For practicality reasons, my group and I decided it was best to film our opening sequence over a period of two days. On the first day of filming we filmed the murder scene in the bathroom because we knew that this scene would be very time consuming, so by filming this scene on a separate day we were able to focus on details such as the blood make up effects. This was vital because blood is congenitally found in horror films, so by mastering the blood we are able to address our target audience. On the second day we filmed the rest of the scenes in our opening sequence. Both of our days began with us setting up the cameras and following the standard procedures of white balancing and ensuring the camera is steady in order for our film footage to come out perfectly. Overall, our film remained similar to our storyboard but again for practicality reasons we had to make some last minute decisions on the shoot day. This was done to not only save time but also to ensure that our film flows better. For example, we cut out one of the phone calls because we felt as though it was too repetitive and boring. At first my group and I were a bit hesitant to do this, but after we began editing we found that it didn't affect us and if anything this choice definitely worked in our favour because our opening sequence is now less repetitive, making it more slick. Generally, I felt as though my group and I were extremely prepared for the shoot day in the sense that we knew exactly what angle to shoot each shot from, allowing our day to flow placidly. This was enabled because of the detail of our shot by shot guide and our storyboard. The effect we were aiming for was a eerie and terror atmosphere in order to set the tone for the rest of the film. This attracts our primary target audience because they are looking for a film that is loaded with suspense and tension in order to drive an adrenaline rush, which they kind find in our film opening sequence.
On both of our film days we created miss-en-scene in order to help to demonstrate the genre of horror to the audience. On the first day we did this in order to emphasis the terror of the first girl's death to the audience. For example, we used fake blood to amplify the gruesomeness and brutal murder that has taken place. Moreover, we wrote '666' with the fake blood all over the tiles on the wall in my bathroom (to my parents dismay...we filmed this scene in my house...). This worked excellently, up until we were finished shooting and it was time to clean up the bathroom. Unfortunately we found that the fake blood stained the wall tiles, so in a immediate rush to escape the horror of my mum finding out, who probably would of actually murdered me, I decided to go in with some white tip-ex and go over all the red Staines on the wall, and she never found out!!!! On the second day of filming we wanted our set to appear normal and so we had family photos everywhere in order to show the audience that murders can happen even in 'normal' places such as peoples homes, thus making the audience vulnerable to the killer. In order to display this to the audience we took numerous shots of ordinary objects in the house such as shoes by the front door and dirty dishes in the sink. Moreover, after examining multiple horror films, my group and I chose particular shots that we felt mirrors the horrific action that is happening on screen. For example we found that tracking shots are conventionally found in horror films. This is because they build up suspense. Moreover, we chose this shot in order to emphasis the vulnerability of the first girl because the tracking shot shows the emptiness of the house and thus presents the idea to the audience that the first girl is isolated and vulnerable and that her faint of death is inevitable because she has no where to hide. Additionally we chose to use high angles as she is walking up the stairs towards the killer in order to demonstrate that the killer has the power, thus making the first girl more weak and helpless as she comes closer towards her death. I personally think that these shots worked very well because they enabled my group to express the genre of horror to the audience, thus making them feel the tension and suspension that the first girl does in the opening sequence. But, the shots which I think built up the most terror were the quick cuts of the first girl laying dead in the bath. This is because the first girl is the protagonist and so the audience are rooting for her, however the quick cuts stress to the audience that this characters death was inevitable and unfortunately the antagonist character succeeded to their dismay. On the day we didn't feel the need to change any shots because prior to filming we had thought out so carefully what we needed and those which we could discard. Nevertheless, we chose to take some extra shots of the first girl dead in the bath, because we felt as though we didn't have enough quick cuts. This improved our film because we now have more quick cuts which intensify the tension and terror on screen to the audience. Due to our film being a horror film, we needed it to be dark outside and this didn't happen until 5:30, thus we were limited for time. But, due to this we found that some of our scenes appear very dark on screen, so if we did it again I would use more lights to brighten up the set more.
When we chose costumes for our first girl, we wanted something that could reflect 'comfort clothing', for example a baggy top because she is at home, therefore her 'comfort clothing' would suggest her vulnerability because she wouldn't expect what is about to happen. with this in mind, my group and I decided to dress our actress in pyjamas as we thought this would put her in the most vulnerable state. Moreover, although we wanted our first girl to appear vulnerable we also wanted her to appear provocative, thus we chose for her to wear pyjama shorts and a top. This resembles the horror genre because she appears to the audience as a naive and innocent blonde girl. There characters are conventionally found in horror films, thus the audience will immediately recognise this stereotypical protagonist character. Our idea of costume was mainly influenced by the successful horror film Scream. The first girl in this film (played by Drew Barrymore) is also wearing 'comfort clothing' which also gives the suggestion of her innocence and vulnerability to the audience. Additionally, we decided to dress the villain in our film in all black. The black clothing reflects the impureness and evilness of this character. The colour black is associated with darkness and horror, thus when the audience see this character they will immediately associate them with evil, hence why we chose to go with the colour black.
We chose our actress (Jess)because of her physical appearances, she overall had the right look for our film. This is because she is a blonde teenage and thus represents the stereotypical first girl found in horror films, like in Scream. Moreover, we chose our actress because she is attractive, which addresses our primary target audience of teenage boys because our research found that teenage boys would be more likely to watch a film if the female lead is attractive. Overall Jess had some really good ideas to put forward on the shoot day which I feel has impacted our film for the better. For example, although we were certain of what shots we wanted, we weren't certain on how we wanted Jess to act in every shot. Therefore Jess was very vocal on her suggestions on the acting side of things in order for us to achieve a perfect shot for our film.
As I mentioned previously, my group and I had problems with the lighting. Firstly, the light that was given to us by the school didn't work, therefore we were forced to be reliant on natural lighting from outside and lighting from the house. A major consequence of this is that the setting appeared a lot darker on camera. Nonetheless, I think that to an extent this worked in our favour because the dark footage on screen adds to the eery atmosphere we wanted to create in the opening sequence due to it being a horror film. Therefore, through out the opening sequence we used available light which means that we took advantage of the natural light around us and tried our best to manipulate this light to create a certain effect. For example, when Jess was walking up the stairs we closed the blinds to only allow minimal light to come through to add darkness so that as Jess walks closer towards to her death, the audience can physically see that she is walking closer to the darkness creating tension and adding to the horror of the film. Although the lighting has worked out okay, personally I think that it is too dark. Therefore if I could change the lighting now I would use more artificial lighting and create the effects we did through this lighting.
The sound that we used in our film was a cross between natural and artificial sound. For example we used artificial sound to create the sound effects like floor boards creeping and door slams. Also we used non-diegteic sound for the music we added during editing in order to create tension. This is because the non-diegetic sound along with the edited quick cuts speeds up the pace and thus the tension of our opening sequence, adding to the terror and horror of our opening sequence. However, with that in mind, the sound of the phone ringing was natural because we actually called the house phone causing the telephone to ring. We did this because we liked the idea that the ringing sound caused an echo around the house which emphasised the vulnerability of Jess as she is left at the hands of the stranger with no where to go, thus increasing the tension for our horror film in the opening sequence.
My role in production was mostly director although we all equally had our share of filming. As a director I was in charge of making sure that our actress (Jess) was always in the correct position at the right time and that the shot matched the one of our shot by shot guide so that our day ran more smoothly. Additionally Danielle and I worked together on the make up to ensure that the fake blood looked as realistic as possible in order for the death scene to appear as horrific to the audience as possible. Whilst we did this, Hannah and Hannah both brain stormed more shots that we could film of Jess dead in the bath, enabling us to use a lot more quick cuts to add to tension and suspense. Furthermore, I also took it upon my self to make sure that we were avoiding all the possible risks such as the camera falling into the water, so when Hannah was filming near the water, I held the camera too, just to ensure that we were avoiding all possible risks that in a previous blog post I explored. Lastly, the most important job of all, I was in charge of the refreshment table because nobody can work to their fullest potential on an empty stomach, thus i made sure everyone was constantly being topped up on everything from bagels to cups of tea.
As a group, I personally believe that we worked extremely well together. This is because we identified each others strengths and weaknesses so that when we were allocating roles for the production we were able to nominate each other to the area that we are best at and I think that our opening sequence shows this. Moreover, we met up on a few occasions to discuss idea and had frequent Skype calls as the filming day approached to ensure that we were as organised as possible. I genuinely loved working with Danielle, Hannah and Hannah and although we sometimes disagreed over some ideas, we managed to overcome these disagreements in order to create the best opening sequence possible!
My favourite part of our opening sequence to film would have to be the death of Jess, our first girl, because I really enjoyed experimenting with the fake blood and it stands out in comparison to the rest of the opening sequence because it acts as the ultimate climax of tension built up from the previous scenes.
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