Evaluation of our rough cut opening sequence

Changes to our opening sequence

Brainstorm of ideas: Opening Sequence

 We have considered a lot of ideas as there is a large range of ideas which come from the category "Horror". We were thinking of using an axe for a weapon and this reminded us of the scene from the film "The Shining" called "Here's Johnny!". This scene is an iconic scene of horror history as the victims can clearly see that Jack (Johnny) is clearly breaking the door down, but he says aggressively "Here's Johnny!" as he continues to hack through the door.

From the scene above, we have decided two main ideas. The first idea was a psychotic farmer who brings younger women back to his farmhouse, but if they don't declare their love for him, he will force them to stay and he will torture them. But when we film the opening sequence, the women (victim) is going to declare her love for him and then escape after she slashes his leg with a small knife. As the women quickly escapes the grasp of the killer, he begins to pull himself up and pull the axe with him. The woman is depserately trying to escape and then she falls on the floor and the farmer puts his foot on her chest and swings the axe down.

Our second idea was a psychopathic man who has a group of people who have gone into an "abandoned house" but they aren't fully aware of what's about to come along. In the task we could use short and quick clips to show movement and how each indicidual character gets picked off by the psychopath, and then when it gets to the final person, you can see the full view of the psychopath holding the axe. As the last character of the sequence moved back, this gives the psychopath enough room to swing the axe and then the title opening comes up when the axe is about to hit her.

We thought that these two ideas would be effective as they both have a similar conecpt to The Shining and they use the correct props that would frighten the audience. An axe is also seen as a tension building weapon, because it normally swings down slowly and aggressively, making the audience sit on the edge of their seat and witness a brutal murder.

Sorting out our Media clips

I found it difficult to actually find the correct video clips to finally edit my opening sequence. Harry told me that it would be more simple to rename the correct files to a number or letter which is easier to recognise. This was effective as I could quickly get all of the files used for the opening sequence and write about wat the problems and difficulties were for the rough cuts.

This was an easier method to make sure that I had the correct clips for my opening sequence. I named each file "1" and then it had numbers is brackets afterwards. (E.g."1"(2)) I have also transfered the clips into my own file so that I can access them easily.

Silentium Completed (Practising editing)

This is our final cut opening sequence without the production companies. When we were recording the opening sequence, we have some difficulty with making the shot correct and more frightening for the audience, so there are a few rough cuts and they will be uploaded and I will explain what the main problems were about these. Overall the camera shots were quite effective and we supplied the audience with a clear [erspective of what genre the opening sequence was.

Example logo's

I have looked at and created different logo's that we feel will fit well with our horror genre film. We have narrowed it down to three different logo's which are on this blog post (Below). The one to the left is efecive as the feathers around the "F" in the middle resemble blades and we will be using an axe as our murder weapon for the film.

 

 

 

This logo would be effective because it shows a heart rate and this can suggest how the audience feel when the tension of the opening sequence is rising. The name first blood productions can link into the heart rate as it makes you think about a heart rate on a horror film when the character dies in the hospital bed and the heart monitor shows a straight line.

 

 

 

This particular logo would be effective for the title opening sequence as the hand resembles a person struggling to escape from a villain or some kind of danger. If the victim is caught, it would normally result in violence or death and this can be linked to the title that we have chosen which is "First Blood Productions".

Production company research - Twisted Pictures

Twisted Pictures:

American independent production company, mainly creating films of the horror genre. The company was founded by Mark Burg, Oren Koules and Gregg Hoffman. These were all famous directors who based their films around blood and gore. They are best known for producing the Saw films. The Saw films are known for the frightening and unqiue traps of torture and violence, and in order to escape these traps, they create more scenes of violence, so there is a constant flow of tension in the audience.




Twisted pictures then continued to create six Saw movies, one which was in 3D. The audience are interested in this kind of film as they feel like they are in the action and once they have finished watching the film, there is a sigh of relief as it's all over ad they're still alive. The audiece also like to release their feelings when watching a film, whether it's laughing, screaming or jumping.

Documentaries which give an insight in Horror

Research into typical synopsis

Former teacher and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) interviews for a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel in an effort to rebuild his life after his volatile temper lost him a teaching position. The hotel manager, Mr. Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson), warns Jack that he and his family will be snowbound through most of the winter and of the potential for cabin fever. He drives the point home by recounting a season when the caretaker, Charles Grady, went crazy and brutally killed his wife, his two girls (Lisa Burns and Louise Burns) aged eight and ten, and finally himself. Given his own desperation and the opportunity to pursue his true passion, writing, Jack acknowledges the warning, but accepts the job.

This synopsis of the beginning of "The Shining" gives a description of the location an why the killer in this film (Jack) is the character he has become. It says that he was a recovering alcoholic and he has accepted the job, unaware of how frightening the consequences of taking the job were.

Meanwhile, Jack has chopped his way through the front door and saying "Wendy, I'm home! Danny... Daddy's home!" Jack then knocks politely on the bathroom door. Wendy holds the knife and tries to steady herself as Jack begins chopping down the bathroom door. After chopping away one of the panels, he sticks his head through (in what was to become an iconic moment in horror film history) and screams,"Heeeere's JOHNNY!" Jack sticks his hand through the gap to turn the lock. Wendy slashes at him with a knife, landing a blow to the hand and sending Jack recoiling in pain. Jack continues to chop away at the door until they both hear the low rumble of an approaching snow cat engine. He stalks out.

This is one of the most iconic scenes of horror history, when Jack pokes his head through the door and says "HERE'S JOHNNY!". This was effective as he has a very unique voice which is seen as terrifying to the audience, and as he is breaking down the door with an axe, this builds up the tension as he is getting closer and closer to the victim.

The Brief: Preliminary task

Preliminary exercise:

Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task:

The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.

We have decided to make a preliminary task based around a clash of personalities, where one character has commited a murder, but his conscience is trying to make him face reality. The character keeps telling himself that it's not his fault and that everything will be fine, but his conscience is pushing him over the edge. It will start off with the character walking into the room and there will be his conscience sitting on the chair opposite the table. When the character sits down his conscience starts to speak to him, reminding him of what he has done, but he won't accept it and sarts to shout at him, but as the camera zooms out and he is the only one sitting there, he was imagining everything.

Costume Analysis: Woman

 This is what the woman is going to be wearing when she is at the farmhouse. She will have to be seen as a normal character who isn't seen as unusual. As she is the victim, we don't want the audience to be frightened by the victim, we want them to be terrified of the villain because of his distinct features and his traumatising actions. The character is from a upper class background and she is taken while she is walking home from her workplace. The colour of red represents blood and black normally represents death.








These are the shoes that our female character will be wearing as they are casual and they don't stand out too much. This will make the scene more tension building because the female character will find it difficult to run/escape from the hands of the villain. The character finally falls a the end of the opening sequence and the axe swings down.




We will be using casual jeans for the opening sequence as she has got to look like an innocent young woman who has no understanding of what is going on around her. She is going to look casual so tat the killer stands out a lot more. These jeans could suggest that she is a very organised person.

 

Costume Analysis: Killer

 We are planning to use a sack as a mask as it is unusual and hides the killer's identity more effectively. This type of mask is effective  because you would normally see a sack which would carry certain vegetables or items, and in this case, the killer could be carrying the limbs of the victim or just to traumatise the victim. A character would be traumatised by the villain with the sack mask because it's very uncommon to see someone who looks like this in everyday life.


We are going to use ripped jeans as it looks like he might have been in a recent brawl or battle which has resulted in his jeans being damaged. We see jeans in every day life, even ripped jeans, but if they are bloodstained and a lot dirtier than usual, this might scare the audience. The sight of blood frightens the audience in man ways, whether they have a phobia of blood or they know that it's normally there because they have hurt themselves, or maybe someone has hurt them.




These shoes are ones which would be seen in a workplace or an open area like a field or a farm. The villain will be wearing boots because it shows tha he is working on something, but not anything particular. This could create the thought of the villain classing murdering and torturing as a part of his "work".

Iconography: Horror

Certificate BBFC Ratings (Continued)

 This is a certificate for a film which is for the ages of 18 and over. This film consists of very strong violence, frequent strong language such as words like "fuck" and/or very strong language. This also has strong portrayals of sexual activity and scenes of sexual violence. If the genre is horror, the film will have strong horror including strong blood and gore
and real sex (in some circumstances). It can aslo include discriminatory language and behaviour.



 Films which are rated R18 are sex works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation and which are only allowed to be shown in specially licensed cinemas, or sold in licensed sex shops. They can only been sold to people over the age of 18.

Preliminary Task: Storyboard

Certificate BBFC Ratings

 The U symbol stands for Universal. Each individual film which is rated a U is for the ages of four and above. This film will consists of very mild language ("Bugger" or "Damn") and there will be very mild sexual activity, which would be the characters cuddling and kissing and maybe a reference to sexual activity such as "Making love". There is no horror in a U rated film, there will most likely be a sense of danger which migh cause emotional stress but then the characters will be saved and then this will re assure the audience.


The PG symbol sands for Parental guidance. This is for ages of 8 and above. There will be mild language in a PG rate film such as "shit" and "son of a bitch" but only in context to the conversation. There might be references to sex which lack in detail when spoken about. There might also be a comedy side to lessen the impact of a sexual reference. A PG film might include a jump scare an a minimal amount of blood, but not too realistic as this can cause stress in the audience. If there is a drug reference, there will be a clear message that drugs are bad and an educational message to stay away from them.

 There may be strong language in this film, words such as "fuck" are only appropriate in context of the conversation, if the character was using the phrase aggressively, it would be rated a 15. Sexual references are mild and there might be sexual nudity in a 12 or 12A film, but very brief ad discreet. Comedy may lessen the impact of some sexual references. Moderate violence is accepted and weapons might be present. Some horror films are passed in tis category. Dangerous behaviour might be present.

No one is allowed to watch a film under the age of 15 on a 15 certificate film. There is strong violence, a frequent use of strong language such as wods like "fuck". There might be portrayals of sexual activity and strong verbal references to sex. There might be a use of sexual nudity and some scenes of brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence. There could be a use of discriminatory language or behaviour
and drug taking is allowed.

Iconic Horror Directors

http://thescriptlab.com/features/the-lists/713-top-13-masters-of-horror?showall=&start=12


On this website, it explains each individual horror director which is well known and famous for the films that they produced, with a description of what films they directed.

This website is effective as it also describes each film briefly and how popular it was at the time of when it was released.

History of horror

A brief history of Horror:

This video gives a brief description of past horror films, the directors of the films and how effective they are in a sense, giving some examples. He analsyes the most popular horrors of the time from the early 20th century up to the early 21st century, The early 20th century was known as the "Silent Era" and he described the famous directors who produced these films at this time.




http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-horror/

Storyboard: Silentium