Characters and Actors

Emily played by Hollie Bowden

Emily is a strong, independent character. She is a bit of a tomboy and is not afraid to take risks or act on impulses. One of the commonly used conventions of horror movies is that the most innocent character always lives. We wanted our movie to be a bit more modern so none of the characters are stereotypically innocent. But Emily is very loyal to her friends and is often portrayed as the voice of reason. These kind of qualities work as reasons why she is the only one that survives at the end. We chose Hollie Bowden to play the role for many different reasons. Firstly she has short hair which is often connected with rebellious, tomboy type girls. Hollie is so very good at acting tough parts.

Jacob played by Joey Jarossi

Jacob is a commonly used character in many horror films. He's a character who was often afraid and wary about doing anything that could be potentially dangerous. The character is smart and articulate. In our film the twist is that he is also the killer. He's not the one the audience would suspect because he is normally too frightened to do anything violent nature. I will play the part of Jacob because I'm very good at pronouncing my words correctly. I also had the typical look of the smart character. I also have previous acting training.

Morgan played by Kyle Lo Monaco

Morgan is also a typical character commonly found in horror movies. Often referred to as the jock. He is good-looking, popular, athletic and is often going out with a pretty girl. We have arranged for Kyle Lo Monaco to play the role because he has all of these qualities. The character of the jock is never very smart and often dies at the end of the film. Our film is no exception. Also Kyle is ethnic meaning we can reach out to a wider target audience and the film will not come across as discriminatory.

Vanessa played by Jessica Stevenson

Vanessa is also a typical character that appears regularly in horror movies. The pretty, popular girl. This kind of character will often go out with the jock. This is a convention that we have used our film. She is also not very bright and ends up being killed when she wanders off in only her underwear. Jessica was the perfect person to play this part because she is a very experienced actress and is also very pretty and image concerned.

Synopsis

31 years ago in The Cherub Theatre a 7 year old boy was laughed off the stage when he forgot his lines, which led him to commit a violent suicide.
Now, in the modern day, 4 teens, Emily, Jacob, Vanessa and Vanessa’s boyfriend Morgan are sat in The Cherub Park looking for something to do. The outgoing and fearless Emily suggests they stay the night in the abandoned, supposedly haunted Cherub Theatre. The loved up couple, Vanessa, the girly girl and her handsome boyfriend Morgan are easily convinced whereas skeptical Jacob votes against it. After a while of reassuring him everything will be okay, Jacob doubtfully agrees. After telling some scary stories and eating some junk food Jacob wanders off to find the furnace. Whilst he is gone, sitting in darkness, the girls and Morgan hear crying from downstairs. The lights come on and when Jacob re-emerges he tries to reassure them that it was not him crying. They carry on as if nothing had happened, but suddenly the lights blackout. In the confusion Vanessa reveals a deep scratch in her arm. When the lights come back on they discuss who might have been the culprit and discover Emily has blood on her hands making her seem very suspicious. Now feeling very freaked out they try to leave the building but discover that all exits are now locked. The girls try to uncover how they got locked in whilst in the theatre Jacob is being possessed by Little Benjamin (the boy who committed suicide 31 years ago). The girls go back into the theatre to find Jacob sat in the front row of the audience. They ask him 'what's wrong?' and he replies in a whisper. 'I'm rehearsing'. The girls go to get him some water but when they return to the theatre he is gone. They hear a noise from upstairs. Thinking it might be Jacob they go to investigate. They look everywhere but cannot find him. They decide to split up. Finding nothing, they all come back together. At this point the real chase starts as they see a masked figure standing on stage. Running, tripping, crying, they all try desperately to escape this hellish building. Emily has found herself back in the main theatre on stage alone. Breathing heavily, Emily backs up towards the wall as she hears a voice reciting the opening prologue of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. As the voice reads the line ‘A pair of star cross’d lovers take their life’ the camera reveals the masked figure standing behind Emily. Finally finding a quiet and safe looking room, Vanessa and Morgan realise Emily is no longer with them. Morgan tells Vanessa to stay where she is and hide while he goes to rescue their friend. Meanwhile Emily finds a secluded room, in which she enters, to find many pictures of Little Benjamin all over the room. When Vanessa is on her own she gets brutally murdered by the masked figure. Finding Emily with a room full of Benjamin pictures Morgan states how much Benjamin looks like Jacob when he was younger. Realising Vanessa is alone they rush to her aid. Emily and Morgan find her dead and the killer is nowhere to be found. Jacob comes in and immediately starts reassuring them that it was not him that murdered her. They all try hysterically to escape the theatre. Jacob gets possessed right in front of them as he finds a weapon and immediately starts trying to kill them. There is a struggle but eventually Jacob kills Morgan. After the deed is done he stands in the middle of the theatre with the two dead bodies lying around him and recites the opening prologue to Romeo and Juliet.

Location

The number one most important thing for creating atmosphere in a horror movie trailer is the location. Our film is set in an abandoned theatre. We both attend regular classes at the Young Actors Theatre in Islington. We have asked permission to film in the theatre after the classes have ended one weekend. We are also going to set a couple of scenes in the old adventure playground across the road from the theatre. The theatre from the outside has a very institutional feel, similar to a prison. It is also fallen into a state of disrepair making it look as if it has not been used for many years. The inside interior is very dark and old-fashioned. There are a lot of hidden doorways and dark corridors which will provide an effective backdrop for trailer. The theatre in real life is supposedly haunted and definitely has the feel of a haunted building. The park across the road has also fallen into a state of disrepair. It has a very depressing and haunting feel to it because it obviously used to be a fun child friendly play area but in recent years has become rotting and dangerous. This reminds me of the location in the film House of Wax because that to used to be a happy, family friendly place but in the film has become a wasteland of hellish nightmares. This is the feel we want to replicate in our trailer.

During the night-time the scary atmosphere is enhanced and will provide the perfect location for a trailer.

Props

These are images I collected to create a kind of mood board of some of the commonly used weapons in horror movies. The research showed me that the weapons are often things found around a household or garden shed. This might be because it adds to the realism of the danger in horror movies. Our horror movie is going to be set in a theatre so it is important that the weapon is something that could possibly be in theatre. The use of blood in a horror movie is also very important. Blood is iconic.

Target audience research

Target Audience on Prezi

this is a pressie I made to show what my target audience might be like and what they might be interested in. Doing this research gave me a better idea into how to build characters that will appeal to target audience. I'm now a better idea of how I might want to portray young adults because I know what they are into and have a better idea of how their mind works.

if it does not work here is the link; http://prezi.com/hwzyt2znl1ip/target-audience/

Conventions of Horror Movie Posters

Conventions of Horror Movie Posters on Prezi

Recognising plot conventions

I went on to IMDB and printed out part of the synopsis to the 2009 film 'Jennifer's body'. Then I went through it using different coloured highlighters and highlighted the key elements of the horror movie genre. Including stock characters, plot and stock situations, themes and backgrounds and decor. I realised that most horror movies contain some kind of mystery. This is so that the audience feel anxious which sets them up nicely for any scary moments. I then sat down with my other team member, Jessica, and we looked through the differences between a movie she had highlighted, 'Nightmare On Elm Street' and 'Jennifer's body'. Both plots included are lots of gore and blood. They also both had main protagonists who seemed harmless and defenceless. The villain in both films was someone out seeking revenge and at the beginning they seemed unstoppable. During this lesson I found out that all horror movies that their characters in a situation which seems impossible to get out of because this will always build a lot of tension.