Analysis of Pitch

My groups pitch

Anamatic

Script for our opening

SCRIPT

FADE IN:

EXT: FUNERAL-DAY

CHURCH DOOR OPENS

DISSOLVES TO:

GIRLS EXITING CHURCH

OUTSIDE CHURCH

CLAIRE

I can’t believe she’s really gone.

ALL GIRLS LOOK AT CLAIRE AND NOD IN AGREEMENT

KELSEY

I know it seems just like yesterday she was here with us

PHONES GO OFF SIMULATAIIOUSLY

CAMERA OVER SHOULDER LOOKING AT TEXT MESSAGE

GIRLS LOOK AT EACH OTHER THEN CAUTIOUSLY WALK OFF

HOODED FIGURE EMERGES FROM THE TREE WHEN THE GIRLS WALK PAST AND TAKES PICTURES OF THE GIRLS.

CAMERA ZOOMS INTO HOODED FIGURES HOODIE

CAMERA ZOOMS OUT AND HOODED FIGURE IN NEW LOCATION

WAREHOUSE/DARK ROOM

CAMERA CONTINUES TO ZOOM OUT AND SHOWS THE HOODED FIGURE LOOKING AT THE PICTURES OF THE GIRLS.

CAMERA ZOOMS TO HOODED FIGURE PUTTING PICTURES INTO A FIRE.

A DOLL APPEARS ON THE FLOOR

DOLL

I’m going to find you

Shot list

The opening will start with our production sequence which will then lead onto our shots:

SHOT 1

Fade from black. Tilt from the floor up to see the trees and the church. Diegetic sounds of birds and the wind in the background.

SHOT 2

Straight cut to a low angle extreme close up of a tracking shot of some feet walking along a pathway near the church (the killer).We hear the diegetic sound of footsteps.

SHOT 3

Straight cut to an establishing shot. Pan from the left to the right. This will give the audience an idea of where the film is going to take place. Diegetic sound of the birds continues.

SHOT 4

Mid shot of the open church door. There will be a diegetic sound of church bells.

SHOT 5

Long shot of the girls walking out of the church door. Diegetic sound of church bells continue.

SHOT 6

Long shot of the group standing outside the church as they have just attended their friends funeral and therefore are looking very dull and unhappy. They say a few words so diegetic dialogue.

SHOT 7

Long shot of the girls all take their phones out of their pockets as they have just received the same text message from the same person (although they do not know it yet, it is the killer). Diegetic sound of simultaneous text tones.

SHOT 8

Mid shot to show all the girls reactions to the text they have just received from an anonymous texter. There will be the diegetic sound of gasps which suggests panic for the audience.

SHOT 9

Straight cut to an over the shoulder shot. Extreme close up tone of the friends phones to reveal to the audience what the texts say. Non-diegetic sound of a heartbeat to build the tension.

SHOT 10

Tracking shot of the girls walking away from the church. Non-diegetic dramatic music to add to the tension.

SHOT 11

Jump cut to an over the shoulder shot of the killer watching the girls walk away. Sound of a heartbeat again but much faster this time. The camera will then zoom into the killer who is wearing a black hoodie until eventually a black screen.

SHOT 12

There will be an animation to make the viewer realise it is a flashback, The camera will then zoom out from the black until a figure in a black hoodie is revealed. The location will have changed to a small room with a large board of pictures of all of the girls, the majority of the girl who died, Tina. There will be non-diegetic music which will have a major key to give the idea of fear. There will be dark lighting to make it seem more scary for the viewer.

SHOT 13

There will then be a close up of a candle which is the source of light. The killer will be using it to look at the images on the wall.

SHOT 14

The killer will then start to burn some of the pictures of the girls. There will be the diegetic sound of burning. The camera will then zoom into her blowing the candle out and it will go to a black screen. Diegetic sound of the flame blowing out and then it will go silent.

SHOT 15

There will be a sudden view of a doll in a dark lighting and the sound of a creepy voice saying 'I'm going to find you'. This will make the audience feel panic. The shot will then fade to black. And this will be the end of our opening sequence.

Questionnaire responses

Audience research into horror openings

From these results, I can see that the majority of the people who answered my questionnaire were female which is good because my primary target audience will be female so these results will be from people who will potentially watching it. The same occurs for the ages of the people who answered. I found out that the people who answered this survey enjoy watching horror films but their favourite genre is comedy, the majority watch horror films 1-2 times a month and their favourite sub-genre is comedy-horror. The aspect that attracts people most to horror films is the plot and the thrill. The place they prefer to watch the film either in the cinema or on a tablet/internet.

Target audience mood board

Target Audience

Mind Map created by Claire Walker6502 with GoConqr

Horror film analysis

Initial Ideas for Horror Opening Sequence

Preliminary Shoot and Edit Review

The idea of our film is to make it look as if we are filming a film where an actor says the wrong lines but then the director comes in and with the 'prop' gun kills the director. We wanted to produce a film with a little humour in it. The only thing that we are concerned about is whether our audience will understand the plot we have come up with. For my preliminary task, I was in a group with Fern Barlow, Shani Casey and Joel Piner. I think that we worked well as a group as we all took on our separate tasks and distributed the work well.

I think our planning was very successful as we were able to film and edit in the time available and we finished all of our filming a week before the deadline. One issue we did encounter for the filming was being able to get the whole group available at the same time and also we found it difficult to get the tri pod on a flat surface as it was in Weston woods which is a very hilly area and therefore for some of the filming the camera had to be held to be able to get the right angles. However the filming process was also successful as we got it done all in the same day and fairly quickly so we were able to start editing it quickly. Although we all took part and had a go at everything, Shani and Joel took the lead of the filming process.

The editing process also went well. Again we all helped in the editing process but me and Fern were the ones that took lead. I think  the biggest issue with the editing was to try and get the right sound for the gunshot. It took quite a few attempts to one get it in the right position in the film and two to get a sound that sounded like a gun shot. On final cut pro the nearest we could find to what we were looking for was the sound of thunder. However we had time to spare and I found a sound which was part of a song that was the best gun shot sound available.

I think the final outcome was quite successful and I am happy with most of what we produced. All of the filming was good apart from one of the clips at the start at 0.06 seconds was slightly blurry but I don't think that it had a great affect on the whole piece. Another thing to improve on is ensuring we didn't catch the actors looking at the camera because I think it makes it seem more unrealistic however this has helped to make sure this is something to look out for in my film opening.

The thing I am most impressed with in our film is the way we edited some of the shots and the angles used. My favourite shot is the tracking shot where it shows the actor walking through the woods. I think it looks really effective when it pans past the trees. Something that I think could be improved is the relevance of the music because it 'unbuilds' the suspense. Another thing that I didn't fully like was the plot because I think it will be quite difficult for the audience to understand and is unrealistic. Also I think the ending is too sudden and we should have thought about a better way to end it. Other than this I think our group worked very well together and the final film has turned out quite successful.

Preliminary task-The Death

Drew Goddard-film producer analysis

Camera Angles

Anamatic for Preliminary task

Storyboard for Preliminary task

 

 

Roles, location and cast for Preliminary task

Shot list for Preliminary task

SHOT LIST

1. Extreme close up of actor ones feet walking on a pathway
2. Wide shot of actor one walking through a gate
3. Establishing shot of location and actor one walking through gate to pathway to show
4. Mid shot of the back of actor one
5. Tracking shot, following actor one through the trees.
6. Over the shoulder shot to show actor two sitting on a bench and actor one walking towards her
7. Wide shot of actor two on bench
8. Two shot of both actors
9. Close up of actor two when speaking
10. Close up of actor one
11. Two shot of both actors again
12. Wide shot of director and actor two
13. Close up of director
14. Pan down from directors head to middle
15. Pan up from directors middle to head
16. Extreme close up of actor two
17. Low angle of director laying on the floor
18. Slight pan down
19. Close up of actor one.

Script for Preliminary task

Actor One: Hey!

Actor Two: Hello...

Actor One: ... Are you okay?

Actor Two: No, I'm not actually.

Actor One: W-What's wrong?

Actor Two (sighs): I'm sorry it had to come to this (pulls out firearm) but you've left me with no choice!

Actor Three enters.

Actor Three: Cut! No, no, Shakira that line was completely wrong!

Actor Two: Oh for God's sake this is the fifth time you've stopped me! I can't work in these conditions!

Actor Three: Stop being such a drama queen!

Actor Two: I'M AN ACTRESS? THAT'S WHAT I DO!

Actor Three: Well if you're such a good actress why can't you get your lines-

Actor Two fires firearm on Actor Three. Actor Three falls dead.

Actor One: What have you done?

Plot for our Preliminary task

We were given a preliminary task to gain experience of filming and editing. We were asked to make a short, 30 second film where a character opens a door, enters and crosses the room, sits opposite another character with whom she/he exchanges at least four lines of dialogue. It could be on a topic of our small groups choice.

 

Me and my group have decided to adapt the idea slightly and make a 30 second film where a character opens a gate (instead of a door), crosses a path (instead of a room) and sits next to another character (instead of opposite). We will still have a conversation between the two characters.

 

The story behind our idea is to a film within a film, where one character, acting as an 'actor' will open a gate in the woods, walk across the path until they reach the second character, also acting as an 'actor' sat on a bench. They will carry out a conversation with at least four lines of dialogue. Then the third character, acting as the director comes into the conversation and tells the actors off because they are not getting the lines correct. The second character, the actor then becomes angry and accidently pulls the trigger of the gun they are using for the 'film' and kills character three, the director. We will show the reactions from character one and two.

Conventions of Horror and what is suspense?

Conventions of opening sequence

Mind Map created by Claire Walker6502 with GoConqr

History of Horror

Media in my life

Created with Padlet