Work Update

This week I have observed clips from different films, with different stylistic elements, similar to what I would like to incorporate in my work.

I have also nearly completed my screenplay and will make the storyboard in the next few days.

The music which will feature in the non-diegetic (and possibly diegetic) soundtrack of my film has also been decided upon and posted on my blog.

Film Music

These are the 3 main songs which will be used as the soundtrack of my film. The main reason I have chosen these songs is because the music itself evokes feelings of emotion, tension and horror

Silent Hill - Promise (Reprise) by Adam Amini

This song, which I believe has a very emotional sound to it, and also holds a very nostalgic feel, will be initially used in the title sequences of my film (which are home video style footage of the couple being happy together, before Peter murders his wife. It will also be used at several other points in the film, when Peter is remembering his wife, and being internally tormented by the memory of her.

The Musicbox by Adam Amini

This particularly eerie song, will be dubbed into the film as the tune from a music box which peter had given to his wife as a gift, and then destroyed it. He then will hear, and find it, when the hauntings begin. It may also be used non-deigetically when trying to build a creepy atmosphere. To represent Peter's confusion of what is reality, the tune may be played off key as well, to disorientate the audiences.

Horror film music - isisip original piano music by Adam Amini

This song will probably be used in the final sequences of the film, as I believe the emotions evoked when listening to it, have a distinct feeling which will suit the conclusion (involving Peter's suicide). I may also use segments of it earlier on as well, while establishing atmostpheric tension.

Textual Analysis - 03

In this sequence from Silent Hill, the nurse monsters shown between 0:46 and 02:50, move in a very eerie and unnatural way.

To acheive this, the director employed a group of dancers, used make up on them to make them look like the monsters, he then told them to walk backwards, and reversed it in the final cut.
This is the reason for the frightening way they move.

I would like to employ a similar technique to this when making scenes involving the ghost of Maria, as I believe it will ad to the horror of the film and the specific sequence.

Textual Analysis - 02

The main way the title sequences of Se7en have inspired me in planning my film is in the way this sequence has been edited. In my title sequence, I would like to incorporate a similarly paced technique, with the shots having a degraded, old look (useful to show the footage is from the past).
The way the text is shown on the screen, in a very sketchy manner, flashing and changing size, is also similar to how I would like the text to be shown the title sequence of my film.

Textual Analysis - 01

While this is a trailer for 'The Amityville Horror' (2005, Andrew Douglas, US) (therefore not a short film,) some of the stylistic elements in the trailer are similar to the effects I would like to achieve.

For example, the effects added during post production from 0:50 - 0:52, and on the film reel footage from 1:18 - 1:20, give the impression of an old home movie. I would like to use this sort of effect effect during the title sequence of my film, to give insight into the past of the couple (in the form of a home-movie). I believe this will be effective as it will add a slight backstory to the film and the editing on the footage will give a nostalgic feel to the opening of the film, which in itself will carry the ironic feels of romanticism held by the film's title, and when juxtaposed with the opening shot (the husband, a year after the murder, in the untidy house; hungover) it will add a severe contrast between his old and new life.

Also, there is a blue hue used in many scenes which is common of the psychological horror genre (the film has many psychological horror elements).

Many other techniques, such as the fast-paced style of editing in some small segments are similar to what I would like to achieve.

Aims and Context

For part of the assessed work, I have to hand in the following aims and context of my short film:

Aims:

My target audience is people (male and female) in the age range 15-30 as they are the main audience for my chosen genre. Two main stylistic inspirations are Silent Hill (Christoph Gans 2006) and The Ring (Gore Verbinski, 2002). My main purpose is to progress the narrative while creating tension and fear in the audience, and reflect the character’s fears. The stylistics I will use most effectively are editing and mise-en-scene, as they will allow me to achieve my purpose and be useful for incorporating the conventions of psychological horror such as flashbacks (i.e. an editing feature,) and cramped mise-en-scene to show internal entrapment.

Context:

I am going to make a short 4-5 minute film of the psychological horror genre called “Forget Me Not”.

Film Title

I have decided to make the title of my film: Forget Me Not

The reasons for this are because it ultimately describes a part of the plot of the film (i.e. the spirit of the man's dead wife making sure she doesn't forget him and is punished for what he has gotten away with in the past, but a 'forget me not' is also a name of a flower which is often given as a romantic gift.

This adds irony as the title has a romantic theme (and the plot features a husband and wife, ultimately,) yet the premise of the plot lacks romance completely, and if the man was able to murder his wife in a fit of rage, he clearly did not return the love which she will have felt for him.

Audience

The audience for my film includes both men and women within the 15-30 age range, as this is the main market for psychological horror films.

A few years ago, the main audience for horror films of any sub-genre would have been 18-30 due to the nature of the films (major use of violence, gore and sex,) which would have naturally restricted the audience.

Due to the nature of psychological horror films, and their less obvious form of horror (i.e. the lack of gore seen in 'splatter' horror films,) a lot of psychological horror films are given a '15' certificate by the BBFC.

In recent years a lack of more physical horror (such as blood and gore) has become a trend in horror films meaning that more and more are given a '15' certificate, and are thus attracting a wider age range of movie goers.

An example of this is 'The Unborn' (David S. Goyer, 2009) which carries many psychological horror conventions (use of a supernatural entity, possibility of the evil being imagined, religious themes and imagery,) and has several effectively frightening scenes, but was only given a '15' certificate, meaning that the film was open to a much wider audience than it may have been were it made several years ago.

Due to the nature of the audience (wide age range; both genders,) they would naturally have a lot of different interests.

This could be both a help and a hindrance while making the film, as while this means a lot of people can be attracted by different aspects of a film, if a film is too specific to one interest of the target audience, it may put others off seeing it.

This means that a large part of attracting audiences would be to follow conventions of the genre which people want to see, while also challenging conventions making something new and fresh which will interest audiences.

The film 'Silent Hill' (Christoph Gans, 2006) for example, has many conventions of psychological horror, so attracts a wider audience, uses well-known stars (i.e. Sean Bean) to attract wider audiences, and is also based upon a popular video game franchise, so attracts a more specific audience as well.

So this means that in my film I can have specific themes and for example, follow a certain story which would attract some people, and the fact that it is in this specific genre/type of film should still attract and please the main audience.

Synopsis - First Draft

For part of the assessed work, I have to complete a synopsis to hand in with the aims and context.

This is the first draft of my synopsis, in which there is a clear and brief description of the plot. When I get feedback on this draft I will make changes accordingly.

A man is haunted by guilt and possibly something much worse when he realises that the truth could come out about his wife’s brutal death the previous year. Peter Bowers, a seemingly average man, managed to use his quick thinking and manipulative ways to avoid conviction for the murder of his long suffering wife, Maria. Many years have passed and he is living his day to day life feeling no remorse for his actions.

All it takes is a single letter, containing his wife’s engagement ring and an accusing note, to release his subconscious fears of being punished for the murder. Throughout the film he begins to be tormented by hallucinations and apparitions of his long-dead wife all the while battling with his guilt and fear of who knows of the murder, the details of which are revealed throughout his hallucinations.

After attempting to go on the run and again being supposedly haunted and stopped by what he believes to be his wife’s spirit, the audience are left wondering whether the built-up guilt and fear of exposure caused a mental breakdown, leading to the hallucinations, or whether it was his wife’s spirit acting in revenge for what he had committed.

Word Count: 200

Todorov Narrative Structure Diagram

To make the plot clearer and get a more definite idea of cause and effect in the narrative of my film, I decided to make a Todorov Narrative Structure diagram, showing the basic plot of the film based on Todorov's Narrative Structure theory. It has been successful in helping me plainly see the idea of cause and effect and different narrative elements in my film.

Story Type and Plot Ideas

For my film, it would be useful for me to decide upon a story type as this would help me think of conventions and a general outline for the narrative.

The basic plot idea I already have (involving a man, who avoided conviction for the murder of his wife, being haunted by his subconscious fears and possibly her vengeful spirit,) takes many conventions from the psychological horror genre, such as the ideas of a person's fears haunting them, the possibility of a supernatural presence, and the fact that I plan the man's past deeds to be revealed, fragmented, in flashbacks.

The idea of the man being punished for what he has done, also carries religious connotations (i.e. Judgement Day,) and as religious imagery is a convention of psychological horror I could use the imagery to present the character's (and possibly the audiences) fears of if we will be punished for our misdeeds after we die.

I believe that the story takes elements from both the Achilles (the protagonist has a fatal flaw,) and Faust (the protagonist sold their soul to the devil,) story types.

The man's ruthless and manipulative ways (his 'fatal flaw',) are what lead to the need for vengeance on behalf of his wife, and his own paranoia led to some of his fears.

By committing the evil act and getting away with it, the man 'sold his soul' to the 'devil' and the plot of the film shows the man dealing with the dark consequences of this.

Genre and Conventions - in depth

This is the more in-depth post on the genre of Psychological Horror and the conventions the genre entails.
Unlike the first brief post, this one includes examples of other films withing the genre, the conventions they use and how I would like my film to abide by these conventions.

For my A2 Film Studies Coursework, I have chosen to make a Psychological Horror film. As preparation for the project, I have researched the genre conventions of a psychological horror and considered how I can apply them to my short film.

The main difference between psychological horror and the general horror we would expect from films is mainly how the horror is less in your face and doesn’t tend to rely on gore or sudden shocks (such as slasher films), but the horror is mainly derived from a person in the film, or a supernatural entity. This means that in my own film I will have to consider how to use stylistic elements to create feelings of fear without being as ‘in your face’ as some forms of horror.

A main convention is how the plot is furthered and tension built by characters’ emotions such as guilt, fear, instability, or their own beliefs. This idea will be shown in my film, as the film is about a man who had previously murdered his wife and believed he had gotten away with it. As the disruption of the narrative it will be implied that somebody knows of his past deeds. This will ignite his feelings of guilt about his wife’s death and also create fear that someone knows and he will have to suffer the consequences.

A good example of a psychological horror film which handles tension and emotions in a similar way to how I would like mine to (to an extent) is Rosemary’s Baby (1986, Roman Polanski). Tension is built throughout the film and fear is created as a result of this. It also abides by many other conventions, such as the fact that the evil or fear comes from within a person (it could be possible that the character of Rosemary was just paranoid of those around her, until the very end when her fears are confirmed). The possibility of the true evil being imagined or the result of misconception until being revealed at the end is also a convention used a lot in psychological horror.

While establishing the characters of the film, I would like to initially show the man as being normal and average, lulling the audience into a false sense of security, which is also a genre convention seen, for example, in American Psycho (2000, Mary Harron), in which the serial killer is a normal person on the outside, but deeply disturbed within.

I also regarded how stylistic elements are conventionally used in the genre and how I can apply them to my film. When regarding colour and lighting, I would like the film to have a bluish hue, as this is common in many scenes from psychological horror films, such as the infamous scene (and many others) in The Ring (2002, Gore Verbinski,) in which Samara (the supernatural entity in the film) crawls out of a man’s television to kill him. The film will be quite dark (to represent the darkness of the protagonist) and there will be frequent use of shadows and chiaroscuro (both conventions of the genre, and to emphasise the darkness of the character and contrast between his apparent normality and darkness within, respectively).

To imply the torment of characters the mise-en-scene is often cramped. I will use this and I will also have objects such as photographs of his wife, to indicate his past deeds. I will also make use of flashbacks resulting in non-linear narrative structure; another convention, (due to past events being shown later in the film). To show this I will use the conventions of jump cuts and montage editing to fragment the plot. An example of this in a psychological horror is flashback sequences in the film Silent Hill (2006, Christophe Gans), in which the past crimes of the residents of a small town are shown in flashback as important points in the film’s plot.

Religious imagery (mainly Christian) is also used in the mise-en-scene of psychological horror films, as they convey an idea of fear (of the unknown, life after death (supernatural connotations,) and torment as comeuppance for sins (i.e. past deeds), and I could also use this to imply how the man is being punished for what he did to his wife, like sinners are supposedly punished in Hell after dying. A notable example of a psychological horror with religious imagery is The Exorcist (1973, William Friedkin), in which the plot itself has religious themes and centres on a girl’s possession by a supernatural entity (another convention).

Non-diegetic sound is mainly used in the genre to build tension and often, to add to the distinct brand of horror shown in the genre, the tension is built but not released to add to the feeling of unease (shown throughout the aforementioned Rosemary’s Baby, and many other films). Diegetic sound can also be used to create fear, such as the knocks caused by the demon in The Exorcist, which play on the audience’s tendency to overexert their imagination and perceive general ambient noises and something to be afraid of. Another example in The Exorcist of diegetic sound being used to create fear and unease is when the demon speaks through Regan in a voice which is both frightening in itself (due to the connotations of demons,) and also due to the fact that it is a small girl making the voice, it isn’t what the audience would expect, and that display of something unfamiliar is also effective at creating fear.

Overall, I have found that the main conventions of the psychological horror genre are how fear is not created by in your face horror, such as that of slasher films, but through use of character and audience fears and emotions (such as guilt and paranoia,) which can be furthered by stylistic elements, such as flashbacks through jump cuts to disorientate the viewer, and lighting and colour techniques to reflect aspects of the characters personalities. Stylistics also play an important role in building tension and unease (i.e. non-diegetic sound) and presenting emotions in characters, (such as the particular scene from the ring having a blue-ish hue to represent and convey to the audience an idea of how Samara, the evil entity, feels nothing but coldness as it kills an innocent man).