2. Why I have chosen horror…
• Horror films serve a general purpose, to shock, disgust
•I like the idea
and terrify you, whilst also entertaining you.
of shocking my
audience to
ensure that
they remember
my opening
• They take people’s worst fears and
sequence
make them reality.
• Things like possessed characters
3. General conventions of Horror
films…
• The conventions of a horror film depend on what type of
Supernatural horror it is… Psychological Horrors
Gory Horrors
Horrors
They aim to scare. They aim to disgust. They aim to
make you think.
Appearances of Grouse, bloody The villain or the ‘bad
demonic creatures and gory guy’ is often mentally
and evil spirits deaths ill or crazy.
4. General conventions of Horror
films… or events. These evil and
Horror films often consist of evil forces, spirits
normally supernatural elements are usually placed into the everyday life.
•Common themes and elements presented in typical horror films are :
•Ghosts and •Violent •Serial killers
•Vampires poltergiest’ deaths and •Torture
gore
•Zombies•Haunted bulidings Werewolves •Demons •Possessions
•
5. Films that have inspired me…
• The film that inspired me most is ‘The Ring’
• I want to use a similar long shot in my opening sequence.
• It’s an effective way of keeping the audience’s attention to the puddle of
water whilst showing the character come up the stairs.
• I also want to use a fast zoom in my opening sequence.
6. Use of costume and make-up in ‘The
Ring’
• Quite frightening to look at and an effective way of scaring the
audience.
• The lighting throughout the whole movie is kept more or less
the same.
• This creates a very eerie and creepy atmosphere in the movie,
common in most horrors.
7. Films that have inspired me…
• A scene from ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ also inspired me.
Close up of hand reaching into crib
Draws the audiences attention
to what she's doing.
.
Allows imagination to run wild .It never shows what
Making the audience uneasy she sees only her reaction. . Close up of
Creates tension Rosemary’s face,
emphasises her shock
• I want to leave the audience guessing in my opening and horror at what she sees
sequence in order to create suspense an enigma.
8. Films that have inspired me…
• Another film that inspired me was ‘The Haunting in Connecticut ’
• Its paranormal theme has inspired me to make my opening sequence
about a haunting.
• Slamming doors…
• It especially inspired me to set my opening sequence in a building
that’s haunted. E.g. a haunted school.
• I would like to use old newspaper
articles such as this to briefly show the
history of the building.
9. The theme of my opening sequence…
•Unexplained deaths •Vampires •Ghosts
•Hell
•Satanism •Poltergeist’
•Ancient curses
Supernatural Theme: •Spirits
•Demons
•The devil •Witches
•Possessions
•séances •Haunting
10. The theme of my opening
sequence…
The theme of my opening sequence is a haunting.
Someone moves into a haunted A
haunted school where a
house and begins to be terrorised student
gets trapped inside
by a ghost. A Haunting and
tormented by a ghost.
e.g. The Amityville Horror
Someone is haunted
11. What happens in the whole film…
• Main character fell asleep during detention and is awoken by a noise at 8:00pm, the building is empty. This
is when she discovers a body in a cupboard (opening sequence). After student’s body is found and removed,
an investigation to find the murderer begins. More students are murdered but its not revealed what’s killing
them only their reactions before they die.
• Main character is curious about what she herd in the hallway (whispering) -does research on building before
it became a school (mental hospital). She discovers there was a fire and someone died (but this was a cover-
up for a murder).
• The main character tries to tell others and warn them but they think she’s crazy and don’t believe her. She
then begins to be tormented by the spirit haunting the school and thinks she's going insane.
• At the end of the movie the main character discovers that the body was buried in the basement (creepy and
eerie and no one goes down there). She has to dispose of the body for it’s spirit to leave permanently.
• Whilst in basement she realises the body is behind the wall and knocks it down to find it is no longer there.
She desperately looks for the body and heavy breathing and footsteps are herd coming from behind her. She
turns around and screams.
• The End
12. What happens in the opening
sequence…
• The main character (a student) runs up the staircase to the top floor
of the school. (close up of feet running) A long shot from the end of
the hallway of the character as she reaches the top
• As she walks down the hallway, incoherent, but loud whispering can
be herd coming from the walls and the lights start flickering.
• In between shots flashing images of newspaper articles will appear
revealing that the school used to be a mental institution and
something happened involving a patient.
• She continues walking. At this point the character is very frightened
and shaking. All the doors begin to slam by themselves. The students
drops her folder from the shock.
• She notices blood on a door knob, opens it with her sleeve and follows
a trail of blood to the cupboard. As she opens the door, high pitched
13. How my opening sequences creates
enigma and suspense
• In my opening sequence enigma will be created through the
second character whom is not revealed. (inside the cupboard)
• The fact that it is not shown to the audience what the main
characters sees and is horrified by creates enigma because the
audience will then become curious as to what it is she is
reacting to.
• Their curiosity towards the mysterious character will lead to
my audience wanting to see the rest of the film in order to
find out what happened to them
14. Characters in my opening
sequence… • She will be
• My opening sequence consists of only one dressed
character. in a uniform and
• The character is a student at the school, this
her hair and
is shown
clothing will be
through props and costume.
neat to represent
her innocence and
make her appear
more venerable
Actor Actor
before after
costume costume
change: change:
15. Characters in my opening
sequence…
• The main character will represent typical normal high school
students.
• She represents the victim and the hero in the movie.
She carries a folder and is dressed in uniform.
This shows she's a typical high school student.
Her body language tells the audience she’s scared
she clutches tightly to her folder and is constantly
looking behind her.
• There will be another character but who they
are remains a mystery because the audience doesn’t see
who has been murdered. This also creates enigma and suspense.
16. Basic Storyboard of my Opening
Sequence…
•An extreme close up of her •A fast reverse zoom
feet as she runs when she reaches the •Doors slam by themselves
top
•Blood drips from the door •She enters the room and •She opens the cupboard
handle follows a trail of blood to door and is horrified by
the cupboard what she sees, but its not
17. The Target Audience for my Opening
Sequence…
• In order from my opening sequence to really affect my audience, I
want my target audience to relate to the character.
• Lifestyle-Therefore my opening sequence is mainly aimed at teenagers
still in high school of both male a female genders.
• People who live in London-working class.
• People who like to be shocked and thrilled and enjoy mystery.
• However it is also aimed at people of an older generation who like
suspense and gore and enjoy watching horror movies.
• My opening sequence is suitable for ages 15 and over as it doesn’t
include any graphic or violent scenes.
20. Feedback from my Target Audience…
• For my target audience feedback I asked five different people four
questions about my opening sequence .
• The people I asked varied from ages 16-48.
• Everyone asked was a horror film fan.
• Results:
• Question 1 : 3 People chose -A 2 People chose -B No
one chose -C
• Question 2 : 4 People chose -A 1 Person chose -B No
one chose -C
• Question 3: 5 People chose -A No one chose -B No
one chose -C
• Question 4: 5 People chose -A No one chose -B No
one chose -C
• Overall my feedback was generally positive
