Target Audience of Horror Films

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in an independent, non-governmental body that was set up in 1912 to classify cinema films and Videos/DVD's since the Videos Recording Act was passed in 1984. The Board was set up by the film industry to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of films nationally.

Films are usually watched and classified by at least two Examiners who will then rate the film using the BBFC's published guidelines. Examiners take into account the issues dealt with or mentioned in the film along with the language used; the context, tone and impact of the film and even the release format.


The guidelines are as follows:










Why are most horror films actually a 15 rather than an 18?
Most horror films are a 15 rather than an 18 as whilst they contain threat, explicit language, gore, violence, imitable behaviour and the possible reference of sex, there are never any strongly detailed sexual scenes and the material is never a 'breach of the criminal law', nor does it contain any material or treatment that could harm individuals or society as a whole.
Horror film production companies are likely to aim for their films to be a 15 as they can get a larger audience to see the film which leads to an increase in income for the company and a higher position in the box office for the film.

Main Brief

For our main brief, we are aiming for a certification of 15 because whilst our opening (and the rest of the film) would include strong threat and horror - it would not include violence or gore to an extent that would harm society in any way. We would also not include any sexual acts or violence in our opening or in the rest of the film.



Horror Films Budget: How do they make so much money?

Horror films usually generate the biggest return on investment (ROI) because horror films entertain most people, whether is a group of teenagers going out for a laugh, a couple on their first date or a family looking for frights. 

Horror films entertain people because the thrill calls up primal behaviours to assess threat levels. People go to see Horror films to be frightened and to get the big effects watching a horror film gives us. People do not necessarily watch horror films for the blood and gore, as research demonstrates that fans of the Saw Franchise would not get as much pleasure from watching a cow being slaughtered in a meat-processing factory. However, they may watch it for the tension and suspense, as high grossing films such as Paranormal Activity increase the levels of suspense through the increasingly threatening acts the characters witness directly and through video replays.

Even though people chose to watch horror films completely aware of the potentially distrubing content, some people find the images in the films incredibly alarming and upsetting. However, according to research the audience of these films have a way of paying as much or as little attention to what they want to see, keeping them in control of how the film effects them.

So why do horror films have such a low budget?

Well since the release of Paranormal Activity, a film that earned over $193 million off of a budget of $15 thousand, studios released that the audience did not care how cheap the production value was, as long as the film gripped and enticed them, and they felt fear like they wanted to. Studios no longer saw excuses to spend massive amounts of money on horror films when films like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project earned so much without the big budgets.

From 2010 until today, the cheapest horror films have dominated the box office and the marketplace. Films like Insidious and The Devil Inside only had budgets of $1.5 million and $1 million respectively, with The Devil Inside grossing over $100 million.

In fact, since 2009, Blumhouse Productions horror films combined have cost approximately $45 million as of January 2015. Every single Blumhouse film combined has cost less than what Universal  spent of The Wolfman which had a budget of $150 million and only earned $139 million worldwide, which is less than that of Paranormal Activity.

Horror Movies of 2002
The Ring – Gross: $249 million // Budget: $48 million
Resident Evil – Gross: $102 million // Budget: $33 million
Ghost Ship – Gross: $68 million // Budget: $20 million
Queen of the Damned – Gross: $45 million // Budget: $35 million
Halloween: Resurrection – Gross: $37 million // Budget: $13 million
AVERAGE – Gross: $100 million // Budget: $29.8 million

Horror Movies of 2014
Annabelle- Gross: $255 million // Budget: $6.5 million
Ouija – Gross: $99 million // Budget: $5 million
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones – Gross: $90 million // Budget: $5 million
Deliver Us From Evil – Gross: $87 million // Budget: $30 million
Oculus  – Gross: $44 million // Budget: $5 million
AVERAGE: Gross: $115 million // Budget: $10.3 million

   

Main Brief:

From studying this, I have decided to make a horror film as they make the most amount of profit from their low budget compared to many other film genres. This is because I wouldn't necessarily have to use special effects as most people are entertained by the suspense and tension that are in horror films created by sounds and a range of shots.

Camera Angles and Movements in Horror Films

Birds Eye View/High Angle

These kinds of shots are used mainly in horror and thriller films to make the subject that is being looked down on appear completely powerless and/or vunerable.

Close-Up Shots

Close-up shots are used to emphasise and exaggerate the characters emotions, to show the importance of particular objects or characters, to create an atmosphere and to make the audience feel closer to the film and therefore give them a heightened factor of fear.

Tracking/Panning Shots

These shots are use to connotate movement. These are used most effectively in chase scenes or in the action horror sub-genre to make out that a character is being followed or watched. It could also establish a scene so that the audience can see the full or a wider view of the location/scene. This shot can also be used to create suspense as the audience dont kow what could be shown next.

Tilted Angle Shots

Tilted shots add a lot of dramatic tension to shots and could signify a supernatural or paranormal being pushing or moving the camera in found footage horror films such as The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. This shot can also be used to demonstrate what a victim is seeing as they lay on the ground.

Extreme/Long Shots

These shots can be used to establish a horror setting and demonstrate the scale of the setting of the film. It can also be used to give the audience a sense of isolation and to demonstrate a deserted area.

Low Angle Shots

Low angle shots can be used to demonstrate the power and/or authority of a character as the audience will feel as though they are looking up to the subject. These shots can also be used to make the audience feel intimidated or frightened by a character by making them feel small, weak and insignificant.

Hand-Held Camera Shots

These shots are most commonly found in found-footage horror films to add a sense of reality to the film. If the film is shot by an ameatuer it makes it feel much more realistic and adds to the horror of the film as the audience feel as though they are there with the characters.

Point of View Shots

This shot is taken from the point of view of a character which allows the audience to see from the perspective of one of the characters. In horror films, this shot is commonly used to show what the killer/villain can see in order to keep their identity a secret but demonstrate the horror of their actions.

 

Over the Shoulder Shots

These shots can be used to build tension. These shots are used a lot in horror films in order to add suspense. They are used especially around mirrors and doorways so that the audience can see what is happening around the character.

Sound in Horror Films

Sound effects and music in horror films are used to add to the tense and frightening atmosphere. Without them, the film is much less scary, and almost comedic. Horror films use loud noises after a period of silence in order to make us jump.

Music

The music used is one of the most important aspects of a horror film as it sets a certain mood or atmosphere for each specific scene. When the music is used effectively, it promotes certain reactions and emotions from the audience, making them feel scared or tense, waiting in anticipation. Some of the most common conventions of music in horror films include:

Isolated Instruments used to display vunerability in the characters during a sad/emotional scene or flashback or before a key event.

Long Suspenseful Notes often contrasted with short notes to help shock or scare the audience.

Extreme and Intentional Pitch Changes used to make the audience feel immediately tense or on edge.

In the clip from Silent Hill, the audience are made to feel uncomfortable and tense by the simplest sound effects. The breathing almost sounds harmless to begin with, and the way the nurses heels click against the floor as they head towards the main character sounds almost omnious.

Voices

The voice of a character in a horror film is usually a big clue to the intentions and secrets of that character. Specific voices are also chosen to reflect fear, tension and panic. A well known example of this is Jigsaw, from the Saw Franchise. His voice is easily recognisable and is very distinctive, which makes is very effective in creating tension and fear within an audience. Deep, husky voices are often used in horror films in order to create a sense of intimidation and aggression. Another example of this is the killers voice in scream. The voice is creepy and gets aggressive at times, and successfully makes the audience feel uncomfortable and tense.

Sound Effects

Sound effects are also used in horror films to generate an atmosphere of fear and tension. Sometimes, sound designers add sounds that we - as an audience - don't necessarily notice but that makes us feel uncomfortable or squeamish. An example of this is used in the trailer for the remake of the film Carrie. In the background of this trailer there is a high pitched sound playing, that you wouldn't notice unless you were listening for it. Nonetheless, the sound almost grates you, making you feel uncomfortable and freaked out, which is achiving the sound designers goal.

Main Brief

For my main brief I have decided to use a mixture of non-diegetic and diegetic sound effects. This is so we can build the tension as much as possible with background music and foley sound effects such as child's laughte, a non-diegetic heartbeat and sinister background music, but also keep the film as realistic as possible with natural footsteps and the breathing of the character.



Horror Film Institutions

Hammer

Hammer films is a British film company was founded in November 1934 and is one of the oldest film companies in the world. Hammer is closely associated with the horror genre after realising British horror classics such as Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy.

Hammer films ceased production in the mid 1980's and since then has remained in effective isolation and only produced seven films. The studio announced plans to start making films again in 2000 after being purchased by an association that included advertising executive Charles Saatchi, but no films were produced until the studio was sold once again in 2007 to a group headed by the Dutch association Cyrte Investments, who announced plans to spend £25 million on the production of horror films.

Between 2007 and 2011, the company released Beyond the Rave, Let Me In, The Resident and Wake Wood. Hammer Films most recent highest grossing success was The Woman In Black which grossed over £14 million, making it the highest grossing British Horror film in nearly 20 years, and earning it the top spot in the UK box office for three weeks running. However, due to the films 12 rating and the absense of gore, blood and guts, the film did not live up to the expectations of Hammer films previous successes, only granting it a IMDb rating of 6.4/10.

Recent outputs of the institution includes the box office hit The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, Let Me In and the 2014 paranormal thriller The Quiet Ones.

Warner Bros

Warner Bros is one of the major film companies based in California and New York. It is a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of creative content. Warner Bros produce and distribute a variety of films from different genres including: Comedy, Romance, Fantasy, Action, Adventure and Horror.

Some of the most successful horror films created by Warner Bros include: Orphan, Friday the 13th, Missed Call, Sweeney Todd, Annabelle and House of Wax.

Blumhouse Productions

Blumhouse Productions is the currently one of the leading and most successful horror film production company, especially since they don't spend more than $5 million and make hundreds of millions of dollars with each film. Blumhouse built their reputation in horror firstly with Paranormal Activity, a found footage horror film that earner $108 million in US box office and an additional $85 million internationally, resulting in a total earning of $193 million.The film received mostly positive reviews due to the tension and atmosphere that is built during the course of the film. Shortly after the release of Paranormal Activity, the company release Insidious which grossed over $97 million worldwide off a budget of $1.5 million, and Sinister which grossed over $77 million.

Their most successful films include: the Paranormal Activity franchise, Insidious, Sinister, The Purge, Dark Skies and Ouija.

Platinum Dunes

Platinum Dunes is an American production company created in November 2001. The company specialises in Horror films, in particular remakes. Their most successful and highest grossing films include: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, The Unborn and Friday the 13th.

Lionsgate

Lionsgate films is an American film production/distribution studio and is the largest and most successful mini-major film studio in North America. It focuses on foreign and independent films. Lionsgate's most successful films include the Hunger Games, Divergent and Twilight series'. Lionsgate have released and distributed 12 horror movies including: Blair Witch, Cabin Fever, Jessabelle, Texas Chainsaw 3D, The Cabin in the Woods and You're Next. Lionsgate have also collaborated numerous times with the amusement park Thorpe Park in developing immersive live action horror mazes during the parks Fright Night Halloween events. This has given the studio much more attention due to the attraction of thrill seekers and horror lovers to these events.

  

Main Brief

As we are planning on creating an opening for a Supernatural/Paranormal Horror film, we have decided to work in synergy with Blumhouse Productions as they have had experience with films of this genre and have been very successful in their release. This experience would help us make our film the best it can be.
 

Sub-genres in Horror

Action Horror

Action horror is a sub-genre that combines the intrusion of evil and/or paranormal events and beings with gun fights and chase scenes that are often performed in films of the action genre. This genre often contains themes such as zombies, demons, gore, or vampires. 

This sub-genre often fuses with the fantasy horror genre.

Comedy Horror

Comedy Horror fuses the typical conventions of horror films with the comedy genre. It almost always crosses over with the black comedy genre. The film "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is said to have been the first comedy horror film.

Gothic Horror

Gothic horror films normally include castles, magic, the supernatural and many other themes or locations that are classed under the Gothic genre. Most of the earliest horror films fall under the Gothic Horror genre.

Psychological Horror

Psychological horror relies mainly on the character and their emotions to build up the atmosphere and the tension in the film. It also relies on sound effects, relevant music, emotional instability and - sometimes - the paranormal or supernatural to scare the audience and develop the plot.

Sci-Fi Horror

Science fiction horror can sometimes deal with the paranormal, but more often tends to involve aliens, mad scientists, and/or experiments gone wrong. This may often be confused with fantasy horror.

Splatter Films

Splatter films deliberately focus on intense and graphic gore and/or violence in order to scare the audience. These films tend to display an interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the theatricality of its mutilation and disembodiment through the use of special effects.

Slasher

Slasher films often revolve around a serial killer or killers who murders people in violent and often graphic ways. These films typically end with a bloodbath of mass slaughter of the characters.

Supernatural Horror

Films of this genre often include ghosts, demons, or some other type of supernatural being or occurrence. Common themes include witches, vengeful ghosts, the devil, demonic possessions and/or exorcisms.

Japanese Horror

Japanese Horror tends to focus on psychological horror and suspense, particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists. Many contain themes frequently found in the folk religion such as: possession, exorcism, shamanism (a way of seeing the 'unseen' world of spirits, god and demons), precognition (visions of the future) and Yōkai (supernatural spirits and demons)

Sub-genres make films more identifiable to their audience as something they will either dislike or like. It does this by narrowing down the wide variety of a single genre into something much more specific.

Main Brief

For our Main Brief, I have decided to create a Supernatural Horror as it appears to be very successful in modern cinema and generates a lot of profit meaning that film institutions are more likely meant work in synergy to help develop and distribute our film. I also think Supernatural Horror will leave the options of our antagonist wide open until we decide what we want to use.  

Mise-en-Scene in Horror Films

Setting

The setting or location for a horror film usually helps to generate the tense, fearsome atmosphere. The location is generally isolated or abandoned, cutting the cast off from civilization and any form of help they could receive. Common locations in horror films include cabins, forests, and abandoned houses. However, horror films do also tend to take place in the characters home. 

Whilst horror films can be set at any time of day, the more frightening and intense scenes usually occur during the nighttime as the characters and the audiences view of the surroundings and therefore increases the tension of the scene as the audience find themselves waiting for a jumpscare.

Iconography

Visual things that represent the horror genre - such as the colour red which signifies blood and anger - is often used in horror films to generate and build the atmosphere of the film. Props ranging from weapons to holy artifacts such as knives, Ouija boards, guns and axes are key aspect of the horror genre. Weapons are often used in the slasher sub-genre as a way of identifying the killer in certain franchises. 

 Colour and Lighting

Dark lighting is often used in horror films to build up the atmosphere and an effective setting for jumpscares. Horror films often use a digital colour corrector to make the film appear pale and cold. The use of colour and lighting helps to make the film more successful in scaring its audience as a universal fear of society is that of the dark and what hides in it. This creates the perfect setting for an unexpected jumpscare.

 

Costume, Hair and Make-up

Costumes often vary in horror films depending on the characters type and when the film is set. Certain costumes in horror films are seen as tropes, including a little girl wearing a white or pale dress covered in mud or blood and the athletic male wearing a tight top or vest under a jersey. In the slasher sub-genre, the costume is another way of identifying the antagonist. 

Make-up is often used in horror films to make characters appear tired or scared. It is also used to give a character some form of injury such as a cut or bruise, it can also be used to make a character to appear sweaty which allows the audience to get a sense of the struggle that the character has been through.

Visual Effects

Visual Effects in horror films are used to scare the audience. Whilst most horror films still use some practical effects, many make them appear neater or more realistic with CGI or digital retouching. Digital Effects are often used to create something that couldn't otherwise be accomplished on screen without the use of some "smoke and mirrors". Digital Effects are often used to make body dismemberment appear more realistic. Some traditional visual effects include fake blood, the loss of a limb or the brutal murder of a character.




Main Brief

Taking this research into account, for my main brief I decided to set the opening in a house as it is a relatable location for the audience and a well known location of many horror films. For iconography, we decided to use an old box and some demonology books. We also decided to use low level lighting to make the jump scare's more effective, and when editing I may even use a filter to make the opening feel cold. We also decided that our visual effects will be created using makeup and costume as digital effects are only really used for body disembodiment which we do not plan on showing in our opening. 

Hybrid Genres in Horror Films

A hybrid genre is a genre of mixed origin or composition, when two or more genres are combined together in order to create a media product that is a mix of genres. This is different to a sub-genre as a sub-genre is a category that forms a specific class within a larger genre or group, whilst hybrid films are a way to create more opportunities for script writing and plot lines which can make the film more entertaining for its audience.

The most common horror film hybrids include:

Comedy/Horror: Scary Movie and Zombieland

Sci-Fi/Horror: Dark Skies and Pitch Black

Action/Horror: Jaws and The Terminator and The Shallows

Romance/Horror: Twilight

Romance/Horror/Comedy: Warm Bodies and Vampires Suck

Horror/War: Dead Snow

Horror/Historical/Drama: Pride, Prejudice and Zombies

Action/Horror/Comedy/Sci-Fi: Attack the Block

   

Hybrid genres open up a vast amount of opportunities for filmmakers and also expands their audience to fans of the other genres. This means if a film is a hybrid genre it is slightly less predictable, more exciting and earns as much money as possible for the film production company.

The History Of Horror Films

Horror as a genre has roots in western culture's earliest myths. Horror can be seen as a representation of universal fears or of society's greatest fears. Horror films attempt to deal with society's fears on a subconscious level, because even if audiences may only perceive a film about a supernatural or paranormal form, they are actually seeing symbolic representations of universal fears such as death and destruction. 

The Silent Era

Horror films first found inspiration from Gothic Literature. The genre was popular in both books and in theatre at the time. Although the term horror did not come to use until the 1930's, what we consider to be the first horror film was made in 1896 by Georges Melies: House of the Devil. The film was silent and contained bats, ghosts and a demon. The elements of the Gothic genre were firmly established by this time in the public's mind. Silent films continued to explore this new medium in the teens and the 1920's, but silent horror films only really picked up after the First World War. However, during this time several 'classic' horror films were made including the likes of: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Monster and The Phantom of the Opera.

The 1920's and 1930's

The 1920's and 1930's were the first decades to really show films intended to scare their audience. Sound had a drastic effect on the horror genre, as sound is a crucial part in horror films as it assists to develop an atmosphere and terrify the audience. Universal Pictures in Hollywood was the main studio in Hollywood to develop films of the horror genre. Their first hit was Dracula, directed by Tod Browning in 1931. This was followed by Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Werewolf in London and Dracula's Daughter.



The 1940's
The 1940's saw a decrease in the production of horror films. This was mainly due to World War II but also because Universal had started to develop comedy-horror films. Other studio's stepped in to fill the horror void in the film industry, for example RKO developed Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie. MGM also created The Picture of Dorian Grey, which won an academy award for cinematography, along with a remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Meanwhile, Paramount released the haunted house film The Uninvited.



The 1950's
After the war ended, the Soviet-American arms race was on everyone's mind, resulting in the production of films with a plot line of invasion including: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing from Another World, The Blob, Forbidden Planet and The Day The Earth Stood Still. Horror films also fed the fears of ramping mutants created by nuclear proliferation in Godzilla and Them!. Filmmakers competing to entertain and excite their audience also led to the development of the 3-D gimmicks: House of Wax and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Britain's Hammer Films Production also developed the first horror film shot in full colour: The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957.

Psycho and The 1960's
Alfred Hitchcock shocked audiences into believing that films of the horror genre could be more than B-Film Fare with Psycho. Unlike the monsters in previous horror films, Norman Bates was an everyday human on the outside with a psychological monster in his mind. This terrified audiences, and made Psycho one of the best known films to date. This also led to more films using the idea of 'realistic evil'. Audiences had begun to find the monsters and mutants used in the 1950's unrealistic and silly, so the 1960's and 1970's horror films started to focus on a much more realistic and haunting evil. This led to the development of: The Haunting, The Exorcist, Jaws and Carrie.



The 1980's
Ridley Scott's 1979 classic Alien successfully mixed horror and sci-fi, which led to the development of John Carpenters remake of The Thing. Spielberg also returned to horror with Poltergeist. The Shining was also a hit for horror movies in the eighties. However, the main horror hits in the eighties were slasher movies. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street were all great successes and are now classed as slasher classics. The Evil Dead was an independent horror film released in 1981 featuring splatter effects and slow motion gore. 

The 1990's and 2000's
By the nineties, the 'slasher cycle' had pretty much run its course, and was starting to release parodies. The release of Wes Cravens Scream about a group of teens who know the rules of all the slasher movies started a thread of Teen Horror movies including I Know What You Did Last Summer and Final Destination. However there were three modern horror cycles that started in the nineties. The first was the horror cycle that revolved around torture and gore which started with the Saw franchise, which are named the most successful horror movies of all time. The Blair Witch Project started the release of many found-footage horror films including Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield. And finally, 2002 saw the start of the Zombie Apocalypse cycle with the release of 28 Days Later. This cycle is still going strong with films such as World War Z and I Am Legend, it has even started a chain of television shows including The Walking Dead and Z Nation.

What are the main ingredients of an opening of a horror film?

The opening of any film should set the tone for what is to come during the duration of the rest of the film. It should entice the viewer, catching their attention and making them intrigued about the plot and the story. The opening of a horror film has to be mysterious, giving the viewer only a small taste of the story's plot. In doing this, the audience find themselves unable to stop watching, and leaves them desperate to find out what will happen over the course of the film. In order to enhance this mystery, the director will usually avoid introducing the main characters until the end of the opening sequence. The sequence should also create an atmosphere of unease and fear that would remain throughout the film.

Horror movies usually begin in a traditional horror location such as a large, old, isolated house. The opening sequence also normally takes place at night. The use of a traditional horror location and time would generate a feeling of excitement and anticipation for the audience as they will recognise these strong horror film conventions.

The directors and producers may also use the opening titles to build up the suspense and atmosphere by using a bold, sinsiter font which is generally white or red in colour against a black or dark backhground in order to make the title stand out and catch the audience's attention. It also adds to the atmospheric fear and the feeling of unease. The title is usually accompained by music which is either eerie and quiet or loud and dangerous.

The opening of a horror film usually contains an unsuspecting, and seemingly innocent victim who dies at the end of the sequence. They generally die as a result of a violent act performed by either a killer, ghost or another paranormal phenomenon. The phenomenon is normally showns as a shadow/masked person in order to keep the mystery in the film and to allow a shocking 'big reveal' that would frighten the audience later on in the film. The death caused by this phenomenon usually starts off the chain of events that take place during the rest of the film and would therefore be recognised as the preliminary event.

   

The opening sequence of a horror film should also include suspenseful music in order to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, anticipating a scare of jump of some sort. However, most horror films do not contain a jumpscare in the opening sequence as the director aims to keep the audience waiting in suspense and in a state of unease.