1. Idea Generation Plot:
‘Slasher’ based plot,
teens go camping, a few
go missing, people
slowly get picked off.
Characters:
Group of teens
including one
protagonist, a villain of
some description
whether it is a ghost,
demon, human etc.
Locations:
Woods, abandoned
areas, shacks open
fields (mostly at night)
Costume and Props:
Tents, toy knives or
weapons, sleeping
bags and general
camping equipment.
Soundtrack:
Dark eerie music
or soundtrack,
orchestra based
sound for scary
feel.
Effects:
Dark effects, lighting effects,
transitions, ghosting.
Characters have their own
video cameras and record
(poorly) what is going on.
Influences:
Friday the 13th, Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, any
‘Slasher’ or psychological
horror based idea.
2. Costume
Costumes:
Costumes for teenage characters will consist of:
T-shirts (black, blue or white etc.), jeans (black, blue or grey etc.), trainers (Nike, Adidas,
blue, black or grey), jumpers and/or coats (black, blue or grey etc.). Typical fashionable
clothing for a popular group of teenagers. The idea is to dress as they would normally dress
whilst going camping to give the movie/film a more realistic feel.
These costume ideas follow horror stereotypes as they are simply normal people and
therefore the audience can relate to it and believe it may happen to them. This will
therefore have a fearful affect upon them as they view this imagining that they are within
the movie itself.
Costumes for creature character will consist of:
The creature will have no costume, the idea of the creature is to be unseen to add more
scare factor to the film/movie. The creature will only been seen through its POV camera
angle to reinforce the mysterious nature of it.
This idea that the creature has no costume because it cannot be seen is a common idea
amongst horror movies as it adds mystery and an element of the unknown to what the
audience sees. This also calls back to stereotypes because once again it shows how this
type of thing can happen to anybody. Finally, the horror genre has been hot on
psychological horror movies for about 2 years now and this continues this trend of what the
audience are looking for.
3. Props
Props:
Props for camping consist of:
Tents, sleeping bags, roll mats/air beds, camping chairs for each person, camping stoves/gas
hobs, torches and lamps, tarpaulin, rope, back packs, suitable work clothing e.g. coats and
walking boots.
Additional props:
Fake blood, clothes that can get damaged, video/recording cameras and mobile phones.
These props are common everyday items that one would use if they went camping, they
have no real importance on there own however together they are key to setting the scene.
The items listed under camping props are helpful to the audience as they show that the
characters are setting up a campsite and have not simply stumbled upon a tent in the
woods. Additionally the equipment is typical of what you would find in a horror film
campsite and therefore the audience will be familiar with it and focus more on the events
that take place rather than the setting. This follows the stereotype of all horror campsites
and is a very casual setting where things don’t have to have a necessary order.
4. Locations
Woods:
The wooded area is isolated and dark, densely packed with small narrow tracks leading off in various
directions. Small mounded hill areas which prevent line of sight and create small cave like holes in the
mud. Tall thin trees that bend easily in the wind and that are bare of all leaves casting ghostly shadows
at dusk.
Campsite:
The campsite area is viewed as ‘the safe area’ with small tents around a central zone surrounded by
chairs and a small fire. Bags and clothing are all in the tents, lamps and torches scattered around the
campsite along with a few camping stoves.
These locations are common amongst the horror genre especially the woods. The woods are dark and
mysterious and this therefore allows the audience to imagine all sorts of things that could happen
there. This gives film makers a good base to build on for a horror as the element of suspense is already
within the location. I have chosen the woods as it is a scary pace to be in the dark especially with friends
as they like to play jokes on each other. This will follow genre stereotypes by using the wood location
against the audience as well as the creature itself which is common amongst dark horror movies. Finally
the camp area is a home base and a safe area the characters and audience think is normal. This adds a
sense of false security to both character and audience adding to the element of fear, doubt, paranoia
and scare.
5. Characters
The Characters within this movie/film represent the typical group of friends
within a horror film, they resemble the typical characters you would expect:
the protagonist (leader/hero), the fearful one (usually the one who dies first)
and the only one who survives. These are common character types within a
horror film and throughout my movie/film I will be following the stereotypes
given in the ‘Slasher’ sub genre of horror.
The villain within this horror movie/film will also reflect that of previous
psychological horror movies by remaining unseen throughout the majority of
the film. This allows the audience to use their imagination regarding the form
of the creature and therefore add an extra element of fear to what they are
watching.
The characters, both the normal characters and the creature, will follow the
stereotypes of the horror genre regarding teenagers and how the movie plays
out. This therefore appeals to the target audience as it is a common theme
yet has a twist they may not expect, additionally it has the suspense similar to
that of psychological horror movies and this adds fear and terror to a movie
that the imagination can run wild on.
6. Plot
The idea for my horror movie/film is that of psychological horror/slasher style film, this is common
within the horror genre but still gives a good scare factor with strong elements of fear and concern
within the audience.
The plot consists of a group of friends who are going on a camping trip to the woods to enjoy their
holiday/vacation. They start setting up camp as they arrive together, putting up the tent and camping
chairs as the evening rolls in. They have some cameras with them to document there ‘boys holiday’ and
start wondering around the woods to see what its like. Then, inevitably, one of them goes missing and
the other two start looking for him thinking he is just hiding. The story progresses as they look for their
friend and they start having glimpses of a creature in the woods illustrating to them that they are not
alone. This un-nerves them and as it gets darker and darker in the woods they get more and more
terrified. Eventually the characters find pieces of their friends clothing and they see the creature, they
panic and run. Progressively they are picked off and until there is only one left.
The inspiration for this plot is taken from many psychological horror movies, mainly ‘The Blair Witch
Project’ which is what my plot and story are loosely based around. This movie will relate to what the
audience want to see as ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was a big hit and terrified audiences for years.
Therefore we shall see that the stereotypes of horror will be followed throughout the movie as the
predictable features of a psychological horror such as suspicion, distrust, paranoia and self doubt are
prominent.
7. Influences
The influences of my movie/film are mainly based around ‘The Blair Witch Project’ as
it has a very similar story plot and is a genuinely terrifying psychological horror. The
entire film is based around a haunted wood area and I took direct inspiration from this
idea.
Another movie I took inspiration from is ‘Friday the 13th’ movie from 2009. The
beginning 10 minutes of this movie are a group of friends going to an old lake side
camp site ‘Camp Crystal Lake’ and setting up camping equipment. They start enjoying
themselves and then people progressively get picked off. This relates to my movie in
regard to my missing characters. The characters start getting picked off by something
and this will continue throughout the film/movie.
A final influence for my movie/film is ‘Yellow Brick Road’ which very similar to ‘The
Blair Witch Project’ and is loosely based upon it. The idea of this is that a town go
missing and some researchers go to find it. However, the way in which it relates to my
story is that it has scenes set in the woods which give the audience a sense of
paranoia due to the lack of sight the characters have within the dark area and the fact
that they don’t know what is happening to them.
8. Effects
The effects for my movie/film will include filters over the footage to make it look as if it was recorded on an old video camera
from the 1990’s. This is a slightly blurry filter that makes the colours very dull and adds a more homemade feel to the movie itself.
Additionally, it relates to the character as they are only teenagers and cannot afford an expensive camera. This filter will also help
the audience come to conclusions of their own as the wooded area and glimpses of the creature will be unclear to them, this will
allow their imaginations to run wild.
The lighting effects that I will use will be limited as it we will use the light from the actors torches and the flash on the camera to
give us limited light but just enough to film. This will drag the audience in as it is as if they are actually there filming with a cheap
camera. Additionally, it adds an element of fear because it could be any member of the audience as we aren't using expensive
equipment or multi million pound technology.
The transitions I will use will be either fade to black or a video camera’s static to separate the parts of a scene and to show a small
time gap or jump between them. This is common in ‘The Blair Witch Project’ as the parts of a scene change very suddenly, this
adds an element of rush to the scene as if the characters and audience are running away from something. This reinforces then
known as well as the fast and ever changing angles and shots means the audience don’t have a clear view of what is going on and
therefore they can imagine which only builds upon the fear.
Another common effect within film and indeed photography is called ghosting (better known as flare) which is when light from
various sources shines onto the lens of your camera. This can be helpful depending on what type of shot you would like to take.
This is not as commonly used within horror movies as they are commonly at night. However, during some night scenes people will
have torches on and when they are being filmed and the torch light comes across the path of the camera lens this creates a flare.
This is used to simply reinforce that it is dark and that is the only bright light available in that specific scene of the horror movie.
The final effect I will be using is more of a filming perspective or angle. My movie/film takes inspiration from ‘The Blair Witch
project’ which is filmed in first person as if through the eyes of a video camera. This reinforces the amateur nature of the filming
which the audience can relate to as if it were simply them in the woods and not the characters. Additionally it is appropriate for
my film as the group of friends want to record their camping trip too show friends as you would if you had a small holiday, this is
a good way of tying that idea into the filming and creation of the movie whilst sticking to horror conventions.
9. Soundtrack
A soundtrack is a key component of any movie or film and essentially makes it what it
was. For example if you muted the audio from a horror movie it would not be as scary
and distinctive as if it were on there. Hence why movie makers take particular time,
effort and care when composing music for their piece.
The vast majority of horror music uses off key notes which don’t quite work with each
other yet set the mood within the scene perfectly. This music will then create a mood
which the audience will fell and then the movie itself will take over. For example ’Jaws’
has the distinct music as the shark is coming, this tells the audience something is
about to happen and therefore creates suspense, the music turns sharp as something
in the movie happens and then the visual film takes over from there. Examples of well
known horror music are ‘Jaws’, ’The Original: War Of The Worlds’, ‘The Exorcist’, ‘Alien’,
‘28 Days Later’ and ‘Psycho’.
The soundtrack I aim to use sets out to create a calm, peaceful atmosphere in the
beginning showing the friends having a good time and enjoying themselves. However
as things start to go wrong we see hear the music change and the low, off key, drone
like notes come into play. The music within horror is usually slow however as the
intensity of the film builds so does that of the music. By using off key notes and dark,
orchestral drones I will be following the common horror conventions of music within
this genre.
