StoryBoard for the opening of our horror film Peek-A-Boo

The purpose of a storyboard in general is to photograph (draw/digitalised) each and every shot that is going to appear in the film which involves a list of key information written underneath each shot. Storyboards allow the director of a film to visualise the whole film even before they have started filming and the storyboard allows the cameraman shooting the film to understand how the film should be shot. The befits of this is it allows you to change elements of the film and its shots if they don't seem to work visually before the expensive filming  process has begun. the frame of a storyboard shout contain -
The shot number- each shot must be numbered so the intended sequence of shots can be followed.


Framing- Whether the shot will be a close up for example or a medium long shot.


Drawing- So there is a visual image of what is happening in the shot.


Action- This is a brief description of whats happening in the shot.


Dialogue - Single lines may be written in order to understand in what shots dialogue is needed.


Sound effect- This is if their is any specific sounds diegetic and non diegetic.


Abbreviations can be used.
Therefore before making the opening of our horror film we have storyboarded the opening sequence in order to make the filming process as easy and possible and so we are organised and know what is needed when it comes to collecting/filming our footage.


The storyboard for Peek-A-Boo

Character Profile

Every film has one main character and one or more major characters .The main character is generally always the protagonist which is the hero of the film. However in our opening of our film Peek-A-Boo the main character is the antagonist which is the villain. Our main character is Dolly Pocket as you can see below she is a serial killer .The supporting character in the opening scene is Tanya she is sadly the victim of Dolly Pocket in the opeing of our film Peek-A-Boo.

Main character

Name: Dolly Pocket

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Occupation: Unemployed serial killer, she is a former mother with a deceased child

Appearance/costume: Dolly has the appearance of a deranged human doll. She wears heavy make up consisting of bright rosy cheeks , a pure white face, dark black make up round her eyes and she wears her hair in high pigtails. Her costume is a doll outfit and she has scratched over her skin from her murder missions.

Characteristics: Dolly is an angry character that is full of jealousy , she is a common psychopath that is revenge seeking and disillusioned over her child being still alive.

                                    Major character



Name: Tanya

Age: 26

Occupation: Nurse and mother

Appearance/costume: Tanya wears tidy appropriate clothes that are comfortable , she wears her hair in a short cropped hairstyle for efficiency .She wears smart glasses and natural make up and in general has a gentle look about her

Characteristics:

Tanya is a kind, maternal, loving character that is hugely good natured. The opposite to Dolly Pocket

Task Four- Film certificates

Every film that is made has to be awarded an age certificate in order to show what age range the film is most appropriate for. This is done in Britain by the British board of film classification which is a non –governmental organisation that is funded by the film industry which is responsible for the censorship of films in the United Kingdom. There are many different certificates under the BBFC. These are:

The first is the certificate Universal . This means all ages can be admitted to watch the film as there is nothing unsuitable in the film that should not be seen by a child under four.

The next rating is PG meaning parental guidance. This means all ages can be admitted but certain scenes may be inappropriate to children under the age of eight.The film may contain some mild language and sex/drug references and there may be moderate violence of justfied by the context.

This certificate was introduced in 2002.Films under the certificate 12A are considered to be unsuitable for very Young children and people. People at the age of 12 are aloud into the cinema if accompanied by an adult who must be at least 18.It is not recommended that people under the age of 12 should view the film this is because films under this certificate may contain mature themes, some discrimination as well as soft drugs and moderate swear words, along with infrequent strong language and moderate violence and sex references.

The next certificate is 12 , 12A films are usually given the certificate 12 for home video unless other material has been added to the film which may require a higher rating to be added. Nobody under the age of 12 can buy or rent a film rated 12 due to the fact the film contains either infrequent drugs and strong language , brief nudity and discreet sexual activity along with moderate violence.

 The next certificate is a fifteen. Only those of the age fifteen of higher are allowed to view the film at the cinema. Therefore nobody under the age of 15 can buy or rent a film with this certificate.A film rated 15 can contain adult themes , strong language as well as the use of strong language and moderate/strong violence and sex references , and not detailed sex activity.

The final and highest certificate is 18. This is when adults are only admitted to view the film at the cinema or buy and rent a film with the certificate 18.Films under this category have no limitation on things such as bad language and hard drugs in general are allowed along with strong violence/sex references and strong sexual activity. If justified by the context real sexual scenes may be permitted.  

Our film Peek-A-Boo will be rated wither fifteen or eighteen as even though the gore and violence is not strong. The adult theme of a babies death is inappropriate for a young audience to view. Therefore due to adult themes the film can be no lower than a fifteen rating because of this. The context of murder also in our horror film is also inappropriate for those of a young age as the scenes are dark opposes to comical meaning it may be disturbing to those below fifteen and maybe even eighteen.

Task 4 -The Pitch

4.1-4.2 In this task we were suppose to come up with four concepts for either horror, romcoms or thriller films. We were also suppose to outline the basic plot/storyline.

1.Peak A-BOO

Lady dresses up as a doll. She stalks parents with babies due to jealousy, because she has lost her own daughter.

Scene opens with close ups on doll, teddy bears, baby clothes, at first proper toys, and then toys and dolls with eyes ripped out and destroyed. When camera films a close up of a cot the scene dissolves into a dark night.

Creepy woman stalks a woman with her baby in a pram. 
We keep filming the shadows of the creepy woman, dressed as a doll, as she continuously says peak A-BOO. Last time she says it, she shouts it out and attacks the woman, ends up with killing her. And p o v of the baby in the dead mothers cot of the creepy doll face she carries on repeating peek a boo the camera dissolves again showing the same pov shot of the creepy doll women looking into a cot however you see from a long shot she is back home she picks up baby which is a skeleton sits in the teddy’s and cry’s and rocks the baby crying peek a boo titles boom on.

2.Trapped

Young children /teenagers knock on a creepy women’s house and ask if they can sleep over as they are lost and need a place to sleep. As they get directed into different rooms, toys begin to come alive and attack the teenager. Now the party of teenagers are unable to get out they need to find a way to escape fast as the old women begins to turn on them to!

3.Possessed

Man comes home from work, he gets possessed by evil spirit as he walks through his door, and the spirit has control over his mind and body. The spirit then kills the man’s wife. The spirit leaves the body when the job is done and the man is left shocked and confused at what has happened then the spirit attaches to another and keeps doing so until everyone is dead.

4.Run

The scene opens with freak accident with a group of drunken teenagers messing about near a lake. In the chaos a girl is brutally drowned and left for dead by friends the scene cuts to the present and you see a ghostly figure of the girl rise eerily from the daughter with a knife with red eyes ready to attack those who left her to die so terribly.


Conclusion


We decided to discard ideas 2, 3 and 4 this is due to a variety of reasons. Film 2 (trapped) we believed would be hard to accommodate for as it involved very high rate settings and allot of characters something that in our predicament would be to hard to get hold of . We also feared that the film could to easily come across quite comical rather than scary which is not what a horror film should be.


the third horror film idea (possessed) we discarded, even though it was a strong idea, as the filming element of the opening would be hard to carry out realistically as the concept of the spirit entering and leaving the body would be hard to edit and capture in some manner.


Finally we discarded the fourth idea (run) as we believed the plot line to be weaker than the rest and underdeveloped and also rather predictable something we didn't want our opening of our horror film to be, as we wanted excitement and the unpredictable to happen . Another aspect which led us to discard film idea 4 was the danger aspect ,the idea of the freak accident would be to dangerous to film or even try to. Therefore we chose film idea one.


In conclusion we chose to make film number one; Peak A-BOO. This because it involved less people in the movie, this makes the film easier to produce, as it is hard to find actors that are willing to work and use their spare time needed for the movie to be made well. It also had the scariest and most twisted plot line, to keep the audience interested. We also felt that this idea had the most depth to the characters, so there was a wide range of possibilities to work with.

Pie Chart evidence of Our Horror Questionnaire

Horror Questionnaire results

Questionnaire results

Ten people answered the questionnaires on various questionnaires more than one answer was required
For our two minute film opening we have decided to make the opening of a horror film in order to prepare for this we made and sent out ten questionnaires based in horror dynamics in order to retrieve information on what an audience of a horror movies desire so when it comes to making and editing our film we have a clear idea of what will most appeal to our audience .

1) What age group of characters best suit a horror film? 

Teenagers = 9/10

Children=1/10

2) Do you expect to see violence and gore?

Yes=9/10

No=1/10

3) Who is your favourite evil horror character?

Michael Myers=1

Chuckie=1

Sprits in various films=2

Freddie Kruger=1

Hannibal lector =2

Pinhead=1

Preacher in poltergeist=1

4) Who is your favourite hero in a horror movie?

Van Helsing =3/10

Special agent graham=3/10

Unknown=2/10

Care worker in case 39=1/10

The victim in hostel=1/10

5) What kind of music do you expect to see in a horror film e.g. famous song/backing track?

(People answered more than once)

Backing track=5/10

Loud music=1/10

Eerie/spooky music=3/10

Silence=1/10

6)What do you think of changing gender dynamics in a horror film?

Yes=4/10

No=4/10

Not bothered=2/10

7) How do you expect the title in a horror movie to appear e.gfast slow, big small and where on the screen and the effects present – fading in and out?

Fast=2

Slow=5

Fade in and out=7

Various effects=1

Big=6

Small=3

Centre position=3

What kinds of settings do you expect to see in a horror movie?

Bedroom=1

Dark backstreet=3

At work=0

Woods=6

What is your favourite horror movie?

Zombie land=1

Silence of the lambs=1

Dawn of the dead=1

Scream=1

Final destination =1

6^th sense=2

Halloween=1

Jeepers creepers=1

Unknown=1

How do you expect the editing to be in a horror movie?

Twist=2

Not bothered=3

Sharp=2

Slow=1

Fast=2

Analysis

From the survey we have drawn the conclusion that most candidates liked teenagers and children as the main type of character in the horror film. This suggests that they liked the idea of innocence present in a character which is manipulated as children and teenagers are usually viewed as more innocent then adults as they are stereotypically less knowledgeable. Therefore suggesting when children and teenagers are the antagonist it is much more disturbing and wrong as it is unnatural.

A large number, nine out of ten, expected to see violence and gore in a horror film inferring that people associate a horror film with a lot of violence and acts of murder or pain. Whereas only one person voted no to violence and gore implying the idea that a horror film doesn’t necessarily have to contain violence and gore instead mental violence ,hurt and breakdown . implying not all horror s have to contain blood .   

The next two questions consisted of asking people there favourite hero and villain characters were in a horror film and why. There was a range of answers implying that a range of creatures or evil characters are viewed as equally scary in the horror genre. The reasons to why consisted of people feeling sensitive when the villain was a spirit for example saying they felt unprotected and unsure as the hero couldn’t protect themselves physically . other answers consisted that their favourite movie villains were people who had an appearance at first of purity but turned out evil e.g. Hannibal lector and Michael Myers who was a child at the beginning of a film this suggests that the audience like characters who appear as something they or not implying a sense of mystery is liked.

The heroes on the other hand such as Van Helsing were predominately male except for a few exceptions implying that a male character as the hero is viewed as most realistic as the reasons why consisted of strength and braveness something usually associated with the male gender opposed to female . However some people liked female heroes such as the case worker in case 39 suggesting sometimes a women hero is liked as it challenges the norms of a stereotypical horror film when the women is seen usually as the damsel in distress . This idea is reinforced on the gender dynamic question where 4 candidates like the idea of a women hero or villain with two not being fussed implying that the gender dynamics of women is a topic open to the public who are ready to embrace it.

People also voted that the music in a horror film should be a backing track opposed to a famous song containing as a backing track more spooky loud and eerie suggesting people found the music in a horror film important towards creating the scary horror setting.

The most popular setting for a horror film was the woods and a dark backstreet inferring that the audience liked places which were silent, dark and mysterious as both places are very good hiding places such as the woods where the antagonist can hide.

The majority of the questionnaire answerers seemed to prefer horror film titles that faded in and out and titles that were in the centre of the screen along with fading in and out slowly this inferring that there is a set particular style of titles that the audience like film makers to conform to that include the titles appearing slowly and fading in and out at the same time. It is implied in order to build u suspense and tension stereotypically. A majority of the questionnaire answerers also stated they like the idea of the titles appearing blood like suggesting gore is liked at the very beginning of the film rather than introduced slowly.

A range of horror films on question nine implied that a set type of horror film is not always desired by the audience and they like a range of films as each type of film had a different sub genre or very different characters from human to alien. This suggesting that our horror film does not necessarily need to stick to a certain type of horror film as the idea of variety is highlighted in this question.

The desired editing in a horror film varied greatly with some answerers confused at how they like to see a horror film edited however fast cuts were highly desired implying the audience like there horror films to be fast paced as the fast cuts create a sense of excitement and tension giving the impression the film is heading. This is something to consider when filming and editing our horror film. 

Analysing the box office data for each genre on UK film council website

This table from the 2010 box office shows the amount of horror, thrillers and romance films released in that year. The results show that horror had the most releases in the year compared to the other genres inferring that the Uk audience most likely want to view horror films at the cinema more than say the romantic films as more horror films were released implying there is a larger demand for them. Making horror a good genre of film to make as it is suggested to be the most popular film for the Uk audience .

However even though romance only had nineteen releases there gross profit was slightly higher than horror at 58.4 compared to horror which grossed 51.1. this may be however because in 2010 more key releases and anticipated films in the romantic genre were released in 2010, for example the most popular film for romance in 2010 was The twilight Saga this is a well-known franchise so more people are likely to go see it compared to new horrors that are fresh on the market as they are already fans of the previous films. Even though paranormal activity 2 is a sequel the fan base for the films are nowhere near as big as the Twilight Saga which is a international phenomenon.  

The next table shows the average box office per site of each genre in 2010. The results show that the average box office per site for romance  was higher than the thriller and horror genres at 18,861 compared to 13,151 for thriller and 11,624 for horror. However horror still grossed more than thriller implying even though it was released at fewer venues where it was released the films did very well indeed. Taking this into consideration the results also suggest that horror is a profitable market as romance was released at more venues implying they can reach a wider range of people than horror and thriller and seems as horror only grossed slightly less than romance it implies the horror film is a good market to invest in as it still makes huge gross and is still in competition with other genres such as romance. Even though it does not necessarily get aired to as many people.

Task 3 research into the drama -Christian Metz model of genre

This task consisted of identifying films in the horror drama and using Christian Metz's model of development.
Introducing Metz theory

Christian  Metz in his book Language and cinema(1974)explored the development of genre film and suggested that genres pass through four phases of existence these being :

1)The experimental

2)The classic

3)The parody (spoof)

4)The deconstruction

Explanation of the four phases-

1) By the experimental  stage we mean the phase of early films that explored and experimented with the horror genre themes in it's narratives.These films included Nosferatu (1922),The Cabinet of Dr Caligari(1919). This is because they helped to formalize the narrative conventions of the horror films in it's earliest phase.                                                                                                                Christian Metz     

2)By Classic we mean the phase of films established from the narrative convention of horror. It is the most successful defining period for the genre horror. These include the Hollywood films Dracula (1931) , Frankenstein (1931).All these films were made by universal.

3)Parody means films that have mimicked the horror genre in some type of comical way. Films in this category include Carry on screaming (1969),Scary movie (1999). These films were also created by universal studios it seems as time progressed universal looked for a different type of horror to be incorporated with there classic horrors they had already produced.

4)By deconstruction we mean films which have taken the genetic element of the horror genre and integrated them into varying sub genres.Such films that fall into this category are Seven(1999) which has a sub genre of thriller , The sixth sense (1999) which has a sub genre of supernatural/thriller, The Blair witch project (1998) which has a sub genre of documentary and Scream ( 1996) which has a sub genre of teen horror.

Some argue there is a second period of Classic films which appeared in the 1970's this is when a new age of horror emerged with films appearing such as Friday the 13th and Halloween.This films were re imagined and now contained more gore and graphic images.

Along with the Hollywood horror films introduced to us early on the British film makers also latched on to the German expressionism. Such films usually included the famous actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee who starred along each other in many horror films the Dracula saga being one of many.

Horror mood board

This is my mood board for a horror i have added some pictures which stereotypically corrospond with the genre horror and ideas that could be present in a horror film. Such as a knife a connotation of violence and gore and a dilapadated house a connotation of spookiness /daunting all things which are associated with the genre horror.

Romantic Comedy mood board

This is my mood story board for a romantic comedy.A mood story board is a type of poster design that may consist of images,text and sample objectives Designers and others use mood boards to develop design concepts and communicate to people on the design team. Mood boards are also used like here to explain a certain style of film. I have picked certain images that are a connotation of romance such as flowers which the connotation of which is girly and pretty and marriage as this is associated with love and romance something usually present at the beginning of a romantic comedy or at the end.

Comparing and contrasting Romantic comedies

The two romantic comedies I was comparing and contrasting were how to lose a guy in ten days directed by  Perrie made in 2002 starring Kate Hudson  and Just like heaven directed by Mark Waters made in 2008 . The first difference between these two films is they are made by two different studios so there is bound to be differences between the two films of the same genre. Just like heaven belongs to DreamWorks which was created by Spielberg and How to lose a guy in ten days was created by paramount, However DreamWorks is part of paramount.

The beginning of How to lose a guy in ten days starts off with the incidental music starting when the studio titles appear and continues throughout the titles creating a sound bridge. Which creates the atmosphere of a fun bouncy uplifting feel to the movie from the word go. This is different to the incidental music at the beginning of red dragon and Halloween as the music in both of those particular films was very dark and dreary so you instantly know this film is the polar opposite to that. The colours in this movie also contrasts to those present  in the horrors as the titles were red , and black in the horror titles whereas in this romantic comedy the titles are pink and orange and look very subtle and soft which is very stereotypical of romance and love. The images behind the title are also very female orientated as there are bright glossy magazines with female related queries.

In comparison to horror the main character is introduced in these opening titles where in Halloween the characters were not introduced until after the titles had ended. This is shown visually by her being present in the articles and clips of her life springing up and sliding on to the screen. This Creates the effect also of a magazine being photo shopped for one of her articles. The bounce to the titles also gives a lively atmosphere which is stereotypical of a romantic comedy as everything is seen to be perfect. As the final title swipes in “the lose a guy” part of the film title is bolder implying this will be her next article.

Both Romantic comedies present two very independent empowered successful women with glamorous jobs such as in How to lose a guy in ten days the women is a magazine journalist whereas in Just like heaven she is a doctor. Both jobs are very respectable implying this is a key feature of romantic comedies (for the main woman to be this powerful figure). Another similarity between the two romantic comedies is the fact there titles stem into their main action and don’t stop until about four minutes into the film. Implying this also is a key convention of this genre, this along with the sound bridge at the start of both films as the studio title appears infers the genre is a rom com as it sets the atmosphere instantly as upbeat and exciting in both films. Both romantic comedies also contain well known popular songs such as Katie Melua whose song features in Just like heaven suggesting romantic comedies aim to be up to date and with the times so there films see fresher and more realistic.

As How to lose a guy in ten days continues into its opening scene two girls are presented as friends and colleagues from there closeness and banter which is stereotypical of girls having girly chats about boys. As the titles end the last name is the directors this is the same in Just like heaven inferring this is the person of main importance. The main actor is then presented to us. It is made obvious this is the main male in the film as he very attractive and handsome which is stereotypical of all male leads in these types of films the same is apparent in Just like heaven. The man is wearing a leather jacket and riding a motor bike suggesting a stereotypical rebel character giving him the appearance of someone very cool and good-looking, therefore living up to obvious male lead role. The woman in the scene with the male lead are power dressing again creating the idea of a perfect world where women have dream jobs and therefore the audience aspires to be like them.

Like How to lose a guy in ten days the title background in Just like heaven is formed of pink fluffy colours implying the genre of this movie is also romantic comedy as pink is a connotation of romance. After the studio title mentioned previously the camera then switches to an aerial shot floating down, rotating down to a rose garden and again roses are a connotation of love. The clouds the camera floats through is a play on words because the word in the of film title “heaven” give a connotation of clouds. This is revealed as a daydream which is stereotypical of women who dream of a perfect world.


Like How to lose a guy in ten days her job is evident as she is wearing a green medical outfit a connotation of doctor. The titles continue as mentioned previously as the action continues and the female lead is revealed as an overworking friendly girl shown by a close up of the coffees she keeps drinking which is a connotation of tiredness but also determination to work to the best of her ability as she does not stop. The shot reverse shot between her and her sister reveal her sister to have the opposite life to her as she has a family and kids where it is revealed the female lead only has her job as her co workers say to her in the bathroom “at least you only have work to worry about”.

This is different to How to lose a guy in ten days ,even though romance is the centre role the background story is very different implying there is a wide diversity in the different types of rom coms available.

In conclusion there are wide range of similarities and difference in these rom coms but in the opening sequence there is a lot of similar conventions that are presented as always being  used  in romantic comedies  such as the vast majority of songs being  played throughout as in both films as the songs are instantly springing u again and again suggesting this is used too help the story along and reveal what is happening to the characters  more clearly through song. Both books are novels this is why they may have been made into movies as there is already an existing audience for them.

This is the promotional poster for the 2003 film Red dragon