Horror Opening Sequence Indents

The video below shows the first indent we created. this indent was really basic and needed to be improved. Yaaseen had added sound effects to make the clip more interesting and changed the smoke to fire. Our first Indent name was 'Heated Production'.

 

The video below shows our second indent we created. We decided to change the indent name from 'Heated Production' to ' Green Eyed Production' and added a few more effects to it so it is more interesting to watch.



Now that we had two indents we decided to widen our creativity and add both of them in. This was because after we added the 'Green Eyed Production' indent to our Horror Opening Sequence we had about 30 seconds left so we decided to add both in. Making these Indents were not a big hassle. They were pretty easy and quick to make.

We didn't spend much time on creating the indents because we wanted to spend more time on editing the opening sequence to make it as effective as possible. I mainly concentrated on the editing and tried to make everything so intense for the audience.

Our Indents are good but we could have spend more time adding effects and sound to it to make it look more interesting.

Indents

Indents are a shorter term for identification. film productions use them to identify their company.

I will be talking about how The 20th Century fox and Universal has changed over the years. Below I have attached a video from YouTube. The first one is an old indent and shows 20th Century Fox in the 1960's. as you can see it is pretty simple and not really eye-catching. In the second video i have embedded from YouTube. It shows the new/ modern version of the 20th Century Fox title sequence. As you may have noticed, it is much more colourful and eye-catching. The title sequence engages the audience and makes them want to watch the movie.



The 20th Century Fox

20th Century fox is one of the major american film production companies. This company was found in 1935 by William Fox. This company is one of the six major production companies. They have also made many successful films such as; Star Wars, Ice Age, X-Men, Die Hard, Planet of the Apes, Fantastic Four, Alien and Predator. They have also made many successful TV shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and Modern Family.

The video that i have embedded is the old indent for 20th Century Fox. As you can see this indent has no colour and is pretty plain. However, the theme tune is slightly the same.



The link above shows the new indent for 20th Century Fox. This one is more eye catching and has been made more modern for the audience. Furthermore, the 20th Century Fox logo is shown in a low angle shot surrounded by premier lights as it is a huge company who have made many films with blockbuster hits. On the other hand, the theme tune is a like a trademark. When the audience listen to the theme they will understand/ recognise the company straight away.

Film pitch

Created with Padlet

When we made our Synopsis to show what our title sequence story line will be. After we made the Synopsis, I created an account with Padlet. When i made this account, people were able to read our synopsis and posted a comment on the wall telling us what we did really well and what we could change to improve our story line and make it more effective. I have embedded our Padlet and the Synopsis.

Most of the people who commented on our Padlet told us that our story line was something that they liked, however, they also said how we can make certain aspects better and much more effective to the audience who are watching our opening title sequence. I think that the Padlet comments really helped us as our audience have told us what they would like to see. We don't want to spoil the sequence for the audience but we want to know what they would like to see to make it look more scarier.

Step Outline

The first post shows a step outline for Exorcist (1973) which was created by me. The second post shows the opening title sequence step outline for Sinister (2012). Our group chose these horror movies because they are similar to one another.

I have shown what the title sequence includes. I did this by sectioning the table. The table that I did shows what was included from sound to typography. my title opening was 01:38. Whilst doing this step outline i showed how each scene was effective and related to horror.

Another member in my group did a step outline for Sinister (2012). The opening sequence for this isn't that scary or frightening. However, the soundtrack and editing techniques makes the film much more interesting to watch.

When comparing these two opening title sequences, Exorcist (1973) is much more frighting than Sinister (2012). Whereas, the concept of both movies are similar. These two movies have given me an idea of how we should set our opening title sequence. In our opening title sequence we will include a scary soundtrack and try make our clips short so it keeps the audience interested. Our group will also use effective editing to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Preliminary Task

In this preliminary task my group decided to film someone walking down a corridor and walking into a classroom. We then decided that the two students will discuss some science work they are currently working on. Moreover, we decided to film it in school as it would be relevant to our preliminary task video.

The preliminary task shows Jawaad (me) walking down a corridor from many different angles. The different angles allowed us to show that we can keep the video flowing without any struggle. The different angles prevents the audience from getting bored. Another reason we did different angles is to show that we can use Match on Action effectively. Whilst filming we included close ups, when opening the classroom door, a long shot, when walking in and a high angle, when walking down the corridor.
After I've entered the classroom we did include the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. This makes it clear to the audience the situation and makes the video easier to understand as there is minimum dialogue.

In regarding to Mise en Scene our chosen location was a school. This made our preliminary task much more understandable and realistic. The actors in this task didn't wear uniform, however, we tried to show college students learning and i think that we accomplished our target.
The equipment we use wasn't complicated and was very simple and basic. We used our filming skills to make our shots effective to the audience/ viewers. Our cameraman and camerawoman, Yaaseen and Amy, they used two tripods and two cameras. They also used a microphone to discard any background noises.

Match on Action

Match on Action is when two cameras have been set in different angles and record the same scene. This allows the audience to believe that the scene is continuos and flows nicely. Then when editing you cut one shot to another to show continuity.

In my group we had to film someone coming/ walking up the stairs. In our activity we had chosen a female to act as if she has grabbed something from her locker and heading off to her next lesson. Moreover, when we filmed this we tried to get as many angles as possible. We did this so that our viewers/ audience wouldn't get bored. Whilst filming we positioned the camera at the bottom of the stairs, middle and the top. This gave us a lot of ideas when putting this scene together. Our group also chose to use a range of camera angles such as Low angle and High angle shots.

Moreover, I believe that the simplest thing of the activity was filming. However, I believe that the editing was easy for me. This is probably because we had a lot of footage to put in. Furthermore, the girl didn't have a complex task so her acting wasn't that hard either. We believe that she didn't have any trouble acting as it is an everyday situation.

Furthermore, I believe that the most difficult thing in this activity was try not to get any other of the group members in. This would make the scene look very basic and not professional. It was also quite hard to try not to get any of the other cameras in. this would have ruined the scene. To prevent this from happening we did a practise run first. this allowed us to see if there was anything in the way.

From doing the task with my group, I now understand Match on Action and how it can be used in a scene to see things from different perspectives and how it shows continuity in a clip. this keeps the audience engaged and not bored. I have learnt a new filming technique that will improve my work in the future.

if I did this activity again I would make sure that it is continuous. For example, when the actress is walking up the flight of stairs with a phone in her hand. Once she goes up the stairs we film her and she doesn't have a phone. This would be one thing i change if i did this activity again. Even though Im skilled when it comes to editing, I believe that i can improve the clip by spending more time on it instead of rushing it.

AS Media Shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule activity

The 180 degree rule is a guideline of filming of a relationship between two characters or an object within the scene. The camera is filmed along the imaginary line called the axis. This connects the characters by keeping them on one side of the axis for every shot in the scene. Moreover, character B is always framed left to character A. This helps maintain continuity for the audience/ target audience.

Shot Reverse Shot is a film technique where one character is looking at another character, who is off screen. Then the other character is then shown looking back at the first character. Furthermore, the characters are shown facing in opposite directions. This makes the audience believe that they're having a conversation and looking at each other. However, you have to make sure that their eye lines match.


We were in a group of four. In the activity I played a guy who bumps into his friend. Our group decided that our scene would be based on a conversation between two mates who haven't seen each other in a long time. Moreover, In the scene we included both Shot Reverse Shot and The 180 Degree Rule. This showed the audience that there's a conversation taking place.
On the other hand, in our Peer Assessment we had positive feedback, however, we didn't clearly show our eye lines matching. They also said that our tracking and panning should have been less shaky and more smooth. Our positive feedback was that we did our editing well and we obeyed the 180 degree rule. The also said that this allowed our conversation to flow.

Furthermore, we did take on board use of camera, framing and Mise en scene. However, we had been marked down on our camera because at the end of the scene our camera was very shaky. We also lost a few marks because when my group filmed me i was a close up and when they filmed Yaaseen (other character) it was a mid shot. On the other hand, we did take Mise en Scene into consideration because there wasn't anyone who walked through our scene and interrupted our filming. One thing we needed to do was to match our eye lines. this would have given us bonus marks and would have boosted up our grade.


When filming our group payed attention to the use of camera, framing and mise en scene. They did this by making sure that we were in a location where people wouldn't disturb our filming and make it look unprofessional. this awareness was successfully met. In the activity, I had a part to be a friend meeting another friend and having a small conversation with him. As an actor I had to make sure that I was serious and wasn't laughing when filming. In terms of framing I made sure that nothing was in the way of our filming that would make our clip look bad. Even though I was an actor when it came to editing I made sure that i cropped out any unnecessary things that were in the way. This was one way I had control of what was going on in the frame. This is because me and Yaaseen were actors and didn't have control of the camera.
Moreover, If we were to do it again I would like to have a part in the camera and let Amy and Fatima do some acting. iMovie was very helpful because we could edit out all the mistakes we made and let us make the clip more continuous so the audience don't get bored. Our main target was to keep the clip ongoing and continuous and I believe I accomplished this. This is because when editing i made sure that there wasn't any pauses or jumps. Overall, I believe i did an important part to make sure that the conversation flows.

I believe that I demonstrated Shot Reverse Shot and the 180 degree rule very effectively. this is because when filming we used a tripod to make sure that the camera were specifically directed at both characters. When filing it would have been impossible to disobey the 180 degree rule because we had a massive grey metal object in our way. However, there were a few drawbacks. When I looked back at the footage, even though our group used a tripod, it was hard to keep the camera steady and move at the same time.

If I had the opportunity to do this task again I would correct all of the drawback me and my group faced. Firstly, I would use a tripod that will still keep the camera steady when moving around. Furthermore, I will also make sure the gap between both characters are even. This can be done by marking a spot on the ground for them and then making them stand on the spot so that in they move the gap will still stay identical. Moreover, if I was to film again I would make sure that our camera will be in a suitable position so that we don't show shot reverse shot. I think that there wasn't that much problem with our Mise en Scene, but if I was to do this activity again I would make it obvious to the audience that we are in school.

Overall, for a first attempt I think that I did really well and learnt a lot whilst doing the Shot Reverse Shot and The 180 Degree Rule. I also believe that what I edited made such a big difference to the clip. This is because the small things that went wrong were corrected and made a huge difference to the final clip.