Feedback for storyboard - Main brief

Casting profiles

Casting Profiles

This is our actress we have cast and this is her profile. Phoebe Haroon goes to our school and her availability is quite flexible. This is really great for us we will be able to contact her very easily regarding re-filming.
We figured her height, shorter than the previous actress, will create an element of innocence as she seems childlike. This will surprise the audience as they underestimate her timid stance. We will use her scars as recounts of how many souls the antagonist has taken and devoured. This actress is also affordable. Her difficulty to focus may be a letdown as were are on a tight schedule and cannot afford to go over filming time in order to get the perfect shots or re-film.


Her costume is similar to the previous actress', with smaller inched heels.















This candidate was chosen as his nationality and ethnicity comply with the convention of the Caucasian male being targeted by the antagonist in a horror film. His blonde hair and blue eyes will be used to represent oblivion as the victim has no control over what happens to him. It is favourable that he is in a relationship taken so he doesn't show any love interest towards the antagonist. We have eliminated all traits of love and replaced them with pure evil and hatred. The punctuality is a must have as we will start to film promptly and can't have cast running late and slowing the production down. This actor is also affordable.



The picture below shows are original costume for our actor, however this may be altered with white top and different jacket. This is because we feel it will portray innocence due to being our main protagonist/victim.

Character profiles for main brief

Character Profiles

Blair Regan is a 16 year old student at a private all-girls school. She has the perfect life, living with her adoring parents and 2 sisters and brother. She is a national figure skater and is seen to be the perfect child however she has a double life and is quite reckless with things involving sex and drugs - engaging in horrifying activities that she keeps hidden from her family. She fears the unknown 'murderer' as she believes their victims were killed because of a crime, a crime that she herself has also committed. From this memory, she believes that she is next in line for death so isolates herself from the world and her family. She is possessed by an unknown entity that she is unaware of, and has been since her 16th birthday - when she lost her virginity. Regan enjoys reading novels, sewing, watching chick flicks, figure skating, ice-skating, and acting.










Owen Wilson is a 18 year old university student. He has a low paid job on the side of his education getting him through his stereotypical university student life.He enjoys and gets along with his life. He is without a girlfriend but has a large group of friends who he shares his accommodation during university. Owen's interests involve going to the theatre, watching films, playing arcade games, and bowling. During our opening he is a victim who gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time where he was casually going home from the library where he was studying.

Narrative Structure

Good Example:

Blackout Job Roles

Blackout Roles

Main Brief - Storyboard

Blackout- Storyboard

Sheet 1 of Storyboard

This is our groups storyboard. 

On this first side on A4 sheet, we predominantly have production and distributors logos. 

The first shots that follow are parts of the antagonist, but not in detail so no information is given away.

Also the sound were using in this first sequence of shots is a horror soundtrack but really quiet to start with, which gradually is increased by the end.

Then on the second sheet, we are introduced to another character who's not the focus of the shot but can be seen in the background. 

We also have the disruption of the black eyes when the female blinks. We use a lot of diegetic and non diegetic sound here to signify the importance of this.

In the last sheet of the storyboard, the person in background is missing.

We then see this characters feet right at the end to show he has been killed.

Sheet 2 Storyboard

Main Brief - Overall Narrative Planning

Using Todorov's Theory:

Equilibrium - Two people in the elevator one male and one female.

Disruption of Equilibrium - Dead male in in the elevator and black eyed creature girl or women.

Dis-Equilibrium - Black eyed creature women or girl going round killing people by blinking but people don't know who it is.

Restore Equilibrium - Ex scientists who lost his job because people thought he was crazy researches the history of the blackout creatures and resolves how to kill them

New Equilibrium - Black out creatures are erased from existence or the public think that... 

Mise en scene in horror

What is Mise en scene ?
When applied to the cinema, Mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting. Mise-en-scène also includes the positioning and movement of actors on the set.

Mise en scene in Horror - Setting

A setting such as a cabin or a forest in a horror movie is used as it’s a great location for gaining a tense fearsome atmosphere. These locations are usually enclosed or cut off from civilisation and help, as the idea of being alone whilst somebody or something is coming after you is much more scary then there being access to help. Friday the 13th is famous for using the forests as a location and is one of the reasons it’s became a staple of the horror genre. In the Friday the 13th franchise, the forest is used as a way to make the characters (and through that extent, the audiences) feel lost and hopeless of escape. It’s also very common to use these locations at night as the limited vision due to the darkness as well as the trees covering up a lot of area makes the location ripe for a film that wants to have a lot of jump-scares.

Mise en scene in Horror - Props

Props are another key point of the horror genre as it can range from a weapon, to a spiritual artefact to even a just basic scary artefact. An example of what props can usually be found in a possession movie for example are crosses and bibles. These props are used as signs of religion, faith (or the loss of faith) and possessions. Movies like the Exorcist and the Exorcism of Emily Rose are rich with these props. A typical location for a cross would either be above the bedside of somebody who is going to become possessed, or sometimes it can even be found on top of a bible. A cross is always used during an exorcist scene, such in case of the Exorcist. Another big prop used is the weapon the villain carries such as a machete (Friday the 13th), a chainsaw (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) or even the kitchen knife (Halloween). These sorts of props are used not only as a means of the way characters die in horror movies, but also a means of association for whichever character holds that certain weapon. If you were to ask a horror fan which horror character uses the machete, the common answer would be Jason Voorhees. These props and the usage of these props can be found in the slasher sub-genre.

Mise en scene in Horror - Lighting and Colours

Lighting and Colours The lighting in horror movies are usually dark and atmospheric. This is used to create an effective setting and surrounding for a common jump-scare. An example of this is when a character is walking down a hallway when they're in the house by themselves and it's dark. The lighting making it dark works as it conceals whatever/whoever could be hiding in the darkness. The dark is also a common fear among many people so the usage of it is a play off of the common fears of people. If that same scene was shot in the bright day, it would lose its entire affect and atmospheric volume. The usage of colour in horror ranges from three colours depending on the sub-genre at play. In a slasher film, the colour red is predominant as in a slasher movie, a lot of blood is used. In a very typical horror movie, the usage of black and white is mostly used. The symbolism of these colours transcends the horror genre itself and is used in film as a whole to portray the contrast between good and evil, hero and villain and pure and lost. The white in horror typically portrays somewhat of a virgin character (typically) or the heroic nature of a character. The darkness and usage of black portrays the evil nature and the representation of loss of soul.

Mise en scene in Horror - costume, hair and make-up

Costume, hair and make-up The apparel of characters is very important in the genre as that alone can determine the style of a character and whether or not the character is good or bad. Certain costumes seen in movies come as tropes. For example, you can expect to see a little girl wearing a white dress (covered in mud or perhaps even blood), with black tattered hair and with a face that hasn't been washed. This is a trope that combines all of the apparel into one character. Again, within the slasher sub-genre, costumes are a big part of identifying the antagonist. Freddy Kruger is famous for wearing the green and red sweater and for having his make-up design consist of what looks like burnt skin. Jason Voorhees wears the hockey mask, but occasionally we've seen what is underneath that with the make-up department creating a disfigured face. In other cases however, make-up can be used to make a character look tired and scared. The swear and sometimes the scars of a victim can be used on a main protagonist to help us identify with their struggle and journey throughout the movie and is used to also show the progression of the characters survival throughout a movie.

Mise en scene in Horror - facial expressions and body language

Facial expressions and body language The use of facial expressions and body language are important to portray the fear that characters feel on-screen. This is important as the only way for us as an audience to feel fear through a character, is for that character to feel a certain degree of fear. The movement of a character can reflect fear, desperation, shock and tension. For example, in The Shining, the facial expressions of the female character when Jack tries to break down the door is simply horrific in its own right and portrays the pure horror that the scene would realistically entail. Zombies in films like Dawn of the Dead or Night of the Living Dead are very slow in the way they move and their body language is typically slightly slouched over to a side as they approach a victim. This particular trend was recently turned on its head though with movies like 28 Days Later and even the re-make of Dawn of the Dead with the introduction of running zombies which appear more threatening as the speed and velocity are now increased. This had a counter-effect on the Friday the 13th franchise however. Whereas Jason Voorhees was known for his stoic walking in previous movies, the reboot incorporated the character running. The reason this wasn't as effective is because the brooding and slow walk of that particular character became a staple of what that character was and his incredible power made up for his slow speed. This is why body movement and facial expressions are very important in horror movies, as it can have a positive or negative effect depending on the character, scenario and movie.

Mise en scene in Horror - Visual effects

Visual Effects Unlike most other genres, horror is the one that hasn't really been effected by visual effects in terms of special effects added in during the post-production stage. A lot of the horror genre still utilizes practical effects. One of the biggest pioneers in recent memory when it concerns the usage of practical effects is Sam Raimi who used the style in his Evil Dead movies. The use of visual effects in movies is needed to create something that otherwise can't be accomplished on-screen in the realms of reality without a bit of "smoke and mirrors". In a slasher movie, to accomplish the realistic looking effect of somebody having a body part dismembered or having somebody burnt, the use of visual effects need to be used to portray a realistic looking depiction of that action.

Narrative Structure

What is narrative in media?

Narrative is the media term for storytelling. Narrative is the way the different elements in a story are organised to make a meaningful story. Some of these elements can be facts as in a documentary, or characters and action as in a drama.

/What is narrative structure?

This is the way the story or plot unfolds. Is the story an open or closed structure?  A closed structure means the story ends satisfactorily as in most films – this is known as closure. An open ending means there is no final conclusion to the story – a television soap has no final ending, it just has minor endings.

TODOROV'S THEORY

Todorov’s theory has three main parts:

1. The text begins with a state of equilibrium – everything appears to be normal or calm.

2. There is some kind of disruption or disequilibrium – this is often a threat to the normal situation or it could be just a setback.

3. A new equilibrium is produced to end the narrative. In the best narratives there is some kind of change for the better perhaps in the main character’s behaviour or outlook on life.

Good Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LLaybEuzA - the purge trailer

Hybrid Horrors

What is a hybrid horror ?

A Hybrid is something of mixed origin or composition, when

two films genres are combined together in order to create a

combination of both the films. E.g the combination of a sci- fi

film and a Horror - this is a hybrid.

Examples of Hybrid Horrors

• Deadlands - Cross between western and horror
• Alien - Cross between sci-fi and horror

Reason for not producing a hybrid horror

We decided not to produce a hybrid horror because it 

wouldn't have been cost efficient and also very time 

consuming and we only had a limited amount of time, also 

there wouldn't of been any continuity meaning that the 

editing would've been difficult and the opening would've 

been jumpy.