Costumes

For our project we are looking at dark, long coats, and maybe leather as our costumes representing the image of a vampire.
In this image we find leather as they costume which works well as it is dark black and also could be seen as mysterious and violent. This also is a film which represents a strong female lead, which is one of the key elements of our project.
http://stylefrizz.com/img/kate-beckinsale-underworld-evolution.jpg

In this image we have a vampire in a long dark coat, which can be seen as a typical stereotype of a superhero or the supernatural.

Feedback

Feedback from our pitch

• It's an original idea
• Lighting is key to the productions success(could do research into lighting techniques and effects)
• Would benefit to look at a range of examples of strong female characters-possibly include other genres-to see how they are shown as strong and powerful
• well thought out idea
• Good that we have looked at micro elements like lighting,costume,make-up etc

Animatic

The sound at the moment is quite rough, just some simple rain sound, there will be more real sounds effects in the final piece.

there were some panning shots, and most of the scene goes quite slowly where as the middle is quite quick. We haven't decided on a title yet so at the moment it just says 'Title' at the end.

Location info.

The examples below of the of the 3 locations show the sort of thing that we are looking at in terms of lighting and surroundings. Although we are setting our film opening in a children's play ground to be different and and more scary we have still been able to take inspiration from these photos. These locations shown in the photos could all make great locations for a supernatural thriller. I personally think that the second photo with the deep red lighting in the background of the trees is very affective as red is a great colour to have in a film such as the one we are making because red is the colour of blood, murder and death. We picked these images as there is great examples of the sort of lighting that could be used. There is great contrast in all of these photos. There is also a black and white image with is an option that could be used. However we are going to use colour.

Mood board

Mood board.
We collected some images that relate to different shots we could have, such as the drops of blood or the scene from blade (top right corner)
The picture of beetle juice is an example of the kind of makeup that could be used.
Since underworld is a big inspiration there are a few of Kate Beckinsale.
The eye is an example of how to make a character seem more supernatural.
The pictures of the sky are examples of the time of day or lighting that would be good.

location

For our project we are looking at locations such as:

Synopsis of opening

For our opening we are taking the idea of vampires/monsters. The inspiration came from blade and underworld, Underworld particularily because it has a strong female lead.

The scene starts with a girl sitting alone (location is not yet decided) A voice over is heard of her asking some sort of cryptic question (E.G why am I here? Who am I? etc) Something that would be revealed later in the film. Wherever we film it, it should be outside, and try to do it when it's raining, hopefully around dusk.
As the girl is sitting alone there is the sound of rustling. This is when the scene starts to speed up as a vampire/monster of some kind appears behind her ready to kill but the woman is much faster and kills him first. This death can be shown by the reactions and some blood (red ink) dripping to the ground. The scene then begins to slow down again and the girl is seen walking/running away with the voice over going again with the same question cryptic question as before.

Any music used in the scene will be quiet and subtle, something to slowly build tension.

Location possibilties:
A garden
A childrens park (eery, cool and do-able)
A Green (parkers piece for example)

of these A childrens park is the best idea, it is creepy and would work really well, there are public childrens parks everywhere and if it is raining they will be empty.

The girl in sequence is implied to be supernatural in some ways, we may get our actor to wear special contact lenses to show this.
Titles could appear at the end of this sequence, just the title of the film though, not actors or anything.
A way to make the monster more creepy is to not fully reveal it's face, they may also have to wear make up. Make up would be very pale skin and shadowed eyes the way Tim Burton does a lot of his characters.
Doing the scene at dusk will make the lighting seem odd but we can always bring some lighting equipment to make it more visible.

Blade opening scene

Opening sequence to blade.
Alot of the scene has flashing in the style of a dance club, this represents the confusion and unawareness of the one human in the sequence, it also makes the scene have a more surreal feel as it makes the movement of the people look strange and almost skippy.
Despite the flashing lights the scene is still quite dark, being mainly dark grays, blues and black. This is what makes the blood falling from the ceiling more dramatic as the bright red contrasts with all the dark colors. When the characters are splattered with blood this represents their transformation from the seemingly normal to the horrifying monsters, as they were dark and bland before but they are then bright red. The colors of the characters also help make the human stand out from the vampires as he is wearing more colorful clothes, he also dances and acts very out of place.
The sounds that the vampires make sounds like a cat hissing, this helps show them to be more animalistic and feral.
When Blade actually comes in the fast movement of the scene slows down and the shots become longer. The shots also avoid revealing the character of blade to the audience for a while, the way he is revealed is effective as you see him through the vampires moving out of the way. Again the colors that the characters wear shows Blades contrast with the other vampires.
During the fight the camera movement and shot duration speed up, the music also speeds up. The effects used to show the vampires death is effective, the way they fall into dust shows how easily Blade can destroy them.

What lies beneath opening sequence

'What lies beneath' is again a very typical supernatural thriller as it goes along with all the usual techniques used when making supernatural thriller films. Again we find that the light is very dark and that the music used is very tense and is put there to raise the suspense. Also we find out a bit about the film by the way that the titles have been done because we find out that there is a water theme and it goes on to confirm this in the first shot is of the main female character is in the bath and then going on to dry the condensation on the window. Also when the title of the film appears (What lies beneath) this again done in the style of water. The main colours in the title are black or a very dark blue. Not only keeping to the supernatural thriller rules but also adding to the water theme. The music is very typical with the use of slow piano with high pitch noises to add tension and put the viewer on the edge of there seats. We start to hear voice and begin to work out that we are going thought a very dark and creepy lake the music get faster and the shot camera starts to go quicker. We then see a face in the lake and this moulds in to the face of a women laying in the bath. This straight away reveals the main character. The way they have done this is very jumpy which is a technique used all the time in supernatural thrillers. From a close up of her face it then goes to a long shot of the floor with a very slow zoom this is a great shot to show the surroundings and it looks very misty and gray adding to the darkness and therefore making it that bit more tension and suspense.
ANALYSED 2 MINUTES

Analysis of signs opening scene

It starts of in a very typical super natural thriller way. For example it has very tense music to start off and build up the suspense and tension. It also is very dark not only when the titles are coming up but also the first few shots. This also starts of with a film companies logo which is what we have started our film opening with. In a few of the very opening shots there is silence which has been put there to add even more suspence and with the darkness and shots of nothing it makes the audience be on the edge of there seats which is one of the main purposes of a super natual thriller.

Film notes

Once upon a time in the west.
1968 Sergio Leone
How atmosphere is created in the sequence.

• Creaking door, Long slow drawn out sound
• Slow camera movement
• Slow stepping noise, all the slowness builds up tension as the audience is waiting for something to happen.
• Focuses on smaller element, like the fly around the mans head.
• The main characters don't say anything, this makes them seem more menacing.
• Constant squeaking of the windmill in the background, lots of whistling and creaking sounds.
• Isolation, the area is desolate and the characters all stay far away from one another.
• The shot last a long while but have sudden breaks when something fast and unexpected happens, like catching the fly in the gun.
• The pace of the titles matches the pace of the sequence, the titles move with the characters.
• Everything that you know about the characters comes their actions while they're waiting, like one of the men cracking his knuckles and another collecting water in his hat.

Catch me if you can
2004
What information the sequence gives about the film to follow.

• Shows a plane, implies alot of travel.
• Alot of women appear in the sequence, all glamorous. When the women first appear in the sequence the music changes slightly to something more suave and like lounge music.
• Very simple colour. Each scene has black and one other colour. The colour changes represent the different season (light blues for winter, orangey yellow for summer etc.) This implies that the film spans over a long period of time.
• All the women in the opening show the main character to be a womanizer, as he is in an elevator with a woman and seems about to kiss her.
• There is constant movement of one character in the whole thing where most of whats around them stays still.
• One of the characters stays the same but the other keeps changing outfits,implying deception.
• The character who is changing is followed by the other constant character,showing a long chase,it shows them at different distances implying that at times he is close to being caught but has so far managed to keep running
• Titles reflect movements of the images

Rat catcher
Social realism, 1999, Lynne Ramsay

• Slow movement, slightly skippy, No music builds tension in finding out what is inside the spinning cloth.
• Voyeurism, the boy is watching another boy playing outside. He is watching other children play instead of playing himself.
• Lower/middle class.
• Dark grey lighting, natural grey skies, depressing british weather.
• Slightly sinister side, as at the beginning it seems as if the person is hanging, this shows the surrealist side to th film.

Killer of sheep
1977 Charles burnett

• Strange old fashion style music.
• The father can't be seen on screen for a while, close up of the boy, he shows no emotion and no change in his emotion throughout the scene.
• Still no change in emotion even when the boy gets slapped.
  
• Black and white
• The music is mainly in title parts, ost of the filmed parts are diagetic.
• Documentary style, people even look at the camera, also the changes from shot types,and the way you feel like you're just observing.
• Sound is also documentary style, as the volume of the people's voices is determined by how close to the camera they are

American splendor
2004 Stari Springerberman

• Comics sans-esque typeface, the sort of text that is used for comic books, looks almost hand drawn.
• The film is narrated like a comic with text in the corner in a small box.
• The opening is done with comic panels to show the different shots.
• The shots switch from drawing to film shows.
• The main character starts narrating his life.
• The camera follows the comic strip as if you're reading it
• Drama with elements of comedy
  

5 genres

1. A supernatural thriller with a strong female lead:

• Has the tension of a regular thriller with basic horror elements such as; Ghosts, occult, phsycic, phenomenon etc..
• Is often less graphic than the horror genre
• The protaganists are often battling against a malevolent paranormal force. The protaganists themselves are often normal people.
• Always lots of suspense and quite surreal.
  

Conventions: Dark lighting, Transitions from fast to slow shots, High pitched music, Very slow music that speeds up as the scene reaches a climax.

2. Social realism drama

• Based around real life and all it's difficulty, most often the working class types.
• very natural lighting
• Handheld camera is common, gives a documentary feel to it to add to the idea of 'realism'
• Conflict is another common element, the drama is created through this conflict
• Is sometimes centered around a more domestic environment.

Examples: This is england

3. Adventure (young audience)

• Comedy based, Fantasy based
  
• Adventure films are usually aimed at a family rather than just the young audience as children would go with parents to a cinema.
• The characters are usually looking for something or looking to restore something as part of the basic plot.
• Usually involves alot of special effects and CGI if it isn't animated.
• Unrecognisable locations, fantasy or wonderland type places

Examples: Narnia, 5 children and it, harry potter, Zathura, nimhs island

4. Teenage romantic comedy

• A humourus movie about a love story that always end happily
• Teenage characters are divided into groups or cliques
• The audience is meant to identify with the unpopular characters, one of whom is usually the main character, and is often meant to dislike the popular girls who are percieved to be mean or arrogant.
• The popular male character is quite often the love interest, a jock/prom king he is attractive etc...
• The narrative will often involve a party where conflict will be a focus (a fight at the party)
• The story will be about the coming together of two characters whom need to overcome some sort of social boundary.
• The resolution will come about through the uniting of the main characters, either romantically or through a friendship.

Examples: 16 candles, She's all that, Mean girls

5. Crime caper

• Usually, if not always, male characters in the group
• The main characters are organising a crime, often large scale theft.
• Light hearted and slightly comical.
• The idea of crime is glamourised as they use conventially attractive characters, they're also smartly dressed and sophisticated.
• Usually has a well known cast, the most famous star is often the leader, the one who gets the most screen time.
• Finally, they almost always get away with the crime.

Examples: Oceans 11, The itallian job, a fish called wonda

Ident

We had to create an ident for our group's film company to go at the begining of our sequence and then animate it on final cut.
Our film company was called Poizen apple. We took an image of an apple, soe skulls and a table and incorporated them together on photoshop (shown below) decided on a font and then drew in some blood underneath the apple.












By creating a small dot of red on a separate layer we transformed it so it looked like the blood was dripping down the side of the table. We also took a sound of dripping water from the internet and slowed it down to give the effective dripping noise.



The final ident:

Introduction

In our group we have: Cat, Vonnie, Robbie, Andy

The project is to create a film opening in one of five different genres. The choices are:
1-A supernatural thriller with a strong female lead.
2. A British social realist drama.
3. An adventure story for younger audiences.
4. A teenage romantic comedy.
5. A crime caper with an ensemble cast.