How research into existing horror texts/Media theory and my audience research affected my proposed idea

Cantata Storyboards

Horror Moodboard

By producing a moodboard of similar possession films and characters is inspiration for our own trailer. Deciding on the possession theme was quite easy as a group as it is so broad and can be interrupted in different ways which make it a lot more interesting for the audience. The look of the possessed character is one of the most important areas in this type of film so looking at how other major films have tackled this issue is key for a successful trailer.

Cantata Risk Assessment

Pre-Production Paperwork

Pre production paperwork from Alison_Hoar

Research and Planning: Individual Ideas

Synopsis 
A woman is haunted by a younger boy (around 5 - 7) and follows her around every where she goes. Starts when she moves into a house and finds a locked room that the boy grew up in before he died. As the woman starts to notice more unusual occurrences, she tries to find out what is happening to her but the boy who becomes increasingly angry at her starts to become more violent in the hauntings. She finds out that a little boy was killed by his mother there 10 years ago but she mysteriously disappeared along with his body. At the end of the film, the boy kills the woman who believes she is his mother.
Character profiles

The woman - Around 25 and moves into a new house, she starts to see weird things happening around her and people in the area are starting to go missing. She becomes increasingly worried and panicked and tries to investigate.

The boy - A boy who was killed 10 years ago by his mother and his body was never found. Sings nursery rhythms around whenever he walks which the woman hears. Leaves bloody hand prints on the floors of his old room.
Man who warns her - When the woman is trying to find out what is happening to her, an unknown man knocks at her door and warns her to not find out and get too involved as the boy has done it before and is trying to find his mother.Setting details

The main setting is the new house the woman has just moved into which focuses in the main bedroom that used to belong to the child and the living room where she often hears footsteps and singing. Over the progression of the film, the house starts to become more horror themed and scary which the woman can't control.
The film also has some scenes in a church/graveyard where she tries to find out what happened to the boy and his mother.
Proposed audience
The main target audience for this film would be mid to late teens and adults as it would have some very scary scenes with a lot of jumpy shots to scare the audience and would have a classification rating of 15. The use of adults and children in the film would attract an older audience while the themes of ghosts and undead spirits would attract a more teenage audience.

Research and Planning: Initial Group Meeting

Character Profiles

The dumb blonde – The girl who is idolised by her friends and enemies, who is also popular, selfish and attractive. A weak unknowledgeable person who is possessed because of her weakness and later dies from her possession.

The boyfriend – The well-known athlete who is with the dumb blonde. The guy who influences his friendship group, encouraging them to drink and do things they don’t want to. His death is due to trying work out his possessed girlfriend but she overcomes him.

The other friend – The guy who appears to be an all-round happy person, enjoying life and confident. He cares about his appearance and likes the dumb blondes boyfriend.  When trying to escape and find help he is dragged back to the graveyard and into the church, presumed dead.

The final girl – The well-educated, sensible, plain looking girl who is the quieter one of the group but is liked by her friends. When left as the final girl she battles to save her possessed friend but realises there is nothing she can do as her friend is already gone and is left to defend herself and end the possession but fails to do so.

The dead friend – a teenage girl who was very vulnerable and sensible. The girl who strived to be popular but was very impressionable and high achieving. Her death happened june of 2011 when at a house party. When influenced to drink more than she was willing to she was left dead after drinking too much. NOT SEEN IN TRAILER BUT HINTED AT.

Setting – The first setting is one of the friend’s houses, where the girls are getting ready to go out. The main setting where the rest of the film is set is in a graveyard during the era of 2012 on a cold December evening.

Audience – The primary audience is aimed at teenagers and young adults around 15 – 25. We have chosen this primary audience as it will appeal to teenagers as they are watching actors around the same age and may base their actions by what they do. It also interests this audience as it is a horror and will scare the people watching it so they will get pleasure out of watching it.

The secondary audience is aimed at older adults. This will appeal to parents as they may be interested in what their children are watching and maybe to find out how teenagers their own children’s age are stereotyped in films.

Films similar existing films – The first film that is similar to our horror trailer is ‘Cabin in the Woods’, this is due to the similar character profiles and the concept of a group of teenage friends out together when strange things start to happen. The second film is ‘The Exorcist’, we thought this is similar as possession is used as the main theme. The last film that is similar is ‘Final Destination 3’ as is again about a group of teenagers. 

Synopsis

A group of four friends one of their homes, they are all getting ready to go out for the evening and having pre-drinks. When getting ready two of the girls are chatting in the bathroom when a mobile rings and the dumb blonde answers, when trying to discover who this person is at the end of the line she is confused when she can only hear breathing so hangs up. However freaked out this phone has made her she presumes it was her boyfriend. When ready to leave there guy friends turn up, whom is also the dumb blondes boyfriend. They all head out on their way to the nightclub. When locking the door as they leave the front light switches on and worries all four friends. When walking towards a graveyard they have to walk through to get to their destination one of the girls suggest to go back as they feel ‘weird’. As the group of friends enter the graveyard, the dumb blonde is hit with the possession and one by one begins to kill the others. The final girl is left to try and fight for her life, however the last fight leaves them both dead with the spirit of the dead friend still alive.

The Conjuring Horror Project

The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a 2013 US horror/supernatural film directed by James Wan, who directed the first Saw film, written/produced the 6 Saw sequels and has also, directed both Insidious film which both Insidious and The Conjuring star Patrick Wilson. This film is based on one of the cases dealt with by the real Ed and Lorraine Warren who also went on to investigate the Amityville Horror case in Long Island in 1977.

Synopsis

Set in 1971, the Perron family move into an old farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. After the 5 daughters start playing a game called ‘Hide and Clap’ which leads to one of the girls find the entrance to the cellar that has been boarded up to which the father, Roger investigates and finds it is perfectly safe. Up until this point, the family seem to be settling well although strange occurrences have started to happen such as one of the younger daughters feeling a pulling sensation at her feet and the dog continuously barking outside. After several days of paranormal experiences, the family start to feel nervous about the house after the mother, Carolyn finding bruises, the dog dying, the clocks stopping at 3.07am and various noises from around the house. An attack on Andrea by a spirit on top of a wardrobe results in Carolyn seeking help from paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren who need more proof to perform an exorcism. When the investigators research the property, they come across that a witch, Barsheba sacrificed her children to devil and cursed the land in 1863 to which many murders have been committed on the land. The daughters are attacked later on that night by the spirit of the witch and the Perron family decide to move to a hotel while the house is exorcized. While the Warren’s are at the house, their own daughter is attacked by the same spirit although is saved in time by Ed. Carolyn who takes 2 of the daughters back to the house becomes possessed and tries to kill her children but Lorraine manages to distract her while Ed performs the exorcism to save Carolyn and the children.

Character profiles

Lorraine Warren

Lorraine Warren, portrayed by Vera Famiga was a clairvoyant and light trance medium who worked with her husband to hunt the supernatural. She dealt with many cases like this and in the film had a connection with Carolyn as they both were mothers and listened to Carolyn recite her happiest memory of her family. She is the mother Judy and was often worried about her when the couple wasn't at home. In the lake seen, she sees her daughter in the lakes reflection and sees it as a bad omen.

Ed Warren

Ed Warren, portrayed by Patrick Wilson was a demonologist, lecturer and author who worked with his wife, Lorraine. When he is about to perform the exorcism, he says how he has never done it before as it usually is performed by a Priest and is approved by the Catholic Church. He was also the father to Judy and often instructs her not to go into the sealed of backroom that contains all the possessed objects that they have dealt with.

Carolyn Perron

Carolyn Perron was the wife of Roger Perron and mother to 5 daughters; Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy and April. She starts to see strange occurrences when the clocks stop and the photo frames on the stairs fall as well as finding bruises over her body to which she believes is iron deficiency. She continues to hear banging and clapping throughout the house even when her children are asleep. As the Warrens are performing the exorcism, Carolyn becomes possessed by Barsheba and tries to kill 2 of her daughters but along with her husband, the Warrens manage to strap her to chair with a sheet over her head. As Ed starts the exorcism, Carolyn’s face begins to disfigure and she vomits blood until he condemns the spirit back to hell and Carolyn starts to recover.

Setting

The film is set in 1971 in Harrisville, Rhode Island in the US.

Locations

For the film, most of the shots were taken in and around Wilmington, North Carolina and the EUE/Screen Gems Studios. Some of the campus shots in the Warren’s lecture scenes are took from the University of North Carolina Wilmington during spring break.

Pratice Pre-Production Storyboard