Why people like horror films

A professor of social and organisational psychology writes, "People go to horror films because they want to be frightened or they wouldn't do it twice. You choose your entertainment because you want it to affect you." This is mainly with young people as they love the thrill and affect. There is the excitation transfer process, how you feel after the movie as the physiological arousal linger so any positive emotions that are experienced are intensified and this makes the person want to come back for more. Additionally, people have different wiring and some are simply wired to enjoy high levels of physiological arousal. Some people enjoy scary films due to their novelty and they pay attention to the anomalies. 

News articles similar to my idea

I have found some news articles that are all about serial murders and how all the deaths somehow link together.

Serial killer suspect Stephen Port 'drugged victims'

"The deaths of the four men were not initially linked, but after further investigation they were referred to the Metropolitan Police homicide and major crime command." 
I chose this quote from the article as it states how the deaths of the men were not initially linked but were later found to be linked. I have taken some inspiration from this and developed my idea so instead of the detectives already knowing that the murders are linked by the mark, they will find out during the opening sequence when they discover the mark.

'The Manchester Pusher': Relatives of canal death victims raise claims of serial killer in TV documentary

"The deaths have led to claims - repeatedly denied by police - that a serial killer dubbed The Pusher could be stalking to rivers and canals of the city."

"Nathan Tomlinson, 21, a trainee sports teacher from Brinnington, Stockport, was found dead in the River Irwell two months after he had gone missing following a Christmas party in 2010. His coat, passport, phone and wallet were missing."

"David, 21, was found in Manchester Ship Canal after he had been at a music event at Daytona Racetrack in Trafford Park on Saturday, April 17, 2012."

"Design student Souvik Pal, 18, was found dead in the Bridgewater Canal about 50 yards away from Warehouse Project dance night on New Year’s Eve 2012 in Trafford Park."
These quotes from this article demonstrate how all the deaths occurred in Canals, which makes it easy to discover that the murders are linked. I quite liked how they were all in similar areas so my idea for the rest of the film will be finding more and more bodies in their homes with the marks on their necks.

How technical codes create meaning in films

Shot by shot guide

1. Low angle looking up at trees 00:05
2. Pans (right to left) round the trees then tilts down to a two-shot of them walking forwards towards the camera 00:10
3. As they are walking, tracking shot from right of them (medium shot) towards the house 00:15
4. camera tilts up from legs up to face as they walk towards the camera 00:20
5. Medium shot on them walking and talking about the case 00:25
6. Eye line match on the house back to the officers walking 00:30
7. They go inside the house tracking shot following them 00:35
8. They open the box on the table eye line match and camera going from him to box 00:40
9. we see the crime scene tape at another angle extreme close up of the tape saying 'crime scene' 00:45
10. Claire is by box, opening everything inside - medium shot 00:50
11. D Seth gets glove out and puts on close up of gloves to hands 00:55
12. We see dead girl on floor close up music stops 01:00
13. We see the mark on her arm close up 01:05
14. D Seth and Claire go to sit by the dead girl to inspect medium shot of the shoulder 01:10
15. They see the mark on her arm and talk about it medium shot 01:15
16. Another angle of just D Seth talking to himself medium to close up and extended time showing his emotion and shock 01:20
17. Both of them again and they talk medium shot 01:25
18. Claire gets up and straightens jacket medium shot 01:30
19. We see mark on her arm uncovered by jacket close up (slow motion) 01:40

Storyboard

This is extremely effective as it shows the different parts of the scene clearly with effective shots and good props. It allows us to get a clear sense of just how we want our thriller to be shot. We can easily see that two people are walking and go to a table with a briefcase on it and see crime scene tape. We can also easily see that they see a dead body and and find a mark on her. This should be useful to us when we come to filming the real thing. However, if we need to make a few changes on the day, this should be a good first draft.

Location

                           

For the opening sequence of our film, we chose my house as it is easy to film here when under these harsh weather conditions during winter and it is common for someone to be murdered in their house both in the real world and in other thrillers. Additionally, it is most suitable to be inside as we can manage the lighting better.

                                However, the rest of the film would be set in town as they are middle/upper class detectives who live in a big city. This is similar to "The Sixth Sense", which is set in a town and when the characters first meet, they are in park and to the whole "Sherlock Holmes" saga, in which London is greatly involved with.

Effectiveness of moodboard

This moodboard for our film, clearly portrays all of the elements that are going to be in the opening sequence. In this storyboard, we have two images of a park at night that are clearly stating what location we are going to use and during what time of the day it will be set at. We believe that it creates suspense and fear for the audience, especially when the two characters are talking about dead bodies and serial killers. We are presented with the young, intelligent, smartly dressed Detective Seth and the also young, intelligent and smartly dressed Claire wearing glasses and is clearly on the same wave as the male. They work together but, unluckily, she's a ghost who is part of Detective Seth's imagination and our efficient picture of a pale and scary girl represents her too. We have a picture of what we would like our murdered girl to be like and we also have a picture of the mark that we will be using for the bodies. We believe that any person who views this will have some sort of understanding of what our opening sequence will be about.