Props Research

Masks

Scream was originally a painting that a company made into a Halloween costume and Wes Craven discovered the mask and used it.

Halloween, Micheal Myers mask was originally a mask made based off of the character Captain Kirk from Star Trek. Tommy Lee Wallace painted the mask white, tore out the hair and replaced it with other hair. For the most recent Halloween movie, Christopher Nelson created and perfected the mask by adding the effects of it being worn out and damaged due to the age of it.

Friday the 13th, Jason Voorhees was given the hockey mask because the producer Sean Cunningham had created a movie about hockey and just thought it was a good idea.

A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Kruger's ''mask'' is just his face after a terrible burn, however the actor is wearing a mask. The mask explains Freddy's background story while also making him look terrifying, due to every little detail and the realistic look of the burns. His face basically helps wrap the entire film together.


Weapon Props

Scream, Ghostface uses a hunting knife, this specific knife was chosen mainly because it looked very well on screen.

Halloween, originally Micheal just used a basic kitchen knife, which related to the audience how easy it is for someone to just grab any knife in the kitchen and kill another person. However, sometimes Myers weapon of choice is just his bare hands, it demonstrates his strength and shows this is why he is feared so much and just how hard it is to escape.

Friday the 13th, Jason uses a machete as an iconic knife, it was chosen due to its scary look and its well known effect.

A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Kruger wears a leather glove with sharp knives sticking out of the ends as his device for kills. Wes Craven came up with the idea, it was inspired by him watching his cat claw his couch.

Costume/Make-up

Costume/Make-up Designers

Colleen Atwood
Atwood has won been nominated for twelve awards for best costume design in a movie. She has worked for many movies ranging from all different kinds of genres, but the darker movies she has created costume designs for are Sweeney Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Sleepy Hollow. In both movies she incorporates a large amount of black in the clothing, while still using some neutral colors such as white and grey. She made sure to match the overall style to the time period which the movie is taking place.

Colleen Callaghan
Callaghan is a make-up artist and hair stylist, she has worked for the movie Sleepy Hollow incorporating the use of powder toward her advantage with creating the perfect look for the main character. She incorporated only neutral colors making his hair completely black while contrasting his skin as pale white. Although this may not look like a regular person it is realistic enough for the audience while still reaching the goals of what the character should look like.

Dana Lyman
Dana Lyman was the costume designer for A Nightmare on Elm Street, she made the character ten times scarier with just a striped sweater and a black fedora. The red and green cut up sweater contrasts his burnt skin, the red making people alarmed when seen. The black torn fedora helps hide his face just enough to add an immense amount of tension and mystery. This all creates a much scarier affect for the audience, even unconsciously.

Dick Smith
Smith is a special effects make-up artist that has won an Academy Award for best make-up. One of his famous movies he has worked for is The Exorcist. He created the realistic fake blood using the standard of blood called the ''Kensington Gore''. The mixture consists of ultra-syrup, corn syrup, non-dairy creamer, and food coloring, however Smith added the ingredient mythlparaben, this added an extra ''ick'' affect.

Ideas so far

Film openings usually consist of a time of two to sometimes even five minutes. As for the genre I choose, horror, there are a variety of paths to chose from. From an original slasher film, to paranormal activity, to even a zombie apocalypse movie, there are many paths to chose from in the horror genre. However the path that interests me the most is the choice of an original slasher. Overall my ideas consists of a typical killer who has his own unique motives and targets. Currently, my ideas of the killer is of a regular man that lives in a relatively secluded rural area. The opening will consist of darker lighting, specifically backlighting as well as spotlighting. In addition I will be  incorporating many specific shots and angles such as close ups, slow crane movements, zoom ins, over the should view, as for the angles, I would be using a dutch angle and high angles. The most ideal person for the role of the killer in my openings would be my brother, however this could be very risky. Due to the fact he is in college and we only have spring break together, this means I would have to film all the scenes he would be in a matter of one week. This risk in this is the fact that after filming everything and then when I begin editing if there is an issue with a scene or I don’t believe it is perfect enough I wouldn’t be able to reshoot it. My film opening is going to set the tone for the rest of my movie by using lighting to my advantage onto the killer creating tension and suspense, portraying the horror genre.

Schedule

Creating a film opening consists of paying attention to detail of the scene while also making user the generalization of the entire movie is being somewhat conveyed to the audience as an introduction, letting them know what they are in for. In addition film openings are the first scene that is seen by the audience making it absolutely crucial for the opening to grasp the audience from the start, so they are interested for the rest of the movie. Some film openings have been successful in this aspect while others not so much, for example.....


P2 is a movie about a woman trying to escape after she has been kidnapped from a security guard in a parking garage. The opening scene is a slow crane movement filming around a car in a parking garage with Christmas music playing in the background. At the very end of the scene a woman pops out of the trunk of a car, who’s hands are tied, and begins screaming. While the “jump scare” of the woman in the trunk may have set somewhat a tone for the rest of the movie, the opening in general is very bland. The Christmas music playing in the background does not match at all with the tone the producers are attempting to set. As well as the shots and angles, there basically aren’t any, it it just the same simple crane movement showing the parking garage.

One of the best opening scenes ever created is of the very first Scream movie. The opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the movie by creating tension and mystery. The scenes also conveys to the audience why the entire movie is about, a slasher calling people then threatening and potentially killing them. The shots and angles used in this particular scene is spectacular, incorporating shots ahead of the character as if a jump scare is pending to happen, a slow crane movement toward the first victim of the phone call as she’s backing up toward the wall displays her weakness toward the situation. This is a film opening that has inspired me for my own creation.

Schedule

Feb 24-29
Discussing costume design/props
Discussing character development/sketches of different costume ideas
Research on location of different horror genres

March 2-8
Images of different locational ideas
Discussing different ideas of the overall movie
Creating characters
Casting call of different people and how they fit the roll

March 9-15
Research of shots and angles used in the horror genre
Storyboard
research of shots and angles

March 16-22
Discussion of the rest of the movie
Videos of the set up
Images of the full characters

March 23-29
CCR

March/April 29-5
Discuss challenges of the schedule
Videos of filming the actual opening
Challenges of the opening


This schedule was created particularly so I can stay ahead of my work and provide the most time and effort I can for myself when creating my own opening. The schedule may be difficult to stick to regarding work for other classes and considering time consumed by sports, however this will help me in general stick to what I need to get done each and every week.

Research

Specifically in the genre of horror lighting is very crucial in creating the perfect tone and scare for a scene. There are many different ways of incorporating lighting into a scene to make it spooky and suspenseful. For example...

uplighting:The light shown onto an object or person with a flashlight.

backlighting:Putting light on the background but keeping some light on the characters
silhouette, making the character a mystery creating suspense.

Spotlighting:Placing light on only one specific spot, with no other light around it.

underexposure:Mainly used on characters attempting to hide as much of the character as possible creating tension and suspense.

harsh light:Creates sharp shadows of an object or shadow hiding it from the audience.

projected shadows:Usually used on the character of a slasher to use the element of mystery.




All of these lighting techniques are used to create a greater tension of suspense and mystery by hiding an object or character and adding a touch of unrealism to the tone for a greater scare. The most popular lighting used in horror movies in general is low-key lighting, dim hue, and shadows all adding to the recycled of not being able to see exactly what is going on and not feeling safe.








Sound Effects
The typical sound effects used in horror movies are the creaking of a door or wood in general, the distant sounds of a wild animal, most commonly used is the howl of a wolf. Many foleys are used in horror movies as well, for example in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Krueger wears a glove with knives sticking out of them and when he scratches the knives against a surface the sound was created by using a chalkboard and scratching against that. There are even more original sounds made such as the clicking of the monster in the predator.In addition to these sounds used in horror the music in the background is just as important, it provides the causes of a heart rate to increase. Typically darker toned sounds that usually start off slower and speed up in pace. Instruments used to help create the sound are the waterphone and the themin. This all gives the producers the power of controlling how much is revealed about the characters and helps with setting the tone for the rest of the movie as well as within the scenes.

Genre Film Openings

Genre:Horror
Film Openings

  A fillm openings is the first scene of a movie, usually only a few minutes long. Depending on which type of opening the producer chooses, it can consist of; introduce the main character, establish the background story, establish the setting, establish context/allude to conflict, establish tone, and create mechanisms for storytelling.

Introduce the main character:Split
The scene begins with a sloom zoom onto the main character listening to everybody elses conversations around her. Then, her friends are seen talking about her, giving a quick background stroy for the audience. Finally, towards the end of the scene the camera is constantly on her showing the audience who she is with expression and emotions.



Establish the background story:Us
The openigs scene of Us uses typed information for the viewer to read as well as information distributed from a television to help the audience understand what the movie will be about. In addition the opening scene is a flashback of what happened to create the conflict of the rest of the film.


Establish the setting:28 weeks later
This zombie apocalypse movie film opening introduces the conflict of the zombies immediately. What makes this film opening fit the category of establishing the setting? The mian idea of the movie is already known by the auidence, and little almost no information is given about any characters. The use of establishing and long shots give the viewers an idea of where the character is and how in the rural area there is nowhere to hide and it is impossible to escape from the zombies.



Establish context/Allude to conflict:Jaws
This openings scene consists of a woman going for a swim and never coming back out of the water again. The scene demosntartes the conflict by using the point of view of the shark when attacking the woman. Specific music and sound is used to create tension, for example the silence before and after the shark attack happens as well as the spooky, dark sounds when the sahkr is about to attack.

Establish tone:Scream
The entire purpose of this scene of the opening is to creat the mood of the entire movie. Using specific shots and angles, for example shots from the outside window looking into the house, incorporating shots from behind the character as if somebody is about to jump out, and the use of close ups for the audience to feel what the charcter is feeling. The use of specific sounds pulled this whole scene together, from the increasing speed of the dark tone of the music to using a leif motif of the phone ringing, in addition editing techniques, speeding up cuts as the tension increases
contiously increases the heartbeat of the audience, the whole openings is just the appending death of a character which graspas the audiences attention.

Create Mechanisiams for storytelling:28 days later
The entire film opening uses dull colors and establishes the spooky genre. It creates a tone of darkness and emptiness as the lonely man walks trhough the empty streets of London. The shots are mainly long shots which help to establish the setting, there are barely any cuts, and it seems as if the audience will be going on a journey with the only character seen so far in the movie.


Even though these are all types of different ways to go for a film opening in the case of the horror genre the most effective ways to start a horror movie is by establishing the tone and alluding to the conflict of the story. The best examples of this are...

IT
The openigs scene for IT lets the audience know what the genre is right away by using a darker tone of lighting and music. In this specific scene the rain helps allude to the viwers that something bad is about to happen, which it does. At the very end of the scene the reason of conflict is introduced.

Halloween
The opening of this movie is very unique, it is mainly a point of view shot of the person who responsible for the conflict. The genre is immediately recognized due to the dark music and the obvious killing, this helps set the tone for the rest of the movie as well as the killer, making him already feared and ruthless, as for the end of the scene it showed the killer to be just a young boy.

Genre Rsearch

Genre Research:Horror

The content used to create a film in the horror genre consists of mainly a psychological response from the audience watching the movie; this includes one's heart racing, sweating in the palms, and even the tendency to look away from the screen at times. Horror films usually consist of tension and concern to keep the audience on the edge of their seats; for example, keeping a character hidden under a mask, this will keep the audience worried because the unknown is more terrifying than the known. Successful horror movies that have incorporated such techniques are Scream, Halloween, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Using the element of mystery will enhance the fear that the audience has for that character, in addition, it can create an iconic figure that the producers can continue using in further movies. For example, there are four Scream movies, and even many parody movies, all using the iconic masked figure, even the thumbnails of the movies had changed throughout the years mainly using ordinary characters, yet for the last movie they used the actual masked character, because of its grown popularity, the mask would attract a greater audience.





Psychological:Us

This movie is unrealistic, yet the audience can relate to it in their minds by making connections to where this movie could come to life, therefore messing with the audience’s head. This creates in an emotional and psychological stage of fear. This category relies heavily on mystery, characters with disturbed psychological states, and to create an overall disturbing setting.



Slasher:Scream

Scream is an example of a slasher film, using a masked character to kill characters one by one. These movies are based off of realism, which is what scares the audience so much, can they can also incorporate unrealistic elements, such as the killer being almost impossible to kill.



Ghost:The Conjuring

Ghost films are based off of paranormal activity with usually an unseen figure. Most films are fiction, however in the case of the Conjuring, it is based off of an actual true story. Using the average family household, in the case of most ghost movies, is what makes it relatable and horrifying for the audience to watch.



Urban Legends:Slenderman

Urban Legend based films can either be formed on a newly created story, or created based off of an actual urban legend story that has been going around for centuries. In 2018, the movie Slenderman was published. Most people may not know the story of the character but many are familiar with it. The movie is created to tell the story of this character that people have talked about for decades, not knowing where it originated from. These types of movies are great audience attractors because they already know the character.






JAWS

Jaws is a great example of a challenge to the horror genre. The movie is a perfect blend of horror and drama, which challenges the typical horror genre. The movie does not introduce the monster/slasher at first, instead Spielberg decides to hide the creature and slowly reveal it to the audience as the movie progresses to add tension. The film has a great sense of drama to it due to the fact that once far from the ocean the fear of the monster is decreased, unlike typical horror where fear of a jump scare is almost twenty-four seven, fear is at its height near the ocean. This gives time for character developments as well as a chance to solve the problem.

Scorpion Cyanide

Music Blog Post

Scorpion Cyanide

 Scorpion Cyanide, is an alternative rock band, unlike a typical rock band that has usually around five members, our band only consists of two people. The genre of rock typically targets the younger generations ranging from about fourteen years of age to the later twenties. Both of our case studies, Greta Van Fleet and Florence + The Machine, had a very similar target audience, so for our own band we realized this had to be our target audience as well. The research of both our case studies revealed the heavy use of the internet, taking advantage of millennial access to social media and creating the bands own website, was a huge part in being able to reach their typical fans and help expand their audiences. We wanted to incorporate these same concepts within our own group because it was a logical distribution method as well as easy exposure. We chose to create a darker tone pertaining to both characters because the genre rock correlates with the darker sides of life, in addition to the screaming of lyrics. Both characters wore almost all black, with the main vocalists wearing hints of a dark red to make sure she stands out slightly more. Our band had plenty of merchandise from hoodies to phone cases, as well as two partnerships, one with Hot Topic and one with It's Sugar. The merchandise allowed us to show off our band with our fans, when wearing our prodcuts such as our t-shirt. The partnerships would help expand our audiences by targeting a store where a rock bands partnership would not typically be. Through creating the music video, I learned that the use of clothing is very important to make sure the artists are representing the correct image we want to give out. The use of media is very important as well, without using our accounts, it would have been nearly impossible to start a fan base. Merchandise is also a huge part of representing the band, from the colors used, to weather or not our main audience will approve. All in all, creating a band with a specific image is a very delicate thing, making sure the gathering of a loyal fan base is possible, from constantly updating our social media sites, creating an easy accessible website, and creating merchandise and having partnerships to expand to a larger audience was the biggest ways to gain and maintain fans,  using these strategies of marketing were the most effective and overall helped build Scorpion Cyanide's brand.