R14 - Research of a controversial film: Freaks by Tod Browning

'Freaks' is the 1932 controversial Pre-code horror film directed and produced by Tod Browning, who successfully directed 'Dracula'. 

"A circus trapeze artist, Cleopatra, takes an interest in Hans, a midget who works in the circus sideshow. Her interest however is in the money Hans will be inheriting and she is actually carrying on an affair with another circus performer, Hercules. Hans's fiancée does her best to convince him that he is being used but to no avail. At their wedding party, a drunken Cleopatra tells the sideshow freaks just what she thinks of them. Together, the freaks decide to make her one of their own."

- Written by garykmcd,IMDb

Upon research it has been said that the original version of this film was too shocking and controversial to be released. Some parts of the film are thought apparently 'lost', though it hasn't been definitively proven. Even so, the film was still negatively reviewed and made a loss of $164,000 (approxiamately £106,168.33). As the film was thought to be overly exploitative it had been banned in the UK for 30 years. 

The film found its controversy not only to the topic this looks upon but to certain scenes. For example, the character 'Hercules' was shown in the original ending to be castrated. The other character 'Cleopatra' "becomes a grotesque, squawking "human duck". The flesh of her hands has been melted and deformed to look like duck feet, her legs have been cut off and what is left of her torso has been permanently tarred and feathers."
 - (description from wikipedia)

At the time the film was released many reviews stated that the film did not appeal to anyone, ergo its failure as a movie. This being said, a person has to consider whether if the film would've had more success if it were a modern film. The topics in this film would have more of an impact to the asynchronous viewers than to the contemporary viewers as people with disabilities was not something of the norm in the era this film was made in. 

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P2 - First group meeting

In the first group meeting me and my group have decided the genre of our film will be "gothic" and came up with a rough storyline of our film which includes teenage school kids and the issue of bullying. 

We've came up with the story of a young teenage girl aged 15-17 witnessing a particular student being bullied. During the course of witnessing bullying in and out of her school she becomes interested in black magic. One day the bullies pushes the limit and the girl (lead character) decides to try black magic to inflict pain on the bullies. It works but the actions she makes reverts back to her. 

In order to keep the storyline within the genre we have researched the mise-en-scene to keep the gothic element. For this we looked at costumes and makeup to which we have decided to look for a prosthetic makeup artist to help with the look of certain characters. 

P1 - My initial ideas before group discussions

My initial idea of a horror film would have to have the element of fear - relating to psychological horror, combined with elements of the paranormal or supernatural.

Typical gothic horror movie would be set in the time period of the 1920's, 30' and 40's, usually in the countryside. My idea for the plot for my own horror film would include characters that are all female - setting the stereotype that female characters are the victims in horror films. Instead of setting it in the old time period it will be very modern but still adding an old element to it. The main character would be an average looking character that would draw off any suspicions and have a difficult life which reflects off in behaviour and attitude. For example, having beat down parents that are neglectful of their children causing their child/s to be weak and vulnerable.

R13 - Textual analysis of 'Maengwyn', short horror film: TITLE + CREDIT + SOUNDTRACK

                                    

  Maengwyn is a short gothic horror film which, "follows the story of two boys as they get caught up in a century old game, run by an unseen evil. The game is ever continuos, and ever spreading, with no end." This film was influenced by 'Night of the Demon.'

TITLES + CREDITS + SOUNDTRACKS

The film starts off with someone using their phone and diegetic music playing. The song that is played is called 'Maengwyn' by 'Lowkey Films'. This is an interesting and unique way of presenting the name of the film and production company. The camera then moves to a wide shot of two people in a car driving whilst the music is playing. At the end of the chorus of the song the film title is shown at 1.30s into the film. When this happens the background changes from green and road scenery to grey static (shown in image above) with 'Maengwyn' in bold, white writing. When the name disappears the music also stops. There is then an extreme wide shot of a cottage and it is completely silent. This is a huge contrast from the beginning of the film as it was upbeat, but now as it is quiet which creates tension.

                                    

18.10s into the film the name of the production company is shown on a burnt, ripped piece of paper presented to the character as a scroll. Again, a unique way of introducing the name of the film company. this then follows onto showing the name of the actors. At 18.35s it then starts rolling the credits of additional names. The non-diegetic music starts at 18.10s but this time the the music is downbeat. Even though the film shows that nothing has happened to the last character shown, the music connotes that something would've happened to them. 

The director choosing to present the title of the film twice in the beginning and the way the cast was presented is effective in making the viewer remember the name of the film and acknowledging the people that helped create the film. This helps me think of the creative ways i can present the title of my film to set the scenes and captivate my audience so they are drawn into the film.

R12 - Analysis of Black Sabbath and Crimson Peak trailers

             

Black Sabbath
From watching this film trailer I realised how much is differs from modern film trailers today. One thing i picked up on from the trailer was the narrator, differing from modern gothic horror film trailers which doesn't usually have one.  Also, instead of showing the horror it is described by the narrator and the name of the film and actors were mentioned more than one. This is effective to make the audience remember the name of the film however, i personally think it is unnecessary as it makes the trailer too long and keeps me unfocused. For a gothic horror film the trailer does include the elements of curiosity and dark aspects of goth. 




                          
Crimson Peak
In the beginning of the trailer there is a mansion, street lamps and it is raining. With this as the introduction it connotes that there may be horror elements to it as the setting is dark and looks isolated. The music is dark and sinister in the beginning but then goes on to play just string music. This infers that the film may be set in a different time period, as period dramas use string music. There is no voice over in this trailer, instead the narrative is told by the characters so the clips used would've been chosen carefully to give hints to the audience what the movie is about. The name of the film is mentioned at the end. This is effective as it will be the last thing the audience sees after being drawn in by the trailer. If it were to be mentioned at the beginning it's more likely the viewer would've forgotten the name of the movie. 

From analysing the trailers I've thought about what I would want to include in the trailer for my film, such as what shots to use without giving too much away and what scenes would hype the audience and make them want to watch it.