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.

Camera Angles Initial Practical

Camera Angles in Horror

The angle in which a picture or video is taken is vital when making the image look as scary as possible within horror films. The angle works with the lighting, and visual elements that are featured in the picture to make it as effective for the audience as possible. I looked at different camera angles we could use when it comes to filming our coursework to see which one had the most impact and gave the scariest view of the scene I had created.

I took a knife from my kitchen and covered it in fake blood, I used my little sisters and took pictures of them in our loft conversion as it is quite dark and shadowy, I used different angles when taking the pictures to see which ones gave the most scariest impression. 

I took this photo using a high angle shot, I thought this was effective as it brought direct attention to the knife straight away and also worked well with the shadowy low key lighting of the room to hide the facial features of her face, the angle of the shot also draws more attention to her eyes which makes the whole picture look as if she is possessed in some way. Also the fact that the camera is looking down on her highlights the fact that she is a little girl still although she is the demon of the scene.

I took this photo using a low angle shot, I thought this was effective as it is looking up towards her so gives her a more powerful image, it also adds a shadowy effect to her face so no key facial features are shown. The knife is covering her face also so it draws direct attention to it, and the lighting shows the words written on her top clearly "time to dream" which works well with everything else to add a creepy feel to the scene. 

 

I took this picture using a side view, this shows her facial expression clearly as well as her stance, she is looking directly at the camera as if she is staring at the audience and I think this shot works effectively to show her height and the length and power of the weapon. 

 

I took this picture using a mid shot, I thought this was effective as it shows her angry expression, it also draws full attention to the length of the knife and works well with the lighting in the scene as there is a shadow behind her which makes the knife seem even longer and more daunting to the audience. It also points out that she is a little child which makes it scarier for the audience that she is capable of controlling that weapon.















 

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.