Simran Hussain G321 Evaluation

The aim of this opening sequence is attract the right target audience and to intrigue the audience for the rest of the film from the very start. To do this, the opening sequence entails some conventions necessary in horror films, for example: the opening sequence is a past event that would help develop the storyline further, common within horror films, another convention may be that within the first 90 seconds of that of the film, a death occurs, in this case three deaths occur at the same time.

The Title: The title of our group production is called “The Basement”. As a group we had decided this name, after agreeing that the title had to link directly to the storyline. The way in which we presented the ‘title-card’ at the end, was influenced by ‘Insidious’ - from which we developed many of our previous ideas in the production too, for example, the opening shot of our sequence was inspired by the background used in the poster for insidious. This was an establishing shot used to set the scene in our production. The Title was complimented by the sound, also used in ‘insidious’ to present the ‘title-card’. We thought that this sound was effective in making the audience jump, since those looking for thrill are our main target audience; our product achieved its goal in meeting the needs of the audience.

The location We chose to film in two separate locations of the house. The first was the living room, in which we filmed the first half of our opening sequence. The second location was the basement itself; this was the introduction to what the 90-minute film would be based around. They meet the requirements of what is expected from a suitable, generic horror film location as the empty living room connotes

loneliness, telling the audience that she is alone in the house. The basement is one that held the storyline with a ‘dark’ history. The overall use of a house as the main location submits the idea of isolation as seen in our product, and verisimilitude, which also allows the audience to connect with the film because it allows the audience to understand that the character lives in a ordinary house, much like their own. Connotes horror

Costume and props

Simran Hussain G321 Evaluation

Costumes are key in identifying the antagonist and protagonist. Our protagonist character wears a simplistic costume, allowing the understanding that she too is just an ordinary person like much of the audience to which we have aimed. The Antagonist is a character that wears an olden-style white dress to establish a sense of supernatural characteristics; this was complimented by the pale makeup done on the characters face. It was obvious that our characters’ costumes bent the conventions of a film of any other film genre, however in the horror genre, to connote supernatural behavior in the product, we found that the use of the colour white for the antagonist would make the ghost stand out in the darkness of the basement, similarly the dark clothing for the protagonist would allow a ‘general/simple’ look.

Props were not something that stood out in our production, however the use of candles and matches supports the ideas of a horror film as the fire can connote danger, which we later establish in the basement. Also the use of a phone which shows us that the character has no other means of contact to the outside world other than her phone, The phone is then left in the living room as she goes to the

basement, telling the audience that she has no form of calling for help, because the house itself, is empty too.

Camerawork, Editing and special effects Our product uses both a mixture of slow and fast paced editing, the slow paced editing helps build-up tension before the ‘attack’. The use of fast paced editing later contributes to creating a thrilling and suspenseful atmosphere for the audience, hence why it is a generic convention within the horror-supernatural genre. The camerawork presents our product in an expressive form to really engage with the audience. We used low and high angles throughout the product to help ensure that fear of the basement and build-up to the attack was dramatic and fulfilling to connote fear and danger of the basement. We also used POV shots to allow the audience to see through the world of the characters eye, so they could really connect with what the character was feeling. The small depth of field was changed to bring attention to when the audience was shown the ghostly figure creeping behind the protagonist. Extreme close-ups were used to show the characters emotions at the time. Special effects used were mainly used for the title page and the appearance of the antagonist behind the character.

The Narrative The storyline is typical in the way it is presented. The audience is shown only the part of the story that sets the basis for the rest of the narrative. The opening sequence shows us the first character to be attacked by our protagonist, a vulnerable girl plays the protagonist, which is understandable for when she is attacked and killed so easily. The Idea that after a few years, a family (of all girls-vulnerable, again) moves in, they are also ones to bring back a ‘new Equilibrium’ (following Todorov’s narrative structure) at the end of the whole story. The idea of a past event (our opening sequence) leading up to create a base for the storyline is a generic convention, as horror films normally have a backing story to why the antagonist is the way he/she/it is. The genreThe supernatural-horror is a sub-genre for the popular – horror genre. It is presented in our product through all the various elements of cinematography, editing, (non-

Simran Hussain G321 Evaluation

diegetic (score music)) sound and mise-en-scene. Allowing suspense, fear and tension build-up to send chills through the audience’s spines.

The charactersThere are three characters introduced in our opening sequence. The first is the protagonist – who is also the first victim. She is introduced in a very natural way, one that is oblivious to any dangers around her, until of-course, she hears the sound of whispers. The second is the boyfriend, who doesn’t physically appear in the product, however, is presented as the ‘hero’ who would have saved the ‘damsel in distress’ if he were present in the house. The third character is the antagonist who is present throughout the sequence. It has a very dramatic introduction to the audience with the use of loud score music to shock the audience, to which the character within is oblivious.