Sub-Genre Japanese Horror

Japanese Horror which is sometimes referred to as J-horror is the Japanese contribution to the horror fiction. This Horror genre tends to be focused on the psychological aspects of Horror which helps to build tension. Japanese Horror is becoming increasing popular with the Western culture with Asian directors remaking films for the US market such as: The Ring, The Grudge etc...

Examples of Japanese Horror:

One Missed Call (2004/2003) J-Horror movie directed by Takashi Miike and was remade in 2008 for American audiences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpsZQrJazq0

Marebito (2004) directed by Takashi Shimizu. The film has been given different titles due to its release in other countries other than Japan such as the UK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV7J8WYETXo

Cursed (Japan 2004) (America 2005) The original Japanese title is 'Chô' kowai hanashi A: yami no karasu. This film was based on the written work of Yumeaki Hirayama and is the first theatrical release of the Cho Kowai Hanashi series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJGlJ2A1UoE

Infection (2004)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9TbECLC1fE

With the level of interest in Japanese Horror by the US market, many japanese films have been remade and been successful. For example the 1998 film, The Ring brought the image of yūrei to the Western culture. Japanese Horror also meet their aim of using ghosts and folk religion to build tension and suspense therefore making them successful in the Horror genre. Many of the notable directors have directed successful films such as the The Grudge and The Ring.

Hideo Nakata is a Japanese film director and is mainly familiar with Western audiences for his work on Japanese Horror films. The Ring which was directed by Hideo Nakata grossed 12 billion yen ($137.7 million) being the highest grossing horror film in Japan.

This website provides information about Asian horror movies old and new http://www.asian-horror-movies.com/

Sub-Genre Splatter

Splatter came into its own sub genre of horror film in the early 1960s. Splatter films are usually the type of horror, which contains mass violence, gore and shed loads of blood and special effects.

Here are some examples of famously known horror splatter film:














































Dawn of the Dead 2004

















































Dawn of the Dead 1978




















































Saw















































Night of the living dead ( 1st to popularise the sub genre)





















Scream
































































I know what you did last summer









Kill bill is a prime example were ‘splatter’ has been used in a different genre of movie. This shows that different genres can intertwine.


There are also websites dedicated to splatter horror movies. Here are some examples of the sites I found: http://www.esplatter.com/, http://www.splatterfilms.com/

Sub-Genre Slasher

For our horror movie we have chosen to do delve into the 'slasher' genre, this has given us the opportunity to dabble into the technicalities of using stage products like latex, fake blood and moulding wax to create props and therefore the illusion of horror. This has allowed us to really get enthusiastic about our project because we are getting to explore one of the earliest and most popular genres of horror.Examples of famous slasher films that pioneered the genre are: Psycho(1960) Black Christmas(1974) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974) Halloween(1978) Nightmare on Elm Street(1984)



These films brought horror movies to the mainstream and earned widespread commercial success. However after a series of average re-makes and sequels to the original productions, some would say that the slasher genre lost its substance, resulting in 'direct to video' releases.


In the mid-90s the slasher genre was revived by Wes Craven's Scream(1996);director of Nightmare on Elm Street, and attracted a new and younger audience. It gained both critical acclaim and commercial success with it's ingenious and witty storyline, where the characters had a self awareness of being in a horror movie while looking out for conventional traps e.g. someone saying "I'll be right back", whilst trying to avoid making typical mistakes.



Behind The Mask
Final DestinationFinal Destination is another good example of a group of teenagers who are on a journey together and then the horror begins. This is a typical convention of slasher horror films. Final Destination also incorporates 'supernatural horror' with "Death" being the main killer.



















HatchetA 2006 American Slasher film where the killings are very gruesome which is a characteristic of slasher movies to give a more scary effect.







I Know What You Did Last Summer I know what you did last summer is a 90's slasher with a tightly written mystery plot. It recieved very mixed reviews from critics and was followed by 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'. This film was likely to have a popular reception with 16 - 24 year olds.





EFFECTIVENESS OF SLASHER



In many slasher movies, the intention is to create suspense around the killer and his/her motives within in the audience. It reveals the graphic acts of the murder which in many slasher movies the victims are likely to be young or college students. Young people aged between 16-24 years old can relate to these films. Many of the concepts used in Slasher movies are based on typical teenage activities such as partying, going on a trip together etc. However, there is also a comparison between the the films made in the past andrecent films. Many films being produced now include more nudity, gore and influence of the supernatural. Furthermore, the audience are more aware of their surrounding today that some of the horror films they watch are likely not to have a huge impact on them as much as it would have in the 1970s, where horror movies were a lot more controversial given the time period.

Horror Genre

Horror movies are films based on the audience's worst nightmares, fears and frights of the unknown. Horror movies also bring out emotions of fear and horror of the viewers. The reasons why these emotions are brought out are normally due to the story lines being close to home and close to the truth. This is because horror films are normally based on evil or supernatural events entering everyday life.

Horror movies have many sub genres which include; slasher, splatter, zombie, monster, comedy, Japanese, psychological and supernatural. Horror also overlaps with the thriller genre but can sometimes overlap with science fiction and fantasy. This could be when filmmakers take a basic childhood concept and bring out the dark side of it, an example of this could be Chucky. Some of the first horror movies includes Dracula and Frankenstein, these were based on classic literature with a genre of gothic/horror.

Typical horror film theme normally include ghosts, torture, gore, werewolves, demons, curses, Satanism, monsters, zombies, vampires, masked killers, cannibals and haunted houses/areas.

According to IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/) top rated horror charts, the top the horror movies are:
1.Psycho - 1960
2.Alien - 1979
3.The Shining - 1980
4.Les Diaboloiques - 1955
5.The Thing - 1982
6.The Exorcist- 1973
7.Rosmary's baby - 1968
8.King Kong - 1933
9.Nosferatu - 1922
10.Frankenstein - 1931

Wes Craven

Wes Craven

Wes Craven is an iconic name throughout the horror movie genre. He is famous for producing films such as Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street and more recently The Hills Have Eyes. He also created one of the most famous faces in horror; Freddy Krueger, who is the villain in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Freddy Krueger

Wes Craven also has his own website were fans interact with him and show him their horror productions. Entering his website you can see the trailer for his next installment to the Scream series- Scream 4 and this is a form of promotion for his new film. After the trailer you enter the site and you can see the images of people who won the Halloween image contest. This shows interaction between Craven and his fans. www.wescraven.com/blog

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The famous 3

Meeting 5

Organisation: BluWhisky

Members present: Cheyenne Dwyer, Morin Keshiro and Tiffany White

Date/Time: 29th Oct 2010 - 3pm




In this meeting, we prepared and planned for our filming of the teaser trailer.

Notes on the agenda:
* Costumes and make-up for actor
This was key for the main killer and the victims. Ideas for victims were eye injuries and facial bruising. For the main killer- heavy make up and sexy outfit.


* Completion of props making
We had already started on making severed fingers made from latex so we just had to create time to finish them ready for filming.


* Lighting and setting for filming
This was a reminder of what kind of lighting we wanted for each shot which we will still continue to discuss when it comes to editing our teaser trailer.


We also discussed whether both filming and having the photoshoot would take place on the same day, taking into consideration time and convenience for everyone involved. We came to the conclusion that it would be more realistic to do as much filming on one day and then book a day just for the photoshoot. This way we would be more focussed on one aspect of the project at a time.

Audience research results

1) The age group varied with a majority of 62.55% being aged 16-17 years old. The results have shown that our main target group is between 16-21 year olds with a minority being 22 and over.

2) On average there were more females than males who filled out the questionnaire, however, this was only by a small amount. This has shown that our teaser trailer is aimed at both sexes.

3) People from different cultural backgrounds are exposed to different things meaning we are able to incorporate a range of ideas from our viewers. 

4) 53.6 % strongly liked the splatter and Slasher horror genre. This has given us an insight in what type of movie our viewers would like see. 25.0 % disliked the Monster and Zombie Horror genre which includes films such as Jeepers creepers. From this we are able to identify any elements of different horror for our teaser trailer. 

5) 50% prefer a female killer, which we have been deciding on to challenge conventions of many horror genres notably splatter and Slasher Horror genres.

6) 42% prefer for the killer to have supernatural powers. 32.5% prefer for a knife to  be used and 25.0% thought cutlery being used as interesting.

7) A majority preferred to go with a few friends or with a partner rather than with a parent or alone.

8)  70.0 % replied no to buying film magazines. One person stated ‘Mainly review films online’. This suggests that most film viewers now read reviews using online media.

9) 45.5% said they would be willing to pay £3.99 being one of the highest prices we had chosen. This suggests that people still buy magazines as well as using online media.

10) 90.0% said they were influenced by film advertising suggesting that our advertising techniques will have to reflect what the viewers have asked for. This will gain more viewers for the films release.

 
 

11) 52.5% said actors/actresses are what make the horror movie appeal to them. Although a relatively small percentage being 27.5% said challenging storylines. This information suggests that we need character who will play their role well and storyline that is able to appeal to our target group.

12) 75% are influenced by the characters appearance showing that the specific parts that are being played such as the killer and main victims will need to appeal to our audiences.

13) 90% preferred the teaser trailer suggesting that we need to be precise and decide what will be shown and how the storyline will unfold.

14) 45% said the mystery in horror movies is what appeals to them. Therefore we will aim to make our storyline interesting and challenging some of the existing conventions.

15) 40% viewed religion as being inappropriate for a teaser trailer. We felt this question was important so not to offend any of our audiences that would view some of the content as inappropriate. This shows us that if we decide to use anything that may be controversial we know where and what ideas to use.

16) 67.5% prefer the killer on the poster. This is following conventions in film as the main character is always on the poster suggesting that we may use the killer for the poster.

17) This enables us to look at different ideas and see how we will decide on a final poster layout using images, information or both to attract audiences. 

18) 74.4% agreed that a colour palette should be used throughout. This will make the teaser trailer recognisable to audiences.

 

 19) The colour palette that was very popular amongst audiences was Red, Black and Grey followed by White, Black and Grey. These colours are very dark and popular in the Horror genre.






 

20) 100% would prefer if they would be able to view the teaser trailer online given. This is important as there is growing online media with makes it more accessible for people to view the trailer.