Filming our horror trailer overall has been fun and exciting experience, both filming and starring in other trailers. I thought that filming could be done in one day but it actually takes a very long time and its hard work. Luckily sophie owns a high tech camera so we did not face the struggles of having to rent out cameras. Our horror trailer is set in a school which was once a mental asylum so we decided to film around acland burghley school, we thought this was the best thing to do. There are a number of difficulties one can face when filming, out of focus camera, lighting problems ECT.
Some of our scenes were filmed in the void, this was difficult, reason being that we have got to go down there with a teacher; without supervision is forbidden.
Filming is over now but it was very exciting and we are starting to edit.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Film Poster

This the offical 'The Asylum' film poster, it has all the attributes a film poster should have; the name which is writing in a horror font which was found on dafont.dom . It has the actors which are starring in the movie, the tagline (how far would you go to find out the truth). You would find this poster in magazines, shop windows, bus adverts and many other places.
Filming Day 2
Now we have found our inspector Sager who will be played by Tom Heinz we can commence Day 2 of filming. Our main location is in 'Brook House School Asylum' we decided to film inside Acland Burghley School. We used a high quality camera which had a microphone attached to the camera which made it very easy to get the sound when filming. Even though we only filmed 4 scenes we filmed from 12pm to 6pm. We filmed throughout the school, the corridors, the classrooms and the common room. The lighting throughout the building changed which was very creative with a piece of film, however we might need to use some editing techniques to make the lighting even better. Our friends Kally, Kirby and Laressa also helped us by playing the mental patients in our trailer, there acting was good and will be effective in our trailer.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
After effects - 'Coming soon'
In today's lesson we used a programme called 'After effect' this programme helped us to experiment text animation. You see the 'coming soon' sign in every horror trailer, and using this helped us learn how to do it for when we put it in our real horror trailer. We experimented with different colours and animations, we made it fade in, we changed the colour and many other things. The programme gave us a range of different animations that we can choose from. Similar to photoshop it had layers, I used 4 layers but cropped it to make sure that they did not over lap.


Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Risk Assessment
When filming there are many things that can happen. We take a risk assessment to make sure that nothing bad or dangerous happens and if something bad or dangerous does happen we know to make the situation better. We are filming is places such as the void, where something dangerous could happen.
RISK = PROBABILITY x CONSEQUENCE
The probability that something will happen is multiplied by the consquences of the event.
When filming if is vital that you take a risk assessment and many companies do, such as the BBC and other film production companies.
RISK = PROBABILITY x CONSEQUENCE
The probability that something will happen is multiplied by the consquences of the event.
When filming if is vital that you take a risk assessment and many companies do, such as the BBC and other film production companies.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Ideas for Digital Strategy
We had the opportunity to talk to industry professional and they gave us excellent ideas on how to promote out movies in various different ways. This is called Digital Strategy
In our horror movie a murder has been taken place, they gave us the idea to think of a background story on 'Harriet'. Why was she killed?, what did she like, what were her interests.
We came up the idea that we could create a real newspaper article about her murder as you would see in your everyday newspaper.
Brook House Asylum is school for mentally ill children, meaning that they will all have a Facebook or a twitter. By make a Facebook or twitter it will give the effect that they are normal teenagers. All of these things will show the background of the people in the school.
Inspector Sager could also have twitter account or a Facebook, which many middle aged men would have. Social networking plays a major part of advertising.
When making a movie or a horror trailer there are many different ways to distribute and promote it.
We came up with the idea of making a website for 'The Asylum' where people can go on to it, look at the cast and who is playing who, look at the character profiles. They can find out about the background behind Brook House. Find out about Grace's past. Find out about Harriet's murder and the evidence they have. 'Murder' posters on busses and phone boxes 'murderer not found'
For people who are die hard fans we can set up an account on the website http://www.peteranswers.com which will allow the fans to connect with Grace and ask her questions. We can also allow them to follow the investigations.
Speaking to the professionals allowed us to create many idea, We will be making the official twitter and Facebook page for The Asylum and the twitters for Inspector Sager and Harriett.
In our horror movie a murder has been taken place, they gave us the idea to think of a background story on 'Harriet'. Why was she killed?, what did she like, what were her interests.
We came up the idea that we could create a real newspaper article about her murder as you would see in your everyday newspaper.
Brook House Asylum is school for mentally ill children, meaning that they will all have a Facebook or a twitter. By make a Facebook or twitter it will give the effect that they are normal teenagers. All of these things will show the background of the people in the school.
Inspector Sager could also have twitter account or a Facebook, which many middle aged men would have. Social networking plays a major part of advertising.
When making a movie or a horror trailer there are many different ways to distribute and promote it.
We came up with the idea of making a website for 'The Asylum' where people can go on to it, look at the cast and who is playing who, look at the character profiles. They can find out about the background behind Brook House. Find out about Grace's past. Find out about Harriet's murder and the evidence they have. 'Murder' posters on busses and phone boxes 'murderer not found'
For people who are die hard fans we can set up an account on the website http://www.peteranswers.com which will allow the fans to connect with Grace and ask her questions. We can also allow them to follow the investigations.
Speaking to the professionals allowed us to create many idea, We will be making the official twitter and Facebook page for The Asylum and the twitters for Inspector Sager and Harriett.
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Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Filming Day 1 - Grace
Today in the void we filmed many scenes with Grace. We dressed us Hayley to play Grace, we back combed her hair to make it look big and bushy because if it look like long and greasy it would look unrealistic. We put red lipstick on her the smudged it, we also put her in a white ripped up top, on this top was dirt. This created the effect that the top was old and it matched the surroundings in the void. We also made her face extremely pale using white make up powder, this adheres to the idea of her being a mental patient. In the void we filmed Hayley also know as Grace running towards the camera for the very last scene, we filmed her calling out ' Inspector Sager' which creates the tension and a sense of irritation. The filming in the void was very successful today as we achieved a lot of scenes.
Adorno's theory - High art vs Low art
According to Adorno there is a difference between high art and low art. Examples of high art is: Shakespeare, Novels, Plays, Opera, Classical Music). High art is for the upper class and wealthy people, for people who are more intellectual, Low art or culture is also called Popular culture. Examples of Low art is: Cartoons, Reality and tv soaps such as Eastenders. Differently, low art is for people who are more simple and it is less challenging. Every form of low art is the same.
People think that the things being advertised are a must have and that they need it. False needs are created. From this Commodity fetishism is created. What is meant by this is that people become obsessed with these objects and think that they need to buy things advertised. Adorno says that every film is the same, this is a form of low art. He also says that popular media is bad for us!

People think that the things being advertised are a must have and that they need it. False needs are created. From this Commodity fetishism is created. What is meant by this is that people become obsessed with these objects and think that they need to buy things advertised. Adorno says that every film is the same, this is a form of low art. He also says that popular media is bad for us!
I disagree with Adorno's theory of false needs and commodity fetishism, when I see something on tv i do not instantly want to get up and buy it. However I do agree with him when he states that every film is the same. Nowadays films of all genre's have become more predictable, we know what is going to happen.
My horror trailer is adheres to Adorno's theory, our horror trailer is very predictable . It is simple, someone is murdered someone is getting haunted by a ghost. We can predict what is going to happen in the movie from the trailer meaning that every film is the same.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Experimenting with fake blood
In a lot of our horror trailers blood is being used, so in our lesson we decided to experiment using fake blood tear drops. The following video shows us how easy it is to make it look like someone is crying tears.
This is the outcome and what it looks like, from the picture it looks very realistic and believable...
This is the outcome and what it looks like, from the picture it looks very realistic and believable...
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Filming Excerise take 2
In today's lesson, we had another filming exercise, however this time we had different groups and different equipment such as a microphone and a sound beem. This time we had sound equipment. Unlike filming me approaching a door we had the chance to film anything we want and then edit it with the sound also. However we ran into some problems with the sound equipment and it did not record so we could not edit it as good as we could have because we did not have the correct sound. From this I learnt that we should always check whether the microphone and the equipment is on. This mishap has helped because when we go onto filming our real trailers we know how to avoid this from happening again.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Production Logo's
The Production company is very important when it comes to distributing our film. We came up with the name 'Nightmare Productions' because we think that it went well with our film and the genre. The logo will appear at the beginning of the trailer and this is what people will see first, when they see it again they will associate 'Nightmare Productions' with the horror genre rather than a rom-com film. Here are some idea we had for the logo.


Tuesday, 8 November 2011
The Asylum - Title options
When we start creating our film posters and start advertising, the font is very important. What it looks like is very important, it must go with our genre of film and also the plot. By using http://www.dafont.com we found many different types of fonts that could potentially be our font.


These fonts are from dafont.com, however using photoshop we were able to play around with different colours and techniques. We can change the texture of the font, we can put a background behind to make a shadow effect. By using photoshop and dafont.com we can create a very good title for our film.
Screen play
By using a programme called 'celtix' on Mac to help us but our script on to the computer. Using celtix helped us to develop our script and make important changes. Using this programme we were able to write down the dialouge and all the actions, when someone leaves the room for example. By writing our script and screen play helped us create our production schedule and when and which order we will be filming.
Dialect is a huge part in a film trailer, you don't want to have to much speech that it gives away the film but you want just enough so keep your target audience engaged. This is exactly what we have done. Now that we have finished out story boarding and planning it was time for us to write a script, in our trailer we have a little bit of dialect; reason being is that our trailer is filled but fast shots in pace and tempo meaning that we do not have much speech. However the speech we do have i very effective and will keep our target very much engaged. Our script or speech is mainly at the beginning, this is where we have our slowest shots. Our speech and script creates an inigma code in very different ways. one way it creates an inigma code is when he is talking on the phone to his 'son' and he hears "leave now" this is effective because it creates curiosity within the audience, they want to know who said that and why do they want him to leave. Another part when they are talking is when a mental patient is informing Dr Sager of the spirits that reside in Brook House, this is an important part because it tells us a little bit of information as to what the film is about and what we can expect throughout the trailer.
Monday, 7 November 2011
The image of a Mental Patient
Now we are going to start filming we need to thinking about how mental patients look and how they are portrayed in movies. This is an image from the major box office movie The Ring. From what the little girl is wearing we automatically know that this girl is a mental patient.
Hair - Her hair is long and straight and it also very greasy. This shows us that they have no intrest of what they look like and take no notice of what her hair looks like.
Skin and Makeup - Her skin is very pale and life less, she has no makeup on and neither will the people playing in our horror trailer. The fact they have no makeup on is very important. They have no time or intrest on what they look like. The pale skin makes them look sick and ill.
Costume - The costume we will be having is like the one in the image above, they will be wearing plain white night dresses, the plain white almost represents their mind, very blank.
1920's Makeup Tutorial
Our main character and protagnoist Grace was a patient in Brook House Asylum 100's of years ago. She was murdered and now she is constantly tormenting the residing patients in Brook House. Grace will be played by Hayley who has very long hair and is some what pale which is perfect for our character. However we need to show the time different between Grace and the other mental patients. I found this video on youtube which will help us when we are getting Hayley prepped for the role.
This video showed us what products we can use to make someone look like they are from the 1920s which is very important for us. It showed us that we can use ordainary face paint and make up to create the entire look we are going for. However for our mental patients currently living at Brook House it is very different, they will have very little makeup on however they may have a hint of white face paint to make them look very pale and drained out.
This video showed us what products we can use to make someone look like they are from the 1920s which is very important for us. It showed us that we can use ordainary face paint and make up to create the entire look we are going for. However for our mental patients currently living at Brook House it is very different, they will have very little makeup on however they may have a hint of white face paint to make them look very pale and drained out.
Applying Todorov's Theory to 'The Asylum'
Equlibirum - Inspector Sager has an ordinary life, with his wife and child. At the same time 'Brook House secondary school' is as normal.
Disruption - A pupil has been murdered at the school.
Recognition - They have recognised that pupil has been murdered and Mr Sager goes there to investigate the murders.
However, when applying Todorov's theory to horror movies is does not always work. In our case there is no repair to the resolution, Inspector Sager becomes to obsessive over the murders and the evil spirit Grace who is tormenting the school. In our horror movie there is no resolution and Mr Sager becomes a victim to Grace's behavior.
Todorov's theory works in many movies, however some movies have cliff hangers or maybe dont even happy endings meaning that not everything is repaired and there is not always a resolution.
Disruption - A pupil has been murdered at the school.
Recognition - They have recognised that pupil has been murdered and Mr Sager goes there to investigate the murders.
However, when applying Todorov's theory to horror movies is does not always work. In our case there is no repair to the resolution, Inspector Sager becomes to obsessive over the murders and the evil spirit Grace who is tormenting the school. In our horror movie there is no resolution and Mr Sager becomes a victim to Grace's behavior.
Todorov's theory works in many movies, however some movies have cliff hangers or maybe dont even happy endings meaning that not everything is repaired and there is not always a resolution.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Christine Blundell and Cliff Wallace- The Make - up
Yesterday we had the opportunity to meet Christine Blundell, she works in big mainstream films such as Sherlock Holmes. She is a make up artist and she has worked with big people such as Cameron Diaz. She allowed us to look at some of the amazing work she has done. She uses make up, which gives movies life like and excellent special effects. This is Christine's website, http://www.cbmacademy.com/ .
After explaining our idea to Christine she help us with effects we can use in our horror trailer.
Working with both christine and Cliff allowed us to ask them for advice and ask them questions which can help us with our horror trailer 'The Asylum'. In our case we needed to ask how we can turn an ordinary girl into a mental patient (grace, who is going around killing and torturing people). Rather than telling us to pile on make up to give out an effect she told us to do the opposite, she told us to wipe off all the make up, make them look as pale as possible. She told us to make the characters hair as greasy as possible, she told us that we can do this by using simple baby gel which you can buy from any supermarket. She gave us the idea of making them have very dreary eyes, and big dark and hollow bags under neath there eyes, this shows the effect of them being worn out.
This was a brilliant experience and helped us with our production, they gave us brilliant ideas on how to make our charcters have the full effect and the full feel of being a mental patient.
Other than helping us with our horror trailer, she taught us how to make fake skin and also how to make fake blood. She made us aware of how easy it is to do these things. She told us how to make blood by just using golden syrup and food colouring. She taught us how to make skin peeling but just using tissue. Speaking to Christine and Cliff was an amazing opportunity.
Here is a picture of some of the brilliant work ....
Other than helping us with our horror trailer, she taught us how to make fake skin and also how to make fake blood. She made us aware of how easy it is to do these things. She told us how to make blood by just using golden syrup and food colouring. She taught us how to make skin peeling but just using tissue. Speaking to Christine and Cliff was an amazing opportunity.
Here is a picture of some of the brilliant work ....
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Filming Excersise
Saturday, 29 October 2011
The Asylum 'Certificate'
All films have what we called a certificate on it. This rangers from PG,12A,15,18.
PG- Parental Guidance, this means that a parent is advised to follow the child to watch the movie.
12A is usually only in America, we dont really get 12A films in Britain.
15 - this means that no child under the age of 15 is allowed to watch this film.
18 - This means that no child under the age of 18 is allowed to watch this film in the cinema, , this may be because there might be explicit scenes or sexual content.
In The Asylum the certificate, reason being is that due to there being quick flashes of a 'ghost' of a little girl, she is going to look dead with make up. This is not a PG. However it will not be an 18 there is not much violence in the movie to make it an 18 and there is sexual scenes init also.
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Target Audience
Target Audience is a huge part of creating a horror trailer. We done some research, what age group would watch our film, what hobbies they would take part in. Doing research on my target audience helped us decide the route we went down in terms of choosing our film trailr.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Possible Filming Locations
In media we had the opportunity to go to a part of the school which is destroyed and is bombarded with rubbish and old computers. This exercise helped us because it gave us ideas as to what and where we would like to film or film trailers. In our horror trailer the spirits leave messages on the wall which read things such as 'leave now' or 'beware'. In this room there is graffiti on the wall, this could be very good and effective in our horror trailer. The notes on the wall is exactly what we want portray in our horror trailer.
The dark and cold location is perfect for the type of atmosphere we want to create when our target audience are watching our film in the cinema. The dark lighting screams violence and fear. The grey colors on the wall goes perfectly with the atmosphere we would like to create in the asylum, reasoning being is that if the walls were painted in rainbow colors it would portray fun and happiness which is the opposite we want to show.
The dark and cold location is perfect for the type of atmosphere we want to create when our target audience are watching our film in the cinema. The dark lighting screams violence and fear. The grey colors on the wall goes perfectly with the atmosphere we would like to create in the asylum, reasoning being is that if the walls were painted in rainbow colors it would portray fun and happiness which is the opposite we want to show.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
The Asylum Characters
The main character (Protagonist) is played my Flynn Sager which is where we got the name 'Dr Sager' from.
Dr Sager - Dr Sager is a psychologist who has been asked to conduct research on why the previous researchers are now patients in Brook House Asylum. Dr Sager is a family man who has been married for 7 years, he grandfather was also a psychologist and her takes his work very serious. When Dr Sager is not at work he enjoys socializing with his friends whether that be going to a football game or going to the pub. Dr sager can be described as an ordinarily man, he dresses casually however he knows how to dress fancy when needed. He lives with his wife and child and has lived in london all his life and does not ever plan on leaving.
The stock characters in 'The Asylum' are patients in Brook House Asylum, the stock characters would be played by our friends, these stock characters are: the jock, the popular girl, the wanderer. This will be easy to show because the setting is in an mental asylum school.
Dr Sager - Dr Sager is a psychologist who has been asked to conduct research on why the previous researchers are now patients in Brook House Asylum. Dr Sager is a family man who has been married for 7 years, he grandfather was also a psychologist and her takes his work very serious. When Dr Sager is not at work he enjoys socializing with his friends whether that be going to a football game or going to the pub. Dr sager can be described as an ordinarily man, he dresses casually however he knows how to dress fancy when needed. He lives with his wife and child and has lived in london all his life and does not ever plan on leaving.
The stock characters in 'The Asylum' are patients in Brook House Asylum, the stock characters would be played by our friends, these stock characters are: the jock, the popular girl, the wanderer. This will be easy to show because the setting is in an mental asylum school.
Applying Mulvey's Theory
Mulvey's theory talks about how women are portrayed and are seen in movies. In this post I am applying her theory to 2 horror trailers and lets see if her theory is true.
The 1st trailer I will be testing out mulvey's theory to is 'Grave Encounters'. This film is the sub genre of Horror-super natural, a film crew decide to find out the truth behind a mental asylum which many have complained about the spirits and weird things happening to them and the building. From seeing this horror trailer it tells me that it supports mulvey's theory. The film crew are going around catching there reports on camera and the women is the one holding the camera, because of this we do not see her. We also hear her screams, this just shows her fear and venerability which is different to the men who are portrayed as brave and fearless. . Through out the trailer we see many men, they are portrayed as brave men and they have taken the lead roles. There is also a shot when a women is shown, instead of her wearing a night dress covering her arms and legs she is wearing a skimpy night dress from which her legs are exposed. From learning about Mulvey's theory and watching this trailer is tells me that this film and other many horror films support her ideas.
The second trailer I applied Mulvey's trailer to was 'Tucker dale vs Evil' and very similar to 'Grave encounters' maybe even more it supports mulvey's gaze theory.
In 'Tukerdale vs Evil' we already know that it supports Mulvey's gaze theory from the 1st few lines. One of the protagonists who is a female said "Did you see the way those guys looked at us" this tells us that maybe she wanted them to look at her is such a way. This supports her theory of women be looked at like sex objects. Through out the flim the men are portrayed as strong and inferior sex, the idea that women need be saved just inhances the idea that women are looked at like helpless people. Much like ' Grave encounters' there are shots with women wearing skimpy clothes such as a bikini, this just proves her theory that women are seen as helpless, sex objects..

Applying Burton's Theory to 'The Asylum'
Researching into Burton's theory has allowed me to think about movies in different ways. In this post I will apply Burtons theory to our horror movie synopsis.
Settings
Protagonists
icons
Stock Characters
plot and Stock situations
The Asylum Synopsis
Inspector Sager is an ordinary man who lives in London with his wife and child and works as an inspector. He is currently investigating why there has been an unexplained death and Brook House School secondary school which was once an asylum for mentally ill children. Inspector Sager decides to investigate and interview students in order to discover the truth and find Harriett’s killer. Strange occurrences start happening to him such as the light flickering on and off, door slamming shut, objects breaking by themselves. He decides to interview students in order to find out information about why this is happening and who killed harriet. Students alert him to the fact that ‘Grace’ (a former patient of brook house asylum) is warning him to leave immediately. He ignores their advice and carries on investigating. Grace starts tormenting him. Eventually Inspector starts obsessing over Grace and finally comes face to face with her. Will he survive to tell the tale or will he surrender and end up a helpless man tortured by the ghost of dead mental patients.
Settings
Protagonists
icons
Stock Characters
plot and Stock situations
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Monday, 17 October 2011
The Tagline for 'The Asylum'
What don't they want him to find out? - This creates curiosity within our target audience.
How far would you go to discover the truth? - This makes the audience think what does he want to find out.
Adjectives that best describe my film is: Revenge, Torture and Discovery.
Revenge indicates that someone or something is out for revenge and they will get it.
Torture indicates what someone is going to get tortured, this ties in with discovery, what are they finding out that they are getting tortured for.
How far would you go to discover the truth? - This makes the audience think what does he want to find out.
Adjectives that best describe my film is: Revenge, Torture and Discovery.
Revenge indicates that someone or something is out for revenge and they will get it.
Torture indicates what someone is going to get tortured, this ties in with discovery, what are they finding out that they are getting tortured for.
Film's Cool
From our weekly sessions of Film's Cool I have learnt many things; other than helping me with what path I should go down concerning what career i should take, it has also helped me my coursework. In the planning process Hayley, Sophie and I have come up with many idea as to what out horror film should about so we can create and outstanding trailer, however is guests in film's cool helped us change our idea to make it much better. They gave us the idea of the main character having a background, they gave us the idea as to whether we would like our target audience to like or hate him; whether the audience should be happy that man is getting tortured or they feel sorry for him. Film's Cool has helped me a great amount and I look forward for the next 7 weeks.
Film trailers similar to the Asylum
Gothika is similar to our horror film in the sense that they are both set in a mental asylum and both doing research, however where our film is different is that the spirits with the organisation actually makes contact with out doctor and tortures him.
Paranormal Activity is similar to our horror film because because they both belong to the genre of Horror- supernatural. They evil spirits tormenting both the antagonists .
The Asylum
The Asylum Synopsis
Inspector Sager is an ordinary man who lives in London with his wife and child. He is currently investigating why there has been an unexplained death and Brook House School secondary school which was once an asylum for mentally ill children. Strange occurrences start happening to him such as the light flickering on and off, door slamming shut and he wants to know what is going on. He decides to interview students in order to find out information about why this is happening and who killed harriet. Students alert him to the fact that ‘Grace’ (a former mental patient who was murdered many years ago) is warning him to leave immediately. He ignores their advice and carries on investigating. Grace starts tormenting him. Eventually Inspector starts obsessing over Grace and finally comes face to face with her. Will he survive to tell the tale or will he surrender and end up a helpless man tortured by the ghost of dead mental patients.
Applying Todorov's Theory
I am applying Todorov's theory to Mel Gibson's apocolypto which is my favorite film.
The film is set in the Aborigine times so the setting is unfamiliar,
The EQULIBRIUM of the film is that everything is fine, they are hunting food the amazon which is normal for them.
Then the DISRUPTION is that they are invaded by another tribe and they are taking as hostage, however the main character saw this coming and hid his pregnant wife and child in a safe place in order for them to be safe.
The RECOGNITION is that he needs to find a way to escape from the kidnappers so he can rescue his wife before she gives birth and before the kidnappers kill him.
The REPAIR is that he finally breaks away from the kidnappers and one by one he kills them off using different methods in the jungle.
The RESOLUTION is that he gets to his wife and child before something bad happens and they go back into the jungle and start a new life.
By using this theory it always me to look at films different and allows me to identify the 5 steps. It also is helping me and my group with our coursework; allowing us use this theory to help us with our horror trailer.
The film is set in the Aborigine times so the setting is unfamiliar,
The EQULIBRIUM of the film is that everything is fine, they are hunting food the amazon which is normal for them.
Then the DISRUPTION is that they are invaded by another tribe and they are taking as hostage, however the main character saw this coming and hid his pregnant wife and child in a safe place in order for them to be safe.
The RECOGNITION is that he needs to find a way to escape from the kidnappers so he can rescue his wife before she gives birth and before the kidnappers kill him.
The REPAIR is that he finally breaks away from the kidnappers and one by one he kills them off using different methods in the jungle.
The RESOLUTION is that he gets to his wife and child before something bad happens and they go back into the jungle and start a new life.
By using this theory it always me to look at films different and allows me to identify the 5 steps. It also is helping me and my group with our coursework; allowing us use this theory to help us with our horror trailer.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Todorov's Theory
Todorov's theory suggests that conventional narratives are structured in 5 steps: Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Repair , Resolution.
Equilibrium - This the beginning of the movie, when everything is normal and as it should be. Nothing is wrong at this stage.
Disruption - This is when the equilibrium is DISRUPTED and things turn to bad and turn for the worst
Recognition - They have realized that something has gone wrong, they have RECOGNIZED the situation.
Repair - Now they have acknowledged that something has gone wrong they make an attempt to try and REPAIR the situation. Events occur to try and restore what has gone wrong.
Resolution - Everything has been restored, they fixed the situation and all has been restored and is back to normal.
From looking at todorov's theory i have applied it to many films i have watched and i seen that his theory is correct.
Equilibrium - This the beginning of the movie, when everything is normal and as it should be. Nothing is wrong at this stage.
Disruption - This is when the equilibrium is DISRUPTED and things turn to bad and turn for the worst
Recognition - They have realized that something has gone wrong, they have RECOGNIZED the situation.
Repair - Now they have acknowledged that something has gone wrong they make an attempt to try and REPAIR the situation. Events occur to try and restore what has gone wrong.
Resolution - Everything has been restored, they fixed the situation and all has been restored and is back to normal.
From looking at todorov's theory i have applied it to many films i have watched and i seen that his theory is correct.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Mulvey's Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey's 'gaze' means how the audience views with the people presented in the cinema.
Laura Mulvey was a 'Feminist', she looked at 3 points: Who men look at women
How women look and women
How women look at themselves.
The male gaze theory suggests how the male point of view is adopted by the camera. She said that this benefits the male audience. She said that when the camera is 'lingering' of the female body this is an example of this.
The female audience are positioned in a way where the male audience are recognized.
Criticisms of Laura Mulvey's gaze
She claims that women are being looked negatively, however that was in 1975 and the perceptions of women has changed a big deal over the years. Nowadays it s not only the males that take on the heroic character. eg. Lara croft in tomb raiders and kill bill.
In the film trailer above 'kill bill' women are portrayed in the opposite way of how Mulvey's describes it. In kill bill the herioic character is a female who is portrayed as a strong independent women. She is portrayed as a powerful women.
Using this idea, it allows me to notice for much film has changed and how i can incorporate her ideas and changes into my horror trailer
Criticisms of Laura Mulvey's gaze
She claims that women are being looked negatively, however that was in 1975 and the perceptions of women has changed a big deal over the years. Nowadays it s not only the males that take on the heroic character. eg. Lara croft in tomb raiders and kill bill.In the film trailer above 'kill bill' women are portrayed in the opposite way of how Mulvey's describes it. In kill bill the herioic character is a female who is portrayed as a strong independent women. She is portrayed as a powerful women.
Using this idea, it allows me to notice for much film has changed and how i can incorporate her ideas and changes into my horror trailer
Monday, 10 October 2011
Killers in Horror Films
By looking at the different types of killers in the horror genre it allows me to identify which type of killer I will have in my horror trailer. When watching a horror movie I am now able to say which type of killer it is.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Observations into Burtons Genre Theory
Protagonists - The protagonist in a movie and often the main characters. The protagonist can either be a hero or the villain. The male protagonist are often loners.
Stock Characters - The stock characters are minor characters that star in the movies.
This could be a police officer or the typical jock that gets killed. The stock characters are very stereo typical.
Plots and Stock Situations - Plot and stock situations are also very stereotypical, they are very predictable and recognizable. In romantic movies a recognizable situation would be the heroine not being able to get the boy.
Icons - The aspect of the genre we immediately recognize and understand. 3 main type of icons; Objects, backgrounds and sometimes stars. EG. Scream the icon is the mask we automatically understand what genre it is.
Settings - The settings is very important in a movie. They are distinctive for a given genre.
In the 3rd addition to the final destination saga, Wendy has becomes death's new victim. Wendy has a very vivid preminition about how her friends are going to die. However she has discovered a way to cheat death before the next person suffers a horrid,bloody and gruesome death.
When alone in a house in the suburbs, you never know who is watching you. Kristin and John think there alone until they are being tortured by the murderers who are mysterious people in masks. There friend visits the house but ends up being murdered in a case of mistaken identity. Alone in the house Kristin is trying to escape but they torment her by tying her up and stabbing her repeatedly, she asks " Why are you doing this" they reply "because you are home".
After a couple suffers a traumatic situation such as still birth there only option is to adopt. When Kate and John decide to adopt little orphan girl Esther from the orphanage they have no idea what they are in for. There other children Daniel and death max have different feelings towards her. Daniel is very hostile and does not really like her but max takes a liking to her. What they don't know is that little Esther is mentally disturbed. Mother Kate starts feeling negative towards her and has an idea that not everything is normal. She calls in the orphanage to find out who Esther really is and discovers some worrying things. Who is Esther?
Stock Characters - The stock characters are minor characters that star in the movies.
This could be a police officer or the typical jock that gets killed. The stock characters are very stereo typical.
Plots and Stock Situations - Plot and stock situations are also very stereotypical, they are very predictable and recognizable. In romantic movies a recognizable situation would be the heroine not being able to get the boy.
Icons - The aspect of the genre we immediately recognize and understand. 3 main type of icons; Objects, backgrounds and sometimes stars. EG. Scream the icon is the mask we automatically understand what genre it is.
Settings - The settings is very important in a movie. They are distinctive for a given genre.
In the 3rd addition to the final destination saga, Wendy has becomes death's new victim. Wendy has a very vivid preminition about how her friends are going to die. However she has discovered a way to cheat death before the next person suffers a horrid,bloody and gruesome death.
When alone in a house in the suburbs, you never know who is watching you. Kristin and John think there alone until they are being tortured by the murderers who are mysterious people in masks. There friend visits the house but ends up being murdered in a case of mistaken identity. Alone in the house Kristin is trying to escape but they torment her by tying her up and stabbing her repeatedly, she asks " Why are you doing this" they reply "because you are home".
After a couple suffers a traumatic situation such as still birth there only option is to adopt. When Kate and John decide to adopt little orphan girl Esther from the orphanage they have no idea what they are in for. There other children Daniel and death max have different feelings towards her. Daniel is very hostile and does not really like her but max takes a liking to her. What they don't know is that little Esther is mentally disturbed. Mother Kate starts feeling negative towards her and has an idea that not everything is normal. She calls in the orphanage to find out who Esther really is and discovers some worrying things. Who is Esther?
From burtons genre theory I am now able to identify all the different stock characters in not just horror movies but all movies. I can think of many horror films and point out the icons,setting,protagonist and many other things. Using burtons theory I now know how to incorporate it all into my horror trailer.
Friday, 7 October 2011
Ideas for planning
Planning is a bit part of production, me and my group have planned many things such as action, villains and locations. There are many killers in the horror genre, so we had a lot to think about if we wanted a killer in our horror film. Locations is very important, were we want to film is a how we are going to film it. We had to decide which specif genre we wanted to do whether it be comedy or supernatural. Planning is very important part because it allows us to voice or ideas.
Monday, 3 October 2011
In this picture to the left I also used Photoshop to manipulate the picture and made it look horror related. However with this image unlike the other image i used a website called http://www.grungetextures.com and put a texture and added some colour to the original photo. This is showing us how easy it is to change pictures. This is will help us a great deal when it comes to making out final piece of work.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
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