Diegetic & Non-Diegetic sound ideas

To ensure that we got the most suitable diegetic and non-diegetic sounds possible for our horror film we have all researched royalty free sound effects and music, as sound can make or break a film and has a drastic impact on the audience, by complementing what is happening on screen, creating suspense or helping the audience to empathize with the character in the film. It is important that we choose sound that is of good quality and matches the theme of the film or else our film and editing will be negatively affected.

Here are a few samples of sound we could use:

                                                                      1.

                               

2.

                               

3.

From the samples above I think that the first one could be used after the main character of our film has discovered that he is being followed due to how the pitch is dramatically lower than that of the second sample, showing his brutal acknowledgement of the situation he is in and the uncertainty of his survival. The different instruments that gradually chime in signify the many different possible outcomes he faces such as death, abduction, minor or major injury. In my opinion the second sample I found is perfect, when at a lower volume, for before the main character has noticed his unwanted follower as it gradually builds suspense and there is a consistent number of instruments playing at one time, keeping the status quo by displaying how hardly anything different or unusual has happened in the film. Finally, I believe sample three suits the sad mood and sombre tone of the title sequence after the main character has met his untimely demise. The high pitch instrument playing along side the bellowing piano signifies the muffled screams or weeping of our main character, and how eventually the screams die out just as the music becomes monotonous and dies out. 

The narrative to our film includes a very significant prop, which is a small clock, and so I have looked thoroughly for a ticking clock sound effect which we may or may not use in our title sequence, and so here it is:

   

The role of each member in my group

Sam Warren
It is Sams job to gather photographs of possible locations we may film the title sequence that relate to the horror genre, such as rural, desolate, remote areas away from the security of well populated towns and the idea of safety in numbers. This convention is prevalent in the horror film "The Hills Have Eyes", where a group of disfigured individuals reside in a place far away from normal civilization. Due to our decided title sequence idea we will be filming in an industrial area, but at night taking away the possibility of help for the victim, causing them to feel just as alone as they would in a rural environment.

James Lawley
James is responsible for coming up with some prop and costume ideas for the victim and antagonist based off of our combined film narrative. This means purchasing and/or customizing the antagonists signature weapon and cloak as well as obtaining the old clock that is significant to the plot of the hole film. It is important that the antagonists costume is somewhat original, however due to the sheer number of horror films that have been made, high or low budget, it is highly likely that are costume may be unintentionally similar to that of a villain in another horror film. This role suits James more than any of the other members in our group since he is more familiar with the actors clothing sizes and shape, which is important when spending money on a low budget.
















James Scott
James is in charge of researching camera shots and movements that are present in horror films as he has seen the majority of horror films that have been produced and is prepared to experiment with different shot types to see which suit the scene and the moment best, to get the biggest reaction out of the audience as possible, proving them to be fully immersed.

Christian George
I am in charge of researching different lighting techniques and filters to manipulate how the audience views what is happening on camera. Similar to James Scott, I to have a long history of watching every and any horror film that has been released and due to how desensitized I have become to horror films it allows me to fully analyse a seen without being immersed in it, which is extremely valuable when researching the many ways of lighting a shot or scene. From my research I have found that lighting is one of the most important components of the horror genre as it consciously and subconsciously effects the audience and how they view a character on screen, and if done poorly the antagonist can appear less threatening than they could be with a simple lighting position change. The use of shadows is what causes a fearful reaction from the audience and a common lighting technique used in the majority of horror films is back lighting, making the features of the subject on screen nearly undetectable causing them to appear less human and more monstrous or psychotic. A famous example of the use of lighting, specifically back lighting, to create a frightened reaction from the audience is present in the shower scene of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" when the female in the shower is about to be murdered.
    

Organisation of filming

Each member of our group has a different specified role to play in the production of our title sequence. Sam Warren is in charge of the location, James Lawley will gather the props and costumes, James Scott had done some in depth research into the types of camera angles and techniques used in the horror genre and, I have research lighting techniques that are present and useful when trying to create a certain emotion among the audience. Although, we have clearly specified roles to play we will still give an overall judgement on how we film certain scene and shots by deciding with a majority vote. Our group has decided to film the majority of the title sequence over the Christmas holidays and maybe some before we break up if possible. A huge problem we could face when dealing with continuity is the drastic change in weather due to the time of year, it could be raining one night and frosty the next making it noticeable to the audience that scenes were filmed on different nights taking away from the immersion. We may not be able to control the weather but we can use different sources of weather forecasts for the days we want to film a certain scene and, look at possibilities of different types of weather to decide which nights are best to film on. Another crippling problem we face is making sure the dates we are going to be filming on are suitable for our 2 actors. We will try to counteract this by communicating with the actors, of which we are friends with, and try and negotiate times they are available to film. The actor who is going to play the victim as already replied and said he is available for filming over the holiday, however we are still waiting for a response from the actor who will play the antagonist. Once we have filmed our title sequence we should be able to starting editing it when we get back to school.

Binary Opposition theory

This theory was developed by Claude Lévi-Strauss, a French anthropologist who lived through the 1900's. He believed that the way people understood words was not so much dependent on the meaning of the word itself but was more to do with the understanding and acknowledgement of a specific word and its opposite. Strauss viewed Myths as a kind of speech, and in this speech, an unidentified language could be uncovered, identified and understood. He wanted to discover the conditions he needed to be under and the key concepts that were paramount in the creation of a myth. This theory is an attempt to explain how old tales that have become so skewed and distorted over time, from their original meaning but still remain similar and almost identical across a range of different cultures. According to Strauss there is no single origin or interpretation of a myth that is correct but they are all a part of the same dialect.

How Strauss discovered binary opposites  

Strauss broke different versions/adaptations of a myth down into sentences, containing a relation between the function and subjects. If sentences had the same function they were assigned the same number and put together and the outcomes were known as mythemes. He discovered from this that myths consisted of binary oppositions. He believed human minds thought primarily in these oppositions and it is what made meaning possible. 

Examples of this theory are:

• The upper class and lower class
• Black and white
• Homosexual and heterosexual
• North and south

However, the critics of this theory argue that although there are opposites there is also middle ground between every opposite. For the upper and lower class the middle ground is middle class, for black and white there is grey. The existence of binary opposites is said to create balance in the world, but whether or not the world is balanced is a completely different argument. 

There are many binary opposites within the horror genre, which is why it is important we implement this into our film. A few examples of binary opposites in horror films are: the rational survivor who is calm and collective versus the irrational survivor that is distraught and outspoken causing disarray amongst other survivors; the sane victim and the insane antagonist and finally supernatural and human.   

Storyboard of our title sequence idea

The storyboard presented here, will most likely not be the result of our final product, but it gives us a clear idea and direction of what we will be doing when we arrive on set. The majority of the scenes in this storyboard will be in our finished film, however we will also add new shots and movements in to help strengthen the plot of the film and so it makes sense.

A Horror Film Title Sequence Analysis

The Omen (1976) title sequence analysis

The Omen was written by David Seltzer and directed by Richard Donner. Many deaths with mysterious circumstances follow American ambassador ‘Robert Thorn’ played by Gregory Peck, all signs point towards his son Damien as being the human incarnation of the anti-Christ.

Immediately the sequence begins with the ominous, non-diegetic sound of high pitched piano notes being played followed by an old fashioned renaissance choir. This instantaneously sets the eerie  tone of the film for the audience and since it start so abruptly it shocks the audience and causes them to be curious of what the choir is singing, and because Latin is a dead language the director uses peoples fear of the unknown to his advantages in order to frighten audiences around the world. The mixture of deep and angelic voices in the choir helps the viewer link the film to religion and the fight between good versus evil or heaven versus hell. This link to religion is also a link to the popular convention of horror, which is making the antagonist a demon, trying to cause havoc and distress in the mortal world    

Furthermore, there is a medium shot of a child shaped shadowy figure slowly appears in the top right corner of the frame matching the rise in volume and fidelity of the music with what is happening on screen. The blood red puddle connotes pain, suffering and death within the film, and the tombstone in the shape of a Catholic cross that slowly appears suggests that over the course of the film events gradually escalate, becoming more horrific and extreme, with a number of mysterious deaths. This makes the audience feel helpless because they can anticipate what is coming but have no idea how, when, where or who and this lead to frustration because they can’t do anything about it and just have to watch the plot unfold to the characters in the film.

Finally, the low key, special effects lighting portrays evils as dominant in the film as blackness consumes most of the frame except for what the viewer can only assume is the antagonist, who is surrounded by dark red with the likeness of blood, suggesting that death surrounds this child like figure. The viewer feels trapped and overwhelmed, like there is no escape from the immoral happenings that are about to take place. There is no bright light at the end of theoretical this tunnel.

Audience Theories

Theories that apply to my title sequence

The Hypodermic syringe theory

This theory, also known as the Effects Theory suggests that audiences are passive, and the media is similar to a syringe injecting different and sometimes extreme beliefs, ideas and attitudes into the audiences head. It states that if you watch a violent act in a film or any other form of media you will inevitably go out and do something violent to someone in the real world. The theory assumes that the audience are a powerless mass of mindless zombies that have little choice as to whether they are influenced or not. Since the theory was brought about in the 1920's it is expected to have some outdated aspects such as a man expecting a woman to do the washing up without question, but obviously these aspects do not apply in the world we live in today. The effects theory was used in a case surrounding James Bulgers death in 1933 involving Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who had recently watched Child's play 3. The 3 year old boy was tortured and killed in a similar way to that of one of Chucky's (the antagonist)  victims in the film. However, this like a few other cases concerning criminal acts of violence related to different types of media, could not be proven and was dismissed. Although this example, alone doesn't do justice to the theory, there are results from a scientific experiment conducted in the 1960's that does.

The support for this theory comes from the "Bobo Doll Experiment". In this experiment a group of children were put in the middle of a room on a chair, with an abundance of toys and dolls surrounding them, but they were not allowed to touch or play with any of them. After sitting in this room for a set period of time, the children were released and made to watch a film of adults reacting violently towards a clown doll named Bobo. Once they had concluded watching the film they were lead into another room with Bobo sat on a chair and told they could do whatever they want with the doll, the results were surprising to say the least. It was recorded that 80% of the children followed suit and repeated the action of the adult and 20% didn't do anything. The scientists called the test subjects back in eight moths and ran the same tests again but this time only 40% of children re enacted what they witnessed in the film, the scientists also learned from feedback from the the parents that this 40% acted violently towards their own toys and other children at school or the park.
In order to counteract this possible behaviour due to the influence films can have, we are going to add a warning message/disclaimer at the beginning of our opening sequence, to warn the viewers of the risks when watching our film.

Use and Gratification of Media

The theory was developed by Katz and Blumler and it suggests the audience have psychological and social needs to for fill and they use the media to satisfy said needs and gain gratification. This theory views the audience as active by making motivated choices. This means they use means they use the media for their own personal needs and are not used by the media. The needs are categorised into four sections: Information; Personal Identity; Entertainment and Social Interaction. The categories previously stated are derived from Maslow's hierarchy of  needs, which suggests people are motivated by unsatisfied needs.

Information

This is when someone enjoys learning about new relevant events and conditions in their immediate surroundings, the rest of society and the world. The person using the piece of media may just be doing it because they have a general interest in the topic covered by the media or simply to satisfy their curiosity. They may also be seeking advice on everyday matters and looking for opinions on life choices. This need is mainly filled in by magazines such as the Cosmopolitan, containing beauty tips for women as well as any self help info 'scientifically' proven to make you live a happier more for filling life.

Personal Identity

People may use media as a reinforcement for their personal values and beliefs in a debate to prove that other people feels the same way as they do and that their point is credible. The media may also be used by people to identify their values with other people in the media like celebrities or to find models of behaviour that they would like to replicate. For instance, if a person sees someone helping the elderly or less fortunate people, they will want to help people too. This is why on live events such as Children in Need they enlist the help of popular, liked celebrities to go to less developed countries and help people by giving them basic necessities that we have but they don't. When the audience view this and they really respect the actor or comedian doing it, it entices them to donate money to charity. Due to the examples I have just given, this is going to be the most unlikely reason why people will watch our film.

Entertainment

The audience is watching to either relax or escape from their real life problems, by watching a film, flicking through a magazine or reading an interesting novel. People may use media for intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment. For example, when someone watches a horror film they feel fear inside themselves and get a release of adrenaline giving them a rush. This is why the ability to entertain is extremely important to the horror genre, which is why it more than other genres has kept developing over time. Some people watch to live out their extremely dark fantasy's. This will be the most likely reason for people to watch out title sequence, as the events that take place in horror films can be pretty outlandish and in reality it is rare for it to happen to the general public.

Social interaction

It gives the people using the media an insight into the lives and circumstances of others, creating empathy that they may try to share with friends in their social group, it also help them identify with other people making them feel as though they belong, as they can see similarities with the individuals in the media and themselves. It can help less sociable people form a basis of conversation and social interaction, enabling them to connect with another person whether it be a member of their family or a new friend. For the people with extreme social anxiety the media can become a substitute for real-life companionship, making life a lot easier and more copable.

The Desensitisation theory

I have previously talked about this theory in my slideshow in detail. The theory suggests that the more people are exposed to a certain type of content the less it will shock or surprise them. For example,What frightened people 63 years ago in the "Thing" isn't going to scare people now. To avert our audience from anticipating what is going to happen we will not over use horror film clichés and always keep the audience on their feet.
  

Title Sequence Pitch

From further research, I have gathered that although, more and more females have begun to watch horror films the majority of the horror genres audience is male and so it makes more sense to cast a male victim because the audience are going to be able to emphasize with the character more. Also it would be too unoriginal to cast a female as the victim, since this is present in so many other horror films and is causing the films to become predictable and lacklustre. It would also be very conservative of us to cast another female as the victim in our film in the changing world that we live in. When the horror genre was created, it was at a time of legal slavery, unequal rights between men and women and the view that women were weak and couldn't look after them selves but over time these views have changed and restrictive laws have gone away, all other aspects of the horror genre have evolved apart from this one, and so this is why we are challenging the conventions of the horror genre.