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We drew up a story board to help us to film our opening sequence. We then annotated the story board slightly to add in a match on action shot. Overall i think that it was very effective and useful to have.

I have print screened some still frames from the opening sequence we filmed as a group, I have decided to do this to show the angles and shot types we used, I will also analyse conventions and 'Mise en scene' that we used. I feel that these are effective and successful as they are used appropriately.

We decided to add a match on action shot to emphasise the chase of the clown and the young girl. By doing this the viewers can clearly see that the girl is running away, fast and distant. The young girl is wearing neutral coloured clothes and no make up to emphasise her purity which then makes the audience feel sympathy towards her insanity. The background setting is in a forest which is meant to be frightening as it is a secluded area. We decided to add a close up shot of the clown to make the audience feel claustrophobically close to the clown, our aim was to do this and scare the viewer by making them feel uneasy.

Research of typical Synopsis

The genre 'horror' is usually a recording film or video that contains the iconography as discussed above, including the props such as weapons, like knives, swords, blood stained objects,dark lighting etc. Quick cuts and close ups are often commonly used to scare the viewers, if a director decided to use long shots then the viewer would know too much about the film, where it is set etc and ruin the film and the mood. The aim of the film is to scare viewers and get our heart rate pumping higher, watching these films make people feel alive. A typical horror film is about a character that is a victim in a dangerous situation that is in danger or under risk of being harmed, there is usually suspense and thrill included.

Collage of iconography

Collage of iconography

Icons associated with the genre 'horror' include:

1. A haunted house or area/place associated with fear creates a frightening mood for the audience when watching a horror film. When the viewers do not feel at ease they become more jumpy and aware of what is going on in the film. 

2. Symbols of pain and death such as phalic murder weapons include chainsaws or knives, this could also be blood stained areas or objects. By including this, viewers become frightened by harmful and dangerous props used.

3. Darkened atmospheres such as a forest, cellar door or deserted building create tension and allow viewers to feel frightened more easily.

Directors that direct horror films

Takashi Shimizu directed 'The grudge'

He makes use of lighting effects, and in particular darkness, and shot types-especially close up quick cuts. He also makes use of high pitched sound via music and props such as mirrors and CCTV cameras, this makes the victim feel targeted, bullied and in danger even when the other character is not near them. I have included a screen shot of a shot used in this film to great show the use of close up shots within the film, this shot shows the woman hiding under her covers, then seeing someone crawl into bed with her, pull her down and when she lifts up the covers, there she is- shown through a quick cut close up and very high pitched music.

Danny Pang directed 'The Eye' 

He makes use of typical frightening or unusual scenes such as a hospital and also quick cuts are used to scare the viewer. Danny pang also makes use of CCTV camera footage, which is similar to 'The Grudge'. I have included a screen shot of this to show how it is used, the reason why it is used is because the footage can be shown as what is or isn’t there. The woman can see a man standing in the corner of the elevator, but when she looks at the footage, there is nothing there. This makes the audience wander, if he is just a figment of her imagination.

Wes Cravan directed 'The Hills Have Eyes'

He makes use of frightening scenes such as mountains by using the darkness of the rocks and the lightness from where the sun hits the rocks- by being up so high the mountains thrill the audiance as they are dangerous to fall from or stumble on. Other conventions Wes Cravan uses are the holes in the mountain, the deserted scene and lighting used within these areas, especially darkness when used in holes. Wes Craven uses more gruesome props and ideas such as ligaments being torn off and lots of blood!

Tommy Lee Wallace directed 'IT'

This film in particular is important to our opening sequence as we have also based the protagonist upon a clown like figure. He makes use of sound, which is usually high pitched and lighting, bright quick cuts and flashing images to scare the viewer. I have added the trailer to the movie so that as a group, we can view the way Tommy Lee Wallace directs the film and makes it effective. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f1bXb5uYWQ

Also, Alexandre Aja directed 'Mirrors' makes use of props such as mirrors. M Night directed 'Sixth Sense' makes use of quick cuts and sound effects. All of these directors could be studied in the future, this way our group can use similar 'mise en scene' to them so that our opening sequence as effective as there films are.