Sound effects

The first sound effect that we will need at the beginning and end of our film opening is the stream sound effect. I researched a variety of these online to put over the top of our shots of the stream and the black and out at the beginning. We will use this as an alternative to recording the actually sound of the stream in loose as it will be a stronger sound and will sound more effective.

Here are the two sound effects that we could potentially use for the stream sound effect:

Another sound effect that we want to use at some point during our film opening is an ear ringing silence. I think that we want to uses this when the killer catches the victim and gets stabbed.

Here are some good sound effects that I found:

Audience feedback from Storyboard

Positive feedback:

The audience that our group showed our story board to thought that all of our shots are going to be really beautiful, which conforms to common conventions of a slasher film, as they really liked our location. Our location is in Loose Valley and we choose this because we wanted beautiful shots and a naturalistic setting to our film opening.

Another positive comment that they made is that they also really like the idea of sound manipulation. We are going to use this in the ringtone of the broken phone to distort it and make it sound broken, and the sound of the music coming from the victims headphones after the phone has been dropped. This is also a common convention of slasher films but will hopefully sound really effective.

Improvements:

The audience didn't think we should use bloody footprints coming from the killer as there would be no reason for him to have blood on his boots before he has killed the victim.

Another comment is that we should test the lighting to see what time of day we would need to film.  We also need to test the blood pack again cushion being stabbed and blood/ food colouring down the stream. We need to test these to see if it will have the right effect, which one to use, and that we want and that it will actually work.

The audience also think that we should use the title 'Silent Killer' as it fits more with our theme and conforms to common titles of slasher films as it is short and says it how it is.

'Cold Breath' Practical Experiment

In our story-line, we have decided to include an extreme close-up shot of the victim's mouth. In this shot, the actor (Lucy) will breathe heavily and when she does, there will be a 'cold breath' coming out of her mouth. This will make our opening scene seem chilling and tense, due to the slow breathing and the 'cold breath'.

To ensure that we have an idea of what the outcome of this shot would be like, I decided to experiment and 'test' this shot. At first it was difficult to film due to the weather being too warm for the 'cold breath' to show. Eventually, the weather became cold enough for myself to film this experiment.

To get this shot, I filmed my model breathing on an iPhone:

Overall, I would have liked the breath to be more visible and I believe that this would be achieved by using a darker background so that the white breath and the dark background would contrast.

When we film our final shots, we would need to film this shot early in the morning on a very cold day to ensure that the 'cold breath' is visible.

Storyboard 

Location- Loose valley

Props:

• Iphone 5s gold
• Iphone 5s gold smashed
• Knife
• Animal blood from Butcher 
• Sandwich bag filled with blood
• Earphones
• Bag

Actors:

Lucy Armstrong- victim
Josh Kumara- killer

We thought it would be easier to use people from our group as they are more reliable and don't work either, so its easier to find days to film.

Titles:

• Silent killer
• Eye spy
• Scream of the crop
• The Watched

Storyboard

 



 

 

Locations

 

We had 4 possible locations:

• Forest
• A graveyard
• Side streets
• Loose valley - the stream/bridge

We initially thought a forest would be good, as it would be very easy to make it creepy and sinister. However we were told that forests are very overused in AS media, and didn't want it to be boring, so decided not to set it in a forest. A graveyard would also be very overused, and also could be disrespectful and possibly difficult to find one to film in, so this idea would be good but impractical. Side streets is quite vague but is a good idea, and in Loose valley there are some quite old cobbled side streets which would be good and could easily be made to be sinister. The stream/bridge in Loose valley is contrapuntal to a slasher film which I believe makes it more sinister, so that's why I think this is the best option.

 

Actors

 

Because we would be filming quite frequently over a short period of time, we needed actors that were reliable and weren't busy a lot of the time. Therefore we thought it would be best if we used people in our group - so I will be the victim, and Josh will be the killer.

 

Props

• Earphones
• Smashed phone
• Non smashed phone
• Blood (from a butcher)
• Handbag (for victim)
• Twig
• Knife
• Cushion
• Extra top (replica)
• Intestines etc.

We need the earphones, the non smashed phone and the handbag for the beginning where the victim is walking along listening to music. The smashed phone is for when she drops her phone and smashes it, and we can use someone's old already smashed phone rather than smash one specially for it. The twig is for when the killer is behind the victim watching her and he steps on a twig causing her to realise his presence, but we may not need a twig as we may not actually film the killer stepping on the twig. The knife, cushion, replica top and blood is for when the killer stabs the victim, and we are going to do this by stabbing a cushion covered by the top with the blood bag underneath so that it bleeds when stabbed. The intestines are for afterwards when the girl is dead and they will either be in the river or on the floor.

 

Titles for film

 

Our possible film names were:

• Scream of the Crop
• Silent Killer
• The Watched
• Eye Spy

Scream of the Crop is a pun, as we were going to set it in areas that have cornfields etc. so this would be fitting for the location, but seeing as we no longer are it wouldn't really make sense. Silent Killer is good as it is creepy and tells the audience that there is a killer. The Watched is also good as it is creepy and tells the audience someone is being watched. Eye Spy is also good as it is sinister and again tells the audience that someone is being watched/spied on. Overall my favourite is 'The Watched', as I think this tells the audience what's happening without giving it completely away, and it isn't 100% clear either which I like.

 



Storyboard- First Draft

This is the first draft of our storyboard for our final piece of coursework.

Location

As a group, we were originally going to use Boughton Mount Center, which is an abandoned and desolate school in Loose. However, when Lucy went location scouting she found that we would be unable to get access into the area. Instead, we came up with the idea to film in Loose Valley, as it is a suitable and easy area to get to and film in and we can be creative with some of our shots for our final piece. We mainly use the stream and some woods nearby as they are relatively near each other.

Actors

In our final piece, we only need two actors: the victim and the killer. To make it easier and more practical, we have chosen Lucy from our group to be the victim and Josh from our group to be the killer. This makes it easier because they are reliable and know exactly what to do and what the final shots should look like.

Props

Here is a list of props that we need for our final piece:

• Earphones
• Smashed phone
• Un-smashed phone
• Blood
• Bag
• Twig
• Knife
• Cushion
• Replica of victim's top
• Blood pouches
• Intestines etc.

All of these props are cheap and easy to buy and find. They are all very realistic so will make our coursework look professional. 

Film Title

Here are a list of some potential film titles:

• Silent Killer
• The Watched
• Eye-Spy

We came up with these ideas because they are all relevant to our concept and all sound sinister and creepy. We have checked to make sure that there are no other films with these names. 

Planning costumes

For our film opening we are only using two characters, the killer and the victim.

Victims costume and props:

• Plain white t-shirt
• Coat
• Jeans
• Trainers
• Handbag
• Phone
• Broken phone
• Earphones
• Blood bags (filled with animal blood in sandwich bags)
• Guts of an animal to look like the victims after being stabbed

Killers costume and props:

• Knife
• Oversize dirty coat
• Baggy jeans
• Muddy bloody walking boots

AS Media - Research - The Fear Of The Unknown - Masks

The Brief:

- To research the reasons people fear the unknown and masks in horror films especially

Maskaphobia, or fear of masks, is common, especially among children. 

Causes of Maskaphobia: 

Maskaphobia is believed to be related to automatonophobia, or fear of human like figures.There is no definitive cause that has been found of maskaphobia but it can be seen as inherant.  Nonetheless, a common theory shows that phobias may be related to our expectations of human appearance and behaviour. Masks hide the appearance of a person, making him/her look different. Most masks do not feature moving mouths the sound of speaking has no direct point of exit from the mask. Wearing a mask may also change the person's behaviour. Many people wear masks to become a different character or person. Also some people love the mask’s anonymity that it provides. The person wearing the mask might behave more immorally or insane whilst wearing the mask. 

Religious Issues 

Even when not being worn, masks often seem to carry a certain mystique. They are worn in some cultures as part of religious ceremonies. Members of that culture may see the masks as a symbol worthy of respect, while those of differing religious beliefs might view those masks as somehow evil or dangerous. 

Maskaphobia in Pop Culture 

Many films and TV shows and even Broadway plays exploit the fear of masks. For example, the popular Halloween series focuses on a serial killer hidden behind a mask. The Phantom of the Opera explores the fate of a disfigured musical genius who wears a mask to conceal the horror. 

These and other works both demonstrate the effects of maskaphobia and help to create it. After growing up with the images of stalking serial killers and disfigured anti-heroes lurking behind masks, is it any surprise that our brains naturally begin to wonder what is behind any mask that we see? 

Symptoms of Maskaphobia 

Maskaphobia is extremely individualised. Some people fear only horror masks or religious masks.

Some people have a more generalised phobia that might even extend beyond masks to costumed characters as well. Clown phobia may also be related to maskaphobia. 

Common symptoms include, but are not limited to, sweating, shaking, crying and heart palpitations. You might have a panic attack. You might try to run away or even hide from the person in the mask. 

Complications of Maskaphobia 

Masks are extremely common in today’s world. From carnivals to theme parks, movies to retail grand openings, costumed characters can be found almost everywhere. Many of these characters wear masks, which are much cheaper and easier than complicated makeup. 

If your maskaphobia is severe, you might attempt to avoid situations that could involve masks. But since masks are so common, this could start to become all-consuming. Eventually, some people with maskaphobia become isolated or agoraphobic, afraid to venture into unfamiliar settings.

Xenophobia or the fear of the unknown and its relevance in costumes in horror movies:

Firstly conventionally killers usually remain facially unidentified throughout the majority of the film which plays on the instinctive almost primal fear of the unknown also known as xenophobia. This is usually through the use of a mask like in many successful slasher films;

Michael Myers:

 Jason Voorhies (Friday The 13th):

 Ghostface (Scream 1,2,3+4):

 Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre):

Defined + Explained:

Xenophobia is derived from the Greek word ‘Xenos’ meaning “foreigner or stranger” and Phobos which means ‘morbid fear’. Xenophobia is the irrational fear experienced about a person or a group of people as well as situations that are perceived as strange or foreign. It is the fear of anything that is beyond your personal comfort zone. The fear of unknown comes in many semblances. A person may not be afraid of swimming pools, but might experience great fear when he or she sees a dark lake. The fact that they cannot see the bottom of the lake triggers a fear of the unknown. Such thoughts can overwhelm the person to an extent that their daily life and activities are hindered by it.

Causes:

Number of different attitudes and triggers can lead to the fear of the unknown. Worldwide people are becoming increasingly concerned about economic factors, results of elections, jobs, retirement planning, and health issues and so on. Fear of the unknown phobia also goes hand in hand with the fear of loss, fear of death etc. An agoraphobic (someone who fears the outdoors) might also have Xenophobia. 

• A past experience, death of a near or dear one, divorce, change of lifestyle can all lead one to fear the unknown. As mentioned above, Xenophobia or the phobia towards strangers can also be triggered by having a negative experience with a stranger. In times of economic recession, the society starts to look for scapegoats to blame. This can lead to collective Xenophobia where the entire society blames a foreign community for their poor economic situation. 
• The fear of unknown is also evolutionary in that; man has always felt insecure about something which he is unaware of. Most people do not like change. In case of Xenophobia, the individual is unable to fight their insecurity. They simply cannot cope with being unable to experience stability and security. 
• A child who has been always instructed by parents to resist or fight change or an unusual circumstance is also likely to turn fearful towards the unknown.

Symptoms:

Most cases of fearing unknown objects, foreigners, situations etc are normal. We all tend to worry about coping with a change in lifestyle, dealing with a new job etc. We accept them to be facts of life. However, for a phobic, the day-to-day life can become very stressful owing to persistent fear. His personal and professional activities can be greatly hampered owing to this fear. 

Like most other specific and social phobias, the fear of the unknown is also characterised by many physical and emotional symptoms: 

• Rapid heart rate or palpitations. 
• Dry mouth, shallow breathing. 
• Full blown panic at the thought of the unknown or strange. 
• Feeling anxious, trying to run away or avoid the situation that requires a change or facing strangers or the unknown. 
• Crying, shaking, trembling, throwing up, fainting etc are some more symptoms of a xenophobic individual. 

With this in mind this shows through the use of masks the costumes are purposefully employed into movies to create the instinctive fear to arise in people whilst watching the movie to create to the fullest effect the correct reaction to any horror film of being scared or fearful.

Manipulating sound 

To start off with, I used a black picture and pasted it 7 times so there was something for the sound to go over. I then put the (non-copyrighted) song over the top, and trimmed it to 4 seconds where the singing starts. I did this 6 times so I could try out 6 different sound effects to see what kind of atmosphere/mood they gave. 

I decided to leave the first 4 one without an effect, so you could hear how it is with no effect over it. The next one I used the 'Echo' effect, which I think sounded really good and creepy, building tension. The next one I used the 'Telephone' effect to see how it would sound, and it sounded very muffled and quiet. I thought we could maybe use this for when there is music in the earphones, as it creates that kind of effect. I then tried out 'Large room' and I think this sounded good as it echoed but not as drastically as the 'Echo' effect, which in some circumstances could be even creepier. Next I tried out 'Multi-tune', which had a very distorting and uncomfortable effect. I hope we can use this in our editing but it's a case of deciding where. The final effect was 'Robot' which is very computerised and sounds good in that sense but I'm not sure if it would fit in our film opening with the concept or location. 

Researching typical killer's boots

I researched what type of boots the typical killer in slasher films wears. Firstly I searched up images of walking/muddy boots, that I would think the killer would wear. Here are some of the images I found. 

I then watched slasher films with a male killer, as this is the same as in our film opening. I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both the new and older versions, and both of them have Leatherface the killer wearing big boots. I also watched Scream, and even Ghostface wears big clunky boots under his robe/cape, which shows that boots will be a good option for our killer.

Snapping a twig practical

In this practical task I wanted to create the sound effect of a twig snapping. I recorded the sound of me breaking a stick but I didn't think that it sounded very effective for our film opening. Therefore I decided to breaking celery instead to create the sound effect that I wanted for a twig snap. In the video I edited the sound to a picture of sticks so that is easier to picture the sound. I think this was really effective and I would want to use this in our slasher film opening to show that the killer is behind the girl that is being stalked.

Practical- creating muddy bloody footprints

For this practical task I decided to try and create muddy bloody footprints. We need this for our film opening as we want to show a shot of the killer walking away from the camera at a low angle wearing walking boots. As the killer walks away they will have mud and blood on their boots to show that they are a killer. The picture above shows the boots that we might use for this.



In the two pictures above it shows the two boots that I covered in mud and blood. I got the two boots and rubbed them in the wet thick mud so that it would be able to imprint on the paper. I also used a paintbrush to paint blood in some areas and in other areas I just sprayed on a thick layer of fake blood. I did this to create a range of thickness in layers as the boot creates an imprint to make it look more realistic. When we film the opening we will most likely use animal blood that we will get from a butcher to fake the blood look realistic and it will also have the right consistency.




This is the imprint from the shoes. I decided to imprint on paper rather than a pavement to see how much mud and blood I would need to use. Overall I was happy with imprint however the print on the left is not as predominant as it was the boot that I put mud and blood on first so that it dried on the boot slightly making the imprint not as good. When creating the footprints I would need to add more mud and blood to make it stand out more on the pavement.

Survey Analysis

We made a survey on surveymonkey in order for people to fill it out and give us some audience feedback to help us decided what we would like to film for our media coursework. We had a total of 112 responses to our survey.

Our Introduction:

Hi there, this is Eve, Chloe, Lucy and Josh's AS Media questionnaire. There are a few multiple choice questions that we would like you to answer to help us with our research for our coursework. This will only take a minute or two.

Our 'plot' is that a victim will be followed by a psychopath to, ideally, an abandoned building. The genre of our story is 'Slasher', which contains blood and gore. 

Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer the questions that we have prepared for you.

We used the following questions for people to answer and help to give us feedback for our media film opening.





The first question asks the age of the person taking the survey. The majority of the people that took our survey were 15-17 this could effect the following answers to come because of their age.


For question 2 most people thought that we should film our opening in an abandoned building. This was ou7r original idea that we were going to use, however we couldn't get access to the location that we wanted to use. So we decided to look at the next most popular answer which was natural setting. We will use this feedback and film in a natural outdoor environment for our slasher film.

For the third question 70% of people said that we should use present day, therefore we decided this would be the easiest and most effective for us to do for our film opening.


For the next question 58% of people said that the victim should be 18-24 and only 21% said that the victim should be between 15-17 however we have decided to use Lucy as the victim therefore we will use a 17 year old victim.



This was a multiple choice question therefore we had a lot of responses. The most popular that we will use in our film opening are heavy breathing, footsteps and screaming.


In this question all of the choices were quite popular. Our group decided that it would be most effective if we don't use any dialogue in our film opening even though this was the least popular choice. 


The next question showed most of the responses as showing the title at the beginning of the film opening, however our group decided it would be more effective if we put it at the end to build up tension and to make it more dramatic.


76% of people said they would want the costumes to be everyday casual therefore we will use this feedback.


59% of people said that they would like the victim to be partly aware of the killer. We are going to use this feedback, and also make sure that the killers face isn't never actually revealed in the film opening to make it more mysterious and tense.


27% of people said that they would want the killer to be a man. This is also a very stereotypical slasher film which is the film opening that we want to produce so this would work well.


The other responses that we got we not very useful as people gave unrelated and impossible answers that we wouldn't be able to film.

Overall our survey was very useful as the audience feedback helped us to create a storyline of our film opening.

AS Media - Survey Analysis

The Brief

After creating and receiving responses on our surveys for our film opening we must analyse the data recorded from the responses in regards to their significance in influencing decisions we make.

The first question was to gauge the age of our audience of responders. It Turns out the majority of our audience were of a similar age to us making our state of mind possibly similar and making the targeted audience that we intended to have anyway is already apparent.

PAGE 1: JELC AS Media Survey

Q1               

What age range are you?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

22 (22.00%)

14 or less15-1718-2425+

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– 14 or less	1.00% 1
– 15-17	73.00% 73
– 18-24	4.00% 4
– 25+	22.00% 22
Total	100

Secondly we need to film in a location that fits the narrative of our film opening. The results show that an abandoned building would be the audiences preference as a location to film, however we have done previous location scouting on an abandoned building that we were thinking to use however this has recently become a no trespassing zone cautioned off by police, thus this idea wouldn't be a plausible answer. Luckily the next highest response was natural settings which was originally our back up plan of using Loose Valley as the setting for our film opening, therefore we agree and are implementing the decision from the responses.

Q2                

What location do you think is good for a slasher horror film?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

An abandoned

building/bui...

Children's park

Natural

settings...

Multi storey

car park

Library

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– An abandoned building/buildings	52.00% 52
– Children's park	7.00% 7
– Natural settings (fields/forests etc)	21.00% 21
– Multi storey car park	15.00% 15
– Library	5.00% 5
Total	100

Thirdly we were unsure of whether to do a contemporary piece or not so we posed the question of the time period it should be situated in. The results to no surprise were heavily leaning towards the present time and as a result we went along with this response as we now thought that doing a futuristic or past horror film would become harder than doing something that the audience want and is much simpler to achieve.

Q3                 

Which time period do you think is good for a horror film?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

Past (early

1800s - earl...

Present (late

1900s - now)

Future (50+

years)

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– Past (early 1800s - early 1900s)	24.00% 24
– Present (late 1900s - now)	70.00% 70
– Future (50+ years)	6.00% 6
Total	100

Next we needed to find out what age the victim should be. The results suggest that they should be between the age of 18-24 years old. We however disagree with the majority and have decided to use a 15-17 year old victim as the availability of actor of that age is wider and the vulnerability of a young adult is easier to extenuate within horror movies.

Q4                 

What do you think is a good age for the victim?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

14 or less15-1718-2425+

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– 14 or less	8.00% 8
– 15-17	21.00% 21
– 18-24	58.00% 58
– 25+	13.00% 13
Total	100

 

After this we needed to start thinking of post production and what we would require after the filming hence why we asked what type of music/sound effects that the audience would expect to hear. Heavy breathing and footsteps were the two most chosen answers so we jave decide to make these a part of our opening scene.

Q5                

What type of music or sounds do you think would create a good atmosphere for a slasher horror film?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

Slow stringsDramatic drumsScreams

Heavy

breathing

FootstepsClickingBuzzingDripping

Crackling

(like a brok...

Synthetic

sounds...

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– Slow strings	32.00% 32
– Dramatic drums	19.00% 19
– Screams	47.00% 47
– Heavy breathing	57.00% 57
– Footsteps	61.00% 61
– Clicking	9.00% 9
– Buzzing	7.00% 7
– Dripping	44.00% 44
– Crackling (like a broken TV signal)	49.00% 49
– Synthetic sounds (unnatural)	22.00% 22
Total Respondents: 100

The dialogue in horror films can make or break the success of a film. We asked if the audience would expect this and the majority said there should be some. With this in mind we have decide that there will be no dialogue as our title is Silent Killer after all and we feel it will be better to have a silent and eerie piece.

Q6                

Would you like to hear dialogue (speaking) in the opening?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

YesNoSome

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– Yes	35.00% 35
– No	26.00% 26
– Some	39.00% 39
Total	100

Next we were unsure as to where our film title would fit in as we were again thinking of post production. The results show that the majority of our audience would have it at the star and we agree hence we are implementing it into our film opening.

Q7              

Do you think the film title should appear at the start or end of the credits?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

StartEndNeither

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– Start	62.00% 62
– End	34.00% 34
– Neither	4.00% 4
Total	100

Next the costumes of the characters is a big dilemma that we came across as it would be dependent on the previous question of the time period that the film is set. To no surprise the casual everyday look came out on top which fit in nicely to our time period and is much easier to afford and become more creative with.

Q8                

What type of costumes should the characters be wearing?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

FormalCausal/everydayDirty/tattered

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– Formal	7.00% 7
– Causal/everyday	76.00% 76
– Dirty/tattered	17.00% 17
Total	100

Next the awareness of the victim is very common in horror as most of the time the victim is either unaware or aware of the presence of the killer. However through our survey we have found that people would prefer to have a partially aware victim which we were already planning to have regardless but nonetheless helped reassure the validity of our decision.

Q9                

Would you like the victim to be aware of the killer?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

YesNoPartly

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– Yes	21.00% 21
– No	20.00% 20
– Partly	59.00% 59
Total	100

Finally the all important question of what type of killer to have. Narrowly a man won however we have decided on a more adolescent character for the killer as the availability is wider and it also gives another layer of depth to the underlying motives of the killer as the killer and victim are of similar age.

Q10                

What type of character would you like the killer to be?

• Answered: 100
• Skipped: 0

ManChildClown

Religious

figure

Woman

Other (please

specify)

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices –	Responses –
– Man	27.00% 27
– Child	18.00% 18
– Clown	7.00% 7
– Religious figure	18.00% 18
– Woman	11.00% 11
– Responses Other (please specify)	19.00% 19
Total	100