Editing: Re-colouring the killer's lair

Practical Task: Re-colouring the killer's lair in editing

As we are filming at a relative of mine's garage we want the garage to look like it could be in a run down location. The exterior of the garage is painted pink. This is too much of a light, happy colour to feature in a horror/slasher opening. Although we could possibly solve this by not filming outside, if we wanted to film there the colour would have to change. I thought about changing it in the editing process and tried to find tutorials on youtube that would help. I found this one:

This tutorial shows how to change the colour of certain parts of a video clip in Final Cut Pro (the editing software which we'll be using) which could be useful in making the garage (without altering the rest of the image) a different, darker colour. 

I opened Final Cut Pro and imported a picture of the garage. Using the blade tool i cut half way through the image to create a 'before and after' 

Then using the colour correction (correction 1 tab) and used a colour mask in order to hide the pink colouring on the image. I did this by using the eye drop tool and selecting the area in which I wanted to mask. I tried hard to only select the pink areas, although couldn't quite select the areas of orange around the garage. This would require a second mask that, if I was to do again, in the editing process, I would do. This is as, I didn't quite manage to remove all of the 'light' colours from the garage exterior which wouldn't fit in with the conventions of a typical slasher that is most often featuring dark, gloomy colours.

After selecting the area in which I wanted to change the colour off I had to adjust the colour I wanted instead. Using saturation, colour and exposure. I decided I was going to go for a greyscale look to create a further dark effect

^ As you can see from the above picture, I didn't select the orange parts of the image for masking.

Before & After

I wasn't too happy with the overall look, although I did succeed in making it look darker, however it still didn't look like it would take place in a dark and isolated place, perhaps if I used different positioning and framing and remove the houses in the background and added an effect to it, it would look more suitable for a slasher film. However, this is also just a picture, I'm not too sure what would happen if I did this as a video clip and if it was still look realistic.

Location - Killer's Lair

Locations: Killer's Lair

In our original drafts of our idea we Ideally wanted a basement for the killer’s lair, however couldn’t access one that was nearby or was cleaned out of storage. We then began looking into garages that would have the same effect as a basement would have that is somewhere dirty, cold and isolated with stone and brick walling. More people also have garages that we could use making it easier to find a location.

A relative of mine has given us permission to use their garage that is barely used. Which is in Gravesend. Although this is quite a distance from Maidstone it would be easier access for my group as my mum can drive us up there together for filming days.

I took pictures of the garage and looked at the area. A difficulty we may encounter is that outside of the garage is painted pink, this could be a problem as we preferably want dark colours to fit with the genre of horror and slasher. As we are not allowed to paint over it in a different colour, can solve this by either not filming outside or, in the editing process, change the colouring on Final cut pro through colouring masks.

The interior is dirty with grey white wooden walling. This creates an abandoned feel to it as it isn't well kept and could be set in an isolated location. to it as  There are also shelves running along the wall that we can either move out of the way or cover up with a sheet (although that might draw too much attention to the covered up shelf in the film opening and be distracting the audience) or put it to use by putting mis-en-scene from the killer’s lair on them (ie. The heart in a jar, killer’s journal etc.)

Overall the garage is quite large but with the added storage in there, there isn't much room. We’re able to move out of the way into one corner of the garage or outside for the day of filming. This is handy as if we use a 360 degree shots, we won’t show the other half of the garage. This gives us space to put our own props in as we need enough room for a full length table to have a ‘dead body’ as well as space for the victim to investigate the room. There area also clothes that are handing down on a wash line in the garage . This could further add to the idea that this is the killer's lair where they live.

Deconstruction of Killer's lair

Deconstruction of Killer's lair in Creep

Creep was a 2005 UK film and is a horror with a sub-genre of slasher and psychological. It is set in the London undergrounds at night when a woman falls asleep and gets trapped, discovering experiments have been done down there on new born babies, the killer now living in the experiment room.

There is a scene where the protagonist enters the killer's lair, which is in one of the underground tunnels.

Before they enter the room we get a sense of danger and horror as we see the feet of a dangling body with blood dripping own their leg, showing someone has been hanged there. The body dangling has also been made to look aged to make it seem like it has been there for a long time, signalling to the audience that where they are about to venture is close to where the killer my lie as well as the killer having been causing death for a long time before. This use of mis-en-scene with the dripping blood links with the idea of a slasher.

The first clue we see of discovering it is a experimenting room is the close up of the door as it swings open saying 'Medical personnel only''Surgery site 12' linking to the killer's obsession with these experiments as his 'hide out' is where the events happened in a medical room.

As the characters are exploring the room, we see a glimpse of the area around them but not in too much detail as the main focus is on the character's. This is due to the help of lighting as the detail in the background is faded in a yellow wash, whilst the characters are in a deep blue showing our focus is meant to be on them. It also leaves the audience in suspense as they want to see what the characters are seeing to discover the mystery behind the killer.

The first close up detail shot we see is a crib with a name on it. Unfolding the shocking story as the audience discover this is an experimenting room on babies.

One of the characters knocks over a box of medical equipment which clatters to the floor. This is a nice piece of sound as it breaks the silence, and worries the audience as we wonder whether the killer heard or not and if he is going to catch them or not. We see from the mise-en-scene of the medical equipment that the items are rusty and not in use, but are also out ready to be used on a tray. This shows the killer is still using them despite not being in the best condition, leading us to wonder what he is using them for.

The camera then goes into a close up of babies in jars. This is clearly showing the obsession of the killer with the experiments on the babies as he has collected them for display in his lair. This obsession is



From this deconstruction I learnt that use of mise-en-scene is important when creating a lair as well as giving lots of close-up shots in order to reveal information about the killer and the meaning's behind their actions but still leaves a mystery as we don't see everything. The killer's lair must also link to the genre of the film (in this case a slasher/psychological horror)