JD - Final Film Opening - 'Uncaptured'

Here is the final version of our Film Opening:

SA - Evaluation Prezi Presentation

Link to Prezi Presentation

SA - Audience Research Proposal

For our audience research we are going to use a questionaire, this will be given out to people after we have screened our final film opening to them. We will then use the results of the questionaire to create visual representations of them using pie charts and then use these in our Prezi presentation. The images of the pie charts will be used in conjunction with text to explain the results and what they show to us on what people think of our piece and how it can be improved if we did it again.

JD, SA, RB - Evaluation Discussions

We have agreed to mainly use Prezi.com to compose our evaluation questions, we will include videos, text, soundbites, images and an appropriate colour scheme to match our film opening and be aesthetically pleasing to the viewer and so the issues we are bringing up in the presentation relate to our film opening.
We have answered the questions initially and will use these initial answers to develop our final evaluation on Prezi.com.

SA - Technical Editorial Changes

During our editing we have made lots of small changes to our two minute opening that make significant improvements to it.
- On the titles we used a fade in and fade out, they have opacity of 0%, then to 100%, then down to 55% then 0% again.
- On all the montage clips that aren't in the dark room, the saturation is down to 30%, which makes them almost black and white. This adds a sense of a flashback to the montage.- On the main title moved the music along so the 'boom' sound coincided with the appearing of the title, 'Uncaptured'. The title then fades out from 100% opacity to 0% gradually.
- For one of our opening titles we made our own logo for 'Candlewood Films'. We made up this name and to make the logo, we found a .gif image of a candle flickering. This would be the picture in our logo. We put the first line of text, 'in association with' into video 1, we then put the image directly over that title in video 2, then finally we put the 'Candlewood Films' text in video 3. This meant we could overlay all of the different part of the one title and they could be moved independently so we could position them where ever we wanted them.

SA - Titles for the Opening

For our opening sequence we need titles to go over the top of the footage, I have looked at the opening sequence of 'Seven' and 'Pulse' and i have noted down the titles they have on them. I have listed the ones that would be relavant to our film below:

- A Film by ..................
- A ............ Production
- Actors Names
- Title of Film
- Other actors
- Music by
- Edited by
- Director of Photography
- Producers (co and exec)
- Directed by

We will use some of these and make up names for the other titles. We feel this will make our opening more professional.
Below I have put the two Youtube videos of the opeing sequences to the films I looked at:

SA - Shooting on Location (LONDON)

On Sunday 14th we went up to London to film clips of crowds and our main character, for our montage at the start of our opening two minutes.
We originally planned to film in trafalgar square as there are familiar buildings and statues that will relate to the setting of the whole film. However when we arrived, there was a St Patrick's Day celebration going on in Trafalgar Square, with thousands of people. There was no way we could film in the Square itself, so we decided to find a less crowded place to film. We filmed some footage outside the Square of Nelsons Column and the statues, and then wandered around the outskirts of Trafalgar Square and filmed at places along the street.
We briefly went to St James Park to film some people and the main character. After that we made our way to a grassy bit next to Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament.
We shot a 13 minutes of footage and we feel that at least half of it is useful, but now it is just a case of finding the best bits of footage to use in our final opening.

SA, RB, JD - Shooting on location (ROB'S HOUSE)

Yesterday (10/3/10) we went to Rob's house to film in his attic, for the final part of our two minute opening. This part was where the main protagonist finds the camera that the whole film was about, we shot a panning shot, close ups and a rotation pan shot around the character from behind to front where we then flashed the camera. We will use this to flash to the title of the film, 'Uncaptured'.
We felt it was quite successful and we feel we have some good footage to use in our final piece.
We took some pictures of the location while we were there so show the sort of environment we were filming in, they arew shown below:

PUT PICS IN

SA, JD, RB - Freesound.org Clips

For our two minute opening we have to use copyright free sound, and these clips can be found on freesound.org. We searched for ambient music and mysterious backgropund music to use over the montage at the beginning. This music will help to add to the mysterious and enigmatic nature of the montage sequence.

SA, JD, RB - Opening Sequence Pitch Presentation

TWGSB Media Studies Task Pitch - Group 11

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SA - Dark Room Filming

In todays lesson, 5/3/2010, we are going to go to the darkroom in the art block and test out some shots and film some using the red light that is associated with the dark room. We will see how this light works with the camera and hopefully use some of these shots in the montage of our opening sequence.

SA - Another Change in Idea

We have again changed our idea about our opening sequence, we are now doing a more stylistic montage sequence at the start of lots of different images that give ideas about the films plot but with now real detail. We will show different shots of Trafalgur square and the dark room, we will show close-ups of photos being developed and picture being taken with the camera, we will also show the developed photos with the 'Missing' people burnt out of them. Over the montage we will have the titles and names etc, once the montage has finished the title. 'Uncaptured', will show up. Then it will fade to the main character in an attic unpacking boxes, he finds the camera, which the audience will recognise from the montage, then he will get called down stairs and it ends.

We have changed it to this as we feel a more stylistic and less continuity feel will be more suited to our style of film, also I feel it will be more unique.

JD - More Ideas for Opening Sequence

For the opening sequence I had the idea of including a flashback. If we showed the boy finding his grandads old 35mm, then as he picks it up there is a flashback to when his grandfather was using the camera. We could still use all our original ideas, such as the boy taking pictures of people and developing the pictures in the darkroom), but I feel that a flashback would make the opening more surreal and add more depth.

JD - BBFC Ratings

The BBFC states that for a 15 rated film:

Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadisticor sexualised. Imitable behaviour and dangerous behaviour should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language
There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.

Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment isappropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely tobe acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

SA, RB, JD - Preliminary Task & Animatic for film opening

The Preliminary task helped us to get an idea of what kind of angles and camera movements we want to use in our film opening. This animatic shows our storyline and what kind of angles and camera movements we will use.

RB - Summary of Genre Analysis

To summarise the findings of our genre analysis we are going to be incorporating the dark and sinister moods of the horror genre however we will also be inegrating the low key lighting and the use of shadows that are familiar with the conventions of the noir genre. As our film will be set in modern times, we are hoping it will feel like the modern, yet noir/horror 'Momento', with some aspects of 'The Omen'.

Feedback #2

Well done - this is shaping up to be evidence of A grade planning. Keep up the good work.

SA - Ideas for Opening Sequence

Ive seen on horror films that the colour is sometimes drained out and I gave this a go on photoshop with some pictures. It is to do with the vibrancy, if you put the vibrancy all the way down if leaves some parts with drained colour and others in greyscale. I like this as it is a mixture of black and white and colour, which can help to highlight the important parts in colour.

SA - Possible Location

I found this tree tunnel over a road in Pembury and I thought it would be a good location.
Tell me what you both think.

SA - Audience Research - Survey Monkey

To conduct our audience research we will use surveymonkey.com to post up a survey and get people to complete it, which will help us gauge what our target audience likes and prefers. It will help us to advance our opening so that we go in a specific direction towards what our audience wants, as this is the most important thing when planning and making a film opening and film.

Here are some screen-shots of our survey on the website:

JD - Mood Board

SA, RB, JD - Treatment for Opening Sequence

Set in modern times, Danny Muggeridge is an average 17 year old and is also an amateur photographer who uses his old style 35mm film camera, given to him by his grandfather, to take photos of what ever takes his fancy, just like any unsuspecting photographer. However he soon discovers the dark side to his innocent snapping, when people in his pictures start to disappear, first in the photos, then soon enough in real life. As he develops the photos in his dark room, some of the people don't appear, they are just white spaces, signifying they are insignificant and worthless. At first he thinks it is a coincidence that the people he takes pictures of disappear a few days later, but after the second time he starts to become worried and fears for the people he takes pictures of. He tries to stop, but an uncontrollable urge forcibly makes him clip down the shutter button, it is like he is taken over by a 'spirit' when ever he is near his camera.
He seeks help in his friends, but they are no use. He is then approached by an old, weary looking man when under the control of the 'spirit', who with one touch breaks the trance-like state he is in. This old man is very mysterious and doesn't give too much away about his identity or why he is helping Danny, but the only thing Danny is thinking about is the fact that someone is actually helping him.
He is helped to overcome the spirit, although the course doesn't run smooth and many people die due to his prediction-like photography, he tries to discard his camera as it is clear is has a curse, but without great ease. He speaks to his grandfather who overcame the spirit, but at a great price, he is subsequently very weak and close to death. Danny is determined to break the curse, and with the help of the old man he eventually does.
The ending sets it up so that there can be a sequel, Danny eventually becomes rid of the camera, however it is not destroyed and a month after he is finally rid of it, it is found on a river bank by a child who takes it back to his father, the father restores it and the ending frame is of a picture being taken of the little boy, and the audience will know what will happen to him soon.

RB - Moodboard

SA - Mood Board

RB - Analysing an opening sequence - 'Amityville Horror'

Genre:
- The film is of the horror genre and we can see this in the opening sequence as the audiences generic expectations are fulfilled due to all kinds of montage shots, including the iconistic 'haunted house' location, close ups of the face and a fast cutting rate.There are also flashing lights, which represent lightning and classic creaky doors and floorboards which are iconistic horror sounds. We also hear 'voices' whispering 'kill them' to which the character 'Ronnie' does and kills his family. At the beginning we also get 'Based on a true story' which makes it even more horrifying.
- The text conforms to the characteristics of the horror genre as there are iconistic sounds and images given to us in the opening two minutes. The happenings in the opening two minutes set up the rest of the film by telling you what has happened in the house before.

Film Language:
- The mise en scene in the sequence conveys horror and shock within it. The shots of the bodies, especially children, with blood sprayed all over the bed and walls is used to make the audience feel shocked and sympathetic, yet it builds up tension and creates a storyline. The fact they are all killed in thier sleep (except for one) makes it even more shocking to the audience.
- The camera techniques in the sequence convey meaning as the close up of the mans eyes with the flickering tv reflection in them shows he is being 'controlled' by something unnatural. There are also POV shots which show what the characters are seeing and we as an audience are put in the characters shoes for a moment, this helps create a more terrifying feel to the film.
- The non diagetic sound at the start and the 'voices' telling the man to 'kill them' are aural signifiers to show that there is a 'haunted' theme within the film. The lightning sounds and creaks help to create an enigma around the film.
- Through dialogue and non-verbal language we learn that the character 'Ronnie' is has psychological problems and believes that there are voices in his head telling him to kill his family, however because of the establishing shot of the house, we assume that the house is haunted and that the house is telling him to do it. We also learn that he is quite a secretive and lonely character as he lives in the basement and doesn't have many pictures of friends or family, just a picture of himself. We also see an ash tray full of smoked cigarettes, which also makes him seem unsociable as he is in his room smoking all the time.
- Other techniques in this extract are the use of filters to make the scene seem dark.

Narrative:
- The narrative of the film is linear, it starts with a close up montage of shots from what is happening in the room, and the story is then told from there. However you could argue that the film is also non-linear, because we see one man kill his entire family because of the happenings in the house, then when a different family moves in we see the affect the house has on them and we see the build up of happenings that initially lead to the first homicide, happening to the second family.
- The audience are positioned with 'Ronnie', the character with the psychological problems. We can hear the voices he is hearing and there are POV shots that shows where hes going and what he is looking at.
- Techniques to identify the character are close ups of his face and eyes, and the sounds coming from the house. He is also positioned on a sofa in the basement by himself.These help to show us that he is troubled and alienated.
- The major themes in the film are corruption, evil, murder, homicide and a house that's haunted.
- Tension is built using sound and whispering voices, these not only give you an idea of what the films about but also make the audience think what is causing them and why they are affecting the characters as they are. This tension is kept throughout the film as the audience can see the affect the haunted house is having on the new occupants, as the process begins again.

Representation and ideology:
- The social groups being represented here are white American families and people with mental problems.
- The framework that is constructed through semiotics is shown through many denotational images and cuts, that connote different meanings,and make the audience understand the situation.
- The male gender is represented more than the female gender. The male characters are shown to have more power and control over the families in the film. Examples of this are obviously, the first character we see 'Ronnie' kills everyone in his family, showing he has the most power in that family. Also further in the film we see the character 'George' having the most power, as the woman has to ask him if they can buy the house and he controls what the family does.
- Traditional values and beliefs of families are challenged in this film, which adds to the horror of the film. The Character 'Ronnie' completely goes against the belief that families look after each other and care for them. By him killing them in such a gruesome way the film seems even more horrific and shocking.
Media audiences:
-The target audience for this film is fans of the horror genre, and people who may have heard of the actual Amityville homicide. It is difficult to select an age group that this film may have been targeted towards, but I'm going to say 15+.
- The audience readings of the text will probably be that there is a haunted house that turns one member of the family against the rest and that member kills them, they may also think that the house is built on an ancient Indian burial ground, this is due to there being a picture of an Indian head on the TV during the montage.

- As a British teenager I read the text as being just a normal horror film, however I do find it slightly more shocking as the children are shown being shot in the head with a shot gun. I don't think my reading has been influenced by my age, gender or background in any way I can think of.

Institutional context:
- The only known actor in this film is Ryan Reynolds, who also appeared in 'X-men Origins: Wolverine', 'Blade: Trinity' and 'Smokin' Aces'. There are no bankable, big Hollywood stars in this film. It is important that there is no bankable stars in the film as they're presence may take away from the scariness of the film.
- The film was co-produced by Radar Pictures and Platinum Dunes. Radar Pictures is a more Independent film producer, and Platinum Dunes specialize in producing horror films.
- I think that the institutional context is evident in the opening as there are a lot of after effects put in post production, things such as the blood splatters and the reflection of the TV screen in the mans eyes. These show that the film had a decent budget.

JD - Analysing an Opening Sequence - 'Memento'

Genre

- Memento is a thriller (mystery thriller)

- The audience's expectations of a mystery thriller are to some extent fulfilled as the way that everything is going backwards makes the scenario more compelling to watch.

- I think that the text does conform to the characteristics of a mystery thriller as the introduction creates a very puzzling enigma for the rest of the film.

Film Language

- The mise-en-scene in the sequence conveys suspicion as we see that the man has taken a picture of the person he has just killed. The man with the camera is wearing more expensive clothes than the dead man and overall looks a lot cleaner even though he is bleeding, which could connote that the man he killed was poor and owed him something.

- The close up shots help to convey the mystery of the man that has been shot. The close up of the glasses look like it could be a POV shot from the view of the dead man if he was looking at them, as out eye is in line with the floor. Also the close up of the camera hidden underneath the jacket could convey suspicion.

- The diagetic sound in the sequence is all amplified so that we can tell it is being played backwards. The music in the sequence is very depressing and slow but has a mysterious feel to it so creates suspense during the titles.

- There isn't any dialogue in the sequence, but the NVL of the man with the camera suggests that he feels guilty and maybe shocked at his actions.

-The director has used made the sequence washed out to give it a depressing and mysterious look.

Narrative

- The narrative is non-linear.

- The audience is positioned with the man that takes the photograph and we get the view that he has been made to kill the person that he has taken the photograph of.

- Techniques used to identify characters are close-ups of belongings of the man that has been shot and 2 medium length close-ups of the other mans face allow us to get a good 'look' at his face and be able to recognise him later on in the film

- Tension is created by the use of dramatic music during the titles, this tension is then kept by playing the end of the film at the beginning and playing it backwards to turn it into a puzzle.

Representation and Ideology

- In this sequence we don't get a very good idea of the social groups of both of the men, but the man that takes the picture could be a hitman or detective as we see him take a photograph of the man he killed.

- The framework that is constructed through semiotics is shown through many denotational images and cuts. These all create different connotations and meanings and help to make the audience understand the situation.

Media Audience

- The target audience is probably the 16-45 thriller audience.

- A possible audience reading of the sequence is that the man that takes the photo is a hitman and he is taking the photograph of the man he kills as proof that he has killed him.

- As a British teenager I read the text as a suspiciously acting man taking a photograph of the man he killed as evidence that he has killed him. This makes me feel as if he is a 'bad' detective.

Institutional Context

- Guy Pearce is a bankable star. They have used a bankable star because people are more likely to go to watch the film if it has a well known actor in it and someone that they enjoy watching

- Newmarket Capital Group produced the film. This makes it an independant film as it has a fairly unusual opening that would not occur in an industrial production.

- I think that the instutional context is evident in the production values of the sequence as the shots used help to create an enigma. The shadows created show use of studio lighting as they are too strong to be made by natural light. Also the fact that it is played backwards show that there was some sort of editing to the sequence.

SA - Analysing an opening sequence - 'Pulse'

Genre:
- The film belongs to the genre of thriller (technological thriller), and to some extent audience generic expectations are fulfilled because the opening title sequence has lots of clues, like the computer related images and text, which all helps to set up the enigma of the film before we see any characters or acting, it is just a montage of iconistic images that are a visual signifier to the audience of some sort of illegal use of computers and how everyone has one and uses it constantly.
- The text does slightly conform to the characteristics of a thriller as the titles build up to a crescendo of overlapped sound and speech until it goes black and the title of the film appears.

Film Language:
- The mise-en-scene in the sequence conveys a sense of loneliness and depression, as the main character walks through the crowds of people all grouped up together, they look very normal with their costumes whereas he doesn't quite fit in which shows he is a bit of an outcast or loner.
- The POV shots show the main character looking at everyone else showing he isn't involved with them and is a bit of a loner, also the establishing shot of the building helps to set the scene for the audience and conveys them meaning that the setting is quite normal, but the other parts seem slightly weird.
- In the montage sequence at the start, the sound is an aural signifier to the audience to show there is technology involved, also the overlapping layers of speech and computer sounds, like a keyboard tapping and beeping, help to set up the enigma of he film, as it isn't really clear what is going on.
- Through NVL and dialogue we learn that the main character is quite lonely and also weary of an unknown thing, which we get a glimpse of in the mirror of the car. He is very secretive with himself and doesn't speak too much apart from answering a question that the security guard asked him, and that was "Are u OK?" and he replies "yeah, I'm fine" although it is clear he is not fine, which just helps to set up the enigma.
- Other techniques used are pull back focus, which helps to identify who the main character is and focuses the attention of the audience onto him, also there is a very cold, washed out tint on the camera which shows there is no warmth or love in the sequence.

Narrative:
- The narrative is linear, although it starts with a montage and then goes into the story.
- The audience is positioned with the main character who looks at everyone, who are using computers and mobile phones, connoting that this is the main theme of the film.
- The techniques used to identify the characters are pull back focus and POV shots, these help to identify the main characters.
- The major themes in the narrative are of loneliness, and technology, everyone seems to be using technology is some way.
- Tension is created by the use of the glimpses of shadows and figures in mirrors and windows, there is little information about what these are and how they relate to he story and this helps to maintain the tension created by the figures and shadows in the first place.

Representation and Ideology:
- The social groups represented in this sequence are loners and the youthful generation, the young people that use the new technology and resources that can be found on the internet, with it not always being good, as some of the images in the montage sequence show, for example there is a quick glimpse of the US map having red circles expanding at different points, this connotes bombs and terrorist attacks. Some of the things that connote this representation of him being a loner and isolated are that his body language is quite secretive and 'closed' to everyone else, his clothes are quite dark and dont make him stand out. Another factor could be that he is quite paranoid and this makes the audience instantly see him as an outcast/loner.
- The framework is constructed through semiotics by there being lots of denotational images in the montage sequence, these all connote different things, not all of them being good.
- The main character is male which shows that the male gender is the focus of the film, although it doesnt necessarily show them as powerful and dominating which would be the dominant ideology about men. In this area therefore the opening sequence of this film is quite challenging of ideologies.

Media Audiences:
- I think the target audience for this film is 16 - 45 year old males and females who understand the latest technology an it's incredible power.
- The audience readings that could be identified from this sequence are that there is some kind of terrorist activity going against the USA, because of the images in the montage, also there could be readings which relate to people relying too much on technology and that way of communicating,
- Being British teenager from the text I read that there is some connotations of the internet and technology being used too much and it will eventually lead to a bad circumstance. Which I sightly agree with, but not in the circumstances.

Institutional Context:
- The main character isn't that well known and I think this helps to improve the film as the audience isn't judging their performance on previous roles, the actor has the free run to create a name for himself.
- The film was made by 'Dimension Films' and 'Distant Horizon'. 'Dimension Films' are part of the Disney-owned 'Miramax Films' so that part of is quite industrial, whereas 'Distant Horizon' are focused on distributing more independent films, so this film is a mix of the two film types, industrial and independent.
- I think the institutional context is evident in the production values of the opening as there are a lot of clever shots used which help to set up the enigma, also there is the shadows and figures which would be put in during editing, but they show that a small amount of money wasn't used on this film.

SA - Genre Analysis - Horror

1) The genre our group has chosen for our two minute opening is horror, which has many sub-genres and spin-offs which maintain some common conventions throughout but are based on different scenarios and various types of threat. Some of the sub-genres are:

- Extreme, which is very graphic and uses this iconography to put across its point
- Gothic, which is very dark and sinister
- Psycological, which is based around the human mental state
- Supernatural, which is based around the fictional ghosts and demons etc
- Suspence, which has a lot of tension and doesn't give too much away about the 'threat'

- Slasher, this typically uses knives as the weapon of choice

Some films that fit into genre are:

- 'Saw'(2004-2009), which is very extreme in it's graphic use of 'blood and guts'
- 'Omen'(2006), this is a very supernatural thriller type horror
- 'The Number 23'(2008), this is a film based around obsession and how it takes over
- 'Cloverfield'(2008), this is a film which uses a 'monster' that terrorises people
- 'The Village'(2004), this has very suspense filled moments and has a lot of tension
- 'The Blair Witch Project'(1999), this uses handycam and is set in a woods which connote a very scary place

2) Our group is thinking of doing a similar thing to 'Omen', with regards to the photos being changed and people dying as a result. This interests us as we are all interested in photography and we think it would be relevant us.

The handycam use in 'Cloverfield' and 'The Blair Witch Project' is quite revevant to our work as we like the use of this and think it is really effective in creating different moods and tension levels.

The enigma in 'The Number 23', I think is quite relevant to our work as our opening is going to create a lot of enigma and question with the audience.

3) The typical narative of horror films consists of a threatening situation or danger which kills people and affects the other people, we are typical positioned with some main characters and we follow them throughout the film as they try to avoid the 'threat' and stay alive. In the opening there is typically not much information given away and if it is revealed it is quite confusing, there may also be an event or happening that creates an enigma to the start of the film.

4) Typical characters in horror are helpless female characters and crazed madmen, there may also be a male protagonist and depending on the film, he could powerful or weak.

5) Some typical locations of horror films typically have eerie feelings and make the audience feel part of the experience.

6) Typical iconography you would expect to see in a horror film are knives, blood, dead people, dark houses, black, and red colours.

7) Some examples of horror costume are shown below:

8) Lighting is used in horror films to emphasise particular parts of the frame, similar to noir films. It can also be used to create tension when people are in shadows etc. Red connotes blood and death and black is generally used to connote death and somber moods.

9) I found fonts on posters that would be suitable for titles for a horror film.

RB - Genre Analysis.

Our chosen genre is 'Horror'. Sub genres of horror are:

• monster horror
• slasher
• splatter
• psychological horror
• horror thriller
• survival horror
• supernatural horror
• noir horror

Our opening is going to be along the lines of a supernatural/psychological horror, as it will be dark and mysterious with things supernatural happening within it. Some films that may fit into this genre may include:

• Silence of the lambs (1991)
• The Shining (1980)
• The Ring (2002)
• The Exorcist (1973)
• The Omen (1976)
• The Ophanage (2008)

In 'The Omen' things appear on the pictures when the photographer is developing his photos, such as a black smudge across the neck of someone, and then later they are decapitated. This sort of idea really interests us.
'The Orphanage' has a Gothic theme to it, this could be interesting and worth looking into when planning and making our opening. In 'Silence of the lambs' our anticipation is played with to create suspense and drama, this is definitely worth considering when making our opening as the opening needs to establish the genre and get the audience hooked.

A typical narrative for the horror genre is a series of happenings that involve someone being killed or abducted, then we follow the main characters through the same experience and whether or not they get through the ordeal or not. This could be used in the opening by, for example, using a montage of different shots of objects or scenes from the later parts of the film, the objects could also be iconistic or visual signifiers that create a set up for the films genre. This could also be used to create enigma and effect if used in the right way.

Conventional characters in a horror film would include things such as zombies, monsters, psychopaths, aliens, or serial killers.
Typical locations would include woods, haunted houses, abandoned villages, dark locations etc.

Iconography in this type of genre would include things like knives, blood, guns, haunted houses, creaky doors etc.























Costumes in a horror film tend to be darker colours, torn fabric, sometimes old fashioned, dirty, and obviously scary( for the evil character). Examples:

Lighting that would be used would be dark, there would be alot of shadows and backlighting, night for night shooting may also be used. Natural light would also be used to create a more realistic more frightening experience. Colours are also used and can connote death and horror, such as red which connotes blood and black which connotes death and mystery.

Some fonts that I think would look good as a title font would include:

(some pictures did not work, will be fixed)

JD - Genre Analysis

Q1) Our chosen genre is horror. There are lots of sub-genres to horror, such as, Gothic Horror, Slasher, Supernatural Horror, Vampire Horror, Zombie horror and many more. Our film isn't sticking to one particular sub genre of horror as of yet, but if it does it going to be towards Sci-Fi.

Q2) As a group we talked about Omen (Moore,2006) as we liked the idea of the camera scene from it. Omen is a thriller horror and we thought that the idea of photographs being developed and showing something unusual was a good starting point/idea. When we first started thinking of idea for our film introduction I liked the idea of being in a crop field and strange things happening. I got this idea from Signs(Shayamalan, 2002) as I felt that it portrayed the typical 'scary crop field' idea extremely well and created a lot of suspense.

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Q8)

Q9)

JD/SA - Developing An Idea

As a group we have decided to develop the idea of an introduction to a horror. We are taking the idea of a camera taking pictures on a film, 30mm, so they have to be devloped. We are interested in the idea of things disappearing from photos, similar to 'Omen' where things appear in photos and they relate to people dying. We have discussed a rough idea for the opening sequence, but this needs to be refined and edited so we reach a final one. We have thought about the ending of our clip, we like the idea of a photo being developed in a dark room, and as it finishes devloping there is someone missing from the photos, then the photo is thrown onto a pile of the same photo with the same person missing from each one. There is light from an open door shining onto the photos and the camera moves steadily towards the pile of photos, then the light goes as the door closes, there is a diagetic sound of a door closing and there is a black screen and the title of the film comes up. We are now continuing our discussions.

JD - Making a Dolly/Track

Seeing as we had some ideas of dolly shots and tracking shots I thought I'd do some research into how to make a dolly.

I found some very good instructions here. They are very detailed, and if done right will produce a fairly good quality dolly/track. The basics of the wheels look fairly simple, and could probably be adapted so that it is cheaper to build and more basic

RB - Technical Analysis of 'The Blair Witch Project'

Technical Analysis:

• First of all the 'Artisan Entertainment' logo zooms in.
• it then fades out and another logo fades in
• this second logo fades out and the title of the film appears
• the title fades out and we are shown a brief description about the film
• the description fades away and it cuts to a handycam shot trying to focus on a girl
• there is then a moment where the camera is zooming in and out trying to get her in focus, it eventually stops at a mid shot of the girl. This shows that the footage is supposed to seem like amateur footage.
• this then cuts to some close up handycam footage of someone showing a number of books to the audience, the titles of these books give us an idea of what the film may be about.
• it then cuts to a mid shot of someone getting out of a car, which then cuts to the boot of the car and the man getting out an old fashioned camera.
• it then cuts to the man looking through the camera at the person filming on the handycam.
• we then see the footage through the mans eyes of the other person with the handycam.
• it then cuts to a mid/close up shot of a man laying on the table, talking to the person holding the camera.
• it then cuts to them in the car looking out of the window at another person coming out of thier house, they are picking up this person.

From the opening sequence there isn't much that sets up the films genre, to give us an idea of what it will be like. However the fading titles and the shot of the books gives us a little insight to the film and starts to attract the audiences attention as the handycam shots give an almost first person experience.
There also isn't any sound at all during the titles and brief description, which creates a sense of mystery. The sound in the clips is diagetic sound with no non diagetic sound overlayed, this makes the film seem a lot more realistic, the only sound other than voices is the wind, which creates a spooky idea in the audiences mind as the sound of wind is sometimes used in horror films to create tension.

By doing this technical analysis I have realised how many different shots its takes just to make a 2 minute sequence. I also learnt that handycam footage can be a rather effective and more realistic way of showing a first person or POV shot. The shakeyness of a handycam shot can help emphisise if something is scary, which can also help to hook an audience into watching and enjoying the rest of the film, which is incredibly important in the first few minutes.

(link as embedding was disabled, 'The Blair Witch Project' opening)

JD - Technical Analysis - 'Signs'

The opening of 'Signs'(Shyamalan, 2002) begins with the 'Touchstone Pictures' and 'Blinding Edge Pictures' titles, both of which fade to black. Then a blue circle fades in and non-diagetic music starts. The music begins as slow and 'pulsing' at the beginning with the titles cutting to the rhythm of the music, and then suddenly becomes fast and ominous with the titles still fading in and out over the blue circle. The music helps to build up a lot of dramatic tension before it suddenly stops and the blue circle fades out to black.
There is then a shot of a window of a back garden and the edge of a crop field, which then pans into the room. It cuts to a close up of a photo of family of 2 parents with their 2 children and in the same shot a man suddenly lifts his head up into the shot breathing in suddenly and heavily. It then cuts to a medium shot from the end of the bed of the man sitting up. It then cuts again to him opening the door of his bedroom and walking towards the camera. Then there is a motivated cut to a close up of him listening through a door that appears to be into a childs room from the pictures stuck on the door. It then cuts to a medium shot of the man walking away from the door and picking up socks off of the floor and throwing them into a basket. Then it jump cuts to a medium shot through a bathroom door. We then hear a long childs scream during the same shot and the man jumps into view from the right of the door holding a toothbrush. All the sound in these shots are diagetic (doors opening, footsteps) and help the shots seem more 'realistic' and make you feel more like you are there.
The introduction to this film helps to create an enigma for the rest of the film, as the girls' screams create a mysterious feel to the introduction.

SA - Technical Analysis - 'Cloverfield'

The opening sequence of 'Cloverfield'(Reeves, 2008) starts with the Paramount titles and the Bad Robot titles which have a thumping non-diagetic sound which gives an ominous feel to the start of the film. It then fades to black and then cuts to a testcard with a monotone beep for a few seconds, then it cuts to writing covering the testcard saying 'U.S. Department of Defense' with a timer ticking forward at the bottom similar to one on a tape recorder. There are also various numbers and letters which gives a very realistic feel to it. Also the faded watermark saying 'Property of U.S. Government, Do Not Duplicate' adds verisimilitude to the image. Then it cuts to a black screen with writing on it which give clues about the plot, it says:

"Document #USGX-8810-B467
Digital SD Card
Multiple Sightings of Case Designate
'Cloverfield'"

It then cuts to more text on a black screen which says:

"Camera retrieved at incident site "US-447", area formally known as 'central park'"

Throughout these cuts the clock/timer ticks forward.
It then cuts to a black screen and the timer runs until '00:04:29:03'
Then it cuts to a handy-cam POV shot of an apartment room, with the camera moving towards a window, getting jogged and bumped while the person is walking.
There is a clock in the bottom left hand corner which says 'APR 27 6:41AM', when the camera reaches the window the clock switches to'6:42AM'
The filming is continuous with no cuts of techniques.
The camera stops at the window and there is a POV shot out of the window.
diagetic dialogue is then heard, the man says:

"6:42AM...Beth's Dad's place...he's outta town...and it's already a good day"

There is then a jump cut to another part of the apartment and the time in the bottom left shows '6:43AM'

The start of this film is quite slow and lacks much action, in fact there is none, but the black screens with writing on set up the enigma of the film as it tells you the camera was found in Central Park, and then it is played back from the start this helps hook the audience to the film as it starts questions in the audiences mind about why this camera was found and how it came to be here.
This opening is very interesting as it is quite unconventional, in fact the whole film is unconventional.




I couldn't find the opening part of the film on Youtube, but I found the trailer and it is good in showing the type of camera techniques used.

I also found this website, which talks about the film and how it is different from others, worth a read I think:

http://lightdocuments.wordpress.com/2008/03/12/forget-the-tripod-%E2%80%93-just-run-oh-is-the-battery-charged/

RB - Conventions of 'Film Noir'

Film Noir is a term used to describe the stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Film Noir is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style.

Film Noir is known for its use of:

• Dutch angles.
• wide angle lenses.
• low-key lighting.
• night-for-night shooting. (rather than normal day-for-night shooting using filters)
• location shooting.(rather than on a set, usually in an urban environment)

Common conventions of Film Noir include:

• Flashbacks.
• Use of shadows. ( like bars of shadow across the frame, e.g. venetian blinds)
• Femme fatals. ( usually killed off at the end of the film)
• First person narrations.
• Rare to have a happy or optomistic ending.
• Twisting storyline.
• Circling cigarette smoke.

Common themes:

• Revolve around heroes that are morally flawed and more questionalble than normal heroes.
• Corruption
• Hero falls victim to temptation
• People being famed for crimes

Film Noir uses dark, twisting storylines, use of lighting and location shooting to make the film as realistic, dark and gripping as possible, the films tend to have a sad ending as the characters are usually killed off.

Examples of Film Noir:

• Sunset Blvd (1950)

• Cast a Dark Shadow (1955)
• Suspicion (1941)
• Gilda (1946)

For more examples of Film Noir visit: http://www.imdb.com/genre/film_noir

JD - The Conventions of Horror Films

Horror Films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality. Whatever dark, primitive, and revolting traits that simultaneously attract and repel us are featured in the horror genre. Horror films are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The fantasy and supernatural film genres are not synonymous with the horror genre, although thriller films may have some relation when they focus on the revolting and horrible acts of the killer/madman.

SA - The Genre of Thriller

The thriller genre is catagorised by fast paced action sequences, with resourceful 'hero' characters who battle against 'more powerful/more equipped' villains. The can be thriller sub-genres which fit into different story-lines and plots.

Sub-genres:
- Action thriller
- Crime thriller
- Conspiracy thriller
- Spy thriller
- Psychological thriller
- Drama thriller
- Disaster thriller
- etc

Common techniques used in thriller's are montages, flashing lighting and intense music. These types of techniques create suspense and tension, which is a common and expected factor of thriller's.

Top thriller movies:
- The Godfather
- The Dark Knight
- Fight Club
- Silence of the Lambs
- The Matrix

(http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Genres/Thriller/)

RB - Initial Ideas

My first ideas of a horror film is a relatively quiet start where the camera sweeps over a house in the middle of nowhere, something quiet and tranquil to start the movie off, then the scary parts seem more scary. it kind of creates a contrast.

Another idea that comes to mind is somebody waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare in a sweat, then looking around and being scared, the camera then looks at what scared the character.

SA - Initial Ideas

Our initial ideas are that we agree on the genre of horror, and the pace of our film should be mellow yet have an ominous feel to it.

JD - Initial Ideas

As a group we decided on Horror to be the genre of our 2 minute film introduction. This was because we all live in areas that have good locations to film shots for an intro to a horror film.

My idea is based on the film 'Signs' as I like the idea of an intense and scary scene in a crop field.