Production Company Research

The production company I will be researching is Benderspink. thge reason I chose to research this company is because they have produced some classic psychological horrors one of which is still remembered as the scariest movie of all time. Films produced include, The Ring, The Butterfly, We're The Millers, Horrible Bosses 2, MONSTER-IN-LAW and The Hole.



During the promotion of The Ring, many promotional websites were formed to publicise the actors and locations. even small clips of the film was used. This increased public interest in the movie and also resulted in increased interest in the actors which subsequently led to a further interest in the film. Nowadays, if the same technique was used, people would become curious about the expected film and would try to work out the plot of the film. This would lead to people posting their ideas on youtube and other social media, which would increase the anticipation and introduce the film to some who may not have heard of the film or who were previously uninterested. Overall, this tactic causes a chain reaction which leads to the free advertisement of the movie, which is a major bonus.

I will be using a similar style to this logo for my own. I would like to be able to create the increasing/decreasing font size, but I doubt that I will be able to create a decent replica with Powerpoint 2013 or Adobe Premier Pro, as I am unfamiliar with the program. I would like to use Adobe After Effects to create something 'special', which could give my main task another mark or two, but the program is unavailable to me so this is impossible.

Iconography

Opening Credits Research

In the opening credits of Shutter Island, the following roles and personnel are displayed:

- Who the film was made by, i.e. the director (Martin Scorsese). Red font, on the bottom right of the screen.

- The producer of the film (Micke Medavny and Arnold Messen). Red font, on the bottom left of the screen.

- The person who has done the screenplay (Laeta Kalogridis). Red font, on the middle left of the screen.

- The author of the novel the film is based on (Dennis Lehane). White font, on the middle left of the screen.

- The director of photography (Robert Richardson). White font, on the bottom right of the screen.

- The lead actors are named:
Ben Kingsley, bottom left in white font.
Leonardo DiCaprio, top left in white font.
Mark Buffalo, top left in white font.

- The editor of the film (Thelma Schoonmaker). White font, on the bottom left of the screen.

- Who has done the music (Robbie Robertson). White font, on the bottom right of the screen.

- The title is finally shown (Shutter Island). Red font, increasing size from the centre of the screen.

By putting all of the credits on the side of the screen and varying their positions, it makes the opening appear more important than the film thereby keeping the audience engaged with the film. This idea is furthered when the title is shown in the centre of screen. The title grows in size also showing that the film is starting.
A mixture of red and white is used, highlighting the fact that there is innocence and purity as well as danger and death.



In se7en opening credits there are a few differences:

The production company is mentioned.
Who has done the casting.
The costume designer.
Who has designed the production.
Who are the coproducers and co-executive producers.
Who wrote the script.

Second Questionnaire

Following my previous questionnaire I have decided to do a second to add to my understanding of horror audience.

Timestamp	Why do you enjoy watching psychological horrors?	What is your favourite psychological horror movie and why?	Is there a particular theme (revenge, blood thirst etc) that you look for and what is it?
11/19/2014 15:45:37	no	n/a	n/a
11/19/2014 15:50:45	yes	ANNABELLE	jump scares, suspense
11/20/2014 8:38:02	Plot and characters	Shutter Island, because Martin Sorcesse directed it and it's great.	Mental illness or psychopathy is always interesting.
11/20/2014 14:36:44	they normally give me a good laugh	screm because of how bloodly the film is	blood thirst
11/20/2014 15:00:34	Yes	Black Swan	Isanity
11/21/2014 8:48:33	yes	the shining	blood thirst
11/21/2014 14:10:07	No	I dont have one	cold blooded murder

Do you want to be intellectually challenged when watching a psychological horror?	When watching psychological horrors do you want to see special effects?
n/a	n/a
yes	depends on the nature and style of the movie. Also the time period
Yes!	That depends. Shutter Island has some CGI as well as Hannibal, however, it's nto always used in a convenient way in other psychological horrors.
sometimes but mainly not	again sometimes but mainly not
Yes	No
yes	no
yes	not too much special effects because with psychological horrors its all in your head

What 'turns you off' when watching a psychological horror?	What profession should the villain have?
n/a	n/a
really obviously stupid moves. e.g. lighting a match and going up to the attic	caretaker
Bad character development.	Something intellectual, of high status.
women screming all the time	something that people find trust in such as a teacher or a nurse
Monsters	Doctor
men with bad bodies	murderer
sobbing family memebers and romantic scenes	teacher or doctor

please note that each specific colour refers to an different answers from the same person. From this questionnaire, I can determine that special effects should be avoided and the opening must be intellectually challenging. Insanity and bloodthirst are also popular themes and I think a psychopathic killer similar to the antagonist in Psycho or The Shining will be a good choice.

My Target Audience

Our Audience will be of Group C1 and B. This is because our film will make the audience think more than others, making the film ideal for an audience of a higher social status. As the film will show murders but will not be graphic, the age rating will be 15. This is also due to the film containing strong violence but mild language. The theme itself, a man committing murders, is not appropriate for younger audiences.

This audience wants to be intellectually challenged during a film so that they can engage with the film. As a result, I will make the film opening complicated to follow and understand so that my audience does not lose interest in the film.
As many people watch movies to solve their daily problems, I must first analyse what the common problems faced by my audience are. Considering that my audience have desk jobs or positions in middle management and teaching, they will often be stressed from their jobs. This again gives reason to have an intellectually challenging opening as the audience will become intrigued thus making them forget about their stress.
It is important to not bore my audience as this will compound upon their stress resulting in them turning off the film. First I must understand how my audience will be bored as different people find different things boring. A higher class audience are likely to find special effects boring in comparison to educated dialogue, which would explain the film and characters.

Analysis of Props

Costume Analysis

The BBFC and Age Ratings

FILM CLASSIFICATION & THE BBFC

Film classification is used to prevent minors from viewing content that is deemed inappropriate for them. The BBFC (British Board of Film Class) is an independent company that is responsible for the classification of films in Britain. This is necessary to prevent children viewing inappropriate scenes, which may affect them psychologically and have an adverse affect on society.

 The images above are the different types of film classification used by the BBFC.
These are different factors which affect the age rating of a movie.
DISCRIMINATION, VIOLENCE, BEHAVIOUR, LANGUAGE, HORROR, DRUGS, NUDITY, SEX & THEME

U: Universal, this is deemed appropriate for all ages. This may consist of mild and infrequent use of language and violence will be mild even if frequently used. Kissing is permitted and drug use will not be shown.

PG: Suitable for all ages, may be some unsuitable scenes. Requires parental guidance. likely to consist of typical school issues such as bullying or racism. Language is mild and infrequent but may contain words such as S**t and son of a b**ch. Violence will be mild and blood can be shown, although the visual representation will not be shown.

12A: This is for cinema release, under 12s may view if accompanied by an adult.
12: Only suitable for 12 and over. Use of the word f*** may be used and long fight scenes may be shown. Gory injuries may be shown, but no emphasis will be placed on it.

15: Only suitable for 15 and over. May consist of frequent strong language and discrimination with strong violence. Drug usage may be displayed as well as  references to sex and may contain nudity scenes. May contain horror scenes.

18: Only suitable for 18 and over. Likely to consist of strong frequent language and discrimination with strong violence such as gouging of eyes and very graphic scenes. Can contain sex scenes and nudity. Can contain strong horror.

R18: "The R18 category is a special and legally-restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults" from BBFC website. It can only be shown in specially licensed cinemas.

Audience groups

AUDIENCE GROUPS

Group A: Well paid professionals, highest class. Lawyers, Barristers, Doctors, Scientists, Dentists                        etc.

Downton Abbey is an example of a group A series as the characters are well paid professionals and their style of life relates to a group A audience more. 

Group B: Fairly well paid professionals. Teachers, middle management etc.

Dead Poets Society is an example of a group B film as Robin Williams plays a teacher and the life style of the characters would relate well to a group B audience.

Group C1: White collar professionals. Nurses, Bank clerks, people who wear white shirts to work.

Casualty is an example of a group C1 drama series about nurses in an emergency department at a hospital, while house sitter is about an architect, white collar, in a relationship.

Group C2: Blue collar professionals, skilled tradesmen. Electricians, mechanics, plumbers, carpenters                   etc.

Alien is an example of a group C2 horror movie. In alien, the main characters are mechanics, pilots etc on a ship. These relate to a group C2 audience.

Group D: Unskilled tradesmen. Post sorters, cleaners, dustbinmen etc.

Dwayne Johnson's Snitch is an example of a Group D film, as he becomes a lorry driver, which relates well to a group D audience.

Group E: Unemployed, pensioners, students and children.

Will Smith's Pursuit of Happyness relates to an unemployed audience as he plays the role of a homeless salesman. The film relates to how he gets a job and looks after his son, relating to the unemployed who often find themselves in similar scenarios. Group E films includes cartoons, such as SpongeBob Square Pants, to cater for the younger audience and gardening and cooking shows, such as Gardener's World, perhaps for the pensioners.

My horror opening will be aimed at C2, D and E as these groups are the common horror audience, which are from 15 to 25 years of age. For this, my opening will have to revolve around people of these social classes.

Still Frame Analysis

ANALYSIS OF STILL FROM THE CONJURING

In the still above, The woman is wearing a red blindfold as well as a red cardigan and skirt. This may represent the fact that she is surrounded by danger, as red is often used to represent danger through its link with blood. She has walked through a white door, suggesting that she has moved house to find a more happy life. This is linked with the fact that she is currently playing with her children. The picture in the left of the screen shows a cat, cats are family pets, making the audience feel that the mother is bonded with her children. The natural lighting through the window gives a natural feeling to suggest that the mother is a normal caring parent. The images on the far right of the screen supports the fact that she is bonded with her family as the picture s are likely to be family photos. The rug in the middle of the floor has rings of colour, the outer ring is red and the rug itself, white. The white colour links to the family while the red ring links to the danger they are in. The dark brown cupboard in the background links to evil, suggesting that the evil and danger of the house is shut away like clothes and waiting to be released. The wooden floor boards have an old look to them suggesting that the danger can easily break through as old wood is easily broken or rotted.

Typical Synopsis

TYPICAL SYNOPSIS

The synopsis is the plot of a film. The typical synopsis of psychological horror would be about a character who has a split personality or a mental conflict. The character can be either the protagonist or the antagonist. Throughout the film the character attempts to solve his conflict or work out who he is. Two good examples of this are Identity and Shutter Island.

In Identity, Malcolm Rivers has 10 different personalities, one of whom is responsible for his murders. The film revolves around the personalities being killed until Malcolm only has one personality. In Shutter Island Edward Daniels sent to a criminally insane hospital to investigate the escape of a patient. As he investigates the case he is later told that he is in fact a patient and he just thought that he was an investigator as part of a test that was created to break his insanity after murdering his wife who had drowned their children.

An alternative plot is when there is a psychopathic killer who is killing for revenge or some other mysterious reason. The film would be about the protagonist/s defeating the antagonist or escaping.
A good example of this is Nightmare on Elm Street where Freddy Krueger is out for revenge by killing his enemies children until one child fights back leading to a long term battle as the child attempts to bring Freddy to the real world, where e can be killed. The film may occasionally have a plot twist at the end such as in Final Destination, where they believe they have defeated death only to be killed later.

Youtube Documentaries which give an insight to horror

From the video above I have learnt that people like to be scared and have an adrenaline rush. Watching horror movies makes people remember their own traumatic memories. This would lead us to question why people would still watch horror movies. Well as stated in the videos we have a desire similar to 'scratching metal on a chalk board' were you hate the noise but like it at the same time. People have a 'negative centre' which feeds of this trauma and possibly people want to to relive these experiences. However horror movies also allows people to experience certain experiences such as serial killers or zombies. This is similar to the situation in total recall were people can purchase different memory experiences at a place called Rekall. The fact is people want to pulled away and want to forget about their boring day to day life and experience what it might be like to be an agent or living in an apocalypse, and even if this triggers traumatic memories for them it is worth the pain of memory to be able to experience such excitement that they would otherwise not feel.

Audience Expectations from Horror

AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS FROM HORROR

Horror audiences watch horror for several reasons:

• To be scared, this was shown in my questionnaire results, people tend to watch horror for a thrill or to be scared. This leads to a desire of seeing scary characters such as Freddy Krueger or zombies. 
• Many people enjoy plot twists and working out the characters, like in Scream.
• Horror audience tend to enjoy slasher scenes, such as those in Nightmare on Elm Street or Final Destination.
• As horror audiences tend to be from 15 to 25, typically from social groups C1, D and E, the movie tends to feature characters from those social groups.

Conventions of Psychological Horror

Common conventions seen in a Psychological horror are:

• Main character has a mental conflict or has some form of memory loss. This is seen in The Shining, where Jack often has mental images and in Identity, where Mallick has ten different personalities..
• The movie plays on common human fears. E.g. Creepy crawlies and darkness. In the film Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy tends to attack in dark areas, he also cuts himself open sometimes to reveal worms and insects.
• Children are often injured or attacked as this has a big affect on parents. This is seen in Nightmare on Elm Street, as the teenagers are murdered.They are also used as the antagonist in films as this has a more psychological affect on the audience, this was seen in Wicked Little Things, The Children and in many zombie films as some zombies are children.
• There is often a lot of tension and anticipation to build a horror element. This is shown in many horror movies, the scene tends to build up by use of music, location and body language. When a character runs away from the antagonist, the music will build up, he will start breathing heavily, looking behind him and will run into a narrow corridor or will be running around corners, where the audience believe the antagonist is waiting.
• The personality of characters is often not given in detail, the audience must work out which one is the antagonist, in a way similar to that in Scream or Se7en.

Camera Shots/Angles/Movements

Analysis of The Thing (1982) Opening

How does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

In this title sequence, background music only starts after around half a minute. The music is very deep and has a foreign/alien feeling. This would lead the audience to believe that the movie is either sci-fi or supernatural horror. The narrative is only developed by a alien looking spaceship entering the Earth's atmosphere, this suggests that the movie is about an alien that has landed on Earth. Character is not established.


How does the title sequence attract an audience’s interest?

The title sequence does not give away the plot, resulting in the audience wanting to watch more so that they can understand the movie more. This method works in a similar way as a cliff hanger, where the audience want to see more.


What do you consider to be the target audience of the film and why?

The film has a mass audience but is more specifically aimed at Group C2 audience as they can relate more to the characters in the film. The characters are pilots, engineers and similar professions, these relate mostly to group C2 audiences, who are skilled tradesmen.
From the opening I am unable to determine the age rating, but having seen scenes of the movie I would determine the movie to be an 18+ movie. This is because there are many graphic scenes which are unsuitable for young audiences. The film also contains mild language which is inappropriate for children below twelve. The movie is actually rated 16  as although violence is bad, language and other aspects are very moderate. The movie is also not scary or jumpy enough to be an 18.


Who has produced the film and how is that evident in the title sequence?


The film was produced by David Foster and Lawrence Turman. This is stated at around 1 minute into the title sequence.

Analysis of Pscho (1998) Opening

How does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

In this opening, the fast music establishes the horror genre, while the character and narrative is not established. Green is used to represent greed and jealousy. Green can also be associated with aliens and hence supernatural occurrences. Black refers to death and evil. So, there is a connection of death, evil, greed and jealousy. Possibly the film is about these elements. 

How does the title sequence attract an audience’s interest?

The fast music along with the animation is addictive, making the audience want to see more. The fact that nothing is given away by the opening makes the audience want to view more so that they know what the plot of the movie is.


What do you consider to be the target audience of the film and why?

From the opening itself, it s impossible to state what the target audience is. The movie itself is directed at a mass audience as its language and violence allow the movie to be suitable for a large market. The movie is more specifically aimed at groups B and C1, this is  the characters  themselves are from the same group. This leads to groups B and C1 audiences having greater sympathy with the characters.
From viewing scenes of the film I would state that the film is a 12 for current audiences, as there are only a few violent scenes, where actual wounds are not shown, making it unsuitable for younger audiences and little language makes it unnecessary to be a 15. The movie was actually rated as a 15 due to nudity scenes.

Who has produced the film and how is that evident in the title sequence?

At the end of the opening, it is stated that the film was produced by Gus Van Sant and Brian Grazer.

Analysis of Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski is a Polish film director born in Paris, 1933. His first film was Knife in the Water (1962) and his first english film was Repulsion (1965). He was nominated in the Oscars six times and has directed many psychological horrors, which is the genre for my Main Task. Psychological horror films that he has directed include; The Tenant (1976), Rosemary's Baby (1968) and China Town (1974). He has also directed films of other genres such as The pianist (2002), Oliver Twist (2005) and Carnage (2011).

The following are Roman Polanski quotes:

"My films are the expression of momentary desires. I follow my instincts, but in a disciplined way."

"You have to show violence the way it is. If you don't show it realistically, then that's immoral and harmful. If you don't upset people, then that's obscenity."

"The best films are because of nobody but the director."

From these quotes I have decided not to include any action in my horror opening as I would be unable to film it properly without stuntmen. This has led me to decide to do a psychological horror opening. Also, even though acting is key, it is most important that my actors fully understand what they need to do when filming and that I plan well enough so that I have thought and covered every possible aspect of Mis-en-Scene and so that I can create the best possible horror factor. 

A horror opening is somewhat similar to the prequel of a series, you have to captivate the audience without giving them too much information. Arguably, the most important part of a prequel is to end on a cliff hanger or to leave questions unanswered, which is what I will attempt to do in my Main Task.

Mise-en-Scene Analysis of Se7en opening - 24/10/2014

Resulting Action: I will link my points together to explain how a theme is established and will be more explanatory in my paragraphs by explaining my points and linking them to the effect created on the audience.

Analsis of The Conjuring Opening

How does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

Newspaper articles show that the story is about a haunted house, showing that the film is a horror, more specifically, supernatural horror. Black and white images along with music instills a horror feeling within the audience. Black and white indicate a reference to the past, again showing that the events have already occurred.

Character is established at the very beginning of the opening where the two families, the Perrons and the Warrens, are shown by family photos. In the second frame shown above we can see the Warrens giving a lecture, showing that they are the ghost hunters and that the Perrons own the haunted house. The children of the Perrons are shown many times in the opening but, with different people. A newspaper article also shows that the Warrens got rid of a possessed doll called Annabelle. This links the film to its prequel, Annabelle.

Narrative is established by newspaper articles which, sets the scene to show that ghosts are haunting a house, which is shown by a frame showing the house. The newspaper articles indicate that ghost hunters arrived to tackle the problem. These articles along with pictures are placed in front of the audience by an unknown person, indicating that the events have already happened.

How does the title sequence attract an audience’s interest?

The music itself generates a horror feeling and the newspaper articles begin to set the scene and build up tension, making the audience want to know the entire story. The font used seems to be a commonly used one, possibly, times new roman or verdana. This tricks the audience into letting down their guard as the film actually contains many shocking scenes.

What do you consider to be the target audience of the film and why?
 

The target audience appears from the opening to be for a Group A, B and C1 audience as the opening seems to show an old fashion style of life of the characters, which tends to appeal to the higher class audience more. I would rate the film as a 15, as it contains many shocking scenes which are unsuitable for the younger audience. There are no sexual or violent scenes making it appropriate for under 18s. The actual age rating of the film is 15+.

Who has produced the film and how is that evident in the title sequence?

 

The Conjuring was produced by New Line Cinema, The Safran Company and The Evergreen Media Group. This was evident as it was written in the title sequence following the seventh frame above.

It was individually produced by Tony DeRosa-Grund, Peter Safran and Rob Cowan. This was shown in the second frame at the beginning of the post.