Dark Room Productions

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Update No. 16

Today I visited a salon called Asquared in south east London to receive feedback posters from Satan’s Mistress. DRP have created two posters, one of which being one with the female character and the other being one featuring the main male character. I wanted to receive feedback on how the women felt having a female villain as the main character in our production.

Tuesday, 8 February 2011

Cinemas

Cinema is the most popular form of watching movies now. There are many promotional offers which attract cinema goers such as 2 for 1 and nights where the tickets are cheaper. There are also discounts for students who have a student ID card. This is good as DRP want to attract the student age range, and also an older generation, but the age range from 16-25 years olds is our main target.

In 2003, 12 of the 100 top grossing movies of all time fall into the horror genre. Given that the production costs of horror films are often much lower than the cost of producing movies in many other genres, it is no mystery why horror pictures continue to be made.

The thrill of being scared makes teenagers flock to horror films in disproportionate numbers, but there is no lack of adult interest in cinematic horror. Therefore, while adolescence may be a period in which horror films seem particularly relevant, these films maintain their relevance well beyond the teenage years.

Males from late adolescence to their early 20s make up a large percentage of what Marvin Zuckerman calls "sensation seekers" .Young males, and sometimes women, too, are high sensation seekers—people who enjoy intense experiences, these are the people who thronged to see the last wave of horror films and psycho-slasher films because they provided a maximum amount of shock value.

Either way sensation seekers draw on their ability to empathize—to put themselves in the characters' shoes while taking in the chilling story.

Teenagers/Students also want to have a cheap experience when visiting a film. cinemas have special days where they have prices cut and also the percentage of people going on a Wednesday has flocked due to ‘Orange Wednesday s’. This offer entails the customer to get 2 tickers for the price of one.

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

Safety during filming

During this whole project one of the most important things was safety, especially during the filming. So each time we filmed we made a note of the things that could be potentially dangerous.

During the filming for ‘Satan’s Mistress’ we had to ensure that safety percussions where in place in case of an accident. We also had to test the make up on the actors in case of irritation.

During the filming it is essential, that all filming is safe and we take peoples health into consideration. As there are many risks such as: fire, lights over heating, or accidents while filming we thought it was necessary to have some hazard preventions in place.

The blood used in the filming of the boy being tortured and the female character, was ‘Ben Nye stage blood’ which was tried and tested before hand, when making experimenting with the scars and cuts we thought we was going to use in our trailer. We tested this before hand to make sure there was no skin irritation on the actual day of filming which would slow down the filming.

The affect we used to make the male actor look sweaty, we used a natural mixture of sugar and water together. We used a spray to put it on the actor, to make it look like beads of sweat. We used natural products to ensure irritation would not occur.

The chains we used were ones where you could unclip them from the wrist securely; we used these, because we didn’t want to use a rope or proper handcuffs. This could lead to bruising on the wrist and also in case of a fire there could have been the possibility that they were tied too tight and that would be a huge risk. We also didn’t use a rope to tie the actor’s hands together, as has to be done by a professional, which is why we opted for the more secure ones instead.

We also used candles for one of the shots taken for the poster and also the filming for some other scenes. We had to ensure there was a fire extinguisher near by, just in case anything caught alight, or in a rare case, the lights over heated.

Monday, 31 January 2011

Research-witchcraft

Our teaser trailer can be compared as a supernatural thriller. This is because we have incorporated elements of witchcraft and black magic. Here are images of stereotypes of witches. There are set to believe that there are two types of witches. The White witch and the Black witch. The white which is mostly known for being the good witch and the Black witch is mostly known for being the bad witch.

On the other hand even though when dealing with witchcraft some of us may now The White witch to be the good guy some films represnt them as negative characters. Such as the White witch in Narnia. She is the villian in the film. However stereotypically some film makers stick to the idea of the White Witch being the heroine such as in films as Alice in wonderland were the white witch is good.

In our teaser trailer we use elements of seduction and lust, because our protaganist character wears red shoes whihc the colour of red connotes the theme of sex, desire, betrayal and revenge. In images were witches are represented they can be seen in two different lights. First one is seen as ugly and creepy. this is well known in the animation `snow white and the seven dwafs' were the wicked queen dresses up as an old lady to persuade young snow white to eat the poisoness apple. Here the witch is benched over which gives the illusion of her having a hunched back and also her facial apperance is not very attractive as she has a mole on her face. The second way in which withces can be seen in a different light is as a attractive being. This is done so that it is able for the witch to decieve their victims mostly males. This can be suggested, that because our protaganist is attractive she is able to get her victims easier because of her beauty.

Our teaser trailer has elements of voodoo dolls. In our media project we can see that the female villian purposly cuts herself so that her blood drips onto a chain of paper men, then their is a shot of a boy tied up on a cross with blood all over him. This can be sugested that what ever she does to the paper men it will effect the male victim. The idea that the paper is so fragile and it can easly rip shows that she has a strong power over the males. This can also lead to a sexist theory at the fact that a female is dominant over a male when sterotypically in horror films the victim is always a female with blonde hair and lacks intelligance. However some can argue that yes the villian is a female but the title is satans mistress so isn't their a hidden innuendo that the devil is the one who is in control and is he a male

Age certificate

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), is funded by the film industry whihc is run by a non governmental organisation. who are responsible for the national classification of films within the UK. It has the rights to classify videos, Dvds and some video games under the Video recording act.

Universal is the name of this logo. It is suitable for all ages and films with this logo should not upset children over 4. For example- The Incredibles.

P.G stands for Parental Guidance. All ages are acceptable but certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under the ages of 8. E.G `The Simpsons movie'.

12A- This logo was recently introduced in 2002. It is only used in cinemas. Films under this catergory are seen as unsuitable for very young people. Those children who are under the ages of 12 should bge accompanied with a adult. Particularly 18 or over. film sunder this catergory may contain mature themes such as discrimination, soft drugs, sex reference and moderate violence. Examples- `Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'.

Nobody younger than 12 can buy or rent a 12 rated VHS, DVD, Blu Ray disc, UMD or game. Films in this catergory contain discreet sexual activity, brief nudity, infrequent use of strong language and infrequent drugs.

Films under this catergory contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong words, moderate-strong violence/sex references and mild non-detailed sex activity. Example` Good Luck Chuck'.

Under this catergory only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy, 18 rated DVDS, Games etc. Also nobody younger than this age can go to watch a 18 rated film in the cinema. Films under this catergory do not have a limitaion to the amount of bad language used. Hard drugs are generally allowed and strong violence/sex references along with non-detailed sex activity is also allowed. Examples `Saw III and Jackass 3D'.

Only adults are admitted to this catergory, and can only be shown in licensed cinemas and sex shops. Films with this rating have material that the BBFC does not allow in its 18 rating, because the violence and sex shown is stronger R18 DVDs, VHs and films. However there are still cuts in this material, more cuts are demanded in this catergory than any other catergory. Example `Deep Throat'.

Comparison of thriller movie posters

Here are images of the posters The unborn and Legion. Both posters share similar qualities, such as the colour schemes. They both have the blue background and white text. This can some how look heavenly almost. cloudlike and peacful however because they are horror films it adds a sense of chill to the audience because we know the sky and cluds to be soft and peacful and it is weird at the fact that it is being represented with death and evil spirits, when you associate the sky and heaven with angels and God. Also their is some sexual connotation with the imagery. Both imges show the protagonists wearing little clothing. In the Unborn the female is wearing a vest and underwear in which you can see part of her bootom while in Legion the man has his whole shirt off in which you can clearly see his chest and stomach.

The happening and the eye just like the unborn and legion have the same blue colour scheme however the blue is darker and so brings more mystery and creates a eerie feel.