Why a Cemetery? (location)

The reason I chose to film in a cemetery is because to me a cemetery is a very spiritual place, therefore linking in with the spiritual references in my film. They are also very quiet and often feel isolated from the outside world, giving them a creepy but somehow calming feel to them. It may also appeal to my target audience who are likely to be female, as females in general are more spiritual than males, and will be able to relate to the surroundings.

Location - St Peter's Church, Newdigate

The location I was planning to use is St. Peter's Church in Newdigate, Dorking. The reason I chose this location is because it is in a quiet area, so we are unlikely to disturb anyone or be disturbed by members of the public. Secondly, I like the fact that the church is in the cemetery, not outside of it as this makes it easier to film. Also, it is quite a personal location, as I have family buried there, which means it will be more comfortable to act as we know the area. The church is medieval, and one of the few original buildings still standing. It is now a protected building.



This is the front gate of the church. There are two gates, one at the front and one at the side. If I film my character entering the cemetery, I will probably use this gate. the reason for this choice is that this gate has the church name on it, so it will give the audience an idea where it is.

This is a different angle of the front of the church. You can still see the entrance of the church, but this shot gives a wider view of the whole building.
I will probably be using the oak tower a lot, as the grave I want to use is infront of it.








This is the inside of the church. In my initial film idea, I didn't include the possibility of going inside the church to film, but I may change my mind and have the character enter the church for some reason. (I will have to ask permission to film inside the church).I like the inside of the building as it has a really comforting, safe vibe to it.

Diary - 17/12/2012

17th December 2012

This week is the last week of school before the christmas holidays, so we need to finish our research and planning in order to move on to filming over christmas. so far i have done film analysis, institution research, certificate research, opening analysis of similar genre films, my own film idea brainstorm, questionnaire and feedback and my moodboard. I am currently working on my storyboard/animatic and my soundtrack research. I then need to move onto actors/costume/props/location research and photos, font research, treatment, shotlist, script and practice titles. I need to have all this done by the end of the week. 

Film Questionnaire feedback

I have picked out what I feel is the most significant results from my questionnaire and have put them into labelled charts and graphs.

Age of respondents
From my audience research, it is clear that the main age group to watch horror films is the 15-24 age range. Therefore is split my categories into '12-15', '16-18', '19-21', '22-25', '25-30' and '30+'. From the pie chart below, it is obvious that the majority of my respondents were in the 16-18 range. This is probably because a lot of the people I asked were peers in my year group.

gender of respondents
I thought that the gender of respondents was important because horror films seem to differ in the gender of the audience. Films such as The Texas Chainsaw massacre or Wrong Turn, seem to appeal to largely male audiences, whereas films such as Paranormal Entity or The Amityville Haunting/Amityville Horror appeal to more female audiences.

 

from this column chart, you can see that the majority of the respondents who liked horror films were male.

 

Type of horror film

There are several different sub-genres within the horror genre, each appealing to different audiences for different reasons. I picked out 5 of the main genres, and also put in a 'other' category so that people could pick other sub-genres. I asked that people only pick one category that they would say was their favourite. the reason i did this is because some people like all horror film sub-genres, which would make tha data quite confusing. 














From this data, I found that out of my respondents, the majority of them prefered psychological horror most. psychological horror films play on the audiences emotions and are often based around the paranormal. (paranormal entity, Nightmare on Elm Street). 25% chose slasher horror, which involves a lot of blood, gore and violence (Wrong Turn). Both sub-genres Zombie horror(Dawn of the Dead) and natural horror (Jaws, Piranha)recieved 20% of the vote. No-one picked gothic horror (woman in Black) or chose a different category.
This tells me that my own film is in the right sub-genre of Psychological horror.

Film certificates

This I thought was a relevant category as the majority of my respondents were aged between 16 - 18 years of age, meaning they could legally watch at least 4 different film categories. This question wasn't directly related to horror, but was more of a general question. From my results I found that the majority of the respondents watched 18 rated films, closely followed by 15 for those who couldn't legally watch 18s.

Certificate research

Certificate research from Abbie Galvin

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros, also known in their early years as Warner Brothers, is an American TV, film and music production company. The company was founded in the year 1918, and has its headquaters based in Burbank, CA, USA. Warner Bros. is most famous for cartoons such as Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and Superman.

Below is the Warner bros. opening:

Twisted pictures

Twisted Pictures

Twisted pictures is an independant American production company, specialising in films of the horror genre. Twisted pictures was founded in 2004, and is most known for producing the Saw series alongside LionsGate Entertainment. As well as the famous Saw films, Twisted Pictures have produced horror films such as Catacombs, Dead Silence, Chain letter and The Tortured.

I was thinking of using Twisted Pictures either alone or with LionsGate Entertainment.

Twisted Pictures Opening:

LionsGate Entertainment

LionsGate Entertainment

LionsGate entertainment is an American independant distribution company, based in Santa Monica, CA.It was founded July 3rd 1997 and is the single most successful independant company as of 2012. LionsGate Entertainment produce and distribute all genres of films, ranging from romance to sadistic horror. Horror films distributed by LionsGate Entertainment include House of 1000 Corpses, directed by famous shock rocker Rob Zombie, Cabin Fever, Saw, Texas Chainsaw 3D and Alone in the Dark. 

I am seriously considering using LionsGate Entertainment as the institution for my own film, maybe alongside another, smaller institution.

Below is the LionsGate Opening:

Paramount Pictures

Paramount pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is a film and television production/distribution company, consistently ranked as one of the largest current movie studios.  It was founded May 8 1912, and has it's headquaters in Hollywood, CA. The company has over 12 current divisions and about 20 former divisions, which shows how big the company is. Some of the films distributed by paramount include Paranormal Activity, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, friday the 13th and Beowulf. paramount have released a lot of horror films including Friday the 13th, paranormal activity and Sleepy Hollow. This will be a good choice as my own film is a horror.

Below is ther opening credits for Paramount Pictures:

Universal Pictures

Universal pictures

Universal pictures (also known as Universal Studios) is an American production company and one of the longest-lived motion picture studios to be located outside of Hollywood. Universal was founded over 100 years ago, on April 30 1912. Some of universal's most famous films are Dracula,Changeling, Babe, American werewolf in london. From this list it is clear that Universal films range from children's animated films to full on horror, putting no limit on what you could do.

Below is the opening credits for Universal Pictures:

Diary - 11/12/2012

11th december 2012

so far I have completed my analysis of similar films, and opening 2 minutes. I have completed my questionnaire, got feedback from my target audience and am in the process of presenting my findings on my blog. I am then going to move on to soundtrack and institution research.

Film Questionnaire : Horror

horror film questionnaire

1.What Gender are you?

        Male                      Female                    

2. What age are you?

    12-15       16-18     19-21       22-25  

    25-30       30+


3. Do you like horror films?

     Yes                 No                     Sometimes

•  If No, Then why not?

•  If Yes/Sometimes, what do you like about horror films?

4. What do you expect to see in a horror movie?




5. (if Yes/sometimes to Q3) What type of horror movies do you like most?

   Psychological      Natural         Gothic

   Slasher            Zombie          Action
  
   Other (please specify)
            



6. What, if anything, would you feel uncomfortable/inappropriate to watch in a horror film of a 15 certificate?






7. Do you find anything particularly disturbing, if graphic, in horror films?




8. What Horror film certificate(s) do you usually watch?

   U         PG        12          15          18         R18




Thankyou for your time.

   

  

  

initial film ideas

Initial Film ideas from Abbie Galvin

The Amityville Horror (1979) analysis

The film The Amityville Horror is based on a true story based around a haunted house that some brutal murders took place in 1975.

• you first 30 seconds are filled with various shots of the amityville house, which tells the audience that the actual building is the main part of the film.
• out in the yard of the house are 2 people playing in the sun, giving the start of the film quite a happy, cheery feel. This helps to lure the audience into a false sense of security.
• This is followed by a scene in which a preist appears to be in the house, and there are flies everywhere. Flies in horror movies, particularly ghost films, are never a good sign.

Research film analysis: Titanic (romance drama)

This is the classic romance-drama film, Titanic, starring leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

• starts with people waving to freinds and family on the Titanic. there is some romantic sounding music playing, showing that it is going to be a romance.
• there are lots of shots of people smiling, which gives nothing away into the tragedy that occurs later in the film
• there is then a shot of dark, cold looking water, which is the backdrop to the title. this suggests that there is a darker side to the romantic film.

film analysis: Possession

this is the full movie of Possession, however i will only be analysing the first 2 minutes of the film.

• starts with institutions logos/names followed by opening credits
• lighting is quite dark, setting the scene as a horror
• the first few pictures you see is of people's faces will nasty injuries, and a hammer covered in blood, under the label evidence. this tells the audience that this is going to be quite a dark film.
• there is a woman looking at a photo of a suspect for assault, clipped to a Police department form. the camera then zooms up on the mans face, giving us the impressiomn that we will be seeing him at some point in the film, and that he isn't a very nice character

diary - 04/12/2012

Tuesday 4th December 2012

This week I have been working on and updating my blog. I have completed my initial film ideas mindmap, analysed several different genre of films and done my moodboard. I am currently working on analysis of similar genre films (horror), and have chosen to do John Carpenter's halloween and Possession. I am also going to do some paranormal, ghost based films such as White Noise, Poltergeist, Paranormal Entity and The Amityville Horror. Next I will do some costume/location research soundtrack and institution research and maybe some certificate research.

My Target Audience

target audience

The target audience of my film is likely to be mainly teenagers and young women. The reason I believe that my audience is going to be largely female is because it is a psychological and spiritual film, which seems to appeal mainly to females, as opposed to gorey films that seem to appeal to males. I have adressed this by using a female main character, so that this particular target audience can relate to her and how she may be feeling.

I also deliberately used my sister because she is a teenager (15 years old) which will also appeal to my target audience who will probably be largely made of teenagers. It also corresponds with the age rating certificate of 15 that I chose for my film.

Audience Profiling: The Exorcism of Emily Rose

This is the audience profile for The Exorcism of Emily Rose, a fictionalised version of the true story of the last exorcism in Germany, where a young woman died after a 9 month exorcism. the story also follows the lawsuit that took place after the exorcism.

Age - %	Class - %	Gender -%
4-6 – 0%	AB – 25%	Male – 59%
7-11 - 0%	C1 – 34%	Female – 41%
12-14 - 0%	C2 – 23%
15-24 - 33%	DE – 18%
25-34 – 30%
35-44 – 12%
45+ - 25%

Once again the main age group is 15-24 year olds and of middle class, but it is now mainly males who watched this film. This could be due to the violence involved, which may have put female watchers off, or simlpy the fact that this seemed to appeal more to a male audience.

In comparison, my own film is going to be a psychological thriller, with little to no gore involved, therefore appealing to a more female dominant target audience. However, the age group is fairly much the same.

Audience Profiling: Paranormal Activity

This is the audience profile for Paranormal Activity, a story based on the true events of a couple's demonic haunting after the use of a Ouiji Board. The film was released November 2009 under the distributors Icon Films.

Age - %	Class - %	Gender -%
4-6 – 0%	AB – 22%	Male – 49%
7-11 - 0%	C1 – 40%	Female – 51%
12-14 - 0%	C2 – 24%
15-24 55%	DE – 14%
25-34 - 30
35-44 – 12%
45+ - 3%

From the table above it is clear that the majority of the target audience for this film is mainly middle class females between the ages of 15-24 years old. From this I can gather that my target audience is mainly going to be teenage girls and young women.

I have tried to appeal to this young female audience by using a 15 year old girl as the main character, and allowing the audience a chance to relate to her.

Audience Profiling: The Woman In Black

The woman In Black is a supernatural thriller, released in February 2012. The film has a certificate of 12A and distributed by Momentum Pictures. The story follows a lawyer as he organises a recently deceased client, who still haunts the village and is set on vengeance.

Age - %	Class - %	Gender -%
4-6 – 0%	AB – 25%	Male – 60%
7-11 - 0%	C1 – 19%	Female – 40%
12-14 - 0%	C2 – 19%
15-24 - 29%	DE – 37%
25-34 – 29%
35-44 – 15%
45+ - 27%

The target audience for this film seems to be a mainly male audience, with age ranging from 15 - 34 years olds of working class backgrounds.

In my own film, my main character fits in with the most popular age group for most films (15-24), therefore appealing to that particular target audience.

Media mood board

Media mood board from Abbie Galvin


This is my mood board for my opening 2 minutes.

Audience Profiling: White Noise

White Noise is a supernatural thriller/horror film, directed by Geoffrey Sax. It was released on the 7th January 2005 by Entertainment, and has a certificate of 15.

The title "White Noise" refers to EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena). It is believed that if you listen to a detuned radio you can hear supernatural voices, and if you watch the white noise of a detuned television you will see faces. These are the voices and faces of the dead. In the film the ghost in question is that of a man's murdered wife, but is she kind or angry? Through the film you will follow the spirit communicating with the living, but will she help the people she left behind solve the mystery of her murder, or does she seek revenge?

Audience Profile

Age:	%:	Gender:	%:	Class	%:

	4-6	0%	Male:	42%	AB	22%

	7-11	0%	Female:	58%	C1	28%

	12-14	10%			C2	28%

	15-24	46%			DE	22%

	25-34	26%

	35-44	10%

	45+	8%

By the above statistics we can see that the majority of the audiece is female, which is unusual as horror films often draw the attention from mainly males. This may be because the film is more emotionally involving, being supernatural, and less blood and gore.  The film targets the age group 15 - 24, and the majority of the audience is of middle class status.

Below is the trailer for White Noise: