Horror Film Codes and Conventions

sourced from(http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html)

Horror films are known to play on audiences worst fears of tourture, the unknown, death and murder and exagerate them to an extreme in the situation and the action taking place. They then add some entertainment into the piece for the story to make sense and be more appealing and reaslistic to the audience and finish it of with a shocking and most commonly gruesome ending with either none or maximum of 2 survivors of the whole ordeal. This imagery and story being told of our worst fears and hates in the world but in a safe, controlled and comfortable envionmnet allows people to be scared but also know that they are safe from what they are seeing on the screen, is what entises people to go and watch these horror films continously, making this one of the most successful and highest grossing genres of all. Horror films are also known as Chilllers, Scary Movies, Spoookfests and the Macabre.

Horror films were researched and developed out of old scary folktales of witches, ghosts and the devil as these were told on nights such as Halloween to scare all listeners. They then became gothic and victorian novels that would still be influencial to film dircectors over 100 years later and were written by now famous Horror authors such as Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and Bram Stoker (Dracula). They were then brought into the world of cinema by silent German films, creating supernatural sequnces of terror for all of those watching. One of the most successful ghost stories of those was Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (1919) (aka The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) from director Robert Wiene. One of the most successful and earliset vampire films created by the silent German cinema was Nachte des Grauens (1916), aka Night of Terror

Some Horror films are also connected to another genre aswell to add a sense of realism to the film, such as an escaped prisoner, science experiment gone wrong or a mental patient that had escaped, as all of these are situations that as humans living in todays world, we have a sense that they could come true. In the most successful Horror filsm the horror and danger is usually defeated and comes to and end by the end of the film with the last scene being of the victims or the killer going back to their life of normality and calm, showing the passing of what they had been fighing and their victory in know being able to live a normal and safe life again.

Our Continuity Piece

For our continuity piece me and my group member firstly decided on what we wanted in the piece and what shots we wanted, to make sure that the required three of Match on Action, 180 Rule and Shot Reverse Shot, where incorporated into it. We then drew up a detailed storyboard, which detailed each shot that we would use for the sequence and the action that would be taking place in each of these shots, with images of the actors and their movement used to indicate this. We then numberd them as to which order they would taking place in, to ensure that we kept to our original plan when filming the piece.

When we started filming, we firstly set up all of our equipment and worked with the camera and actors until we were happy with the way in which it looked. We then filmed the shot that we wanted and then watched it back to make sure that it was correct and had all the elements within it that we needed. We then continued this until we had completed the seqeunece in the order that we wanted it to be.

Once it was finished it was then showcased to the class and we found that the feedback on the piece was very good. The comments we recieved were 'it flowed well from one shot to the next' and 'it was a good use of the differant shots that we chose'. The constructive critisism comments that we received were ' the match on action could have been more clear and one of the shots could be re-filmed and amended to make it a better match on action.

Once we evaluated these comments we then decided to improve our piece by taking this advice and re-filming the last shot to make it a more clear match on action and also taking out the original last shot of the sequence to replace it with the new one. We then planned out this simple but very effective second to last shot and how we would make sure that it linked with the previous shot well in action and shot type and made sense on camera to the audience. Once we had done this we decided from which angle we were going to film it and the exact action that was going to take place in order to make it a full and clear match on action. The camera was then set up by me and my group member and we informed the actor on what was going to be happening in the shot and what movement and timing was going to be needed from them. The scene was then recorded how we planned it and we again watched it back from the start of the piece to make sure that it was correct and flowed well from the original scenes to the new one. We then decided that it didnt need any changes to be made to it as it was correct and we were happy with it.

The link for our continuity piece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyuSqCewNfQ

Top 10 Horror Films of all time

1. Shinning
2. Excorsist
3. Rosemary's Baby
4. Jaws
5. Halloween
6. Poltergeist
7. American Werewolf in London
8. Evil Dead 2
9. Frankenstein
10. Dawn of the Dead

Horror Films in the UK-business data

Horror Films in the UK in 2007

sourced from <http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/1/p/2008.pdf>

Number of releases = 24

Percentage of all film releases = 4.7%

Gross at the box office = £28.8 million

Top performing title = Saw 4

Cinema Audiences

Once per year

Male = 61%

Female = 62%

Once per month

Male = 20%

Female = 16%

Films with a greater female audience

Hairspray

Enchanted

Miss Potter

St Trinians

Atonement

Shrek the Third

Films with a greater male audience

300

Transformers

Die Hard 4.0

Spider-Man 3

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I am Legend

The Simpsons

Films with an equal audience

Amazing Grace

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Becoming Jane

Notes on a Scandel

Stardust

Ratatouille

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phonenix

Oceans Thirteen

Run, Fat Boy, Run

Mr. Bean's Holiday

The Golden Compass

Pirates of the Carbibean: At World's End

The Last King of Scotland

The Bourne Ultimatum

Hot Fuzz

Sunshine

28 Weeks Later

Go to the cinema at least once a year

Age 7–14 = 86%

Age 15–24 = 82%

Age 25–34 = 71%

Age 35–44 =70%

Age 45–54 = 61%

Age 55+ = 34%

Go to the cinema at least once a month

Age 7–14 = 28%

Age 15–24 = 42%

Age 25–34 = 23%

Age 35–44 = 16%

Age 45–54 = 10%

Age 55+ = 5%

Investors

There are mutiple investors in the UK film industry that put money in the production and creating of a majority of the films come out of this country every year.

• the Department for CultureMedia and Sport

• other central government departments

• the governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland andWales

• the National Lottery

• HerMajesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

• BBC Films

• Film4

• the European Union

Top UK films internationally

1 Harry Potter and theOrder of the Phoenix = $937 million

2 The Bourne Ultimatum = $442 million

3 The Golden Compass = $254 million

4 Mr Bean’s Holiday = $226 million

5 Stardust = $134 million

6 1408 = $122 million

7 Casino Royale = $99 million

8 Fred Claus = $96 million

9 Hot Fuzz = $81million

10 Hannibal Rising = $81million

Overall horror films did not do very well in the year 2007. Not many of them were released, but the ones that were did create a buzz amongst the media and the viewing audiences grossing a large amount of profit (Saw 4). From the percentages of the most popular genders and age groups that were visiting the cinemas i can also see that my film must be eitha a 15 age restriction, as if it is 18 then it is too restrcting and could cause me to lose audiences, on the other hand it cannot be a 12 as this may be seen as not scary enough and again this may lead to me losing viewing audiences.

I can also see the overall high sucess of British films of all genres all over the world, and therefore this means that my film will be more likely to be received and watched by a large number of people in varies countries as the British film industry has built up a very good reputation by delivering classic, high quality material over the past 10 years.

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Eagle Eye

The scene first starts with a low angled long shot of 2 young male boys running along the sand dunes towards the bottom. Some non diegetic music then begins with an orchestra style sound. The diegetic sound of the childrens laughs and banter can also be heard over the music as they playfully race to get to where they are going.

The direction of the camera then changes as now the camera is in front of the boys instead of behind them, with them now running towards the camera. The camera is at a low level allowing the boys to easily run past as though it was not their. From this shot the clothes that they are wearing can be clearly seen and, we can see that they have on robe materials such as linen and light weight cotton. The colours of the costumes can also been seen, such as whites, creams, baige and browns. They are both also wearing brown religious head caps, with all of these factors such as the sand dunes and clothing we as the audience can now guess that this scene is set in a middle eastern counrty were light weight clothes are worn and sand can be seen everywhere. Their religion can also be guessed by the head cap that they are both wearing, as this is a known symbol of the Islam faith along with the dialogue of the boys speaking in a differant language that is not understood or recognised.

In the next shot the camera then changes direction again as though following the boys, this time though it starts of at a low level as though flat on the ground and rises up on a crane to a high angled shot over the edge of the mountain to reveal a long shot of a middle eastern style small village. The non diegetic sound of the music now climaxes and reaches a higher tone becoming louder as though something very important has been revealed by showing this village. The film credits then start to come across the bottom of the screen.

The editing then cuts to a long shot of a sand track road in the hot desert with the sun beaming down on the location, with 2 4x4 trucks and one town car travelling along in a convoy form, towards the camera at high speeds. The non diegetic sound of music now tones down and starts to slowly fade away.

The scene then changes to a medium shot of the villagers sitting around happily getting on with daily life. Children playing playing adults chatting and camels being loaded up for walks across the desert. The clothes that these men are wearing is also adding to the Islamic faith interpreted and the middle eastern culture guessed, by them wearing their head wraps and robes style light weight clothing for the hot and sandy conditions. The surroundings of the village can also be seen from this shot, with the location being very isolated and minimal in the middle of the desert sands and hot sun. The buildings are also very simple and basic structured, connoting that the area is not very wealthy and lives more of their own land and produce then buying from larger citites as there are non nearby.

The next shot is from the eye of a riffle gun with the convoy of approaching cars on the target centre, the cars are being watched by advanced technology which does not come from the basic and inadvanced villege which we had just been introduced to. This suggests that there are other organisations in the area and they are watching everything that is going on.

The editing then switches to the inside of a control room, of which looks like the goverment, as it is very luxurius, modern and comfortable for the workers inside, with multiple high-tech computers. These features also denote that these people may not be in the same location that we as the audience just were. The first diegetic dialogue that is used it the commander in charge saying 'we have a visual on a possible high jacking target' these words state clearly that they have a target that they are watching and their accent states that this is the American goverment.

The camera then zooms into a medium shot of the main screen, which is high-tech tracking system, which when instructed locates the target straight away. The use of this high-tech system connotes a very important operation is taking place in this scene.

The basic plot of the film has know started as they are now are into the action of tracking this target and so have now established the tone of the film.

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Taken

The opening of the film starts with footage of a homemade video recording. The occasion that is taking place is firstly established by a close up of a colourful red party hat that has 'Happy Birthday' written on it in bright yellow large lettering. The next shot then estalishes the identity of the birthday person, as the camera pans right, to the head of the table and then zooms into an medim close up, on the small female sitting on the end in a party dress and plastic princess tiara on her head, excitedly opening up her birthday present. The diegetic sound of laughter of young children, playing and having fun can be heard over the soft and slow paced non diegetic sound of the music playing.

The credits now start to appear on the screen to the right hand side. As though not to distract and take away from the footage being presented to the viewing audience. This not wanting to interupt, shows the importance of this video footage to the film and the reason why it is the first scene that we as the audience see of the film. More deeper information is also presented to the audience during this home video, as the bond between the mother and daughter is also shown by the body lanuage used. For example her mother always being positioned right by her daughters side, with a protective arm around her while she celebrates her birthday, and the fact that her mother is the only person who she interactes with in the video, as though no one else in the party is significant to the mother, daughter or camera person filming.

The only dialogue used in this homevideo footage is used to convery the young childs emotion and happiness about her horse figurine present. Mother asks 'Do you like it'. The child responds by simply smiling and nodding conveying an excited and pleased emotion.

The camera then shakely tracks forward to the childs mother presenting her daughter with a lit birthday cake until a medium close up. A 5 candle is the only one on the cake and this is done to make it clearly visable to the audience the age of the child. The positioning of the cake is also specific to make the number clear to the camera and the audience ensuring that this piece of information cannot be missed. As she puts the cake down on the table the footage is cut up in as though multiple photographic frozen images all being played to create the look of movement. The non diegetic sound of knife blades being sharpened against each other are also played in sync with the chopping of the image. This convention is usually used in thriller films to allow the audience to remember certain images and also to add some intensity to the sequence.

The camera then zooms in until it is at a close up position on the young girl as she leans forward and blows out her candles. This scene has been edited to make the blowing out of the candles a trigger to the next scene, linking the two together by making her blwoing emphasised in sound and so as though she is blowing the memory out of the males mind. The adjoining scene is a medium close up of a male suddenly waking up from sleep, and from the surrounding mis en scene it can be seen that he is in a dark room alone. The way in which he suddenly wakes up connotes that the previous scene was either a dream or memory of his past. By having these two scenes together a vital piece of information is shown and then when the male is introduced he is quickly established as the main character.

The camera then zooms out until, a long shot of the male from across the room establishing his surroundings of a living room in a house and he sits on the sofa in the dark. The credits then contiue but only at this point is his real name presented on the credits and it freezes there next to him for a while to add that he is the main character in this film. This is very unconvetional of any film as usually the main character is introduced first at the start of the naming credits. The credits then continue to roll as usual, but this time they start to appear at the centre bottom of the screen, also adding to the specific way in which this male was introduced. The male then switches on a table lamp, only allowing minimal light into the room, as this conveys a serious tone to the scene and establishes a serious tone to the rest of the film. The non diegetic sound of the piano music now starts to get louder in tone as he stars longingly at the photo which he holds in his hands.

The only diegetic sound that is heard in this scene is his sighs as he excepts his missing the female and places the picture back down on the side table.

A medium shot is used as he gets up and leaves the room to get ready for the day. The camera hangs back and does not follow him, it then zooms into a close up shot of the photo he had been looking at and reveals a female sitting on a horse smiling happliy at the camera.

The words of the title of the film then appear again to the right hand side of the screen and photo 'Taken' The placing of this title of the film connotes that the female in the film has been taken, by either death or kidnapping and that the rest of the film is going to be based around her safe return. His acceptance of the situation also shows that she may have been missing a long time as he does not seem angry or sad, just missing her more than any other emotion.