Conventions Of Horror

Prom Night (2008)

Ingredients Of A Horror Film

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Halloween (1978)

Halloween is an independent slasher film and was directed by John Carpenter in 1978.  Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and some other slasher films owe some of their success or inspiration to Halloween, while Halloween got inspiration from the film Black Christmas (1974). The doctor in Halloween's last name is 'Loomis' which is the same surname as Billy the killer in Scream (1996) and Marion's lover in Psycho (1960), the nurse is called Marion Chambers which is similar to Marion from Psycho. These names make links to Psycho which was one of the most successful horror films before Halloween. On Halloween, Micheal Myers stabs to death his older sister. He ends up in a psychiatric hospital and is monitored for 15 years but he managed to escape. Jamie Lee Curtis got cast as the main lead Laurie Strode as her mother in real life was Janet Leigh who played Marion Crane, this launched Jamie Lee's career as a 'scream queen' and has made her appear in several horror films.

In Halloween Judith Myers gets stabbed 9 times, Christoper Hastings was knifed in the chest, Lester was strangled, Annie Brackett was strangled with her throat slit, Lyna Van Der Klok was strangled and Bob Simms was pinned to the door with a kitchen knife through the chest. These murders occurred with little blood being seen in the scenes and little revealing of the actual killings taken place. This was similarly done in Carrie and Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a deliberate attempt to build suspense and make the audience scared.

In my opinion Halloween wasn't that scary, some scenes were quite predictable and I felt that I never really jumped and I just sat watching it with a blank expression. I like the fact Micheal Myers has a hidden identity by wearing a white mask and it was disturbing how he killed his sister when he was so young, I was expecting the killer at the beginning to be an older man. It conforms to the stereotypical view that the male is the killer and the girls in the film are prayed upon by men. Voyeurism is used a lot as this film is seen mainly through Micheal Myers mask. We see the film mainly through Micheal's eyes and this forces the audience into a deeper sense of participation in the action that takes place. The heroine at the end is depicted as innocent and pure which is why she probably survived the film, this film goes with 'survival of the virgins' and shows how innocent Laurie was at the end.

Prelim Task - Prom Night Remake Trailer (2008)

For the prelim task, my group and I chose to remake Prom Night which is a horror film as we had to remake a horror trailer. Given the short amount of time that we had to produce a trailer, I think my group and I did a good job. There are several things that I would personally like to change about the prelim task but I'll make sure to learn from this experience and use knowledge that I've learnt from making this one and apply it when making the actual horror trailer. We tried to incorporate different shot types and I think we were successful with that. More sound could've been applied

I think the best part about the trailer we created was the action match when Lois (Mum) got pushed to the ground and the impact was shown. It was hard to edit it to make it look realistic and actually make it match but I'm satisfied with the result. My group and I took it in turns to film and edit so we all had equal roles in the process of it. There were some scenes that didn't make sense and I wish we had thought about it when we were filming but with so little time it was a struggle, I wish we would have filmed Sharna (Courtney) standing up and then crawling under the bed instead of having a shot where she's already on the floor and crawling under the bed, to an audience watching it may not have made perfect sense.

The ending of the trailer worked really well as dark and light was used. I feel as though the darker lighting should've been on Sharna as she was under the bed where it would've been darker and the high-key lighting on Lois as she was in the light. It still was effective in showing how the daughter is watching her mother about to be killed, it builds up suspense and makes you wonder what's about to happen next but we cut it at Lois and Sharna staring at each other. Further shots would've been filmed but the camera died and there was no spare battery. No soundtrack was used and only diagetic sounds such as Lois's screams, we recorded them on the computer and tried to make it sound like a real scream.
From the trailer, there are some parts which give it away that it's part of the horror genre such as the masked killer and the screaming but I wish there were more elements of horror in there to really make an audience establish the genre. I will make sure the key elements of horror are incorporated in our final trailer piece.

Scream (1996)

Scream is a 1996 American slasher film. Scream managed to incorporate several horror films in it which include: Halloween, A Nightmare On Elm Street, When A Stranger Calls, Prom Night and Friday The 13th. Scream was written by Kevin Williamson who had a childhood love for horror, this is evident by the amount of other horror films he mentioned in the film. Scream is based partly on the real-life case of the Gainesville Ripper. Visual effects were used on several different scenes of the film to make for a better horror film and make the scenes look more realistic. The visual effects allowed scenes such as Casey hanging from the tree even look possible. The poster shows Casey the main girl in the beginning of the film which gave the audience the impression that she would probably survive the movie and be the final girl but that wasn't the case. 











Ghostface: "Do you like scary movies?"
Sidney: "What's the point? They're all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. 
It's insulting."-- This is Ghostface and Sidney's first encounter in Scream and shows the clique of what typically happens in horror films. Sidney is the main heroine and protagonist of the movie and ends up surviving by destroying the killer. She's in all scream sequels and still ends up being the final girl as she defeats all the killers. Scream plays on the typical conventions of horror and this is what made the film so successful as the characters in the film acknowledged what normally happens in horror films. 

Randy explains the rules of horror films and what happens to people who abide by those rules. 
He explains the rules to successfully survive a horror movie: 
You may not survive the movie if you have sex
You may not survive the movie if you drink or do drugs 
You may not survive the movie if you say "I'll be right back", "Hello" or "Who's there?". 
The second rule appeared to be accurate when right after Sidney had sex with her boyfriend, Ghostface entered and stabbed Sidney's boyfriend multiple time. In most horror films, when those rules are broken they end with dire consequences. Saying "I'll be right back" foreshadows the fact that the character won't come back and the audience anticipates this to happen which is what was Randy was highlighting in the film. In one scene of Scream, Randy yells at the movie telling the character on the screen to look behind him, unaware that Ghostface was behind him. This was done purposefully to show the naivety with some characters and demonstrate Randy taking the mick out of his own life as he was basically the same as the boy in the movie he was watching. The last rule applies as the characters who are defiant and rebellious in horror films are usually the ones who get killed off. 

The opening scene of Scream was one of the best opening scenes of a horror film in this time period. Casey discusses horror movies, sequels and participates in a trivia with the killer on the phone. The audience feels as though she is the main character of the film as she was the first character to appear on screen, it was effective in killing her off early as this was reminiscent of Marion Crane from Psycho as she was the main lead but got killed early. There are clear comparisons to Psycho such as Billy from Scream's surname is Loomis which was the same as Marion's lover in Psycho. Billy Loomis quotes Norman Bates in the film by saying: "We all go a little mad sometimes", it's clear that Billy is the Psycho in this film as he's revealed to be one of the killers.

In my opinion Scream (1996) was a very good movie. There were several elements of horror in it and a lot of blood which made the film more gory than some other horror films prior to scream which tried to keep blood minimal to make the audience feel as though they've seen more than they actually did. It was a good development of the slasher horror and the film was clever in all the different shot types and killings used to make the film live up to the horror genre. I liked the idea of the characters in the film being able to mention what typically happens in horrors, it played up to the clique and at times the film managed to subvert from a typical horror but at the same time several scenes conformed to a typical horror film.

What Is Your Biggest Fear?

Fears Official Video from Shari Powell on Vimeo.

Horror Survey

Enigma Codes, Binary Opposites, Equilibrium And Narrative Theory

Reactions To Horror Trailers

I filmed four people watching two different horror trailers. I chose two different sub-genres to see which one gets more of a reaction; I chose to show them a supernatural horror and a slasher horror. From their reactions it's clear to see that they are more shocked with supernatural horrors but more terrified at slasher horrors. I will take this into consideration when I make my horror trailer when I decide which emotion I want to evoke from my audience. The beginning of the trailers always appeared less interesting to the audience I showed and more exciting towards the end, I will try to make my horror trailer captivating for most of it so that the audience doesn't lose interest. The slasher horror was more action packed and this kept the audiences attention on the screen. At the end 'You're Next' the animal pops up unexpectedly under the bed and cause it wasn't expected, this made the viewers jump as they wasn't prepared for it. When making my horror trailer, I want to make it so there are quite a few unexpected twists so that it gives more of a scare factor for the audience and this will make them want to watch more of it.

Research Rationale

                                                       Research Rationale

The target group I have access too would be people aged 16-19. These are the age range that I would fall into so I know more people who I would easily be able to conduct research from as I’m mainly around people the same age as me. The resources I would be needing would be a camera and a tripod as I would be filming some of my research questions to make a video of all the different responses I get back so a contrast of answers are easy to see. I will also need a computer so I can use editing software to cut out any bits of the video that is not needed and have a flowing video. I will interview my target audience and film it so that will be easier to make a video from.

The type of research that I will carry out will be market research and audience research. From the audience research I will talk directly to the target audience, show them clips that they would be able to discuss and give me feedback on and I’ll also have a focus group consisting of 3 or 4 people so the opinions would be varied. I will create surveys and questionnaires with several questions on it to know what different aspects of horror people enjoy and what different aspects of horror they don’t enjoy watching. With the research collected, I will have a clear idea of what to incorporate in my horror trailer.

From the market research, I will deconstruct several horror posters to see what elements of horror tend to frequently be on posters which will help me when I’m making a horror poster myself. I will analyse horror narrative to try to differ away from what typically happens in horrors so that my horror trailer makes my target audience asks questions about it and make them want to watch more. I will also observe the new releases at the cinema to keep things contemporary and see what's been involved in making the horror film trailers look interesting. Once I have completed the market research I will have a better understanding of what to include in my horror trailer and I will try to make my horror trailer different and exciting to captivate my target audiences attention. 

Nosferatu (1922), Psycho (1960), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Carrie (1976) Comparisons

I compared Nosferatu, Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Carrie with each other and the sheets show all the differences and similarities between the movies. Out of all of the movies, I would say Texas Chainsaw Massacre shows the most typical elements of horror in the movie and has a narrative behind it as well as having a final girl. All the films have a final girl and they all tend to be blonde and beautiful.

Audience Theories

Comparing Carrie (1976) to Carrie (2013)

I enjoyed watching both versions of Carrie's although I feel like the newer 2013 version had a better prom scene than the first one and there was a lot more blood used which is a typical element of horror. In the 1976 version of Carrie whilst the prom scene occurs, the whole scene changes to red.  The colour red is used to connote blood and danger and shows her vengeful actions against the people who bullied her, it makes it seem as though Carrie is literally 'seeing red' which is an expression used when a person is really angry. The split screen used in this version was done to show what she's doing to the others and also to show her facial reactions. It's clear to tell that by her eyes she is able to make stuff happen and also hand movements which is similar to the 2013 version. The voice over kept saying 'They're all gonna laugh at you' which were her mothers words and they were constantly repeated during the prom scene. This was effective in seeing the affect those words had on Carrie. The words made her more angry and made her want revenge. In Carrie (1976), her mother has told her "first comes the blood, then comes the sin" so at the prom scene when the blood fell on Carrie, it reiterated what her mother had been saying all along and made Carrie seem as though she was sinful. The sinfulness of the blood being poured on her led her to commit more sins by killing all the students who bullied her.

In the 2013 version of the prom version, blood was used to show all the deaths that occurred. Instead of a voice over of her mothers words in Carrie (2013), the video of the shower scene was used to remind Carrie of the torment her classmates put her through and that made her be vengeful towards them. The psycho strings were used in Carrie (1976) in the first shower scene when Carrie made the light blow out. This references Psycho (1960) as that sound is associated with the horror genre since the film Psycho came out. In both Carrie versions, a red car is used by Chris and her boyfriend when trying to escape. The colour red is the colour of blood and is associated with rage, anger and danger. Both Carrie's destroy the red cars that Billy drives which shows her anger being taken out on Chris and Billy. It also shows how danger may be coming towards Chris and Billy too. 

The image below shows the deaths of the mothers both caused by Carrie. The mothers arms are sprawled out and it looks to represent the cross and has connotations of religion, it was an imitation of the crucifixion of Jesus. The hands are pinned down by scissors which is like how Jesus was pinned down with the nails on his hands on the cross. The puppet on the right was seen in the beginning and the ending of the film. The puppet foreshadowed the mothers death as the arrows in the puppet are placed where the objects hit Carrie's mother. The puppet then reappears after Carrie has killed her mother which is significant in showing the similarities between them and showing how Margaret is literally like a puppet and dead. In both versions of Carrie, the mother's are wearing white, the colour white connotes innocence which the mother's were both trying to be as they didn't want to be sinful and were both very religious. Their innocence is tainted by the blood stains on their clothes. 

Comparing Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Psycho (1960)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The animoto video that I produced was explaining the elements involved in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The words I used to represent what was in the film were 'isolation' 'killer' 'fear' 'creepy' 'blood' 'survival' and 'religion'. I thought those were were best fits with the images that I used from the movie. In horror films there's mainly always a killer who happens to be Leatherface, there are other creepy characters in the film and the main one is Nubbins the hitchiker and is the brother of Leatherface. Blood is a key element for a lot of horror movies as it shows the killings that occur and gives a gruesome element to the horror genre. The girl crawling on the floor showed the isolation around her, there was no one to help her at all and she became a victim to Leatherface and his brother. Survival is the key for most horror films as at the end of most horror films there is always a victim who has survived in the hands of the killer. Religion is an element in some horror film as it makes the narrative seem more mysterious. Texas Chainsaw Massacre used little blood in the film and a lot of explicit violence so it made it seem to viewers as though a lot of blood and gore occured when in reality there was little blood seen.

Psycho (1960)

Collage Of Old Vampire Movies

I created a collage of old vampire movie posters on a website called Fotor. I wanted to show the similarities between a lot of the posters to show the typical conventions that the posters show of the horror genre. In the old vampire films, there always seems to be a female character that is the main focus of the male vampire, in the posters that have a female in them the male seems to be the dominating one as he's looking over her and protecting them from other people. It's the vampires way of marking their territory. A majority of the posters have the colour red on it which connotes danger and blood. In the 'Vampyres' poster, the vampire has yellow eyes and fangs which are stereotypical features of a vampire. The vampire has blood dripping out of its mouth which shows the audience she's just sunk her fangs into someone. In the 'Near Dark' poster the vampire looks deformed and hideous which is a typical feature of a vampire for the old movies. They often looked hideous and conformed to how a vampire was supposed to look. In two of the posters on the left hand side, the vampires are wearing capes which identify with what vampires wear. Typically now in horror movies vampires aren't easy to identify as they tend to dress like normal people. For example in Twilight Edward Cullen wears normal clothes and goes to school. In the old films involving vampires, the vampires tend to look older and be older compared to modern ones which have vampires who are younger.

Old Vampire Movies