explained about how so far in this week

1. Research
Jack Bevens

2. Existing Product: Makeup Effect
I looked at the film “Black Christmas” (2006) for my research because I really like the makeup effects. My idea will have
lots of cuts on arms, neck, belly, legs and face. I want to use the make up to make the cuts and injuries look really
realistic. I will research and do experiments in making some fake blood to use in my filming. I know my film will have lots
of characters which means there will have to be lots of blood.
I will also learn how to create make up effects because I need it for my idea of the character. I can white make up
because I want the characters to wear some white make up to make them look pale when they have lost a lot of blood
from their cuts.
I want to make my audience feel shocked and disgusted. I will not use a lot of ideas from this film, such as the eyes
popping out, I have lots of different ideas from that film, like cutting arms, legs and neck. Mine will be very different to
that film I want to create my own film with my own ideas.
I have never used makeup to create different effects but I really want to try different makeup effects because I want my
work to look more professional and scary.
Last time I created horror film “The Stranger”, I didn’t use any makeup effect because I didn’t know anything about it.
Makeup effects can make my audience feel terrified and anxious because they look like real cuts and they look sore. I
want to make my audience feel frightened. I think I might use homemade fake blood because I researched on YouTube
and it is very easy to make. It only 4 ingredients: flour, corn syrup and red and blue food coloring. I think homemade is
better than buying a bottle because the bottle is too tiny and if it is homemade then I can make plenty. I will do an
experiment for this.

3. Existing Product: The Party
I chose the film called “Scream” (1996) because I want to create something similar as the events
in that film. My film will have a party for a birthday and my characters will also be dancing and
chatting and feel very relaxed. I want this because I want my audience to feel relaxed before they
are terrified. I will also use alcohol and cigarettes because the teenagers at parties always have a
drink and smoke. I want to make my audience feel like they want to join the party because I know
most teenagers in the audience love to party. In the film “Scream” they have a sleepover party but
my idea is different from that because my idea will be a birthday party. My film does have some
similar things as Scream, because I want my characters to have a wild party, like drinking games,
kissing and drunk. I would like to show that my party is for celebrating. I will use the fake alcohol
like a vodka bottle and I will put some water in it and make look like real vodka. I am not allowing
anyone to use real vodka because I am directing and I must concentrate on my work. College also
have some rules that I won’t allow me to use real alcohol. I know some actors who regularly
smokes and so I might use real smoking. I will use the cake because of course, my story is about a
birthday party which means there must be a cake for singing “Happy birthday to you”. At the end
of the film, I want some characters that have been killed and left to be sitting on around the table,
the blood everywhere and the stalker sitting and eat piece of cake.

4. Existing Product: The Hooded
I researched the film “Friday the 13th” (1985), because I want to the strange murderer/stalker in my film to wear a
creepy hoodie and to use this cover their face, this is terrifying because the audience don’t know who it is and what
they look like. I want to use a grey or black hood because grey and black are both dark colours and can cover their
face easily. I don’t want to use other bright colours because they do not suit horror films and they will be lighter and
so it will be easier to see their face. Also, bright colours make people feel happier, and I don’t want that. Black and
dark colours and not seeing the persons face is like a mystery.
I was thinking about using grey or white blankets (far right image) as it could also create mystery if the audience
doesn’t know who is under them, but I decided not use it because I feel that it links more to ghosts, not stalkers. I feel
that hoodies are also more modern and are more suited to murderers or stalkers. I have watched lots of horror films
and more of them use the hoodie because the hood covers their face and you won’t see their face until the end of the
film, this make the audience want to know who is under the hood and it will make them scared.
Two years ago, I created a short video called the stranger and the stalker wore a hoodie because I thought the hoodie
would look terrifying and creepy, and much better than showing their face. Unfortunately, my character did show his
face when he used the hoodie and his hoodie was bright, which was not good enough to cover his face, I will learn
from this experience and possibly use different camera angles than what I have used before so not to know his face,
and also use a darker hoodie too. I will create a new horror film and I will try to make sure the stalker will wear the
black or dark grey hoodie and cover their face enough to make it look blank. I don’t think I will use eyes that glow in
the dark because I will be filming in the daylight.

5. Existing Product: Location
I chose to use the film “Halloween” (1978) in my research, because I think I might also film in the
garden. I thought it would be great to use the garden because there is more space for filming
because my garden is quite big, and there is plenty of room. I was thinking about filming in my
house but I have two reasons why can’t really use my house. One reason is that my mum doesn’t
want there to be filming in her house because she wants it to be private. The other reason is that
the living room and kitchen are both quite small and there isn’t a lot of space for filming. So I think I
will probably use the garden. I thought I could maybe use the park near my house but there will be
too many people there and I don’t want them to interrupt my filming. The front yard and the
garden are useful for the filming as some horror films have parties outside of the house like
barbeques or garden parties. My idea will be similar as those films and those scenes because I will
film a party outside. Plus, the stalker can stand on the outside and stare at the party and choose his
or her victims, which will fit with filming in the garden. The audience will like to watch the garden
party turn into a murder because it will make them feel frightened to start with, and then they will
realise something scary is coming, and they will love to feel like that.

6. Existing Product: The Daylight
I looked at the film called “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) because like this film, I would also like to film in the
daylight. My idea will use the daylight. I would like my film to have something new and something different than most
other horror films. Most horror films are set at night in the dark, to make the film look scary and creepy. However, I think
that filming in the daylight can be just as terrifying and creepy. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is filmed during the
daylight and it is still so scary because the daylight shows the murderer’s face. The murderer’s face looks so creepy
because he wears skin from someone else’s face. That’s why I have decided that I will film in a similar way as they do in
that film, but I won’t show the stalker’s face because I want it to create worry and make my audience anxious and I want
it to be a surprise at the end of the film.
I will be careful and chose carefully with the time I am filming because I don’t want to filming during the sunset as it will
make my screen and the image look different. This month the clocks were changed one hour forward which means there
is plenty of time for me to film because the sunset start at 7:15pm at this time of year.
I have thought about filming at night but I think that is much more difficult because I can’t use the studio lights and I
must follow the college’s rules that I don’t allow anyone to bring them outside of the college, the darkness often
changes the quality of the picture on the film too. Also I know some of the actors that I will use live far from me and they
will struggle to get home late at night. The daylight will also mean the picture is clearer for the audience. I want to my
audience to view everything clearly because my film will show murder and lots of blood, so I want them to see properly.

7. Research Analysis One
• What common features do the researched products have?
• I have watched five horror movies specifically for my research and I find that they all have similar themes. The
murderer is always creepy and often has mental health issues, or crazy. My film will be similar as them because my
stalker character will have poor mental health. I think it can warn the audience that some people who have poor
mental health but do not take medication, can be dangerous.
• Four of the films are similar in that they are filmed in the dark. Horror films always use the dark to make the film look
more terrifying and to make the audience anxious. If it is dark then you cannot se what is going on and you can’t see
what is there which makes it more scary. My film will be a little bit different from the others because I want to use the
daylight. Some horror films do use daylight, one of them that does use the daylight is Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it
makes the audience feel like nowhere is safe, even in the daylight.
• A lot of the films I have watched have a similar storyline where the stalker/murderer kills each the characters and
makes sure that they kill one character at a time, not when they are in a group, this makes them feel like they are
isolated and alone, their friends are not there to save them. My film will also follow this storyline because I will also
isolate characters when they die so they feel really alone and it scares the audience and they won’t want to go
anywhere alone.
• Most horror films end in the same way, the last character often survives at the end of the film. The horror films always
have one or two survivors at the end to make the audience feel relieved and less paranoid. They will go away feeling
less scared. My film will also have one survivor at the end of the film because I would also like to make the audience
feel such relief, and for them to feel happy and I don’t want to give the audience nightmares when there are no
survivors.

8. Research Analysis Two
• Another thing that almost all the horror films have is that the Murderer/Stalker dies at the end. This can make the
audience will feel happy because it is all over. They will go away feeling like the horror has been resolved. I know from my
own experience that when I have watched a horror film I always feel much better when they bad character dies at the end.
If they are still alive I feel really scared, and can’t stop thinking what might happen next. My film will be similar because I
would like to have one character who survives at the end and then uses their hands to kill the murderer/stalker at the
ending. I also want to make my audience feel relieved and happy.
• The five horror films that I watched and researched also all show lots of blood and gore, horror films are always very
graphic and always show the characters being killed. Seeing the gore makes the audience feel disgusted. I want to create a
similar feel to this because I want to my horror film to look really terrifying, especially when the characters are being hurt. I
will show gore like slitting the throat, cutting the arm skin and showing their bones.
• All the horror films use a wide range of shots such as close ups, long shots and over the shoulder shots. Close up shots
show their reactions/emotions when they see the murderer/stalker and begin kill them. When they realise what is going
to happen, the audience needs to see their face and how they feel. Long shots are good for when the characters are
walking, running and falling down which also links to dramatic. Over the shoulder shots are used for the characters who
are talking to each other and showing their face when they’re talking. Over the shoulder shots are also good for when they
are behind the murderer, the camera comes over their shoulder and you know that it is the murderer but you cannot see
their face, which makes it feel very scary. Using this shot can make the audience see things from the murderers point of
view, and maybe try and guess what they will do next.

9. Research Analysis Three
• What aspects of the research will you include within your own production work?
• I watched all five horror films and I decided to pick some of them to create my film. I want them to help
me to improve and create a professional horror film.
• Halloween (1978) – I would like to pick some aspects from this to be the same as my film because I want
the stranger with a knife and to chase the victims. I want the stranger to look so creepy and unknown who
the person is. I like the stranger have creepy twist. One survivor killed the stranger then a few minutes
later, the stranger is alive and tries to kill the survive again.
• Scream (1996) – I do really want a party because I like the beginning of the films that have wild parties
which can make the audience feel energetic and enthusiast. I still want the same stranger character who
wants to kill people who are at the party. I want the same props like cake, alcohol, smoking and presents
because my idea is a wild party.
• Friday the 13th (1985) – I would like the same special effects and gore because I want to show my film is
really horror. I like to make my audience feel disgusted and frightened. I will use the gore on the neck, legs
and arms when they begin to be killed by the stranger. The film is same as Jason Voorhees who killed the
victims with a knife, creating lots of gore. Also I want my stranger to wear a hoody to cover their face to
make my audience wonder what their face looks like.
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – I want a similar ending with one survivor shouting for help and be
chased by the stranger who is trying to kill the victim. I would like to make my audience feel anxious and
worried. I want the characters to have over the top reactions and have lots of melodrama like screaming,
shouting and pain because I love my film to be dramatic which can make my audience feel shocked and
enthusiast.
• Black Christmas (2006) – I would like my film to have a similar opening, before the title sequence. One
victim will suddenly be attacked by the stranger without expecting it. I want to make my audience feel
jumpy. I would like to make my audience feel a false sense of security at the middle of the film before the
huge drama begins of killing. Again, I want to create a cosy and enjoyable party atmosphere, making the
audience will feel calm.

10. Audience Research
Jack Bevens

11. Secondary Audience research
• Observation: Halloween The Inside Story.
• What this says about my audience: In this film there is a stalker character because the director, John Carpenter, said that
the stalker is the most dangerous thing. The stalker (Male) can cover his face, so he is an unknown person because he
hiding from a Psychiatric hospital and the police. The stalker wants to kill the babysitter because he has really poor mental
health and begins feeling jealous when he sees that they are happy. The director wanted to show the teenage audience,
and to warn them that it is not safe around Halloween night because on Halloween there might be death. John created the
film to show how creepy the night can be, which made the audience feel anxious and tried to protect themselves from the
night. He filmed when it was dark because it’s linked to night time and he wanted to make it look terrifying when the
stalker was walking around in the dark.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I would like to remind my audience about parties, and that they might be
not be safe. Something might happen, like an accident or something horrific like someone getting injured by someone who
pushed, killed, strangled or spiked their drink. I want to show my audience to make them more aware about the party and
to warn them to protect themselves during the party. I want to create a similar feel as this director has because I want to
make the character look creepy. I want to make my audience not talk to any strangers who might be stalking them.
• The film was created in 1978, before that, horror films were very different and Halloween changed the genre of horror.
Halloween ended up being very popular and making lots of money. When John Carpenter created the film, their budget
was really small and none of the actors were well known so nobody expected the film to be good, but everyone loved it.
• The DVD showed people using make up effects and making the mask that the stalker wore. They created the mixture and
then they took a facial cast of the actor who was going to wear the mask. When they had done this and the cast was dry,
they added hair to it and cut out the eyes and the mouth. They tried it on the actor and it was a perfect fit.

12. Secondary Audience Research
continued
• The DVD also showed the team making the fake blood. They used flour, corn
syrup and food colouring to make it. They used this for the actors who had
cuts and other injuries.
• There was also some information about camera shots on the DVD, they also
explained about placement and where they wanted the actors to stand and
to walk. Most of the shots that were used were from a high up angle called
birds eye shot, because the actors were on the floor a lot because they had
fallen down when they were chased or pushed. They didn't really use the
worm eye shot at all.
• All the actors wore normal clothes that were in fashion in the 70’s, as this
was when it was made. Apart from the stalker, who wore a mechanics suit,
the mask and big boots. One of the actors had ripped clothes because she
had been cut with a knife and so her clothes had ripped open.
• The DVD had some information on camera movements too, the camera
moved a lot when they were filming this film because the actors were
walking, running, falling etc. There are also cars in the film, so the camera
moved to film them too.
• I really want to experiment with camera movements and use a moving
camera the way they did when filming Halloween. I also want to experiment
with blood and make up effects too. Watching the DVD has given me some
good ideas.

13. Secondary Audience research
• Observation:
• What this says about my audience:
• How will your product appeal to this audience:
Book

14. Secondary Audience research
• Observation:
• What this says about my audience:
• How will your product appeal to this audience:
Magazine

15. Primary Audience research
• Observation: Sam Schoettner, student of Creative Media Production Level 3.
• I watched Sam’s trailer that he created last year and I thought it was fantastic, so I wanted to speak to him
and ask him some questions.
• Sam explained to me about the blood he used, he created a horror trailer and there had to be lots of
blood. He created his character who was a stranger wearing a mask, who killed a victim by using an axe
and a saw. He created fake blood by using two bottles of Extra strong red food colouring and Tesco red
food colouring. He put the blood everywhere, but he used a plastic wrap on the floor and walls to stop the
blood staining them. When I create my fake blood, I will use flour, corn syrup and red food colouring and
mix them together, I know Sam used a different way but I have researched how to create fake blood and I
think what I have found will be useful, but I will do an experiment to see which is best.
• I also asked Sam about the weapons that he used for filming, he used real axes and knives! I won’t be using
an axe but it has made me think that I might use a real kitchen knife, and just warn the actors to be very
careful. I will also look at some fake knives, and if they look really real then I might buy one.
• Sam gave me some really good ideas for locations to use, but I will probably film near my house, as the
locations Sam used were in York.
• Sam has been really helpful and it has been good to talk to someone who has created something similar to
me.

16. Primary Audience research
• Observation:
• What this says about my audience:
• How will your product appeal to this audience:
Questionnaire

17. Primary Audience research
• Observation:
• What this says about my audience:
• How will your product appeal to this audience:

18. Primary Audience research
• Observation:
• What this says about my audience:
• How will your product appeal to this audience:

19. Primary Audience research
• Observation:
• What this says about my audience:
• How will your product appeal to this audience:

20. Subject Research – Make Up Effects.
• I watched lots make up effects on YouTube because I want to know how to use the make up and how to
create cuts, throat slit and shot wounds.
• I want to experiment with make up because I want to my film will have lots of make up effects.
• I researched on YouTube about what ingredients I would need to use to make a fake blood and there are
only four ingredients that I will need: flour, corn syrup, red and blue food colouring.
• I think the homemade is better than the blood bought from a shop because I can make as much blood as I
want. That is also good to save money instead of buying more bottle of fake blood. I have two bottles of
fake blood at home but they are tiny bottles and I am sure they will run out during the filming.
• I watched many videos on YouTube showing me how to create horror make up and different Halloween
make up tutorials. I wanted to find the best video that explains how to use make up clearly and simply
because I have never experimented with make up effects before. This year I want to try to create blood an
gore using make up effects because I want to my characters to look professional during the filming and
like they have really been killed.
• The video tutorials on YouTube had lots of information on how to create lots of different injuries such as
cuts and throat slitting. Some of the videos explained how to create the cuts and injuries. I will do some
experiments over the weekend. To create the cuts the people on the videos used something called
”Drama Wax”, I couldn't find where to buy this online, but when I researched it said I could used toilet roll
and Vaseline so I will use that to try to create some cuts and bruises this weekend.
• I hope the homemade blood doesn’t stain red on my skin because last time I created my horror film “The
Stranger”, I used a bottle of fake blood. I put some blood on my hand, when the filming was finished, I
tried to clean my hand and it wouldn’t come off. I left it a few days and it disappeared, but that is why I
don’t like using bought fake blood. I will use the homemade fake blood instead.

21. Subject Research – Film Blocking Tutorial
• I watched one video in YouTube and they were explaining about blocking, and where the
characters and camera need to stand.
• The video showed the three styles of blocking: Spaces, Shapes and Lines. I have never heard
of them before and so I have learnt about what they are and how to use them. Now I
understand what they mean and I will explain about what it is that they mean:
• Spaces: four characters in one scene, the boy on the outside of the window, the father
standing by the window, the mother sat on the sofa, opposite to the father and the man
standing by the mother, all the characters have four different blocking in one scene and that
is called the space.
• Shapes: I have one example of this, the dining room. One woman is sat on the left side of
table, there is a man sat on the right side of table, the raccoon sits in the middle of the table
and another man stands in the middle of the group to make it look like a triangle shot. That is
called the shape.
• Lines: in the film called The Godfather, one man is standing by the window and other man is
sat leaning back in the chair. That is how to create the perfect line for a vertical line. The man
who is standing and the other straight horizontal at the man who is sat leaning back in the
chair. Also another film for example, the woman walks straight to bus and that is how to
create the perfect straight horizontal line to follow the scene. That is called line.
• I have been thinking about the blocking in my film, I want to know which of my characters
should stand or sit at the party. In my film I was some of the characters to dance and the rest
of the characters to sit around the table chatting. Also I want to know where is best for the
stalker to stand. This is important for the camera shots because I want my film to look more
professional. When I am filming I will do some experiments to see where it is best for each of
my characters to stand.

22. Subject Research – Colour Theory in Film

23. Practical Research

24. Practical Research: Camera Movements

25. Practical Research: Makeup Effect

26. Practical Research: Homemade Blood

27. Practical Research: Screen Colour

28. Bibliography

29. Bibliography
1. Make Realistic Fake Blood in 60 Seconds (2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmrTNqkhk8U (April
2019)
2. Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning (1985) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSqND6zoGak (April
2019)
3. Black Christmas Full Movie Horror HD (2006) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmbjMIg5mZU (April
2019)
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974) - The Last Scene(1080p) (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grGB0ZCpLi8 (April 2019)
5. Scary Halloween Makeup Tutorials 👻 Special Effects Makeup Ideas Compilation (2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY9nitd5Q3o (April 2019)
6. Welcome to StudioBinder (2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW9c0-9R5DI (April 2019)
7. Creative Match Cut Examples & Editing Techniques for Your Next Shoot (2019)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptXlYulVAsM (April 2019)
8. Film Blocking Tutorial — Filmmaking Techniques for Directors: Ep3 (2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AGaECt9j4g (April 2019)
9. Color Theory in Film — Color Psychology for Directors: Ep5 (2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lINVnA3rVIE (April 2019)
10. Dan Harmon Story Circle: 8 Proven Steps to Better Stories (2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
XGUVkOmPTA (April 2019)
11. Production Design — Filmmaking Techniques for Directors: Ep2 (2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNXNEs2eBkg (April 2019)
12. SLIT THROAT - SFX Makeup Tutorial (2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVnXbrXiFxc (April 2019)
13. SPECIAL EFFECT MAKEUP – CUT (2014) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Un6r3L1Zs (April 2019)
14. The Tortured | Official Trailer [HD] (2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWFht2evVyg (April 2019)
15. Halloween: The Inside Story (2010) DVD (April 2019)
16. Sam Schoettner (2018) Horror Short Film (April 2019)