Using media theory, I will know describe our film's target audience:
Since psychological is a complicated medium; lacking in gore or violence, and often focusing on the surreal and paranoid side of horror, we are aiming our film at older adultes (within the 25 - 35 age range) who are in the C2, C1 and B category of the socio-economic scale. As the plot may complicated and subtle in its use of visual action, it may not appeal to a younger audience; however, there always exceptions which is why this is only a rough estimation for our target audience.
Ethnicly, we don't expect their to be any specific race who will attend this film, as it has no relivance to race or discrimination of race.
With its independent-like context and intellectual themes, we expect our viewers to be higher in the socio-economical scale, as they will have a better education and may appreciate the film even more than others.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Psychological Thriller Themes
Psychological Thrillers follow certain themes. These themes are as follwed:
- Reality - the quality of being real. Try to determin what is true and what is not true within the narrative.
- Perception - a persons own interpretation of the world around him through his own senses.
- Mind - the human consciousness; the location for personaliy through reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. The mind is often used as a location for narrative conflict.
- Existance/Purpose - the object for which something exist. e.g. an aim or goal humans towards to understand their reason for existance.
- Identity - the definition of one's self. e.g. characters confused about who they are or doubt who they are and try to discover their true identity.
- Death - the cession of life. e.g. characters fear or have a fascination with death.
Examples of Psychological Thriller films:
- Childs Play
- Donnie Darko
- The Exorcist
- Halloween
- Hannibal
- Memento
- Panic Room
- Jaws
- The Island
- Psycho
- Saw
- The Zodiac
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Script
UNKNOWN TITLE
Screenplay by Matthew Pick
Original Story by Matthew Pick, Alistair Dickson, Kristian Boll & Lewis Costello
1st Draft, 9 February 2010
FADE IN:
1. EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY
A dismal sea of darkened clouds envelops an unnerving warehouse.
The CAMERA focuses on one of the top floor windows. Jittery, it ZOOMS-IN until...
CUT TO:
2. INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY
The interior of the warehouse is just as bare and fiercely foreboding as its exterior. There are no signs of life and very little light.
The CAMERA slowly TRACKS to the middle of the room; where it stops abruptly and then turns, so it is now facing an unsightly television atop a stack of milk crates.
HIGH ANGLE SHOT of THE MAN -- an obese and genuinely rough-looking young man -- entering the room from an unknown entrance. He walks from underneath the CAMERA, towards the TV a few feet away from him.
He walks, unearthly quickly, over to the TV and turns it on. Despite the lack of power source or any sign of cables, the TV produces a grimy visage of a young comedian doing stand-up.
CLOSE-UP of the television screen.
LEWIS
Did you ever consider that stacking sheep, is in fact God's way of playing Jenga?
THE MAN looms over the TV, its black and white light illuminating his haunted face. He is not amused by the comedian's guffawing. He stares vacantly at it, his face stern and passively aggressive of the lack of life around him.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP of a grotesquely enlarged eye. It is red with exhaustion - a hollow ring of blackened weariness circles his eye lids.
The eye squints as he begins to talk.
THE MAN
(quietly)
Are you there?
CLOSE-UP of the TV screen. An awkward silence follows, as the comedian continues chatting quietly, in the background.
THE MAN
(louder)
Are you there?
The TV suddenly cuts off.
THE MAN seems amazingly unsurprised - almost as if he expected it to happen. He stands; face completely lacking in emotion, still starring at the TV.
Out of nowhere, the TV turns back on; on a detuned channel, the air thick with sound of static and white noise, until...
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
I'm here.
THE MAN cracks an eerie smile and strides closer towards the screen. He leans over and faces the screen directly. He then proceeds to put his hand on the greasy screen.
THE MAN
What do you want? Just name it.
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
All I want...
THE MAN
Yes?
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
All I want...
THE MAN
(eagerly)
Yes?!
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
All I want... Is for you, to smile.
Swift CLOSE-UP on the screen. All of a sudden the screen comes to life displaying a series of distorted and disgusting images - rotting animal carcasses, victims of the Japanese war atrocities, a deathly visage of the Grim Reaper, ect.
THE MAN relishes in the morbid fascination of these images, and screams with bursts of manic laughter. As he does, he is illuminated with an intense electric blue light; followed by a deep blood red one.
A loud roar of an un-nameable animal elevates to a deafening high pitched shriek, when...
Everything suddenly dies -- the noise, the lights, the images; everything but the wicked smile on THE MAN'S decadent face.
CLOSE UP of TV screen. Static. The eerie high pitched moan of white noise.
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
Just smile...
FADE OUT TO CREDITS:
- THE END -
Screenplay by Matthew Pick
Original Story by Matthew Pick, Alistair Dickson, Kristian Boll & Lewis Costello
1st Draft, 9 February 2010
FADE IN:
1. EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY
A dismal sea of darkened clouds envelops an unnerving warehouse.
The CAMERA focuses on one of the top floor windows. Jittery, it ZOOMS-IN until...
CUT TO:
2. INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY
The interior of the warehouse is just as bare and fiercely foreboding as its exterior. There are no signs of life and very little light.
The CAMERA slowly TRACKS to the middle of the room; where it stops abruptly and then turns, so it is now facing an unsightly television atop a stack of milk crates.
HIGH ANGLE SHOT of THE MAN -- an obese and genuinely rough-looking young man -- entering the room from an unknown entrance. He walks from underneath the CAMERA, towards the TV a few feet away from him.
He walks, unearthly quickly, over to the TV and turns it on. Despite the lack of power source or any sign of cables, the TV produces a grimy visage of a young comedian doing stand-up.
CLOSE-UP of the television screen.
LEWIS
Did you ever consider that stacking sheep, is in fact God's way of playing Jenga?
THE MAN looms over the TV, its black and white light illuminating his haunted face. He is not amused by the comedian's guffawing. He stares vacantly at it, his face stern and passively aggressive of the lack of life around him.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP of a grotesquely enlarged eye. It is red with exhaustion - a hollow ring of blackened weariness circles his eye lids.
The eye squints as he begins to talk.
THE MAN
(quietly)
Are you there?
CLOSE-UP of the TV screen. An awkward silence follows, as the comedian continues chatting quietly, in the background.
THE MAN
(louder)
Are you there?
The TV suddenly cuts off.
THE MAN seems amazingly unsurprised - almost as if he expected it to happen. He stands; face completely lacking in emotion, still starring at the TV.
Out of nowhere, the TV turns back on; on a detuned channel, the air thick with sound of static and white noise, until...
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
I'm here.
THE MAN cracks an eerie smile and strides closer towards the screen. He leans over and faces the screen directly. He then proceeds to put his hand on the greasy screen.
THE MAN
What do you want? Just name it.
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
All I want...
THE MAN
Yes?
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
All I want...
THE MAN
(eagerly)
Yes?!
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
All I want... Is for you, to smile.
Swift CLOSE-UP on the screen. All of a sudden the screen comes to life displaying a series of distorted and disgusting images - rotting animal carcasses, victims of the Japanese war atrocities, a deathly visage of the Grim Reaper, ect.
THE MAN relishes in the morbid fascination of these images, and screams with bursts of manic laughter. As he does, he is illuminated with an intense electric blue light; followed by a deep blood red one.
A loud roar of an un-nameable animal elevates to a deafening high pitched shriek, when...
Everything suddenly dies -- the noise, the lights, the images; everything but the wicked smile on THE MAN'S decadent face.
CLOSE UP of TV screen. Static. The eerie high pitched moan of white noise.
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
(V/O)
Just smile...
FADE OUT TO CREDITS:
- THE END -
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Questionnaire
1. How old are you?
[ ] 0 - 16 [ ] 17-25 [ ] 26 - 35 [ ] 36 - 50 [ ] 50+
2. Are you male or female?
[ ] Male [ ] Female
3. What genre(s) best suits your taste?
[ ] Comedy [ ] Horror [ ] Thriller [ ] Romance [ ] Drama
[ ] Action [ ] Other
4. What type of film do you prefer?
[ ] Mainstream [ ] Independant
5. On a scale of 1 to 10, how complex do you like the plot to be? (1 being no plot at all, and 10 being a very complex/confusing plot)
[ ] 1 [ ] 2 [ ] 3 [ ] 4 [ ] 5 [ ] 6 [ ] 7 [ ] 8 [ ] 9 [ ] 10
6. How often, annually, do you go to the cinema?
[ ] 0 [ ] 1 - 5 [ ] 6 - 8 [ ] 9+
-Alistair Dickson
[ ] 0 - 16 [ ] 17-25 [ ] 26 - 35 [ ] 36 - 50 [ ] 50+
2. Are you male or female?
[ ] Male [ ] Female
3. What genre(s) best suits your taste?
[ ] Comedy [ ] Horror [ ] Thriller [ ] Romance [ ] Drama
[ ] Action [ ] Other
4. What type of film do you prefer?
[ ] Mainstream [ ] Independant
5. On a scale of 1 to 10, how complex do you like the plot to be? (1 being no plot at all, and 10 being a very complex/confusing plot)
[ ] 1 [ ] 2 [ ] 3 [ ] 4 [ ] 5 [ ] 6 [ ] 7 [ ] 8 [ ] 9 [ ] 10
6. How often, annually, do you go to the cinema?
[ ] 0 [ ] 1 - 5 [ ] 6 - 8 [ ] 9+
-Alistair Dickson
How Opening Titles Are Used
In a motion picture, television programme or even a videogame, the opening titles or credits are used at the very beggining of the the film/tv programme/videogame to establish the most important members of the production crew, this would involve production company, film company, the main characters, the exclusive producers, who did the casting, music and editing.
The opening titles in Napoleon Dynamite are a smart and unusual way to show these.
The opening titles in Napoleon Dynamite are a smart and unusual way to show these.
Monday, 8 February 2010
Sypnosis
The film will open with a full colour shot of the sky that pans to a nearby building, zooming into the window. As the pan is happening, the picture will slowly turn black and white. Inside the building, the main character is turning on the TV. After looking at the TV for a short while, the man says "Are you there?" to the TV. He does this again, before the TV responds. The TV respsonds with a fluctuating voice. Images begin to flash on the TV briefly with religious connotations as well images of the man and the phrase 'You Are Accepted'. He laughs maniacally before the film comes to a close.
- Lewis Costello
- Lewis Costello
Equipment And Technologies To Be Used
Our sequence will not require any specific equipment,
For the filming, we will simply be using a camera.
A tripod will be used to get a steady shot.
Lighting techniques that we will use will be basic, lamps, natural light e.g sunlight, and moving light.
For editing the sequence, we will be using imovie.
-Alistair Dickson
For the filming, we will simply be using a camera.
A tripod will be used to get a steady shot.
Lighting techniques that we will use will be basic, lamps, natural light e.g sunlight, and moving light.
For editing the sequence, we will be using imovie.
-Alistair Dickson
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Initial Ideas
We have chosen to make a psychological horror film where a TV can communicate with the viewer through subtitles.
The scene starts off with a man in a dark room watching TV. There is a voice-over throughout the scene which contains what the man is thinking. This is the point where the man figures out that the TV can enter his mind; the TV responds with the man's thoughts as if it can read his mind.
The man becomes memorized by the TV's subtitles and the TV's responses continue. The man stares at the TV for around 10-20 seconds while the subtitles continue - non-diegetic eerie music increases in volume then a very loud phone rings. The man continues starting at the TV for approximately 10 more seconds while the phones rings, he then picks the phone up (still staring at the TV, just feeling with his hands), and the scene ends.
Our ideas may, and probably will, change from the scene described, but this is the general outline of what is going to happen.
-Alistair Dickson
Opening scenes/Genre conventions
We have each chosen a clip of an opening to a horror film of our choice:
Alistair:- Jeepers Creepers
I have chosen this clip because it provides the audience with clear knowledge of who/what the villain looks like. It doesn't use the usual "blood and gore" type of openings that most horror films do; it provides the audience with an idea of where the film will be set, and what type of characters are going to be portrayed by showing a boy being kidnapped. The use of long shots show that the two men are far away from the boy, and they do not have a chance of retrieving him. The mise en scene is very important in this opening scene: the dog barking, the scarecrows and the use of tall corn plants to show entrapment are all elements of horror.
Kristian:- Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
The clip I have chosen does not follow the 'typical' horror genre e.g. blood and gore, monster and curse. It opens with a few paragraphs to inform the view the reality of this film. Leatherface cannot be seen clearly but we straight away see what he is about. Knocking his victim out with a sledge hammer, dragging her body away and then skinning her, and making a mask out of her flesh. The mise-en-scene plays an extremely important part, the house is poorly lit, damp and derelict. Letherface's costume, shirt and overalls, looking at him from that back he could be anybody.
Matt:- John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness
I have choosen this opening because it releases a plethera of important information about the film, interspersed between with seemingly dark and suspencful images of the homeless and unwanted. It is not a-typical of the horror genre - revealing a large part of its plot so early on - however, its use of dim lighting and warped synth soundtrack create a sense dreadful forboding. One of the major themes in this clip is the patient of evil - it can wait for an eternity - which is cemented by the deliberate use of slow editing and fades rather than cuts. Close-ups reveal the relevance of seemingly irrelevant things. The use of sound is crucial; as the sound of a million fire ants is amplified to a singular, deafening roar, which disorientates the audience dramaticly. It doesn't rely on overly ambigious gore or bloody violence as an opening; but more a steady, escalating sense of dread and forboding, which is common in psychological horror films.
Lewis:- Saw 5
This clip had a heavy influence on my vision of the finalised film. Almost immediately, a television has an important part to play. It features the elements of a psychological horror - the main character uses very vague phrases such as "whoever did this to me", leaving a lot to be answered. Furthermore, the person who punches the main character and knocks him out remains out of shot, leaving their identity a mystery. In his flashback, there is a rock soundtrack which doesn't really suggest anything about horror, yet when the main character has waited for the lift for a short while, the rock fades out and tension music fades in. This works well and is something I will try to do in our film. The clip effectively puts across themes of uncertainty and danger.
Alistair:- Jeepers Creepers
I have chosen this clip because it provides the audience with clear knowledge of who/what the villain looks like. It doesn't use the usual "blood and gore" type of openings that most horror films do; it provides the audience with an idea of where the film will be set, and what type of characters are going to be portrayed by showing a boy being kidnapped. The use of long shots show that the two men are far away from the boy, and they do not have a chance of retrieving him. The mise en scene is very important in this opening scene: the dog barking, the scarecrows and the use of tall corn plants to show entrapment are all elements of horror.
Kristian:- Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
The clip I have chosen does not follow the 'typical' horror genre e.g. blood and gore, monster and curse. It opens with a few paragraphs to inform the view the reality of this film. Leatherface cannot be seen clearly but we straight away see what he is about. Knocking his victim out with a sledge hammer, dragging her body away and then skinning her, and making a mask out of her flesh. The mise-en-scene plays an extremely important part, the house is poorly lit, damp and derelict. Letherface's costume, shirt and overalls, looking at him from that back he could be anybody.
Matt:- John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness
I have choosen this opening because it releases a plethera of important information about the film, interspersed between with seemingly dark and suspencful images of the homeless and unwanted. It is not a-typical of the horror genre - revealing a large part of its plot so early on - however, its use of dim lighting and warped synth soundtrack create a sense dreadful forboding. One of the major themes in this clip is the patient of evil - it can wait for an eternity - which is cemented by the deliberate use of slow editing and fades rather than cuts. Close-ups reveal the relevance of seemingly irrelevant things. The use of sound is crucial; as the sound of a million fire ants is amplified to a singular, deafening roar, which disorientates the audience dramaticly. It doesn't rely on overly ambigious gore or bloody violence as an opening; but more a steady, escalating sense of dread and forboding, which is common in psychological horror films.
Lewis:- Saw 5
This clip had a heavy influence on my vision of the finalised film. Almost immediately, a television has an important part to play. It features the elements of a psychological horror - the main character uses very vague phrases such as "whoever did this to me", leaving a lot to be answered. Furthermore, the person who punches the main character and knocks him out remains out of shot, leaving their identity a mystery. In his flashback, there is a rock soundtrack which doesn't really suggest anything about horror, yet when the main character has waited for the lift for a short while, the rock fades out and tension music fades in. This works well and is something I will try to do in our film. The clip effectively puts across themes of uncertainty and danger.
Box Office figures
1. Avatar (2009) $2,045,752,416
2. Titanic (1997) $1,835,300,000
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $1,129,219,252
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $1,060,332,628
5. The Dark Knight (2008) $1,001,921,825
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) $968,657,891
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) $958,404,152
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) $937,000,866
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) $933,956,980
10. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $922,379,000
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) $921,600,000
12. Jurassic Park (1993) $919,700,000
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) $892,194,397
14. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) $887,773,705
15. Spider-Man 3 (2007) $885,430,303
16. Shrek 2 (2004) $880,871,036
17. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) $866,300,000
18. Finding Nemo (2003) $865,000,000
19. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $860,700,000
20. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) $848,462,555
The top 20 film of all time all have a few things in common, all for them have been made by the mojor companies, if not by them then in partenership with them. Also most of these films are fantasy, they would never happen in reality, I think this is why they have proven to be extremely popular with audiences worldwide, It gives people a chance to escape from a boring reality.
2. Titanic (1997) $1,835,300,000
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $1,129,219,252
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $1,060,332,628
5. The Dark Knight (2008) $1,001,921,825
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) $968,657,891
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) $958,404,152
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) $937,000,866
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) $933,956,980
10. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $922,379,000
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) $921,600,000
12. Jurassic Park (1993) $919,700,000
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) $892,194,397
14. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) $887,773,705
15. Spider-Man 3 (2007) $885,430,303
16. Shrek 2 (2004) $880,871,036
17. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) $866,300,000
18. Finding Nemo (2003) $865,000,000
19. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $860,700,000
20. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) $848,462,555
The top 20 film of all time all have a few things in common, all for them have been made by the mojor companies, if not by them then in partenership with them. Also most of these films are fantasy, they would never happen in reality, I think this is why they have proven to be extremely popular with audiences worldwide, It gives people a chance to escape from a boring reality.
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