3.7 Analysis of my opening sequence.

Relationship to sound

Towards the end of the film, there is a sound extract that we chose to use as it connotes the feeling of horror and fear. This is the scene where as the main character turns off the light to go to sleep and the rooms turns black. The audience then hear the door opening and foot steps, which we used to make the scene scarier and connote fear. We then chose to use footstep sounds and shuffling to promote fear in this scene. The audience then see the titles for the film contributed by sound motifs from a saw. However Mohammed and I were able to achieve a good edit over the film. This scene was also used as the Japanese genre is well established as being horror related and the scream accompanies the part where the screen goes black, to leave the reader in suspense. We purposely wrote the title in red also to promote the Japanese film industry, as being about spirits, spiritual objects and demons.

Symbolism

Symbolism in our title sequence is used in a variety of ways. For example we chose to use red writing to connote the meaning of horror as many Japanese films are horror related and scary. We chose to accompany, just before this scene, a piece of sound which was used to promote fear where the sound of a saw can be heard. We chose the colour black as we tried to connote the meaning of darkness and danger. We could have used red on white as this would have connoted danger but a sense of realism, along with the actual colour of the Japanese flag. We also chose to write the title in red instead of any other colour because the Japanese film industry has a more twisted sense of horror compared to Hollywood and the UK, and as also most Hollywood films are remakes of Japanese classics.

Technical Construction

As in the case of technical construction we chose to use the colors black and red to promote a sense of realism along with a sense of mystery and horror. We were going to choose white and black as our title to promote danger but we stuck with red and black as this would go well with the actual darkness of the opening sequence. The colour choice of both black and red also connotes the feeling of a twist in the film and is also used, as the costume in the film is black and gold.

Problems and Successes

3.7 & 3.8

January February and March 2010 Problems and Successes

08/01/10
The major problem today was transporting the equipment from school to the films address. We had to transport the camera, tripod, sound mic and tapes to the address via car, which lost us time we came to film later on that night. Filming started later than we planned but we were able to film all of the shots that we had planned for that day.
09/01/10
Today’s problems were that we were unable to film until quite late as the house we were filming in was in use. We postponed most of the filming to later in the evening which meant that the snow would affect the outdoor scenes when filming from outside the house. Also as the weather affected the sound quality from the camera and we had to wait for the snow to calm before filming again quite a bit later.
10/01/10
Filming for the third day was a struggle as the weather affected transport to and from the house. We were able to finish filming the whole of the production by the end, however acquiring certain things for the filming were hard. For example finding a film that the protagonist could watch was a struggle as there were not many to choose from, and also the battery life of the camera was always a worry. Along with this the tape we had brought to record had very little space left for the amount of work we needed to do and so we were careful in choosing what certain parts to film.

Late January/February and March- Editing

During the editing stages we acquired a number of problems and successes, which affected us in a variety of ways. Firstly we had to upload the footage from the tape onto the Macs which took a long period of time and we also had to choose the specific music we would be putting in with the production to make it more suitable for our target audience. As we knew from our first production task, we began editing really early as we knew that time would pass by quickly before the due date was here. We were able to edit the living room scene, bathroom scene and bedroom scene within these months, along with also improving may of the scenes to suit our target audience.

Secondly the first edit that we created was shown to our teacher, whom stated that quite a few areas could be in need of improving such as shortening the whole piece and only choosing specific parts and getting rid of all of the unnecessary parts. This was a blow to us as we thought that we had done the best we could to achieve our target marks, however we got on with the work and took out a number of specific parts from our production. For example we added a montage to the end of the production showing the hooded characters view of what happened whilst he was walking around the side of the house and garden, which was sped up to create suspense amongst the audience. We were also able to add a title sequence made of a red blood type text which was created in Photoshop. Along with this text, we also created a misty animation to accompany the text, as it seemed to glide of the screen, at the same time with the sound of dripping blood being heard.


10/01/10Today we began the final parts of the filming as we did not capture the original footage properly. We decided to change some parts of the production, but not too much.

09/10/10Today we began our filming as we filmed the whole film during the night. However when uploading the film to Final Cut Pro, the tape did not record properly so we were unable to upload some of the film.

08/01/10 Today we took the equipment to Mohammeds uncles house where we would be filming tomorrow.

Representation/Preferred Reading Of Our Opening Sequence 3.2.2/.1

Representations
The representations in our film are rather simple, with the main character being a lazy teenager whom likes watching films and hanging around with their mates. This may be seen as a stereotype for teenage boys in general. We are aiming at a wide range of teenagers internationally and we believe that by using horror/thriller based scenes, we will be able to attract them quite rapidly. We believe that teenagers may like thriller/horror movies and this is one reason why we have chosen them as our target audience. With the use of quite strong violence we aim to capture the audiences imagination and hope to thrill the audience whilst doing so. With the use of the main character being quite paranoid we wish to tap into the aspects of teenagers lives through our film. 

Our preferred reading is young teenage males whom are interested in films that contain violence and horror. The main character in our film represents the so called leader in a group, where many of the other smaller characters follow/look up to this character. I would wish that the audience would respond to the main character in that they see him as a fellow friend, one that is helpful and caring whilst also being rather out going. 

The alternative readings that might be possible would be the film may only target those that are interested in thriller/horror types of film and this would mean that teenagers that are not interested in the film will not look twice and would not spread the word to fellow friends/family. One other aspect of alternative reading would be challenging stereotypes, with the fact that i have said that they are lazy and that they watch a lot of films. The public may see this as an insult. One final aspect of alternative reading would be the choice of cast with the characters being of many ethnic origins.

However the preferred reading of the target audience should be roughly what has been mention above, not a reading of teenagers being constantly reminded by their parents that they should be doing certain things, like going to bed or parents being too harsh towards them.

3.4 Shot list of our opening sequence.

Shot list
1) We begin with an establishing shot of the front of the house, maybe with a zoom into the door where the other character walks into the house. There is then a cut to the pair watching the film.

2) Over the shoulder shot of the two watching the film and then hear a bang in the kitchen.

3) Point of view shot of the main character walking into kitchen, looking around for a bit and then returning back to watch the film.

4) Over the shoulder shot of the two speaking to each other and then a cut to the other character leaving the main characters house.

5) A point of view then accompanies the next scene showing the main character walking up to the bathroom. We may also choose to use stedicam from behind the main character during this scene.

6) We are then shown the main character brushing their teeth and this is can be shown through an over the shoulder shot, where the evil character is first seen by the audience through the reflection in the mirror. (This shot may be quite close up)

7)The film then cuts to a scene in which the character is lying on his bed and then the motion of him rising up. This may be shown through a medium shot from the edge of the bed.

8) We are then expecting to do a point of view shot of the evil characters eyes in the door frame and which will be slightly out of focus which will lead to the character putting glasses on.

9)We then have a point of view of the character walking through the passage way and looking up and down. This will all be filmed using stedicam.

10) We then have a medium shot of the character getting into bed and lying down. This shot may tilt so that we see more of the characters body.

11) Then we have a close up of the characters face when he hears the creek/thump noise. This shows emotions such as fear and shock.

12) We then have a point of view shot of the character looking under the bed and then the hand seems to grab the camera (assuming the camera is his face) This then fades to a black screen.

Synopsis of our complete film 3.3.1/2

Our film is based upon a thriller/horror genre in which mysterious happenings take place. Most of the film is set in a house of some sort, whether it be haunted or not. However at the beginning we begin with a shot from outside the house. There are two main characters in this production, with another character being the evil mysterious character.

Synopsis

The main protagonist in our film is watching a horror film, when he hears a crash in the garden. The character goes to check on what had made the noise but however, finds out that he is just being paranoid. He goes back into the living room to finish off watching the film. When the film is finished, the character is shown getting ready to go to sleep.

The character brushes his teeth and when he bends to wash out his mouth, a disfigured face is shown in the window with a hoodie on. Unaware of this other character, he leaves the bathroom. The character is shown lying down. He realises that there is a light on in the passage way which he distinctly remembers turning off. Whilst wondering how the light was turned on, a pair of eyes are seen between the door frame which quickly move out of focus. After applying his glasses, he walks over to the door and into the passage way to turn off the light, whilst a shadow moves into his room, and then he begins to walk back to his bedroom. The character then lies on his bed, where he hears a creek/thump beneath. He then bends over the side of the bed to see what is beneath it and a large hand grabs the face of the character.

Another ending is of the main protagonist learching forward to turn off the light, and the audience see a point of view shot from the killers eyes where the killer is outside the window. Then the light turns off and the killer enters the house and the audience here footsteps and creaking from the door, upon which the film then cuts off with the title appearing across the screen.

Audience 3.2.4 :Van Helsing

The target audience for Van Helsing is people above the age of 13 in the UK, probably down to the use of fantasy violence and frightening scenes. However in many other countries, the films classification is higher at 15 due to the violence and strict laws that are in place. I would also predict for this film that the main target audience would be males because of the violence and frightening scenes that appear in the film. However at the beginning of the film, the historic opening would suggest to me that a much maturer audience would be needed to watch the film due to the historic views put on show.
Three ways in which the opening scene addresses the audience are that the film uses a lot of sound and visual effects to grab the audiences attention. Even though some of these sound/visual effects can appear to be rather fake, i believe that the audience would enjoy the film. Another example would be that the use of a historic opening to entice the viewer which would grab the attention of the older audience maybe in the age range of 16-19 year old. My final example would be that the actual music connotes drama, action and fear between the audience and this would attract even more attention.The music is very heavy and loud, which would suggest that the music is trying to scare the audience with the images on screen and the actual music itself. The use of sound effects such as the lighting is very eye pleasing as well and would address the target audience.

Studio and Marketing 3.2.3 Van Helsing

Production
The budget for Van Helsing was estimated at $170,000,000. The studio that produced Van Helsing was Universal, who are famous for their big blockbuster movies such as The Mummy. The actual copyright holders are Universal Pictures. The director of the film was Stephen Sommers, who also wrote the movie and produced it as well. The other producer was Bob Ducsay. The filmed starred Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing, Richard Roxburgh as Count Dracula and Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious. This shows that the film starred many famous actors who have appeared in a variety of different films such as X-Men. Van Helsing was filmed mostly in Universal Studios and California, which reflects the big budget that the film was worth. It was also filmed in Italy and the Czech Republic. This film was a big seller in 2004 and this could mostly have been down to the amount of famous actors or the actual theme of the film being horror/thriller. It has won two awards and has been up for thirteen nominations.
Marketing
Van Helsing has been distributed and consumed in a variety of different countries and locations. This means that the film producers have seen large amounts of profit and gross come their way. The countries that Van Helsing has been distributed include France, Philippines, Malaysia, Italy, Iceland, Canada, Sweden, Argentina, Portugal, Singapore, Netherlands, UK, USA, Brazil Chile, Switzerland and South Korea. This shows that the film was well received and that it was well known to the audience. It was advertised on billboards, poster and on television worldwide. The film was released simultaneously in conventional cinemas and in IMAX. The film also has its own website address and was being feature trailered months before it came out in the cinemas. This prepared the audience for what the film was to be about and also excited them with anticipation!

Summary
In summary of the film i believe that Van Helsings' target market would be people above the age of 13 because of the fantasy violence and the frightening images. The films actual classification is PG and this is who the film has been aimed at. I believe the film is aimed at people whom like violence and those that are interested in super natural creatures such as vampires and werewolves. One of the biggest stars in the film is Hugh Jackman who has starred in other films such as X-Men and Deception. These kind of Hollywood stars have been used to attract the audience whom well know these actors. People under the age of 13 would probably find the film scary and this is why they would be exempt from watching the film. The amount of money processed into the film has been extraordinary and i believe that the target audience have been reached. These very specific details impact on the audience in the film through various ways and excite the viewer of such a film.