RESEARCH

Definition of a Cult

A system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.

 A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.

Mellowhype - 64

 

In this music video, the lighting and various motifs/symbols particularly inspired us. The use of low key lighting throughout, combined with the black interior location and natural window light shining through, gives the video a mysterious and ominous element. The flickering light is particularly noticeable, and a feature which could be created and used effectively in our own teaser trailer. Symbolism is key to this video. The various religious and biblical motifs such as the cross, Bible and snake, constantly reiterates the theme of this video and displays clearly the various connotations of religion. By taking an iconic symbol, such as the cross, we can use this to publicise, associate and act as an emblem for our media piece. The editing and camera effects are a particular component to this video which we found inspiring. The use of a scratched/vintage look to the moving picture, gives a sense of simplicity, rawness and dated imagery, shown as if it were filmed from a former time period. This is in tune with the connotations and conventions of an old, biblical style based video. The fast pace editing keeps the audience focused on the moving imagery and acts in conjunction to the beats, rhythm and pace of the music. It gives a clear sense of tension and drives the narrative along, making the audience feel uneasy about what could be displayed next in the video. The dark instrumental is a possible option for our assignment as it fits in conjunction to the biblical references and symbolism, displayed clearly throughout the footage.

Jonestown Massacre

The Jonestown cult, officially named the "People's Temple", was founded in 1955 by Indianapolis preacher James Warren Jones. Jones, who had no theological training, based his church on a combination of religious and socialist philosophies. He believed in racial integration and the communist ideology of equality for all.

He started his church in Indiana. Through his help for the poor and his belief in equality his congregation grew steadily which lead him to relocate to north California along with 100 of his followers. He formed more congregations and set up head quarters in San Francisco.

Behind his public image as a beloved leader promoting interracial harmony it was clear Jones had set up his own cult with him as the central figure of worship. His congregations referred to him as "Father" and he had a messiah-like presence in the People's Temple. Within the Temple, Jones demanded absolute loyalty, enforced a taxing regime and delivered sermons forecasting nuclear holocaust and an apocalyptic destruction of the world, promising his followers that they alone would emerge as survivors. He was a confident and influential speaker, which captivated his audience and brainwashed them to follow him. He truly believed in what he was preaching and was doing the correct thing.

It was not long until the media coverage of Jones' radical church turned negative and speculating began to occur. Investigations were launched in to finding out the deeper meaning of the People's Temple. Jones felt that he and his people were no longer safe in California. He urged his congregation to move to a more isolated area in order to escape America's capitalist ways and to lead a more communal life.

In 1977 the Temple's People bought land in Guyana, Brazil. It was not long until all the members of the church had relocated to that land. Life there was meant to be peaceful and fair however there were rumours that the people were living in camp like conditions. It was even compared to the concentration camps of the Second World War. The huts they lived in soon became run down. All members were forced to work twelve-hour days, six days a week. Some of the member’s family became concerned that they were being kept there against their will by the brainwashing of Jones.

It was then that Congressman Ryan organised a trip to South America to visit the settlement. Upon his visit most members appeared to be content with their way of life and expressed no desire to leave. It was just two people who slipped Congressman Ryan a note saying they wanted to leave and were being forced to stay by Jones and the security he had placed around the settlement. Ryan organised to let the people who wished to leave to come with him on the plane home. While they were on the airstrip about to board the plane Jones' men opened fire on them murdering five people including Ryan.

Meanwhile at the camp, Jones gathered the remainder of the people and told them that the U.S government would kill them. The speech he made was one of his most convincing and ultimate proof of the brainwashing he had performed on the People's Temple members. He told them that the only thing they could do was to kill themselves; the ultimate sacrifice.
Jones's 912 followers were given a deadly concoction of a purple drink mixed with cyanide, sedatives, and tranquillisers. Jones apparently shot himself in the head.

This event interested us as we are looking in to cults and how individuals can become all consumed by their beliefs. We also were greatly influenced by the speeches Jones gave, as we wanted to recreate something similar at the beginning of our trailer.


BBC "Where child sacrifice is a business"


Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15255357


"The villages and farming communities that surround Uganda's capital, Kampala, are gripped by fear."

"The mutilated bodies of children have been discovered at roadsides, the victims of an apparently growing belief in the power of human sacrifice."


This news story captured our interest due to it's shocking content. It made us very aware that the issue of human sacrifice is still a problem today in some cultures and is not just a fictional narrative in a horror film.

The article published on the BBC News website allowed us to see the impact of the increasing ritual in countries such as Kampala. It offers an explanation of why such brutal rituals take place and the meaning behind it. Lack of education and spiritual beliefs seem to be the main cause of these rituals. It is surprising that the number of cases reported of child sacrifice has increased in recent years.

The main features we wanted to take from this piece of information is why some people believe in human sacrifice and what makes them believe it is good. In our film trailer our protagonist has been influenced by a cult and performs human sacrifice on his victims. What makes this narrative truly horrifying is the reality behind the story but in this case the killings are being performed by someone who has has an education and lives in a society where killing is unacceptable. 


Inspiration for Branding

Branding is a main theme throughout our trailer. We found it hard to find films that had a good branding scene to give us ideas for our own. Instead we remembered a piracy add we had seen that showed a brand being heated up. We thought this was similar to what we wanted to create. It is not exactly what we wanted to do but it gave us a general idea. The hardest part of our branding scene was putting the brand on someone which of course we could not actually do.

Branding Inspiration

For the idea of using a brand as a torture weapon we took inspiration from a number of outlets, such as looking at biblical references (Timothy 4:2 "Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.") and from internet sources - particularly usinghttp://www.medievalwarfare.info/torture.htm as a reference website.

It was said that "human branding or stigmatising is the process in which a mark, usually a symbol or ornamental pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent. This is achieved using a very hot or very cold branding iron.

In criminal law, branding with a hot iron was a mode of punishment by which marking the subject as if goods or animals, sometimes concurrently with a reduction of status.

Brand marks have also been used as a punishment for convicted criminals, combining physical punishment, as burns are very painful, with public humiliation, especially if marked on a normally visible part of the body, providing an indelible criminal record.

The practice of branding as a punishment was widespread in Christendom. It was also used on slaves and animals to indicate ownership."

We therefore decided to use the branding procedure as a form of torture in our trailer, as we wanted to indicate ownership of the victim and ownership of the mask.

Costume Ideas


 An initial idea for the costume of our killer, is to be wearing a monks outfit. Monks are symbolic for medieval religious times and so connote to the codes and conventions of a biblical, religious theme. The outfit is simple, yet it displays an ominous feel. The dark brown links in with dirty, uncleansed feel to our killer. The hood hides an identity and cloaks the figure, obscuring the audience's perseption of the character.

    

Another idea was to base our character on the musician Tyler the Creator. The simple mask design with the cross motif clearly indicates a biblical idea. The colouring of green does not suit our character, however if we were to change the background colour to darker grey, black or brown, then this would become an ideal possibility. 

Home Video Inspiration 

We wanted to create a home video feel for the beginning of our trailer when the protagonist post his video on the internet. In order to do this we looked at other home videos that has a dangerous feel and were well known by the public. We looked at Al-Qaeda's founder and first leader, Osama bin Laden's video messages he sent to the United States of America. Jihadist video messages became a symbol of the terrorist group and instantly recognisable to the world's population. Fear and anger is associated with the sight of the videos in the West as it sparks emotions about the 9/11 attacks and the "war on terrorism". The way the videos evoked a certain range of emotion is something we wanted to recreate on a smaller scale. These videos were obviously "home made" as the quality is poor. This is something we wanted to achieve in our shot but also to ensure the protagonist was recognisable. The Jihadi videos have been mimicked in the film "Four Lions" which is a comedy about the extremist group. We also looked at their version for more inspiration. We learnt that the background is plain and the person in the video is the main focus. In both these examples guns are present on shot which adds to the sense of fear and violence.

In our trailer we used the symbol of the cult our protagonist represented to create fear. This is shown as the background. It is still plain and the main focus is on the speech and the mask which is what we wanted. 

Possible Idents

Codes and Conventions - Horror

• Preliminary introduction into ordinary lifestyle
• Murder/death - killer usually masked and unknown
• Main characters introduced - young/naive
• Final Girl theory
• Dim lit lighting
• Isolated location
• Murder weapon which penetrates the skin

Examples of well known iconic branding

Iconic branding:
Saw films -- typography and imagery

Imagery of hands featured in poster and website, continuing from the
first film to the sixth, showing iconic branding as the image has been
associated with the whole film series