Research: Aspects of Teen Horror: Sorority Row

Sorority Row

Institutional Information:
Sorority Row was made in 2009, and directed by Stewart Hendler. It was filmed on a location in Crafton, Pennsylvania, and produced by House Row Productions. It had a budget of around $16,000,000, but only grossed $11,915,856.

The films certification in the UK was originally rated an 18, but was changed due to an appeal to 15. This is due to the level of violence in the film, however it is not as graphic and horrific as in Saw 2. The majority of the characters are teenage, and therefore means that with a teenage target audience, alike The Ring and The Blair Witch Project, the audience can feel represented and closer to the characters. Also, older people who are aware of the other The Sorority Row film from the 80’s, may therefore be interested if they enjoyed the film.

In Sorority Row, the most stereotypical convention is the that we do not see the killer in a lot of the film. We are left guessing as to who the killer is, and therefore the director is able to use the element of surprise on the audience, who try to guess. This is effective, because the audience remain on the edge of their seats because they do not know where the murder is coming from, or therefore, when he could strike. When the murderer is revealed, he wears a similar costume to that of Scream. A big black cloak which covers his whole body. This is mainly effective because the audience therefore do not know who is beneath it, and therefore is more shocking.

This technique will be useful in my work on horror film clips, as we want the demonic child to remain unknown to begin with. This will leave the audience wondering, and therefore shock them more, as they are facing the unknown.

However, for our villain, it is a little child, so the costume would look unusual on them. It would work well with a killing spree film, where everyone begins to die.

Research: Aspects of Teen Horror: Saw 2

Saw 2

Institutional Information:
The film was made in 2005, and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. It was filmed in Toronto, Canada, with a budget of $4,000,000; it was produced by Twisted Pictures, and on it’s opening weekend in the United Kingdom on 303 screens, made £2,189,212, then went on to gross $147,739,965 worldwide.

The film was rated an 18, which automatically means that the target audience differs from that of Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project and The Ring. The film contains extended amounts of violence and gore, which is therefore not appropriate for anyone younger than adult, because the scenes can be very disturbing. The fact that it is a sequel to the first Saw also means that any fans of the first film will be a good target audience, and again, like with the others, horror film lovers would also enjoy it. I think that age wise, it would appeal to a group of between 18 and 45, as gore was the main type of horror film in the past, so older people may want to see how it has changed.

Typically, as with gore horror films, there is a lot of blood involved in Saw 2. Instead of the unknown like in The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, the horror is instantly represented to the audience, however, the gorey incidents aim to scare/frighten the audience.

One of the main conventions we see used in Saw 2 is the lighting. It differs from that of The Ring (the green sickness),as it is a yellow and green sort of colour, which stands as a metaphor for the staleness of the building and the air, which is toxic. This is a good technique, as the audience can begin to understand the air and conditions of the people trapped within Jigsaw’s house.

I don’t think this would be a good effect to use in our horror film clip, as it quite a constricting air effect, and in our film, it is set outdoors, with plenty of air. However, this would be good to use if we had a hostage, or a dead person in a locked room, to indicate the poor air conditions.

Research: Aspects of Teen Horror: Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity

Institutional Information:
Paranormal Activity was made in 2007, with Oren Peli as the director. It was filmed on Bavarian Drive, in San Diego, California, and produced by Blumhouse Productions. The film had a budget of $15,000, yet grossed around $193,355,800!

In the United Kingdom, Paranormal Activity was rated as an age 15 movie, which is the same as with The Ring, and The Blair Witch Project, again appealing to an older teenage audience. With Paranormal Activity, this is mainly to do with the marketing strategy of the film, which was an internet based campaign. I think that the film appeals to either sex, as it is not gender specific. It appeals most to those who are interested in the paranormal, and to horror movie goers. This is due to the theme, being a demonic type of film. When watching this film, I found that it wasn’t too frightening, as although it contained an idea of the unknown, there were only a few jumpy bits, including the endings.

One of the stereotypical conventions which are used in Paranormal Activity is the lighting in order to create a frightening effect. The scariest scenes within the film are held during the dark hours, and so, the director has chosen to use a night vision. This creates effect as you cannot see well, due to the lack of light, which adds to the element of suspense from the unknown.

The camera usage in this film differs from The Ring as it is a hand held camera, which, in my opinion makes the scenes more intense. This is because you only can see what where the camera is pointing, and this makes the audience closer, and more connected to the feelings of the characters. I think this is effective mainly for the sections of the film where something is about to happen, and the action is becoming fast paced, instead of the general everyday things. This may work well in our horror film clip, when our character begins to sense something around him in the woods, and when he starts to run away from our demonic character.

I think, if we were to use this in our clip, it would be effective to the audience, because the jolty unsteady camera footage would give a sense of moving and the unknown. A lot of the footage in Paranormal Activity is shot from a close angle, which again gives the audience a fear of the unknown, as it blocks the view of everything around, and therefore they feel less secure and as if something is surrounding the camera.

Research: Aspects of Teen Horror: The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project



Institutional Information:
The Blair Witch Project was made in 1999 and directed by both Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. The film was produced by Haxan Films, and filmed in Adamstown, Maryland. At the box office, it was initially budgeted at $60,000, and on its opening weekend, received $1,512,054 on 27 screens.

Again, similarly to The Ring, the target audience is also late teens, due to firstly, the 15 age certificate, but also again, the leading characters in the film are student film makers, and therefore it appeals more to that age group.

In this film, one of the stereotypical horror conventions in The Blair Witch Project is the use of diagetic sound, which is applied to the film in order to create effect. Alike in the Ring, the use of diagetic sound allows the audience to hear directly the same as the characters. The directors may have chosen to include a lot of diagetic sound within the film in order to make the audience connect with the characters greater, and include them within the story further, in order to try and make an impact on them. By feeling as though you are in a horror film, you are likely to be more scared when something happens, and this meets the target of horror films.

If we choose to focus on mainly diagetic sound, we will make sure it is lots of common noises, such as trees rustling, snapping twigs, and footsteps in order to build up the tension within the opening scene. This is likely, as with the Blair Witch Project, to entice the viewers into the opening scene, which is vital to guarantee they are interested and continue to watch the film.

The opening sequence in the Blair Witch Project is very effective therefore because it immediately draws you in, and therefore we most definitely need to consider the use of diagetic sound in our opening, to hook our audience.

Research: Aspects of Teen Horror: The Ring

The Ring



Institutional Information:
The Ring was made in 2002, and directed Gore Verbinkski. It was produced by DreamWorks SKG, and filmed at various locations such as 5TH Avenue & Stewart Street, Seattle, Washington.
At the box office, it was first budgeted $48,000,000 and on the opening weekend, on 1981 screens, the film made $15,015,393.

The target audience for the Ring is generally a teenage age. Firstly, the age limitation for the film is 15, and therefore, this means that the producers are aiming at a late teens, early twenties age. This is also evident through the films plot, as some of the characters are student aged people, which means the audience can therefore reference the characters better. A key part of the story is also the television, and this indicates that it is for people more likely to be television literatre, usually the younger generation. There is quite a bit of violence in the film which suggests the target audience’s age is older, but above all the whole plot and story is very dark which suggests viewers of a young age group would not find viewing it appropriate.

As the psychological style of the Ring is similar to our initial ideas for our own production, the target audience may be similar, as the content may be quite alike that of the Ring.

By analysing the Ring, I aim to get more ideas for the planning of my own productions, for instance, I will have greater knowledge of the used mise en scene elements in horror films, in order to create equally scary effects on my production. For instance, the green tinted lighting effect, during the Ring, is used as a metaphor for the video tape spreading like a disease, and killing off people one by one.

I chose mainly to focus on these lighting effects, as I think it would be a useful effect to use in our own production, mainly because alike in the Ring, our thing is a bit of a disease. I found this really effective whilst watching the Ring, because not only does it give everything an ill look, very derelict and sickly, but also it makes you notice the other colours in the film a lot more.

http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_extrait.php?IDfilm=911

The setting also contributes to the lighting effects. By filming lots of the action in Seattle, the weather is almost guaranteed to be dull and rainy, which is conventional for a horror film. Due to this weather, the natural lighting is often poor, and therefore contributes to the mise en scene.



As we are going to be concentrating on the opening of a horror film for our own production, I thought looking at the opening scene for the Ring would be a clever idea. In the opening, the audience is introduced to two teenage girls, home alone, the typical victims. They then start to talk about a horror film rumour, and then one begins to get haunted/psychologically attacked, and ends up a victim of Samara (the demon child in the Ring). In this opening sequence, the film uses everyday things to scare the victim and the audience, such as the fridge door and television.

The film overall uses many different typical conventions in order to keep to the genre of horror. There is a scene where one of the female victims is in the shower, and apart from that there isn’t much sex and nudity.
There is a lot of violence and gore involved in the ring, there is a suicide scene and a lot of disturbing clips.
The victims also go in the direction of the killer, and do things like answering the phone, whilst the audience know it’s a bad idea. Many of the scenes are very dark, and when the characters first talk about the myth about the video tape, the killer comes. There is also a lot of diagetic sound used which adds to the eeriness. The poor weather conditions also exist as a stereotypical horror convention.
However, in this the typical hero happens to be a female, a strong woman who tries everything to uncover the truth and save herself and her son. The location also makes the audience realise that horror can defy traditional things, as it is set in a bustling city, yet it is still scary.

Overall, the Ring is effective because it uses a mixture of the expected and the unexpected in order to scare the audience. Therefore, when it comes to filming and editing the opening of our horror film, I think it is important to add things which the audience do not suspect.

Initial Horror Film Ideas

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Case Study: Scream

Case Study: Scream (1996)

A year after the death of Sidney Prescott’s mother, two students are also killed. When a serial killer then appears, Sidney begins to wonder whether the two deaths are linked. No one is safe in the film, and the death count steadily rises. The film adds suspense because everyone is framed as a suspect.

It was rated an 18 due to the strong graphic horror violence, and for the language used during the film.

It was a US film by Dimension films and Woods Entertainment; it was budgeted at $15,000,000 and made $6,354,586 on it’s opening weekend. The film took from the 15th April 1996 to 14 June 1996 to be filmed.

It features actors like Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox, and Neve Campbell.

Reviews about the film say that it is an effective horror film due to the plot, and that it is a well made movie, and whilst the slasher movie conventions are very original, the new directors manage to make the scenes unpredictable to the audience. Many reviews also comment on how Scream has revived the horror slasher genre.