Review of the First 2 minutes of Wrong Turn

Wrong Turn is a Horror film produced in 2002 by Rob Schmidt, it is about a group of 6 people who get trapped in a remote forrest, and hunted down by mad deformed psychedelic mountain men and killed. It stars Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, Emmanuelle Chriqui and others, and gained an approximate 10 million dollars from its box office.

The first two minutes starts off with a summit entertainment title shot and then a Constantin Film shot. They show this to let the audience know who helped produce the film. The first actual footage of the film is at 00:24, this is an establishing shot, showing miles of forrest with only 1 road on it, this shows to the audience the area in which the film will take place. This shot allows the audience to see how remote the location is, this is one of the cliches of Horror films, that the location is very remote. Over the top of this the name of the 2 production companies are shown again. The shot is still going, but the camera is pointing at the floor, this shows a darker side to the forrest as there are many shadows. Also many of the trees have been flattened, showing destruction. The shot then slows and stops above a cliff face, with 2 climbers on. One male climber and one female, they both look quite young. Having these actors allow the target audience, 15-30 year olds both male and female to connect to the characters, so when they are killed this makes the audience more scared as they think that it could be them. The man gets to the top of the cliff and the camera switches so it is looking up at him. Usually this shows power within a shot, but the camera is looking up to show how vulnerable the girl is, as the camera is from her point of view. The camera zooms in on the mans face to show his expression, which is happy as he believes he is in no danger and he has just completed the wall. The next shot is from his perspective and it is a shot out into the forrest, showing the beauty of it. A small amount of conversation occurs between the 2 characters and you see the man walk out of shot. You then see the woman struggling to climb the wall. The girl then falls due to poor fitting. This makes the audience jump as you think she is going to die, but her harness saves her. The man then talks to her, saying how they are 50 miles from the closest people, this allows the audience to know that the area is deserted. You then hear a deep drum beat at 01:43 and then an bird call out. This could signal something bad happen as vultures usually cluster around death. you then hear another drum beat this time, it is accompanied by a grunt, which sounds like the male climber. This suggests to the audience that the man has been killed and as you cannot see it, it raises tension. You then see a shot of the wall from afar, allowing you to see the woman stuck halfway up and the man is no-where to be seen, strengthening the audiences assumption that the man has been killed, this again raises tension. You hear the female climber say something, which sounds more panicky than how she was talking before. And then you see the mans head lying down over the edge of the cliff. Showing the audience that he is dead. This shows to the audience that it is a horror film as he has been killed off very early on in the film. This is quite common of Horror films to kill an actor off very early as it gains the attention of the audience and can help strengthen the plot. This is a good first 2 minutes as it sets the scene very well with the establishing shot and gives the audience enough background information for them to understand and then it also builds tension well as someone is killed but you cannot see how or who did it. 

The Grudge : Review of the first 2 minutes

The Grudge is the first film of 3 in a series of Japanese Horrors; the target audience is 15-30 year olds as the rating is a 15, allowing the main Horror fan audience to see the film. The storyline is about a American nurse living in Tokyo is exposed to a curse which locks onto a person in a powerful rage before claiming there life in a painful way and then moving onto the next victim. It was directed by Takashi Shimizu and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr and Clea DuVall.

The first 2 minutes stars with the Columbia statute panning into the shot, with some slow eerie music in the background. This then fades to black, a door then fades in, it looks old and rusty. The sort you would expect to see in a Horror film. It then shuts by itself, you know this as you can see both handles due to the angle it the zooms in on the keyhole for a skeletons head to be visible on the other side and the title Ghost House Pictures appears, this allows the audience to know that they are watching a Horror film, as Ghost House production does specialize in Horror films. This then fades to black again the music is still audible but it is quiet. A line comes onto the screen, it helps explain about the curse which features in the film. This then fades out but the word curse stays there and turns red then fades out. This is very symbolic, without even seeing the film the audience already know that the film is going to be about a curse, and the red color suggests that it is going to be the killer in the film. Another line then comes onto screen, explaining about how the curse will gather in the place of death of the person who was killed by hatred. This time instead of the word Curse staying on screen, the word Death does, this suggests to the reader that people are going to die in the film. A third line appears on the screen after this one, this one talks about how the fury will overcome its victim. And the word fury stays this time. This strengthens the fact that the curse is born of anger. 

At 01:05 the first actual footage fades in. It fades in on a civilized area, which is quite populated  suggesting that it is the suburbs. It helps set the scene by, letting the audience it is set in Japan as an oriental boat is seen on the river and it gives the audience a basic knowledge of where the film is going to take place. A character then pans into shot. A white ginger male, with probable British ethnicity. The creepy music is no longer playing; all you can hear is the sound of the cars driving, which is visible in the background. The man is on a balcony and his facial expression shows some distress. The camera then cuts to another shot of his face, and a woman in the bed is visible behind him, and she calls the name Peter. She asks if he is okay but he does not reply this suggests to the audience that Peter is not all right and he is distressed in some way. She try’s to have a conversation with him by saying how he is up early. He turns round to look at her but doesn’t say anything. This is weird and is there to Creep out the audience. He then turns back out and swings himself over the balcony. The way he does it shows resistance but he is the only person by the balcony. Suggesting to the audience that the Curse is at work. The camera then goes to his perspective and you fall to the ground to hear a splatting sort of noise. You then see the shock on the woman’s face in the next shot. You see her peer over the balcony at  the body. Which is on the floor with the limbs spread out to each side. Creepy piano music then begins. The first to 2 minutes of the film then ends.

Hybrid Genres

Film Genres can be mixed so you have a hybrid film genre, for an example an Action/Crime film. The cliches and conventions are mixed so there are some from both.

An example of a Hybrid film is Fast and Furious 5. It is a Crime/Action.

It shares cliches from both Crime and Action Genres.

For example it invloves a plotline that is about crime and theft, but it is backed up with explosions and car chases which are Action film Cliches. Having a film with 2 main genres is a clever way of broadening the target audeince for the film as people who like Actions and Crimes are liely to enjoy the film. Many films use this as the main point of creating a film is to make a profit and this way the are maximising the revenue they can gain.

Characters

Adam and I have had a meeting about the storyline and cast of the film, we have decided a basic plot for the first 2 minutes and we have also decided we will use 1 actor as Tom Nood the ghost, we will need another 7 actors as the group of friends and we will also need 1 actor to act as the police man. We will only need this amount of people because at one point in every clip there will always be one person out of the shot who can film the shot. 

Possible Fonts

For a Horror film there are many possible fonts that we could use. Fonts are very important we creating a film as they are seen many times, usually at the start, they can help give a lasting impression of the film on the audience. It also helps people choose to see the film in the first place as the font will be on tech poster and if the font looks scary then it is likely to bring in more Horror fans Some have been used before, meaning we cannot reuse them, below are some fonts I found that I like.

An example of fonts used in Horror films is that for in the Film posters below, they all have a unique font that they use for this title which are sometimes similar but are never the same unless its a sequel or prequel. 

 

 

Soundtrack Research

Horror films usually have slow building music to help create tension within the scene, music can help make a great film and without it may not be as scary. The music itself usually fits in with extremely well, like when action happens, the pitch to raise and the tempo to rise as well. Classic Horror movie music is usually orchestral based, and is written and played for the film.  Although in some modern horror titles more rocky and upbeat music can be used, putting a twist into the film.

2 Example of Classic Horror Soundtracks are those from Jaws, Dead Silence and Friday the 13th

Whereas here is a example of a piece of Modern Soundtrack music, they are from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I prefer the music for Dead Silence as I think it is very creepy and would help build tension within the film. I would like to have a track like this for my film, I also like the music from Jaws and the way that the music changes to help represent the movement of the shark, I think it helps the audience realise that the shark is coming closer, and its a clever way of letting the audience know of oncoming danger for the characters without the characters knowing. I will compose and play a peice of Classical Horror music for my soundtrack.

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

Film Project

We have decieded to create the start of a horror film. We have decieded to do this as we think that a Horror film will be easier and will allow us to achieve the high grade we both aim for. One reason we have done this as location will be able to find as a Horror can be filmed within the vecinty of civilisation as this helps the viewer relate to the victims scaring them when they are in a similar location. Another reason why we chose to do a Horror, as the target audience is very precise and we will be able to easily target them. It will be easy to follow certain Horror cliches allowing the viewer to know what they are watching. It will also be easy to make the scene scary and will make the viewer want to watch on.

Types of Horror movies and there conventions