Target audience

We have decided on various aspects regarding the target audience for our film opening, taking into account demographics of recently-distributed existing films. Details of our film opening's target audience:

• We have decided that the age certificate and minimum viewing age of our film opening is 15. This is because we feel that some of the possessed parts of the sequence are inappropriate for anyone under this age. We also decided on this age certificate because many similar, recently-distributed existing films of the horror genre hold a 15 certificate. These films include 'The Conjuring', 'The Possessed' and 'The Cabin in the Woods'.

• The age demographic of our target audience is 15-30. The maximum age of 30 is because we feel that the film opening is likely to mainly attract a younger demographic due to the 'jumpy' content designed to scare the audience. 

• Individuals who are enthusiastic and have interest in the supernatural horror genre. This means our film opening is primarily aimed at people who enjoy supernatural horror films and have experience in viewing this type of film. 

• Although both genders are included in the target audience of our film opening, male individuals are more narrowly targeted than females of the demographic age of 15-30. This is due to the results of a survey we carried out which showed that males are more likely to choose to watch a film of the horror genre than females are. Despite this, we ultimately felt that our film opening should be aimed at both genders in order to attract the largest audience. 

Possession Editing

Through research into films of the supernatural horror we noted that a simple yet effective technique to emphasise and add to the possession feeling was to take different segments from a long clip and put them in a different order in quick succession. This editing technique makes the movements of the individual seem much more jolty and unnatural which conforms more to the supernatural horror genre than a human's real movements.

We selected a relatively long clip which is made up of a single take and located parts of the clip which we found had good movements which were able to be edited well to good effect using this technique. The clip we chose is one of the raw takes from our opening sequence which features during the early stages of possession. 

During the first attempt, we separated two segments from the clip and changed the order in which they appeared in the clip. This first attempt resulted in the segments being far too long which did not make the character's movements seem possessed and unnatural. This meant that the cuts between the shots were not quick enough in order to create the desired effect. Also, the clips were taken from an area of the main clip which are too close together resulting in similar movements of the possessed character. This means that the audience would not be able to decipher the changes between the cuts as easily as if they were taken from more obviously different parts of the clip.

Our second attempt worked well as the segments were much shorter which meant they were much quicker when played back, giving a stronger sense of possession. Despite this, I thought that the segments could be shorter in length to speed up the changes between segments to further create a sense of possession within the character's movements.

The segments created were quicker which made the sense of possession feel much more intense and which conformed more to the supernatural horror genre. The quick cut edits between the segments made the overall clip seem much more unexpected and sudden which resulted in a much more possessed-like clip in general. The sudden nature of the editing used in the clip makes the possessed character's movement seem much more shocking to the audience and are made more effective than if we decided to use natural movements.

Even though we were satisfied with how the editing made the clip seem much more effective in how a sense of possession was presented, we decided to make the segments even shorter and put them in even closer proximity. This resulted in a more effective outcome as we concluded that when the segments are shorter and the clip is made more abrupt in general, the more possessed the character seems. The clip was trimmed at the beginning and end to only show the part which we edited and experimented on. The final clip from our experiment can be viewed below.

Opening Jump Editing

After researching different horror films, especially those of the supernatural horror genre, we concluded that a scary 'jump' into the camera by the possessed character is usually used at the height of a suspense-filled build up within a scene. This is designed to scare the audience by appearing suddenly very close to the camera in a single,quick movement. The effect of this part of a sequence is crucial as films of the supernatural horror genre generally rely on very scary and jumpy parts to make the film successful as it conforms greatly to the genre.

First we located the raw footage of the possessed character performing the jump. Our main objective to make the jump successful in the way it would affect the audience was to speed up the actual jump in the clip and cut it off to keep the character in shot for a very short time, causing it to feel very abrupt to scare the audience.

Although we wanted to speed up the physical jump within the sequence, we wanted to leave the build up where the room and bed are both empty at normal speed to make it look natural. In order to speed up the jumping part of the but keep the build up at its original and normal speed, we needed to separate the clip just before the jump in order to work with two separate clips and apply the different speeds accordingly. We did this using the programme, 'Final Cut Pro' and used the 'blade' tool to separate the clip. 

We then experimented with different speeds for the jump part of the clip and decided to speed it up to '147%' in speed (with 100% being normal speed). We thought this speed was effective as although it was scary and would bring out a reaction from the audience, the speed does not make the movement of the girl seem too unnatural. During experimenting with the clip by applying different speeds, we found some speeds (such as x2 the original speed) that made the jump seem unnatural and amateur-looking. 

We also decided not to apply visual effects to the general clip such as a darker filter to create a more eerie atmosphere, however we decided against this as we wanted the clip to visually fit into the finished opening of our film. We also understood that non-diegetic sound is a crucial part in creating a successfully scary effect and feeling however we have not yet created original sounds to accompany this part of the opening sequence and therefore could not yet add it into the clip until later on in the post-production stage of our opening sequence. 

Evaluation:

To get our chosen speed, a few trials had to be carried out. After noting that 'x2' wouldn't work well along with the other 're-time' options, we figured out that the percentage speeds were the best option. By changing the original percentage speed to 147%, this appeared more realistic and appropriate for the supernatural genre. Overall, although a few tests had to be carried out in order to identify our correct speed, the task went well, having finally selected our correct speed.  

Film Opening Additional Shots

While reviewing the storyboard and the raw individual shots we filmed for our opening sequence, we decided that we needed to include some more, and different, camera angles. These camera shots will be used for the part of our sequence where the young girl character is shown to be physically possessed. The main reason for the addition of new camera shots is that we do not want our sequence to be too short as we are aware that the film opening has a minimum time limit, as set by the exam board. Another reason for this is because the possession part of the sequence will be presented with a series of quick cut edits which means that we would need a larger quantity of shots to use during this part of the sequence. 

The first camera shot we added to our opening sequence is a high angle shot off-center to the mattress. This was shot with my Nikon D7000 camera, which was also used in the majority of other shots in the sequence apart from the corner shots, and mounted on a tripod. A still of this shot can be viewed below.

• This shot is effective as it allows the audience to view the whole body of the possessed girl, giving a clearer view of the girl and the possessed situation in general. 
• This shot also acts as a contrast to other shots included in our opening sequence, especially close-up shots. This creates a range to the shots used in the sequence and adds variety.

Another shot we decided to add was an extreme high shot, again of possessed girl. I filmed this shot by attaching the camera (Nikon D7000) to the tripod and extending its legs fully and collapsing them so they were together. I then held the tripod by the bottom of the legs which meant that the camera was as high as possible looking down on the subject. A still of this shot can be viewed below.

• This shot is effective as it gives the audience a clearer view of the possessed girl and is again a contrast to other shots used such as close-ups and extreme close-ups.
• This shot also makes the possessed girl seem very small which although holds connotations of vulnerability and less intimidating creates a visual which compliments the general feeling of the sequence. The idea that the subject is less intimidating reminds the audience that the main character of the sequence is a little girl who would normally be associated with innocence.

Typography and Production Companies

As with most films in all genres, films of the horror genre use specific styles of typography during the opening credits. The video below shows the opening title sequence from the 2004 horror movie Saw. Unlike in films of other genres such as action or comedy, title sequences in horror films usually are not super-imposed onto the visuals or moving sequences and are rather shown before the visuals of the opening sequence start, usually on a plain background.

• In this opening sequence for Saw, after the production company logo is shown on screen, the titles are shown on a plain black background. This lack of visuals accompanying the titles creates a more ominous feeling and doesn't draw the audiences attention to multiple things at the same time. 

• The titles themselves, which show the production company name, the director's name and the title of the film, are blue. This choice of colour is different to a colour which conforms more to the horror genre such as red or orange. The reason this blue was chosen was to match the main colour of the visual of the following part of the opening sequence. The production company 'Twisted Pictures' was chosen to distribute this film as they specialise in films of the horror genre and subsequently understand the audience and demographics that the film appeals to. 

 

• The titles also have a slight shadow effect which further conform them to the horror genre as it creates an eerie effect. Although it only creates a slight change to plain text, it adds eeriness to the sequence and is effective to the audience.

• The titles also distort slowly as if they are melting which, like the slight shadow, also adds an eerie and ominous effect and effectively conveys the supernatural horror genre through on-screen visual effects.

Final Opening Sequence Storyboard

In a previous post, I presented the initial storyboard for our opening sequence of the supernatural horror genre. 

• This storyboard included several characters including the possessed girl, the possessed girl's mother and the exorcist. Although we initially wanted to include these characters in our sequence, we came across issues concerning the availability of people we knew who could play these parts which meant one of the main and important roles of the exorcist could not be included. 
• Also, the exorcist was originally meant to be a priest which meant he would have had to be wearing appropriate priest clothing. We concluded that finding a priest costume would have been very difficult and decided to abandon the idea of using an exorcist in our sequence. 

Below is the new 8 page storyboard that I drew after our group decided on the basic story line and characters which we knew we could include with minimal problems.

• We decided to only include a possessed girl and an unknown older female character who is shown to have a close relationship with the possessed girl.
• We also decided on different editing techniques which would be added in post production to add to the possession shown in the movements of the possessed girl.
• As the garage we shot the sequence in didn't have a door for the character to leave through like that seen in shot #10 of the storyboard, we decided that we would add the sound of a door closing in post production as the character walks off screen.

Deconstruction of Possessed Little Girls in Supernatural Horror Films

Little or young girls are a common choice for a possessed character in horror films, especially in the supernatural horror genre. This choice of character in horror films is effective for a number of reasons. Firstly, the audience does not associate someone as seemingly innocent as a young girl to be something so possessed and brutal when they are possessed. Secondly, since the Victorian era, the use of children and children-associated objects such as children's toys and old-fashioned prams have played a major part of traditional ghost stories because of the creepiness and eeriness it conjures up to the audience. 

• This is a screenshot of the main character of the 2002 horror film The Ring in a possessed state. 
• What makes this character conform to the horror genre is how her long hair is completely covering her face. This creates a sense of anonymity and mystery as the audience is unsure of the true identity mainly through the lack of visuals. 
• The character's long and old-fashioned clothing is very minimal and resembles old-fashioned clothing which conforms to horror and possession. 

• This is a screenshot of a possessed character from the 2007 Spanish horror REC. 
• Unlike in The Ring, this character's face is uncovered and reveals bloods stains and rashes or other types of reactions caused by the virus she has been infected with. 
• The girl's dark and blood-shot eyes are also one of the main aspects of the visual image which makes it eerie and frightening for the audience. 
• The girl's messy and un-groomed hair also conforms to the horror genre as it suggests that the character has been infected with a virus and perhaps a more savage environment for a significant period of time.

• This is a screenshot of a possessed character from the 2007 horror 30 Days of Night.
• Although this film is of the vampire-horror genre, which is very different to the supernatural horror genre our film opening is going to be based on, it uses the same type of character to create the same horror sense. 
• The blood around the character's mouth and on her dress strongly conveys horror and that the girl is very dangerous. 
• The use of a teddy bear as a prop emphasises the young age of the girl and also gives an eerie and creepy sense. This is because it creates a juxtaposition between the vicious acts of the little girl and the fact that she carries a children's toy.

MHJG Survey

As further research towards our supernatural horror film opening we created a survey for members of the public to fill out about what type of opening they'd like to watch and what they would expect to see from a professional one in the cinema. We made 8 questions for them to answer and after tweeting it several times from our personal twitters and also posting it on Facebook, we managed to recieve 76 responses so we could get a clear idea from a large variety of people about what they would expect to see. These are the results we collected:

The results showed that the prefferred location for our opening would be an abandoned building, this means when considering locations we will try and find some abandoned buildings to look at and consider using them once we know what plot we want to use.

The results showed that the majority of people would prefer there to be no dialogue in our film opening. We were already considering not using dialogue as we want to make it look as professional as possible without proper actors.

The results showed that most people would want our villain to be a little girl, this means we will do more research on possession as this was an approach we were also thinking about.

The results show that most people want a build up to be used in our film opening, this means we will have to think about our plot carefully, as well as certain sounds we use and special effects to create a scary atmosphere for the audience.

The majority of people said they wanted sound and music to be a main factor featured in our film opening, this ties in with wanting our plot to be a build up. We can use the sounds we put in to our advantage to make it as scary as possible to fit the supernatural horror genre.

The results showed that the majority of people wanted one of our props to be a religious object for example a bible, we can use this in many different ways and we can now do research about different props used in supernatural horrors to see which ones are most conventional and are the most effective.

We asked people what their favourite supernatural film is, out of the options we gave the most popular one was 'The Conjuring' we also gave people the option to write a film down that wasn't featured in our options, we received 14 comments suggesting films such as 'Insidious' 'The Entity' 'The Exorcist' and a few others not related to genre.

Finally we asked whether religious elements should feature in our opening and more people said no than yes although it was quite close. This contradicts the prop question as most people said they wanted the prop to be a religious object, we are still going to be looking into religious elements going into our opening and will carry out research shown in other films to do with that. 

Editing to Create Possession

I first filmed myself making jagged and violent movements (below) which would go on to be edited to create a possessed feeling. I filmed the single-shot sequence with my DSLR camera (Nikon D7000) on a tripod in my currently under-construction loft. Although it was only necessary for me to film myself, I felt the setting for my video was appropriate for the supernatural horror genre. I wanted to create movement which I felt could be altered to create a possessed feeling such as exaggerated and violent movement of the limbs and head. I felt only a relatively short clip would be necessary as I only needed to demonstrate various editing techniques rather than the clip in itself.

I used the program iMovie to edit my clip to create a possessed feeling to my movements. Although the movements I made in the raw clip were possessed to a certain extent, I felt that the clip should be edited to create an even more possessed feeling. I used the 'clip adjustment' menu (right) to alter the clip to create my desired effects. 

I used the slide bar labeled "Speed" to alter the frame rate of the clip. I experimented with different speeds and after watching the clip at different speeds, I chose my desired speed. I chose to alter the speed to 120% (100% being the normal and original speed of the clip as shown above). Speeding up the clip makes the movement of the subject unnatural and conforms to the supernatural horror genre as the possessed individuals normally have inhuman movements. I also put the clip into reverse by ticking the box labeled "Reverse". Putting the clip into reverse added to the unnatural movements of myself and created further feelings of the subject being possessed or supernatural. I chose not to edit the contrast or brightness as I only wanted to show how movement could be altered to create various effects.

Below is the final clip complete with the editing techniques.