Editing the Opening Credits

We started by getting the best quality Paramount credit we could find on youtube. We then uploaded this to windows movie maker to edit it.

We then lowered the volume of the original track to enable us to add our own music to it. We downloaded a track off of a ringtone website to add onto this. We chose to use a scary track in a minor key to help to build tension and suspense. We also chose this because it is unnerving and foreshadows the theme of horror in our film.

We then trimmed the track so it fitted in time with the Paramount clip. We also added a fade out at the end of the clip to make it end smoothly.

Shooting Schedule

Script

Script from carris7

This is the script for our opening sequence, however it is likely that we will adapt it and make changes to it whilst filming.

Brief Synopsis of Our Film

Our film begins with our victim, Lucy, in the bath. She's calm and relaxed until suddenly, she hears a noise. She thinks it's her boyfriend, Jake, messing around. She calls his name and tells him to stop trying to scare her. But then, to her surprise, it's Danny. Danny was her friend from her childhood, he had a bad life- his father left him when he was born and his mother blamed him for her husband leaving so abused him for years. Danny got into a lot of trouble as he got older and ended up in juvenile prison. Lucy wasn't allowed to visit him as her parents said she was too young so when the only person who he thought actually cared about him didn't visit him, it triggered off something in his brain which made him mental. He then spent some time in a mental hospital but escaped. Now he wants revenge on everyone who ever mistreated him, and Lucy is first on his list. He goes round to her house and sneaks in. When Lucy finds out that it's Danny, she realises somethings not right. She calls out his name, repeatedly but he doesn't seem to acknowledge her voice. He seems almost like, possesed as he approaches her. He's angry at her for leaving him and he wants revenge. He ignores her calling out his name and then, he stabs her. This is just the start of his revenge mission and, as the film progresses, he continues to punish everyone who has ever mistreated him.

Final Location Shots

We changed the location of the house to here instead. We are still using the same locations in the house, due to the same reasons as before.

This is the front of the house. We'll begin our film with an establishing shot of this.

This is the side of the house. In our opening scene, the villain, Danny, will enter Lucy's house via the back door.

Danny will enter the house via this door and then continue to walk through the house.

As Danny is walking through the house, we were thinking of having it done like a point of view shot to make the audience feel like they're actually walking through the house and thus, creating tension and keeping the viewer on edge.

We thought of continuing to have point of view shots whilst Danny is walking up the stairs, maybe with an occasional close up of his feet going up the stairs.

This is a shot of the bathroom, in which most of the action will be happening.  Yellow is commonly associated with happiness and relaxation so the yellow walls will give you that impression but the action in the film will contradict against that.

This is a close up of the bath, in which Lucy will be in at the start of our film.

Prop List

This is a list of props that we were considering using for our opening sequence to our horror film:

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Photo frame (with a picture of Lucy and Jake)
• Bubble bath
• Radio
• Knife or other weapon

Shampoo and conditioner: we were thinking of having shampoo and conditioner featured in our horror film as our film begins with our victim, Lucy, in the bath and these are typical items to be found in the bathroom.

Photo frame: we were thinking of having a photo frame with a picture of our victim, Lucy, and her boyfriend Jake downstairs in the house. We thought of maybe having our villain, Danny, seeing this as he comes through the house and getting annoyed as he feels like she's replaced him.

Bubble bath: we were thinking of using bubble bath in our opening sequence as it'll create a calm, peaceful and relaxed atmosphere and give Lucy a false sense of security, due to what is about to occur in the film. 

Radio: we were thinking of having a radio playing in our opening sequence, with a cheerful, uplifting song playing to put Lucy in a good, happy mood and it will also make her less aware that someone is in her house.

Knife: we were thinking of using a knife, or other weapon in our film as Danny is angry and has gone to Lucy's house to punish her for mistreating him when they were younger. As it would be hard to show someone stabbing someone in our opening sequence and still manage to make it look realistic enough, we were thinking of possibly using another weapon or filming it in a way that you don't actually see the violence happen.

Costume Ideas

We were thinking that our victim, Danny, could wear something like this; black jeans, black jumper and black combat boots. He would be dressed fully in black to not only reflect his dark childhood but also to show that he is a bad/evil character. Black is a stereotypical colour for villains to wear as it is often seen as a symbol of menace or evil, but is also used as an indicator of power, so using black clothing will show that Danny is both powerful and evil. Black clothing is commonly seen in a negative or mysterious way so the audience will instantly be drawn to this character and know that he's up to no good. They will want to know more about this character and want to know what he's up to so they will be kept in suspense waiting to see what is going to happen. It's also a colour that may be associated with death, so in a way, Danny's clothes foreshadow the pain and suffering that he will inflict on people throughout the film.

We thought that our victim, Lucy, could be wearing a pink dressing gown as she is just about to get in the bath. She'd be wearing pink as it's a contrast from the dark clothes that Danny will be wearing and it shows innocence, as opposed to Danny's clothes which show evil. The colour pink is named after flowers, called pinks, so it could be used to show innocence and purity. The dressing gown would be pale pink, as opposed to darker pink as pale pink is a lot more girly and sweet than deep pink.

Location Ideas

We want to film the opening scene to our horror film inside a house. We'll begin our film with an establishing shot of the house to show the location of our film and to set the scene of it. We want to film it inside a regular, quite new looking house as opposed to an abandoned, scary looking house to not only make the viewer relate to it more, but to also give the viewer a false sense of security. We want to film it inside the house, from the villains perspective (using a point of view shot), to make the viewer feel like they're actually walking through the house to create tension and to keep the viewer on edge. We'll film part of it in the bathroom as it'll create a relaxed, calm atmosphere and it'll make the victim seem more unaware of what is going to happen to her.

These are some pictures that we took at the location in which we're going to film our opening scene to our horror film:

This is a shot of the street to show the whereabouts of the house where we are going to film our opening scene.

This is an establishing shot of the house. We're going to use an establishing shot at the start of our opening sequence to set the scene.

This is a shot up the stairs as during our horror film, the villain, will be walking up these stairs towards the victim. 

This is a shot of the bathroom. The victim will be in here during our opening sequence.

And finally, this is a shot of the bath. The victim will be in here for the opening scene as baths are commonly associated with being an environment in which you can relax. We thought that by having our victim in the bath, it'll create a kind of safety blanket and make the viewer feel like the victim will be safe, but in reality, she won't.

Characters

Storyboarding

This is a picture of our group planning our storyboard for our opening sequence to our horror film.

Final Logo Design

We decided on this as our logo because we think it fits well with the theme of horror. We decided on this font as it looks somewhat unnerving as the letters aren't always consistent in size and they're faded slightly, also, it's bold and easy to read. The red of the hand print contrasts nicely with the black of the font, thus enabling it to stand out well whilst still being able to read the font clearly. The red of the hand print looks like realistic blood, whereas some of the other ideas we tried out looked somewhat fake. Red is commonly used in horror films as it is associated with not only blood, but also danger. Having this as our logo shows that our film company would specialise in horror films, like twisted pictures do, as it wouldn't be appropriate to use on children's films as it may scare them.

Logo Ideas

Originally, we were going to call our film company 'Freakish Zone'. We then however, decided against this and decided to call it 'Freak Zone Media'. We tried out some different font styles in order to decide which one to have for our logo.

We decided to use 'VTKS CHOICE' as our font. We then went on to try out different ideas of what to have, other than the font, on our logo. We tried out quite a few ideas, keeping with the theme of horror.

Storyline Ideas

These are our initial ideas for our horror film.

We have decided that we want to film the opening scene to our horror film inside a house. We want to film it inside a regular, nice looking house as opposed to a haunted, scary looking house. We decided to do this to not only make the audience relate to the film more, but to also to give a false sense of security. We thought of having the main character of our opening sequence, the victim, to be a girl who lives on her own. We were thinking that she should be quite young, about 20, to make her seem more vulnerable. We were thinking of beginning our film with the woman in the bath as this will create a relaxed atmosphere and therefore, also making her become more vulnerable. Our main character throughout the film, the villain, will be male. He will somehow be linked to the victim somehow because of their pasts; for example, she was the one who got him put in jail or something. We thought about having our villain wearing a balaclava as this is one of the standard conventions of horror films but then we decided against this idea as because they know each other from their pasts, it will be more scary this way as the girl will recognise him and realise that he wants revenge. We thought about maybe having police mugshots at the start of our film as it'll make it seem more mysterious as the audience will instantly wonder why they're in prison and what they did to be put in prison. We thought one of the mugshots could maybe be of an important character in our film, such as our villain. Also, by having police mugshots we thought it would draw the audiences attention in as they will want to find out more about their pasts.

Questionnaire

Typical Locations of Horror Films

Film Institutions

What is suspense?

Suspense is the feeling of anxiety or uncertainty about the outcome of actions in which they do not know what may happen. In the media industry, film writers and directors use suspense to provoke emotion and fear amongst the audience. Alfred Hitchcock (film director) says that an audience experiences suspense when they expect something bad to happen, yet are powerless to intervene to prevent it from happening. A stereotypical scene in a horror film that is suspenseful typically has an eerie, slow-building soundtrack which increases in both volume and intensity as it progresses. It also tends to have scary elements such as darkness and shadows to create feelings of vulnerability and that they are being watched.

Camera Angles

3 Shot Types

180 degree rule:
This is where the two people in a scene always maintain the same left and right relationship to one another. This is done to prevent the audience getting confused or disorientated. This image shows an imaginary line between the two people. If the camera crosses the line, the characters will be seen on opposite sides of the shot than before, thus breaking the 180 degree rule.

Shot reverse shot:
This is where the camera will switch between two characters, showing that they are facing each other, and that they are each responding to action. The 180 degree rule must also be followed to ensure a realistic shot. This is often used when two characters are engaging in conversation.

Match on action:
This is where the camera follows the steps, movements, and actions that the character makes, and then cuts it from one action to the next through a different camera angle. Whilst doing this, they need to make sure that continuity is still intact within the scene.

The Happening

1. The first shot of The Happening is the production companies and their logos. First we see 20th Century Fox, followed by UTV and finally Spyglass. The transition between these is a fade to black.

2. The second shot we see is the titles and credits on a background of clouds. The clouds appear in an unnatural way and look as if they are being played in reverse. The sky and the clouds both darken as the titles go along, as if it's foreshadowing what will later happen in the film. The sky at the start of this is blue and the clouds are white which makes the audience feel calm and relaxed. Gradually, the clouds and the sky darken and the clouds move by faster and in a more chaotic fashion which captivates the audiences attention as it helps to build tension. It also makes the audience feel uncomfortable. The titles appear in capital letters and in white writing which gives off a sad, but mysterious effect. The music at the start of this clip sounds like a wind noise which matches with the sky and as the sky and clouds get darker, the wind turns into what seems to be a low, screeching sound. The piano then comes in, in a minor tone which makes the audience feel uncomfortable. String instruments then come in after the film title appears. 

3. The third shot is a wide shot, looking up at the trees. There's the sound of leaves rustling which is parallel to this clip as the trees are blowing in the wind.  The sky is pale and mysterious whereas the trees are dark so there's a contrast in the colours. This shot is only displayed for a few seconds so the viewer may initially not think anything of it but it foresees what later happens in the film.

4. The next shot is of a man walking his dog in Central Park. A tracking shot is used to follow the dog as it walks along. The main focus of the camera is the dog, not the owner. The sound in this shot is the wind and leaves rustling like in the title sequence except it is a lot quieter in this shot.

5. This shot is an establishing shot of Central Park. It is shot from just above eye-level. It has people walking and talking as if it was a normal day. In the background of this shot is the typical sounds you'd expect to hear in Central Park, for example, people talking, the sound of traffic from outside Central Park, footsteps etc.

6. This shot shows two girls sat on a bench. This is a wide shot and it then zooms into the two characters. This makes you feel as if you're a part of the action and as if you're actually there. The general atmosphere of this scene is almost quite peaceful because the girls are just sat there, minding their own business but the sound adds a lot to the atmosphere and makes it tense. In this frame, the sound of people talking, the traffic etc are a lot quieter and the music is louder, the characters talking are the loudest however.

7. In this shot, one of the girls notices that people are acting strangely. At the start of this frame, she hears a scream and turns her head to her right to see where it came from. You don't get shown what the scream was for, just the rough area it came from, this adds to the tension and makes the user want to continue watching to find out more. Then when she turns back, she notices that everyone has stopped walking and is standing still except from one man who is walking backwards towards the camera.

8. In this shot, the girl who noticed the odd behaviour notices that her friend, Claire, has zoned out. It then cuts to a close up of Claire's face. Claire's acting as if she is possessed and in a very robotic manner. She avoids contact with her friend and just stares forward. She then asks her friend what page she was on repetitively and acts in a robot like manner. It then switches to a high angle, extreme close up of Claire. You then see her hand reach towards the spike in her hair. This type of shot is used as it creates a reduced field of vision, makes the viewer feel disorientated and creates tension. In the background you can hear bells, the wind and a screechy type noise which makes the audience feel uncomfortable and tense.

9. In this shot, it shows Claire's hand continue to take the spike out of her hair, slowly to begin with and then her grip gets tighter and she takes it out in more of an aggressive manner. She then stabs herself in the neck with the spike. All of this is done in a very, robotic, possessed manner. You can hear the sound of wind, a double beat which sounds like a heartbeat, used to create tension, a screeching sound, the sound of a very faint wind chime and a low sustained note. There's no dialogue which adds to the suspense as it leads the viewer to concentrate purely on the action and wonder what is going to happen.

The Shining

In the opening sequence for The Shining, very little of the storyline is given away at all. None of the characters have been revealed, all we see is the location. 

To begin with, the scenery looks peaceful and open but as you get further along, the trees start closing in, you start to see mountains and snow which give you a sense of danger, long and winding roads, abandoned cars and you get higher up. The location appears to be quite cut off from anything which gives the sense of danger and mystery. The road is empty apart from the abandoned cars, all of which where driving the other way. This makes you think that maybe they were driving away from something. The camera shots make you feel uneasy as they vary in heights as they follow the car, almost as if a spirit was following it. The shot used is a point of view shot. The sound used is in a minor key, done by an orchestra. They have sound effects which sound like voices wailing. This builds the tension and makes the viewers feel uneasy. There is no resolution also. The sound is very important to this clip as it gives off an uneasy vibe. If you watched the same clip with happier music, it would give off an entirely different feeling.

(The Shining opening sequence with happy music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7iyHv1T6Xc)

Se7en

Se7en was released on the 22nd September 1995. It was written by Andrew Kevin Walker, directed by David Fincher and distributed by New Line Cinema.

The shots in the opening sequence are short and fast. This helps to build the tension of the audience. The shots are extreme close ups so you can't see the location or who is doing this which makes people want to continue watching to find out what is going on. The lighting is quite dim and looks like it's just becoming morning. This makes you think that the character has stayed up all night coming up with their plan. The titles appear in a glitchy, unnerving way and they look as if they were handwritten. The images shown is this are quite unsettling and make the viewer not only feel uncomfortable, but also makes them want to continue watching to find out more about the storyline.

The sound in the opening sequence of Se7en gradually speeds up as you go along the clip. It begins averagely slowly but by the end of it, it is a lot faster and louder. The sound speeding up creates tension and keeps the viewer in suspense. It seems as though it's building up to something and wants to captivate the audiences attention. The sound is parallel to the clip. The sound gives off quite a mysterious vibe which is the same vibe you get from watching the clip. The background sound is continuous throughout the clip but speeds up at the end to keep you in suspense. The other sounds are rather inconsistent as you go along the clip as not only does the tempo and the volume change but it becomes more chaotic and different sounds come in and out at different points during the clip. There is no words spoken during this apart from 'closer to God' near the end of the clip. It's spoken as the word 'God' is cut out of a dollar bill. It's said in quite a mysterious tone which makes the audience intrigued to know what is going to happen next.

Top-US-Grossing Horror Titles

History of Horror

Film Genres

This is a list of different film genres. We're focussing on the horror genre and within the horror genre, there are many sub-genres, such as:

• Supernatural: can include ghosts, monsters, dark forces, zombies etc. 
• Dark Fantasy: contains fantasy elements with a horror twist, or horror with a distinctly fantastical setting.
• Sci-fi Horror: mash-up of science fiction and horror, usually where the sci-fic aspects (aliens, robots, space travel) are used to precipitate the overriding horror. 
• Psychological Horror: driven by characters’ fears and focused more on psychological dread than on murder, mutilation, and gore. Could be supernatural, but is more often associated with those twists where the protagonist turns out to be insane.
• Gothic: involves psychological terror in historically romantic settings, usually including mysteries, ghosts, castles, decay, madness, hereditary curses, and death. 
• Satanic/Religious/Occult: horror derived from certain belief systems and the evil aspects that they fight against. Usually involves demonic possessions, exorcisms, or explorations of the darker side of pagan religions and the use of ”left hand” magic.
• Splatter film: focus on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. Through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, they tend to display an overt interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the theatricality of its mutilation.
• Suspense/Thriller: does not involve any supernatural or otherworldly aspects, instead relying on real-life situations to generate horror through serial killers, deadly situations, natural disasters, and psycopaths.