Horror institutions

Production companies usually go to distribution companies in order to successfully reach out to their target audience.

Twisted pictures is an American independent production company, mainly creating films of the horror genre. They are best known for producing the SAW series which made the company over half a million dollars. After the success of SAW in 2004, the production company made a nine-picture distribution deal with Lionsgate.

 

Other distribution companies such as Universal studios however are not best known for horror films however they have distributed films from the horror genre.  

Universal Studios was founded in 1912 and it is currently the 4th oldest operational movie studio in the world. Over the past century Universal have been in business, the studio has won a record 149 Academy Awards and its success has obviously come with many box office hits and classic films. Universal's top 5 films (based on gross profits) are

1. Bruce Almighty

2. How the Grinch stole Christmas

3. Jaws

4. Meet the Fockers

5. Despicable me

And so only one of their big earning films was from the horror genre however it was very successful!

 

Hammer Pictures is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s.

 

Blumhouse Productions is an American horror movie production company founded in 2000, producing big name yet low-budget films such as Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, and Sinister franchises. They too focus specifically on the horror genre.

 

The horror film market has continued to grow over the years and so more production companies are creating the films as there are big profits to be made. Also, many successful distribution companies have also dipped into the market.

Filming finished!

Esme and I have now finished filming and so we can focus on editing over the next week. We spent 4 hours afterschool retaking some shots using different camera angles using the tripod for assistance. We tried to recreate a CCTV type camera angle to give the impression that someone was watching Alice. My sister was the actress and we often had to take multiple shots as her drama skills are minimal. But it is a big relief now all our filming is completed!

Extra editing time

Following our recent feedback, Esme and I decided to go to the media room at lunchtime to edit and to decide what final shots we needed to re-film if any or any new shots we could try that may have been suggested in yesterday's lesson. This extra editing time was important as we had no more lessons dedicated to editing.
Between now and the last time we edited out of lesson we have tried to get all our filming done however filming on different days has adjusted the lighting and so some shots need to be re-filmed, trying to match the lighting the same as before.

Video blog regarding our recent feedback recieved

We received some good, useful feedback from our fellow classmates.

We received more positive feedback regarding how the white flashes worked although one person

recommended changing the colour of the flashes to red which would represent danger. However we did try this prior to showing our classmates the video and we felt this did not work as it did not create a horrifying effect like we were aiming for. This video discusses our responses to the feedback... 

Feedback

We presented 43seconds of edited film to our classmates in order to receive both positive and negative feedback to which we would act upon and improve our opening. This is the feedback we received...

Extra editing!

Esme and I have been focusing on editing this week. As the location for our horror opening is in my home I have been trying to film as much as I can whenever my sister (paying the role of Alice) is free. I have tested some shots out and during our lunchtimes Esme and I have been looking through them assessing what works and what doesn't. Over the weekend Esme is planning on coming over so we can get some of the filming done together.

Horror film opening credits

Film: The eye (2008)
Synopsis: The violinist Sydney Wells has been blind since she was five years old due to an accident. She submits to a surgery of cornea transplantation to recover her vision, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she's having strange visions. With the support of Dr. Paul Faulkner, Sidney finds who the donor of her eyes and begins a journey to find out the truth behind her visions.

Notes on the opening (first 4 minutes)

• We first see what appears to be flashbacks of boys running through a field at night however it is unclear as the montage editing it blurred and fast paced. We hear diegetic sound which could be in a foreign language. The boys appear to be repeating what could be a gang name (as it is spray painted on scrap mental- 'Bruja') whilst throwing rocks at an isolated and derelict house. The woman inside the house appears to be nervous and panicked as she ties a noose for herself and stands upon a chair. We see a close up of the chair as it wobbles; if the chair falls she will die and so at this point the audience are on edge. We then see a distorted figure appear from the shadows, followed by a reaction shot of the lady crying because she is scared. The figure then runs at the lady, making a screeching sound. We do not see what it does to her however we are presented with a low angle shot of the chair flying across the room, followed by her legs dangling as she is strangled and killed by the noose.  As you see the production synagy  names come up on a black screen, you can hear the sound effects of the rope swinging to which she is hanging from.
• We then see a jump cut to a sunny day, where we hear positive atmospheric sound. At this point we assume the character is wearing sunglasses like various other characters in the background however we later discover she is in fact blind.  
  
• This is how the credits are given to us as an audience, they appear where there is no real important events occurring, this enables the audience to focus on the names featured as they are often well-known actors. The credits appear when there is no diegetic sound however the location does change from the street to the theatre. The credits then stop when diegetic sound occurs.
• The camera often switches to various shots of a boy skateboarding, we then are given a close up shot of the traffic light going red warning people to stop (colour representation as red symbolises danger). This foreshadows that she may not stop however the skateboarder comes along and nearly skates into the path of a moving train. The lady stops him and inevitably saves his life, the skateboarder uses diegetic sound in "thanks, I didn't see that" where our main character then replies "me either". We then switch to a long shot of the lady and with the use of props we are now aware she is blind however fully aware of her environment. Blind people are stereotypically vulnerable however she goes against this. 
• We then see an establishing shot of the theatre where an orchestra are playing. Our main character is playing with them which shows how she has adapted to being blind and is not at a disadvantage. This is the equilibrium as everyone appears to be happy.  This positive environment contradicts the previous scene.

Credits include;

• costume designer
• edited by
• music supervisor
• casting by
• music by
• production designer
• line producer
• executive producer