Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Online technologies were particularly useful in terms of research. Due to the nature of our main task, the main technology we referred to was the website Youtube, as this allowed us to deconstruct teaser trailers and find any necessary tutorials for effects we wanted to achieve, such as injury make up . This made it easier to find resources and consider different inspirations that might affect our final piece, from multiple genres. IMDb, the online film information site, was also used in order to find out basic information about films that we were examining, so that we could better relate them to our projects. 

In terms of research, we also used the interactivity of multiple social networking and survey sites in order to communicate with our audience via different formats. For example, one of the first pieces of research that we conducted was the creation of a survey aimed at our target audience, on SurveyMonkey . This form of research was imperative for our project as it allowed us to collate the expectations of our target demographic with our other findings in order to better create a successful and effective finished piece. An example of the importance of the questionnaire can be seen in Question 5, which showed our audience’s expectations that we adhered to conventions of supernatural horrors, and led us to only include one shot of the embodiment of the spirit towards the end of the trailer in order to reflect the majority’s opinion. 

Other technologies that allowed us to communicate with our audience were the social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Flickr. By creating pages on these sites, we were able to involve our audience in the various steps of the creative process, making them feel more invested in the finished product, and maintain a steady course of feedback on our decisions. For example, we posted our various poster designs on Facebook and asked for feedback, leading us to make our final decision of which poster would be most effective and therefore successful with audiences. We posted the webpage development and draft teaser trailer on social networking sites as well, in order to receive a wide range of feedback and make any adjustments that could improve the quality of our work. The use of social networking has also allowed us to advertise our product, and were this a real film we would partake in online advertising on a large scale in order to attract our main demographic of 15-25, who have a large online presence.

In terms of logging our creative process, we also regularly kept a blog on the website Blogger. This allowed us easy access to all of our information so that we could organise our work and become used to presenting our work in an appropriate format. Contrasting this technology with the project of last year, it has helped us maintain a much better sense of organisation and allowed us to experiment with different forms of media that could be useful to us, such as embedded videos and hyperlinks.  

 For the actual creation of our product, we used a range of technologies. This ranged from basic photo and video cameras in order to capture the raw footage, to editing software such as iMovie and Garageband. These editing softwares allowed us to create the teaser trailer easily, making them to the highest quality possible. Through regular usage we became well versed in editing techniques allowing us to test different effects until we had created a piece that successfully portrayed our concept. 
We also used content downloaders in order to take music and sound effects from Youtube, so that we could edit them on Garageband to achieve the sound we desired. An example of the effects we were able to achieve with Garageband is the layering of recorded whispers used throughout the trailer, which we felt was particularly effective. We were also able to use iMovie to reverse the sound of laughter to create unnatural sounds, which when placed with the whisper effects sounded particularly distorted and unnerving. We were also able to edit pieces of music to distort them to make them appear more effective and work in parallel with the images being shown.

The image for the poster was created using various editing software. The initial editing was achieved on Picassa and Adobe Photoshop as references in these posts, creating a base image to experiment with in different ways for the development of the final piece. After this the various different poster possibilities were created using the online photo editing software Picnik, which allowed a wide range of effects such as ‘Ghostify’ and ‘Blur’ to generate different choices for us to consider. By using a few different editing programmes we were able to examine a wide range of possible visual effects so that we could make more professional and informed posters. 

We used the webpage creation site Wix in order to make the webpage for our film as is shown in these posts . Due to the specific purpose of this site, we were able to create a professional product with appropriate effects and layout to support the genre and concept of our film. Although we had difficulty using the site at first, with repeated use and trial and error, we soon became used to the formatting and could achieve the effects that we wanted, such as the slight enlargement of hyperlinks when hovered over with the mouse. Here is our final webpage .

Party Scene - Skins

For our party scene we want to examine the mise en scene and effects used to create the atmosphere. We have looked at television party scenes in order to take inspiration from multiple platforms during our media piece.

The scene we considered was the trailer for series one of Skins , a drama about teenagers in England. It was therefore an important inspiration as it related to a similar type of characters to our film. The trailer uses lots of quick straight cuts in order to show the fast pace of the party and also suggest their intoxicated perceptions of what they are doing, in that they have little control or thought over what they are doing. The fast shots also show a range of actions and a large number of people, reflecting their energy and enjoyment of partying. The shots are mainly mid shots and close ups to reflect the personal nature of the party between friends, and showing their exposed actions that they carry out in front of others such as stripping or kissing. This therefore reflects a lack of privacy in their actions, perhaps linking to confidence, or again a lack of control or care.

Shots of corrupt actions other than drinking, such as taking drugs, are shown, reflecting their personalities and their freedom as young people. It reflects the common perception of young people as irresponsible party goers that are not sensible, therefore playing into stereotypes in order to create ideas as to the subject of the television series. The shots keep returning to some characters in order to show their importance and suggest that they will be main characters in the series. At some points flickering lights are used to show strobe lighting, reflecting the party atmosphere and creating a sense of disorientation for the audience as they try to follow what is occurring. This creates a similar sense of confusion for the audience to what the characters may be feeling due to their intoxication, so creates interest in the audience as they want to find out what happens.

The camera is mainly kept steady, following the action but not taking part in it. It does not appear to be handheld so that the audience can see some of what is happening. As the music builds the cuts become more fast paced and show the increased intensity of the characters as they begin arguing and throwing up due to their partying. This continues to build until the music stops and the shot lingers on the main characters lying on a bed asleep or passed out, showing the climax of their evening. Incidentally, the costumes of the characters appear stylish and physically appealing, although in some cases they are taken off to reveal underwear, showing the promiscuity of the characters involved.

The party scene from 'Skins', although a trailer so somewhat different to actual party scenes from the series, still applies to our film as it is for our teaser trailer so we will use similar techniques to show small parts of the party. However, since our trailer only consists of a small amount of partying it is more difficult to give as much detail as this trailer has used. However, we are going to use similar effects for our trailer with fast cuts between different shots. We have decided that instead of using straight cuts we will use a fading effect between the shots, in order to suggest the girls' intoxication and therefore lack of awareness of their surroundings. This effect slightly mimics their drunk state, so creates a similar feeling of disorientation in the audience watching so that they are more involved with the scene and by extension the characters.
We are also going to use similar shots of mid shots and close ups in order to show the intense and personal party, as well as emphasising their lack of inhibitions. The camera will be similarly used with steady movements showing the party and not shaking in a way that hinders the understanding too much. Although mainly dancing, we are also including some corrupt actions other than drinking, in the form of an extreme close up of two girls kissing. This plays into boarding school stereotypes and shows their lack of inhibitions. It also emphasises that they are modern teenagers in that they are more sexually free and confident. The extreme close up shot is similar to recurring shots in the trailer that show kisses taking place, referring to the intimate nature of the kiss.
Our trailer will similarly build up during the party scene before reaching a climax when the girls start to use the ouija board, and we will use longer shots in a similar way to the trailer and fade out the music to create a sudden stop in the previously fast tempo. This will make the audience more attentive as the sudden change shows something important to be happening.


-Emily

House Location

We researched the locations of films in terms of the homes of the protagonists. As a number of successful horror films are American, the scale of the houses is much larger than achievable in England, but the same theory applies.

In 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose', the house is large with large grounds. The house is colourful with pale walls and a red roof, creating a sense of normality and welcome about the house which will be subverted during the events of the film. The house does not appear threatening in any way, which will again be contrasted later on during the events of the film in order to better shock the audience.

The house in 'The Haunting in Connecticut' is similar in that it is also of a large scale. It also appears very normal with pale yellow/cream walls that make it appear welcoming. The trees surrounding the house appear natural and welcoming at the beginning of the film, although during the events of the film they could be considered to lend to the feelings of imprisonment and helplessness as the house seems to turn against them. The house appears wide and open with the large windows, which will again be subverted later when it turns into a negative place.

The inside of a girl's room in 'Sorority Row' shows it to be large, with pale colours making it appear more open and neutral. It contains personal items such as images on the walls and mirrors, showing it to be a comfortable place for the girls to be. It is tidy and appears organised, suggesting a level of normality to their lives. The features are well kept and detailed, suggesting a wealthy character that can afford a nice room and furniture.

Through researching the home locations of the protagonists it is clear that they need to have large spacious houses in order to appear aspirational in their wealth and success so that audiences are more drawn into the narrative. Using a large house would also support the characters being wealthy and able to attend a boarding or private school. It is also clearly important that the house suggests a level of normality at the beginning of the film, which will then be subverted when events occur and the house becomes a threatening prison. This will make it appear more shocking and also make the audience feel more intense feelings of fear as it is suggested that even comfortable and secure places can become sources of concern. The normality can be created by the use of neutral colours inside, and personal touches that reflect its supposed security. If the house is tidy and has nice features and furniture, it also suggests that the family is normal while suggesting wealth. As well as suggesting that the family is normal, the stylish interiors can also support their wealth.

 This is the interior of the room that will be shown during the party and seance scene, and it is the room of which most of the furnishings are seen, as in later shots there is low lighting and they are mid shot or close up. These rooms are suitable for the girls as they are large and open with pale walls and large windows that make it appear welcoming and normal. There are a number of personal items and decorations around the room, which is also very tidy and organised. It presents a perfect representation of the girl who lives there as wealthy and normal, and makes the house appear a nice and comfortable place to live. This will be subverted in later shots as they

become darker and less of the rooms can be seen, making the house feel smaller and present the idea of imprisonment and confinement within the walls. The lighting will also act to make it appear threatening through the use of shadows, making the walls appear dark as opposed to light and open.




-Emily




Also see... House Mise En Scene and Boarding School Location

Boarding School Location

We researched boarding school locations as, although they are often similar, we wanted to ensure that our location reflected common perceptions of boarding and private school girls.

In 'Cracks', the boarding school has large grounds of green grassy areas, suggesting it is rural. The building is old fashioned and large, with paths and stairs surrounding it in the areas. It appears very old fashioned, showing the large part that the idea of tradition plays on boarding school representations.

The 'St Trinians' school building is similar to that of 'Cracks' in that it is large and old fashioned. It consists of brickwork, turrets and detailed architecture that suggests the wealthy nature of the students that attend it. It also has large grounds. However, although the building would normally suggest a strict and moral code of conduct in the school, the 'St Trinians' students are shown to be disrespectful and often cause damage to the building. Despite this, it is clear that the setting of the school is still that of a large old building.

Although part of a fantasy franchise and created by special effects due to its huge scale, the castle of Hogwarts in the 'Harry Potter' films uses the same idea of boarding school settings. It uses old and detailed architecture that involves turrets, ornate windows and brickwork in order to show it as a well-established and respected place. While also showing the magical nature of the place, the location could be said to create ideas of mysteries and relate to gothic ideas, which could also apply to our trailer. The grounds of the school are also large and widespread.

Through looking at boarding schools in film we could clearly see that a large old fashioned building would be needed in order to suggest that the girls go to a boarding or private school. This led us to the use of Tonbridge Boys' School, as it has ornate architecture and large grounds that show the wealth of the girls and the prestige of the learning environment. It also connotes some gothic ideas such as that of castles, which could link into the interests of the girls and support their use of the ouija board. The building would suggest that the girls are well behaved and respectable students, but the trailer introduces them as rejecting the authority of the school by not obeying a strict dress code and committing corrupt acts such as smoking. This therefore shows their unscrupulous characters which is emphasised through the party scene and makes them less likeable so that the audience may understand why they are being haunted.

-Emily




 Also see... Shots of School

Costume Research - Party Scene

We examined party scenes in terms of the costumes worn so that our characters would have believable costumes while they partied.

Research of films, coupled with our questionnaires concerning appearances of characters, made it clear that female characters must be physically appealing in costume and body in order to attract males, and stylish to the point of being aspirational for females so that the target population is as broad as possible. It could also be considered that the characters have sexualised costumes in order to appeal to a sense of justice when the character dies in audiences who consider sexual character immoral. This is clear in films such as 'Sorority Row', in which the main protagonists are all thin attractive girls, and they dress in a promiscuous nature that shows a lot of flesh. In this photo, for example, they are dressed for a pyjama party, and are therefore showing a lot of their legs and stomachs. Although our party is not pyjama themed, it maintains the same standards of dress.

This is seen across all genres, such as in the comedy 'Mean Girls', in which it is noted that in "girl world" costume parties are cause to dress provocatively. This can be seen in a skin-tight leather styled cat suit and a negligee style dress, as well as accessories such as animal ears. Styled hair and make up is also evidently important.

In 'Night of the Demons', this is shown through the sexualised image of a cat shown in this image. Even though the party in our film is not a costume party, the provocative dress is obvious in the low cut and tight outfit that could be lingerie. The styling of hair and make up also acts to make the character look more attractive, and we use this kind of costuming for our party scene.

In this party scene in 'Superbad', the female characters are not in the same level of provocative clothing. However, they are still wearing form fitting clothing that reveals some flesh such as lower stomach, chest and arms. This shows the stylish nature of party clothes in that they usually reveal some form of flesh in order to be seen as attractive, although there are varied degrees of clothing. For our party scene we will include short skirts and some visible chests, although we will not go to the same extent as the image above. This is especially true of the main protagonist who will survive as she must appear more moral, so is in a less revealing costume.




-Emily

Costume Research - School Uniform

Linking with our choice of uniform costume, we examined the kinds of school uniforms used in boarding school films.

One of our main inspirations for our character school uniform costumes is 'St Trinians'. Although it is a comedy and not a horror film, it typifies the kind of school uniform that we want to emulate by mixing traditional school wear with a more sexualised image and style. It uses blouses, ties and black skirts or dresses, although there are varied styles worn by each social group. This suggests a freedom with the dress code in order to express their individuality, which we want to use in order to suggest different kinds of characters and reflect their opposition to strict forms of authority. Many of the skirts or dresses are short, revealing legs, and the blouses can be tight fitting in order to reveal their feminine figures. These promiscuous styles are reflected in our school uniform costumes. The characters also use bold make up to make themselves appear more appealing, and we reflect this although not to the same extent until they have left the school grounds. In relation to the different kinds of social groups and styles shown in 'St Trinians', we refer most closely to the 'Posh Totty' or Head Girl idea of dress, although one of our characters also incorporates ideas of the 'Goth' style in order to set her apart form the others and suggest she could be interested in ouija boards.

'The Craft' uses similar uniform ideas to 'St Trinians' in that the students seem to express their individual styles and not maintain a strict dress code other than white blouses and black skirts. They also use gothic fashion such as rosary beads, which one of our characters also uses to suggest an interest in gothic ideas and religion. The costumes consist of short skirts and blouses that are open a few buttons, revealing their feminine forms and therefore suggesting some form of promiscuous nature. The make up of the characters is more obvious than we want as they have dark lipstick and eye shadow, but we do not want to create the same degree of gothic perceptions so will use more common colours such as red lipstick. We will also not include the same amount of accessories such as braces or chokers.

Due to the ties with Japanese cinema, we have looked at manga school uniforms for girls. They usually consist of short skirts and tight fitting blouses, and here they also have blazers. This shows how sexualised the idea of school uniform can be, as in modern culture it has become a sexual idea to dress as a school girl. This therefore links to our aim to make our characters appear physically appealing, and the use of somewhat traditional school uniforms aids that due to this idea. It also makes our characters appeal not only to young males from our target audience of 15-25, but also to older men who find the idea of school girl uniforms attractive.

 


Some other boarding school films such as 'Cracks' and 'The Woods' use a school uniform that is much more traditional in that it hides their forms through baggier blouses, cardigans and long skirts. Although these are traditional, they are not seen as sexually appealing and would make our characters appear too moral. The characters also  seem to care less about their appearances in terms of minimal make up and un-styled hair. We want out characters to appear more materialistic and appearance-conscious. Therefore this kind of uniform is not what we would like to emulate.


-Emily

Boarding Schools

We researched boarding schools presented in the media in both American and English cinema, to examine the codes and conventions commonly used.
Common motifs included:

• Main character is sent against their will to the boarding school
• Main character meets a group of friends and becomes one of them
• Main character dislikes certain aspects of school life
• Antagonistic characters dislike main character
• Headmaster dislikes main character
• One teacher who has strong bond with main character
• Main character gets into trouble for something they did not do
• Group of friends do something they shouldn't 
• Homosexual experimentation occurs
• Group of sexualised girls
• Religion could be important
• Clueless staff

Most of these motifs are not suitable to include in our trailer as they focus on events in the school, but a few have affected what we include in our trailer. We have decided to make our group of protagonists similar to the group of friends that are sexualised and promiscuous to make them appear more immoral to play into the idea of revenge being drawn onto their characters. We are also linking to the idea of useless staff by including no adults in order to make the characters more vulnerable to the spirit. The theme of religion occurs in our trailer due to the nature of black magic used through the ouija board and the following wrath of the spirit. We are also following the idea of sexual experimentation by including a shot of a kiss between two girls during their party, to emphasise their promiscuity and also follow conventions. The idea of doing something that should not be done is also included in the act of the ouija board. Therefore we are adhering to some conventions of boarding school films in order to create perceptions of the characters of the protagonists and refer to their pasts so that the audience already has some idea of their lives and a back story does not have to be focused on.

The genres of films that are set in boarding schools are varied, such as comedy in 'St Trinians' and drama in 'Cracks'. Some horrors have been created, such as 'The Woods', and supernatural themes are included in the film 'The Craft'. Boarding schools are typically linked with England, as characters staying together for school is more commonly seen in America through sororities and fraternities, but the conventions of both are quite similar such as the idea of sexual experimentation. American boarding schools are often shown as more corrupt, possibly due to England's more reserved representation, so we are using inspiration from American stereotypes for our promiscuous protagonists. 

Boarding schools in cinema and television often offer stereotypes in terms of the characters in a friendship group, especially female groups. These commonly include characters such as the Mean girl, the Mean girl's followers, the Funny girl, the Shy girl, the Loud one, the Different one, the Ethnic one and the Sexy one.

We have decided to make our five character fit into these stereotypes, although their characters will not be completely revealed in the teaser trailer so would only be fully presented in the full film. 

The group of girls will consist of the 'Mean girl', who is also the leader of the group as shown through the placement of her at the front when they are seen walking. She is also ethnic while the other girls are white. 

Two characters are the Followers of the Mean leader. 

One character is the 'Outgoing one' that is louder than the other characters. She is more boisterous and likely to cause disagreements.

The main protagonist who we intend to survive, in accordance with the Final Girl Theory, is the 'Nice/Shy one'. 

All of the characters could fall under the 'Sexy one' stereotype due to their promiscuous representation, although the 'Nice/Shy one' is less promiscuous than the others. 

-Emily

Case Studies of Ouija Boards

We researched case studies written by those that reported using ouija boards and experienced hauntings due to this, in order to get ideas for the events of our film. It also highlighted the theme of ouija boards in our culture as popular, as there were many reported uses of them. These case studies support other ideas of possession commonly used in cinema such as the air growing colder, physically being pushed and unexplained marks around the house. These would therefore be useful motifs to include in our trailer.

• In 2001 we lost two basketball players from our high school by fatal car accident. My two best friends were very close to the one, and I shared saxophone music with the other.
  A few years after the accident I decided to get a Ouija board and have everyone over. We had never used one before but knew how it worked. I'm not sure who brought up the two boys but we started asking it questions only we would know. Their jersey numbers, nick names, and full names were all answered correctly. In between correct answers the marker would circle the board rapidly and eventually fly off.
  It came down to one in particular question. My friend Jake took his hands off the marker and I said, "No one in this room knows this but me, so I'm taking my hands off to see if this is for real." He then asked,"Who does Brandon consider to be his best friend?" Immediately the board spelled out the correct answer. Almost simultaneously my eyes started to water uncontrollably, I wasn't scared or crying. I look to my left and right and both Jakes and his brothers eyes started watering also. I threw the board back into the box and on the way to take my girlfriend home I threw it out the window by the highway. I don't think I'll ever touch a Ouija board again.
  Written by Michael Sullivan, Copyright 2009

• We were happy on how our game worked so I took it to my friends house, and we played it in her kitchen. I asked it if it could show us if the spirit or something was there or not, and the board replied YES. About five minutes later my sister went all twitchy, her head leaned back slightly and she started to laugh at nothing. Me and my buddy were just confused, and she hit her head on the table lightly and she went back to normal, only she said that she left like floating but only she felt like she was going to faint but was OK. We didn't know what was going on so we just quit playing.
  Now crows are attacking her whenever she goes out on her own. We have no clue that it might be the board or if it's something else. But the bottom line is that the board can be somewhat true, but I still need a lot of convincing.

• Well, wouldn't you believe it! Not only did the planchette move to "yes", but the air grew cold as if we were all in a freezer. The scariest thing though was that within minutes of my calling out to the spirits, every single light went off at the same time. Everyone broke the circle after that, and ran screaming from the closet like it was on fire!

• I played a ouija board back in 1996, My ex wife became possessed and we had to go to the hospital. Her body couldn't stop moving. After that we had a evil spirtit around us she seen red eyes, I heard loud bangs on our wallls seen moving objects. and we had very bad luck. I believe the spirit is stil inside her because she is still EVIL. I know the ouija is NOT a game. I tell people to STAY AWAY from it. I know its real and its evil......

• I and my boyfriend played on the Ouija board for days cant start to describe to you what happened only my house was full of evil spirits 7 if I can remember right no 1 could c them only me and my boyfriend they was all on the walls then I tried to go up stairs and did not c the spirit but it blocked my way and pushed me back then 1 evening the corner of my room the ceiling its was like someone was putting leaky wires together it was like lightning and buzzing we got a priest in and he felt them straight away but we ended fleeing the property because they would not go please never play the board I was very ill for a long time and it still affects me to this day and that was 20 years ago. 

• We put everything up, and all went to bed. That night I had a nightmare, almost vividly real. I rarely dream, and if I do, don’t remember them well. This dream I still remember faintly. I was like I was on a purple cloud of some sort, with this old woman in a dark cloak of some kind, with her back to me, I never saw here face, and I was just standing there all night staring at here, this just kept happening over and over in my dream, not much of anything else. Nothing really scary, just strange, but I remember not sleeping well and was kinda hot, not so much like a fever, but just hot and sweaty.
  When I woke up the next morning, my girlfriend, told me that I had deep scratches on my back, as I sat up in bed, as if someone had scratched me with long finger nails, across my shoulder blades, and they were slightly bleeding. And no it wasn’t Kristen. I looked in the mirror and I was completely taken aback by the scratches. I instantly believed everything that Kristen had told me about here Ouija board stories and spirits, especially about the old evil woman, that supposedly followed her around. I became a true believer in evil spirits after that night and day.

• I looked in the bathroom mirror and my pupils looked a little bigger than normal, and were very slowly getting bigger, so called my friend into the bathroom and said look at this what's wrong with me, she was like " that's crazy" I could feel my pupils moving across my eyes as they were expanding, my heart beat a little faster I started feeling really hot, but as my body's signs were racing my mind felt calm, as though I wasn't scared or I was really messed up on drugs, but aware of what was going on.
  At this time I couldn't move I just stared at my eyes, which were now fully black, I didn't think to talk or move or run I just stared, I could hear my friend talking but I wasn't listening to her, then the hotness got even hotter. I felt really dry like my entire body was dehydrated, and got the feeling you would get if you heard someone you love just died the feeling of your heart dropping, I could see my face turning white, it started at the top of my forehead and continued down my face, I saw my skin coloring changing like it was draining down my face, my friend was yelling at me now "what's wrong with you?!" at that time she grabbed me to pull me away from the mirror, when she grabbed my arm she immediately let me go and said "oh my god your on fire, I'm going to call 911" as she said that, I got lifted off the floor and thrown sideways into her toilet, the back of the toilet flew off as for the rest of the stuff on it, lifted up again and thrown into the bathtub taking the shower curtain and rod with me. I was being thrown around its like I'm getting my butt kicked but I don't feel a thing.
  I was picked up again and thrown back into the floor, I could see my friend still in the doorway with a horror look on her face, but I was still calm even though I was in a fight and being thrown around by nothing and losing, I still felt like I was okay, lying on the floor my friend reached in and grabbed the back of my shirt and jerked me out of the bathroom.

•  I asked if your hear with us, do u like us living here, the shot glass went to yes. I said, can you say my name into the recorder? The shot glass went to yes, I said go ahead and say my name. We heard nothing, my daughter and I were quiet to give it time to do so, I then asked did you say it? and the shot glass went to yes. I then asked a few more questions, found out they were both in there 80′s and found out the mlk, stood for May, that’s all she would say. I asked if they were nice ghosts and she said yes, I said do you make noises in the house to try and let us know your hear, and she said yes but didn’t want to scare us. I then said you do know if I ever see you I would move out. and the shot glass went to yes I know, and then moved to, we don’t want to scare you. I said yes I would be scared.
  Well we finally quit the game and I went outside to smoke and when I came back my daughter said she was listening to the tape and she said you can hear a woman’s voice on it. I said no way… she said ya, listen, she “May” didn’t answer by voice to all of my questions but when I asked her to say my name, you can hear right after I ask, someone or “her” saying Cindy, perfect as day, and then when I asked, you know I’d move if I ever seen you, you can her a, yes, right after that.
  At the end when we were closing out I had said if your nice and you don’t scare us, you can stay but I don’t want to see you or we will move out of here, and then you can hear, a yes… it was only me and my daughter in the room and every time we asked a question we were both quiet, you can even hear the glass sliding in the recorder cause we weren’t talking, so that freaked me out that you can hear her voice on the tape. 

-Emily

Japanese and British Horror

Japanese horror has a background in old folk religion, such as possession or exorcisms. This can be seen in films such as 'The Ring' or 'The Grudge', in which spirits are unable to pass on from this existence due to strong emotions. This is a repeated theme in Japanese horror. There are different terms for the kind of binding the ghost has to the world depending on the emotion that they experience. The most common is known as 'Onryo', which is the need for revenge. This kind of idea is also reflected in other Japanese media such as manga novels or anime, showing the genre's popularity in the culture.
This idea is also used in Western cinema, although perhaps not with the same frequency. There is also a difference in that Japanese horrors often incorporate intense gore or grotesque beings into the horror films while depending on the rating of American or British films the violence can be completely downplayed and only suggested. This could suggest a difference in the acceptance of gore between the cultures, or just the difference in cinematic themes as gore becomes more intense in Western cinema constantly. This difference could therefore link to the number and variety of media texts available, such as video games as well as cinema. If there is more available in Asian culture, it could be understandable that they are more accepting of violent gore. As more media is introduced into Western culture (as it is often actually developed in Japan, for example), the Western acceptance of gore is also heightened as audience become more used to it and expect more in order to be shocked.
British horrors are becoming more popular in a variety of genres, such as '28 Days Later', a zombie apocalyptic film, and 'Creep', more of a slasher film. Often, the subjects are more physical violence-based, such as the idea of cannibals and werewolves, as opposed to the more abstract theme of spirits. Certainly, some of the better known British films are films such as 'Shaun of the Dead', '28 Days Later' and 'The Descent', all of which focus on humanoid creatures and physical threats. While some themes of these horrors are transferable to other genres, such as the idea of imprisonment or vulnerability, the main cause of the disequilibrium is not as commonly spirits as in Asian cinema. A factor in the difference in cinema could be the budget afforded to the creation of the film. British budgets are often much smaller than in Japanese cinema, so the effects that can be achieved are lessened, so the horror must be more reality-based.
The differences in cultures could be linked with what is popular in the cultures at the time of creating the film. In Japanese film the folklore element is often used due to the traditional nature of their culture, while British media and the news is often linked with more physical problems such as spreading viruses (which could cause an influx in zombie films) or human criminals (which could cause the creation of films linked with human threats such as 'Gnaw', featuring cannibals). That which is reported in the news that affect the population, such as the case of Tony Martin who shot a teenage burglar, are recreated and reflected in the cinema.
Tony Martin's crime was reported inspiration for 'The Reeds'. The co-writer and co-producer of the film, Simon Sprackling, stated that this effect is how many British horrors are now "urban-based". Despite this, there are still a number of possessive themed films, especially in recent years. For example, 'The Disappeared' uses this urban theme but creates a haunted house idea within a council estate. It could be said that Western cinema became more involved in mysterious elements due to the Asian cinema using it as a theme repeatedly.
British cinema also uses classical British idiosyncrasies as a basis for films, such as the idea of team-building days or council flats.
The combination of Japanese and Western cinema is shown by the Japanese horror director Hideo Nakata working with a mainly British cast for the film 'Chatroom'. It is also shown in the number of Japanese horrors that have been remade for English speaking audiences. As effects become cheaper to achieve and technical abilities improve, it is becoming easier to create the sort of supernatural effects that are seen in supernatural films. Remakes are also a clear indication of the combination of the two cultures, although differences still exist between the original and the remade version. American remakes are usually more simple than the Asian film which can be very complex, and accepted rules of life can be completely revoked but with little explanation.


Through examining the differences between the two cultures we have decided to incorporate elements of Japanese horror into the British film we are making. Due to the popularity of spiritual haunting in Japanese film, we will use inspirations from the culture in our film, such as the idea of revenge driving the spirit. Japanese media has also popularised school uniforms, so we may refer to the Japanese culture of the inspiration of our character's costumes. We will also use some typically British techniques such as using British idiosyncrasies as a basis. We will use the idea of British private school girls in our film. Although urban areas such as council estates are being used frequently in British cinema, we are going to use a more typically American location of a large house as the main location in order to support the representation of the characters as wealthy. Due to the budget we will move away from Japanese horror conventions of intense gore and use minimal injuries instead of mutilation. This will also add to the mystery of the supernatural when no immediate source of the threat is seen.




-Emily

Codes and Conventions Related To Narrative

In order to support our questionnaires, we researched the codes and conventions of typical possessive horror films and decided how to relate these to our story line.


Settings:
The homes of the protagonists or other areas that they frequent are common settings. For example, other settings could be the school they attend or their church, although the main location is often their home. This is a common theme in supernatural films due to the subversion of the security that is usually linked with being at home. When an area that would usually be considered safe has been breached and become threatened, this creates feelings of unease and heightens fear, thereby inciting feelings of fear in the audience as well as the characters of the film. Homes are also used in possessive films as they make it feel more personal to the viewer and more realistic. This can create the idea that it could happen to them and create a more intense dependency on the outcome of the film as they hope that the antagonistic being is defeated. Other common locations can be abandoned houses, woods or graveyards. These kind of locations are seen in films such as 'Insidious' and the 'Paranormal' franchise.
We decided to set our film mainly in the home of one of the protagonists, and include few other locations in order to create the sense of imprisonment and isolation from the real world. This is aimed to incite feelings of claustrophobia and discomfort in the audiences as the characters experience a lack of control and cannot escape the events as they occur. We decided to include another location at the beginning of the film in order to introduce the characters, showing their school. The school establishes the girls as teenagers, applying to our target audience and also making them appear somewhat more vulnerable.


Characters:
The main characters are commonly shown to be normal before the events of the film, making the events of the film appear more shocking while also allowing the audience to identify with the characters so that they are more invested in the outcome. The characters are usually females. Combined with our own research it became clear that the females are commonly young, typically attractive girls. This can make them appear more vulnerable while also appealing to audiences. We found that the main characters are often seen as kind or moral people, making them easy to relate to, although perhaps plagued by a secret or past event.  This kind of character is seen in films such as 'Paranormal Activity' and 'The Ring'.
We have decided to include a group of five teenage girls and include them all as protagonists of the entire film. This allows us to examine stereotypes in characters and expand the focus to a larger group as a twist on some supernatural films. This kind of group-haunting is seen in some films such as 'Night of the Demons' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', and is successful as the audience can watch the group struggle to survive and relate to them, while also allowing some sense of justice if an unsavoury character dies. There will be no adults in our film, as although typically some form of authority such as a priest is often called, we enjoyed the convention linked with slashers in that the adults are useless and the teenage characters are left to defend themselves. We have therefore combined and used inspiration from other sub-genres.


Character costumes:

• The costumes of the characters before the events are usually stylish and attractive, showing them to be appealing and aspirational people. The costumes are usually conservative such as trousers or business attire, in neutral colours that do not make them stand out. This acts to suggest the character is moral or normal, and contrasts with the completely unnatural events to come. this can be seen in films such as 'Drag Me To Hell'.
  We have decided to go against this convention by making our teenage girls appear more promiscuous and sexually appealing. This links with their ages and the trends of current fashion to sexualise fashion, therefore making their characters more realistic. However, we will be using more conservative costuming for the main protagonist that will survive the events of the film, in accordance with the Final Girl Theory, by making her apear less immoral and bearing masculine traits.
• As the events unfold, the costumes of the characters usually become more unkempt and dirty, relating to their struggle to survive and lack of control. For example, their clothes may be ripped or bloody.
  We are going to adhere to this convention by giving the protagonists injuries.
• Although the antagonistic being is not always shown, when it is there is usually dark costuming or shadows, with pale make up and perhaps some injuries. This is also true when a protagonist has been possessed, their make up usually being used to pronounce circles under eyes or white/disgusting skin.
  We are going to adhere to this convention, as we mean for some of our protagonists to be possessed by the spirit. We will use make up to achieve the look, although most of the possession will be shown more through their actions rather than their appearance. The make up will be used to create one main shot that will be used to shock audiences as the extent of the possession is shown.

Weapons:

The weapons used by the protagonists to protect themselves is similar to other horror sub-genres in that they are picked up from the surroundings in desperate attempts to protect themselves. This relates to their lack of control and desperation, making the events appear more realistic. These could be bats, crowbars, knives or in some cases home-fashioned weapons such as crosses. The use of normal everyday objects makes the events seem more possible, so incite more fear in the audiences as they consider what weapons they would use in the same situation. The antagonistic entity often does not use weapons in the same way as in slashers, in that they often cause death by possessing protagonists or making unnatural events occur that lead to death.
Most of our protagonists will not have the chance to use weapons, but the main protagonist, who is the survivor, will at one point be seen with a knife trying to protect herself. The spirit will not use conventional weapons and will attack by possessing the victims.

Lighting:

Low level lighting and shadows are often played with in supernatural horrors. This could be linked with the weather, such as storms or night-time, or could be due to blackouts caused by the spirit. This lighting shows the desperation and entrapment of the characters, while also enhancing the sense of mystery created by the unseen antagonistic entity. The use of darkness can also enhance vulnerability as the character is unable to see, and this can create ominous tones as the audience fears for what is hidden in the darkness.
We will contrast natural and normal lighting at the beginning with darker lighting and silhouettes once the spirit is attacking in order to contrast the equilibrium of the characters at the beginning with the disequilibrium created by the supernatural events. It will also show their helplessness and inability to protect themselves.

Sound:

• A mixture of parallel and contrapuntal music is employed in the genre depending on the events in terms of the soundtrack The use of parallel soundtracks can be seen through the use of intense music during confrontation or battle scenes (typically towards the end of the film) or through whining strings to enhance an ominous tone (usually used to build tension throughout the film). Contrapuntal music can be used to contrast situations such as the use of childish music during unnatural events, often linked with child ghosts. It could also be used through the unnatural use of the characters possessions, such as if their radio keeps turning on to a particular pop song to build tension.
  The soundtracks we use in our teaser trailer will be parallel in that they will match the tone of the scene, although they will act to contrast with one another. The first will be club music during their introduction as teenagers, relating to their interests and lack of morals. The second soundtrack will be introduced once the unnatural events start occurring, and will be industrial music with a metallic sound to relate to the uncomfortable and intense events unfolding. Editing will be used to make the soundtracks reflect the tone even more, such as making the club music somewhat distorted to show the characters to be drunk, and thudding booms in the industrial music to create tension and emphasise fear.
• Unnatural sounds are used in possessive horrors, such as disembodied whispers or laughs that refer to the spirit and their unnatural presence. These enhance the tension of scenes and are used to subvert normal understandings of sounds to make the audience feel uncomfortable. For example, laughter is usually considered positive, but in these situations it is seen as threatening.
  We will use unnatural sounds to relate to the spirits, working with the soundtracks to emphasise certain events and enhance the atmosphere. 

Common motifs:

Creaking doors and curtains blowing are often used to create tension towards the beginning of the film, before the true nature of events is shown. They can also be used later on to show that the spirit is coming to create fear for the protagonist. The linking of every day noises or events to the spirit creates fear as it incites a reaction in audiences in their own homes upon experiencing these events, making them feel more afraid even after the viewing of the film is over. Other such events could be candles flickering or going out, lights turning on and off, patches of water with no clear source, or shadowed hiding places with peepholes to look through.
We will use some of these common motifs to enhance the tension, such as having characters hide behind doors and the use of noises with no known source.

Seances are also commonly seen in possessive films, as the characters attempt to contact the spirits in order to communicate and find out the reasons for their haunting. If not during the seance, some form of communication is often seen from the spirit as they show the protagonist what they want from them. This is seen in films such as 'Drag Me To Hell' and 'The Haunting in Connecticut'.

We will use this motif as the basis of the haunting, as it is the seance through a ouija board that seems to summon the spirit to the protagonists. Communication showing what the spirit wants will also be shown as a repeated theme throughout the trailer.

The protagonists often make some form of discovery of the spirit's past or the reason for their haunting, and this can be through the seance or through exploration of the haunting area. This is seen in 'The Haunting in Connecticut' as the ghost leads the protagonist to discover their past.

We will not show discoveries of the spirit's past in order to make it appear more mysterious and also threatening through lack of understanding. This will also lend to the feeling of helplessness that we want to incite in audiences. However, as mentioned above we will include some form of explanation as to what the spirit wants.  

-Emily

Questionnaire Results

Through examining the results of our questionnaires from the projects of last year and this year, we were able to choose the direction in which our film would be aimed.

Last year, our questionnaire found that possessive/supernatural films were popular, although less popular than other sub-genres of horror such as slashers or psychological.


However, through examining trends in current and recent cinema releases we have found that possessive horror films are continually being created. This has especially been seen in recent years with the themes of ghosts, possession and demons recurring in cinemas. Examples of these are seen in 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' and 'The Exorcist', both of which focus on the idea of being possessed by spirits or demons. The popularity of this sub-genre of film is also seen in the re-creation of past films, such as 'Night of the Demons', which was a successful film in 1988 and was remade in 2009. The remaking of past horror films shows the popularity of the genre and also the success of similar ideas.
Another theme in recent cinema and television is the idea of urban legends being retold or examined. This can be seen in cinema releases such as 'Boogeyman' and the less successful 'Don't Look Under The Bed', and is the underlying premise of successful television programme 'Supernatural'. We thought that this was interesting so decided to choose a topic that is surrounded by legend on which to base our film. The theme we settled on was the idea of ouija boards and the possessions that can occur if not used correctly or with respect.
Linked with remakes, it is common for Japanese horror films, which are usually of the possessive/supernatural sub-genre, to be remade. This is shown in films such as 'One Missed Call', 'The Ring' and 'The Grudge'. Due to their popularity we decided to take into account the Japanese influence in our film.


Through these findings we decided to make a possessive/supernatural genre film teaser trailer, as we felt that as well as its popularity and therefore probable success with audiences, it would also be interesting to work with through make up and the less physical threats. The target audiences of possessive/supernatural horrors is similar to other horror film sub-genres, being based between the ages of 15 and 25 due to the use of some gore and upsetting themes. Therefore we chose the same target audience of 15-25 year olds as our project last year, dealing with slasher films. Our questionnaires were put to this demographic, making the information we collected more suitable and reliable in terms of feedback for creating a piece that would be successful. It was found that both male and female viewers were interested in supernatural sub-genres, so this is our target demographic.


The questionnaire that we created this year therefore focussed on possessive films, and we asked what our target audience considered the main features of the sub-genre to be. Reasonably similar answers were received such as the idea of suspense, angry spirits, revenge and unknown supernatural beings.We also asked what they would typically expect to see in a supernatural horror film, and again the answers were quite similar. They expected the houses of the victims to be a popular setting, emphasising their need to be 'creepy' and have gothic features. Other settings such as graveyards and forests were suggested.


We asked what our target audience would expect to see in a teaser trailer in order to shape what we created. A common answer was the idea of quick action shots with unclear focuses, people screaming and unnatural events such as people being thrown around. It was also stated that a concept of how the protagonists' lives were before the haunting must be shown, and then not as much revealed about the supernatural events in order to keep a sense of mystery. Another common answer was the use of darkness to obscure information and create senses of danger.


We asked whether the creature doing the haunting should be seen, and the majority of our target audience stated that they did not want to see the spirit, or not until it was too late. We will echo this by showing the effects of the spirit throughout most of the trailer and then showing the face of the possessed girl right at the end with supernatural make up to make it shocking. It will be at the end of the trailer to create shock for the audience and also reflect that it may be too late for the character.




-Emily

Advertising

We have considered where our film would be advertised in order to broaden our audience.

The most effective form of advertising for a new film release is that of a teaser trailer. These can be played on television during advertisement breaks, to peak the interest of the general public. The trailer can also be played in cinema theatres in order to appeal to a more specific audience, as trailers linking to the film being played are shown. Therefore our film would be advertised via trailer before an audience watched a horror film, possibly of the possession sub genre, in order to interest people that enjoy films of the same genre. For example, this is the teaser trailer for  'The Woman In Black'  , as accessed here .




Another common advertising style is the form of a film poster in various locations. These can be on billboards and bus stops in order to peak the interest of the general public as they pass by, so that they are more likely to have the film in their mind and make the effort to find out more. They can reveal varying amounts of information about the film, depending on how much of a mystery the company would like to create around the narrative.

For example, this billboard for the movie  'Legion' , as accessed here , includes only the title of the film and the release date in terms of large writing. There are some pieces of institutional information but they are positioned at the bottom and are small enough that they cannot be read very easily. There is one main image, including features that stick out from the rest of the billboard. This form of poster is effective for landscape posters especially, and can be very useful at appealing to the general public due to the large size. The billboard's simplicity is useful due to the large scale, although for other forms of poster it would be expected that more information may be involved. Therefore if we were to use a billboard we may make the decision to remove some of the other information on our poster, such as the tagline , in order to make it simpler and therefore more striking.

This is an example of a bus stop advertisement for the film 'District 9' , as accessed here. It is presented as if the poster exists in the world of the narrative and does not expressly reveal that it advertises a film. By referring to the interesting nature of the narrative and involving the general public, it is more likely to increase interest. A website is presented so that the public can access information about the poster and find out more about the film. Film posters used in bus stops often involve more information than billboards, as they are more easily read and are often looked at for a period of time while waiting for a bus. Therefore this would be an effective placement of our film poster, as we would not need to change any details from the original poster created.


Film posters can also be shown inside and outside a cinema location, in order to peak interest of people who are already interested in going to the cinema. Therefore the posters apply to a slightly more niche market already. Often, there are large displays of various films posters outside the cinema, and large banners displayed inside depending on the most popular film or the film that is most expected to be successful. This would therefore be very effective in the advertising of our film.


Due to the rising technology online, it has become very popular to include website addresses in adverts for films, such as at the bottom of posters. These website addresses, such as http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/the-fourth-kind/ in order to advertise the film 'The Fourth Kind' , are useful in appealing to audiences that enjoy finding out extra information about the films that they watch. For example background information can be included as well as behind the scenes footage and profiles about the characters involved. This can be very effective in broadening audiences, as well as effective in selling more copies of the DVD by making it easy to pre-order. Therefore creating a webpage would be highly useful in advertising our film.


-Emily