THE 4TH FLOOR
14.5.12
23.4.12
Evaluation
What kind of media institution might distribute our media product and why?
I think the media institution that might distribute our production would be Revolver Entertainment.
revolver group is a British multi-award-winning film distributer and producer which works internationally with different digital media companies such as Apple itunes, NetFlix, Amazon, Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation, Vudu, and etc...
Now after all the works and efforts that we have put in making our production, We need a reliable company to market and circulate our film, not only for home viewing (DVDs,Blue-rayS,..) but also in theatres. Film distributers promote the films by putting them on Tv ads, Posters, Websites, Trailers, or using any creative way to interest the target audience to pay for watching the film. And that is how how a film becomes a success. And because our film does not feature any movie star, it is important to get distributed in the best way possible.
Revolver Entertainment is one of the leading film distributers in the Uk that has released some good british horror films similar to our production, such as: The chatroom, The woman, Atrocious, Sick Nurses And The Cellar Door.
Having offices in London and Los Angles, The company provides a world wide distribution of many films every year.
We encourage this even more by having a shot of the girl getting dressed (in night vision) into her party outfit. The night vision effect and angles of the camera looking down on her emphasise that she’s a potential victim and that something’s about to happen. Voyeurism...also this night vision is meant to be from the murders point of view and we see this more when there are long distance shots of the girl smoking on the balcony. This gives more of a scenes that the girls is being stalked by someone.
She is also drinking, therefore sinning, and in most horror/slasher films the person sinning normally dies. I think this helps interest the audience. As you see her drink you want to tell her to stop (this makes you connect with the character) so she doesn’t get too drunk as she won’t be able to defend herself in a survival situation.
This is our preliminary task which includes match on action shot of a student walking into the class room, the camera follows him to his seat, 180 degree rule is being observed here, it is then followed by a shot reverse shot of two students discussion about a football
match.
I think the media institution that might distribute our production would be Revolver Entertainment.
Now after all the works and efforts that we have put in making our production, We need a reliable company to market and circulate our film, not only for home viewing (DVDs,Blue-rayS,..) but also in theatres. Film distributers promote the films by putting them on Tv ads, Posters, Websites, Trailers, or using any creative way to interest the target audience to pay for watching the film. And that is how how a film becomes a success. And because our film does not feature any movie star, it is important to get distributed in the best way possible.
Revolver Entertainment is one of the leading film distributers in the Uk that has released some good british horror films similar to our production, such as: The chatroom, The woman, Atrocious, Sick Nurses And The Cellar Door.
Having offices in London and Los Angles, The company provides a world wide distribution of many films every year.
Who was our target audience and how and why did we attract them?
Our target audience was the usual demographic you would expect from the slasher sub-genre. The main target group were middle-working class, white males aged between 16-24.
They are for the most part, students either in college or university, or they are at least seeking some form of education from an institution. Basically the typical American 'college aged' person.
They are the type of people that generally enjoy having fun in their youth because "you can only live once" and go around partying or throwing parties, disobeying their elders and behaving promiscuously. This is because most horrors appeal to this demographic in general, but our production should appeal even more to this demographic seeing as one of the characters in our opening sequence gets killed at a party.
The plot largely involves 2 female characters setting up a party in the early evening which again follows the conventions our target audience would expect from a horror film. And because the character that gets killed off is an attractive female, this would satisfy the predominantly male audience who prefer watching females for obvious reasons! And because the female characters are young teens this brings about their vulnerability because society deems young people and the female gender as weak and submissive.
Our opening sequence didn’t even show a glimpse of who or what the killer was, (which is typical of the slasher sub-genre) it only showed the stalker sequences, i.e. the point of view, over the shoulder and long shots all from the killers perspective. I would say this is sticking to the convention of keeping the killers identity a secret for as long as possible.
Also one massive convention our opening stuck to was having the promiscious, practical joke pulling character getting killed off. In nearly every slasher film, the character that does this normally ends up suffering a disatorous fate. In the intercom system she pretended to be a killer in a mask scaring the main character half to death! Needless to say she was killed soon after.
They are for the most part, students either in college or university, or they are at least seeking some form of education from an institution. Basically the typical American 'college aged' person.
They are the type of people that generally enjoy having fun in their youth because "you can only live once" and go around partying or throwing parties, disobeying their elders and behaving promiscuously. This is because most horrors appeal to this demographic in general, but our production should appeal even more to this demographic seeing as one of the characters in our opening sequence gets killed at a party.
The plot largely involves 2 female characters setting up a party in the early evening which again follows the conventions our target audience would expect from a horror film. And because the character that gets killed off is an attractive female, this would satisfy the predominantly male audience who prefer watching females for obvious reasons! And because the female characters are young teens this brings about their vulnerability because society deems young people and the female gender as weak and submissive.
Our opening sequence didn’t even show a glimpse of who or what the killer was, (which is typical of the slasher sub-genre) it only showed the stalker sequences, i.e. the point of view, over the shoulder and long shots all from the killers perspective. I would say this is sticking to the convention of keeping the killers identity a secret for as long as possible.
Also one massive convention our opening stuck to was having the promiscious, practical joke pulling character getting killed off. In nearly every slasher film, the character that does this normally ends up suffering a disatorous fate. In the intercom system she pretended to be a killer in a mask scaring the main character half to death! Needless to say she was killed soon after.
In what way does our product use, challenge or develop forms and conventions?
In our horror opening we use and challenge the forms and conventions of typical horror openings in a number of different ways. We have a conventional victim being a young, white, vulnerable girl. This is a very common victim archetype in many horror and slasher films (Scream
happen to her: ‘She’s a weak girl she can’t defend herself!’
In our opening scene we have a main character who you assume is going to be the victim, getting ready for a Halloween party and getting restless waiting for her roommate to arrive. Her anxiousness puts the audience on edge as well as her being alone, another classic horror convention.
Editing effects, camera movement and the song Tainted Love by Marilyn Manson all emphasise her intoxication via conventional cinema methods.
The way we have challenged the forms of a normal horror film is the fact that she is not the victim - it is her best friend who gets killed in the lift. We only see her via a screen saver on the laptop. This is quite rare for a horror film, and we have created suspense for the audience yet surprise as they are misled as to who the victim is going to be.
The kill in this horror however is quiet conventional as we use a knife
Since we started our AS Media coursework we have done a lot of work with the camera and practiced an awful lot with how we were going to film our opening sequence. Infact we actually shot an entire practice run of our opening sequence and looked it over to see what shots looked good and what ones didn't. Admittidely it took a lot of time to find the correct shot angles, distance and movement. But in the end it seems to have paid off as our final production has a wide variety of shot types and quite clean movement. For example theres a range of shots such as establishing shots, long shots, low angle, high angle, worms eye, point of view, over the shoulder etc. All of which we've learnt since the preliminary task and aimed to perfect to provide a clear understanding of the characters position within the opening sequence. For instance the vulnerable characters were both mainly filmed from a high angle connoting that they are being looked down upon, made smaller and overall make them seem helpless and alone. Using the techniques we've picked up and learnt we've been able to create an effective opening sequence that fits the
Red herrings are also used for example when the buzzer goes off, she looks in the intercom and sees a scary face, however it is only a mask being worn by her friend.
The way we have challenged the forms of a normal horror film is the fact that she is not the victim - it is her best friend who gets killed in the lift. We only see her via a screen saver on the laptop. This is quite rare for a horror film, and we have created suspense for the audience yet surprise as they are misled as to who the victim is going to be.
How Have We Progressed Since The Preliminary Task?
specified genre.
match.
12.2.12
"The Woman In Black" Psychological Horror Film
Friday 10th of February 2012 was the UK's opening day of the movie "The Woman In Black" and we made our trip from college to Covent Garden Odeon Cinema to join the other students and viewers and watch the film.
The movie is based on a 1983 horror fiction novel written by Susan Hill. However the british directer James Watkins has changed some of the novel in his second place box office movie The Woman in Black.
The Woman in Black is a Psychological horror movie staring Daniel Radcliffe as it's lead actor and was screened in US and Canada one week earlier than it's home country UK, with a successful earning of $20 on it's first opening weekend.
The movie is about a young lawyer Kipps, who leaves his four-years old son behind with his nanny in London, traveling to a haunted village in north east where he investigates the case of Alice who has lost her sister and son.
Kipps meets Alice's husband Sam, and they go to Eel Marsh house, an spooky desolated mansion, distant from main village which is connected to main road by a fretted marshy passage. While staying at Marsh house overnight, Kipps is sorting through some letters of the two sisters and learns about Nathaniel being Jennet's real son. Kipps sees ghosts of children screaming with the woman in black watching them in fogs. Once he sees her coming out of the swamp in the front of the Eel Marsh house with a cross on top, this is the place where Nathaniel is drowned and buried.Sam tells Kipps of the suicides in village and on their way back to town, they come across a burning house. Kipps goes inside as he tries to rescue the girl trapped in basement, and he sees the woman in black persuading the girl to set herself on fire.
Alice has left Eel marsh with her husband to another house in town but she still communicates with her sister's ghost when abruptly draws images of a woman hanging her self or Kipps child Joseph. Kipps realised about his son being in danger, and asks Sam to help him with excavation of Nathaniel body from the swamp. Then they lay the child's body in Jennet's grave to rest in peace with his mother. Kipps then rushes back to train station to Joseph and his nanny who have come there to accompany Kipps back to London. 
Film review with the directer James Watkins
We got the chance to sit with James Watkins at the end of the show and ask him our questions about the movie. He was friendly and warm and answered all our questions.
Analysis of the movie
The Woman in Black and element of horror:
The film is a psychological horror and has used ghost and children as its most frightening tool.
scary dolls playing instruments
Children in horror films
Ghosts
Startling shots and sudden shocking sounds
isolated haunted house, creepy children
The movie is more imagery rather that dialogued, like old-school style gothic horror movies
boggy marshes
scared town people
revenge taking
interesting protagonist
dark house with contrasting lights
twist ending
story of 100 to 150 years ago, back in time with no electricity, using telegraph as the way of communication, which makes it more scary and difficult to get in touch, therefore harder to seek rescue.
9.1.12
Mise en scene
On this course we are doing an opening sequence to horror movie in a group of 4, we have split up the tasks so that each of us doing different jobs. My job is to do the mise en scene which is choosing the characters and setting up the scene and directing.
The opening sequence is a 2 to3 minutes extract of the actual horror movie, it has to have the codes and conventions of horror movie as well as titles suitably done and we get marked according to variety of shot usage and choosing right props and location.
Settings, Give us informations about the time and place in which the story is taking place.
Our sequence is going to be shot on location, at night time. The location is in the fourth floor flat in a six story apartment. The narrative is taking place inside the flat, and the lift in the same building.
It is going to be shot at night time to makes the sequence sinister and more scary, and also harder to seek help and easier for the killer to hide himself and trap the victims.
Decor of the space in which the actors and props are put together to create the scene where the story is happening. Decors informs the viewers of the characters' personalities and lifestyle.
The picture of Vida and Ella in desktop picture of the laptop, shows the relationship between the characters and their role in the film.
The living room table is decorated with some bottles of alcoholic drinks and LED lights as well as the characters picture in the desktop display of the laptop, which can be seen throughout the opening. The picture suggests the characters' relations and connections to each other. Two young female friends, organising a house party on a halloween night.
The extract features an stereotypical representation of young females being weak, vulnerable and also sexualised to attract the aimed male audience.
Props are the objects used in films, that defines the genre or the historical period. One of the ways in which to tell the genre of the films such as "The scream" is by seeing the Ghost-face using knife for killing his victims, which defines the sub genre as being slasher.
In our slasher opening, the props we will be using is a knife, which replaces the girl's brush in one quick shot. Shows the films is of a slasher sub-genre.
A cigarette and the lighter, connotes danger. Similar to the opening sequence to "The Dark" in which the main female character Adele lights a cigarette that connotes her being anxious and in danger.
Red lipstick, that our first character puts on, connotes blood, danger and sexuality.
Halloween mask:
We have used this scary Halloween mask as a red herrings which might suggest the upcoming murder.
That is what mostly used by directors in horror films: first Vida is trying to make a joke to scare Ella of a previous stalker by appearing in front of the video entry with the mask on, but in fact she is the first victim!? What normally happens in slasher films.
We also used fake gel blood in the scene where Vida is stabbed in the lift. To do this effect, we first had to put a thick layer of foundation cream over her chin and her neck, and then make a cut-shape scratch through the cream using a dull knife, We then dropped the blood gel slowly onto the scratch.
Colour, Colour adds meaning and creates the atmosphere in the shot. For instance we have used red which connotes blood and danger.
For the lift shots I have changed the colour to dark brown-red.
There are two main colours and lighting effects used in the sequence, one is the natural and normal colour which might have been changed for some special connotations, and the other colour is what the night shot mode has created, which is THE KILLER'S POINT OF VIEW.
Like in the below still of the girl getting changed in her room, we first see her from back in normal colour and lighting but then the camera moves to the front to show the location and view of the killer.
However this does not mean that the killer is present in the room watching her, but it implies her being watched by someone who is imagining her change her clothes as she gets home!
Sound, suspense and anxious music that creates distress and tension, I have used two different sound tracks in the sequence, one from Wes Craven The Scream movie and the other from Sound beats youtube channel.
The buzzer sound which has been deliberately volumed up to make the viewer startle and create an expectation of a disaster, is another sound bridge in the opening.
Lighting is important and carries out the message of the mood and atmosphere of the scene. Semi dark lift, which shadows of dark red which leads into the dark corridor
The flat is more bright with fewer red colors above lighting.
The balcony is quite dark to show the time and the setting and also to imply danger and fear of darkness. It also suggests something evil is about to happen and it comes from outside the apartment, followed by an establishing shot of the apartment from the street.
Characters
There are only two female characters in the opening:
Ella, is the central character, and
Vida, is the first victim who gets killed in the lift.
Costumes
The Halloween witch's costume is what Ella is wearing while getting ready for the party and waiting the guests to come.
A black big witchy hat with a short black dress as you can see in the pictures.
Vida is wearing red trousers connotes her murder with a black top.
We also used a Halloween mask appearing in the video entry phone as Vida is trying to scare her friend when she is back from shopping, this is rehearing.
Here we see the character's picture together as the background of the laptop, which shows their relationship together and their involvement in the narrative.
The count down of the lift keys in between street shots of the tall buildings in Canary Wharf is to show the connection between inside and outside of the buildings. It Creates tension and represents unsafe residential apartments.
'Zoom' effect for the film title:
And 'Soft Edge' for the Director's name:
The opening sequence is a 2 to3 minutes extract of the actual horror movie, it has to have the codes and conventions of horror movie as well as titles suitably done and we get marked according to variety of shot usage and choosing right props and location.
MISE-EN-SCENE
Mise-en-scene is a french word for "putting into the scene", which is used by the filmmaker to give the audience facts about the characters, the genre of the film, the location and the time.
Mise-en-scene includes the following terms:
Mise-en-scene includes the following terms:
Settings, Give us informations about the time and place in which the story is taking place.
Our sequence is going to be shot on location, at night time. The location is in the fourth floor flat in a six story apartment. The narrative is taking place inside the flat, and the lift in the same building.
It is going to be shot at night time to makes the sequence sinister and more scary, and also harder to seek help and easier for the killer to hide himself and trap the victims.
Canary Wharf, London
The house we used in our opening
The corridors to the lift
Decor of the space in which the actors and props are put together to create the scene where the story is happening. Decors informs the viewers of the characters' personalities and lifestyle.
The picture of Vida and Ella in desktop picture of the laptop, shows the relationship between the characters and their role in the film.
The living room table is decorated with some bottles of alcoholic drinks and LED lights as well as the characters picture in the desktop display of the laptop, which can be seen throughout the opening. The picture suggests the characters' relations and connections to each other. Two young female friends, organising a house party on a halloween night. 
Props are the objects used in films, that defines the genre or the historical period. One of the ways in which to tell the genre of the films such as "The scream" is by seeing the Ghost-face using knife for killing his victims, which defines the sub genre as being slasher.
In our slasher opening, the props we will be using is a knife, which replaces the girl's brush in one quick shot. Shows the films is of a slasher sub-genre.
A cigarette and the lighter, connotes danger. Similar to the opening sequence to "The Dark" in which the main female character Adele lights a cigarette that connotes her being anxious and in danger. 
Red lipstick, that our first character puts on, connotes blood, danger and sexuality.
Halloween mask:
We have used this scary Halloween mask as a red herrings which might suggest the upcoming murder.
That is what mostly used by directors in horror films: first Vida is trying to make a joke to scare Ella of a previous stalker by appearing in front of the video entry with the mask on, but in fact she is the first victim!? What normally happens in slasher films.
We also used fake gel blood in the scene where Vida is stabbed in the lift. To do this effect, we first had to put a thick layer of foundation cream over her chin and her neck, and then make a cut-shape scratch through the cream using a dull knife, We then dropped the blood gel slowly onto the scratch.
Colour, Colour adds meaning and creates the atmosphere in the shot. For instance we have used red which connotes blood and danger. For the lift shots I have changed the colour to dark brown-red.
There are two main colours and lighting effects used in the sequence, one is the natural and normal colour which might have been changed for some special connotations, and the other colour is what the night shot mode has created, which is THE KILLER'S POINT OF VIEW.
when ever there is a night shot in the film, that is the killer's point of view.
Sound, suspense and anxious music that creates distress and tension, I have used two different sound tracks in the sequence, one from Wes Craven The Scream movie and the other from Sound beats youtube channel.
The buzzer sound which has been deliberately volumed up to make the viewer startle and create an expectation of a disaster, is another sound bridge in the opening.
Lighting is important and carries out the message of the mood and atmosphere of the scene. Semi dark lift, which shadows of dark red which leads into the dark corridorThe flat is more bright with fewer red colors above lighting.
The balcony is quite dark to show the time and the setting and also to imply danger and fear of darkness. It also suggests something evil is about to happen and it comes from outside the apartment, followed by an establishing shot of the apartment from the street.
Characters
There are only two female characters in the opening:
Ella, is the central character, and
Vida, is the first victim who gets killed in the lift.
Costumes
The Halloween witch's costume is what Ella is wearing while getting ready for the party and waiting the guests to come.
A black big witchy hat with a short black dress as you can see in the pictures.
Vida is wearing red trousers connotes her murder with a black top.
We also used a Halloween mask appearing in the video entry phone as Vida is trying to scare her friend when she is back from shopping, this is rehearing.
Special FX
includes:
Blood script of 'Happy Halloween' on the lift's mirror
Film scratch effect for the knife on hair shot and the Halloween script at the end of the film
For this shots I used Cutaway Fade editing tool in imovie, with Manual setting of 2:00 and 51% Opacity.
Title Works
Titles and credits come at the beginning of the film and give informations about the characters, production company, Director and other film crews.
I used 'Full Focus' Titles on imovie for the character's name and production's company at the start of the opening sequence.
The count down of the lift keys in between street shots of the tall buildings in Canary Wharf is to show the connection between inside and outside of the buildings. It Creates tension and represents unsafe residential apartments.
'Zoom' effect for the film title:
And 'Soft Edge' for the Director's name:
Our distribution company is the 'Revolver Entertainment'. Their logo comes at the beginning of the film, I slightly changed the colour effect of the logo to suit out Horror opening credits.
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