Main influences - The woman in black

We were influenced by a variety of different movies which are as follows:

• The Woman In Black
• American Horror Story: Murder House
• Insidious
• The Witch
• Poltergeist
• Saw Franchise

The techniques that influences us involved editing, camera angles, mise-en-scene and sound. Most of the horror movies operate with low key lighting which is a reoccurring theme within our videos. Additionally, there are a variation of slower shot durations (to increase suspense) or quicker shot durations to increase tension.

 

Firstly, I chose The Woman in black due to it using many conventions of the horror genre which inspired me to make my film opening similar to it. For example, the mise-en-scene used were dim lighting, which makes an eerie atmosphere by (using Barthes enigma theory) using the action code which does not give a clear storyline ,therefore creating tension which then makes the audience wonder what will happen next, making them want to watch more. In my film opening, I will include dim lighting by filming in the dark and using candles to give a little light and create a tense and frightening atmosphere. Using Barthes enigma theory, my aim was to mainly use the symbolic and proairetic code to symbolise the danger which was about to commence and therefore making the audience want to watch more.  

In addition, the location is at a haunted house, which I will also be doing in my film opening as my storyline is a stereotypical teenage horror/thriller genre movie, which includes sleepovers and death. Houses are also a stereotypical location for psychological thriller films as it seems more realistic to the target audience watching and therefore take more interest into it. Using Barthes Enigma Theory, the proairetic code is used, which builds tension and refers to an action or event that may occur, which then makes the watcher want to watch more. The audience may also be scared by the fact that they have the knowledge the house within this media text is haunted. This code also works with the hermeneutic code to develop the story's tensions to keep the watcher interested. However in my film opening, I will be using a low angle point of view shot on the house, whereas this trailer for Insidious just uses more variety within its shots and does not take on a walkthrough style video.

Moreover, the editing used are fade-in's, fade-out's with credits a which are used at a slow pace to create tension and blackouts were used to maintain the tension and make the audience watching wonder what will happen next (proairetic code) at 1:27-1:30. Also, a few fast cuts were used when showing the main title with the use of loud non-diegetic sounds of heavy drums at 1:18- 1:23 This is another key convention of the horror/thriller genre as loud music and fast cuts are used to frighten the audience and make them jump. The film’s title is not shown until 1:33 within this trailer and is shown for around 5 seconds so that the audience will remember the film as it is frightening and the text and font used is dark but old fashioned, with the colour black used to connote danger, anger and death and also to relate to the film’s title.

Furthermore, the cinematography used were close up shots at 1.04 and 1:08. Close-ups are used to emphasise the characters emotions and makes the audience sympathise with them. However at 1:09 in the woman in black trailer, the close up is used to focus on the scary statue to distract the audience from other events that may spoil the storyline or may occur in the future. In addition, an over the shoulder shot is used to show an image of the victims family, whom are stereotypically victims in horror/thriller films because they're more sentimental and therefore more likely to be vulnerable when an event occurs. However in my film opening, I will be using two teenagers as my main victims as the story plot includes them playing with tarot cards and
facing their dreadful fate.

  

Also, medium shots and wide establishing shots used are used to give the viewer a partial view of the scenery within the house, so that they are aware where the main action takes place within the film.

Using Young and Rubicam's 4C's model, The woman in black  is aimed at the strugglers due to them seeing themselves as victims whom seek escape, therefore they tend to watch more sic-fi and horror movies. They are ranked E/D audience as people whom are ranked C and above are the succeeders and explorers whom are people who tend to be driven by discovery and have a strong goal orientation and are more organised. They also tend to watch things such as documentaries and films based on real life stories such as war or period films. Therefore in conclusion, my horror/thriller film The Sleepover will be aimed at the strugglers due to them being the main target audience when it comes to producing horror/thriller films.

Using the GEARS model, my film wouldn't be ideal for young children as they will be too scared and horror genre films are too graphic, whereas elderly people will find it boring as it's not realistic and prefer to watch documentaries. Therefore my target audience will be aged 15-21.