Summer Homework - HOALIE

HORROR RESEARCH: HOALIE

The conventions of horror

Horror films are unsettling and made to:

• Frighten and scare
• Relate to the audience by showing them there biggest fears
• Panic
• Shock
• Make the audience feel on edge
• Have a terrifying finale

Characters:

• There is often a lead character in which is afraid of something, the majority of the time this lead character survives whatever if frightening them but on the odd film sometimes they do not survive.
• There is always a main character of ‘thing’ that scared the viewer and the ‘good’ character in the film, the majority of the time this character will harm or kill someone or something. This character usually gets defeated by the ‘good guys’ in the film but occasionally it will win and leave the audience in fear.
• The outcome of a Horror movie is usually that the good person survives and defeats the bad guy; however some Horror movies would leave the bad guy running free as this would leave the audience in fear and make them remember the film.

Camera angles/movement:
Camera angles are also used to cause suspence for the audience, as different angles may stop the viewer from seeing the whole picture there for things may jump out and surprise the viewer this may put them on edge.

• 

  Low angle
• High angle
• Extreme close up
• Extreme long shot
• Point of view shot
• Tilt
• Pan
• Arc
• push in pull out
• close up

Lighting:
Dark lighting is usually used in a horror movie as this makes it seem more scary as the audience can’t see everything , it could also bring out some of the audience fears if they are scared of the dark. It also makes everything seem more mysterious.

• Profile
• Under lighting
• Low key
• Back lighting

Sound:
Dark, slow, deep tones are used mostly in a Horror film , this is to make whatever happen seem dark and mysterious. With their  not being high notes the audience can see that what is happening will not be good as high notes are usually related to happy times. Dark and sad tones are usually related to horrible times. With the music being slow and depressing it would put the audience in edge and make them feel nervous with what is about to happen.

• Eerie/Scary music
• Stabs
• Ambient
• Contrapuntal
• demonic laughs
• nursery rhymes
• incidental music
• sinister music

Editing:

• Long takes to build up fear and suspense
• sharp cuts
• fades
• graphic matches

Example

Scream

• You may not survive the movie if you have sex. 
• You may not survive the movie if you drink or do drugs. 
• You may not survive the movie if you say "I'll be right back." 

Additional rules (according to the killer):

• You may not survive the movie if you ask "Who's there?" 
• You may not survive the movie if you go out to investigate a strange noise

Scream 2

• The body count is always bigger. 
• The death scenes are always much more elaborate, with more blood and gore. 

Scream 3

• "You've got a killer who’s gonna be super human. Stabbing him won’t work, shooting him won’t work, basically in the third one, you gotta cryogenically freeze his head, decapitate him, or blow him up." 
• "Anyone, including the main character, can die. This means you Sid." 
• "The past will come back to bite you in the ass. Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it. The past is not at rest, any sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you." 
• Basically in the third movie, all bets are off.

Three different Horror Films 

The Ring (Ringu)
Directed by: Hideo Nakata
Produced by: Taka Ichise
Written by: Hiroshi Takahashi
Release date: January 31, 1998
Budget: $1.2 million

I came to this only knowing the hype and the slightest bits of the story. I knew it was meant to be scary and I wasn't disappointed. The plot is good to describe it in one word but there are a few holes in it and something's aren't well explained. However it is a good story to follow as it is a form of a ghost hunt as they try to unravel the mystery. The whole thing has an air of uneasiness about it.

There's no blood or gore, just a real sense of being uncomfortable. The director has seen teen horrors before so he teases us, he has shots of people with doors just over their shoulder, or the TV lingering in the rear of the shot knowing that we are conditioned to expect something to jump out but then nothing does. Instead the scares come slowly and blatantly really not being shocking but just making your skin crawl.

The acting is superb all round. The real star is the director who uses music and sound effects to get the eerie effect but also uses images that are weird to just creep out the whole film.

The Messengers
Directed by: Pang Brothers
Produced by: Sam Raimi, William Sherak, Jason Shuman, Robert G. Tapert
Written by: Stuart Beattie, Todd Farmer, Mark Wheaton
Release date: February 2, 2007
Budget: $16,000,000
Box office: $54,957,265

While the story is typical, it managed to keep my attention and I was at least interested. The cinematography really soared in this film. Everything was very nice looking and the atmosphere was great. The backdrop of the house and the surrounding land really made it feel like it was in the complete middle of nowhere, and the old house itself, while it was your typical haunted house, was admittedly spooky looking.

The directors did a horrible job at building up suspense. They mainly relied on cheap scares like loud noises and random jumps. The music was really over the top and it just made it easier for the viewer to telegraph the next "scary" moment. I also didn't like how they pretty much just used one location for the whole movie. The house was the centerpiece of the story and that's where the majority of the filming took place so it got a little boring after awhile to see the same area. Also, I didn't like the close-ups of the actors. During a conversation, the camera would continually jerk from character to another in the span of five seconds and it got really annoying. The directors did create a decent atmosphere and they do get some points for making their movie stylish.

Ju-On: The Grudge

Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
Produced by: Takashige Ichise
Written by: Takashi Shimizu
Release date: January 25, 2003
Budget: $3,500,000

There are things that writer/director Takashi Shimizu does better in this version, and things he does better in the American version. In this version, I loved the brutal opening sequence. Although it's somewhat present towards the end of the American version, it is much more effective here. I enjoyed the more traditional Japanese home-, this film was shot on location in an actual house, whereas the American remake was shot on a house constructed on a soundstage. The Japanese house is more claustrophobic. On the other hand, the soundstage house was a bit grungier, which works nicely in the context of the remake. I liked this film's transition in the famous "stair crawling" scene, and I also loved some of the more dissonant music here.

Director Shimizu wrote the thing so he has to take some of the blame but to his credit he directs very well & Ju-on: The Grudge has an absolutely terrific atmosphere, I'd say it's probably one of the creepiest films I've seen in a long time & there are some very effective moments here, The ghosts are eerie & that sound they make that everyone mentions is also rather unnerving.

Horror Film Director 

The Conventions of a Horror Film Teaser Trailer

After watching several different horror teaser trailers, the first convention that was made paramount within these are that a lot of fast and quick paced imagery and clips are used to help emphasise the tension and suspense of the teaser.

I have also noticed that with teaser trailers very little story line and plot is given away, thus being to prevent too much of the main action being revealed. This helps to ensure the sense of unknowing and enticement. Horror films generally aim to shock, scare, entice, alarm viewers of factors that play on individuals common fears and present an extraordinary situation. During a teaser trailer snippets of infliction or pain are introduced to attract and ensure that the horror representation is implied.

Very often dark and gothic elements are introduced, thus being demonstrated through the area, music and body language (facial expressions) of the characters. These factors all help to entice and attract the audience. Very short and quick paced glimpses of these elements are revealed, so that it prevents too much of the action and shock to be shown. Several jump and gore scenes are all used to express the horror representation, which all help in contributing on playing with people’s psychological well-being.

Horror and thriller films can be closely linked to sci-fi or fantasy films, in that many of the aspects portrayed within the plots demonstrate factors of all things supernatural and inhumane. E.g. ghosts, vampires, werewolves, curses, masked serial killers etc… are examples of some of the common elements used within horror films.” and “Shaun of the dead”.

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