After Filming

After filming we have began editing our film, in our specification we have to use titles originally and artistically, so i have decided to research Horror films, and how they use titles in their opening sequences.

I used The Art Of The Title Sequence website to research films, the films i have decided to use are:

Se7en 


Halloween 

From these screen shots I can see those mainstream Horror films, use the titles in a moving sequence to add interest to the audience and not just a black screen with names on.

I can now use this research and apply to my own film, use titles in a moving image for example, the actors names showing when there plates are placed on the table.

Filming Shots

This the location of where we filmed, after looking at the responses from our questionnaires our target audience ( older teenagers) prefer horrors in a normal situation where they feel at unease due to its regularity of the place where the film it taking place at. 

These are the pictures of us in action filming the opening of our film we began filming on the 20th January and were able to do all of filming, we had a few problems such as our camera was on a low battery so limited the amount of shots that we could repeat filming, however we managed to film a sufficient amount of shots.
After filming everything we re watched our clips of filming and found that a few scenes needed re shooting such as the match being lit at the start, so we re-booked the camera and re-shot them over the weekend.

Filming

On 20th January we got all our actors together and shot the beginning of our film. We encountered a few problems such as our camera was not fully charged we tried to carry on through this problems and act professionally in front of actors so in turn they would take our film seriously.

Completed Questionnaires

After looking at this questionnaires they fit with the definition of the horror genre that i found. People enjoy  not knowing what is happening in normal circumstances, this is what scares people most and what directors who make horrors intend to happen. I hope to follow the conventions of the unknown and normal circumstances to please my target audience, so that they would enjoy watching my film.

Questionnaires Completed

Questionnaire

I have created a questionnaire to ask my target audience (which is 16-20 years old as these are the age groups who most watch horror films)  about horror films so i can use their feed back positively to adapt and construct an opening to a film that my target audience would pay to go and watch, and that is what they would perceive a horror to be  - that it has all the conventions of a horror. 

In my questionnaire i have tried to ask a wide range in the population of 16 to 18 years old, I have asked 6 people, 3 males and 3 females, those who enjoy horrors and those who don't.

The questionnaire consists of several questions that i can use effectively to create my opening, these questions are:

1. What do you like to watch in a horror?
2. What storyline do you like most in a horror?
3. What scares you most in a horror?
4. What would be your ideal opening to a horror and why?
5. What is your favourite horror film and why?

Props

As part of Research and Planning we have discussed what props will be needed to make our film, as mis-en-scene is one of the most important conventions of a film to make it have a a professional 'hollywood' appearance.
These are:

A doll - for the little girl to play with while on the swing.

A plane - for the boy to play with  in first shot of children.

Also we will use a torch and blue paper to convey the idea of a police car outside the mothers home, which will create suspense to the audience as it shows that something bad may have happened to the children.

Photos will be uploaded onto the blog to show the props and the props in use while we are filming.

Actors

Today we have confirmed the actors that we will be using in the opening of our film. This are:

Child (boy) - Louis Leaning
Child (boy) - Cameron Gibson
Child (girl) -  Phoebe Moulsher
Man - Colin Wright
Mother - Lyn Wright

We have told all actors that on Thursday 20th we will be filming, we have arranged a meeting point and time, so all are available so that filming will run smoothly and time will be used effectively.

Location Scouting

Picture 1.

Picture 2.

Picture 3.

Picture 4.

 

At the weekend i chose to go location scouting, i found a park in Great Dunmow. I have chosen to use this park because it has all the play equipment that i had drawn in my storyboard. Such as in my story board it starts with the little girl on the swing shown in picture 1, then i had also drawn in my story board that both roundabouts shown in picutres 3 and 4 would be moving without any assistance. This park has the equipment i need and in close proximity of each other making the filming easier and looking more professional.

Storyboard of my Opening Sequence.

Story Board 1.

 

Story board 2.

Story board 3.

Story board 4.

The overview of my opening sequence is two children are playing in a park when 'something' or someone is there too, after some distortion of the camera ,the children are missing and equipment is moving by itself. The mother of the children is then waiting for her to children to come home when there is a knock at her door and a blue flashing light can be seen through her door.

I decided after looking at the defintion of a horror film i made sure that in my story board there are conventions of a horror in my opening. Such as loosing your children, or your children being taken are one of a parents darkest fears. Also another convention is that you do not know who or what has being following the children again linking with thriller as it is playing with your own fears and in some ways sci-fi as you are not sure what or who has taken the children.

Also throughout the storyboard i have put in where the titles will be how and they will enter these may change or more may be added, i have tried to have titles in a creative way that is exciting for the audience to watch, like those films that i have researched like Nightmare in Elm Street.

Narrative of my Story.



The Horror Genre

As I had chosen Horror as the genre of my opening of a film, I decided to get a defintion of Horror to make sure that I am creating a film to the correct genre.

To find this information out i went onto:
http://filmsite.amctv.com/horrorfilms.html

This definition was given to me:
'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'

By this definition I now feel confident that the opening of my film is in the correct genre - horror.

Title Sequence of Nightmare on Elm Street.

0.08 - New Line Cinema.
0.18 - New Line Cinema, Media Home Entertainment Inc & Smart Egg Presents
0.37 - Robert Shaye production
0.59 - Wes Craven Film
1.08 - Main title of film - Nightmare on Elm Street.
1.21 - Actor
1.25 - Actor
1.29 - Actor
1.34 - Actor
1.38 - Actor
1.42 - Actor
1.55 - Actors
2.02 - Actor
2.07 - Casting Director
2.11 - Music by
2.15 - Co producer
2.20 - Executive producers
2.24 - Producer
2.30 - Written and Directed by


Today in class, we looked at a film which is the same genre of the film that i will be making, i chose to research Nightmare in Elm Street as this is a Horror film. By looking at this film i can now see how to make effective use of a titles in a horror and how i should use titles effectively and make my opening sequence interesting and artistic with the use of titles.

Nightmare in Elm Street.

Choosing my genre

In class we had a discussion about different genres and how each could be done. Then in our pairs we dicussed which genre we would pick, me and Chloe Morgan have chosen to do the genre Horror, we both had researched this genre and have clips of opening scenes on our blogs to help guide us when we produce our own opening.

I have picked the Horror film to see how blockbuster films have produced the opening sequences, and have picked three films: The shining, The Innocents, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I can now use this, if i chose horror to be my genre, to help produce my own opening sequence.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

The Innocents (1961)

The Shining (1980)