Horror Movie Directors

George A. Romero is one of the most well known horror directors. His most famous film was Dawn of the Dead, which is arguably the most popular zombie film ever created.  Romero made many zombie films, including Night of the Living Dead and Day of the Dead. Romero is most famous for these zombie films. Many ideas that we have of a zombie come from Romero's thoughts. Because of this, Romero recieved the nickname of "Godfather of all Zombies".

Another successful horror movie director is Wes Craven. He is famous for movies like Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes, amongst many others. Craven is responsible for the likes of Freddy Krueger and Ghostface, the infamous masked killer in Scream.

Age Ratings

The majority of all horror movies created are age rated either a '18' or a '15'. This is because of themes and images that may be unsuitable for a younger audience. We gave our own horror movie an age certificate of '15', meaning that nobody under the age of 15 should view or buy the film. We chose '15' as it fitted the guidlines set.

• Theme - No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is suitable to 15 year olds.
• Language - The may be frequent us of strong language, but the strongest terms will be acceptable onlywhere justified by the context.
• Nudity - Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail.
• Sex - Sexual activity may be poprtrayed but without strong detail.
• Violence - Violence may be strong but may not dwell on infliction of pain or injury.
• Horror - Strong threat and menace are permitted, but the strongest gore images are unlikely to be acceptable.
• Drugs - Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

Storyboard

    This is our storyboard. The first three are for the opening title sequence. The title sequence starts with the producion company, Big Scream Productions', logo. The logo is of a person lighting a candle in a dark room, so that the only light is a flickering candle. Darkness is often seen in the horror genre as in connotes fear and danger. Candle light is to seen often in the horror genre. Candle light only lights a small area leaving much darkness, creating a sense of danger and fear of what could be lurking in the shadows.

The title sequence continues with the names of the people who created the film and who starred in it. It also contains images of an old, shabby looking book. This is an important clue into the film as the book plays a major role, and the audience will realise that from the recurring images of it.


      

Further into the title sequence we see images of a person writing in this mysterious book. In the actual film the audience will be able to tell that this book is foreboding due to the darkness of the opening sequence being set, and also by chilling music that can be heard.

The opening sequence carries on with names of actors and such, with one final image of a girl, sitting in candle light, writing, in what we assume is the book. The candle light links in with the production company logo.

 

Finally, at the end of the opening sequence the title appears. 'Chapter 4'. Many movie titles appear at the end of the opening sequence of a film, just before the actual film is about to start.













The film starts with two news reporters on tele. The camera then zooms out from focusing on the t.v and shows us a room full of boxes and then of a man sitting in a chair with a remote. This is obviously a home which has just been moved into.

 

Storyboarding is useful as it shows you what the film would look like, so gives you a chance to experiment a bit and see what works and what does not. If you were to film without storyboarding first then you may end up with something that doesn't work as well as you had imagined in your head, and then it is not as easy to correct as on a piece of paper.

 

We then see a woman in a kitchen. Next she has walked into the the same room  as the t.v, where she exchanges dialogue with the male character.

The male character has now had to go outside and finish carrying boxes into the house. This is when the book is first discovered, and the male takes it into the home. Thinking it is only something that has fallen out of a box, the book is placed in a box.

Our film does not follow the storyboard exactly, but it does quite closely. The storyboard gave us good guide lines to film on and was very helpful.

Horror movie props

In the horror genre many props are used, commonly weapons. One of the most infamous props ever seen in a horror movie is the chainsaw from 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. The chainsaw is truely frightening, with its loud, harsh sound, and the ferocity of the saw. 

 In the film, whenever we hear the saw start we expect something bad to happen, usually a gruesome death of an innocent victim who has no chance of survival. This expectation  even happens when we just see the chainsaw sitting alone in a barn. It is an extremely foreboding image, making it a very effective prop. The image of the blood splattered chainsaw to the left looks very scary and foreboding and creates the perfect atmosphere for a horror movie.

The mask and knife used in the horror Halloween are just as infamous as the killer. Like the chainsaw above, they are used to create fear and foreboding, and have became a horror icon. The knife is very large and sharp and looks as if it could slice through almost anything, especially a person. The mask is very pale and looks almost like the face of a corpse, with dark, evil eyes. Together, they are amazingly effective at creating fear.

The finger blades found in A Nightmare on Elm Street look scary just as they are in this picture, even when they are not viciously killing someone. The long, sharp blades and the rough leather all make for a chilling weapon. They, like the chainsaw from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the mask and knife fro Halloween are some of the most iconic horror movie props ever. This is because of their threatening image.





In our own horror movie we did use any major props. While props, such as weapons similar to these, can be very effective in creating a scary film, but we felt that they did not fit in with the idea of our film.

Horror Genre Target Audience

The target audience of modern day horror movies are older teens and young adults, and both male and female. A typical viewer of horror movies is usually middle class. 

Males who enjoy horror usually also enjoy listening to music. They like rock, and any other music that is popular. They also enjoy watching tele, doing sport and playing video games. Other film genres they like are comedy and action.They usually dislike reading. They usually wear clothes that fit the current fashion as they like to look nice.

Typical female viewers of the horror genre may also enjoy  pop music, but will listen to other popular music. They like fashion and most like animals and pretty colours. They like watching romcoms aswell as horror. Typical female horror fans dislike sport and videogames. Like males, they too wear the latest clothes and care about their appearance.

These examples are not the same as the stereotypical horror fan. A stereotypical horror fan is seen as having dyed balck hair and wearing black clothes. They also enjoy heavy rock music and hate other popular music. Stereotypically, they are seen as being a dark character, who enjoys watching people who are scared and in pain. They are seen as having a dark outlook on life. Not many horror fans fit this stereotype. Most people watch horror because they enjoy a scare, and not because they are dark inside.

Preliminary Task

This is my preliminary task. From doing this I learnt very much, such as different types of shots that can be used to make an effective and realistic film and the importance of using a tripod to keep the camera steady. By doing the preliminary task I not only got a chance to learn about filming but had a chance to actually film, so I found doing it helpful.

Horror movie planning

Plot:

• A cursed book is delivered through the letter box of a house.
• Every new occupant of the house recieves the book.
• Once the book has been delivered, the people who live in the house start to see strange things.
• The cursed book brings along a ghost that haunts the house.
• The ghost that haunts the house is the author of the book.

Production company:

• We thought that 'Big Scream Productions' would be good because it relates to the 'big screen'. THe 'big screen' connotes cinemas, Hollywood, and, most importantly, movies. We changed 'screen' to 'Scream' because it would specialise in the horror genre.

Title:

• We think that the title of the book should also be the title of the film. A few ideas were Removal, Squatters Rights, Revenge by the Book, Household Vengeance, Provoked Removal and Chapter 4.
• We have now decided on Chapter 4.

Characters

• Author of cursed book/ Ghost - Elizabeth Jones - Amber Kibble
• Man - Ryan Jakobson - Oliver Roberts
• Woman - Emily White - Laura Browning
• Newsreporters - Male - Adam Thompson, Female - Shara Hobbs

    Settings

• The main setting in our movie will be a house. A house or home is usually seen as a safe environment, so by filming our horror movie in a family home destroys the comfort people may feel about being at home. Paranormal Activity also used a home as a setting and it was very effective.

Filming style

• We will film our movie using a steady camera. This is standard really, a filming style that most movies use.