Production Update

• 14/01/13 - All the footage which I have filmed so far is currently on the edit suite and edited with regards to video transitions and video effects. I still need to re-shoot a couple of shots and add the music to the edited footage which I am planning on completing by the end of February.

Psychology Behind Horror Films

 

It is commonly known that some audiences love viewing horror films where as others hate them and try and avoid watching them at all costs. I have investigated into the psychology behind why this occurs.
 

The Excitation Transfer Process

According to Glenn Sparks, Ph.D, a professor and associate head of the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University, one reason for the appeal is how you feel after the movie. This is called the excitation transfer process. Sparks’s research found that when people watch frightening films, their heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increases.
After the film is over, this physiological arousal lingers, Sparks said.That means that any positive emotions you experience – like having fun with friends – are intensified. Instead of focusing on the fright you felt during the film, you recall having a great time. And you’ll want to come back for more.
However, if your experience was negative, you might not.

Different Wiring

Some people are simply wired to enjoy high levels of physiological arousal, Sparks said. According to the literature, he said, about 10 percent of the population enjoys the adrenaline rush. Similarly, wiring may explain why others hate scary movies. Specifically, some individuals have a harder time screening out unwanted stimuli in their environment, Sparks said. For instance, they might be hypersensitive to the temperature in a room or the tag on their shirt. These same individuals are more likely to have intense physiological reactions to horror films.

Novelty

Some people turn to scary movies because they’re novel. All of us are wired to pay attention to anomalies in our environment, Sparks said. Since danger disrupts routine, curiosity about change is important for survival. Sparks equated the pull of frightening films to stopping at the scene of a gory accident: “You don’t see that every day,” he said.
Something else you don’t see are the visual effects, which tend to be fantastic. Some people get enamored with effects and like to figure them out, said Joanne Canter, Ph.D, Professor Emerita and Outreach Director at the Center for Communication Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Still, negative emotions can trump novelty, Sparks said. If we experience high levels of fright, seeing a scary movie just isn’t worth it. “Negative emotions are stored in the amygdala [which] in contrast to positive emotions are particularly resistant to being extinguished,” Sparks said.
Individuals might “suffer lingering emotional fallout if something in the environment reminds them of a scene,” he said. After seeing “Jaws,” some people stopped swimming in the ocean and felt eerie about lakes and pools, Cantor said.
Others might avoid films that come too close to home. Students have told Sparks they avoid films featuring a terrorised babysitter because they babysit.

Gender Socialisation

Research suggests that more men enjoy scary movies. This might be because men are socialised to be brave and enjoy threatening things, Sparks said. Men may derive social gratification from not letting a scary film bother them, Sparks said. It’s the idea of mastering something threatening, he said.
“Men often like [scary films] as date movies because women are more likely to seek physical closeness when they’re scared, and men can show off their strength and bravery,” Cantor said. (This is aptly called “the cuddle effect.”)
In one study males liked a horror movie more when they saw it with a female who was scared, and females liked the movie more when they saw it with a male who wasn’t scared.


Children and Horror Films


Parents need to be especially careful about what their kids watch, according to both experts. Cantor’s research found that college students who watched scary movies or television programmes before 14 years old had trouble sleeping and felt anxious about typically safe activities or stopped engaging in them altogether.
“Until the age of 5 to 7, seeing is believing,” said Cantor. Even if it’s make-believe, she said, it’s still scary for young kids. For older kids, realistic threats, such as kidnappings and child molestation, are scary, she said. Teens, like adults, are more scared over abstract threats, such as disease and the supernatural, she said.
“Parents need to pay attention to how their children react to movies before deciding if a particular show is right for them. Intense fright reactions are much easier to prevent than to undo,” Cantor said.

Animatic/Storyboard

 

This is a video clip off the storyboard I produced representing my film; Trespass. This animatic shows the type of editing I am planning on using as well as some of the cinematography. Not all of the stylistics I am planning on using are represented through this animatic as the drawings do not exactly match the final production I am planning on achieving. Aspects of the mis-en-scene I am going to use are portrayed within this video clip but there is no sound at all as I could not put the sound over this particular footage. But, here is a rough idea of what my final film sequence will look like.

Shooting Script 

 

Scene 1

• Shot 1 - MS, Front on angle of the protagonists house, nighttime, 5 secs
• Shot 2 - CU, bathroom sink, tap dripping, 5 secs
• Shot 3 - High angle, forward tracking shot down the stairs, 6 secs
• Shot 4 - CU, Sophia stood in hallway doorway, 4 secs
• Shot 5 - Cantered angle, living room, 3 secs
• Shot 6 - MS, birds eye view, Sophia playing with her doll's house, 4 secs
• Shot 7 - Low angle, MS, Sophia has stopped playing with her doll's house, 3 secs
• Shot 8 - CU, Sophia's face, 4 secs
• Shot 9 - CU, doll's sat on table, 3 secs
• Shot 10 - ECU, doll's sat on table, 3 secs
• Shot 11 - CU, Sophia's unhappy face, 2 secs
• Shot 12 - CU, Sophia's happy face, 3 secs
• Shot 13 - Low angle, balloon travelling down the stairs, 5 secs
• Shot 14 - MS, Sophia sat in the corner of the living room crying, 3 secs
• Shot 15 - MS, Sophia sat in the corner of the living room, 3 secs
• Shot 16 - MS, Sophia going down the garden slide, 4 secs
• Shot 17 - ECU, Static TV screen, 5 secs
• Shot 18 - LS, Sophia sat at the top of the stairs, 3 secs
• Shot 19 - MS, Sophia sat in the middle of the stairs, 3 secs
• Shot 20 - CU, Sophia sat at the bottom of the stairs, 3 secs
• Shot 21 - CU, pictures on the wall, 3 secs
• Shot 22 - CU, ripped pictures hanging off the wall, 3 secs
• Shot 23 - CU, ticking clock on the wall, 10 secs
• Shot 24 - MS, Sophia playing in her living room, 5 secs
• Shot 25 - MS, Sophia stood in the corner of the living room, camera circles the room revealing Sophia facing the wall in the living room, 6 secs
• Shot 26 - CU, Sophia upset, 3 secs
• Shot 27 - CU, Sophia crying, 3 secs
• Shot 28 - MS, unlit candle placed on a table, 3 secs
• Shot 29 - MS, lit candle placed on a table, 3 secs
• Shot 30 - Forward tracking shot up the stairs, 6 secs
• Shot 31 - MS, Front on angle, bathroom sink, tap dripping, 5 secs
• Shot 32 - CU, birds eye view of Bethani sleeping, 4 secs
• Shot 33 - MS, Bethani awakening from having a nightmare, 4 secs
• Shot 34 - CU, Sophia stood beside Bethani's bed, 5 secs

Shooting/Editing Log 


During the filming and editing process I made a log of what I filmed on what day and  what time. This is to show organisation as it helped me know what I had already filmed and what I had left to film.




 

Screenplay









TRESPASS
BY
STEVIE-LEE INGHAM

EXT. BETHANI AND RHYS' HOUSE. NIGHT

SHOT 1:

MEDIUM SHOT AND FRONT ON ANGLE (ESTABLISHING SHOT)

Establishing shot of the front of Bethani and Rhy's house at night.

INT. BETHANI AND RHYS' HOUSE. NIGHT

SHOT 2:

MEDIUM SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

The tap is dripping from the sink in the bathroom.

SHOT 3:

LONG SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

Forward tracking shot as though somebody is walking down the stairs and then pans to the left where Sophia is stood in the doorway.

SHOT 4:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ANGLE

Sophia is stood, static, in the hallway doorway looking upset but angry, straight into the camera lens.

SHOT 5:

CANTERED ANGLE

Sophia has disappeared and the living room is spinning around.

SHOT 6:

MEDIUM SHOT AND BIRDS EYE VIEW SHOT

Sophia is sat on the living room floor playing with her dolls house.

SHOT 7:

MEDIUM SHOT AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Sophia continues on playing with her dolls house in the living room but looks upset.

SHOT 8:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE, DISSOLVE EDIT

Sophia's face portraying an unhappy expression.

SHOT 9:

Black Screen

SHOT 10:

MEDIUM SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

A doll sitting on a table.

SHOT 11:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Sophia's stood with an unhappy expression upon her face.

SHOT 12:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Sophia is stood with a happy expression upon her face.

SHOT 13:

LOW ANGLE AND MEDIUM SHOT

The bottom of the stairs looking up to the top of the stairs, a ball begins to roll down the stairs.

SHOT 14:

MEDIUM SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

Sophia is sitting in the corner of the living room, crying.

SHOT 15:

MEDIUM SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

Sophia is sitting in the corner of the living room staring into the camera, blank expression.

SHOT 16:

MEDIUM CLOSE UP SHOT AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Sophia is playing on the slide in her garden looking happy.

SHOT 17:

EXTREME CLOSE UP

Static TV screen.

SHOT 18:

LONG SHOT AND LOW ANGLE

Sophia is sitting at the top of the stairs with a blank expression upon her face.

SHOT 19:

MEDIUM SHOT AND LOW ANGLE

Sophia is sitting in the middle of the stairs.

SHOT 20:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE.

Sophia is stood at the bottom of the stairs staring straight into the camera lense.

SHOT 20:

Black Screen

SHOT 21:

MEDIUM SHOT AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Colourful drawings that Sophia has created are stuck on the wall.

SHOT 22:

MEDIUM SHOT AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Sophia's drawings are ripped and hanging off the wall.

SHOT 23:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE

A clock is ticking for ten seconds whilst on the wall.

SHOT 24:

MEDIUM SHOT

Panning around the room to reveal Sophia stood in the corner facing the wall.

SHOT 25:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Sophia is stood with her eyes closed.

SHOT 26:

CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Sophia is stood crying.

SHOT 27:

Black Screen

SHOT 28:

MEDIUM SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

An unlit candle in the living room.

SHOT 29:

MEDIUM SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

A lit candle in the living room.

SHOT 30:

LONG SHOT  AND LOW ANGLE

Forward tracking shot going up the stairs as though somebody is walking up them.

SHOT 31:

MEDIUM SHOT AND HIGH ANGLE

A tap is dripping from the sink in the bathroom.

SHOT 32:

MEDIUM SHOT AND BIRDS EYE VIEW

Bethani is alseep in her bed.

SHOT 33:

MEDIUM CLOSE UP AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Bethani wakes up from her nightmare and sits up straight in her bed looking frightened.

SHOT 34:

MEDIUM SHOT AND FRONT ON ANGLE

Camera pans to the right where Sophia is stood beside Bethani's bed.

END OF SCENE

Health and Safety

When filming my short film sequence there will be potential risks which I need to be aware of prior to the filming process beginning.

RISK	DAMAGE	AVOID
Forward tracking shot down the stairs, backward tracking shot up the stairs	When I am travelling up and down the stairs to create these shots I need to ensure I do not fall down the stairs	To prevent this I will be very cautious with my footing when carrying out this shot. Also, I will make sure I am the only one filming therefore I am the only person that could be in danger
Table	A high angle shot of my character playing with a doll's house requires me to stand on a table to get the shot correctly therefore I need to ensure I do not fall off the table. If this does occur I could fall on the actress and harm her as well as myself	To prevent this I will be careful with where I place my feet and ask another member of my production team to hold the table still whilst I film the relative shot
Outside shot of my character playing on a slide	This could be hazardous as the weather may be cold which may create ice on the ground therefore myself or the actress could slip over causing ourselves injury and breaking the filming equipment	To prevent this I will ensure we are filming not near icy parts of the ground, trying to avoid them throughout the process of filming outside
Filming Equipment	Those who were not involved in my filming process could fall over the filming equipment when it is placed in a secluded area of the house for example, the hallway	To prevent this I need to inform everyone in the house when filming where the camera is at all times so they do not trip over it
Children's Toys	I need to ensure people do not trip over these props	To prevent this I will be making people aware where the props are placed and telling them to be careful when near them so they do not fall over them resulting in harming themselves. I also need to ensure I do not fall over the props either by making sure I am aware where they are placed for each different scene
Small Tri-Pod	I need to ensure the camera and tri-pod, when in position, do not fall off the table	To prevent this from happening I need to ensure the camera and the tri-pod are placed in a stable position on the table ensuring they are unable to fall off, which could cause the equipment to break and if it were to fall on someone it could harm them