FINAL DEVELOPED
IDEA
Final Developed Idea New Idea:
For our new idea we have decided to create a slasher sub-genre horror montage opening. We plan to have a main scene, which is a track of Ellie walking along an isolated dark pathway. We will do this three times, one which will be filmed during sunset which will give a dim lighting, another filmed at the same time but her clothing covered in blood and a third filmed later at night therefore Ellie’s silhouette will give a red glow under the street lamps. We will superimpose these three tracks to give the audience a blurred and disorientated vision. To make our opening a montage we will show quick scenes of deaths where you will be unable to see the antagonist’s face however towards the end we will do fast paced editing of the death scenes where the audience gradually begin to see that Ellie is the antagonist. The fast paced editing and music will build the tension within the audience and the opening will
end with Ellie turning the corner into broad daylight, the titles will then begin to show that the rest of the film is about how she got there and why she killed these people. We decided to put the end of the film at the beginning before the titles to set the story line of the film and make the audience want to watch the rest of the film.
Research: Psycho (1960) Although this film is now classed as a psychological thriller due to the mental disorder Norman Bates (the antagonist) has, this was a slasher when it was released. The ‘shower scene’ was seen as the most disturbing and gory scene from a film
Character Codes
(SYMBOLIC/MACRO ELEMENT)
Narrative Codes & Conventions (SYMBOLIC/MACRO ELEMENT) Character One:
Ellie
PROTAGONIST/ANTAGONIST
Ellie may at first appears to be a protagonist as at the beginning of the track the audience may
see it as she is running away from something or someone. However, Ellie’s character changes when she becomes a murderer (antagonist). She becomes the villain – the antagonist of the film who causes the disequilibrium. Character Two:
Ben
PROTAGONIST
Due to this being a horror opening the audience will not get to see the characters fully or get to know them. Therefore Ben will only be shown when Ellie is torturing and murdering him. Character Three:
Sasha
PROTAGONIST
Sasha, like Ben, will only be shown through her death scene. Character Four:
Blade
PROTAGONIST
Blade will be used to symbolise a police dog towards the end to show the audience that the bodies have been found which makes the audience want to watch the rest of the film due to the wanting to know what will happen to the antagonist. By showing an aggressive dog
barking in the dark symbolises the viciousness of the deaths and the danger the victims are in.
Narrative Codes & Conventions (SYMBOLIC/MACRO ELEMENT)
Slasher films usually involves a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a violent manner – often with a cutting tool for example: an axe or a knife.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) This film contains strong bloody violence that dwells on the infliction of pain and injury and some gory images. Gory scenes such as: the antagonist stabbing a woman through the back of her head so that claws emerge from her eyes. From this film we were influenced by
Location Codes
The location where our opening is mainly set is in Haverhill along the old railway track, which is now used as a public pathway stretching from one end of the town to another. This pathway is
lined with trees creating a sense of walls and a ceiling, which further creates a sense of isolation. The murders are set in an open field surrounded by more fields and forests. Stereotypically gory murders are filmed within abandoned buildings, domestic settings or in a location specifically created by the antagonist for that purpose however we chose to do our gory murders in a field. We chose to film them in a field to give off the uneasy feel that the protagonists are too far from anyone so that even if they shout they wont be heard as well as the fact that due to it being a wide open space the bodies, if left there, would not be found straight away.
Props/Signifiers Conventions
Codes
&
(SYMBOLIC/MACRO ELEMENTS) To make our horror opening a slasher we will use many bladed weapons for example a knife. For Ben’s death we will use a knife to create small cuts that we will edit to look as if the antagonist is slowly torturing him. The antagonist will then use a petrol can to pour ‘petrol’ around him to them suggest that he will be burnt alive: to do this we will show the ‘petrol’ (water) being poured around him and then edit fast shots of fire. For the second death, Sasha’s, we will be again using a knife to cut her showing torturing however this death will be more visually gruesome as we will show the antagonist stabbing her and finally killing her by slitting her throat – which will all be on screen to make our opening fit the slasher horror sub-genre. The final scene will be the track, which will be seen throughout the entire opening, we will shoot a 360 degree movement shot around Ellie to then create a rear angle showing the audience that the whole time she has appeared as a protagonist just walking however she is actually the antagonist following her next victim. She will then pull out a pocketknife to show the audience what will happen next.
Diegetic & None Diegetic Sound Codes & Conventions (TECHNICAL/MACRO ELEMENTS)
At the beginning of our film we will use the diegetic sounds of footsteps and birds in the background to make the character on screen (Ellie) appear as the protagonist and emphasize the normality of the situation. However throughout our entire opening there will be a non-diegetic sound of an eerie high pitched noise to put the audience on edge and signify
that the situation isn’t as normal as it seems – which also makes the audience want to watch more as they want to know why and what is going on which the character (Ellie).
Mise-En-Scene Conventions
Codes
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(TECHNICAL/MICRO ELEMENT) There will be different lighting throughout our opening. We plan on doing three different tracks, which will be super imposed to create a sense of delusion and make the audience uneasy, as they will be seeing the same character but in different ways. The first track will be in normal daylight suggesting the character is a normal protagonist, the second track will be at sunset when the sky is gradually getting dark where Ellie will have blood all over her (Bronte will edit this track on top of the first and turn the opacity down which will confuse the audience making them question if its her blood or someone else’s). The third track will be in the dark however the street lights will let the audience see Ellie walking, the lights also make everything besides her dark giving her a red colour which connotes danger. All the deaths will be filmed around sunset so that it isn’t broad daylight but is light enough to see what is going on and make the audience
fear for the protagonists, as they should feel safe in the daytime however they are not. There will be no make-up on any of the characters besides the gore special effects make up which Bronte will create and place on the protagonists. This will include bruises, cuts, blood etc. We casted Ellie as the main character because she studied drama for GCSE. Ellie is the opposite of the stereotypical slasher antagonist, which makes the audience uneasy, as they would not usually expect a teenage girl to be a murderer. We casted Ben as he also studied drama at GCSE therefore we knew he would be able to act well which is needed for a slasher as the deaths are not quick and painless, the protagonists are always tortured within this sub genre. We casted Sasha as the second protagonist as she is a 13 year old girl which will play on the audience’s fear as she is young and vulnerable. The final character is Scott, although you only see a rear angle of him for a short amount of time at the end of the opening, we casted Scott as it is non-stereotypical for a stereotypically weak and vulnerable young girl to be murdering a man as the man is usually seen as strong.
The only props we will be using are bladed weapons and petrol can, all of which can be used to torture people, which is the death we are aiming to film in order for our opening to fit in the slasher horror sub-genre. All the characters will be wearing normal clothes for their costumes, including Ellie although her clothing will mostly be black to symbolise mystery within her character as the audience do not know at first she is the antagonist or why she is.