IDEAS DEVELOPMENT

For this blog post I will be researching which characteristics of horror I would like to study for my film.

Lighting/Colour For Emotion In Horror Films:

There are quite a few pros to lighting/colour for emotion in horror films because of how it can influence the audience’s emotions regarding what is occurring or may occur. For instance if someone is being murdered the colour red would suggest danger or fear, which is a common colour used in horror films at dangerous parts so most people will feel the correct emotion which I could study. Another reason is that it can make the film artistically and visually pleasing with the use of the right colour pallet. Also a common technique used by lighting is distinguishing which characters are evil with the right lighting set up. This would be by using silhouette light for example, coming from behind the character. This would hide the face and prevent it from being lit up from behind, or even cast half a shadow across the face not revealing fully who the person is, creating mystery and fear.

However there are quite a few cons for lighting/colour for emotion in horror films. For example sometimes emotions can be confusing for certain audience members. By this I mean the different colours the emotion links with. It’s possible for it to not be fully understandable for example the colour blue can signify sadness but it can also signify coldness, which initially does link but they are both still different meanings. Which I have studied quite a few times before so I know how good lighting works and how to fix bad lighting. Personally, I find it quite hard making sure the exposure looks normal while making sure the lighting looks good, so this could be an issue for me. And I know this is an area I need to work on but it’s not something I want to fully study as it doesn’t interest me on a great deal. But I will practise this as it’s a subject I will always need help with and a second opinion on.

Media Makeup Techniques Used In Horror Films:

There are lots of upsides to media makeup techniques used in horror films as makeup itself is used in every film you will watch. Makeup creates the depth for what is happening. For example if a werewolf scratched a character, the makeup will convince you and make you squirm in your seat as if it really happened by adding liquid latex, clay mix, fake blood squirting everywhere, painted bruises etc. Media makeup can also set the tone of a scene by helping to create sadness or happiness e.g by creating the face hollow with dark shadows or brighter in highlighting the face. A film wouldn’t be telling a story without makeup as it wouldn’t be possible without the SFX makeup to make it realistic.

However there are some downsides to media makeup as without training and studying the makeup can look really bad and be useless in the film. And as I haven’t studied this before or have experience in this area it might not be something I should study. As to make the film come to life the makeup needs to be able to work and look like it belongs there. Also with using specialised makeup the products can be quite expensive and sometimes even hard to find. For example, a bruise wheel is a palette in the shape of a wheel made up of the colours that form a bruise but this can cost up to 20-30 pounds. Seen as I’m a student and am not old enough to create a crowdfunding site this is another issue to why I shouldn’t study it. And with it being a popular product there are a few out there so you’ve got to find the right one that actually works rather than a cheap remake that looks just like it. Also with SFX makeup it can be a tricky subject to do yourself so most films hire a team of makeup artists rather than one person. But of course it would only be me performing this so it could potentially be quite time consuming.

 

Music/sound Used In Horror films to create emotions:

As well as lighting, music is also a key element for setting the mood for a film, which gives it lots of pros for music/sound used in horror films. For example in a horror film when something ‘scary’ is about to happen, unsettling music will start to play creeping in the background getting louder and louder. In my opinion this is a technique that really works at creating a mood for how you might start to feel about a scene. I also found the metal genre of music to be used in horror films frequently. For example it’s used in House of Wax, The Devil’s Rejects, Bride of Chucky etc. The director of The Devil’s Rejects, Rob Zombie, is known to use metal songs as it’s another side of his career being an alternative musician. This makes it stylistic and unique as it’s a part of himself put into his own creation. As it’s my own film I would be able to use my favourite kind of music to make it fit into the story to make it more artistic.

Still there are some cons to using music/sound in horror films. The most known problem with using music is the copyright issues. Because of this I would have to ask people to create the music for me which can be a long hard process. As it’s a long process and it’s something I would have to do after filming I could easily run out of time. Also with using unsettling music before something scary is about to happen, it’s common for people to look away and miss the scary part. Which for me personally is an issue, as I wouldn’t want the audience to look away and not be scared by missing what’s on screen. Another con is when editing music onto your footage, sometimes with how music/sound tracks have been exported it’s really hard and complicated trying to get it to the right level of volume. The track could have been recorded too high or too low, then sometimes you can’t get them high enough or low enough against other sound tracks.

 

PROPOSAL

Area of Investigation:

The area I have chosen to study is SFX & media makeup and the techniques employed specifically in the horror genre and how this enhances the verisimilitude of the piece. SFX & media makeup is a technique that’s used in every film, the SFX side for example is what created the character Freddy Kruegar,  zombies from any film etc. SFX makeup is what you see on camera as blood pouring out of a wound, burning flesh, a shot wound etc. The media side to makeup is more basic for instance the character Dracula has a white face with hollow cheeks and reddish eyes, that’s media makeup. It isn’t as complex as using SFX but you need both sides for any of it to work. I have chosen SFX & media makeup because it’s an area I have always admired when watching horror films or any film really, seeing these characters come to life like zombies or werewolf’s. Knowing these subjects are done by using sfx makeup is something that has always made me want to do it. It’s a subject that I’ve never been given the opportunity to properly study whereas music/sound and colour/lighting is something I’ve studied quite a few times now. Being able to create a character yourself or conveying what they might have been through is amazing in my eyes. Makeup is a key element used in setting the tone of a story. As a creative person I can see myself really thriving in this area as it’s something new that allows me to start from the bottom and work my way up, This is something I admire as working your way up from the bottom I find always works

What Research I Intend To Carry Out:

The research I intend to carry out is looking at the library catalogue in search of makeup guides/books. I intend to read the following books: Art & Makeup, The Hair and Make–up Artist’s Handbook and The makeup artist handbook. I plan to watch various Youtube tutorials on starters for media makeup and what the best products are to use for different aspects of doing certain makeup looks. For example some people may say liquid latex is better for a certain wound or that clay mix is better. I also intend to research film websites that talk about specialised makeup in the industry and how it came about as I think it’s important to know how it’s changed over the years. As I’m familiar with the website ‘nofilmschool.com’ I would think it would have articles in this area. I also think looking at makeup sites like Illamasqua, Urban Decay and even Kat Von D is another good place to research as these are official makeup websites that hold contests for upcoming makeup artists with categories like ‘freakshow’ or ‘monsters’ which would be a good way to see how they transform themselves into these creatures and what products they use. I’m hoping along my research I find the history behind it and find famous makeup artists on sets of horror films. For example The Thing or Nightmare On Elm Street, as I know those kind of monsters were created with SFX makeup. It would be good to find female makeup artists that I could look up to, as I know over the years it will have been hard for women to get these jobs. And by this I mean we all know the film industry, like any other creative industry years ago, has always been dominated by men.

What Practical Experiment Will You Carry Out?

The practical experiment I will carry out will be after I’ve built up my knowledge on what best products to use for certain special makeup looks. I will buy these products and write down a wound or character idea to create. By doing this it will help me gain experience and practise of the different techniques that I can learn and master. After I’ve practised with the different products, like creating a bruise or creating a cut on my arm, then the official experiment I will carry out will be creating stab wounds on the victim’s body. As my character Nigel will plunge down his knife on the victims stomach/chest, I will make the stab wound a big gash and make fake blood splatter everywhere like on the wall, or Nigel’s face and of course the victims body. I think another good experiment to carry out would be to create scratch marks on the victims body, as Nigel presses his finger nails onto her skin. Another part of the experiment I will carry out will be to make Nigel’s face hollower to make him appear more creepy looking to fit the character in making him appear quite ghoulish. And also as the victim will have been spiked by drugs, I thought a good idea would be to make her face pale by using tones of grey and blue. This will then show she’s rather ill and along the process of the stabbing I will amplify this as she dies to create the look of death. I want to carry out these few experiments because I want to test my skills and knowledge of the SFX side and the media side, but to the extreme because I need it to all look realistic as it can be easy to make makeup like this look stupid.

How Will This Help You Develop As A Film Maker?

This will help me develop as a film maker because it’s a set of skills not a lot of actual film makers have. As film makers hire a team of makeup artists I would never have to do that as I am skilled in the area myself. This means I can add the set of skills to my list of film related techniques and the more experienced skills I have the more advanced I am. To me having these set of skills as a film maker will help me develop because I will be knowledgeable, experienced and wise upon different aspects of it. Even if I did hire a makeup team I would be able to understand what they were performing and even give my opinion on what products would work better or how better applying makeup would be. I could explain what kind of look I wanted for a certain shot much more easily, as I understand what’s needed. To have this kind of experience as a film maker can be quite rare as normally a film maker is someone who can direct or work a camera, not someone who knows how to make someone look like they’ve been shot a few times. So as a filmmaker who is also a SFX & media makeup artist shows I’m more creative and shows I’m someone who wants to try new things in the film industry.