Focus Group 2

After the first focus group we realised that we needed to do a second in order to get a clearer idea of how our target audience felt about our opening sequence idea.

We gathered a larger group of teenagers and showed them our Film Title idea of "the Subject", different fonts to use for the credits, and also our costume and make up ideas. 

We concluded from their feedback that the costume and make up could be improved and more realistic, with maybe a bit of distress to the costume to look more like she had been living in the woods.

The font they decided on was over all agreed and we found that it was probably the best one to use.

They all liked the name and agreed that it was fitting to a psychological horror, due to the enigma and vagueness surrounding it.

Font Research: Initial ideas

Here are some font ideas, along with our current name for our film: "The Subject". 

This name is a strong candidate for what we actually use because it sounds and appears like a horror film that you'd hear in the real world. The vagueness of this name adds enigma to what it could be about. 

We plan to show these fonts to our focus group and ask them their opinion of the name and also which font looks better for our credits. 
All of these fonts are quite typical to horror film fonts as they all include some sort of edge or sharp effect which makes it look scary and immediately aware of the fact it is a horror film as opposed to a rom-com for example which would have much softer fonts used for their title and credits. 

Other Films

In classic horror films, the fonts used are all extremely similar and all follow a traditional vibe. 

 As you can see from these classic horror films, the fonts used in the titles are all very basic and traditional and this could juxtapose modern horror film fonts which could challenge the traditions and go for something different which wouldn't immediately suggest that the film was a horror. I want to make our film a mixture of traditional horror fonts and modern fonts which challenge the conventions for our credits too. I feel like this will give our film that sentimental and classic value as well as a modern twist that will alter and trick the audiences expectations (audience theory by Neale).

Fonts used in Modern Horror films

 As you can see from this advertisement from the recent movie, "the Visit", it cleverly uses a homely and child-friendly font for the title and other advertising letters which makes it seem like a happy or friendly film.
However, because we as the audience know that its a horror film that we have chosen to watch a horror film as a psycho graphic, this font will perplex us and make us feel excited to know how this film is going to shock and scare us as its going to completely contrast a 'friendly' film.

These modern fonts are inspiring to us as a group and we want our film to have the same effect as 'the Visit' does,  where it presents itself as a friendly film whereas its actually scary: we want to excite the audience. 

Inception: Opening sequence

 Although Inception follows themes of the psychological-thriller genre as opposed to horror, its opening sequence still features multiple conventions which I plan to use in my own opening sequence in order to reflect the suspenseful theme which my opening sequence will feature, as well as a sense of the unknown and confusion. 
We aim for our film to be difficult to follow, and thought-provoking for the audience; analyzing Inception is a perfect opportunity to gain knowledge for how to create this in our own opening sequence.
Just by watching this films opening sequence will give us ideas on how to create a confusing and perplexing opening sequence due to the psychological genre conventions which this film utilizes. This film and our initial idea are parallels to each other as in this film we know that it is constantly switching between dream land and reality, and our opening sequence switches constantly between past and present. 
This film is going to give us an outlook on  how to successfully pull off a change in time period: past to present. 

CASTING AND COSTUME PLANNING

 When it came to choosing who was suitable to play the part of our main character in the opening sequence we decided that our friend, Chayce was perfect for it. 
 As part of our costume and make up planning we decided to use a traditional hospital gown which we got from one of our parents work. It was perfect as it was exactly how we imagined our costume to be for the main character. 
It is stereotypical to the conventional "dead girl" which is seen in many psychological horror films, such as "the Ring", "Grudge"and the recent TV series "Stranger Things". 



 The hair and make up was also inspired by traditional horror films and the 'ill' and 'haunted' appearance. 
We used a hairbrush to back-comb Chayce's hair to make it appear disheveled and messy, this gave off a 'wild' and 'spooky' vibe which was exactly what we wanted our character to have. It also reflects how in the 1960's, there was an extreme lack of care in Mental institutions for the patients, so the fact she looks dirty and messy shows how there was neglect from the staff at the hospital, which would be seen in our film.  

For the make up we stuck with the previous decision to keep it stereotypical to that idea of the "dead girl" character which features in most horror films by using white face paint to create a pale, ill appearance, and used black and red eye-shadow to create 'bags' under the character's eyes which gives off a vibe of being haunted and also looks quite haunting. 

 Our aim when taking these images was to see how scary the character would actually look when filming and get an idea of how we could adapt this character into making her fit the opening sequence perfectly. 
We plan to show these images to our focus group which we are in the process of organizing: we will get a group of our target audience and ask them too discuss our costume and make up planning, as well as film name and character name. 

Target Audience: Teenagers

We asked our friends some of their opinions on our initial opening sequence ideas and got some helpful feedback on what we plan to do. 

This has made us realize how useful it would be to do a full on focus group where we got a larger group of people to discuss our film idea in depth, where they look at our font types, costume and make up ideas and also our location of filming.

This will advise us on what to change and what will improve our film.

Psychological Horror Research: 

American Horror Story opening sequence

In the opening sequence to American Horror story, season 1 (0secs-1:00), the genre of it being a psychological-horror programme is quickly established at the beginning and is reinforced throughout the opening sequences entirety through conventions and the use of lighting and sound for effect on the audience.

Immediately we see the Artificial lighting and use of technicolor to establish to the audience that this programme is set in the past- presumably the 1950's and 60's. The black and white, and sepia filters reflect a post-modern setting so the audience are immediately drawn into the fact that its coming from a different time. Being set in the past is a typical convention of a psychological-horror due to the stigma and presumptions around the 'creepiness' of that time period. These filters are edited onto the film footage in order to create the '50's horror film' look and make the audience feel like what they're watching is really set in the past. 

We then see props such as old photographs and medical equipment: both which are typical props used in psychological-horrors as they both reveal a different side to this genre. The use of these props allow the audience to establish the codes and conventions of the film, as well as being able to create a subconscious set of expectations for the rest of the series, which is an audience theory suggested by Neale. 

A very famous part of the American Horror Story opening sequences is the spooky background music which plays throughout the entire thing. The fact this soundtrack is the only sound which plays through the opening sequence and there is no dialogue or other non-diagetic sounds in it adds to the audiences nerves and feeling of suspense when leading up to watch each episode of the series as they wont know that to expect.

The audience will create an association to this soundtrack and the rest of the horror conventions within the series: every time they hear this soundtrack they will automatically associate it with a psychological-horror. Additionally, the fame of the soundtrack adds to the franchise of the TV series. 

There is then a low angle shot of someone quickly running down the stairs which is used purposely to scare the audience as it is another convention of horror films. This shot of the feet running from a low angle create the image of someone hiding or planning an attack on the person running. This is a typical way to create tension in a horror film/series. 

Final Girl Theory 

In our opening sequence we plan to use the Final Girl theory because we feel like it majorly fits the conventions of a horror film and it will be effective with our target audience. 

The Final Girl theory is a theoretical film perspective which has a female character the last one surviving in the end of the film. This theory is usually used in horror films which feature a killer who is killing off the characters one by one. 

Usually the final girl is a more intelligent and courageous than any of the other female characters who are killed off at the beginning of the film, who are usually a 'dumb blonde' sort of character.

There are many films which use the final girl theory...

In the film 'Scream', the Final Girl theory is used and this is one of the most famous examples of the utilization of the theory. One of the final girl stereotypes was that the final girl is supposed to be a virgin, but the Scream films challenged that by allowing Prescott to survive until the end - even after having sex. 

In the film 'The Nightmare on elmstreet' the character Nancy Thompson , has often been regarded as one of the most influential horror movie heroines. Many critics have praised the character for her wisdom and strength. Louis Peitzman of Buzzfeed said "Nancy doesn’t make it through her second Nightmare on Elm Street film, but she dies after delivering another killing blow to Freddy Kruger. And before that, she teaches a new generation of teenagers how to defend themselves against Freddy. For those reasons, she earns the distinction of fiercest Nightmare Final Girl.

The film 'Friday the 13th' also includes the final girl theory. Alice is the first character that follows the trope in the Friday the 13th franchise. In Horror and the Horror Film, while discussing the characteristics of the final girl, Bruce F. Kawin stated that "Alice overcomes Mrs. Voorhees by herself while the final girls in Halloween and Terror Train are saved by men

Audience profile for opening sequence

Our target audience for our opening sequence is majorly a teen/young adult audience. We believe that this audience is most likely to go and see a psychological-horror movie which involves other teen characters. We, as teengagers ourselves know that the idea of a psychological-horror movie sounds exciting and to go and see it with friends only adds anticipation as well as the desire to go and watch it.

We are aiming to appeal to all social classes of young adults but presume it will mostly be viewed by working class/ middle class due to the dilapodated and creepy setting of the film. We want the film to appeal to all races however believe that due to the distribution of the film and the culturally specific setting it will most likely be viewed by British white people. We are looking to appeal to all genders. Ideally, the psycho-graphics of our opening sequence will be to approach those who follow the mainstream as it will be a horror film which aims to appeal to the majority of the youth population. 

Application of key concepts: representation

 



The purpose of making this story board was to tell a story about a person walking to the shops and to explore and analyse the way they are represented as well as including the basic shot types and conventions.
I chose a housewife to be my character in my story because I am aware of the conventions which surround a stereotypical housewife and I could show this through the analysis of costume and personality: traditionally, housewives are represented as pretty, neat and tidy, polite and inferior to the male.
This exploration into representation helped me understand fully the concept of sterotypes and how the media presents them and also reminded me of how media breaks away from certain stereotypes in society.
In my final product there is going to be some characters silmilar to a traditional housewife such as a nurse and psychiatric carer- the research into the representation of a housewife will help me when it comes to my group making informed decisions on how to present our characters.

Film research: decade 2000

Media Assessment: Applications of key concepts

For my work with Mrs Sheehan we have explored the key concepts of media such as lighting, sound and mise en scene. In order to apply these key concepts I wrote an essay on the opening sequence of the film "Girl, Interrupted" and identified the purpose and effects of these concepts. Doing this essay helped me correctly and strategically locate where specific concepts have been utilised in the production of a film for an effect on the audience. It is also practise for my final exam in year 13 which follows the same structure as this essay. 

This essay linked to my final product because it allowed me to research and analyse a film which inspired my final product massively. The genre of Girl, Interrupted is a psychological-horror, and the conventions of this film also fit to how we want to portray our opening sequence also. 

Preliminary task: Initial planning

Group: Charlotte, Kate, Matt
For our preliminary task we decided to plan it out prior to filming so we knew exactly what we were doing in a story board and also by writing out all of our shots and what they would each involve.

Our preliminary task was planned to include many editing features such as Match on action, the 180 degree rule and a reverse shot. Our story board clearly shows how we are going to clearly show these features in our video. We are also going to include dialogue which is specific to each of our individual genres.
When it comes to editing our footage we plan to include pans, zooms and cuts.
This task is important because it helps us all learn how to creatively film a short film and use a camera and tripod correctly. We will be able to use these skills when it comes to actually filming our opening sequence. The editing process will also be useful as we will be able to apply the techniques which we have learnt theoretically and see how they actually work on an editing software.

Genre research: public survey

For research into our chosen Genre, we did a survey for the public on the genre of psychological-horror films and here were our results...

We quickly discovered that the majority of our target audience of teenagers and adults were the ones interested in the survey.

despite the favourite genre being comedy, we know that horrors were still favoured by a group of our target audience.

the conventions of a horror which was mostly expected was the ones which we were planning to include in our opening sequence, and let us know which not to include, alternatively, we could consider including a less expected convention to make our opening sequence different to all the others. 

most of our target audience said that they enjoyed the idea of a psychological-horror

our film idea is massively suspenseful, so the results here reassure us that our film would appeal to our audience. 

this result encourages us to try something new and steer away from the typical codes and conventions of horror films so that our audience is shocked and surprised at our ending. 

Influences on our film: Setting, Time, Other films

Our initial plan for the film was for it to be set in two main locations of a mental asylum, and a forest, and the plan was for the film to switch between the two settings through flashbacks. However, after some deliberation, we decided the opening sequence would be held in a 'mental asylum' mainly, which we will create our self from an empty room, and will have short snippets of the girls childhood, in a garden. These images show the sort of ideas which have influenced us in choosing the setting of a Mental Asylum.

However, there are going to be two views of the room in which the girl is in in the opening sequence, one as an every day psychiatric hospital room, matched with the same room looking similar to the images above. The aim of this is to show the target audience two sides of the girls mind, how one side of her is completely normal and regular and the other is inane and dark. The fact that the opening sequence is going to be flashing between the two settings will create enigmatic ideas for the audience. 

This is an example of how we want our 'regular', 'every-day' hospital to look like. Even though this looks extremely awful for an every-day hospital, this fits in with our film being set in the 70's and contextually, the lifestyle and standards in psychiatric wards were not very good, and they were treated very badly, which is what we want to get across in our opening sequence: that the life of this girl was faced with constant neglection no matter where she went.

We want the lighting of the room to be extremely low-key and dark, to reflect the neglect which the child has faced. It will also reflect all of the darkness and pain which she has gone through and will immediately make the audience feel sorry for her before making a judgement on her darker side: they might simply feel sorry for her. However, they will then question the girl when they see her in a more disturbing setting and think that she deserves to be neglected if she is locked up and she is a danger.

Because the film is set in the 70's, there are many props that we have taken from the 70's fashions and want to use them in the settings of our opening sequence. 

The use of props like this will show the audience what time the film is set in due to the associations which surround the props and they will establish that the film is set in the 1970's. It adds to the feeling of the film being an old fashioned horror film which explores psychological films: the fact its set in the 70's makes it more of a enigmatic film to the target audience as the time and themes together add to the sense of horror. 

Other films influences

There are also many other films which have influenced our idea for our opening sequence such as "Girl, Interrupted", the Ring, Insidious and the Blair Witch Project. Each of the films involve some aspect which we have taken inspiration from whether its setting, costume or even certain lighting and sounds. For example, in Girl, Interrupted, the setting is a mental asylum, which obviously we have taken influence from, Additionally, the film also explores psychological themes which shows there are some similarities between that film and our opening sequence, which is why I did my research into that film specifically. The images to the right are taken from the movie itself "girl interrupted" and they both reflect our idea of the mental asylum which we want to appear in opening sequence. It was also set in the 70's which shows how the setting should look in that time period, rather unclean and majorly lacking luxuries. 

Costume and make up research

Because our opening sequence is part of a psychological horror movie, the costumes and make up is a large factor in the genre and horror films especially have many conventions which are involved in the appearance of the characters. I have researched potential ideas which we can use in our opening sequence through the codes and conventions of psychological films combined with horror films.

Firstly, the main character is a young girl who has no identity and is a patient in a mental hospital. This means she is probably going to have long, dark hair which is over her face as well as a long white hospital gown. These images reflect the potential look we are going for.
The make up is probably going to be kept to a minimal, with being pale and dark around the eyes: this will make the character look ill and mentally ill due to what it connotes.


The make up used on the actors in the movie Girl, Interrupted very much reflects the 'messiness' convention which we are aiming for our main character to look similar to.

An Idiots Guide to Camera Work: learning the basics as a Media student

With Mrs Sheehan, I researched the basics of Camera work and produced an 'Idiots guide to camera work'