G.Morris Feature Script Research

Over the past two nights I’ve been taking into account the ‘central duel protagonists’ idea I took from my horror-comedy research and have begun forming a feature film concept that I think would work whilst also allowing for comedic and horror-centric aspects. Over Christmas I found myself arguing with a friend over whether or not you would be able to kill someone with an apple corer, and whether or not it would make a suitable weapon. Despite being told that the pressure needed to ‘core’ someone was impossible to muster I found something oddly quirky about the image of someone using something so quaint and insignificant to cause death by potentially plunging it into someone’s chest and removing their organs. The thought stayed with me and consistently made me smile and as soon as I began to think of two protagonists who would need to have the same conversation my friend and I did, the concept for my outline began to form almost immediately.

Rough Concept: Two friends who live together accidentally stumble upon a masked serial killer and become convinced that they’re next on the chopping block. They run home and lock themselves in, getting rid of everything in the house that could potentially be used as a weapon against them whilst slowly going insane from the paranoia.

I feel like even though the premise is simple, it would give me a good chance to develop the central characters and have their personalities take center stage which would allow the outline to work as an actual film. The minor horror aspects of the outline would be illustrated by the presence of the masked serial killer, and would contrast to comedic effect with the paranoia and idiocy of the central duo, allowing the scares to act as ‘recreational terror’ (Nowell, 133) for the audience, making the film almost more of a dark comedy.

 

Bibliography:

Nowell, R. (2014) “A kind of Bacall quality” Jamie Lee Curtis, Stardom and gentrifying non-Hollywood Horror. In: Nowell, R. (ed.) Merchants of Horror: The Business of Horror Cinema. New York, USA: Bloomsbury, 133.

Over Christmas I began going over potential plots for my feature script, I knew from the start that I wanted to go for the black comedy genre as many of my favourite films are part of that genre. My interest in horror also began to play a major part in my thought process, and I began to rewatch my favourite examples of horror-comedies for inspiration into the tone I wanted to capture. I rewatched The Cottage (Williams, 2008) and began to take notes on how both the comedic and horror-centric aspects were focused on, and how the two fused together. For example, within the film Peter (Rheece Shearsmith) is often the victim of horrifically gory wounds that leave him soaked in blood and add texture and tension to his movements within the horror aspect of the film, however these wounds are usually the subject of slapstick antics and provide the majority of the physical comedy within the film (the rest of which comes from the back-and-forth dialogue between the bickering brother protagonists).

 

I then rewatched Tucker and Dale Vs Evil (Craig, 2010) which feels more like a straight comedy despite adhering to common horror genre tropes. The slapstick physical comedy was present again, though once more presented in a gorier and darker fashion as much of the substance from the ‘horror comedy’ genre seems the be the playfulness filmmakers have messing with the contrast of the two genres and smashing them together.

 

Then finally I rewatched what myself and many consider to be one of the pinnacles of the subgenre, Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004). The slapstick element, whilst still present in certain moments, is less relied-upon here. Instead the majority of the comedy within the film’s script come from the characters and their interactions/reactions to their situation. Having Shaun & Edd (Pegg & Frost) act as a catalyst for group of characters around them maintains a solid tone and flow throughout the entire film before the final act, when the film’s plot and tone seem to darken and overshadow the comedy a bit more. The horror aspect is mostly just kept to appearances with the presence of zombies, and certain tropes are poked fun at and used well (the movement of a mirror to show a zombie in the background, for example). Even though these are used to good effect, in the same way as the other two texts I watched I found myself more engrossed in the interactions of the characters. Each film I watched contained a central duo (almost always male) to guide the film through its premise and I think that’s something I want to include within my outline as it would give me a good platform to stage the comedic element of my film.

Bibliography:

Craig, E. (dir.) (2010) Tucker and Dale Vs Evil [DVD]. Magnet Releasing.

Williams, P. (dir.) (2008) The Cottage [DVD]. Pathe Pictures.

Wright, E. (dir.) (2004) Shaun of the Dead [DVD]. Universal Pictures.