Typography Creation

In order to create the title for the film opening I had to do some research on different styles of typography in which we could use to develop ideas. When looking at the different styles I also looked at the video game typography from 'Slender Man'. This is a short game which is set in a woods where the main protagonist (the player) is isolated and in danger. Not only this, the player in ‘Slender Man’ being watched by the antagonist. This is a very similar scenario to our film opening and therefore I wanted to create a style of typography which is simple like the games style.

When recreating the text I had to use some extra equipment other than photoshop. In order to obtain the hand written effect I had to use a tablet and a ruler to allow me to create the text. This proved to be very difficult as the tablet is very sensitive to small movements, due to this issue I had to regularly start again.

First of all I opened a new document in photoshop which was 1000 pixels wide and 1000 pixels in height, once I had completed this I made the background of the document black using the paint tool. By doing this it conforms to common film titles as the text is usually lighter than the background.  

After I had done this I began to write, this proved very difficult as the ruler regally moved and the pen would not place in the same area. I had to go over each of the lines in the letters to gain the same effect as my inspiration. I also had to use a thin brush to get a better effect.

This allows me to change the style of paint
 brush I am using.

This shows the black background and the individual lines I had
to create.

When creating the letters I made them individually, this allowed me to make sure that each letter was correct and up to the standards in which I require. Not only this but it was also easier for me to create the letters larger and shrink them to an appropriate size then to make them larger and more pixelated or incorrect. When I was done with each of the letters I would add some dots around the letter to create a chalk like effect, this makes the letters more interesting. This is the first letter in which I made:



I used this same technique to complete the other letters, however when completed the title looked very plain. In order to improve the title I wanted to incorporate something that would link the title and the film opening together. Therefore I moved some of the letters to create different effects, I also made some very simple idea sheets that I could use to make the text better. This is one of the sheets for the ‘K’ and the ‘O’, I wanted to link the text to an idea of possession and summoning. When creating the final outcome I used the one on the top right.



This is the style in which I created, I also changed the ‘E’ as well and the ‘NIN’ to make the text connect to the idea of possession and summoning. Each of these letters conveys an idea of reflection as the ‘E’ reflects down for the word ‘THE’ in to the work ‘BECKONING’. The ‘NIN’ has the two ‘Ns’ reflecting across the ‘I’. These little extra details makes the text more interesting and allows it to connote the idea of horror within the film. I have also used the small dots around the text to make it look as if someone had hand written in with chalk instead of using technology. However, this is not the final out come of the text as I wish to develop it further by adding a slight static effect or another distorted copy of the text.

I copied the text that I had already completed and made it in to another layer, this allows me to work on it separately without disturbing the rest of the text. I then went in to layer styles to play with the different styles I could create. First I reduced the opacity as I did not want it to stand out in front of the main text. I then selected the Bevel and Emboss style on the left to change the structure and shading of the text. Once I was happy with the simple change in effect I also included an inner shadow which helped to blur the background text further. This is the final text.

Production Company

For their production company they used a simple flip book idea of a character moving closer to the camera and crying while smiling. This creates a sinister effect and links well with the horror element that the production would be used for.

The shot that they have taken is a single shoot that is seen to be unedited, there are no effects included either however they have amplified the sound to gain a better effect for their production company. It sounds as if they have previously recorded the sound of the flickering pages and layered the sound over the top of the video removing the original sound. Not only this however they also edited a loud humming sound with a high pitched sound also included, this is played suddenly when the flip book is finished and the company name is shown on the screen at the bottom right. The text that they used is very simple and small on the screen, they could have written it on the sketchbook as another page so the text was centred and the only thing you can see. They used a white colours text in order to make it stand out on the dark background.

They have used a background with stationary on it to cover the space and make the production company look more realistic and professional. Not only this however the dark colours also help enhance the white and black drawing of the cartoon as the dark and dull colours do not take the attention away from what the audience is supposed to look at.

 

 

Sound Research

Sound research

Sound is one of the most important aspects to a horror film as sound helps to encourage and create a specific mood and emotions. Even though there are allot of diverse range in the music that has been used throughout different horror films, some of these common conventions include:

·         Isolated instruments are often used just before a key event occurs which helps link the idea of vulnerability, to the audience.

·         Long suspenseful notes are often used just before a key event occurs which helps convey the idea of vulnerability to the audience.

·         Extreme but intentional changes of pitch tones. For example low long brass notes which suddenly change to very fast high pitched noted to make the audience feel immediately tense.

Voices

·         Lots of voiced within horror films have been chosen to reflect fear; tensions and panic. An example of this is the voices used by big, well known production film, the jigsaw puppet in the SAW films.

·         His tone of voice is well suited for the part it needs to play, as it effectively creates fear and tension because it is very distinctive which therefore stands out most from any of the other characters. As there has been many Saw films the continuous use of the same voice develops more effect over the audience as both fear and the voice are associated with one another.

·     His voice also helps to create an immediate sense of fear, intimidation and power because it has a husky filter and strong deep tones. Not only this however a sense of mystery is created as you are unable to see the persons face. The idea of the unknown is very effective in horror films.

·         As the voice sounds unnatural due to the filters it establishes despair in the audience as it is something new and unknown to the people. The unknown is a common aspect that is often used within the horror genre which can also be created through the lack of vision.

Sound effects

There are lots of sound effects which can occur in a horror film soundtrack, which could include:

·         Commonly used (classic) – Lost of sounds that have horror type connotations which help make them recognisable and iconic to the audience such as – Crows, bats, owls, church bells, footsteps and the wind/ trees rustling.

·         Echoed voices – this helps heighten the audience’s mood, sense and emotion towards the film which can give quite a ghostly feel.

Creepy Eye Editing

This is the original image that I took of our model with a white eye contact in, we also placed some heavy makeup around her eyes and kept her hair out of her face. Then I ask my friend to help hold the light in position so I was able to take images of her face without any shadows.



This is the original image

Next I wanted to make the contact look more natural as you are able to see the edges of the eye contact. This proved difficult as I didn’t want the eye to look too photo shopped and blurred, I had to use both the healing brush tool and the blur tool to make some of the colours merge together. This was the outcome:

This is the blur tool, it allows you to blur pixels together.

This is the healing brush tool, you can select a certain area and brush it over another section.



Edited eye image


Then I changed the picture in to a black and white image as I will be able to make her skin look dirty, not only this however it also makes the makeup around her eye stand out further when I make it maxim black.



These are the levels in which I set it to.







This is the effect that I created when changing the colours.

Once I was happy with the eye that I had edited I want to make the other eye similar so it was one single eye that has been edited. As the eye did not have a contact in I had to copy the eye on the right and move it to the left. when doing this I had to use the lasso tool to draw around the area that I wanted, then I held down alt and moved the selected area which allows you to copy the eye.

 When the eye is placed over the left eye I used the free transform tool to move the eye in to place and change the size slightly. Then I had to merge the image in to the picture to make the eye look natural. Finally I used the burning tool to make the background darker to make the viewer focus further on the girl. This is the final image:



Typography Deconstuction

Typography

Typography is very important within films, the style of the writing has to follow the style and mood of the film it which it will be appearing in. Some examples of this includes:


The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a film that was released on 16 March 1974 in the UK directed by William Friedkin and written by William Peter Blatty. The traditional style of the text contrasts the dark nature of the film, not only this however it portrays the time in which the film is set in as the San Serif is typically a traditional style of text. The colour of the text represents purity which contradicts with the dark force in the teenage girl who becomes possessed. Not only has this however the white text has been place in front of an image that has a large amount of darker colours and therefore making the title stood out further.

 

The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a film about paranormal investigators, this film was released on the 2^nd august 2013 in the UK and was directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes.

Once again this text is pure white in comparison to the dirty and dark background. The white text symbolises the innocence of the child in the rocking chair as she is very young. However the darker background contrasts with this suggesting that there are dark and evil things surrounding her. Not only this however as the writing is the only light colour on the image a sense of isolation is conveyed which could be foreseeing what will happen in the film. As this film was set in 1971 the text shown on the image perfectly portrays an older style of writing as it is San Serif font.

Paranormal Activity 3

Paranormal Activity is a film about two young sisters, Katie and Kristi, befriending an invisible entity who resides in their home. This film was released on the 21^st October 2011 in the UK, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, written by Christopher Landon and Oren Peli.

This typography is different from the previous text that I have looked at before. Instead of the contrast between white and black this typography is focused more on darker colours, the black and the red. The type of text looks like text you would see on a camcorder, this could possibly give the audience an insight about the style the film is. This is further supported by the image above the text of a camera looking down on two beds, the image has the time and date at the bottom and there is a slight static fuzz over the image to show that it is a camera recording people.

The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black is about a young lawyer who travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman terrorizing the local people. This film was released on the 10^th February 2012 in the UK, directed by James Watkins and written by Susan Hill and Jane Goldman.

The typography is once again shown to be San Serif as this film is also set in the past, however the text seems to be slightly tea stained and is not pure white like previous text. This could imply that there is something different about this character or could portray something about the story line. The text is also slightly scrapped out and underlined in a thin white line in some areas. Though the text is not completely white the text has been placed over the darkest section of the image, as this area is black it makes the words stand out further.

 

Character Deconstruction

Victims

During horror films characters personalities are shown within the first half of the film. When introducing the characters some common characteristics are as follows, however these characters are less likely to survive:

Group’s victims

·         The Chatterbox, a character who is shown to be very loud and talkative. This personality is someone who rushes in to dangerous situations and causes many problems.

·         The Authority Figure, someone who believes that they should be in charge and direct the group of people. Often having a large ego this character thinks that they can resolve everything and be the one that everyone will look up to.

·         The Suit, characters who believe that they are untouchable as they are rich, these characters can be identified through their costumes as they are well dressed.

·         The Nerd, they tend to isolate themselves from the rest of the group of people and constantly insist that they can hear something before going to investigate alone.

·         The Know-It-All/ Non-Believer, this character insists that nothing is wrong and gives excuses for everything that is happening.

·         The Comedian, continuously making jokes of the situation and enjoy scaring the rest of the group because they believe it to be funny. Some of these jokes can be used as simple jump scares such as jumping out on other members of the group.

·         The Couple, they would normally die within minutes of one another and stay close together for support. Audience will feel some sympathy towards such characters.

·         The Cruel Character, very self-centred and does not care for anyone else around him. This character usually makes it very difficult for the main protagonist to survive and help others. Many of the other characters are not as effected when this character dies.

·         The Black Guy, stereotypically the black male is likely to die. You do not often see a solo black male survivor within a horror film. These characters are seen to be very likeable for the audience.

·         The Fat Guy, these characters tend to die within horror films as they are seen to be to large to run away or escape through a small area.

Solo Victims

·         Females are commonly used as the victim within horror films as they are portrayed as being vulnerable and in need of protection. These characters are usually young, blonde and very attractive to appeal to a wider male audience however, this character helps to build suspense as her behaviour often puts them on edge. When this character jumps and scream all other characters do the same.



Villains

During horror films each villain has a similar trait that can e identified in many horror films, some of these villains include:

·         Scary little girl, this character is commonly used in possession horror genre. Once originally a victim this character often wears white to symbolise their previous purity and innocents, however there cloths are regally dirty and ripped to show an evil presents surrounding the person.


·          Masked character, the fear of the unknown is another aspect of horror films that is regularly used. From lurking in the dark to wearing a mask, these aspects can be regularly seen within horror films. By hiding the character in mystery it makes the audience question who the villain is. The material of the mask is also very effective, characters such as Leatherface wear a mask that as a simular look to skin. Not only this however the darker areas around the eyes and mouth make the character more mysterious.

·          Spirits, these are regally used throughout horror films. The villains of Poltergeist aren't physical monsters or serial killers, but rather disembodied spirits that terrorize a helpless family. The idea of a creature that cannot be removed or destroyed creates fear as it is something that is considered immortal. Not only this however, the character is completely invisible creating mystery as the audience and other characters would not know where it could possibly be.

·          Supernatural is another common horror villain and has been shown throughout horror film history. The first horror film ever created was "Le Manoir du Diable" or "The House of the Devil" which was filmed by Georges Melies of France in 1896. The film runs about 3 minutes and was completely silent. This film included skeletons and a bat that transformed in to a bat. Vampires was a supernatural character that would be commonly used however recently zombies have had an increase in films. 

The Hole Deconstruction

The Hole

The Hole is an action, fantasy, horror/thriller that was released in 2009 for a younger audience compared to other horror/ thriller films. The film follows three protagonists with their discovery of the hole in their basement.

Camera

In this scene the youngest brother is curious about the hole and wants to see it for himself however his worst fear appears when he opens it and looks in to the black void. The scene opens with a tilting shot that shows the boys feet walking down in to the basement, while he is walking down there is both diegetic and non-diegetic sound as you are able to hear a high pitched sound which is most likely violins and the sound of him walking down the stairs. While the child is walking down the stairs the camera changes to a point of view shot looking towards the hole. This is common in horror films as it makes the audience feel more involved, the camera switches to a tracking shot then returns to a point of view shot again. A high angle is used to show the child walking closer towards the hole and while he opens the hatch, however the camera quickly moves to inside the hole at a low angle looking up towards the boy as he opens the hatch. The camera stays in the hole for a large period of time before having a close up of the boy’s face, there is also some tracking during this shot.

When the boy turns to have a look around the room the camera pans across the room slowly keeping the torch light in the frame before panning back to the boy to show a reaction shot of the sound coming from another location. Once the boy has located the clown the camera moves in to a mid-shot then quickly in to a close up of the clowns face before returning and zooming in on the boy’s face. As the boy escapes there is mainly use of tracking shots following him to his freedom.

Sound

The sound of the non-diegetic violins plays continuously until it is broken by the opening of the hatch that leads to the hole, the lack of sound creates suspense as the audience knows something is going to happen. After a short while the sound of the violins fades back in however this time much louder yet fades again at 0:53. There is only diegetic sound of the boy moving his torch around and the sound of bells from the clown puppet, this once again helps to create suspense as non-diegetic sound is again introduced when the light is on the puppets face. However the sound of the non-diegetic becomes more frantic and warped as the child becomes afraid of the puppet, this is also shown when the puppet winks at the boy as a louder sound is played. This sound also adds to the use of a minor jump scare as it was not expected, the music stays louder and changes to a faster pace as the child tries to escape the clown. Diegetic sound is also paired with the non-diegetic to show that the child is in a rush as he struggles over objects and pushes things to the side.

Mise-en-scene

Within the basement there are many shelves and it is full of old house hold objects that no one uses anymore such as a toy doll, tools and an old barbeque. The basement has many items covering the area and makes it feel more like a confined and isolated place. Dusk covers most of the area to show that no one visits the basement. The child wears simple clothing and carries a torch as there is very little lighting in the basement. 

Costume Using Household Objects

Prop experiment with house hold objects

For this prop/ costume I wanted it to be dirty, ripped and have blood stains on it. This was a reasonably simple costume that I wanted to create however it took a long time for the shirt to dry.

First I got a shirt that was not being used and took it outside to cover it in mud, once it was covered enough that I was satisfied I had to wait for the shirt to dry however I was impatient. I used the hair dryer to dry the mud on to the shirt to make sure it would be easier to rip.

I then continued to experiment with making fake blood, to do this I wanted to mix together black and pink ink to make a darker colour. However when applying it to the shirt the ink became more purple as it spread through the fabric therefor I had to create a different substitute for fake blood. My next option was tomato ketchup as it was bright red, not only this however ketchup tends to be very good at staining clothes. Though the ketchup smelt bad it was very effective until it dried as it dried a dark colour that was similar to the mud and therefor was not very visible. Another option was red wine, if we got enough on there we hoped the colour would have lasted, sadly the red wine was also a failure. After all attempts I became a mess and the shirt hardly changed.

Fake blood using ink 

Different types of fake blood

Once the shirt was ripped it looked much better as I removed the cuffs around the hands and ripped up the sides several times, I also ripped it along the back to show where the person could have injured themselves, if I was able to I would have place fake blood around this area to make it more realistic.

Lighting Practical

Lighting

Back lighting

I wanted to experiment with lighting in order to create different effects, this was very successful as I was able to create mystery through different types of lighting and having it at different angles.

My first photo-shoot was encouraged by The Woman in Black. In The Woman in black the ghost/ villain of the film is cloaked so no one is able to see her face, this is very effective as it helps make the audience more cautious of the character due to the mystery. I wanted to recreate this character in my photos, therefore I used a net veil over my model to hide her. However this only became more effective when I place the light behind my model as the light could pass through the veil slightly, it also created a silhouette of my model beneath the veil. During the first images it was difficult to place the model and the light in the correct locations so I was able to get a good image, not only this however I also encountered the problem of shutter speed. As the light was shining directly at the camera there was a very short shutter speed which made the images very dark, some of the images you were barely able to see the model under the veil.

 

This image is too dark and would not work very well if turned black and white

However once I had practiced a few times I finally understood how to use the shutter speed and made sure that the shutter was open long enough to get a good image of my model. After obtaining a good image there was very little editing that I needed to do. Though as the veil was bright red I changed the image in to a black and white photo so that the veil wasn’t as bright.

Half Lighting

I also practiced with half lighting and colours, I wanted to learn how to use it effectively so we would be able to incorporate it with our filming work. I made sure to place the light on one side of her face so that the single side was shown and that the other was in the dark. I think this is very effective different lighting can suggest different personalities to a character, for example having half the face hide could convey the idea of a split personality (one good and one bad).

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Using colours was a lot harder than normal lights as I needed to balance the lighting on both sides of the face so that the image doesn’t become too dark. When taking images using only the purple lighting the entire image became very dark and not very effective. This was also due to the fact that I had to use a slow shutter speed so the image became slightly blurred. On the other hand when using two lights, one coloured and one normal, they balanced one another. By using two lights you are able to see her entire face and a strong contrast between the two colours.

This is the single light, therefore slightly blurred and too dark

Black and White Possession Images

Photo's Black and White

This photo is to show possession, I asked my model to place her hand in front of her face and make a claw using her hand. I also wanted her to cover most of her face to use the common convention of mystery and danger, this image I used shows her covering her face yet she is still able to watch and see you.

When taking the image I used very dark lighting and used another person to hold the light above the model and to their right. This ensures that more shadows are cast across her face to make the image more distorted. However when I came to editing the image I found that the background was still too visible, I wanted the background to be dark in order to make the model stand out further. Not only this however I didn’t want the viewer to see the background as it removed the focus from the model. Therefore I cropped the image slightly and used the burning tool to make some areas darker than the others, this allowed me to select the background and darken the white wall.

Once I completed this I changed the image to black and white as it is more visible between the dark and light, this could suggest the good and evil within the girl. This is the final image:

I also took some other images of my model pulling on her face, this made it seem as if she is going crazy and trying to rip of her face. I also liked one of these images as the background is completely black and there is a very high contrast between the dark and light. I think that this is really effective as you do not know what is around her or where she could possibly be. It implies that she is isolated and lost in the darkness which suggests that she is turning evil. However I had to use Photoshop to crop the image and enhance the contrast between the black and white to get this effect.

Prop Book

Prop making

I wanted to create a character who is seen to have an obsession with another person. I wanted to convey this idea through the use of a prop and therefore created a collection of items.

First of all I got a large sheet of paper and covered it with tea bags, coffee and dirt. This is help me create the rustic and tattered look, not only this it also makes the prop look more effective as it doesn’t look brand new.

When thinking of items to use I wanted to use props that were considered personal, I used an image of a family. However I wanted it to fit in with the background so I also covered the image with tea and coffee to make it look older. Once I completed this I took the image and burnt the males face so you would not recognise him, I also scratched out the eyes of the children in order to follow common conventions of a horror. I made sure to leave the woman so you are able to see the target of the killer. I also burnt the sides of the picture as photos are commonly burnt within horror films.

I also used playing cards to give the audience an insight in to who the killer is and what their hobbies include. To show the character was heartbroken I used the king and queen of hearts. Once I found these cards I covered them in tea once again to make sure that everything linked together, after I completed this I burnt the sides of the cards and made sure it was half on each card. I also included the use of the three of hearts as the number three is very symbolical in horrors and religion. Three could symbolise the love of three or the past, present and the future.

I wanted the prop to be seen as more disturbing and therefore I used a figure in the piece, however just by adding this toy did not work so I set up the figure as if it had been a suicide by wrapping string around its neck and letting it hang down. This was very effective as it brought a very sinister element to the full prop.

In order to show the obsession I included a cut of hair as this is commonly seen in horror films. The cut of hair can be shown to be the victims and I placed it by the figure, by placing it by the figure it conveys the idea of a voodoo doll suggesting the idea of control over that person.

Once I had finished I wanted to add some details, I added ink to my prop to suggest blood however it was very difficult to make as I had to use pink and black due to the lack of red ink, this showed to be very tricky and very messy. I also included the words ‘paradise on earth’ to link it to the bible and religion. This is the final product:

Deconstruction of The Walking Dead Opening

When making our own opening we want to use short clips of footage scattered thought to make the opening feel more intense. I wanted to focus on ideas that we could possible use when creating these small shots and therefore I am going to do a deconstruction of The Walking Dead opening sequence as it is created through the use of short shots.

Deconstuction of The Silence of the Lambs Opening

In the first two opening minutes of Silence of the Lambs an establishing shot is used to identify the location in which the film will be set. In this particular film the setting is commonly used for horror type films as it is located in an isolated area in the middle of the woods. The colour used when filming is quiet dark as to show that it is being filmed during the winter months, the mise-en-scene also identifies this as the trees are dead and leaves are lying on the floor mainly decomposed. Not only this however in this image a heavy fog lies across the woods creating further ideas of danger and mystery.

The establishing shot then tilts down slightly in order to show a female character climbing towards the camera. The camera then continues to follow the woman using a tracking shot, this helps the audience to identify that this is the main female character that the story will be following. The idea of isolation is then amplified when the camera slows while tracking allowing the scene to change from a medium shot in to a long shot. The surroundings shows that the female character is alone in the woods.

The camera then continues to follow the main female character towards a rope in which she climbs. This conveys that the female character is most likely to be in the military doing her daily training course, subverting the common representation of females being weak and dependent on others. However the female character also conforms to the common media image of women being attractive as the actress has very famine features.

During the first two minutes of the opening there is both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The diegetic sound is the quiet noise of bugs such as crickets in the background accompanied by birds flying away occasionally. Not only this, however there is also diegetic sound of the woman breathing heavily due to the woman completing her exercise, the sound of her foot steps on the leaves bellow is also used during this time period. Non-diegetic sound is also used throughout the scene and increased when the woman is seen to be climbing the rope netting. The non-diegetic sound is most likely created by string instruments such as violins and a lower sound of wind instruments played bellow the violins.