WS - Update on Filming - 'Oblivious'

Although last week I blogged that we had finished filming, I did state that this was assuming we had every shot and all the shots were done correctly and to a decent standard. Unfortunately, we feel this is not the case. While we are happy with the majority of shots that we filmed, we aren't happy with three or four shots, so we will be setting a new date for filming again. The main shots in question are the opening shot, when we are outside the house and getting the establishing shot, and the stabbing of the girl at the end. We feel both shots could be much better than they are, and we want them to reach our high standards. We may also decide to re-shoot others before we go back out to film, although we are undecided on these as of now. 


As well as re-shooting some shots, we also need to film our Company Idents which we have now decided to record on camera before editing. We need to take a shot of an eye blinking and of a sharp knife. In some ways we are quite happy for having to re-shoot as it means we can hopefully improve our footage, show drafting and gives us the oppurtunity to shoot for our Idents.


A date will be posted when we decide to shoot again.

JW - Reasons The Killer Uses A Knife

From Halloween To Scream, the most recognisable slasher killers (Michael Myers off Halloween, Ghostface off Scream and many others), an average kitchen knife is the killers' choice of weapon.

The above picture is very similar to the knife we use in our production, we used it because Halloween and Scream are the two most influential slasher movies to us, and the choice of weapon from our killer needs to adhere to their codes and conventions.

"In John Carpenter’s era-defining slasher movie, the weapon is just your average, run-of-the-mill kitchen knife. Nothing out of the ordinary. But in the hands of a crazed mental patient in a William Shatner mask it becomes oh so much more." - Quote taken from  http://www.scene-stealers.com/top-10s/top-10-instruments-of-death-in-slasher-films/

All - Podcast Number Three

Date: 28/1/11

In this podcast we discussed:

• filming
• editing
• sound
• target audience

JW - Soundtrack - My composition update

I have composed several different pieces of potential soundtrack to our film that will be used as non-diagetic sound. Unfortunately, I have no recording equipment at home that is capable of uploading the pieces to the blog. I will try to get around this problem by either recording the piece at school, then uploading on to a computer there, or recording it at the location where my band practises, we have decent recording equipment there.

Hopefully it should be on the blog soon.

TW - Mise-en-scene and Propps

In our production we only need several props, however they all of extreme importance.

The first, and most important prop is a knife, which is what the killer will use to murder his victim. We had to be careful whilst filming however as this was a real knife and we did not want to harm cast members.

The second prop we need is a mask for the killer, as we intend for his identity to be revealed. We have evidence that this technique will be successful as it has already become a proven method for narrative enigma, in films such as Scream and Halloween.





The third prop we need is alcohol bottles to imply that the couple in our production has been drinking, which is a sin and also points toward sexual activity, which is also regarded as another sin.







The fourth prop we require is a music player as a key scene in our film is when music is mysteriously playing from the music player, this is a scene that is paying homage to The Strangers, although in our production, the music is only mysteriously playing, not caught in a loop to show how the scene is frantic, like in The Strangers. 

Lighting is another aspect of mise-en scene in our film, as we require some lighting, although there are scenes when there is intentionally no light. In on scene we even differ from light, to no light, to act as a scare to the girl, named Amelia in our production.


Finally, we will be using typical clothing, with the female wearing some slightly 'smutty' clothing to represent the sin of sexual activity to incorporate verisimilitude, with even the killer wearing only a mask outside of typical teenage clothing,although he will be wearing dark clothing to represent he is evil so people will believe that our plot could actually take place.

All - Our Screenplay

OBLIVIOUS

JW - Soundtrack/Music Update

I have been listening to various famour horror movie soundtracks from films such as The Exorcist, Halloween, The Ring, The Hills Have Eyes and The Shining.

All five of these movie soundtracks start off rather slowly, they then build up to quite a dramatic finish. The use of string instruments (such as violins and cellos) along with single eery piano notes. The majority of the soundtracks last to exceed the three minute mark, since the 'tense' and 'scary' music for our production will only be taking place during the company idents and at little stages throughout the film when the music from the stereo isn't playing, I will have to little time to create a dramatic 'build up'.
However I will be using the combination of string instruments and piano notes to create the soundtrack.

This is an example of The Exorcist soundtrack:

JW - Casting (Final Actors) & Final Filming Schedule

We have found the actors for our production. They will be:
Amelia: Mary Newton
Carl: James Crowther
Killer: Jem Whitehead (to save time looking for a actor, since his face his being hidden, no will know it's him)

Filming Schedule: We have decided that our final filming session will go ahead on Wednesday the 26th Of January.
We intend to get everything done on this day, but if we fail to do this, we will finish filming on Thursday the 27th of January.

All - Raw Footage In Full

This is all of the rough footage we did, it shows every shot we will be using, what's going on in that shot and how we will do it. It also addresses any problems that might occur whilst filming.

JW - Soundtrack

For some of our production (when the boy and the girl are in the living room at the start), my band (The Feedback) will be playing in the background, since we are currently not on a record deal and I am a member of the band, there will be no issues with using this music.

For the suspenseful music (when the girl is investigating the killer, getting followed and eventually killed by the killer), I play several instruments (guitar, bass, drums and keyboard) and may possibly create the piece for it. However, we will also be using the 'garage band' application available to us. This will give us the option to have a variety of sounds and may also be quicker if time is running out.

JW - Deconstruction of 'Drag Me To Hell'

- Directed by Sam Raimi in 2009.
- Had a budget of $30mil and made $42mil in the USA boxoffice and £6.2mil in the UK boxoffice




Opening credits (ends after 17 secs): initial idea that this will be a horror movie due to the non-diegetic sound that you hear before opening credits are even on, it's very creepy, slightly old-fashioned music. Creates an immediate chill to the audience. This is then backed up as white lettering on a black background, this appears to be what most horror movies do. It then fades out as the opening shot is revealed.

Opening scene (ends after 3mins 12secs): during the establishing shot, we have immediate anchorage to the location and time for this opening shot. The entire opening scene is also subtitled, I am not 100% sure on the language but I think it may be Mexican. The use of sound throughout the opening scene is vital, it it very creepy (just like that in the opening scene), and it also signifies the background the characters come from - it appears to have a very Latino vibe to it.
There is a variety of shots, and from the opening scene, the audience knows that this will not be a slasher - there is are many references to hell and the devil. This signifies to the audience that this will be more of a religious based horror, such as '5ive Girls'.
There are many strong aspects of mise-en-scene, primarily the house the characters are in. It's a very old fashioned but quite upper class house. Secondly, the clothes the characters are wearing signify a slightly lower class - a contradiction to their housing.
Finally, the most recognisable and significant aspect to this opening in the effects and editing. Firstly, when the sick boy is taken into the room, firstly with the ghostly hands creeping around the stained glass windows, and then when the scene ends, with the boy being dragged down to hell. They're really good special effects and make the entire scene seem very realistic.

All - Podcast Number Two

Our second podcast, Date 20th Januay 2011

It consists of information regarding:

• production title
• company ident titles and information on it
• rought footage - location, shot types etc.
• casting - characters, sterotypes etc.
• soundtrack/music - Jem's band (The Feedback)

All - Raw footage - first two scenes

JW - Deconstruction of 'My Bloody Valentine'

- Directed by Patrick Lussier in 2009
- Had a budget of $15mil and made $51.5mil in the USA boxoffice and £6.7mil in the UK boxoffice.
- Remake of the film with the same name, directed by George Mihalka in 1981.

-Opening scene/opening credits (ends after 1min 36secs): this a more bizarre opening scene that I've see, we are not properly introduced to any characters. The opening scene consists of many varying newspaper headlines and sub-headings. This of course, is a very strong aspect of editing as this could not be done without using special effects. The non-diagetic sound we here is there to anchor the texts we can see, it tells the story of people being trapped under ground in a mine. This story then gets developed, and along with the ever changing newspaper headlines, it appears the accident of people getting trapped in the mine, may have been down to someone, and also that someone was murdered.
All this is setting up the story for later in the movie, in which I presume people will be hunted down and killed in the film, this is a slasher after all.
There is very little else to say about this opening, since not a lot happens.

All - Podcast Number One

This is our first podcast, (Date: 14/1/11)
It includes information on:

• our original pitch ideas
• our final collaboration - basic story of it
• the location - Jem's house
• casting - basic ideas of characters - stereotypes
• propps - nothing of particular importance that's relevant to story
• how the killer will kill the girl
• initial information on music ideas

JW - My original pitch

After many troubles and toils with youtube, I have finally won the battle and I have now uploaded my pitch.

All - Treatment for our Coursework - Draft

A Treatment for Our Course Work

All - Our First Call Sheets and Storyboard

Production Schedule

JW - What I've Learnt From My First 10 Deconstructions

So far I have deconstructed 10 films; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Idle Hands, 5ive Girls, Scream, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Def By Temptation, The Faculty, Saw and Buried Alive.
These are all horror movies but they vary in the sub-genres. Some are slasher (Scream), one is more vampire based (Def By Temptation) and one is more alien based (The Faculty). However, despite the sub-genres, all these movies have the same codes and conventions.
One of the most commonly used aspect to these horror movies has been the 'fake scare'. This is done in numerous films and is used to increase the heart rate of the audience and also keep them on the edge of their seats. We plan to incorporate a fake scare into our production, by having a music stereo turn itself on dramatically.
A second convention I've noticed after the conclusion of the first scene of a horror movie is that they quite often add some narrative enigma. For example, in 'The Faculty' there is a very strong narrative enigma as to who or what the shadow is, or in '5ive Girls' where we have no idea where the girl has disappeared to, however we feel we will find this out later in the film. We also plan to employ some narrative enigma into our production. To do this, we plan to not reveal the identity of our killer, by either having him wear a mask or use shadows and clothes to hide his identity. This will add a sense of mystery to our killer.
The typical duration of the opening of a scene seems to be around 5minutes, however 'Scream' lasts for 12mins and 'Saw' lasts for 15mins. These appear to be two exceptions, our opening scene cannot last for more than two minutes but I believe we will be able to incorporate all necessary scenes into our opening.
The main gender that is usally being killed appears to be women! (Films such as Scream show this straight on, with the Scream Queen.

^This is Drew Barrymore portraying a conventional scream queen in 'Scream'. We plan to use a similar type of girl in our production.

Other films such as 'ISKWYDLS' and 'Buried Alive' give strong impressions that the girl is the main character, and will be fighting off the killer. The idea of a 'final girl' is defiantly incorporated. Since we are only creating the opening to our film, we will not be able to give any idea to a final girl however, since our production willbe sticking to strict codes and conventions, it is a good guess to say that the our film would have a traditional final girl. Below is an image of Jennifer Love Hewitt, the final girl in 'ISKWYDLS'


However, in some horror movies, they flip this particular convention upside down, and have a woman killing men. This occurs in 'Def By Temptation' and also in 'Saw', only men are killed. These films are using counter-types, however we do not plan to do this.

A quick note on the opening credits, in almost every horror opening scene I've seen, the opening credits appears to be white writing on a black background, quite often with non-diagetic sound that's appropriate for the opening of the film. For our production, we are still unsure if we will use opening credits (time allowing etc.), but if we do, we will use white writing on a black background.

In the horror movies I've observed, I've noticed that the most common shot type is a close up, or even an extreme close up. This is usually done to connote what emotions the characters are going through, or the sheer pain/stress they are in. They could also be being used to hide something from the audience, adding some narrative enigma that may soon be revealed.

Finally, I think that violence is a key component in any horror movie, no matter which sub-genre. In films I've watched, the levels of violence do seem to be quite large and very realistic. 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' as a horrific caucus in it's opening shot and 'Scream' finishes with a great deal of violence. This has inspired our production to attempt to incorporate some fake blood, to make not only the stabbing seem more realistic, but also it will be more like a traditional slasher.

JW - Deconstruction of 'The Faculty'

- Directed by Robert Rodriguez in 1998
- Had a budget of $15mil and made $40mil in the USA boxoffice and £4.3mil in the UK boxoffice

- In the opening scene, there are no opening credits (the opening scene ends after 3mins approx). After the first company idents, a well known song starts to play (The Kids Aren't Alright - The Offspring), the name of this song may be a subtle pun to what's going on in the film, or perhaps they're playing it because the kids in this movie are in fact normal, it's the teachers who are supposedly 'aliens'.
There are no stand out mise-en-scene, camera shots or aspects of editing in this opening scene. The entire opening scene is set in an American Football college stadium, and the looks and ages of the kids gives us immediate anchorage as to where this movie is set, and it also connotes to the audience where the rest of the movie will be set.
The ending of the opening scene could be very important to the film, it ends on a very strong narrative enigma, we only see the shadow approaching the football coach however the shadow doesn't say or do anything. This adds a strong sense of mystery as to who or what is on the field.

JW - Filming Schedule Update

We are filming this weekend (15th and 16th January) to create some raw/rough footage. This is so we can get a good idea of what camera shots/angles to use, the length of shots needed and also to see possible locations we will use. These will not be done using actors, propps or lighting.

We are planning to film our final production on the following weekend (22nd to 23rd January).

All - Reasons For The Names Behind Our Company Idents

Jagged Edge Productions:
The reasons we used this name is because it is a catchy, well known phrase. One that stick in the persons mind, we will also be able to produce a logo with relative ease. The 'Jagged Edge' could also be used a subtle reference to the knife used in our horror film.

Hawk Eye Distributions:
This name is also easily memorable, the logo for it could be easily created and shouldn't cause too much hassle. The name is rather simple and nothing too extravagant.

We were initially planning to have a distribution name that reflected our three individual names, however this seemed too hard and the name wouldn't be catchy, memorable or easily able to produce a logo for. We believe the names we have chosen will do the job they require.

All - Company Idents

Production Name:
Jagged Edge Productions

Distributioners:
Hawk Eye Distributions

After much debate and discussion, we have decided that we will use these names for our company idents. A quick bit of research has shown us that neither of these names are currently in use.

Any updates on our company idents will be posted on here.

JW - Deconstruction of 'Saw'

- Directed by James Wan in 2004
- Had a budget of only $1.2mil
- Made $55.1mil if the USA boxoffice, £6.6mil in the UK boxoffice and $102.9mil worlwide.

Saw is one of the most famous and memorable horror/mystery movies ever made, so much so that it went onto make seven sequels, each more gruesome then the last. It was hard to pick out when the opening scene actually ended, the actual scene doesn't end in a very recognisable way, it fades into a different scene/flashback. I decided this would be the best time to end it as already 15mins had been played.

- Opening Credits/Opening Scene (Ends after 15mins 36secs)
The opening credits consist of blue writing on a black background (slightly unconventional as most horror movies seem to have white writing upon a black background). The words are slightly distorted and are sort of 'swimming' around, this becomes apparent as the opening scene begins with a man in a bath. This could be the reason why the words are blue and appear to be 'floating', it fits in with the idea of the scene opening in water.
The rest of the opening scene is key to the whole story of the film, the mise-en-scene is incredibly important.



Above is a picture of where the whole of the opening sequence occurs, it is a grimey, murkey and quite depressing bathroom. This is the perfect setting for this film, it signifies simplicity and also connotes that they're in a run down area that has not been in use for several years.
The camera shots in this scene are also very significant, there is a very large amount of close ups. This done to show the sheer terror and anxiety in both of the characters faces, CUs are great for showing emotions. As shown in this opening scene. Secondly, there is a large number of panning shots. These are used to show the horrible situation these men are in.
Little editing is used, this yet again could be done, to add to the simplicity of the mess these men are in. The most significant piece of editing I could see it the 'blurring' effect both men have after the lights have been switched on. This adds to the realism of the film and also adds a last bit of narrative enigma as to who these men are.

This is three minutes of the opening scene to Saw:

JW - Actors/Characters Needed For Our Production

Our production only consists of three main characters, a stereotypically 'scream queen', a stereotypical 'jock' character, male, and finally the killer, whose identity will not be revealed to add some narrative enigma.

'Scream Queen' - this character will hopefully be portrayed be a blonde girl who could fit the conventions of a scream queen in a horror movie. She plays the most significant role in our film, that of first showing sexual inclinations towards our 'jock' character, she then proceeds to get horribly frightened by her soon-to-be killer and eventually, killed. We realise that the actors for our film will not be of this highest quality, despite the lack of realism this may bring, we still hope that our film will look like a real production due to our mise-en-scene, editing, camera shots and lighting.

'Jock' character - this character only plays a small role in our film. He is to show sexual relations towards the girl character, but then he must abruptly leave, leaving the girl alone and isolated. However, despite his small role, we don't want to portray a stereotype that's common in slasher/horror movies; the strong, manly 'jock' boyfriend.

The killer - the identity of this character is not revealed, therefore who acts this character is not really relevant. He will be most likely be dressed in a black cloak and we are debating on the idea of wether to give him a mask or not.

All updates will be posted on here.

JW - Deconstruction Of 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'

- Directed by Danny Cannon in 1998
- Had a budget of $24mil
- Made $40mil in the USA box office and £2.6mil in the UK box office
- Sequel to 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' - Jim Gillespie, 1997'
- To go to the imdb page for this movie, click here

- Opening Scene/Opening Credits (Ends after 4mins)
Opening credits ends after 1min 11secs and consists of white writing on a black background (a trend most horror/slasher movies seem to have), there is muffled non-diegetic sound; talking in haste, muffled screaming, a scary voice and lots of references to 'death'. These could be referencing the prequel to this film (which I am yet to see) or perhaps foreshadowing what might occur later in the film. It then changes to the title of the film which is yet again white lettering on a black background, although it appears the letters have been 'slashed' to signify a knife attack, or perhaps of a different weapon.
Swaps to an close up of the Virgin Mary and pans down to Jesus (both statues), this is anchorage to the location (a Church) and also signifying religion in the film. This may be relevant to why the characters will be being chased by a slasher; they have sinned and therefore must be punished.
The next shots are of a brunette girl (possible 'final girl' from the prequel) walking down the aisle in a church, alone and isolated. The bright white light gleaming through the window is signifying a dream (which we soon find out we are in) and also perhaps, more religious symbolism - the bright, white lights of heaven etc.
The next shots are of the conversation between 'Julie James' and the meant-to-be Priest (although it turns out to be the infamous 'hook' killer from the previous film. This sequence invokes a fake scare (because it's a dream) and also the lighting is very significant. Only the faces of the two characters are lit up, in a very dim light. The rest is just blackness, this is perhaps signifying the lonliness and isolation of the character.
Little significant editing is used in the opening sequence. The mise-en-scene is quite important, the setting of the church adds to the religious symbolism and could also invoke a slight fear factor, rreligion can be scary and judgmental (some acts of God in the first testament).
We get the idea that Julie James will yet again be the final girl, she is very similar to the final girl in Scream (see earlier deconstruction).




This is an image of Julie James portraying a typical 'final girl'.

JW - Target Audience For Slasher/Horror

An average slasher film has many picturesque and busty teenage girls getting brutally murdered by a (usually) male horror killer. There is also a large amount of partial/full nudity in these, this is often of the girls because as they partake in sexual acts, they are committing a sin and therefore need to be punished, by the killer.
Both of these conventions in a slasher movie are there to enforce the films target audience; primarily teenage males. Although more and more teenage females are beginning to enjoy 'slasher' movies due to the fact that - despite many girls getting brutally murdered -  there is often a 'final girl' who defeats the killer and she could potentially be quite inspirational to the girl. In the movie 'Scream' (see earlier deconstruction), the 'final girl' is Sidney Prescott.This is one of the most recognised slasher movies and this is a great example of a 'final girl'.

 This is a picture of Sidney Prescott.

The target audience for our production (entitled Oblivious) will therefore be primarily teenagers (both male and female). Although since we will not be doing an ending for our film, we cannot establish a 'final girl', we will give serious inclinations that our production will be a rather more conventional slasher movie.
The rating of our production, I imagine would be a 15. Most slasher movies are rated at least a 15, due to the amounts of violence and nudity (and in a more sub-genre of slasher, drug use). Yet again, since our production will be a conventional slasher movie, I imagine it'll have at least a 15 rating.

JW - The Setting For Our Film

For our production, we only need one major location. This will be a relatively modern, fairly middle class household. There needs to be nothing particularly special or outstanding about the house, it just needs to be a fairly simple household. This will add to the simplicity and realism of our production, which will then make it seem more scary.
The other locations we need are of the interior household,  a living room (most likely) that contains a comfortable sofa, a table (that empty alcoholic beverages will be on) and the rest could just be your average living room (TV, pictures, lights etc.).
We also need a hallway with a door on the end of it (the door is to lead outside), and a large window that overlooks a dark, bleak garden (this is to show the loneliness and isolation of our lead character).

The above house is a picture from 'Google Images' so it is not the one we will be using, however this is the type of 'standard' house we would want to use, it is nothing too over the top and signifies a simple life.

Any new updates on location/setting ideas will be posted on here in the near future.

JW - Director Influences - Wes Craven

Wes Craven (born in August 1939, in Cleveland Ohio) is one of the most well recognised and influential directors in the horror/slasher genre of film.

He has directed such classics 'Scream 1,2 and 3 (1996, 1997 and 2000)', 'A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)', 'The Hills Have Eyes Parts I and II (in 1977 and 1985 respectively)', 'Red Eye' (2005) and his début film as a director, 'The Last House On The Left (1972).
After watching 'The Directors' which focuses on Wes Craven's life, his best films and how he goes about it, I decided that he is a very influential director to me, and his films would help me greatly in our coursework production. One of Wes Craven's trade marks is an establishing shot of a white house (Scream for example), we intend to use a similar establishing shot in our production. Craven is also known for using a lot of violence (especially for the time some of his movies were made). Although our availability to create and use 'violence' (fake blood, etc.) this is yet another aspect of Craven's films that we could use in our own.

JW - Deconstruction of 'Scream'

- Directed by Wes Craven in 1996.
- Had a budget of $15mil and made $103mil in the USA and $161mil worldwide.

Opening Scene (Ends after 12mins 29secs) - this is one of the most significant and recognisable horror/slasher movies ever made. It is a film our coursework will be very much based on, it's the classic slasher story. Blonde girl (scream queen) alone in her upper class home, gets a mysterious call, and despite her best efforts, she dies a gruesome death. Our coursework piece is very similar to this, although we'll only have two minutes to reach the conclusion of our opening scene (unless we're planning to leave it on a cliffhanger (narrative enigma)), we can take many clues and observations from this film.



The still pictured above is of Drew Barrymore, who is the main character in the opening. She is loosely the type of girl we want to star in our coursework, blonde, attractive and in utter despair
The opening scene is pure genius for many, many reasons. Firstly, it's simplicity, very little actually goes on until the killer kills her boyfriend, and then throws a chair through the door, it's just following a very eery conversation and the audience, has a very good idea about what is going to happen to the poor woman. Secondly, the way the popcorn acts as a 'clock' for the opening scene. It goes from normal and quite easily, to absolutely crazy, just as the scene does, it's a very clever piece of cinema.
There is no notable editing or special effects in this scene, which just contributes to the simplicity of it. The mise-en-scene is also rather basic, but yet it's brilliant. The isolation and loneliness of the house helps to signify to the audience just how this girl has no immediate means of help.

This is the opening scene to 'Scream':

JW - Filming Arrangements

We have currently produced a storyboard (showing the basic outline of our story) and we are currently producing a call sheet that will provide us with in-depth information on the shot types we intend to use, the locations, and the order they come in.
We are aiming to film week commencing 10th January - 24th January if needed, however we predict that filming should be finished by the end of the week; January 17th.
Any alterations to our plan will be posted as followed.

JW - Update On Coursework Idea - 'Oblivious'

An Updated version:
- establishing shot of the household (time allowing may reference 'Halloween' of someone 'walking' towards the house as the opening credits roll on'.
- a boy and a girl are alone in a modern household.
- there are strong implications that the two are sexually active and have consumed reasonable amounts of alcohol (this is obviously a sin!)
- the boy then abruptly departs, leaving the girl alone in quite a dark house.
- the girl turns everything off, lights, music etc. and decides to go to bed after locking the door.
- the music turns it self back on (seemingly) and gets stuck in a 'loop' - a reference to 'The Strangers'

- she hears a loud knock on the door, creeps up to the door and whispers; "who's there?!"

- another loud bang on the door, girl hesitantly goes to the window to look outside.

- she sees nothing and is rather confused.

- she turns away from the window at pace, and runs right into the 'killer'.

- the scene ends as the girl screams and a POV shot of the knife coming down

We have made several alterations to our original idea because we discovered several flaws in it. Firstly, since we originally mentioned that the girl was going to fall over from shock of seeing her soon to be killer, we realised for this to make full sense. We'd need the girl to hit her head hard on something so that she can become semi-unconsciousness, however this would be very tricky to film and make it seem realistic without hurting our actor. We decided to scrap this, which then meant we had to scrap the rest of the plot because it would not make sense.

A second problem we encountered, is if the killer was outside scaring her at the window, how would he be able to be inside to stab her? So for this problem, we decided that we would never have knowledge of the killer being outside or inside the house (hence the title 'Oblivlious'), this will add to the shock when the killer has been in the house for the whole time.

Our newly developed plot is above.

JW - Deconstruction of 'Def By Temptation'

- Directed, Written and Starring James Bond III
- Released in 1990
- No budget figures given but made $2.2mil in the USA box office.
- To go to the imdb site, click here

- Opening Scene/Opening Credits (Ends after 4mins 15secs)
The first frame we see in this film is of a city skyline in front of a red background. Red is usually a signifier of blood and guts, and also a satanic presence. The opening titles are popping up in bold, yellow lettering. The yellow colour could imply some sort of good/hope in the city, that is all-in-all, not a good place.
The initial backdrop then fades away and it goes to a black background. These of course are binary opposites, and as in most horror movies. The white is a representation of 'goodness' whereas black usually connotes evil.
The title of the film then comes up onto the black screen, in white lettering. However, the third 't' in 'temptation' is initially a red crucifix. This signifies that there may be some religious horror in this movie, or possibly the satanic side of religion, ie. the Devil.
An establishing shot is now in the frame, of a modern day, bustling city. Anchorage of the time, and urban area. Although we don't know yet, which city it is. Second establishing shot is of the bar where the opening scene takes place. Looks like quite a 'shanty' area, for the probable working class.
Following this, the opening scene follows a black man who works behind the bar. He's on the phone to someone, presumably a woman and his lover due to his dialogue. Following this conversation, he is then on the phone to presumably, another woman. Organising a weekend together. Given that this man is calling two women and through his dialogue, he wants to or already has had sexual relations with them, we fear he may die quickly. Due to the basic horror movie conventions of adultery or just sexual relations equals death. This could be setting it up for later in the movie.
An up-beat disco area soundtrack has played constantly throughout the whole of the first scene, possibly helping to anchor the time or due the movies (I presume) low budget, they may not have purchased the right to use any well known songs.
Little significant editing is used in this opening scene, the mise-en-scene is also rather basic. The clothing is average and the only location used is that of an average bar.

JW - What I Learnt From 'How To Survive A Horror Movie'

This is a more comical book by Seth Grahaem-Smith that looks at the stereotypical conventions in all horror movies. Such as a light blue filter being present or an eery layer of mist covering your ankles. From the title, it is more of a 'guide' on how to survive horror movies, it goes through various 'techniques' and survival tips on how to defeat a psychotic killer, murderous doll etc.

The reason I decided to read this is because. although is not a serious book. It would give me many ideas for my coursework on what the normal conventions in horror movies are and also how I could go about making mine slightly different if I don't want it to be like an ordinary horror movie. Or if I want to stick to the codes and conventions of the more standard horror movie, this book gives good insight on what occurs. And also what shouldn't happen in horror movies (because these are some of the ways the author decides you could counter your killer).
All in all, it's a good read. With some very funny illustrations but it's also very factual about the vast majority of horror movies and also has some excellent quotes and recommendations from the classic horror movies.