Day 1 Assignments

[Michael Ramirez]

Michael A. Ramirez Horror Concept

Dark Shadow

Monster/Villain: An eerie/slithering shadow of the abyss

Interesting Terror: The shadow engulfs you if you forget bedtime prayer

Isolated/Horrific Environment: Before you fall asleep

Victims: Anyone who hears the story of the Dark Shadow

Primal Fears: Darkness, Death, Predator

[Suzanne Hoos]

I’m not sure if this is the place to post that first assignment, but here goes:

When Kendra Daynes learns of her estranged mother’s suicide, she and her fourteen year-old daughter, Camryn, go to Cape Creed, New Jersey, the town in which her mother had lived.

But dealing with her mother’s affairs has Kendra reliving her troubled past, that as a youth was filled with secrets, lies, and danger.

Not knowing whom to trust in the sleepy beach town, Kendra trusts no one, except for the dashingly handsome Dr. Devin Hunter who quickly becomes her fiend, her confidant, and eventually, her lover.

But now, those ominous secrets, lies, and dangers have suddenly reappeared, only this time they have come for Camryn.

And when Kendra finally discovers her family’s terrifying history, will she be able to break the curse and save her daughter–or will it be too late for both of them?

A. Monster: Various townies of Cape Creed

B. Terror: Dark Arts (cult)

C. Environment: Cape Creed

D. Victims: Kendra and Camryn Daynes

Primal Fears:

A. the unknown

B. the unseen

C. fear of pain and torture

D. fear of death

[Lance Adams]

The Possessed

Logline: A woman struggles to save her husband when he is possessed by a malevolent spirit.

A. Monster:

Marshall Allen Dean, the malevolent spirit.

B. Terror:

Marshall takes control of Nathan’s body and starts terrorizing Nathan’s wife, Hailey

C. Environment:

A condo which used to be Marshall’s apartment where he died.

D. Victims:

Nathan (the possessed), Hailey (his wife), and their friends Vanessa and Everett

Primal Fears:

Fear of the dark

Fear of psychopaths

Fear of pain or torture

Fear of death

Fear that something terrible will happen

[Scott Kaplan]

Scott’s HORROR Premise:

Monster/Villain: CULT spawned from group of men (“Harbor Rats”) bonded since birth.

Interesting Terror: Innocent townies are lured to their horrific death.

Isolated/Horrific Environment: A small town consisting of one square mile. Executions take place on Seminole Street (formally an Indian burial ground).

Victims: Men, women, and children whom are opposed to the Cult’s actions.

Primal Fears: Fear of the unknown, fear that something terrible will happen, fear of psychopaths, fear of pain or torture, fear of death.

[Mark Veau]

Mark Veau –

“Attack of the Killer Refrigerator 2”

Logline: The high school party of the year is about to be sliced, diced and iced by a maniacal metal appliance. Can a group of survivors overcome its deadly wrath? Or, will they be frozen in its wall of souls forever?

Monster: A circa 1948 state of the art Refrigerator

Interesting Terror: Refrigerator comes to life after being plugged in. It grows shark-like teeth, and along with an arsenal of food-related weapons of death at its disposal, it eliminates a mansion full of high school partiers in most shocking fashion.

Environment: A spooky Victorian mansion (circa 1875). The Refrigerator’s lair, the electrical room in the basement, is guarded by the Refrigerator’s Zombies, re-animated victims of its deadly wrath.

People Who Will Be Terrorized: The main cast of teenagers and the entire high school’s senior class along with dozens of underclassmen.

Primal Fears:

Fear of… the dark, the unknown, that something terrible will happen, death, unseen, zombies, pain & torture, predators and being alone.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Mark Veau.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Mark Veau.

[Brandon Barker]

Brandon

Hollow

A. Monster – the headless horseman, the ghost of a Hessian trooper

B. Interesting terror – people literally fear losing their heads

C. Isolated or Horrific environment – a maze of dark woods influenced by the horrific violence from the Revolutionary War

D. People to be Terrorized – Amateur high school ‘ghostbusters’ and a schoolmaster from the past

[Marc KOENIG]

Marc Koenig’s Horror concept

I made confusion by posting the pre-class assignment here… Sorry, guys

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.

[ATAUR BACCHUS]

(MOVIE: A QUIET PLACE) HORROR CONVENTIONS

1. TITLE/CONCEPT

Invasion of sightless aliens with sharp, deadly hearing.

2. TERRORIZE CHARACTERS

Deadly aliens zero in on sound. Humans have to remain absolutely silent or create distracting noises.

3. ISOLATION

Family has to call on its wits to avoid being killed.

4. DEATH

Family wits are put to the test – just in order to survive. They experience early consequences of failure.

5. MONSTER/VILLAIN

Clear, huge advantage in aliens’ super-hearing. They kill because they can.

6. HIGH TENSION

Family has experienced consequences of error.

7. DEPARTURE FROM REALITY

Far removed from other movie monsters; the blind/super-hearing idea is totally novel.

8. MORAL STATEMENT

There is no justice or karmic law that underlies the conflict.

MY CONCEPT

i. TITLE/CONCEPT

A coastal town experiences consequences of a gruesome atrocity it committed 100 years ago

ii. TERRORIZE CHARACTERS

The “menace” seems to visit the town at will, and to kill inhabitants in horrific ways.

iii. ISOLATION

The evil is centred on an old shipwreck a little distance off the coast

iv. DEATH

The town has been experiencing a horrible murder every night

v. MONSTER/VILLAIN

Has a relentless, but likely methodical agenda

vi. HIGH TENSION

The town has to discover the method in the alien’s madness.

vii. DEPARTURE FROM REALITY

Avenging spirits arising out of rusting shipwreck in the Caribbean Sea.

viii. MORAL STATEMENT

Sometimes a force erupts from a 100-year-old sea-faring incident, seeking to redress injustice.

What I learned: The conventions provide a good “in” to the story.

[Lance Adams]

Day 1 / Lesson 1 Assignment – Analyze a HORROR movie to discover how the conventions were expressed.

What I learned from this assignment is the importance of craft. If the screenwriter doesn’t have a basic understanding of plot / conflict / story and character, they won’t be able to tell an affective story in the horror genre. I feel that because of the bad wrap horror often gets, we should work that much harder to tell strong stories. Having two characters bitch and complain and resorting to bitching and complaining for every scene is not an interesting way to show conflict. Twists and turns are not interesting if there are no clues about what is really happening. The twist at the end of The Sixth Sense worked because the film left breadcrumbs during the course of the movie.

2. Movie I watched:

Title / Concept: Aftermath – A couple move into the home where the previous owners fell victim to a murder suicide.

Terrorize The Characters: The movie presents as a haunted house / paranormal story with spooky sounds, a dog who seems to feel something in the house, and illness befalling the protagonist and dog.

Isolation: They moved into this new home and feel stuck due to the mortgage.

Death: The previous owners fell victim to an apparent murder suicide. The sister gets sucked into the closet and killed. The couple’s dog dies.

Monster/Villain: Spirits? An intruder? We find out that the final monster is someone who has been hiding in a secret room in the house.

High Tension: A spirit or someone continues to terrorize the couple.

Departure from Reality: For much of the movie it plays like a paranormal horror movie.

Moral Statement: Don’t buy homes on the cheap. Couples / relationships either come together or move apart.

3. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film? Unfortunately, this was not a great horror movie. Within the first five minutes I felt I was going to be in for a bumpy ride. There was a lack of craft from a production standpoint in the first act. Poor sync between the picture and audio. There was also a fair amount of poor dialogue. The movie tries to present a series of twists and turns through the course of the narrative but it ends up feeling muddled. In many of the scenes characters turn into ultimate jerks to convey a sense of conflict. But these scenes play poorly. Why would the characters stay in the scene when the people they talk to continuously make them miserable?

4. With your concept, fill in each of these Conventions for your story.

The Possessed by Lance Adams

Concept: A recently married couple struggle to survive after one of them is possessed by a malevolent spirit.

Terrorize The Characters: Hailey, the wife hears and sees strange things in the condo, including the image of someone she doesn’t recognize. Nathan, the husband falls ill and his health deteriorates through the course of the movie while he is taken over by the evil spirit.

Isolation: They live in a condo where someone died years before. The husband is being controlled by the spirit and the wife doesn’t want to leave her husband.

Death: Marshall / the previous tenant died in their home. The husband (controlled by Marshall) becomes violent and threatens Hailey.

Monster/Villain: Marshall – an evil spirit.

High Tension: Nathan feels himself becoming sicker. Meanwhile, Marshall is able to control his body. Marshall becomes increasingly violent.

Departure from Reality: There are paranormal elements – change in temperature (getting colder), illness as Nathan’s body is taken over, spirit possession.

Moral Statement: What are you willing to go through to save the one you love? How do we really know who we are or who is the real person we’re with in a relationship?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Lance Adams.

[Tim Hamilton]

My movie

Camp Slasher

Monster/Villain: A killer in an iron mask

Interesting Terror: a killer stalking horror personalities at a summer camp slasher experience

Isolated/Horrific Environment: an out of season summer summer experience

Victims: an up and coming scream queen, a horror influencer, bloggers, an aging scream queen, and the horror personalities who were invited to the soft open prior to the grand opening

Movie I analyzed:

Title / Concept: X

Terrorize The Characters:An old couple kills a group of young people making a porno

Isolation: an isolated Texas ranch

Death:throat slash, pitchfork, shotgun, alligator, heart attack, car

Monster/Villain: an older couple

High Tension: Friends trying to find their missing friends throughout the night and/or a missing old woman, while being hunted by the people “helping” them

Departure from Reality:Old people hunting and killing young attractive people

Moral Statement: lost youth, old people used to be young

[Cameron Martin]

DAWN OF THE DEAD Horror Conventions

What I learned doing this assignment is…First, you don’t need a big budget to make a scary movie. Have no idea why I just picked an expensive concept for horror, but I’m sure more exposure to the genre will yield more cost effective ideas. Two, this course may be a grind in some places. I like creature features, but horror by itself is something I’m very green to. Found myself covering my eyes at certain points, not out of fear, but because I’m just not interested in observing someone getting disemboweled in excruciating detail. That alone may be the reason for my aversion to the genre. Watching DAWN OF THE DEAD felt more like a long day of work than a two and half hour ride (though that may be because I watched the extended cut). However, as noted in the notes below, I did come away having a better understanding of the limitations of the horror genre, and what I should be looking for in my own concept.

1. Title / Concept: DAWN OF THE DEAD – A group of people from different backgrounds face the collapse of society together in the remains of a shopping mall, amidst a zombie apocalypse.

2. Terrorize The Characters: So many close calls, until the luck runs out and the characters get eaten or turned into zombies.

3. Isolation: A helicopter, then a shopping mall

4. Death: Being eaten and disemboweled by the undead
Monster/Villain: Zombies and each other

5. High Tension: Anybody could be dead, and they can come from anywhere, and the dead are completely silent. They can learn and remember!?

6. Departure from Reality: Society already collapsed/collapsing

7. Moral Statement: Racism gets you killed. Get a grip of your emotions (going so far as to sacrifice your humanity) to survive against the inhumane. Greed’ll get you killed because it clouds your judgement. Thinking gets you killed. Consumerism and possessiveness leads to the same zombification as the dead becoming undead.

Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film?

First, never watched this before. Film just wastes no time. The chaos the news station is talking about extends into the news room itself, adding conflict and intrigue to the first 10 pages, and all of the rules are being established in the process. And major philosophical questions are being presented through both dialogue and character actions. This is amazingly efficient writing. Also, this is a factor of the times, but the practical effects are extremely horrifying. Add in the homework already established by the preceding NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and the assumption this takes place as society is collapsing, and you have an energizing first act. However, because I watched the extended cut (big mistake on my part) this turns into a drama for about half of the second act, rather than sticking to the horror genre. It’s good, but it leads me to think you can’t make a horror epic that lasts more than two hours. Ninety minutes may be the sweet spot for maintaining that rollercoaster ride of terror.

With your concept, fill in each of these Conventions for your story.

1. Concept: Nazis release their latest weapon, cloned dinosaurs, to turn the tide in the battle of Stalingrad, but lose control of the beasts who start hunting with reckless abandon.

2. Terrorize The Characters: Stalingrad is a nightmare of urban warfare made worse by the presence of bloodthirsty dinosaurs who’ll attack any side.

3. Isolation: The city of Stalingrad
Death: Artillery, gunfire, bayonet fights, and of course being eaten alive.

4. Monster/Villain: Dinosaurs, Nazis, and Russians, oh my

5. High Tension: The Battle of Stalingrad, where Hitler’s armies were effectively left to die to the last man. Then dinosaurs are mixed with the puzzle, and the Red Army leads its forces through fear and incompetence (if you don’t follow your superior officer’s orders, no matter how dumb, you’ll be shot on the spot for insubordination)

6. Departure from Reality: War Movie meets Jurassic Park

7. Moral Statement: Fear is the reason for violence? I don’t know yet. There are good guys, but they’re under the command of ideological evils compelling them to kill each other. I’m sure something will come out of that.

[Marc KOENIG]

Marc KOENIG’s Movie conventions

Sample movie analysis

1. Title/Concept: 28 DAYS LATER – A young boy and his older sister must escape from a secured compound devastated by a terrifying disease.

2. Terrorize characters: A highly infectious virus turns people into fast-moving zombies. They hunt humans to slaughter them. A simple bite or a saliva contact can instantly infect you. Being infected is even worse than death. Someone who loves you might turn into a monster in seconds. These zombies are fast, tireless, fierce deadly creatures.

3. Isolation: Locked up in a bunkered house, confined in a military zone, crammed into a dark quarantine room, stuck into a car, alone in the subway.

4. Death: slaughtered by zombies, killed in a deadly crowd movement, shot by snipers, chopper strafing, flame-throwers, chemical weapons.

5. Monster: the fast-running zombies

6. High tension: the zombies are getting closer, and they’re moving fast. The virus is released in the compound. Screams of terror in the dark without seeing the zombies, the only hope of a cure is a young boy who may get killed by soldiers, every deserted place in the country can hide zombies, the devastated towns are a print of the terror, the impending bombing of the compound from where they try to escape, the shapes of the zombies running to them from a distance, but closing in too fast.

7. Departure from reality: This situation has never happened, yet is the fear of the spread of a virus very present in people’s minds now!

8. Moral statement:

• Courage – not rescuing your beloved face to the fear of death,
• Truth – lying to your children about that lack of courage,
• Grudge – be guided by a feeling of revenge and let someone be infected because of you, without taking into account the consequences for others’ lives.
• Apathy: killing innocent people to prevent the disease from spreading
• Sacrifice – being prepared to sacrifice your own life for humanity’s safe.

Analysis of my project

1. Title/Concept: Spores – Locked up in their research lab, a group of scientists is hunted by the carrier of a terrifying disease.

2. Terrorize characters: A highly infectious microscopic mushroom turns people into ruthless killers by attacking their brains. You get infected by breathing its spores. The infected hunt you to catch you and turn you into another carrier, or to use your body as a reserve of organic matter for the mushroom to grow.

3. Isolation: Locked up in a lab, stuck in a hermetic capsule, crawling alone in a duct.

4. Death: slaughtered by the infected, killed by soldiers with rifles, flame-throwers, chemicals.

5. Monster: the ruthless and clever infected.

6. High tension: the infected’s minds focus on hunting and killing. The microscopic spores are spread away by the ventilation system. It is impossible to identify an infected at first sight. Only his behavior shows it, but then it’s often too late. The impending destruction of the lab from where they try to escape. Traps are set by the infected to catch them.

7. Departure from reality: This disease doesn’t exist.

8. Moral statement:

Good values

• Courage: trying to heal your beloved although they’re a threat
• Sacrifice: being prepared to sacrifice your own life for humanity’s safe
• Self-control: keep calm with a smart mind even in terrifying situations

Lines not to cross

• Greed: sacrificing innocents and endangering humanity for the creation of a biological weapon
• Self-interest: betraying friends to protect your own life

What I learned:

The conventions are a source of inspiration to create new terrifying situations. They teach you how to “hit where it hurts”.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.

[Eric Humble]

Eric Humble Day 1 Assignment

MOVIE ANALYSIS: CREEP

Conventions.

Title / Concept: CREEP

Terrorize The Characters: Josef is constantly hiding from Aaron and jumping out at him as a “joke.” He’s constantly putting Aaron into awkward situations like getting into a bathtub as part of the series of interviews he’s allegedly giving. He lies, changes his story, and allows Aaron to piece together that he’s lying bit by bit. He escalates things with increasingly disturbing admissions of his actions, including a strange rape-fantasy confession involving himself wearing a wolf mask sneaking in on the wife Aaron then discovers he doesn’t have. Finally, he attacks Aaron while wearing the wolf mask. When Aaron escapes, he proceeds to stalk Aaron in and around Aaron’s own home and sends him disturbing videos of himself digging a grave. He sends Aaron disturbing presents like a stuffed wolf with a locket inside. Finally, he appeals to Aaron’s good nature to meet him in a public park, where he shows up in the wolf mask and murders Aaron with an axe from behind.

Isolation: Aaron is far from home and even from the town at a remote house at the top of the mountain. There’s nothing surrounding them but woods.

Death: The threat of death and harm is woven throughout – Josef keeps jump-scaring Aaron as a joke, usually just as Aaron starts realizing how alone and isolated he is with Josef. He gets Aaron lost in the woods. He gets Aaron drunk while only pretending to drink himself. He terrorizes him while wearing a wolf mask and assaults him. He then stalks Aaron with videos of himself digging a grave of what appears to be a dismembered person in garbage bags. He stalks him in and around his house. Finally, he lures Aaron to a public park where the threat of death becomes reality – he sneaks up behind him wearing the wolf mask and splits Aaron’s head open with an axe.

Monster/Villain: Josef. He starts out seeming like a man who has limited time to live, but his cheerful demeanor, oversharing, and habit of jump-scaring Aaron raise red flags instantly. His story keeps changing, and his admissions of sneaking photos of Aaron from a distance just before they first met and his confession of raping his wife in a sex-fantasy while wearing the wolf mask hint that he’s more disturbed than he seems. He steals Aaron’s keys and tries to get him drunk to keep him in the house after it gets dark, then Aaron discovers Josef doesn’t have a wife when Josef’s sister calls and warns Aaron to get out of the house. Josef then stalks Aaron in and around Aaron’s own house, revealing that Josef is, in fact, disturbed and has an unhealthy attachment to Aaron. He uses guilt and Aaron’s empathy to lure Aaron to a park where he murders him with an axe in a public place as opposed to the isolation of the cabin where the initial danger seemed to be. Finally, Josef watches the video and it is revealed that he has done this to many videographers when he places the DVD on a shelf of numerous other labeled videos and DVDs.

High Tension: Josef’s strangeness begins early but seems a bit innocent given his tragic situation, but it starts getting more dangerous as he leads Aaron into the woods and gets them lost. Then his story starts changing in the diner and he reveals that he was photographing Aaron even before they first met. Then Josef baits Aaron with a drink, which Josef only pretends to partake in, after which he steals Aaron’s keys, trapping him in the cabin in the dark with him. When Aaron discovers he’s a disturbed man, not the cancer patient Josef has been claiming, Josef terrorizes Aaron while wearing the creepy wolf mask – and assaults him. After letting Aaron go, Josef reveals he knows Aaron’s address when he stalks him in and around his house and sends him vaguely threatening videos of himself digging a grave and professing his affection for Aaron. Finally, he lures him to a park and murders him in broad daylight in a public place.

Departure from Reality: Aaron has taken a job that takes him to a new environment far from his home and the town. He’s in unfamiliar territory in Josef’s house and the surrounding woods.

Moral Statement: Don’t trust strangers.

3. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film?

I am not personally a fan of horror movies. I tend to find them too scary and don’t enjoy the disturbing nature of them – but I’ve long been fascinated with trying to write one and I’ve tried on several occasions. This is the kind of movie I want to write in that it’s intensely scary while essentially not being violent. The only violent thing that happens is when Josef murders Aaron at the end – and even this is shot from a distance with no blood or gore evident, and is a very brief moment. It’s a great horror film in that it can scare you without a huge body count and without becoming so unpleasant as to be unenjoyable. All you get out of it is the thrills, not a lingering sense of disturbance. I enjoyed it much more than I have other, more extreme horror movies.

4. With your concept, fill in each of these Conventions for your story.

My Concept: After blacking out at a party, a woman and her friends are stalked on the subway in the predawn hours by a masked man who is only visible when they’re drunk or high.

Terrorize The Characters: They have to be drunk or high to see and evade him, but they have to be sober to survive him. His methods of killing involve lack of lucidity or coordination.

Have to see which track to go when a train is coming

Have to see which is the third rail

Balancing over something dangerous

Have to tell reality from illusion – because if you pick the wrong one, you’re dead – which gun – or axe – to avoid

Have to say the alphabet backwards, or recite a poem correctly, and you’ll survive

Isolation: Empty streets in a derelict factory district where the party was held, empty or mostly empty subway platforms, subway cars, and rat-infested tunnels

Death: The killer drives them into dangerous situations – breaking into a liquor store to get alcohol, buying drugs from shady characters, walking the dark tunnel and avoiding the third rail, getting the cops called on them, falling out of the train… and at each, the killer is more dangerous than the environment… and will kill them when they can’t see him, necessitating getting more drugs/alcohol

Monster/Villain: A supernatural killer whose attacks take on the characteristics of whatever substance you’ve taken to be able to see him – jacked-up frenzy when on cocaine, dreamy and inexorable when drunk, bizarre and distorted on acid, seemingly friendly and unthreatening when on marijuana, etc.

High Tension: They’re desperate to get home and sober up, but they’re forced to get more and more high to be able to evade him, and with each substance they take, they have a more difficult time getting out of the subway.

Departure from Reality: The friends are far from home, in an unfamiliar section of the city and at the end of the subway rail line, depopulated in the predawn, and having to indulge in substances far from their previous experience

Moral Statement: Substance abuse is dangerous, even when just experimenting.

[Alfred Green Green]

IT: Chapter One Horror Conventions

What I learned doing this assignment is that you don’t need a high body count to make a scary movie. This movie used “Terrorize the Characters” to the fullest. It also helped me clarify some ideas for my script.

Title/Concept – IT: Chapter One – a cosmic entity stalks and feeds on children

Terrorize the Characters – children are stalked by this creature that conjures up their worse fears.

Isolation – The main characters are children in a small town of Derry. Most of the adults there are controlled or under the influence of IT.

Deaths – a child is pulled into the sewers in the intro, a bully is trapped in the sewers, IT influenced a boy to kill his father.

Monster – a cosmic entity that feeds on children. IT can shapeshifter into their worse fears. IT can also influence people to act on its behalf.

High Tension – IT traps children and forces them to confront their worse fears. Mostly involves going into dark places.

Departure from Reality – There’s a cosmic entity that has taken over a small town and awakens every 27 years to feed.

Moral Statement – The statement this film makes is about facing your fears.

My Project:

White Jesus Horror Conventions

Concept – a cosmic entity is stalking and eating minority children in the inner city.

Terrorize the Characters – minority children are being stalked by this creature.

Isolation – minority children going missing in a city where the police force doesn’t care or is in on the plot.

Death – Evangelists going door to door and summon the creature to eat a child, attacking a child left alone at home, attacking a child at church.

Monster – (I’m undecided about this) It’s either a being that assumes the form we normally associate with Jesus to act without obstacle or we weren’t told the truth about Christianity, the Bible and the nature of God and this is what that being is.

High Tension – Characters trapped in usually safe places like church, home and school.

Moral statement – People over prosperity. We find that people with power and privilege struck a bargain with the creature that it will feed only on minority children in exchange for it using it’s power to make the US prosperous.

[Matthew Frendo]

<div>Matthew Frendo’s Horror Conventions
</div>

What I learned doing this assignment was how to incorporate conventions into a horror movie. This will make sure any script has the elements horror fans want.

Since my concept is a horror comedy, I decided to watch one of those to see how it fit into the framework. I found it on Shudder if anyone wants to check it out.

Title / Concept: CHEAP THRILLS

Terrorize The Characters: the characters are tempted into doing worse and worse things and get more feral as it goes on

Isolation: they are in a rich home in the dead of night

Death: first it’s “how far will this go?” and then it turns outright deadly as the two friends are offered money to kill each other

Monster/Villain: a rich couple who like to see how far they can tempt people to go for kicks & a small bet

High Tension: the tension gets higher and higher as they are tempted to do more dangerous or violent or gross things

Departure from Reality: being tempted into such outrageous things and thinking about how far someone would go

Moral Statement: How far will a person go for money?

[Scott Kaplan]

What I Have Learned Completing This Assignment: How to conceptualize my idea and implement the necessary conventions.

2. Title/Concept: The Fog…An old man says that the crew of the ship The Elizabeth Dane will return. When the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea will rise up and search for campfire that led them to their dark and icy death. The Fog is a story of revenge from beyond the grave which is tied up in the Sin (deception and greed) that The Monsters (Elizabeth Dane crew) seeks vengenance on the House.

Terrorize the Characters: Images of dense fog, loud noises during the “witching hour,” darkness.

Isolation: Characters trapped once the fog overtakes the town.

Death: 6 people (the priest is supposed to be the last)

Monster/Villain: The ghosts of The Elizabeth Dane crew members

High Tension: The Fog eminates slowly but consistently, creating tension

Departure from Reality: Ghosts coming back from the dead

Moral Statement: The theme is revenge in an altered universe.

3. John Carpenter’s relentless approach in making the audience feel a claustrophic setting.

4. Concept: Ghost story spawned from a cult of men, whom grew up on Seminole Street (aka an Indian burial ground from a long time ago)…summon the spirits to murder townies.

Terrorize the Characters: Innocent people are brutalized; bloodletting…The Harbor Rats have their almighty beliefs. Combining this with the spirits they are able to summon leaves their neighbors terrified of “who’s next?”

Isolation: A small, desolate town.

Death: Anyone who did not grow up in Drofeas Harbor like the aforementioned “Harbor Rats”

Monster/Villain: The Harbor Rats (Piper/Clen/Stacy) who summon the ghastly spirits to viciously execute innocent men, women, and children. Nobody is safe.

High Tension: Upon discovery of the treacherous murders, the protagonists (Max and Shwin) decide to recruit Drofeas members of the community. They make a decision to stand up to the villainous criminals.

Departure from Reality: The Indian spirits take victims from the depths underground, slithering up at low tide to grab victims from the canal sewers.

Moral Statement: A handful of characters from Drofeas Harbor represent a collective protagonist. Their goal is to turn the spirits against the evil Harbor Rats, thus restoring balance and equilibrium in their community.

[Marc KOENIG]

Marc KOENIG’s Horror conventions

I brainstormed and changed my mind about the concept. Here’s the new one.

What I learned from Assignment#1:

The conventions are a source of inspiration to create new terrifying situations. They teach you how to “hit where it hurts”.

Analysis of my project

1. Title/Concept:

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>ELEMENT 119

An unknown crystal released from an archeological artifact comes to life, and colonizes organic hosts, turning them into savage killers.

2. Terrorize characters:

• A living mineral creature seemingly invincible, uncontrollable, unpredictable, shape-shifting
• Acting like a parasite
• Always looking for new hosts
• It can turn invisible through mimicry
• It can cut, stab, hit, poison
• Its human or animal hosts get turned into salvage killers
• Hosts develop an insane behavior for themselves (eating glass/metal to feed the crystal) and for others (uncontrollable fury leading to savagely killing people)
• Hosts die after some time in a terrible pain

3. Isolation: Locked up in a research lab, tied up on a gutter, lost in a metallurgical plant

4. Death: Killed by the contaminated host – Slaughtered, stabbed, or poisoned by the crystal – Killed by soldiers using rifles, flame-throwers, chemicals.

5. Monsters:

1. The human host turned into a killer
2. The crystal outside the host

6. High tension: Releasing something that has been isolated for unknown reasons
Impossible to identify hosts at first sight. Only their behavior shows it. Even hosts themselves ignore that they are infected until they feel weird needs (eating metal etc).
The impending destruction of the lab by the army
Any metallic object can be the crystal using mimicry

7. Departure from reality: Living minerals don’t exist.

8. Moral statement:

Good values

• <i style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Courage:

trying to heal someone although they’re a threat

[Brandon Barker]

Lesson 1: Horror Conventions

I learned that atmosphere and location must be as creepy and weird as the monster itself.

• Title / Concept: Halloween (2018)

• Terrorize The Characters: Characters find themselves victims to an unstoppable force of evil: Michael Myers

• Isolation: In the woods at night, trapped in a public restroom, inside your very house, monster in the closet, among the broken dummies used for target practice

• Death: Myers first kills a child, surprising the audience. Bloody public bathroom deaths of major characters a third of the way through. Backyard impalement. Trapped in a bus with MM.

• Monster/Villain: Michael Myers, a supernatural killing force.

• High Tension: Escape from Insane Asylum. Myers could be anywhere. Trapped in a basement.

• Departure from Reality: Myers is more than human. He’s evil incarnate. The Boogeyman himself. Nothing can kill him. He’s unstoppable to a supernatural degree.

• Moral Statement: The world is a dark and evil place. Laurie keeping her daughter and granddaughter safe from that reality is of greater importance than having a normal mother/daughter relationship.

• Title / Concept: Hollow

• Terrorize The Characters: Characters find themselves victims of an ax-wielding headhunter

• Isolation: In the woods, in a schoolhouse alone, maybe some Revolutionary War historical monument or wax museum, maybe in an empty high school gym; abandoned bowling alley; abandoned water park

• Death: on-and-off camera decapitations; creative deaths; heads on pikes; heads used for cannons; rolling head in a bowling alley

• Monster/Villain: The headless horseman

• High Tension: Trapped in a schoolhouse; trapped in a cellar; trapped in a wax museum, trapped in time; head-locked in a guillotine

• Departure from Reality: When the characters discover the headless horseman is more than a spirit – he’s a corporeal monster.

• Moral Statement: Learn past history including your own. Or it will come back and haunt you.

[Tina Steffan]

The Invisible Man Horror Conventions

Title / Concept: The Invisible Man / Blumhouse

Cecilia’s abusive ex-boyfriend fakes his death and becomes invisible to stalk and torment her. She begins experiencing strange events and decides to hunt down the truth on her own.

Terrorize The Characters: Celia is haunted by her dead boyfriend who kills her sister. She appears insance and violent. It seems impossible to get out of the traps he sets for her.

Isolation: Nobody believes her, she is put in a mental hospital for killing her sister

Death: sents fake death notes in her name, then kills sister in public – forcing her hand with a knife

Monster/Villain: the ex, a narcissistic psychopath

High Tension: the violence escalates and she is blamed for it, no escape

Departure from Reality: he’s truly invisible

Moral Statement: overcoming deception, staying with her own truth even though nobody believes her. getting out of an abusive relationship

3. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film?

It’s probably more on the thriller side of things but since it’s a Blumhouse…

I love that it starts by her getting out of the house without a backstory.

4. With your concept, fill in each of these Conventions for your story.

Concept:

Sabrina meets The Stepford Wives/Get Out

A lowly demon has tricked his way up the ladder to become the boss of a lucrative beauty farm in the Black Forest, feeding on the spirits of witches to increase his power and make them his servants.

Terrorize The Characters:

With the promise of a beauty treatment women get lured into the clinic. There their faces, eyes and mouth, are sewn shut and replaced by a lifelike mask. They live in terror, unable to make themselves heard, forced to wear a smiling face on the outside.

Isolation:

Witches trapped inside their body without a way to communicate.

The teenage witch is the only one who can see the terror, she can see behind the masks, but nobody believes her.

Death:

When the demon sucks out too much of the energy the witches wither away until death comes as a relief.

Monster/Villain:

A lower demon with a god complex

High Tension: A teenage witch has to find the key to her powers to save her aunt and the other witches before the demon council can feast on their powers and kill all

Departure from Reality: witches, demons, human body as prison

Moral Statement: society sucking energy from female workforce, double burden of caring for children, family and caregiving, only 15 percent female management representation in big businesses (in Germany)