Final Film Opening

Sounds To Use

After further researching into legal free sounds, I found a website appropriate for what my group and I needed. The website I found is known as 'Incompetech', below is a step by step process of what I did in order to receive the ideal sound for my groups' opening.

I selected "Royalty-Free Music".

The website then gave me an option box which allowed me to select a genre - horror. The options also offered me certain "feel(s)" for my sound. I selected "dark, eerie, intense (and) suspenseful".

Here are the names of the sounds I received. "The House of Leaves " is the one I chose.

 

At 1.10s, the non-diegetic sound begins.

Evaluation:

• The sounds I found are more suitable with our opening. The sound my group and I used is effective in creating the suspenseful atmosphere we needed.

Research Into Un-copyrighted Sounds For Opening

After my initial research into existing sounds used for Supernatural Horror openings, I had to find un-copyrighted music, which would potentially be used for our opening. In order to ensure the music I found did not have copyright, I searched for "royalty free" music. Below are possible theme music choices which could be used.

This soundscape would be effective between the transitions of our existing title production companies. The sound has dark connotations, which would match the graphology in terms of the gloomy colours in our existing title production companies. The non-diegetic sound gradually increases in volume, creating suspense. This suspense effectively places audience in a position of fright.

The music box tends to be a convention commonly used in supernatural horror films e.g. "The Conjuring". The sound could be a signifier of a young age group, which would be appropriate for our opening, as we have a young girl as the victim of possession.



This sound clip uses the music box again but this one however, sounds more sinister. The sound at 0.22 seconds sounds rather eerie and would therefore be appropriate for our opening. 

 The following is an exorcist theme sound.







Evaluation:

• After carrying out my secondary research, I found it was quite hard to actually find un-copyrighted music.
• After compromising with my group, we agreed that we needed a sound more eerie. Now I shall go and find a website specialising in sounds.

Editing

In the process of achieving our transitions, a shooting error occurred due to camera misplacement between two shots. We needed to figure out how to cover up this anomaly and so we decided to use a flash effect. The flash needed, had to be quick and bright so that the error was unnoticeable. After searching on Final Cut Pro for a good flash effect, we found that we had to use an existing one from a film. The trailer of "Sinister" had the flash we needed (at 1.39 seconds).

We used "KEEPVID" to convert the trailer from YouTube directly to Final Cut Pro.

We then imported the clip onto Final Cut Pro.

Afterwards, we bladed the clip until we were left with the flash.

Now that we had the flash, we could insert it between the two misplaced shots.

Evaluation:

• The flash we found was incredibly quick, which effectively covered up the error. The transition we made after using the flash, appeared out much better than before.
• The flash is also conventional to our sub-genre, Supernatural Horror.

Research On Non-Diegetic Sound Used In Supernatural Horror Films

For our opening, we want to have a theme tune which sets a specific mood/tone. The mood we want to set needs to be suspenseful and frightening. This will effectively go well with our possessive clips. After carrying out research, I have found that the soundtracks used in "The Conjuring" happen to be incredibly daunting.

Our existing production companies we have selected are those of "The Warner Brothers" and "New Line Cinema" from the opening of "The Conjuring". I find that the soundtrack used between the transition of these production companies is rather effective. Furthermore, I like the way in which the non-diegetic sound starts of quite subtle and then gradually increases by volume, creating a sense of sudden shock.

 

 

For the possessive parts, I thought using a similar soundtrack again would be useful. This is because, at times the possessive movement can be weak, whereas in others it can be forceful. The non-diegetic sound at 0.15 seconds in the clip above has a huge increase in volume. The sound connotes something shocking. Therefore, having this type of non-diegetic sound would be parallel towards the quick, rapid possessive movements, as the movements build climax.

 

I found another sound clip however, which may be more useful when Neve is showing signs of possession. The soundtrack, "The Witch Comes Through" includes a woman screaming in the background which could signify possession. The track also includes heavy use of chiming sounds which can be parallel to the possessive movement.



 

Towards the end of our clip, Neve disappears. This is a pivotal point in our opening, as audience begin to question the whereabouts of her. Her reappearance is very sharp, with her pouncing in front of the camera. Therefore, it would effective in using a loud sound to which echoes her sudden appearance. The sound clip below includes non-diegetic sounds at the beginning which carry slight emptiness. A similar sound would be useful when the audience see that Neve has escaped from her bed. At 0.30 seconds, the chimes begin to create suspense. After having these sounds, one similar to the impactful sound at 4.27 seconds could be used when Neve reappears.



Evaluation:

• After carrying out this research I shall now go on to find legal free sounds to use in our opening. I find suspenseful sounds which carry force, would be very useful for our opening.

Editing To Conform Possession Conventions

From my deconstruction task on editing effects used in "Paranormal Activity", I tried out some of the techniques. Below I have demonstrated how I achieved the CCTV look and the "black eyes".

I firstly imported the video into Final Cut Pro. I then used the "blade" tool by selecting 'b' (on the keypad) and cropped the video until I had the image I needed. To apply the CCTV look, I selected "midtones" and applied a green filter.

By changing the "amount", I could decrease the weight of the effect.

 

To try out the "black eyes" effect, I used Adobe Photoshop Editor. I first selected an image to use.

I then selected the brush tool to cover both eyes in a solid, black shade.

After covering both eyes, I changed the colour of the brush tool into white. I then applied the white shade in the centre of each eye to achieve the possessive look.

My final image

Evaluation:

• Overall, my task went well. The CCTV effect can easily by applied by using Final Cut Pro. However, in my group's final footage, we may just use "bad tv", as this is more realistic.
• The "black eyes" effect can be applied well by using Photoshop. The effect is inredibly effective in conforming a possessive character.

Deconstruction On Editing Effects Used In Paranormal Activity

Visual effects have mainly been used throughout the film. One key example is of the CCTV effect. The CCTV effect connotes the idea of the film being filmed like a documentary. This helps to create realism.



Other visual effects have been applied such as the "black eyes". The effect is a convention used for many supernatural horror/possession films such "The Devil Inside" and "The Possession". It is therefore, useful in conveying the genre and more specifically, the sub-genre of a horror film - supernatural horror.
The effect is useful in representing a possessed character, as the black, gloomy colour carries  negative connotations such as evilness.



Sound:

• Off-screen diegetic sound of a roar has been applied to the possessed woman (at 1:46s). The sound effect signifies possessive movement.

Evaluation:

• The CCTV effect can easily be achieved on Final Cut Pro. A green filter can be applied to create a CCTV effect similar to the one from "Paranormal Activity".
• The visual effect of people being dragged cannot be achieved through Final Cut Pro. However, in my group's opening, the possessive movement which we have included requires fast movement to convey bone clicking, possession etc. Instead my group and I have sped up the possession parts in our opening. Our sped up clips appeared out quite well, meaning having the "dragging" effect absent should be okay.
• The "black eyes" is a visual effect which would be helpful in our opening. The effect is effective in further building on the idea of possession.

Sound Deconstruction On The Devil Inside

• The sequence first begins with off-screen diegetic sound of screaming (at 0.00s). The screaming creates an enigma within the audience, as the audience cannot see who is screaming and where it is coming from.
• The audience can also hear off-diegetic sounds of objects smashing (at 0.03s). This further builds to the climax.
• At 0.06s the audience hear on-screen diegetic sound of a woman roaring. The audience can also hear on-screen diegetic dialogue which is quite fast paced e.g. "we need to get her under control" (at 0.14s). Therefore, the audience can see this scene to be quite tense. From the use of diegetic sound such as the roaring, the audience can also note the genre of the film.
• The on-screen diegetic sounds of the woman clicking her bones (at 0.18s) is conventional to the sub-genre, allowing the audience to build their understanding of the narrative. Furthermore, by the identifying the sub-genre (a possession film), the audience can note a possessive movement is taking place.
•  The absence of non-diegetic sound creates more realism, making the scene more realistic. 

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.  

Deconstruction Of Exorcism Scene In The Conuring

The following is a deconstruction of the exorcism scene in "The Conjuring". Below I have deconstructed the opening in order to select certain elements to use as a source of inspiration in our opening. Our opening starts of with an exorcism of a possessed girl. Therefore, I have focused for possessive conventions to use.



Mise En Scene

• The sequence firstly denotes a woman who is showing signs of possession. Her body language and facial expressions signify possession. Makeup show bruises on her face. Low key lighting connotes a negative occurrence.

• Paranormal activity is then shown through long shot of the woman flying around and objects moving. Tracking camera movement is used in order to follow the woman's possessive movement.

• The Exorcist is a male, fairly young. Props such as the crucifix and bible represent an priest type figure. A low angle, close up shot has been used to make the Exorcist dominant.

• A long shot shows the woman tied to a chair. A white sheet has been thrown over her to restrain her. A zoom is used which helps the close up to denote blood appearing through the sheet. This is a common convention seen in exorcism scenes, which usually happens towards the end as a way of building climax.

 



 Sound

• The on-screen diegetic sound of the woman screaming connotes that she is possessed.
• Diegetic dialogue and the absence of non diegetic sound create realism.
• The diegetic sound of the object rattling is synchronous.
• The use of the silence after the woman has stopped screaming, creates suspense.
• Sound effects have been used such as bone breaking. This is a convention audience expect to see in supernatural horror films, which therefore conforms to the genre.

From this deconstruction, my group and I will use a cross and bible for our priest. We will also use various camera shots from different angles to denote the possessive movement. This will make our opening more intense and active, as the audience will be receiving a view from multiple angles. In terms of makeup, we shall create bruises and cuts.

Editing To Create Possession

In my groups final piece, we want to be able to convey possessive movement. From my research into supernatural horror films such as 'The Devil Inside', possessive movement tends to be quite sudden. Below I have shown a step by step process of how I edited part of our preliminary filming to show possession. I used Final Cut Pro.  

I firstly uploaded our preliminary footages to Final Cut Pro.

I then selected the clip I wanted to use and inserted it into the editing bar.

By right clicking on the footage, a tool bar appears. I clicked on 'Retime' to adjust the speed of my footage.


I then chose the option of 'fast 2x'. I selected '2x', as speeding the clip up too fast would look unrealistic.
Below is my edited footage.

 

I decided to apply some effects onto my footage. I used 'Bad TV'. This gave the clip a distorted type effect, something commonly seen in Supernatural Horror films. I ensured that the 'amount' was not too high, as this would make the footage unclear.

Evaluation:

• The task worked well, having applied these effects without major errors. My result of my sped up footage appeared to be quite typical of the supernatural genre, and therefore, can be used as a conventional tool.
• For visual effects, 'Bad TV' can be useful as this is also another conventional effect in supernatural horrors. However, I must ensure that I apply it correctly by firstly, balancing the 'amount' used. Secondly, the effect should be used in places appropriate i.e. the possession scenes.

Deconstruction On Excorcism Scene In The Possession

Mise En Scene (Including Camera Movement)

• The sequence first denotes a medium close up of an Exorcist at a low angle shot. The low angle makes the Exorcist seem quite dominant.
• The audience can identify the man is an Exorcist, as seen through certain props within the mise en scene, such as the bible. Artificial lighting has made this visible.

• The camera pans showing the Exorcist repeating "Abyzou" meaning "female demon", whilst moving his body forwards and backwards. His body language notes the audience that the exorcism has begun.

• A long shot is displayed of a group hugging each other, connoting that they are the affected ones in the sequence.

• The father's leg comes down as well as his hand. The camera zooms into his hand which captures odd figure movement. The father's movement signifies that he is perhaps possessed, and therefore the audience understand that the exorcism is being performed on him.

• The Exorcist begins to shout "Abyzou". The room starts to become windy, causing objects to fly around. This may connote that the exorcism is working.

• A medium close up shot shows the father' eyes popping out. His mouth opens and it seems as though he is choking on something. He then suddenly gets thrown against a wall. The strange eye movement signifies he is possessed.

• The lights start to flicker, leaving low-key lighting present. The switch to low-key lighting has negative connotations which could suggest that something bad is going to happen such as Abyzou actually revealing herself. However because the lighting does switch back to high-key lighting, this could connote that actually something good is going to happen i.e. the exorcism being complete.

• A medium close up displays a hand appearing out of the father's mouth, connoting the demon of Abyzou being awoken.

• A low angle shot denotes a box. The box is appeared as quite dominant on the screen. The box therefore could be the source of possession, where Abyzou actually came from.

 



• The demon is finally fully revealed. The audience see that she is making her way back into the box, showing how the exorcism is nearly over.

Sound

• The audience first hear diegetic dialogue from the Exorcist. He says "Abyzou", which gets louder and louder as the exorcism progresses.
• Off-screen diegetic sounds of glass breaking is heard, as a way of showing the exorcism working.
• Non-diegetic sound in the background is parallel to the action in the scene.
• The audience also hear on-screen diegetic sounds of bones clicking and choking. Other on-screen diegetic sounds include the demon roaring.
• The sequence finishes with silence. This is an effective way in ending the climax.

What to use in our opening:

 

Our exorcist will wear dark colours i.e. black, as this is a common colour used for exorcists. We will use sound effects throughout to build on the theme of possession e.g. bone clicking.  The visual effect towards the end of the lights switching on and off is rather effective. We may manipulate the idea by having a light switching on and off in our opening towards the end (where our possessed character disappears). 

Deconstruction On Possessive Movement In The Excorcism Of Emily Rose

In this clip, I will look for visual and oral signifiers which portray possession. I will also decide which of these signifiers to use in my groups' opening.

The woman appears to be screaming at the beginning of the sequence. Her hair is slightly covering her face and in the background, the audience can denote that the wall is looking rough. Within the mise en scene therefore, a possessed woman is represented.

 Emily starts to scratch the wall with her nails. Already she is signifying signs of possession.

Her body language is very sudden. She moves rather quickly, for example, jumping and leg kicking.

Rose's facial expressions also signify a possessed woman. This is seen through her screaming, making her face look quite tense.

Eyes widening is a common convention audience expect to see in possession films. It connotes perhaps a demon being awoken.

Bones twisting into weird positions is also another convention.  



 

What to use in our opening?

 

For our mise en scene, my group will have a have a rough setting e.g. dirty and old looking. Our possessed character will have a tacky nighty and her hair will be over her face.

 

From this deconstruction, it is clear that body language can be used predominantly in order to signify possession. Therefore, in our opening, we shall ensure our possessed character uses sharp body movement e.g. leg kicking to convey that they are possessed. We will also apply sound effects such as bone clicking for certain body movement to make the possessive movement seem more realistic.

 

For voice, my group and I will apply sound effects such as roars and growls.