Image Ideas

Another spooky situation during the opening sequence.
Books have a lot of meaning, sometime hidden meanings and when a particular book just happen to fall off the shelf. Again not all is what it seems. A number of things happen leading up to the truth been revealed.

Image Ideas..

To make our opening sequence more intriguing and scary we plan to take a normal situation such as moving to uni and make the "normal" things happening around our main characters true meaning come out.

For instance the opening of a door unexpectedly is often shrugged off, but watching this film the character feels the need to forget about this is a definite no no as weird things continue to happen.

Above there are two pictures of doors one appear to look normal and the other looks spooky and unapproachable, by showing an image of what appears to be a normal opening door, and then during the film flashing up an image of a scary door the audience will want to no more about what is lurking behind the door, this keeps the audience interested.

Treatment- 2 minute film

Programme: The Class of 96'
Duration: 2 minutes approx. (Opening sequence)
Suggested release for Halloween holidays, appropriate theme relating to time of release, mainly late showings at cinemas. This will help set the mood of the film, Releasing the film at Halloween will help the film ratings as at Halloween time people want to go to the cinema to see something different and something that will give them a fright, for instance on February the 14 (Valentines day) people want to see romantic films.
Audience:
- Thriller movie lovers
- 15-25 age category
- No gender target
- Interest in the supernatural

Synopsis:
The Opening Sequence is what either catches an audience or loses them so we want the opening sequence as interesting and imaginative as possible. In the opening sequence we don't want to try and tell the whole story, we just want to give the audience an incite on whats to come and also introducing the stars that play in the film with the opening credits. The actors names can be included in the opening sequence by animation or by using quick editing and flashing lights this way the theme of the film is carried out throughout.
In the opening sequence I think it is important to introduce or ensure that the main character within the film is seen. This way they can become familiar with the characters.  In the opening sequence I want it to become apparent that all is not what it should be. We will show a student moving into their new university and the process of moving in such as collecting your room key. Looking at your room for the first time, queuing up for your timetable. Just normal new "school" things. Although using normal camera shots mixed up quick edits and flashes of darkness and bright lights this will give the impression that all is not right. From the first 2 minutes of the film it will become clear that the university is very old and hasn't been used for the last 15 years as odd things began to happen the last time it was open. This then keeps the audience interested and enthusiastic to continue with the film. Flashing from bad to good images adds to the tension of the film.
The opening sequence will continue showing the young new student finding their way around the college Although everything that appears normal such as when the student is given their timetable the camera will zoom in and will flicker onto a image that seems random. The opening sequence will end with the student on the computer and the rest of the film will begin.

Suggested elements:
1) Montage and flashbacks to the days when the building was used as a former mental institution for the criminally insane.
2) First person narrative voice over.

Prop Ideas

Props are very important and can make our short preview more realistic and also add to the theme of the production. eg. if we were to do a american styled film. Wearing American clothes with American styled props can add to the effect, and capture the audiences attention .

Interview Plan

Age: Teenagers.

Aim: To try and collect information to help understand what is usually expected from a good horror film etc, and to also get ideas and points off our target audience to ensure our film would be at its best.

Participants: Four or five from around college.

Questions:
What films do you prefer to watch?
Do ghost films appeal to you?
Which is your favourite ghost/supernatural film?
Do you prefer to watch them in the cinema or comfort of your own home?
What do you think is the most predictable storyline for a average ghost film?

The Vulnerability Factor

Using images that have someone vulnerable in them appeals to the audience, as they automatically feel attached to them and are on their side. This makes the audience want to watch to ensure the vulnerable person is ok. Children are often used as the more innocent they appear the more scary something can appear to be.

Image Ideas..

This image at first appears normal but when you look again, all is not what it seems. We would like to use this kind of imagery in the opening sequence. We could flash an image of what seems normal such as a church in the nice daylight but then quickly flash back to the image in the night when it looks scary and uninviting. This is questioning what seems normal and sane to the audience.

Analysis of Se7en Opening Credits

All of the actions within the sequence (book pages turning, making tea, drawings), are in a dull colour tonality. This is a plot giveaway to the audience; that the film is dark, and makes it seem more chilling, as the images used are quite provoking. Especially as he crosses out the eyes on the photograph of a little boy. The actions within the sequence become increasingly sinister looking, as only a pair of dirty hands are shown performing them. These hands imply to the audience that they belong to an odd, and most likely central character to the film; so the audience already feels like they understand this character, without being shown his face, or knowing his name. The actions are not shown in chronological order, and often 'double vision', and flicker across each other; however, the actions seem to focus around making something.
As well as having a dull tonality, there are flashing lights at odd, erratic moments, often coinciding with the screen titles changing. This is an indication that the film is jumpy, and is likely to spook them. The screen titles are also written in the style of a young child's handwriting, which from our other research, we have found that many ghost films include a young child, as they seem to make films seem much creepier. This is probably because most people associate children with innocence and naivety, and reversing that stereotype can evoke some powerful emotions. The imagery can also confuse people, as the words crossed out in the book, are sexually related (intercourse), to be swiftly replaced with the image of a child's face being crossed out on screen.
The music follows the action on screen, as it starts off quite slow, then when the hands seem to be creating a plan or an interest in pain, the music picks up pace. It uses slow held on notes, and an uncommon drumbeat, to produce a catchy and listenable, but mismatched soundtrack. On further research, I found that the song used (Nine Inch Nails- Closer to God) which is a remix, is ironically, 7 minutes long.