Breakdown sheet.

Breakdown sheet for shooting:

This sheet shows a breakdown of when and where we are filming, who our main character's are, our assigned roles in the making of the film, mis-en-scene, special effects we will be using and what potential problems we might have whilst filming the certain scenes numbered. 

Film Sequence Feedback.

In class, we showed our fellow peers a draft of how our opening sequence will begin, we were asked to use sound effects and any special effects to demonstrate an idea of what it will appear as. The positive feedback we received from our following peers were that it was brilliant as the music/sounds used in the background went perfectly with our picture and their purposes for them being used came across really well. It looked and sounded like a horror opening and our shots were the right length for an opening sequence. However, we also received constructive criticisms which were that we did not have many different shot types which could have helped to make our opening sequence even more effective and also we still did not have a title for our horror opening sequence.

Film Distributor.

A film distributor is an individual or company who are in charge of releasing films to the public by either theatrically or for home viewing such as DVD. A distributor may do this directly or through theatrical exhibitors. Three major film distributors are Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros and Universal Pictures. Paramount Pictures have distributed films such as Morning Glory, Megamind. Shutter Island, the Lovely Bones, the Italian Job and Iron Man. Warner Bros have distributed films such as Harry Potter, Due Date, The Town, Life As We Know It, Inception, Rush Hour and Ocean's 11. Rogue Pictures have distributed films such as Cry Wolf, Fearless, Unleashed, Seed of Chucky, Mallrats and Assault on Precinct 13. A film distributor for my film would have to be Rogue Pictures since they are known for the amazing horror films they have distributed and this will help to attract people to watch my film. 

Opening Sequence: Jellybaby.

The Jellybaby task was to use Jellybabies to portray the different types of shots that we will be using in our film. We also had to annotate them with opening credits to show how the credits will be in our opening sequence. 

A close up of our main character.
Credits:
Company presenting film and Director.

A wide shot of her walking through the school hallways.
Credits:
Main characters. 

A medium shot of her walking towards her classroom door.
Credits:
Actors continued.

A medium shot of the door being slammed in her face.
Credits:
Editor, Written by and Music by.

Timeline.

Timeline for Se7en:

Timeline for Vertigo:

These timelines reveal that opening sequences last for sometime after two minutes but both differ in the credits. Within the first second instead of the title of the film showing (as many people would think), it is actually the production company. However, the next credits seen in these two films are different. In Se7en the next credit to be seen is 'an Arnal Kopulson Production' which is the people who put money into in film. Whereas, in Vertigo the name's of the actors is what's seen. The name of the director soon follows afterwards in both cases. The next credit in Vertigo is the film title, however, in Se7en it's the names of the actors and then the film title. Co-stars are then credited but are shown in different ways. In Se7en they are credited independently or with others but in Vertigo they are shown all together with a heading that reads 'Co-Stars'. After, both opening sequences go on to credit different people. Se7en's credits shown are of casting agency, music by, costumes designed by, edited by, production designer, director of photography, co executive producers, executive producers, written by and produced by. On the other hand, in Vertigo the next credits to be shown are screenwriters, director of photography, art direction, effects, photograph, set direction, titles designed, edited, assistant director, make-up supervision, hair style supervision, sound recording, costumes by, special sequence, music by, conducted by and associate producer. Again, some of these credits are put together. However, both sequences end in who the film was directed by.

Having taken all this in i have learned that opening sequences begin with which company produced it and end with the name on the director which is shown being credited twice in an opening sequence. Trailers only last a couple of minutes and the people who are credited differs in every trailer. Music is used to create suspense which helps it's audience realise what genre it is. And also not everyone who helped in the making of the film is credited. 

Film Plan - Feedback.

Having shown our Film Plan Prezi to our fellow classmates we recieved both positive feedback and constructive criticisms. The constructive criticisms were that we did not have a title for our film and as this is a essential part of the trailer a title is needed therefore, we need to decide on a film title as soon as possible. However, we also received positive feedback and these were that we had a good clear plot, an interesting presentation and understood the meaning of an opening sequence. Overall I believe my group have a good opening sequence that will be able to attract our target audience, however, we also need to come up with a title that will also help to attract our target audience but this may be difficult sine we have to ensure that our title doesn't sound familiar to other horror films.

Skills learned from the prelim task.

Prelim task.
We were given a task where we had to come up with an opening sequence for our own Horror film. We were taught the use of different camera angles and how they are effective withing a horror film. for example, an establishing shot helps the audience understand the characters surrounded and what is happening within in. Having watched several horror film opening such as Scream, Se7en, the Others etc, it gave us an idea of what is expected to be seen within the opening. These ideas come under the term 'Conventions of Horror Movies', which includes such things as blood or weapons or sream or death etc. The use of these conventions helps the audience identify the genre of the movie.

However, for the audience to feel invloved with the film Non-digetic and Digetic sounds are used. Non-digetic sounds are sounds such as the background music, wherease Diegtic sounds are sounds such as a door slamming. The effect of Non-digetic sounds are to create a sense of suspence and for it's target audience to feel uncomfortable. For example, in Scream the music is rapid and loud, helping to create a sense of fear and anxiousness. Digetic sounds too are used to create a sense of suspence but mostly makes it's target audience jump. For example, in the Strangers when there's a knock at the door, the audience jump as the knock is sudden and then they begin to uncertain as they question who is at the door?

After having learnt all this, we were ready to decide who our target group(s) are and on out opening sequence of our own horror film. We decided to we wanted to aim our film at teenagers and young adults as they are more likely to go and watch a horror film since they have more time on their hands. We wanted our opening sequence to not be something that was easy to figure out and understandable, instead we wanted our audience to be confused. For example, the opening sequence of the Others starts with the main character, Nicole Kidman reading a child's book and then there's a sudden scream (Digetic) to make the audience jump. The camera then shows us three other character's walking to a house which looks haunted (Convention) talking about something to do with death and as they reach the door the main character opens it looking confused as to why they are there. This opening sequence is effective because it makes the audience ask questions such as 'why did she scream?', 'who's dead?'. 'what's going on?' etc and also makes them want to watch more of the film in order to undertstand what's going on.

We were also taught about the term 'mis-en-scene'. This includes the props, setting, costumes, make-up and lighting used in the film. We decided we wanted our character to wear school uniform as the opening scene begins with her in school (setting), holding her school books and bag (props). Make-up is only used towards the ending of our opening as we wanted our main character to look 'dark', 'evil' and 'scary'. Also we decided we wanted to use natural lighting. Having learnt about different camerawork/shot types, we decided to use a range of shots such as mid close-up, close-up, establishing shot etc, to help create different effects. Our editing skills came from our own experience and this helped us to come up with a lot of different ideas that could have more effect on our audience. Also for sound we decided to use Non-digetic sounds such as ballads to confuse our audience in thinking nothing scary is going to happen at that point. We used Digetic sounds such as the sudden slam of a door to make our audience jump and we also decided to use the technique of a voice over.