Evaluation - Question 5

Deciding on our target audience was one thing, making them watch and like our film was another. We tried to do this in many ways:

• Using a teenage girl as our actress
• Use of darkness
• Scary music to create an atmosphere
• Flashing, shaky titles
• Close up shots
• Long shots
• Continuity editing
• Making sound louder and softer where appropriate
• Editing it in an understandable and exciting way

We used a teenage girl as the character in our opening sequence because from what people said, they preferred to watch films that were based around their age group to make it more interesting for them to watch. Therefore we thought that if the character in our opening sequence were a teenager it would immediately draw in the correct audience and make them curious to watch it. Films such as ‘Mean Girls’ (Waters - 2004), which grossed $129,042,871 worldwide, and ‘Cruel Intentions’(Kumble - 1999) were said to be very popular with our targeted age group because it portrayed the lives of teens, which attracted them to it as they could relate.

One theme that was used to draw in the horror movie lovers was our use of darkness. We used darkness a lot throughout our sequence and because it was very contrasting to our use of light it is very noticeable to the audience. In the shot where our character walks out of the living room into the kitchen, she walks from a lit up room into the pitch black, emphasising the fact that she is going from the safety into the unknown, making it scary. This would then draw in the horror movie lovers, as they would immediately think that it looks scary and eerie.

When shooting our sequence we used a lot of CU shots to show reactions and emotions. This would draw in our audience a lot more and make them truly understand what our character is feeling, therefore enticing them to watch on. When she hears the TV come on when she is drinking by the fridge, we have a CU of her reacting so that the audience can clearly see the terror across her face. It also brings them into the scene and makes them feel closer and part of it. A lot of our audience feedback said that our use of camera distances made the scene more tense which reflects our aims. 

We used some long shots as establishing shots to show the audience the setting. It would show them how scary the location is and also make them take in the surrounding scenery more, noticing that it is very stereotypical horror and therefore making them want to watch it. Having a LS showing she is in a dark house all on her own sets the story up to be scary and frightening before its really begun. Also the setting is very dominant in our storyline therefore we wanted the audience to become aware of the surroundings in order for them to keep up with the story.

We added in the non-diegetic sound of our soundtrack 'Into the Mist' into our sequence in order for it to build up suspense and therefore entice the horror movie lovers to watch on. If our sequence had just contained the diegetic sound it would have been fairly boring for the audience to watch and the ambiance we would have wanted to create for them would not have come across.

During the process of editing our footage together there were a lot of things that we noticed and had to change in order for our audience to understand it. For example, we had to add in reaction shots to show just how she reacts and a lot more things to react too in order for it to make sense to the audience and for it to be plausible. If we would have not done this the audience would have got bored as it would of come across as very amateur and made up and therefore it would make it funny rather than scary, enticing in the wrong audience.  Also the process of continuity editing throughout our film was done for the audiences benefit. Without it they would not be able to understand what was going on, whereas we would because we know the storyline. We used continuity editing to make the opening run as a seamless sequence that the audience would not get confused with when watching.

As we decided to base our opening on the conventional horror movie we do not really have a unique selling point. It is more or less how you would imagine a horror opening to be, with people referencing it to the likes of ‘Scream’(Craven - 1996) and ‘Friday 13^th’(Cunningham - 1980). We decided to do it in this way because we felt that this would entice in our audience more as it would be recognisable rather than making it fairly original and more appealing to a niche market. They would be able to watch the opening and immediately know it is from a horror genre and therefore within those first few minutes they would be able to decide whether the film was for them or not.