Vampire Films

 Vampire Films have been a staple since the silent days, the depiction of vampires in popular culture is based strongly upon depiction in movies throughout the years. One of the most popular of these depictions has been Bram Strokers Dracula, this currently has over 170 different versions.  By 2005 Dracula had been the subject of more films than any other fictional character.

A poem by Rudyard Kipling called the “Vampire” was the inspiration for many early cinematic films containing vampires;

A fool there was and he made his prayer
(Even as you and I!)
To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair
(We called her the woman who did not care),
But the fool he called her his lady fair
(Even as you and I!)
Oh the years we waste and the tears we waste
And the work of our head and hand,
Belong to the woman who did not know
(And now we know that she never could know)
And did not understand.
A fool there was and his goods he spent
(Even as you and I!)
Honor and faith and a sure intent
But a fool must follow his natural bent
(And it wasn't the least what the lady meant),
(Even as you and I!)
Oh the toil we lost and the spoil we lost
And the excellent things we planned,
Belong to the woman who didn't know why
(And now we know she never knew why)
And did not understand.
The fool we stripped to his foolish hide
(Even as you and I!)
Which she might have seen when she threw him aside--
(But it isn't on record the lady tried)
So some of him lived but the most of him died--
(Even as you and I!)
And it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame
That stings like a white hot brand.
It's coming to know that she never knew why
(Seeing at last she could never know why)
And never could understand.


The following classic treatment of the vampire legend was in Universal’s Dracula, 5 years after its release , a sequal named “Dracula’s Daughter” was introduced. A second sequal “Son of Dracula” was made after  .

One other development in some  vampire films has been a change from supernatural to horror to science fiction explanations of vampirism.  Race has been another underlying theme involved in films such as “Blacula”. Since 1931 the vampire male or femal has usually been portrayed as a sex symbol. The implicit sexual themes of vampire film have become much more overt. A major main character in a lot of vampire films is the vampire hunter.

Costume and Setting

Setting

Bishop Walsh Secondary school: Classroom/Outside school/ Hallway

Forest Scenery: Sutton Park/ Back garden/ plenty of foliage

Characters

Small punk girl needs to look weak and feeble. But then strong and mysterious

4 Bullies: 2 boys and 2 girls. One of the boys gets captured and is made into a vampire

Vampire teacher: Audience and bullies think he will save the day but he is actually a vampire himself.

Costume

Main character/punk girl;  

Doc Martins 

Bullies/Casual

Boy’s clothes should consist of jeans, hoodies, polo shirts, trainers or pumps, including very stereotypical colours for a male such as blue, brown, green and orange. Very casual and cool look as the bullies are perceived to be popular.

The females are girly but mean so need to wear jeans, skirts, shorts, tank tops, jackets, t-shirts, with dolly shoe or sandal footwear. Colours I will use include pink, yellow, purple, white and pale blue.  They should depict the image that they take care of themselves and have confidence in their own style.

The bullies are a total contrast in comparison with the punk girl whom is the main character. Whereas they dress similarly to one another indicating that they have no mind of their own, unlike the main character, one of the reasons they bully her is because she is seen as an outcast. This is highlighted through what she wears as colours are seen to be quite depressing; Black, grey, dark green and deep red. She should wear thick boots on her feet to symbolize how she is adamant to stand her ground with the bullies one and for all.

Camera Angles and Movement

 The angle at which a character is shot in a film can dramatically affect the way we perceive the character, film directors will often choose to shoot characters using a range of different. Angles determine where the camera is placed, for example;

Birds-eye view

The camera is usually positioned above the subject as it looks down toward them and the ground. This shot can sometimes seem disorienting as it is rarely the way the audiences see the world. This angle is often used to create dramatic effect.

High Angle

This angle tends to draw attention to the importance of the particular environment or setting of a scene, high angle shots make the character look small and are often used be directors to suggest insignificance or withering authority.

The Eye-Level

Most commonly seen in movies , the scenes are shot at the same level  as the observer would view the scene. The shots are not as dramatic as others although are used to photograph scenes that explain story development.

The Oblique Angle

This is shot by simply tilting the camera frame, it can be used to suggest a sense of “crookedness” and anxiety. However in the case of some television news shows and music videos programs a sence of playfulness.

Camera Movement

Cameras are moved around for many specific reasons in a range of complex combinations. Movement alters the viewer’s sense of time, speed and space, follow action or characters, reveal information that was previously off-screen, concentrate the audience’s attention on specific details and emphasise ad point of view shot.

Tripod

These particular movements are the equivalent of moving one’s head up and down and to the left and right, as a result they are considered to then be a point of view shot. 

The pan turns the camera to the left or right as it focuses attention on an object or subject being followed. The pan is often used to survey surroundings and reveals what is beyond the confines of the original frame.

The tilt pivots the camera upwards or downwards again to make the audience more aware of the surroundings , whilst it also frequently mimics the sight of the character in point of view shots.

Smaller tilts and pans keep the subject in the desired part of the frame as she/he makes equally small movements.The camera doesn’t have to do an awful lot of movement to zoom in and out as it simply enlrages of redues the proportion of the frame being taken up by the person or object.  The zoom allows the camera to focus on a particular detail, over use of this shot can be distracting.

Tracking

Also commonly known as trucking, this shot enables the camera to move from left to right and is often on a pre-laid track or a specially designed truck. These shots are conventionally used to follow movement across a frame and move parallel to the object/subject.

A Dolly

These are often used as point of view shots and give the audience the impression of approaching someone/something with the character. The Dolly creates a sense of moving towards an object

Crane or Helicopter

In these type of shots the camera is mounted above the ground, therefore making it easy to, manoeuvre precisely.  Crane and Helicopter shots can survey wide areas and create an extreme sense of movement.

Handheld

This is when the camera is carried by an operator and often creates and uneven movement. This shot allows the operator to follow the action more closely, creating a greater sense of immediacy foe the audience. A common visual metaphor in moves is also created by handheld cameras creating a shaking, trembling effect in horror films. 

Camera Shots of a Horror Film

Many shots in horror films are considered to be cliché’s as they are seen so often, the following are  common ones we would expect to see;

The Silhouette against a door

Usually a silhouette is visible against the light, its purpose is to imply that there’s something nasty lurking behind the corner and that the unsuspecting token character is about to get attacked.

Spiral Staircase

One example may be how the camera moves to the top of the staircase and looks down on the character that may be standing at the very top; the spirals of the flights of stairs are used to frame the character. This shot makes the audience tense as they can visualise how big of a drop the stairs may be  and therefore there’s are danger element involved.

A mystery shape flits past the camera

This shot creates a sense of enigma and gets the audience thinking about what or who it was that flashed passed the camera with such speed and how they managed to do so.

The Spin around scare

This shot happens to begin with someone dead or mutilated facing the wall. Suddenly the character whips around as the suspension built results in this climax.

Questionnaire for Trailer

Questionnaire for Trailer

1) What age range do you fit into to?

12-15                            16-19                               20-30                              30+

2) What genre do you enjoy watching? (Tick 2)

  Horror                   Sci-Fi                      Action                     Comedy                 Romantic/chic      Thriller

                                                                                                                              flic

   

3) Would you rather the main character male or female?

 ....................................................................................................................................

4) What qualities would you want this character to have? (Tick 2)

Charming          Cute                 Funny               Athletic            Unfit                Young            Old

Ugly

5) What features would you like to see included in a trailer?

Cliff hangers          Flashbacks          Voiceovers         On Screen text        Music        Names of Actors & Directors

6) Would you like to see real-life situations?

YES       NO  

7) What is you occupation?

8) Which title excites you the most; please tick 1

Victoria

The Vampire Runner

Dead Runner

Lonley Death

9) Would you like to see all the main characters in a film to be included in the trailer?

YES

NO

10)Please explain your answer; 

 When I collect in the completed questionnaire's it will help me to conclude whom my  target audience will be. 

Proposal Ideas for Trailers

Firstly I had thought about the idea of producing a romantic film trailer. This Scenario involved a boy that was a professional break-dancer and a girl that trained in ballet, two opposite cultures and dynamics of dance. They meet at an audition and fall in love. Considering this was only my first initial idea I decided not to follow up on as it wasn’t very substantial and didn’t have much of a plot.  

After brainstorming some further ideas I then came up with the idea of producing a thriller film trailer, this involved an outcast punk girl who gets bullied. The bullies follow her into the woods one day as this is her place of sanctity, they figure out a dark secret about her. That secret being that she is actually a vampire, she uses her powers against the bullies and they become like her kind, the girl fends off each of the bullies until they all suddenly become vampires themselves. She wants them to realise how it feels to be like her (an outcast). Her form teacher in school notices what is happening as some of his class members have suddenly changed personas, the audience believe he will save the day as he interferes with the situation. However what may or may not begin away within the trailer is that he himself is in fact a vampire.

Vampires

One Conventional character I wish to include within my film is a female vampire. I plan for her to be the main character as the narrative will revolve around her, the following is some research I have done which will help me achieve the stereotypical look of a vampire;

Birth of a Legend

The vampire is a truly global creature with myths related to death, whom rise to drink the blood of the living in any part of the world. The Vampire has held humans enthralled for centuries; we see the most vampire folklore in the stories of Slavic people. Perhaps the reason being is that historically there are a high population of gypsies in that area. The migration of these gypsies has been traced back across the continent to northern India, where religion had a cast of certain bloodthirsty deities and creatures. In theory with this being the base of folklore, the gypsies picked up the bits and pieces of other legends considering they migrated toward the north-west and as a result altered the folklore of the Slavic nations.

According to the legend victims of vampires either die or become one themselves.  Other  ways in which one can become a vampire include;

•          A child born under certain omens
•          Animals jumping over a dead body
•          Someone who committed suicide
•          Practising withcraft

Even inanimate objects and animals were thought to be able to become vampires, such as pumpkins, watermelons and other fruit that was left out after a certain amount of time. Latches left open too long, dogs, horses, sheep and snakes are among the objects with vampiric potential, generally in older superstitions of the Slavic gypsy community. Vampires were thought to be able to take the form of a bat and take control of creatures such as rats and wolves. Some types of Vampires were endowed with the ability to fly, most vampire of legends slept in coffins or returned to the earth to sleep in their grave.  According to legend vampires were not allowed to pass running water, could not see their reflection in a mirror, enter a place uninvited or tolerate the symbol of the Christian crucifix.

Humans believed they could protect themselves from a vampire by holding up a cross or crucifix in front of one, this was thought to be especially powerful in the Christian countries . Garlic was another popular form of repellent as well as hawthorn and the mountain ash (rowan). Scattering seeds was also a defence, as vampires were expected to become involved in counting every single one that they would either loose interest or get caught once the sun had come up. Iron shavings were placed beneath a child’s cradle, a necklace with an iron nail was worn and other iron objects were situated around a particular environment.

Modern Vampires

Vampires portrayed in modern literature today are a lot different that the vampires of the old, they do not necessarily have the same limitations the vampires had from many legends ago.  Garlic and crosses offer no protection against them and they can walk around during the day, they are not always considered to be un-dead but rather another species of human entirely. Usually they still own extraordinary  powers as their strength and speed surpasses any humans and their senses are heightened to a preternatural level. The need for blood however still exists.