Final Draft of my Horror Film Opening

YouTube Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B3YI6TVaMc

I had to link my final draft of my horror film onto Blogger through YouTube as i had problems with uploading my video as an avi file through Blogger's uploading process. 

Overall, i think that my final horror film opening is quite successful in conveying the horror genre. After doing the research and planning for the production of the film is was easier to film and edit the actual footage. I think that planning was the key to this task and makes it more successful.

Changes Made

• Sorted out the sound (removed the crackling)
• Held the titles for a longer time
• Added a "Photographed by.." title
• I decided to remove the static noise from the beginning of my horror film opening as it sounded too much like raw audio, which often causes crackling

Deadline

Final Deadline for AS Media Studies Coursework: Blog & Film:

29th March 2011

Results from Questionnaire: Graph

This graph shows what peopel would rate my film  out of 5, 1 for terrible and 5 for excellent.

Results from Questionnaire

Overall, 9 people filled out my questionnaires. 8 males and 1 female, all 9 were from year 12.

• 80% agreed the music did increase the tension of the horror film opening.
• 80% agreed the story wasn't easy to follow.
• 80% agreed there was a noticeable contrast between light and dark.
• 100% agreed that it was obvious that the film was a horror.
• 100% agreed the characters were appropriate to the horror genre.
• 100% agreed the title was appropriate for my horror film opening.
• 55% would watch the film to the end.
• Most agreed that the credits were placed very well but weren't on the screen long enough.
• All said to sort out the crackling noise at the beginning of the film.
• Some said to make the storyline easier to follow.
• A few said that the music should be changed.

Questionnaire

We were required to get feedback from people on how we could improve our film. Although my group edited seperately we came up with a questionnaire together. We came up with these questions :

1. Does the music increase the tension?
2. Is the story easy to follow?
3. Is the contrast noticeable between light and dark atmosphere?
4. Does the start of the film make it clear it is going to be a horror film?
5. What do you think about the way the credits have been placed?
6. What would you rate our film out of 5?
7. Were the characters appropriate to horror?
8. Is our title appropriate to our film?
9. Would you want to watch the end of our film?
10. What changes can we make?

We also asked if they are male or female and what year they are in at school to see if age or gender affects the opinion of someone.

First Draft Horror Film Opening

This is the first draft of my horror film opening, some of the sound at the beginning needs to be turned down as there is a crackling noise where i didn't do an audio check. The titles need to be made longer as they flash too quickly across the screen but other than that i'm extremely pleased with my horror film opening.

Editing: Different Stages

This screen shot shows the control of speed and duration of editing my horror film opening in Adobe Premier Pro. I was able to mess around with slow and fast motion to enhance parts of my film making them more effective to the audience. The only problem i found with changing the speed of certain shots was that the audio also increased, in pitch. The audio had to be deleted and music or sound effects placed over it, this however made the opening more effective as the music created tension and suspense.

This screen shot shows the levels for audio of my horror film opening in Adobe Premier Pro. I had to check the whole opening incase some of the sound/effects/music were turned up to high. If they were too high then the volume had to be decreased to prevent a crackling sound when the film was transferred to disk.

Target Audience

The target audience for my horror film opening is young people as this creates a stronger sense of vulnerability as the characters as also young. Therefore the audience can identify with the characters as well as relate to them on a more personal level. Anyone ethnic background can watch my film as it is not specifically targeted at any particular race. Personally, i feel that females would enjoy watching my film more as it's quite physcological and not too bloody which the typical male enjoys.

Visual Effects in my Horror Film Opening

In my horror film opening i chose to add some transitions onto my cuts to make them more interesting and visually appealing.

I added:

• Texturize
• Cross Dissolve
• Additive Dissolve

I used these transitions to juxtapose two shots together to create a certain confused tone throughout the opening. A state of being lost is created through the quick jumpy cuts. I have used clean cuts to show passages of time or a different part of the story.

I also added some video effects in my horror film opening.

I added:

• Ghosting

I added this effect after i slowed down a piece of footage in my horror film opening. Ghosting blurs the image slightly creating a slight motion blur. I really like this effect as it adds to the effect of the horror genre, i wanted to make so the audience couldn't see exactly what is going on but they have an idea.

Sound Effects for my Horror Film

The sound effects i chose to put on my horror film were:

• Noise for someone falling over
• Noise of footsteps
• Atmospheric Noise (static)
• Noise of a big thud/bang

I chose to add in sound effects to my opening as it creates a more dramatic surreal atmosphere. The sound effects enhance the sound in the film, and make the story flow easier.

Music for my Horror Film

For my horror film opening a browsed a couple of websites which i could find music on, all of this music is copyright free and could therefore be used in my film. The websites included:

mp3unsigned.com
freeplaymusic.com

I found this piece of music which i though unconventionally relates to horror, it's not the typical type of music found in a horror film but it would relate really well in my opening as i plan to do alot of slowing down. It is creepy as it reminds me of a child's toy where it is wound up to make music, also when the lyrics start they remind you of a lullaby, but a gothic one. It is called 'Care' by a band named 'She Lies', it is classed under the genre of 'experimental'.

http://www.mp3unsigned.com/She_Lies/70115/#Care

Or i found this one, which is a more typical horror film piece of music. A dark mood is created by mysterious strings and brooding synths. It's creepy and the music builds up slowly creating tension and a state of suspense. This is already a soundtrack which has been produced for movies and could therefore prove very effective. It is called 'Glassed Over' and is produced by Tilman Sillescu.

http://freeplaymusic.com/search/category_search.php?t=v&i=1898

Glassed Over (2:35) - Found on Soundtrack Suspense Vol 10

I looked further on the internet for some more interesting music to put with my horror film opening when i came across this website:

freesfx.co.uk

I found this piece of music that i really liked. It's called 'The Beginning of the End' and is under the genre 'horror'. It is classed as a sound effect as it is only 21 seconds long but if it was placed correctly in my opening it would prove an effective piece of music. It is jumpy and differsin sound volume as well as pace creating a slightly manic and panicky/paranoid atmosphere which hopefully the audience would be able to recognise.

My Title Sequence: Comparisons

In comparison to the title sequence of "Se7en" my title sequence has alot more actual footage. The visuals in "Se7en" are mainly photographs put together to make a montage like effect.

I did my titles similar to the ones in "Se7en" by flickering the names across the screen by layering the same title on top of each other in a random way to create movement when the title sequence is played.

Also, my title sequence is shorter that the one in "Se7en" as my whole opening credits had to be roughly 2 minutes long whereas the "Se7en" opening was over 2 minutes.

Photograph Editing: Title Sequence

This photograph is from my title sequence photographs, i decided to edit it to create different effects. I found this photo really interesting as the sun is hidden, it looks calm yet sinister at the same time. I thought that this photograph may be appropriate for my horror film opening as the sun is obviously setting signifying that the time is running out for the characters in my horror film.

The photograph here now has a red tint on top of it, almost like a red filter over the lens. I think it creates a stronger sense of horror as red connotes blood and danger, making the whole photograph seem alot more sinister.

In this photograph I changed the colour scheme to black and white, i think that this makes the photo look almost as if it is night. The sun looks more like the moon and it reminds me of a horror film that has werewolves in it.

I like this photograph as the contrast of light makes the photo appear really pure, almost as if the time has run out for the characters. Like they are 'running into the light' almost as if the characters are dead.

Title Sequence Planning

The credits in my horror film opening are:

"Nightmare in the Wilderness"

"Horror Productions Presents"

"Starring..."

"Helen Martin"

"Emily Elphick"

"Rowen Elliott"

"Directed & Produced by Lauren Guyver"

The font i decided to use was 'chiller'. I chose this font as it looks scary and suits the horror genre really well.

I used it in red and white, red connotes blood and i used the white when the writing is on a red background.

Size Fonts:

"Nightmares in the Wilderness" is 123.

"Horror Productions Presents" is 78.

"Starring..." is 99.8.

The times are 101.

The names are 88.

Timeline of Credits:

0-3 seconds- Logo
3-6 seconds- First Time Screen
20-23 seconds- Title of Film
23-26 seconds- Second Time Screen
27-35 seconds- "Horror Productions Presents"
36-38 seconds- "Starring..."
43-46 seconds- First Name
51-53 seconds- Second Name
58-61 seconds- Third Name
67-70 seconds- Fourth Name

I wanted my font to communicate a sense of horror that can automatically be related to the horror genre. The audience will recognise that they are watching a horror film opening. The credits will show the audience what the production company is called, the name of the film, who is in in it and who it is made by, all the important information is in the opening credits.

Unedited Film Footage

I chose to put the unedited film footage onto my blog as it would contrast with the edited footage i'll put on at a later date. This unedited footage needs a lot of editing and all the shots need moving around to create a storyline that makes sense. Effects and sound also need adding.

Original Storyboard

This is the storyboard that we produced as a group:

1) Characters running into the sunlight, showing contrast between the light and drak lighting within the following scenes, my idea (which includes editing) was to edit the beginning so the sunlight is maximised fully to the highlight the contrast it will go to. By the end of the scene the light will engulf the entire camera shot like a dream sequence or a flashback/flashforward.

2) Victims running across a bridge as if they are being chased.

3) Charcaters are forced to split up in the forest, long shot to establish the situation as well as the setting.

4) Mid shot of one character shouting the name of the other character, camera may do a tracking shot around the character as they shout?

5) Long shot at a high angle of the second character running, constantly looking behind her as if she's paranoid or as if something is following her. High angle shot- predator looking down on prey, sense of being stalked. Maybe shoot a couple shots with red filter?

6) Mid shot back to other character still calling the second character's name. Long pause, as second character screams.

7) Second character being dragged along the floor by the predator/follower, long shot. Editing here, ghosting/blur?

8) Cuts to contrasting scene- Two girls walking down a corridor. Light has completely changed. One girl is slightly paranoid, has flashbacks/flashforwards?

9) Girls go in a room and sit down.

10) One girl has a really worried look on her face, close up.

Rough Script: Scene Two

This is the script for my second scene, as with the first i wrote it roughly and quite basic as i wanted the actors to add their own input and adapt it to feel less false and rehearsed.

Altered Plotline

At the end of our film i was still unsure about what to end the opening of the horror film on. Our original idea was a small gathering or house party where the stalker turned up and scared the characters again. However i thought that this ending scene would not flow with the rest of the forest footage as a contrast will not have been created.

So instead i had an idea to create a calm scene where the characters are talking at school our at a house. And Helen is uncomfortable, like she remembers something weird or something horrific is about to happen. With this scene, it can be either placed at the end or at the beginning of the opening.

Production Filming Photographs: Day 2

These photographs show the set up of the camera and evidences that the tripod was used.

Here we were identifying places in which we could shoot a high angle shot. Unfortunately we couldn't climb the trees as all of the branches were too low. So in the end our high angle shot was filmed by standing on a log and holding the camera up.

These photographs were taken during and after Helen had been dragged in the mud at the end of the scene, we made sure that we did the scene properly to make it look authentic. But the ground was extremely wet and muddy so Helen got a bit dirty.

Production Filming Photographs: Day 1

On the day of our filming we took some photographs of our location. We had to wait for the sun to set as we started filming quite early and it was too light on the camera to be a horror film atmosphere.

It was extremely cold on our first day of filming which made it harder for Helen and Emily to act like their characters as they had to have wet ketchup and BBQ sauce thrown all over them, and they could not wear jackets or coats.

Helen and Emily dressed up as the horror victim characters in our opening.

These photographs show the set up of the camera and effective use of the tripod.

Research on Contrasting Movie Scenes

What Lies Beneath:

• Contrasting scene- driving on the road and then entering a creepy house.

Human Centipede:

• Contrasting scene- In a house and then being kipnapped.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre:

• Contrasting scene- On the road in a car and then in a creepy house.

My Film Production Company Logos

I made my own production company logos using Adobe Photoshop. I altered the writing each time to create different efffects. I chose a basically black image with a dominant picture that connotes the horror genre. I altered the contrast between the lighting in the image as well as changing the colours. I made the red darker so it stood out against the black and white. Even though the production companies i researched didn't have a dominant image as part as their logo. However, i decided i wanted to make my logo stand out. I made the writing stand out as i matched it with the colour of the blood giving the logo a connection.