2. Summary
The Blaire Witch Project is a 1999 supernatural horror film written,
directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. The
narrative follows three student film makers Heather Donahue,
Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams (played by the same names).
They go into the Maryland forest to document a local Blair Witch
legend however they get lost and mysteriously go missing leaving
only there footage behind.
Reason for choice
The Blaire Witch Project is very similar to my project since it consist
of a documentary crew also getting attacked by a supernatural
force within a forest. Much like the Blair witch project my project
will be styled as found footage. I am hoping to find out how they
capture intense scenes without physically showing the Blair witch
herself.
EXISTING PRODUCTS
BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
3. EXISTING PRODUCTS
How they implicate the witch
With the low budget and plot about the characters being attacked by a witch, the creators would have
to find a way to capture a supernatural and horrific tone without using neither practical nor CG effects
to create the witch. They were able to solve this problem with very impressive techniques to imply the
beings presence.
Acting
Since they styled it as found footage the actors portrayed themselves very realistically rather than
being contrived like in many films. This already helps to make a dark tone since reality is seen more
boring and less poetic dramatic like most films. This initially makes the characters unpredictable
making it hard to find faults to break the immersion. The hand held shots makes for good excuse to not
being able to see the witch as the characters behavior makes up for the scariness. The level of tension
getting higher with the characters sanity throughout the film hints to being able to see the witch at the
end leaving the audience on edge throughout. These skills will work perfectly within my film since my
camera is actor operated which will help me capture tension without showing my antagonist. I will also
have to find a cast that will be able to improvise and act natural.
Props
Props are probably the most significant area of capturing the witch since it is the only visual
representation of what the witch does. This is more prominent when the group stumble across strange
looking twig sculptures hanged on trees. This helps create a picture to what the witch would like such
as hands to make intricate sculptures. The odd sharp crooked looking sculptures have evil
connotations which somewhat would reflect how the witch would look.
BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
Sound
In a particular scene they use sound as a key element to enforce the idea of a supernatural force. The
characters decide to sleep in there camps they subtly hear children laughing outside the camp. This is
clearly an unnerving experience since the characters were lost alone in a forest for two nights. The fact
that the audience can hear something other then the characters adds a sense of unnatural tension
especially with it being a child's voice. This also gives more thrill since nothing majorly exciting has
happened prior. The most effective technique to how they captured such creepy vibe is the way they
utilized the volume. Since it is found footage the sounds started very quiet forcing the audience to listen
carefully after seeing the characters paranoid behavior. The sounds start to get more unnatural and
louder creating a powerful rise of tension for the audience and the characters. The sense of terror when
the tent starts vigorously shaking was amplified by the rise of tension.
4. Summary
Breaking trail is a wildlife series within Brave Wilderness channel. The
series is presented by wildlife expert and TV/YouTube personality
Nathaniel Peterson also known as “Coyote”. Coyote and his crew have
an objective to find certain creatures in order to show off and educate
the audience. This consists of them travelling within heavily inhabited
wild lands such as forests, deserts, caves etc.
Reason for choice
My film will be a found footage documentary and with the documentary
part being very similar to the Breaking Trails series. I want to be able to
mimic the professional aspects of Breaking Trails which I considered
very typical of a wildlife show. This will essentially help make my fake
documentary look real giving more impact to the horror twist.
EXISTING PRODUCTS
BREAKING TRAIL
5. EXISTING PRODUCTS
BREAKING TRAIL
Coyote Peterson
In order to ensure a believable documentary my actor needs to be able to look and sound like a
charismatic, knowledgeable and enthusiastic presenter. This is why Coyote Peterson is a perfect
candidate to research and for my actor to reference from. Coyotes seems to keep a very consistent
positive yet natural and relatable attitude. This along with his wide expressions shows that he is
keeping the audience in mind. This is proved with many rhetorical questions as well as referencing
questions from his fans. He even puts himself in an audiences shoes by reassuring everything by
answering made up questions that the audience might be thinking. His target audience are children so
he plays with his tone of voice to emphasize words. He rarely speaks off topic since he makes sure he
is being informative. My character also needs to look the part and Coyote has an outfit being both
iconic and fitting for his role. He mostly wears basic outdoor hiking trousers, top and bag but the most
famous attire is his hat. This would work perfectly for my film since it will make my character much
more believable.
Intro
I will have to make a graphical intro since most wildlife documentaries have some kind of title sequence
making their name memorable. I wouldn't want to fully imitate the Breaking trails opening title however
since my documentary plot is about solving wildlife mysteries, certain aspects from the opening would
be very fitting. This is relevant to the animated footsteps and leaves since they have an adventurous
iconography. Using these aspects can surely set the mood for my film convincing the audiences that
my film is a real documentary giving more impact on the twist. After the title card a montage plays with
coyote exploring the wild while he explains the series plot with narration. This is an easy way to let the
audience take in the setting while giving light exposition. Combining these aspects will help emphasize
the cliché.
Crew
The crew members Mark Vines (camera man) and Mario Aldecoa (sound guy) seem too have a
spotlight of their own. They seem to ask curious questions during Coyotes animal talks, acting like an
audience so that coyote doesn’t miss anything. The number of crew is perfect for my film since I would
be able to focus on deeply developing three characters rather then having too many excess C-list
characters. The constant fun communication with each of the members can help make the
relationships more clear while giving character development.
6. AUDIENCE
RESEARCH
SECONDARY
Age
The British Film Institute have made a statistical yearbook for a movies
demographic age groups in 2017. They have shown that the horror
movie The Conjuring 2 is the most popular with the 15-24 age group
having a 67%. This age group prefer to watch more graphical mature
movies such as Suicide Squad, Deadpool and Grimsby. My film
seems to fit around this age group since my film will have some
violence and mild gore.
Gender
The BFI have also found that The Conjuring 2 have a gender
demographic with male at 51% and female at 49%. This shows that
horrors don’t have a very significant difference however action seem
to have a very significant. In fact BFI shows that males seem to prefer
action, adventure and fiction which are the strongest attributes within
horror and found footage. This leads me to believe that I may need to
slightly focus on the male demographic.
Social Grades
From the Stephen Follows site it is found that horror almost has a fairly
even demographic. It seems that overall the lower middle class (C1)
seem to overpower most genres. With them being more significant with
action and adventure. A and B seem the be the only classes lacking
within horror yet much more relevant with mystery. This means I may
have to focus mostly on class C1 while keeping A and B in mind since
I will have mystery within my flm
