Lesson 2 on our own horror movie opening.

          Again we used a brainstorming in our groups to spark up new creative idea's in regards to our opening. We decided on a voice over from the beginning during the credits of a woman/man reading other unrelated news. Then, following on from the credits, we decided to move straight to the news report on the actual murder. We think the news report should end with a polaroid picture of the victim in her living state, then we think the image should fade into a graphic image of her after the murder has taken place.
          We also had an idea of the killer planning to right a new 'bible' according to his very psychopathic views; We might show this by switching to a shot of him making a scrap book of his intended victims and the one girl he has already killed (perhaps crossing through a polaroid photo in a dark red pen, the polaroid is a similar medium to the news report showing life and death).
          We are unsure as to what the title of his new bible should be, and the name of the film should be.

Lesson 1 on our own horror movie opening.

          In the first lesson in our groups for the horror movie opening we mainly brainstormed ideas, and tried to come to some kind of agreement as to the main plot and themes to our horror opening. We decided on a religious, crucifixion style killing by one person in contrast to a group or organization killer. We think a news report on the murder would be very effective in creating a serious and very dark atmosphere from the start. Also we felt there should be a photo of the murder victim shown to emphasise the brutality of the murder itself.

In depth analysis of Thir13en ghosts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_gt8ZAUk20

Columbia pictures (film institution) research.

         
          Columbia pictures is a sub-film industry within the film industry 'sony pictures' (once a production company in its own right) founded in Los Angeles, California in 1919 named C.B.C. film and was later renamed Columbia pictures in 1924. Founded  by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Joe Brandt, Columbia pictures released its first feature film in the August of 1922. The company released its first full length motion picture (Pal o'mine) in March, 1924. During the mid 90's Columbia pictures produced many blockbusters such as A man for all seasons, Lawrence of Arabia and Anatomy of a murder.
          In 1982 Coco cola purchased a large share in the film industry and in 1989 Sony bought the company. After Harry Cohn's death in 1958 the company went downhill financially and in the early 1970s were at a point close to bankruptcy. In order to become financially stable, in 1972, Columbia pictures and Warner Bros formed an alliance called 'The Burbank Studios' and both companies shared Warner Bros studio in Burbank.
          Columbia pictures purchased a share of 81% in The Walter Reade Organization in 1981, they later went on to completely buy out the remaining 19% of the organization in 1985. After huge success in the box office for popular films such as Stir Crazy, The Blue Lagoon, and Stripes, Columbia pictures was back to complete financial stability.

          In 1989 the empire was sold to Sony for no less than $3.4 billion. The company then reached its peak in 2006 by finishing the year with the largest profit $1.711 billion to be exact. Columbia pictures' most recent releases include Salt, The smurfs, Cemetery Junction, Grown Ups and The Karate kid. And currently based in Culver city, California some of its future releases include Men in Black III, That's my boy and Total recall. 
           Columbia pictures seems to generally produce large budget motion pictures and so would probably not be suitable for the purpose that our small project would require if we were to produce the full version. Apart from the fact that our project is small, the budget we would need to produce it full length would be relatively small in comparison to other films due to our realistic setting and lack of many special effects that would be necessary. (We will be limited to what is available to us in terms of location and editing facilities).

Brief analysis of film openings.

Film title.	Genre.	Conventions (sound/info/action).	Info. In credits.	Narrative/storyline of film.
Pulp Fiction	Action - themes of robbery. Guns used.	Fast tempo popular music and lots of swearing, setting of a typical American café sets the scene well.	Mentions: Film makers, starring actors, Director and the title of the film.	First  impression  of a crime and robbery based fast paced  action film  with and  element of comedy.
The dark knight	Action/ adventure - destruction shown from start.	Tension is built through music, screaming and murder. Masked robbers forcing entry. Part of the batman series.	Mentions: Film makers with logo’s.	Villain and superhero,  based in one town.
Final destination 3	Horror/ thriller- Old fashioned fair ground rides with haunting music and clowns.	Screaming Teenagers highlighted as main group of characters, vulnerability comes with youth suggesting they are the main victims.	Mentions: Film makers, title of the film, starring actors, director, editor, producer and co-producers.	There is focus  put on the taro cards which  could suggest  an element of mystery and  fate. Death  at the fair  ground  perhaps?
Pretty woman	Romance	Conversation between a man and a woman on the telephone - possible love interest? Obvious setting - Hollywood. Stereotypes - big houses and flash cars.	Mentions: Director, film makers, starring actors and producers. Classy font used.	Conflict  between a  couple.  Complete contrast  between  working and upper class.
Music and lyrics	Romantic comedy - song title “pop goes my heart”	80s typical cheesy music video shown while credits role. Voice over - “battle of the 80s has beens” - realism.	Mentions: Starring actors, Producer, director and film makers.	“battle of the  80s has beens” - suggests an  artists struggle to continue his more serious music  career. To follow  his former band members  secondary success.
The happening	Horror	Time lapse photography used. Low angle shots used to emphasise vulnerability, also point of view shot used to show her shaking. Close ups on the face used to show reaction well. Multiple deaths. Haunting music with sky turning gradually darker. Screaming heard creating a sinister atmosphere.	Mentions: Starring actors, film makers/ institutions, producers, film title, casting director, costume designer, co-producers, production designer, creative producer, director. Screaming heard and music gradually speeds up with the sky getting darker throughout credits.	People  involuntarily  committing suicide. Psychological  themes. A greater  being causing death perhaps? Maybe the woman shown in the beginning becomes a stronger character  as she is the only  one not being  affected.
De ja vu	Action - busy atmosphere, fast paced.	Up beat popular music switching to more haunting non-diegetic sound. Girl cries out when her doll falls from the boat suggesting dark themes. Music stops when the bomb goes off. Some survivors. Very asynchronous.	Mentions: Starring actors, film makers, casting director, editor, production designer, executive producer, writer. All credits in a typewriter font - quite sinister yet very matter of fact.	Boat party, very realistic until the  bomb goes off. Speculations as  to who might be behind it. Juxtaposition  with the scene splitting.  Suggestions  of time travel  through the use  of people taking pictures looking at memory. And time travel also  suggested through  the use of slow  motion changing  the timing.
I am legend	Action - close ups of face, flash forward, Arial view.	Theme of medicine. Normally thriving city is shown to be desolate (ghost town). Obvious setting of New York. Last human on earth perhaps. The feeling that the deer have taken over the city shown from the stampede.	Mentions: Film makers. Then straight into a voice over of the sport section of a radio station. Switches to a news room giving the hook of someone has found a cure for cancer. Sets the atmosphere.	Cure for  cancer is  found and appears to  have wiped  out the entire population.

Key conventions of film openings.

Today we looked at various film openings, here is what we found common in all of them:

• Credits are found in most film openings highlighting; the producers, the main actors in the film, the film makers, the director (especially if he/she is well known) and most importantly the name of the film. Famous names in the credits will often either entice the audience in and promote the film or completely put them off.
• The genre of the film is normally introduced in some way to give the audience some kind of guidance as to whether or not they will enjoy it.
• The genre is normally established through the typical conventions of that particular genre being shown in the beginning of the film. Even music can help us gain some sort of knowledge as to what the genre may be.
• Finally, we normally get a feeling for the Narrative/storyline from just the first few minutes of the film through uses of setting the scene and character introductions.

More possible shot types.

        In yesterdays lesson we looked at examples of different shot types used in films and the reasons why they are used (what effects they create). Here are the shot types we looked at:

• Low angle: Simply a shot of a character or object taken from a lower height than the character or object. This shot is normally used to make the character or object appear more dominant and to put emphasis on the audience's feeling of vulnerability. Example: 

• High angle: A shot taken from a higher height than the character or object. This shot works in the opposite way, designed to make the character or object appear more vulnerable. This particular shot is often used in the horror genre. Example:

• Arial: An arial or Crane shot is a shot of a location from above, this is often used to give the audience a greater perspective of a particular area. Example:

• Point.Of.View: This is, as the title suggests, a shot taken from the perspective of a particular character. This is used to give the audience a kind of connection with the character (almost empathising with the character) and a better perspective of the scene. Example:

• Close up: This is a shot taken up close to something or someone. It is useful for showing emotion, direct mode of address and any reaction the character makes. Example:

• Extreme close up: Just like the close up except closer, normally used to focus the audience's attention on something/someone very important in the scene. Example:

• Mid shot: A mid shot is a shot showing normally around half of a person. This is used to give an impression of equality or realism in the scene. Example:

• Long shot: A long shot is a full length shot of someone/something, normally used to give a better perspective of the character as a whole and also puts this character in some sort of context. If it were a long shot of an object it would be used to show where abouts the object is and strike up questions regarding the reason it is there. Example: 

• Establishing: An overview of an entire location, used to set the scene on a wider scale and add context to a film or television programme. Example:

• Panning: Panning is a shot of a moving object or person where by the camera stays stationary and can only rotate on the spot to follow the moving object or person. It can be used to show traffic on a road. Example:

• Tracking: Tracking is a shot of a moving object or person where by the camera moves with the object or person focusing on them/it rather than the location. It is normally used in chases or in a race format. 

• Tilt: A tilt is a low angle shot of a person or object where the camera is tilted slightly to the left or to the right. It is normally used to make the character/object look more dominant or intimidating, this type of shot can also have a disorientating affect for the audience metaphorically and physically. Example:

• Two shot: This is a mid shot of two people used to show a range of reactions and make the two characters seem dominant. Example:

• Over the shoulder: This is literally a shot taken from just behind the character used to show what they are seeing. It has an effect much the same as the point of view shot, it connects you to the character as well as adding a slight air of mystery, as if you're almost spying into the scene (as the audience). Example: 

Shot types; Match on action, shot/reverse shot and 180 degree rule.

Match on action
           This shot is used to show a movement of a character or object from two different angles (two shots) but switching between the two so swiftly that it is seamless and un-noticeable. Here is an example:
           

Shot/ reverse shot

             A shot/reverse shot is where a character of object is being filmed and then the shot switches to another character or object, then back to the first character or object. For example:

180 Degree rule

           Mostly used in shots of dialogue between two characters the 180 degree rule is a type of continuity editing where the viewers always see the characters exchanging dialogue etc. from the same angle so as not to look disjointed. See diagram:

Here is an example:

               

What is suspense?

A dictionary would define suspense as;
- A state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety.






In the horror/thriller genre, they create a sense of suspense in these common ways;

• A raising tempo and volume of the background music (crescendo).
• Lots of sharp movement.
• A close up shot of a clock is frequently used to create a kind of 'time is running out' metaphor.
• Moving shadow's are normally shown to suggest an unwanted visitor.
• High angle shots of the victim to create a sense of helplessness. 

Conventions of the Horror/Thriller genre.

      The horror genre is commonly paired with the thriller genre, the thriller genre tends to be the more psychological side of a frightening subject and horror genre tends to be the more physical gory side. Both genre's have a target audience of older teens and young adults and most films have a certificate of '15' or '18'. The thriller genre has become more popular in the last decade or so after being adapted into television series' such as 'Prime suspect' and 'Silent witness' (exploring sub genre's within the thriller genre e.g. crime thriller, action thriller and so on).
     The Horror film series 'Saw' improved the popularity of the genre hugely due to its massive success. The franchise was produced by twisted pictures and has gone down in history as being one of the most successful horror series' ever. The central plot was continued throughout the series but the circumstances and settings changed which helped keep the idea fresh. 
Looking specifically at the horror film genre we can identify these common conventions:

• A suspect/villain and victim character.
• Some kind of scary solitary location.
• A sense of vulnerability shown by the victim normally although sometimes shown from the villain.
• Lots of special effects and make-up used to emphasise frightening moments.
• A detachment from the victim's character shown so there isn't too much emotional involvement.
• A twist in the main plot towards the end to add suspense.
• There is often a main riff in the film music that appears when the villain is near to add to the tension.
• Action scenes/conflict of some kind.
• Some have a real psychological element.