Message To Moderator

Dear Moderator,

This blog belongs to Sophie Louise Arnison and I worked alone. I was given a brief which asked me to create a 2 minute opening sequence for a Horror film, including titles and a soundtrack.

Use the tabs near the top of the blog to navigate through my coursework portfolio (Research, Planning, Construction and Evaluation)

This sequence took approximately 3 months to make. I hope that you enjoy viewing my film and looking through my blog.

Regards, Sophie Louise Arnison

Evaluation Presentation

Evaluation on Prezi

This is a presentation of the final evaluation of my project, containing answers to the 7 questions asked, images and videos.

Draft Evaluation Answers

Evaluation draft answers

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These are some draft answers for my final evaluation of my project. I answered 7 questions detailing certain elements of my project.

Prelim

This was the prelim that I completed at the start of the course in order to test editing and camerawork (match-on-action and 180 degree rule, for example). I achieved this by keeping to the 180 degree rule as well as including shot-reverse-shot during conversations between characters and I also achieved match on action by showing characters leaving one room and entering another through several different angles.

Final Cut

This is my final cut. In the end, I decided to add a camcorder effect to some of the scenes in the video in order to show things from a different point of view. The idea behind this was that the killer was filming some of the things he was doing which gave the film overall a more sick and twisted feel. After showing my film to an audience I received quite a lot of positive feedback; compared to the rough cut the audience responded better to my final cut because it was easier for them to follow (plot-wise). They said that the camcorder effect gave the film a creepier effect; one person said that the transition between real life and camcorder scenes made them jump. If I was to complete this task again I would definitely work on the fluidity of some of the shots and I would also try to make the camera less shaky and incorporate better lighting.

Animatic

This is an animatic - narrated by me - of my storyboards. This was created so that I could discuss my storyboards in greater depth.

Recce Shots

This is the living room where the sequence starts. It establishes the fact that what is happening is taking place in a house and shows everything from the point of view of the killer. It can also show that there is something very wrong with the house because everything is silent and it is quite dark.

The kitchen is where the majority of the shots take place. The kitchen fits the story quite well as it again, establishes the fact that what is happening is taking place in a regular house and adds an element of domesticity to the setting. However, the kitchen is also an eerie place as it is where the killer goes to clean his tools; one of these is a large knife which would often be found in a kitchen, adding to the relevance of the setting.

This is the landing. It is fairly simple looking and I used a tracking shot to follow the killers movements throughout the house. This allows us to see that the dead girl is definitely in a bedroom because we view the killer's journey throughout the house and into the bedroom.

This is the bedroom where the killer leaves the victim, we used low key lighting to represent the darkness of the room and left some items laid around (such as make up and paper) to give it a 'lived in' feel. This fits the character of the young girl.

This is the shirt that the killer wore. I used a black shirt to represent his 'evilness' and also to show anonymity. The black also acted as some camouflage for the killer against the dark places in the house which added to the suspense of the film, giving it a horror effect.

This is the shirt that the victim wore. I bought a normal white shirt and stained it with fake blood to give it a morbid effect and make it look like she had been massacred. I used a white shirt because the blood showed up the best against that colour, it also symbolises the innocence of the victim.

Feedback on Rough Cut

Feedback - Rough Cut

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This is feedback I received when my rough cut was viewed by an audience. It was important that I wrote this feedback down because it provided a lot of constructive criticism which eventually helped me to make improvements to my final cut.

Rough Cut

This is my rough cut, when I come to edit it properly I will include some jump cuts to give the sequence a more fragmented feel and show passages of time. I will also include titles showing the film company logo, the actor's names, the director and other crew's names and the film title itself. The scene in the bedroom will also have a CCTV effect (black and white with details of date and time in the bottom right corner).

Test Music for Opening Sequence

This is the test music for my opening sequence, which I used GarageBand to create.

Storyboard

These are my original storyboards that I drew in order to refer back to during the filming of my opening sequence. These proved to be useful because they showed me which angles to use as well as movements when I actually filmed my sequence.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting schedule

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This shooting schedule was made so that I could refer back to it when I needed to know which shots to use where, which lighting needed to be used and which actions needed to be taken by the actors in each particular scene.

Company Logo

This is the logo that I made for my film company. I used DaFont for the main text and Photoshop to apply filters and the word 'productions'.
I used a font that resembled cuttings from a magazine as a lot of the time in thriller and horror films, if there is a kidnapper or a murderer, they will leave notes in magazine and newspaper cuttings so that whoever is hunting them cannot match their handwriting to anything. I also used a filter that made the background appear like parchment to give it a written effect.
I chose the title of 'iScream' as it is a play on words - it sounds like ice cream but really it is 'I scream' which fits in with the horror genre as the audience would normally 'scream' in horror.

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment

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I created this risk assessment in order to outline any risks or possible accidents that may occur in the making of my opening sequence. This is useful because it allows me to review any dangers and help me to avoid them.

Treatment Sheet

Treatment sheet

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This is a treatment sheet to look at other films that inspired me and that also helped to define the horror/psychological/serial killer genre. It also allowed me to develop my ideas further by looking at other, similar films.

Call Sheet

Call Sheet

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This call sheet allowed me to make somewhat of a list of all the things I would need for my film (props, costumes and equipment) as well as who would be playing which roles and which settings would be used.

Titles Timeline

Title sequence resource

I completed this title sequence timeline in order to see how an opening sequence is arranged in a film; particularly when and where titles are placed and also the pacing of the film combined with the titles.

Primary Research

Primary research

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This is research that I collected to enable myself to see what was preferred by four random people in terms of horror films.

Pitch

Pitch for 'Trace'

Title sequence description

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Institution Research

Institution research

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I collected institution research in order to see how the horror movie genre compares with other genres in the film industry.

Statistics from:
http://www.the-numbers.com/

Audience Research

Audience research

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I collected this research from the official BBFC guidelines website in order to help me to determine what rating should be given to my opening sequence. In this research, I discuss these guidelines and also discuss which rating I have chosen and why.

Audience Profile

Simon is a 17 year old boy, the last horror film he watched was The Thing. He enjoys drawing and blogging online about his cat. His favourite horror film is Se7en and his favourite sub-genre of horror film is psychological and thriller films.

The Unborn - 9 frame

The Unborn 9 frame

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I chose to analyse The Unborn in this 9 frame because - like Silent Hill - it contains a lot of psychological elements, particularly when the girl is running alone.
This 9 frame basically discusses 9 shots from the film, discussing camera angles, mise en scene, sounds and editing and the effect that all of these things have on the movie itself and the audience.

History of Horror Films

History of Horror on Prezi

This is a Prezi showing the history of horror films. I used Wikipedia and my own personal knowledge as well as various DVD documentaries in order to collect the information for this presentation.

Analysis of Silent Hill

Analysis of Silent Hill

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This is an analysis of the titles of a film called 'Silent Hill'. I chose to analyse this sequence because it was quite dark and although Silent Hill is somewhat of a monster movie, it contains some elements of a psychological horror (this is usually shown through suspense, noises, soundtrack and shock tactics).

Initial Ideas

Initial ideas on Prezi

These are the initial ideas that I came up with for my opening sequence. I used this presentation in order to write down all my ideas and develop them further.

Title Sequence Resources

Useful resources when looking at the title sequence.

http://www.watchthetitles.com/

http://www.artofthetitle.com/

Horror Movie Concepts

Horror on Prezi

In this presentation I used my own personal insight in order to construct a presentation on the concepts of horror films as a genre. This presentation outlines common elements of horror films such as 'Characters', 'Settings' and so forth.

Deadlines & Blog Hub

http://hsfcg3212011.blogspot.com

Research & Planning (20 marks) | Friday 10th February 2012

Construction (60 marks)
Completion of filming | Wednesday 28th February 2012
Rough Cut | Friday 2nd March 2012
Final Cut | Friday 16th March 2012

Evaluation (20 marks) | Friday 20th April 2012

ALL deadlines must be adhered to. Failure to meet a deadline will result in referral to HoD and ST.