Production Ident

Our group has to create production ident which reflects our genre. These are sketches to illustrate the idea of the production ident "Black Crow". A crow was chosen because they often symbolise death, a bad omen, and dark magic. This helps us communicate to the audience that the film will be a horror genre before the film begins.

Idea feedback

Our group presented the initial idea of the film to other people, and these are some of the feedback for our group to reflect on.

The audience feedback allowed our group to see many plot holes in our idea, and made us realise that we had not thought through the plot enough.  Our idea did not convey the genre enough, therefore the audience saw it as more of a thriller or supernatural. The main character sounds more masculine and needs more personality traits to engage the audience. Overall the character's name was liked but the audience suggested more horror scenes such as ghost possessions or hauntings to make the  film more exciting.

25 Word Pitch

"A young woman finds herself in a situation she cannot escape from. She tried to run away from her predictions however there is no escape".

100 Word Sysnopsis

This 100 word synopsis will help to have a clearer idea of the plot and helps to organise the work.

"A young woman called Fai has a terrible unforgettable nightmare. She wakes up to find it was nothing but little did she know that the nightmare was actually a prediction. Her prediction had a mixture of several disturbing cries and images. She tries to run away from this nightmare and tries to find solutions. She slowly starts to lose her friends as they start to disappear one by one. A body part from the each victim is delivered to the door and Fai finds her self opening the door to her best friend's finger."

Character Development

The sheet above includes some of the first ideas for the character development. Changes were made therefore the information below is different:

Main character
Name: Fai
Age: 20-25
Gender: Female
Personality: Calm, mysterious, popular, easy going, nice

Main character's boyfriend
Name: Jack
Age: 20-25
Gender: Male
Personality:Loyal, calm, nice, popular, friendly, easy going

Main character's best friend
Name: Stacy
Age: 20-25
Gender: Female
Personality: Jealous, rude, big headed, popular, bossy

Main character's boyfriend's best friend
Name: Devon
Age: 20-25
Gender: Male
Personality: Big headed, easy going, flirty, popular, straightforward/direct

Friend 
Name: Brian
Age: 20-25
Gender: Male
Personality: Clever, nice, friendly, unpopular, clingy

Enemy
Name:
Age: 20-25
Personality: Jealous, not very popular, bossy, big headed, snobby

Distribution Company Choice

The distribution company which has been chosen is Lionsgate. 

Lions Gate Entertainment was founded in 1997 by Frank Johnson JR. Its headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, United States. The company includes many divisions: Lionsgate Films, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Lionsgate Music & Publishing, Lionsgate Television. The company also includes many subsidiaries: Celestial Tiger Entertainment, CodeBlack Films, Debmar-Mercury, Epix, Pantelion Films, Roadside Attractions, summit Entertainment, and TVGN.
Lionsgate has produced iconic movies such as The Twilight Saga, and the Hunger Games. Some of the most popular horror movies were: Saw, Hostel, and Open Water.

Saw is an American horror film released in 2004, which became so popular that it became a franchise. It had a budget of $1.2 million. The movie resulted in a worldwide earning of $103.9 million.
Hostel is an American horror film released in 2005. It had a budget of $4.8 million. The worldwide earning was high: $80.5 million.
Open Water is a drama psychological horror released in 2003, loosely based on a true story. It had a surprisingly low budget of $130 000. For such a low budget, it had a quite high worldwide earning of $54.6 million.

Lionsgate is appropriate for our film as they have been known for the horror films above, and can produce great quality, popular films from low budgets. Our target audience is mostly teenagers and young adults, as the thrill of horror captivates them more.

Opening Sequence Genre Analysis - The Exorcist

This is a Smore flyer investigating the use of camerawork, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of "The Exorcist". This analysis will help to understand how these media features are used in this horror genre and how I could use them in my coursework.

Opening Sequence Genre Analysis - Saw

This is a text referring to this video which investigates the camerawork, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of "Saw". This analysis will help to understand how these media features are used in this horror genre and how I could use them in my coursework.

                                                                                                                    
Camerawork

02:43 The combination of a tilt after a reverse zoom to discover the dead body along with the room is used; the fluidity of the movement surprises the audience when the body is discovered. This also gives the audience the feeling of having their own point of view rather than of the character's, which immerses the audience deeper into the situation.
02:52 Close ups are used to firstly show the head of the dead body, the item in his right hand (recorder of some sort), and the item in his left hand (gun). These shots are used to show how important these objects are and hints to the audience that they will be important in the rest of the movie.

Editing

3:13 Jump cuts are used to show the panic of the character when he finds out he is in chains. It lets the audience understand how serious the situation is, and also helps establish this character's persona.

3:21 An eyeline match is used when one of the characters looks at the other. This shows this character's point of view and also informs the audience of how futile the struggling of the other character is in the situation that they are in. This suggests that the character watching is more logical than the other.

Sound

0:28 The sound of water slowly becoming more present until a character appears on screen underwater. This is the first sound which can be heard, and sets a tone of mystery which amplifies when a character can be seen submerged in water.  
2:41 Non-diegetic sound is used in the background to intensify the discovery of the room with the dead body after the lights turn on.   

Mise-en-scene
1:10 Low key lighting is used for the first half of the opening sequence, leaving the audience in the feeling of mystery, same as the characters. It allows the audience to sympathise with the characters as they discover the room as the same time.
2:38 The setting of the opening sequence in in an almost empty place. It is covered with tiles, pipes, and is rusting at places. This gives off a cold impression and feelings of isolation, adding the the tone of the film.

Opening Sequence Genre Analysis - The Ring

This is a video investigating the use of camerawork, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of the movie "The Ring". This analysis will help to understand how these media features are used in this horror genre and how I could use them in my coursework.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Wallander

This is a Prezi investigating the use of camerawork, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of "Wallander".

Opening Sequence Analysis - The Sixth Sense

This is a Smore flyer investigating the use of camerawork, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of "The Sixth Sense".

Opening Sequence Analysis - Memento

This is a Piktochart investigating the use of camerawork, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of "Memento".

 

The Brief

Mood Board

Opening Sequence Analysis - Forrest Gump

This opening sequence analysis allows me to understand how an opening sequence is organised and will help me in the future when creating my own. 

 

 

Opening Sequence Analysis

Preliminary Project

Introduction

My name is Shannon Amarasekara and I am 17 year old. I am taking Media Studies AS level because it is required for me to take an AS course this year along with my A2 courses in order to be a full time student, but also because i find the media industry fascinating and think this is a good opportunity for me to expand my knowledge.