Research: Targeted audience ideas on openings for Caretaker.

Here i have created a question for people to complete on what there ideas are on the opening for our film. I have added the plot for our film, Caretaker. for people to read and comment on.

 Click here to answer our question and share your views.

Planning; Delivering our pitch to our target audience

The name of our teen horror film is Caretaker.- The full stop is there in order to represent finalization, death and the end. The context of which the film is based upon, is a boarding school within a secluded location, and the focus being souly on the torturous, murdering caretaker. With Christmas coming up, most of the students have been collected by parents, although due to the horrendous weather conditions four students are unable to leave the school. The four similar aged teenagers, three girls and one boy are stranded within the secluded boarding school within the area of the English Countryside of which is at least ten miles away from any form of assistance. Behind the expectations of your typical, hibitual Caretaker lies a deeply disturbed character.

Independent research - Psychoanalytical theories behind horror films

Psychoanalytical theories
Psychoanalytical horror is a type of genre that is used in horror films. This horror genre must be one of the most insightful than any other genre because of the psychoanalytical side of it. One of the recognisable things about this genre that people notice is that there is common convention such as opening and closing narratives in these horror films. It leaves the audience hanging with questions in there head needing to be solves as the film leaves the audience with a unexpected closure to a horror film which plays with their imagination even more. This means that it leaves this film without a proper ending which gives the chance for film producers to make another one following on from the last one. People describe this type of horror genre to be in some way supernatural or dreamlike horror but this sometimes cannot be seen by the audience of the film. The aim of this genre is to create some sort of discomfort to the audience  which is much different to your typical horror film as the tension between the audience gets greater and greater throughout the film by the atmosphere that surrounds them.

There are many different conventions that film producers use to create a psychoanalytical films but some of the main ones are the setting of the film, where it was based and what surrounds the area. The typical location would be an old house with nothing for miles, with no signal for the victims to call from. Another convention would be the sounds that are used throughout the film. To give the audience more thrill and fear they would let the audience know what the story is about and how they ended up where they are. This would normally come with deep sounds that the audience cannot make out what the noise is. Normally it could be someone whispering or very low pitch noises to build up the tension. These sound would be used often as psychological films like to scare the audience all throughout the film. Thirdly would be the weapons that are used. Now its more about the supernatural powers and mind control which make the auidnece jump even more than they would if someone had an actual pysical weapon. They can bring more effectiveness to

Planning: Stage 2 - Decision Making

As a group, Fisheye Films, we have decided on our final idea. Our teen horror movie will be called 'Caretaker.' I feel that instantly our title is unique in it own way as we have added a '.' to portray that this is the end of the pupils, the finalization of death and the end.

Plot

The plot for the opening of 'Caretaker.' is based, closely to the stereotypical role of a school caretaker is twisted and juxtaposed. This enables it to fit in with the group of a horror movie.

Main plot summary

St Marlows school is known to be one of the best schools in the country, located on Mulberry Lane, Somerset  Over 3,000 children attend St Marlows and although it i a fee paid private school, it holds a deep, dark, underlying danger. Just like a normal, everyday school, the day consist of students arriving, learning and leaving the premises at 3.45pm. Like any school, those who break to rules must pay the consequences they deserve. This meaning, the consequence given to the students is death. Throughout the day, the caretaker appears to be doing nothing, but your everyday school caretaker making sure that the whole school is clean, top to bottom for the students, teachers and other members of staff in the school. When the bell sound the at exactly three o'clock, he changes from not being the normal caretaker that you would expect. The caretaker becomes unpredictable and without a doubt the most dangerous members of staff within the school grounds. The caretakers office along helps to connote this with a small sign reading 'strictly no entry' having valid reasons behind the door.

Over the past three years, 11 different students have gone missing and failed to return home from school. Coincidentally each of these students attended a session of detentions at the same school. Behind the normality and stereotypical antics of a school caretaker is an incredibly capable murderer.

The background behind this horrendous man consists of brutal moral principles of 'commit the crime, serve the time'. But these are taken to a whole different, new level slowly destroying every one of his remaining principles as he brutally murders those who cross the line within school.

12 year old Maria Denzil and a group of four teenage friends are caught possessing cigarettes and a lighter. These students are given a after school detention with the caretaker. This results in five teenagers fighting for survival in the place they once considered safe for them. But not no more.

Independent research - Jeepers Creepers (2001)

I am going to watch the first 15 minutes of Jeepers Creepers (2001). I will explain the convention of this horror film including sound, fake scares and much more. This film is a 15 classification.

 Here is the opening scene to Jeepers Creepers. As you cans see the location is in the middle of no where overlooking the country side to clearly state to the audience that there is nothing around them for miles. The music is very quiet but very impacting on the audience. It like metal being banged together and a little bit of some quiet voice in the background. It changes from being very quiet to loud. When the scene opens you can hear the wind rustling between the trees and grass.

A car now comes into the sight of the audience with loud engine noise and people speaking. The engine noises get louder and louder the closer the car gets to us. The characters you can see in this scene is a girl and a boy. We do not know anything about these two yet, so the audience will be wanted to know who they are and what they are like. There questioning themselves.

Here is when we first get to see the character up close to see what they look like and who they are. There's a few words switched between the pair, the girl says 'That was a stop sign'. The audience may be questioning why she said that because they don't no anything about the story line or where they are driving too. He then says 'On this road? I have not seen a car for 50 miles'. This clearly shows that there is know one around this area.

She now starts playing with the radio for something to do. These actions are showing us signs that she is bored and helplessness as they are going through the middle of no where with nothing to do. This is a classical feature for teen horror movies for someone to be bored and start playing around with stuff in the car, like the film we watched in class (Dead Mary). Also its normally the girl that gets bored.

A truck that looks run down and old is speeding towards their car and then tries to get round them. The two characters are scares so this may portray on the audience as a fake scare as the truck beeps the horn very loud. The two characters are using strong language and arguing because the truck will not go away. The pair seem very scared and look innocent because they are letting the truck driver past.



Further down the same road they spot that the same truck that was bothering them earlier on, has a man taking object that look like people wrapped in bed linen with red blood stains on it. Putting them down a pipe in the ground. They seem suspicious about this and question why? They freak out a little but not too much. This is the first intake we have of dead bodies and now we have an idea on who was in that truck and what he is like.


The truck has just pulled out of the house that it was stopped in and now is heading towards them. The girl reaches for the mobile phone but as you can see says 'Low battery'. This is a classical scene that i see in lots of horror films. The audiences adrenalin is now pumped up by the loud truck noises and the panic of the characters. They must be thrilled and scared at this point. Some viewers put them in the shoes of the character. They now have no way of contacting anyone its just them and the suspected killer chasing after them.

The truck has just crashed into the back of their car, they are flying all over the place. The thrill is building as the characters scream even louder and the audience get even more scared. The music of the loud violins and the crashing sound that mix in with the engine roars and the honks of the horn.





The car has just been knocked off the road and the male wants to head back for the creepy house to see if anyone is alive down the pipe. Sometimes the audience shots at the t.v telling them not to go back in fear. This is all part of the film producers magic by making the audience more engaged in what's going on. That is the end of the first 15 minutes of Jeepers Creepers.


                                     Here is the trailer for Jeepers Creepers (2001)

Planning: 60 Second pitch

Here we have came up with a short speech for our 60 second pitch which we are going to give today. Here is the dialogue...

Aimee: We are Fisheye films

Sam; Hello im Sam.

Ellie; Im Ellie.

Aimee; Im Aimee and this is our sixty second pitch based on our teen horror movie.

Sam; The movie is called Caretaker. With a full stop to represent the finalization of death.

Ellie; The film is directed at the classification of the age 15. 

Aimee; This is because the use of profanity is frequent but not excessive throughout the film. 

Sam; With numerous reoccurring deaths taking place at St Marlows Secondary School, the suspicions lie far from the culprit himself.

Ellie; At the end of the school day, not everybody leaves at the bell (2) the Caretaker.

Aimee: The Cartetaker is far from the stereotypical, he is in fact a ferocious serial killer- behind closed doors. (1)  Are the students really safe?

Sam; This film contains gory scenes with mild sexual references

Ellie; If you enjoy slashes, Caretaker. will suit you.

Here is our final 60 second pitch. To watch our pitch about Caretaker. teen horror movie click play.

Photography - Rule of thirds

To get a good photo and get a good video for our main task when we are filming. We was taught how to use the rule of thirds to make our main task movie more professional.

Here i used my mobile phone to try and use the rule of thirds to create a good picture. I made sure that my eyes were level with the top horizontal line. I then positioned my nose to the left of the vertical line and made sure that there was background space the other side of me.

The theory behind the rule of thirds is that you place the points of interest along the lines, which makes your photo become more balanced. This is proved because studies have showed that the viewers eyes normally go to one of the sides or corners instead of the centre. 

Planning: Stage 1 - Brainstorming ideas

In todays lesson we started to create an idea for our horror movie. My group, Fisheye Films, put all of our ideas for our horror movie onto a sheet of paper. We have decided that our film would be called Caretaker. but this may change if we decide on different ideas. The main story line of our teen horror movie is that it is based in a boarding school in the countryside with no signal around the area. All the pupils have gone home for the Christmas holidays but 6 teenagers are stuck for the holidays because their parents cannot come and collect because of the snowy weather. The caretaker murders all the pupils why they are trying to escape the boarding school. He lives in a chalet beside the school. The caretaker claims that the boiler has broken but really he is just trying to kill the teenagers in the boarding school. We all had an input on ideas and all decided on our main story line. Although we did have some disagreements, in the end we all made a final decision but our story line could change throughout the course of the planning period.

Research : British Board Of Film Classification

British Board Of Film Classification

About BBFC
The British Board Of Film Classification is a independent company that classify all movies that are being shown at the cinema and that are on DVD. Before the film can be shown at the cinema, the film has to have a BBFC certificate and if the company asks the film director to cut some part out to fit the category that they have been put in, the film producers will have to do this. The BBFC was set up in 1912, by the film industry. The BBFC only charges for it services by calculating the running time of the film, videos or DVD's which then decides the classification.

U - This rating means that a film should be suitable for children which should not contain any violence, mild threats and no horror. U rated films are not accepted if the film includes discrimination, not include drugs of any kind, unless the subject is influenced in some way by others in the film or the film sends a anti-drug message out to the young viewers of the film. There should be no horror throughout the film which is unlikely to cause anxiety to the children watching the film. The film is expected to show no violence which young children will be able to copy and weapons should not be shown that are easy for them top get hold of such as forks etc. This rating will accept kissing but there should be no love making on screen. These films that are in this class are directed at young children.

PG (Parental Guidance) - Children that are unaccompanied by adults can watch these rated films because they are aimed at the age of eight or older. Although this rating is much more easy on the rules compared to the U rating, it should not disturb a child by upsetting them. Rules about drugs are that there should be no drug use, like the U rating, but if there is any mentioning of drugs, it should send an anti-drug message towards to audience of the movie. Films can be a little more scarier for children but should not be intense or held for a long period of time. Sexual acts can be shown in a discreet and not happen too often throughout the movie. Sex can be mentioned.

 12A/12 - This means that films are able to be shown for 12 years and over. 12A and 12 ratings are both the same but the A is just for parents just to know that there may be some sort of content that they might not want their children to see. Any drugs that are shown must be infrequent and should not be shown in much detail. Any sort of horror should not be frequent or last for a long period of time. Dangerous behaviour for example hanging, suicide and self-harming should not go into a lot of detail and not appear to the audience that this does not work and is harm free to the person. This should be shown in a way where the viewer would not want to do. Whats different is that the BBFC accepts mild strong language but this must not be repeated lots throughout the film. Nudity is accepted but this must be very brief and discreet. Violence is aloud but there should be no major violence with no blood or gory moments throughout the movie.

15 - Suitable for only 15 years and over. No one younger than 15 can watch this rated film in the cinema, they cannot buy or rent a dvd with this rating either. Drugs being used can be shown but the film should send a message about what drugs can do to the body and send an educational message. Some drugs cannot be shown such as aerosols or solvents. Horror can be shown throughout the film including hanging, suicide and self-harm but it cannot go into detail and weapons should not be shown much. Aggressive or repeated use of strong language is unlikely to be accepted into the rating but the use of not so much strong language can be accepted. Sexual behaviour can be shown but without the strong detail and people making love in the film is unlikely to be accepted. Violence can be strong but it cannot show much of the pain or injury that has been caused by the violence.

18 - Suitable only for adults, no one younger can watch these rated films at the cinema and people under the age of 18 cannot buy or rent a DVD. There are more violent scenes that are aloud in the rating of 18 films but there are still many rules that have to be followed to get put into this rating. Most film directors try to not aim for a rated 18 movie becuase they will lose sales. This is becuase it is mostly teenagers that go to the cinem, so if the film was 18 not many people would go to see it. They can use strong language throughout the film and violence is aloud.

R18 - These films can only be shown in specially licensed cinemas or sold only in licensed sex shops to adults no younger than 18. This rating is restricted to the rules and can can show contant sex scences and strong material with other adults. R18 can not be supplied by a mail service. These films maily feature porn and sexual acts between people.

Research: Conventions Found In Horror Films

This lesson we watched three different openings to three different movies and completed this sheet. The three films we watched was Dead Mary, Dead Wood and Wrong Turn. To fill out our sheet we ticked what we thought was added in the first 3-5 minutes of the films. For example one of the conventions was 'A secluded location'.  There were 15 conventions we had to look for in the openings of these three films.

Here is the boxes that i have ticked.

Dead Mary -
- A secluded location
- problem with the phone - land line or mobile
- Vehicle won't start
- Fake Scare

Dead Wood -
- A secluded location
- Character investigates a strange noise
- Character inexplicably falls over
- Fake scare
- Someone dies in first 5 minutes
- X years before / later

Wrong Turn -
- A secluded location
- Fake scare
- Someone dies in the first 5 minutes

Research: Results from my horror survey

I had created a survey and asked different people to complete my survey. I have gathered all my results and have found many different things about the audiences expectations and perceptions on a horror film. I have also added some other personal questions within my survey to find out what people like and dislike.

1. Here this picture shows that more males than male completed my questionnaire. This may suggest that females like horror films more than males.

2. I feel that my second question from my online survey was very successful as my target audience for my horror film was aged 60 and over, which means that these are the main age groups that would watch horror movies.  This may be because in the cinema normally horror films are rated with a certificate rating of 15. 

3. Here is my third question i asked on my online survey. This clearly states that everyone that completed my survey likes these genre of films and would watch them and are defiantly familiar with this horror genre.

4. Question 4 shows that the majority of people who answered my survey said that they like both of the genres of horror that i gave a choice from. Here is a extra pie chart. 

This pie chart is for question 4 on my online survey. It shows that 75.00% of the people that i asked to complete my survey said that they like both horror genres, Teen horror and classical horror. It also shows that none selected the option 'other'.

5. On question five i gave people a choice of writing what their favourite horror film is and here were the results. As you can see clearly that two people answered with 'Sinister', this must of been a big hit with the age 16 group. 

6. I created this question because i wanted to see what i could add to future media tasks, such as the main task. As you can see 66.7% of people preferred scary/jumpy films rather than the other options that i gave them.

7. Here i have found out what scares people the most when they are watching horror films. Through analysing these results i can see that when horror films are based on a true story about someone or something, then  it scares the audience more. This may be because its more believable and can relate to the audience. 

8. Here i wanted to see what not to add into my future media horror movie projects by asking the audience what, in their opinion made a bad horror film. I have gathered lots of results, so i can use this as a source to look back on in further projects. Different people had different opinions but the one that stood out from me was too many deaths. I felt the same when reading this because i have watched a couple of films where there are too many deaths which get boring.

9. I can clearly see that most people like to watch horror film with their friends. This may be because of a social thing with friends. It is common for teenagers of this age group such as 16 to watch horror films with friends.

10. Here the people that filled our my online survey said that these list was in their opinion the worst horror films. They have not said why but most of them are the same type of horror genre such as paranormal films about ghosts and old films such as Dracula. This could suggest that audience views change after watching each horror film.

Research : Independent Research - Why do people like to watch horror movies?

Why does audiences of horror films like them? I feel that it is because we like the thrill of things. Such as riding a scary roller coaster or jumping out of a plane towards Earth. Thrill can be different for different people on what sort of person you are. Every person loves being thrilled in some sort of way. They love the adrenalin of it and how it makes you feel inside, it will make the person feel exited and full of energy. Horror films can give the audience all different kinds of thrill. The audience will be watching and thinking, What if i was in that position? which makes them think and feel more thrill. Especially when audiences of an horror film have to put everything together like a puzzle throughout the film resulting into the ending of the film. It makes the audience think all the way through the horror film without them even knowing they are doing this.


People like to watch horror films in groups of friends. This is mostly common with teenagers when halloween time comes around. When teenagers watch a film together its like they like being scared because its a social event with their friends. They all live of each others fear when watching a film together. Once someone starts to get scared other people feel the same way and so on. One of my questions on my online survey says 'Who do you watch horror films with?' and the most common answer was friends. This clearly proves that people enjoy watching horror movies with others. Mostly everyone who completed my survey picked the option friends.


Another reason why people like to watch horror movies is that when the film is finally over, the audience feels like that have accomplished something. Through the whole film the audience has been scared. Some people don't want to watch a horror movie but there friends do do they do. This means that they are forced to watch it. Through the whole film they would feel that they need to prove friends wrong so once its over they can say they have watched it before. They can boast about it to others. It will give the person more confidence so next time they will actually enjoy the film.


Overall i feel that people watch horror films because they like the thrill of being scared and the amusement of watching others because scared. I personally get some sort of thrill from watching certain horror films but it all depends on what type of person you are and how you deal with the thrill of the film. People certainly like being scared with friends around them which i have proved with my online survey.