Accursed. AS Media Studies pitch.

By Jon Samuroff

Codes & Conventions

The title – Accursed. Literally means “under a curse”. Straight away the audience know they are watching a horror film.

I will also closely follow other codes and conventions, whether it be the character types (the victim), iconography (screaming man, dark lighting) or conventional sounds (dark, creepy music), my film will stay true to the “possession horror” genre.

Synopsis

Joel Heritage wakes up on the floor and discovers something isn't quite right. He finds a sinister looking note and starts to look around. Slowly, he is psychologically ripped apart by a mysterious presence that possesses him, and he collapses unable to take it any more Will he survive? Will anyone survive? Will evil finally triumph over good once and for all?

Sound

I have chosen to have no dialogue in the opening two minutes of my film. This is partly because there is only one actor in it, but partly to slowly build tension and a climate of uncertainness, which I believe would be more effective to a background of ambient, intense music.

There will be some diagetic sounds though (the cupboard, the tap) and most importantly, his breakdown at the end.

Typical camera shots

I like to think the shots used are a good representation of horror overall. Close ups and longs shots are key parts of horror, and as a result, my opening. Close ups allow a connection to be built, whereas the long shot show how isolated and vulnerable the character can be.

Other shots I will use include a panning shot to a mirror, a POV, and a shot from the viewpoint of a cupboard.

Casting

The protagonist is an “Everyman”, a normal teenage boy that the audience should be able to relate to. This is vital to the idea that horror could happen to anyone. I chose my friend Joel to play him, because of his acting experience (he's been a member of a youth theatre group for the past four years now), and because he has no problem with being put in uncomfortable situations. This will be very useful for when he needs to have Bovril oozing out of his nose.

Joel A glorious photo of myself and Joel

Certificate

The certificate (given out by the BBFC) for my film will be a 15. Their guidelines state “Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.” As my film is neither of those, but will still contain strong scary images, a 15 is most applicable.

Promotion

Twitter / Facebook – my target audience frequently use social networking, so it would be easy to target them this way.

Viral – This targets internet users who are not on social networks

Film festivals – This will attract more “high brow” film fans, who would choose to ignore what they saw in mainstream cinema publications.

Posters / trailers – To ensure my product is seen by a wide bunch of people outside the internet

Magazine features / interviews – This will entice fans who actively research films.

Technology

As it is a small, no budget college production, the whole thing will be shot on one camera and using a tripod. This means we will have to me more imaginative in the way we go about things, especially the special effects.