References To Other Films and Music

The films “The Ward”, “Identity” and “The Hills Have Eyes” are all films, which could be used as reference points to us. The ideas behind them all link in with our themes. The Ward uses similar techniques to portray madness and identity, as the main protagonist suffers from multiple personality disorder. As well as The Ward, Identity follows a similar plot to this with the idea of multiple personality disorder. Both films are effective as they keep the audience guessing and build up suspense through the film. The use of the non-diegetic soundtrack’s of both films are equally important as well, as they mimic the action and sometimes fuel it.

One of the most important aspects of any horror movie is the music, the score. You might not be aware just how important the score is to the horror genre. As the music in horror and thriller films are used to increase fear levels and tension, music in horror is probably the most important. The fear factor of nearly every horror film, with the exception of “reality horror” films such as ‘The Blair witch’. As with most elements in the horror genre, especially the slasher genre, the importance of music emerged with Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho.’ The music in ‘Psycho’, and in particular - the shower scene music, is fundamental for the evolution of music in the horror genre. The violin in that scene is so effective because it is used as percussion, suggesting knife strokes. 

Props, Costumes and Makeup for Media Trailer

In the film trailer we are going to have to portray a variety of different age groups, people with visual scars and people without faces. To do so we are going to have to use special effects makeup, which includes Old Age Stipple, Foaming Mouth Powder, Psoriasis, Tooth Staining, Dried Blood, Liquid Blood, Eye Blood and Blood Capsules. Although we might not be able to acquire some of the items due to money issues, we can replicate the effects with household items. 
http://www.gurumakeupemporium.com/epages/BT4080.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT4080/Categories/SFX

For the costumes the four main characters would be dressed to better represent their character type. Mark, the main protagonist would wear basic clothing, which would appear old and dirty. Lewis, would wear formal sweatshirts and trousers with some sort of tie or glasses. Charlotte, would dress similarly to Lewis, but would appear more casual in certain aspects. And lastly, Sarah, would dress casually, yet alluring, to better portray her character. However as the trailer progresses their costumes would alter to mimic the psychotic behaviour of the patients trying to kill them. This would involve more dirt, sweat and blood added to the clothing.

The costumes of the patients would start out as basic white clothing, which would be dirty and covered in ash from the fire. However after a years time, their physical appearances would also change as well as their costumes The four patients would alter between a policeman, a inn keeper and other villagers.

The only visible makeup used on the patients would be bruising or scars added to the face.

Props used in the trailer would consist of surgical equipment, a scarecrow costume, a straight jacket (which would be made), a knife, a car (already acquired) and a newspaper. 

Media Conventions in Media Trailer (Group Work)

The conventions in our film will include:

• Blood
• Violence
• Weapons
• Sadistic violence
• The unknown
• Fire
• Darkness
• A forest
• A cornfield
• A mental asylum
• A group of teenagers

The use of these conventions in our film will help to define each character whilst adding some sort of emotion. The use of darkness and a village in the middle of nowhere is useful to show the isolation of the characters, as well as using that isolation to play on some of the characters madness. The sadistic violence will be effective, as it will be used to shock the audience and show the extreme nature of the patients. The use of the forest and cornfield also portrays the idea of isolation, however the location can also be used to build suspense. 

The idea of not knowing whom the killer is will be effective as it keeps the audience guessing. The use of masks has allows been effective in the horror genre. Examples of this are Friday the 13^th and Halloween, which have captivated and scared millions of people through the years.

However we want our film to portray two different kinds of masks. A physical one, where the patients remove the faces of another and wear them; and lastly a mask over ones own psyche. The idea of having another identity behind the one you already have which you don’t know about will be effective in keeping the audience in suspense.   

Movie Plot For Trailer (With Group) - Draft 1

Lily, along with a few other mental patients are subject to dangerous experiments in an asylum.

They are desperate to stay alive and leads an escape plan which burns down the building in order to fake their own deaths and escape, they then go to the nearest village which is isolated and kill most of the locals. 

They physically replace these victims as a new form of identity and remain there. Meanwhile the victims, now without faces, are placed as scarecrows as a way to scare people away from the village.

One year later, a group of 4 teenagers make their way to the village. Mark, a bit of junkie who has received help in the past for problems, Sarah, best described as a "doll", not the most intelligent, Lewis, a "preppy", well-spoken young man, in a relationship with Sarah, and Charlotte, the journalist, quite intelligent and bossy, almost opposite to Sarah, who was very keen to investigate Asylum.

They enter the village to stay a couple of nights to explore the ruins of the asylum and decide to stay in a local B&B. Whilst looking around the house, Mark discovers an insane man, later revealed to be his former personality who was an escapee from the asylum, in the basement and warns him that the village is not what it seems and to leave, using riddles to taunt his mind. Mark goes back to retrieve two of his friends and return to the basement, but the local has gone, and the friends doubt him due to his previous hallucination habits.

They leave and go out to find Sarah but can't, and so Lewis returns to the B&B where Sarah is in their room looking out the window, Lewis goes up to hug her and in a strain of suspense, she turns around at the last second with clear fresh scars on her face and a menacing smile and he questions about her scars, meanwhile behind him we see a figure approaching with a scalpel.

Meanwhile, Mark and Charlotte explore the town a bit more and come across a completely empty local newsagent. Whilst Mark dismisses it, Charlotte looks closer at the local paper and notices the date which is the date of when the asylum was burnt down. To discover this, she pulls out the article from another newspaper reporting the event which was published the day after. She tries to think of the connection between the asylum and the village, whilst Mark seems to have flashbacks and falls to his knees. He says that he has forgotten something and can't remember.

Mark and Charlotte go looking for Lewis and Sarah. They find Lewis in a cellar along other bodies with removed faces. Whilst there, Charlotte releases him from the table and explains about the 4 escaped mental asylum patients and the villagers, Mark looks at each of the bodies and suddenly his memories start to come back to him, he then sees the insane man again in the corner of the room and he begins to talk to him. He eventually grabs Mark by the throat and throws him at the wall and is knocked unconscious.

He is awoken by Charlotte and Lewis who appear coy and worried about him. After leaving the basement, Charlotte and the rest of the group go in search for a police officer or local figure. However when they find a police officer, the man kills Lewis. Charlotte and Mark run into a corn field  where Charlotte gets separated from Mark. Unknown to the others is that Mark's old personality has taken over his previous one and is now controlling him. This new personality doesn't know who Charlotte is so instead of trying to find her runs off into a forest. Meanwhile, Charlotte calls out for Mark but is met by silence. She is then attacked from behind and dragged into the corn by an unknown figure.

Mark finds Lewis and plans to kill him as his mental personality has taken over. However Lewis is actually the policeman asylum patient and the two get into a scorpion lock, eventually Mark prevails and slices his throat and afterwards in the mind state of both of his personalities  decides to hunt down Lily.

He finds her on a path in the cornfield. She is now in the form of Charlotte, however the work performed on her face has deteriorated as she could get no assistance as her partners have been killed, explaining her extremely grotesque state. They confront each other about the events a year ago and it is at this point the audience discover Mark is actually the last surviving escapee, along with Lily. 

In a surge for revenge, the good Mark tackles her to the ground, disarms her, and holds his knife to her throat. She taunts him by pretending to be Charlotte, suggesting that he wouldn't hurt his friend that he had feelings for. Mark slowly replies by saying "You're right, I wouldn't.." but eventually continues in his other personality's voice stating "..But I would." and kills her.

The final scene shows the last forgotten escapee, still in the guise of Sarah, finding Mark's car unlocked and begins to hot-wire it. Once the engine starts, the final shot shows her beginning to smile menacingly as she did earlier in the film and then cuts to black.

Evil Dead

Evil Dead is a 2013 American horror film co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez. It is the fourth installment of the Evil Dead franchise, serving as both a reboot and as a loose continuation of the series; the first not directed by Sam Raimi.

The film is the feature debut of Alvarez, whom Raimi selected. It was produced by Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Robert G. Tapert: the writer-director, lead actor, and producer of the original trilogy respectively. The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest festival on March 8, 2013. On March 9, 2013, it was announced that the film will have a sequel, followed by a crossover with the original trilogy. Evil Dead was announced on July 15, 2013 to be adapted into a live experience as the first maze announced for Universal Studios Hollywood's and the second maze for Universal Orlando Resort's annual Halloween Horror Nights event for 2013.

The film included lots of close ups and quick montage. There is restricted amount of light throughout the film, with only natural light used, which adds to the realism of the place, as well as the harshness and isolation from technology and the rest of the world.

There are whispers throughout the film from some unknown speaker, adding to the fear created by the atmosphere as well as making us as an audience listen carefully.

There is an establishing shot right at the beginning of the film to show us the cabin, which is where most of the story of told around, and then all the woods next to it. Again this follows the conventions of most horror films, as the idea of setting the film in a forest adds to the atmosphere and creates a sense of danger, abandonment and primalness to the film.

 During the film the cutting rate changes so that it moves from a slow cut then to a quick montage. This makes the scenes more dramatic and plays on the idea of each cut sequence mimicking the pace of a heart.

The possession scene is film in the water, yet the camera angles are used in such a way that makes Mia look small, and the evil spirit look big by placing Mia at the bottom of the screen, and under the water, and then the spirit at the top of the screen making her look big and powerful, and Mia very weak and vulnerable. There was a match on action in the scene in the bedroom of the cabin, when the possessed person looked at the victim, then we see it from both points of view.

A large majority of the film was filmed with point of view shots, which makes us as an audience empathise with the victims, which adds fear, realism and tension to the movie as a whole.

The imagery in the film makes it an effective horror film, as during one scene the sky opens up and almost seems to bleed rain, which in fact is blood. The use of diegetic dialogue of the demons was also effective as it was used to mirror the action taking place and move along the story when needed.

Makeup attempt - Insane Person

Before

After

As a first attempt and having no previous experience and little equipment my first attempt wasn't a complete failure, however there is room for a lot of improvement. In the future i hope to use better equipment, such as dried blood and stipple, which will aid me in creating many different looks.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2010 American slasher/ horror film, directed by Samuel Bayer and written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer as a remake of Wes Craven's 1984 film of the same name, which revolves around a group of teenagers who are being stalked in their dreams by an enigmatic man named Freddy Krueger.

Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes produced the remake, as an intention to reboot the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, with the cast of Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker and Kellan Lutz. This production makes it the ninth installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

The elements used in A Nightmare On Elm Street, which make it such an effective horror film are the idea of dreams being reality, fighting your human nature, survival and fear.
The plot of the film follows similar codes and conventions of that to other horror genres, however due to the fact its a remake, the film maker has had to blend the familiar with the new, so that it appeals to a wider range of people. The conventions in A Nightmare On Elm Street are:

• blood
• violence
• blades/weapons
• a monster-like character
• darkness
• an abandoned warehouse 
• fire
• sadistic violence
• a group of teenagers
• oblivious adults
• most of the film is set during the night

The use of not being safe even whilst you are dreaming is what made the film series so iconic and scary to an audience. The idea behind this is original and frightening as it goes against everything we are led to believe. However the idea behind this could have stemmed from Iranian Folklore as a creature known as the Bakhtak which actually translates to "Nightmare". It is said that it causes sleep paralysis, however this folklore could've been used to create the idea of Freddy.

Discussing his physical appearance, Form and Fuller explained that Freddy would be more similar to a real burn victim. Form later clarified that there was a fine line they did not want to cross when it came to making Freddy look like a true burn victim. The chard flesh makes the character seem less human, making him a better antagonist, as well as his traditional Freddy clothing, which may appeal to an older audience. Freddy is made to look inhuman, so that the audience feels threatened by him, as well as imprinting his imagine into their heads, making his costume and character more effective.