Research: Titles in horror films

Titles in horror films can give a huge impression and create an atmosphere before a film even starts. An example of this is the film 'Se7en'.

 

The editing of the title sequence is very unsettling because of the quick cuts, scratchy fonts, extreme close ups and disordered music.
Another thing about the titles is the order of the actors in which they appear. Brad Pitt comes up first because of the high profile he has. He is first to attract the audience and pull them in straight away because he is a well known, brilliant actor. Second is Morgan Freeman, again a well known fantastic actor who appears in some of the best films to ever hit the cinema screens. Having these two actors first lets the audience know how much of a great film it is going to be, and how enjoyable it is going to be to watch.
The quick cuts makes it very hard for the people watching to keep track of whats going on and can create a very uncomfortable feeling because of what they're being shown. At 0:17 a razor blade is shown for around one and a half seconds and it is being used to cut skin off the finger of an unidentified character. This is not usually what comes up unexpectedly on our TV screen so it can be discomforting for some viewers. Also at 1:38 a needle flashes up for a split second and a fear of needles is very common.
The music doesn't seem to have any order and you don't know what it is going to do next, just like the killer in the actual film.


Another title i looked at is the opening to 'The Last Of Us'. These are very good titles because it gives you an idea what it is going to be about while also not giving too much away.



The black and white filter makes it seem very eerie and can make it feel old. The constant switching in fast and slow motion can make you feel quite uncomfortable because it is impossible to see what is going to happen next and it is sometimes difficult to see what it going on. The voice over in the background is also very powerful because of what they are saying. 'The number of confirmed deaths is past 200'. This isn't something that everyone likes to hear and can make you feel in real danger. 'Hundreds of bodies laying in the streets' at 0:14 is another example. One more example is at 0:17 'Panic spread worldwide after a leaked report from the World Health Organisation showed the latest vaccination has failed'. This makes a really uncomfortable feeling because it gives a feeling that everyone is doomed while still not telling the audience what has happened. In my opinion the music what helps it most. The acoustic guitar on its own gives it an isolated feeling which can be quite uncomfortable for the audience.

Planning: Casting

For our casting we are talking to people to see if they are good for the role or not, we are looking for confidence and for them to not be shy when asked to take a photo of them so we know if they are comfortable to be recorded or not. We are looking for one killer and two victims for our film opening - this is the only cast we need.

This is Lewis Swannell. Lewis would be a very appropriate choice for staring in our film. He is a confident and loud person which would be very good for our film. He is also available for our filming schedule so he is a very strong candidate to get the part.

This is Kofi Amponsah. Kofi is free during out filming schedule however his downfall is that he is very shy and awkward around people and in front of the camera especially and this would not be very good for our film because he would not translate well with the audience.

This is Tom Kelly. Tom is a very strong candidate for one of the starring roles. He is loud and confident which are the characteristics we are looking for in the star for our film. He is also available during our filming schedule so he is the ideal candidate overall.

This is Matthew Hope. Matthew is a very loud and confident person who would translate well with our audience and he would be a great candidate for the role. The problem is that he is not available during our filming schedule.

This is Stephen Olatunbosun. Stephen is very hard to work with however when he starts to do what he is asked to do he can do it well, he is very loud and confident therefore this would translate well with our audience. He is also available for all days of our filming schedule which makes him overall a great candidate.

Whilst we were trying to find the right cast for our film we looked at a range of different things that would be good for our characters to have. Some of the things we looked at were; character confidence, personality, characteristics and of course if they were available on the filming schedule. Not all of the people above had the right attributes to be given the part in our film but some of them did and the cast we have gone with is the following: Tom Kelly (as the main killer, probably not seen much during the film), Lewis Swannell (One main character) and Stephen Olatunbosun (The other main character).

Planning: Props and equipment

 
The first piece of equipment that we need for our film is a phone. This is for the scene in the woods when Lewis checks for signal after Stephen gets injured. This shows the audience that they are in a stressful situation in a secluded setting.



The second piece of equipment is a camera. This will allow us to shoot our movie. In the simplest way possible.



The third piece of equipment is a tripod. This will help us perform a controlled shot without the camera moving about when we don't want it to.



The last piece of equipment is a baseball bat. This is going to be used as the murderers weapon. He needs to weapon to show he is the most powerful character.

Planning: Mise-En-Scene

Black Hoodie

This is a black hoodie. This is a good thing to have for a killer. When this is first seen in the scene all you will see is the hoodie. you won't be able to see any of the killers face.  This would be used for the killer because it makes them look like a mysterous character in the background of the scene.

Blue Jeans

These would also be worn by the killer so we would be able to see what type of age he is. By this type of jeans you can tell that they are teenager jeans. This could mean that the killer is a teenager. 

Other characters

The other characters in the scene can wear whatever clothes they would normally wear. This is because they are themselves and they dont have to pretented to be other people. The other characters have to make themselves look like a victim though. We will not need make-up for the other characters as they are both male.

Planning: Location

This is the location that we will be using as a group to film in. It looks like a location that is isolated and that would be good for the filming. It is a good location because we need an abandoned location to be able to film this filming properly.

This is what the location actually looks like. This isn't actually an abandoned location as you can clearly see something is being built. When you zoom into the building it makes it look like a secluded location. This is what we need for our filming.

Here is the next place, it is a good place to film because we could make it look like a secluded location for filming giving the audience the sense of no one around to help.

However its not a good option because you would hear cars going past throughout filming as there is a main road, this would probably be the perfect location if the main road was not nearby.  With the cars going past during clips of the film it would be bad because the audience would realise that actually this is not a secluded location meaning they wouldn't get the same fear as if they thought it was secluded and no one around to help.

Next place, like the others, looks very good as a location for our film opening with a feeling of a secluded location with a lot of trees around for the audience to imagine the killer hiding.

For this location there is however a lot of houses nearby meaning in the background of the shots you could maybe hear people or lawnmowers etc, making this a bad location overall.

Overall, the best location would be the first location as we can make it feel like a secluded location and it is also far enough away from the road so that you can not hear cars going past during the shots, giving it the feeling of it being secluded and there is no help around for the victims.

Planning: Shot List

This is our shot list showing what camera angle and movement we will be executing when filming each scene, We have also added a brief description of what will be happening during that scene. This is important so we know beforehand what angle and movement we will be doing which we all thought was best.

Planning: Storyboard

The next thing we had to do was create a storyboard showing each shot and movement in our film opening. When we start filming we will refer back to the storyboard to make sure that we are following our plan so it looks exactly how we want it to look. Creating a storyboard shows us a rough idea what our storyboard will look like before we even start filming. This is vital so we don't run into many problems when it comes to filming.