Idea Influence - Paranormal Activity 2

When we watched the trailer for Paranormal Activity 2, and having seen the film in the cinema, the slamming of the door (0:37 seconds - 0:41 seconds in the above trailer) really scared the audience as they did not expect it and it had been quiet before this. The idea of a surprise noise or action would be something we may look into inclusing in our horror opening.

Identifying Target Audience

To identify the target audience for the following horror films, I visited http://www.imdb.com/ - (International Movie Database) and looked at the user ratings.

Paranormal Activity (2007) - 15

Males	47,176	6.7
Females	7,552	6.7
Aged under 18	1,639	7.1
Males under 18	1,266	7.2
Females under 18	371	6.4

People ages under 18 were the people who enjoyed this film most. Despite giving an equal rating overall, males of this age range preferred it over females.

The Shining (1980) - 15

Males	128,929	8.5
Females	20,614	8.4
Aged under 18	2,515	9.0
Males under 18	2,015	9.0
Females under 18	495	8.8
Aged 18-29	89,683	8.6
Males Aged 18-29	76,739	8.6
Females Aged 18-29	12,620	8.5
Aged 30-44	46,830	8.5
Males Aged 30-44	40,719	8.5
Females Aged 30-44	5,666	8.4
Aged 45+	10,239	8.1
Males Aged 45+	8,501	8.1
Females Aged 45+	1,619	7.8

Again the films most popular age range is people under 18, and that the film becomes less popular as you get older. This is a trend you might not expect as the film is 30 years old. Overall, males preferred this film to females.

The Grudge (2004) - 15

Males	29,689	5.7
Females	6,359	5.7
Aged under 18	552	6.0
Males under 18	372	6.0
Females under 18	179	6.2

Aged 30-44	11,132	5.9
Males Aged 30-44	9,445	5.9
Females Aged 30-44	1,577	5.8

Again, this films target audience is people under 18 as they found it the most popular. The next most popular age group was people aged 30-44. Overall both males and females found the film equally appealing, but as the audience gets older, it becomes more male orientated film.

Let Me In (2010) - 15

Males	3,654	7.5
Females	586	7.4
Aged under 18	153	7.4
Males under 18	116	7.3
Females under 18	37	7.8
Aged 18-29	2,572	7.6
Males Aged 18-29	2,199	7.6
Females Aged 18-29	355	7.3
Aged 30-44	1,152	7.4
Males Aged 30-44	999	7.4
Females Aged 30-44	138	7.4
Aged 45+	367	7.3
Males Aged 45+	310	7.3
Females Aged 45+	51	7.2

Overall, the film is favoured by males, but in the target audience of Under 18s, the females in that group found it more appealing than the males did.

The Mist (2007) - 15

Males	64,044	7.4
Females	7,170	7.2
Aged under 18	1,019	8.1
Males under 18	846	8.1
Females under 18	172	7.6

Following the trend with the previous four films, 'The Mist' is popular with people aged under 18. Again sticking with the common trend, males found the film more appealing and rated it higher than females did.

When looking at these charts, we must take into account the number of votes. Generally, the figures for males will be more accurate as they have received more votes.

Audience Research

• Paranormal Activity - 15
• The Shining - 15
• Nightmare on Elm Street - 18
• The Grudge - 15
• The Haunting in Connecticut - 15
• Saw - 18
• Let Me In - 15
• Night of the Living Dead - 15
• The Exorcist - 18
• The Mist - 15

The most common horror film certificate is 15.
The following information are the rules and guidelines for what is and isnt allowed in films rated 15.
The information was found on http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ - British Board of Film Classification.

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory

language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not

promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily

accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,

aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic

or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and

self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be

copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example,

‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be

acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated

use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without

strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a

non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.

There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour,

but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable

unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is

sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is

appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction

of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to

be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also

unlikely to be acceptable.

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence

but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and

have a strong contextual justification.

Discrimination

James Bolton

Assessment Evaluation

            The aims of our first assessment was to look at a previous AS level students work and chose 40 seconds of their piece and make a shot for shot remake of the chosen section. We had to select a piece in our chosen horror sub-genre which was psychological and the name of the film was “Pendant.”

                Looking back at our finished copy of the sequence, I’d say we made a very close and effective remake. All the shots were framed appropriately and we took special care to make sure the camera was white balanced and focused for every shot we filmed. We also made sure that there would be both head and lead room so that the actors would not have their heads cut out of the shot and making sure there was adequate space for them to walk into. As we used a tripod, all but one of the shots was held steady. The one shot where we struggled to keep the camera completely steady was when filming the canted angle shot by the fence. The slight jerkiness was due to the fact the tripod was quite rigid and difficult to move smoothly by hand. As well as looking at lead and head room, we took into account both the 180 degree and 30 degree rules. Watching our sequence back I think we managed to do that effectively as none of the shots seemed out of place or confused the viewer and they ran smoothly when put together. We also used a variety of shot types in our piece. There were extreme long shots to show the mysterious figure in the distance, medium shots to show our actors action as she threw the pendant into the water as well as close ups of the victim looking around, so we can see their facial expressions. Finally, we finished the piece with a point of view shot of the stalker watching the victim. This was intentionally jerky to show the movement of the stalker.

                Our final piece shows that we have neatly and smoothly edited our clips. The piece flows well and this is helped by the use of short, sharp cut transitions we have used between clips. We also payed close attention to the continuity of the piece. For example, in the shot of the pendant landing in the water, we can clearly see the reflection of a tram, so we made sure that in the next shot, (a long of the character turning round) that there would be a tram passing by so that it seemed accurate to real life. One slight problem with the editing was that we wanted to add a reverse effect to the man walking to copy the original, but we had trouble adding this effect.

                In our sequence there wasn’t much to do in terms of choosing costume and make-up because the victim was just a normal girl being followed; therefore, she just wore everyday clothing. In terms of terms of the stalker, we made sure his wore a hooded top so we didn’t clearly see his face to add to the mystery of that character. We filmed at the exact same location as the original so that it was authentic and we could precisely recreate the shots. Unfortunately the location had slightly changed as there was no longer a bench there, which is where the majority of original shots were filmed, so we had to improvise and use a fence instead. Also, that meant we could not film the shot inside the bushes, so filmed from a banking above the character instead. The actors for our film were appropriate as the idea of a girl who is by herself being followed by a mysterious man is very threatening and adds to the tension of the piece.

                In terms of my role in the making of the sequence, I watched the original 40 seconds and drew out a storyboard to use at the location so we could get a closer imitation of each shot. I also helped when placing the camera in the correct spots, white balancing and focusing the camera. I filmed 7 shots of the piece including canted and high angles as well as a variety of shot types such as point of view shots and camera movements such as panning. I edited a couple of the shots, notably the 2 close ups where the character is looking around and turning her head side to side. To improve the piece I think we could have altered the exposure on the camera to combat the fact that towards the end of our filming it got considerably darker. For our final coursework film I would make sure we had smooth camera movements and also give ourselves plenty of time so we have several copies of each shot. When editing we can also look into adding more transitions and effects, as this piece only used cuts.

Emma Davis - Preliminary assessment evaluation

Emma Davis

Assessment Analysis

Camera

For this assessment we had to recreate a horror movie created by AS students in previous years. We chose a psychological sub-genre and worked from a 40 second clip from the movie Pendant. We kept in mind composition rules whilst filming trying to make sure I did not waste any space in the shots and kept in mind the 180 degree rule. Before each shot I helped in white balancing and focusing the camera, and all the shots were appropriately framed. Although I acted in the film, I also filmed the shots of James and of the bird cages. One of which was a extreme long tracking shot, one of which was a mid-shot panning shot and one of which was a mid-shot of the bird cages, I also helped to organise the other shots. By doing these shots I showed that I could follow the actor with a tracking shot but still keep the camera level, I also showed I could keep a camera still whilst filming in the mid-shot of the birds.

Use of editing

Continuity editing was applied to our film to make the shots flow well together. There was a tram that passed in the background during one of the shots, so we waited until the next tram came by to film the next shot so it looked realistic, although it was impossible to film the tram starting from the same position. The actors stayed in the same make-up and costume throughout the film as to not confuse the audience and make the shots flow together. Also the lighting becomes darker as the film goes on due to the time we shot the film; we will have to keep this in mind when filming our next assessment if filming outside. However the shots in the darkness may seem more frightening and makes the scene slightly more realistic. We did not feel is necessary to use any editing transitions when editing our film as none were used in the movie we were working from.

Selection of content

We chose make up and clothing which fitted in with the genre and location of the film. The young girl was wearing casual dress and little make up which suited the location of her being on a park and shows she is just a normal person being followed. The man was wearing a big hooded sweater which indicates that he is the bad character, and the fact that the audience cannot see his face makes it more frightening. We chose The Arboretum as our location for our horror film as that was the same location that was chosen in the film we were working from. Although the surroundings had changed slightly as the bench that the character sat on in The Pendant was not there, we overcame this by our character leaning on the fence instead. There were a few interruptions from passers-by and another group was filming in a similar spot, although apart from that the location was relatively undisturbed, which made it more frightening as the location seemed deserted. The characters we chose for the film was a young girl and a man, we thought made the film more frightening as the young girl seemed vulnerable with nobody round to protect her against the man.

Self-assessment

For the planning of the film I drew up some of the shots on the shot list, which we then used when filming to make sure we had filmed all of the shots correctly. I filmed three shots, a tracking shot, a mid-shot and a panning shot. I white balanced and focused the camera for many of the shots; I also acted in the film. I edited and cut some of the shots to make sure that continuity was achieved throughout the film. To improve the film we could have not included the tram in the shot, as it was in a different location in the second shot. We could have also filmed at a different time so the lighting stayed the same throughout the film. When it comes to our final coursework film I would probably choose a more deserted location, with no background activity. I would also make sure that if we are filming outside we film at a time when the lighting is going to stay the same throughout the film. I would use a bigger variety of shot choices and use some editing transitions.

Andrew Jobe Evaluation

Andrew Jobe                                         First Assessment Analysis

We had to recreate a previous AS level students work for our assessment. The genre that we chose to copy was Psychological; we copied a 40 second clip of the film pendant. I shot 3 clips of the film, an extreme long shot, tracking shot and a long shot, and I was also involved in organising the other shots. My shots showed that I could hold a camera still while filming my shots. Also I was able to track a shot and follow the actor in an extreme long shot. I used composition techniques competently, making sure that the actor started in the top left of the screen during a moving shot, and making sure that I don’t waste any space while filming a closer up shot. I also framed all of my shots appropriately.

Our shots flow very well together with the light getting worse as the shots go on, which could be a bad thing but it also shows realism. Also in a shot a tram is shown in the reflection in the water, which would have looked wrong if there was not a tram passing as the shot changed, but we waited until the next tram came by so that the shots flowed properly. We also made sure that the actor and actress stayed in the same outfit which made our shots flow correctly. We chose not to use transitions because the group that we had copied had not used any in the bit that we recreated and also we felt that it was unnecessary to use transitions.

The make up and costume that we had to use was just normal clothing but we had to make sure that the bad guy in the film wore a hooded jumper and that was something we made sure of. We chose the same location that the group that we had recreated chose, a problem with that was that there was no bench that they had filmed on and also another group was filming the same film at the same time. We changed the actors to different genders, which may have made the film seem scarier as the person being followed was a teenage girl.

I filmed 3 shots during the film and then I edited most of the film with help from the rest of the group, I also drew up the shot list and used it as a checklist. The improvements could have been filming a little bit earlier so that it wasn’t as dark when we finished our filming. Also in one of our clips had another groups bags in the shot that couldn’t really be helped at the time but if I shot it again I’d make sure we were the only group there at that time. When I shoot my final piece of coursework I will make sure we spend more time on makeup and find a better location with the things that we need to make our film work. Next time I shoot I will make sure that we have plenty time to shot our film, and also I will try and incorporate some transitions into the finished film.