Evaluation Question 1
For our main brief, we had to plan and produce a 2 - 3 minute horror film opening, this had to include opening titles, edited sound and the use of media that we filmed and created ourselves.
To create our final product, we had to edit this all together to create an effective horror film opening. In order to achieve a high grade, we had to research the typical codes and conventions of a horror film, including mise en scene, location, characters, colours, camera angles and movement and the different sound used.
In order to research this effectively, we had to watch several real media products in order to analysis their opening sequences and make notes on the generic code and conventions for the horror genre, and the more specific conventions for the sub-genres. As I planned on creating a supernatural/paranormal horror film, I focused my textual analysis on films under the same genre. These films included: Insidious, The Ring 2 and The Woman In Black. I also analysed Blade and Scream to see the more typical conventions used.
Mise en Scene
I started by looking at the mise en scene used in these horror films. I recognised the in particular, the paranormal horror’s started off the protagonists house, and as did scream. This made the film much more personal to the viewer as they find the location much more relatable as the mise en scene is recognisable as something they would find in their own home. However, scream’s shots definitely emphasise the knives in the kitchen and the glass windows and doors that can easily be smashed, building up the tension and making the audience feel much more on edge. Scream also exaggerates the knife by inserting the non-diegetic sound of a knife's slash, to make it seem much sharper and more deadly. The iconography of the knife has connotations of pain and death. The Ring also features a very common home setting, placing the two teenage characters in a living room and a kitchen. Once again, this suggest to the audience that the events in the film can happen in their own home, and makes the film seem much more realistic.
As the use of a house is pretty consistent in paranormal horror films, I decided to use this location and the typical mise en scene of a house in my own opening. This is so that the audience found the mise en scene much more relatable and recognisable, meaning that the film would have a much greater effect on the audience. I also decided to set the opening at night as it would create a sense of realism and creepiness.
The lighting in Insidious is very dark and mysterious, meaning that the audience are not completely certain of the things they are seeing, creating a much more tense and dramatic atmosphere.
I liked the effect that Insidious’ use of low key lighting created and so I also decided to use minimal lighting in my main brief, in order to make the atmosphere much more uneasy and thrilling. As the audience cannot clearly see everything in the scene, their fear and anticipation is increased making the film much more effective. We also decided to use much warmer lighting and colours to make the audience feel slightly safer before the main events in the opening happen.
For costumes, we decided to keep the protagonists simple but to tie it into the genre. We decided on a red jumper as the opening scene is set on Halloween meaning it is likely to be cold and red has connotations of danger and blood. We decided on keeping our protagonists makeup minimal as she is supposed to be ready to sleep. For the antagonist, however, we decided to make the costume very dark. We chose black jeans and a black jumper streaked with dark red. This is so that the costume had some volume to it on camera and did not appear completely flat and dimensionless. We also based the costume around the colour black as it has very negative connotations including death and mystery. Black also connotes fear and the unknow. The makeup that we decided on for the antagonist was a white face paint to make their face appear pale and dead. On top of this, we used a bright red mixed with black to hollow out the eyes and cheeks in order to make the antagonists face appear very hollow and lifeless. From my research, I learnt that makeup is often used in horror movies to make a character appear injured or hurt; tired or scared.
Sound
Whilst watching Blade and The Woman In Black, the sound in both openings was used effectively to build the tension and suspense. In Blade, the music in the club works to build up the tension before breaking off slightly and reaching its climax as the bloodbath begins. The Woman In Black, however, uses a typical child’s melody which is very slow and calming but played on what sounds like an out of tune piano to add an air of creepiness and discomfort. Despite the music not being overwhelming, this immediately puts the audience on edge. This gives the audience connotations of death and mortality, foreshadowing the devastating death of the three girls.
My research into the sound used in horror films also showed me that in a film like Silent Hill, the tension is increased by making the music turn from harmless to dangerous and from the use of seemingly diegetic sound effects. Through my research I also learned that some sound designers make their audience feel uncomfortable and squeamish by adding sounds that we do not necessarily notice, using quiet high pitched sounds in the background.
I decided that I wanted an eerie background music that was not overwhelming but still made the audience feel tense and on edge. I found a track on a royalty free website that gave this effect. The track also uses long and suspenseful notes to scare the audience and make them feel very uncomfortable.
Camera angles and movements
From watching the opening of scream, I noticed that tracking shots were used to help build up the tension in the scene. This is due to the audience being able to clearly see all of the dangers surrounding the character including the glass doors and windows and the kitchen knives. This also allows the audience to get a better feel for the house and get to know the location better before the action starts. Scream also uses a large amount of close ups in order to draw the audience's attention to specific objects or actions. The Woman In Black also uses close ups at the start of the opening sequence to give the audience clues as to the location of the film and the characters shown in the scene. However, the majority of the shots used in the scene are mid or long shots to show as much as the camera possibly can without giving away what is going on. This adds to the tension in the scene and also makes the audience confused as they are uncertain as to what is going on.
In my research into the most common camera angles used in horror films, I found that sometimes Point of View shots are used to allow the audience to see the scene from the character’s perspective. Tracking shots are also used to connote movement and to make the audience feel as though the characters is being followed or watched. A tracking shot can also be used to demonstrate a wider view of the location or create the suspense as the audience are unsure on the future events.
I decided that I wanted to use POV, tracking and mid shots in my opening. I decided on using a POV in my opening as I wanted to really put the audience into our protagonists shoes in order to develop the audience’s emotional attachment to the character meaning they will care a lot more about her in the rest of the film. I decided I want to use tracking shots to make the sequence much more personal to the audience as they can easily learn the house’s layout which they would be able to refer to later on in the film when the character is in a dangerous situation. I also wanted to use mid shots to show the characters facial expressions and body language without cutting the mise en scene. Additionally, I chose to use a close up to show the protagonists phone screen in order to draw the audience’s attention to the time and date.
Editing
From watching the Amityville Horror, I found that the montage of newspaper reports and photos worked really well in informing the audience about the story but not giving too much away. This worked effectively as the clips were only long enough for the audience to receive minimal information about the family murder and not too much about the supernatural/paranormal side of it. The opening credits of Insidious uses a very grey colour scheme to make the audience feel very cold and wary as though they are observing something of a dream or another side of reality. This is a major hint to the rest of the film, but is effectively used with very gothic music. Scream, meanwhile, used match on action very effectively when the female character runs for the door. This is very continuous and successful editing as it does not leave the audience confused or disorientated.
I decided to use a montage of newspapers and photos in the opening sequence of my film in give the audience a backstory of what happened before the events of this film. I did this by editing and designing photographs and newspaper articles, before editing them together and overlapping a radio broadcast describing the events of the murder. In addition to this, I used match on action as the protagonist leaves her bedroom so that the audience are reassured that they haven’t missed anything and are not left confused. Finally, I also decided to use a variety of shots but match them together to keep the editing continuous so that the audience are aware that these events are taking place in the order in which they’re watched.
