Film website deconstruction:

Websites:

Blair witch:

http://www.blairwitch.com/

Blair witch is a 2016 horror film, the website displays clips from the film used as the background. Which allows for the audience to gain an idea of what is to come. There is also a clear colour scheme of white and orange which actually seems to subvert common conventions of horrors which usually use black/red and other dark colours. The website also has some advancements including a 360 degree experience. Building tension with the audience.

Lights out:

http://www.lightsoutmovie.com/#

This website displays 'from the same studio that bought you the conjuring'. This is a very common feature of some horror movies. Since they include fairly unwell known actors it acts as a form of promotion since if the audience liked the other film they are likely to want to see that regardless. The typography used is very minimalistic drawing attention to other features if the page, allowing for emphasis of the genre due to the ominous, dark image shown.

Green Room:

Green room is a 2016 horror film, the website has a green, black and white colour scheme, dark colours such as these are very common conventions of horror websites along with the white text to allow it to stand out. The website includes animated images of footage within the film. This allows to build tension and show scenes of the film to the audience to attempt to entice them, as well as presenting the genre clearly. It also has a bold review that has been centred, allowing for the audience to see opinions, 'maximum' and 'shock' are fairly full on vocabulary which emphasises and increases the interest towards it.

http://greenroom-movie.com/#/





Conclusion:

• In conclusion these web sites offer good inspiration for ideas for our own website. The use of he moving imagery as the background is something i would like to explore and i believe it would look very effective and present features of the film to the audience without giving much away to add to the tension and therefore interest them further.

Titles - Deconstruction

Friendrequest:

I watched the film trailer for friend request and analysed how often a photo appeared within the opening trailer. The only tittles that appeared were all the same and they were the name of the main character. This is to emphasise that she is the main character within the film and this message is shown throughout the trailer.

Deconstruction - Typogrpaphy - Louise

For a deconstruction task I looked at typography that is included on film posters/wesbites/and on the film trailers.
I looked for the common conventions that were usually found when I looked at typography for horror films and these were;

• Typography usually represents the genre well
• Usually broken in some way - could link to what the film is about
• If there is gore seen within the film there is usually blood shown dripping from the title, and the colour red is usually used
• The colour used is usually interesting as it makes the title stand out and helps to represent the genre
• Colours are however usually dark setting the genre of the film
• The typography usually has a shadowing / glowing effect which helps to represent the mystery sense there is within the film.
• Typography is usually fairly simple to read and in bold capitals
• Doesn't draw attention away from any other aspects shown

Here are some examples that I looked at:

Film websites - Deconstruction

In order to be able to create our own film website I looked at three different film websites and alanaylsed how they met the criteria and if they were suitable for the genre and if they were effective as a website.

The first film website that I looked at was Lights Out; http://www.lightsoutmovie.com/#
Released in 2016

This website firstly shows clearly what the genre is and that it is a horror film due to the use of colours and pictures that are shown on the website. The colours that are used are dark colours which go along with the genre of the film which is horror. The main photo that is used is clear that the light switch is significant within the film and is made to look effective to go along with the title because the title is lights out and the light switch is damaged. The use of the colours that are being used that are dark are effective because of the title and it is working with the genre of darkness and things being mysterious. The typography that is used on the film website is effective for the genre and is commonly seen within horror film websites, this means the website is effective because it is helping portray the genre to the viewer easily. There is also links to social media pages such as facebook, twitter and Instagram this is effective as it is commonly useful to have on a website so it is user friendly. However on the film website for lights out the website doesn't include any critics about the film or ratings.

The second film website that I looked at was Annabelle 2; http://www.annabellemovie.net/
Releasing in 2017

The Annabelle 2 website is very suitable for the genre. It clearly shows from the colour choices that are used on the website as it uses 3 colours which are common amongst horror films which are red, white and black. This is useful for the website to have because it helps convey the genre and also have an effect upon the film, as these colours would be seen repeatedly throughout the film and within other promotional packages that go along with the film. The typography that is used is very common amongst horror films which is sans serif and it is used to convey the genre of a horror film.  Another effective part of the website is that it includes the trailer so it makes it accessible for the viewer of the website to see the teaser trailer of the film. This is good to have on a website as it makes it user friendly. The use of the title being at the top of the page in red makes it stand out on the black background and this means the viewer is drawn to all parts of the website. There is also links that are included that are for the trailer or the story of the film which also make it user friendly along with links to social media sites like facebook, Instagram and twitter.

The third film website that I looked at was Insidious Chapter 3; http://www.insidiouschapter3.com/#landing

The Insidious Chapter 3 website is useful for genre and has conventions of a horror film website because it uses the typical horror film colours which are red, white and black. The website is also effective because it has a black background and then someone's face which has a red scar which is bleeding therefore suggesting that this will have some relevance and relationship to the actual film. There is also a teaser trailer that starts playing straight away when the website is opened which is user friendly and it also contains links to other social media sites. It also has a good catchphrase on their which says "The darkest chapter" this is good to include as it gives the viewers of the websites hints and things to draw them in.

Deconstruction of Actors

Deconstruction of Actors 

As a deconstruction task I looked at actors within deep web films.  Decided to look at actors in friend request and unfriended.
In the film unfriended the actors that are shown as the victims are teenagers that are all friends on a Skype call. The main protagonist which the film is based around us a teenager girl. The following, is based around this age range because they come across as more vulnerable because of the age they are and the position they have.
In the film friend request the films based around a young girl who is being stalked and hacked through her facebook account. This is showing the common conventions of a horror film being based around a girl. The girl is also fairly young which makes her more vulnerable to these situations and therefore this is another common convention. This was also seen in unfriended.

Deconstruction of sound

Deconstruction of sound used in friend request and unfriended;

Within these two film trailers the sound that is used is mainly sound that is natural to create a sense of realism. These films create tension and the effect of a horror film through the use of sound effects that occur within the film that are naturally occurring for example in the film friend request the girl starts to tule really fast on her laptop screen when things begin to go wrong when she realises what has happened and the use of the typing getting faster helps to portray tension to the audience without using s sound track and this helps to create realism within the film.
Also within these two films they use the sense of sound effects from the characters such as heavy breathing when they are scared and this is especially shown in the film unfriended when they are on the Skype call and there is an unknown member on the Skype call and the sound effects such as screaming and breaking from the Skype call through the Skype call that other characters hear also creates a sense of realism thorough the use of their emotions and this shows them being scared.
Throughout both of film trailer there is use of soundtracks and this is to help show the genre of the film but the use of naturalistic sound and sounds that are portrayed through the characters helps to make the soundtracks that are used more effective therefore helping to convey the genre.

Trailer deconstruction audio:

Trailer Deconstruction audio:

For this deconstruction, I used editing software to import the trailer of the 2011 thriller/horror 'You're Next'. I then paused it throughout and recorded audio over it to deconstruct it and talk of different features such as soundtrack, mise en scene, lighting and typography.

Deconstruction video:



Titles Deconstruction

Deconstruction of Title in 'Unfriended' 

In order to work out timings and content for the titles in our own trailer, I have deconstructed a trailer from a film of a similar genre. 'Unfriended' is also a horror film which uses screen capturing software on the internet, similar to how we plan to set out our on trailer. 

I have included the time in the trailer, the duration of the title and also what the title contains. Some of them show information related to the films narrative, some contain critical film reviews and others have information regarding the film's release. 

As you can see, the background colour of the title changes further into the trailer. At the start, the trailer seems innocent, showing footage of people having fun online and the titles have a white background. As it becomes more dark, the music changes and we see the people on Skype, the background becomes black to signify this change in atmosphere. The titles are also typed out on the screen which relates to the idea of using screen capturing software. 

As well as using titles, the information on screen reveals more than is said explicitly. For example, the titles never tell us that the girl kills herself, but the footage is shown through a screen recording of Live Leak to give us more information without overusing titles. 

After deconstructing this, I feel more confident about the use of titles in our trailer. I also think using screen capturing software to reveal extra information would add a lot to our trailer and allow us to show our narrative without needing to use voice actors. 

Deconstruction: Deep web based film

Nerve:

Nerve is a 2016 American thriller film directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman and written by Jessica Sharzer, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Jeanne Ryan. The film stars Emma Roberts, Dave Franco and Juliette Lewis, and revolves around an online objective truth or dare video game, which allows people to enlist as "players" or "watchers" as the game intensifies.

This is a modern, relevant and well known example of a media piece presenting the deep web. Firstly showing its dangers but also presenting the interest and depth of it in  clever and understandable way.

Although a different genre being 'thriller' this film can still offer inspiration o n how to tackle this area. For example the film begins with presenting it in a rather fun way, as if it is something new and exciting, presented in the small clip below. 

However later it shows that the deep web can be a very dangerous crime filled place. Presented in the very last scene where a great amount of violence is shown presented through very low-key lighting and mise en scene such as guns.

Conclusion:

• Although throughout the film the lighting is very dim, there is a clear difference to the fun/carefree events to the reality of the danger of their situation. Lighting is a very important feature which i will ensure to take into account, as is the use of mise en scene. They both can really determine the effectiveness of a shot.
• I also like the use of showing the innocence at the beginning how young teenager were just using the internet carelessly thinking they were not at risk. Which is very socially relevant because it is the reality of the youth at current date.

Trailer:





Red Room Investigation

Investigating Red Rooms 

As it would be dangerous to attempt to search for one myself on the Tor browser, all of our information comes from secondary sources such as stories from people claiming to have experienced real life red rooms first hand. Essentially, red rooms are live streamed snuff films, films where the actors actually die, and often have an interactive component where, for a fee, viewers can tell the host what to do to the victim. There is much speculation as to whether these are actually real or a hoax, but either way we feel this would be a very interesting and unusual idea to be the basis of our film trailer. 

Two of the major stories about red rooms are the ALICIA room and the ISIS room. ALICIA was stylised as A.L.I.C.IA., and many wondered whether this stood for something or was just the name of the girl they claimed to be torturing. The website consisted of ALICIA in large red writing with Portuguese text underneath and a countdown timer. 

The design of this room is extremely simplistic and gives away little detail of its purpose. The idea of including hidden text only visible by highlighting would also be an interesting concept to think about using. Another hidden bit of information is found within the actual source code of the website, which shows more hidden messages in Portuguese. 

At the end of the timer on the website, it was claimed by viewers that a livestream began however nothing actually happened. The general consensus was that this red room was actually a hoax, which was speculated at first because of the easy access. If red rooms are in fact real, there's no way they'd be available so easy, but would require users to dig deep into the dark web and be provided with links in order access them. 

The other dark web red room that has received widespread attention due to its easy access was the ISIS red room, which claimed to have a real ISIS member who they were going to torte live on camera in 2015. 

Unlike the ALICIA red room, a 'livestream' (could've just been a prerecorded video) was actually played on this website, and can still be accessed even on the clear web today. However, the 'torture' was not what the viewers had expected and it wasn't graphic in any way. The host was seen holding a hammer before the video glitched and the supposed ISIS member was seen with blood dripping down him. Therefore, there is no way to know whether the video was faked or if it genuinely glitched at this moment. 

The disappointing (to those who want to witness what these sites supposedly have to offer) outcome of these two red rooms is what has led many people to claim that the infamous streaming services are just a fairytale. One of the strongest arguments against them is that it would be virtually impossible to stream a high quality video  over the Tor browser used to access darknet sites due to the number of redirects, IP scramblers and proxies used to keep everything anonymous. While it's highly possible to play a pre-recorded video, many doubt that this footage is able to be streamed in real time. 

However, there are counter-arguments that suggest red rooms do in fact exist, just not in the way originally thought. Rather than being able to come across them when browsing the deep web, extensive searching is required in order to gain access to them. They are very difficult to find; people spend hours scouring directories and other links and often need to be given a direct link. Even at this point, they may need to receive an invitation to actually gain access or even be subject to a background check. Users may often be required to download custom browsers and programs to be able to view the video due to the lack of streaming potential over the onion router. 

Blair Witch (2016) Trailer Deconstruction

Deconstruction of Blair Witch Teaser Trailer

Deconstructing this trailer has given me interesting ideas to consider for our own that I had not previously done, such as using a contrapuntal soundtrack in conjunction with sound effects. 

Location Deconstruction

Deconstruction of Location

In order to establish suitable location for our trailer, I have analysed different locations found in a variety of different horror films.

From our survey, we can see that the most popular option would be to have the film set in a house - this is also a very common feature found in horror films. Many films start with a family moving into a new house, looking for a new start, but instead running into new problems, particularly in supernatural and often psychological films. Examples of these include Sinister, Insidious and The Gift. 

As we are creating a mostly psychological thriller, we think this kind of location would be suitable, but it relies on whether any of us have adequate space to film everything in our house. 

However, we have also discussed including elements of slasher horror films such as gore and anonymous killers. Rather than being set in a house, many slasher films are set in open or abandoned locations such as woods and empty buildings. Examples of these are Final Destination, which is set in many different places rather than one particular location, The Gallows which is set in an empty school and Friday the 13th, set in the woods. 

While outdoor locations can be effective in horror films, I think for our concept it would be most suitable to film in a house as it revolves around the internet which is not as easily accessible outside. However, I think it may be interesting to include shots in abandoned locations such as warehouse to hint at the idea of the villain having some kind of lair. 

Deconstruction of Mise - En - Scene

Deconstruction of Mise - en - Scene in Sinister Trailer:

 Here within the opening scene of the trailer the rooms are shown to be very empty with not very many items in there with blank walls with cardboard boxes around which suggest to the audience that this particular family have perhaps just moved to this new house. This is a common representation of how a horror film is shown at the beginning it is shown to be very plain without any decoration within most of the rooms and not much furniture as most horror films begin with a family moving to somewhere they haven't lived before.

Here there is a little girl shown drawing onto the walls of her bedroom and the audience are unsure of what the significance of this and why she is drawing on her bedroom walls. This mise - en - scene of the young girl decorating her bedroom suggests something isn't quite right to the audience and it leaves them to find out what it could be.

 There is a long shot here shown of the family having dinner and the mise - en - scene that is shown around it is seen as very dark colours and the fact that there is a lot of open spaces and dark areas within the house suggesting vulnerability and it also helps to convey the genre of the film.

 The mise - en - scene that is shown in the screenshot is showing a common thing that is shown in horror films which is usually a dark unused empty attic. There is also a box that is in the middle of this room and this is shown to be mysterious but also significant to the audience because it is focused upon. In the screenshot from the trailer below the main is shown opening what is inside the box and it is a traditional camera that is used within horror films to look at recordings and record things and this is significant and this is why it is shown from above the man so the audience see it and focus upon it.

 In the three screenshots below there is significance of these things being shown to the audience. The second one which is showing a figure from a distance in dark clothing suggests that she is going to play a bad role because the figure is shown in typical dark clothing looking old and over-worn.

 The mise - en - scene here that is shown is a weapon. This suggest to the audience of the trailer that this weapon is going to be used upon someone or has been because it is shown to be very dirty and looks like it has already been used before. It is also a very unusual weapon which is commonly used in horror films.

In the 20 seconds of the sinister trailer the mise - en - scene is very effective. This is because of the young children that are used they are dressed effectively to portray the genre in very old clothing and not looked after clothing. The faces and the mise - en - scene on them makes them look abnormal therefore this is leaving the viewer of the trailer wondering what happens as this is shown within the last 20 seconds of the trailer. Another main part of the mise - en - scene in this part of the trailer is the figure that is shown behind the children that keeps appearing and this shows that the figure perhaps has a significance and that it is probably not in a good way considering that the figure is shown looking upon the children that look abnormal and like they have been affected by this figure. The importance of this trailer is the way the children are sitting within the attic which is commonly shown within horror films and that there is nothing else around them suggesting isolation.

Deconstruction - Locations

Deconstruction of locations in horror films:

The Conjuring:

Within the first few seconds of the trailer it is set in a cellar which is very dark which helps to conform to the genre of a horror film because the location of some of the trailer being set in a cellar is showing darkness and eeriness.

 This screenshot is showing parts of the cellar that are shown for example these stairs are shown and focused upon for a long time. These stairs are shown to the audience because they are shown to be wooden which is a common representation of cellars that are in horror films and they are shown to be very dusty which suggests to the audience that they aren't used very often.

This screenshot below is showing the house from a distance that it is set within. The house is shown to be in a very dark area surrounded by a lot of open space which is commonly shown within horror films. The house is also shown to be big which also is commonly seen when viewers are shown the outside of a house for a horror film and it is usually shown to be quite old and Victorian from the outside they are rarely shown to be modern.

Deconstruction - Unfriended

Deconstruction of 'Unfriended' Trailer

As the concept for our film is based around the Internet, I have decided to deconstruct the trailer for Unfriended,  film which is centred around Skype. There are not many examples of horror films based on the Internet, but Unfriended is a recent and popular film. Another example of a similar film is 'Friend Request'. 

The trailer begins in a positive tone, explaining parts of the Internet which make it beneficial to society, which will contrast to the events later in the film. It plays happy sounding music, contrapuntal to the genre of the film while showing videos of exciting moments such as a graduation and skydiving. It has the video bar at the bottom and typical sharing options at the top to reinforce the fact it's based around the Internet.

It shows a title saying "Online, your memories last forever" before a quick montage of different videos in different windows is shown, and the music comes to an end, suggesting that the mood is about to change. Another title then shows saying "But so do your mistakes". Further titles then begin to share some background information to give the film more context, along with some glitches which are a common element of horror films. 

In the background, Skype notification noises can be heard which are very familiar to most people so may allow them to relate to the film. A lot of footage of the teenagers on video call can then be seen. The whole trailer is filmed as though a screen is being recorded, to emphasise the fact that this is taking place in the digital world. 

Throughout the trailer, various eerie sound effects and music can be heard which often grow quiet at times and the notification noises can be heard over it. If watched on a computer, viewers may mistake the noises for their own notifications. Many error sounds are also played, suggesting that something bad is going to happen. When the mysterious person says "Lights out" you can see in the video call everyone's lights turn off. This references how things that happen online can affect real life. 

Throughout, their calls are going glitchy and jumpy which may make the audience jump as anything could appear when the glitch ends. At the very end, the dead girl can be seen saying "this is going to be fun" which contrasts to what is seen in the trailer. 

I think some elements in this trailer would be useful in our own, particularly the idea of experimenting with mixing real footage and parts filmed actually online. 

Sound Deconstruction:

 Sound:

The following blog post is a deconstruction of sound within horror films, allowing me to gain inspiration and act as a form of research to allow me to know what kind of sound is relevant and sounds effective within this genre. 


However our film is slightly different, and has a psychological and internet/cyber crime/dark web aspect so other genres music/soundtrack could be merged within it to make it more relevant and interesting. 


I also wanted to research further to see the use of naturalistic sounds within the trailers, since this is something we are interested in doing to help add to the realism of the piece.

Although these films to not have a cyber crime link, the use of sound within them interested me and I believed it to be a good set of research in order to inspire me later for the types of sound and methods of using sound effectively. 

Horror:

The following videos are the trailers of 'Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)' and 'Annabelle 2 (2017)'.

In Ouija: Origin of Evil, upbeat 70's style music was used throughout among creepy, haunting music. This created an ironic sense, and fitted very well. The trailer also had a grand mixture of diegetic and non diegetic sounds/soundtrack. Which allowed for the eerie feel and tension to be built, but with the sense of realism. Something we were very interested in doing. Since we believe making the scene more realistic makes it more relatable to society and allows for a greater connection with the audience.

At the beginning of Annabelle 2's trailer, no non diegetic soundtrack is used for the first 25 seconds only the noise of birds, and the humming of a female character is heard.

Which alike Ouija adds to the sense of realism, something we want to portray within our trailer. Later eerie music begins to play along side the diegetic sound. However throughout a range of both is used to give the realistic feel with the tension. Noises such as screams, bones cracking and a music box are heard.

Psychological:

Black swan is a psychological film released in 2010. Within the trailer it includes an ominous background soundtrack. However the diegetic dialogue is made louder, again creating the sense of realism. Other noises such as whispers, representing voices and noises of material being removed from the skin are shown. Breathing can also be heard. All of this as a whole allows for a very clear sighted piece. It creates tension, yet allows for the audience to connect.

Conclusion:

• Black swan allowed for me to have a deeper sense of understanding about appropriate methods of adding diegetic sound along with the non diegetic soundtrack allowing for a more realistic effect.
• The use of breathing and whispering against the music was very effected and created a very ominous feel to the trailer. This kind of effect is something that I am interested in doing for our trailer. 

Concept comparisons, pros and cons:

Examples:

The shining is an example of a psychological horror film based on Stephen Kings books. It was released on the 7th of November in 1980. The shining has a fairly hard hitting psychological aspect and in scenes comes across with a great sense of realism. 

General plot: 

'Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer's block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), who is plagued by psychic premonitions. As Jack's writing goes nowhere and Danny's visions become more disturbing, Jack discovers the hotel's dark secrets and begins to unravel into a homicidal maniac hell-bent on terrorising his family.'

Hostel is an example of a slasher horror movie, it was released on January 6th in 2006. Overall it has a very stereotypical over the top use of blood/gore making is appropriate for the slasher/horror genre.

General plot:

'Beth (Lauren German), Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) and Whitney (Bijou Phillips), three young American women traveling abroad in Rome, decide to take a weekend excursion. Lured from their intended destination by a beautiful acquaintance (Vera Jordanova), the women anticipate a stay at a luxurious spa. Instead, they become pawns in a grisly game designed to entertain wealthy deviants from around the world.'

Comparisons:

• The shining happens to be  psychological with slasher elements however there are some very clear differences. The shining plays on human emotion, causing the audience to think and question themselves as they watch . It causes discomfort to the viewers through their own mentality.
• Whereas Hostel is more on the over the top gore, it gives a disconnect from the characters since it does not greatly develop into who they are. It is for the visual show, it also has many more common conventions that it conforms to such as an isolated area, a female victim and male perpetrator.