in close proximity and that one of them will end up getting what they are wishing for. This means that the audience is left feeling like they need to take a side of a character and then build a relationship with them- which predominantly leads to them feeling the same way that the character on screen does.
Camerawork-
In the opening sequence of 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' a close up shot is used in the title sequence/prologue which shows the evidence found highlights the importance that it has in the film as it shows the audience that when they see these pieces of evidence in the film later on they should expect something to happen, this therefore makes them anxious as they are watching the film in anticipation. This means that the audience is immediately looking out for these props in the film as it is a code put into the film deliberately by the director so that they can become an active audience who have to work specific parts of the film out for themselves.
Another shot which is used in a similar way to the close up is the long shot as the director and cameraman highlight the house that the crime takes place in which once again makes the audience look out for it and is thus leaving them anticipating that something is going to happen in the house when they get there. The effect on the audience that this has is that they are left terrified from the first minute of the film as they are always looking out for these aspects of the film as they know that something is going to take place when these props and locations appear on screen.
Editing-
The use of the old news footage which has been added in during the post production stages of the film add the suspense of the film as it makes the realism of the film bigger as the director is clearly portraying that the events that are about to take place on the screen are based on a true story, this means that the audience is left feeling like this could happen to them as it is all realistic- rather than some horror films that focus on the supernatural which the audience cannot envisage themselves in and therefore it makes them less scared about the narrative of the film.
Also, the vignette filter which is added to the opening titles makes the film look older and appear more scary due to this effect. This filter works well as the vintage effect makes the film appear as archive footage which has been recovered so that they can research what happened in during the crime. This makes the narrative of the film more scary because, this makes it appear that the crime cannot be worked out properly which makes the audience feel like it could happen any time- that a crime could take place which would never be worked out and this makes them more apprehensive when watching the film as they are wondering what could happen to them.
Mise-en-scene:
The laboratory where the evidence is left in is good for creating an eerie tone in the film as a laboratory is stereotypically linked with research into crimes or research into dead bodies. This therefore is helpful in making the film scary as the associations are already made in the audience's head and they begin to think about the real life situation that takes place every day in reality, as well as what is going to happen in the films narrative.
The house where the camera focused on in the opening sequence was very dark and black as it had burnt down. This meant that it was giving off two different feelings. The first was one of mystery as the colour black has clear connotations of mystery and the unknown. This also looks to the reasoning behind why it was burnt as it builds the mystery around the film as the audience is sitting wondering why it has been burnt. Also the burnt house signifies that there will be a fire (which is a common fear) and therefore if people are scared of fire then they will be tense when watching the film.
Sound:
The main use of sound that you notice from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is the use of the news report which once again adds to the realism of the situation. This worked well in the film as it gave background information as well as adding to the tension as people are once again envisioning it as a real situation. Also due to the scenario being on the news it makes the event seem important and therefore the audience are viewing expecting something big to happen during the film.
Another use of sound in the film is the use of the crash and the echo when the chainsaw is placed on the evidence table. This is important int the film as it highlights that the chainsaw has a major significance in the film as the sound is used to portray to the audience that the need to pay attention to this prop as it is a main piece of iconography for the antagonist. Therefore,when they see the chainsaw they should expect to see the antagonist and expect something to take place which will potentially scare them.
Characters: Luke Scrivener- Killer clown News reporter (voice only)- Joe Deighton
(Starts out with Breaking news reports, clown outbreak across the UK. Archive footage appears with a Breaking News overlay.) News reporter: Breaking news! There has been killer clown outbreak across the UK. Reports from London to Glasgow have come out of clown sightings in local parks, alleys and some even going so far to break into houses. Petrified civilians have called the police but to no prevail. Out of a reported 156 clown sightings, 15 have been arrested and seven charged. The police have urged civilians to stay out no later than 9:00pm for the time being, until the craze is over however this leaves the question on everyone’s mind. When will this end?
(The newsreport stops and the diegetic sound of footsteps starts. Cuts to a clown breaking into a house faint use of soundtrack in the background [eerie tone]. The clown takes a few seconds to walk up to the door.The clown is holding a baseball bat.The clown hits the door with the baseball bat and the diegetic sound of the hitting can be heard along with a faint chuckle from the Clown. The clown walks into the house and switches off the light switch. Screams in the background as a black screen appears for 8 seconds. As the lights come back on, a jump cut is used to show the clown standing over a pile of ‘smiling’ dead bodies. The soundtrack has become louder.The institution logo appears on screen and the word ‘presents’ appears on screen. The screen fades to black and the film logo ‘Smile appears on screen’)
The next step in planning that the group undertook was to divise the group into their roles which they were going to focus on. As a group we; made the narrative plan, will decide which aspects of the film need to be reshot in order to create a good film and a sense of continuity. Joe took the roles of; creating the storyboard with some assistance from me (Callum), creation of screenplay and script and during post production will help myself to edit the film. Jade was given the roles of; making a list of props and costumes to be used, create the location recce and also keep the production schedule up to date and make sure everything is done on time. Harriett has the roles of; making the character breakdown with analysis and why they fit the roles and helping to keep the production schedule well as well as choosing the sound which will be used in the film. Finally, I had the roles of; screenplay and script writing in order to make actors know what they are doing and editing the film in post production in order to make sure any unwanted parts are disused.
For our narrative planning the group decided on a final idea based upon clowns (which had to be changed due to the outbreak of clown incidents from our initial idea). Due to the recent events, we decided that filming outside could cause harm to the public and maybe the actors. Therefore we decided that if we used archive footage and then added our own scene of a clown breaking into a house we would decrease the potential for danger or conflict. On the sheet we have recorded that the audtitions for actors are still ongoing and will be recorded and concluded on the blog at a later date. We have two potential candidates who will be interview and auditoned in order to see who is sufficient for the role.
Mise-en-scene:
One way in which ‘The Purge Anarchy’ uses mise-en-scene well in order to show the horror genre is through the incorporation of the newsreport on the T.V. in the cafe where the opening scene takes place. This works well in the film as it helps to establish the narrative as we are fed key information in a creative way. Without the use of the newsreport we would not know what the annual Purge actually was and when it started, therefore as an audience we wouldn’t feel scared as we would think that everything was normal.
Also the cafe helps to establish this sense of normality as it is generally a place where people gather to have a good time in America. If the opening scene was set in a warehouse surrounded by dead bodies then we would know straight away that the film would include death thus meaning that this is a good component of ‘’The Purge’ as we are left wondering what is going to happen to the innocent people. Also the cafe has an American flag out front of it and this means that we know that film is set in America and already begin to think of typical stereotypes of American people such as: them being disrespectful of authority, boastful, arrogant etc. This means that as an audience we already begin to create a sense of characteristics in our heads.
Camerawork:
A close up shot is used in the opening scene of the money in the film and Eva putting the money into her pocket. A close up shot is used to show that something has significance in a film traditionally which may mean that due to the Purge Eva will take the money and use it in order to protect herself or ‘break’ the law. This may have been done in the sequence of Todorov's theory as this is the first sign of breaking the equilibrium as Eva may steal the money which could help to symbolise her as somebody who may partake in the Purge later on in the film. This means that as an audience we are left wondering what will happen to Eva as the film progresses creating a lot of suspense amongst the viewers as we want to establish a relationship with the characters on screen.
When the camera is focusing on the T.V. screen showing the newsreport, we can see that the camera is slanted. When a camera is slanted in a horror film this usually suggests that what is on screen has significance but for not for a good reason. This links to how this is used in ‘The Purge’ as the newsreport is highlighting the main aspect of the film however, this is not good as the Purge means “a 12-hour period when any crime is allowed including murder.” which evidently isn’t something that is normal or good in reality. As an audience we react to this as we notice that the screen is tilted and start to wonder why, as we listen in then we are able to clearly notice why this has been done and begin to think of all the counter-cultural aspects of life that we would do if we were in ‘The Purge’ and become thrilled by the prospect of seeing some of this thoughts come alive on screen.
Sound:
The common theme throughout all of the micro-elements in this film is the use of the newsreport which once again links to the sound as in the film the newsreport is slightly faded and distorted in order to make us feel like we are part of the film and actually listening to the newsreport. This is an interesting technique used by Blumhouse productions as instead of making the audience become passive they are made to feel like they are included in the plot and therefore the audience become more scared as they are building a relationship with the characters as well as feeling they are part of ‘The Purge’.
The music used in background of the film also helps to build an atmospheric tone which is both full of suspense and makes the film creepy. The music which is used is very slow and dark and is used very faintly in the background. This helps to build tension as the sound is not overwhelming and can be barely be noticed but, sub consciously the music is helping to build the tension without us even knowing. The music only becomes louder and more heightened when the director wants the viewer to gather the information they are given or something majorly important is happening on screen. An example of this is when the logo for the film appears and the music becomes louder as the film logo reveals a lot about the film in a very subtle way.
Editing:
In post production the credits were added to the film in a cool and creative way. The credits are very significant in this film as they give a background of the film and help to establish what the film will be based on. Without the use of the credits the audience would be left wondering in the dark as they wouldn’t understand any of the context of the film. The credits come down in a drop box fashion which creates an effect associated with the American Government which (which is ironic as the whole film is about going against the American Government) and therefore the danger is highlighted right from the very start in a creative way.
Furthermore, the credits are over layed onto a dark blue background during post production. The connotations of dark blue are mystery and misery and therefore the audience become gloomy and scared at what may eventually appear on screen as they are just seeing a dark blue background with credits rather than laying them over any shots in the film. This works well as the opening scene of the Purge is very significant for the rest of the film and if the audience’s attention was drawn away from the film then we would not fully understand the film going forward.
Recent events involving clowns has spread from the U.S. across to the U.K. Due to recent events we have had to change our narrative which has hindered us slightly, but also helped to improve our narrative.
The clown craze has took off leading to an influx of people dressing as clowns in order to scare residents of different towns. Some people believe that the craze was influenced by the remake of the film 'It' featuring Pennywise the clown. However, the instiution responsible for the film have claimed that this was not a marketing technique and they have nothing to do with the craze.
This craze has helped our plot as we can now include real life videos of clowns scaring the public which can be used to identify the main antagonist of our story. This will also lead to more potential sales as people will come to watch the film due to the craze around clowns and the aspect of our brains that likes counter cultural experiences as we are getting a thrill out of something we know we shouldn't.
The Metropolitan police has warned U.K. residents that the amount of people dressing as clowns in order to scare the public will increase in the build up to Halloween and that the people dressing as the clowns in order to scare the public are committing an offence. Dressing as clowns and threatening the public is a criminal offence therefore in order to avoid this potential mistake the group decided that we would film in a house.
For our main brief we decided to create a mind map in order to incorporate the groups individual ideas into one group idea. Due to the recent events of clown pranks, we decided that we could use archive footage with an overlay of the news report. We decided that after the archive footage we could create a fake clip of our own of a clown breaking into a house which leads to the killing of a family.
Stuart Hall- Encoding and decoding:
Stuart Hall believes that many media texts are made and encoded with a message. The message is made by the institution based on the social, political and economical society they are made in. He believes that when the audience receives the text they decode it. The message can be decoded in 3 ways: Dominant reading- interpreted how the institution wanted.
Negotiated reading- the audience agrees with some parts of text, but disagree with other parts.
Oppositional reading- the audience don't agree with the text and find themselves in conflict with it.
Uses and gratification theory-
The theory created by Blumer and Katz that believes that the audience is active and they use the text rather than the text use the audience. The audience wants to gain a certain pleasure from the text so decide to watch it in order to fulfil this pleasure.
Some of the pleasures and gratifications can include: escapism, diversion, information, counter cultural experience and comparing.
We will use these audience theories in our film as we can encode our film with the message of the clown and why the clown is attacking these specific people. This means that the audience will have to try and discover why the clown is targeting these people whilst the film goes on thus meaning that the audience are not passive as they have to engage with the film. Also we would like people to gain a counter cultural experience from our film as they will be able to gain a thrill from seeing aspects of life such as crimes that they are not allowed to commit.
From the YouGov profiles I noticed that many of the films which were from the horror genre and had some similarities from the narrative had a mixed gender audience which meant that horror films could target both the male and female audience. Also the age group it predominantly attracted the most was the 18-25 age bracket and therefore we would need to target the older audience in our age bracket of the 15-18 year old's as this is the age group that we would attract the most from. Furthermore, the people who liked to watch the horror films were spending a lot of time online which once again means that if they liked the film they could talk about it online and then we would be creating publicity for our film. Finally, as we would be distributing our film in the cinema rather than online I researched the demographic of people who went to 'Vue' and once again found it was predominantly the 18-24 year old's who went to 'Vue' and this once again highlights that we would need to target the older side of our target audience.
For part of our research we conducted a focus group sessions which allowed us to highlight the type of film which teenagers from our demographic liked in order to incorporate these certain aspects into the film, thus engaging a varied range of people and getting a good grasp on what our target audience would like to see based on previous films.
Hush critics review- Hush became a highly acclaimed film when it distributed through the use of its anticipation and psychological fear. It highlights that gore is included in the film however, it is not relied upon in order to scare the audience. The narrative which drives the film forward is magnified as the main element for the success of the film- this leads me to believe that as a group our main focus should be upon the narrative and creating a good story which builds suspense and anticipation throughout.
Scream fans highlighted that the unique use of editing and the originality of the film was an integral proposition for the making the film such a classic horror. The film subverted from the stereotypes of typical horror which engaged the audience in the film as it wasn't something like they had ever seen before. The originality of a film is clearly a key to a successful film in the industry and therefore creating a film with an original concept would be key for our target audience.
Psycho is possibly the best horror film there has been and many fans believe this to be due to the iconic acting and the use of Hitchcock's knowledge of how and when to build suspense. The suspense used in the iconic scenes is what makes the film so memorable to many and therefore shows us that out target audience would need a film where suspense and tension is built in the correct places in order to get the best thrill and scare factor from the film.
