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.