We came together as a group and decided on what roles we would take on to create our opening sequence. We decided that...
Luke would be the cinematographer- he is in charge of mise en scene, the look of the set - Lighting, set dressing, props and costuming.
Josh is the sound engineer because he does music tech and therefore is able to make the music for our sequence. This alos means he is in charge of unsuring that the dialogue is clear and recorded and foley work.
The director is James he will decide on how everything is filmed and how he wants the action to take place which will create the mood of the piece. He is also in charge of what shots are used and how the camera is moved.
I am the producer. I basically do all the organising. I am in charge of the budget and the overall planning. This includes casting, props buying, working out the locations and what shots need to be filmed there on the day, the transport and what, in reality, will work in the sequence.
Even though we have these defined roles we are all working together.
I have now done the storyboard (On the left) and the shot list so that Josh and Luke, two members of my group, can do the shooting script so that it is clear to whoever may be filming.
This is a list of points I am going to follow to create, with my group, a good opening sequence. 1) Decide on which sequence is going to be constructed in your group.
2)Begin to plan out the construction:
What locations are needed? (Think about distance and costs)
Who is required: What cast do you need?
Think about narrative elements-what story are you setting up?
Mise en scene-What mood/style/genre elements must be included
Then, start to storyboard out shots-How will they convey the right parts of the above points-How can they be used to create tension?
Our opening sequence.
We have chossen a idea called 'Angel Dust'.
We have named our production company, 'Awkward Turtle Pictures'
We thought it could be distrubuted by Magnolia Pictures and supported by Brain Damage Films. We thought it would be good to use two distrubuters to so that we would have more money to spend on the film itself and advertising but the down side to using two is that they may take a higher percentage of the profit which means our production company, Awkward Turtle Pictures, will get less money and will have less creative control in how the film is shot.
The locations we have chosen to film at are James Burkes room in Cornhill and the studio space. James's room will be where our killer will live and take his victims and the studio space will be where we will shot the clubs scenes.
As a group we have decided that this film will target a teenage and young adult audience because they are members of the public, which go to the cinema the most because they are more likely to have the dispossible money to do so. Also teenagers/young adults are featured in our film. For example we have decide to cast a young female actress as our main character. Her being a girl also appeals to a male audience and the killer is Josh, the creator of 'Angel Dust'. He was very keen to be involved in the drama.
In this opening sequence we are trying to make it known to the audience that there is a killer loose on the internet picking off innocent girls by pretending to be a gentle man and caring and interested but after spiking the the girls dirnk s with Angel Dust at his flat he would much rather see them kill themselves. We want to set this up in the opening sequence so that in the film itself the story will go slightly differently as the killer is out witted by one of the girls he takes.
Mise en scene that we will be requiring will be: 1) A knife
2) Fake blood
3) Glass/plastic glass
4) Flour and suger mixed
5) small plastic bag
6) Laptop
These will be used to add to the drama of the opening sequence and add to the mood and make whats happening on screen clear for the audience.
We now have to start drawing up a stroyboard to show how each shot will go into the next so that on shoot day everyone on the set will know whats going on.
A Horror film is the audiences own identification with fear of the narrative for example, Fear of someone or something in the dark. Fear of damage to the body. Fear of transgressed boundaries. But these things are enjoyed on screen because it is safe and from a vicarious distance.
Ideological
The IMPLICIT (hidden) or EXPLICIT (obvious) messages embedded with the narrative: Themes of Punishment, Rejection and/or Revulsion at subjects which deviate from ‘correct’ thinking. From simplistic or basic messages (the virgin ‘good’ girl surviving at the expense of her rebellious ‘slutty’ friend)… … to the more nuanced or subtle fears of Strangers/Hitchhikers breaking our boundaries…
Or the condemnation of any deviant (ie non-christian) religions…
Our perception that the Power of Science can defeat the darkness at the expense of older beliefs in Religion and Superstition…
In our modern understanding of Fear we rationalize the supernatural and defeat it with psychology rather than Latin chants. Modern media creates ‘demons’ by crusading against sections of society and labeling them… Are there really so many more pedophiles today than in the past? How many escaped mental patients have actually stalked and killed innocents? Industrial/Financial
Perhaps the most lucrative genre in film industry HORROR draws in huge audiences justifying the continual re-invention, re-making and franchising of every successful HORROR product… We wonder at whether there should be an Indiana Jones 4 or a Lethal Weapon 5 but no question is raised over the legitimacy of producing Saw 6 or re-making A Nightmare on Elm Street after 9 previous incarnations…
Definitions of ‘What is a Horror Film’ from other sources on the web…
· Wikipedia- Horror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness. Many horror movies also include a central villain. Early horror movies are largely based on classic literature of the gothic/horror genre, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. More recent horror films, in contrast, often draw inspiration from the insecurities of life after World War II, giving rise to the three distinct, but related, sub-genres: the horror-of-personality Psycho film, the horror-of-armageddon Invasion of the Body Snatchers film, and the horror-of-the-demonic The Exorcist film. The last sub-genre may be seen as a modernized transition from the earliest horror films, expanding on their emphasis on supernatural agents that bring horror to the world. [1] Horror films have been dismissed as violent, low budget B movies and exploitation films. Nonetheless, all the major studios and many respected directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, John Carpenter, William Friedkin, Richard Donner, and Francis Ford Coppola have made forays into the genre. Serious critics have analyzed horror films through the prisms of genre theory and the auteur theory. Some horror films incorporate elements of other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, mockumentary, black comedy, and thrillers.
Horror film history- Horror is an ancient art form. We have tried to terrify each other with tales which trigger the less logical parts of our imaginations for as long as we've told stories. From the ballads of the ancient world to modern urban myths, audiences willingly offer themselves up to sadistic storytellers to be scared witless, and they are happy to pay for the privilege. Theories abound as to why this is so; do we derive basic thrills from triggering the rush of adrenalin which fear brings, or do horror stories serve a wider moral purpose, reinforcing the rules and taboos of our society and showing the macabre fate of those who transgress?
Horror Film Pitch
Below is my powerpoint for my ideas for a Horror film. My ideas are based on horror movies i have seen, the definations of what a Horror film is, the ideology and what audiences want...
These genres can be mixed and matched to make up Rom-coms (Hybrids).
Genres are a way of categorising films. It is widely known that when an audience is looking for a film to see at the cinema or buy as a DVD they look at the genre they want first to decide whether they would like it. They choose a particular genre because the audience recognise conventions of a genre and expect certain 'events' to happen.
Here are some genre conventions and expectations:
Sci-fi: Robot race, Pod people, Alien race
Horror: Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Axe Murderer, Gore and ripping apart.
Actions: Red skins, Arab terrorist, Russian/european terrorist.
Iconography is used to help establish a genre for example:
Supernatural horror: Castles, remote locations, forests, wolves, mountains etc.
Iconography is the use of simple iconic images which are recognised by the audience as belonging to a particular genre.
A film has certain conventions that they follow. This structure is the one I used to structure my opening sequence for a horror film...
Establishing the mood/setting through music, mise en scene and some characterisation.
Then establishing basic story elements in equilibrium-normality. Some characters may be introduced and some element of the 'event' or story structure is laid out.
Iconography- recognisable visual sign posts which establish genre.
Even though we have these defined roles we are all working together.
We thought it could be distrubuted by Magnolia Pictures and supported by Brain Damage Films. We thought it would be good to use two distrubuters to so that we would have more money to spend on the film itself and advertising but the down side to using two is that they may take a higher percentage of the profit which means our production company, Awkward Turtle Pictures, will get less money and will have less creative control in how the film is shot.
