ROHIMA BEGUM 12A3

CONVENTIONSDEVELOP:• The use a house, but developed it into

an abandoned house with children's handprints.

• They use a forest but add spooky signs to make the forest look more eerie.

• They don’t necessarily have children in the film, yet there are still signs of children being there in the abandoned home.

• They use paranormal signs which lead on and prove the story behind the Blair witch.

• Although they use loud noises, they use it in a realistic way to capture the essence that it is a documentary.

• They use the neighbours who are suppose to be friendly, yet when they hear about what they’re doing the automatically don’t want to talk about it.

USE:• Based on a true story.• A forest, which is an

isolated area.• Paranormal signs• Saying goodbye to

loved ones. • Darkness.• Arguments.• A damsel in distress• Loud noises. • Bad weather• Children• People go missing

• The Blair witch project doesn’t really challenge the conventions because it lives up to all the scary stuff that would generally happen in a horror film. Although this could be because it was based on a true story, and they couldn’t really exaggerate what happened.

NARRATIVE - STRUCTUREThe film is structure in a typical way which also shows how it doesn’t challenge the conventions. It starts with the beginning, middle and end where they’re all missing!!• Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua

Leonard, student filmmakers, set out to shoot a documentary about a local legend, the Blair Witch. In the forests near Burkittsville, Maryland, many children have vanished in the 1940s and people still avoid going too deep into the woods. So, the party sets out to look for facts that prove the legend, equipped only with two cameras and a little hiking gear. First, they find little piles of stone that must have been arranged artificially, later, they have to admit to be lost in the woods. Eerie sounds at night and more piles of stones in places where they have not been before cause the already desperate group to panic. And one night, days after they should have been back home, Josh disappears completely. Only what has been recorded and filmed with the cameras is found a year later and shows what happened in the woods.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Hw4bAUj8A – TRAILER

CONSTRUCTION OF MAIN CHARACTERS

• Heather Donahue – Heather one of the students.

• Joshua Leonard – Josh, another student.• Michael C. Williams – Mike, other students. • Bob Griffin – fisherman • Ed Swanson – Fisherman 2 • Jim King – Interviewee from Maryland • Jackie Hallex – Interviewee 2 with child • Patricia DeCou – Mary Brown

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE

• The target audience is mainly aimed at 17 – 30 year olds.

• It is aimed at 17+ because • It has a specific niche because it is a horror film. • The film is targeted at people who are interested in

real life scary situations. • It could also be aimed at those who like physiological

horror films, as they are trying to find the way out of the forest and collect information on the Blair Witch.

• Also by having young actors, it automatically attract the younger audience, so that it is more relatable and current.

HOW DOES THE FILM APPEAL TO THE

AUDIENCE• The Blair Witch project was mainly targeted at horror

film fans, it was an independent film and different to many other films at the time. In its marketing campaign it advertised that it was based on a true story and in fact this footage was of that found in those woodlands. This would immediately spark up interest, target people interested in crime, spark up curiosity, and also people who had an interest in small independent films.

• They also used forums, making out the film was a real phenomena, for example on the IMBD of the film it has a section where people can explain their own stories like the Blair Witch.

AUDIENCE CERTIFICATION

They gave this classification because the film didn’t include to much blood and gore and wasn’t exactly a childish theme.

RESPONSES FROM THE FILM

Its shaky camera work and fuzzy images get monotonous after a while, and there's not much room for character development within the very limited plot.David SterrittChristian Science Monitor

This terrifying ghost story is guaranteed to haunt filmgoers long after they've persuaded themselves that it's only a movie.Ann Hornaday Baltimore SunSanchez and Myrick's film knows

that what's not seen frightens more easily that what is, and that the imagination's thoughts of what might have happened generally horrify on a deeper level than knowing what did. Keith PhippsAV Club

The Blair Witch Project" is the scariest movie I've ever seen. Not the goriest, the grossest, the weirdest, the eeriest, the sickest, the creepiest or the slimiest... Just flat out the scariest. Lloyd RoseWashington Post

PRODUCTION – MISE EN SCENE

• The viewers eye is first attracted to the night vision shot used on the camera, and the constant moving of the video camera in every which direction.

• The footage is shot using a low lighting key enabling the audience to feel the haunting effects of the empty house.

• The footage is shot using both the minimum and maximum zoom capabilities. At times the actors are shot up close while walking around the house looking for their friend, and the rest of the time you are viewing many different angles and viewpoints as the actors are running with the camera in hand exploring the house.

• There is a very loose frame for the characters to move around the large empty house, they are never seen standing still in one shot throughout the entire scene.

• There is a bunch of visual information packed in this scene as you are looking at the details in each room of the house, noticing the run down and empty feeling of it.

PRODUCTION – CAMERA

• Throughout the film they use a handheld camera and the film is shot in shaky cam.

• Although sometimes the characters are shown in medium shot when they are walking in the forest.

• Also there is an extreme close up of character Heather when she is apologising to family and friends for going on the trip. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z66RpatHajQ )

PRODUCTION - SOUND

• The sound that was used in the Blair Witch Project was mainly diagetic sounds. They use it to create realism. For example the snapping of twigs in the forest, the crunching of leaves, the camera sounds and the eerie noises that they hear. They also include this in their trailer to add more truth into the story, luring people into thinking that it is genuine and real footage is being shown in the movie.

PRODUCTION - EDITING

• In the film they don’t really use that many editing techniques because they are holding the camera all the time. This allows little editing to take place.

• However, there are some times in the film where they cut the film, just to show at them at a different time.

ISSUES• There were no serious issues whilst filming the

film. Although because the camera was hand held, some audience members experienced motion sickness and even had to be sick, especially during the last scene.

REASON FOR SUCCESS• The reason for success was due to their marketing strategies as the introduction

of WEB 2.0 really helped. • Haxan Films, the production company belonging to Myrick and Sánchez, had put

together a basic website, www.blairwitch.com, giving the story behind the legend, which went online in June 1998. The film itself was first aired at the Sundance Festival in January of the following year. After an all-night bargaining session, Artisan Entertainment bought the rights for a reported $1million.

• The ads were mainly shown in college campuses, with a special feature on the Sci-Fi Channel. By avoiding mainstream cinema ads, they not only saved money, but made audiences believe that they’d stumbled on something special, discovering it for themselves.

• he pictures, video and interviews that appeared online at various intervals added to the uncertainty of whether this was actually a true story. Even the actors, at the time of filming, thought the Blair Witch legend itself was real, although they were aware the situations around them were manufactured.

• Another reason for its success was that it created a feeling of uncertainty in people’s minds. Were they actual people? Had they really disappeared? Surely this couldn’t all be fake? Remember too, at this time fake documentaries were uncommon, and the unknown actors simply added to the mystique.

WEBSITES USED• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/?ref_=nv_sr_1 • http://www.blairwitch.com/main.html• http://prezi.com/rcllp_zul3df/blair-witch-project-target-audience /• http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/blair-witch-project-1999-1• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blair_witch_project /• http://cjr4224.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/blair-witch-project-mis

e-en-scene/

• http://mwpdigitalmedia.com/blog/the-blair-witch-project-the-best-viral-marketing-campaign-of-all-time/