EC: Analysis of a Title Sequence - The Shining (Kubrick, 1980)

Order of titles:

1. Stanley Kubrick                           (Director)
2. Jack Nicholson                           (Lead male role)
3. Shelly Duval                               (Lead female role)
4. The Shining                                (Title)
5. Danny Lloyd                               (Secondary actor)
6. Scatman Brothers
7. Barry Nelson
8. Philip Stone
9. Joe Turkel
10. Anne Jackson
11. Tony Burton
12. Jan Harlan                                     (Executive Producer)
13. Stephen King                                (Author of original novel)
14. The Producer Circle Company     (Production Company)
15. Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson
16. Produced & Directed by Stanley Kubrick

• The titles roll down the screen at the same speed. The general trend is that numbers 1-5 and 12-16 are larger than numbers 6-11, due to importance in the making of the film
• The film title is the 4th title to appear

Typography:

• Font - Neat, average
• Colour - Light Blue
• Animation - Scroll (bottom to top)
• Position - Middle line of the screen
• Size - Taking up a 3rd of the width

Relationship between titles and visuals:

• The titles don't have any relationship in terms of visual style
• The titles aren't used to convey anything about the film

HS - Task 9 - KJ: Analysis of Title Sequence

The Purge

Order of titles:

1) Universal pictures presents
2) A platinum dunes / Blumhouse / Why not production
3) Ethan Hawke
4) Lena Heady
5) Adelaide Kane
6) Max Burkholder
7) Edwin Hodge
8) Casting By: Lisa Fields
9) Costume design by: Lisa Norcia
10) Music by: Nathan Whitehead
11) Edited by: Peter Gvozdas
12) Production design by: Melanie Paizis-Jones
13) Director of photography: Jacques Jouffret
14) Produced by: Jason Blum
15) Produced by: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller
16) Written and directed by: James Demonaco

- Short duration between each title, 2 or 3 seconds, consistent, major roles however are on screen for slightly longer period of time.
- Film title does not feature in clip.

- The font is a San Serif font in white and rather small size compared to the rest of the screen. It is being played over background clips of CCTV footage of violent attacks, so the use of a small font suggests that the audience are being made to focus on the clips not the credits.

- There is a subtle animation when the font disappears, of a computer bugging/glitching, suggesting that the film is more of a modern horror, with technological horror aspects, rather than relying on more traditional techniques for effect such as costumes and settings.

Own production:

- I believe a good name for our production would be; 'The Presence' or 'No Escape'. This is because they both connote the use of an antagonist who sneaks up on their victims, which is a trait of the antagonist in our production.

- I did some research into possible fonts that would be appropriate for our production:

 

 

 

EC: Storyboard

• This shot is of the protagonist/victim being stalked by the antagonist/killer
• In the shot before, the killer was nowhere to be seen, but the camera does a pan (or anything similar to have the protagonist out of shot briefly) and when it swoops back, the killer is right behind them
• The antagonist doesn't notice the killer and carries on with what they were doing
• This is a conventional sequence in slashers and supernatural horrors
• The mid-shot of the protagonist keeps the expected focus of the audience on them, making the sudden appearance of the killer more effective in shocking the audiance

EC: Still Frame Experimentation

• The fact that the knife is bright highlights it against the dark background, hinting to its use
• The hidden identity of the person suggests mystery and invites the audience to theorise about the possibilities of their identity
• The hood up suggests negative intentions of the person, as hoods are associated with 'thug-like violence'
• The dark background is appropriate for a gothic slasher, as the location is usually hard to navigate for victims. Also, it is unknown how far the grass goes, and whether it is a field or a small area, creating more unknown factors
• The lack of a detailed backgrounds means that the rule of thirds is less effective in highlighting key features of the frame, but is more effective in emphasising them. With this in mind, I found it appropriate to have the knife in the lower half of the middle of the frame. I did this as I wanted it to be the last thing that the audience noticed, imprinting its image in their mind for the next scene. I found that putting the knife in any other position made it too obvious - as the blade is bright and clearly stands out. However, when I put it on the very edge of the frame, it was too subtle, and would probably;y be missed by the audience (depending on the cutting rate)

The conventions of this frame are:

• The knife
• The hidden identity
• The darkness
• The unknown location

HS - Task 7 - Deconstruction of an opening sequence

HS - Task 7 - Deconstruction of an opening sequence

Scream (Craven, 1996)

Genre:

Scream is in the 'Slasher' sub-genre of horror, a specific genre with a general trait of featuring a mysterious villain who stalks and dispatches multiple victims. In Scream, there is an antagonist with a white mas wielding a knife who invades the homes of teenage/young adult victims. This is conventional of the slasher sub-genre, putting scream into this sub-genre.

Camera:

During the build-up of tension in the opening sequence of Scream, lots of close-ups and medium close-ups of the protagonist are used in order to convey her facial expressions, usually of confusion. An example of one of these shots is when the antagonist says to the protagonist over the phone "I want to know who i'm looking at", suggesting he is watching the antagonist as she speaks on the phone. Instantly after this, the camera zooms into a close up of the face of the protagonist, showing her fear and confusion. This marks the part of the sequence where the events become more sinister, so the change in facial expression from calm and happy, to scared and confused helps to signify this event. The use of a fast moving handy-cam creates a present feel and more visceral pleasure for the audience. This because it is a present techniques so the audience feel more like part of the action, therefore creating more visceral pleasure as the events seem more realistic. An example of the use of handy-cam can be seen when the camera is following the protagonist when she is running around the house to lock the doors. The creates a sense of urgency and panic which is reflected in the visceral pleasure the audience receive and creates sense of jeopardy for the protagonist.

Editing:

The use of continuity editing helps to create a build up of tension in the opening sequence. There is a conversation between the antagonist and protagonist over the phone, so long cuts are used to show the exchanges of dialogue which used to signify events in the sequence. The whole telephone conversation is edited using long cuts to represent the scene as being calm and controlled, however when the tension rises and there is a sense of jeopardy, there is a change in cutting rates, and the cutting rate increases to represent panic. Shorter more frequent cuts are used to represent action, and in this case, the protagonist running around to lock the doors to protect herself from the antagonist.

Mise-en-scene:

The use of a the young female character is conventional to the slasher sub-genre of horror. This because the dominant ideology is that females tend to be weaker and more vulnerable than males so the use of female characters in horror films increases the sense of jeopardy and creates the sense of a 'Damsel in Distress', creating more tension and therefore more visceral pleasure. The use of a house for the setting of a horror film is also an effective technique for creating fear for the audience. This is because the idea of an antagonist being in the very personal space that is someones house is disturbing to the audience, and therefore more visceral pleasure received.

Sound:

The use of dialogue is an effective way of building up tension slowly. As the antagonist and protagonist begin exchanging dialogue it seems innocent and a friendly conversation but when the antagonist says his iconic line "I want to know who I'm looking at" that signifies the start of the more sinister action of the scene, allowing the audience to know that the atmosphere of the scene has changed. This is also signified by the introduction of an eerie, non-diegetic backing track to anchor the narrative. This also signifies the start of more sinister action, along with the dialogue, creating a complete change in atmosphere of the scene, all crated by the use of sound.


Narrative:

The narrative of this scene is conventional to the Slasher sub-genre of horror. The use of a knife wielding murderer stalking down his victims is a very common narrative for this genre, as can be seen from other films in this sub-genre with the same narratives, such as 'Halloween'. Although common, this is a very effective narrative for instilling fear into to audiences due to the isolation of vulnerable victims, creating an extreme sense of jeopardy and lots of visceral pleasure for the audience.

Representation and Ideologies:

Media Audiences:

Institutional Context:

HS - Task 6 - Institutional Context - Independent Horror/Thriller Film

'You're Next' - (Wingard, 2011)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufUQWpEkbf0

Production:

You're Next was shot in 2011 at a mansion in Columbia, Missouri. The filming process took place over four weeks, and shooting consisted mostly of night shoots filmed from 7pm to 7am. The producers of the film were Keith Calder, Jessica Wu, Simon Barrett and Kim Sherman and the production companies used were HanWay Films and Snoot Entertainment. HanWay Films is an independent British international sales, distribution and marketing company specializing in theatrical feature films. The film was directed by Adam Wingard, an American film director, editor, cinematographer, and writer and features a couple of notable stars, including Sharni Vinson and Joe Swanberg. The film was released for the first time on September 10th, 2011, in Canada. The film was a large financial success, with a budget of $1 million, and later returning $26.8 million in the box office. Due to the low budget, special effects such as pyrotechnics and CGI were minimal, but some prosthetics were used to create gory effects.

Distribution:

Due to the low budget, there was not much of a promotional campaign backing the film and little synergistic promotional activity. You're next was distributed by Lionsgate. Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (or Lionsgate) is a Canadian-American entertainment company. The film was released via video on demand on December 27, 2013 and via DVD and Blu-ray on January 14, 2014. Some posters were made in order to promote the film. The film was also part of a competition during the 20th edition of the international festival of fantastic movies at Gerardmer (France) in February 2013, and it won the Syfy prize of the event, helping it gain media coverage and a good reputation.

 

 

 

DC: Deconstruction of Opening Sequence- Dawn of the Dead (Snyder, 2004)

Dawn of the Dead (Snyder, 2004) Opening Sequence:

Genre: 

-The film belongs to the Zombie sub-genre of Horror, evident in the opening through the use of narrative and techniques that are conventional of the genre, this means that the opening appeals to fans of the genre too as they can recognise some of the features from other Zombie films

-One example of the conventional narrative in the opening is the breakdown of society that is frequently used in Zombie films, for example the moments where the protagonist is driving through a town while several people are killed by zombies behind her

Film language (Camera)

-Close up of a photo of the protagonist and her boyfriend connotes the normality of the protagonists life and allows the audience to relate to the protagonist. This also creates a contrast between this normality and the protagonists life after the breakdown in society and establishes the relationship between the protagonist and her boyfriend quickly

-POV/ handi-cam shot approaching the bedroom door creates suspense and connotes danger for the protagonist. This form of shot is also very conventional of the Zombie genre and the horror genre as a whole as it shows the danger effectively sneaking up on the characters while they are unaware 

-Extreme long shot/ Establishing shot shows  the town that the protagonist is in and the city in the distance as the protagonist drives away from the town she escaped from. This shot is used to denote the widespread destruction caused by the zombies as several fires and explosions can be seen in the distance

Film language (Editing)

-Cutting rate increases as the action and violence in the film increases. At the beginning when the Zombie girl first steps into the room the cutting rate remains fairly slow, reflecting the fact that the protagonist are unaware of the danger they are in as they just believe the girl is hurt. After the girl bites the protagonists boyfriend the cutting rate drastically increases and stays fairly high for the remainder of the scene. However it does reduce slightly once again after the protagonist gets in the car and drives out of the town, creating a calm after the storm effect connoting the fact that the protagonist believes she has escaped from the danger

-Continuous editing is used throughout the clip to connote continuous action. This creates a sense of verisimilitude and makes the scene more realistic. Examples of continuous editing include the cut between the protagonist climbing out of the bathroom window and the next cut of her outside falling onto the floor from the window above

Film language (Mise-en-scene)

-Prosthetics are used throughout the clip in order to create the gore on the zombies. One example is the Zombie girls face in the opening stages of the scene. This is very conventional of the Zombie 

sub-genre as gore/prosthetics is important to the scare factor of horror films and is a technique that appeals to the genres target audience

-Props are used in the  clip for a variety of reason. An example of props being used is the gun that the protagonists neighbour is threatening her with, this is also conventional of the genre as guns and other weapons are often used to create the gore, it also connotes the violent events that conventionally occur in the sub-genre

-The setting for the majority of the clip is a suburban town. This location creates a sense of verisimilitude as the audience can relate to the location as they may live in a similar area. The setting in the opening of the clip is inside of a house, this is effective for the same reason

Film language (sound) 

-The diegetic sound of people screaming anchors the violence used throughout the opening sequence, conventional of the sub-genre

-There is an orchestral score that starts when the Zombie girl bites the protagonists boyfriend doing the early stages of the scene. This orchestral score connotes the action and anchors the violence/gore. 

Narrative

-The intro is used to establish the main protagonist and set the scene/tone for the remainder of the film. The film shows how the Zombie apocalypse started and gives some details about the protagonists background, for example her boyfriend and the town that she lived in

-Enigma code is used at the end of the introduction when the protagonist crashes her car into a tree as it makes the audience wonder what will happen to her next as it cuts to the titles scene

Representation and Ideology

-The women in the clip is represented as fairly vulnerable, a stereotypical representation of women. Examples of this include her screams as she is attacked inside of her car

-The little girl is represented as dangerous and strong when she attacks the protagonists boyfriend, an anti-stereotype, however the fact that she is a Zombie makes it stereotypical too as Zombies are often represented in this way

Media Audiences

-The target audience for the film is males aged 16-25 as the picture contains scenes of violence that are generally well received by this target audience. The sub-genre of Zombie is generally aimed at this audience due to the conventional themes and events that take place in these films

Institutional Context

-'Dawn of the Dead' was produced by Strike entertainment

-Distributed by Universal Pictures

-Grossed $102 million worldwide

-Budget $26 million

HS - Task 1 - research into Horror and Thriller

Horror source material 3 - Zombies

Zombie faces: Why are we afraid of them?

Psychologist from the Open University Stephanie Lay conducted a research project which has suggested that humans have a particular fear of "near-human faces". The psychologist says a study of 3,000 people found widespread "repulsion" at near-human faces, which explain why things such as blank eyes and masks are commonly used to instil fear into horror film viewers.

Mrs Lay's research is examining this "uncanny valley" effect from a psychological perspective. The effect was discovered in the 1970s in research into whether giving robots human features would make them more reassuring to humans working with them or using them in the home. The research found that people were initially more receptive to robots which were made slightly human looking, but if they began to imitate humans too closely, people were repelled. It was found that the most disturbing faces where the ones that were convincingly human but with lifeless eyes or where eerily human eyes appeared in a non-human face. This is because when people begin to interpret something as a human face, they are left with a sense of confusion when they come against something that does not match their expectations. Being able to "read" another person's eyes is particularly important in this process of interpreting faces, she says.

Why people love the zombie apocalypse

There are many factors in the way the idea of a zombie apocalypse is presented to us that make the idea sound appealing. The main factor of any apocalypse scenario’s appeal is: Can I survive it? And then what will I be looking forward to in this new future? It has been presented to us in such a way that anyone can survive if they use their head, and when necessary, their weapons. It takes no lucky genetics, no special previous skill set, no preparation, just an awareness of the indisputable fact that you are facing zombies.

No one wants to fight zombies they can’t beat.  Slowness, poor coordination and terrible reflexes on the part of zombies is key to human survival in the most popular and long running zombie franchises such as The Walking Dead. If the zombies are overwhelmingly fast and agile, as in the movie version of World War Z, it’s harder to outrun or outwit them, hence harder to survive and hence less attractive as an apocalyptic fantasy.

Humans also see appeal in the idea of being a hero. A leader. A survivor! This fantasy does not care that most of us do not actually posses the physical and mental strength and discipline that it would take to survive, long-term, against hordes of the undead.  It only thinks about the first couple of days or a week at most, which is why the idea of an apocalypse sounds appealing.

The idea of being able to get away with crimes with no consequences is also an appealing factor of an apocalyptic situation. Be it being able to steal food and supplies or a car without being persecuted, or being able to use a deadly weapon on someone with no consequences, strangely this idea seems appealing to audiences and is one of the factors that makes the idea of a zombie apocalypse appealing.

Why do We love Zombies?

Access to Youtube Clip was denied.

DC: Institutional Context- It Follows

It Follows is a 2014 American supernatural Horror film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell and starring Maika Monroe. The plot follows a girl pursued by a supernatural entity after a sexual encounter.
Production:

• Producer: Rebecca Green, Laura Smith
• Production Company: Animal Kingdom, Northern Lights Films
• Director: David Robert Mitchell
• Target Audience: 18-34 Males (18+ certificate/ Horror audience)
• Budget: $2,000,000 (estimated)
• Location: Detroit, Michigan USA
• Notable stars: Maika Monroe 
• Release date 27 March 2015
• Visual Effects: Prosthetics (Used to portray gore during killing scenes), Pyrotechnics (Fire frequently used), CGI (Computer generated lightning during films finale against antagonist)
• Box Office:  $19.1 million

Distribution:

• Distributor: RADiUS-TWC (a studio division of the Weinstein Company)
• Marketing: 

1. Trailers (Shown above): A Television/ Internet trailer gives brief summary of plot using a variety of clips from the film
2. Posters/Billboards: Several posters were produced for the film. The posters featured several of the characters in the film, for example the main protagonist, and all featured the films tag 'It doesn't think. It doesn't feel. It doesn't give up.' These posters were featured outside of cinemas showing the film and placed around larger cities in the USA.

• Notes: 
• It follows was first featured at the Cannes film festival (2014)
• Received a successful limited release on March 13 2014
• Received a wide release to more cinemas on march 27 2014

HS: Still Frame

This medium shot frame uses a variety of techniques and fits the conventions of the Horror genre, or more specifically the Slasher sub-genre of Horror:

Techniques:

Rule of thirds: The boy is placed in the middle of the frame, drawing the viewers eye to him and making him the first thing that the viewer sees in the shot, the viewers then go to the knife in the foreground and follow it up to the hand.

Character Blocking/ Leading line: The antagonist in the foreground is situated in the right of the shot, slightly above the boy, this creates a leading line that the viewers eyes follow from the boy, up to the antagonist.   

Lighting: The light from the lamp highlights the boys face, contributing to the leading line in the frame. It also creates a shadow on the floor, adding dramatic effect.

Conventions:

Location: The frame is shot inside of the familiar setting of a family home. This makes the film more relatable to the audience and therefore makes the frame more realistic to them. The fact that the frame is taking place in a relatable location makes the scene scary too, as the viewers can imagine the same events occurring in their own homes, creating more visceral pleasure.

Props: A Knife/cleaver is a very common prop used in slasher horror films. It creates a sense of jeopardy and tension, and is an iconic sign of a murderer.

DC: Still Frame Experimentation

This long shot frame uses a variety of techniques and fits the conventions of the Horror genre, ore more specifically the Supernatural/Slasher sub-genres of Horror:

Techniques:

Rule of thirds: The boy is placed in the bottom right third of the frame, drawing the viewers eye to him and making him the first thing that the viewer sees in the shot

Character Blocking/ Leading line: The antagonist in the background is situated in the middle of the shot, slightly above the boy, this creates a leading line that the viewers eyes follow from the boy, up to the antagonist. The fact that the antagonist is behind the boy and cannot be seen by him connotes a sense of danger and suspense in the frame

Lighting: The light from the phone highlights the boys face, contributing to the leading line in the frame. The boy is also walking out of a light room, into the darkness that the antagonist is hiding in, this creates a sense of suspense.

Conventions:

Location: The frame is shot inside of the familiar setting of a family home. This makes the film more relatable to the audience and therefore makes the frame more realistic to them. The fact that the frame is taking place in a relatable location makes the scene scary too, as the viewers can imagine the same events occurring in their own homes

Costume: The antagonists mask is a convention of the Slasher sub-genre, as it hides the antagonists identity and gives them a recognisable feature to the audience

HS - Storyboard

HS - Moodboard - Zombie

Zombie films are a relatively new sub-genre to the horror genre.  Films featuring zombies have been a part of cinema since the 1930s, with White Zombie (directed by Victor Halperin in 1932) being one of the earliest examples.  There are many generic conventions of this genre;

Location:

- Large abandoned cities
- Countryside / City outskirts
- Enclosed locations with no way out - sense of jeopardy
- Lots of abandoned buildings and vehicles.

Characters:

- Often a group of protagonists
- Sometimes there will be a 'lone ranger' - often a hardened 'tough guy'.
- Large group of antagonists.
- Often members of the group who are more vulnerable than others, liabilities that need protecting.

Props:

- Weapons are used in almost every zombie film in order to kill the antagonists.
- Guns, swords, knives.
- Cars are often used to navigate the vast landscapes.

Events:

- Sudden panic as location being used as a 'camp' is over run by zombies.
- Protagonist gets bitten, anxious wait when they are turning into a zombie.
- The final assault - A last attack on the zombies, protagonists giving it everything they've got / nothing left to live for.

DC: Storyboard

DC: This long shot, combined with the framing of the girls dress creates tension and suspense. It also denotes the girl walking towards the man on the crucifix, creating a sense of danger. The prop of the crucifix and the stock character of the little girl are both conventional of the Supernatural sub-genre too.

DC: Individual Moodboard- Slasher

Slasher is one of the most iconic sub-genres of Horror, first emerging in the 1960's before becoming more prominent during the 'Golden Age of Slasher' between 1978 and 1984. This time period produced several of the most famous slasher films to date such as 'Halloween' (Carpenter, 1978) and 'Nightmare on Elm's Street' (Cunningham, 1980.


Location:
Slasher films take place in a variety of locations, both external and internal, some of the conventional locations used in Slasher include:

• Internal: Familiar locations (Suburban Homes, Towns, Abandoned buildings/factories)
• External: Isolated locations (Forests, Graveyards,)

Characters:

Slasher films often contain similar stock characters:

• Antagonist: Violent murderer, psychopathic, Anti-Hero (used in marketing/sequels more than survivors/ used to create a brand around the film)
• Survivors: Teens (vulnerability), 'Last Girl' (one convention of Slasher is to have one survivor, often a female that the viewers follow throughout the film/ relate to that will often be the only survivor), Strong Male (strong male that tries to overcome the antagonist but ultimately fails)

Props:

Props are used in Slasher by both the antagonist and protagonists for a variety of reasons, some conventional props in Slasher include:

• Mask: Used by the antagonist to conceal their identity. This is also used to turn the antagonist into a 'brand'/ make them a more recognisable figure to the audience
• Weapon (Antagonist): The weapon used by the antagonist will often be a sharp weapon in order to increase the fear factor in the film. The weapons also contribute to the gore as the film due to the gory deaths that bladed weapons can inflict
• Weapon (Protagonist): The protagonist(s), often the 'Last Girl' will gain a weapon in the latter stages of the film. This weapon will be used in an attempt to overcome the antagonist that will either be successful or unsuccessful depending on the films outcome

Events:

Slasher films usually contain certain events that are conventional of the Sub-Genre, examples of these conventional events include:

• Jump Scare: Jump scares will frequently be used in Slasher, often when the antagonist attacks a character. However, jumps scares are often used to trick the audience into thinking the protagonist is in a dangerous situation when they aren't, these are known as 'false jump-scares.' Jump scares often involve the antagonist 'jumping out' at the camera, accompanied by sudden, loud music
• First death/ finding body: The protagonists will often find a body of a character in the early stages of the film. The death of this character is not always shown in the picture in order to increase the suspense of the film
• Death of antagonist: The 'last girl' or last survivor will often kill the antagonist at the end of the picture in order to complete the plot of the picture, however this particular event is not always implemented in order to allow room for a sequel containing the same antagonist

Group: Horror Films- Historical Context

Research Source: "The History of Horror"

From the documentary on the history of horror (above) many points were raised which we had not considered before. These were mainly based around popularity and box office success of horror, and although that will not affect our coursework, there are still points and ideas we can get from this to contribute to our project.

The first cycle of horror:
The horror genre has gone through cycles of popularity over the years, since it's 'creation' in the 1700's. The start of the first cycle began with gothic horror. This was not necessarily films that you see in the cinema, but stories in the forms of books and theatre. the gothic horror genre was signified by the old historical buildings, such as castles. As horror was a whole new concept of novel at the time, it was hugely popular among audiences. Eventually though, the cycle of gothic horror ended, as new technologies gave access to different forms of entertainment.

German Expression:
German expression was the term used to describe the style of horror that film-makers in Germany used. It was described as the expression of realistic depictions of the real world. As there was no Hollywood in Germany, there was little competition in the film business, so the genre grew quickly through the productions of independent companies. This form of entertainment was considered valuable by the German government, and so they set up the UfA. The UfA's original purpose was to serve as an entertainment service to the German population. However, the rise of the UfA was paired with the fall of Germany in the First World War. This lead to the collapse of the German government (financially), and thus a severe lack of funding for the UfA. The company was forced to become a commercial seller in order to maintain profits. Although the UfA may have survived, nearly all independent film companies in Germany collapsed, starting the end to the German style of horror. Finally, the UfA was bought in a shared agreement by Paramount, and MGM.

American Horror:
With the collapse of the UfA, there was a gap in the market of film. American film companies took advantage of this, and the formation of Hollywood enabled higher-budget horror movies to be made (although they were not adopted by the top companies until later on). Universal restarted the gothic horror cycle in 1931, with productions of Dracula (Browning 1031) and Frankenstein (Whale 1931). However, by 1940, the cycle started to collapse. This collapse was slowed by independent horror companies, which started the trend of low-budget horror movies (around $150,000 per film). Although the film genre was no longer relevant, and had been standardized as B-Grade for Hollywood, the cycle of horror did not completely finish, only the genre that represented it.

Changing Horror:
In the 1950's, experimentation with horror genres began, with pulp-science-fiction horror. However, the cycle ended quickly, finishing by the mid 1950's. Producers tried multiple tactics to engage audiences in the horror genre, including cheap gimmicks such as life insurance coverage if the viewer 'dies of fright' whilst watching the screening of the film. By 1964, the production code for horror had been completely abandoned, seeing the formation of multiple sub-genres. This was overlooked by Edgar Allan Poe.

Landmark Films:
Psycho (Hitchcock 1960)
The Exorcist (Friedkin 1973)
Jaws (Spielberg 1975)
Alien (Scott 1979)
Poltergeist (Hooper 1982)
The Shining (Kubrick 1980)
Friday the 13th (Cunningham 1980)

Summary:
It would be a good idea to base our intro around a genre that we are familiar with, as we understand what makes a good film in that genre. Also, as audience members ourselves, we can implement ideas that we think would make a film in said genre unique.

EC: Moodboard - Gothic Horror

Gothic horror is arguably the most well-known sub-genre of horror there is, as all generations recognise it's unique style, and it was the genre that kick-started the development and production of horror films. It's typical plot and locations are easily distinguished from those of other genres. The following lists display iconic features of the 'Gothic horror' genre;

External Location;

• Countryside
• Isolated (sometimes next to civilization)
• Woodlands
• Private property

Internal Location;

• Mansion/ country manor
• Historical decor
• Outdated style
• Open spaces
• Dark colour scheme

Characters;

• Main antagonist (often containing an element of the supernatural)
• Humanoid creature
• Hunter/slayer of  antagonist's species
• Female assistant/companion of protagonist (often captured)

Conditions;

• Fog
• Extreme weather conditions (often causing isolation)
• Lightning
• Rain
• Overcast/cloud coverage
• Full moon

To summarize, the Gothic Horror sub-genre is one of the most recognizable due to it's history and classic style recognized by nearly all audiences, as it introduced horror to cinema.