Research and Planning: Media Theque Research

Whilst in London we also went to the MediaTheque, Me and Louise studied three different horror films.

One of the films we watched part of was a Dracula, which was made in 1958. This film has supernatural elements within it, which it make it a horror on the basis that Dracula prey's on beautiful women and then turns them into one of his own kind or empties the blood from their bodies. He also has powers which work inside the mind of his victims. The mise-en-scene in Dracula films is crucial to it as the symbols are what makes it such a well known film. There is always a castle where 'Count Dracula' lives and he sleeps in a coffin, there are always rich colours which are enticing to the victims. There is also the cross which people can use to make Dracula leave them alone. There are also shadows which comes into cinematography as the lighting is low key. The compositions are also important as the soundtrack lets the viewer know what's coming next. The fact that they are also made on an organ/piano also helps me, as I can make these kind of compositions on Garage Band on the iMac's. The shots are are also crucial as there are the typical two shots of Dracula leaning over the victim and high/low angles of Dracula looking at the neck and the victim looking up at his teeth.

We also watched part of the film Owl Service, made in 1969. The plot in this film is similar to what we were thinking of using as it is about a curse which possess three teenagers on a holiday together on 'haunted hills'. We are thinking of making a plot where a group of teenagers go camping and someone turns into a killer from a curse.

The last of the three films we watched was Street of Crocodiles made in 1986. This is the most recent film out of the three and perhaps the most disturbing. The sudden jump cuts in this short film of twenty minutes is crucial, if you blink you might miss something. However, it is all so disjointed it is difficult to grasp what is happening. Jump cuts are essential to a horror though as they startle the viewer and the events are usually disjointed going from one scene to the next quickly. The music is also very good and it is very chilling as it is played throughout and is very high pitched to the point where you cringe. The plot is very different and is based on puppets.