Given that our film is a hybrid of two rather specific genre's I thought we needed to do some research into both and how they tend to be made and stereotypes you will find in both, like Propp's seven archetypes.
I looked for any films, books, comics that had the horror/ noir genre and didn't find many but I did find a novel entitled "Already Dead" by Charlie Huston which is about a vampire detective, also the television series "Angel" and films like "Blade" but we don't want to make our film too much like a comic book series and so we want to emphasise the film noir genre too from films like "L.A. Confidential" or even the original film noir films like "The Maltese Falcon" or "The Invisble Man" which is often classed as the closest thing to a film noir-horror film.
I also thought that since our film is about a vampire that research into the mythology and legends of this topic were essential, it so happens my dad works in Transylvania and so I may try and get information through him and I have also tried to view as many vampire films recently as possible and have just purchased the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins. Also looking at vampire films through the ages like Dracula (1931) and the Hammer Horror films nad their Dracula franchise starring Sir Christopher Lee.
Good sources that I looked at included:
Also I have the novel Dracula which is a good source of the classic vampire story, as are watching the films such as:
Interview with a Vampire
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Near Dark
Which are a good mix of traditional and modern takes on vampires.
Dracula directed by Tom Browning, 1931.
Entirely Black and White, not for effect but the time the film was created.
Credits and titles play at the beginning of the film with a cartoon bat in the background.
Establishing shot shows giant mountains and a horse and coach traveling along the rocky road, we can hear diegetic sound of the coach traveling along the road.
Then a transition into a mid shot of the inside of the coach, from this shot it had the coach bouncing about and shaking to signify that they are traveling on a rough road.
Transition to the inside of a room, with a baby's cot and two women inside speaking in a foreign language.
Not a huge variety in use of angles and shots, quite basic but effective, mostly mid shots and angles no use of canted angles or shaky camera work.
Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 2008.
Soft ererie non-diegetic music plays over the production logos, the film begins with a plain black screen and over the music we have a voice over by what I denote as a young female, american accent. There is then a transition to an establishing shot of a forest, we also here diegetic sounds and signifiers of the forest like birds chirping.
There is a deer on screen, seems to be significance of the deer due to lots of shots of it from different angles. Then it seems there is a point of view shot of someone stalking the deer, due to the skaky camera work as this is not a social realist film but a blockbuster.
There is then a change in music as it becomes fast paced, and there is also the use of fast paced editing, we see a few split second shots of a person running and one where they run straight in front of the camera, where this is still a point of view shot we're seeing through is poly-semic.
We then see a person grab the deer and the screen goes white and there is a transition to a shot of the sky and there is a change in music. The voice over begins again and we have a mid-close up of a young girls face, signifying that she is the voice we hear and our central protagonist.
Sets up the exposition of our story, then we have a long shot of a car driving away, then a transition to a plane taking off, and then a point of view shot of the plane done done by a helicopter shot, soundtrack playing some sort of folk song.
We then have a transition to a scene of woodland and snow, a binary opposition to the scene before of hot desert and cactus'. The titles then appears on the screen, in serif font "Twilight".
We looked at the opening to the film The Lost Boys directed by Joel Schumacher in 1987.
This film started by having the non-diegetic soundtrack playing whilst the production logos came on screen and so started the film straight away. The titles and credits then played over a moving helicopter shot over the sea to which blue filter had been applied for colouring and then also a theme park. The titles showed the auteur theory as they started with the producer and director instead of the actors appearing in the film, also signifier of the genre and theme as the title text is serif font and gothic and little bits coming off the letters look like vampire teeth.
There was then a cut transition and stagged progression disolving from the helicopter shot to a mid shot of the carousel. First character to appear is seen from a low angle, signifying that he is the antagonist. also signifiers like him wearing black. One character then appears on screen and for a second touches his teeth, a very subtle signifier of the him being a vampire. Soundtrack then changes to a more sinister sound, playing over the diegetic sound of the roller coaster in the background.
Then the security guard appears, authoritative figure, as teen audience and youngsters are the heroes makes security guard look incompetent and useless. Use of sound motif almost like an intertexual reference to Friday the 13th or Halloween. Point of view shots used when security guard attacked, violence is off screen, adds narrative enigma as well as sound off frame.
Clever in the respect this film almost has two alternative openings, second one beginning with extreme long shot and then cut transition to car. Diegetic sound from the radio but this is not seen straight away. This is an audio bridge as it plays over the transition. Then we have a mid-close up of the characters in the car.
Set dressing includes things like graffiti on billboards, etc.
Only know do we see the central protagonist of the film.
The Satanic Rites of Dracula, directed by Alan Gibson, 1974.
Title sequence begins with panning shots of London with a very seventies soundtrack and a small shadow cut out of dracula in the bottom right hand corner gradually getting bigger. Sans Serif font, gothic- vampire.
Establishing shot, a white house at night, bat screaching in the background, signifier vampire film.- Cuts to almost vertical high angle looking down on a group of people sat round some religious item, lighting is slighlty red tinted, signifies blood. Spooky organ music
- People wearing hoods, candles, a skull. Naked woman lying down, signifies a sexual them to the story.
- Audio bridge a womans voice speaking then cuts to a scene of a man sitting by an intercom or radio, diegetic sound
- Cuts to another scene of a man lying on a bed, tied up trying to break free. Man comes to look at him, low angle shows the man in bed vunerable. He then attacks him slight slow motion, music speeds up.
- Man walks around slowly slightly limping, music adds suspense, he has blood shot eyes and pale skin signifies he may be a vampire. He runs to get into a car and it speeds off. Long shot to show it go off into the distance.
Dracula, directed by John Badman, 1979.
I thought this was a great adaptation of the Dracula story with many intertexual links to the Dracula, 1931 directed by Tom Browning, not strictly a remake but certain scenes were purposefully recreated.
The use of non-diegetic music help anchor the genre and signify the horror of the story.
A strong cast helped the appeal for the film in the US and Britain, with the likes of Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasance.
Cirque du Freak, directed by Paul Weitz, 2009.
Soft lighthearted country music playing, first shot shows a close up of a man eating popcorn. Establishing shot shows a graveyard and people walking with a bunch of flowers, voice over begins young male character American accent.
People standing around a grave, some crying signifies that this a funeral also we see a hearse car in the background, voiceover helps exposition and anchorage by saying who is in the grave and it says "This is my story".
Slasher Genre Research
Scream, directed by Wes Craven, 1996.
Dimension films.
Title card, serif font appears - "Scream".
Diegetic sound - door slamming, telephone ring, heart beat, female scream.
Title turns from white to red, with slicing/kife blade sound effect.
Zoom into title, opening shot is a mid close up of a landline phone ringing, young teenager blonde girl picks up, stereotype of "scream queen" and possibly the male gaze concept here too.
Tracking shot as she goes to pick up the phone, we hear the voice of the other person on the phone, she hangs up "wrong number".
Second time phone rings, canted angle used connoting all is not well, slow track zoom to close up shot.
When she puts the phone down she is out of frame. We see a shot of the outside, connotes isolation. diegetic sound of crickets chirping. Possible point-of-view shot from the outside looking at house, flase scare, connotation the girl is being watched. Extreme close up on the flames from the cooking surface, pop corn crackling diegetic sound adding to the suspense, gradually getting louder - tension.
Tracking shot as she picks up knife, connotation of a countertype? blonde haired final girl? - polysemic
talks about the character Michael Myers from John Carpenter's Halloween - intertextual link.
Eerie piano music plays, dog barking outside.
Use of fast paced editing as she locks doors, match-on-action shots. She looks outside, Point-of-view shot. Then mid-close up of her, she walks out of frame.
Intercuts back to popcorn - tension building...
High pitch tones, non-diegetic sound, when the voice on the phone threatens girl.
Extreme close-up on girls face, then use of low deep tones.
She runs through house, tracking shots, non-diegetic sounds of heartbeat thudding.
Frame of shot shows her look through the top of the window on front door. Door bell rings, close up to handle.
She looks outside to see boyfriend tied up, close up showing his mouth taped over. Reverse shot to her, then a long shot as she crouches down in tears to hide behind the television, a slow track zoom.
Energetic shots, tracking shots and variety, keeps momentum going.
Goes pitch black, we hear a groan and a cutting noise, when the lights come back the boyfriends throat has been slit.
Black clothed figure runs past the window, the girl goes outside - use of shaky camera work.
Extreme long shot of headlights on the horizon behind a field, the music becomes more fast paced with a beat. The car pulls into the driveway, cuts to the girl looking through house window - point-of-view shot, and killer turns around (Scream Mask), shot reverse shot and point-of-view from the killer/antagonist, girl screams. Antagonist jumps through window as girl clutches knife (close up) he then grabs her. Low angle/over the shoulder of the girl looking up at the killer, connotes vunerablity and she has no power or strength. Slow motion footage as the antagonist goes to stab the girl, high angle shot of her on the ground and as antagonist stabs her, use of dutch angle as she bleeds, then a canted/shaky camera work point-of-view shot as she looks at her parents getting out of the car.
Girl manages to pull of the antagonists scream mask, quickly cuts to close up of his hand holding knife, reverse shot to her reaction, could connote she knows who it is.
As knife comes down to stab her, intercuts to girls father on phone - canted angle/close up.
Mother looks out the front door, close up of her screaming. Long shot of the girl, covered in blood, hanging from a tree. Fast paced zoom shot right up to her, then quick shot of a lightning bolt.
Black screen with diegetic sound of crashing sounds.
[12 minute film opening - almost a mini movie within itself]
A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984 - Wes Craven
The opens with non-diegetic eerie, dark music playing. Ground level shot - diegetic footsteps, with the credits "New Line Cine" playing over the scene.
A nice aerial shot of rusty tool set on a workshop desk, possible point-of-view shot?
Music becomes almost screechy, high pitched tones. There is a close-up shot of a hand picking up blades and a glove, there is then thudding beat to the music, and we hear diegetic sound of what sounds like hammering metal.
Slight canted angle as the hand is sawing into pieces of metal, blunt instruments - connotes dark unpleasant, harsh visuals and sounds. Shots of blow torching. Heavy Breathing sounds.
Close up as hand goes into this metalic glove *Iconic Freddy Krueger glove*
As this happens the music gets intense and loud and very high pitched. The gloved hand opens up the palm- point of view shot, and there is a growl/evil sounding cackle.
Music is distorted and unpleasant - title card plays. Ironic as it is a blood red and yet a cartoony serif font.
Knifed glove tears through a sheet of cloth, emphasis on the sound effects the glove makes through the opening, scratching, slicing, cutting.
A young female appears on screen, wearing white - connotes purity - angelic? Juxtaposition/binary opposition to the dark setting. Establishing shot shows the girl walking down a long dark tunnel, we see light behind her, connotes she is leaving hope behind her? entering somewhere evil?
Non-diegetic music sounds like a keyboard/techno. Girls runs towards the camera .
Mise-en-scene is gradually set up - we see steam vents, wet floor, dirty work surfaces. Industrial setting, factory? Mine?
High angles used to show the vulnerablity of the girl, anchorage of what the girl is called as we hear a ominous mumbled voice calling "Tina". Close up to show fear on her face.
Diegetic crashing noise, Tina screams. Then we have a shot of a sheep running, and he hear an evil laugh in the background.
Very quick extreme close-up of a male face, only showing half, burnt skin, moves out of frame as the music changes.
She runs through the machinery, we hear clambering footsteps. We see a shadow of a figure following her - laughter and footsteps follow her.
Tracking shot behind her - Point of view of the antagonist?
The lighting fades in and out, connotes a threat, instills fear.
Close up of the glove scratching the wall as it moves along, she quickly turns around the music has a loud thudding sound - sound motif?, and again we see the glove tear through a sheet - possible motif?
We see the figure of the antagonist, dirty red and green jumper with a fedora hat.
Girls runs infront a furnace, connotes the idea this is hell? or to her this is hell?
non-diegetic sound of babies crying, connotes that the antagonist is the "boogeyman" archetype in American horror.
The figure appears from behind her and grabs her and there is a match on action shot to an intercut as it then shows her walking up in bed, panting for breath covered in sweat... It was all a dream, or was it?
General Notes on Slasher
Many slasher films concentrate on framing, to get a real concept of frenzy and panic in their films, like in I Know What You Did Last Summer or in some of the dream sequences in A Nightmare on Elm Street where there is good use of lighting to create shadows, and make things look sinister whether it be the tops of fences or tree branches, symbolising the knife glove that Freddy Krueger wears. Also for most of the film his face is covered by the dark and we not really make out his features, which is scary psychologically for the viewers as we feel for the "scream queen" character and we cannot tell what the antagonist looks like and this creates a great deal of fear, and anxiety.
Also in many slasher there is good use of reflections, blurry/out of focus shots to show figures like where Sarah Michelle Gellar is attacked in the basement in I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Good use of low angle shots in the film Night of the Living Dead to show that the zombies are "in charge" and cannot be stopped, showing vulnerability in the human beings trying to escape/destroy but they can't when they resemble their family members, the shots and angles used are effective in being scary than the effects/make-up.
Dawn of the Dead makes good use of high/helicopter angle shots showing crowds of zombies running around and yet as it was successfully filmed early in the morning, they created the feeling of isolation as there is no other life seen in the background, no moving cars, people walking down the street. Juxtaposition and a new equilibrium for the characters in the film.
The Wes Craven film The Last House on the Left it is successful in being scary more psychologically than what we actually see on screen, like in the scene where they carve into Mari's chest, we hear her screams in pain but never actually see the cut's or the blood. Also the use of quite jolly, seventies, bohemian music is a juxtaposition of the dark, even disturbing, theme of the film.
Also the ending to film does not show any piercing/cutting of skin and we know it is happening despite it being off-frame. When John is attacking Krug with the chainshaw we only hear Krug screaming and the chainsaw running and all we see is a close-up/low angle of John's face looking as though he is in a struggle, and then an after shot with the Sheriff looking at Krugg's dead body with blood splattered on his face, and quick long shot of half of Krugg's body in frame covered in blood, almost the less we see the more we believe/convincing.
Also there is a clever shot when Estelle kills Sadie in the pool, we see Estelle run towards the pool with a knife reading to slash Sadie's throat, a long shot as Estelle brings the knife back towards Sadie's neck and just as it is about to make contact the shot cuts to a close up where Estelles head and the knife are out of shot and then her dead body covered in blood falls into the shot, so we do not actually see the cutting of her throat but we think we do.
My Bloody Valentine, 1981. Directed by George Mihalka.
Films open with an establishing shot of a mine shaft, a canted angle on ground level. We here non-diegetic sound like a thudding sound, and over that we hear the diegetic sound of tools clanking. Two Miners, with torches on their helmets, in the distance walk towards the camera we denote they are wearing some form of mask and as they approach we here the diegetic sound of them breathing through them. As the two miners reach the camera it becomes a low angle shot and the camera tilts upwards and the two miners walk out of frame. Variety of canted angle shots used, also gives a sense of real time, not ellipsis, everytime the two miners walk out of frame the shot stays on screen for a few more seconds and we hear the atmospheric noises of the tools and the heavy breathing as well as the sounds of them dragging their feet. Very effective in setting and an eerie tone to the film.
The music then suddenly lowers in tone, one of the miners looks around and the camera stays in a two shot mid-angle, it almost looks as though this miner is breaking the fourth wall and looking straight into the lense, however as he is wearing a mask we cannot see his eyes. As this goes on the other miner takes over their overalls, and we denote a female body wearing a bra and we also denote a love heart tattoo on the left breast. In a close up shot we see this miner take off their helmet and mask and we see a blonde head of hair and a females face, male gaze theory? scream queen?
The music softens, almost romantic piano, love affair?
Over the shoulder two-shot as the other miner goes in almost as though to embrace despite him still wearing his overalls and mask, the miner lifts up his pickaxe as though he is about to impale the female, the shot cuts away and there is a mid shot showing him slamming it down onto the wall. The female gasps and then looks relieved, use of the false scare?
The female begins to unzip the miners overalls and the non-diegetic music is overlayed with eerie low tones, connoting a threat, a disturbance?
The female puts her hands to the miners face as though to take off his mask, as she does this he shakes his head and replies "No". There is then a faded transition to a close shot of the females lower back, which then tracks up to her head slowly and there is a two-shot close up/over the shoulder shot of the two.
High angle/Over the shoulder shot of the female, connoting vulnerablity, and we see the torch from the miners helmet shining on her face.
There is a close up of the females hands stroking the cord attached to the mouth piece of the mask, almost a sexual encounter, anchored by deep breathing by both in shot. There is then a close up of the miner gropping the females breast with the tattoo on it. Then an extreme close up on the tattoo and we denote the fingers of the miner shaking/twitching.
The non-diegetic music gradually builds up with tension and the miner suddenly throws the female back and she is impaled on the pickaxe in the wall, making a groaning noise as he does so and she screams.
We have a close up on his mask and we hear her screaming and the diegetic sounds of piercing skin/arteries.
We then have a close up on the face of the female screaming which goes into a zoom into her mouth and then a black screen and the title card plays. Serif font, all white but in the word Bloody, instead of two "oo" it has two red love hearts, almost quite comical, a sort of irony, juxtaposition.
