Title: This is the title that appears at the end of our two-minutes. It is conventional to the genre by being white and bold, appearing on a black background. This, combined with it's appearing suddenly and fading away slowly, makes it look like a real horror movie title.
Setting: The setting for our film was a creepy, abandoned house. In reality the house we used was Bill's; it fit the requirements of being oldish and creepy looking. The setting is conventional to the genre because it fits the creepy, old, decrepit tone of the film, as well as being a stereotypical setting for horrors.
Costumes:The costumes used in the film were intended to stereotypically represent teenage personalities such as nerd, jock etc. The costumes were meant to make the stereotypical characters recognisable, and also to make the audience (i.e. teenagers) relate and sympathise with the characters.
Props: The props used in our film included tea lights, matches and a Ouija board. The tea lights and matches provided ambient lighting that set a dark and creepy tone. The Ouija board, being the main prop in the film, was very important. It helped reinforce the genre by being a conventional prop often used in the genre. I made the board myself from a piece of wood and wanted it to look as authentic as possible.
How characters were introduced: The characters are introduced quickly in our film. They walk past the camera in a medium shot without any dialogue. From their body language and the order they walk we can tell their personalities. We can tell that Matt's character, in the front, is the confident leader because of this posture and because he is leading the others. We can tell my character is less confident from the way he is looking around and looks uncomfortable.
Camerawork and editing: We tried to use a range of camera shots in our production. Some of the shots we used most were medium shots for reactions and speech and high angle shots to make the characters look small and vulnerable. Some of my favorite shots were the final two-person close up shot of Matt and Luke blowing out the candle. I also liked the long, dark-over-the-shoulder shot of Matt where he lights the match, I feel this shot builds a lot of tension.
Title font and style: The titles for our film are fairly plain and white. We didn't want the titles to draw too much away from the tension but also wanted them to stand out off the dark background. We chose the relatively tame font because we didn't want it to be cheesy but wanted it to be subtly sophisticated.
Story and how the opening sets it up: The story for our entire film would center around the ghost character hunting down a group of people who enter the abandoned house. The opening two minutes of the film sets this up by showing a different group (i.e. the one in the opening) being killed by the monster, in a sort of prequel type scene. This allows the audience to understand the supernatural elements and danger before beginning the main story.
Genre and how the opening suggests it: As mentioned in other parts of this post, there are many hints as to the genre of this film. These include the music, the titles, the dark scenes and the props.
Special effects: We used very minimal special effects in our film.The lighting with the candles and matches could be considered a special effect as it enhances the mood. Luke's makeup could also be considered a special effect, though both that and the candles would qualify more as practical effects. By keeping special effects low, we show we can create fear without resulting to the use of CGI. More Alfred Hitchcock than Michael Bay.
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