Practice titles

When deciding what style we wanted to use for our opening titles, we referred back to the research post we did earlier in the course about opening titles. We decided that the font 'Felix Titling' was the best font at creating a spooky and ominous effect. We wanted it to be a white font on a black background to stay within the conventions of a horror genre. When editing our actual film, we will add in effects to make it more thrilling but for the moment we find the look of our opening titles successful. In the future we could consider different transitions when editing such as dissolving the font, or fading the font into a new shot to make it look professional.

Animatic Storyboard

When making this storyboard, our group had to work together to decide which shots were going to be the most effective to use when filming. We decided to use a range of shots from close ups to long shots. Even though the drawings aren't of the best quality, they accurately show what we are going to do when reaching the day of filming. To develop our storyboard more, we could add in a soundtrack to highlight our horror genre.

Online Tutorials

Our actor playing the victim will need to look the part, in order for her to become the role, looking at makeup tutorials will help make our opening film look more realistic. I think it would be better for the victim to look as natural as possible as her character should not be expecting what is to come in the opening scene. I don't think i will be too fussed about curling the hair as i would want the character to look as natural as possible, even though it may enhance the actors appearance i don't think, having a stand out appearance is something we need to worry about. products that i am most likely to use are: foundation, powder, bronzer, blusher and mascara to create natural everyday look.

Costumes and props: The Villain

As well as the victim, the antagonist will have to wear a convincing costume as well. The choice of costume we have picked I think conforms to our characters cliches and conventions. For our antagonist, Callum will be wearing simple, but dark clothes to make himself not look suspicious the audience as well as the victim, however we believe that dark clothing will give immediately give his character a negative mood. later in the scene the audience will realise how creepy and ominous the character is as he starts to follow Charlotte.

The prop that the antagonist will use at the end of the scene is a bin bag, we planned to use a potato sack to make it look more scary but unfortunately, we could not find one in time for filming. The bag will be used to capture Charlotte and we hope that the colour black will connote violence and danger. we believe that once Charlotte is captured, an enigma as to what is going to happen to the victim will be created for the audience.

Costmes and props: The Victim

The type of costume you choose for a character is very important because it can help the audience to get to know the character. the audience can instantly pick up on their class, gender, age etc by the first look of their costume. The choice of costume we have picked I think conforms to our characters cliches and conventions.For our victim, Charlotte is walking home form school like every other normal day. So through the use of her appearance we aim to have the character wearing a school uniform as a costume so it would show that the character is vulnerable and innocent to what is going on.
From our research, we have decided that by wearing a school uniform, it adds to the realism aim of our scene, this will make the opening scene more ominous and scary as the audience will not expecting what will happen.

We believed that the obvious choice of props for the victim is a school bag, it gives the effect that the victim is conforming to her everyday routine of walking home from school. This again adds to the realism aim of our film, even though our genre is a horror we do not want it to look out of the ordinary or spontaneous because it may lose the scary aspect we wanted to achieve. We later decided that to make the scene more realistic, Charlotte should fall over and drop her bag while running away from the victim, despite it being realistic it also links to the conventions of a horror as the victim usually falls over, allowing the antagonist to catch up with them.

Influences on production

During the course of creating our opening scene, we have been inspired on the way. The horror that inspired us the most is Wes Craven, the director of Scream (1996). Scream's opening scene builds up a huge amount of tension, which gives Craven the advantage the scare the audience at any time he wants. Specific shots that Craven cleverly uses allow a distorted view into the background, giving the audience the idea that something is going to jump out unexpectedly, but to create even more suspense, nothing happens. Techniques like this is something we hope to incorporate in certain shots in our work to make it more authentic and thrilling for the audience.

Moodboard overview

In my moodboard it shows all the images of ideas for our opening two minutes. we have come up with ideas such as a scary antagonist and a weak, vulnerable victim. The antagonist will be wearing gloves and holding a weapon such as a knife, and he will use a bag to suffocate the victim. The victim will be on her way home from school, wearing headphones, we hope to use a whistle to create unusual sounds that she cant see where they're coming from. We hope for the scene will be set in a forest/woods to show that there will be no communication or help when things go wrong.

Research and Planning Targets

I am really very proud of the achievements you have made in this area of the course - well done! To achieve the maximum band for research and planning make sure you complete all tasks in detail - which can be done by delegating responsibilities and working to deadlines you set each other. You have between now and the end of term to finish your research and planning - and to film. So close to amazing attainment in this part of the course, and we are very proud of the hard work you have put in. Well done! Research Genre Research Soundtrack research (non copyright music) Costume and location research – google earth and pictures you’ve taken. Actors and props photos and interviews Audience Research and Profiling (typical audience member and similar films) Uploaded YouTube videos of openings - analysed Opening titles analysed in detail – font researched Analysed Film Openings from from your genre in particular Institution research (Paramount etc) Certificate research Planning Own film idea brainstorm Own film treatment Relevant Online Tutorials and Comment Documenting of influences on production Shot lists Consideration of representation in your film and stereotyping – use theory from G322. Questionnaire (and feedback) Get some feedback on your initial ideas! Diary of filming/editing etc with photos and screen grabs Mood board Script Practice titles created and uploaded Storyboard – animatic.

Shot List

For our opening scene we hope to include a range of shots in order to make our work distinctive compared to others. this will enable our audience to enjoy our opening scene as different shots can help to build tension and later thrill the audience. The shots we plan to include are:
Close up
The close up shot keeps only the face full in the frame. this allows the audience to focus on the characters emotions and is considered most important building block in cinematic storytelling.

Long shot
The Long shot depicts an entire character or object from head to foot. Despite this, it is not as long as an establishing shot. the shot allows the audience to see an extended view of the scene as well as the character which is important as the audience need to acknowledge the characters view in order to understand the story line.

Medium shot
The medium shot is the most common shot used in filming, showing less than a long shot, but more than a close-up. This shot type can show the characters body language, emotions as well as the scene around them which is why it is considered the most used shot in the film industry.

Low angle shot
Low angle shots look up at a character or subject often making them look bigger in the frame. It can make everyone look heroic and/or dominant, this shot is good for horror genres when used for antagonists, as it can make them look more powerful and evil.

Extreme close up
Extreme close ups allow the audience to focus solely on a certain feature or subject during a scene, it can allow the frame to convey certain connotations and emotions rather than in a long shot or medium shot, because that is all the audience will be able to see; they wont be distracted by other features in the scene.

Over the shoulder shot
An over the shoulder shot is a shot of someone or something taken from the perspective of another person. The back of the shoulder and head of this person is used to frame the image the camera is pointing toward. this allows the audience to take an insight into the characters point of view.

Two shot
A two shot is a medium shot that depicts two people in the frame. This shot is used primarily when you want to establish links between characters or people who are beside rather than facing each other.

Tracking shot.
A tracking shot is a shot that follows a subject be it from behind or alongside or in front of the subject. It allows the audience to follow the characters actions and get a feel for the characters emotions and body language.

Location Research

We have chosen this location for our opening scene. Our plot of the main character walking home from school innocent as to what is about to happen. We chose a forest location as it is a stereotypical convention convention of a horror, building tension and suspense for the audience in a chilling and spooky area where there the victim will be far off from any civilisation or help. This location also limits the area the focus of the audience has to be on, making the film easier to follow and the framing not being too cramped or busy. The path is just straight, so the direction helps increase the tension because the audience won’t know what’s round the corner.

The pathway is situated off of a main road in an open area, this will help the audiences expectation of what will happen to be limited. The forest looks incredibly ominous, old and spooky, this links into our plot, increasing the scare factor and tension we wish to achieve. Because we will be filming during the winter scene, the trees will have no leaves, leaving the branches bare which makes them look more eerie and intimidating.
Overall i personally believe that this location will be successful when filming our opening scene.

Representation and Stereotyping in our film.

In our opening scene we have deliberately made our victim female because it is a stereotypical convention of a horror. Many horrors use a woman as the vulnerable, scared victim who is the main prey for the creepy and terrifying antagonist. The reason behind this is because stereo-typically women are seen as less powerful than men, they are looked as weak fragile genders who are usually looked after by the man- the dominant gender. This stereotype of women is why our main character-the victim, is going to be female.

Another stereotype we are deliberately using in our opening, is the antagonist being a male character. Because women are seen as the weak, innocent victim in horrors, there is no way they could play the antagonist as the audience wouldn't take them seriously! A man is stereotyped as the most powerful and capable gender and because of this, directors can manipulate the male and turn him into a powerful and intimidating villain which will thrill and scare the audience throughout.

Moodboard