Brief

The creative project is worth 60 marks.

Aims and Context - required for assessment
Creative product - 45 marks
Evaluation - 15 marks

The Film/Video production option of FM3 gives the opportunity to:
-Develop an extended sequence from an imagined feature.
-Develop a complete short film of between 3 and 5 minutes.

I have chosen to develop an extended sequence from an imagined feature.

Film Synopsis

Film Title - 'Devil Within' 

Akira is a 17 year-old boy who is living a relatively normal life. He had just recently developed feelings for his classmate, Rebecca. Meanwhile the prince of darkness, Lucifer, attempts to transport himself to the human world via a portal which was created at the campus. Akira just happened to be around when an unknown force disrupts the ritual and sends the dispersed energy into Akira, who is knocked unconscious from the blast. Upon awakening, he is transported to college by Lucifer himself, who explains their current predicament; his real body and Akira's heart have been transported to an unknown location and that Akira is now branded as a 'vessel'; a person who is possessed by demonic foorces. Akira begins dating  Rebecca and the two grow closer. Unbeknownst to Akira, Rebecca is a powerful psionic and Lucifer's original 'vessel'. Rebecca attacks Akira, but Akira, having been granted access to Lucifer's powers, defeats her. On her dying breath, she reveals that with her death, other psionics will now hunt down demon kind. Akira and Hollow agree to put aside their current arrangements and set out to stop the other psionics.

Conventions of the horror genre

Horror films are movies which strive to instigate emotions of fear, disgust and horror from the audience, usually stemming from the audience's worst fears. The plot of horror films usually involve the intrusion of an evil force, event or personage in the everyday world, usually of supernatural origin. The characters fall prey to the evil force, which tries to victimise them in some way; for purposes of revenge as seen in the 'Nightmare on Elm Street'(1984, Wes Craven);

The antagonist Freddie Krueger takes revenge on the people who killed him by haunting their children in their dreams. The evil force may want to corrupt the victim(s); in 'The Shining'(1980, Stanley Kubrick);

The character of Jack becomes influenced by a supernatural presence and attempts to kill his wife and son. Vampires, werewolves and zombies turn the victim into one of their own kind. The fight between good and evil is often at the heart of the plot, so there is usually a counterpart to the evil force; Dracula has Van Helsing for example. And because the theme of good and evil is present, many horror films contain religious themes; the evil force in 'The Exorcist'(1973, William Friedkin) is a demonic entity who possesses a young girl whose good counterpart is that of a priest who attempts to exorcise the demon;

The plot in films of the apocalypse sub-genre often involve mankind being threatened with extinction by inhuman creatures. Sometimes the threat may come from creatures who are traditionally seen as harmless; these creatures then decide to gather against humanity and take over the world. These films have a set structure, which begins with the creatures gathering and reducing humanity's population bit by bit. A band of survivors will attempt to find a safe haven from the creatures; an island unaffected by the chaos. The climax involves the survivors fighting off a large group of the creatures before being able to escape. Although these films usually end with the creatures taking over. There is often no explanation as to why the creatures suddenly rise up against humanity, but there is subtext to do with a sense of revolution with a new order replacing the old or fears of ecological unbalance. The slasher film sub-genre involves a psychotic character(usually a male) who plots to murder a group of young people. There is often a strong focus on the murders of young women. The male protagonists will often attempt an act of heroism, only to prove unsuccessful. There is usually a 'final girl' who wins out at the end. Also the authorities are stereo-typically incompetent at their job, leaving more room for the killer to get to his victims.

The Comedy Horror genre, combines elements from both comedy and horror fiction; one prominent example of this genre is 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow', a short story written by Washington Irving, later adapted into a feature film directed by Tim Burton. Readers of the original written story were said to be "laughing one moment and screaming the next", the premise of the story itself revolves around mischief typically found during Halloween. As with typical comedies, comedy horrors strive to evoke laughter or humour from the audience, while, keeping in line with typical horror films, strive to instigate fear and disgust. Although it possesses elements from typical horrors, most modern comedy horrors use slapstick humour; it is in one sense primitive and universal as it relies on our almost instinctive reaction to characters who are assailed by danger, pain etc.

Horror films are often set in isolated places or small communities; run down ghost towns for example Sometimes films will be set in places with "dark" histories; an abandoned house or asylum. Scenes usually take place in urban environments, dark streets and narrow alleyways; places which connote isolation, mystery and uncertainty. The camera work is used to evoke fear and throw off the viewer; dutch angles are used to make it look as if the character's equilibrium has been thrown off. Handheld shots are used to make it difficult for the audience to make out what exactly is going on, it also gives off a sense of chaos. High angle shots are used to make the protagonists appear less powerful, while low angle shots are used to make the antagonist seem more powerful. Low key lighting is present as it creates shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the darkness, this help to make the antagonist seem more frightening, as he/she will often appear as a mere silhouette, which plays on the audience's fear of uncertainty or the unknown, this is also to make sure that the antagonist is not over-exposed at least until midway through or at the climax. 

In terms of framework, the depth of field is used; in certain shots, there is a lot of room in front of the subject's face, whatever is behind the subject is cut off. The audience tends to look ahead, when the subject does turn around, the audience is still focused on what's in front, so whatever creeps up from behind can startle the audience. Editing wise, thematic editing is often used; a group of clips, montage or disconnected images are used to convey feeling rather than tell a story which moves from point A to point B. An example of this is the use of quick cutting to the beat of a soundtrack, as seen in the shower scene of 'Psycho'(Alfred Hitchcock, 1960). The audience may not be able to see everything that happens in the scene, but what they do see will leave them with a feeling that even though the main character was just killed off, the plot will continue.

In terms of narrative structure, it is basic with a beginning, middle and end, but it can be left at a closure or with a cliffhanger ending which, as with many horror films today, leaves room for a sequel which then enables a franchise to be made. The narrative can also be formulaic, which is prominent in the slasher sub-genre; after an event or set of events that lead to the antagonist becoming insane, the antagonist will return to their hometown and systematically kill the teenagers within the town. These teenagers represent "immorality" and are generally quite air-headed, their antics are what usually starts off the antagonist's murder spree. As mentioned above, the only survivor is typically a female.