Health and Safety

Before filming our film intro we obviously had to check if there was any problems with the area we where filming in so that no one would get hurt. We did this when we got to the location. We made sure that the area we chose was as dry as possible so that no one got hurt falling over in the mud or anything. We also checked for even ground so that was okay too. Obviously anything like sticks being in the way we could just remove ourselves.

Previously, before actually filming we made sure that the actors as well as their families were aware of what was going to happen and what would be needed for the day. We also made sure that there was things such as plasters on hand in case of minor accidents.

Before filming we contacted all participants telling them of the conditions and to bring warm clothing as it was to be cold weather that day and we did not know if it would rain again during the day.

Nine Frame Analyse

Dawn of the Dead

"Dawn of the Dead's" opening starts off with basic style text that is coloured red, the red writing the changes into a scatter of blood which quick cuts to graphic images of what seem to be zombies, with bloody mouths or cells that are dividing/mutating. As well as mass chaos, buildings being on fire and being destroyed, people being attacked and of course these events being on the news.

The basic style of the text can suggest that the film is either something basic and simple or something scary depending on ones interpretation. However, with the text being a deep red and scattering off it multiple directions as if to represent blood it gives off a rather sinister vibe which would suggest danger, which does not correlate to basic at all.

These shots of the writing then change to quick cuts of graphic images of multiple things that are linked to disaster also gives off a sense of danger and a post-apocalyptic situation which links back to my sub-genre because as shown in previous research zombie horror persistently show destruction as well as people in everyday clothes being rather bloody and lifeless.

Watch the full opening here: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/dawn-of-the-dead/

The Return of the Living Dead

The opening for "The Return of the Living Dead" starts off mysteriously as two guys walk down some stairs which seem to lead to some kind of cellar. Though out these first few shots they flow between each other in various different angles of location at a mid-shot length in front of the characters to always display their facial features.

The camera then distracts away from the faces of the actors and shows what is written on the container that they are walking towards the the previous shot. This shot shows to the audience that its contents is something dangerous as it is property of the army. Then a birds eye view of what's inside makes the viewer understand why it is so dangerous. Not only this but this angle can show the view of the men when they are looking into the canister.

All the shots through out the whole of this opening all slowly flow into one another as to give time to the viewer to take in what is actually concurring, as well as fades into cuts when going though the vent system as they are of similar kind, this shows progression of the smoke moving, but does it in a shorter amount of time than following it all the way through.

The shots also show that the credits for the film has a bold text style in red which is all in capital letters to make it stand out and gives the connotation that the film is horror. The title of the film is in a blood splatter style which gives the impression that there is going to be a lot of blood involved with this film. The end of the opening consists of a long shot which shows a full body display of a dead body coming back to life as the smoke enters the room.

Watch the full opening here: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-return-of-the-living-dead/

The Shining

The opening title for "The Shining" is one which is portrayed as rather relaxed as the camera angles follow a car travelling though the mountains which makes it seem as if nothing horrible will happen. Most of the angles used are long shots, to show as much of the surroundings as possible. The whole title sequence is following this car making it extremely obvious that where they are heading is rather far out from the rest of civilisation. The last shot is of the place they are actually heading to which seems to be a rather sinister as it is all the same colour as the mountain. The writing of the titles are in bold which gives the impression of nothing good could be happening, however the text colour is light blue which does not give the view of being dangerous at all.

Watch the full opening here: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-shining/

Alterations Made Along The Way

Though we planned to use different things throughout the whole of our horror opening, there where many things we changed throughout the process of creating our final piece. Some of the things we decided not to have for our final piece are highly noticeable for not being there if we was to point them out to you.

The first main thing we cut out from our piece was the amount of zombies that we decided to have in our horror opening. We found it was rather unrealistic for us to physically be able to get a tone of people to partake in this as well as being able to do their make up. So we decided it would be wise to have only three instead of a large group of zombies for practicality.

The next factor we took out was having a dog in our piece. We realised that we could not possibly find a dog that would do everything that we would want it to do and would most likely be hard to handle whilst filming. We also thought it would be a challenge for the dog to disappear during on of the shots unless it ran away or something, and that didn't seem like a good idea as we didn't particularly want to loose anyone's dog.

Another thing we decided was that it would be easier for the clown to use a mask instead of face paint because of the amount of time we had to do everything in. We also could not find a clown wig so it was much easier to just use a mask.

One of the minor details we decided to get rid of was the balloon we had planned to give the clown. This idea changed a few times. Originally we wanted the clown to have it. We then felt that maybe it would be a good idea to have it stuck in a tree. Finally we decided not to use it as practically we had no idea where to get a helium filled balloon, we also didn't want to loose it and not be able to film after that so it was scrapped.

Analysis Of A Titles Construction

The title of "The Return of the Living Dead" is in capitals, red font that is in a blood splattered style (to have a sense of danger as an effect) over the shot of the long gone zombie from the previous film which is what creates the zombies for this film from smoke that comes out of the container when one of the characters who turn into zombies from this hits the tank that holds the zombies body. The title fades onto the screen after showing the full face of the zombie and then fades of to show its then melting face before the container breaks. This is to make the viewers to focus on the title and not the background as the zombie is already melting and if they was to watch it melt the whole time they would become uninterested in what is happening to it. From this you automatically presume it is going to be a zombie film.

The title for "The Conjuring" consists of the title being in capital letters in the centre of a background of a black and white photograph of the house where the activity happened in the original real life story. The photo as well as the writing, flick over the previous one as if the photos were actual images being flipped over in a book in front of you in a photo book. This is probably made to make viewers feel as though the story is as real as it is and that they are living within what actually happened.

For "The Evil Dead" again the letters are red and capitalised in order to show that something very dangerous is going to happen. The title comes onto the screen as if it is a blood reflection of water, so as if it is water itself and has that kind of movement. It is shown on a background that originally seems to be a blank dark white-ish and rather plain then becomes clear as to represent the fog/mist in the opening scene that is shown after the title fades away. This would be to link the both of them together and add a sense of mystery to the film.

The title for "The Shining" is one that seems to come across as a misconception of what the film is actually about. The text is of course capitalised which does suggest that there is a connotation of danger to what is going to happen within this film. However the text is in a bright blue colour which is associated to most things as a happy and safe colour to be used. Not only this but the backing for the title looks rather friendly and as if nothing particularly dangerous could actually happen within this film as there is a nice calming valley hillside with a lake. Hardly seems dangerous. This would then make the viewers confused and feel as if nothing bad will happen, which will then make them feel more scared later when something actually does happen.

Typical Horror Synopsis

As part of my research I am needed to look at a typical synopsis of a horror film that is from the genre that we are using for our own horror movie opening. I have decided to take a look at the synopsis of "Night of the Living Dead".

A group of people of different backgrounds take refuge in a old abandoned house when they find that corpses begin to leave their graves in the graveyard to search for fresh human bodies to consume. Ben (Duane Jones) sensibly tries to do his best to control the situation they are in, however is not very successful when the other survivors start to panic as the dead start to surround the house. As they being to loose any calmness they had over the situation the zombies begin to find ways inside of the building, making the living humans their prey one by one.

This is a typical synopsis as it gives a brief summary of what happens though out the film. It also adds some key points without giving away too much of what happens with in the film.

Location Shots

These are photos from our location shoot to show where we was filming for our film opening. The biggest problem we had with our location was that it rained the day before so the ground was extremely muddy which made it hard to run in.