Production Update

• 27/01/13 - Before I began editing I hadn't downloaded the specific music I wanted to use over my footage. This has created problems now that I have nearly finished editing as the music I have chosen does not completely fit with the editing I have already done and therefore I will have to re-edit the majority of my footage. To overcome this problem I plan to spend extra hours editing my footage to ensure my short film sequence is edited with the music correctly and exactly how I want it.

Production Update

• 26/01/13 - I have finished filming all of my required footage. I now plan to upload all of the remaining footage onto the edit suite in order for me to edit the final version of my film sequence together.

'Trespass' Raw Footage 

Here is the footage edited so far for my short film sequence. The sound on this edit is going to be edited out and music will be played over the footage, therefore the sound heard needs to be ignored. Also, the transition edits are not complete as yet and some footage needs re-filming therefore this is not my final edit but is what I have completed so far.

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