Feedback to our film opening

After finishing the film opening, we gathered a group of people and sat them down to watch it and give us their opinions of what they thought of it. Below are the comments they made about our video.

"A nice and wide variety of shots and effects, both used effectively.
The music selection was good for the story line.
Mise-en-scene could have been better (The use of a better knife) also the tissue that appears from nowhere. WTF." - Charlie Poole, male, 18

"- Good camera angle, plus shots were used to make it look professional.
- It was simple yet really effective and put across well.
- The music suited the genre but it was repetitive.
- The dark effect used created a suitable atmosphere for the film to make a negative effect.
- No speech being used helped to create a mysterious effect." - Tom Whelan, male, 15

"The music is very effective as it is a clear genre signifier, but alternative audio should be used at some points. The camera was used well and there many different shots. No speech was used, this made a mysterious effect. Overall it was good and encouraged me to watch the rest." - Max Brawn, male, 15

" - Very realistic
- The music was perfect for the nightmare theme
- The opening gripped me and made me want to keep on watching.
- The opening made me think about how this relates to real life today.
- I identified with this film strongly.
- Colour changes and style changes in filming were great and also helped show the difference between flashbacks." - Emma Clark, female, 39

"- Got attention immediately.
- Music set the mood for the film straight away.
- Very dramatic.
- Kept my attention throughout.
- Emotionally powerful.
- Interesting photography and camera work.
- Very compulsive and disturbing.
- Wanted to keep on watching, very effective cliff hanger." - David Hall, male, 52

" I liked the effects on the movie which helped keep my attention strong, although it kept me hook i think the opening gave a bit too much away also. In respect to the flashback and voiceover, i felt the flashes of the past were better later on in the movie as short snaps as it felt like more of a memory fragment as opposed to the longer flashes, and i really liked the muffled voiceover." - Jenny Gaylor, female, 30

" - Good use of lighting and the font works well with the chosen lighting.
- The coughing etc in the sound bridge sounds good and freaky
- Rocking around in the bed is a bit fake and melodramatic.
- There wasn't much of a build up to the dream/flashback.
- The effect used on the dream/flashback sequence was good.
- Overall good editing but could be quicker towards the end of the opening.
- Music is good for the scenes and nice flash backs.
- Blood looks very real and makes the genre clear to the audience.
- The reason for his self abuse is clear and shown well.
- Good use of the blur effect at the end to symbolise the confusion etc." - Hannah Smith, female, 16


Our response to the feedback

The main negative points that kept being brought up during the feedback to our film was the continuity error, repetitive music and the cheese knife.
If we were to go back and start our film opening from the beginning again, we would definitely find more adequate props such as a better knife.
We would also delegated our time more appropriately which would of help us spot continuity errors and sorted them before producing our final version of the film opening.
As for the music the feedback showed that the music was repetitive and some people believed that it became boring after a while, we would change this by using another piece of music which would help the pace of the second half of the opening.

Overall we believe from this feedback that our film has been a success and appeals to a wide social demographic. This then relates to what was written in the audience theories before we started shooting it. There are a few issues with the final version of the film but we believe overall we have created a great film opening that meets the conventions of a horror/thriller film and therefore appeals to the intended target audience.

Psycho Opening By Kevin Gallagher

During the opening sequence on psycho the film starts with the name so that the audience knows what the film is they are about to watch. After this the films dramatic music starts straight away causing the audience to become engage into the film. Through out the opening sequence Alfred Hitchcock uses a lined effect which changes direction across the page, he uses this to symbolize a knife slashing effect when the lines are going downwards which can be seen to relate to the iconic shower killing scene, when the lines go side to side through the film title its to symbolize a broken mind. When introducing the actors names they start by being slashed and become more prominent to allow the audience to see who they are, by doing this through out the opening sequence means that it keeps the audience's attention.

For the time the film was made it was in black and white, and has been know through the years to have one of the most know killing scene in a horror movie were the main character is slashed and stabbed to death in the shower. by having the credits in the middle of the page makes it more easier to read, but also by having the block names in the middle of the page also helps the audience to see the moving side to side of the credits to help associate them with the broken mind feel.

'When The Bell Rings' Storyboard







Preliminary Storyboard





Initial Ideas

The initial idea of our opening sequence is about a boy who has been bullied through his life who is about to take revenge on those he feels has wronged him in the past. The first four minutes shows the boy preparing to go to school, this also shows to the audience through visual imagery of him getting ready, flashbacks and sound bridges the trauma the bullies caused the boy and how it led to himself harming. The audience will also get an insight into the boy’s life as they see his possessions within his room and his general attitude whilst by himself proving him to be a very mentally disturbed and lonely individual. The only other scenes we see where the boy is not in his room is in the flashbacks where we see him as a child where the bullying takes place. In this the audience will see how out casted the boy is from the rest of the peers resolving in his future mental break down and lust for revenge.

Results of Questionnaires and Key findings

Question 1
- 12 people were between the ages of 15-18, and 3 people were between the ages of 38-41

Question 2
- 8 people thought Horror
- 2 people thought Action/horror
- 3 people thought Comedy
- 2 people thought Romantic Comedy

Question 3
- All agreed on topics like blood and death

Question 4
- 10 people agreed a movie from the Saw films
- 2 people said Donnie Darko
- 1 person said Nightmare on Elm Street
- 2 people said The Messengers

Question 5
- All results varied though 4 people agreed the Blair Witch Project was the worst that they had seen, whilst 3 agreed on Jeepers Creepers 2

Question 6
- 13 people said trailers
- 2 people said posters

Question 7
- All agreed on some sort of insane murderer.

Question 8
- 12 people said yes
- 3 people said no, they would prefer something more general to all ages

Key Findings

We then used these results from the questionnaires to decide that a psychological thriller/horror would be the best film to create. This is because the majority of results called for an insane murderer which would fit perfectly in a psychological plot, this is also backed up by the top preferred films being from the Saw franchise and Donnie Darko which are both of this genre. Lastly using the research we decided not to film the movie opening in the style of The Blair Witch Project as that particular film came up as the least preferred film to watch in this genre field.

Copy of a completed Questionnaire

1) How old are you?

17

2) What Genre of Film do you find most exciting?

Action Horror

3) What conventions would you expect to see in a Horror/Thriller Film?

I would expect to see blood and gore as well as lots of violence

4) What is your favourite Horror/Thriller Film?

Saw

5) What is your least favourite Horror/Thriller Film?

Blair Witch Project

6) What makes you want to see a Horror/Thriller Film e.g. Posters, Trailers?

Trailers as they make me want to see what happens

7) What kind of characters would you like to see in a Horror/Thriller Film?

A deranged murderer, which is involved in a giant plot twist at the end

8) Would you like to see a Horror/Thriller Film aimed specifically at teenagers?

Yes, definitely

Thank You for completing this questionnaire