Conventions of Horror

Horror films are films which involve an element of fear. They usually contain aspects of the supernatural or evil. Horror filmas are associated with death, blood, gore and evil.

Horror films have changed over the years and become much more graphic and controversial. Early horror films were usually based on literature such as Bram stokers Dracula, the villains in these films were some form of monster. In the 60s horror films developed by using people as villians rather than the supernatural. Many horror films use children as being villains such as The Omen and The Exorcist. Over the years human villains have become more and more depraved due to less strictness of censorship. Horror films are often subject to remakes of originals either as a modern day version or an english language version i.e The Ring was originally a Japanese film called Ringu. Horror films are also more likely to have seques, The Saw franchise has 7 films to date. In the past decade horror films have also started to use hand held cameras such as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Horror films often involve and element  of thriller such as The sixth sense which involves a plot and a twist ending rather than just plenty of killing scenes. Horror can also merge with comedy in films such as Ghostbusters or Shaun of The Dead - a mock version of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.

Highest grossing Horror Films:

This list shows that Horror Thrillers arehighest grossing, for my main task I have chosen the genre of Horror Thriller.

The final video

This is the final video for my preliminary task

Script

Male opens door (shot 1), and walks across the room (shot 2), stands above the female character (shot 3) and sits down (shot 4).
Male: (shouting) Tell me what you know! (shot 5)
Female: I don't know anything. Why am I here? What have I done? (shot 6)

Male: I'm giving you one chance Miss Dagger; (accent changes) tell me what you know. (shot 7)
Female: I've already told you, I know nothing. Please just let me go (shot 8)
Male: Well I think it's (accent changes again) time to say goodbye to Mr Tiddles (shot 9)
Female: You wouldn't dare

Male: (In an English accent) You just watch me, (clears throat and in a badly attempted Eastern European accent) You just watch me!

Storms off out room (shot 10) and shuts door (shot 11 & 12)

Storyboard

 These two images are of the storyboard from the preliminary task. Listed below the drawings are the shot types, timings and where the dialogue starts.

Location

These photos are of the location where the preliminary task will take place. They show the setting as being dingy and hostile, as the colours are quite dark and give off a negative connotation. However there are props in there such as bikes, washing powder and drinks cartons which show that the scene wont be serious.

Costumes

Female costume

Consists of: A brown hoodie, grey jeans and black boots. Costume is quite basic as the character is just supposed to be normal. The colour scheme is quite dull and it blends into the background so the attention will just be on the action rather than be on one character.

Male costume

The male costume consists of: 2 scarves and a balaclava to hide the characters facial features, a grey jacket, grey jeans and black shoes. The colours of the outfit match the colour scheme of the location so that they do not stand out and draw attention away from the action.

Planning stage

Context
The context for the preliminary task is a mock  interrogation scene. It will be shot in a dingy location which will help to fit with the context, whilst the acting will be very exagerrated. The tone will be supposedly intimidating however the mood will contrast with this as it'll be lighter, so it will not make the scene too sombre.

Characters
The first character in the preliminary task is a male called . Physically speaking he is young and tall. He is supposed to have an intimidating presence, however due to his bad varying European accent he is more laughable than frightening.
The second character in the preliminary task is a female. She is tall with medium length hair. She is your "traditional" victim, who is completely hysterical and frightened of the first character, she cries at everything.

Location
The location for the preliminary task will be in a hostile, dark and dingy room. This helps to fits with the conventions of an interrogation scene. However the location is a normal garage so the props are items such as deck chairs, freezers and bicycles. The location chosen for the scene is my garage as it fits with the previous description (and is also more convenient).

Editing
The editing will not be particulary fast as the scene isn't fast paced and the action is more verbal than physical. Some of the transitions will be fade so that each clip blends together to form the scene.

Mise-en-scene
The action in the scene mainly revolves around the dialogue of an interrogation. The actors in the scene are my brother and sister. My sister uses a solemn acting style which contrasts with my brother who uses a more aggressive acting style. The lighting needs to be bright enough to show faces and facial expressions without changing the feel. The lighting used will be natural light as this won't illuminate everything too much. The setting for the scene is in a dingy hostile room. The props used are what show the more humourous side to the scene. The interrogator will be holding a knife, however it is a bread knife. Also the victim will be tied to a deck chair rather than a more sturdier piece of furniture. In the background of the scene there will be items such as washing tablets and juice boxes which show that the setting is less than intimidating.

Camera Work
The scene will include mid,long, and extra long shots of both high and low angles. There will also be panning movements included.

Sound: The sound will be from the dialouge with no music. This is to keep the focus on the dialogue.

Micro & MacroThe theme of the scene is interrogation. This will be made obvious through the script, costume, setting and props used.