Film Research - The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods

Storyline: Five teenagers head off for a weekend at a secluded cabin in the woods. They arrive to find they are quite isolated with no means of communicating with the outside world. When the cellar door flings itself open, they of course go down to investigate. They find an odd assortment of relics and curios but when one of the women, Dana, reads from a book she awakens a family of deadly zombie killers. There's far more going on however than meets the eye as the five campers are all under observation.

• The budget for this film was $30,000,000 (estimated), that is around £18,239,299. However this film made $66,486,080 (£40,421,984).
• The genres of this film are Horror, Mystery and Thriller.
• This film was filmed in the USA.
• The locations that were used to film this were Vancouver, British Colombia Institute of Technology, Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park, and 2605 West 5th Avenue (Canada)

Title Sequence

• 0.00 - 0.016 - Lionsgate 
• 0.022 - Lionsgate presents
• 0.029 - A mutant enemy production
• 0.34 - A Drew Goddard Film
• 0.41 - Cabin in the Woods
• 0.46 - Kristen Connolly
• 0.51 - Chris Hemsworth 
• 0.55 - Anna Hutchison
• 1.00 - Fran Kranz
• 1.05 - Jesse Williams 
• 1.10 - Richard Jenkins / Bradley Whitford 
• 1.15 - Directed by Joss Whedon 

Planning

Planning

I am booking out my equipment for my filming on the 14th February.
The locations that I will be using will be an alley next to Swan park. I will be doing a tracking shot going through the alley almost as if someone is walking through it. There will also be several shots of the view and the alley to show where the scene is taking place. I will do this to set the mood/atmosphere of the film. I am going to film my opening on a day where it is gloomy and dark. I want the weather to be gloomy and miserable as it will contribute to the horror genre. I will then have a boy walking through the alley way turning around and constantly thinking that he is being followed, he then proceeds to light a cigarette and he is still conscious of the things around him. He carry's on walking when a friend calls him to see where he is and he says the near 'The Laurels'. This is when the audience will know something is going on. In the next shot we see the boy running and he has dropped his cigarette on the ground, this makes the audience wonder what has happened and what was said on the phone. It also makes the audience want to watch on to find out what will happen later on this the film.

After I finished filming 

I filmed many different shots and then I edited them together to make all the action flow together smoothly. I filmed several shots that I could not use as they were not still, I could not use them as my film would otherwise not look professional. To edit all my shots together I used 'Final Cut Express'. To get all my footage onto Final Cut Express, I had to import it onto 'iMovie' and then through that programme I could import it onto Final Cut Express. 
To get all my music for my film opening I used a website called 'audionetwork.lgfl.org.uk', I spent a lot of time on this website choosing the appropriate music for my piece. The music that I finally chose were: 'Way of Life' and 'Frozen Teardrop'. The first piece of music is light and calm which is suitable for the first section of my film opening as there is not action going on. However Frozen Teardrop is very mysterious and creates tension, this is a perfect piece for the second section of the film opening as it creates tension and it makes the audience wonder what is going to happen.

Film Research - The Final Destination

The Final Destination

Storyline : In a car race in McKinley Speedway, twenty-something Nick has a premonition of a deadly car crash with many casualties in the audience and convinces his girlfriend Lori and his friends Hunt and Janet to leave the place. They are followed by the security guard; a racist guy; a mother with her children and a mechanic, that are saved from death. When the racist guy and the mother die in mysterious and creepy incidents, Nick and Lori research and find many similar cases in Internet. They try to lure The Ripper to break the chain of deadly events and survive, but destiny does not help them.

• The budget for this film was $40,000,000 (estimated) and it made $186,167,139
• The genres of this film are Horror and Mystery.
• This film was filmed in the USA.
• The locations that were used when filming where Harahan, New Orleans (Louisiana), Mobile (Alabama) and Orlando (Florida)

Title Sequence 

• 0.00 - 0.04 - 'The Final Destination'
• 0.07 - Bobby Campo
• 0.12 - Shantel VanSanten
• 0.16 - Krista Allen
• 0.22 - and Mykelti Williamson
• 0.26 - Nick Zano / Haley Webb
• 0.32 - Andrew Fiscella / Justin Welborn
• 0.35 - Casting by David H. Rapaport, csa / and Lindsey Hayes Kroeger, csa
• 0.38 - Costume Designer Claire Breaux
• 0.41 - Associate Producer Tawny Ellis-Lehman
• 0.44 - Visual Effects Supervisor Erik Henry 
• 0.48 - Music by Brian Tyler
• 0.51 - Music Supervisor Dana Sano 
• 0.56 - Co-Producer Art Schaefer
• 0.59 - Edited by Mark Stevens
• 1.01 - Production designer Jaymes Hinkle
• 1.05 - Director of Photography Glen MacPherson, asc, csc
• 1.11 - Executive producers Richard Brener / Walter Hamada / Sheila Hanahan Taylor
• 1.16 - Produced by Craig Perry / Warren Zide
• 1.19 - Written by Eric Bress
• 1.25 - Directed by David R. Ellis 

Film Research

Film Research 

Films similar to my film opening:

• The Descent 
• Kill List 
• Truth or Die
• [REC]
• Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
• Sinister
• The Blair Witch Project 
• The Last Exorcism
• The Cabin in the Woods

These films are similar to my film as they are all low budget horror films with the exception of 'The cabin in the woods'. I researched these films to find out what titles were used and what production companies and distributors were used. The Descent, Kill List and Truth or Die, all used a different distributor and a different production company. However The cabin in the woods used the same distributor and the production company (Lionsgate).

The Descent 

Storyline: A woman goes on vacation with her friends after her husband and daughter encounter a tragic accident. One year later she goes hiking with her friends and they get trapped in the cave. With a lack of supply, they struggle to survive and they meet strange blood thirsty creatures.

• The budget for this film was £3,500,000 (estimated). This film made around $57,051,053 when it came out.
• The genres of this film are Adventure and Horror
• This film was filmed in the United Kingdom.
• The locations that this film was filmed in were; Berkhamsted (Hertfordshire), Scotland, Tring (Hertfordshire), Perth and Kinross (Scotland), Pinewood studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire (England).

Kill List

Storyline: Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.

• The budget for this film was £500,000 (estimated), and this film made $462,206 whilst it was out.
• The genres of this film are Crime, Horror and Thriller.
• This film was filmed in the United Kingdom.
• The locations that this film was filmed in were Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK.

Truth or Die

Storyline: This is a British movie about a group of teens who while at a party, play a game of 'Truth or Dare', but the game gets out of hand when one of the party goers (Felix) is picked on by the other teens. A few months later they are all invited to a party that Felix is throwing at his parents mansion. But when they get there they are told the party is in a cabin further up the road. They arrive to find that Felix's brother is there instead, but where is Felix, and what does his brother have in store?

• The budget for this film was  $1,000,000 (estimated) around £607,976. 
• The genres of this film are Horror, Mystery and Thriller.
• This film was filmed in the United Kingdom.
• The locations that this film was filmed in were London, England, UK.

[REC]

Storyline: "REC" turns on a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at the local fire station. Receiving a call from an old lady trapped in her house, they reach her building to hear horrifying screams -- which begin a long nightmare and a uniquely dramatic TV report.

• The budget for this film was €1,500,000 (estimated) around £823,200. This film made $32,493,948 (£19,755,561) whilst it was out. 
• The genres of this film are Horror and Mystery.
• This film was filmed in spain.
• The locations that this film was filmed in were Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Storyline: Henry likes to kill people, in different ways each time. Henry shares an apartment with Otis. When Otis' sister comes to stay, we see both sides of Henry; the "guy-next-door" and the serial killer. Low budget movie, with some graphic murder scenes.

• The budget for this film was $111,000 (estimated), this is around £67,485. The film made $609,939 (£370,828)
• The genres of this film are Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror and Triller.
• This film was filmed in the USA.
• The locations used to film this film were; Northbrook (Illinois), Austin (Texas), Chicago (Illinois) and Downtown (Chicago).

Sinister

Storyline: True-crime writer Ellison Oswalt moves himself and his family into a house where a horrific crime took place earlier, but his family doesn't know. He is trying to find out more about the crime so he can write a new book about it to help his flailing career. He uses some "snuff" film footage he finds in the house to help in his research, but he soon finds more than he bargained for. There is a figure in each of the films, but who or what is it? As a result, his family start to suffer (as does he), and things take a turn for the worse. Will they survive? 

• The budget for this film was $3,000,000 (estimated), this is around £1,823,929.96. However the film made $77,712,439 (£47,247,348)
• The genres of this film are Horror, Mystery and Thriller.
• This film was filmed in the USA.
• The locations used to film this film were Los Angeles and Long Island.

The Blair Witch Project

Storyline: Three film students travel to Maryland to make a student film about a local urban legend... The Blair Witch. The three went into the woods on a two day hike to find the Blair Witch, and never came back. One year later, the students film and video was found in the woods. The footage was compiled and made into a movie. The Blair Witch Project.

• The budget for this film was $60,000 (estimated), this is around £36,478.60. However this film made $248,639,099 (£151,166,767.39).
• The genres of this film are Horror and Mystery.
• This film was filmed in the USA.
• The locations used to film this film were; Burkittsville, Adamstown, Granite, Patapsco Valley State Park, Rockville, Seneca Creek State Park, Silver Rail Diner, Staud's Country Inn and Wheaton (Maryland, USA).

The Last Exorcism

Storyline: In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the evangelical Reverend Cotton Marcus was raised by his father to be a preacher. He agrees that the filmmaker Iris Reisen and the cameraman Daniel Moskowitz make a documentary about his life. Cotton tells that when his wife Shanna Marcus had troubles in the delivery of their son Justin, he prioritized the doctor help to God and since then he questions his faith. Further, he tells that exorcisms are frauds but the results are good for the believers because they believe it is true. When Cotton is summoned by the farmer Louis Sweetzer to perform an exorcism in his daughter Nell, Cotton sees the chance to prove to the documentary crew what he has just told. They head to Ivanwood and they have a hostile reception from Louis's son Caleb. Cotton performs the exorcism in Nell, exposing his tricks to the camera, but sooner they learn that the dysfunctional Sweetzer family has serious problems.

• The budget for this film was $1,800,000 (estimated) which is around £1,094,358. This film made $67,738,090 (£41,183,177).
• The genres of this film are Drama, Horror and Thriller.
• This film was filmed in the USA.
• The locations used for this film were; Louisiana, New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish (Louisiana, USA).

Jobs included in my title sequence

Jobs included in my title sequence

From all the films that I have analysed I found all the jobs that I needed to include in my title sequence, the title sequence goes as followed:

• Distributors - I found a few different distributors. I looked at some low budget british films to find the most suitable distributor for my film. The distributors that I found were; Pathe Distribution (from The Descent), Lionsgate (from The cabin in the woods), Optimum Releasing (from Kill List), Cine-Britannia (from Truth or Die) and finally 20thCentury Fox (from 28 days later).

• Production company - I also looked at the production used in low budget films and I found a range of different production companies. The companies that I found were Warp X ( from Kill List), Rook Films(also from Kill List), Lionsgate (from Cabin in the oods) and lastly Celador Films ( from The Descent).

• 'Behind Closed Doors'

• Actors and Actresses Staring in the film X6 ( 3 female; Daisy Hill, Aimee Passmore,Rikki Caiger) (3 Male; Ryan Martin, Olly Obeney, Billy Hockings)

• Casting - Daniel Smith 

• Costume Designer - Melanie Warwick

• Music - Natalie Cohen

• Music Supervisors - Jeremy Gardener

• Co-Producers - Joanna Dawson

• Editor - Jason Meyer

• Production Designer - Robert Williams

• Executive Producers - William Roberts, June Whiting 

• Producer - Martin Swift

• Writer - Christopher Smith

• Director - Karolina Telicka

Ideas for my film opening

Ideas for my film opening - Narrative structure of the film

The genre of the film that I want to make will be horror.

Title of my film - Behind Closed Doors

Narrative Structure - Follows Todorov's theory
Equilibrium - A young boy is going to meet his friends when something strange happens.

Disequilibrium - When the young boy goes to meet his friends they go to explore that he was scared to look at by himself, during their time there they experience many strange things, that will scar them for life.

Equilibrium - After several horrifying hours of being stuck in this setting they realise half the people that they were with are now gone. The teenagers are so petrified and they proceed to find an escape route out of the horrifying place.

Continuity Editing Exercise

Continuity Editing Exercise 

For this exercise I had to film shots of Daisy walking through a door and then having a conversation with Lily. In this exercise I filmed various shots of Daisy and Lily. I filmed two mid shots and also a shot reverse shot. To do this exercise I had to follow the 180 degree rule and also do match on match editing. I had to do match on match editing when Daisy was opening the door as it made the shots look smooth and so there would not be a sharp cut. Also I made sure that I filmed it correct so it would not look as if the door was opening twice. I filmed a shot reverse shot to show the conversation between Daisy and Lily.