Bussing Sequence Analysis.

Our preliminary task was to create a bussing sequence consisting of a range of shots, editing and sound so to create meaning that was apparent to the viewer. As a group we decided to make a bussing sequence about the victim, a teenage girl being stalked by a murderous teenage boy, which is shown by tracking shots and diegetic sound. The diegetic sound of slamming doors creates the sense that someone is following her into the toilets, while the non diegetic sound of low rumbling builds up tension with which the scream at the end creates the feel that the killer is going to be revealed or something terrible is going to happen to the girl.

There were many problems we encountered during filming such as the time of day, diegetic sound and the location. Horror films are normally set during night time as the characters are unable to see clearly what is surrounding them, creating a sense of mystery and fear, as well as for the audience. However, as we only had the day to film it we were unable to control what time of day to film as well as the location of the school toilets. This caused the sequence to look very bright and not very horror like because the audience are able to see what is occurring clearly. Other problems we encountered with the location was that it was a busy place to be and so people were coming in and out of the toilets which meant we had to halt the filming every now and then, making it to be a much longer process than needed. This could be improved by doing this after school hours so it is not as busy and we can do it at a much quicker pace.

Whilst filming we found that there were a lot of successful diegetic sounds that could be used within the sequence such as squeaky doors to build a tension and using the doors to create loud bangs so to make the audience jump and to build a frightening atmosphere. We added non diegetic sound to again build tension, with low rumbles, screams and laughter when using a pan shot to capture the stalker in the mirror. The fading out at the end is also successful as it suggests that it will all end in disaster as the audience are shown a black space, which is unclear for the viewers to know what is happening. Continuity shots are very important as it shows a clear order of the sequence so the audience are able to know exactly what is happening. We done this well at the beginning when the victim is shown in a tracking shot opening a door and then shown in a medium shot from inside the bathroom walking through the door. This would be even better if filming outside of college as we are able to control what time of day we could film in (night), the location, for example a house, as we could control the amount of people there as well as the lighting and mise-en-scene to create a more horror like scene.

When playing the bussing sequence to the other group they thought it was very well thought out and that it was around the middle of a band three. This was because we showed controlled use of the camera and editing to show meaning that was apparent to the viewer. However, they did give advice on what we should improve on, for example, they thought we should use more close up shots to show the fear on the victims face and shot-reverse-shots when the victim opens the door one by one to clearly show the audience what she is seeing.

I learnt that we need to show more close up shots so to let the audience know what the victim is feeling, making the audience masochistic viewers because they understand the victim is worried and so wants them to survive. I also learnt that we need to improve on the editing of unwanted diegetic sound. For instance, at the beginning of the bussing sequence during the establishing shot there is industrial noises which don’t match with our particular sequence. The industrial noise would match with a location of a warehouse but not for a school. However, this can easily be edited out on final cut to improve the relation between the establishing shot and the rest of the horror sequence.

Cast List.

First Scene

Cast list – Toni Maybank, Freddie Francis, Melissa East, Martin Johnson.

Location-Isolated lake

Costume-Toni-Tight revealing clothes, Melissa-Casualwear, Freddie-Jeans and a shirt

Second Scene

Cast list – Toni Maybank, Freddie Francis, Melissa East.

Location-Isolated lake

Costume-Toni-Tight revealing clothes, Melissa-Casualwear, Freddie-Jeans and a shirt

Third Scene

Cast list – Melissa East

Location-Isolated lake

Costume-Casualwear

Fourth Scene

Cast list- Toni Maybank

Location- Woods

Costume-Tight revealing clothes

Fifth Scene

Cast list – Melissa East

Location-woods

Costume-Casualwear

Sixth Scene

Cast List- Freddie Francis

Location- Lake

Costume- Jeans and Shirt

Seventh Scene

Cast List- Martin Johnson

Location-Woods

Costume-Hoodie

Eighth Scene

Cast-Toni Maybank, Martin Johnson

Location-Woods

Costume- Toni-Tight revealing clothes, Martin-Hoodie

Ninth Scene

Cast-Toni Maybank

Location- Woods

Costume- Tight revealing clothes

Prop List.

Second Scene

Empty beer bottle

Third Scene

Retractable dagger knife

Fake blood

Fourth Scene

Log

Sixth Scene

Fake Blood

Eighth Scene

Retractable dagger knife

Ninth Scene

Rope

Fake Blood

Scripting and Shot Types.

First scene

Walking to lake:

Group of teens walking to the lake and there is a clear division between the bullied boy (Lewis) and the rest of the group.

Camera Shots:

Establishing shot of the lake

Camera then pans rounds to the teenagers walking to the lake

Close up of Lewis’s face – longer than other close ups

Close up of all characters faces separately 

Job Roles:

Camera – Zoe

Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie (Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)
Director – Ashley                                                                            

Risk Assessment

Make sure no one carelessly falls or drops the camera or anything valuable in the lake.

Second Scene

The game:

At the lake and the entertainment turns to truth or dare between the group and further bullying towards Lewis

Camera Shots:

High angle medium shot of bottle spinning round in the circle

Medium shot of bottle pointing to Lewis

Close up canted angle on Jock nudging/kicking Lewis’ foot

Continuous long shot of Lewis walking into the dark words alone

Medium shot of him walking towards the camera and looking back at his ‘friends’

P.O.V shot from Lewis’ shoulder as he looks back at his ‘friends’

Job roles: 

Camera – Zoe

Stage Directors – Ashley
Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie (Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)

Risk Assessment:

Make sure no member of the public gets in any shots and to ensure that the woods are totally safe.

Third Scene

Confusion:

After inserting a tone card saying ‘Let the games begin…’ the action and cuts will be a lot quicker and will be supported by the increased tempo music.

Camera Shots:

Extreme close up of blood on Lewis’ hand

Canted angle shots of bloody knife on the ground in the woods, with quick jump cuts between shots to disorientate the audience

Over the shoulder shot panning around the final, geek chic girl holding bloody knife and aiming it at an ‘unknown person’

Job roles:

Camera – Zoe

Stage Director – Ashley

Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie(Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)

Risk Assessment:

Be wary when filming in woods, be careful of hidden objects that camera operator could trip over.

Fourth Scene

Chase sequence:

A chase between the killer and a blonde promiscuous girl, when the blonde girl trips over a log

Camera Shots:

P.O.V shot from ‘killer’ walking swiftly towards a running promiscuous victim, before she trips and falls to the floor, as the camera tracks towards her and shows a high angle shot looking over her.

Job Roles:

Camera – Zoe
Stage Director – Ashley
Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie (Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)

Risk Assessment:

Be careful when the actress trips over, that she doesn’t fall too hard and hit her head.

Fifth Scene

Body Scene

Geek Chic girl kneels down in front of a tree looking scared when she discovers her dead friend’s body, and then a hand from behind grabs her by the mouth to silence her screams.

Camera Shots:
Mid shot of the geek girl by the tree.
Close up shot of hand covering her mouth.
 

Job Roles:
Camera – Zoe
Stage directors – Ashley
Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie (Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)

Risk Assessment:
Screaming could cause the public to panic and think somebody is really in danger.


Sixth Scene

Hand Scene:
A quick shot of one of the characters’ bloodstained hand.

Camera Shots:
Close up shot of the hand draping into the lake.

Job Roles:
Camera – Zoe
Stage director – Ashley


Risk Assessment:
Make sure hands are washed after being placed in the lake, as there could be harmful chemicals in the water of the lake.

Seventh Scene


Woods Scene
A quick reveal of a character in the distance, but the hooded clothing keep their identity concealed.

Camera Shots:
Extreme long shot of hooded figure (the killer) in the far distance in the woods.

Job Roles:
Camera – Zoe
Stage director – Ashley
Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie (Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)

Risk Assessment:
Be wary of public in the woods, as they could get in the shots.


Eighth Scene

Stabbing:
One of the characters gets stabbed in the stomach, but the identity of the killer and the victim is not shown.

Camera Shots:
Mid shot of the victims’ stomach being stabbed with a retractable knife.

Job Roles:
Camera – Zoe
Stage director – Ashley
Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie (Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)


Risk Assessment:
The public may think that someone is actually being stabbed. Make sure we tell people we are filming a horror film to counteract this problem.

Ninth Scene

After Tone Card
One last shot comes up of promiscuous girl tied to a tree with rope and blood dripping down her. She is also in an unconscious state.

Camera Shot:
Long shot of the blonde girl tied to a tree.
Jump cut to a close up shot of her hands tied up in the rope wriggling.

Job Roles:
Camera – Zoe
Stage director – Ashley
Lewis (Bullied boy) – Martin

Freddie (Jock), Toni (Promiscuous Blonde), Melissa (Geek Chic girl)

Risk Assessment:
In case of a real emergency make sure the actress is able to get out of the rope quickly and easily.

Treatment and treatment analysis.

After having nothing to do a group of teenage friends decide to take a trip round to a local lake. The group of friends consists of a promiscuous blonde with her jock boyfriend, the funny guy, the geek chic girl and the bullied boy. When walking to the lake we see the constant banter between the group and the bullied boy by tripping him up and making virginal references towards him.

They find a spot facing the lake and decide to play a game of truth or dare. Here we see the bullied boy as an outsider of the group as he is positioned slightly away from the others. As the dares commence the bullied boy gets pressured to spend five minutes in the dark woods alone. However, after the time has passed the rest of the group panic, as he doesn’t come back, leaving the funny guy to go in search of him. Whilst the funny guy is searching for him, the bullied boy grabs him from behind the bush, stabs him and hides the body in the lake, leaving only the remains of the blood. As the rest of the group wait anxiously for their arrival, only the bullied boy comes back alone, acting clueless to the funny guys whereabouts.

As they all settle down, the blonde girl notices something on the boys hand and begins to stare to which the bullied boy looks down to his hands and realises the blood stains, so he slyly pulls his sleeve down. The game continues and this time the truth lands with the jock, the question being, ‘have you had sex?’ to which he replies, ‘yes, unlike ugly boy over there’ pointing at the bullied boy. Slowly, the boy starts to get angrier and claims ‘you’ll be next’, and disappears into the dark. As the rest of the group query what he means the funny guys dead body washes up from the lake.

With only three remaining in the group, the jock and the blonde start to panic and protect each other, whilst the geek chic girl remains silent. The jock and the blonde set out to find the bullied boy, leaving the geek chic girl to wait by her friend’s dead body. As the pretty couple walk nervously through the woods, slight noises worry them making the blonde girl scream without hearing her boyfriend being restrained by the bullied boy and dragged into the bushes. The blonde girl then realises she has been left to fend for herself and decides to just run to find the exit, however tripping on a branch and banging her head on a rock, knocking herself unconscious. As she begins to wake she tries to move her arms but is suddenly shocked that she is unable to, looking up to find her hands tied with rope to a tree. Inspecting her body she has come to the realisation that she has been attacked, covered in bruises and blood head to toe. As she struggles to escape, her screams are heard by the bullied boy drawing his attention to find his victim has awaked.

Rushing to her side, he hears her screaming her boyfriend’s name to which he replies, “He can’t help you now.” She attempts to haul herself up but fails, shouting at him, “what have you done to my boyfriend?!” Smirking to himself, he asks, “would you like to join him?” to which her face lightens slightly as she has false hope that her boyfriend is still alive. Taking this as a sign of approval, he walks slowly towards her still smirking pulling a knife from his back pocket. Before she has time to react he brutally stabs her straight through the heart, killing her instantly.

Unknowingly to the geek chic girl, she is completely alone at the lake with the bullied boy, her secret crush. However, on hearing the screams of the blonde girl she decides to leave her dead friends body to investigate only to find both the jock and the blonde girl tied to the tree, dead. As she quickly runs to escape looking back at her dead friends, she bumps into the bullied boy. Shaking with fear, he brings his hand up to caress her jaw line devoting his undying love for her. Seeing the knife in his back pocket, she realises the best thing to do is go along with it and embraces him tightly. She steadily takes the knife from his back pocket and strokes his hair with her free hand, distracting him from the hand that holds the weapon. Believing all is well and in the moment, she whispers in his ear, “Would you die for me?” he unconsciously replies, “yes.” With this she brings the knife to his jugular vain and quickly slits his throat causing him to fall to the floor gripping his throat.

Knowing that she could be framed for all the murders, she wraps the knife in the bullied boy’s hat and in a state of shock walks to the lake where she disposes of the weapon.


Key:

teenage friends
We chose to use teenagers because they are stereotyped to cause havoc and we would be able to interact easily with them.
lake

We chose a lake as the setting as this is a typical horror paradigm. It can be used as a weapon itself to drown or hide victims/weapons in, as no one can see what lies beneath.

promiscuous blonde, jock boyfriend, funny guy, geek chic girl, bullied boy

Having a promiscuous blonde as a character shows the typical character paradigm. The audience can predict that she will die along with her jock boyfriend and the funny guy who makes fun out of the bullied boy. The bullied boy becoming the killer is typical as it is due to revenge. We chose to have a geek chic girl as the audience will know that she is innocent and that she will be the final girl.

truth or dare

We decided the characters should play a game of truth or dare because the audience will know that a dare will go too far. It also creates a sense of fear because it is about the unknown as no one knows what they are going to be asked to do or answer. It is also a typical teenage game.

spend five minutes in the dark woods alone. However, after the time has passed

We chose another setting to be in the woods as this is a typical horror paradigm because no one can hear or see if anyone is in need of help. It is also a good place for people to hide behind trees.

hides the body in the lake

A lake is a good place to hide a body because no one can see underneath it.

sex

It is typical for teenagers to talk about sex as they are stereotyped to be obsessed with it.

hands tied with rope to a tree

Someone having their hands tied restricts their movements meaning they are unable to fight off any danger. It also makes the victim seem vulnerable because being tied up means anyone can attack her and being low down makes the killer seem much bigger and frightening. It connotes sexual representation and bondage.

knife

A knife is a typical prop paradigm as it is a very personal weapon. It connotes sexual representations due to the penetration of the knife.

caress her jaw line

The caressing of the jaw line is quite a sensitive area and so shows sexual representations. It is also very close to the neck which relates to horror movies about the supernatural such as vampires. The neck is the area a vampire will bite to kill their victim making it a vulnerable area.

slits his throat

This is a very gory and slow death making it a typical dramatic death of a horror film.

lake where she disposes of the weapon.

Disposing a weapon in a lake is a typical place to hide something as no one can see what is hidden underneath; this also allows the killer to remain hidden due to the lack of evidence.

Final Idea.

At first we all agreed that we liked the idea of the babysitter who is intruded on the night of Halloween, however, we thought this idea would be hard to portray well as we would have to incorporate a real child which would cause problems when filming. Due to this complication, we decided it would be best to go with the idea set around the lake, as this involves people of our own age and the setting automatically represents horror.
Once we had chosen the idea, we had to refine it by checking each scene would work and portray meaning within context to our idea. One of the decisions we made was to make the gang a conventional mixed sex group with definable stereotypes within it. For example; a promiscuous blonde and a geek.

Three Horror Film Ideas.

1)     One idea we came up with as a group for a horror trailer is about a group of teenage friends who take a visit to a quiet lake. However, what may seem like a harmless day out soon turns to disaster when one, so called friend takes revenge on the others after having enough of their torments. Slowly, the group decreases in numbers but no one can understand why, and who may be behind it all. The lake is a typical setting for a horror trailer as it can be a weapon in itself by using it to drown victims, and also creates a sense of fear, as no one knows what lies beneath.

2)     Our second idea involves a group of girls who have been left alone in a house for the weekend, who decide to experiment with a ouija board. Everything seems well at first, until the supernatural take over. With the curse unleashed and tormenting the group, they have to figure out how to break the curse. But is it really a ghost creating the torment, or has someone gone a step too far?

3)     Our final idea is based on a girl left alone to baby-sit a toddler on the night of Halloween. All is well when the baby falls asleep until an unexpected knock happens during witching hour. The babysitter opens the door to a mysterious character, but whilst getting the treats, the trick or treater sneaks into the house. When she realises the mysterious character has disappeared, panic strikes. But who is it?

Questionnaire and Questionnaire Analysis.

http://www.slideshare.net/ashleyhart94/questionnaire-anaylsis-11874937

1)     How old are you?

15-17        18-20        20-25        25+

2) What is your gender?

Male          Female

3) What is your occupation?

4) What is your preferred horror genre?

Slasher     Supernatural  Psychological

5) How often do you watch horror films?

Daily         Once a week      Once a month       Other

6) How much would you spend on a horror film per month?

   £0-5      £6-10     £11-15          £16+    

7) How would you prefer to watch a horror film?

Cinema    Online     DVD          TV       Other

8) What is your favourite horror film?

9) What is your favourite horror villain?

10) What is your preferred setting for a horror film?

Cemetery Isolated house               Lake House               Empty warehouse Other

11) Who would you prefer to survive?

Male          Female

12) What is the most important factor in a horror film?

Setting      Sound     Lighting      Characters     Other

13) Should the villain be seen or remain anonymous?

14) What gender should the villain be?

15) What is the most effective weapon in a horror film?

Knife    Chainsaw               Axe      Baseball Bat       Hammer        Other

The Hills Have Eyes - Horror trailer analysis.

I will be analysing the horror trailer for ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ to discuss typical paradigms that are used so to create meaning within the film that is apparent to the viewers. Typical paradigms that are used within a horror film would be weapons such as knives or bats because these are very personal weapons as the killer has to get close to the victim in order to kill or inflict pain. This creates a sexual nature to the film as the killer is inserting the weapon they are holding into the victim. An isolated location such as a house in the woods is also a typical paradigm in horror films because the victim will not be heard or seen by anyone to save them.

Prop paradigms:

An axe is a conventionally generic prop paradigm because it is a very personal weapon to use. Killers within horror films are shown using prop paradigms such as this because the penetration of the axe creates sexual connotation and gives the sense that the killer is gaining sexual pleasure from this. However, in the trailer the victims are the ones holding the axe and tossing it around in a defensive manner. Towards the end of the trailer a baseball bat is shown on top of a chest that a man is trapped in. Baseball bats normally give a completely different meaning because they are used for sports, normally a fun game for most people, whereas in this trailer, it has most likely been used as a weapon, again, another personal weapon. A gas mask is used as a way of hiding the identity of the villain so the victims are unable to know who their attacker really is. The fact it is a gas mask brings to light a hidden fear of everyone’s. This is because a gas mask relates to war which everyone fears will happen again, even if it is not in their conscious.

Setting:

Isolated locations are conventional setting paradigms for horror films because no one can hear or see you. In ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ trailer, the desert of New Mexico, a very hostile environment, is used which again represents a fear of everyone’s-not being able to find a way out and away from contact. A cave is used as another location because it is dark, making it hard for the victims to see around them and if anything or anyone is hiding. The usual fear or the dark is shown here because the audience are also unable to see what is happening, which positions the viewers as a masochistic voyeur. An abandoned house is used to show what life was like before the family that lived there obviously moved out. Mise-en-scene such as wooden racks with hanging clothes, curtains at windows and other belongings are still there but there are no people living there. For a family to get up and leave without taking their belongings suggests something is not right.

Character:

Promiscuous girls are normally the first to die in a horror film as they are shown having sex or wearing short, tight clothing, which is not very innocent like. In ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ trailer, the promiscuous girl is shown to be blonde, a common hair colour for a promiscuous girl within a horror film, and wearing a revealing bikini, which represents her as the victim. However, this challenges Carol Clover’s final girl theory because she is the only person shown at the very end of the trailer, which gives the impression that she is the final girl. The brown haired man is represented as the hero because he tries to seek help within a cave, also placing him as the victim as he is targeted by something that himself and the audience cannot work out as only a silhouette is shown running past. The family of a mother, father and their children are represented as the typical happy family. However, this is contradicted as horrendous events unravel when the unknown villains begin to take hostage of the victims. This leads the victims to begin a fight for survival, such as handling weapons like the axe previously mentioned.

Sound:

At the beginning non-diegetic sound of air raid sirens are heard making the atmosphere tense, because people know that air raid sirens are a warning that something terrible is going to happen. Diegetic sound of explosions are used suggesting that a disaster is probably going to happen as these are what explosions cause. In contrast with this, the sound changes to non-diegetic of the song ‘California dreaming’; this is very upbeat compared to the long and dreary sound of the sirens and explosions. As the events begin to occur, non-diegetic sound of fast paced string instruments are played. The feel of something coming is created through this and when it abruptly stops it creates the sense that whatever was coming is now there with the victim. The non-diegetic sound of a drum makes the sound of a heartbeat, showing a relation between the sound and the frightened characters. Industrial sounds create scream-like noises, while quick drum beats along with editing of quick camera cuts of the characters seems like gunshots and as if the characters in the cuts are the ones being targeted. By the end of the trailer, the pitch of the non-diegetic sound increases which builds tension because the audience know that at the highest point of the sound something will happen.

Editing:

The range of editing and camera shots lets the viewers piece together parts of the story so to make a little sense of what is happening. For example at the beginning of the trailer a birds eye view of a bomb dropping from above the clouds lets the viewers know that disaster will strike whatever that will hit, with a wide angle shot of the explosion and house being blown apart showing the destruction it has caused. Along with this are medium shots of a deformed baby with cuts to a newspaper article stating ‘Minors refuse to abandon their lands’ whilst showing the colours of the images being inverted. With this appearing straight after the explosions it creates a link between the two making it obvious that these deformities are the problems that have occurred from this. The camera then fades into an establishing shot of a desert with a car and trailer driving along the road with it starting in black and white then fading into colour. This presents the idea that the disasters that happened are now in the past as black and white represents an earlier time period with colour bringing the audience to the present day. The two shot of the man and gas man shows the window rolling up as if to suggest that the family are about to shut away all safety and contact with the only people in that area. As this happens an effect is used of a film reel being changed to another scene giving the idea that the events are about to change for the worse. This is shown more clearly through the quick cuts that occur next when things start to go wrong. As the pace of the trailer increases effects are used to make the family seem as if they are being watched, for instance in the two shot of the man and woman the obvious lines on a TV has been overlaid as if someone is sat in front of a TV watching them. A low angle shot of the girl holding an axe gives the sense that she has power, therefore making the audience feel vulnerable. This low angle shot is used again of the girl aiming the axe at the floor, however with quick cuts from this shot to a high angle shot of the same girl on the floor it makes it seem as if she is about to kill herself. Perhaps this is to show that she is somehow putting herself in a position where she is going to get killed anyway. At the end of the trailer an extreme close up of the girls eye and someone’s hand against her face allows the viewers to see the fear in her eyes due to them being so wide. This obvious sense of fear from her makes her seem vulnerable leaving the audience to feel worried for her, proving they are a masochistic audience.

From this analysis, it is clear that paradigms have been used successfully to create meaning that is apparent to the audience. Personal weapons are used such as axes and baseball bats, with which the axe is used to penetrate the skin creating a sexual nature to the trailer and gives the sense of rape and sexual pleasure for the villain. Sounds creates tension within the trailer because it shows representations of war through the air raid sirens, while the high pitch string instruments builds up to something horrific and frightening. Without the use of paradigms such as props, settings, sound and more to build tension, representations of horror cannot be conveyed successfully in order for the audience to understand what is happening.