Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Horror Film: Audience demographics and how it related to Infatuation

The following article, tells of the current audience for horror films. The typical audience, used to be young, white males, however with the introduction of female empowering films such as Jennifer's Body and The Ring, with strong female protagonists and antagonists, a majority female audience. However as 'Infatuation', has the typically male/female antagonist protagonist roles, we felt this might isolate our female audience. In order to capture the current target audience of the 21st century, we changed the back stories, our female lead, was intelligent,attractive and had no reason to be the cause of the antagonists fixation. Our antagontist would have a troubled background, this was not to gain sympathy for him but to help the audience understand the reasons behind his actions, as Samara's troubled background was revealed in The Ring.

Horror film reverses gender roles

September 23, 2009 by Laura Standley
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Film

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

female focus group.

Me and Loren decided to have a focus group with some of our students,who fit our target audience demographic and to gain a idea on what our target audience would want in a thriller/horror and receive feedback on our initial sequence idea.
Our audience demographic was originally aimed to be young people,ages 15-24 both male and female,however after a group discussion, we decided that due to the psychological elements of 'infatuation', some of the target audience of demographic E wouldn't fully appreciate like an audience in demographic A and B. So we have decided out primary audience will still be 15-24 but our secondary audience will be the higher demographic able to appreciate the more sophisticated elements.

The female feedback our our feedback was very positive and many of the desired features in a thriller/horror,we had included and due to feedback from one target audience,we decided to attempt to develop the background on the antagonist,making her a teacher and the picture she pulls out; as school photo.

The male focus group had some more constructive criticism about the genre of 'thriller and horror',stating although our idea was good it was a cliché,saying they would prefer a 'twist' of some sort of twist during the plot,to move away from stereotypical horror/thriller conventions.

Overall both groups responded well to our idea,the music and location,with only a few amendments being suggested for major impact,which we will bring in.

Male focus group

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

Types of stalking research

One in five women is being stalked

by NAOMI COLEMAN, femail.co.uk

Stalking is on the increase, say scientists, and it's not just celebrities who are under threat.

New research reveals that one in five women and one in ten men in the UK aged between 16 and 30 fall victim to some form of the phenomenon.

And, claim scientists, stalkers can now be split into five distinct groups: the rejected stalker, the intimacy stalker, the incompetent stalker, the resentful stalker and - most dangerous of all - the predatory stalker

Public figures stalked recently include pop star Madonna, TV star Zoe Ball and supermodel Naomi Campbell.

But the psychiatrist behind the research, Professor Paul Mullen, of Monash University, Australia, claims ordinary people are now more at risk than once thought.

He blames the rise in celebrity culture and social changes such as greater instability in relationships, more difficulty in finding partners and the rise of a blame culture in society.

'We define everything by our relationships,' he said. 'But there are many people who are socially isolated and rely on fabrication or delusion for their core identity.'

Men and women aged between 16 and 30 were most at risk. One in five women and one in ten men between these ages had experienced some form of stalking.

This compares with 12 per cent of women and four per cent of men aged between 45 and 60.

Professor Mullen said:'Those figures seem odd because obviously the older group have lived longer and would have been expected to have had more experience of relationship break-ups and things like stalking.

'The high rate among the younger age group tends to indicate that rates are rising, and pretty rapidly too.'

Professor Mullen suggests stalkers fall into five distinct groups. They are:

• The rejected stalker: The rejected stalker cannot accept that a relationship is over and swings between dependency on the other person, pleading for a reconciliation and flying into a rage at being rejected.
This is the most common type of stalker. They are usually male, and account for about half of all stalking cases.

• The intimacy stalker: These stalkers often target celebrities or people they do not know. They fix on someone and believe they are in love with them. They also think in time their love will be reciprocated. This group accounts for around 5 per cent of cases are are more likely to be women.

• The incompetent stalker: This type of stalker is usually socially incompetent, chauvinistic or a misogynist who believe they are entitled to a relationship with a woman. Although often short-term, stalking is characterised by awkward pleadings or aggressive demands.

• The resentful stalker: Unlike other types, these stalkers behave deliberately to frighten their victim. It is often motivated by a desire for revenge.
The stalker targets the person who has hurt them directly - or a representative of that group or person - for instance, a boss, a woman or a certain ethnic minority. This accounts for a minority of cases and is often rooted in the workplace.

• The predatory stalker: This is the least common and most dangerous type of stalker - the category that sex offenders fall into.
They follow their victims, observe their behaviour and gather information in order to plan a real attack. They are exclusively men and stalk victims for a feeling of power, control and sexual excitement.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-21634/One-women-stalked.html#ixzz1iUKbjlMj

The types of stalking hightlighted in bold, are the types of stalking, we felt our antagontist would belong to. Following his victim, observing her behaviour and executing an attack are all events that happen in Infatuation, he does stalk his victim for a feeling of power and revenge, his victim does not recipricate his feelings and he is determined to take care of her, in his mind and to make her love him.

Film Concept

Film Concept Outline.

The main themes in our film Infatuation are; obsession, stalking and infatuation.

Young pretty teenager Flo, a clever student is unknowingly the subject of one of her teachers desires. As the stalking becomes more frequent and violent, Flo’s nightmares are only just beginning.

Stalked and abducted one night, on her way home, innocent Flo is catapulted a nightmare to satisfy her twisted tormentors dream.

Starting at the moment, she is abducted, ‘Infatuation’ follows what causes her to be the subjected of unwanted attention and what happens after her terrifying kidnap.

Concluding the story, her determined parents and police, following clues unwittingly left by her stalker, track down Flo but before her captor can rightfully imprisoned he escapes into the unknown….

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Editing Research: Saving Private Ryan

The shots held in the first minute and 50 seconds are very long,this creates a tense atmosphere,the viewer isn't really sure whats happening,if there will be a sudden explosion. The middle shot of the all the soldiers and their actions,gives you a sense of familiarity,these soldiers could be anyone,someone you know and their about to die,making the viewer feel more empathatic already in the film.The fighting of the enemy,is approaching and the men have to detatch themselves from who they actually are and turn into soldiers and do what they have signed up to do. They say goodbye to that but acknowledging their faith or family. The close ups of the soldiers face,shows they have to be composed and calm,almost blank,they have to turn off any ounce of compassion and almost humanity and kill foreign men, in the name of their country.

The pace after the whistle blows changes, it goes from calm and scared but to franctic,hetic and the pace is quite hard to follow as so much happens in such a small time. The POV shots are shakey,showing the soldiers fear and sadness at seeing their comrades die in such a silent, shocking way and switches to 'the enemy'-who again are only doing what they enlisted to do but seeing the ferociousness, quickness and violently they kill, gives the audience a sense of anger,in a short time,they have formed a empathtic bond with the American soldiers and divides the characters on screen,to a 'them' and 'us'.The pacing under water slows quite dramatically in contrast to the earlier execution of the soldiers,the pacing creates an eerie calming effect,is this what it feels like,when you know you're about to die,a calm acceptance and almost relief. It cuts between a soldiers pov,trying not to drown;when he's underwater,there's the sense of calmness yet when he rises above the surface,its frantic pace ,of the horrors of action in war. This effect I believe is to shock the viewer, many of the soldiers would rather drown than continue to fight and how easily and readily each soldier embraces and accepts death.

The pace then again changes and 4 and a half minutes. The effect is one of shell shock from the lead character. Everything seems to slow down,the violence that we can hear is muted out,allowing the audience to truly focus on the injuries the soldiers are suffering. It conveys a helplessness that the main character must feel, his soldiers,friends and potential family are dying without even a chance of surviving and for what? The close up of the blood tainted sea and helmet only emphasis this point, as he puts back on his helmet,knowing that he can either die doing nothing or die attempting to help his comrades and country.
The close up of his face, which is shell shocked and pale-showing he is just another innocent soldier,been upsurped from his everyday life, fighting after orders from his government and country, in the name of democracy.
A more frantic pace,would of given the audience less time to connect with the soldiers and Tom Hank's character in the beginning,diluting the sombre effect of the audience knowing that these men,risking their lives and being killed could be anyone,making the relatability fade and the film have more of an violent action film tone, rather than the more realistic horror of war intensity it had,with the secondary plot of comradeship and family.

"Saving Private Ryan has been critically noted for its realistic portrayal of World War II combat. In particular, the sequence depicting the Omaha landings was voted the "best battle scene of all time" by Empire magazine and was ranked number one on TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest Movie Moments".^[The scene cost US$12 million and involved up to 1,500 extras, some of whom were members of the Irish Reserve Defence Forces. Members of local reenactment groups such as the Second Battle Group were cast as extras to play German soldiers.In addition, twenty to thirty actual amputees were used to portray US soldiers maimed during the landing. Spielberg did not storyboard the sequence, as he wanted spontaneous reactions and for "the action to inspire me as to where to put the camera".
The tracking shots follow soldiers,dying in horrible ways with barely any time to defend themselves or attack back. Its a slaughter.

As in Saving Private Ryan, we felt our protagonist should connect with the audience and due to her situation, they would, especially the female audience.
Spielberg, made the audience empathise with the soldiers, especially Tom Hank's character, through the use of close ups and extreme close ups, to really concentrate on the emotions running through the soldiers face. We chose to film a similar shot in Infatuation, with an extreme close up on Flo's face to portray the anxiety she feels, after the eerie feeling of being followed she experiences.

We also used fast edits, to change the pace of the film, as the action progressed. The stalking and subsequent chase scene is the climax of the opening and accompanied with the change in the music, the audience were too get into the antagonist's mind, especially with the handheld movement.

Monday, 28 November 2011

Editing Research

Edwin S. Porter: Life of An American Fireman (1903)

One of the earliest films to include the editing technique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4C0gJ7BnLc

There are about 9 different cuts in the film,comparing this to modern day editing this is a tiny amount,we have cuts such as cross cutting and much smoother transitions. We now use editing to draw attention to certain details and add depth to clips.

There is only a close up and the rest are just long shots from a static camera. The lack of different angles creates a rather static,straightforward chronological narrative. Modern day films,use a variety of cuts and shots to create different effects from different characters points of view. An action film would use a large amount of cross cuts, to create a fast pace and a high energy tone. Certain angles would be used to show a character social position in comparison to another character e.g the antagonist would use a low angle, in order to make them look powerful and dominant.

The narrative follows a progressive,chronological order however the continuity is ruined, due to lack of editing,where a cross cut would be needed. The fireman is seen entering the house,rescuing the woman and exiting. However in the next scene,in order to see the action in a different perspective, we see the woman gesturing for help and then fireman enter the building. In order not to disorientate the viewer, in modern day film, cross cuts would have been used.

In most Hollywood films, editing helps determine at least four dimensions of film narrative: in what order you receive information about the plot, how much information you are supposed to receive about the narrative, how you are supposed to feel about events and characters at any given time, and how you are supposed to experience the pace of the narrative. In addition, as the idea of montage suggests, editing can serve an intellectual function, often making aesthetic, political, or ideological assertions about the activities you are seeing, as well as emotional appeals. This latter activity tends to belong more to the world of avant-garde and experimental films.

Psycho 'Shower scene'

1st viewing: how many cuts are there? 66

2nd viewing: how long is each edit? What happens to the pace of the editing? The beginning of the scene is quite lengthy and a relaxed pace,with around 5 cuts but as the mysterious figure approaches,the cuts get more quick and erratic,making the audience eyes more difficult to adjust to each scene and more panicky and tense.

3rd viewing: how does the length of each edit link to the narrative?
4th viewing: how does Hitchcock control the audience's reactions through his editing? 'You know that the public always likes to be one jump ahead of the story; they like to feel they know what’s coming next. So you deliberately play upon this fact to control their thoughts. You turn the viewer in one direction and then in another; you keep him as far as possible from what’s actually going to happen.'

Through the use of large amount of cross cuts, the action in the scene is frantic and disorientating to the viewer,there is so much action to follow, it intensifies the viewers fear of this unknown killer,due to the sudden,shocking violence.

Taking inspiration from Pyscho and the cross cuts, we felt adding this to Infatuation, in the chase scene would intensify the fear for the protagonist and for the viewer. Adding with the handheld movement, this would inlude the viewer in the film and chase, making Infatuation more connectable with the audience. As in Pyscho, we led the audience into a state of tension through the music but with a lack of action, as the music intensified, so did the narrative with the climatic chase scene.