Evaluation Activity 1

Analysis


The title of the film
I have chosen 9 frames from my final version of my opening sequence. The title of my film is 'The Unexpected'. I chose this title because I think it suits the plot and goes well with the story line. You do not find out the title of the film until the very end of my opening sequence, I did it like this in the hope that by the end of the Opening sequence the viewer should want to see more, therefore would remember the title.


Setting/location
The majority of my opening sequence is set in school and walking home from school. I think I chose a good location to film my opening sequence in as the surroundings become quite enclosed and lonely. The flashbacks were all filmed in school because I wanted to show that the unknown person that had been sending the text messages and calling her knew where she was and that they were claiming to be able to see her. Towards the end of my opening sequence I wanted the mysterious person to come out of no where so I had to choose a location with trees/bushes surrounding it.


Costumes and props
I wanted to make sure that what the character was wearing and carrying was consistant throughout. For example she was always wearing a scarf. The actor who played the stalker had to be wearing a long black coat with a hood which she wore up. This look made them look more threatening and mysterious. The mobile phone was a very important prop as it made the story clear and without it the story line would not make much sense at all.


Camerawork and editing
In my 9 frames I have used examples of some of the close up shots I used. I used close up shots to show the actor typing and to show the text messages. I also used the zoom effectively when filming to give the sense that she was being followed. When showing the actor walking around the school and home I used quite a few pan shots to show her movement. The last scene was filmed in front of them and held still so that the actors were approaching. Another way that I found worked really well was to cut all sounds apart from the music when it came to the flashbacks, this made them seem far away and showed a great change from the other scenes. When I came to looking back over what I had filmed I realised that the outside scenes were not as dark as I wanted, therefore the atmosphere was not as scary. I tried to fix this by adjusting the brightness. When editing the last clip, I cut it just as the approaching person came into the shot to make the viewers want to see what would happen next. 


Title font and style
Most of my titles were the exact same font, but some varied in colour due to the background they were on and I needed them to stand out as much as possible. My main title is right at the end of my opening sequence, I chose to use a different font for this title as it was the most important and I had it on a blank screen so that it stood out as much as possible. I think I chose the right fonts for my opening sequence as they all stand out and go well with the theme. In my 9 frames I have chosen shots that show every title that I used because I feel that they play a very important part in the main theme and style of the film. I made the appearance timing of each title vary to the other title on the same shot. I wanted to make the viewers want to see more by the end of the opening sequence and I hope that is the effect that the viwers are left with. I left the main title until last to create a bigger impact.

Story and how the opening line sets it up
The story in film is about a school girl who has been recieving threatening phone calls and texts from an unknown person. I wanted to show that they slightly worried her but she barely thought anything of them. I did this by having flashbacks to when the texts and phone calls were recieved and her looking worried, but then it comes back to the present and she is just going about her day at school as normal and doesn't think twice about walking home alone. I ended my opening sequence with somebody approaching the girl from behind and grabbing her by the shoulder, I did this to make the viewers want to see what would happen next as this ending could be the beginning of a whole new story line. The opening sequence gives the viewer a good idea of what the film would be about but still has the mysterious element needed to make them want to find out more and watch on.

Genre and how the opening suggests it
The genre of my film is thriller/horror. I have done many things to suggest the genre throughout the opening. The music is the most important element to creating tension, I chose my music carefully because I wanted it to have the right effect on the viewers. I think I chose the music appropriatley and that it creates tension, suggesting something bad is going to happen. The opening shows the events up until she finally gets approached by the stranger, we know that something is coming because I have added in the flash backs. I have made it clear that they are an important part of the story line by adding them in often and in between whats taking place in the present time. 

How characters are introduced
There are only two characters in the opening scene and the main character is introduced straight away. As she is on the phone we know straight away where she is because of the dialogue. We know of the other character but we have no idea who they are or if there is one person or more.

Special Effects
When editing my opening sequence I had to make the flashbacks clear so that they were not confused with the present time. I did this by adding a black and white effect and also making the shots have a rough edge, this gave these particular shots a different atmosphere from the others. I also put in transitions before the flashback scenes to show the change in times. I found that the slow motion effect really helped make the ending of my title sequence much more dramatic, improving the overall effect.