The Knife (improved)

The weapon of choice for my antagonist is going to be a knife, as is with most slasher films. This is to get a shock from the audience with the slow death and the amount of blood a stabbing wound create. I have seen prop knives that use pumps to transfer fake blood to the blade so it looks like blood is being drawn from the victim. I have found tutorials as well as websites that sell these props.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Create-A-Realistic-Bleeding-Knife-Effect/

I would prefer to buy them, but they may cost too much, so I fear I may have to make my own.

Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th

The killer will wield a large knife, almost the size of a machete. This is because it has strong links to popular slasher films (Friday the 13th etc.) and is commonly associated with brutal murder. As the killer has remained feral for 2+ decades, a modern kitchen knife would not be accessible to him. although it has been used in slasher films (such as Halloween and Psycho). It is possible that the killer could wield an old rusted kitchen knife, which would add to his feral background, but it depends if I can source the machete.

Mike Myers of Halloween

A pocket knife isn't shocking or large enough and is associated with petty crime, nor would it be suitable for several of the death scenes. An option is a bowie knife, but these are more military thriller (such as the Rambo series) than horror. This may be an option and it is large enough, but I feel that a machete style blade is more terrifying and is more commonly established in similar texts. A meat cleaver is as terrifying, but does not stab, instead it chops, so would not be suitable. The meat cleaver is only featured in one notable horror film I am aware of, which is the meatcleaver massacre, a bad example of slasher                                                                                      films and by no means a classic.

Casting

Once again, I am using StarNow to attract actors to appear in my short film. This is the application I put up on the website to interest potential talent. This is because of the success I received last year un my AS production (Fatal Motive) with the website. An issue so far is that actors are applying across the country, whereas I would prefer them to be local for convenience. I am in the process of messaging them individually to see how their travel arrangements fit with my plans.

Identifying Genre: Film

My brief is to create a short film, and I have chosen horror as I enjoy the genre. To create a successful horror film, I believe that I have to provoke fear in the audience, either by jump scares, terrifying concepts or shocking imagery. At the heart of the genre, the sole purpose is to scare the audience. Other conventions include:

• Isolated setting such as a wood or small urban town.
• Amplified diegetic sounds (e.g. footsteps) along with unsettling non diegetic sounds (e.g. protagonist's heartbeat).
• Editing not in bias of the antagonist. The horror from these films is usually achieved from the unknown, and we therefore don't see much of the antagonist, but when we do, it is sudden and gruesome or we see a shadow move in the background which builds suspense. There are examples of films that break conventions, for example, most zombie films have zombies in the main focus.

Within the genre however, there are many sub genres, all that have there own conventions. As my film will incorporate conventions from found footage films and slashers, I will focus on those


Slasher film often revolve around a person who has either been succumb to trauma or been abused as a child and as a result is insane. A typical storyline of a slasher is a person returns to their hometown and kill those that he thinks deserve it, this is usually a group of teenagers, as they would deem them immoral. The killer succeeds in most murders but may fail and either be taken into custody or killed. An example of this is the franchise 'Halloween' in which a killer institutionalised since childhood escapes from his psychiatric hospital and stalks his sister. His psychiatrist expects his movements and tries to follow him. He kills teenagers as they commit 'immoral' acts and eventually attempts to kill his sister, when he is repeatedly shot and supposedly killed.

Identifying Genre: Radio Advert

I have a clear idea of the film's plot and direction and therefore, have a good sense of the genre. I am creating a found footage/slasher hybrid short film. However, I am not just creating the film. I have to create a poster and radio advert.

In my presentation about about the film, I showed the conventions of horror radio adverts and showed examples, that part of the presentation can be found here:

http://prezi.com/gvmiujpnmz3z/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

The radio advert could be exhibited in a number of ways. It can be played by:

• A public broadcast station,
• A commercial station,
• A community station.

My advert would be best suited to specific community station as the audience would likely be horror fans, were I to pick the right station. An example of this would be the station hosted on this website: http://www.horror-theatre.com/ The station discusses horror stories and would be perfect for targeting my audience as the audience would be horror fans. Community radio stations of this type should be my primary focus. The other methods would be impractical as the cost to broadcast an advert would be too high and I would be advertising to a large portion of people who would not be interested. A film advert on a public broadcast station would be out of place, regardless of it's genre.

Furthermore, there are several types of station according to where they are situated and the numbers they reach:

• An international station, 
• A national station, 
• A local station,
• An online station.

The most beneficial choice for me to advertise on would be online, as they are more likely to reach the specific audience I want to advertise to, and would have the largest reach to the specific audience. They are also the most likely to fall into the category of community radio, which also helps narrow down the audience I target.

The Legend: Dates

Today, Joe and I met to talk over details and changes to the film. I had some issues with the current story in that the killer was never found and is therefore presumed dead. We added a fourth body, that was unrecognisable and presumed to be the killer. This gets rid of my worries that the killer would be presumed alive and so it would be logical to assume he is dead.

I then told him we needed to sort out exact dates for the key points of the legend so we don't contradict ourselves in the props I made (scrapbook, newspaper articles etc.) The dates are as follows:

Moved to England July 8th, 1981
Alleged witchery August 21st 1984
Calls exorcist September 2nd 1984
Wife murdered December 15th
Man disappears December 15th
Autopsy December 17th
Vicar and two others murdered 30th March
Dismembered body of man found 30th March
First ghost sighting 1989
Last credible ghost sighting 1994
Last possible ghost sighting 1995
Five amateur filmmakers found in the woods October 3rd 2014

Props

I have created a list of props that we will need to create the scenes. There are categories that these props fall under,

They will need:

• Food (marshmallows etc.)
• Tent
• Sleeping bags
• Firelighters or lighter
• Tripods and cameras 
• Some form of alcohol
• A lamp for the tent
• Lights (torches, Video lights etc)
• The Scrapbook
• Backpacks

The Killer will need:

• Weapon
• Big spike

The crew will need:

• Camera's and tripods
• Video lights
• Fake blood
• Liquid Latex

Scriptwriting: Day Two

I met again with Joe mainly to categorize the scenes in terms of importance. All text in red is considered important to the story, text in blue are scenes we do not necessarily need and we can cut if the film is too long. The scenes in pink are scenes we can tell the actors to improvise if they know he basic outline of the scenes and the parts in black are additions and ideas we have had since last time. A lot of these are ideas of whose camera this will be filmed from. I have told Joe I will be story-boarding the film before we get together again as I think the storyboard will highlight any problems with the story from a technical perspective. As the film will be found footage, every shot we see will have to be scripted.

This video is a quick recap of some other things we did on the day:
Scriptwriting Day 2 from Sam SheepDawg-OEight on Vimeo.

Title: The King's Corpse

During our day of scriptwriting, we decided what the title of the film will be called. As is convention with films based on legends, (such as The Blair Witch Project), I have decided that mine will also be named after the legend. The Title is based on a real wood in Britain, known as the King's Copse, in which this is set. The crown of thorns mentioned in the legend that the victims were found wearing acts as iconography and a reason the legend will be called the King's corpse.

The King's corpse suggests death and something supernatural which is the audience's first impression of the film. I am very happy with this as the title.

The Legend

The initial sketch Joe drew up for me as his idea for the killer.

Today, I met with my friend and writer on the project, and settled many things, including characters and dialogue, which are explained on this post. Another thing we discussed is the legend. We have to create a story for the characters to discuss and reference throughout. Joe had some ideas as to how the killer in the legend could still be alive and why he would kill. I tweaked his version of the story as there were some aspects that I thought were left too open. The story so far is as follows:

In 1981, a Norwegian couple moved to the UK and got married at a local church. They kept to themselves, keeping a small circle of friends and stayed away from community events. In 1984, rumours started to spread about his wife, people believing she practiced witchcraft. After being denied an exorcism by the local vicar, he tried to cure the witchery himself. After a series of calls to the police of suspected domestic abuse, she was found crucified in their home, and the husband was nowhere to be seen. In 1985, three bodies were found crucified in the woods, forming a triangle in the way they faced each other. Two bodies were friends of the man, and the third was the vicar.

So far, our combined efforts have given us a good basis to work finer details into. I have already discussed with Joe prior to the meeting a concern that I have in that the killer could still be alive and is therefore likely to be thought alive. We will discuss this the next time we meet.

Joe's inspiration for the killer, the painting 'The Murderer' by Edvard Munch

Scriptwriting: Day One

Today, I met with Joe Keeley, who is an A level drama student so I thought he would know a few things about scriptwriting he could teach me. We've been talking for about a week now about the project and he has become very enthusiastic about the project. I have decided to bring him on as a writer for the project as his experience with scripts will be invaluable to the film. He has been tasked with co-writing several scripts in the past and is an avid horror film viewer.

We got together today to talk in more detail about the film and the ideas that I had. I showed him an online storyboard I created and he grasped what I was going for very quickly. Joe was very focused on characters so we discussed their names and personalities (a part of writing I have no idea about) and came up with the names Trevor, Ray, Tracy, Alice and Ali. The names weren't something I was worried about but now we have them, we can reference specific entry and death scenes.

Then Joe began working on the dialogue and subsequent personalities, and I made sure the script was keeping to it's original idea. Joe was able to write dialogue almost effortlessly and build characters and by the end of the writing process, I had some very strong feelings about the characters, which is very assuring that the writing is solid. I'm extremely pleased with the decision to work with Joe as he was not afraid to come up with his own ideas and pitch them to me, but not too confident to not run them past me. We've been able to bounce off of each others ideas to come up with some twists that I'm extremely happy with (such as the change in main protagonist towards the end).

This is the first draft of the script, I am happy with the scenes but feel the film may be too long, but I have no way of timing how long the footage will last, so it could be too short or just right. We intend on meeting again soon to refine it.

First draft of script from sheepdawg08

The Style of Film

My film's plot revolves around the group creating a documentary, so the found footage format was always a certainty. I did originally plan to have some conventional film shots within the piece, but the more I thought about it, the more I doubted the idea. First of all, I don't have the equipment to film scenes of a quality so much better than the found footage shots that they would be distinguishable from each other, which could lead to confusing the audience. Also, the point of a found footage film is to strip it of it's cinematic aesthetic and a lot of the horror is the reality, which my idea of adding conventional scenes would nullify.

The slasher genre is usually filmed conventionally as the deaths are the integral part of the film, and they need to be filmed. However, there are found footage films that also have extreme violence on camera, especially the first ones, Cannibal corpse and Man Bites Dog. They both depict extreme violence and death on camera to suggest the sub-genre also has the convention of violence on screen.

Dialogue

Now that I have an outline for the plot, I have to start thinking about writing dialogue and a script. There are two ways I can go about this;

• Script all pieces of dialogue. This is the most conventional method as used by most film writers as then all dialogue is considered and rehearsed so there is little chance of breaking character.
• Outline the rough meaning to the scenes and what I want to happen in terms of dialogue and let them improvise. This is more unconventional but films like "The Blair Witch Project" are examples of the format working within the horror genre as it provokes more genuine reaction. This would also put less stress on me as I have little experience at scriptwriting.

I will try to write a script as I believe that it'll be much better for auditioning and for the story as a whole, but if I am not pleased with my attempts to write, I shall use the outline of the story and rely on the actor's improvisational skills.

Plot Development

Since plot 1 has been chosen, I have expanded on some of the death scenes etc. The plot for the film is now as follows:

Five supernatural enthusiasts gather to film themselves as they venture into the woods to attempt to encounter a ghost. They set off for the woods to set up camp and begin to film. Three members venture off alone with their own cameras. The other two film themselves outlining their intentions in the tent. This is when one of them gets stabbed through the tent. The other grabs the camera and runs from the tent. The other grabs the camera and runs from the tent. They realize the others are still in the tent and they have no idea that someone has been killed. The protagonist attempts to find them and runs the direction they thought the others were heading. They run into another of the members with a broken spike in their jaw and notices that their camera is still recording and plays the footage back, hoping there will be proof of the ghost. They see a man, staring at the lens. He leaves shot to reveal the person alive, impaled on a spike, which the killer then kicks and snaps, hence why the spike is broken. The protagonist discovers the legend is a human and runs, to discover another corpse hanging on a tree. They run immediately, not daring to investigate. They star to recognize their surroundings and they hear their name being screamed from behind them. They turn around in just enough time to see the last remaining partner killed.The killer then stabs the protagonist in the chest and inserts the camera into the wound and the film ends.

The plot is not a typical plot for most films as the protagonist is killed and the antagonist doesn't see any consequence, but is quite typical for the horror genre. The plot does follow Todorov's theory of plot (as seen below)

Todorov’s Narrative Theory from Die-fast-live-pretty

The equilibrium is the killer not being disturbed in the woods.
The disruption is the settlement of the people, trying to flush him out.
The recognition of disruption is the first killing.
The attempt to repair the disruption is the protagonist truing to escape.
The return to equilibrium is the final death.

Tutorial: Wound

I watched an online tutorial about how to create realistic looking wounds, I now have a slightly better understanding of how wounds are created and believe that with practice attempts, I could create a realistic wound of this nature. I can get all of the materials required (Foundation, liquid latex and paint) relatively cheap and as shown in the pictures, produces realistic wounds. For the more elaborate killings I will probably have to use different techniques (i.e. face stabbing etc,)

Death Scenes

The murder scenes of a slasher horror film are what provide the shock factor, because of the blood and gore of the shots. For this film, I want to somehow have the deaths relate to the legend in some way, by referencing previous killings or something to a similar effect. I have a couple of ideas for as to how some of the characters could die. The first one was in the presentation, in which the person in the tent gets stabbed.



Another scene I have thought about is the killer impaling someone through the jaw and tying them up. As this would be a shocking image, it would be quite a conventional death of a slasher film.

Presentation

I have already thought quite far into the process as I am enthusiastic about the project. We were tasked with pitching the idea we had so far to the class, I presented this to the class :

http://prezi.com/u15qipv4bexd/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

I presented two plots and gave out forms to try and narrow down to one plot. I received answers back, every single one preferred plot one, so I am definitely using that plot. There was a joint majority decision between the second and third ending. People said that they preferred the intrigue and mystery of the second ending, but they thought the gore at the end will be a good way of continuing the theme of the film and is a good way of making the audience uncomfortable, which is what the horror genre attempts to do. I have therefore chosen to use the third ending, as I think it will be a good challenge on my current skills.



This is an example of the sheet they filled out after the ideas were pitched to them.

Pete Buckingham: Audience Theory

When identifying my audience, I briefly mentioned Pete Buckingham's methods of classification, The  SlideShare presentation explains his theory in detail and the ways he has categorised audience types

Audience pete buckingham what people go to see from Elaine Humpleby

Rob Zombie: Director and Composer

Rob Zombie has directed a total of 6 horror films, most of which, he has written or co-written. His directional debut was the film "House of 1000 corpses" about a sadistic family that have kidnapped two couples on the night of Halloween. The film starts with a couple writing a book about Dr. Satan, a local legend, which they eventually encounter. The directional debut was originally picked up by Universal Pictures, but were worried it might achieve too high a certificate. The film was then was purchased back and sold to Lions Gate Entertainment. He says that the film was inspired by films such as 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'The Hills Have Eyes', both of which were exploitation horror films.

Zombie as a director is interesting as he is first and foremost, a composer and front man of a Shock-Rock/Nu metal band. His lyrics were known for their horror lyrics. The soundtrack for House of 1000 corpses features unconventional music, such as Ramones and his own music. This gives me some indication that Rock and Metal music have their place within horror. I have no idea on the context of the music, as I have yet to watch the film, but I do still retain that my natural music composition has a place in my film. I intend to watch some of his films and get an idea for his aesthetic as well as the sound within the film.

His films are not generally well received by critics, his debut getting just 31% on Metacritic. However, they do have a loyal fan base and Rob Zombie intends to please the general fan of the 70's and 80's exploitation horror films.

They generally do not have a large budget, His first two had a budget of $7 million, and the halloween reboots with a budget of $15 million. His most recent release, The Lords of Salem had a budget of 1.5 million. His films have all grossed a profit aside from The Lords of Salem.

Falling Red Presentation

For this presentation, we were given the task to analyze a piece of media and ancillary products relating to it, including aspects of audience theory as well as the areas of production, distribution and exhibition. I chose the album 'Empire of the Damned' by Falling Red and I presented this to my A2 class on Monday the 23rd of June.



I received feedback on this presentation and it is mostly good. The main issue was that the images were a bit hard to see, which I completely overlooked as I was focused on the creation of the presentation. I have learned to test all media before I show it. The mind map is shown below;



After this, I have decided that I do not want too choose brief 1 as the task isn't as interesting as the others to me and I am already heavily involved within the music industry.