Filming

We produced our film opening over a series of shoots in two locations: Greenwich, and the bedroom of my suburban house. We shot both the beginning and ending bedroom scenes in the same room, but altered lighting and mise en scene to make them look like they took place in two separate homes. The middle section of the sequence was shot in Greenwich in the evening so that we could  produce an eerie atmosphere whilst maintaining an image quality that would be lost by filming any later in the day.

Pre-Production Experimenting

Before finalising the shots for our film opening, our group needed to test ensure that our mise en scene would be effective in our sequence. 

Firstly we made sure to try out SFX makeup in order to make sure the final piece was to a high quality, especially as nobody in our group had worked with this medium before.

For SFX we tested out two different methods: liquid latex, and scar wax.

• Scar Wax

• Liquid Latex

The liquid latex was the least successful of the two methods, showing obviously on the skin, whilst we were able to mould the scar wax to the chest and then apply makeup to it to fix any colouration issues. We tried out different sizes with the scar wax before deciding that the cuts looked more effective if they were spread all across the chest. We found fake blood to be more effective than the red paint used alongside the latex as it didn't dry up throughout filming time.

We also experimented with different masks and added an extra costume to the Temptress' wardrobe before producing the final film opening. We had a selection of 4 donated masks to choose from (we opted for pre-made masks as we wanted it to look of a quality we most likely wouldn't have achieved in the time we had to make it) of which we ranked in the following order:

Our final choice was the cream and gold mask as a lot of the climatic scenes of our opening would be shot in low key lighting and most likely darken the majority of the face; therefore by choosing a mask with gold glitter that would catch any light shone on it we had a way to film in low-key lighting but produce effective shots of the Temptress.



The additional costume added in was a black satin nightdress layered with a white floral kimono. Initially we wanted the opening to begin with the Temptress in her red dress walking along a quiet street at night, however after shooting a few scenes it became evident that some shots of her getting 'into character' would heighten interest and emphasise her sexual nature.

-R

Initial Idea

Due to our extensive focus on the genre during our initial research, we have decided that we will be producing a slasher film opening. However, we think it would be interesting to subvert the genre, so as to have a promiscuous female killer (the character who, in a typical slasher, would be killed off first). Aside from this subverted element, we would largely stick to the codes and conventions:  set in a suburban area, having a masked killer, a close-contact weapon (most likely a blade), a gory death, etc.

Film Trailers vs Film Openings

Trailers and openings are both fundamental aspects of cinematic production; however they are not to be confused. Trailers are utilised to combine a series of the most exciting/climatic elements of the full film whilst ensuring a basic plot line is conveyed. A film opening, despite being around the same length, is rather dissimilar to a trailer. This is because film openings must not be jumping around the entire film, it must simply provide an introduction - setting the scene, giving some background information, introducing an integral character etc. 

Summary of Research

As a group we have decided that our film opening would be of the genre horror, as throughout the research stage we had been looking at Horrors for our individual deconstructions of film openings and we have established the many codes and conventions of horror - specifically Slashers.

Pros and Cons of Horror Sub Genres

SLASHER

Slasher films are generally set in a suburban environment and focus around young people, generic victims are attacked by a masked killer with a handheld bladed weapon. 

e.g. Friday the 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and A Nightmare On Elm Street.