Youtube Internal Evaluation

Link to Prezi evaluation

http://prezi.com/j5nykymzxwbm/media/

Evaluation questions - the ones ashlee answered (1,2,3,4)

1) We decided to create the opening sequence of a Horror for our media product. We first began to research the typical conventions of a horror film by watching films such as The Strangers and Wrong Turn, analysing their use of cinematography, mise en scene, sound and editing. We also looked at the opening sequences of more renowned, classic horror films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. It is from these films that we identified the more typical conventions such as blood, murder and the antagonist’s anonymity until the conclusion to the more subtle conventions, which are generally identified and portrayed to the audience through the use of mise en scene. In our opening sequence, we tried to incorporate as many horror conventions as possible without decreasing the tension and atmosphere.


Our opening sequence develops typical horror conventions by successfully including them throughout. One of the main conventions in our film is that it is set at night, which is generally the time which these bad events occur. This is used in conjunction with the external setting, which conveys an ‘open space’ atmosphere to show that many bad things are possible. Another convention used in our opening sequence is the use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sound was used coming from the anonymous antagonist, which suited the theme of the sequence. The creepy moans and groans coming from what seems to be behind the camera add to the suspicion and allow the audience to become on edge. It also encourages the viewer to continue watching because they will want to know who the antagonist is, and find out his motive.

Non-diegetic sound is used as Miranda, the dominant character, is walking alone down the path. The quiet, eerie music builds up in pace which suggests that Miranda could be walking into some trouble. It also creates tension for the viewer, as they are also aware that something bad will probably happen but they are not aware exactly what it will be.


The use of conventions in our sequence such as the dark exterior setting, the pillow case with the distorted smiley face, the synchronous diegetic screams coming from the victim and the blood surrounding the still body are all suggestions as to the subgenre we intended our horror to fit into, which is a horror/thriller. We felt a thriller subgenre would be suitable to the topic of the sequence, as the purpose was to frighten the viewer in a psychological way aswell as an adrenaline thrill.



From first viewing of our sequence, there are no clear indications to the audience as to any influences used in our work. However, under closer scrutiny, an influence from ‘The Strangers’ can be seen in the form of mise en scene. The paper bags used in ‘The Strangers’ was an influence for the mask put over the victims face in our sequence, as we felt this gave the sequence a more weird and sadistic feel. It also creates quite an unsettled tension as the audience will feel uneasy at the thought of someone getting a thrill from murdering a helpless, naïve girl and leaving a pillow case over her head.



2) Our media product doesn’t represent any particular social group or stereotype as there is only one character throughout the sequence who is clearly a white female approximately 16-17 year old.


The fact that the female is the victim and the male is the antagonist is ironic as females are generally stereotyped as the weaker sex, while men are portrayed as the more dominant sex. The main character Miranda is representative of a typical girl of her age, who is very naïve and wouldn’t have a second thought about meeting up with someone on the internet.



This links to target audience because females of this age, younger and older may be able to relate what is happening on screen. The topic of the sequence and the consequences faced by Miranda as result of her careless actions also acts as a warning to the viewers that things may not always be what they seem, and people aren’t always fully truthful.




3) Our opening sequence would more than likely not be something that would be produced in a Hollywood studio. This is because the content of the sequence would not be suitable to a large budget Hollywood film, as there are no special effects required and such film would not be as effective with more popular actors and actresses such as Megan Fox or Brad Pitt.

A trailer for the film would be advertised before other films that also fit into the horror/thriller genre to appeal to the mass audience, and the film would then be released firstly into cinemas. To ensure that interest in the film doesn’t decrease over time, the film would be released on DVD and Blu-Ray to cater for all viewing preferences at least 2 weeks after the film has stopped being shown at cinema’s.

The visual style of our horror would feature the typical conventions again to immediately portray the genre. This would be blood, darkness and murder.




4) Our main target audience is males and females between the age of 14 and 20. We chose this particular target audience as the narrative and style are suited to this particular band of people. The sequence would be suited mainly to a female audience, as the main message inside our film is sent out particularly to that gender. The use of technology within the sequence such as mobiles, Facebook and messengers also appeals to an audience of this age, as this is the age group who are more involved and concerned with these modern technologies.



Other films that are similar to ours are horrors that focus and exaggerate issues in everyday life. Films such as The Strangers, Wrong Turn, Eden Lake and The Fourth Kind are all based around true stories and focus on genuine frightening issues that have occurred in peoples lives. The messages sent out in these films are advising people to be more aware and not make the same mistakes these people have, however bizarre the circumstances are. Similarly, our film sends out a message about the attraction of social networking sites and messengers but also a warning that however these sites may be fun, they can also be extremely dangerous if these sites are abused.

Evaluation Questions - The ones i answered. (5,6,7)

5) We set our target age to be 15 which is a usual target age for most films within the horror genre. This included both males and females as our film doesn’t just target a specific gender but rather has horror elements that can attract both. There are different points in our film that appeal to this audience of both males and females over the age of 15. One of these points is the initial friendship at the beginning of the scene and the elements of concern one of the friends has and the elements of naivety, innocence and stupidity the other one has. Most males and females of ages 15 or over can connect with this and put into their own life situation which makes the film become more personal to themselves. Another point in the film that the audience can put into their own life situation is the use of technology which interlinks with the time we are in now. Recent problems that parents have highlighted is the lack of control they have over technology and their children. Being who they are talking too and what they are doing. This is a significant real life problem that is at the centre of the structure of our film as without these problems our plot would never have worked.
Other conventions such as the camera shots used at particular suspending points, helps to let the audience become part of the film, which then allows us to play with their suspension of belief meaning how much of this film they will believe is true and how much of it they will take away with them and worry about within their own lives. The shots that allow this to happen are the more darker shots such as the point of view shot when the rapist is walking towards his victim and looking over her shoulder and the point of view shot when the rapist is looking down over at his victims body laughing about what he has just done.
Although, the story is often seen from the rapists point of view through these camera shots our main intention was to put the audience in the position of the victim, which wasn’t hard as the plot is relatable to anybody who uses these sorts of technology and social networking sites. They are being allowed to witness everything they don’t want to be able to witness. They get to see the stupidity of the girl, the grooming of the rapist, the rapist catching his victim and the aftermath of what the rapist has achieved. The only thing they are never permitted to see is the actual rape and murder of the victim. We chose not to show this for one reason and that was because we needed a way of keeping the audience thinking about what was going on. If they were given every aspect of the film to watch they wouldn’t have to go away and think about what they had just seen. This isn’t so much of an enigma as it’s obvious what has happened to the victim and also the victims screams can be heard. However, never showing this rape and murder plays with the audiences mind even after the film has ended making them wonder if this could happen to themselves. We then want this to impact the way the audience then goes away and lives their life, in the hope that if ever the put themselves into a similar situation they would remember our film and get themselves out of that situation before it was too late. This shows that sound sometimes can be more powerful than any images that are used.
We have had audience feedback from many of the people who have viewed our opening sequence, some that were involved in the making of it and some that weren’t. We have found there is one reoccurring theme throughout all of this feedback and that is how creeped out and dirty they feel as a viewer. And to prove the point made above, every person who has viewed this sequence has said it was the sounds used that had this affect on them. Taking these sounds away the film would never be able to hit the audience as hard as it has with them in place. They each also just want to watch more and want to know what will happen next.


6)We have learnt various different things about how technologies work and which technologies are essentially needed to construct our final product. We used different technologies in making our opening sequence including the Sony camera, the Apple Macs including Imovie and other programs and the music studio and the programs in their to record our soundtrack.
When using the camera equipment there were both strengths and weaknesses of the camera we were given. The main strengths were obviously the being able to film our sequence with clarity and it was easy to use the handy cam both on its own and in the tripod. Being easy to film with made it a lot quicker for us to get our filming done and the size of the camera meant we could move from location to location very easily. The main weaknesses with the camera was the professionalism of the picture meaning it was obvious that the sequence wasn’t filmed on a professional camera like in typical horror films. Also if a shot was needed that couldn’t be done with the camera on the tripod we had to hold the camera which made the picture quite shaky and made the film lose quality. Another was being given only the one camera as it meant we had to film the same scene multiple times to get each shot which could have effected the continuity of our sequence.
We had two main problems with the technology during our filming. The first was the lack of battery power the cameras had which meant we had to get all of the shots done within a set time period for each day as we constantly outdoors and away from being able to charge the cameras. It meant we had to rush our filming a little bit which could in turn have effected the quality of our finished product. We resolved this by extended the amount of days we would film and setting more of our own personal time aside to get each individual shot perfect for us. The second was the soundtrack as when we recorded our soundtrack the format it saved itself in was not compatible with Imovie. This meant the whole format of the track had to be converted to a suitable format for Imovie. This was resolved by the technicians and although this wasn’t a major problem for them to convert the track, it did just slightly effect the quality of the sound of the soundtrack so became just a small problem with our finished product.
……..
In making the soundtrack we chose to not opt for the easy option of using garage band to help create it but instead chose to go into the recording studio and use vocals only to create the soundtrack. This process meant coming up with a pattern that created suspense and fitted in with the horror genre and conventions, and then actually getting it rehearsed and recorded with help from Dave Swales, Kevin Ghassemi and Stephanie Old. I think this choice helps to make the film not only more appealing to our audience but helps to create the suspense and terror that makes our horror sequence stand out. I feel that the soundtrack is not only a perfect fit with our sequence and the ideas behind it but also puts it in the league with actual horror movies that are in the cinemas today.

7)In the preliminary task, a match on action shot and a shot reverse shot had to be used. The knowledge gained from camera shots in the preliminary task came in useful in our rough cut and final cut as it allowed us to create a more professional appearing sequence. Our shared knowledge of camera shots allowed us to choose a suitable, successful shot for the scene and also ensured continuity was retained throughout the whole sequence.



At first, using the equipment was difficult as neither of us was used to handling such technology. Keeping the camera steady proved quite difficult but with the use of a tripod, the framing of the scene was always kept straight. Also, the use of editing software such as iMovie and Garage Band were unfamiliar to us both at the start of the project, but learning how to use these programmes to create a successful sequence was not much of a challenge once the software became more familiar.



We feel our finished product was successful in fulfilling the brief as we included all the criteria needed. After receiving both positive and negative feedback from viewers of our opening sequence, it was pleasing to know that our sequence successfully portrayed the important message to viewers and that they would take the warning seriously.

Final Cut.

Rough cut.

Our rough cut includes:

· Our main filming of our sequence.

· The sequence in running order.

· And a few transitions to help it run smoother.

We have yet to add:

· Our overall sound (ambient, diagetic and non diagetic) and sound effects

· The soundtrack.

· The main transitions to help it run smoother.

· To film the credits.

· The credits adding in at both the beginning and at the end to include the company logo.

Shooting Calendar

This is a basic overview of our first few scenes of filming.

Further Horror Genre research and techniques.

This is some further genre research into ideas for our opening sequence. Although we think our film idea is unique in itself, other horror movies have different ideas that have inspired us to expand our initial idea. 

The above still is from the film 'I know what you did last summer' and is one of the inspirations for our horror film. The idea we liked about this film was the enigma of the murderer to both the audience watching and the characters themselves. Also, the idea of not knowing what comes next and to expect the unexpected which is another typical convention of the horror genre.

The above still is from the film 'Cape Fear' which is about a convicted rapist. The plot behind this film inspired us to make our film based around the subject of rape as its a real life subject that needs to be brought to the realisation of a mainstream audiences eyes. However, our film has been brought more into the 21st century updated with more real life situations and based around technology.

A typical horror convention that we are using in our film and in our opening sequence is dark alleyways. This makes our film more real to the audience as wherever the audience may be there will always be a dark alleyway near by. This adds to the tension for the audience.

The above still is from the film 'Halloween' and is another typical horror convention. Our opening establishing shot is going to be of a big house at night time to create tension to the footage to come. However, unlike the house above from Halloween there won't be any decorations outside or any form of light for that matter apart from natural light and street lights.

This is an example of an over the shoulder shot. This will be used within our opening sequence when Character 1 is in the alleyway alone. However, our over the shoulder shot will differ to the one above as all the character will be able to see is the alleyway and darkness. At this point the murderer will come from behind the character and the audience will know this but the character won't. 

Here is some examples of films that have inspired our idea in some way:

 

Risk Assessment.

Risk Assessment

 

Possible risks

 

·         Using the stairs when filming.

·         Filming outdoors in the dark.

·        Filming near main roads.

·        Using alleyways at night.

 

 

Who is at risk?

 

·         Using the stairs when filming puts both the actor, who at this point will be Stephanie and the cameraman, who at this point will be Ashlee at risk.

·         Filming outdoors in the dark is a risk to everybody involved in the filming outdoors. This will be Myself, Ashlee and Stephanie.

·         Filming near main roads will be a risk for myself, Ashlee and Stephanie because we are all involved in this part of the filming.

·         Using alleyways at night is a risk to myself, Ashlee and Stephanie as we are all involved in this part of the filming.

 

Why are these risks?

 

·         Using the stairs when filming – This is a health and safety hazard as its possible for both the actor and the cameraman to fall down the stairs and could result in death.

·        Filming outdoors in the dark – This puts both the actors and cameraman at risk because objects are harder to see in the dark and it could result in a trip leading to a serious injury.

·        Filming near main roads – This puts both the actors and the cameraman at risk as filming near roads means filming near cars which could result in either an actor or a cameraman being run over or hit by a car.

·        Using alleyways at night – This puts both the actors and the cameraman at risk because there could be people in the alleyways waiting to mug or rape someone.

 

Ashlee and I are responsible with making sure that all of these risks are stopped. We will do this by assessing each area that we film before we begin our filming in that location.

Assessment 8 - Shooting schedule

Assessment 7 - Animatic

Script for the Animatic Narration.

Our opening sequence starts with the company’s logo going into the film name and the name of the producing company. We then see the establishing shot of a house in the night which isn’t shown on the animatic. The camera then goes into the house where the first shot of the character is seen. Both characters are introduced within this slide Character one being Miranda and Character two being Lucy (the friend on the other side of the phone).

 The next shot is of Lucy on the other side of the phone in her home trying to convince her friend not to meet up with this man.  She’s in her dining area and her parents are seen in the background. We then see Miranda again with a close up of her laptop and she has a new instant message. This is followed by the ending of the two characters conversation which leads into the next scene.

 The next scene is started by a long shot of Miranda walking down a dark alley alone. The use of non diegetic music is heard to create suspense for the viewer. This goes into an over the shoulder shot of her phone receiving a message which turns into a close up of her phone reading a message of “I can see you”.

 The mystery man then creeps up behind Miranda and covers her mouth to stop the screaming. He then takes her into a dark alley way for what we assume is either rape or murder. We then see nothing but darkness until a body drops to the floor in the corner of the viewers eye. All that is seen is Mirandas arm and head covered with a borwn bag as footsteps are heard moving away.

 The final part of the opening sequence is newspaper articles, stories and cutouts of the many attacks throughout the UK. Various girls all killed in the same way and this links the murderer to his murders. The brown bag is a constant theme and is his link throughout his crusade. Within these shots of newspaper articles and stories the opening credits are seen.  

Asessment 6 - Actors,Props,Costume,Location.

Characters

Our film sequence will feature only 3 characters. These will be the main character Miranda, who will be played by Stephanie Mischa Old; Miranda's friend Lucy, who will be played by Johanna Wood. The third and final character will be the murderer, who is referred to only as ':)'. The villain will be male, played by Kevin Ghassemi.

For our opening sequence we will need images of 6 different girls to use on the front cover of fake newspapers that we will create to show the previous murders committed.

Props

Brown Bags - To be used as the murderers signature thing that link all of the murders around the UK to him. Theres also an emoticon drawn on the front :) to link with the viral/messenger theme.

Newpapers - These are a main part of the opening sequence as half of the opening sequence is taken up by newsaper cut outs and stories about the murders and the killer himself.

Telephones, Laptops, Technology - These are key items of the opening sequence as without these the murders would not be instigated. The killer uses technology to target and manipulate his victims. The use of technology would also make the film relatable to the viewers and their own lives. This will help achieve the main aim and fulfill the purpose of the opening sequence, which is to convey the message that these events can happen to anyone and make the viewer more aware when online.

Costume

Miranda will wear casual nightwear at the start of the sequence to represent the atmosphere in her home. She will also have her hair done and make up on. The fact that she is wearing pyjamas but still wearing make up such early in the night could suggest she will be getting ready to go out. Later in the sequence, Miranda will wear more dressy outwear clothes to convey to the audience her excitement and eagerness at the fact she is meeting up with her date.

Lucy will wear casual clothing throughout the whole of the opening sequence to show that she is not planning on going anywhere. She will have fairly messy hair and no make up on which might suggest that she is ready for bed. The fact she will be wearing pyjamas will be used to show to the viewer the time of day and help to set the mood.

The murderer ':)' will wear very long, dark clothing with a large black hat. This will be used to conceal the identity of the antagonist and not give nothing away to the viewer. The use of shadows will also be used to disguise the murderer. It also creates an enigma around the character, as we never get to see his face and the dark, black clothing do not disclose any particular clues as to the character either.

The girls we will use for the covers of the newspapers will all have to look quite similar. The look we will be aiming to create will be quite girly and innocent aswell as fairly young. This is to show the similarities between the victims and conveys that the murderer may target young girls with certain qualities. The use of facial expressions and clothing will be important as the intention of them will be to show the naivety of the young girls as the are willing to meet up with a total stranger who they have met only online.

Location

Our first location will be Miranda's bedroom. This scene will be filmed in Stephanie's house, as it is quite a large house and a suitable location for us to create the scene intended. We will use 2 separate rooms in the house to create the illusion to the viewer that Lucy and Miranda are at different houses whilst talking on the phone.

Our main location will be in an alleyway in Peterlee. We have chosen to shoot our main scene here as it creates mystery and suspense, as this scene will be shot in the night time it will also create tension and add to the effect intended. To ensure the safety of ourselves we have chosen an alleyway close to the location of Stephanie's house.

The photos for the newspaper will be taken in college of our friends. They don't particularly need to portray any message only that these girls are young and were care-free before they were murdered.

Assessment 5 - Pitch Ideas

Plot Synopsis
A weird man stalks young helpless girls on the internet via social networking facilities. He lies about his age and says he is the same age or a few year older than his targets, and finds pictures of young men through search engines. He gains their trust through months of friendly communication, and persuades them to meet up with him at random isolated locations around the country. Little do these naive girls know, they are actually meeting up with a vile predator whose motivation is one thing - death.
As bodies of defenseless girls are found scattered all over the country, the whereabouts of the murderer are continually unknown. All the police know is that after every killing, the antagonist leaves behind one thing - an empty brown bag with a different facial expression drawn on.


Opening Sequence
The opening sequence will begin with a split screen or cut away of 2 teenage female characters (C1 and C2) talking on the phone. Their conversation will be about 1 of the girls recent online love interest, whom they both believe is a teenager like themselves. C2 warns C1 to be careful when meeting anyone who she has met online, as he may not be who he says he is. C1 assures her friend that she knows what she is doing and she won’t come into any harm, but quietly begs her friend not to say anything to her parents.


The scene then progresses to an establishing shot of C1 walking slowly a dark alley at night. As C1 walks, an over the shoulder shot will be used to show her receiving a message on her mobile phone. The viewer sees it is off the boy she is meant to be meeting. As she opens the message, the camera zooms in to show the message reading ‘I can see you’. As C1 turns round to see if she can see her stalker, she is unsuspectingly gagged by the man’s hand and dragged viciously into the shadows nearby. The camera focuses only on the darkness, and nothing can be seen. Screams coming from C1 can be heard very loudly as she is brawling with her captor in the darkness. Silence can then be heard, as a body is heard crashing to the floor. A hand can be seen falling out of the shadows, followed a head covered with a brown bag. The sound of footsteps can be heard faintly, and this links in with the titles.


Target Audience Appeal
Our film will be certified as a 15. The content of our film will appeal to our target audience, which is specifically teenagers aged 15-19 but broadly anyone over the age of 15 will find content suitable to their age group. Our film will appeal to our target audience through the use of modern technology, such as instant message, social networking websites and SMS text messages. As most teenagers from the age of 15 and over have access to these technologies, they will be able to identify to the characters and relate to any issues they may see throughout the film. They may be able to put themselves in the shoes of the characters as they may understand the situation. The film may also bring the dangers of meeting people online and bring other safety issues to light.


Creative Techniques
We will include the following creative techniques in our film: establishing shots to convey to the reader where the particular scene is being set, framing to show the disorientated atmosphere that will be portrayed within the opening sequence, non-diegetic sound such as young girls singing and jack-in-the-box jingles to enhance the whole point of the film which is to frighten the viewer and mise en scene, such as dark, myserious clothing in combination with the darkness of the night. Sound will also be used in the form of screams and cries to portray the desperation of the victim.

Assessment 4 - Initial ideas - Wordle

Assesssment 3 - BBFC target audience research

Assessment 3 - Target Audience Research

Target Audience Research (15 and 18 rated films)
The BBFC have 9 different categories which display the extent of content that can be shown in different rated films. These 9 categories are discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, theme and violence. The extent to which content can be conveyed depends on the target audience of the film, for example scenes featuring blood and murder would not be suitable for a young child audience. The BBFC issue these rules to ensure that all films contain content suitable for their target audience.

A 15-rated film is a film that has content suitable for people aged 15 years or over, and no one can see a film in a cinema or rent/buy the film if they are under this age. Producers have a less limited set of criteria to adhere to, as these films are aimed predominantly at a mid-teen presumably mature audience. The target audience for 15-rated is obviously restricted to people 15 years or older, which totally eliminates the younger audience. For a more specific audience, this is based mostly on the genre of the film with some such as horror or comedy being more popular but these films would still contain content suitable for viewers aged 15 or over. The criteria that producers have to consider and adhere to when producing the film are:

Discrimination - Must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour

Drugs - Drug taking may be shown but the film on a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances such as aerosols or solvents is likely to be unacceptable

Horror - Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised

Imitable behaviour - Dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide or self harming should not dwell on detail that could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised

Language - Frequent use of strong language is permitted and more stronger terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is likely to be unacceptable

Nudity - May be allowed in sexual content but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational matter

Sex - May be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are likely to be unacceptable unless justified by the context.

Theme - No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds

Violence - May be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Strong or sadistic sexualised violence is unlikely to be acceptable.

Examples of 15-rated horror films would be - The Omen, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Fog, The Ring, Boogeyman and The Blair Witch Project

18-Rated Films

An 18-rated film is a film that has content suitable for people aged 18 years or over, and no one can see a film in a cinema or rent/buy the film if they are under this age. An 18-rated film is aimed solely at adults. This is because the BBFC’s guideline concerns will not override that adults have the right to choose their own entertainment. An 18-rated film can feature practically any content, but a producer has to consider the certain conventions they are not permitted to display in a film. These exceptions are:

Where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence.

Where material or treatment appears to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society. For example, any detailed portrayal of violence or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals.

This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault

Where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context

Examples of 18-rated horror films would be - The Omen (1976), Wolf Creek, The Shining, Silence Of The Lambs, Candyman and 28 Days Later

Assessment 3 - The history of the horror genre and its influences.

Kevin And Ashlee Asessment 3

View more presentations from kevinghassemi.

Assessment 2 - Titles

Production Company - New Line Cinema

Producers - Warren Zide/Craig Perry

Title - Final Destination

Cast List - Starting with Devon Sawa - Ending with Tony Todd

Casting - John Papsidera

Costume Designer - Jori Woodman

Music - Shirley Walker

Edited by - James Cobientz

Production Designer - John Willet

Director of Photography - Robert McLachlan

Executive Producers - Brian Witten/Richard Brener

Co-Producer - Art Schaefer

Produced by - Warren Zide/Craig Perry

Produced by - Glen Morgan

Screenplay by - Glen Morgan/James Wong/Jeffrey Reddick

Story by - Jeffrey Reddick

Directed by - James Wong

Assessment 2 - Titles - Final Destination Opening sequence

Assessment 2 – Analysis of an opening sequence

Assessment 2 – Analysis of an opening sequence

 

The sequence opens with an establishing shot of woodland from a bird’s eye view. The camera then begins to zoom out whilst non-diagetic sounds of drum beats and banging begins to play. The camera angle then tilts downwards to be focusing solely on the woodland and the vast amount of trees below. This creates a feeling of isolation and a never-ending place, which means no escape. The music then becomes faster and louder as the cameras movement speeds up, this creates tension for the viewer.

 

This non-diagetic sound then becomes an overture to the dialogue in the scene. A shot of two people climbing a cliff is shown, again from a birds eye view but this time in a two shot, as the male in the scene makes it to the top of the climb. It then goes into a point of view shot from the female characters perspective as the male is heard shouting in pride.  The males perspective is then seen as he looks at the distance he has just climbed, showing the viewer just how high up he actually is. This leads the viewer into guessing what is going to happen next.

 

Next the woman is seen struggling to make it to the top, whilst in a panic.  She then falls whilst screaming for help, but the viewer doesn’t realise she has a safety rope which gives them a false sense of security thinking they could predict the outcome of what was to come. This is shown through a fast succession of close ups one after the other on both her hands and feet struggling to get a grip. This is followed by dialogue from the man being arrogant as if nothing can hurt him. He says “You know we’re 50 miles from anybody, who you screaming for?” this is a significant turning point in the sequence as it gives shows just how isolated and vulnerable the two characters currently are. The viewer as this point seems to know more than the two characters do themselves. The transitions from each of the shots shown so far are very swift and fast movements, which suggests the speed of the sequence itself. It could also relate to the fact that the two characters are rock climbing which is quite a fast paced sport.

 

An extreme long shot gives the next shot of vulnerability, this time solely focused on the female character. It shows how far she has left to climb but more importantly how far she has left to fall. She is heard screaming for the male to help her up but he is unresponsive which suggests something is wrong. As the female characters perspective is seen looking up, the mans body drops to the fall above her as a synchronous sound effect of the body dropping is heard with a bang. A shot reverse shot is then used from the male characters body to the female character and back to show her confusion in what is happening. Blood is then shown dropping down from the males’ body onto the females face as she finally begins to realise what is happening. The blood shows the first sign of the horror genre being present as the blood signifies death.

 

A close up of the males’ hand is then used as he begins to move as if not by his own movement. A diegetic sound is heard to indicate he is being dragged across the floor or something similar. The man is then flung over the cliff and hits the ground with a diegetic bang to the ground. The woman’s rope then begins to be pulled upwards as she loses any control. She begins to panic and this shown through a succession of fast paced medium close up shots from different angles. The synchronous sound of her struggling to get free is heard as she pulls out a knife to cut herself free from the rope. The knife signifies the horror movie genre only this time it is seen from a different perspective, as the innocent female needs it to survive. Her destination has now changed as she no longer wants to reach the top rather get as far away from the top as possible.

 

The female then struggles to keep her balance as she reaches for a different rope, resulting in her falling seen from a worm’s eye view. The synchronous sound of her hitting the ground is heard followed by her cries. A point of view shot is then given as she looks at the males’ dead body beside her. The camera then catches her reaction with a close up as the camera pans across the woodland with non-synchronous sounds of laughter and screams heard. The female begins to run and a multi take is seen as she struggles to get away and get out of the trees.  A close up of some wire on the ground is then seen as the female trips over and hits the ground. This is another convention of a horror film, just like blood and knifes. It is as if it was put there on purpose and the killer knew exactly what she would do before she did. Her point of view shot is seen as she hits the ground. She can see her car, which symbolises safety, and how close she is to being safe. The camera then transitions swiftly onto her being dragged away whilst synchronous sounds of her screams are heard. The screen blackouts to show mystery what happens next as the synchronous screams become non-synchronous. The screams become louder, almost crescendo like as the opening sequence ends.

 

 

 

 

Assessment 2 - Opening sequence of the wrong turn.

Asessment 1 - Horror and Noir conventions

Film Noir By Ashlee and Kevin

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Horror Films

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Ashlee done the Film Noir and I done the Horror.