Opening Sequence Analysis: SAW

James Wan's SAW (2004) is the beginning of its 7-part franchise and by the terms of Steve Neale SAW would class as 'pushing the boundaries'. The opening - whilst creating enigma - sets the scene for the excessively gory horror film. A short synopsis of the opening sequence is best explained by IMDb 'With a dead body lying between them, two men wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw". The men must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and win the deadly game set for them.' The opening creates a surge of confusion whilst scaring the audience nearly as much as the characters on screen themselves. The target audience of the film is 15-25 year old, american, white, male, explorer/struggler, working class/ students, whom enjoy horror films and possibly are schadenfreude towards the victims.

Visual

The clip begins with the introduction of the production logo, it appears to be very metallic and industrial which is alike to the room in which the men wake up in.The second production logo of 'Twisted Pictures' fits in very well with the horror genre of the film SAW; it shows the tightening of barbed wire around the writing; the logo can be denoted as a trap (alike some traps within the film) which is very tight and extremely difficult to escape from. The credits which follow are in a pale blue lighting with a fade on some of the letters; This is followed by the title, which is small and blue in addition to the effect making it fade in and out of focus, this connotes that the film will mess with your mind later on. The colour blue is not usually associated with horror (conventionally the colours of red and/or black) blue denotes coldness, water and ice; the colour blue may also make the audience feel uneasy as this is an unconventional colour to be used for a horror film.
Also under a blue lighting is an unknown male appearing to be drowned or unconscious underwater creating engima as to who/where he is. The man wakes up all of a sudden into a life-or-death situation of drowning, this connotes that someone or something wants him dead. The bath in which he is places in appears to be like an animal's, specifically a pigs, large trough, this signifies how low down and scummy this character may be.  The character who is first introduced is a working class, white man , between the ages 25-35 - he is dressed in fairly casual clothes which denotes that he is stereotypically 'normal' in the eyes of society. The second character introduced is a less frantic white, American, male, between the ages of 35-40 of an upper middle class (as he is dressed more sophisticated) he is drenched in his own sweat this denotes how long he has been waiting whilst worrying. The first character may represent the primary target audience watching in the cinema or at home, whilst the second male could represent a secondary audience being 35-40, white, predominantly male, middle class.

Setting of the opening scene.

The setting or the opening sequence is a large, abandoned, dirty and rusty bathroom - it appears to have not been entered or seen for years! The room is also very dark and decayed, you can only really make out silhouettes - the darkness of the room alone may scare the audience because many people are scared of the dark so it plays on the audiences emotions to engage them further; in other words the setting is extremely dystopian.
The most shocking prop in the whole of the opening sequence is the dead man in the centre of the room, holding a gun and a voice recorder. The gun connotes that one of the men will die whilst the voice recorder connotes that one of the men will live (because it gives them a voice); this is a convention in the SAW franchise. The dead man objectifies the other men, it would belittle them and signify how they could be dead just like him. The chains attached to the male's ankles signify and connotes how the men have no control over their body and someone omnipotent has full control over them.

Camera

The sequence includes many different camera angles and shots. It begins with a close up on an unknown male's face (difficult to see because of the limited amount of light) as his eyes are also closed, it connotes the vulnerability of the male character. The shot is shortly followed by a Mid Shot if the man struggling to pull himself out of the bath and scattily discovering the setting in which he is in, the Mid Shot may connote how he is 'half-there' mentally, he isn't fully aware of his surroundings. The mis-en-scene stays dark for a lengthy amount of time; this allows the audience to empathise with the characters on screen, all because we have the same amount of limited vision which plays on our own fears. When the lights are finally turned on, various canted and blurred shots are used to denote confusion in the room. Personally , it makes me feel as if somebody is waking from a surgical procedure. The Wide Shot used is very significant to the scene, being very vivid and focused, it allows the audience to see the full distorted setting. The camera suddenly switches to an aerial scene which makes your heart jump. This is because of the shocking image of the dead male in the centre of the room (and screen).  When the aerial shot winds up to the ceiling it connotes and foreshadows how twisted the film is/ will be. The wide shot makes the characters on set look and feel very miniscule and irrelevant, it signifies how little power 'regular' people may have. Close ups on the chains are used to emphasise how restricted the characters are. The chains may denote features of an animal or a prisoner by the fact that it is a form of a restraint. Additionally, the close up on the character attempting to pull himself out of the chains can also connote that they are fighting a losing battle.



Male 1

Male 2

The angles and shots also play a vital part in depicting the characters personalities without us, the audience, directly knowing anything about them. The canted and unsteady shots of the first male depict him to be weak. Also, many of the angles of the shots are tilted downwards (looking down upon Male 1) which possibly foreshadows his fate in the film. On the other had, majority of the shots and angles focused on Male 2 are stronger and has a greater stability in addition to the camera usually being straight on. However, even though it signifies him to be stronger, it also makes him appear slightly creepy, mainly as to why he is so clam with chaos circulating him.

Audio

The audio in the opening sequence for SAW would best be explained as 'twisted'; Many of the ambient sound effects are all very metallic. The audio for the 'Twisted Pictures' logo is very sharp, painful and metallic which fits in with the horror genre, where the goal is to scare the audience.
Towards the beginning of the scene, a lot of the audio is based on/around water. The water sound effect can connote drowning which would make the characters venerable as they have no control over their breathing. This is followed by a paranormal ambient sound which may confuse the audience and scare them a little bit more. As the character begins to choke, it speeds up the pace of the scene. Deep and dark music begin to play which fits in with the dark and creepy surroundings; When the character begins to shout and call 'help me' frantically his voice shakes which signifies him to be already weak and connotes that he may die later on. Large metallic echos begin which brings again another fright to the character - because the characters on screen can hear the noises it may also cause the audience to become scared as it could be said that what they are hearing is 'real'. When male 2 begins to speak there is a creepy omniscient tone to his voice that denotes to be intimidating frantic male 1. When the lights turn on the sound could resemble an electrocution (as it does follow with the painful screams of male 1) which does foreshadow what may later happen. The stomach-wrenching sound of what could only be explained as a 'downward spiral' if followed by an over exaggerated unconventional high pitched non-diegetic sound. This symbolises the climax of the scene.  It is followed by several seconds of the men heaving and gagging over something they have witnessed (this denotes that the films theme is gruesome). The  scene ends in male 1 frantically screaming and the over-exaggerated sound of his heavy breathing, denoting weakness; followed by male 2 calmly speaking, denoting power. Leading us the audience to believe that male 2 will be the one to survive.

Ideology

My personal interpretation of the main concept of the SAW franchise is, that they believe if someone is a bad person in their life they shouldn't deserve to have one- however they all have one last brutal chance to redeem themselves. So this leads us to understand that the characters in the opening sequence are not the 'nice guys' and 'victims' as they appear- they may be bullies, racists or even rapists. It confuses the antagonists and protagonists because the whole concept of revenge isn't always the most respectful of things. It aims to make others value their lives and to be kind to others so you don't eventually end up in a sticky situation (like this). It holds attitudes that you should fight fire with fire when necessary and to not dish-it-out-if-you-can't-take-it - somehow the gruesome film delivers good and strong attitudes to have with life, to treat others how you would like to be treated, just with more fatal consequences.

Billy - SAW

Theories

Genre Theories That Apply to Horror

To create an opening sequence to the best ability it is essential to understand and include several different theories (as they are included in many films). I will explain Claude Levi Strauss' Binary Opposites, Roland Barthes Code theories, Robert Stam's genre theory and Alvarado's Four key racial themes. These theories will most probaly be applied to my opening sequence.

Binary Opposites

Claude Levi Strauss' theory of Binary Opposites is used to emphasise the difference between two total extreme opposites. An example of this is good and evil, dominant and submissive, saint or sinner. Many films use this technique as it is quite simple to achieve mainly through the use of characters. In my opening sequence an example of binary opposites is how clean the setting and the girl are (OCD like) everything is in order contrasting how dirty and sick the intentions are.  An examples of Binary Opposites in film is in The Shining 'Here's Johnny' scene where Jack is represented to be strong and in extreme control opposing his wife who is represented to be very weak and extremely chaotic. An other example of when binary opposites are used in The Shining is the contrapuntal music is played, it completely contrasts the scenic and beautiful surrounding also implying foreshadowing of what is to occur later in the film,


Enigma Codes

Opening sequence of The Exorcist

Roland Barthes' theory of enigma codes explains the process of when suspense or mystery is created. Most horror films contain this as it can leave the audience at-the-edge-of-their-seat. Enigma creates foreshadowing to the audience leaving an unanswered question to be revisited later on. In my opening sequence we are using many enigma codes. First of all the room will question the audience with "where is she" (the girl) and "why is she there"; the girl will also create some confusion to the audience as to "who is she" and "how did she get where she is?". Many films use enigma codes to open a film as the producers don't want to give 'too much away' in the first 5 minutes, therefore it being a very successful code to use. An example of a horror film opening with enigma codes as an opening sequence is the opening sequence to The Exorcist 1973; as the film begins in a western house (USA) for a minute and then switches to the Islamic country of Northern Iraq- it lead me to
question "Where are they?", "Who are the people there?" "What are
they doing?", "What are they looking for?" all of these making me want to carry on watching. I think this is a very succsessful technique to use whilst making an opening sequence.

Robert Stam's Genre Theory:

Alvrado's Four Key Racial Theme:

Costume

COSTUME

In the opening sequence there will be several outfit changes to fit the mood. To start off with the victim Hannah will be dressed in all white. A white skirt and top, white socks and trainers. This connotes innocence and purity. Additionally, when wearing white you mostly appear confident, you don't mind if people look at you because you 'stand out' - that is the look I am trying to achieve. Something along these lines is the costume for our opening sequence For the second half of the sequence the outfit will be dark and of the colours blue and black as these are mysterious and gothic. It will suggest that something has erased her purity and made her dirty. Here is an example of the costume we will use:

MEdia by mmeganlawrence featuring River Island

HAIR & MAKE UP

The hair and makeup will follow the same concept as aforementioned. At the beginning the hair and makeup will be very cute and pretty. It will be fairly simplistic as it is meant to denote her innocence. The hair may have a few soft curls whilst the makeup will be simple with light pink eye shadow and pink lip gloss. In the second half the makeup will be more dramatic (as if she has something to hide) we will use dark red lipstick and a smokey eye. The hair will be straight and messy. Here is an example of the make up which we will use:

Untitled #7 by mmeganlawrence on Polyvore

Re-thinking the Opening Sequence

Re-thinking the Opening Sequence

As aforementioned, it is no lie that the last time we filmed it did not go to plan. The main reason it did not go well in my opinion was the acting in general, as we are not a Hollywood film production group we couldn't exactly film with world star actors/actress'. After thinking it all through Alice and I came up with a better way to show the main character (Hannah's) feelings through many short clips put together.


We thought that the shots that may work the best are simplistic close-ups and mid-shots. We want to experiment with many different filters on the film as well because it can affect the mood e.g. Red lighting denotes love and romance.

 I like this shot because it emphasised the fact that this person is alone. This is what we are also trying to achieve as because of what has happened to our main character has left her isolated.





I also like this shot of the liquid being forced out of the can because to me it connotes someone deliberately ruining their life. This is like how the antagonist in our film took away Hannah's  innocence (and her voice). It is also very easy to re-create.




I love this mid-shot of a girls shadow for a few reasons. The first being how it shows rebellion. The second reason is how  shadow follows you everywhere, and in our film the loss of Hannah's innocence and her voice haunts her and follows her everywhere she goes.

 We have tried to do a  CU shot like this already and it worked very well. The shot denotes something sexual is going to happen - alike what happen's to Hannah later on in the film, it is foreshadowing the loss of innocence.





What I liked about these shots is the filters on them, it makes the mood cold and bitter yet also very vivid. In addition, when in slow motion it makes the film feel very intimate between the characters and the audience off-screen. I also like these shots as I feel it 'breaks the 4th wall' which involves the audience.

Brief on what we are doing:

The way in which we have now thought to do it is similar to these shots. For the first 45 seconds we wish to capture shots of Hannah where she is happy and 'normal' there are no signs of anything wrong. She will be talking away as if she is conversing with someone but the conversation is silent it will appear to be creepy. This will be followed by various shots of Hannah where she is 'happy' about 50 seconds the clips will begin to glitch and her mood and costume will change. It connotes that she is blocking out something really bad that has happened. It will show her being silent and depressed. Many clips will play forwards and backwards and seem 'glitchy'. It will show a few shots of where she is being operated on etc. This will confuse the audience and hopefully entice them.

Audience Interaction - Film Title Questionnaire

As it was proving very difficult for the group and I to come up with a suited title for our opening sequence we decided to ask our peers to fill in a questionnaire to help us decide on what we should call it.

This is the questionnaire in which we handed around school:

' We are struggling to decide upon a title for our horror/thriller opening sequence. The film is based on a girl whom is taken by a man to be operated on - once operating on her he removes her voice box permanently scarring her inside and out. Our possible film titles consist of:

Songbird, Mute, Extortion, Silence, Silent, Other:________

Circle the title that you think best suits'

RESULTS

Songbird: 3 votes
Mute: 7 votes
Extortion: 2 votes
Silence: 3 votes
Silent: 0 votes
Other Title: 4 votes

It is apparent that the clear favourite is 'Mute' so this will most probably be our opening sequence title unless we all agree on something other.

FILMING (DAY 3)

FINAL DAY FILMING

Today the group are meeting for a final day filming, this time we have really taken our previous problems into account and have thoroughly prepared what we are going to do for the opening sequence.

PROPS:
Can of alcohol
Lollipop
Surgical instruments
Glass cup full of blue liquid
Cigarette
Strobe lights
Torch

3rd Time Lucky!

We just finished filming and I think its safe to say that it went pretty well! As this was our third time filming we had to make sure that it went perfectly; and it did. We found the acting much more successful when it was simplistic and natural. On several occasions I would turn the video-camera on without our actress (Hannah) knowing, this made what was on screen seem a whole lot more believable. The costume, props, lighting, hair and makeup was all thought about a lot more so it led to better quality of filming. I found today genuinely enjoyable as it feels really good when something is going well. However, we will see how the editing next week turns out.

Later on, Alice was able to get our voice over from her brother as he speaks fluent Spanish, This will help to give the audience a greater understanding of what is going on and why.

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM TODAY

Here is also a  schedule of the day:

Filming (Day 2)

Filming, DAY 2

On Wednesday the 17th of December 2014 the group and I met for a second time at my house to continue the filming of our opening sequence, here are some pictures from the day and some feedback as to how it went:

Filming today: Hannah, Blake, Alice, Fahim and Megan

Problems which we faced:

Whilst filming the second section of the opening sequence we faced some difficulties which have affected our original idea. Once watching back what we had filmed we were all dissatisfied with how it had turned out. The lighting for one was not as bright and clear as we needed it and the acting was very hard to execute for our inexperienced actors. In addition the background noise additionally affected the quality of the film. Once we were filming we noticed that the camera only had slightly picked up on our actors voice which again was another issue (as it was a prominent feature).
The mistake which I believe was our worst was, the fact that we strayed from our script and attempted to come up with parts we hadn't rehearsed and thought of on the spot. It made the acting appear tacky.

However, from this I believe that we have all gained knowledge on how to not make the same mistakes we did on this occasion. This has lead for me and the group to re-think our opening sequence and how to display it better.

What went well:

On the day of filming there were also some benefits that came from our shooting. We managed to successfully film the production logo and get a few decent shots that we will be able to use in our opening sequence.

Here is also a schedule of the day:

FILMING (DAY 1)

Today, the group and I met up at my house to begin filming for our opening sequence. We focused on specifically filming the section in which our credits will go. We used my bathroom for the scene and sticking to the colour themes of blue and white. To create the visual effects in which we did we used food colouring and added it to water.

Here are some images taken from today:

We are further carrying on with our filming on Tuesday 16th of December. We will begin to film the actual opening scene.


Here is a schedule of the day:

Storyboard for my Opening Sequence

Here is the storyboard to my opening sequence, the drawings aren't to the best quality - sorry!

Media by MeganLawrence

media2 by MeganLawrence

Opening Sequence Mood Board

I have created another mood board on Polyvore but this time to show the ideas for my opening sequence. The whole atmosphere will be medical, sticking with the colour themes of blue and white.

media set by mmeganlawrence featuring a black mirror

Possible Film Titles

Title Ideas

As our film title is undecided, we wanted to jot down some possible ideas. We thought that it it would be a good idea to have a name with a strong meaning behind it. Something that would go along with the theme of the film or a complete binary opposite e.g. Filth when the setting is extremely clean. The title will show at the end of the opening sequence in either a white or blue font to fit the mis-en-scene it will most probably be accompanied by a amplified diegetic sound.

Possible Titles

• Extortion
• Damnation
• Grace, Lily, Rosie, Daisy, Lucy (any innocent or flower girls name)
• Crucifix 
• Mute
• Articulate
• Silent
• Nightingale
• Song bird

Practicing with the Production Logo

Prodution Logo: PRACTICE

Today the group and I experimented with creating the production logo for our opening sequence. We began with filming the background video to where to logo will be displayed. Our initial idea was to get a hand to smack a glass window with the ambient sound of the hand to be heard and the logo to be viewed as possibly a tattoo on the palm of the hand. We could add in the logo by either writing it on the hand before and it then it being shown on the screen; or to super impose the writing on Pixelmator and place the image onto the hand.

On our first attempt we shot the video very poor. As you can see our reflections are shown in the glass, this looks really unprofessional and tacky. Another issue with the first shot is that you can see part of the actress' body and underwear strap (pretty self explanatory). Thirdly I strongly disliked the dragging of the hand across the window, it connotes that the person is really weak which is the opposite of what we wanted to achieve. This shot is very unsuccessful because it appears as if it was not thought through and it doesn't make the audience jump as it should.




Contrasting that, our final practice production logo went very successfully, there were no reflections in the window, in fact you can't even see the window until the hand hits it, in addition to the hand appearing from below. I like the fact that there are trees and wind blowing in the background and producing ambient sound. It works well because you don't see the hand coming and it is very jumpy. The hand stays fixed to the window until the end of the clip, this denotes that it is strong. It creates an enigma code, who? what? where? why?, which links into our opening sequence as that is what we wish to achieve. We would make the hand slapping on the window sound more amplified and imprint the logo onto the hand itself.

Opening Sequence: IDEA

Initial Idea

My group and I have created a powerpoint on our initial ideas for our opening sequence. This includes the plot, costume, setting and audio. We are going to further improve our idea by using storyboards and experimentations with costume and make-up.

Presentation on Opening Sequence

Different Representations in 'You're Next'

'You're Next' (2011) is a Lionsgate horror/thriller home invasion film based on what was leading up to be 'the perfect weekend' with family. Before not too long, the weekend takes a turn for the worst when a masked gang target the family holiday home killing off nearly all of the family members with it ending in a spine chilling plot twist.

Here is the trailer to 'You're Next' :

The Representation of Ethnic Groups:

In the film the characters are predominantly Caucasian however, they are all represented in different ways. The first person to die in the film is Tariq, Amiee's middle-eastern boyfriend, once he and Drake are shot by a cross bow (Drake survives this). The fact that Tariq was the first to die could denote that in 'You're Next' Ethnic minorities are signified as weak compared to the majority Caucasian Americans, as Drake (Caucasian) survived it could connote that his life is valued more than Asian Tariq. At the dinner scene Drake talks down to Tariq whilst the other family members ignore what Tariq is saying this could connote that the Caucasian characters believe that they are better than other Ethnic Minorities. Additionally, the female character Zee is also from another origin than America (however, it is unknown to me), she is darker in skin than the majority setting her aside from the predominant Caucasians. Her personality is dark and mysterious which later leads to her being one of the antagonist instigators; this could represent and connote ethnic minorities as being evil all together in the film.

The Representation of Gender:

As for You're Next, there is really no discrimination or prejudice towards any gender, they are both signified as strong as each other. One of the lead characters is Erin (personally my favourite) is eventually the last person standing - this is new and unconventional for the majority of horror films because the leading woman is usually killed off before the ending. The films beliefs are that your gender doesn't define your strength. Contradicting that, Erin says how she is only strong because of what her father taught her , ultimately she learnt everything from a man - representing and signifying male dominance, this may make a male audience want to watch because they are represented to be powerful.

The Representation of Age:

Ultimately 'You're Next' represents the younger generation as stronger.  This is made apparent when all of the older people are killed off in the beginning, in addition to all the 'fighters' appearing to be under the age of 30. The masked men are all between the ages of 20-30 (reasonably young). 

The Representation of Class:

In 'You're Next' the family members are signified as C1 Upper Middle class, this can be identified through the fact that the own a large holiday home. The plot twist in act 3 basically tells the audience how Crispin and Felix set up the whole house invasions/murder to get their hands on money. This represents how people go to all extremes to get their hands on money, this can represent and connote the strain on the American economy and how poor people are becoming.

It may be a good idea to consider and use these representations in our opening sequence because they (like our idea) push the boundaries.

Analysing the 'Lawnmower Scene' SINISTER 2012

Scott Derrikson's Sinister 2012 is a stomach churning, creepy and gory 5 time award winning horror film. Best described by IMDb Sinister is  'A true-crime writer finds a cache of 8mm home movies films that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates back to the 1960s.'. This being one of the many great horror films created by the famous Blumhouse productions.

Even though, what I am analysing is not an opening sequence it is a scene of which I take great interest and really enjoy (in a non creepy way). The infamous 'Lawnmower Scene' is infamous because of its disturbingly gory imagery of a human body under a running lawnmower for a short moment. Many critics have thought this to be one of the most violent scene' from 2012 horror film industry.

Start: 00:23
End 01:34

VISUAL

The main aim of the mis-en-scene in this scene is to make it appear to be a vintage 8mm home video and I believe that it captures this very well. The lighting is a very limited but it works to create a retrospective view. The use of the colour yellow connotes a cheapness to the scene, it emphasiseses the am that the producers want the audience to get the impression that it is 'home made'. In the scene you only really are able to see the silhouettes of unknown characters - their costumes are irrelevant as you cannot see it- this is very enigmatic as it leaves the audience not knowing who the killer, or the victims are. The location used is, again, based around a family home. The relevance of the 'home' may signify that the killing itself may solely be to do with the house (not the people that live there for any specific reason) just the fact of living there meant that they were going to be killed. The main props used in this scene is the lawnmower itself ans the dead body in which it runs over. It is so disturbing because we cant see who has done it or why, just a brutally fast killing.

CAMERA

In this specific scene the director uses basic camera shots and angles. The shots begin canted and slightly jolty denoting that the video camera is carelessly hand held - it makes it look as if a child has filmed it (which ultimately was their goal). All of the shots used are also mid-shots, signifying how the action may be careless or the killer is unaware of what he is doing, or possibly lost complete control of his body. The camera is predominantly angled low down, so all you can see is the lawnmower and its positioning on the grass, this creates enigma as to where the lawnmower is going and why is someone using it. The low angle of the camera also connotes that - although he/she kills a woman- the driver of the lawnmower isn't actually in control, there is something above that could be mentally controlling the unknown character. When the camera is still and fixed on the front window it highlights and signifies how the family is being watched, possibly for a long period of time, but they are unaware- this may alarm the audience as they themselves may be sat watching Sinister in their living room; so it creates a sense of involvement. The high camera angles also suggest that the killer is much more dominant than the stereotypical Caucasian American family. At the end of the scene the low angle shots of the lawnmower crossing the floor quickens the pace of the scene.

AUDIO

Throughout the Lawnmower Scene, audio is used very cleverly to explain what is going on to the audience. In the scene the diegetic audio appears slightly muffled, this connotes how the killer may have been deluded and not fully 'with it' at the time of the murder. Also, at the very end of the clip there is the ambient scream as the lawnmower passes over the body, the scream emphasises and signifies the brutality of the killing whilst making the audience jump.

EDITING

The editing in this scene is intentionally meant to be as unnoticeable as possible. The jolty usage of jump cuts make the clip appear and denote unprofessionally and carelessly put together (or appear completely un-edited). A retrospective yellow filter is used on the image to create a sense of time since this clip was filmed - it makes the clip appear dated. The filters on the camera also are to make the screenplay to be seen through an 8mm home video camera which contrasts the rest of the professionally shot film. At the beginning of the clip the editing makes the pace slow, the individual clips that make up the scene are all fairly long, this makes it seem as if the family have been watched for a long amount of time.

Reflection on Preliminary Opening Sequence

After finalising and seeing how my preliminary video turned out, I was pleased with the outcome; however, if I were to do it again I would make many improvements.

I believe that the camera angles worked very well, there is a lot of variety and is non-repetitive. Here are some screen grabs of the footage showing the different camera angles we used.

 These images are taken from when the Interviewer is entering the interviewing room, we used several angles to set the scene as fast paced, there are fast paced edited jump cuts between each image showing a 360 degree view.

Once the Interviewer is seated several over the shoulder shots are used to denote power towards Michael Garrett. in addition we used side on views to connote and emphasise that Michael is uninterested.

 I believe that the scene flows well and the editing is at a good standard. I think that the retrospective flashback scenes work really well, the black and white connotes that it is a blurred memory.

Even better if:

However, if I were to recreate this task I would pay more close attention to the aspects in which we are missing. The video is missing credits, a title and also a production logo; as I have only just learned how to create this. Also, I would like to have payed more attention to the costume and make-up as it wasn't really thought through and doesn't reflect the characters and their personalities (e.g. I would have dressed the Interviewer in something more conservative and sophisticated). As for the props, I would have used more relevant props to the scene for example I should have found a voice recorder to use instead of an iPhone, I will practice more with filters and learning how to do more advanced editing.

Preliminary Opening Sequence

Here is our finished preliminary opening sequence:

Starring: 

Blake Challenger as MICHAEL GARRET

Hannah Riley as INTERVIEWER

Naya Reid as PARTNER

PRODUCED BY
Megan Lawrence, Alice Percy, Blake Challenger, Hannah Riley

Preliminary Opening Sequence - SCRIPT

Here I have taken into account the skills in which I learnt from my script-writing lesson and I have created the script for my groups preliminary opening sequence. 

Grievous Bodily Harm - Preliminary Script

Preliminary Opening Sequence - IDEA

PRELIMINARY PLANNING

For the preliminary video what is needed is to create a scene where:

• somebody enters a room
• they engage in conversation
• somebody exits the room 
• 180 degree angle shot
• shot reverse shot 

my group and I have come up with a  theme of domestic violence and an interview taking place on its behalf for our preliminary video. We want to use a wide range of camera shots and angles to see which ones work successfully. I have created a storyboard to the idea in which our group has come up with.

Story Board:





In order to create our preliminary video we need:

On screen:

• 1 Actor and 2 Actress',
• Small and dark room to be used for the interview,
• Small table lamp
• Pile of paper
• Voice recorder

Off screen:

• Tri-pod
• Camera

Practice Filming

To introduce ourselves to using the video cameras my group and I shot a practice clip. This was to familiarise ourselves with the camera and the editing. We edited the video together with 'Final Cut Express' the program in which I will be using throughout the production of my opening sequence(s).

 

How filming went:

Even though this clip is not to a great standard (it was made without planning and on the spot), I believe that the camera shots and angles worked very successfully. The clip begins with a long shot to introduce the setting to the audience; The characters and the setting. The setting is well lit with natural lighting and appears to be in a conventional contemporary high school (student lockers are visual to the right of the screen). However, the area is underpopulated with only three people ever on the screen at present, this denotes an eerie atmosphere. After the long shot, there is a close up on the antagonist's partially hidden face (his hood is pulled up connoting that he may have something to hide - and possibly himself. This is followed by a mid-shot of a female character - the mid-shot signifies that she believes that she is alone, she is not aware of her surroundings - this can forebode that something will happen to her. The still long shot that follows displays to the audience what is actually happening behind the first victim. Next, the medium into long shot which traces the other victim walking towards the stairs, the movement of the camera connotes the female is being watched through the perspective of the antagonist. To finish, we used an areal shot to show the audience what is happening from above however this could imply that both characters on scene are weak and there is something more omnipotent (possibly the audience because they have seen what has happened) than the antagonist.

How we could improve:

During the clip we didn't really pay much attention to the background noise, for example in the final shot an unexpected hand dryer switched on ruining the ending. During the final shot the camera quality was also very low, the camera was very jolty and didn't run smoothly - this was due to an issue with the tri-pod being tightened too much.  Additionally, we were not very wary of people in the background for instance when one of out P.E teachers is walking in our shot unintentionally.

Conventions of an Opening Sequence

Conventions of an Opening Sequence

The whole point of an opening sequence is to grab the audiences attention to make them want to watch the rest of the film, an unsuccessful opening sequence may put the audience off and cause them to lose interest. To create a good opening sequence specific characters may be introduced or by creating enigma; but never giving too much away too early on. However, it may foreshadow what is to happen later on in the film.

The film  institution/company logo will be is conventionally the first thing to appear on a film opening sequence, sometimes these logos will be edited to fit the genre of the film as shown above by DreamWorks. The film institution that is shown can give an insight to what the audience are to expect, for example anything made by Walt Disney Pictures will most likely be child friendly where as Twisted Pictures may only be suitable for adults by its use of barbed wire in its animated logo.



Establishing Shots may be used to 'set the scene' by showing long shots of a specific area to give the audience an idea as to where the film may be taking place. This may also give the audience an understanding of specific dates and times. These shots may also include an introduction of key characters from an early point, this can alter the audiences personal relationships with the characters on screen; some horror films that begin with the introduction of characters are:

• Dawn of the Dead (2004)
• 28 Days Later
• Halloween (1978)
• Evil Dead (2013)
• Insidious

Here is the opening sequence to Halloween :

Juxtaposing that, some opening sequence may start with no introduction to characters or settings and will create Roland Barthes' enigma code by beginning with something which will question the audience and create a sense of mystery, for example 'who are they', 'where are they', 'what are they doing'. This can be as equally successful because it may leave the audience on the edge of their seat. Films that do this well are:

• Sinister
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Se7en

Here is the opening sequence to Sinister:

The title can either be shown before or after the opening clip, even the title may connote to what will happen throughout the film. For example the SAW V title contains denotations and connotations of what is to happen within the film. The blood on the wall in the background denotes pain and suffering, the harshness of the V entering connotes actions within the film will be sharp and sudden and/or not leave time for decisions. In addition, the blood on the walls denote how someone (or more) will be killed or left in pain throughout.

The conventional opening credits name the people who are the most significant and important in the making of the film or the characters in it. This may signify to the audience what the film may be about - if a director for example Tim Burton's name appears it may connote to the audience that the films may be more creepy than gory because of his films Edward Scissorhands and Corpse Bride which are both horror fantasy's.
However, some films like to avoid opening credits because they want more of an unconventional and memorable opening sequence, sometimes the credits may take away from the film and it is more dramatic and sharp to leave them out. An example of an opening sequence that does this is the horror torture film Hostel.


The audio is a strong convention of an opening sequence; it may be used to build tension by using non-diagetic sounds to unease the audience. The use of familiar songs are also used to attract the audience because they may see where the scene is to go from that point. In 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' 'Immigrant Song' by Led Zeppelin  is used to introduce the film, because the opening sequence is so confusing the familiar song helps to level this. Pace is built by the use of sound effects and music if the music is fast paced it may connote that something major is about to happen. A voice over is sometimes used to introduce characters as aforementioned and create more of a personal bond between the screen and the audience.

Tzvetan Todorov believes that all films begin with an equilibrium (life is normal); in the genre of horror this statement is mostly untrue. Horror films like to throw you in at the deep end by usually beginning with a disruption to emphasise the fact that it is of the genre horror and forshadow what is to happen later. An example of this is 'You're Next'.

This is the only video I could find for You're Next opening sequence, watch up until 3.03.



I will apply the knowledge I have learned from this task to help me with my preliminary and final opening sequences.