After speaking to fred about what I wanted to accomplish with my animation series, the only aspect that really needed to be considered was the style. Moving from my initial drawings and onto raw vectors gave the animation less character and depth. I needed to make a decision because although the animation storyboards screamed out to the audience the delivery of them did not. A crafted animation might appeal more to a youthful audience yet its crafted nature might confuse its target gender, as in it might appeal to a female audience maybe even more than a male audience. A vectored animation relies on my software skills for delivery, which although in progress could hinder the time management with unexpected problems. I must also use a red with a deeper colour than used previously so that it doesnt become too washed out.

After having the quick chat I immediately started a simple stop-frame animation just to see the effect. On a small scale the visual quality is nice but enlarged it becomes pixelated. I am next going to look at how animation can be achieved with vectors yet still retain that rustic quality.

DVD Studio Pro workshop. From initially working using the hand-drawn DVD schematics it came together today how it would actually work from our drawings to the final action. Things to consider perhaps when it comes to production could include transition videos and animated menus to bring some character to the composition or even adding an introduction video. All underway.

For the next brief I have to involve the use of sound. As an experiment we started with the simple animation of a solid swinging in a pendulum motion. Then using a single 10 second sound clip I started to see how I could give a sense of realism to the video. Using the graph bar I edited the sound depending upon when the motion of the object would begin and end, one of the key element which helps in this is the use of vectors to achieve a smooth transition. After creating one it is fairly simple to edit and create duplicate of the sound.

I couldn't resist having a play with the sound library we have at college, aside from the pleasantries like birds singing there are some slashing and screaming sounds. Enjoy.

Initial Design development drawings. Working initially on the first ident the look and feel of the rest swiftly came together, I wanted to create something that had character and in so doing would help emphasise that idea of romanticised without using overtly romantic imagery.

DVD Studio Preparation:

DVD Menu Schematics Proposal

For the session on Wednesday we are to prepare a schemtics diagram for the basic function of the dvd menu, i.e. moving back and forward and making everything easy to access. We are also to include our finals from the Silent Movie brief aswell as developmental work and storyboards. Its quite simple really, involves a lot of repeating things because I have multiple films, I also may need to make changes later on depending upon the work I have at the end of the brief. Whoever came up with the concept of spare time must have been on Hollyoaks.

Movie Season Film Choices:

5 Chosen horror/gore films for an alternative Valentines weekend

I have chosen to select films from around the 70's/80's which have often had later remakes or sequels and to this day have been seen as classic horror of mainstream cinema. The season of films ends with the premiere of the remake of a classic horror film from 1981 of My Bloody Valentine (2009).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), directed by Tobe Hooper. Often considered controvertial it has a reputation as one of the greatest and most influential horror films of all time. Common in the slasher film genre the films sees the characterization of the killer as a large, hulking and faceless figure and the use of power tools as murder weapons which has become one of the stereotypical appearances of a murderer to date. The film has had currently had 3 sequels plus a remake in 2003.

Halloween (1978), directed by John Carpenter. The plot of the film is based around a child's murder from where he is sent into psychiatric care, the child turned adult then escapes from a psychiatric hospital after 8 years believed to be pure evil and so his subsequent murder of a number of teenagers begins. Often considered inspired from the alfred hitchcock slasher movie Psycho (1960). The films has seen 7 sequels to date with the latest in 2009, which was quite scary to be fair.

Friday the 13th (1980), directed by Sean S. Cunningham. Often considered similar to the Halloween (1978) franchise, the story is about a boy whom drowned in a Lake due to the negligence of camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, either as the killer or the motivation for the killings. The film has seen 12 sequels to date and even a collaborative with Freddy Kruger of The Nightmare on Elm Street in 2003.

Hellraiser (1987), directed and wrote by Clive Barker. The first horror film explores the themes of pain as a source of pleasure and morality under duress and fear. The start of the film's theme centres around an impulsive and violent man who buys an antique puzzle box from a dealer. Back at his house he solves the puzzle box and hooked chains immediately fly out of it, tearing into his flesh. Demons from another world appear to inspect the remains, their leader A.K.A. "Pinhead" picks up the box and twists it back into its original state, and the room also returns to normal. A gruesome film for fans of the slasher genre which sees a more fantasiful twist with alternate dimensions and such, from the original film the story has seen seven sequel and there has been recently some commotion about a remake which was due for release in 2009.

My Bloody Valentine (2009 remake of the classic 1981 film), directed by Patrick Lussier. Returning to the mining town on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that saw the deaths of 22 people, with the legend of the murders nothing but a distant memory, a group of young miners and their girlfriends of course decide that the town has gone without a party long enough.

Movie Season presentation slides.

Audience Selection & Research

As part of my gathering of research to support my chosen subject area I have been reading up on a couple of articles about why we love horror films. Supporting my claim about my target audience, a recent article online on Science Daily discusses the recent film 'The Fourth Kind' (Universal Pictures), "Researchers say one reason we watch is because the thrill calls up primal behavior, mainly in males, to assess threat levels. (The typical horror-flick viewer is a male adolescent between the ages of 15 and 45.)", (Leslie Fink, National Science Foundation).

In supporting of my chosen topic, as to why horror films might appeal to those people whom may not wish to view romanticised films over Valentines day, it could be suggested that, "...social scientists suggest we watch for different reasons, which include enjoying the adrenaline rush, being distracted from mundane life, vicariously thumbing our noses at social norms, and enjoying a voyeuristic glimpse of the horrific from a safe distance."

However a recent article on Entertainment Weekly looking at the film 'Jennifer's Body' suggests that because of such stereotypical horror films with men chasing down women this film was designed to break down the boundaries and reverse roles to empower women as the snarling beast, another recent film which seems to break down the boundaries is 'Orphan' again looking at making the feminine role protagonistic. The article further goes on to discuss how although men in their younger ages tend toward violent films, women audiences unlike men are likely to be more loyal where inspite of age, ''Men stop seeing horror at a certain age, but women continue to go.''

Sources:

http://www.livescience.com/culture/091106-bts-horror-movies.html

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20293304,00.html

OUGD202 Movie Season Rationale

Working Title(s) - "...till death us do part." or "heart-breakers"

Subject - Horror/gore films of mainstream cinema from the past decade selected for a cosy night of fright.

Concept - Classic horror/gore film from the 21st century are popular today by various mature audiences. Although perhaps unconventional for a period of time that would be seen as a time of love, horror films provide an alternative to those audiences whom may not seek to view fantasiful love films.

Audience - This is largely male dominated but the horror genre is most popular with youth both male and female and those aged less than 30.

Content - Blood, knives and love. The content is based around the idea that valentines is time of love but with a horror twist. Selected horror films from the past decade are most likely to appeal to a younger audience, these will be researched more in-depth which may help provide content later such as film quotations and imagery.

Mood - Dark, reddened colours, hand-cut, romanticised, twisted, fearful.

A series bloody films for Valentines weekend. For the next brief I have chosen to produce a series of five TV idents for a season of films on a specific channel (not yet specified) over the weekend 13/02. These films will be horror/gore based to target a predominantly male audience produced for channels either FIVE, SciFI or Channel 4 whoms audience would appeal more than family programming from the BBC or ITV.