Evaluation

1. In What Way Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions Of Real Media Products?

In our film we decided to use horror conventions because of it being a horror genre. This uses them well; the title uses white text with a red blurred background, this is a typical convention of the horror genre and works well with the atmosphere of the film which ensures the audience recognise it as a horror film. The blur of the title used a colour which is associated with many impressions we wanted to make, red is a well known colour to suggest blood and danger. The music we decided to use in the background of our opening was creepy and eerie to give it more of an effect, this also was done so it could capture the interest of our audience and keep them keen to watch the film by using a known heavy-rock soundtrack from Asking Alexandria album. This type of music is normally found within horror films because it fits in with the genre. We also used Vampires in our story like because this is a main convention for horror films. Although our film uses the horror conventions well; we also challenge the conventions. A stereotype of a vampire is that they can not be out in sun light; and the are only awake in the dark. However in our film; at the end of the opening there is a capture of a young boy that takes place in the day-light. There is also a stereotype that religious places such as church's and cross' and holy water is lethal to a vampire; however again in this scene, it happens just outside a church which again breaks conventions. Also; in many films, Caucasian roles are the main roles used. However we decided to break this convention of race as it is the 21st century, so we used people of a mixed race and from different backgrounds. Protagonist's are normally a male, so this we also challenged by using a female to be the strong protagonist to make them appear to have more power.

2. How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

The majority target age of our film are teenager's of around 15 and above. However because our media product represents a range of different social, ethnicity and age groups and appeals to both sex's, the films is appropriate for no particular categories. To make sure our film doesn't penalise any religion we made sure the ethnicity's ranged.We rated our film a 15; this is because it is unsuitable for the younger audience due to violence and language that may be used throughout the film. This was decided through extra research in how the age certificates are categorised to certain films. Although the film is suitable to different social groups, i would aim it between the social categories of E up to C; this is because it would target a specific audience that would have the time to be able to go out and watch a film at the cinema. Higher status groups such as B and A wouldn't normally have time to go out to the cinema due to a busy lifestyle with their job and family; they would much more likely be in meeting and busy scheduled jobs. There is not a specific gender target with our film because it was made to suit both men and women however; women may favourites the film because the females are shown to be the dominant sex with the most power in our film. This however may not appeal to some men because they like the stereotype of a woman in distress with a man to the rescue with all the power. However; it may also have the opposite effect on some males because they may like to see a woman being in control of her self and strong.

3. What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Produce and Why?

The main media institution that appears in many successful horror movies are Hammer Horror Productions. This big production company was founded in 1934 and made the classic horror films such as Dracula, The Mummy and Frankenstein.These historical films set the conventions for the many of the horror films that are out today, and so i feel this company would be well suited to produce our media product. This productions logo appearing on the opening of a film instantly indicates to the audience that it is a horror film to those who are familiar with the production. This is why i feel that this production company may produce and distribute my media product. With the company distributing the film it would also make the film get marketed and published successfully because Hammer Production have had a lot of experience within the film industry and know who can promote the films well which may help encourage more viewers because this company had produced it. The horror genre used this main production as a guideline for the genre because it was the first big production company and the audience wasn't familiar with this type of film out in the cinema. New horror films choose to follow these conventions; or challenge them this is to give the horror films certain twists but they still manage to include the key elements to keep the genre as a horror. Our film is small, and independent and so i feel that this company would give the best support in the long run than other big companies such as Working Title.

4. Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

Although this product was not made for any specific gender, ethnicity, social class or age group; i feel that certain groups may dominate the audience ratings. One reason for this is because our main role is dominated by a female; so i feel that the film would be dominated by female audiences rather than male. However it doesn't penalise males from viewing the film because some eliments within the film would still associate with the males. The race's in the film are varied so there is no dominant ethnicity group within the film therefore; i believe that no ethnicity of the viewers would be dominated and therefore no religion is made better than another. The social class of the group would be a range from class E to class C; this is because the higher class wouldn't be so interested in this storyline of a film. Also there busy-scheduled life would restrict them of any time they may have to go and watch a film out at a cinema. The people in the class category E; would be most likely to go and view the film along with the other classes to C because they would have a lot of spare time on their hands and would have seen the advertisements for the film on the TV a lot more than those with a full time job; making them keen to watch the movie. After more research we decided to rate this film as a certificate of 15, this is because there doesn't appear to be enough of gore and violence within the film for it to justify to become an 18 certificate. The audience would range from around 15 up to around 55; this is because i don't think the older generation would have much interest in a young, upbeat version of a vampire film and would prefer to stop within the comfort of their own home rather than go to view it at the cinema.

5. How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience?

We attracted out audience for our film by using the conventions of a horror film; but by also breaking the conventions so it is different to many typical films. We used a Gothic approach to out film which helps build suspense throughout the opening for the audience. It constantly keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as they are unaware of the plot as to what is happening and may leave them a little confused until the rest of the story is shown throughout the film where all becomes clear. Due to this; it keeps the audience interested because they want to know what has happened and why the girls are acting the way they are. We also used some up-to-date songs within the opening so the young genre's will know of that song and when they next hear it would relate it to this film. This helps to promote our film because the audience would hear the track on the radio and then speak to their friends about it; this is known to happen in teenage groups where the conversation starts with 'Oh did you see that film that was released last week?' This helps the film to get recognised and recommended without much promotion through media and adverts. However; adverts on the radio and television would also attract the audience's attention along with billboards, magazines and promotions. There would be a day just before the preview of our film where the main characters are able to get publicised by a meet and great to the first 200 people that pre-ordered their ticket with certain cinema's. The film could also be released in a 3D version which would attract many other audiences because some people like the thrill of the effect you get from a 3D film.

6. What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?

The main thing we learnt through producing this product is that it is hard to work in a group when people have different music taste and ideas. Throughout this production our group had many disagreements and found it hard to 'meet in the middle' however; it worked out in the end. Another lesson learnt was that technology isn't reliable and anything can go wrong. This is because a day before our deadline the computer crashed and our unsaved work was lost; this shows that anything can happen and the work must be saved as often as possible to avoid this problem. We also learnt how to use the apple mac's and the software on there to create this product. This includes getting the editing and timing right throughout the film to create a seem less edit. The use of a camcorder and tape was also a new experience alongside with taking the footage off the tape and transferring it onto the computer. This helped out computer skills as well as practical skills such as knowing how long to run the tape before filming the main part of the scene so you don't have such a short piece of footage to work with to cut down and blend into the next clip. We also transferred a lot of data through memory sticks and by using our mobile phones in the USB ports, this type of media is simple at times but can be complicated if the information or file you are trying to save or transfer is corrupted. An example of this was trying to get the one sound track off the phone, the computer didn't pick up the phone as it was plugged into the USB port so we had to then bluetooth the track to a different phone to try and get it onto the computer for our production. We also gained skills in photoshop through trying to design our company logo; Pixie Clause Productions, this was a new skill for me because i had never used photoshop to blend and edit two pictures and a piece of text together.

7. Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?

In our preliminary task; we learnt how not to break the 180 degree rule. We also learnt that there was a rule and how it confuses the eye if and when it is broken. This is shown within a post on my blog with an example of how the eyes don't match up to the eye line and the characters appear to be on the same side when doing a shot-reverse-shot. This is something i didn't know about and was eager to learn. We also learnt how to match-on-action. It was shown to be not as easy as it looked on the films. This is because you needed to pause the tape in the right time and start at the same time and angle as the person is matching the action. An example of this is walking through the door; you would pause on the door handle and then have to enter the room and get the angle right to make the footage look as if more than one camera was used. This was a good task to learn and be able to use and know about in the future.

British Board of Film Classification

All classification decisions are based on the BBFC’s published and regularly updated Guidelines. The Guidelines are the product of extensive public consultation, research and the accumulated experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflect current views on film, DVD and video game regulation. In the most recent consultation over 8700 members of the public were asked for their views on classification – including consideration of issues such as language, discrimination, violence, sex and drugs in films, DVDs and video games, parental concerns about younger viewers and recent BBFC decisions. The Guidelines also take into account the various UK laws which the BBFC must consider and apply when making classification decisions. The Guidelines are updated every four years and the current version was published in June 2009.
Here is an image taken off the bbfc website to show how they rate the certificates for certain movies:

A 12A certificate means that you are able to go into the cinema under the age of 12 as long as you are accompanied by someone over the age of 18.
The films won't be able to show graphic scenes of sex or violence. But they are much more graphic than the PG and U-rated films. The British Broad of Film Classification (BBFC), will allow some nudity, but it will have to be brief and discreet. Also violence must not show much detail and must not have much emphasis on injuries or blood and swear-words must be rare and justified. Films such as, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Yes man.

No one younger than 15 years old is allowed to watch a 15 film.
Drug taking can be shown but it must not promote drug misuse. During a horror film, strong threat and menace are allowed unless they are sadistic or sexualised. They have to be careful that what they show doesn't get imitated e.g. Hanging or suicide. They aren't allowed to show it in alot of detail. They can also used strong language as long as it is justified. For example The uninvited, Good luck chuck and Love and other drugs.

No one under the age of 18 are allowed to was an 18 rated film. This is because the film could consist of extreme and detailed violence and illegal drug use which could cause harm to public health or morals. Also extreme horror would be under an 18 as it could cause people alot of phscological harm and could possibly scare children for life. For example In Bruges, Saw3 and Jackass 3D.

After consideration i would label our film as a 15; because it would contain some strong violence and language.

Filming

Production Schedule
We decided to film our production over three different days. This is because the final part of our production is filmed in the day time and the beginning of our opening is filmed in a night shot in the late evening. The first night we filmed we decided to film just the running scenes this is because it was the trickiest shots to get because it's mainly hand-held. That evening we found it wasn't great filming outdoors because the weather can be unpredictable; it started to rain and so the vampires couldn't be filmed because of how cold it got and their make up started to smudge and smear. The next night we filmed all the vampire shots and the final night shot of the moon and the group. This was shot a few weeks after the first date; so the moon was in an eclipse which matched our film title. The weather was also a lot dryer and a little warmer so filming the vampire shots was a lot easier because the characters wasn't to cold. The final date we shot the whole scene at the end of the film of the boy being taken by a vampire this is to give a hint on what the story may be about and to stop stereotypes of vampires attacking at night.

2nd February in Walsall Arboretum to film the night scene. All characters needed. 6.30 - 9.30
24th February in Walsall Arboretum to film the vampire scenes. All characters needed 6.30-8.30
17th March in Sutton to film the day-light scene. Only needed Louis and Pareece, 9.00 - 11.00

Storyboard

Role Allocation

These are the order of the title sequence that will appear on our film:

• Birmingham Metro Film Presents
• A Louis Williams Film
• Starring Pareece Farrell-Cope
• Samara Lawerence
  Doma Retribution: Eklipze
• Written By Sophie Spencer-Wright
• Camera Person: William Smith
• Music By Ricky Morton
• Produced By Dan Murphy
• Directed By Cassie Hudson

However; Even though these are the tittles that will appear on the start of our project; because there was three of us in a group we had to co-operate other friends into our titles because it appeared unprofessional to have the same names appearing over and over again. I carried out the camera work and sounds. Pareece produced the idea and directed as well as acting and Louis added the final editing and co-operated in the acting needed to finish the story idea off.

Casting

Victims
Samara Lawerence
Louis Williams

Vampire
Pareece Farrell-Cope
Sophie Spencer-Wright

Group
Will Busse
Jason Clarke

Props

• Tripod
• scruffy shoes
• pulled cardigan
• fangs
• blood

Make-Up

• white foundation
• liquid eye-liner
• pencil eyeliner (red)
• lip-stick

Costumes

Samara

• Pulled black cardigan
• Black strap top
• Jeans
• Scruffy Converse

Pareece

• Black Dress
• Ankle Boots
• Belt
• Fur Jacket

Sophie

• Black Corset
• Black Short Skirt
• Boots
• Furry Fleece

Louis

• Jeans
• Black Hat
• T-Shirt
• Jacket

Location

Walsall Arboreetum

Church in Sutton Coldfield

character ideas

Rom-Com

Major

Name: Raheem
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Appearance: Demin shirt, Chinos, Smart/Casual
Characteristics: Cool, Popular, Smart, Handsome
Accent: N/A
Main

Name: Will Martin
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Appearance: Jeans, Hoodie, Hat
Characteristics: Geek, Looser, Nobody, Failure
Accent: Scouse
Idea for a Rom-Com:

Raheem is a well known guy with all the girls around his high school. Will is a new student just moved down from Liverpool. Throughout the film Raheem and Will 'hit heads' over the popular girl of the school. Raheem; never being rejected has to cope with rejection for his first time as Will learns to win over the girls heart through acting his natural self.

Another Group Rom-Com Idea

Another idea that our group had for a romantic comedy would be a couple who have been together for around two years going through a rocky patch in their relationship. This involves a lot of arguing and people outside of the relationship getting involved which causes false rumours and accusations which concludes to the couple leaving the house instead of working on the relationship. One main rumour would be that the girlfriend is cheating and this drives the male insane with jealousy which results in him becoming an obsessive wreck towards her. Throughout the film; with her boyfriend saying sorry and asking to turn a new leaf; he proposes to her to which she agrees with happiness. However; during the arguments the girlfriend met another man and therefore ended up cheating on her boyfriend resulting her falling out of love with him and being head over heels for the new guy on scene. This causes problems where the marriage is concerned. The Couple try to make the most of what remains of their relationship by going out to romantic nights and classy restaurants and hotel rooms. After the proposal the female character trys to cut off the other guy and make it work with her fiance. On their wedding day however; the guy she was seeing shows up in her room declaring his undying love for her; she; again however turns him away determined to proceed with the wedding and make the past relationship work. But just before she is about to walk down the aisle she changes her mind and runs away with the other man and leaves the man she has spend two years of her life with alone at the alter crushed.

Thriller

Major

Name: Holly Smith
Age:18
Gender: Female
Appearance: Girly Dress, Heels, Make Up
Characteristics: Driven Crazy, Wanting Revenge
Accent: Cockney

Main

Name: Jack Morton
Age:20
Gender: Male
Appearance: Wanna-Be Cool, Stubble, Branded Clothes
Characteristics: Heartless, Self-Centred
Accent: Irish


Idea for Thriller:
Holly, a girl driven crazy by hurt and heartache seeks revenge on her playing boyfriend. She sets out to get her own back on him and plays her own little mind games with him to show him a little taste of his own medicine.

Another Thriller Group Idea

Another thriller idea between our group is about a man who is obsessed with the unknown (Religion and especially the after life). He works as a very important business man who is at the top.He is convinced that his rival is someone not to be trusted. He is cocky, mysterious and devious. He believes that his rival may know the answers he has seeked. So he starts plotting away to get payback and to know the answers. He eventually turns crazy and his hygiene deteriorates. Through out the story he follows him around for weeks to learn his routine and to get to know him a bit better than he already does. He kidnaps his wife and children and attempts to preform a ritual which would expose the demons within and show him the way. But it ends badly as he manages to kill them all in a violent rampage of anger as it doesn't work.His rival is next and he is more angrier than ever and has no room for mercy. He then makes him go through three painful tests if he succeeds he know the answer if he dies he was never the one.


Horror

Major

Name:Louis Williams
Age:16
Gender: Male
Appearance: Trendy
Characteristics:Normal grieving boyfriend


Main

Name: Pareece
Age:17
Gender: Female
Appearance: Vampire, Stylish
Characteristics: Power-Driven, Fast, Sarcastic
Accent: Birmingham



Idea for a Horror
The genre we have chosen to create my film is horror. We chose this because we were able to come up with a lot of great ideas for it and we expressed a lot of enthusiasm.

The plot to our story is, two female vampires are out for revenge as they are nearly completely extinct thanks to the human race 1000years ago. An eclipse is about to take place and it is the perfect time for then to take place there revenge.
But before they can start they have to recruit some unwilling human beings and turn them into another powerful supernatural creature, werewolf. They need as much power as they can get as the eclipse is only a week away.
The vampires see two perfect victims for there experiment. A couple who they stalk and then eventually manage to separate to capture the girl.
The girl seems to have managed to slip away and is a lonely a breath away from freedom, but the vampires are two fast and strong and manage to capture her.
Her boyfriend who she leaves behind turns to the church in broad daylight for some positive guidance and he believes she has been kidnapped and hoping she is not dead. But before he enters the church it is his turn to get taken.
A week later when the eclipse takes place, the vampires and there newly made werewolves go out to claim some new victims but this time for their thirst. there new victims are a group of young lads walking though a dark alley, but before they no it they are murdered.
The vampires aim is to create manic on the world and in the process create more vampires. So once and for all the humans don't forget who there supreme race.

Preliminary Exercise

180 Degree Rule
The 180 Degree Rule states that two characters in a scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If you don’t follow the 180 Degree Rule, or break it intentionally, it disrupts the scene disorients the audience. When you break the 180 line, a person who was originally facing left in a scene is all of the sudden facing right, leaving the audience confused questioning when they switched places.

When you shoot a scene with actors imagine a line extending out between them. You can move your camera anywhere along that line, as long as you don’t cross over the line to the other side.

This is shown in the diagram below.

audience research

I asked ten class mates to fill in a questionnaire to find out what different aspects people like and look for in different types of  genre films, the results are found below:

1.What is your favourite genre?
a) Thriller
b)Horror
c)Rom-Com

After asking ten people; it was found that Thriller was the most favoured genre with Horror and Rom-Com followed up joint second.

2.What is your favourite thriller?

Seven out of ten people said that Se7en was their favourite thriller followed up by shutter island and scream.

3.What kind of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds do you think a Rom-Com should have?

The majority of the participants said that happy, sweet incidental music is suitable for a Rom-Com.

4.What kind of antagonist do you prefer?
a)Psycho
b)General Serial-Killer
c)Monster
d)Normal Person
e)Terrorist

Half of the participants said that they preferred a Psycho, followed second by a General Serial Killer, followed by a Terrorist.

5.Do you prefer predictable films or a film with a twist?

All ten volunteers said they preferred films with a twist.

6.What do you think the best ending to a horror is?

The best ending that was stated many times is an unexpected one.

7.What type of non-diegetic sound do you think is suitable for a thriller opening?

All ten people decided creepy, edgy music is suitable for a thriller.

8.Do you prefer a live action opening or an image based opening?

Most people prefer a live action opening, only three chose a image based opening.

9.What colour titles should there be in the following genres?
a)Rom-Com
b)Thriller
c)Horror

The most common colours for each of these were:
a) White/Pink
b)Black/Purple/Blue/Red
c)Red

10.What type of editing do you prefer?
a)Choppy
b)Fade
c)Dissolve

Only two people liked choppy editing, the other eight equally liked fade and dissolve editing best.

After this research and other Internet research i have decided to chose horror as my genre choice.

The table below taken off the UK film council site shows how popular each genre is. I decided to choose horror as my genre because it's the seventh most popular genre out of them all and more popular than thriller and romance films. This table not only shows all the films but it also shows how many films of each genre were released.

After doing extra research; i found an outline of each film genre.
Horror:
These films are designed to frighten and get the viewers to invoke there hidden worst fears, this is normally done by shocking and terrifying them whilst captivating and entertaining them at the same time. Horror films have a wide range of styles. The earliest silent Nosferatu Classics to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. There are many sub-genres of horror, this includes slasher, teen terror, serial killers, Dracula and Frankenstein, etc.
The latest top ten Horrors are:

1. Apollo 18 (2011)
2. The Rite (2011)
3. Let Me In (2010)
4. Zombieland (2009)
5. The Resident (2011)
6. Red Riding Hood (2011)
7. I Spit On Your Grave (2010)
8. Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
9. Scream 4 (2011)
10. Piranha (2010)

Thriller:
These are normally hybrids with other films such as action-thrillers. It can even be mixed into a Rom-com, this genre is closely related to horror. The films are designed to thrill and leave the views in suspense. They are types of films known to promote intense excitement and a high level of anticipation and tension.
The top ten thrillers are:

1. I am number four (2011)
2. Unknown (2011)
3. The Next Three Days (2010)
4. Black Swan (2010)
5. 127 Hours (2010)
6. Drive Angry 3D (2011)
7. The Mechanic (2011)
8. Sanctum (2011)
9. Inception (2010)
10. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Romance/Comedy:
A romance is mainly a sub-genre. These are love stories or affairs to the heart that centre on passion, emotion and the affectionate involvement of the main characters that are usually the man and lady and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. These make the love story the main plot focus.
A Comedy however are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter by exaggerating the situations.
The top ten Romances are:

1. The Next Three Days (2010)
2. Just Go With It (2011)
3. Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)
4. No Strings Attached (2011)
5. The Tourist (2010)
6. Beastly (2011)
7. Love and Other Drugs (2010)
8. Morning Glory (2010)
9. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
10. Tangled (2010)

Christian Metz

In Metz's book; Language and Cinema 1974, Christian Metz explored the development of genre film and suggested that genres pass through four phases of existence.

The first phase is:

The Experimental; this is the phase of early films which explored and experimented with horror themes in it's narratives because they helped formalize the narrative conventions of the horror in it's earliest phase as in The Cabinet of Dr Claigari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922)

The next phase is:

The Classic; this is the phase of films which established the narrative conventions of the horror genre in it's most successful and defining period as in Hollywood films such as Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) made by Universal.

The next phase is:

The Parody; this is the phase of films that have mimicked the horror genre in some comical way as in Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein (1948) Carry on Screaming (1968) and Scary Movie (1998)

The final phase is:

Deconstruction; this is the phase of films which have taken the generic elements of the horror genre and amalgamated them into varying sub genres. For example:

Se7en (1995) would be combined with Psychological Thriller/ Horror

The Sixth Sense (1999); with Supernatural Thriller/ Horror

The Blair Witch Project (1998); with Documentary Film/ Horror

Scream (1996); with Teen Movie/ Horror

Here i sampled and identified horror genre films and used Metz's model of genre development in order to cement my understanding of the relevance of the horror genre in terms of it's experimental, classic origins and subsequent parody and deconstructive phases of development.

Rom-Com Mood Board

I took into account what is typically seen on a Rom-Com and created a mood board of what kind of ideas, plots and symbols are usually seen within a Rom-Com. I used the symbol of a proposal because an engagement or marriage is usually present within this film where a twist or problem is present. The screen shot from 'something about mary' is a funny image of how a first date normally goes wrong in the film. The image of a hotel room bed with coffee just underneath is because there's always a scene of either coffee or having to stop in a hotel room. The chocolates and rose are a symbol of love used in any love film. Hugh Grant is a famous actor always in many successful Rom-Com's. The image on the bottom of the beach is reflecting the typical 'foot-prints in the sand' romantic walk in the beach scenario; the kind of thing all girls wish for. Finally i used a shot of London and Paris because these are stereotypical romantic locations.

horror mood board

In this collage i used clips from films representing the horror genre. I used a screen grab from the strangers which is a stereotype of a horror; where the person appears behind the victim while they are on the phone, this helps to create tension with the viewers, I also used the DVD cover for it to show that the identity of the criminals is hidden which plays in with the title of the strangers. I also picked out some well known horror characters, this includes Freddy Kruger; who murdered children in there sleep in night mare on elm street, pin head; from the famous horror film; Hellraiser, and the bat/creature from Jeepers Creepers. In the bottom corner i used the clown 'IT' this is successful because of a phobia some people have of clowns, this helps create more of a fright throughout the film. I also used Michael Myres from Halloween and the clown from saw, who are both well known for the films they star in. The typical blood stained carpet and hand prints in the bathroom represent an idea of a horror film and i included ideas of other horror films such as hostel, decent, Candyman and 666 to help inspire me on my ideas for my horror story board.

thriller mood board

In this mood board i used screen shots on many successful thriller films that influenced my idea of a thriller. I used a shot from the ending of the Blair witch project because the ending gave the viewer their own ending; this is because the story played on their mind for them to imagine what is about to happen. I also used a shot from paranormal activity; this is because this film was successful to thrill viewers without actually showing what this thing may be that's creating all the activity. The symbol from the Blair witch i used also because a symbol that's not normal to people makes them remember what film it is from as soon as they see it; from the same film the shot of her looking into the hand-held camera shows how scared she is; this may help for the making of our opening of a film. The screen shot of the opening to Se7en i included because the opening was a clever was to start a thriller with just camera angles of images and books and extreme close-ups of hands. I then included the unborn and the collector and the wrong turn advertisement posters; this is to give an idea of what kind of things happen in thrillers.

rom com

Analysis and comparison to Love Actually and Bridget Jones

Love Actually
This opening is based on a scene in the airport made up of close ups and panning of people being re-united at the airports. The first past of this opening is based on a couple smiling and hugging, there is a right panning to these with the crowds still being around them but them two people being focused. They then kiss before the camera zooms out and back in to another two people where there is a close up of a mother and child being re-united before it pans to other people running and hugging with a mixture of close ups, over the shoulder views and all this is shown through a point for view shot. Everyone in this clip is happy, hugging, smiling and kissing. There are no credits used at all through this show. These cuts acted as a montage with a voice over with Hugh Grant. All in all this film gives a surreal impression of London involving middle class people.

Bridget Jones
This opening of Bridget Jones is also a scene with the main character; being Bridget Jones as the narrator. She is the lead protagonist of this film. The scene is a majority of middle class, Caucasian characters. There is a demographic freeze and dissolves from the family home to a small one bedroom'ed apartment. There is the diegetic music playing to understand what state of mind the character is in (being alone; so the song all by myself - Celine Dion match's her state of mind) this helps to fit her personality of a lonely young woman. Orange font is used to connect with her and to show what she is writing, an up-beat non-diegetic music is played when her boss walks in to show her desire for him. Bridget represents women of today. The Orange titles predominately appear on the left.

Similarities
They start as a sound bridge and both used proper love songs that are old retro tracks from around the 70/80s, these help because it's light, fluffy music that's ironic and targets the audience because the film is likely to be watched by adults that were around that period of time. They both also star Hugh Grant and Collin Hearth. In both Bridget Jones and Love Actually they play the same based character with the same appearance. Hugh Grant appears powerful in both these films. They are both Christmas based and show a 'picture postcard' of Great Britain, this is appealing for the American audience. The Britain's are shown as old fashioned, traditional with expensive houses and posh accents. They are also shown as being snobby but happy.

Halloween Starting

Horror

Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film set in the fictional suburban town of Haddonfield, Illinois, USA on Halloween. Halloween produced on a budget of $32,000 and grossed $47 million at the box office in the US equivalent to over $150 million as of 2008 becoming one of the most profitable independent films of all time. Many critics credit the film as the first in a long line of slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcocks pshyco(1960). The movie originated many cliches found. in low-budget horror films of the 1980s and 1990s. However, the film contains little graphic violence and gore.

Analysing the opening sequence to Halloween

The title of the film starts off with typical halloween colour, black and orange. This give the viewer a better understanding about the film, that it has actually go something to do with 'halloween'.
As the opening sequence continues, the writing changes colour to a red. This colour fits in with a Horror genre and relates to blood, chaos, death and warning.There is a black screens to set the scene and makes the text stand out a lot more than it would with any other colour. It also gives us an eery feeling and a clue that something bad may happen on the next scene. It starts with an extreme long shot, then slowly moves to an extreme close up of a pumpkin. There is a point of view shot used throughout the opening sequence, it is used so that you can see through the killers eyes and enter into his state of mind. Also because you don't get a clue who it is; what gender the killer is and what age he might be it is able to keep the viewer interested and surprise them as it is unexpected. When you are able to see who the killer actually is, it moves from a close up, to an extreme long shot, to an high angle shot. This is to show the innocents the child seems to portray but also the dangers the child actually is in. The non-diegetic sound is ominous, its very repetitive and extremely eery.

Children are singing which fits into the whole halloween aspect, but also makes more tension causing it to be a little uncomfortable for the viewer.The non-diegetic music changes when the killer enters the house and grabs the knife. It gets louder and goes to a higher pitch to let the viewer know that something is about to happen. Then when he eventually stabs the girl, the sound increases even more but slowly decreases in volume once the girl is dead.When you discover who the killer is, the music reacts to the shock the viewer must be experiencing. By getting louder and higher in pitch.

Thriller

Analasis of the opening sequence of Se7en directed by David Fincher (1995)

In the opening sequence of seven, there are 20 main frames used throughout the whole 2 minutes of the opening, just viewed in many different ways. Extreme close up shots and close up shots are dominant in this opening which creates an 'eerie' feeling towards the film. A lot of cuts, quick cuts and flashes are also used, this is to keep the viewer paying attention to the opening so they understand what they need to expect during the film. The first frame is of a book, with the pages flicking.

this is a close up of the top of the book. Whilst this image is shown there is text appearing in what looks like the text was 'scratched' into the frame. The first text to appear on-screen is 'New Line Cinema Persents'.

The next image that is shown is a sketch of hands, in the top right of this image appears 'A film by David Fincher' this shows the eeriness and maybe the mind of the person in the opening.

It is then cut to a close up of a razor blade, this gives the viewer an idea that the person involved may be violent or even professional in what they do. The screen then quick cuts to a black screen with 'Brad Pitt' appearing in the white text. A flash of an extreme close up of a razor and then cut back to black. An extreme close up is then used to show the razor blade being used to remove the person's finger prints.

This helps a criminal eventually loose there identity or reduce the risk of leaving fingerprints behind, because they have none. This then gives the viewer an idea that it is about a professional psycho-killer.

It cuts again back to black to show 'Morgan Freeman' before showing a close up of a tea bag slowly dying the clear water in a cup, during this frame there is then a flash of a black and white picture before showing the tea. The screen then goes black again to show the title of the film as 'Se7en' in the right hand side before it flashes bigger to the left hand side of the screen and then back to the right. This then dissolves into a view of all the books in the room, with the person reaching for a book, the title however is still present.

As the title disappears the frame flicks into a close up of the book the person got. The book is then shown open with a cut to the top of the book with the pages turning whilst showing an opening credit 'Gwyneth Paltrow'.

The person writing in the book is then shown in the next frame, first as normal, then as an off-focus, 'ghosted' frame.

It then flicks between different views of the writing and then onto a black and white picture in development liquid, this shows that the person may have experience in photography.

Another credit is then shown, 'R.Lee Ermey' in white upon a black background before showing a frame of the person cutting strips of film and then cutting edges off a Polaroid, this again gives the viewer an idea of the person being experienced in photography and development of old films.

It then shows another credit in white with a black

background, 'John C. McGirley' before flicking to an extreme close up of the person pulling off a piece of tape off the blade, by now the reader may have got an idea that this person may be the psycho in the film, or someone who is very obsessive with their work.

It then shows the person's dirty hands arranging the pictures and Polaroids in the 'scrap book' before flashing to a quick flick of a dollar and then to a black background where it shows 'Juke Arastog and Mark Boone Junior'.

A close up of the psycho sellotaping a Polaroid down is then shown before showing a drop of blood dropping on a page of the book before flicking back to the polaroid and then to a page turning with a shadow and a hand writing. This is a good way to give the reader and idea of how disturbed the psycho's mind may be, and to show the time passing as the person is putting so much effort into making this scrap book and researching or note taking.

The frame then shows a black background again whilst showing three credits, 'John Cassini, Reginald E. Cathey and Peter Crombie' spaced out on the page, while this frame is showing there are flicks and flashes quickly of some kind of codes such as c-24 in big white writing. After a few more flicks of different codes, the background then changes to a light brown colour with white text still, this time saying 'Hawthorne James, Michael Massee and Leland Orser'. It flicks again as if it was a damaged tape showing, and then focus' on an extreme close up of the psycho's hands smudging out a word in a text in a book.

The image then goes shadowed before cutting and fading to an extreme close up of the first image shown in the opening

with scratched in text over lapping the image before flashing into a black background with 'Richard Partnow, Richard Schniff and Pamala Tyson' while it flicks again to a code and back to the credits.

It then shows a reversed shot of the psycho crossing out the word 'intercourse' and then the image flicking to the top right word not being crossed out, so the psycho then crosses that word out; 'tansexual'. This is all over-lap and shows that the person isn't comfortable with that sort of language being used.

The frame then shows an image of a boy with the psycho crossing his eyes out with a marker pen whilst the credits are shown in the middle of the screen 'casting by Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Kerry and Smith Border'. It then flashes and shows the boys face being totally blacked out.

The background then pauses red before changing to an extreme close up of the writing.

The frame the splits into two which shows the developing of a picture in the red liquid on the top with a kind of reflection effect but on the bottom its the person writing. In the top right corner of this frame the credits are still in white saying 'music by Howard Shore'.

 

This image then dissolves into showing the psycho sorting out the scrap book and slipping pictures and films into the book, in the lower centre, the text flashes into focus, 'constumes designer by Michael Kaplan', the background then swiftly turns black with the image dissolved as the flicker of the screen happens, the text changes to 'Edited by Richard Francis - Bruce'. The frame then shows the same 'dirty' hands putting a spine into a book. This shows the viewers all the time and care that the person has put into hand making these books, this can give an opinion of the person being abnormal maybe or unique, just like the books would be. Whilst this is showing, the text 'Production Designed by Arthur Max' is shown.

The image then disappears to show a black background and then goes back to the image shown above, and then to the book with the pages turning, but upside down.

There is then an overlay of the red developing liquid that flashes to the pictures in the book and then the turning of the pages of the book, back to a view of the top of the book. This same image was used at the very start of the openings. Here the text says 'Director of Photography Darius Khondji', the background then goes black to show the text a little clearer. The frame then shows an extreme close up of the dirty fingers threading some thread through a needle.

This shot then flicks back to pages being turned of a book, in an overview and then back to the extreme close up shown above.The background then flicks grey, black and white sections before going completely black whilst showing 'Co-Producers Stephen Brown, Nana Greenwald and Sanford Panitch', flicks of the hand turning a page in the book and the top of the book whilst the page is turning are then shown before and an extreme close up of text is shown but not readable before it flicks back to the needle having the cotton threaded through before showing 'Co-Executive Producers Lynn Harris, Richard Saperstein'. There is a black and white picture in the top left hand side of the screen showing that's disappears as a shadow passes over it. The background then flickers a little before showing the dirty hands stitching the pages of the book together.

A flick of red happens during this and then a black background is shown with the text 'Executive Producers - Gianni Nunnari, Dan Kolsrud and Anne Kopelson. A flash of right panning of books is then shown before flicking back to thee black background and then back to the panning of the books, this is to keep the jumpy effect of the opening occurring. A quick cut of a picture in the developing ink is then flashed during this frame before showing the text 'Written by Andrew Kevin Walker' is shown over the panning books. The next frame shown gives the viewers an idea of how obsessive this person seems to be, even how proud they are to be doing what they are doing by keeping a little something off their victim. This frame shows the person sticking down a lock of hair on a page with pictures of children with their eyes blanked out. This makes the viewers think if the person was a child molester or a paedophile of if that child was that person.

A quick cut is then formed to show the turning of pages in the book whilst there is an over lap of the sewing of the pages with a flick of the title 'se7en' back to the threading of the needle and back to the image shown above before showing it was produced by Arnold Kapelson and Phyllis Carlyle on a faded black background as if it was a black piece of paper that had been exposed to sunlight for a long while on the corners, this gets an old, dirty and misty kind of feel towards this frame. There is then an extreme close up of the person cutting the word 'God' from out of an one dollar bill. This gives the impression that the person doesn't think that God should be associated with money maybe.

It then shows a right panning of all the books this person owns again, before quick cutting to a black background showing it was directed by David Fincher again, this is shown at the start and end of the opening because those are the two most important parts that are remembered in a list, a few images then are quickly flashed on the screen in black and white before cutting into the actual film start. During this whole opening the music in the background is eerie all the way through with a mixture of scratching, squeaking, creaking and 'scary' noises mixed in. The kind of unfamiliar noises that can be mistaken for anything is played all the way through the sound clip, neared the second quarter of the opening, the sounds get quicker with a lot more beat and impact involved. It then gets a bit more impacts involved with more beat later on in the opening with the sounds being constant and finishes with the lyrics 'You get me closer to god' from the song Closer by Nine Inch Nails, whilst the frame of the person cutting the word 'God' out of money is shown and then cuts into total silence. This is a good idea of music to go with the mixed up images used, it shows an old, mysterious, eerie feeling approaching during the opening.