FILM OPENING: VENDETTA

 *Insert film here

REBECCA TODD 1982

I worked with Matthew Sharpe 1975

Our brief was to make the titles and opening of a new fiction film, lasting a maximum of two minutes. We made a thriller/horror film opening, entitled Vendetta.

I took responsibility for the camera work, set design, directing and editing for all the scenes shot in House Number 2 (inside, where the killing takes place). 

I directed and filmed these scenes on my iPhone, as some of my family members played the characters.
I had to adjust the lighting to make it look the same as the exterior house (which is different), and make sure the 'set' was all clear and suitable for the scenes we were shooting. 

I edited my scenes of iMovie. One of the main challenges I found when editing was putting together several of the shots from different angles. We shot several of the same shots from different angles, which I kept switching between in the edit to keep the audience engaged. This was a challenge to make it all small, and make it look as one. 

Together with Matthew, we designed and made the Production Company logo BELVEDERE STUDIOS.

We used Photoshop to put this together, and after trying out different things we finally settled on a design which was both simple and sophisticated.

HESMONDHALGHS THEORY

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING

Both myself and Matthew took part in editing our film opening. 

For a convincing film, realistic sets are required, and these are achieved in different ways. For example, films involving crime will often require a news report, which is achieved using a Green Screen. After carrying out research of what needed to be done, we carried out our own Green Screen Shoot to make our News Scene look as authentic as possible.

                                                                                                                  

 In film scenes, occasionally a scene will change, with the voiceover continuing from the previous scene. If done properly, this can give a clean touch and make the film appear extremely professional.

This is the case for us - our next scene was our killer approaching the house, but the voiceover still played of the News Report. This worked well for us, as the second shot of the killer was a visual representation of what the News reporter was describing.

FEEDBACK

CERTIFICATION

I came to decide this age rating, mainly because there is a small amount of violence that occurs in the film, to the point where I do not think it would be very suitable for someone under 15 to watch. Also, some of the parts, such as the guitar playing scene may be confusing for some people of a younger age, specifically under 15 years old. I confirmed this by visiting the BBFC website, and reading about recommendations and guidelines for film age ratings.

 

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING

In our film opening, there is a CCTV shot as the killer approaching the house door, which looked really effective. It was shot from a high angle, and we edited it with a blue filter to look more realistic. Like many film productions, we shot our exterior and interior of the house in two different places, then edited it to make it look like it was all taken in one shot. 

Making sure it was dark outside when filming was important to us, to achieve the mysterious atmosphere that we envisioned. However, although we wanted it dark, achieving good lighting was always a priority, to make sure characters and actions could be seen properly.
In addition to this, we used two different houses - one for the exterior and the other for interior. We had to ensure to keep the (dark) lighting simultaneous for both shots for a realistic edit.

Our closing scene of the film opening is the killer playing his guitar, reflecting on the murder he just committed. The camera pans across the guitar, so we just see the hands. However, throughout this we have a voiceover of the killer talking/explaining his actions, to make it clear it is his guitar. We realised for a film opening, whilst we don't want to give too much away, what is shown must be clear for the audience to fully understand.
Throughout the guitar playing, we put together a montage of scenes from the killing, to edit as an overlay over the top. This includes shots of the killer laying the knife in the girls hand, and trying to clear his tracks after the actual murder. The overlays and voiceover implies the killer is having flashbacks of the crime scene whilst he reflects on his actions.

PLANNING: OUR COMP LIST

 FILM TREATMENT 

‘Classy’ girl around 20 years old murdered by a masked killer. News report. Halloween/Killer Clowns? Killer turns out to be a serial killer going for the whole family. Blood red dress, stabbed with knife. Steals precious ring? Killer is psycho, plays guitar to reflect once he has killed the girl. Plays the song Hotel California by The Eagles with flashbacks (overlays) of the murder. PLANNING MY AUDIENCE QUESTIONAIRE I am using Google forms to create a questionnaire for my target audience and send it to people who are likely to watch our film. I will ask questions referring to age, gender, what types of films they prefer to watch, what influences them to watch a film and where they prefer to watch it. Our production team want to make a film that would appeal to young people aged 15-35. Our questionnaire will be useful to ensure that our type of genre will appeal to this audience. Through the use of Google Forms, I will be able to collect this data. These are the questions I intend to ask: 1. What is your gender? 2. What age category do you fit into? 3. Which of these your film genres would you watch? Pick as many as you wish. 4. What was the last film you watched? 5. What platform would you most likely use to watch a film? 6. Which of these trailers have you seen? 7. Which of these platforms would you use to find out about films? 8. What is the most likely reason you would watch a new film? My results consisted of both genders, and most people were between the ages 15-24. Romantic Comedy and Action were the most popular film genres, and Netflix is where most people watch films. The majority of people watch new films either because it's a genre they enjoy, they are a fan of the cast members or they just want to keep up with the latest film trends. They would mostly find out about new films from social media, or TV adverts.