Ouija - Opening sequence

Ouija - Opening sequence 

Goodbye

Dear moderator,

We hope you enjoy following our growth as media studies students through reading our blog post, watching our videos, our presentations and ultimately the construction of our horror opening sequence. We feel that we have really engaged with the course, as well as learning many things along the way.

Goodbye

Evaluation 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Before we started to plan and begin to film our opening sequence, we had to do a preliminary task which was used to do a trial run to familiarise ourselves with the equipment that we needed to use in the future and practice how to handle it. This included learning how to operate cameras, using techniques such as the zoom, flashlight and other features including how to manage the tripod by altering the heights and angles of it.

Preliminary task

Opening sequence

When looking back on our preliminary task we believe that our camera work and editing techniques have improved throughout the whole course. the main purpose of the preliminary task was to follow instructions regarding the requirements being to produce and edit a short clip containing match on action, the 180 degree rule and a shot reverse shot. this was successfully undertaken in order to put in practice to use these techniques in the future. however when re-watching the video we are able to identify areas of improvement. 

When using zoom in the task we struggled to do this effectively maintaining a consistent speed when zooming in upon the book on the desk. Because of this it meant we had to take several shots of this to select the best that we could however in our preliminary final piece it is still noticeable that our zooming is still not perfect as there is a slight pause before continuingly zooming into the extreme close up. 

One of the main differences between our preliminary and our final project, not only was the experience but also the resources that were available to us. This was because we were limited to stay in school and only had the day to think about it so we weren't prepared with props or costume. We decided to use the stair case and area in the technology block as the lighting was good and we had plenty of space to move around and film in. However it still didn't look very good but was the best we could do, whereas we had a long time to film our opening sequence and were able to use a large variation of different props and costumes.

In conclusion this task being set was beneficial as it helped to put different camera shots and angles into practice to increase the quality and effectiveness of our opening sequence.
 

Evaluation 6

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation 5

What kind of media institution might distribute your media   product and why?

Evaluation 4

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We took ideas and conventions from real media products when making our product. One example being when India holds the camera to her face while running, an idea which was inspired by The Blair Witch Project. 

Ouija shot

Blair witch project shot

 

We attempted to improve the shot from 'The Blair witch project' and adapt it to suit us and place our own style on it. We achieved this by setting this shot in an area with sufficient light but also a chilling background of trees surrounding the character. 

We used a lot of action in the start of our opening sequence with little dialogue to build a tense atmosphere, as when we watched other films the opening sequence there is usually a small amount of speech between the actors to show the tension between them. In our opening sequence we used this so that the only dialogue there is, is when India starts to panic and starts talking into the camera, portraying her emotions, this also builds the atmosphere. We also put an effect over the darkness to make the screen fuzzy and to bring out the small amount of natural light in the surrounding area. Some horror films also use this technique and we believe it suits our opening sequence very well. 

These are four frames that we have put together from our opening sequence 'Ouija' which is a thriller/horror film that we made. We filmed from various different angles to achieve the best quality and express our ideas without breaking any filming rules. We used lots of close up shots to build tension and to express the feelings of the characters without directly using words. We believe this works well as we are able to create an atmosphere of fear for the viewers simply by showing the expressions of the characters. 

Frame 1

This frame was taken from the end of the opening sequence. This title was created in final cut pro by using some of our footage from the forest. We then used a text tool over it to create the effect of the text being a small section of changing forest. We decided to use this technique as we see it to be unique from all other film titles. We have also kept a dark background to keep an atmosphere of mystery by blocking out all light colours and only allowing the viewer to see what we want them to see.

Frame 2

This frame was taken from the second half of our opening sequence with all of the teens sat around the Ouija board. In this frame we see all of the key characters surrounding the board with a background of darkness behind them. We believe that this builds tension and allows the audience to make a connection with the characters as they are not distracted by anything in the background and must place all of their concentration on the characters. We used a wide shot to include everyone into the frame and show their connection as a group.

Frame 3

This frame was also taken from the second half of our opening sequence when the teens are sat using the Ouija board. We used a mid shot here to get in all of the characters hands around the board but kept the Ouija board in the centre to keep the audiences focus on it. We also used the rule of thirds here to bring the audiences focus to the glass used on the Ouija board. 

Frame 4

This frame was taken from the start of our opening sequence and is taken from when India was talking to the camera about how scared she is. In this frame we used a close up to portray India's fear and to help build a connection between the audience and the character. This close up was used early on to set the atmosphere for the rest of the opening sequence and we believe it successfully makes the audience empathise with the character.

In conclusion we believe that we have taken and used conventional approaches to media but also developed them to create an original piece of work.

Evaluation 3

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The characters we chose to be in our opening sequence all had a particular role to play, but this role was also to represent a group or situation in society. We aimed to ensure that the characters all portrayed typical teenagers, except for one who was scared and uncertain about taking part in the Ouija board. We used plenty of mise-en-scene to represent real life scenarios; including bottles of alcohol, rugs and an Ouija board. The props helped build up the story line and the scene was then more realistic. 

As our story line was based around an Ouija board, we thought it would be best to cast teenagers in this, as they would be more likely to participate in an Ouija board. Our main target audience is also teenagers. By using teenagers aged 16-17 in our opening sequence the target audience would then be able to relate to what they are feeling.

The costumes we used were also typical to those of teenagers. With two of the boys wearing suits and all of the girls wearing jeans. To make sure India stood out at the main character she wore a typical outfit for a teenager, jeans and a cardigan. This portrayed the fact that she was still young, and didn't want to participate in the groups activities of the Ouija board. 

In the scene where India is running away from the sounds in the woods, her make up has run down her face. This gives the impression that she has been crying and panicking, as you can tell by the sound of her voice. It tells that audience that something bad will happen, or already has happened.