Key Elements

From my researching the key codes and conventions of the horror genre, I can decide what I will use in my film, to make it fit into my chosen genre as best as possible. By including these key elements, I know I will be successful in creating a film opening that intrigues my audience.

The first key element I will use is low key lighting. This is because I know it sets an eerie atmosphere, and the dark is known for being mysterious. It is harder for a character to protect themselves in the dark. This leads the audience to feel more worried about the character, creating a stronger bond between the viewer and character. I will use low key lighting when the character of Steve is walking home from work, as it will be the first scene in my opening, instantly creating a mysterious setting. It will also straight away tell the audience that the film is set in the evening. I will also use low key lighting when the character Maggie goes upstairs to find her daughter dead. The low key lighting here will make it harder for the audience to see what is happening, which makes sure they have to pay full attention to what is going on. Also, the low key lighting makes it harder for Maggie to protect herself against the potential violence that could take place.

Another key convention I will use is loud sound effects. When editing the film opening we will add non diegetic sounds effects such as the knife cutting, the door creaking and footsteps. This makes the viewer pay extra attention to the actions taking place. From my research I found out that traditional sounds used where creaking doors (to add suspense to what is the other side of the door) and footsteps (to make the viewer think about who’s walking and where they are walking to). Weapons are also a common prop used in horror movies, so by loudening the noise of a knife chopping food up, gives more attention to the knife, which the viewer will instantly associate with violence.

In my film opening I will use close up shots. Close-up’s are well known for showing the audience the character’s expressions, so they know how they are feeling. I will use close-up’s in my film to show Maggie’s emotionless reaction to her daughter’s death. This may lead the audience to wonder why she hasn’t reacted in what we would believe the normal way to be. Creating questions in their mind, and hooking them into the film. I will also use a close-up to show the dead daughter. This is because it will clearly show the rope around the daughter’s neck, showing the audience how she died. Showing the dead body will also scare the audience.

When the credits appear on my film opening, I will use a red ghostly font. This is because red is famously linked with horror, due to the association with blood. As our logo is red and black, I will stick to this colour theme, so it all ties in and looks professional. I will do this by duplicating the red text in a black colour and placing it behind it, which will also give a 3D effect. By using a ghostly font, it will show the film is of the horror genre and allow the credits to not look random.

Lastly, in my film opening I will include a selection of pan shots of the house in which the film is set. From my research I found out that many openings show where the film is set, so the audience feel like they know the setting well leading them to feel like they are in the film themselves, which makes them more vulnerable and easier to scare. I will include a pan of the living room and kitchen, when the dad has opened the door from walking home. I have chosen to do it then, as it will look as if the viewer has just walked through the door and is looking around the house themselves.

In conclusion, my previous research has helped me create my own list of key elements that I will use in my film opening, to ensure that it fits into my horror genre successfully.

Risk Assessment

This is my Risk Assessment. This allows me to know any potential problems and risks that we could encounter when shooting the film, allowing my group and I to make sure we are safe and responsible when shooting our opening. By being safe and cautious we can ensure we can put our full effort into the filming.

Shooting Tables

Here I have made a series of tables that will help me plan out my film opening. The tables included an equipment list, a crew list, a props list, locations lists and character list.

These tables will help me keep organised and let me know what I need to get ready before filming my opening. This means I will be completely ready when I begin to shoot my film opening, and will not forget everything.

Narrative Theories

Researching Institutions

I have researched a rang of film institutions to see what one I would use to produce, distribute and exhibit my film. An institution is an organisation or company, that produces and/or distributes media products.

From researching a variety of institutions, I am now able to decide who will produce and distribute my film. I believe all 5 of the institutions I looked at would be able to produce/distribute my film, however the institution I would choose is Lionsgate Gate. This is because I feel like they are a modern institution, who are already well respected within the film industry. I believe this is because of their success of understanding what their audience wants and being able to reach a large mass audience. They are also behind three of the most successful movie series (The Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games Triology and The Divergent Series). This shows they have a good relationship with their audience, as to make a collection of films they must all be equally as good and they obviously do this by knowing what their audience likes in films. They also focus in the British Horror Genre, which is the genre of my film. Their previous success will lead to a large advertising campaign, allowing my film to reach a mass audience.

Audience Research

In my group’s audience research, I was in charge of the film reviews. Hannah was in charge of the questionnaire and Maisie was in charge of the focus group. As I was in charge of the film reviews I decided to look at a variety of horror films from the distributer that I chose for my film, Lionsgate. From looking at these film reviews I can see what people of my target audience would like and not like to see, giving me the best chance to make a film opening that my audience would enjoy.

SAW

-Many of the reviews discussed the film to be ‘too gory’ and ‘too violent’. However, the main gist of the reviews was that if you are an avid horror fan, you will most probably enjoy the film due to its shocking twists and tense opening. This shows me that my opening needs to be tense, to draw the audience in. Many of the film watchers also mentioned how the film can be seen as ‘unrealistic due to the ceaseless violence and excessive gore’.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

-The overall consensus of reviews on My Bloody Valentine was negative. This was mainly due to the ‘lame and predictable’ storyline and the ‘easy plot to anticipate’. It was said to be ‘everything bad about slasher flicks’. However, some people did say that the visuals hooked them in ‘with the twists, turns and shocks’. They also praised the blood and gore part of the film. In my opinion these reviews show me that Lionsgate horror fans prefer traditional slasher/horror films instead of turning them into ‘flicks’ or comedies. Therefore in my opening I will not attempt to use any comedy and keep it as close to a traditional horror film that I can. 

THE DEVIL'S REJECTS

-From looking at these reviews I have learnt that most people who liked this film liked the development of the characters and the story line. They believe the film succeeded brilliantly at being 'sick, ruthless and grabbing you by the throat'. The audience also mentioned how the story line was unpredictable, which made the film exceed their expectations. Some reviews mentioned how the 'fast pace opening' instantly engaged them and they was 'hooked from the start'. However, some over film-goers said that there was a pointless amount of gore being used, and that characters where just being set up for a 'violent, miserable death'. The over main negative point was that they did not enjoy the 'attempted comedy'. Once again, I now know not to use any attempted comedy and to make sure my opening is fast pace and interesting.

From my audience research I have found out that my audience like traditional horror films. This shows me that I need to keep to the identifying traits of horror that I have previously researched. I have also learnt that my opening needs to be fast pace, so that the audience is immediately intrigued. 

Moodboard

This is my mood board which I created to give me inspiration for my film opening. 

I used various film posters, as usually a film poster will include an image of the scariest character/setting from the film, to not only scare the viewer but make them want to watch it. Knowing what the settings and characters look like in real life films helps me to picture what I want them to look like in my film opening.

I also used images of spooky settings, to give me ideas on how my film set should look. Most of the settings use dark lighting, and black and green colours.

I also included famous horror movie quotes. 

To create the title of my mood board I used different horror fonts, to give me inspiration for the font and colour of writing I will use in my film opening.