Colours play a big part in making horror movies as they connote specific things. There are suitable colours for every situation and it is very important that we get it right in our horror movie to make it look professional and realistic.
The antagonists in most horror films are usually wearing black no matter what genre of horror this is. The colour of black gives connotations of death, danger and gives an eerie atmosphere as it's a dull colour. Villains usually wear black to portray themselves as someone dark and un trusting. It is usually easy to spot the antagonists in movies just by the colours they wear and their actions. For this reason, our antagonist will be wearing black just so we can stick to typical conventions of antagonist.
Protagonists in films are usually wearing light colours to connote their innocents in the situation. The colour white is used connote purity and the colour blue connotes new life or something fresh. Red is sometimes also used to connote blood or danger which is used to foreshadow the unfortunate dilemma to come. In our film, the protagonist will use light colours to achieve the portrayal of innocence and cause the audience to feel sympathy for them.
Ropes are used for hanging in horror movies. They are effective as it can make characters look as if they hanged themselves when that might not be the case. The cyclical structure portrays to the audience that the event occurring is ongoing and can't be stopped.
Knives are one of the most common objects used in horror movies. Household items are effective as they're easy to get hold of in emergency situations. Using knives in horror films even just for cooking can foreshadow bad things to come where the knife has to be used again. The sharp edge on them connote something painful and sudden.
As we are creating a horror sequence we have to pick the correct non diegetic and diegetic sounds to help build a typical horror atmosphere and add to the mise en scene. As a lot of the best horror music is already used on movies we may have to ask for copyright or compose our own music for our sequence. To ensure we have the ability to make the right choice I have done a little research into horror music sound designs.
these are a few ingredients
very high pitched strings
there is often no repeating melody
if there is a melody there are a lot of tension keys/notes in them
often very slow moving in pace (not exactly slow tempo)
the begin of the composition is often very low pitched.
The tutorials are not exactly what we are looking to use, but the idea behind many sound designs employed can be used for what we want to do. Technological horror is fairly new genre of horror making more room experiment with various conventions of sound.
Diegetic sounds such as doors closing, glitches etc may have to be recorded post production, this may be a hard task to do as majority of the diegetic sounds are parallel and synchronous.
The main character of our opening sequence is not the final girl, the music she is listening to may have to portray her in a way that the audience are able to identify her as that. Also as there will be glitches added post production during editing the non diegetic music will have to accompany that with drum rolls and melodic white noise.
Our final decision was too find a non copyright music and sound effects. We needed relaxing music to create contrast between the high tension of the soundtrack used when the killer enters the scene.
Initial ideas: camera angles and shots following the plot.
The first shot of the sequence would be a point of view shot of the laptop. In technology horror films I've researched, the first shot is always off the faulty technology.
High angle shot of protagonist leaving the room to answer the door after the bell rings, gives illusion of someone watching, audience are in a higher position as they can see what the protagonist can't. You can see laptop in background while it will be glitching.
POV shot of protagonists partner neck down. Makes audience wonder who it is.
Close up of the couple holding hands. Has connotations of unity. Close up of feet going up the stairs.
The couple will rush off into a room, We could possibly use a panning shot to follow the action and the thrill of them running in.
Low angle shot of protagonists partner running down the stairs. Making him seem superior after what might have just happened in the room. He then leaves the house.
Medium shot of protagonist back on his laptop so we can see them and what is happening on the laptop. The anonymous email will appear on the screen at this time
Close up of computer screen when dead boyfriend shows up on the screen. The camera will then start to zoom out as the pictures starts to fade and change to the antagonist
Close up of the protagonist to emphasise the feelings felt at this time in order for the audience to connect.
Costume
There are three main characters in our horror film opening. These are a villain, a young teenage girl and finally a young teenage boy who plays the teenage girl's boyfriend.
The villain- the main costume feature for the villain will be his mask. When researching we came across these masks which we will purchase off of amazon and decorate ourselves. We also researched videos such as the below one, to see how we could possibly create our own paper Mache mask.
Characters for film opening
Stereotypical characters in a horror movie:
The typical character is the female victim who is typically vulnerable and in need of some form of protection. They are usually blonde, dumb and sexually appealing. They are also normally portrayed as annoying and dumb.
There is normally a non-believer who often is cocky and over the top and informs all the other characters that everything is going to be okay. They may seem to be the voice of reason but when they are eventually killed all the characters panic.
Next, there's always a hero who is normally a strong, built guy who can overpower the evil. They tend to stay strong throughout the film and remain loyal to the other characters.
The evil character/ villain is the most important character throughout the film as he stays constant. The killer is normally wearing a mask or is disfigured. This character also inflicts fear upon an audience and also creates suspense.
in some cases there is a loved up couple who tend to both be killed either together or separately. Their love is the result of their downfall.
The characters in our horror film introduction are going to be:
A young, teenage girl
A young, teenage boy who plays the boyfriend
A villain who will be masked throughout the whole opening scene
The lack of characters will make this opening scene much more intimate and therefore the effect on the audience will be much more bigger as we are turning a normal week day routine into something sinister and evil.
For our story line we decided to use a house rather than hotel rooms, this is because houses are much more practical and easier to obtain rather than book out rooms. Additionally, as we are filming our opening in a house we will especially focus on the aspect of mise en scene which includes props, lighting, camera angles/movement, locations, makeup and costumes. Camera angles and movement
For the camera angles we have discussed using a variety of shots that are typically used in the horror genre. Moreover, the fact that our genre is technology horror, the camera angles may come from the computer or laptop point of view too.
Close up shots
Oblique/canted angle
Point of view shot
Eye level
Medium shot (2/3 people)
Props
Props are used in order to create a realistic and true portrayal of the narrative/plot line. Typically in the horror genre, the use of props is extremely important. For instance, due to the technology side of the opening we must include some sort of electronic device such as laptop or phone.
Since we will be filming the main parts in a bedroom, it is clear that background detail is vital. Shelves, books, magazines, make up and lamps may be used to demonstrate the personality and character of the girl/boy
Typical young teenager items, messy bedroom, studying items, phone, tablets, TV
For the killer, we may choose to use weapons such as knives/guns as these follow the typical code and conventions of a horror film
We can also take into account the use of ropes, chains, tape and blindfolds which are used to scare, kill or kidnap the protagonist
We will be using a mask for the killer - the 'unknown'
Some technological horror movies do not use props but instead kill the characters over the use of technology itself. This is presented well in the movie 'Unfriended' where the characters die one by one, without the appearance of an actual killer.
Costumes/make up
As our main protagonist will be young and in their teenage years, the types of clothing will be modern showing no signs of horror compared to the killer
Jeans, t-shirts - as the setting is at home, the clothing should be casual in order to make the opening realistic
Killer - dark clothing, red/black again to link in with the conventions of a horror
The use of black clothing has connotations of something sinister, almost a dark figure lurking around
Minimal make up, - nothing too noticeable
Jewelry - preferably a small watch and necklace
Hair - a fringe, that could cover the character, or hair in a pony tail - something simple and casual due to the location of the opening.
Lighting
We have discussed the different types of lighting which can be incorporated into our opening, this includes low key lighting which is popular in horror movies.
The use of low key lighting creates a creepy and mysterious atmosphere as darkness is normally associated with evilness. The darkness is used to make our character feel scared and vulnerable, especially being home alone.
Makes the scene dramatic and there is a constant fear of the unknown due to the darkness
Creates shadow and contrast
Sounds
Use of the 'static' noise sound, when the screen flashes black/goes to static image (Non-diegetic) - we will use this to create tension and suspense in order to 'scare' our audience
Digetic sounds such as the ringing of the door bell, slamming the door, footsteps
Typography
Common titles used in the opening scene include the colours red and black. - red demonstrates the blood
The most popular fonts have blood dripping down the text
From the pie chart, you can see we conducted a questionnaire for choosing the best location for put horror film. For our audience we focused on young people aged 15+ that are interested in horror movies.
We decided to conduct a survey asking the audience as they will know what they are used to seeing in horror films. We decided to choose location 1 as that was the most popular choice. We are happy with this decision as the white connotes purity and innocence which will signify the teenager and then the slight red will foreshadow the danger to come ...
