Influences from films and other media

Influences from other films

Prom Night - This film is an influence on our trailer, as the film is set at a prom and involves murders. This was an influence to us as the prom would be similar to a Halloween party and we could take some inspiration from how the party scenes were shot. It is also played a part in influencing us as the murders take part at the prom which we thought would be a good idea for our trailer. [Deconstruction]

Halloween - Halloween was an influence on us as it uses a masked killer. We thought this would be a good idea for our trailer as many people are scared of the unknown as so having a masked killer plays on the fact that they do not know who they are or whether they know them.[Deconstruction 1 2]

Sorority Row - This film is an influence to us as it is set an American college, which would contain similar aged characters, and involves a murderer killing all the young characters. The killer is also cloaked so their face cannot be seen, therefore making them anonymous. [Deconstruction]

Project X - Project X was an influence to us as it focuses on a party that has become out of control. Although the film is not a horror, it still gives us some knowledge on how to film party scenes, and helps us think of ways in which the party can go wrong.

Scream - Scream is an inspiration to us as it contains a masked killer. This is an influence as we liked the idea that people do not know how the murderer is and so we think that a new element of fear of the unknown is introduced. We also liked that the killer in Scream knew the characters and so although the killer is masked there is the fear that they could be someone you know. 

The Strangers - This was an influence as it involves three masked killers. We liked the idea that they could get into the house uninvited and it could happen to anyone ('Why are you doing this to us?' 'Because you were home'). We liked the fact that the characters were uninvited and used this in our trailer as the clown is not invited to the party but still manages to get in. [Deconstruction]





Influences from other media
Skins - This show is an influence to us as contains lots of party scenes, which gave us lots of inspiration for our trailer. It also gave us lots of inspiration on what some teenagers get up to during parties and their lives that we could use. 

The Simpsons - Lisa's First Word - in this episode Bart is scared by a homemade Krusty the Clown bed that Homer makes for him, which has a sinister looking clown painted onto the headboard. Bart imagines the clown coming to life and cannot sleep. He spends the night curled in the fetal position saying "can't sleep, clown will eat me". This has provided inspiration to us as it focuses on the fear of clowns which we wanted to incorporate into our trailer.

Slipknot - all the members of Slipknot wear masks and jumpsuits which makes them all look uniform. However, this look can make them look scary and threatening. The bands songs have also been linked to several violent and criminal incidents, for example in 2003 a man was stabbed to death but two people. The killers claimed to listen to Slipknot before and after the murder and according to detectives sang the lyrics to 'Disasterpiece' as they committed the murder.

Sorority Row - Deconstruction

As the trailer starts it shows you the symbol which is well known as representing an american college house. The high key lighting gives a happy and cheerful atmosphere for the start of the trailer.

The lighting which is again high key upholds the same happy emotions which are represented through the lighting. The camera has also focused upon teenagers partying, showing the audience that the film is based upon a party.

The lighting remains high key, and the camera establishes that they are in an office, still showing teenagers, allowing the audience to focus upon key characters as they are eventually shown to us one by one.

The key characters are shown individually to the audience to bring them to the audiences attention.

 The lighting remains high key as  the audience are shown a party, clearing showing obvious signs of equilibrium. The scene highlights stereotypical representations of teenagers.

 This is an establishing shot which allows the audience to understand the setting of the scenes which have been shown and will follow on from his. The lighting again shows a positive atmosphere.

 In this close up, the lighting is low key, focusing on the faces to show the audience clearly the emotions of the characters, changing the atmosphere and representing the interruption of equilibrium, although the characters have not yet recognised this.

 In the close up of what they are watching, we see another clear representation of teenagers through acts of a sexual nature.

In this point-of-view shot the audience is more involved into the action and is put into the place of one of the characters point of view. This allows the scene to become more personal towards the audience.

In this shot it is clear that here has been a disturbance in the equilibrium, due to the low key lighting. Also the close up of the characters face clearly shows emotions to the audience.

This establishing shot clearly contrasts with the first one you are shown at the beginning of the trailer. The low key lighting, with key lighting showing the railing of the well is an obvious hint to the audience that there is a disturbance of the story line which appeared to be happy at the beginning of the trailer.

This medium shot of the character shows her looking vulnerable, which is a stereotypical feature of victims in horror and slasher films.

The close up of the weapon, in low key lighting allows the audience to understand what the situation is, showing that the disturbance is about to take over the plot.

However, in this shot, where the characters faces have become a key factor in the shot, you can clearly see the emotions of the characters, which contrasts with the lighting of the shot which is high key which normally is accompanied by positive emotions.

Again, the shot shows the weapon used, which enables the audience to understand and remember what it was used for, as it was previously shown in a close up shot. The point-of-view shot allows the audience to be in the characters shoes, creating an emotional connection between the characters and the audience.

The low key lighting, accompanied by the typography of 'You're next' which is a stereotypical feature of horror and slasher films. Since the shot is filmed behind the character the audience is not in the characters point of view, however they are still on the same height level as the character, allowing them  to see exactly what the character is seeing

In the final shot of the characters in the trailer, the main protagonists are shown. One of the characters, whom is shown as vulnerable due to her costume, has survived which goes against the stereotypes of characters in slasher/horror films, however the other two characters are dressed appropriately.

In the final shot, the audience is shown the killer, however all you are shown is the robe which is being worn, hiding his face. This allows the audience to understand what they are intended to be afraid of, although whom it is and why is still hidden, remaining a mystery to the audience.

Deconstruction: Prom Night

We have chosen to deconstruct 'Prom Night' as it features a party and killings, both of which we want to include in our film 

This shot shows what the film is based around and sets the scene for the rest of the film so the audience know what to expect

This high angle establishing shot sets the location of the prom 









This is another shot of the party at prom, this creates an alternative view of the party and makes you feel more involved as it is shot in the party

This is a high angle shot of the dance floor at the prom.
We were inspired by the variety of shots of the prom in this film and therefore decided to use a selection of high angle, low angle and in party shots in our teaser trailer. 

This shot shows the main characters celebrating, the lighting is high key which emphasis' the happiness among the characters. 
This is ironic as something bad is about to happen, hence the horror genre. 

The change of lighting from high key to low key suggests that horrific events are about to occur as darkness is associated with danger, this is then followed by a change in pace with lots of quick shots. 

This shot shows the vulnerability of the character as her assets are on show and she is cornered therefore she has no escape and she will most likely die.

This low angle shot of the killer holding a knife, shows the killers a man without revealing his full identity. And shows the victim unfocused, wimpering on the floor presenting her as weak and vulnerable. 

This shot of the police evidence creates an equilibrium and fear within the audience as it makes it seem more realistic and they realise it is an event that could happen to them in real life.

This further backs up the police evidence, and automatically makes the audience more frightened as it enforces the realism of the film for the audience.  
They use low lighting and focus on particular aspects of the evidence to draw attention to the lady. 

The foreground of this shot has high key lighting, high lighting the girl and her scared, frightened expression. The background is dark, with extreme low lighting, this creates mystery. There is also a silhouette in the background which enhances the mystery and the genre of horror.   

In this shot danger is represented by the dark on the other side of the door as well as her wide eyed look showing she is fearful of the unknown. We as the audience are positioned on the darker side of the door therefore in the shoes of the killer.

This shot shows the blinding fear in the woman's eyes as they are teary. This is also emphasised by her hand clasped against her mouth to try and stop her outcry of fear. It is also low lighting which creates shadows to show she is hiding.

In this shot we assume the leg in the foreground is that of the murderer which along with low lighting and fear within the girl, foreshadows the girls death. 

The title 'Prom Night' appears towards the end of the trailer and appears lights and colour, relate to the topic of prom within the film. However this is misleading as the genre of the film is Horror and this shot doesn't show any aspects of horror. 

The low lighting in this shot portrays the genre of the film, the key lighting in this shot is focusing on the girl and the hand which is about to grab her, further showing the genre genre of the film to be horror. 

Shooting Script

Party Scene - filmed from different angles (high-angle, medium shot, POV) inside and outside

People dancing, drinking, snacks 

No clown

Lighting: strobe lights, low lighting

Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Party Scene clown at the window - filmed from the doorway (zoom into the window)

People dancing, drinking

Lighting: strobe lights, low lighting

Sound: music 
Filmed on 20/11/12

Party Scene clown appears at the door - filmed from the opposite corner (high-angle shot)

People dancing, drinking, clown appears at the door, walks slowly into the party

Lighting: strobe lights, low lighting, high-lighting focused on the clown

Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Party Scene clown in the party - filmed from in the party (POV)

People dancing looking at the clown

Lighting: strobe lights, low-lighting

Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Nurse takes the clown off to another room - filming from the doorway (medium shot)
The nurse grabs his hand and pulls him out the room
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Clown wiping blood off the knife - close up of the knife and his hands
The clown comes out of the room and cleans the blood of the knife
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: music

Party Scene - filmed from the corner (medium shots)

People dancing

No clown

Lighting: lights go off

Sound: people scream
Filmed on 20/11/12

Coughing up blood - extreme close up
Someone coughing up blood after being stabbed
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: song

Slit throat - medium shot, high-angle shot
Shot a body on the floor with a slit throat
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: song
Filmed 20/11/12

Dead bodies - close ups
Showing where they had been stabbed and that they are dead
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: song

Clown walks towards the camera - long shot
The clown walks towards the camera 
Lighting: low-lighting, strobe lighting
Sound: song
Filmed on 20/11/12


N.B. The shots that are highlighted in orange are shots that we decided not to film on the day as we thought that they would not be relevant anymore.

Location Set-Up

These are the photos of the location that we have chosen after it has been decorated.

We used Halloween decorations to decorate the room to make it look like a Halloween party was taking place. We then brought in empty beer, wine and vodka bottles to make it look realistic and that the party had already been going for a while. We think that the decorations don't take away from the eeriness of the location and that it will still look good for our trailer.

Make-up Practice

For our trailer we need cuts and slit throats so we decided to practice with some theatre make-up. To do this we used someone who studies theatre make-up at college to help us create a realistic slit throat. However, when we filmed it, it didn't look as realistic as we would have hoped. We think this partly to do with the angle that we shot the clip at and we think we needed more blood. Therefore, we will try it again later on.

Laura Mulvey

This is our research into Laura Mulvey and her theory of the 'Male Gaze'. The Male Gaze says that women are typically the objects rather than the possessors in a film because most films were targeted at heterosexual males

MEN AS WATCHERS

WOMEN AS WATCHED 

Some of the features of the Male Gaze are:

• the camera lingers on a woman's curves 
• events which happen to women are presented in the male point of view
• shows women as objects

Location

This is the location that we have chosen for our teaser trailer. 

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8

Photo 9

Photo 10

We decided on this location as we thought that it fitted with a teenage party location, as teenage parties have been held in this location, as well as fitting with the horror genre that we have chosen. It fits with the horror genre as it is in a basement and used to be the servants quarters to the rest of the house. 

We think that this location would convey a horror genre as it's dark, has brick walls, is old and had cob webs making it look like it has been abandoned. 

We were particularly interested in the windows shown in Photo 2 as they have bars across them meaning that there is no escape out the windows. This is good for our trailer as it means that the victims are trapped. This links to Photo 6.

Photo 6 shows the door to the outside. This corner of the basement is dark and mysterious. The door has two bolts, one across the top and one across the bottom. The window on the door is also barred. This reinforces our idea of being trapped down in the cellar with no escape from the killer.

Photo 7 particularly shows the genre of our teaser trailer as it shows weapons hung along a wall. We could use this in our trailer as the murderers base for killing his victims as there is a choice of saws at his disposal.