Market Research Interviews

In our market research interviews we interviewed teachers and young adults, our answers ranged from both groups, young adults had the most common answer when asked "What things in films don't scare you?", they said "fake blood". From this information we are not going to include fake blood in our main task. Whereas on the other hand teachers answers differed, this helps us when choosing our target market because young adults had more exciting and creative thoughts. These interviews we have undertook will help us when planning our main task, as we have got an idea of what scares people and what doesn't and we will look into the films people have said and figure out what we can change to make our main task successful in horror genre. The aspect of the interviews we will include in our main task will be codes and conventions of the horror genre in Saw, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Predator, this is because our target audience found these film most scary. We will also include painful death as this was another answer for "what is your greatest fear", we will do this by including a murder scene of a person getting killed slowly and painfully. 

Abba Mash-Up (Mr Stapley)

Main Task Script

Two girls doing homework (in drama room on the sofas)

Leena Wilkes: not concentrating on work, Maya Stone notices and asks what is wrong.

Leena Wilkes: denies that anything is wrong.

Maya Stone: I know you’re remembering your mum. Its  normal to miss her, I know how you feel etc.

Leena Wilkes: denies it again.

Maya Stone: what is it then, whats wrong?!?!?!?!?!?

Leena Wilkes: you might think im crazy but I feel like someones always watching me.

Maya Stone: are you crazy how can that be true!

Leena Wilkes: says trust me, I even hear him sometimes

Maya Stone: listen you’re going out of ur mind, but I have to go now. If anything does actually happen then call me.

Leena Wilkes: (sighs) I know you wouldn’t believe me.

Maya Stone: (exits the room)

Leena Wilkes: sits back down the tv turns on by itself, she gets scared, and she shouts for her friend.

Maya Stone: (Because her friend has just exited she is still outside the door and hears and immediately,  rushes back in and asks what is wrong)

Leena Wilkes: (nervously) the TV just turned on by itself!! I told u there was someone else here.

Maya Stone: don’t be ridiculous, wheres the remote?

Leena Wilkes: stands up in distress and says I don’t know!!!

Maya Stone: (sees the remote where Jennifer was sitting) "you were sitting on it!! That’s why the TV turned on!"

Leena Wilkes: no! it wasn’t there before?

Maya Stone: Yes Leena it was there, the remote is not magic, I know your mum is gone now but you need to stop acting crazy.. 

I have created a Wordle, which has analysed my key words in my script, as you can see the most important words are the protagonists name which is 'Leena Wilkes' and the protagonists friend 'Maya Stone', there is also 'remote' because the whole idea was a hallucination of seeing someone in the TV screen.

Analysis of the Opeining Sequence of "The Sixth Sense"

Click here to Watch The Sixth Sense Opening Sequence

Shot 1:

The titles in the opening credits of ‘The Sixth Sense’ suggest an ambiguous nature of the film. This is due to the idea that the credits gradually appear and are based upon two extremely prominent and almost ‘ghostly’ colours: black and white. The use of the colour white is what the titles themselves are written in and as the names progressively appear they then fade out again in order to convey a ghostly feeling. As the credits emerge on to the screen, a mysterious and hollow sound begins to play. The music echoes the credit titles as when a name fades away; the music gradually lowers and then becomes higher pitched again when another name appears. This idea is expressed through non-diegetic sounds as it is not a natural sound within the film. The music portrays a creepy nature which suggests that the film will be quite mentally forbidding. When the title of the film itself, ‘The Sixth Sense’, appears on the screen the music quickens and becomes more rapid and is then followed by a repetition of the title. This is a suggestion of either; a double meaning or seeing things on more than one occasion which may not seem clear at first.

Shot 2: 

Within the opening seconds of the film, a light bulb is directly seen through the use of a close up shot, a close up shot shows very little background and concentrates on the light bulb. The light bulb gradually lights up suggesting a possible relation to a specific character’s qualities. The idea that there is only one light bulb and not multiple suggests that one individual may be able to see things that nobody else can. Also the use of black background has connotations of mystery and the unknown. From this shot we can convey that it’s going to be a horror film because this slow motion of the light bulb lighting makes the audience feel uncomfortable.

Shot 3:

Olivia Williams appears in a medium shot with her husband, this gives us information about the costume, surrounding and body language. We can also see a ring in her finger, this tell us that she is married to Bruce Willis. The lighting in this shot is dark with minimal light; this shows us that the time of the day is at night, this again is a code of the horror genre because the dark has connotations of mystery and spookiness. There's also a shadow next to Olivia Williams which looks like there's some light coming from the point of view. From the broken window we can see that the house looks very isolated because there's trees surrounding it, this has connotations of being locked into the house with no escape. From their body language we can see that they are trying to run away from someone because they look tense and worried, also Olivia Williams is holding her hand in front of her mouth denoting she wants to scream but she can’t because she’s shocked of someone standing in front of her.

Analysis of the Opening Sequence of "Halloween" .

Shot 1

In the beginning of the credits the audience is introduced to an image of a pumpkin, the camera movement slowly comes closer and closer to the viewer. In this frame the pumpkin has an equal size to the lettering, this is done to portray to the audience that the pumpkin is going to be a important part of the film. Further on it progressively takes over the whole screen and grabs the viewer’s attention automatically. The sound that is accompanying this frame is a non-diegetic sound of a piano playing creepy notes to create and build up tension furthermore into the opening Sequence.

The black background is contrasted with the use of orange on the writing and the pumpkin; from these codes and conventions the audience can tell it’s going to be a film about Halloween. The colour orange is a typical colour for Halloween as it has connotations of fright, terror and evil. The black background denotes mystery and emptiness. The the left side of the pumpkin seems to fade into the black background, making it seem secretive and unknown, the pumpkin has a smile carved into it which has connotations of spookiness. Pumpkins are made to be scary but it has a smile making it feel like a mixed emotion.

Throughout the opening sequence the candlelight in between the pumpkin is flickering, representing a ghostly flicker of lights turning on and off. It makes the audience focus on the features of the pumpkin and gives a glow to the lettering as there isn't any other lighting involved in this frame. 

Shot 2

This is a close-up shot of a young lady on a Halloween night, as you can see this close-up is used to emphasise her emotional state. The camera also zoom's in on her face to see specific detail, as you can see her face is covered in blood and there's hockey puck in her mouth, these signs could suggest that she's in a painful situation. We can also see that the girl is blonde and in stereo typical code and conventions this sign could suggest that she is vulnerable which could be the reason that she is portrayed in this way. Her facial expressions are mixed on one side from her eyes and eyebrow she looks like she need's help and she's trying to tell the viewer something, but because of the hockey puck she is not able to. On the other hand her dis portioned mouth suggests she is trying to scare everyone on purpose.

The colour scheme used in this frame are mainly different shades of oranges and reds, these colours have an overall meaning of horror fro example orange is the typical colour of Halloween which again links back to the name of the film Halloween, whereas red has connotations of blood, fear and death. Also there is quite ghostly effect with a glow from the lights highlighting the blood on her face, it fits in with the typical effect of telling a horror story at night.

The music in the background is non-diegetic orchestra music, it gives an intense beat and feel to the audience, it also helps builds up tension as we zoom in on the girls face. There are typical horror genre sounds used they consist of screechy-ness violins, these types of sounds are good to create a spooky atmosphere and to also build up tension as to what might happen in the next frame

Shot 3:

The opening of Halloween starts with a long shot, which establishes the building and the setting of this part of the film. Within this establishing shot we see that the time of day is night and everything is dark, this has connotations to the generic themes of a horror film, the darkness symbolises horror, mystery and fear. This works together with the non-diegetic music to create fearful tension within the audience. The sound switches from non-diegetic music, to diegetic sound which is dialogue. This use of diegetic sound over the establishing shot draws the audience into the film.

Analysis of the Opening Sequence of "Scream".

Shot 1

The first phase in the opening sequence is the title of the film 'SCREAM' in block capital white letters. These letters start stretched from the top and the bottom of the screen then gradually compress into the centre of the screen. When the title closes down it happens at a very fast pace and is joined with a non diegetic sound of a loud bang. This portrays a noise of a prison door slamming shut to make the audience fell enclosed and locked in, unable to get out, as if they are one of the victims in the film.

The colour of the title "SCREAM" is white at first, white has connotations of fear and innocence. Next the letters move into phase two where there is multiple non diegetic sound effect which includes; ringing of a telephone, a slow and normal heartbeat and screaming. This is another sign to show that the film is going to be scary. After this the sound effects carry on but the letters of 'SCREAM' become red. Red has connotations of death and danger. The change of colour occurs at the very start of the heartbeat sound effect, this is representing the heart beating in and out with the speed of the sound effect, as this is still going on there is also a very loud bang and screaming and also a slicing of what sounds like a large kitchen knife. The scream is used for when the girl (Cacey) has seen the knife that the killer is holding and the slicing is for when Casey is penetrated with the knife and its plunged into her chest. The beat of the heart reflects on the idea of the girl (Cacey) being murdered.

Shot 2

The main character of the opening scene in 'SCREAM' is  Casey (Drew Barrymore). A close-up shot is used of her chest and upwards giving us information about costume, mis en scene and facial expression. She is set to look like an innocent victim. She has short, bobbed blonde hair. She is always neatening her hair up which she does a lot of the time when she is flirting over the phone with the mysterious man. These codes and conventions are set so the audience know what sort of character she is and how to feel for her. Casey's typical features make her the perfect character for being a murder victim. Big broad blue eyes, small and slim with a sound of a soft, flirty voice which we hear and see when she answers the phone to the mysterious man. She is wearing a cosy long sleeved beige jumper with cuffs hanging over her hands, she is also wearing pale make-up. Her pale clothes combined with the colour of the house create a good contrast for a murder scene.

The colours that have been used to decorate the house are very pale and light. This makes it seem like there are not any young children that currently live in the house. The pale colours on the wall contrast with the large bookcase behind Cacey which is packed with loads of birght coloured books, mostly red. This could be an early sign that she is going to get murdered. 

Shot 3

The genre of this film is a horror film. The genre is introduced first of all, with a establishing shot used of the house, we can see from this shot that the house is located in a deserted. The effect of this is to set the scene and give an impression that someone outside the house is looking in. The house is also shown as being big, with large windows and no curtains, which tells us that anyone can look into the isolated house, especially at night and that's the time of day the film is starting.

In this shot there's not much lighting because its dark outside, darkness creates a sense of foreboding for the audience and makes them feel that there something too look forward to in the next shot. Sound is also effectively used in this brief scene with normal nightmare noises  but then suddenly a creaking sound cuts in. The camera pans downwards so the audience can see a partially moving swing hanging from the tree is causing this creaking sound by the rope rubbing against the branch. This shot alone begins to create more tension  as among the normal nighttime noises is this unusual creaking sound. It provokes thought in the viewer as to whether perhaps someone is hiding in the tree, or just has recently come away from the swing and is on route to the house. Wes Craven uses these small. but very effective elements to gradually scare the audience and build a sense of tension and suspense.

Shot 4

This is a mid-shot of Cacey, from this shot gives we gain information about the subject (Casey) for example her surroundings  costume and body language. This frame is also on a Eye Level angle so it seems to the audience that there actually observing the scene. In this frame Casey has a jokey expression on her face, as if she is not talking to the caller seriously. Also we hear a diegetic sound of her pulling out the knife which is another sign its a horror genre film.