Insanity

Cleo DemetriouAlex ChristofiGeorgia Pastos

Synopsis

DC Mark Hunter is an unstable, troubled detective who is investigating the murder of a young female linked back to a domestic violence case. Upon investigating his most recent case along with his partner DC Laura Smith, he makes a gruesome discovery.

Following this discovery, he is angered by a discussion he has with his partner regarding a case of domestic violence. This triggers his sinister second personality to appear suggesting that the protagonist is mentally unstable; which is conventional to the psychological horror and the narrative.

The production continues with Hunter and Smith being assigned to another case concerning domestic violence which further angers the protagonist and leads him to murder a criminal.

After a string of flashbacks occur, the audience become aware of the reasons behind Hunter’s multiple personality disorder and begin to identify with him, yet fear his motives and intentions at the same time.

When his partner Laura makes the discovery of Hunter being behind a string of murders of rapists and murderers, she sets out to follow him and attempts to stop him. This leads to some devastating consequences…

Audience

Our genre is ‘horror’ with a sub-genre of ‘psychological horror’. This is stereotypically associated with a male audience as they are able to withstand more violence and murders. Furthermore, since one of the protagonists is a female, this may appeal to the male audience who may view her as an object of desire.

However, we will make sure that we will target and appeal to a female mass audience as one of the protagonists (DC Laura Smith) is a female. Her traits are of a strong, dominant women which means that she could be seen as a role model for a teenage female audience – this means that they would watch our film for empowerment and escapism – which conveys the uses and gratification theory.

Our main mass audience will be 15-17 year olds. This is because we are producing a contemporary psychological horror film .This appeals to a 15 audience as the narrative, which plays upon not being understood, and battling with identity is a problem that most 15 years old can identify with – this demonstrates uses and gratification theory. Also, at the age of 15 the mass audience will want to watch the film for social interaction with their friends- this also conveys uses and gratification theory. Furthermore, those who filled out the questionnaires were between the ages of 15 and 17, therefore, our genre will appeal to those of this age group.

Due to our narrative containing a controversial topic of multiple personality disorder our older target audience will be able to appreciate this as well be entertained by it. This demonstrates uses and gratification theory. This requires an active audience which older audiences (20 and above) usually are.

Certification

Our production will be given the ‘15’ certification due to the fact that it includes the following: 

Strong violence is suggestive in our film in some scenes of our film depict the actions leading up to the violence itself and the events that follow shortly after it which can prove to be extremely violent. This includes a scene in which Hunter murders a criminal – the lifeless body of a criminal will drop to the floor, suggesting that he was murdered. During the opening sequence, various camera shots will include the battered body of a female which implies that brutal violence has been  inflicted on her. Despite the fact that the violence is not shown, the images may be disturbing due to the extent of the violence that was inflicted on her.

Strong language is used occasionally, including the use of the words ‘f***’ and ‘b***s**t’. A criminal also uses some strong language, however; the use of it is not consistent as it is all fits in with the context. Additionally, in the last scene, Hunter argues back with a criminal and uses the word ‘b***s**t’ as he doesn’t believe that Michael is telling the truth after denying allegations of him being abusive. 

Titles

The typography will be white and spaced out to connote the loneliness and isolation, a key feature in a psychological horror. The black background connotes death and could be a clear representation of the dark narrative featured in the production.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyCqv7ReKz4&safe=active

Shots used:

POV shot:This shot is a shot commonly used in the horror genre as it leaves the audience on an enigma code as they question who is holding the camera. We will use this shot in the last scene where DC Smith sneaks up on DC hunter and kills him from Smith’s POV.(e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvlYran7NRg&safe=active)Close-up shot:Close-up shots are also stereotypical to the psychological horror genre as it shows the emotion on the victims faces. This is an effective shot as the emotion of fear on their faces is injected into the audience, thus making it scarier for the audience to watch as they may relate. In addition, psychological horrors rely on emotion to make the film scary and a close up will display any sinister emotions characters may portray.

Establishing shot:This shot is stereotypical to the psychological horror genre as it it mostly takes place in one set throughout the film. We are going to include this shot when Hunter arrives at the house where he is going to kill his victim. This is to make sure our audience identifies with the house thus making the scene more scary for the audience as they already have an emotional attachment to it.Long shot:This shot is conventional to the horror genre as it shows the isolated setting where the victim is thus making it scarier for the audience to watch. This is because the victim is along and leaves the audience on an enigma code as to what is going to happen. This long shot also creates space in the shot which makes the victim look even smaller and vulnerable and shows them more of the setting.

Any questions?