Research & Planning Essay 2 (Opening Sequence of my film)

The idea for my opening sequence is to create a Horror based film which will keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The initial idea is to create a film which doesn’t entirely involve the viewers thinking that it’s a horror from the first shot go! However I will plan to start the film with a more upbeat action based beginning, as the 3 vandals who break into a school plan to cause as much damage to school property as they can, however as they search around school for a reasonable place to vandal a creature lurking in the dark and deserted store room within the school comes out

The characters that the audience will be introduced to in the film will be the three vandals and the demented creature that will be merely introduced into the film. The three vandals will eventually go their separate ways, where which we will explore one of the characters whom will be introduced to the demented creature at the end. The three vandals are constructed in such a way that the audience dislike them for their actions and vandalism, however that they will soon turn as like and want the character to survive. The demented creature which is merely introduced apart from the end of the sequence is portrayed as a cold blooded killer.

As I said before the setting is placed at a school, which at night or afterschool when the premises are deserted it’s a rather good setting for a horror film. Also schools at night with it‘s creaking pipes and hundreds of deserted rooms adds to the tension. The long corridors and the dark corners will add to that tension.

The camera shots which will be used in the opening sequence will vary as the first 30 seconds of the film will be more on the move as the three vandals plan to break into the school. Shots such as hand held and long shots even pan shots, these shots will be varied through high and low angle shots. As the film progresses and the characters go their own way shots such as close ups and extreme close ups will be placed in, as it’s these kinds of shots which will show the audience what the character is going through. At the start of the opening sequence which involves fast’s movement, for example the three vandals will be running towards the school which will mean maybe applying faster cuts and transitions. The match on action will be implemented during this point, to show where and what the character are doing. The cuts at the start of the opening sequence will be quick and sharp whereas when the vandal is in the building the transitions will be slower and more disorientating, just a horror should be.

The sound at the start of the opening sequence will be casual and upbeat; the audience at this point won’t be expecting any tense and spooky scenes. The tempo at the start is just enough to set a tone for the film and for the mood between breaking in the school to where the character will go onto explore parts of the school. There will be some non- diegetic sound as there will be diegetic sound too. There will be a range of strange and disorientating sounds, which the character playing as the vandal will be expressed to.

The credits of the film will be shown mainly at the end however there will be some at the start. The credits that we will be putting will be done with a special effects using adobe after effects. This will allow us to film at the same time as showing credits as you would see in everyday box office films. The size and the font of the credits will be casual as we don’t want to start the film with the means to give the audience indication that it’s a full out horror straight from the beginning. It’s about making the audience think why we’ve done that and what’s does it express.