Special FX Research

I just thought that it would be a good idea to research into the possible special effects that I could use in my film opening in order for it to suit the conventions of a horror film. However, after looking at the YouTube clip above, I decided that that was not the direction that I wanted my film opening to go. Although, I will be using fake blood in my opening which can be created by gradually heating up some golden syrup and adding a lot of red food-colouring in order to make it a crimson coloured liquid.

This was my first attempt at using the fake blood and pouring it over the title to spell out the words:

As this was only a first attempt and was fairly bad if I’m honest because of the lighting and you can actually see the spoon that I used to pour over the fake blood. I will do another test of this in order to make sure whether the idea will work or not and I will ensure that the lighting is just right in order for the audience to clearly see the film’s title.

Red Riding Hood - Promotional Trailer

I saw this film trailer when exhibiting another film at the cinema and thought that it would be a good idea to look at the plotline because the film is based on Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf (being the werewolf). I also think that this film would appeal to my targeted audience and so is a good idea to include in my research.

Supernatural - TV Promotion Trailer

Although this is a TV programme and not a film promotional trailer, one of the episodes are based on The Brothers Grimm tales and has a horror twist to it. One of these tales are based on Hansel and Gretel and has a good representation of both the siblings and the grandma personas.

Research into Planning - Storyboard

I have found a really good website that includes many different storyboards and concept art by a man called Josh Sheppard. One of the storyboards that he has completed is called ‘Horror 2’. The site was really inspirational and I have used some of his conventions when storyboarding as I know what some of the symbols mean; in order to help the cinematographer.

Josh Sheppard - Film Storyboards

Research into Planning - Call Sheet

After looking into many different planning methods, I have found a call sheet that the Director George Lucas used in his film Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). This call sheet included all of the necessary information that the cast and crew needed for the first day of filming:

(The source of this call sheet was from the book called The Making of Star Wars, Episode I, The Phantom Menace.)

From viewing an example of a call sheet, I have thought about constructing one similar in order for myself to be more organised for when the filming date is set. This will also allow my cast to know exactly what is required and so hopefully will minimise delays on the day.

Storyboarding

I know that this storyboard is rough, but it shows nearly all of the information that I will need when shooting and editing. I will of course improvise some shots on the day, and when editing will add the sound effects as appropriate, but this storyboard has given me a visual idea of how my film opening will look.

Intertextuality Research

I wanted to use intertextuality in my film introduction so that the audience were clear that my film will be based on The Brothers Grimm tales. Before deciding on which stories I would link to, I firstly picked out some of the well-known tales and mind-mapped the keywords associated with each folktale:

After mind-mapping the tales, I now have decided that I want to include intertextuality linking to Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood as well as the overall narrative based on Hansel and Gretel.

Cinematography Research - Lighting

I have really had to consider the lighting that I need to use in my film opening because in the actual bungalow setting (shown on the Location Shots post), there is almost no light for the camera to pick up in order to see the details of the mise en scene. During the outside scene before the male goes into the bungalow, I can use natural lighting because I plan to film during the daytime.
    Some of my peers have commented that I may need to reconsider this idea of filming during the day because the horror aspect is lost due to the lack of suspense generally created by darkness. However, the justification of me using the daytime as the time period for the outside should be effective because the outside of the bungalow needs to look misleading to the two main characters. This use of weather/daytime is called pathetic fallacy because it should set the mood to be positive; which will be contrasted when the characters move into the bungalow.

<< This image is an example of how the light can affect the mood of the shot. The bottom image would be the ideal lighting that I will need in order to get the effect of suspense throughout the scene inside the bungalow.

I have also thought of the idea of using shadows/silhouettes of the witch in the background because filmmakers use the technique of using shadows and silhouettes in order to portray the villain and create the mood of suspense and tension. I also think that this technique would go well with the Music choice of having breathing noises during the scene – because someone is behind them.

Locational Shots

The location that I plan to base my film narrative around is a pre-fabricated set that is an old bungalow owned by my Nana. My justification for this location is because the exterior of the location is aesthetically pleasing to the eye (because of the white/neutral coloured exterior walls). In the story of Hansel and Gretel, the two siblings arrive at a gingerbread house (which is also aesthetically pleasing to a child). The mood that I want to create outside of the bungalow is a low sense of threat and the feeling that the children will not be hurt by what is inside the bungalow. Although, the audience will probably be aware of the folktale and so will know that just because something looks OK, it doesn’t mean that it really is.

(Outside of the Bungalow)

(Inside of the Bungalow)

The interior of the bungalow does not create any tension at the moment because I had to open the door to let light in so that I could take a photo of the set. However, when I am actually shooting the film opening, I am going to use artificial lighting to create a tense mood – because the inside of the bungalow is really dark with the door shut.

Casting

After the feedback of using a younger cast for the main personas, I have decided to use the two following cast members:

The male persona (Hansel) will be played by my brother Nathan Dalby. He is eleven years old and so fits the profile of Hansel well because he is the ‘protective brother’ to his younger sister in the narrative. I know that he is reliable and will behave on set in order to get the filming done as smoothly as possible.

The female persona and sister to Hansel (Gretel) will be played by Eve Newman. She is nine years old and is exactly the person that I wanted to have as the younger sister character that is innocent in the film opening. I think that Eve would work well with Nathan during the shooting process and because they have known each other for a long time, they will know how to behave around each other in order to make the ‘relationship’ between the two characters more realistic.

Typography Research

One of the vital aspects of my film opening that needs to be clear to the audience are the titles/credits of the film. After looking at Sweeney Todd and constructing a ‘Timeline’ that breaks down each title and their timings,  I have looked at some different fonts that I can use for my own titles in order to make them stand out:

Audience Profiling - By Genre

After deciding to base my film opening scene on The Brothers’ Grimm tales and use the fantasy and horror genres, I have made an audience profile in order to guide me when storyboarding and planning – as I will need to know who my film opening will appeal to:

Institution Logo Research

I thought that it would be a good idea to research into the different logos that the major institutions use; in order to gain some inspiration for my own film institution logo design:

Pitch Feedback/Development of Ideas

Originally, my idea was to have two teenagers being the ‘Hansel and Gretel’ personas. However, the feedback that I received has made me think about changing this aspect and aiming the plotline onto two younger siblings. This idea will hopefully make my film opening more successful because the horror genre is more effective when children are involved; because of the psychological aspect of the thought of children being hurt. My film introduction will not have any violence directly to children, but will include several shots ‘hinting’ to the audience that the male persona has been killed. I think that this might be more effective than actually being shown the male’s killing because the audience will have to use their imaginations to gain an image of this event.
   From the feedback, I need to consider the aspect above and also how I will achieve this ‘hinting’ technique to the audience. The comments overall were positive and I will take their opinions into consideration when planning/storyboarding the opening scene.

Possible Music

There were two main ideas that I have thought about for the music in my film opening. The first idea was to take a well known nursery rhyme/children’s song and put an eerie mood to it. The first song that I thought of was The Teddy Bear’s Picnic because of the pace and rhythm. However, I could not find a song that had the similarity of The Teddy Bear’s Picnic but had a horror twist to it.
   After looking at a range of royalty-free music sites, I finally found a site that contains royalty free music by Kevin MacLeod and one of the songs was Pop Goes the Weasel, but had a horror and creepy edge to it:

Pop Goes the Weasel

I then looked at some atmospheric music and found a good piece by him also that contained breathing sounds which gave it a really good eerie mood and would fit nicely with the mise en scene and the narrative. This music would also build up the tension to when the witch appears out of nowhere:

Right Behind You

Film Opening Pitch

After considering the two classifications of 12 and 15 films that suit the fantasy genre, I decided to go ahead with a 15 classified film and so I should consider the elements and conventions that suit a 15 film. Therefore my target audience will be young adults and teenagers (15-25) because it relates to childhood folktales but has a horror twist to it.

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) Research

Before deciding on the target audience that my film would possibly appeal to, I thought that it would be a good idea to research into the classifications and guidelines of the British Board of Film (BBFC). After viewing many different certificated films with different genres, I narrowed the research down into just the 12/12A and 15 classifications because I think that the fantasy/horror genres are common with their guidelines.

This research has shown me the guidelines that I must follow when planning my film introduction in order to meet the right target audience that I want my film to appeal to.

(This research has come from the BBFC Website).

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - Fantasy/Mystery/Thriller

After looking at an 18 classified film and a 12 classified film, I thought that it would be a good idea to research into a 15 classified film in order to know the difference between the three classifications. I then decided that a good film opening that relates to my project is the film called Sleepy Hollow (1999) that was also directed by Tim Burton – who directed Sweeney Todd (2007) that is an 18.
   At the very beginning of the film, the audience are shown the main credits of the film using a smoky/misty background in order to create tension and there are children singing in order to add the holy and religious feel to the opening scene. Then panning shots are shown of a person’s last will and testament and drips of red candle wax are shown to drip down upon the parchment (using a close up shot). This red wax could remind the audience of blood and therefore would have connotations to death and foreshadows that there will be murder involved in the next following events.
   A carriage is then shown carrying an old man (presumably being the man that has just embedded his signature into the red wax). The music is then intensified and creates tension for the audience along with the sound effect enhancement of the horses’ hooves hitting the road as they gallop. The mise en scene in general for this scene is gloomy and the use of fog creates a mood of uncertainty.
   There are mid-shots of the man in order to show his expressions, as previously there is a long shot of a scarecrow in a field and the lightning illuminates the scarecrow in order to intensify the mood. There is a supernatural noise following this and the audience see a horse running beside the carriage on the other side, which makes the audience know that something is not natural with the horseman and that there will be something nasty happen to this man. A loud and enhanced noise of a sword leaving its scabbard is heard and a slicing noise also in order to create the tension that something has happened outside involving the horseman that just went past. The audience then know that the man inside the carriage should not look outside but he does, only to have a shot moments later of the carriage driver having no head and the man’s reaction to this.
   The music is now very fast in rhythm and close up shots of the carriage wheels are shown to show that it is out of control and that the man should jump out of the carriage. Furthermore, by using the mise en scene of a crop field as the setting for where the man tries to escape through, it gives the scene a definite supernatural and thriller genre because the audience cannot wait to know whether this man survives or not. A mid-shot of the scarecrow is shown again with the lightning effect and further close-ups show that the man is really scared of his wellbeing – which is portrayed well by the use of the scarecrow being present (symbolism).
   There is another sound effect of the scabbard and the sword and then the camera zooms in to show his reaction and his head is cut off. There finally is a shot of the pumpkin for the scarecrow’s head with blood splattered all over it; mixing the Halloween theme with the scene here.
   The typography used for the titles are white and have an old fashioned style to them, creating the sense that this film is set in older times (1799) before the date is displayed to the audience. The mise en scene of the costumes and the carriage also allows the audience to gain the old fashioned feel to the era in which it is set.
   The audience that Tim Burton directed this film because it includes his artistic style of his filmography and they can relate to his previous films while watching this one. To conclude, this research of this film opening has allowed me to expand my knowledge into the sound effects that would be successful in using in my film opening and how lighting and sound has a great impact on what we as an audience watch.

Blade (1998) - Action/Fantasy/Horror

During the researching process, I thought that it would be appropriate to look at a range of certificated films in order to see if they have any conventions to the genre and which ones corresponded with each classification. Therefore, I looked at the film opening scene of Blade (1998) to see the difference between this 18 film and the 12 film The Brothers Grimm (2005).   The film opening scene of Blade is very clever because it introduces the villains to the audience right from the very start (the vampires) using horror and shock factors in order to bring the audience into the film. The main persona of this scene (a young male) is lead into what the audience believe is a slaughter house and the male is slightly confused on why he is lead there. The mise en scene in the slaughter house appears to show bodies being carried in the bags and not farm meat which along with his reaction creates uncertainty and foreshadowing for the audience because they know that something cruel will happen to this man.
   When they both go into the main scene location the audience see what appears to be a party/club scene where a lot of young people are raving to music – therefore making the music diegetic in the narrative because the it is part of the narrative sphere of the film. The music used is modern and brings the scene together because it is combining folklore (the vampires) with modern elements to draw the audience into the situation.
   Lighting is used in order to intensify the situation and also to convey the modern twist because of the strobe lighting picking out the characters’ expressions and the effect of everyone’s faces going from light to dark continuously – maybe representing the people of looking human and normal but are actually have a dark side to them; their vampirism.
   The horror genre is introduced to the scene when the sprinklers overhead start to release ‘blood’ out to the vampires and the main persona (the man) is stunned by their behaviour and the cinematography helps the audience to know his distress because of the close-up shots used of him and the vampires surrounding him. Because the blood is used, the audience know about vampires and their relationship with blood and so understand the situation with just this use of symbolism.
   In terms of the typography used, the style of the titles are simplistic and are bold, enabling them to stand out to the audience while they are still watching the scene behind them. The use of the red font colour also has connotations to danger and lust – which is a common theme throughout folklore involving vampirism.
   Marvel Entertainment (one of the production companies of the film), have been very successful in creating films from comic series and because the audience were probably aware of the character Blade from the comics and had a background knowledge on the characters, it draws the audience into the scene to when the main persona of the film Blade appears and defeats all of the vampires; which also creates the fantasy and action genre because of the conventions of vampires and fighting being involved in the scene.
   The audience for this text is aimed to be over 18s because of the classification of the film being an 18. Therefore, the audience should intentionally have been created for over 18 year olds, unless one detail in the film was looked in greater detail and classified it as an 18. Because of the horror and fantasy genre combined, it should be aimed at younger adults (18-25) but could appeal to an older audience also because of the action elements to the film. The uses and gratifications theory can be applied to this film because the audience being 18-25 for example, could suggest that they watch Marvel Comic films in order to divert from their lives – a way of escaping life and enjoy watching someone else have the tougher time than them – which can be used simultaneously with the entertainment aspect in order to attract the audience into the narrative.
   Overall, by looking at this film and looking at The Brothers Grimm (2005), I know that there are different ways of approaching the genre in order to achieve the entertainment value of the film for the audience and that also different techniques can be used in order to approach the narrative without having to use the bad language and violence aspects to make it suitable for an older audience – the intertextuality to folklore for instance.

The Brothers Grimm (2005) - Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy

At the beginning of the film The Brothers Grimm (2005), the audience are immediately introduced to one of the traditional Brothers Grimm stories in order to place the audience into the folklore. Iconography is used because the audience associate ‘magic beans’ with the folktale Jack and the Beanstalk and so have background knowledge on the plotline and an idea of the narrative just because of this symbolism. The mise en scene used in the opening scene is of a poor family’s house and this is shown by the minimalistic furniture included in the room. Also, it is snowing outside which has connotations to innocence (showing that the family are not intentionally poor because their sister is sick and needs treatment). Moreover, snow has connotations to death because of the winter season killing plants and animals due to the cold – which could suggest that the sister could be dying.
    The music used is soft and has a saddened tone to it in order to show that there is something wrong with the sister and that she needs help by her brother selling their cow and collecting money for a doctor. After the scene, the music livens and it the tone is changed to a pirate/fantasy theme; which could suggest that there will be some magical aspect to the film or will include forgery/criminals. Sources of light are mainly from the candle and window in order to pick out the shadows and set the mood of the room. The mood shown is dim and this ties in with the snow and the connotations to death and gloom.
   Cinematography is used well in the scene because long-shots and mid-shots are mostly being used and this creates the idea of them being small compared to the rest of the world. The only close-ups that are used are to show the important details of the narrative in this scene – for instance, the magic beans and the wooden horse that they use for firewood, in order to pick out the main details but showing the minimal quality of their lives as well.
   The genre of fantasy is incorporated through the use of the folklore aspects (such as the magic beans) and this intertextuality enables the audience to relate to their childhood and be more involved in the narrative. Intertextuality is used throughout the film in order to allow the audience to use their previous knowledge of The Brothers Grimm tales and add their own twist to it.
   Dimension Films (one of the production companies of this film) have created an impact on the film because they have produced many of the popular films such as Scary Movie, Scream, Spy Kids and some of the later Halloween films. This means that the USA based company have added their own culture and influence into the Germany original stories, which widens the audience to overseas and makes the humour entertaining for a larger audience.
   Because the film is a 12, the audience can intentionally be younger because it only contains some moments in the film when horror and violence are used. Because of the fantasy and adventure genre of the film, escapism can be created for the audience (uses and gratifications theory) and an older audience can be present because of the humour and comedy aspect of the film.
   The main aspect of this research was the idea that I could use intertextuality of the many folktales in my introduction in order to bring the audience into the narrative and familiarise them of the more famous tales (such as Snow White).

Institution Research

By looking at the fantasy genre in particular, I would think that the institution that would probably produce my style of film would be a big blockbuster company like Warner Bros. This is because they have produced some of the major selling films that are in the fantasy genre such as the Harry Potter Series and a new film called Red Riding Hood which will be in exhibition this year; that uses the Brothers Grimm story of Little Red Riding Hood as a horror basis. Also, the funding that it would probably cost to produce an effective fantasy film (with all of the CGI aspects for example) would be higher than that of a social realism genre. Warner Bros use higher budgets and therefore have a wide range of film genres because of their success and have also produced TV programmes with the fantasy genre such as Supernatural – which includes an episode that has a basis around the Brothers Grimm tales.
 For example, Sweeney Todd (2007) had a budget of $50 million (which was a drama/horror/musical genre film) and Inkheart (2008) had a budget of $60 million (which is a fantasy film). Although Inkheart (2008) had a classification of a PG, it contained a lot of CGI and so I presume that that use of a new technology increased the budget. Because my film is of the fantasy genre, I think that the budget would probably be around £10 million because I would concentrate more on the horror aspect of the film in order to make it suitable for an adult audience. The technology that would have to be used by the institute would be a wide range of camera equipment (when looking at the film as a whole) because a range of cinematography would have to be used - such as panning and aerial shots, in order to gain the effect of the characters' point of view (a witch flying for example).