Planning: The Treatment

The main idea we have come up with for our opening scene is a storyline following a mysterious character seemingly abducting an also unknown character. The first scene will involve the abductor chasing the abductee, and the following scene will involve the abductee waking up in an unknown room, which supports the mysterious eerie mise en scene.

Mise en scene:

The general mise en scene that I am going for with the opening is to create a seemingly intimidating/ eerie feel. The main way to do this will be with the low-key lighting. In the horror genre, low-key lighting is ones of the main codes and conventions as it helps to set the tone of the movie as

The action:

The opening scene will be somewhat filled with action. The main storyline of action will include the two characters featured in a chase scene, before the female is caught and knocked unconscious, before waking in an unknown location. This is the main storyline of action which will hopefully grip the audience into watching more.

Themes:

The main theme we are going to try create will be a dramatic 'dark' theme. By this i mean we are hoping to create an eery atmosphere through many different techniques. The main technique that will help with the creation of this theme, which is one of the main  codes and conventions of the genre, will be to use low key lighting as an added effect at the end. This will need to be added at the end of filming as filming in the dark is hard to make look professional, and then the sun is setting, the lighting gets dark very fast meaning this will not give good continuity for the shots.

Camera work:

The camera work will be varied in the two parts of the opening. In the first part, where the chase scene takes place, the camera work will be very fast paced, which will help to create a more frantic dramatic feel to keep the audience gripped, whereas in the second part of the opening after the character has awoke, the camera work will be slow paced to help with the theme of mystery as there will be emphasis in the location being new and unknown.

Planning: Location

Location

The location we have decided upon for the opening is a derelict country road, no more than a 5 minute walk from our houses. This location of suitable for two main reasons, it's close proximity means that if we reach a point where were required to re shoot a certain scene, this is not a problem for us. But more importantly, it helps with the general mise en scene of the opening, with abandoned areas being one of the most common codes and conventions seen in the horror film genre.
As the area we are wishing to film is outside, this will mean that we have to film before four o'clock, however this wont cause too much of a problem for us due to the fact of how close the location is to our homes.
The road also is wide and narrow at various points, which means we can use various points along the road to create different atmospheres throughout the opening. The location also fits the eery mine en scene we were wishing to create due to the 'dirtiness' and abandoned look to it.

Here are a few stills of various points along the road which show various filming points that are possible:

Planning: Logistics

There are many logistics to be taken into consideration when it comes to making our opening scene. The first logistic will be the fact that the most part of our opening sequence takes place outside. At this time of year, it’s dark out by 4:00, which means were going to have to be sure we can get all of our filming completed before this time. We worked around this by looking at what times each of us are free, and we have all found out we can filmfrom 1:00 onwards on both Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The next logistic will be the actors reliability. The best way we have of dealing with this is to get people to act who we think will be reliable. Originally, we were thinking of getting our friends to ast, but when we were looking into it, we arent positive they will be fully reliable. After discussing in our group, we agreed to get people we might not talk to, but are positive are reliable to act for our opening.

Another logistic will be the weather. The weather will be a majour influence to the continuity of the opening. The problem is that if we film no one day, and the weather is clear, but if we are required to go back and refilm a certain scene another day for whatever reason, we will need to be sure the weater is the same or similar to give a more conventionally professional feel to the opening. A way we thought we could deal with this is by making sure there was a wide range of days we were all able to film on, so if we have to refilm, we have a range of dates to choose from.

Similar to the weather, there is also a possible continuity problem whe it comes to the costume/ makeup too. The way we spoke about dealing with this was to take a photo of each of the actors before the first day of filming. These could then be used as reference for if a second day of filming is required,as the photos can be used as a guide to assure that the continuity of the opening is a s smooth as possible.

The Big Pitch

Initial storyline idea

The main storyline of the openings we are planning consists of two characters, one being male and one being female. To fit the main codes and conventions of films openings in the horror genre, the male will be represented as the antagonist, while the female is represented as innocence. This will be represented to the audience through the use iconography with the characters costumes, e.g. the male will be wearing dark, dirty clothes, while contrasting will be the female in a bright coloured costume. The opening will feature a chase scene between the male and female, which will result in a white scree, which follows with what seems like the female waking up, the location will remain unknown to both the audience, and the female character herself, representing disorientation, to help fit the sub-genre, being psychological thriller.

Target Audeience

Target audience demographic

With the film being part of the horror genre, the primary target audience is 18-45 year olds. By having a target audience of 18 +, this means that we are able to involve more explicit content. This will be helpful due to the fact that the main codes and conventions that can be seen in the horror genre involve a lot of blood, which could be seen as inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18.

The main gender of the target audience for the film will be males. This will be that the horror genre stereotypically appeals more to males than females due to the mature themes that are represented.

Research - Titles

I conducted some research into the use of indents and titles throughout the opening of films. I decided to display my findings in the use of a timeline as I thought this information would be easiest to use for future reference like this as its all laid out in chronological order and simple.