Question 1

1. Question 1 My title sequence conforms to the horror genre, as an opening sequence I tried to make it conform to horrors generic conventions such as dressing the villain character in dark clothing and not allowing his face to be seen and contrasting his movements with that of the photographer who is moving in a casual relaxed manner wearing conventional teenager clothes. I used the convention of the theme of psychology of the mind by challenging the audience to question what the character was doing with his camera. The way the character appears as if in the photographers photographs created a twist to the narrative structure, I also tried to use an urban location with as few people in as possible contrasted with the woods where the camera was hand held at eye level to give the impression of the character being followed. I used diegetic (the camera shutter) and non-diegetic (soundtrack) sound to create ambiguity which is another convention of the horror genre. In terms of cinematography I tried to represent the genre of horror by using a varied range of shots but I could have explored more extreme high and low angle shots along with panning the camera instead of it staying static. The main editing techniques used to create a sense of suspense were to cross dissolve the hooded figure in and out of the shot.

2. Cross dissolve effect and contrasting character outfits Hand held camera at eye level giving the impression of being followed Shutter (2008) this is a horror film with a similar concept to our title sequence, a couple discovers disturbing, ghostly images in photographs they develop. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482599/

3. Blow-up (1966) A young london photographer accidently captures a murder on film which he doesn’t notice until the film is developed http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060176/

4. Question 2 • The two main characters in our title sequence are both male, Tom (the photographer) is a typical white middle class student wearing a beige jacket in the title sequence with a expensive camera and is typical of the horror genre as a contrast to the villain. The villain character in our sequence is actually male but in the film so far, is genderless as you never see him walking, hear him talking or actually see his face, his black hooded top fulfils a stereotype of a young person up to no good. According to wikipedia –’The hoodie promises anonymity, mystery and anxiety. Its origin is in black American hip-hop culture, and it projects menace and danger as well as anger and rage’. The choice of mise-en-scene gives the audience clues to the characters. An example of a film that uses similar mise en scene is Harry Brown (2009) I have also linked my sequence to Shaun of the Dead (2004) which although is a horror/comedy film has characters going about their everyday life oblivious of the “villains”.

5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289406/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/

6. Question 3 • A typical film company that might distribute our film is Carnaby International who distributed Dolphins (octane in USA) a £600,000 budget art house film. • Dolphins storyline isn't the same genre as ours but is targeting a similar urban youth market of 15-24 year olds and our budget would be in the same range. • Our film would be shown in an Art house cinema such as the Duke of Yorks in Brighton, to gain more publicity and a positive word of mouth we would allow the film distributor to set up free screening programs as a key strategy as we wouldn’t have the finances to spend on a big budget campaign. • The distribution company would also use viral campaigns via the internet and social networking sites to promote the film to key audiences. • Film festivals would be a good platform to first screen our film, we would launch our film at international festivals such as Sundance and national festivals such as Latitude. • Kidulthood made £400,000 on a limited distribution over four weeks, and we would expect the same for our film with a later release on DVD to capture the niche audience and provide further revenue. Art house cinema – The Duke of York’s. Brighton

7. Question 4 • The age group of the target audience is around 16-24 years, predominantly this age group is made up of students. We have chosen this age group because the cast and production team are also off this age group and so there will be a direct connection between the two. • Although the cast is male this will appeal to both genders as females like watching films with a male lead, the content and style of the film is deliberately androgynous to help appeal to all members of the audience. • The type of film is of a low budget hand made, hand held camera style similar to The Blair Witch Project, this style of film is familiar to the audience through their widespread interaction with online contemporary media. • One of the films I have compared my opening sequence to is Shutter Island, they used traditional big budget approaches to marketing such as trailers, behind the scene interviews, media adverts and poster and billboard campaigns, but they also used celebrity testimonials in reviews rather than obscure film critics this immediately raised the films profile. • Trailers and print adverts for Shaun of the Dead also featured quotes from respected current and past horror film makers which gave instant credibility to the film.

8. Question 5 • The specific promotion techniques would be a free preview screening program a week before general release promoted through mobile phone networks to create a buzz around the film • The second main approach will be an interactive viral campaign in a similar style to The Dark Knight, with clues to the story line on the internet creating a sense of suspense and anticipation. • Another form of promotion would be to distribute marketing material in venues frequented by the target audience, these would take the format of limited edition photographs showing a mysterious figure. This is a screenshot of a website used in The Dark Knights viral campaign http://www.acmesecuritysystems.com/

9. Question 5 continued http://www.thegothamtimes.com/ http://www.thehahahatimes.com/ Examples of promotional material distributed virally 4 months before the release of the film.

10. Question 5 continued • Another promotion tactic I would use is to cast actors well known to my target audience, from either cult films or television programs. In the case of my film I would use the actors from the Inbetweeners as although this is a comedy program their presence on marketing material would create a buzz and intrigue as to how they would be cast. The Inbetweeners is a television program about 4 teenagers and has a huge following with my demographic. • Images of these actors would be used on my limited edition photographs and publicity • Merchandise would be sophisticated and limited edition partly due to the budget but also to create a sense of desire and would take the form of bespoke colour polaroid cameras

11. Question 6 • In pre-production I looked at various online sites for my research such as • http://www.filmsite.org/ • http://www.imdb.com/ • http://www.film.com/ • For research I watched various films such as, Brick, Blow up, Shaun of the Dead, The Dark Knight, Blair Witch Project. • I used Print screen for inserting images into my blog, and created and edited a DVD cover for my film on Photoshop, I also viewed a number of title sequences for films using Youtube and Media Player. • I did a preliminary exercise to get experience of using a film camera and the basic techniques of hand held and tripod use to record initial ideas for an opening sequence, I didn’t put a soundtrack on my preliminary exercise. • Instead of using Adobe premiere 7 for my Preliminary exercise edit I did an in camera edit which is editing at its basic form using the tape to produce a film. • In my research and planning I used a number of different media to record my ideas, these included producing a storyboard, taking photographs for a recce.

12. Question 6 continued • In the actual production I filmed with a camera used the in camera microphone and props including a polaroid camera a DSLR camera and a black hooded jacket. • I used various camera techniques such as framing the opening shot of the polaroid camera as a close up and the figure walking down the street towards the camera. • The sound that was added to my title sequence was a royalty free track I downloaded from http://freeplaymusic.com/, using Adobe Premiere I added this track to my title sequence. I also used a diegetic sound of a camera shutter being released, I found this on a sound database and then drag and dropped it into Adobe Premiere. • During editing using Adobe Premiere 7 I synchronised the soundtrack to the title sequence by moving the video clips to the relevant positions on the timeline in relation to how dramatic or calm the music was. • In the Edit Suite I used 4 different shot transitions, Fast Fade In, Fast Fade Out, Cross Dissolve and Random Wipe.

13. Question 6 • I have learnt that it is important to create atmosphere in the opening sequence of a horror film as this is the first and most important opportunity you have to engage with the audience, I think a better use of camera angles and continuity shots would have improved my opening sequence and a greater contrast in style between the two characters clothing would have helped create more atmosphere. Also I would have found a more remote and run down location for the urban filming and edited the colours more to make it more dramatic. • I chose the specific angle of the first frame as we needed an establishing shot to set the tone of the sequence. I also used the handheld camera at eye level to follow the Tom character to create a sense of another persons presence behind him as he walked through the woods. • One of the more important editing decisions I made was to mix up the footage from the urban area with the footage from the woods, this made the sequence flow with more continuity • I downloaded the soundtrack which consists of a orchestra playing classical music with a feel of apprehension this was the most successful part of the sequence as it reinforced the narrative of the sequence and created a sense of suspense.

14. Question 7 • Looking back to the preliminary task and the progression to the final product I have learnt: • Continuity in filming – making the scene appear to flow as in real life • Shooting to later edit – Shooting enough film to have a subsequent edit • The 180 rule – where two characters in a film should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. • How to apply sound both non-diegetic – sound whose source is visible on screen and diegetic – sound whose source is not visible on screen like a soundtrack or a narrator. • The trials and tribulations of working as a group • The technical skills of filming and editing • Acting and creation of mise en scene with props such as the cameras and clothing • The importance of working to a target audience The 180 degree rule

15. Question 7 I feel the Success of my final product could have been improved through using a greater variety of action, reverse shots, low/high angle shots and more technically sophisticated filming techniques such as the Hitchcock effect which would have been appropriate for our horror genre. We needed to review our rushes and make a decision on whether or not to re-film parts of the sequence where the camera work is shaky as in the end product this element is detrimental to the final piece. I believe that the most successful part of the end product is the music soundtrack and the way it heightens the sense of apprehension contrasted with the diegetic sound of the camera shutter which appears overly loud and dramatic and creates a sense of psychological drama.