Main Task- Re-evaluation of Genre.

Whilst always considering our film to be a Horror, due to the disturbing themes included; being the murder of a young child by a girl of just 18. We began to deconstruct the opening credits of previous popular horror movies. Throughout this process we bagan to grasp a better understanding of the conventionsof the horror genre, often being blood, gore and almost always an aspect of death. Altough our film most certainly includes the tragic death of a young child, it does not include any disturbing images of the death and the whole scenario very much happens in the background, behind the scenes. As well as this, a large factor in our film opening is the signifaicamce of the girls poor mental health, and as a result, her psychiatric help. Considering all of these factors we believe it seems entirely more appropriate to categorise our film opening as a Psychological thriller as opposed to a Horror.

'Saw' Deconstruction- Horror

‘Saw’, released in 2004 and directed by James Wan is a classic all-gore horror movie about a sadistic, serial killer of which identity remains a mystery. The opening two minutes are shot with a handheld camera, due to this the movement of the shots are very shaky and rarely smooth. The use of the handheld camera significantly takes away from the Hollywood feel that a lot of horror movies have. This gives it a ‘home-made’ feel to it and as a result, makes all images and ideas behind it a lot scarier because it appears much more real and true to life; as if it has actually happened, or is currently happening somewhere. The images shown are random newspaper cuttings, including pictures of a dolls face, which becomes somewhat of a trademark image as the film progresses. One newspaper article reads ‘Our dad is still missing after 14 days’. This newspaper cutting suggests there is tragedy and possibly violence to come in the film, and typical of the horror genre, this information given in the opening credits certainly gives an insight into the film to follow. At one point the camera focuses in on what appears to be a scrap book containing images of torture devices. The use of the scrap book adds a sense of pride and admiration to the disturbing images making the themes of this film all that more disturbing, when considering someone is taking joy in others pain. All the while these images are being shown; there is a muffled sound in the background, resembling that of a camera or microphone. Over the top of this is a slow but regular guitar rhythm repeating the same sequence. This soft music contradicts the harsh and disturbing images being shown, and this contrast of moods creates a sense of unease and possibly confusion of feelings/emotions amongst the audience, adding to the discomfort usually felt when watching a horror. After this, the sound increases in pitch and volume and the images change from the handheld camera to a black and white fuzzy T.V screen; this is when the credits begin. It begins by showing the production company, and continues to show disturbing images in-between of hand restraints etc. Once these credits are finished, the camera uses a moving shot of what appears to be a deep sink, at this same point in the opening an electric guitar begins holding deep notes. As the music and shot continues, we begin to see an image of a large blood smothered knife and a type of vice; Scattered around these objects are drops of blood. From this we are immediately aware of the horror in the film, especially seeing as all techniques and themes are typical of horror, and most certainly reiterate its conventions. Following this more images are shown of people hands being restrained in chains, and immediately after we are shown the names of both the producer and director. Editing techniques such as fast changing shots creates a sense of confusion and disorientation for the audience. Finally we are taken to a black and white fuzzy T.V screen that eventually produces the word ‘SAW’, and then cuts to black.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gr69xaMQAU

'The Birds' Deconstruction- Horror.

The Birds, directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a horror about a village being menaced by crows. The opening credits contain no moving shots, however simply uses blocked out black silhouettes of birds flying fast across the screen. iI begins with a white blank screen with a muffled sound of birds sqwuaking with wings violently flapping in the background. The sound begins before any visual effects are seen. This creates a sense of mystery and immediately directs the audiences attention to the sound only, leaving them questioning what it could be. This immediate use of ambiguity creates a sense of uncertainty and ultimately leaves the audiences in an unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable situation. The credits are used simply yet effectively in a light blue colour, standing out against the contrasting white background and black bird silhouettes. As well as this, the font is a fairly standard rounded shape, which is contradictory to the usual conventions of a horror, being that of jagged, unstructured font types. These varied techniques dont follow the typical conventions of a horror genre, the font in particular. it is the sounds however, that when varied in volume, pitch and rhythm, creates a sense of unfamiliarity and disturbance: giving the audience an insight into the nature of the film to follow. The use of different bird sounds also creates an unfamiliar rhythm and combines both distressing sounds but also infrequent chirping, a somehwhat optimistic sound. During the middle of the opening credits, the colume pitch and amount of bird noises increases significantly. The noise mirrors that of an attack, being the sound of distressed, threaghtening noises. All of these techniques are frequently used in the horror genres, and in many ways this film opening is very typical of what we expect from a horror film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp5cgFf_GkA&feature=related

Film Title

After considering our initial film title of 'Jealousy', and how suitable this is in terms of the content and themes in our film opening, we believed this was not an entirely appropriate title. although the motive to the murder in our film opening was Jealousy, we didnt feel as though this was not ambiguous enough and somewhat took away from the mystery we are trying to portray in our production. after considering a number of titles, we eventually chose 'First Born'. the ambiguity of this name goes much better with our film opening and we are verry happy with it.

Media Presentation/Pitch

Main Task - Location Shots

Main Task - Storyboard

Main Task - Initial Sketches

Main Task - Initial Ideas