Research Into Different Film Genres.

Halloween 1978. 

We did some research into this film as this is a genre which is similar to ours, horror. This film was produced by John Carpenter and co-written by Debra Hill. The film's overview is a six year old boy who murders his older sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife, because of his un-expected actions he gets put into a psychiatric hospital. However 15 years later he escapes from this hospital, returns to his hometown and stalks a group of young teenage girls. I have managed to find some photos of the set which they used:

From this image we can see that the setting is in a normal house, this would be good for our opening title as we the filming would be much more easier. This is a high shot which makes the character look small and vulnerable. 

This image is similar to the one up-loaded above however, it  shows a clearer image of the character which is being portrayed as the "villain". The image appears to be quite dark, however the "villain" still seems to be clear to its audience. This is a low shot which makes the "villain" appear more powerful by putting the audience in a more vulnerable position.

The characters:

This character is " Jamie Lee Curtis" who is Laurie Strode who plays the main women character in the film halloween. From doing some research about her when she was in this film, she was portrayed as a younger character. This is what we were thinking of doing for our opening title, using a girl who is around the age 15-18 years old. 

This is also the main character who kills his sister on halloween, when he killed his sister he wore a mask which covered his identity. Due to what he had done he gets sent to a psychiatric unit. However 15 years later he escapes from the hospital. When he comes back out we don't see his face clearly, we can still see he is about 30+ years old, this again relates to our opening title as we were interested in using someone who was older to play the act of the "villain".


Halloween Trailer.

This is the trailer for Halloween, due to this being an old film the effects they use can be much different however they are still very daunting. As the trailer first begins to eerie music the audience can sense that something is going to happen. Also I find it very effective that when they film the trailer the audience are looking through the eyes of the villain.

Scream. 

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This film is also related to our interest in horror.  The first ever scream came out in 1996 and was writtem by Kevin Williamson. This film uses conventions such as "Don't worry I will be back in 2 minutes" this is making it clear to the reader that they won't really be back. 

From this shot we can see that this film was set in a suburban town this makes the audience believe that it is a safe and protected environment to be in, which later on in the film the audience see that this isn't actually the case. 

Characters: 

Drew Barrymore plays one of the main girls within the film "Scream", she plays a younger girl between the ages 16-17 years old, so she is still in education. However she is portrayed in the film as a pure virginal girl, as they dress her in white to show what she is like.

This couple are also the main characters within the film, Stuart Macher and Tatum Riley. This is the typical "popular' couple who are in love or "romantically involved". Stuart is the second person which gets killed. However before Tatum or Stuart get killed Stuart organises a big party at his house as his parents are away, and whilst she is on her way round she gets killed. This is creating drama for its audience, which we aim to do with our film.

Scream Trailer
This is the trailer for Scream which I think is very effective and makes the audience have suspense, this is because it is hard for us to see where the man playing the villain appears from. The cuts which they use in very effective as we see different clips from throughout the film, this creates tension. The music which they use is a constant sound which sounds like a fast heart beat, this builds up tension for its audience.

Psycho 1960:

The films plot is "Sam Loomis"  is in need of money as he wants to marry his wife so he steals $40,000 from one of his employers clients and makes a fast escape in his car. Janet (the main women character) parks at the Bates Motel and asks if they have any rooms available. When she is in this hotel she gets spied on and when she is having a shower the "psycho" appears.


Setting:

This film is set very far away from any other surroundings, this could be classed as "out in the sticks". This makes the audience feel more anxious and vulnerable because it is a quiet town.

Characters:

This is the main women character "Janet", she is portrayed as the working class women when she first enters the film. Our first impressions of her is that she is morally ambiguous because she is having an affair, however when the film first begins she is portrayed as the heroine.

This is the character who owns "bates motel", Norman Bates. The audience first impressions on him is that he is a normal man, this is mainly based upon his appearance. However we soon find out that he is weird or a "psycho" as he keeps his dead mother in the upstairs loft.


Psycho Trailer
This trailer is also good as it doesn't give to much away within it, we can see that Norman Bates looks like a normal man but towards the end of the trailer we can see that actually he looks weird. The music helps to build up tension and also makes us see that something bad is happening.