Initial Script

Charlotte is walking home with her group of friends, talking and smiling as they reach the destination when they have to walk separate ways home. Charlotte waves as her friends walk in the opposite direction and walks down the path while putting her head phones in.

*music from headphones becomes non-diegetic sound*

As Charlotte walks down the path she looks around anxiously, feeling like she is being followed. She turns around, stops to look for anyone or anything, notices nothing, and carries on walking.

Charlotte looks back while walking but this time, takes out her head phones and looks around again to see if anyone is following her.

Charlotte: Carly?...I know you're there. 

Charlotte waits for a response, but hears nothing, so puts her headphones in her bag and starts to walk down the path but this time a lot faster.

*footsteps(crushing leaves)*

Charlotte jumps and turns around. starting to panic, she searches quickly in different directions 

Charlotte(shouting): Carly its not funny not now, just, just go away!

*leaves crunch* 
Charlotte sees a distant, dark figure in the background, noticing he is holding some sort of weapon in his hand, she drops her bag, turns around and starts to run through the path. 
As she reaches the main road, thinking she is safe, Charlotte stops running but still scared and crying, she looks in all directions to see if anyone is near her, while doing so her phone rings, making her jump and scream. In panic she drops her phone and sees that it is her mother calling. While shaking she tries to pick up the phone buried in the leaves. 
Picks up the phone but is too late to answer. 
Charlotte(panicked/trying to catch breath):Mum... mum i'm scared (starts to shout) Mum! Where-
Over the other side of the main road Charlotte notices the same dark figure that she saw earlier, in a state of shock Charlotte stares at the figure and slowly walks back and drops the phone in her hand. Charlotte turns around to look behind her, and looking back to the other side of the main road; the distant figure has dissapeared. Charlotte turns behind her again and the distant figure stands right behind her.
Charlotte:*screams*
The villain puts a bag over her head whilst she is screaming and the screen fades to black.
End of Scene.

Casting: The Victim

Charlotte Weston: The Victim

Our possible actor to play in our opening horror is Charlotte Weston. Being involved in drama experiences since she was 7, means she knows and understands filming techniques and rules and can work with the camera. Her techniques involve still images, staying in role for a long time, adjusting quickly to a character, good facial expressions and is able to change her body language to alter the scene. these skills will mean she is perfect for the role as a victim.
Charlotte has many acting experiences that will assist her in this role such as numerous theatre shows,  recently just finishing her main role as Tracy in the theatre production 'Hairspray', proving that is well requited for the leading role in our opening two minutes.

 She has played many other roles as well, 'Annie' in the theatre production 'Annie' and 'Lady Macbeth' in the popular Shakespeare play 'Macbeth' which shows us she can vary into different types of characters and understands what is needed from us and when. This also proves that she can work well with other people which is extremely important when filming.
By Charlotte playing a frightened young girl she will have to use a lot of body language to show the character successfully. She would achieve this by changing her facial expressions to show terrifying emotions, her body would become more stiff and movements will become more fast paced before reaching the climax of the opening scene.

Horror opening scene analysis

The Ring opening scene analysis

The opening shot zooms from a medium shot into a close up of a character. straight away the opening can be generalised as a convention of a horror film as the young girl will play as the victim throughout the opening, unaware of what is about to occur. As she takes a few steps, we see the light of a TV and sound in the background. The use of not having a non-diegetic sound is effective as it doesn't give the audience any idea of when the tension reaches its climax; therefore they are constantly in high amounts of suspense throughout.
The idea of uncertainty lingers when the TV turns on again suddenly, the audience are given the feeling almost as if something is going to jump out at us. As we are shown a close up of the characters face almost pressed against the fridge, though blurred out, a significant amount of room, in the shot, is left for the audience to wonder what's going to come out down the corridor. This skill makes the audience very insecure and fills them with the thrill and tenseness, as the shot plays with their minds, scaring them into thinking something scary is going to pop out as there is no non-diegetic sound to steer them into the climax. Our suspicions are verified when the character also senses something down the corridor and quickly turns their head. The blurriness fades; the audience now have full visibility of the corridor.
A high-angle shot is used to show the character approaching the staircase. This makes the character appear vulnerable and weak to whatever may be up there. Throughout the scene, mise-en-scene is used effectively. The lighting is constantly slightly dimmed and has a slight blue tinge to it. Darkness is commonly associated with fear and the blue tinge makes the audience feel strangely cold whilst watching it.

Horror opening scene analysis

Insidious opening scene analysis

Insidious is introduced through the use of strong and thrilling high pitched music which is extremely intimidating and creepy; the non-diegetic sound builds up suspense combined with the setting being dark and sinister which also makes the audience feel the tension and feel uncomfortable. The leading character is introduced through the use of a drop shot which denotes a sleeping figure. After the character is shown to be sleeping, the panning shot followed after draws the attention away from the child and implies that this character is dangerous as the camera moving away can match a person moving away from him. The pitch of the non-diegetic music gets higher and the instrument (violin) makes the atmosphere creepier and more afflictive for the audience. The camera slowly zooms into a silhouette in the window which shows an unknown figure, creating a chilling effect; adding to the tension of what is going to potentially occur.
The camera rotates, zooms and denotes a face which is hidden in the shadows which adds to the audience’s uncertainty of what could occur next. Suddenly and unexpectedly the pitch and tone of the music increases dramatically and the title 'Insidious' is denoted in a bright red. The colour of the titles is unusual and usually modern horror films have white coloured titles which are found to match horror film conventions more than the colour red. The title flashes which can be compared to a fire's qualities, emphasising to the audience that one of the main themes is danger. in this case the use of the titles can connote hell and the devil and can suggest to the audience that someone could be possessed which is a general convention of a horror film, especially through children as it contrasts their innocent stereotype with evil and horror.

Horror opening scene analysis

Zombieland opening scene analysis.

ZombieLand begins with a narration from the leading character as he establishes the world of the film to the audience; the fusion of horror and comedy are noticeable from the start. The opening shot of a US flag with a smoking building in the background gives a confusing and chaos effect to the audience. As a zombie charges towards someone and unleashes violence and gory actions, the narration still continues. The non-diegetic sound features the american national anthem which is ironic since it is no longer 'a country without people' the music reflects the narrative events which is the realisation of an apocalyptic Earth. The opening fulfills the conventions of a horror as the unrealistic events such as a 'ZombieLand' create an ominous and scary atmosphere for the audience.

Romance Opening scene Analysis

Annie Hall opening scene analysis.

Annie hall opens with a monologue, the lead is speaking directly to the audience which allows the character to become quite close and personal with the audience, the character is discussing the nature of his character, his childhood and his motivations in life. Throughout the opening we are shown a close up shot of the character who expresses his attitude to life and his relationships with women. When talking about himself the audience can suggest that he is quite a negative/pessimistic person and while making jokes about himself he finally reaches the announcement of his breakup with his girlfriend, Annie. The audience are given the enigma of what the events were that led to his breakup with Annie.

His character fulfills the typical romance conventions of a socially awkward or shy leading character, he matches the cliche of the man hopelessly stuck in a somewhat unrequited love. The only sound the audience are given is the main characters voice providing the soundtrack. Overall the opening is effective, as the audience are pulled straight into the nature of the protagonist and is awkward ways, as well as the set up of the rest of the film.

Preliminary Task

Evaluation of Preliminary Task

When filming our preliminary task our main aim was to include the rules of filming such as shot, reverse shot, match on action, the 180 degree rule and the 30 degree rule. We found our task successful as we incorporated most of the rules as well as a range of shots to make our short film creative. Our most successful parts of our preliminary task was the incorporation of match on action where we had a close up of the door handle when I walked into the classroom. Another successful part was when we used shot reverse shot to signify a conversation between myself and Lydia although, when editing we a target we decided to work on was to make the shots even better, was to take them from further away as we thought a close up was too close as a shot, or taking the shot behind someone's shoulder to allow the shots to move fluently. 

When editing a success was being able to cut the shots very well to allow the film to have continuity. A target for our main task would be to find a more creative way when introducing the title of our main task as for this task, we had a lot of ideas for our title but did not know how to incorporate them into our film. Another target we can improve on for our main task would be to film where the scene has good lighting as when filming our shot reverse shot, the close ups on my face had good lighting, whereas the reverse shots on Lydia had very low lighting and didn't really allow the film to play fluently.

We didn't manage to use of the film practices when filming which is something we need to improve on leading up to our main task, the film practices we included were match on action and shot reverse shot. Despite not including all the rules, the rules we did use were filmed successfully and adequately.
If we could film the preliminary task again, we would think of a more creative way to film our shots as well as film practices to make our work even better. We would focus more on finding good lighting to allow continuity to carry on throughout the film and would also act more professional when filming and stick to our roles to make our film look more convincing.