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Evaluation - Question 3

Evaluation-Question 3 from ambsmales

Evaluation - Question 4

Treatment #1

Treatment: 1

This treatment is used to depict many specifics of a film including the duration and certification of the whole film if it were to be professionally produced. This treatment will be referred to throughout the other pieces of work and other work will also influence decisions upon this treatment.

Title

Something In the Shadows

Film Length

The Film duration will be 90 minuets (1Hour and 30 minuets) This will be appropriate as the film is based only on one major plot to prolong it any further would dis-intrest viewers to the film, while it also allows for a long enough time to prolong and make the audience think and question aspects of the film.

Audience

The target demographic will be 15+ years old which allows us to add many horror elements to the film that we would not be able to do at a certificate of 12 or 12A. This also means we are able to add more psycological themes that a more mature audience will be able to understand. The themes of the film would also be more relatable to 15-18 years old as our main character is around that age which gives a sense of comparison and realism to the film.
The target demographic is also toward females as the main character is a female, this also creates a more specific audience which allows for  

Certificate

We believe that the films certificate should be a 15 based upon the facts that it will include imitable actions and behaviour such as threatening behaviour, the actions will be almost realistic giving a portrayal to the actions that almost seems imitable.

One key convention of a Cert. 15 film includes threats or horrors that a strong or focus on a sadistic threat. Due to the film being a psychological horror it will provide threats and horrors that could seem strong or intense or almost thriller like.

Violence or stronger sadistic nature is less likely to be visible however this violence can include verbal in which the film may also be paired with language that is offensive or harmful. there will be visionaries of violence through blood each time something significant happens in the film.

This evidence allows us to conclude that the film should belong to a certificate 15 level and be more appropriate for mature audiences. However due to the fine line between this and a Cert. 12 there could be leeway that could affect its certificate and maybe lower it however due to the target age range being 15-25 we can conclude that the Cert. 15 would be the most appropriate.

Distributors

Distributors are companies that will publish the film they seem suitable for commercial use. They are responsible for marketing the film and help provide a suitable response and audience to suit the fiml. They are normally thrird party to the production company and are an important peice for getting the film of the ground.
For our film we have chosen to go with the independant distributor CreateSpace (An Amazon company) as they offer a more likely chance to accept our film than larger blockbuster clonglomerates such as Warner Brothers and 20th Centuary Fox. They also allow for the digital distribution of films and offer the ability to provide online streaming platforms for out film to be viewed by more modern audiences who view media on newer platforms.

Synopsis

Lucy, an almost innocent child, is plagued by her recent actions, this has lead to he being plagued by whispers.

As she follows the path that destiny has chosen for her she becomes more deranged which leads on to her killing an old friend. She is further guilty of this and her conscience is now dwindling.

Suggested elements

There are many suggested elements that help the film to have unique selling and distribution points such as the film genre being psycological as there are not many psycological horrors that are succesful or that manage to promote themselves well enough to be able to have an audience appeal. This genre choice also allows for many dramatic plot twists and jump scares that entice audiences.
The narrative is also a selling point as the film seems almost like a plain story but than is significantly different to what users are excpecting. The title also suggests what the film will be about with many mysterys still waiting to be revealed entising audiences into it to watch it and see what unfolds.

Risk Assessment

The Uninvited Analysis- (First 5 minutes)

The Uninvited Analysis

The film that I am going to be analysing is ‘The Uninvited’, directed by Charles and Thomas Guard and was released on the 30^th of January 2009 and I am going to analyse the first 5 minutes. The genre of the film is psychological horror and was adapted from a Korean film called a Tale of two sisters.

This shot is an establishing long shot of teens aged around 16-18 having a party at night and establishes the location of which this scene is taking place for the audience. It has low key lighting but has some light coming from the fires in the shot.  There are many characters in the scene so implies that for now they are going to be safe as typically horror films portray that there is safety in numbers.

In the next shots, we see one of the characters walking away from the rest and wandering into the wood alone. The mid shot of her walking into the forest shows only her and she is positioned left of the frame exposing the lowly lit bushes and trees in front of her. This conveys her as being vulnerable as her body language looks very anxious and cowardly. This shot could also suggest that something is watching her because the camera tracks behind her as if something is following her so builds tension as it makes it seem as something is going to attack or grab her. The camera then switches to another mid shot from behind the trees and focuses on the girl which again gives the effect that someone or something is watching her from within the vegetation.

The girl then comes to an opening in the forest and an eye-line match it used to show what she sees, which is white garbage bags. These garbage bags are out of places as you do not normally see them in a forest so implies that something is wrong or out of place and may suggest that the character is hallucinating. The camera reverses back to her in a mid-shot and shows her confused reaction as she sees the garbage bags. 

This also allows the audience to see her clothing closer and her tense body language better. She is wearing a white and red floral top and blue jeans so implies that she is just a normal person and the camera continues to pan into her face.

The camera then goes to a long shot of both the garbage bags and the girl. Incidental non-diegetic music begins to play and heightens the uneasiness of the scene and implies that something may happen to the character. The scene is lowly lit and has desaturated colours which contrasts with the uneasy and anxious mood of the scene and builds the atmosphere of it.

The next shot is a high angle close-up of the girl opening one of the white garbage bags. The non-diegetic music builds up which creates tension and the camera pans in. A slower paced is used which drags out the scene so makes the audience wait in anticipation for her to open the bag. The high angle could signify the girl’s vulnerability in the scene and how prone she it to getting hurt.

As the girl opens the bag it moves and the music gets higher creating a jump scare. However, it was just the bag falling over and we see a reaction shot of the girls face and we can see her panicked and anxious expressions. We hear the diegetic thud of the bag as it falls over so suggests that there is something heavy in there such as a corpse. The camera then goes to a low level shot of the bag which shows a body like shape inside and creates an uncertain and tense feeling for the scene.

 It then cuts to a high angle mid shot of the bag and a body of a girl that has fallen out of it. We see bruises and dirt over her arm and leg which implies that she may have been murdered and left here or was lost and died because of it. This also shows that this film is horror as corpses of people are a typical convention of horror films so this explicitly shows that. The dead girl head then turns and whispers to the other girl “don’t go home”. This could be foreshadowing for later in the film and suggests that she may be in danger. The pace gets faster as the girl runs away from the dead body and the music begins to build creating tension and a distress.

Elliptical editing is used to show a small amount of time as passed as the girl has run away and as the girl is running away we see a long shot of a house at the edge of the woods and the character begins to narrate what she was hearing saying “I heard my mother’s bell”. This implies that something may of happened to her mother and this may be a flashback from her past explaining what happened.

Settings/Location and Iconography in psychological horror

Settings/Location and Iconography in psychological horror 

Setting/Location

Settings and locations can vary in physiological horror depending on the characters involved. They tend to be similar to traditional horror locations such as abandoned location, forests, asylums or graveyards. but may also include more day to day places such as hospitals, schools or houses. This creates a sense of realism as we as the audience use these places in our life and can be used to confuse the audience into feeling that the characters are normal. An example of a location in psychological horror is the   lodge of the shining which typically would not be seen as a scary or atmospheric location but in psychological horror are as the characters are staying there.

Iconography

Iconography is important in psychological horror as the physical attributions in a scene of a film in general give a lot of obvious indications to the audience and helps construct the plot line and elevates the feelings that were meant to make the audience feel a certain way when watching a psychological horror film. Props are not seen as much in psychological horror as it features more on the character’s mind more than what is around them but they typically are day to day items as it gives the sense that the character lives a normal life. Things such as bars across windows are used to convey that the characters are trapped with only themselves and gives the sense of confinement and claustrophobia. Tight spaces may also be used as psychological horror tends to play with the audiences and characters internal fears and tight or cramped spaces may be one of these. Low key lighting is also typically used to give the scenes a darker and more atmospheric look and fell heightening the tension of it. Symbolism is also a key feature in this genre as it may show the character’s religion or lack of it, so crosses would be used to convey this. This can also be used to show the character’s struggle between good and evil and there spiral into madness.

Cinematography, Sound and Editing in psychological horror

Cinematography, Sound and Editing in psychological horror 

Cinematography 

Cinematography is a key component in creating tension and atmosphere in psychological horror and different shots are used to convey different things. One popular shot is hand held as it creates the sense of disorientation and chaos but also makes the scenes feel extremely realistic for the viewer so heightens the fear of the scene. Another shot primarily used in psychological horror are close ups which help the audience see the facial expressions of the characters but may also be used for close up of objects which may foreshadow or give hints into what is about to happen. Lastly another key shot used are long shots which convey the surrounding location that the character are in and help to establish the setting for the viewer. Whip pans may also be used to create a fast paced or disoriented feel and can be used for jump scares.

Sound/music

Sound and music is another key factor in creating tension in physiological horror. Non-diegetic sounds are sound or music that the character cannot hear but the audience can so incidental music may be used in a scene where the antagonist spears which only the audience can hear and helps to create heightened tension for the viewer . Diegetic sound is sound that the character can hear, which is things such as footsteps or talking from a character and this is the most used type of sound. Music used in this genre is traditionally nursery rhymes so gives off a creepy effect as children are normally represented with innocence or classical/ instrumental as it builds up to create atmosphere for a scene.

Editing

Lastly editing is also used in psychological horror. This is the most important feature for a this genre because different techniques can be used to convey different emotions and feelings. Jump cuts can be used to show a characters psychological turmoil and convey there madness within. Both fast and slow paces are used in physiological horror as fast paced editing can be used to show chaos and disorientation and slow paced editing for moments such as talking and help to build tension between the film and the audience as a slower pace signifies that nothing scary is about to happen so can be used to trick the audience into thinking that.

Analysis of a film similar to ours

Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder is an American psychological horror that was released November 2nd 1990.It was directed by Adrian Lyne, written and produced by Bruce Joel Rubin and stars Tim Robbins and Danny Aiello.

The first camera shot of the film is an establishing shot,often used to indicate where the scene is set and even when, in this film the establishing shot is of two helicopters that are carrying aid bags. From this shot the audience will know that the film is starting in an area that needs aid (e.g. somewhere that has experienced a natural disaster or even war). The next part of this scene shows a lake or a pond which presents the area as being peaceful which juxtaposes with the tilt upwards towards the helicopters carrying aid bags. Whilst this is happening the names of the actors and actresses in the film are appearing on the screen.In this scene, the only sound that can be heard is the helicopters which is diegetic sound as we can see the sound being made on screen.The editing in this scene is quite slow paced.

The next scene of the film pans into numerous men as well as debris.This shows that the men are at war and have been hit by a bomb of some sort therefore presenting the area as violent and disturbed and may indicate that the characters could end up the same way after returning from war. Sound is this scene is diegetic, roosters can be heard just as the camera pans. The scene then cuts back to a extreme long shot of the helicopters flying over the lake as incidental music can be heard in the background. It is instrumental music that seems quite sad which fits in with the event of war whilst the helicopters can still b

e heard over the music. It then returns back to panning and tilting to show the soldiers doing a variety of things, some are sleeping whilst some are caring for their injuries. The helicopters hover over the ground while the soldiers are being deployed, the helicopters then fly away. There are a variety of sounds in this scene such as the helicopters and a man shouting which creates an ensemble as well as a sense of chaos.During the start of this scene the editing is quite slow paced in order to match the p

eaceful music however, as the helicopters come into land the editing picks up in pace to show a build up of chaos.

The third scene is the first scene to include a conversation between characters. There are a range of different camera shots in this scene. Medium close ups are used to show the facial expressions of each character as well as introducing the audience to each character. As well as a medium shot to show the characters interacting with one another. The men are wearing typical outfits of soldiers, this shows their professionalism as well as their dedication to their job.Most of the sound in this scene is diegetic as the soldiers are talking to each other however in the background a walkie-talkie can be heard to signify the reality of their job as they are always on call. One man can be seen talking on the phone,his conversation cannot be heard but the most important piece of information is spoken out loud "We have movement" this signifies the start of chaos for the soldiers.The editing begins to pick up once again to show turmoil and frenzy in the camp. An ensemble of sounds begins to pick up as the men get into their positions.Further on into the third scene, a handheld camera shot is used this type of camera shot is used to relay a sense of reality as well as the point of view of a character. Chaos is built up further as non diegetic gun shots and bombs exploding can be heard. An eye line match is used to show what one of that characters is looking at. There is a close up of his face as he screams and shouts to warn one of his colleague of danger, the clip then cuts away to a long shot of what he is looking at just as this happens a bomb then explodes near his colleague.

Towards the end of the scene after the chaos has subsided there is a medium shot of a man ( the main character Jacob) walking through trees with a gun. Gunshots can still be heard in the background and the Jacob panting which shows he is tired after fighting as well as scared. He looks lost and unaware of his surroundings. A twig can be heard breaking and suddenly the camera dolly's towards Jacob, as the camera reaches a close up he

doubles over in pain, blood can be seen at his stab wound. The scene then abruptly changes setting, Jacob is now sat on a train and has woken from a nap. The audience are unaware if the previous scene is a dream that Jacob had or whether it is a memory of his. A long shot of the train carriage shows that the train is not well looked after,it is full litter on the floor which may juxtapose with the war camp in the previous scene as the camp was full of debris. The camera goes back to Jacob, he looks around the train to establish his surroundings until he looks up towards posters at the top of the train. Another eye line match is used to show the audience what he is looking at.

The posters he is looking at are linked to the words 'Hell' an 'Devil' which indicates Jacob is experiencing demonic dreams. Once the camera returns back to him he sighs,gathers his things and gets up to get off the train. He walks into the next carriage and spots a lady he asks her if they have passed 'Bergen Street' yet. The woman doesn't reply but looks at him intensely this continues to indicate that something is not right however,the shot returns back to him (shot-reverse shot).