Note to moderator

Dear Moderator,

Our task was to create an opening sequence to a film with a maximum of 2 minutes screening time. There are labels attached to each of my posts to help navigate you round my blog. I worked in a group with Ruby Davies and Eoghain Kilbane throughout our coursework, although, we did the evaluation individually.

Name: Max Austin
Candidate number: 9060
Centre number: 5111

Yours sincerely,
Max Austin

Question 1 - Final Evaluation

For this question we have used the 9 picture frame shot. Above, are our most important frames in our final piece, those pictures are what we feel create the atmosphere and mood of the film.

The first picture is a shot of the name of our film, we used this so that the audience are aware of what film they're watching, this is a code and convention of the opening scene to a movie.

The second shot is an image of our protagonist character as he walks down the alley to his house. It is important that we showed the audience our main character in the opening scene as they would want to see who he is and what he looks like, this is also the only person we introduce in the opening scene, making the audience wonder if he's a family man etc. Revealing the character in the opening scene is also an important code and convention of the opening scene to a movie.

The picture on the top right is an establishing shot, we used this shot to set the scene and location of the film, so that the audience are aware as to where this is being filmed.

The picture to the left in the middle is a shot of a table with a mysterious object on, you can also see that the lighting is quite dull and the colours associated with the shot are quite dark. This is all been done to emphasize the genre of the film, the dark colours resemble a mysterious and scary man and the  object on the table makes the audience wonder what type of man he is and why he has objects like this in his house, maybe this symbolises the name of the film; Hidden?.

The middle picture is a shot of a chopping board, pepper and knife. We used these objects because we felt they created a sense of danger and the objects themselves related to death. We used a large pepper as it resembled the shape of a heart and blood red in colour. The large lethal looking knife was used as it provided a sense of foreboding and menace. Although this image has nothing to do with the film and the props don't play a part we thought we'd include it to bring a sense of intrigue upon our audience.

 The picture in the middle right was used because it shows him walking down into the cellar, which is in fact one of the most important scenes in our final piece. As our character walked down the stairs we filmed a high angle shot upon him, this shot shows that our character is a dominant and strong person. We thought that we should include a cellar in our final piece as we believe it brought a new mysterious location to our film. Having watched many Horror films, I am aware that cellars/basements are used quite a lot, where the main characters hide mysterious possessions as they are hidden away from the house and the world. We felt that this was a great way to entice our audience in and to make them think what is the relevance of this cellar in the film?

The bottom left shot is an over the shoulder shot of the man in the cellar, this location is one of the most important places in the film, this is where the man keeps his 'hostages' or 'prisoners'. We felt that it was very important that the audience were introduced to this location early on so that it becomes a familiar place to them.

The next image is an over the shoulder shot of the 'hostage' looking at the man. We used this to too create a threatening and eery atmosphere, we also wanted the audience to be aware of the girl that was being kept in the cellar, this would have left the audience asking a to of questions as to why she is there?

The last image is a blank screen, this is where we end our opening scene, we left it on a blank screen to leave the audience wanting more and to leave it on a cliff hanger.

Question 2 - Final Evaluation

Question 3 - Final Evaluation

Question 4 - Final Evaluation

As you can see from the video above we interviewed 3 different people. James Merry, Antonia Moss and Lyle Dalgleish. We interviewed these three people because they all fitted out target audience. Having recorded them myself and then questioning them more behind the scenes for additional information, I am now aware of what type of films my three people watch and why.

James Merry is 16, he is from Crowthorne and is very keen on Media studies. James has been a real film fanatic ever since he was a little boy, ranging from animatronic movies like toy story to action packed bond movies. He is a fan of all genres but mainly watches: Action, Thriller, Horror, Comedy and Drama films. He also said he has his weak moments when he sits on the sofa and when theres nothing on TV, he would pop a romantic movie on, as he loves it when theres a happy ending. James told me he visits the cinema on average twice a month, although he said it depends on whether theres more good films out one month than another. He is very update with new converging technologies because he said he likes to watch a lot of films on Netflix. James fits our target audience because he's a film fanatic, he likes Horror and Thriller movies and he is the exact age we are marketing towards.

Antonia Moss is 17, she lives in Crowthorne and has always enjoyed watching films. Antonia said she has a real passion for Disney films as they have always played a part in her life. Ever since she was a little girl she watched all the animatronic movies that disney had to show, only recently has she departed from the animatronic movies and has moved onto the more Horror and action packed movies. Antonia said she enjoys watching films on sky movies and anytime tv as they always have the latest movies on for show. Antonia said to me "I can't believe I've missed out on all these amazing genres of films over the years, because I have been shocked as to how I've been so drawn in by romantic comedies and Thriller movies".

Lyle is 17, and also lives in Crowthorne, Lyle is very passionate about the film industry and knows almost every film you say! Lyle enjoys every genre of film out there apart from romantic movies, he said "they make me feel sick, because they are so cringy". Lyle has always been a massive fan of sci-fi and Horror movies, he likes mysterious and spooky films that may have a plot twist. He said "the best way a film can draw in its audience is by leaving the audience questions as to how something has happened, then at the end of the film the plot is revealed so the audience can see if they were right or not". Lyle has a Lovefilm account and loves to rent out movies with his family, he also loves going to the cinema around twice a month, depending on what movies are out on certain months. Lyle said that once a year he gets treated by his dad, where he takes lyle to see a very good film in an Imax cinema in London.

These 3 people are class mates of mine and they all have a passion for the film industry. They all have a keen interest for Thriller and Horror movies and they say they watch about 2 every month. They either rent them from blockbuster, watch them online or buy them from HMV etc.

Question 5 - Final Evaluation

Here you can see we have put the name of the film directly in the centre, we have done this so that it is obvious to the audience. As you can see behind the title we have used the special effect of fog, we have used this to crate an eery and spooky atmosphere. It also leaves the audience wanting to know what is hidden behind the fog. This has been used to draw in the audience and to create a spooky and mysterious effect. We have made the background black to resemble the nighttime and so that the transition into the next scene works perfectly, as the next scene is filmed in pitch black.

The next image is a shot of our protagonist character, this is the first time the audience see the main character in the film (but they don't actually know its the main character yet), from this shot all they can see is the outline and clothes of his body but none of his facial features. A light is used directly behind him to create a shadow and to create an eery and spooky atmosphere. The fact that the light shines directly onto our protagonist character creates a sense of intrigue, which is an important code and convention for Horror movies.

In this scene we used a panning shot from left to right to show the man walking down the street.  All you can see is the mans legs and feet.  The fact that nothing else is shown to the audience furthermore provides a sense of mystery and intrigue towards this man.

Here we have an establishing shot of the mans house? Who knows, the audience are left asking questions to whether this is where the film is going to be set. It also makes the audience wonder what this man is up too and where he has been?

Again, all thats shown in this clip is the mans legs and feet, nothing else is being revealed, the storyline is left unclear at this moment in time. Although, the audience may be left asking as to why a man like him has a fairly feminine decoration in the background? makes the audience wonder if this can really be a killer? Makes the audience wonder if he has a family. 

From this shot you can see the good use of dark lighting mixed in with the rich coloured walls, this al creates a dark atmosphere and sets the scene really well. The object on the table really sticks out in this shot, emphasising the mystery of this man, it also leaves the audience asking questions like who could he be and why would he have this?

We felt that this was a good way to attract our audience as it displayed normal cooking stuff but in a deadly way. The knife was used to look menacing and to provide a sense of danger and the pepper was shaped like a heart and represented the colour of blood, this is also where we decided to put our titles.

The image below is another shot in which we wanted to include a title, we used the effect of a candle blowing out and a close up shot of the smoke, we used this to create a variety of shots and to keep the audience interested. As you can see the lighting stays dark throughout the opening sequences.

This next shot makes the audience feel as if the man is walking towards them - makes the audience feel intimidated? We used a low angle shot up at the man to show his power and status, he looks threatening.

The next shot sets the location of this scene, a large cellar packed with many boxes, does the audience notice the girl to the left with a white bag over head?

The next shot is an over the shoulder shot shows us the girls point of view, the audience are left asking questions as to who this man is, is he a 'kidnapper', 'peodophile' or 'serial killer'? The audience are left asking questions as to why this girl is locked up and what this man is going to do with her.

We end the opening scene on a black screen, this leaves the audience wanting to know more and leaves the final piece on a cliffhanger.

Question 6 - Final Evaluation