Research and Planning: Stalker Films

I have made this post to show different plot types for stalker films, I think this was important for me to do as it will help me when I am constructing my storyboard etc as I need to think of a plot that is viable and interesting. By looking at similar plots, I can see parts that I think would help make a good film and apply parts of it to mine.

Fatal Attraction (1987) is about a married man who has a weekend affair with a female colleague while his family are out of town but what he never expected was that the woman would begin to stalk him and his family. This film is a certificate 18 as there is violence with knives, guns and hand to hand combat as well as the horror stalker nature of the film.

Fear (1996) is a certificate 18 that is under the genre of Horror, Thriller and Drama. Fear is about a young girl of sixteen years old (Nicole) who is innocent but rebels against her father, so when she meets a guy (David) she decides to go out with him as her father disapproves. Her father does a check on his daughters new boyfriend and finds that he isn't all he appears to be. Nicole later finds out how possessive he really is as he will do anything to be with her even beating himself and falsely accusing others.

Single White Female (1992) is about a girl who advertises in the paper for a 'single white female' to share rent with her in a new room, she woman she chooses seems to be normal however she has a past that haunts her. Her new room mate begins to copy everything about her like the way she dresses and even copies her hairstyle so they are almost identical. She finds out the background of her new room mate and she isn't who she says she is after all, in fact she has a shady history where she killed the last woman she chose to copy so now it is a race against time. The is also a certificate 18 and is also classed as a thriller, I think if my group decide on doing a plot about a stalker that we need our genre to be horror/thriller in order for it to be as effective.

Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) is about a woman who fakes her own death in order to avoid the terrible marriage she is in but her obsessive and abusive husband won't be kicked out of her life that easily, and if he cannot have her then nobody can. This film unlike the three above is a certificate 15 this could be as it isn't as violent/sexual.

Research and Planning: Photoshop Challenge

Today we were set the photoshop challenge task which was the see what we could remember about photoshop since we've not used it since before the summer holidays. We were told to take an image and make a film poster which is the same genre of the film trailer we plan to make for coursework this year; in my case the genre is horror.

I have looked at the typical codes and conventions of film posters and have tried to apply most of them to my photoshop challenge film poster. The codes and conventions are:
- A tagline for the film.
- A date for the release of the film or 'Coming Soon'.
- The films title.
- An image of something that relates to what the film is about and what it includes.
- Logos for who made the film etc.
- Usually includes actors names in a larger font somewhere on the poster, usually when they are      popular actors as this helps to promote the film.
- Some posters include a certificate but not all.
- The film credits.
- The colour and lighting should hint at the genre of the film


As this was a quick challenge to just show what we remember I haven't used as many tools as I did in AS media. I got the image of the woman off the internet and opened the image up in photoshop then I decided to highlight the most creepy parts of the photo. I used the brush tool to draw red eyes and to paint red in her hair and around her fingertips, I also branded a faint 'mark' on her left shoulder. For these to look effective I had to change the brush size and brush opacity so it highlights some parts more than others e.g. I made the red blood near her fingers a brighter red than the mark on her back. I then used  the blur tool for the black around her eyes to increase the scary look of the woman, I wanted it to look as if the black was spreading; like the evil is slowly taking over. I downloaded two fonts - the first was 'October Crow' which was a horror font which helps to portray the genre and 'Steel Tongs' to write the film credits which gives it a professional look.

Research and Planning: Target Audience

I have copied and pasted the Top Rated Horror Titles off IMDb where the public have rated their

favourite horror films. I have found that the majority are from 1900's and the minority are from 

20th century upwards. This could possibly be as our the 1900's generation had more fears of the 

unknown whereas the current generation seem to be desensitized to horror and violence. I would

have expected more modern films to be featured as technology is more advanced nowadays and 

special effects have allowed scenes to look more real. These films have been around longer than

modern films such as 'Zombieland' so it could be that they may not be the most popular; the 1900's

films may have the advantage of being voted for since they came out.

I have copied and pasted the most searched for Horror Titles in the last 7 days off IMDb as I
think this will give me a more accurate view of what the audience wants as this is a modern 
vote that enables me to view what modern viewers are most likely to search for and want to 
watch. Many of these searches seem to have a fantasy element to the horror genre such as 
Vampire Diaries that deal with mystical beings/legends such as vampires, witches and werewolves
this showing me that people are possibly more afraid of things that can't be proved to be real.
The top search at number one is the film 'Cabin in the Wood's which has a similar plot to a plot 
I created for the pitch of a group of friends going somewhere they feel safe e.g. a house and 
then it going terribly wrong where people start to get murdered. Therefore it is interesting to 
know people are interested in this sort of plot.

Research and Planning: Target Research Audience Interviews

After coming up with our groups interview questions, we went around college and asked the students the questions about what they expect from this genre of film; horror. This was ideal as the students are aged 15 to 18 years old which is what rating our film will be therefore they are our perfect target audience. Their feedback will help us when producing the film trailer and the comments made will be taken into consideration when making decisions.

When asked about what sound effects would be most suitable for a stalker film, he replied 'footsteps and breathing' I think this is a good idea as it helps to create an eerie atmosphere so not only is the person being stalked scared, the audience will also feel what it is liked to be stalked and will prey on their fears. For Mise en Scene purposes we asked what colours are most suitable for a horror and he responded with 'Red and Black' this was said by three of our interviewees which shows they expect a certain colour scheme for this genre therefore I think when thinking about props, setting, costume we should include dark colours as it is more creepy.

Our second interviewee said the best horror films were the ones that created suspense which I agree is an important feature within this genre, by thinking about sound and character for the trailer I think we can create suspense. Interestingly, she feels that the villain/killer in the film should be a female as it would be more twisted, I think in films the majority of villains are males so it would be a different to have a female as the villain in our horror.

When asked about what makes the best horror films, he said 'violence' I think this is an important part in horror as sometimes it can help to pick up the pace of the film and enables action rather than it being suspense and the same pace throughout. I think we need to include action in our trailer as it intrigued the audience and makes them want to know what happens after the encounter between victim and villain/killer. 

This interviewee thinks that there should be a twist at the end of the film which is a good idea as the audience are lulled into a false sense of security which is then taken away at the end and shocks them however as we are just making a trailer this isn't as much as an issue. She thought that the villain should be male which differs from our other females response therefore she may expect the typical villain. When asked about location she replied 'a shed' I don't think this an appropriate main setting for a film however I think it could be an interesting side setting e.g. the stalker could be shown in his normal life but then we film his private shed where we find abnormal things about him e.g. he could have walls full of pictures of the person he stalks.

Research and Planning: Interview Questions

These questions are going to be asked to our film trailers target audience which is  people between the ages of 15 years old and 18 years old. Today we will be interviewing people within our college as they fit the category. I hope that the answers will help to determine what sort of horror film people want to see and also what things people expect to see in the horror genre.


Target Audience Research Questionnaire:

1. What Plot would you prefer? Our plot with a Stalker or Our plot with a massacre? And why?

2. What would be the best location for this?

3. What sort of sound effects should be in a horror film?

4. What makes the best horror film?

5. What colours do you associate with this genre?

6. What do you expect to see in a horror film?

7. Would you prefer a male or female villain? And what makes a good killer/villain?

8. What type of music would you expect in this genre of film?

Research and Planning: Pitch

This is our groups pitch for our film trailer. Both of these plots are of the horror genre as we have decided this is the genre we definitely want to do however our two plots are totally different from each other as one explores the stalker type of film such as 'Prom Night' and 'Obsessed' whereas the other explores the massacre horror films such as 'Sorority Row'. This has helped to create some ideas for the film trailer we are going to produce however things such as music and locations still need to be thought into.

Research and Planning: Chase Sequence

In class we was given a task to create a a video that is a chase sequence called 'The Chase', we was given a limited amount of time to create this and also limited Mise en scene. My groups chase footage got deleted twice which is why I am editing and analysing a bit later on than the other groups. This task has allowed us to get used to using the camera to film and also given us experience in the software for editing on the Macs. 

Sound
It was decided to stick with the diegetic sounds of the scene as it created a realistic effect. We wanted the chase to be quite a scary chase and decided to use the film genre of horror. In horror they usually use minimal sounds as the natural sound is much more effective. This is why we kept the background noise of the wind in the chase as it makes it creepier.  

Cinematography
It was decided to use a range of shots but not use too many different shots in such a short time period as it would look jumpy and not flow properly. The cinematography could be improved vastly as a lot of the shots were taken on bad angles and the camera was often turned around from vertical to horizontal shots so the scene doesn't make as much sense however in some respects it worked in our favour as the choppiness and weirdness suits the genre and could be used to represent the villains state of mind. We used a mixture of close up shots and long shots as it helps to show the facial expressions and in turn their reaction e.g. fear and the long shot distances the characters from each other to show that a chase is taking place. Both low angle and high angle shots were used e.g a low angle shot of the scared girl running down the stairs but we also used a high angle shot of the girl running down the stairs the use of both shots creates the impression even more that you are being watched from everywhere. The high angle shot of the villain shows her power as she is chasing the other girl and she appears just after showing she is right behind her. 

Editing
The main transitions that I used were straight cuts as it helps to keep up the speed of the film and fits with the genre as horror trailers usually are fast pace to cover a lot of footage in a short amount of time which interests the audience whilst scaring them. I think one of the most effective straight cuts was between the cabinet rattling and the reaction of the girl. I decided to fade the scenes in which the villain were shown by changing the brightness and exposure, this showed a clear difference between the two people in the film. I used  jump cuts on the villain walking up the stairs as it quickens up the pace and gets rid of parts that aren't needed to be shown as it still presents the change over time. When the girl is stood at the top of the stairs I rotated the footage back and forth between her being vertical and her being horizontal which made the scene more creepy. I zoomed in and out of the girl who was hid in the corner the zoom out shown a long shot of her cowering in a corner and the zoom in shown a close up of the girls reaction. 

Mise En Scene
We were limited in terms of Mise en scene as we had to film the chase in college however this didn't look very horror like so we decided to find areas of college that looked like a derelict building. We found a 'CCTV in operation' sign and used a close up of the sign to start the video, thus creating the impression that wherever you are you are being watched. We found a rusting gate that looked old and creepy that led down to a basement looking area and a cabinet that we rattled from the inside to create the impression of either someone being locked in or someone escaping. There were two sets of stairs that we used, on set was inside in and enclosed corridor which made it is to flick the lights on and off and create a scary effect as it as if the villain is doing it by herself. The second set of stairs were on the outside of the building the green bars contrast against the brick wall it is attached to, I think the old rustic look is quite effective.