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. 

Evaluation 2

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation 1

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

By enrolling on the media studies course there are many things we have learnt about the process of constructing all types of media products, from a simple preliminary task exercise to learn about continuity in a sequence, to creating the final product that is our opening sequence for 'Ouija'.

Preliminary task

Opening sequence

To film each of these we used a sony camcorder, this itself was new to us as we had never had any experience with this level of filming, with each of us only filming minor things on smart phones or webcams. With the use of a sony camcorder we were able to learn about correct framing of shots and the importance of it. The use of the light on the camera also became very useful when filming some of our dark running shots. This allowed us to film later in the day and gain a better effect from the darkness surrounding the character.

Sony camcorder

Tripod

Strengths of using the camera equipment that we had were that with the tripod we were able to film shots that were steady and not wobbling all over the place. This improved the quality of our film by a significant amount, making it look much less amateur and so nothing distracts the audience from the narrative, as a wobbly camera may remove focus from the plot.

However, there were plenty of problems with using this equipment too. As we were filming in the forest we struggled to get the tripod to stand correctly on the uneven ground, so as a result we had to keep re-adjusting the legs of the tripod. We also struggled with filming in the dark as the light from the camera was inadequate for most of the shots but offered some support. To create better lighting in some of our shots, we used flash lights at a distance to provide a good amount of light without being obvious.

To edit all of our footage we used final cut pro. We learnt from the very start of the media studies course how to edit footage as well as great effects and video transitions such as fading in, altering the lighting, overlapping sequences, avoiding jumps and blurring the motion. As the course proceeded we improved on all these skills, gaining the ability to edit our opening sequence and add in necessary lighting effects to create a better atmosphere to our opening sequence. Using the apple macs, we learnt ho to import footage from the camera and work on several projects at once.

All this technology helped us to build our knowledge and we learnt a significant amount throughout the process about creating and editing film. We were able to see the effect of storyboards and how when on location it is difficult to execute some shots the way we intended, provoking improvisation. However we learned after that we are also able to manipulate our raw footage to suit us further with effects. For example when we realised that our footage was too dark we used the balance colour tool to make the shot lighter and more viewable.

Sound effects Research

Sound effects research

We have spent a large amount of time looking at different sound effects that we can use in our opening sequence and have come to the conclusion that we will use a mixture of sound effects that we have found on final cut pro and sound effects that we have created ourselves in the woods with leaves, birds and twigs around us.

Background sounds 

We will be using these sound clips in our opening sequence to  create suspension. The electronic noise will be played at different intervals to shock the viewer and build on the tension of the sequence and create a atmosphere of fear.

Ambient sounds

We will be using these ambient sounds in our opening sequence to create a realistic setting and to help remind the viewer of the surroundings of the characters. This ambient sound will also helps us to create tension at points and create a scary setting.

Music in horror films

Music in horror films

Music is used in horror films to intensify the events of the movie. Without this music the film would not have the same effect on the audience as they would not feel the same tension they feel while watching the film.

  

To create the tension in our opening sequence, we have researched a range of different horror sounds to enable us to create the best atmosphere for our opening sequence. We have found that different genres of horror use different types of music. For example, in the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers uses hymns, this makes the audience think about what the character goes through as they feel closer to the storyline.

 

 

In doing research online we found out that 90% of people found that music in horror trailers made it more appealing. This showed us that we should use music within our opening sequence to attract our target audience (16-17 year olds).

 

As well as finding out people were attracted to trailers with music, we were able to go deeper into that and find out what type of sounds they like. 50% of people said they like to have a mix of music and a voiceover, this would create tension within the trailer, attracting them to watch the film. 33% said they like just music and 11% said they like just a voiceover. Only 6% said they think there should be no music or voiceovers, which shows that the majority of people like to have at least some sound effects.

 

Closer look into costumes

Closer look into costumes

Choosing costume for our opening sequence may have only been a small part of what we had to think about however we did have to take into consideration what the teenagers in our opening sequence would be wearing in the woods. We had to take into consideration the fact that we were in the woods at night so the characters will have to be wearing fairly warm clothes for practical reasons as well as continuity reasons. Although it may be a small element of the make up of a film but in essence it can be a very useful tool. For example some films have such memorable costumes that they contribute to the success of the film and also possibly popularity. For example:

• Christian Bale's costume in batman begins as 'Batman'.
• Johnny Depp's costume in Charlie and the chocolate factory as 'Willie Wonka'

For the actors we wanted to keep it simple and have them wearing their own clothes to allow a low budget and to help the actors be more comfortable. But we did give them guidelines as to how to dress for the scene taking into consideration the weather and the time of year. Our suggested items of costume to the actors were very normal clothes of current teenagers to build a connection with the audience. For example:

So we decided to use dark and plain colour for our actors to use but have also decided that they will be wearing very common clothes with nothing out of the ordinary, we believe that this will help build a connection with the audience.

Props and mise on scene

Mise on scene and props

First scene with India:

• Phone - so that it appears as if she is videoing the situation.

• Torch on phone - to provide extra lighting as well as emphasise that its dark and make it seem late at night.

• Common and plain clothes - to emphasise  the point that she is a normal and average teenager, which causes the audience to connect better to the story. 

• Her hair will have curls in - to show innocence.

• Dark mascara - so that it can be smudged to show that she has been crying and create a better dramatic effect.

Second scene with the group:

• Alcohol bottles (filled with juice or water)

• Blankets

• Ouija board (homemade) 

• glass (to place on the Ouija board)

• Plain clothes - all characters will wear fairly normal outfits to connect better with the audience.

Past students work analysis

Past student work analysis 

This film opening was from the thriller genre but uses lots of the same techniques that are used in the horror genre to film. We find this opening sequence impressive and useful because, from the start we are able to see that something bad is going to happen and through every shot they are able to build tension which makes the viewer more and more tense as the shots go on.  This technique was also very effective because it makes up for the lack of dialogue in the opening sequence. At the end of the opening sequence they use a good tracking shot as the protagonist enters the market to place the bomb. Overall we think this opening sequence was good and used some good techniques that we believe we can use in our opening sequence, the main improvements that I would recommend would be to show more of the minor characters and how this bomb will effect them, by doing this they would create empathy for the sub characters which would help to build on the tension.  Another fault with this opening sequence is that at times the camera was shaky which could be improved by filming with a tripod.

Focus pull technique

Focus pull technique 

In this clip we have attempted to use the focus pull technique to full focus from the tree to the building. We have done this task to gain a better understanding of the technique so that we are able to use interesting techniques in our filming. This task was reasonably successful but it took a while for us to work out how to do the technique properly so there were many failed attempts. Because of this task we now have a greater understanding of this technique.

Blog feedback

Blog Feedback 

From this feedback we have been able to improve specific things on our blog.

To improve our blog we re-read through it and corrected all spelling and grammar mistakes. We noticed from the blog feedback that we had repeated some words in our opening sequences post and the cashing shots post. We were then able to correct this and change the wording of the posts.

The blog feedback mentioned that our target audience research post needed to be more specific. It suggested adding in some graphs showing demographics for similar films from the imdb website. We have now added graphs and analysed them to be able to understand our genre fully.

Although we already had extra posts on the blog, we were able to add more while exploring different range of ICT skills. 

Production logo designing

Production Logo Design 

We are planning to use the concept of a playing card to be part of our logo. This stems from our name being ace media. We are planning on using an ace of spades in some form.

These clips have given us different ideas to use in our production logo and we hope to use animation if possible. In these videos we look at two different animation techniques which allows us to experiment with different techniques of animation.

Ace of spades 

We like the idea of using an ace of spades as our logo because of our name 'ace media'. We hope to incorporate the ace of spades logo in our production logo animation.

Ace media production logo

This image above shows our final idea for our Ace Media productions logo. Although it looks simplistic, we feel that this is suitable to our film as the aged coloured background links well with our opening sequence idea as Ouija boards are similar in colour as well as fonts. Initially this playing card had ace symbols in opposite corners but we chose to erase and blur these out as we felt that the logo would then become to crowded and overpowering, drawing attention away from our production title. We hope to make this logo more appealing and eye catching by including this into an animation along side two other playing cards which are turned over one by one to reveal the title of the production company.

Production company logo research

Production Company Logo Research 

Warner Bros logo animation

For this logo animation we like the animated bugs bunny next to the logo and the simplicity of the design.

Rogue pictures / working title animation logo

For this logo we liked the flashing and tension behind the rogue pictures logo and we also liked the use of dark colours clashing with the flashing light, this creates a contrast between the two colours. We also liked the intricacy behind the working title animation logo.

Casting Shots

Casting Shots

Synopsis

Synopsis

The opening sequence starts with an extreme close up of a girl (India) holding a camera to her face whilst crying and talking about how scared she is. She then turns her head and looks behind her and begins to run. The clip then switches to her running with the camera through the woods and cuts out and re-records at random points. We then see a mid shot of her running and she then trips and the clip then fades out. 

The scene flashbacks one hour to a small group of teenagers that are sitting in the woods drinking. The teens sit in a circle talking and drink together, after they have become comfortable one of the teens brings out a Ouija board and convinces the others to participate in using it. The teens begin to use the Ouija board and some of the teens are reluctant but are spurred on by the others. The teens begin to doubt the spirit world and ask who will die tonight, as they place their hands on it and begin to use it, the
Ouija board spells out the name India. The teens look at each other with fear in their eyes then hear rustling behind them and all turn around simultaneously. The clip then fades out.

The scene then flashbacks three hours to when each individual teen was at home and living their separate lives, we see that India struggles with a broken family and a mother that suffers from mental illness and we are given an insight into each of the teens lives. Because of our insight into each of their lives we realise why each of the teens act the way they do and empathise with them as the story goes on. We then see all of the teens meet at Laurence's house and get into two separate cars and head out to a forest in the country side.  They arrive at midday and have a day of antagonising wildlife and drinking together. The teens later in the evening set up their tents and have dinner and then move away from their camp to a deeper darker side of the forest to tell ghost stories and explore. 

The scene then shows the teens sat in a circle exactly the same as in the opening sequence and shows what happens after. After the teens look deep into the forest with fear, objects around them begin to move away and darkness engulfs them. We hear screams come out of each edge of the forest around them and the teens begin to panic and run back to their camp for safety. Whilst running back they each separate and split off from each other unintentionally. We see India running and hiding in various places and looking for some sign of safety. It begins to rain and she hides in a small cave where she finds mysterious writings on the wall, we then witness India's struggles and search for safety and as the story goes on we begin to piece together what is going on and rout for the protagonist (India). 

Later India finds herself in a mysterious demonic circle made of stone and spirits around her summoned by the Ouija board, the board lies open in the centre of the circle and in a chilling end India's childhood sweetheart Laurence emerges from the dark forest and trades his life for hers with the spirits that have been summoned. India then moves the figure to the goodbye sign on the board and then closes the board in tears.

25 word pitch

25 word pitch

We created this 25 word pitch using Pow Toon, this website is in beta development so we had some difficulties uploading it but in the end we were successful.

Storyboard - ouija

Animated Storyboard

Above we have created an animation in order to display our storyboard ideas. This storyboard animation is a graphic representation of how our final opening sequence will unfold, shot by shot. The reason as to why we have created a storyboard is to present our ideas and share a visual aid to help others as well as ourselves to understand the concept of our opening sequence. A story board enables us to save time when filming as it is a plan for production. Following a plan helps as this means we are less likely to forget to film shots. As well as filming, it helps within the editing process as we are able to use the basic idea to piece our clips together according to the original vision. Having this plan will provide us with a solid shot list that will guide us to help the creation process run more smoothly.

When scanning our drawings into the system and linking them together in this animation we chose to play around with some of the effects available on final cut pro. We thought that this would add extra interest into the storyboard by choosing appropriate effects that link well with our scenes. The video camera effect was suitable for this piece as during our opening sequence we are planning to use a number of camera shots, one being a point of view shot that will be videoed by the camera being hand held opposed to using steady cam or a tri-pod.

Preliminary storyboard

Preliminary storyboard 

 

We created this preliminary story board as a draft, so we can develop our ideas further. We used this to base our main storyboard on so we were able to create the best storyboard possible. In the storyboard we have slightly annotated each section, to give a general idea of what our opening sequence will be. 

Possible Locations

Possible Locations

                                                                       

This picture was taken in the woods next to Keston Ponds, this is located in Farnborough and is and is roughly 30 minutes away from our location. A strength of using this location is that it is a large area so there are lots of places to shoot our scenes. A weakness of using this location is that it is quite far away so if something goes wrong whilst editing we will be unable to return easily.

 

 This picture was taken in Harvington woods which is located in Beckenham which is roughly a five minute walk from our location.  A strength of this location is that it is close and easily accessible so we will be able to do last minute filming if something goes wrong.  A weakness of this location is that there is a large amount of dog walkers so this could cause some problems when filming.  

This picture was taken in Whitham, it is located in Essex and is roughly a 1 hour drive away from where we are located. A strength of this location is that the shape of the trees are unusual and could provide a good location for one of our scenes because they are bending outwards and portrays disorientation. However this location is too far from our current location and this area is not surrounded by woodlands so is not ideal for some of our scenes. As well as this, this particular scene showing the unusual shaped trees does not continue throughout the whole of the location.

This picture was taken in High Broom Woods, located in West Wickham which is about a 10 minute walk from where we are located. Due to this, this makes this location a suitable option as it is in easy reach therefore allows us to revisit frequently to film our scenes. A strength of this location is that the stream enables us to create a more in-depth storyline. However a weakness of this location is that the ground is uneven and varies in steepness, which could effect some our scenes.

Target audiences

Target Audiences


Producers of films define their target audience by looking at a range of things:

• Who buys the films or views them at cinemas
• If they are predominantly female or male
• The age group
• What media do they use most often

The target audience of a horror film is usually people around the ages of 15-25. 58% of viewers for horror are women, and 42% are men. A large percentage of viewers of horror films are aged 18-24, this is due to many of the classification of films being a 15 or an 18. The films we have looked at for our influences are all rated at either a 15 or an 18, due to the content of the films. For example, The Cabin In The Woods is classified as a 15. This is because it contains strong gore, bloody violence, language and soft drug use. The Hills Have Eyes is classified as an 18, this is because the film contains strong violence and horror.

The producer of the films would have produced  the films so that they suited the target audience. Films are classified with an age limit to show the intended target audience, and what age the films are suited for. Most horror films are classified as either 15s or 18s. If the film is classified up to an 18 when they have been producing the film for 15 year olds, this could have an impact on the amount if revenue they make when the film is exhibited in cinemas.

Horror films are usually classified as a 15 or an 18, this is because of the scenes of strong violence, gore, language and horror. This then means that when it comes to be exhibited in films, only over 18s can view the film at the cinema or buy it in shops. This reduces the amount of revenue the company makes, because the main audience that attends the cinema are younger teenagers.

For our target audience, we have been looking at producing our film so it appeals to teenagers of the age of 15+. This means it must not contain any gory scenes, or it would not be suitable for younger ages. 

Statistics for Bourne

Looking at the following statistics for the Bourne film we can see that it is mostly popular with males, with over half of the audience being between the ages of 18-29.

Statistics for Fugative

 

For the film The Fugitive we can see that just under half of the target audience is also males between the ages of 18 and 29. Therefore for our film this is going to be our target audience also.

We gained this information from the IMOB website by becoming a member and from this information we can conclude that these films have similar target audiences to what we want and we will look further at these films to see how they attracted these audiences.