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Horror Movie Poster Analysis

Movie Magazine Analysis

Prop Research

Elizabeth's Clothing:
We have chosen to use the color white for Elizabeth's top as white has connotations of purity and innocence. As she is the last girl in the trailer to survive, she needs to fit the final girl stereotype of the most innocent character. We have chose skinny jeans to show how she needs to feel covered up.  

Lola's Clothing:
We have chosen a short, red, bodycon dress to show how she is supposed to be presented as the promiscuous girl in the trailer. The color red connotes danger and also promiscuity and as she is the first girl to die in the trailer, she needs to fit this stereotype. 

 Harriet's Clothing:
We have chosen normal, teenage girl clothing for Harriet's clothing as we need three different types of girls in our trailer. We have the innocent girl, Elizabeth, the promiscuous one, Lola, and then the girl who's fairly normal. Therefore we have chosen to have a normal teenage girl. 

Ingrid's Happy Clothing:
We have chosen to give Ingrid normal, simple clothing as she needs to seem plain and quite geeky. We have chosen a pink top to reflect how the change in personality is shown when Ingrid turns crazy. We have chosen big, chunky, black glasses to also show how she is a geeky type of girl. The black jeans also show how she feels the need to be covered up, therefore wearing long black clothing.

Ingrid's Killer Clothing:
We have chose to use an all black attire for Ingrid's villain clothing as the colour black connotes mystery and also danger is some aspects. We have chose to use a balaclava to hide the villains identity and also baggy clothing to hide body shape to ensure that the audience do not know if its a women or man.

Ingrid's Necklace:
We have decided to include a necklace in the trailer to suggest who the killer is. We have chose a unique looking necklace as it needs to be known that this is Ingrid's necklace. This is also our icon within our film.






Fake Blood:
We have decided to use shop bought fake blood as well as making edible fake blood to ensure that is it safe to use in and around the mouth without causing harm to the actors.

The Forgiven Film Schedule

Script

Harriet: Maeva Pierre-Georges

Lola: Abbie Friday

Elizabeth: Grace Windsor

Ingrid: Bryony Holdridge

Camera tracks down corridor through many different students at Plumstead Manor School, laughter and chatter is heard. Camera then focuses on a group of three teenage girls, Harriet, Elizabeth and Lola.

Harriet: How about camping?

Elizabeth: Nah, I have a free house this weekend, parents and neighbors out of town, my house?

Lola: Yah but there’s only three of us?

Girls look around corridor looking for another person to invite. Camera cuts to a geeky looking girl at a locker named Ingrid. Camera cuts to the four girls talking to Ingrid

Lola: Why don’t you come Elizabeth’s this weekend?

Elizabeth: You’re necklace is really nice by the way

Ingrid: Yeah alright then

The girls are packing up a car to go to Elizabeth’s house. The girls then rush into the house when getting there pushing Ingrid to the back and giggling.

Sitting around a coffee table together laughing. Drinking, smoking, chatting.

Lola: Ingrid have a drink

Harriet: Yeah Ingrid drink

Ingrid: I’m fine thank you

Harriet: Drink, you’re no fun

Lola:  Don’t be a geek

Ingrid: No

Elizabeth: come on Ingrid

Ingrid: NO!

Ingrid storms out of the room. The girls are then walking down the corridor.

Elizabeth, Lola & Harriet: Ingrid…?

 A black figure walks behind them into the other room

Elizabeth: Did you hear that…?

The scene then cuts to Lola in the bathroom looking at her hair and makeup. She opens the cabinet then closes it and there is a figure behind her with a hammer.

Lola: * Screams*

Harriet running down a garden towards a fence at the end while the figure is walking behind her. She attempts to climb the fence and fails.

Harriet: * Screams *

Harriet: HELP!

Elizabeth then grabs the villain round the neck and tries to strangle, pulling off a necklace in the process. She then runs back into the house after failing.

Harriet: * Screams *

Elizabeth: RUN!

Elizabeth is standing in a cupboard with the door slightly ajar so that she can see out. She is holding her hand over her mouth to control her breathing. The killer then walks past the door and tightens her hand over her mouth. The camera then adjusts and the killer is standing staring at the door and then runs at the door.

Elizabeth: * Screams *

Storyboard For The Forgiven

Storyboard For The Forgiven

Treatment 3 - Robyn

Treatment 3 - Robyn: 

It’s winter break 2014, school has finished, and a group of four girl friends decide to take a group outing to a destination that none of them have been to, apart from friend 1 (Amy), who suggested this location.

It’s the following morning girls are leaving the house. All excited for their trip they are happy, laughing and listening to music. As they start to drive away.

On the journey there, Friend 2 mentions the time their group used to pick on Amy in their younger years. Joking around with the other two friends, the girls take the jokes a step too far again, leaving Amy rather upset. Clearly unhappy and hurt, Amy claims she needs to stop at a service station. Enraged by the words of her friends, Amy glimpses over at a hammer that catches her eye in the station.

A shot of Amy is shown, walking slowly over to the hammer. This is followed by a shot of Amy staring expressionless at the tool.

A Shot of Amy is shown, getting back into the car clutching her backpack seeming quite withdrawn. Her friends apologize to her on return, which Amy doesn’t seem to register and remains quiet for the rest of the journey.

Friends arrive at their destination in the evening. It’s almost night and the sky is dark. As friends are moving their luggage, one friend moves Amy’s backpack out of the car and is surprised when a hammer falls out. Confused as to why Amy would bring a hammer to an outing, she confronts Amy and calls the other two girls over, yet again, they all start to innocently mock Amy, calling her crazy. Instead of running off upset again, Amy stands still, staring back with a crazed, blank face and calmly walks away.

Later on that night the friends take part in activities such as drinking and smoking. Seeming rather aloof and in her own thoughts still, Amy doesn’t appear to want to participate with these activities. This bothers Friend 2 and starts to bicker with Amy over how she’s so boring, and how her coming along was a waste of time.

Leading to a full-blown argument, Amy finally snaps. Tired of friend 2 constant remarks, she marches off fuming. Friend 2 reassures the others that she’ll “get scared, and be back in no time”.

Time passes, as Amy still hasn’t returned; however the girls are led to believe someone is watching. The scene cuts to the girls crying running and screaming covered in blood as the final shot is shown of a hammer drawing back.

Treatment 2 - Marnia

Treatment 2 - Marnia:

It’s the end of a busy week at college for three girls called Lola, Elizabeth and Harriet. The three seventeen year olds are deciding what to do over the weekend during school on a Friday afternoon. They are all in mixed minds on what or where they should go until Elizabeth suggests a manner house down in Sunbury where her parents stayed one year. Harriet is happy to go along with idea however Lola is not too sure whether it’s worth the long journey. A little while later Ingrid (A FRIEND OF LOLAS BUT DOES NOT GET ON TOO WELL WITH HARRIET AND ELIZABTETH) comes over and sits with the three girls “what are you girls up to?”  She says politely. A quick shot reverse shot between Ingrid and Elizabeth who are bickering which normally happens. The next clip is Lola suggesting that Ingrid joins them on their weekend retreat.

The girls all decided to be ready and head down to Sunbury for around 6ish on that Friday night where Harriet will be driving them down there. This is all a bit of a rushed decision however Elizabeth in convinced that it’s a great idea to “spontaneous”. This is revealed over an establishing shot of Harriet’s house where they will meet. The next few clips are of the girls laughing, singing and dancing on the car journey down to Sunbury. (At this point everyone is jolly and will are still set in the Equilibrium stages.)

The Girls arrive at the retreat around half 9. It’s very dark out and the lamppost light are very dim and fields and greenery surround them so it’s pretty secluded. A establishing of the manner house is added as this where the girls will be staying for the next two days and where events will change the friendship between them all.

The four girls are taken to their rooms, which they had booked very last minute. All the staff seem very polite and friendly to the girls. Ingrid offered to grab the bags from the car. The next few scenes are the three girls in their hotel rooms mucking about while listening to music. Elizabeth secretly brought a few bottles of different spirits so that the girls could have a good time and it also is a distraction from a stressful time at school with exams. Harriet is not too sure on the whole drinking idea, there is then a close up shot where Ingrid is staring at the spirits. – This is the moment of disequilibrium as she can used it at her advantage.

IT around eleven o’clock now and the girls have all done there fair share of shots, this has taken its tall on them – a long shot of the girls pouncing around the hotel room with relatively loud music. At this point Ingrid and Elizabeth have has a little tiff about the sleeping arrangement for the next few days which developed in to them falling out – this heightens the emotions and turns in to a bitter atmosphere.Ingrid is upset with what has happened, as she knows it will effect the next two days, she decided to go for a walk. Harriet tells Elizabeth to go after her, which is portrayed as long shot of both girls.

 After this, the next few clips are very fast and jumpy with cuts and tone cards between the actions. Includes tracking shots to make it look realistic, high angle shots for vulnerability, hand held camera shot and point of view. These camera angles are all used in the killing of the two girls Elizabeth and Lola. (The audience see some lead ups to murders which involves only one weapon which is a hammer however the murders are not revealed in the trailer) Nothing is revealed about Harriet, as there has to be some sort of surprising element to the blot, the audience also do not know what happens to Ingrid (The main protagonist).

The trailer ends with a lot of editing techniques involved, including jumpy cuts of blackouts or fade in to blackout and with tone cards. This will all hopefully go to the beat of some music or some sort of non-diegetic sound. Including a clip at the end of the trailer after trailer credits will leave suspense for the audience; this could be a clip of one of the murders or even a quick shot of Ingrid that has not been shown in the trailer already.

Treatment 1 - Emma

Treatment 1 - Emma:

It’s a Friday afternoon and three 17 year old friends, Lola, Elizabeth and Harriet, are in college and discussing their weekend plans. Harriet suggests that they should go camping in a field that she knows of but Elizabeth disagrees and says she has a free house and her parents and neighbors were out of town. They decide they want to go to the house but need another person to make it an even number. Fades into a tone card of “Four girls in a empty house”. Scene fades in to girls looking around the corridor and see Ingrid, an awkward, nerdy, shy girl who the three girls used to bully but are now friends with. Scene cuts to the girls inviting her out and complementing her necklace, she agrees to go and the scene fades to another tone card of “On an unforgettable weekend away”.

     Saturday afternoon comes around and the girls are preparing to go to Elizabeth’s house with blankets and pillows with backpacks on their back, getting into a car. The scene cuts and comes back to a car driving down a road to her house. The scene then cuts again to the girls walking into this house, Ingrid being pushed to the back when they are walking in and the three other girls giggling at her.

The scene then cuts to all the girls sitting around an old coffee table in a living room covered in blankets and sleeping bags with cigarettes and alcohol sitting on the coffee table. The girls are drinking apart from Ingrid who sits with a glass of coke. The girls, mainly Lola, start to force her to drink however she says no and the girls keep telling her to, calling her a geek and no fun. Ingrid then shouts no and gets up and walks away out the room, scene then fades to another tone card of “Karma will always come back around.”

     The scene then cuts to the girls walking along the landing of the house calling out Ingrid. The camera then comes round the front of them and a figure in all black walks behind them into a room opposite, the girls hear it and turn around and Elizabeth says “Did you hear that?”, the scene then cuts to black.

The scene then cuts back to a shot of Lola in the bathroom, looking in the mirror at her hair and makeup. She then opens up the bathroom cabinet to find a glass to get some water. As she closes the cabinet, there is a figure in the background over her shoulder in a balaclava, holding up a hammer. The scene then cuts to black with screaming in the background.

The scene then cuts to Harriet running down a garden to a fence at the end of the garden. The camera shows her running from the front and the figure is walking slowly behind her holding the hammer, which is covered in blood. She then gets to the fence and attempts to climb over, failing and screaming for help. The scene then cuts to Elizabeth holding the killer round the throat pulling of a necklace, the same one Ingrid wore in the start of the trailer. It drops on the floor and the camera zooms in on it, then cuts back to Elizabeth running back into the house while the killer walks after Harriet.

The scene then cuts to Elizabeth standing in a cupboard with the door slightly ajar, looking out into the living room, she has her hand over her mouth trying to control her breathing. A figure then walks past the door holding a hammer, she then tightens her grip on her mouth and the camera turns back to the gap in the door (POV shot). The camera then adjusts slightly and she can see the figure staring at the gap in the door, the figure then runs towards the door while Elizabeth screams. Just before the figure gets there, the scene cuts to black and the title screen shows, the scene then fades into a date with jewelry box music playing in the background.

Pitch

One girl “becomes friends” with the three friends that used to bully her and gets her revenge on an outing on an unforgettable weekend

The Quiet Ones Editing Trailer Analysis

Audience Research Results

From these results I can conclude that to make my horror trailer scary to all viewers, I would need to include a few things. The protagonist in the trailer must be around 16-18 years old and human as that is the most common age that completed the survey and 65% of people said they would find it more scary if the villain was realistic rather than improbable and 42% of people said that they would find it more scary if the protagonist was around their age. Also, the horror trailer must be more suspense based rather than gory as 81% of people said they prefer suspense films to gore. The elements that need to be most prominent in the trailer would be the plot, editing and the actors need to be good for the trailer to be successful. Furthermore, majority of people said that the horror film that scared them the most was 'The Conjuring'. If my trailer is to be successful and scary, I would need to include similar suspense parts from said film. 

Audience Research - Questionnaire

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Compare and contrast 28 Days Later with Shaun of the Dead, commenting on the structuralism or post-structuralism qualities

Structuralism is a theory that states how every element to something relates to a bigger picture. Structuralist films emphasise heavily on how films convey meaning through the use of codes and conventions and how single elements make a film a whole. However, post-structuralism is a contrast to this and argues that the structure within every text does not make the film a whole.

The first structuralist idea we see in 28 Days Later is the setting of the film. The film is set in the city of London and little parts in the edge of Manchester but it is not placed in the streets, however, it is placed in abandoned mansions and churches to emphasise the horror and isolation within the film. This contrasts with Shaun of the Dead which is set in the suburban area of London in houses and pubs. This gives the idea of how zombie apocalypses can happen to anyone, anywhere and it does not mean that is has to be in isolated places. Furthermore, this adds to the comedy aspect of Shaun of the Dead as it is not a normal setting.

The characters and plot of both films also display a difference in their post-structuralist and structuralist ideas. In 28 Days Later, the characters are determined to survive the apocalypse and will fight no matter what it takes. This idea is shown as a structuralist idea as it is a common theme is horror films is survival and to fight. However, this contrasts with Shaun of the Dead as they too are determined to survive, however they will not fight if they don’t have to. Majority of the film is about them trying to escape the zombies and trying different ways so they do not have to fight. This again shows the comedic theme in the film as they act like zombies to try and escape however also shows the post-structuralist theory of the film as not following codes and conventions. Shaun of the Dead also goes against codes and conventions as they do not show a lot of blood or gore for effect but more for comedic purposes. This again is a post-structuralist idea. The main characters in the films are both trying to be the hero and lead their group to safety however, in both films it shows how the women are actually the strongest characters and can look after themselves. This is both a post-modern and post-structuralist idea. The villains in both films are the same type of villain however; they are different in the way that they act. Zombies are structuralist ideas like 28 Days Later shows as their zombies move extremely quickly and turn into a zombie seconds after becoming infected by a bite. However, Shaun of the Dead expands on the idea of structuralist zombies as they take quite a few minutes to turn into a zombie after becoming infected, again by a bite and they move extremely slowly. To add to the comedic effect of the film again, Shaun, the lead character, walks straight past several zombies without noticing due to their slow nature.

In both films, they have used costumes to emphasise on the horror aspect of the film. In both films, the zombies are covered in blood to give this horror effect of them having killed someone. They also wear torn clothes, glazed over or white eyes and they also may be missing a limb. These are all structuralist ideas as they back up the paradigms of horror. However, the human clothes vary throughout the two films. In 28 Days Later the characters are seen as wearing army type clothing to show that they are fighting a battle however this contrasts massively with Shaun of the Dead as they are wearing normal clothes such as suits and skirts to show how unprepared they are and how they don’t understand the seriousness of the situation. This can be both post-structuralist and structuralist as it promoted the idea of something so bad happening to someone so normal.

The props used in both films contrast with one another as one is structuralist and one is post-structuralist. In 28 Days Later, the weapons used as props are knives, guns, axes and anything that can do a lot of damage. This is a structuralist idea as they are proper weapons that are dangerous and can do a lot of damage. However, this contrast with Shaun of the Dead as they use vinyl record, snooker cues and cricket bats. This is seen as a post-structuralist idea as they are not the normal weapons which a horror film would use. This goes against codes and conventions and is used more as a comedic value. This is supported by the fact that in the scene with the snooker cue, the hits go along with the beat of the music which is ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen.

Therefore, Shaun of the Dead very rarely follows codes and conventions of horror films compared to 28 Days Later who follow majority of the codes and conventions. Due to not following these codes and conventions, it is possible to say that Shaun of the Dead is a post-structuralist film who is basing the horror around a comedic aspect whereas 28 Days Later would like to induce fear into their audience instead of a comedic aspect. This therefore makes 28 Days Later a structuralist film.

How does the director use micro-elements to present the genders in your film?

Jennifer’s Body is a film based around two characters, Jennifer, the main character who is also the killer and Needy, her best friend. The films pans out that Jennifer is sacrificed but in the process is possessed by a demon. This then means she starts to kill and eat males to live while Needy tries to stop her.

Even the name Jennifer’s Body is said to be feminist because the title even bases itself around her body and all throughout the film there are sexualized long shots of her walking down a corridor or laying on a bed to highlight her body. Also, the film could be named Jennifer’s Body as she attracts men to kill by using her body, like a weapon.

Jennifer is shown to be a promiscuous, popular, high school girl in the film, which is normally the girl who gets killed first, however, in this film she is the villain. This is because she gets possessed by a demon when a band she meets try to sacrifice her thinking she is a virgin, ironically, being unchaste saves her life. However, the theory of the “Final Girl” by Carol Clover still stands as the awkward virgin, Needy, is the last girl standing and is the one who kills Jennifer.

As the villains in films are usually men and they are played as males torturing women, most women victims need to be masculinized before they are able to become a killer. For example, in the Alien films, the center woman becomes more masculine as the films play out. She gains more muscle and dresses more like a man and as this happens her technique of killing the aliens becomes more accurate and easier. Therefore as the band that sacrifices Jennifer use a knife to do this, you could say that every penetrative knife stroke transfers part of their male energy into Jennifer, allowing her to be masculine enough to kill.

Jennifer embodies the proverb “man-eater” in this film as she is shown to be a oversexed who walks over weak and blameless men but she relies on them to live and for her to keep her power. Needy says to her at one point “You’re killing people.” And Jennifer replies, “No, I'm killing boys.” However, by the end of the film, after killing a few men, she says she “Goes both ways” meaning she kills women too. This could suggest how she had become so masculine from killing and eating men that she started to kill women like a typical villain in horror films.

At the end of the film, Jennifer tries to kill Needy’s boyfriend, Chip. Needy obviously tries to stop Jennifer and this is where Jennifer says she also kills women. Chip then stabs Jennifer with a pole and she walks away from them, not finishing the kill. Chip then dies and Needy seeks revenge on Jennifer, however, before she does, she needs to become masculinized just like Jennifer was and Jennifer needs to become feminized just like Needy was. This is done through Needy using a box cutter to stab Jennifer in the heart and Needy telling Jennifer that it was used to cut boxes, disregarding the butch comment.

Therefore, Jennifer’s Body could be said to be a feminist film due to change in gender roles and how they are presented. We have a promiscuous female villain who feeds off of men to stay beautiful and keep her power and we have the awkward virgin as the final girl. The final girl follows conventions of a normal horror film, however, a woman being the villain does not. Also, as it is men that she kills, they show them to be weak and vulnerable, swapping gender roles again.