Copyright research

For our film, we need to include sound of some sort and because we didn't want to breach any copyright laws so we researched the copyright law for sound recordings and this is what we found.

"Under the 1988 Act, copyright in a sound recording expires either (a) 50 years after the recording is made, or (b) if the recording is published during that period then 50 years from the publication, or (c) if during the initial 50 years the recording is played in public or communicated to the public then 50 years from that communication or playing to the public, provided the author of the broadcast is an EEA citizen. Otherwise, the duration under the laws of the country of which the author is a national applies, unless such a duration would be longer than offered in UK law, or would be contrary to treaty obligations of the UK in force on 29 October 1993."

Moral panic

Moral panics run in a cycle.

The media run in a scape goat. They persuade us that they are in control.

Scape goat - blame it on someone/something else

Exaggerated reaction by public (mass hysteria)

Costumes

Our main character, Amelia, is 16 years old and currently attending sixth form. Because she is in sixth form, she is likely to have to wear smart clothing but not too formal because it may distance the audience as they are less likely to connect with a character that is similar to an adult. Usually, the final girl is brunette but we are challenging this convention by have a blond final girl. The costume suggests that she is not hypersexual which also suggests that she is innocent and therefore likely to be the final girl. Amelia was inspired by ‘Sidney’ from Scream as she is presented as a smart and respectable character through her costume. The audience are able to connect with Amelia as they can imagine themselves in the same position.

Jennifer's Body

Jennifer’s Body represents high school girls in a stereotypical way. The phrase on the poster is ‘She’s evil…And not just high school evil.’ This refers to high school girls gossipping about each other’s lives and judging each other. The main character who features on the film poster is wearing a lot of red. Red is known to be a sexual colour which suggests that high school girls are hyper sexual and it also links to the ‘male gaze theory’. Red also signifies danger and blood which could suggest that something bad happens in the film. The title ‘Jennifer’s Body’ is written in the same font that would be on a stereotypical cheerleader’s uniform as those are the stereotypical girls that are evil in high school.

From the movie poster, the audience can tell that the film challenges the horror conventions as typically, the brunette girl is usually the final girl who is studious and responsible and the blond girl is the opposite. However, the movie poster suggests that the brunette is hyper sexual and irresponsible.

The representation of women in this poster suggests that teenage girls are no longer innocent. In this still, Jennifer is wearing a white dress and white is usually associated with purity and innocence but the blood on her dress suggests otherwise.

The British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification states the guidelines for a 15 rated film are:

• ·         No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
• ·         There may be frequent use of strong language – the strongest terms are rarely accepted. Also continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.
• ·         There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
• ·         Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handles responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references t sexual behaviour
• ·         Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain and of injuries.
• ·         Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief
• ·         Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable.
• ·         There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons especially knives
• ·         Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable.
• ·         The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use

<!--[if !supportLists]-->

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/592478/index.html

The British Board of Film Classification states the guidelines for a 18 rated film are:

• ·         There are no constraints in theme, language, nudity or horror. However the board can cut or reject content such as detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts that is likely to promote the activity
• ·         When sexual material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality, safe sex and health, exceptions to the normal contraints on explicit images may be made in the public interest.
• ·         Such explicit detail must be kept to the minimum necessary to illustrate the educational or instructional points being made
• ·         Material which appears to be stimulated is generally passed at 18. While images of real sex are confines to the R18 category.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/592497/index.html

We are aiming our film at 15+ so we need to avoid creating our film to be an 18 because that would stop a lot of our target audience from watching our fillm. We decided to not include any sexual activity or visible violence as we would run the risk of our film being certifies an 18, which would stop 15-17 year old from watch our film.

Postmodernism in Scream

The final girl

-          Sydney fulfils the role of the final girl.

-          Characters are being killed all around her and she is left at the end of the film having to confront the killers.

-          The confrontation allows her to discover the true identities of the killers and find out the truth about her own mother’s murder.

-          The final girl re-establishes order by confronting her own past traumas and fears

Mise-en-scene

-          The opening scene of Casey Becker’s killing also provides examples of the ominous mise-en-scene characteristic of a horror film. She often moves around the house lit by lamps which provide pockets of light and shadow.

-          The darkened spaces are frightening for both Casey and the viewer because they provide places for the killer to hide.

-          The lack of illumination in the scene is both literal and symbolic – neither Casey nor we know what lurks in the dark.

-          When Casey looks out of the window the mist over the pool also provides an example of disorientating mise-en-scene

Narrative

-          Scream follows the equilibrium – disturbance – new equilibrium pattern of most horror films. The killing of Casey breaks the peace of the small town, and chaos ensues as other characters become victims the mid-section of the film charts the successive killings and the inability of the local police to solve the crime. It is only with the final confrontation scene that peace is reinstated.

Themes of death and destruction

-          Death and destruction are what the killers inflict upon the world of the film, but in Scream we are made to look further into this theme.

Iconography

-          Scream includes many classic icons of horror.

-          We see knives and a mask in the opening sequence and these are used throughout the film to signify the killers. Knives are the intimate violent weapons.

-          The killers must attack from close quarters and often stabs many times, heightening the fear and pain of the victim.

-          Horror films use disguise as a means of disorientating the viewer and obscuring the killers identity until the end of the film.

Why is it postmodern?

-          Horror films often have a knowledgeable audience who are aware of horror conventions and have certain expectations of the genre. Scream is a film which clearly acknowledges that its audience will have seen previous horror films. It invites us to comment on the predictability of the genre and at the same time offers us new, self-conscious, at time humorous, but nonetheless frightening example of the horror film.

What is postmodernism?

-          A currently popular intellectual concept. It is used as a way of grouping and describing the styles of thought and culture attracting most critical attention during the final few decades of the twentieth century. ‘Postmodernist thought’ has caused a revolution across all academic disciplines, from Physics to English via Geography. Postmodernism offers a different way of both constructing and deconstructing ideas.

Scream

-          At the time when Scream came out horror was a well-worn genre. Audiences were getting bored of the horror formula. Wes Craven alleviated this with his post-modern twist on horror genre

Opening synopsis

The original synopsis

The film opening is set on the outskirts of Norwich, Costessey in the 1980’s era. The opening focuses on Amelia. Amelia is a 16 year old, brunette. She dresses appropriately and she is very intelligent, she is also naive and adventurous. Amelia lives in a semi-detached single-family house with her 45 year old father David and her 43 year old mother Karen.

Amelia is first seen running out of her house and down the road in with her dad following her early afternoon for an unknown reason. This reason is found out soon.

Amelia is upstairs in her room playing a (80’s artist) record on the 25^th November 1987 then she hears a strange noise so she warily walks down the stairs. The camera sharply cuts to a hand holding a knife covered in blood. When Amelia reaches the bottom of the stairs she finds her mother dead on the floor. Amelia begins to overwhelm with emotions as she screams at first then kneels beside her mother and begins to cry. Watching her cry beside her mother is David standing on the other side of the room with a sinister look in his eyes.

Amelia is looking around and her breathing gets heavier as David is getting closer to her.
The new opening synopsis
 

The film opening is set in Norwich at the school Ormiston Victory Academy, in 2012. The opening focuses on Amelia.  Amelia is 16 years old and brunette.  She is intelligent and cares about her studies, she wants to gain the best grades. 
Amelia is first seen studying in an empty room. As she’s studying she is getting calls and text’s from an unknown number, she ignores the unknown number, but not so long after she hears strange noises and she doesn't know where it is coming from.  Amelia decides to leave the empty room and walk home.  As she’s walking home she gets another call from the unknown number and is still hearing the strange noises. Amelia  is looking around and her breathing gets heavier  and you see the villain in the darkness .

We changed our opening synopsis because it was difficult for it to be set in the 80’s due to the setting such as buildings, cars and other surroundings out of our control being to modern and we also struggled to get an accurate representation of people in the 80's so we didn't know how to clearly signify that our characters are in the 80's.