Audience

A survey was conducted to determine the antecedents of the exposure to and appeal of horror films. Audience members leaving the theater after viewing Halloween II were interviewed using a questionnaire that contained measures of specific reasons for liking horror films as well as measures of several individual-difference variables. A model emerged from structural equation analysis indicating that three important factors in the appeal of horror films are the audience's desire to experience the satisfying resolutions usually provided in these films, the audience's desire to see the destruction often found in these films, and the sensation-seeking personality traits of audience members for these films. In addition, age and gender were important predictors. Horror films were enjoyed more by males and by younger viewers.

This survey was taken as an analysis of the audience for horror films and it is quite interesting. it shows that a male audience would prefer to see violence in a film whereas a woman would like tension more than violence. This audience research will help towards us creating what the public wants and expects from a horror film. Suspense seems to be the key to a good film, especially a horror like ours.

From this little bit of research i have found that to grab our target audience we need both violence and suspense and because it is going to be violent the rating will probably either be a 15 or an 18 depending on how gruesome the murder will be, and maybe the language. 

In conclusion this article and research has helped our group realise what we need to do to reach our audience criteria.

location shots for film

Film Research

Film Research ‘The Blair Witch Project’

Information:

The Blair Witch Project is an American horror film released in 1999. The narrative is presented as a documentary pieced together from amateur footage, filmed in real time. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film relates the story of three young student filmmakers (Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams) who hike into the Black Hills of Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch, and subsequently go missing. The viewer is told that the three were never found, although their video and sound equipment (along with most of the footage they shot) was discovered a year later. This "recovered footage" is presented as the film the viewer is watching.

Budget:

A list of production budget figures have circulated over the years, appearing as low as $20,000. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sánchez revealed the truth about the budget. When principal photography first wrapped, approximately $20,000 to $25,000 had been spent. When the directing pair took the film to Sundance, they had to make a print and render a sound mix for the picture, which moved the budget close to $100,000. Before Artisan Entertainment bought the licensing rights they spent an additional "half-million dollars" crafting a new sound mix and reshoots for scenes they wanted changed. Sánchez concludes that the final budget was somewhere between $500,000 and $750,000.

The Blair Witch Project grossed $248,639,099 worldwide, compared to its final budget which ranged between $500,000 and $750,000.

How it Relates to our Project:

The film ‘The Blair Witch Project’ relates to our project mainly due to its setting, which is in some woods and the fact that it is a group of friends that venture into the woods and don’t come out again. Most of the time people compare their projects to ‘The Blair Witch Project’ because of the way it’s filmed, which is a camcorder held by an un-professional cameraman which creates the illusion of a real documentary or a real case murder mystery which the footage of the lost people was found. Our film may have parts of camerawork like this but not to the extreme that this film used. The main similarity to ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and our film is the wood setting around a campsite. We felt that this would be a perfect place to film a horror and will create a sense of loneliness and fear of danger being able to reach you from any direction. As well as the wood setting, the chatter between the actors would be very similar in the sense that it will feel very natural which this film does perfectly creating a sense of realism that this really happened.

In conclusion this film is a great inspiration on how to use the environment the best way possible and how we can make our script more fluid and believable.

The Film Proposal

Name(s):

Sean Murden
Jordan Davies
Matthew Loft


Current outline of plot and ideas:

There were two best friends called llyod and peter at school, planning to go on a camping trip and the end of term for a weekend. Yet during the week in which they have decided they wanted to go mysterious goings on have been going on with the local farmers animals, there animals have been turning up dead and mawled yet each case if different from the last. So the best friends don’t believe these rumor’s so they decide it will be a fun idea to go camp right in the middle of the misterious goings on. Once they have made tents they decide a make a fire. So they decide to split up and collect fire wood together so Lloyd thinks this is the perfect time to play a practical joke on peter and dresses up and cloaked man with a knife and follows peter into the woods. And with perfect timing jumps on peter and scares him, after the tension has been decreased between them, around the camp fire, peter notices the fire is dying down and decides to get more fire wood, when Lloyd comes out of the tent to find peter isn’t there he laughs and says “ ok jokes over peter “ but there is no reply so after time has gone by Lloyd really starts to worry and goes in search for Peter. After wondering the woods he still cant find Peter so he returns to the camp to find the camp in a mess and the tents are ripped out and the fire is dying down, he shouts Peter where are you?? This isn’t funny now? Come out? Jokes over?. Waits around the camp fire worrying until he hears rustling in the woods, and footprints of breaking sticks underneath foots, so he decides to look with his flashlight equipped, he walks and walks but his light runs out of battery, hits it and flashes on the floor and shines upon and sees the murderer infront of him and he slashes his neck……

Practicalities:

Own camera(s) or school’s?

Own Camera

Where will you be filming? Does this involve permissions – whose?

We will be filming in the local woods that we fill will fit in with the story line

3 actors
2 actors = Jordan Davies as Peter and Matthew Loft as Lloyd
1 actors = The Murderer
Camera Man = Sean Murdern

Outline your three major expected problems on planning / shooting.

Time to film it when we are all free

Disagreement on the story line at a certain point

Location and Time

How many people and who, including the named above “team”, will be involved e.g. actors?