Codes and Conventions - Gothic Horror

What is Gothic Horror?

Gothic Horror is a dark genre of films which is to create tension for the audience, this can result in them getting scared from the film. Gothic Horror comes from Gothic fiction novels from the 1800s. The two most popular gothic novels are Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1818) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Gothic Horror is much more important than just ghost stories and horror. They usually tales of mystery and horror which was to make the audience experience a chill down the spine.

Conventions

Gothic fiction uses wild and desolate landscapes, dark look and style, low key lighting, graveyards, ruined buildings, medieval buildings and they often use spooky effects with ghosts and spectres. The weather is used a lot when making a Gothic Horror it can vary from Mist to having Storms or Sunlight.

 

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-scene is used a lot in Gothic Horror because the little details of Mise-en-scene can create a Gothic Horror really well if it is done correctly. Within any film Mise-en-scene is taken into account as films need each element of Mise-en-scene. 

Setting

Gothic Horror films, often are set in graveyards or near buildings which have been destroyed, this creates mystery in the film and it makes the film entertaining for the audience and makes them want to watch more of the film. Sometimes the setting along with music can scare the audience or make the frightened to watch the rest of the film or to find out the ending.

Costume

Usually, Gothic Horror clothing is black or red and it is normally ripped on the bottom of the costume, they also tend to have a lot of blood on them which shows the horror in the costume and the audience can start to speculate about the character they are by their costume before they have even spoke.

Performance
The performance in a Gothic Horror genre is extremely important because if it isn't done correctly the whole thing wont look good and it will look more like a comedy. In this genre its good for the characters to not show a lot of emotion through their performance as it will create a uncomfortable feeling for the audience.

Make up
Make up in a Gothic horror is important as it creates the Gothic theme from the film. Makeup on a character in a Gothic Horror Genre is usually supernatural. It shows faced in a different way which is scary to some viewers. they often have a lot of blood on the characters face so the audience are attracted to the blood on the face as it often tells a story about it.





Props

Props are used in Gothic Horrors, but the props are usually knifes, or things similar to them, baseball bats and other types of items that can be used as a weapon. Little kids toys are also used, for example teddy bears are often used when there is a child involved in the film, this makes the audience start to think something bad is going to happen to the child or that they are going to do something bad themselves.

Colour
In Gothic Horror films there isn't a lot of colour shown through the film, but when there is colouring on the frame it stands out so it draws in the attention of the audience and they focus on the colouring as the films are usually in black and white to create effect. The characters are usually always extremely pale skin tone then their clothing is dark colours to create a binary opposite of their appearance.






 Hair

The hair of a character in a Gothic Horror based film can represent a dark feel towards the character. The usual hair in a Gothic Horror is normally messy and it looks like they have had it back combed and it is wild, I believe that  this shows that they are scary and you do not know what they are capable of and to stay away from them as they are unpredictable and could be dangerous.

Camera Shots

Camera shots are important in any film but they do play a big part in this genre as the camera shots are used to make the audience feel like they are there and that it is happening to them. When filming a Gothic Horror film its good to do some close ups and extreme close ups so that the audience get a good idea of what is happening in the film.

Close Ups and Extreme Close Ups within a Gothic Horror Genre of fil are important to use as it makes the audience feel like they are within the film and they create an attachment to characters. 

Using a Point of View shot is also effective within a Gothic Horror, for example if the POV shot is from a killers eyes you can see everything which the killer is going to see while taking part within a kill or afterwards.

Sound

The sound in a Gothic Horror creates a lot of tension and mystery as it is normally fast music going to the rhythm of a heart beat. As it goes on it usually gets faster and louder which may scare the audience more to hide before something happens.

Within Gothic Horrors, stings are used a lot. This could be when there is a large part of action about to take place or a significant moment within the film.

Editing

The editing of a Gothic Horror film has to be quick, static shots are used alot as it just jumps onto another character this creates tension which increases the thrill for the audience. 

There are slow editing within a Gothic Horror which creates tension, this is affective to the audience as if there is a large action scene and it is slowed down it creates larger affect. 

Pre-lim Evaluation

Once our film was completed, we did some editing on it to make the film shorter and to make the shot changes look better and professional. By doing this we also cut out any unwanted sections and scenes which was recorded but wasn't needed. Throughout the stage of editing out work we found it difficult as we filmed more than we needed and we needed to cut it down so that it as within the correct time frame available. 

In the Preliminary Task we had to include, match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. Also in this task we had to have good control over the camera, a variety of shot types and close attention to Mise-en-Scene. Another element that was looked for was sound, if the sound fit the action and there was also if the narrative makes sense. Throughout the editing process we ensured that we had met the criteria.

After we had finished editing, we looked at another groups film and evaluated their work which they had created, during this time our work was being evaluated by Daniel Grayer, Ben Lecky and Brandon Chan.

Feedback from the other group:

In the other group they said that in the first twenty seconds of our film was really good and so was the movement of Tommy with the camera following him. They stated that is was "Very Good". Another member of their group also said that the first twenty seconds was the best part of our film. They said it was good due to the "Mise-en-Scene and the smooth editing". This did show that the opening to our film was better than the rest of our film. They both said that we had match on action and an example of shot reverse shot. Also they said that we controlled the camera, used a variety of shot types and that the sound fitted the action and the narrative makes sense.

The group then said that we broke the 180 degree rule which meant if it was our Final Film we would have to recreate the scene to achieve a good grade. During the filming we didn't use the tripod when we started as we couldn't get it to stand correctly so we didn't use it, due to this we had a shaky camera shot. Also when Brandon and Tommy are in the Freddos office there are Spanish and French words in around the room with the flags as well as we couldn't get another room to do our filming in. Next time we would make sure our setting was better than this time.

In conclusion, I believe that we made a good film overall for out first attempt, but next time I would make sure to look at the improvements which we was given to make sure that our next film is better than this one so that we all achieve a high grade. From learning from this for our final idea we will ensure that the full criteria is met and speak to our teacher for her to confirm that it is correct, we will also use the tri-pod at all times so that there isn't an unsteady camera angle while filming unless it is needed.

Pre-Lim Video

My groups pre-lim task was based on the price of what Freddo's are now as the price has continuously increased over the past few years.

Here is my groups Pre-Lim film:

Pre-lim Task

My group of four (me, Brandon Playford, Tommy Brading and Brooke Spencer) decided to make a short video, we chose to do a video of a business meeting about 'Freddos' being too expensive and that the price needs to  go down. In our group we talked about the costume, hair, setting and performance in the pre-lim, this was so we knew exactly what was going to happen in the video and so we knew what to record. We also took into consideration what camera shots we would do during the filming. 

Storyboard

We also made a story board of each shot that was going to happen, this showed us which camera shots we was going to use and the plan of what will be seen during the shots. When we filmed our video we used the story board so that we knew what each section would be about and the camera shots.

As a group we decided that Brandon Playford and Tommy Brading would be the only two actors during our video, Brandon was the owner of Freddos and Tommy was going in to see him to request the price to be put down for the chocolate bar. Brandon and Tommy was told to dress smart to make them both look like professional business men, they both wore a white shirt, black trousers and a tie. 

We wanted to film this in our college as we believed it would be a good building to use as it is new and as it looks professional and would suit the building facilities which an high market company would have. I also asked my tutor if we could use her office during our video so that Brandon could sit in there and Tommy enters the room angry and that is where they have their talk about the price change, because Brandon was in a office it showed that he had a lot of power.

We also created a script for our pre-lim task:

                                                                                                                                                  

(After entering the building and making his way to the office, Tommy opens the door and storms into the office)

Tommy- "This is a fucking joke!"


(Throws Freddos)

Brandon- "Please take a seat sir and tell me what your problem is"


(Tommy picks up the Freddos and then sits down)

Brandon- "Right now you're sat down what seems to be the problem sir?"


Tommy- "My problem sir is that these (holds up Freddos) were 50p; Freddos back in the day were 10p! This is ripped off; you're ripping everyone off, what is your deal!"


Brandon- "I understand you're annoyed sit but I am the head of marketing and distribution, I don't deal with the costs of these items I just simply deal with the clients who buy these items and therefore contact them and so on"


Tommy- "Well fine then, but you better tell the person who is in charge of the costs that I am looking for them and I am really pissed off!"


(Tommy stands up and storms out the room)

(The end)