The document provides details about the production process of the film The Decent. It discusses that Neil Marshall directed and co-wrote the film, filming took over two years. Scenes were filmed on sets built at Pinewood Studios and on location in the UK and Scotland. An all-female cast was chosen to make the film original. Special effects like green screens and dummies were used to ensure actor safety during filming of dangerous scenes. The film used practical and visual effects to create a dark and immersive atmosphere for the horror genre film.

1. Production Process
Preproduction
The Decent was directed and written by Neil Marshall, before The Decent Neil
Marshall had directed another horror movie called Dog Soldiers, this means he has
past experience of horror movie pre The Decent.
Neil Marshall had spent more than 2 years writing and developing the script for The
Decent. He also had help from producer Christian Colson, who is also the managing
director of Celador. The filming took place in the United Kingdom and the scene
outside took place in Ashbridge Parkland and Scotland. Also, the cave scenes were
filmed on sets built at Pinewood Studios, where set designer Simon Bowles had
created all the sets for the cave adding up to 21 caves. Neil Marshalls original plan
was to cast a mix of male and females but because most horror films did this and
because he did this in his past film he wanted to make an original cast, therefore he
casted women as all the main characters. He also gave all the actors different
accents so the audience can tell the difference between them. Christian Colson was
the producer of ‘The Decent and also managing director of Celador Films, therefore
they financed the filmbut at a very low budget. There were also Pathe and 20th
Century Fox who helped with the funding.
There is only one example of shooting real action on a public location in the Decent,
which is at the start of the film when the three girls, Sarah, Juno and Beth are white
water rafting, every other scene in the film is private or produced by green
screening. To help in aid of the production, the women acting in the film had to take
part in different activities to get more prepared for the film, such as white water
rafting and rock climbing. When they shot the film, it had to be in a controlled
location, so that no other people or cars interfered with scenes, such as the car
accident at the start of the film. Also, the production of the film involved the use of
green screens and dummies; these were used to ensure the safety of the actresses.
An example of the use of green screen is when they were in the big interchanges and
drops in the cave system. When shooting at the studio, the filmmakers used the
lighting that the characters had on them, such as the headlights on their helmets
instead of the set lights to make it more realistic and create a more dark effect.
Overall there were 21 cave sets built by Rod Vass and his company.
After the shooting of the film was finished, it was edited a lot in order to prefect the
lighting of the film and ensures the filmis put together correctly. We also don’t see
the dummies used in the water-rafting scene because of the position of the camera
so the audience doesn’t notice. CGI was also used in the film but only once in the
cave when a group of bats jumps out on Sarah. The CGI wasn’t very good in the film
and it wasn’t used much either, it was very weak. Sound effects was also used a lot
throughout the film like at the beginning in the white water rafting scene where the
sound of the water was busted and made louder.

2. Macro Analysis
There is two main purposes for the reason why the Decent was produced, one of
which being to produce revenue and the other being to entertain the viewing
audience, as it is for most movies. Also, Neil Marshall produced The Decent in order
to launch and be the first instalment to The Decent franchise.
Moreover, The Decent was produced to be appealing and entertaining to the
viewing audience in a pleasuring but horrific.
The Decent was chosen by Neil Marshall to be in the genre of horror. He chose this
decision because he wanted to make a film in such a concept, which was brand new
and has never been done before, which is why he chose the concept of the creepers
and all female cast. Neil Marshal chose the concept of the creepers in order to
emphasise and aid the originality of the horror film. Furthermore, the crawlers were
depicted as cavemen who never left the caves and evolved in the dark. The director
included mothers and children in the colony of creatures, defining his vision and
quoted, "It is a colony and I thought that was far more believable than making them
the classic monsters. If they had been all male, it would have made no sense, so I
wanted to create a more realistic context for them. I wanted to have this very feral,
very primal species living underground, but I wanted to make them human. I didn't
want to make them aliens because humans are the scariest things." These crawlers
are used to generate a cliché and classic monster movie theme, but original as the
crawlers which are the monsters have never been used in a movie in such a way
before. Also, Neil Marshall also presents a survival like genre, this is when the cast of
women climb into the unmapped cave system, he uses this genre and theme
alongside the genre of horror, in order to make the film more pleasuring and
entertaining to the viewing audience.
The narrative structure of The Decent consists of two halves, one half being the
tragedy of the car crash and the second half being the survival and horror aspect of
the film. Furthermore, the tragedy part of the film, being the first half, is important
because it is what establishes the style and they type of content the filmwill consist
of. The first half of the filmis vital to the films entire style and content, as it gets the
viewing audience predicting the forth-coming future of the filmand is an indication
that the filmis going to consist of further tragedy and horror. On the other hand, the
second part of the filmis important, because it is the survival half of the film, as the
director presents continuous horrific scenes throughout this half. The director does
this by using the key protagonist Sarah as a representation as death; we know this as
she is mostly covered in blood throughout the second half. Also, the director uses
prosthetics in order to aid the survival and horrific aspect of the film. In my opinion,
the director makes both the tragedy and the survival aspects of the filmrevolve
around her character of Sarah, this is important as we see the full impact of the both
halves upon her more than any other cast member, therefore this make the
character of Sarah more appealing to the audience. (Cinematic techniques)- what it
does and how it changes throughout the film.

3. Throughout The Decent the director makes many meanings through direct elements,
one of which is colour. The director uses the element of colour to present meaning,
as in the first half of the filmSarah is wearing light colored clothing and is dresses
sophisticatedly, whereas in the second half of the film, when the group descends
into the cave, Sarah is dressed complete oppositely, as she becomes a
representation of death. This is because she wears torn up clothes with her entire
body soaked in blood. Furthermore, to some extent she can be identified to be a
representation of a devil like image, as she is soaked in blood and brutally fights off
the crawlers by killing them to survive. As a result, being just as brutal and being at
the same level as the crawlers, as they both are doing the same in order to survive in
the cave system.
The director also uses CGI in the filmto add effect to the horror and make the film
more dynamic and effective in the entertainment of the audience. Neil Marshall also
uses the CGI in the film so that the film can have the scenes in them that cannot be
acted or produced without the aid of CGI. An example of where CGI is used in the
film is the car crash sequence, where CGI is used to make the car crash look more
realistic and horrific. Also, as CGI is used in the car crash sequence, this makes the
car crash tragedy to cause the audience to feel remorse for Sarah, as she has lost all
that she was closet to and has lost he only child. This makes the audience feel
remorse for Sarah, because that the worst thing for a parent to do is bury their child,
this is what Sarah has to do following the car crash.