Mise en scene for the boys

Here are some of the costumes characters wear in other typical horror films:
Friday the 13th

My Bloody Valentine

 Return to House on Haunted Hill

 The Strangers

 Tormented

One factor that links all of this mise en scene is that no clothing stands out, no bright colours are used and no character is dressed out of the ordinary. For example, in Tormented the characters are school students and so are in uniform. This means that we want all of our victims dressed in the same type of 'normal' clothing, no one should stand out. We have decided to dress them all in school uniform; a plain white shirt, blazer, matching colour trousers and plain shoes. This will ensure that no one stands out and show that they are school boys so we do not need to waste time with any other way to show this in our teaser trailer.

Location (continued)

Another possibility for our location is Hellingly Asylum:

Location

Unfortunately we have had complications in choosing our location for our teaser trailer. Now that major scaffolding has been erected on the house that we were planning on using we have had to search elsewhere, and one particular place has caught our eyes - West Park Mental Hospital. It is situated in Epsom, and it is brilliantly gloomy (we hope it is not being demolished but are yet to confirm this.) Here are some images of the place:

Here the words have been used to create an image, with the help of a couple of horns and a tail, of what appears to resemble the Devil. This is highlighted by the fact that only the words ‘the Devil’ are in red, as are the horns and the tail.

Again the title creates an image that reflects the title ’27 Dresses’ and it intertwines with the image of the actress. Although it the image includes written information about the film that people tend not to pay much attention to, the title is made clear through its pink font.

The style of the title for the film ‘Blindness’  embodies the witty satirical image of an eye test chart and the caption underneath includes the word ‘vision’ as a pun on the title.

Although the font is not particularly original or inspiring, the fact that the reflections show what seem to be silhouettes gives a mysterious aura to the poster. 

The font of the title for ‘West Side Story’ looks almost mechanical and rusty, with the gaps and distortion in the letters and the images of the staircases and people, the impression is given that the title appears almost as a building.

Although this is not a particularly good example of typography, the background is very relevant to the film. What with the gritty appearance of the poster - the holes torn in it and the worn appearance of the chequered pattern and font, the viewer expects something more than what the title gives away.

Death masks

An idea on a style of mask we can use for the killer- a death mask. This is a cast taken from the face of a dead person, and encaptures the expression on the face when they died  

These are eerie and frightening, from a victims point of view seeing the face of death on their killer would be frightening, as they know they are about to die. Plaster casts are made to use these so we will have to experiment. 

Gorezone

This magazine is perfect for our trailer as it is specialist to horror films and has covered films that relate to ours such as “Friday the 13^th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street”. The magazine uses a block red font, as red is conventional of horror and has the killer on the front drawing the attention straight to the film as it is the main focus. On the ‘Friday the 13^th’ cover Gorezone expects the viewer to know the film, as it does not say the title of the film, showing how this magazine is directed at a niche audience. The magazine has also used contrasting colours of white and red and black and red to give a modern take on horror and shows that simplicity is more effective than loads of different colours. The picture of the characters cut through the title which gives the impression that it is a well established magazine although it only focuses on a smaller audience than other film magazines.

Typography research

Mask Analysis

 This mask covers Jason’s face in Rob Zombie’s re-make of ‘Halloween’. I find it particularly unnerving due to its skin-like appearance and gormless expression, and it definitely gives inspiration for the type of mask we intend to use in our teaser trailer.

This mask is worn by the villain/s in the ‘Scream’ films. Although completely different to Jason’s mask in the sense that it looks much more artificial, I find the sheer size and the horrified and almost sorrowful expression on the mask very eerie.

Although not a mask, the evil clown from Stephen King’s ‘It’ wears face paint so bold and vivid that it draws immediate attention. With no material actually covering the face it makes the viewer’s experience much more personal and horrifying – especially as it plays on the commonly renowned phobia of clowns that so many people hold, which is something I would like to incorporate in our trailer.

These are the masks worn by the villains in ‘The Strangers’. I find them particularly unnerving due to the dark, deep eyes and largely expressionless faces. The fact that they are all a yellow/white gives them a ghostly effect and makes them look pale and almost unhealthy.

28 Days Later Teaser Trailer Analysis

I find this trailer noticeably interesting due to the complete lack of storyline given away from it and its large reliance on sound. It starts with a caption ‘on the first day’ and has the intense sound of what seem like chimpanzees screeching as if to give insight to the writing, yet only a second long clip is shown in conjunction with it, giving the audience little time to process what they are viewing. The trailer then continues with captions chronologically ordering the events leading up to the film title ’28 Days Later’, all of which are accompanied with the incessant diagetic sounds of flies, rats, screams and panting, which all contribute to the perplexity experienced by the audience. The first time that a video clip within the trailer is played for longer than a couple of seconds is just over half way through the trailer and they still reveal very little of the plot to the viewer. The use of font is particularly effective in correlating with the mood of the trailer, as it is distorted and almost looks damaged.  

Movie murder weapons

Some famous killers and their weapons-
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre- Leatherface used a chainsaw
Halloween- Michael Myers used a large kitchen knife
The Shining- Jack Torrance used an axe
I took photos of a few household items that could be used as weapons, as we're filming in an abandoned house they need to be items that could have been left behind in the house

The fire poker could be ideal as it is unique it also looks brutal however it is quite small, an axe could do more damage in getting through a door for example.
We have chosen to have the killer use an axe because axes represent masculinity (associated with lumberjacks) and strength, because you need to be strong to use an axe efficiently. It is a large weapon and this adds to the hulking figure of our killer, having his weapon large would emphasise his stature and overbearing power in the asylum.