Planning: Casting For Our Opening

During our brainstorm of initial ideas, we decided what our characters would be like and look like. This was done very briefly so that when it came to casting for our film, we would have more variety of people to choose from. 

Our first character is Scott. He is the over-confident leader of the group who enjoys being the centre of attention. He forms a tight friendship group with Jack and Myles as they share the same interests which include sports and causing trouble. He is the boyfriend of our second character, Crystal. In the opening, he is the one that along with Myles and Jack, scares the rest of the group and then leads them to the lake house.

Crystal is a popular girl at school, very girly and pink. She can be pretty naive at times and a typical 'dumb blonde'. She's the life of the party and enjoys leading people along in order to get anything she wants, just like with character 3, Lauren. She is walking along with Lauren and Rellik in the woods before being given a fake scare by the boys and then walks off with Scott hand in hand towards the lake house.

Lauren is our third character and the one that is actually our killer in this film. She follows Crystal around with an incurable crush for her even after she had her heart broken by the Queen bee time after time. Very insecure and quiet, obeying orders from Crystal, she lives in her shadow. However, she finds comfort in a questionable character, Rellik, that feeds her love for murder mysteries and helps her with the ultimate plan. She is walking with Crystal and Rellik through the woods before the fake scare and before Crystal walks off without her.

Our fourth character, Rellik, is a name we came up by ourselves, which is 'killer' backwards and adds to his mysterious and creepy character. He's very twisted and hardly talks. His obsession with horror movies and murderers helps to feed Lauren's plots of betrayal and he acts as the red-herring as everyone suspects that it would be him that's the killer because of his personality. He is walking along with Crystal and Lauren before the rest of the boys give them a fake scare and he is the one to take Lauren's hand when she is abandoned by Crystal.

The fifth character is Myles. He's a much older guy that is only included in the group for the perks of getting alcohol and whatever Scott and Jack may want, such as drugs. He acts tough but he's not really, just does it to give a front. He's not as important as the rest of the characters in the film as he gets killed pretty early but still an important character nether less as he helps the restraint of Rellik. He is with Jack and Scott giving the group the fake scare in the opening and then walks off goofing around with Jack as the group makes their way to the lake house.

Our sixth and last character is Jack who is the joker of the group. He provides the fake scare in the opening of our film and throughout the film he keeps scaring his friends to the point where they start to believe that the threatening journal of murder plots actually belongs to him. Jack is the main brains behind the fake scare in the opening and he is joined by his two best mates before him and the rest of the group make their way to the lake house for their gathering. 

When looking for actors to cast for our opening, we decided that we want people who'd be professional in front of the camera so we could get the filming done to the best standard possible with as little time needed. They would need to portray the characters like described and would need to make the audience believe that this is a real group of friends and make them feel like they want to keep watching past the opening scene.

For our casting process, the decision was made to video some of the actors auditioning for the different parts and show their weaknesses and strengths as the characters before being able to make the final decision about who to use for our opening. 

Created By Paula Kowalska

Planning: Mise En Scene

Costumes and Props

Lauren is popular and follows the crowd and especially Crystal, this will show in her costume as it will be on trend and be very stereotypical. She will wear a crop top and high waisted jeans, this is what teenage girls are typically expected to wear. She will also wear a denim jacket and a choker to suit her stereotype, she will also have her hair in braids to further more fit in with society. She will wear expensive brands to show her arrogance, she has come from a broken home, the expensive gifts are from her family who are trying to buy her love. Her family is also very rich as this is shown later in the film when she takes her friends to the lake house which obviously costs a lot. She will wear this outfit to portray to the audience her personality which is selfish and stuck up, she sees other people as inferior to her due to her popularity.

Scott is popular also and keeps up with style with the clothes he wears, this will be portrayed in his costume. He will wear a bomber jacket and plain basic t shirt as it's in fashion, he will also wear ripped jeans and trainers. He will also have earphones in to show how unsociable and how arrogant he is. This is what stereotypically popular teenage boys wear and will be portrayed in Scotts outfit. His shoes will be kept clean as he likes to collect expensive shoes and always buys the latest shoes,clothing and accessories. His clothes will be very tight fitting as he wants to show off his body which he has been working on at the gym. He is very focused on his appearance and is very passionate about music and fitness, he is very strict on what he eats and aspires to be a body builder.

Jack is also sort of popular, he follows fashion to a certain extent but is not always on trend. He's a big basketball fan which is portrayed through his choice of hat. He will wear sunglasses even though its cold outside, to show how he follows fashion even though it doesn't accord with the weather outside. He will wear a lot of plain clothing to show how he's not very adventurous as he follows the crowd. He will have earphones in even when he's speaking to people to portray his arrogance which is a perceived stereotype of teenage boys. Jake is also very sporty which you can tell by his choice of outfit, this is due to his dad being very sporty and wanting his son to follow in his footsteps.

Myles is obsessed with drugs and this portrays in his outfit as he likes to show off his wealth. He also wears really casual clothes like a top and joggers with a big warm coat to show how he's out a lot late at night and in the cold. He will also wear his joggers/jeans below his bum cheeks to show how he doesn't care, this is also a stereotype of how all teenage boys wear their bottom half of clothing. He will also wear a lot of big name brands to further show how he likes to spend his cash. The way he is dressed will portray how he has dropped out of school at a young age and whilst he was there, did not care and rarely ever attended. This is also another stereotype of teenagers, especially male ones. Myles also has a passion for rapping, which he practices in his spare time.

As Crystal is very popular in school she believes she has to keep up with fashion and trends to keep up her popularity status in school. She wears very girly outfits and is very much a 'Daddy's girl', this is shown throughout her outfit as she wears wedges and glasses which are all designer. She will also wear a lot of makeup to try and hide her insecurities. She always has her handbag with her as she needs makeup top ups constantly to make sure she looks 'perfect'. She wears a lot of jewellery to show off her wealth much like Myles does. The way she is dressed portrays to the audience how fashionable she is and how she cares what other people think of her which is down to how insecure she is. 

Relic wears all black, he doesn't like to be seen or noticed and tries his upmost best to not draw attention to himself. He wears a big puffy jacket and a black hoodie to keep warm, the hood from the jacket also assists in hiding part of his face to try and avoid eye contact with anyone. He wears shoes that are not in fashion which resulted in him getting bullied which caused him to be lonely and depressed. He keeps his wallet on a chain and he has very little faith and trust in anyone else. He is also very pale which contradicts with the black clothes he wears and further more makes him look even more pale. His shoes will be muddy and very worn down due to how much he wears them as his family can't afford much for him. He will wear slouchy clothes which don't show off his figure to further more not gain any attention.

Created by Jodie Wallace

Planning: Treatment For Our Film Opening

The opening will begin in a kaleidoscopic manner, to add a creepy feel to the opening. It will simultaneously play some eerie non diegetic music. Additionally the titles will begin to be displayed from the beginning when the kaleidoscope also begins, this will be on the actual video to make sure there is as much time on the screen as possible. The kaleidoscopic nature will be disturbed by a twig snapping due to a character stepping on it, the sound of the twig breaking will be enhanced as much as possible in order to change the mood of the opening, from this point on, the beginning will juxtapose with what follows the twig snapping as the three characters (Lauren, Crystal and Rellik) walk through the woods while laughing and joking about. You then get a long shot of the group walking through the woods from someone else's perspective, before it tracks towards them to create an illusion that someone is walking towards them, the walking on crackling leaves will be enhanced. Lauren will soon hear this distinctively, and stop the group telling them to 'sh' and listen to the sound, when this happens the non diegetic sound stops abruptly. This will be followed by a long shot of the group from behind, before the camera starts to become unstable and tracks in while simultaneously suspenseful music speeds up as the camera gets closer and closer to the group. This eventually results in a fake jump scare from the remaining group mates (Scott and Jack) who make Crystal scream as they come up behind the group and frighten them. They begin to laugh about the scare as Crystal playfully hits Scott (her boyfriend) and says 'OMG stop fucking around and lets go' before the group sets off again for the lakehouse, Scott grabs Crystals hand prying her away from Lauren which shows Crystals ignorant nature towards Lauren and how she prioritises Scott over her. Lauren is visibly upset as they walk off leaving her behind with Rellik, who grabs her hand and smiles at her before she returns the gesture and they carry on walking towards the group. This foreshadows the ending of the film, where Lauren grabs Rellik's hand as they flee the lakehouse after setting it on fire with the dead bodies inside.
                                                                                                                                         

60 Second Pitch

This is our script for our 60 second pitch that we done to sell our idea of the film.  We watched some videos to gain some tips on how to produce a great 60 second pitch. We didn't give too much information away and didn't mention what happened at the ending this left the audience wanting to see the film to what concludes at the end. We also ended the pitch with a rhetorical question which further more left the audience wanting more. 

This is how our 60 second pitch came out

Our Initial Ideas And Decision Making

We made a mind map to create some ideas for our film so we could then have a choice of what plot line to go with. It also will help expand our imagination to produce a creative film. We also included the details of the characters individuality and what role they play in each of the plot lines.We colour coded the information each one of us in the group who came up with that idea to show our creativity and remember each others contributions to the idea. We also came up of ideas of types of murders that can occur, this helped to expand our imagination in each of the three plot lines. We also put down locations we could do considering our situation and our access to these areas. We decided to take action of plot line 2 as we found it to be more realistic and easier to make due to locations and killings. We also all liked the idea and already came up with other ideas associated with this story line. We decided not to go with plot line 1 as some parts of the idea didn't add up and we couldn't add all the ideas up as they contradicted each other. We also didn't go with plot line 3 as it sounded too cliche and not as imaginative and interesting as plot line 2 was. Once we agreed to carry on with plot line 2 we came up with names for the film, we then decided on 'Inferno Massacre' due to the final result and how many people die in the film.

Choosing Our Production Name

We asked people in our target audience which of the three film production names they liked the most we did this so we could appeal to them and see if they find it relevant to what we produce. They chose between sausmas films which means horror in latvian, its not a usual word used in Britain making a lot of people very confused this is the reason we didn't pick this name. The other name on our shortlist was Slasher Productions, this is due to the word being associated with horror. We didn't use this name as it was too cliche and was not adventurous enough. The last name we came up with was Trepidation Films, this is a synonym of fear and we used this as its not too hard to say and we liked it highly throughout the group. Majority of the target audience we asked agreed about the name also

Planning: Target Audience and Potential Openings

Inferno Massacre Synopsis

A circle of teenage friends celebrate the end of a school year with a weekend getaway at a bakehouse. Things take a tenebrous turn as a member of the group discovers a journal, supposedly belonging to the horror engrossed friend, filled with intricate murder plots for every single person present. Alerting the others, the group comes up with a plan to lock the suspected murderer away in the basement until they can get help in the morning. But as the night progresses, the group gets smaller and smaller even though the killer seems to be locked away. And it poses the question, is the right person locked away?


Questions to ask target audience

1. Do you like the idea? and Why
2. What would you anticipate in the first 2 minutes of the film?
3. Would this film appeal to you? and Why
4. Where would you expect the location to be?
5. What editing would you expect in the first 2 minutes? e.g. jump cuts, 
6. What camera movements would you expect in the opening? e.g. Panning, point of view etc
7. What would you expect the characters to look like? e.g. clothing, makeup, props etc
8. What sorts of sounds would you expect to hear? e.g. screaming, audio etc

Research: The British Board of Film Classification

The BBFC is the film regulator of film and video and give the films which get released in the United Kingdom a specific rating. The BBFC's finance only comes from what it charges companies for its service to keep the BBFC independent. They calculate the fees they charge by the length of the film and if DVD's and videos are produced, the BBFC was not organised to gain profit, the money they charge is only to cover the costs of the business.

Classification is the process by which BBFC check who is suitable to watch the film produced, this is done to protect children especially from harmful content. It is also used when the buyer is about to buy the film to see if its suitable for them/their child or family member to watch without being too harmful for them. The BBFC classifies all films before they are released to the public, this classification before release enables the highest level of protection and empowerment. They choose the right classification by watching the film all the way through and pairing it up with the right age range. They compare the film to all the criteria in the classification guidelines. 

For a 15, which is only suitable for anyone aged 15 and over. They cannot watch the film or rent or buy it if they aren't over 15. One of the area they look at is discrimination, there must not be discriminatory behaviour or language, although racist, homophobic and other discriminatory themes are allowed. The BBFC will not allow drugs, especially the ones that are easily accessible and most dangerous. If drugs are used in the film they must not promote drug use. Imitable behaviour is also forbidden, this includes suicide, self harming and hanging. Depending on realism, setting and context the use of accessible weapons may be acceptable. The film may include strong language and very strong language depending on the frequency and manner in which its used, and who is saying the strong language. Nudity is not forbidden if it is used in educational context. If it is sexual content then there won't be much strong detail. If the sexual activity is without strong detail it may be allowed to be portrayed. Unless justified by context, very strong references to sexual behaviour most likely won't be accepted, although strong verbal references is permitted. Strong threat and horror is allowed, but a continued focus on sexual and sadistic threat is very unlikely to be permitted. Violence should not focus on the pain or injury, but the violence is allowed to be strong. Very gory and bloody images and strong sadistic violence is unlikely to be accepted. Sexual violence must be to a minimum and justified by the context in which its being used, but detailed verbal references to sexual reference is permitted. 

Research: The Importance Of Sound In Horror Films

Sound in horror films is especially important as it increases the amount of emotion conveyed to the audience members. This is very effective as it has a greater effect on the audience and makes them even more scared. The sound combined with the film enhances the experience, especially with a jump scare as sometimes the noise alone makes the audience jump. The sound is incredibly important when something terrifying is about to happen, it increases the tension and hints to the audience something bad is about to happen. 

When films don't have non-diegetic sound included, the effect is not as good, some scenes may not even look scary anymore. Especially before something bad is about to happen, the audience will not have any hints something dreadful is about to transpire. This will reduce the tension to nothing and may not even scare people when it does eventually happen. When people hear the sounds before the event, many people look away to reduce the effect the film has on them. If there is no tension build up from sound they don't get a pre warning, this does add am element of surprise but without the sound added to the event the outcome isn't the same.

Without music in horror films, the complete experience is not fulfilled to its full potential. The mood, therefore, is not being set by the director. Without the mood being set, the emotion is not transferred to the audience. The emotions trying to be conveyed are anxiety, terror and fear, these prove very effective in transferring the mood to the audience. The whole purpose of the horror film is to create fear, without the music, the purpose is not fulfilled. 

Research: Codes And Conventions Of Existing Teen Horror Films

In the dead wood opening scene, the first shot is of the woods, this is the establishment shot, it lets the audience know where the situation is taking place. When the camera is making its way down to the puddle, they use the sound of someone singing very creepily which is very ghost like. Its very taunting and works very well as indicating that something bad is going to happen. This a non digetic sound as anyone in the film would not be able to hear this wailing sort of sound. It then also introduces the sound of a piano being played very slowly which is used in many other horror films. It sounds very haunting and has a very good effect on the audience. The piano is then discarded and further more introduces the wailing singing once again. Very softly you can also hear birds chirping to further more create the scene. They both soften off into silence with the main character of the opening scene running through the puddle. The camera at this point is very close to wear his steps to increase the intensity. This was used very well to jump scare the audience. The film also made the sound much louder than real life to have an even greater effect. When he is running a metal sort of sound is introduced in sudden bursts to add tension. The camera is also not fluent when he is running, this insinuates the camera man is also running with the actor. There is also many trees in-between the camera man and the character. Due to the forest being dense, the man indefinitely runs into a lot of branches and leaves, leading him to fall over. This demonstrates to the audience that danger is very prominent. This is a very common convention of teen horror films as it adds tension. Although at this time the audience has no clue to what he is running from, but it is made very clear from his facial expressions and the way he is running that there is some threat he has come across which has led him to run this particular way. When he is on the floor after he fell over he also looks back, this shows the audience the blood on his forehead making it more obvious that some attack happened. The metal type of sounds also get much quicker at this point to add to the intensity. There is also this constant deep sound, which makes the scene much more tense. The camera is then behind him when he's running after he struggled to get up. The camera after that, is then used as his point of view when he is running, this is used to show the tent in the near distance. This shows to the audience what he is aiming for and a sense of safety for the character. This is used to transfer the panic to the audience. He then comes to a standstill when he's stopped by a stream 2 metres below where he's standing. A high angle shot is used when he stops. Then a low angle shot is used to show when he nearly goes over the edge, this is combined with leaves falling on the camera also showing even more danger. These are shown how much of a dead end he is in and how his solutions are limited. At this point the only sound is of that of the stream and him panting. It then goes into a close up shot of his face to show how battered and bruised and tired he is. He then starts to hear things like a bird in a tree which makes him look to his right very frantically. A non digetic sound is introduced to add to the tension. A shot of his back is then used to insinuate something/someone is behind him. This is followed by a ruffling of the leaves behind him and the sound of a snapped branch, this causes him to look behind before making the decision to jump over the stream. With the ruffling of the leaves introduced it shows how the threat is so close to him. Slow motion is then used on his run up and his jump. On his run up, a thudding of a drum is used to add drama. On the jump a low angle shot is also used. When he gets to the other side, he is hanging on for his life and this makes it very clear to the audience that he isn't going to make it. Another low angle shot is used to insinuate something/someone is below them. When it is back to his face again, he is struggling when all of a sudden he stops. Blood then spills from his mouth and he is then dragged down to the stream. This makes it very clear to the audience that he is dead, and gives some clues to the audience as to what the threat is. The camera then rises to the tent, with the girl unzipping it. She staggers out confused and calls out for him. The fact that she's a girl tells the audience that she will be dead too soon enough. The camera continues to rise giving another establishing shot and further more shows she has no sort of safety near her. The piano sounds are also introduced, this further more shows the audience that she's going to die as these were the sounds we heard before the man died. 

In the dead Mary opening scene it begins with a black screen with a metal creaking sound , when the screen clears we get to see a chain which is swinging. This continues with many close up shots of the chain. In the background you can also hear birds which set the scene. These are both digetic. The camera then zooms out to show us its a gas station sign, you can see its very worn down showing the audience its quite a run down area. It also says on the sign 'last stop for 100 miles', this tells the audience just how secluded they are. This is a convention used in many films as it shows the imminent danger. It then shows the tyres of a car, then has a close up shot of a girl tapping on the roof of the car. This shows how bored she is and insinuates she's been waiting a long time. She then looks behind her showing she's waiting for someone. We then get a shot of the branches with the car in the far distance. This gives the audience a feeling she's being watched by someone. There is also a slight sound of a laugh at this point making this scene quite creepy. She then attempts to find a radio channel with the radio in the car, but this fails as nothing can be find. Making it even clearer they're far from civilisation. Once again we get a shot from the woods with a creepy sound in the background. This is followed up by a close up of the phone in front of the windscreen, she grabs it in attempt to call someone. This fails due to the fact they're so far from civilisation that theres no signal. She then chucks it back to the front of the windscreen, this shows how annoyed she is getting. She then opens the glove compartment and ruffles with things until she brings out the flare gun. This gives them some safety and shows the audience that they will use it in the film later on when they encounter trouble. Then there is a long shot which is blurred and only focused on the ariel of the car, in the distance you can see someone walking towards the car carrying something. This concludes who she was waiting for. He then drops the gas tanks which is used as a jump scare as its a close up shot of them and very sudden. She asks him what took so long after she looks at him in disgust, and he explains that no one was around which shows even further how secluded they are. The shots switch from close up shots of the female and the male whilst they are speaking to each other. The girl is dressed very 'slutty', she has a tank top which shows a lot of skin and also has shorts on. This is a common convention of horror films as the females are very sexualised in horror films. 

In the wrong turn opening scene, the first thing we see is an establishing shot of a forrest. This is to show how secluded they are which is a convention of horror films and it adds to the fear of the danger. There is a deep constant sound, then introduced is two sudden thuds which adds tension. There is then a weary sound which is very creepy and another two sudden thuds occur. There is then a high angle shot of two climbers on a cliff face. The climbers are both wearing climbing gear making it appear they know what they are doing, the female is also showing a lot more skin than the guy due to societies perception of how girls in horror films should be dressed. The guy is higher up than the girl due to societies perception that males are fitter than females. Then there is then a low angle shot of the male when he makes it over the cliff face. We then get to see what he sees which further mores indicates they're in a secluded location. He then disappears off the high angle shot after calling her a slowpoke which is very patronising towards her, especially because she's a female. Its then a close up shot of her struggling, and a close up shot of her foot giving the sense she's about to slip. This adds tension and intensity to the audience. Theres then a close up of her hand, she then slips and falls. The rope holds her up but theres a  high angle shot of the trees below her showing the imminent danger below. After hearing her scream he says 'you know were 50 miles from anybody, who you screaming for?'. This further more shows how secluded they think they are from anyone. When they are talking it switches from high angle shots and low angle shots. We then hear a grunt and a knock insinuating something happened to the male. She then calls for him, obviously gaining no reply. This again shows something bad has occurred to the male. There is then another establishing shot but of the cliff face, we can only see the female and not the male. It also shows how she's in the middle of the cliff face meaning she has no escape. She calls him a 'dick' this was used as its a term used very commonly between teenagers, its used to associate themselves with the teenagers. We then get a low angle shot of the male being chucked on the side of the cliff, confirming the threat. Blood then drops from his hand onto her cheek with the use of makeup. Theres a close up shot of his hand, then gets dragged backwards then threw over the cliff face, consequencely falling onto the rocks below. The sound is very sudden and imitates the sound of broken bones as he hits the rocks. She then starts getting pulled up by the rope which makes her in danger now. The sound of the rope getting pulled up is intensified to add more effect to the audience. She also starts screaming which is convention of women in horror films. The change of shots also happen a lot quicker in this scene than the scenes that we saw at the start of the film. We also get a lot of close up shots of her hands as she is getting pulled up. She then panickly tries to unscrew herself from the rope, the sound of this is also intensified a lot. She gets pulled up once again and gives up on trying to unscrew herself and gets a knife and starts cutting the rope, this sound is also intensified. The sounds in this scene are all intensified to add tension and intensify the effect on the audience. She is then free of the rope and holds on to the cliff face. We then get a close up shot of this other piece of rock with her blurred out in the background. There is also a very intense sound. This shows the audience that she has a chance at safety and survival. There is also a lot of close up shots of her feet to give the effect that she may slip anytime soon. She then falls off and lands right next to the male. When she looks up she is confronted by the males face facing her covered in blood. This is concludes that he is dead, a sudden sound when this happened is used to jump scare the audience. We then hear chuckling and see the trees ruffling above her making it clear the threat hasn't disappeared. She then struggles up to run away and an intense sound is again introduced. She starts running through the trees, the sound intensifies throughout the run. When she gets through the other side she can see the car. This is another convention of horror films of when they see an escape but never quite get to it. It gives her and the audience a sign of safety and escape. She then staggers to the car, we then get a close up shot of barbed wire which is trips on causing her to fall over. This is another convention of horror films that they will trip over running from danger. Most of the time its females that do this in films due to societies perception that females are clumsier than males. She then just looks at the car until she gets pulled back out of shot in distress.

Research: The Importance Of Opening Titles

Opening titles are presented at the beginning of a film, a tv series or a game, they list the most important members of production. This is shown by text, sometimes has an interesting background which may include the cast in it to introduce the actors to the audience to make it look appealing and get them interested, some films create a mini movie that hasn't got much relation to the production to be followed before the actual production starts which may become very iconic e.g. the cabin in the woods. Many productions include background music also, sometimes the music composer creates their own music for the production, this is very popular in tv series as it makes the song and the tv series very iconic.

The opening titles usually include the producers/production company, this company coordinate and plan different parts of the production. They also made the actual film and may have financed majority of the production. The director, this person is the person who visions what the script will look like finished and controls the dramatic and artistic aspect. If there is a famous/very well known actors then their names will appear, to get more views this is due to the fact that many people may pay to see the film just because a actor they very much like is starring in the film. It may include the casting director which is the person that picked and auditioned the cast members, the casting director may even vision any well known actors that would make the perfect main character therefore not having to audition them due to the actors high reputation. The music composer may also be mentioned in the opening titles, this is the person who created any sounds used throughout the production and picked the songs used, any songs that are copyrighted will have to have the creators permission and most probably will have to pay a large sum of money to have the permission to use the song. The film editor will be mentioned, this will be done post film making and is the person who pieces together all the pieces of clips filmed. The editor also makes any of the special effects after filming and is done to make the production look very realistic. The name of the film then may be presented last or in the middle of the opening titles, some productions may not even put the film name in the opening titles. In some cases the makeup up artist may be mentioned especially if a lot of blood and gore is used in the film, this is done to make the film look very realistic also.

What opening titles may include:
Producers/production company
Directors
Editors
Cast directors
Music composer
Cast
Written by
Based on the story by
Costume designer
Film title
Makeup up artist

Research: Conventions in horror films

Conventions is the way you expect something to be. Many of the same media follow the same protocol, making them very predictable.

One of the conventions in horror films is the idea that if the victim is running away from the villain then the victim will trip over. This will then give the villain time to catch up with the victim and therefore kill them/take them, if he doesn't catch up with the victim there and then, the gap between the victim and villain will shorten making the chances of the villain catching up with the victim highly likely. This method is used commonly, as usually the audience has become to like the victim and therefore doesn't want the villain to kill the victim. When they are running it makes the audience feel like the victim doesn't have a chance of surviving, therefore making the audience feel on edge. 

Another convention of a horror film is the idea that one person out of the group of victims goes to investigate a strange noise which has occurred and they have all heard. The person who goes to investigate is most probably a member of the group who hasn't got a main part except for this scene and isn't very liked by the audience members or very known. They are also expected to go by themselves as the chances that they're about to be murdered is most probable. This makes the threat very real to the other members of the group and to the members of the audience. It also shows what may happen to the other members of the group as murderers usually use the same/similar method for all of their victims. It is usually the introduction to the murderer and their methods and this gets the story going.

Additionally, a secluded location is a also a convention of horror films, this tells the audience that there is no help nearby and therefore implying that theres even more danger than they already perceived. This is used in a lot of horror movies as it builds up a tense atmosphere as you know no one is surrounding them except the villain. It also allows the directors to create jump scares by using wild animals, a phone ringing or a tree banging on something to create noise. The audience have a prominent feeling there is danger even though it has been established there is no one anywhere around them. 

Preliminary task

I wasn't here but I made a preliminary task out of the footage that a group have filmed. 


Here is my video which I edited on premier pro

Foundation portfolio: what is it?

50% of your grade will be earned through your Foundation Portfolio. This consists of a preliminary task and a main task, the details of which can be found below.

The Preliminary Task is designed to illustrate the processes of pre-production, production and post-production that will be required, albeit in more detail, when you come to undertake the Main Task. The Preliminary Task is not marked but MUST be completed and submitted alongside the Main Task to the examiner. If it is not completed, marks are deducted from your Main Task.

The Main Task is marked out of 100. These marks are broken down as follows:

20 marks - Research into similar media products and planning of your own media product.
60 marks - Construction of your own media product including filiming and editing.
20 marks - Evaluation of your own media product.

All of your work must be posted to your blog as this will be accessed by the examiner in May of 2016.

For each of the criteria above, marks are available in 4 levels with level 4 being the highest. 

The progress thermometer below shows the key words for each level of the mark scheme.

This is what you have to do:

Preliminary Exercise

Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main Task

The titles and opening of a new teen horror film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks must be completed as a group. Maximum four members to a group.

Basic media terminology

Basic Camera Shots:

1. Establishing Shot 
2. Long Shot
3. Mid-Shot
4. Close-Up Shot
5. Extreme Close-Up Shot
6. Two Shot
7. Point Of View Shot

Basic Camera Angles:

1. High Angle 
2. Low Angle 
3. Over The Shoulder 

Basic Camera Movements: 

1. Panning 
2. Tracking In 
3. Tracking Out
4. Crabbing 
5. Arc 
6. Crane 
7. Tilt

180 Degree Rule:


The 180° rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another . When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle. 

Establishing Shot

Long Shot

Mid Shot

Close-Up Shot

Extreme Close-Up Shot

Two Shot

Point Of View Shot

Over The Shoulder Shot

High Angle

Low Angle

OCR guide to the 180 degree rule

OCR guide to basic camera angles

OCR guide to basic camera movements

OCR guide to basic camera shots