KNGS Foundation Portfolio Natasha Derry: March 2012

Tuesday 20 March 2012

She is the noticeable leader of the group. She organises and controls their trip and is in charge of the filming so the handheld camera film is viewed from her perspective. As she is in charge, Jess appears very bossy and controlling, shouting at her friends and ordering them around when they don’t do what she wants them to do. She appears prepared for the trip wearing suitable clothes (t-shirt, shirt, hoody, coat, rucksack, doc marten boots) with many layers, which conveys that she is an organised character. She is also seen to be carrying useful items such as a torch and map. This further conveys her leadership and organisational characteristics. She is also carrying filming equipment such as a tripod, which informs the audience that the handheld camera filming is viewed from her perspective. Close-ups of Jess reveal her expressions to the audience and portray her power. The editing with Jess will be fairly slow at the beginning to convey her power and control over the situation. It also portrays that she is not scared. The speed of the editing will increase to show her loss of power and control over the situation, which will also convey her fear.

Kate is a very typical ‘girly’ character. Unlike Jess, she is not very organised, which is presented through her costume. She wears a pretty dress, pumps and a thin jacket. She has noticeably fewer items in her bag compared to the others, which shows she is unprepared. She is less confident than Jess and follows the crowd in an attempt to fit in with her friends. This is portrayed through her body language and speech: she always does what Jess tells her. She is also frequently interrupted whilst talking. This further reinforces her shy and "follower" characteristics. The editing around the character is faster than with Jess and Adam in order to connote that she is more scared and nervous than the others.

Adam is a typical "lad" who wears chinos and a polo t-shirt. The bright colours of his clothes connote his attention-seeking behaviour. He also believes that he is a "ladies man", always attached to Kate. He speaks louder than the others which shows he is arrogant and likes attention. Also, he peer-pressures Jack into doing everything with him then mocks Jack if he acts uninterested or apprehensive. He is carrying a medium-sized bag, which connotes that he is fairly prepared for the trip and is confident of the outcome.

Jack is the quietest character of the group. He is shy and nervous. He feels peer-pressured by the group to go on the trip. This will be depicted through his body language: slouchy and closed off from the others. He also distances himself from the rest of the group, which shows that he feels like an outsider. He is carrying a bag similar in size to Jess but it is filled with impractical objects: this connotes his apprehension and nervousness about the trip. The editing around Jack will be fairly fast from the beginning in order to represent his fear and uncertainty about the trip. There will be a lot of long shots and mid shots of "Jack" in order to connote his isolation from the rest of the group and also his fear.

Monday 19 March 2012

Storyboard

Script

Friday 9 March 2012

Synopsis

The film begins with a message telling the audience that the footage about to be shown was the lost footage of a group of missing friends. Three peer-pressuring friends take their vulnerable friend to the woods, which are rumoured to be haunted. After forcing him to go with them, they lose him. They spend a while searching for him before finding him sitting doll-like at the foot of a tree surrounded by candles. As they get closer, they realise that he is dead. After an argument over whether to call for help, the group hear mysterious noises and whispering. Upon trying to leave the woods, the friends get separated and they realise that leaving the woods is becoming impossible. Slowly, one by one, each friend is killed and nothing but their footage is left behind.

Audience Profiles

Thursday 8 March 2012

Analysis of Audience Questionnaire

We asked more females than males, this could make our results
unbiased, and could make it unfair.

Eleven of the people we asked were 15-17, this could make it unfair, however
this is our target audience so could make it easier for us to find out what the
audience we are aiming it at is interested in.

Most of the people we asked go to the cinema monthly, whereas some go
rarely of never.

The two most popular films are Paranormal Activity 1-3 and Insidious.
This tells us that these films are the most popular, and therefore we should
use some of the conventions from these films.

The favourite was Paranormal Activity, this shows us that the way in which
it was filmed, along with the story can help us when creating out film.

This open question allowed the audience to choose, the three main answers that
we received were that above. This tells us what the viewer wants to see.

We found that people expect a group of friends as the stock characters, and they
least expect to see old people or a heroic man, this can help us when deciding
on the characters to include in our film.

The setting that dominated this question is 'house', this tells us what
settings we should use in the opening of our film.

The props that we asked about, were ranged and therefore they were similar answers,
we found that post people expect to see candles/torches, or religious items.
This iconography is conventional in this genre.

The two most common genres are Rock and Classical, this can tell
us what music the viewer would be expecting.

The sound effects that most people expect are screaming, background
noises and creaking doors, this tells us what the viewer would expect.

The situation that most people expected the characters to be in is camping,
however moving house and documenting were also very popular answers.

The viewer thinks that old videos make an effective opening, alongside music.

The scariest viewpoint from the audiences view, is characters point of view.
This will help us decide what view to do.

Most people thought that a big situation should happen in the opening.

Audience Questionnaire

Supernatural Horror - Audience Questionnaire

1. Are you male or female?

Male                                                      Female

2. How old are you?

15-17                                                      18-20                                                      21-30                                                      31+

3. How often do you go to the cinema?

Often                                                      Monthly                                    Rarely                                                      Never

4. Out of these Supernatural Horrors which have you seen?

Blair Witch Project                                    The Unborn                                    Paranormal Activity (1-3)

Poltergeist                                                 Exorcist                       Insidious

5. Out of the above films, which are TWO are your favourite?

Blair Witch Project                     The Unborn                                    Paranormal Activity (1-3)

Poltergeist                                        Exorcist                     Insidious



6. What did you like about them?

7. What stock characters do you expect?

Family                                            Child                                                                      Group of friends

Old people                       Vulnerable woman                       Heroic man

Other:

8. What stock settings would you expect in a Supernatural Horror? (Circle 2)

Forest                                                      House

Graveyard                      Church

9. What sort of props would you expect to see? (Circle 3)

Candles/ torch                        A weapon                                         Camping things

Religious items
Mystical object                       Cameras

Floating objects                       Door handles / locks                     Keys

10. What genre of music would you expect in a Supernatural Horror? (Circle 2)

Pop / Chart                                    Rock / Indie                    Classical                      R’n’B

Reggae / Soul                        Rap                                       Country / Folk     Dance

11. What sound effects would you expect to hear in a Supernal Horror?(Circle 2)

Creaky doors                                       Screaming                            Background noise

Scratching                                         Whispering                                         High-pitched sound (buzz)

12. At the beginning of the film what sort of situation would you expect the
       characters to be in? (Circle 2)

Camping                      Moving house                          Road trip          Adventuring

Documenting   Visiting churches                       Going to graveyards

13. What makes an effective opening to a Supernatural Horror? (Circle 2)

Music                                    Titles                                    News stories

Voiceovers                            Old videos

14. What kind of filming or viewpoint do you find scarier:

Characters point of view

All seeing narrator (not part of the film)

Character on looking the activities

15. Would you expect many big situations in the opening of a Supernatural Horror
       (For example, a death, supernatural happening etc.)

Yes                                                                                                            No

Summary

Supernatural Horror

We have chosen to look at the supernatural, alongside this we will also have to look at the psychological but our main focus is supernatural horror. We found that it often plays on archetypal shadow characteristics embodied by the threat, it creates discomfort and addresses and exposes common vulnerabilities and fears by exploiting things such as the abnormal, human experimentation, disease, suffering and possession. We found that it contains less physical harm compared with other horror sub genres, but it exposes the evil that hides behind normality, films such as ‘The Unborn’ display this as it discusses the often feared subject of human experimentation.

The common themes that we found in our supernatural horrors consisted of things such as ‘family’, ‘possession’, ‘romance’, ‘injustice’, ‘revenge’ and most commonly ‘supernatural or ‘apparitions’. Many of these are seen in the films what we looked at such as ‘Paranormal Activity’, ‘The Ring’ and ‘Blair Witch Project’.

The stock characters we would often expect with this genre would be family orientated characters, such as a couple usually with children or groups of friends, films such as Poltergeist display the stock characters of ‘Family’, as the viewer considers the young girl character to be the main protagonist and the other characters are her mother, father, brother and sister; there is also a dog, which is common in a ‘family’ situation. An example of the ‘group of friends’ stock characters can be seen in the film ‘Blair Witch Project’ as there are two male ‘friends’ and the main protagonist is the female ‘friend’. We found that often the children were the ‘evil’ or the ‘possessed’ character in the film, such as in ‘The Unborn’; also the female character would play the ‘victim’ whilst the male character plays the ‘hero’, such as in ‘Paranormal Activity’. The characters are commonly paranoid or suspicious; this sets up the plot by allowing their paranoia and suspicion to lead to the story and what is happening in the film.

The stock settings are things such as family houses – such as in Poltergeist - or isolated locations, which are often in small towns or cities. There are also times where they are in forests or abandoned and isolated places, as in ‘Blair Witch Project’ where the main setting is in a forest, and also there is a small section of the film in which they are filming in a cemetery, which usually has negative connotations. These settings contribute in to making the atmosphere, mood and tone of the film more scary and eerie.

We are often given a teaser in to the narrative in the opening of a film, by telling a previous story, showing old videos, having a ‘dream’ sequence, or having a phone call or news reports. These were common in all of the films that we analysed. They link to the current events in the film and lead on to the main plot, this helps set up the plot as we are aware of the story that is going to follow the opening text or subtitles, as the story is told. These create an enigma, as we are curious as to why this information is immediately shown to us, this makes us want to continue to watch the film in order to find out the rest of the story, therefore creating an attraction to the film. Giving quick flashes of something suspicious can also create the enigma but it is then left, and is not explored; this tells us something is wrong. Also another main part of the narrative of a Supernatural Horror is that it creates a fake sense of security for the viewer, so we begin to trust the film and relate to the characters, and then it ruins the trust by getting scary and creating the tense, fearful atmosphere. The narrative theories that are commonly used in Supernatural Horrors are Todorov’s theory, as they nearly always begin with an equilibrium, in the film this equilibrium is disrupted etc, also Propp’s theory is used, as the characters that his theory include are demonstrated, sometimes we see Strauss’ theory as binary opposites are often presented, yet are not always in all of this genre.

Different aspects of mise en scene are used commonly in the Supernatural Horrors that we looked at are things such as low-key lighting, which is frequently used in order to create a supernatural and scary mood and tone. Dark and unnatural contrast can help create the ‘odd’ tone; this is demonstrated in Insidious, as the lighting appears very unnatural. However, many often use realistic or natural lighting in order to create verisimilitude and realism, this is presented in films such as Blair Witch Project and Poltergeist. Along with this, casual costume and ‘home’ props are used to create realism, however we often see props conveying religion, this often gives it a scarier tone.

The Editing is used in order to cr

eate tension and change the pace. Cuts speed up when there are tense moments, and often link to the non-diegetic or diegetic music, this creates a tense and suspenseful atmosphere. Longer and slower cuts are often used to create realism and verisimilitude, as this makes it easier for the viewer to relate to, and also we get a more intimate relationship with the characters.

The diegetic sound is mainly dialogue, however there are also some screams or ‘scary’ noises, this creates a tense and negative mood and tone, as we are often unaware of why the noise is happening, this creates an enigma, the noises used often have supernatural connotations, such as ghostly whispering or doors slamming. The non-diegetic music is eerie and suspenseful in order to create a tense mood and creates a negative tone, this is used in films such as Insidious begin with loud eerie music, which immediately creates a negative atmosphere for the viewer. The opening of a film usually has some sort of voice over or on screen narration, this can create a tense and creepy mood by giving information in order to make the viewer believe it to be realistic and therefore scarier.

The camera movements that we often expect would be jolted and harsh moving, as it can create fear, however tracking is often used to create a realistic tone, and t make the viewer feel as though they are there. Handheld cameras are often used to create realism and verisimilitude – they use a ‘shaky’ movement in order to make it realistic. Camera shots that are frequently used are things such as establishing shots – to show the area, close ups – creating an intimate and closer relationship with the audience, mid-shots or long shots, showing the surroundings and also very long shots exaggerating the isolation of the characters.