Choice of Music


Sound is key for our post-production process. We think that is plays a huge role in setting the mood/atmosphere. Not only we will we be using diegetic sound e.g. the sound of the TV, but we will also be using non-diegetic sound for the dramatic effects. Another key sound that we will be using throughout our opening sequence will be dialogue. This will be exchanged between the two characters.

For our first scene in our opening sequence we wanted to use minimal music. The majority of the first scene will have just ambient sound from the field/park that Kate is in. As the scene comes closer to its end the music comes into place.

We will be using a lot of crescendo sound. This is sound or music that builds up to imply that something is about to happen. Music like this is essential in horror movies because a lot of the time there are many scenes in a film that are built up. 

25 Word Pitch

I created my 25 Word Pitch by recording myself writing 25 words that related to our Opening Sequence. I used Final Cut Pro to add effects to the video, this allowed me to add different colour effects, music, speeding techniques, an introduction and cropping software. This allowed the 25 Word Pitch to become more visually appealing to the viewers.



Storyboard

For us to have more of an idea of our plot and what shots we will be using we made storyboards. We made our first storyboard by hand on paper as a rough idea, and then we made a storyboard online where we could use better diagrams to show our plot more clearly.

Location Shots

I visited a range of locations that me and my peers were interested in to film our Opening Sequence. I have taken images of the locations, as well as looking around the grounds and the facilities. Here I was able to judge what location would fit best for our scene and will be the most effective. I presented the locations, images and information in a Prezi.

Costume Choices

For this task, I created a mind map on Adobe Fireworks CS6 of our main characters costumes and the idea behind each piece of clothing. 

This is our costume choice for Claire Johnson (Melissa Zero) 

This is our costume choice for Kate Parkes (Rosie Musgrove) 

For Dylan Johnson (Louie O Connor) we did not assign him a costume as his role is so minimal and you won't be able to see it.


We have also decided that a minimal natural makeup will be suitable for our characters as this will also represent an everyday teenagers look. However, we will be using makeup to show Kate's dramatic change of look which causes Claire not to recognise her at first. We will also use fake blood to show the death of one our characters. All of this will add a sense of realism and fear that the audience will experience with the characters. 

Props

For our Opening Sequence we don't want to use too many props because we want to make it as realistic as possible. We are aiming to use minimal if not no type of props used as weapons, as we would like the audience to be left thinking and curious about what the rest of the film would be about. We decided to present our props in a video format.

Casting Shots

When thinking about our Opening sequence and the characters we want to include we used our own knowledge of TV/film characters from a horror/drama/crime/thriller genre, and how this was going to gel us decide who to choose for our characters. For our first example we chose Nina Dobrev, famously known for her role of Elena Gilbert in the series The Vampire Diaries. We looked at her for inspiration because of her characteristics on the show. She is an ordinary school girl who finds herself in trouble/danger because of the events that happen in her life. She is also very caring of her friends and will do anything to protect them.

Another character that we gained inspiration from was Aria Montgomery in the TV drama/mystery Pretty Little Liars. Aria is artsy, bubbly, independent, and she is also very loyal to her loved ones, she is tough but compassionate at the same time. However she is very secretive also, throughout the series you can see that this becomes more and more obvious. We like this side of her and we think that it would be a good trait for one of our characters to have, most likely being Kate Parkes (Melissa Zero).




For Louie's character we looked at Zach Roerig who plays Matt Donovan in the series The Vampire Diaries. We have chosen this character because in the series he is kind and caring. He is also very innocent which is an important characteristic that we want Dylan (Louie) to have. They also have a similar appearance as they both has blonde hair.



Melissa Zero - Kate Parkes