Research Task One Aspects of Teen Horror

During this piece of research I was tasked with looking a multiple different films to then conduct my findings which would then impact the various different aspects of my own media product I was creating with the group.

Scream
Created : 1996 Directed by : Wes Craven Production Company : Dimension Films and Woods Entertainment Box Office Revenue : $161,600,000 To research Scream would be a massive help to the production of our own film we were making. Scream combines a clever storyline with a lot of twists and turns plus was one of the first films to really implement conventions of horror which is still around to this very day. Target Audience The target audience for this particular movie would a young age and those that are into the horror genre. The reason I chose those who are in depth with horrors is because of the number of different references spotted throughout the film. Those of a young age would watch it because all the main characters within the film all go to high-school so they could make a connection between that. Opening Scene Analysis The reason I chose to analyse the opening scene rather than the whole film is because of it's impact it has on the viewer and because of the numerous different codes and conventions it uses. The first convention used is the teen girl blonde on her own. This creates a sense of being alone and because of the stereotype towards blondes that means she's not as intelligent as other people. The way they used sound within the movie is very conventional on harsh loud sounds overlaying the quiet aspects of one girl alone. For example you have the overwhelming silence and then the popcorn would start popping loudly in the background. This creates a sudden bit of tension. Also the telephone ring is very disturbing and hard to ignore. All these sounds are digetic which means characters within the world are able to hear them. The use of sounds commit further on when on the phone call the voice is clearly disorientated and muffled which is eary because of the fact you cannot recognise it with the human ear. Another part of mise-en-scene which is used well is the lighting around the house she's in. Inside the house it's a very bright white including furniture and wallpaper for example. Whereas outside of the house everything is dark and black. This represents the light and dark theory which presents an evil versus good effect. The use of this lighting creates a clear divide between the two characters seen. This also helps the audience discover which is bad and good.

The use of costume also helps present horror where the villain as such wears a black hooded sheet the girl wears white. This goes back to the light vs dark and good vs evil aspect I covered earlier. This again reflects this notion. The mask which the villain wears have become an iconic part of horror nowadays and it represents anonymity with the character which means you can't put a face to him, much like the voice. This in itself is scary. The film covers a lot of conventions associated with horrors such as night-time, screaming, masks, gore and secluded locations. All these are combined into this opening segment which means the audience can automatically identify which genre it is and can help them relate to other horrors.

Nightmare on Elm Street

Created : 1984 Directed by : Wes Craven Production Company : New Line Cinema, Media Home Box Office Revenue : $25,504,513 This media text also created by Wes Craven provides a great comparison on his earlier work which is this compared to his newer work which I researched earlier, Scream. It shows how horror codes and conventions have improved overtime. So I'll be looking at the same aspects I covered in Scream for a comparison and then draw a small conclusion on which one provides the better aspects towards the horror genre. The target audience remains the same as Scream where it targets a young audience preferably late teen. This again is because they can most relate to the characters which are in the same age group. Opening Scene Analysis The first couple of shots during the opening sequence relies on its camera shots to gain its tension where it focusses on extreme close-ups on different parts of the persons body. This shows that they're deliberately not showing everything so you can't get a familiarity with that person. The use of this also means you don't know who they are. Thus keeping the anonymity. The use of sound is also added to create additional tension. The emphasis on deep breathing that they use is something that we'd like to use in our piece. To single out bits of breathing show that you're focussing specifically on this therefore making it apparent to the viewer. The viewer will relate that when you breath heavily you normally are scared. Also there's non-digetic chilling music in the background which progressively gets louder as the climax approaches. As mentioned earlier the camera angles are used to a good effect but also to add to this the editing where the producers have stringed everything together in a very dramatic way. This film also uses the standard horror conventions of darkness and standard kitchen knifes being used as weapons. In comparison to Scream it definitely takes itself more seriously so it's hard to compare the two because they focus on different parts of horror. To base ours on however would be more wise to focus on Nightmare on Elm Street.

Paranormal Activity
Created : 2007 Directed by : Oren Peli Production Company : Dreamworks Pictures and Paramount Pictures Box Office Revenue : $193,355,800

When compared to the previous two film case studies this film definitely will help identify how horror movies have came along during recent years. Plus because Paranormal Activity was shot on a relatively small budget it'd be good to see how they managed to film in such a small budget which is obviously where ours is in. Target Audience The target audience for this movie would be in the range of 18-28, so young adults. I think this is the targeted audience because younger and older audience would be too afraid of the horror which the film commits. Also because of the reviews claiming it to be too scary means that older age groups may be put off. One of the bedroom scene analysis This particular scene was done well because of the simplicity that was involved and also goes back to the point on being on a small budget and got a tight time schedule. This particular scene used only one type of shot and angle which was in the corner of the bedroom that included both characters and the paranormal activities that were happening around them. This means that everything was taken during one shot which is a massive time saver as it reduced editing time and ultimately is easier for the producers. The lighting in this particular shot was also done effectively which was dark and had a blue tint which was because of the camera lense which is made to look like an ordinary camera. The effect of this is making it seem more realistic and ultimately evokes fear because of the darkness. It also displays shadows much longer which mades things seem more eary and strange. From this movie we can learn to be very simplistic about the techniques we use to film. For example instead of taking 5 different shots of the same thing and only use one. Use a single shot and ride with it rather than wasting time and effort sorting through the unused pieces of equipment.

Alien
Created : 1979 Directed by : Ridley Scott Production Company : 20th Century Fox Box Office Revenue : 80,931,801 The film Alien is very different from the other films I've researched so far. This one is different because ultimately it's not trying to be a horror film rather a science fiction film but is now also categorized as a horror film even if it didn't intentionally do so. The target audience for this film would be science fiction fans so skewed towards males at around the 21-35 range primarily because of the genre which it is in. Also because of some of the actors previous films this would also drive in an audience. Chest-burster Scene I chose this scene because of the contrast we have. Where it starts off with a happy scene with chatting it soon becomes chaos. Also another interesting fact about this scene is that the actors themselves were not told of what was happening in the scene until it happened. Which adds to the tension which is real within them rather than acted. This could be something we consider for our production. Another piece is the sound used within the scene. The screams of the lady scared and the sudden bone cracking with the bursting is all used for effect to create tension and provoke fear. Each of the sounds used were loud and very high pitched getting the immediate attention of the viewer. These types of sounds are something we should look at. Also similar to scream it used the convention of light vs dark where the room itself was white and the costumes that actors were wearing was white. Whereas the alien is much dark and immediately ran for the darkest place it could find. This convention is also something we should consider. Overall Alien does horror very well even when it didn't really intentionally do so. It provokes fear from the realism of the actors because they didn't know themselves and also the sound is excellently placed.

The Ring
Created : 2002 Directed by : Gore Verbinski Production Company : DreamWorks SKG Box Office Revenue : $128,579,698 The final film I've chosen to do is one that isn't isolated like the rest of the films I've researched. In my opinion it's set in a more realistic location and setting. Therefore it has a more realistic narrative that is far more believable than the other four I've researched. I'm going to be looking at the opening scene for this film. During the opening scene the film is primarily focussed on two teenage girls which would imply that the target audience would be teenagers. However this is a little misleading as the rest of the film doesn't follow suit to this target audience. Opening Scene Analysis The first piece of mise-en-scene that can be analysed is the costumes which the two girls are wearing. They are both wearing short dresses and school uniforms which signify innocence and vulnerable. The fact that they're girls as well also conforms to traditional horror conventions. Editing has also been used to great effect the way they go from calm to tense numerous times. For example when one girl pretends to die and they both begin laughing. This makes us assume the worse which means the film is playing on your emotions. A great use of props is when the TV turns on by itself. This is unnatural and eary. It's putting a common piece of equipment such as the TV and placing it in a different scenario which means while the audience can relate to it it also gives off a strange scary feeling. This film is excellent inspiration for our film as it'll use technology similar to how this film did and also uses a lot of standard conventions which we are going to try and confront.