Stereo typical horror settings (done)

This is a ECU of barred wire wrapped around a plank of wood  so no one can get in. This is a stereotypical horror setting as barred wire would connote to the audience that you should'nt be in this place and it has been seeled of with barred wire for a reason. So this would create a sence of tension to the viewer and also a aspect of mystery. Barred wire can also be used as a weopon against a victim. I could use this in the opening sequence and present it in a way that would be used as a weapon in the film.

 This is a mid-shot of to gravestones. The gravestones have foliage and have began to erode. This will connote to the audience that this is a old gravevard. This is a stereotypical horror setting as this setting will connote that the film may be about ghosts or exorcism's as a graveyard is related to a church. An example of a film used in this setting; 'The exorsist', which used both graveyard and the inside of a church. I could use this setting in my film to create a mysterious effect and i could place my killings in a graveyard.

This is a close up on a church window. Due to the old fashioned stain glassed windows this may connote the the viewer that they do not have many visitors as they have not changed since the 19 century. This causes a sence of mystery for the viewer as they wonder why they havn't changed with the times. This setting can connote that excorcisms may take place as they stereotypically take place in a church. This setting could also be used for a murder scene. For example, the film 'The midnight murderer' kills his victims in a church. I could use this setting in my film if i was doing a ghost themed film.

This is a long shot of a dead tree in a forest. This is a stereotypical horror setting as a forest is a isolated place with no were really to and hard to see someone. This will cause a sence of tension and someone could be being followed which creates dramatic irony. Also as it is isolated there is no were for the person to run so the audience know something is going to happen. So this setting would connote murders and maybe rape. I could use this setting in my film if i was having somebody running away from someone so i could show that they was isolated.

Group roles (done)

In our group we all sat down and decided what role would suit each other. For example, people that were better with technology, were appointed as the editor and the more creative people wrote and designed the story board and production logo. I was appointed as director who made all the final decisions on everything. When it came to choosing were to film and what shots to take we all made our own points and came to a compromise so that everyone was happy. Liam Irons was appointed as the main actor as he put himself forward and everyone in the group agreed on this and he said that he has the confidence to take this role. Liam Dawson was the music director, we chose his for this role as he likes music which means that he would be more interested in this role, thus making him concentrate more and find good/suitable music. Myself and Rhys Williams were co actors as we featured in the news report but only for a short period of time. I was also producer of the film as I thought that my ideas were good enough to get us a good grade. I didn't just take over and say that my decision was final. We all said what we wanted to do and them either did all of them and see what was better or compromise and takes little ideas from everyone and make a combined idea, which sometimes worked out better. We had a few discussions were we couldn't come to a conclusion but at the end of every discussion we worked it out. Rhys Williams was in charge of the mise-en-scene. He was very keen in taking this role on and as he is a very organised person we trusted him in making sure that the set was always ready with the right props, lighting ext.

'1408' Notes (done)

• 14 secs: Plain black background with small white font of the production company. The Black background connotes evil and the white font connotes good, which shows a contrast between the two. Their is also non diegetic sound of a slow merky sound in the background to connots evil and scare the audience.
• 30 secs: Their is a slow fade into the first shot. Their is a Extreme long shot on a car driving towards the camera. The low key lighting adds to the genre of horror and also creates a bit of tension for the audience, and it is also stereotypical in a horror film to have low key lighting. The Extreme long shot also works as a establising shot and the audience can see the whole enviroment. It is a deserted night with heavy rainful. This is known as 'pathetic Fallacy', which is were the weather represents the mood of the film and/or the actor. On this shot their is a small white font of the first actor in the bottem left hand corner.
• 31 secs: The camera pans across the screen to show another actor.
• 33 secs: The name of another actor appears on the screen.
• 40 secs: The title comes up on screen. The title is written in a simple font, but with a ghostly shadow effect around it. Just this effect alone connotes to the audience what the film is going to be about.
• 45 secs: The car is getting closer and closer and eventually stoppes. It then revereses, this connotes confusion and also shows that he is lost as he reverses to look at the road sign. Their is a high angle shot of this. This type of shot shows that he is vulerable and a easy target.
• 50 secs: diegetic sound from the radio of the car says "open the gates of hell", this will create tension to the viewer and can also connote that he may be entering the gate of hell. Actors are still coming up on the screen in a small white font. Their is a close up on his face at the end of this shot, which shows his emotion to the audience. 
• 56 secs: Their is a point of view shot of the road sign saying "now leaving" , he shines his flash light on this to the audience can also see what it says. 
• 1:02 secs: Close up on his face looking at the map, this shows he is still lost and connotes confusion. The rain is still hammering down which can connote the actors sadness of him being lost. 
• 1:09 secs: Close up on car tire. This shows the audience that this is something important and something may happen to this later on in the film.
• 1:15 secs: Still credits being shown, car pulls up at a house. Low key lighting. Aerial shot shows the surrounding vegatiation which shows that he is isolated.
• 1:25 secs: Long shot of man walking over the bridge. This connotes the the viewer that their is only one way in and one way out. He is also surrounds by tree's, which is a stereotypical location for a horror film. Thunder and lighting has started, this can connote angry and power for the actor.
• 1:30 secs: P.O.V of someone spying at a house through a bush. This creates tension and suspence. The house is a very nice, high key lighting, which is not stereotypical of a horror film.
• 1:38 secs: The high key lighting gives the audience the feeling of safety. The man enters the house. Very old fashioned, which can connote the the viewer that they dont get quests.
• 1:52 sec: Innocent looking old couple, very welcoming greet the man, can still see old fashioned furtintue in the background of the shot.

Four smaller production companies (done)

'Film4' is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4. Film4 are a channel and also a production company, know as Film4Productions. This production company did not originally focus on broadcasting blockbusters, but nowadays show many mainstream Hollywood movies. This channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, or using one actor or one director. Film4 logo is a very simple logo that has be changed a few times in the past. 

The logo used to say 'FilmFour' but was changed when they reeopened this chaannel in 2006. the colour red used for the logo can connote many different factors. For example, red connotes; love, danger, blood, so this connotes to the audience that this production company will show a variety of films. Film4 was originally known as 'FilmFour' and became Channel 4's second channel (after Channel 4 itself) when it launched on 1 November 1998.


 It was a subscription-only channel available on satellite television, for example 'Sky' and most UK cable services. It cost £5.99 or £6.00 a month, the price varied on what type of platform you would buy it on, eventually rising to up to £7. The launch night, which was broadcasted on Channel 4 and Film4, was hosted by Johnny Vaughan and the first film to be shown was What's Eating Gilbert Grape. The subscription service ended on 19 July 2006 and the channel re-launched as a free service a few days later on 23 July. When the channel became free, it also returned to digital terrestrial as part of the 'Freeview' brand, and became completely free on satellite television. Due to the change, the channel's popularity increased from 300,000 subscribers to 18 million households. It also changed its broadcasting hours to 12:45 - 08:45, and commercial breaks were included during films for the first time. The first film broadcast under the new format was the premiere of Lost in Translation. Film4 remains the only free film channel available on digital terrestrial television. This graph shows the amount of views from 1999 to 2008 and shows how popular this channel became after it was re-launched as a free service.

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'Warp Films' are most respected creative independent companies.  It is based in Sheffield, with a further office now in Melbourne, Australia. Launched in 2001, Warp Films lead its way in exciting and original British Filmmaking. This production company has been behind an array of  award winning films, including several BAFTAs. Warp Film productions includeRubber Johnny, Dead Man's Shoes, This Is England, Donkey Punch, A Complete History of My Sexual Failures and Four Lions.


 In April 2008, Australian film distributor Madman Entertainment announced "a collaboration" with Warp Films. Warp and Madman plan to make at least 2 films together over the next 3 years. with Warp setting up an Australian branch in Melbourne. The first film to come from this collaboration is the Australian drama, Snowtown. Warp also announced the development of Partisan, a feature film by Ariel Klieman and Sarah Cyngler in 2010. The WarpFilms logo was created in 2004. The lightening bolt connotes to the audience that they are a powerful production company. The lightening bolt is also on top of a globe which can also connote that they are on top of the world compared to other production company's.

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'Vertigo Films' is a UK Media production company founded in 2002 to create and distribute  their very own commercially driven independent cinema. 2010 was a sensational year for Vertigo films as with Europe's first 3D live action movie, Street Dance 3D, entering the UK Box Office charts at No.1 beating 'Disney's' Prince of Persia and becoming one of the most successful UK independent films of all time as it opened around the world. In addition, Vertigo's co-production, 'AJAMI' was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and also Monsters received exceptional buzz, acclaim and a host of awards including three British Independent Film Awards.


 In 2011 Vertigo produced a 3D film of the children's franchise Horrid Henry which became a box office hit taking £6.5M in revenue and teamed up with Hammer Films to produce 'Wakewood' which became one of the best reviewed horror films in years. In addition to its production and distribution, Vertigo also owns The Post Republic, a state of the art post production company based in Berlin and is a partner in Protagonist Pictures, the international sales company joint with 'Film Four' and 'Ingenious Media'. Earlier in 2011, with LA based 3D experts 'Paradise FX', Vertigo set up PFXE, Europe's most experienced 3D facilities company.


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Helix Films was formed in 2008 by Gaukhar Noortas, Kevin Foo and Steven-Charles Jaffe to develop and produce feature motion pictures. The production company is based in Los Angeles. The goal of Helix is to work with film makers to produce movies that have an international appeal, with budgets that reflect the challenges of the global economy. With an emphasis on story and character-driven projects, theier films will range from historical epic to psychological thrillers, science fiction, animation, and comedy. Helix films are only a smal production company but aim to become one of the biggest in 2018. Their founder, Kevin Foo said, "we may be at the bottem of the chain now, but give us some years and we will rise to the top".

Four well known film production company's (done)

The production company will be directly responsible for fundraising for the production. It handle's budgeting, scheduling, scripting, the supply with talent and resources, the organization of staff, post-production, and distribution. Production companies vary strongly in size. They can sell their products to a film studio or present them at a theatrical venue. In the case of film and television, the production company may be the studio itself. Production companies often work together in international co-productions.

 It is common for film makers to form their own production companies, either under contract with a major film studio or independently, so that they can have more control over their own careers. I am going to concentrate on four "well known" production company's and four smaller production company's.
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'20th century fox television' is one of the six major American film studios as of 2011. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles. 20th century was founded on may 31st 1935. There CEO is Stephen Blairson. 20th Century Fox's most popular film franchises include Avatar, Star Wars, Ice Age, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Die Hard and many many more. Plus famous TV shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad. 20th Century fox started off with one room, one screen and 30 seats. Even though new stages and while new workshops were being built, production continued to grow to such an extent that even more space was needed. Mr. Fox bought eight additional acres immediately across Western Avenue. This investment in 1930 for the 13-1/2 acres cost him $215,000 and as early as 1934, the property value rocketed to $2.5 million).

In the background of there logo, (when it is being animated) there can be seen the Hollywood sign, which would give the audience an actual location of were they are based. 20th century fox is written in big, bold, 3D writing to really stand out to the viewer. The spot lights connote that this is a important, famous brand and should be seen by everyone.

In June 2008, 20th century swept the board at the HEW Awards by winning ‘Retail Distributor of the Year’, ‘Rental Distributor of the Year’ and ‘Overall Distributor of the Year’ and also won a Marketing Award for ‘Best Film Marketing (Blockbuster)’ for The Simpson's Movie.
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'Dream works pictures' is also one of the six major American film studios as of 2011. Located in California, founded on October 12th 1994. Dream works was founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Dream works most popular films include, Saving private ryan, Shrek, Transformer and many many more. Dream works also did famous T.V shows such as, The pacific and falling skies. DreamWorks began in 1994 as an ambitious attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen (forming the SKG present on the bottom of the DreamWorks logo) to create a new Hollywood studio of which they own 72%.

In December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, (Paramount Pictures). The sale was completed in February 2006. In 2008, DreamWorks announced its intention to end its partnership with Paramount pictures and signed a $1.5 billion deal to produce films with India's Reliance ADA Group. Reliance group provided $325M of equity to fund recreating Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio as an independent entity. Dream works started off as a company with three people and now has over 1500 employees worldwide.


The DreamWorks logo features a young boy sitting on a crescent moon while fishing. The general idea for the logo was off company co-founder Steven Spielberg, who originally wanted a computer-generated image, whereas Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren, of Industrial Light and Magic suggested a hand-painted one. Muren then contacted a friend and fellow artist, Robert Hunt, to paint it. Hunt worked on both versions, for each of which his son William was cast as the model for the boy. The logo also connotes to the viewer that its "out of this world" which may grab the attention off the viewer.
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'Paramount Pictures'  is an American film production and distribution company, located at Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, it was founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing movie studios. They have a revenue of $1.2 billion and a operating income of just over $300 million. Parmount's most popular films have been; Superman, Rambo and The terminator. They have also creates T.V shows such as dead man walking. 


Paramount Pictures can trace its beginning to the creation in May 1912 of the Famous Players Film Company. Founder, Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeon, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "Famous Players in Famous Plays"). By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success.


On December 11th, 2005, The Paramount Motion Pictures Group announced that it had purchased DreamWorks SKG (which was co-founded by former Paramount executive Jeffrey Katzenberg) in a deal worth $1.6 billion. The announcement was made by Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, who noted that enhancing Paramount's pipeline of pictures is a "key strategic objective in restoring Paramount's stature as a leader in filmed entertainment." On October 6, 2008, Paramount and DreamWorks announced the joint venture was ending and that DreamWorks would be seeking new distributors for its films.
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'Universal studios' is known as on of the biggest production companys in america. Founded in 1912 by Carl Buttman, it is one of the oldest American movie studios still in continuous production. Its main production studios are located in universal city, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. Universal Pictures is the second-longest-lived Hollywood studio; Viacom-owned, Paramount Pictures is the oldest by a month. Well known movies from Universal studios are; Fast and Furious, Wanted, Hell boy, Paul and jonny english, they also create T.V shows such as; Battlestar gallactica, The hulk and Murder, she wrote. 


By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was in trouble. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the mass audience drift away, probably forever. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), mainly a talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, Universal agreed to sell its 360 acre studio lot to MCA in 1958, for $11 million, renamed Revue Studios. Although MCA owned the studio lot, it was increasingly influential on Universal's product. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal Pictures contracts.


In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler's increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S.

Film Questionnaire (done)

This questionnaire will be asked to ten different people and all the results taken will be recorded.

Name:

Age:

Gender:

1) What is your favourite film genre?

2) How much do you expect to pay to watch a film at the cinema?

3) How much do you expect to pay to purchase a DVD?

4) Who is your favourite actor?

5) Who is your favourite director?

6) Do you enjoy the horror genre?

7) Do you prefer fictional or real life based horror? 

8) What is your favourite horror film?

9) Do you prefer a suspense builder or a get straight into it horror film?

10) Would you prefer to see death or a character being haunted?

11) If you could pick a plot for a horror film what would you pick?

Question	Shane, male, 17	Liam, male, 16	Kaytee, female, 14
1)	Horror	Action	Rom-com
2)	£4-6	£5	£5-7
3)	£8	£6-9	£5-9
4)	Keira Knightley	Megan Fox	Johnny Depp
5)	Don’t know	Steven Spielberg	Richard Curtis
6)	My favourite	On occasion	No
7)	Fictional	Real life based	fictional
8)	Paranormal activity 2	The grudge	Don’t have one
9)	Suspense	Straight into it	Straight into it
10)	Death	Haunted	Haunted
11)	One man goes on killing spree	Women gets possessed	Ghost around the house

Horror film research (done)

Today i researched a wide variety of horror + thriller films to gain idea's for my film. I mainly researched Paranormal activity and Saw as these are two well known horrors, have both had good reviews and are very different to each other.  I researched both of these genres so I can find a distinctive difference between them both and decide what type of genre i want to use for my film. I compared both and came to a conclusion that i wanted to concentrate on the thiller genre. I did this as thriller's are based more on reality, whereas horrors are mainly based on fantasy or supernatural themes. For example,  Nightmare on Elm street is a real horror because of its supernatural element e.g. Freddy invading the dreams of teenagers. This is supernatural as in reality this would never happen. Whereas a film like the Matrix, although it is set in a fantasy world, there are very few horror elements to it, it is mainly concentrating on the thriller aspect.

 

   Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Oren Peli. The film earned nearly $108 million at the U.S. box office and $194 million worldwide. Paramount/DreamWorks acquired the U.S. rights for $350,000. It is one of the most profitable movies ever made, based on return on investment. There is also a Paranormal Activity 2 and 3 that has been produced. The film opened on September 25, 2009, to 12 theaters taking $36,146 on its opening day and $77,873 on its first weekend for an average of $6,489 per venue. It took more success when it opened to 33 theaters on October 1, 2009, doubling the box office reception, grossing $532,242 for an average of $16,129 per venue, bringing the 10-day total to $776,763.As it expanded to 160 theaters on the October 9–11 weekend, the film grossed $2,659,296 on that Friday having a per-theater average of $16,621. It went on to gross $7,900,695, which was $800,000 more than originally estimated. Over the weekend, the film reached the week's highest per-theater average of $49,379, coming in at #4 for the weekend, behind Couples Retreat, Zombieland, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Over the weekend of October 16, 2009, Paranormal Activity expanded to 600 more theaters, grossing $19,617,650 with $25,813 per theater average gross, and bringing the total gross to $33,171,743. On the weekend of October 23, 2009, Paranormal Activity rose to #1, beating out the expected number one box office 'Saw VI', earning $21,104,070, expanding to 1,945 theaters for an average of $10,850 per theater, compared with the $14,118,444 gross from 3,036 theaters, and $4,650 average for Saw VI. The film has grossed $107,918,810 domestically and $85,436,990 in foreign markets, with a total gross of $193,355,800.

  Saw III is a 2006 Canadian-American horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. Saw III was released on October 27, 2006 and was a financial success, opening to $33.6 million and grossing $80.2 million in the United States and Canada. It is the highest-grossing film of the series in the international market with $84.6 million and the highest-grossing film in the series with $164.8 million worldwide. There has been 8 saw films made and saw 9 is is production at the moment. Saw III opened at number one on 4,700 screens at 3,167 theaters grossing $33.6 million on its opening weekend, a two percent increase from Saw II's $31.7 million. It held the biggest Halloween weekend debut for five years until it was beaten in 2011 by Puss in Boots ($34 million). It was also Lionsgate's highest-opening weekend. Lionsgate's exit polling indicated that 69 percent of the audience was under 25 years old and 51 percent was male. In its second weekend it placed number four dropping down 56% to $14.8 million, compared to Saw II's second weekend drop of 47% to $16.9 million. The film was closed out of theaters on December 14, 2006, after 49 days of release.