Final Decisions

Soundtrack.
We were thinking of having a mix of both fast-paced music and standard atmospheric music. For instance, fast-paced Drum and Bass would make a chase scene seem faster, and it would make the scene seem tense and it get your heart beating fast.

Sound effects.
For sound effects we would need things like , blood splatters, screams, sliceing sounds, footsteps and heavey footsteps. As we are doing a horror, this would seem rather appropriate. these are all sound you expect from a horror film.

Costumes.
For costumes, the character being chased would need normal clothing, as he is just a normal person. The killer would possibly need a mask and a hood. This makes the killer seem like he is isolated, like you know nothing about him, and not seeing his face makes it more of a mystery. You feel like you don't know the killer, so you can't feel sorry for him because of his background. This forces you to empathis with the victim.

Props.
We would need a mask and an object to be used as a weapon. This is fairly simple as we only need two minutes of footage, so props aren't a major issue. But we were looking at using a weapon that hasn't been seem in a horror movie. This could give a feeling of authenticity.

Lighting.
For lighting, we will proably use night vision and spotlights, this is because we are going to be filming in the dark.

Narrative Theories Research

 Narrative is a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program - Found on http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=active&q=define%3ANarrative+&meta


Without narrative, the story cannot progress.

Narrative drives the story forward, forward into something worth paying attention to.

If a story's narrative is slow, or just badly made, it's not going to drive the story forwards.

You'll probably turn it off... Or walk out.

Vladimir Propp

Propp was essential interested in the narrative of folk tales. He identified a theory

about folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the same basic

struggles and they appeared to have ‘Stock Characters’. He identified a theory

about characters and actions as narrative functions; they provide a structure for the text

• The hero – a character that seeks something
• The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest
• The Donor - Who provides an object of worth
• The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
• The False hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims
• The helper - who aids the hero
• The princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots
• Her father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort

Christopher Vogler

Chris Volger is a story analyst for Disney, Warner Brothers 20^th Century Fox, and many more Hollywood production companies. He explored the construction of narrative from a character driven perspective. His theory is called The Hero’s Journey.

• Ordinary world
• Call to Adventure
• Refusal of Class
• Mentor
• First Threshold
• Test, Allies, enemies
• Approach to the inmost cave
• Ordeal
• Rewards (seizing the sword)
• The road back
• Resurrection
• Return with the Elixir

Vogler also claimed that there were eight Archetypes within Hollywood narratives

• Hero
• Mentor
• Heraid
• Shape Shifter
• Allies
• Shadow
• Trickster
• Threshold Guardians

Levi Strauss

Meanings, including narrative, depend on binary oppositions – he explores these in terms of underlying typical themes, rather than events. Conflict helps to drive the narrative.

• Man Vs Woman
• White Vs Black
• Young Vs Old
• Hero Vs Villain
• West Vs East
• Good Vs Bad

The theories above are from http://www.scribd.com/doc/13999009/Narrative-Theories.

For our film opening, I think Vladimir Propp's theory is the most suitable.

It will work because it has many of the key ingredients for a Horror movie.

You have the Hero, The Villain, The donor, The Dispatcher, and The Helper.

This suits our opening, becuase we will have limited actors.

It will create an effective narrative because it's what you're going to expect from a horror film.
The Hero is always the guy who makes the end of the film.
The Villain is often tough and has to be killed in an elaborate manner.
The Donor, when I think of a donor, is usually an old inventor with lots of weapons and gadgets.
The Dispatcher is usually also an old person or authoritive figure.
The Helper is usually stupid and dies around the end of the film.
These aspects are going to make our opening worthwile.
But, bearing in mind it's only an opening just 10 minutes in length, we won't get to see much.

Horror Mood-Board

This is a mood board, made by Curtis Meredith.
It shows what we imagine when we think of horror.

:)

Film Opening Analysis - 28 Weeks Later.

This is the opening scene from the survival horror movie '28 Weeks Later'. The film is a sequel to '28 Days Later'

The film is set 28 weeks after the rage virus has hit London in '28 Days Later'. In '28 Days Later', many people died, and there was gallons of bloodshed, so in this film, providing you've seen the films forerunner, you're going to expect twice as much.

The very obvious part about this opening, is the low-key lighting. This could symbolize many things. One being isolation, the characters in the scene could be feeling alone, it also gives people the feeling of vulnerability. There are a lot of candles in the scene, this could symbolise hope. The key aspect of the film itself is relying on hope, hope that the rage infection is dying out.

The people seem very scared, apprehensive, yet very alert. This shows that they are going through something really traumatic, but are ready for anything worse to happen. When The male character 'Don' opens the door to see the little boy, it shows a glimpse of the female character blocking out the sun from her eyes. This shows that they have been in the dark for a long time, maybe suggesting they are in hiding.

When Don opens the door to the little boy, he has a crowbar, poised to attack any unwanted visitors, namely, the people infected with the dreaded rage virus.

The films target audience is more than likely people aged 16+. Survival Horror films have become really popular in the past 10 or so years, and after seeing clone after clone, '28 weeks Later' is really something different. It's scenes are gruesome and tense. You find yourself screaming 'RUN!', or 'GET OUT!' at the screen. And that's really what you want from a Survival Horror. I can't say I got that same feeling from films such as 'Dawn of the Dead' and 'I am Legend'.

This opening says a great deal about what is to come, as the chase scene that follows it is tense and fast-paced, just like the rest of the film. It really is one of those 'RUN!' moments that get you clenching your butt-cheeks and sitting on the edge of your seat.

The movie is a classic.

Genre Analysis - Horror

Recently, I recorded a video of Joe and Curtis discussing the Horror genre.
The video isn't great, but it's a start.
I haven't uploaded the video's because at the moment Joe and Curtis did, A lesson was about to start, the links are here anyway.

What we expect from a horror...
http://joegormanmedia.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-we-expect-from-horror.html

Why we chose horror...
http://joegormanmedia.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-we-chose-horror.html

:)