Horror Film and its History.
Horror is an ancient art form.People have tried to terrify each other with tales which trigger the less logical parts of our imaginations for as long as wev told stories.From the earliest of times people have enjoyed the thrill and edrelinin of frightening stories.There are theories about why this is so:do we derive basic thrills from triggering the rush of edrenillian which fear brings,or do horror films serve a moral purpose,reinforcing the rules and taboos of our society or is it that man is scared of nature and scared of the unknown and death.
Horror films can be used as metaphors.They reveal the anxieties of its time For example "Nosferatou"is not simply a tale of vamperisim but echoes the great war and great flu epidemic,the randomn deaths of the flu and war are the randomn daeths of the vampires.In the early 1940s,a world living under the influence of Hitler
Before i study certain horror films i have to look into the history of horror movies themselves.
The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several silent shorts created by film pioneers such as Georges Melies in the late 1890s,the most notable being his 1896"the house of the devil" which is sometimes credited as being the first horror film.The classic horror films are those such as "The exorcist","the chainsawmassacre","Draculas"
Monday, 8 December 2008
horror movies
We filmed our film in Harpenden just outside London in the countryside.We shot it right next to a field on a an empty road,we waited till it was dark as we thought it would add effect to the making.Our story line consisted of a girl lost in an isolated place running from something,she trys to make a phonecall but the line cuts out isolating her even more.
We focused on these things within the filming:
The camera angle:
We positioned the camera looking down on Emma(the only character)as it would make her look small and vulnerable.One shot was taken of Emma on the phone crouched down by a hedge,because of the camera being positioned so high up there was real emphasis on her insignificance.It worked very well
The camera shots:
In a few shots we shot emma with the almost dark landscape behind her showing emphasis on the location.We had shots of Emma walking down the road into the darknessshots of Emma walking fast and looking back,and one of Emma running.
Props:
As it was dark and there were no street lights we choose to use a torch,it worked well the torch shining on Emma added a gloomy effect.
This film i thought was a success unfortunately the camera was on lock so we ended up filming nothing this was annoying as we liked our film very much.Although it seemed annoying at the time it has allowed us to experiment more in the film to come.
We based our ideas on a selection of films.
BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
In the october of 1994,three student filmakers dissapeared in the woods near Butteksville,Maryland while shooting a documentry.A year later there footage was found.
The Blair witch project is effective as it is said to be a "true story".The film is filmed as a real documentary,the camera is held in the students hands meaning that the shot is not allways clear.This adds effect as it becomes more believable.The camera can only see in some parts for instance in the dark,one figure,this is also effective as everything else is in total darkness but the light of the torch and camera is focused on one figure.
Its location in the woods is perfect as it is isolated from anywhere else,this makes the characters feel moree vulnerable.When on film we not only see the actors but the woodland behind this reminds us of their location which is liturally in the middle of nowhere.We see the film through the eyes of the students,this is because of the hand held cam throughout the film.The students choose to travel the woods at the time of halloween,as one character of the film says"The woods around hallowen time are a creepy enough phenomenem".The directors tried to make this film as real as possible, when trying to get a scared act from the actors,the directors would actually scare them and tape the result.
The small details were put in just to help it seem more realistic.For example there are shots of the ground which is when the camera has not been turned off and is held in one of the characters hands,their are shots of heather(one of the filmakers) putting on her make up,this is not necessary and does not help make it more scary it makesit morte realistic.The blurry close up shots also show how it has not been edited in any way,making it seem like an actual documentry.
It is based on a myth some people say its true some say its not,the whole "Blair Witch" is based on stories.We can tell this from the interviews with the local people at the beggining of the film.Its a low budjet film and costs 22000 dollars this is noticable in the film.The "blair witch project"is i found very scary and succesfull as there was no mise en scene used and no music to help create suspense or earyness.
Here are some images from the film of examples of how the film manages to be so realistic.
I choose this as one of our films to base our idea on as we liked the hand held camera,I thought it was effective and realistic.We used the hand held camera in our film.We also used the idea of the unknown,the fact that we never see the Blair witch we want to take this idea into our film.The aloneness and emptiness of the location we liked as we thought that would be most terrifying.
This film has mant genres:
For example:
HORROR FILM:Horror movies are movies that strive to elect fear,horror and terror responses from the viewer.In the plots of such films,themes of a supernatural coiling with our world are common,which is found in "Blair witch".
INDIE GENRE:An independant film, is a film that is preduced outside of the hollywood studio system.
SUPERNATURAL:A film that includes events or powers regarded as beyond nature,in thta they lack a clear scientific explination.
We focused on these things within the filming:
The camera angle:
We positioned the camera looking down on Emma(the only character)as it would make her look small and vulnerable.One shot was taken of Emma on the phone crouched down by a hedge,because of the camera being positioned so high up there was real emphasis on her insignificance.It worked very well
The camera shots:
In a few shots we shot emma with the almost dark landscape behind her showing emphasis on the location.We had shots of Emma walking down the road into the darknessshots of Emma walking fast and looking back,and one of Emma running.
Props:
As it was dark and there were no street lights we choose to use a torch,it worked well the torch shining on Emma added a gloomy effect.
This film i thought was a success unfortunately the camera was on lock so we ended up filming nothing this was annoying as we liked our film very much.Although it seemed annoying at the time it has allowed us to experiment more in the film to come.
We based our ideas on a selection of films.
BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
In the october of 1994,three student filmakers dissapeared in the woods near Butteksville,Maryland while shooting a documentry.A year later there footage was found.
The Blair witch project is effective as it is said to be a "true story".The film is filmed as a real documentary,the camera is held in the students hands meaning that the shot is not allways clear.This adds effect as it becomes more believable.The camera can only see in some parts for instance in the dark,one figure,this is also effective as everything else is in total darkness but the light of the torch and camera is focused on one figure.
Its location in the woods is perfect as it is isolated from anywhere else,this makes the characters feel moree vulnerable.When on film we not only see the actors but the woodland behind this reminds us of their location which is liturally in the middle of nowhere.We see the film through the eyes of the students,this is because of the hand held cam throughout the film.The students choose to travel the woods at the time of halloween,as one character of the film says"The woods around hallowen time are a creepy enough phenomenem".The directors tried to make this film as real as possible, when trying to get a scared act from the actors,the directors would actually scare them and tape the result.
The small details were put in just to help it seem more realistic.For example there are shots of the ground which is when the camera has not been turned off and is held in one of the characters hands,their are shots of heather(one of the filmakers) putting on her make up,this is not necessary and does not help make it more scary it makesit morte realistic.The blurry close up shots also show how it has not been edited in any way,making it seem like an actual documentry.
It is based on a myth some people say its true some say its not,the whole "Blair Witch" is based on stories.We can tell this from the interviews with the local people at the beggining of the film.Its a low budjet film and costs 22000 dollars this is noticable in the film.The "blair witch project"is i found very scary and succesfull as there was no mise en scene used and no music to help create suspense or earyness.
Here are some images from the film of examples of how the film manages to be so realistic.
I choose this as one of our films to base our idea on as we liked the hand held camera,I thought it was effective and realistic.We used the hand held camera in our film.We also used the idea of the unknown,the fact that we never see the Blair witch we want to take this idea into our film.The aloneness and emptiness of the location we liked as we thought that would be most terrifying.
This film has mant genres:
For example:
HORROR FILM:Horror movies are movies that strive to elect fear,horror and terror responses from the viewer.In the plots of such films,themes of a supernatural coiling with our world are common,which is found in "Blair witch".
INDIE GENRE:An independant film, is a film that is preduced outside of the hollywood studio system.
SUPERNATURAL:A film that includes events or powers regarded as beyond nature,in thta they lack a clear scientific explination.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Genre
Genres
For my coursework I have chosen to work on a horror film. Before I work on my film I will look into different types of genre.
Different types of Genre:
Comedy
Romance
Horror
Thriller
Drama
Sci-fi
Western
Gangster
Crime
Here are some examples of films that have these genres. For example: Comedy can be seen in “Meet the Fockers”, Romance in “Sixteen Candles”, horror in the “Saw” series, Thriller in “Gossip”, Drama in “The Breakfast Club”, Sci-fi in the “Star Wars” series, Western in “”, Gangster in “” and Crime in “thirteen”.
Sub Genres
Sub Genres are the different types of Genres within Genres. Examples of Sub Genre include:
Slasher-Horror
Psychological-Thriller
Black-comedy
Hybrid Genre
There are also hybrid-genres. These are when two or more genres are put together to make a new genre.
These include:
Romantic-comedy – “Along Came Polly”
Drama-comedy – “Empire Records”
Romantic-drama – “St Elmo’s Fire”
Horror-comedy – “Scary Movie”
Romantic-comedy-drama – “Pretty in Pink”
For my coursework I have chosen to work on a horror film. Before I work on my film I will look into different types of genre.
Different types of Genre:
Comedy
Romance
Horror
Thriller
Drama
Sci-fi
Western
Gangster
Crime
Here are some examples of films that have these genres. For example: Comedy can be seen in “Meet the Fockers”, Romance in “Sixteen Candles”, horror in the “Saw” series, Thriller in “Gossip”, Drama in “The Breakfast Club”, Sci-fi in the “Star Wars” series, Western in “”, Gangster in “” and Crime in “thirteen”.
Sub Genres
Sub Genres are the different types of Genres within Genres. Examples of Sub Genre include:
Slasher-Horror
Psychological-Thriller
Black-comedy
Hybrid Genre
There are also hybrid-genres. These are when two or more genres are put together to make a new genre.
These include:
Romantic-comedy – “Along Came Polly”
Drama-comedy – “Empire Records”
Romantic-drama – “St Elmo’s Fire”
Horror-comedy – “Scary Movie”
Romantic-comedy-drama – “Pretty in Pink”
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Horror movie.
I focused on the first two minutes of a horrror movie and looked at these things.
Camera angle
Editing
Mise en scene
Effects
Sound
I choose "Jeepers creepers".
CAMERA ANGLE.
.The camera was on low angle from a field.A close up landscape shot,The camersa was positioned on a low angle shot so we were able to see both the character,the scarecrow and the landscape.The low angle shot makes the scarecrow seem big promoting its power.There are also eye level shots of the character found in the first 30 seconds of the film.
EDITING.
The editing is classic.,the colours are not realistic.we can tell this is an american production from the colour.There is no experimentation in the first two minutes.The landscape is golden which is unnatural.The boy is situated in a field which suggests him being isolated.
MISE EN SCENE.
The scarecrow is in black promoting death and evil.The dog barking enterpretes alertness and uncertainty.The boy is wearing casual clothing,a chequerd shirt and baggy dirty jeans looks farm like.
EFFECTS.
The landscape is empty with no people which creates the unknown.
SOUND.
The sound is silent apart from the birds squauking this increases intensity.The dog barking isa sound ,this means the dog senses danger.As the camers zooms on the scarecrow,the music gets louder and becomes more intense.It changes from silence to loud.The music at the beginning is eary and creepy creating an atmostphere which helps the viewer undeerstand the film.The music is very important and can change evrything.
I focused on the first two minutes of a horrror movie and looked at these things.
Camera angle
Editing
Mise en scene
Effects
Sound
I choose "Jeepers creepers".
CAMERA ANGLE.
.The camera was on low angle from a field.A close up landscape shot,The camersa was positioned on a low angle shot so we were able to see both the character,the scarecrow and the landscape.The low angle shot makes the scarecrow seem big promoting its power.There are also eye level shots of the character found in the first 30 seconds of the film.
EDITING.
The editing is classic.,the colours are not realistic.we can tell this is an american production from the colour.There is no experimentation in the first two minutes.The landscape is golden which is unnatural.The boy is situated in a field which suggests him being isolated.
MISE EN SCENE.
The scarecrow is in black promoting death and evil.The dog barking enterpretes alertness and uncertainty.The boy is wearing casual clothing,a chequerd shirt and baggy dirty jeans looks farm like.
EFFECTS.
The landscape is empty with no people which creates the unknown.
SOUND.
The sound is silent apart from the birds squauking this increases intensity.The dog barking isa sound ,this means the dog senses danger.As the camers zooms on the scarecrow,the music gets louder and becomes more intense.It changes from silence to loud.The music at the beginning is eary and creepy creating an atmostphere which helps the viewer undeerstand the film.The music is very important and can change evrything.
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