Exploring Our Chosen Genre

Thriller Films

Stereotypical Elements

All thriller / horror films consist of the same elements. There is always a murderer/entity that is out to get an individual or a group of individuals. The 'hero' then tries to find the cause of their turmoil and try to get it to leave or kill it. Usually no one believes the victims stories, and they tend to be alone whilst fighting whatever it is.The main character being continuously brave enough to follow every spooky noise, scream, or weird movement that they hear.

The storyline usually begins with something happening to them in earlier life, for example a loved one dying, or an unsolved mystery  which comes back to haunt them in later life. The best horror films usually involve children as it seems to make the films much more 'eerie' and closer to home. For example in 'The Woman In Black' the scariest parts involve the children as they are taken over by a woman seeking revenge for the death of her only son. The children almost kill themselves, as she makes them do things that they really shouldn't  like walking into the sea, drinking poison or jumping out of windows. Then there is the brave  undeserving victim who must find a way to stop these things from happening. Daniel Ratcliffe acts as the hero with the cunning plan in 'The Woman In Black' as he tries to return the corpse of the woman's dead son back to her, to end her torment and to prevent her from killing any more of the children. But in most scary film, the 'baddie' always comes back in someone to give the victim one last scare.

The children are  possessed, making us feel scared for them. 

Also they are young, making it more effective when they die.

The demonic children ghosts are scary due

 to their make-up and dirty dresses.

The protagonist in 'The Woman In Black'

Key Elements/Themes used in Horror Films

Horror films include most peoples worst fears to make them much more effective, and to scare the audience even more.

• Thriller-Sudden plot twists and lots of red herrings to keep the audience on edge. 'The Machinist' 'The Panic Room'
• Murders-Murders happen throughout the film, most of the time by a mysterious person or a group of people. 'Scream'
• Paranormal-Entities live in the house/in the person and their chaotic acts get worse throughout the film, and usually end in a death or deaths. 'Sinister' 'Paranormal Activity'
• Psychological-Films that challenge the audience on what is reality and what isn't real life. Usually leaves the audience confused but extremely absorbed. 'The Silence of the Lambs' 'Saw'

Characters

A film where it is very noticeable to see the basic character structure for horror films is 'Scream'. There are a number of 'Scream' films with similar character structure. There is the victim who has had an awful past, her love interest who comes across badly to the audience, the other 'dumb' people who almost ask to be killed and the police men who don't believe a thing. The main character (the victim usually) has a group of people on her side, who believe her but eventually the group gets whittled down. Many red herrings are thrown out during this film to make us as the audience question who is The Scream.

We need to establish the mother as a creepy character but also leave an element of doubt about what she is really up to.

                                                   The mysterious unidentified murderer

                                                      The protagonist/victim/main character

                                                            The love interest/murderer

There is usually a minor character in the film who is killed off first, to create a sense of danger while the film progresses, however not allowing the film to climax to soon. For example, at the beginning of 'Scream' we are introduced to a character whom we have no link with and a relationship isn't built, making us not miss her but still allowing us to be scared by what has happened to her.

In our film, we need to reveal a death fairly early on to create the same effect.



Use of mise-en-scene

Setting/Location

• Horror films are usually filmed in normal family houses, or outside in baron places where the person is isolated making them vulnerable and an easy target. The settings used in horror films can give you clues about the character. For example a girl's bedroom could tell you a lot about her personality. This also adds to the verisimilitude of the film as it makes it more realistic and less unbelievable as they are everyday locations.
• We have thought a lot about which door will figure as the door of our title and have found one at the end of a corridor which makes it seem more spooky.

Exposed place- Can't escape or characters can easily be found

Costume

• Depending on the time period costumes can vary. For example in 'The Woman In Black' is set in the Edwardian era, meaning the type of clothes they wear are the complete opposite to what modern horror films such as 'Insidious' characters wear. In a sense I believe that if it is set in a early time period such as the Edwardian era it makes the film much more scary because we as an audience can't relate to that period, so we don't know what could happen.
• Also it depends what character you are. The murderer is usually always depicted as the outsider;the person who no one in the town likes. So they usually wear dirty, old clothes. But sometimes when the murderer or 'baddie' turns out to be someone you least expect, they tend to wear similar clothes to what everyone else wears adding the element of fear as it makes you think anyone could be the murderer.
• We are setting our film in the present but will think about the mother's costume to make her look as ordinary as possible while hinting at a darker side.

Actors

• The casting is horror films is VITAL. I have realised this from looking at different films. It's vital because people must look the part to make the film really scary. The victim must look vulnerable, and an easy target to make the audience believe that they are the victim and the feelings they are feeling are real. The murderer must look strong but also have an eeriness about them and have an almost sinister look. For example the murderer in 'Wolf Creek' looks like a murderer. He has an odd look to him that makes you scared of him instantly. He almost looks dirty, the perfect casting for a 'baddie'.

                                                                                    The murderer from 'Wolf Creek'

Lighting

• Horror films usually take place in the night time when everything is a bit scarier. The darkness makes it harder for characters to pick things up, but the murderer always seems to have an advantage when it's dark as they always seem to be able to see the victim but the victim can't see them. The lighting is vital to create the scary mood/atmosphere that horror films need. A film that shows this perfectly is 'Paranormal Activity' as the ghosts only seem to come out at night.

As you can see from the time in the bottom right corner,

 all the 'paranormal activity' happens at night.

We don't have the equipment to work well at night, but as this is the opening sequence, I don't think this matters too much - we will not be getting onto the truly jumpy bits and are just setting the sceneProps

• Props act in a similar way to costume, they make the film more believable. Personal props can tell you a lot about the character. For example, mobile phones, books, toys etc. In action scenes in horror films props can also help to predict what is going to happen and can contribute to the verisimilitude. It can also make the films even scarier by things they find. For example, the mask used for 'Scream' doesn't allow us to see the face of the murderer making us afraid of the unknown. Also every time we see the mask, we know there is going to be a murder.

The scary dolls in 'The Woman In Black' 

add to the fear factor.

The scratched out photos create fear but also mystery. 

Who done it?

Common camera angles and movements

Most horror films use a variety of different types of camera shots to make the film more interesting and dramatic. A lot of tracking shot from the side, front and back create a disorientated distressed feel as it makes us feel as if the character is lost. Many establishing shots are also used to show the location and where the action is going to happen.  POV shots are used to allow the audience to feel sympathy towards the victims so that the audience can be put in their place. This creates a link between the characters and the audience building a relationship between them. This shot also allows them to feel more scared, however this shot is usual filmed from the protagonist’s perspective. Close ups of characters faces allows us to see how they react to situations and to things that have happened as it tells the audience how to feel. It also allows us to judge how the characters cope with the things happening to them and allows us to change our opinions on them. In psychological horrors many weird shots and camera angles are used to confuse the audience and make the film much wilder and deeper. Canted angles are usually used when a character has been knocked down and is slowly orientating themselves. This shows us the chaos and how that character is feeling. A great shot used in the best horror films is the shot of the murderer stabbing something or someone filmed at a low angle so that we can see the blood splattering on their face. This shot is effective as it can show the maliciousness of a person as they don't care.

We can see the anger in the characters face,

 and the blood splattered on his cheek to show the aggression.

We can see the fear/shock on the girls

 face when she realises what is behind her.

The utter fear and agony is portrayed on this woman's face,

 making us sympathise towards her.