Our project was the opening sequence to a British serial killer film that we named ‘camerashy.’ I worked on it with Hannah Tabor and Robyn Taylor. I helped come up with the original idea and name for the film, with most of the inspiration coming from the opening sequence of the film seven as we liked the way it flicked across the information it was trying to convey quickly in a disjointed, almost fuzzy way, creating lots of enigmas which is what we want as it entices people to watch the film. I also created the original storyboards which we mostly stuck too, although as you can see certain parts where taken out, such as the scene with the teenagers laughing in town as we decided it wasn’t necessary as we already had enough footage to fill the criteria for the opening sequence (that it was over 2 minutes long), as well as creating a list dictating to us where the scenes should be shot, which angles we needed to include, where these angles would best fit into the film, how many of the same shot we where going to need etc. I also contributed to the filming (some of which we ended up cutting or changing), the editing and also put posts on the blog relating to the names we where thinking of for our project, our original ideas (shown on the storyboard I wrote up), costumes that would fit in with the image we where trying to demonstrate, a risk assessment for the filming that we where going to do in college, why good acting is important when trying to produce a good film, and representation.
Our opening sequence is a British serial killer film. It fulfils the requirements of an opening sequence as it creates lots of enigmas and leaves lots of mystery by making us question who the serial killer is, why they’re chasing this particular person, what their motives for killing are etc. When I asked people what they thought they’d find or usually found in the openings to serial killer films, I was met with similar responses such as; “eerie” or “frightening” music, glimpses of a weapon or some sort of sharp object, and someone usually running away from someone else in deserted surroundings. I think our sequence met all of this typical criteria, which is good as it makes the genre instantly recognisable to the audience and will be familiar to them, making them feel more comfortable and therefore more likely to continue watching. But the scene also mimics things a typical serial killer would do, such as cutting up newspaper clippings of their victims, as well as providing the audience with something a little bit different with its use of fast-paced editing which makes the scene look quite disjointed and jumpy. I also think that this use of something different would entice the audience to keep watching as, although audiences tend to like watching something that they’ve seen before and are familiar with, they also like something new and exciting therefore our opening sequence is the perfect mix.
Our opening sequence represents the social group of criminal and victim. The representation of the character that is a victim is achieved through the actor’s actions, such as running away and looking scared. The victim’s costume/appearance is young and casual which should immediately appeal to our target audience of teenagers or young adults, whilst also giving the audience a glimpse of what is to come later on in the film by displaying the main character (the serial killer) main goal (to kill people in this age bracket.) The dominant representation of the criminal is created through the use of, props, the setting, and actions, as the woods scene is filmed to create the impression that the killer is watching their victim, and the scene in the house is filmed using low-key lighting with newspapers and a scalpel as props to show the serial killer cutting up articles about their victims. The way the serial killer is filmed (which is just body parts such as a hand here and there) also adds to this representation, as it is quite a stereotypical way of showing a killer in this type of film.
Although I think either males or females could watch this sequence, it would probably be more likely to attract a male audience. I also think that the main audience for this product would be in the 16-25 age bracket and of British ethnicity. This is a good target audience to have, as the people within this group are probably the ones most likely to frequent the cinema and watch films at home, therefore it is right for the product financially as it is likely to bring in more money, and when we got feedback from a selection of our target audience over 80% of them said that they would go and see the film so it looks like the sequence has managed to attract a lot of the people we wanted it too.
I think although our entire sequence is filled with uncertainty an equilibrium is set up in the opening clip as the audience is given quite a quiet scene (although there is heavy breathing and footstep sounds there is no dialogue or music) and the scene is set due too extreme long shots and lots of clips in the woods. We are also introduced to one of the main characters in this scene as she is running through the woods. The loud music, which was described in our feedback as “eerie,” and more fast-paced, jumpy editing when the newspaper-cutting clip kicks in then disrupts this. I think the inclusion of enigmas in this scene is one of the main things that will attract people from our target audience to watch this clip and to want to keep watching the rest of the film. There are lots of unanswered questions, some of which I mentioned earlier, but even simple things like what the serial killer looks like will entice the audience to keep watching to get there answer. The alternative representation created in this sequence is that the main character (from the footage where given) looks like a young woman, but is, in stark contrast, also a serial killer, which is unexpected. The tension and suspension in this clip has been built up through a variety of media language; mainly the diegetic sounds (the music, heavy breathing and footsteps), but also the low-key lighting when it comes to the newspaper clipping scene, the fast-paced editing and shots which flick about, leaving the audience with an uneasy and uncertain feeling, and the close-up shots on certain body parts and props etc.
Various types of technology contributed to our finished media product. Before we even began filming we did lots of research through the internet (on youtube etc) and by watching DVD’s based on topics similar to ours so that we could make the best and most genuine looking product possible. We also relied on the internet to create and add posts to our blog (using blogger.com), and had to learn how to use the camcorder lent to us to make our film as well as learning the best angles to shoot from with it etc. Finally, to create our end product we had to learn how to edit our film, cutting out parts of the footage and moving the clips around to make it the best sequence it could possibly be. We also had to learn how to speed up/slow down the different scenes, and how to add our titles etc.
After looking back at our preliminary task I definitely believe that every aspect of our sequence is a lot better. The composition of the entire sequence, storyline, editing and transitions from scene to scene have vastly improved, we have actually used different lighting, different music and different sound effects whereas in the original task it was all filmed with the same lighting, and no music or sound effects were included other than the dialogue between the characters, and we have also included a much greater variety of shots and shot the scenes with the rule of thirds, as well as experimenting with fonts and being more creative in the way we represent and develop characters (not just using dialogue for example.)
Overall I think our opening sequence meets all the right criteria it needed too and that it has done its main job, which was to attract a lot of our target audience. Although we probably should have spent more time making it realistic and perhaps more mysterious and tense, we did the best we could with a limited amount of time, limited skills, and limited access to the things needed to make a really good film (or opening sequence.)