Progression

When we started coming up with our ideas and begun to film , I thought creating a two minute opening was going to be straight forward. During production, we faced many implications such as availability of our group and of actors, time, setting and equipment. Availability was one of our major issues when filming as even though we had to change our plans or make days free, there was always one day that not everyone could attend due to whatever reason. However, if one person out of the group couldn't attend, the rest of the group would still go ahead and film as much as they could without that person. Another issue we faced was setting. This is because is out opening was filmed in Laurens house which wasn't very convenient as it isn't very near to us and every time we went to film something had changed in it. However, I'm glad we did film in her house as the setting is perfect for our opening, and even though things changed it was never difficult to put back how we needed it to be. Equipment was an issue throughout production as cameras and tripods weren't available when we needed them. Also, during one day of filming we found the camera we were using ran out of battery because the group that previously used it didn't charge it back up again. We have learnt from this to always check our equipment is charged and working properly before using it and to get it as soon as possible so not to miss out if it becomes unavailable. Overall I think we have made great progression as a group because we have dealt with every problem that has occurred and stuck to our original plan with a few exceptional changes.

Background music

For our background music, we decided we wanted to have continuous music throughout the opening. We got the music from a copyright free website allowing us to use it without breaking copyright law. This piece of music lasts just over 3 minutes which give us enough time for it to last the whole way through and cut any out if not needed. The reason we have chosen tis particular piece of music is because in my opinion it gives off an edgy, suspicious and unnerving feel due to its deep tone. This links in perfectly to our thriller horror as we wanted to create that unnerving feel for the audience.

Costume

When looking at costume we wanted a costume that was very typical of a modern teenager as well as something you could maybe expect within a horror-thriller film. Therefore we wanted our protagonist to be wearing something basic and plain. For example leggings, jeans, jumpers, t shirts etc. Furthermore  we also wanted casual plain colours. For example we decided we wanted some kind of white upper garment - like a white jumper or top.

The white jumper below is like the jumper our protagonist wears throughout the opening. We chose this as  jumper can seem 'home'ly' as well as it being a casual piece of wear that is communal worn by teenage girls and women of all ages in modern society. Furthermore we decided we wanted it to be a white jumper as this would represent purity and innocence because of the social connotations and general associations with the colour white. We thought the white would represent innocence and angelic like almost like an angel or a dove.

Furthermore these are the type and style of jeans that our protagonist will be wearing throughout also. We thought this was fitting as she is meant to be represented as just typical female teenager of a modern society and jeans are the most ideal, casual and normal trousers for them to wear. Therefore we also thought this was better than leggings and any pyjamas as pyjamas would show its her house whereas we want to show she is a babysitter and this isn't her own house therefore wearing clothes to go out but as if it is her own household as she is used to babysitting there. Furthermore leggings are associated with more lower class and are too casual. Moreover typical leggings are black and in some low key lighting it is then harder to see her legs and what she is doing. Therefore making us decide that navy blue jeans are the most ideal.

Evaluation:

From my group members work I can see that the both the jumper and the jeans are both very casual pieces of clothing which is the effect we wanted to go for. The costume is also typical for young adults and teenagers to wear as it is comfortable yet stylish. The reason we decided to use a casual costume is because we wanted to keep a sense of realism for the audience, which we wouldn't have got if we used an unrealistic costume. For our opening realism is very important as when analysing horror films and thrillers we found that one of the aspects that makes them so scary is because the characters and setting are based on everyday people which automatically links the characters to the audience. Another reason we wanted to have a casual costume is because our setting is a typical middle class house and the costume fits in with the typical middle class feel. In contrast to this we didn't use a dressy upper class costume as it wouldn't have fitted in with our setting.

Title Sequence: Final introduction

This is our final introduction that we have decided to use on in our completed thriller opening. One aspect of it that we have changed and improved is at the end the title "The House" comes forwards and off the screen instead of backwards which it did in our previous draft. This then gives two extreme close ups overall of the title which reinforces its importance to the audience. We decided to keep the light and shadow which we introduced in the previous draft as I think it created a good effect and fitted into the theme of horror and thriller. We have included a short 2 second pause between the title going onto the screen and it going back off again. This is because I wanted the audience to be able to see the title clearly for a moment, as with the effects of the bright light and the shadow makes it look blurry. We have made it so the title goes off the screen the opposite way to how it comes onto the screen. By this I mean for example: it zooms in to go out, and it zooms out to come in. The lighting effect leans to the right to come in and it leans left to go out. I think this makes it run more smoothly as it shows every action has a reaction.

Title Sequence: Second attempt

This is our second draft of the opening title sequence introduction. The improvements we have made is we have added in some lighting and shadow effects. This gives it a scarier feel as the shadow and bright white light suggests a sense of mystery. The light is especially prominent inside the 'O' in the word 'House', which gives the visual effect of looking like a crescent moon which we associate as being scary. We have also stopped the title from shaking and moving about when we don;t want it to.

Title sequence: First attempt

This is our first attempt of or title sequence introduction. We have used the typography that we intended to and have used the colours black and white as it is simple yet effective. However, the major issue of our first attempt is that it wiggles around when it is supposed to be static. The reason we wanted it static is that is would link into the sound we originally wanted to use; static sound effects. This is going to be one of the aspects we will have to improve. Another improvement we will have to make is that is it quiet plain and boring as not much is happening. We will improve this by adding some visual effects.

Title sequence: Production introduction

This is our production introduction. We decided that we wanted something simple yet effective which is what I think we have achieved. We have put it at the beginning of our opening as when analysing other films we found that every one followed the same order, so we felt we should follow it too.

Typography - The tile

Typography For Our Title

Ringbearer

I Still Know

Traveling Typewriter

Major Label

Portmanteau Regular

Cold Coffee

An Unfortunate Event

Optimus Princeps

After looking at typography in other horrors and thrillers, we have decided to use a font that is serif as to make it look simple yet classic and elegant. We also want it to be white against a dark or black background so it will stand out and grab the audiences attention, it will also give the idea of pure vs evil. We also like the idea of the text being capitalised as again it makes it stand out. We wanted the title "The House" to be in the middle of the screen with lots of negative space around it to show a sense of isolation and mystery, and as it would be the only thing on the screen it will automatically focus the audiences attention on the tile. To conclude, we have chosen to use Optimus Princeps font for the title as we believe it fits in with our requirements, our film opening and the name of the title. This is because we think it looks like the font used on house numbers.

Actor

The actress we have chosen to star in our film is Emma Thomas. We feel as a group that she is the ideal actress to play the part of our baby sitter as she is young, slim and has long hair. This is because when looking at other horror films we noticed that most of the characters are naive teenagers or young adults. By using Emma I think we have fitted in with the stereotypical baby sitter as she is a student trying to earn some extra money. In our opening she will be wearing a white jumper with her hair down as we are trying to convey a sense of innocents so when happenings occur, it will seem more scary. We wanted to use a teenager as I feel it would appeal more to our target audience as they would be able to relate and identify with the character. 

Shot list