Final Storyline

I have decieded to use the storyline from working title one, I have chosen this as I believe the storyline is more believable and could be created to be more scary. I also like the idea of the main character being a victorian child as they can be very creepy as he has been dead for a while.

A more in depth version of the storyline is

Back in the victorian times a boy worked in some coal mines near a small village, he worked long hard hours and the foreman he worked for was harsh and cruel. One day the foreman brought in his daughter who the boy fell in love with straight away, he decieded to buy her a gift. He went out and spent his savings on a ring, he then walked to the foremans house to give his daughter the ring. When he turned up the foreman opened the door and saw what the boy was doing, he was so angry that a poor young coalminer would fall in love with his daughter he was so angry he pulled the knife from the sheath on his belt and stabbed the boy till he died. The foreman realising want he just did, picked up the body and ran into the woods, buring it in a shallow grave, his soul continued to haunt the woods he was buried in. Slowly the town shut down and people left and the coal mine was abandoned, a few people stayed but the town became abandoned in many places. It became a hotspot for missing persons cases but it didnt stop people from going there now and then.
After graduation a couple of friends decieded to go camping, the packed there stuff and went. They looked on the map and saw a small town not so far away so they deieded to go there. They set off and when they got there they set up camp, but one of the friends disappears without a trace, they then realise they are getting stalked by something or someone. Its teh ghost of the boy, they try hiding and some of the friends get killed and some make it to a abandoned house. The foremans house, they try hiding but they are found by the ghost. They are in the girls room, the ghost starts cry when he sees the girls dressing table, the wooden ring is on it. He walks over picks it up and vanishes. The kids run back to the car and drive to the nearest police station, but the police dont believe them, that a ghost killed there friends.

I think this is a good storyline as it hasnt been used before in any way and we could involve many clever camera angles and effects such as black and white in flashbacks.

Horror Film Storylines

We havn't yet decieded on what the storyline will be so we have written possible storylines, they are below.

Working Title 1

In this storyline, the killer would be the ghost of a victorian child who was killed in the coal mine by foreman for falling in love with his daughter. And he would come back to kill anyone who is near the mine until he is reunited with his lover. The storyline would be based around a group of kids camping in the forrest, unaware that it is close to the old abandoned coal mine, the ghost of the boy comes back and slowly picks off the children one by one.

Working Title 2

In this storyline a pyschodelic madman, breaks out of the mental hospital he is kept in by killing a nurse and dressing up as him. He then travels to London, to seek out the victim that he injured but not killed. He breaks into a fishing shop and steals a harpoon gun and a hunting knife. He goes around killing everyone in his way. In the end the victim ends up in a one on one fight with the killer.

Film Certificate Research

For a Film to be shown in cinemas or sold in any way the film must have a film certificate, some of which guide the viewers and there parents on wether the film may be suitable and some are a strict rule, allowing no-one under the age of the film to see it. Below is a list of the film certificates and what they involve.

Definition/Notes
	Universal	All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children over 4.
	Parental Guidance	All ages admitted, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 8.
	12A	Cinema only. Introduced in 2002. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years, at all times during the motion picture. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, commonly used milder swear words, and moderate violence/sex references.
	12	Home media only since 2002. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. Nobody younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game. Films in this category may include infrequent drugs, infrequent use of strong language, brief nudity, discreet sexual activity, and moderate violence.
	15	Only those over 15 years are admitted. Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong language, moderate-strong violence/sex references, and mild non-detailed sex activity.
	18	Only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and strong violence/sex references along with strong sexual activity is also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context.
	Restricted18	Can only be shown at licensed cinemas or sold at licensed retailers or sex shops, and only to adults, those aged 18 or over. Films under this category have material the BBFC does not allow for its "18" rating, thus the violence and sex activity will be stronger in R18-rated VHSs, DVDs and films than those rated "18," however, there is still a range of material that is often cut from the R18 rating. More cuts are demanded in this category than any other category.

As we are making a Horror film we are most probably going to try and aim to get a 12, a 15, or a 18. We wouldn't want to get a U, a PG, or a 12A as this would stop us putting in many popular horror film cliches, and it may also deter Horror fans from seeing it as they might assume that it won't be scary as it is suitable for children. We also wouldn't want to get a restricted 18 as it might put off Horror fans as it may be too disturbing.


Beneath is a list of the top 20 grossing Horror movies and what certificate they are and a table and graph to show this. The highest grossing is at the top of the list.

1. What Lies Beneath -  15

2. Gremlins -                 15

3. Blair Witch Project -   15

4. A Christmas Carol -    PG

5. Godzilla -                   PG

6. The Ring -                 15

7. The Grudge -             15

8. Paranormal Activity - 15

9. Paranormal Activity 3 - 15

10. Scream -                 18

11. Scream 2 -               18

12. Sleepy Hollow -        15

13. The Haunting -         12

14. Scream 3 -              18

15. Saw 2 -                    18

16. Amityville Horror -     15

17. Paranormal Activity 2 - 15

18. The X Files -             15

19. Dracula -                   18

20. Freddy vs Jason -      18

After this research into how a film certificate affects the amount of money a film makes, it show how important the certificate is. As PG's, 12's, U's and 12A's clearly don't work well as Horror films as only a few have ever reached within the Top 20 most grossing. Due to this research I believe that the decision is between an 18 and a 15 as these are the highest two categories. There are benefits and disadvantages of using both. Using a 18 certificate would be good as it would attract an audience that likes violence, swearing and sex scenes, and it also means we can put in many famous cliches  without worrying that they will be to gory. However a disadvantage of having an 18 is it majorly cuts down the box office audience as 15-18 year olds are one of the highest cinema attending audiences and you cut out many of them due to the age. A benefit of using a 15 certificate is that it will allow all of the target audience to watch the film, allowing for a larger profit. A disadvantage of using a 15 certificate is that you may be forced to cut out scenes of extreme violence. In conclusion I believe a 15 certificate would be best for our Horror film as it allows the whole target audience to view the film and will probably mean a larger profit. 

I have chosen to use a 15 for my film.

Props

One of the main props we would need to use for a Horror film is a weapon of some kind, the weapon will be more memorable if it is unique, this would be good as it will help the audience remember the film more. Below is a mind map of the possible weapons we could use and the benefits of using them.

Weapons Media on Prezi

Mindmap of Possible Names

Click to Enlarge

Character Realism

When creating a costume for the killer, to help make it realistic if the killer is needed to look scary, scarring could be applied to the actors face to create this effect. This could be produced with liquid latex and make up. This can be used to create realistic scarring deformations and also the effect of someone with a cut throat. This could help if in the scene someone gets killed as if fake blood was used as well this could help the actor look like they have actually been killed.  This overall would make the scene look more professional and real.

If we make the killer, possessed or to make him scarier we could change the colours of their eyes, creating a spooky effect. You can get many colours and types such as extremely dilated, bloodshot or a block colour.

Other objects that could be used to change the appearance of the killer could include items such as a wig, to change the colour and type of their hair, face paint, to add scary features to there face such as bloodshot red lips. We could also use CGI to help add effects to the appearance of the actor.

Costumes

For our Horror genre clip we will have to have costumes. Usually there are 3 sort of costumes that are used. They would all be quite easily accessible. The first type of costume we would need is a civilian costume, for this we could use ordinary clothes, but usually the clothes are very basic and something every type of person can relate to, this sort of outfit would usually involve trainers, jeans, a t-shirt, a coat and quite often a plan baseball cap. These are the most common type of clothes the victims wear in Horror films.

The next sort of costume that might be needed for a Horror genre is a policeman outfit. This would be very simple as they can be bought from a fancy dress store. And the gun can be easily be bought very cheaply in a toy store. If a different sort of gun is needed there are many tutorials on Youtube which can be made to create non-working lookalike guns. A picture below is what the costume might look like.

The third type of outfit that would be needed would be that of the killers. There are many types of killers in horror films such as dead little girls, to knife bearing maniacs. This outfit will probably be the hardest to create as the options are so wide. Another part of the costume the killer would have is a weapon, this is also a very wide category and could be hard to decide what to use.. Below is a mind-map of costumes and weapons that have already been used in Horror films.

Media - Mind map mood board on Prezi

Film Project

To create the start of the film scene, I paired up with adam dickinson. We need to decide what genre of film we are going to do,  however we are stuck between the choice of Action and Horror. But there are benefits and disadvantages to both. They are listed below.


ACTION GENRE


Advantages

• We will be able to make it interesting and cool.
• Props would be easy to get, as toy guns can be made to realistic easily.
• Won't be hard to keep audience interested.

Disadvantages

• Action shots such as jumping from rooftop to rooftop, which is seen in many films, would be hard and dangerous to film.
• Sequence shots will be hard to film and will take a long time.

HORROR GENRE

Advantages

• Easy to make scary.
• Scenery/Location would be easy to find as an old looking house, a derelict building or a dark wood.
• Clear cliches which are easy to follow.
• Clear target audience to make the film suitable for.

Disadvantages

• If someone dies in our scene, it may be hard to make it look realistic, as fake blood would be hard to reproduce.
• Lighting would be hard to do, as we are not provided with lighting equipment.