Evaluation Q1

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products? (i.e. Of Film Openings)

This is the contact sheet for my film opening, and here are the 9 frames i have chosen to evaluate on:

• The title of the film
• Setting/location
• Costumes and props
• Camerawork and editing
• Title font and style
• Story and how the opening sets it up
• Genre and how the opening suggests it
• How characters are introduced
• Text Effects

The first frame i have chose to show, is the main title of my film. This does actually come right at the end of the film opening, because i didn't want to give away exactly what was going to happen. I wanted the viewers to feel a little uneasy when watching this opening as they never see the antagonist until the very end of the opening. This is one way in which a horror film opening can be interpreted.

The second frame is one in which the location is established. We can see that the location is only a living room/lounge. The intentions i wanted to get across was that even in your own living room, you are being watched and you are not safe from evil.

In the third scene, i have tried to display costumes and props. I chose to keep the characters in very simple clothing, so the viewers are more focused on the storyline and camera shots. If the characters were wearing bright colours, it would be very suitable for the horror genre, so i tried to stick to white, black and grey throughout the whole film opening.

In the fourth frame I am showing the use of camerawork and editing. We can see it says: "A Danny Newell Film", which was a case of cropping a layer of text over the footage itself. It was quite a simple task to do, but once edited into the film opening, looks very professional and creative.

The fifth frame consists of my protagonist getting out of bed and walking downstairs. I have used a first person camera for this scene because it really makes the audience feel involved and it feels as though they are getting out of bed and walking down the stairs. Here i have used typical conventions for a horror as i have put some sinister music in the background to help build up some more dramatic tension. In this shot, i have also used the same title font and style through out the opening. Viewers like to see the same font throughout as it makes it easier for them to interpret, so that is why i have chosen to achieve this.

The sixth frame includes how my opening is set up. I chose to use some text to set my scene up because the writing was sinister and it fitted the horror genre. The writing consists of: "It hears everything..." and will leave the viewer asking themselves; "What hears everything?" or "Who hears everything?" This leaves the reader asking themselves rhetorical questions.

The seventh frame is when we finally see the antagonist. This immediately shows an example of what things should be included in the genre. The heavy make up on the face and the white wig are two typical generic costumes used to portray the horror genre. That is why i decided to create my film using these factors.  

The eighth frame is the one of my protagonists eyes. The music comes to a climax as he hears something wake him from his sleep. I used this dramatic device because it added much suspense to the opening scene. The crescendo of music builds up and then comes to an end when his eyes open. This scene is the scene that introduces my protagonist. He is introduced very quickly as he is the first human thing we see a the start of the opening.

The ninth frame consists of the effects I included in the title sequences. I used a few transitions to make the writing seem as though it is moving and this gives the viewer something to look at when watching the opening sequence of my film opening. I thought it would be a good idea for the words "Sound By" to start on the left, and travel to the right, and the words "David Crow" to start on the right and travel towards the left, meeting in the middle for a brief moment.