The genre horror first got into the 1700s; It was gothic horror. It was writers who were both from the UK and US. The first silent horror film was 'The Haunted Castle' which came out in 1896. It was directed by Georges Méliès who was a French illusionists and film-maker.
Le Manoir du diable ('The Haunted Castle' in French) was only three minutes long and was made to amuse people instead of frightening them. Also, it is a silent film which meant that the short film was effective even though it doesn't have dialect or diatonic sounds.
The Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis, were two filmmakers. In fact they were the first filmmakers in history. Their film,Sortie de l'usine Lumière de Lyon, was considered to be the first, true motion picture which was released in 1895 but the first horror film being released in 1895.
Horror was first conveyed through books and novels. 'Frankenstein' for example was published in 1818, way before the use of technology that we use today. It was written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, a famous writer in the gothic era.
Most of us once in a while, love to watch horror films. We love the thrills, we like to get the feeling of being scared, that's even if we hold a pillow to our face throughout the movie. Horror films are mostly linked to the nightmares of innocent people, the evil, gore, supernatural etc. All of these a key factors that come from a horror film but we wouldn't have a horror film without the conventions. What does it mean by the conventions? The conventions are the things that make up the film. So what are the conventions? Conventions of a horror film include...
Clichés - The very predictable things
(Secluded) location - A lonely, mysterious location where it's very quiet and perhaps run down too. They are also commonly set in the dark to make it more thrilling. good examples of horror locations are woods, a dark alley, a big/haunted house, abandoned buildings and quiets roads or highways.
Props - These are the things that the characters use in the film. E.g. The villain 99.9% of the time is a murderer. He can use a knife, some glass, a sword or a bat as a weapon. These are the props needed to portray a killer.
Sound - In movies, you can have a score. This is the background music that goes on perhaps while a character is talking or when it's silent. For a horror film, it could be eerie music that gradually gets louder and louder until it comes to a sudden stop. Other sound you can get is the diatonic sounds like a scream, heavy breathing or the sounds of someone's footsteps.
Lighting - In the dark, everything becomes more scary and we feel anxious. In a horror film, the main action is most likely to happen in the dark because it makes it more mysterious and we have more fear. If it was light, it may not have the same affect.
Camera angles - for horror movies, the camera angles are just as important in any other film. If the camera is set so it's looking up at a character. This can be quite intimidating and makes them look more powerful. If the camera is looking down on a character, they can be seen as weak.
Over the past week or two, we have been working on our preliminary tasks. we had to make a very short video and it is all about cutting scenes together. The video must consist of the following: someone walking through a door, going to stand/sit in front of another person, the characters must exchange at least 4 lines of dialogue and we have to use a range of different angles.
The storyline our short video, was that we would have a couple walking down a street coming back from a date. Isaac, the main character enjoyed the date. However, Tia (Isaac's date) didn't really enjoy it very much. She shows she didn't enjoy it by using facial expressions. She doesn't seem too pleased. We filmed different angles of Isaac and Tia walking down the street because we wanted to play around with different angles so that we could possibly use some when it comes to filming our opening sequence. When Isaac and Tia reach Tia's house, Isaac starts the conversation with "we should do this again sometime." He seems like he's had a great time out. Tia on the other hand seems a little less enthusiastic and comments "yeah, about that." Isaac then asks "but why?" Tia's response is the typical "It's not you, it's me". After this, Tia goes into her house as Isaac starts to walk away. As he does this, Tia coldly says, "but Isaac, it's actually you, not me". Overall this story is about a couple who's date didn't go too well.
For this task, I worked with Chloe. For the first time we were going to shoot, I couldn't attend so we made an agreement that she would film and I would edit. We later found that wasn't such a good idea because we both need to be present for the filming of the short video. We decided that because the first time didn't work out so well, we wanted to change the story line too. When we were both worked together on the filming, it was so much easier and we both had ideas that we put together. For the filming, I was the main director and Chloe was on camera. This worked for us and was got the job done much easier. Our actor and actress co-operated very well too.
Our planning was to a certain extent successful but. We were successful when we filmed the second time and when we were both present on the day. The first time we filmed we had everything up to date but because we had to re-film, it caused us to be a little bit behind but we have managed to get everything done. We made a storyboard and an animatic to show what will happen in our prelim task, however, that was for our previous shoot, before we decided to change the story line.
When we were filming, it was raining. It was quite hard to film in the rain. What I've taken away from this is that we should check the whether conditions if we want to film outside beforehand so it's easier for us and the filming can go smoothly. In the end we put up with the rain because we really wanted to get the filming done so we wouldn't have to be more behind then we already were. Also, if we left it for another day, it would be harder because we all don't live in the same town and we couldn't get to the same place on the same day.
The editing process was quite successful because we were happy with the end result of our video. We used some fade in's and fade out's so that the scenes flowed nicely.
What is suspense? Suspense is where we feel uncertain about something but
we show excitement, fear or nervousness towards it. Sometimes it can be
predictable and cliché. However, it isn't always like this.
In the film 'North by Northwest',
there is a famous scene where the main character, Roger O. Thornhill (played by
Cary Grant) is standing alone on the side of a deserted road. Alfred Hitchcock,
the director of the 1959 film, wanted to think outside the box and use
suspense. He didn't want to use clichés but he wanted to
get audience thinking. In the short clip below, Roger is standing alone waiting
for the bus at a bus stop in a deserted area; the audience’s first instinct is
that he will get shot. Hitchcock also states this. He also states that he’s
chosen an unusual setting because again he doesn’t want to go for something cliché
like a town or city.
At 0:24 Roger sees a plane in the distance dusting crops
At 1:55, a mysterious car turns up. The audience expected reactions is “Something bad is going to happen.” A man then gets out the car. Maybe he’s a murderer? Suspense is built because we think something bad is going to happen. In the end, we are put at ease. The guy is just a genuine guy that’s catching the bus. He has a little conversation before the bus comes and picks him up.
At 0:25 in
the second video, the plane can be seen again. Roger looks into the distance,
oblivious to what’s about to happen next.
At 0:30,
the plane gets closer and closer, the gets the audience on the edge of their
seats. The plane then swoops down and attempts to wipe out Roger.
This
plane is the supposed “cliché”. It’s different and no one expects it. This is
what makes it unpredictable and makes the audience not only watch but think at
the same time
Media plays an important part in my life. Everyday, I use some type of social media. I can access my social media through my smart phone, it's quick, easy and I can use it wherever I go.
I use a range of social media, this consists of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Vine and Snapchat. By using these, I can get the latest news from all around the world. Social networking sites are mostly used by the younger generations with many of them constantly on their gadgets, spending very little time with their families. Most of them are concerned with what's going in the world rather than what's going on in there own home. For many of them, it's taken over their lives.
Without media, we wouldn't know about anything going on in our everyday life. We can keep up to date with the latest news in our local area, across the country and around the world. I like to find out what's going on other countries because of my personal interests and part of my culture. Also, keeping connected with family and friends through social media like Facebook is something I like to do because if there's family and friends that live quite far away, you don't miss anything.
I am constantly on social media, keeping up to date with what's going on in the world, not wanting to miss any part of vital information about my favourite celebrities world wide. I am always being told of my parents for being too anti-social but to be honest, they're just as bad.
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