Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Horror Film Research: SCREAM




Scream is a 1996 film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. The film revitalized the slasher genre in the mid 1990s, similar to the impact Halloween (1978) had on late 1970s film, by using a standard concept with a tongue-in-cheek approach that successfully combined straightforward scares with dialogue that satirized slasher film conventions. The film features many teen idols of the time, including: Neve Campbell, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard, David Arquette and Courteney Cox Arquette

Horror Film Research: The Happening


The Happening

The Happening is a 2008 American apocalyptic horror film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. Production began in August 2007 in Philadelphia.
Box office performance
On its opening day, The Happening grossed $13 million. Over the weekend, the total gross came in at $30,517,109 in 2,986 theaters in the United States and Canada, averaging to about $10,220 per venue, and ranking #3 at the box office, behind The Incredible Hulk and Kung Fu Panda] Foreign box office gross for opening weekend was an estimated $32.1 million Total gross for that weekend was $62.7 million. The total gross of the film as of September 17, 2008 stands at $163.3 million.

Horror Film Research: REVIEW


Review on the Ruins
'An ambitious feature film based on a popular novel by Scott Smith came out in cinemas a few months back. The flick — which follows a small flock of young tourists on a deadly jungle jaunt as they become overrun with vile vines — bowed to mixed reviews, but overall fans of the novel were satisfied by the horror the invasive vines wrought. I am not saying it's a bad trip overall, but the intense, histrionic antics of the terrified characters contrasted with the inherent silliness of the setup does the otherwise competent cast a disservice.

Although the movie was rated R, Paramount Home Entertainment has miracle-growed the disc version, offering up a no-holds-barred unrated experience, complete with more skin, added gore and a truly different — and more downbeat, yet thoroughly ridiculous — alternate ending. I wish I'd had time to see The Ruins again, unfettered, to know if it hit my funny bone as hard the second time around, but unfortunately I was only able to watch it with the commentary by director Carter Smith, and editor Jeff Betancourt. Fortunately, their remarks and observations are quite interesting, given the material.

While Smith kept saying, "We were hoping it wouldn't come off as comical," I couldn't help but chuckle. And to be honest, I can't help but recommend this DVD to all horror fans — whether you're like me and think it's entertaining in its overly-earnest approach, or if you really do find the premise scary, there is no denying it's a well made film (kudos on the practical effects, the natural light stealing cinematography, and the meticulous attention to detail). Besides, wicked weeds are all the rage right now (see: the commotion-starting plant in Wall*e, the soul-sucking flora in The Happening, and the terrifying tree monster in Hellboy 2… can Chia Pet: The Movie be far behind?).

Smith and Betancourt's commentary helps point out some of the subliminal nuances (such as Mathias — a character whose legs will soon be thwacked off — dancing happily on the beach, the night before), and the fact that in the book it's based upon doesn't actually have any ruins in it and they were added to aid in the film's visual impact.The pair talks a bit about test screenings, and how they allowed themselves to be guided by that (personally, I think too many producers in the kitchen may have ruined this dish… but then again, the studio is king and if they want to meddle in a first time director's debut, they will). Smith keeps fairly mum, but Betancourt says test screening comments help him as an editor, so he knows where the static moments are, or when a character gets too redundant.'

MY PRESENTATION











FINAL DETAILED SCRIPT

INT. Bathroom, LATE AFTERNOON.

Very basic and plain white bathroom. All the makeup and products are lined up in a very orderly fashion, the bathroom is spotless. A petite woman with long dark auburn hair and big eyes is situated in the bathroom. She is facing the camera as if it was the mirror, applying a lot of makeup slowly, she seems transfixed.

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A shot of a big creepy looking man in a dark room surrounded with weird newspaper cuttings; the man is sitting on a stool, he removes his tie and becomes intensely focused on something in his hand. There is a slow track down to reveal the man gently twisting a needle around his finger. His hands are covered in very strange symbolic tattoos. He then looks towards his desk where next to needles and paint brushes a weird metallic device is laid on the table.

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The woman is now applying bright red lipstick slowly onto her lips. She is very careful not to make a smudge.


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The man then urgently begins to stab the needle into a piece of silk cloth
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The tattooed man’s knuckles are cracked as if he were to be starting a fight.

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The woman is applying dark liquid eyeliner; the line is very straight and precise.


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The man in the dark room is frustrated, cleaning the dolls waxed face with a plain white cloth, and the doll is beautiful. The man is blowing the face lovingly and licks his lips.
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The woman is starting to put more and more make-up on, getting more frustrated as she goes. She focuses on the blush, making her cheeks very red. Her face is now heavily made with make-up
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The man then reaches out for a pair of scissors and roughly cuts into the dolls stomach and places the device in the stomach carefully. He grabs out for a pair of ear muffs and he turns the switch in the light on which creates a buzzing noise, and begins to chuckle.

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The women then begin to paint her nail and she appears to be almost transfixed, the polish then becomes very messy. The paint is missing her nails and covering her hands. The women then looks down at her nails and jumps back to see her hands covered in the polish as she jumps back, the nail polish spills into the bath



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The man holds a flame over the dolls face


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Whilst the red nail polish is dripping into the bath, bottles are lined up on the baths ledge, as each bottle passes the screen, the name of the crew appears on the bottles as if it were the titles of the products.
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The man is sitting on the stool in darkness. HE is surrounded by dolls parts, all demented in some way (burnt faces, shaved hair, no eyes, and hand parts)

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The woman’s face appears, heavily made up with a very blank expression, her eyes are wide and lips slightly smiling. She then looks up to a doll in which the man had been making and smiles. There is then a extreme close-up of the dolls face and the buzzing begins.