Conventions of a horror film

In a film that has the genre of horror, usually a range of props and shots are used. The meaning of this is usually to scare and engage the audience in to what is being presented and the different meanings. Within the opening of a horror based film, not much evidence or information is presented to the audience, because if this was to happen the audience would lose interest after the first few minutes and the whole purpose of the film has already been presented to the audience.

Conventions of a horror film: 
 Props
An example of a prop that could be used is a knife; this is usually used to communicate to the audience the theme of death or something bad happening. Usual in horror based films, a knife is presented with blood dropped on to the end of the knife, to illustrate the idea of someone potentially being or had been murdered, which scares the audience and makes them intrigued to carry on watching and seeing what has happened from blood to be on a knife. An example is presented below:


Scary mask/ facial make up:

 Scary make up and facial masks are often used in horror based films, to create the spookiness of the film and also to create a mystery about the character. Masks are used in horror genre films to hide the identity of the character, this is a convention used to hide the characters identity as well as withholding information to keep the audience engaged to what is happening within the opening sequence. An example is presented below to show scary facial make up/ face mask that is commonly presented in horror based films:

 
Blood
Blood is often used in horror based films, to create the theme and idea of death and danger. This is an element that is used in horror films, to disorientate the audience in to watching the opening section of the film. This also spooks out the audience, because people have the common understanding of blood being inside the human body, and for blood to appear on the surface of the skin and then it a form of pain and torture has happened. 

RING

By having a ring included within the opening sequence this would count as a weapon or something to identify a character. This would be a strong piece of material to use within the sequence, as it is strong and is associated and stereotyped with faith and love however this could be changed within the narrative and understanding. 

COSTUME

By having costume within the opening sequence this would be effective within the Mise en scene that is illustrated. For example, potentially including a white piece of clothing could suggest the meaning of innocence, purity and vulnerable and also precious. This could potentially be worn by someone that is a victim within a situation to suggest that they don’t deserve pain and torture.

 

SETTING AND BACK GROUND

By having setting and a background throughout the opening sequence, this allows the audience to have an understanding of where each scene is located at as well as the relevance to what is being communicated between the screening and the audience. Throughout the sequence, it will also communicate the era of time of the sequence, and whether it could potenitally drop any clues to whether its dark or what part of time this is dropping hints to show that there is a climax and people associating darkness with negativity. 

CHARACTERS COSTUME

This is an character description list to show what each character will be wearing as well as the meaning behind each element of costume and the reasoning for this to. The description also mentions the importance of what the characters wear as well as what they are wearing within characterisation too. 

  

This is a character description and analysis of what the female character will be wearing. It has annotations to communicate what each piece of clothing is and the reasoning for this. 

All the items of clothing used in the costume of the girl are specifically related to the fact that she is innocent. The white top is used as white has several connotations such as innocence and honesty. The laces would show that she is in a rush as she is trying to get away from something or someone, therefore she would not have time to tie her laces as in this instance she is trying to get away from an unknown man that she does not know why she is being pursued.

Myself in role of the female character needs to look and understand the meaning of each piece of clothing, The female character will be wearing a pale pink shirt, to show that she is the age of a young student and quite smart looking. The top is pink, so that the audience can gain an understanding that she is a female and pink is usually stereotypes with 'girls and females'. The character will then be wearing a black colored skirt, this leads and hints the whole idea of danger and death, because the color black commonly makes people think of words such as death, pain, and no escape which relates to the whole synopsis of the opening sequence. 

Image of the top: 
Image of the Skirt:
Image of the shoes:

This is a character description and analysis of what the villain antagonist (James) character will be wearing. It has annotations to communicate what each piece of clothing is and the reasoning for this. 

There is a meaning for each piece of clothing that he is wearing, to show that the clothing has been carefully selected for this character and that there is a meaning as this character plays a big impact towards the plot of the opening sequence. For instance, James is wearing a red hoody, this is to show that he is possibly evil and out to make danger happen. This also makes the audience feel intense, and question what sort of character he is? what is he going to do?. The male villain character that James will be playing, will also be wearing a dark leather jacket over the top of a darkened color top. This is to illustrate the idea of the character being darkened, mysterious and the antagonist of the whole opening sequence. The character will also be wearing jeans and brown boots, to show that potentially if a person saw him on the streets he would be quite 'normal looking' for his age. Therefor this is how the character wants to appear, but the personality and intentions of this character contrasts differently. 

This is a character description and analysis of what the police officer character will be wearing. It has annotations to communicate what each piece of clothing is and the reasoning for this. 

LOCATION PERMISSION

This is evidence that myself as a media student studying AS media emailed Mr Walsh. In this email I was politely asking for permission to use a room for sections of the project to film indoors as it would be appropriate as well as effective to use for the filming within the opening section. In the email I notified Mr Walsh the following dates and times to show that I was being specific as well as being organised, as this is a big responsibility and duty within the group to take control of. By emailing Mr Walsh it shows that I am an organised student, as I have a good knowledge that he is the manager of the drama department so he was the best and suitable teacher to email asking for permission to use the drama rooms on the dates illustrated within the email.
 Finally, another effective element within the email is that I suggested towards the end that if possible we could use D27 as the main room as this would be most effective to use, and myself as an A level drama student knows the appearance of the room and that this would be successful in filming when doing the police station. 

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

This is a scanned in image of the groups shooting schedule, each member within the group have a copy of this and on their blog so that we all have an understanding and knowledge of when and where we will be filming so that we are all organised within the filming section of the project. By having the different columns was effective so that as a group we could fill in the different sections so we know when and what time we will spend filming, what props and costume will be required as well as brought along, the shot numbers was important to fill to see what day and what we will be filming to make the opening sequence a complete outcome, actors, interviewees and crew was an important column to fill so that we had an understanding of who MUST attend the sessions and who is needed whether for filming or acting as both roles are important and equal as each other. Equipment was also an important section to be filled out, as this also went towards the email that James Bariffe sent to Mr Reynolds to book equipment to be used throughout the hours and days within the project when filming (especially when in different locations such as Beddington Park and drama rooms). 

The Ritual Animatic

This is the animatic that is illustrated on this post showing the storyboard as well as the time each image will be displayed for as well as sound that will be heard within the actual opening sequence. One effective key point of this animatic, is that this is our first draft and for a first draft it has a lot of effective key points as well as what is involved within what’s being shown, like sound, Mise en scene, the variety of shots as well as editing techniques. This being our first draft which is good, also means that from this if necessary the group can make any improvements to make it more successful as well as receiving higher marks from the examination board.  Another key successful point about the animatic is that the audience by watching this have an ideal understanding of what will be shown within the opening sequence. This shows that they have a developed understanding of what will be conveyed within the sequence instead of just hearing the idea verbally which can potentially be less easier to get an idea of the whole narrative and the purpose of the sequence referring to the title and meanings hidden underneath. Another successful moment of the opening sequence is that, there is a good amount of sound attached to the animatic, this shows that the group have carefully thought about what will be heard as well as played, so not only the audience can see but they can hear which is more effective and have an understanding of what will be performed throughout the sequence by people within the group.

The titles that are included within the opening sequence are successful for the following reasons:

Distribution title: Lions Gate

Lion’s gate is a successful distribution title to include within the opening sequence. This is because this is already used for over 100 film openings, to show the professional and the distribution of the film making. So by using this it shows not only have we researched and found the most suitable distribution title for the sequence but it gives it a professional appearance within the first few seconds and also settles the audience when watching the opening sequence. 

Production company title: Lost Productions
this is a suitable production company title as well as being effective as it makes the opening sequence look effective and professional as it has also been made on Photoshop. By creating this title on Photoshop, it shows that the group as a whole have carefully thought about how this will be displayed, the meaning of this, the reasoning for the colours, like the specific shade of redness to refer to blood then the meanings of pain, torture sadness ect. Also by having the word ‘lost’ in capitals shows that this word is empathised, also referring to the purpose and narrative of the opening sequence. 

Title: The Ritual

The title ‘The ritual’ is a successful title that we have constructed within the opening sequence as a group. By including the word ‘Ritual’ this has several purposes, but most importantly it shows that it has religious purposes also meaning someone sacrificing something for a purpose. So people making sacrifices as well as being religious it links to the idea of having different views on to a subject, and then the whole idea and understanding of a sacrifice which relates to the focussed character of Mary Shaw who’s vulnerable and suffers an awful lot within the opening sequence. 

FEEDBACK

Feedback/Points to improve:

When in the process of creating the animatic and adding different elements of sound to it, we attached a voice recording to a section of the animatic so that the audience have a better understanding of the narrative of the opening sequence. When creating the sound, to be specific the dialogue which is the conversation between the Police Officer and Mary Shaw. A teacher commented on how effective it was, and that it sounded realistic when it was being performed on the system. This allowed us to see that the opening sequence was becoming more successful, and by having that comment, and reflecting on to the work we thought that having the duologue has made it more effective and naturalistic which is the whole emotion and feeling we wanted to have within the opening sequence.

Another successful moment within the animatic that was effective, is that when looking at the animatic, someone called James Bariffe within the group pointed out that it was effective to have an upside down cross in the title of the opening sequence. As this made it look more professional like instead of being boring or dull, by incorporating this it gave it a sinister thriller look which is the main intention considering the genre is thriller.

Another piece of feedback, after being watched by a teacher is that she commented that the script needed to change so that it made more sense and was more effective as well as playing a huge part towards the narrative of the opening sequence. Previously within the script we had mentioned about the ring, but by having Miss Mitchells feedback this allowed us to have an understanding of what we needed to change and improve to make the opening sequence as successful as possible, as the ring is the most important piece of withheld information throughout and constructed within the opening sequence for a purpose- to keep the audience engaged and involved in the whole opening sequence. 

Script

The ritual opening

Mary Shaw is running through a forest. Wearing dirty black clothing.Mary is on the verge of fainting , it seems as if she's been running for years. It's unknown to the audience what she's running from.A voice is heard over this scene

Police officer

Mary Shaw , 19 years old , Blonde , Caucasian, female. 5ft7. Now then Miss Shaw, tell me exactly what happened.

Mary Shaw

I was just walking...This..man , he came after me.

Mary is visibly upset , she puts her hand towards her mouth and she is mumbling

He wouldn't stop...he was..

POLICE OFFICER

Take your time.Do you remember what he was doing? What did he look like?

MARY SHAW

I couldn't see him , he was hidden in the dark. He was tall..dark clothes.. pure evil

POLICE OFFICER

Did you see his face at all?

MARY SHAW

NO! Please I know he's still out there , he won't stop , everywhere I went he was there!

*Mary starts sobbing uncontrollably *

POLICE OFFICER

You're safe here , please don't be upset.No one is out to get you , you're perfectly safe

*Drinks water*

MARY SHAW

He grabbed me , I ran so far...He wouldn't stop, he was strong , a big man , nearly ripped my arm off!

POLICE OFFICER

So you were  close to him ...yes?

MARY SHAW

Yeah

POLICE OFFICER

When he grabbed you , did you get any sighting of his face , any distinguishable features?Anything at all

MARY SHAW

Mary ponders for a moment


I...
*cries*



POLICE OFFICER

Please..madame. There's nothing to be afraid of understand?

MARY SHAW

*Nods*

POLICE OFFICER

Good. Now then... can you recall anything else?

*At this point the police officer , brings his clasped hands towards MARY and reveals he has the same ring as the attacker*attacker

MARY SHAW

Mary looks terrified , she looks at the ring and lets out a scream

This is the Script of the verbal sound that will be constructed within the opening sequence. We created this sound by recording the script performed by Kevin and Chanel that are characters within the sequence. We did this by recording, and then editing on adobe premier, this allowed us to edit accurately and make sure that the pitch and the volume flowed well within the outcome of the opening sequence. By having a script, this enabled me and Kevin to be able to read the words from the script and perform this, and by including this on a post on blogger, the examiner can see the words that have exactly been spoken within the sound attachment of voice. Also when editing, I found that a successful element within this is that towards the ending there is a short moment of shiver and cry, just before the film title appears, which makes the audience feel uncomfortable and relates to the genre of Thriller which shows that the sound is successful within the first draft.  

Casting

Casting

Who will be involved in the casting and be in role of the characters involved?

Kevin will be playing the role of the police officer.

James will be playing the role of the Freddie this person, is the antagonist that is focused on within the opening sequence and stereotyped to be the ‘bad guy’.

Chanel will be the female character who is the innocent character and being chased by ‘Freddie’.

Kevin- The police officer

Kevin will be performing in the opening sequence of the police officer. This character is mysterious but also is questioning Chanel the innocent character. This character is conveyed as someone who is helpful and tries to get to the bottom of the situation. He wears formal clothing, to show that he is important, and has high authority.  He will be wearing black and white clothing to show and communicate what his type of job occupation is, so that it’s clear.  This police officer will be middle aged to show power, and that he’s experienced in the police force. This character will be male, because usually males are stereotyped to be the stronger gender and more powerful and dominant. In the opening sequence the police officer, won’t be shown much throughout only his hand for gesture purposes.

James- the mysterious character that chases Chanel, under the name of Mary Shaw. 
James will be the mysterious male character that is chasing Mary. He won’t be focused on a lot but he will be included in intense scenes within the opening sequence. The group has chosen for this character to be male because it fits the stereotype of males being strong and dominant. We thought that this would be more effective within the opening sequence. This male character doesn’t have a job occupation, because we want the character to be communicated with the personality and characteristics of being aggressive but also not being conveyed as someone that isn’t good and doesn’t have much to do with their time but to cause trouble.

Chanel- will play the young female character that is the victim within the opening sequence. 

Chanel will be a female character that comes across as innocent and is crucial to be seen within the opening sequence. This female character is at a young age, and is a student that is currently studying levels. By having this character portrayed as young shows that, she is vulnerable as well as mature and focuses on her education instead of possibly focusing on other things that aren’t that effective towards the future of her life. 

  

Storyboard of Opening Sequence

The storyboards as a whole is very effective, it communicates that the narrative is extremely clear so that the examiner and the audience can see what is being illustrated throughout the opening sequence. Within the first five scenes of what will be constructed within the opening sequence, i think the actual title and how it appears on the screening is the most successful. This is because its plain, but effective, has a meaning and settles the audience in to watching the opening sequence. It makes the opening sequence interesting from the start by having this, as it makes the audience ask the following questions:
What is the film about?
What happens?
Is their some form of ritual in the opening sequence?
Why is the film called The ritual?
Is it focused on to any religion because of the upside down cross?

By having a storyboard structured out before filming, it enables the director to have an understanding of what is being constructed and the flowing idea of what will appear on the screening.  The storyboard sequence runs in chronological order, and if a displayed scene happens more than once, then this image and descriptive detail needs to be repeated where it is next displayed on the screening. Also by having a storyboard, it allows the people producing the opening sequence to see what shot types need to be used, on the different scenes as well as the order and camera movement and sound.

I particularly like the last scene, where there is a close up of a ring, as this increases the tension, and withholds information in to allowing the audience to think what happens next from the opening sequence, and who the ring actually belongs to, so that the audience can have a developed understanding who the protagonist is as well as who did the crime to the female victim.

Preliminary Aessessment: James Thompson, Ellie Cook & Chanel Probets

Vox Pops

By looking and observing the vox pops, I now have a better understanding of what the opening sequence needs to consist of in order to be successful. By looking at the age group, and target audience of people who watch this genre, it has been effective, and now the group and I have an understanding of what to include scaring the audience, for instance, black spiders was suggested, as well as the following darkness, to scare the audience and clowns. 

'Creepy' This word was mentioned by one of the people that were talking and describing what they expect a horror fil to be like. By someone mentioning the word creepy, this was effective as the group could then work from this and use this to our advantage to make the opening sequence creepy and relate it to the genre of Thriller. 

'Evil' This word was used in the interview. I thought that this was a successful word, specially to be mentioned and used in our sequence to by influencing us as a group. By having the word evil suggesested, it is basic however we can exxagarate this word and infuse it in to the sequence as much as possible to involve the audience with a range of emotions being felt. 

'Isolated' This word was used within the interview. I chose to mention and look in to this word, as it will be effective and can be used towards the sequence, potentially towards the narrative and moments within the sequence maybe relating to a character to create an atmosphere as well as increasing tension. 

Other quotations that were effective and stood out to me that have influenced myself and the group within the voz pops and the outcome of this project are listed below:
'at night' -era of time, darkness, time of day, atmosphere, location. 
'Blood' -pain, torture, character experience, tension, badness, mystery, witheld information. 
'Edge of my seat' -how the audience feel, intense atmosphere, what will happen next? 
'dark'  -appearance of the setting, editing- the colour, meanings of this- atagonist, bad events upcoming.
'hands over my face' -how the audience feel, what it makes them want to do when watching. 

Sound

This type of sound would be suitable for the opening sequence, as it is soft and can be used to portray the idea of the young female character being lost and vulnerable. As this song is soft and as a small beat, it introduces the idea and understanding of this character being innocent, and question why she is experiencing this horror and event to her.  

  This type of sound can be used potentially for the moment of when the male character who is the antagonist of the opening sequence is chasing the female character, to enhance the theme and idea of danger happening as well as to increase tension happening. This would be effective and successful to increase the danger, and what will happen next.

This type of sound could potentially be used in the moment of when the female character is reporting to the police officer, as well as him manipulating her without knowing. This would be effective to show and contrast against the idea of this moment meaning to be calm and relaxed, so that she can report as well as the actual truth and meaning of the horror being never ending, and the repetition of something about to happen but the audience and vulnerable character not knowing what it is.

The group have decided to combine this sound clip within the opening sequence, to increase the tension within the atmosphere when cross cutting is being conveyed and constructed. By using this sound, it allows the audience to be engaged in to what is happening, as well as horror occurring through the opening sequence by having this piece of sound added to the opening sequence. 

Key Frames

Key Frames:

In this first key frame, the shot type that will be used within this moment for camera work is a close up. This is so the audience can establish a clue from this scene and what is happening, and the identity of the character from its costume which comes under Mise en scene, the shoe. By having a close up within this moment it increases tension within this moment, and makes the audience ask questions such as what is happening? What is she running from? Who is this character and how are they involved in the film as well as the opening sequence. This sequence will be constructed within the first minute of the opening sequence to engage the audience, as well as create a tense atmosphere to hook the audience in to what is happening as well as making the opening sequence as successful and effective as possible. The Mise en scene adds the meaning of the female being innocent and fits to the stereotype and judgement of the target audience thinking females are commonly portrayed as vulnerable as we have already discovered within vox pops. Also within this moment low key lighting will be constructed within this key frame, to empathise the emotions and meaning of being scared and relating to the main genre and stimulus of horror, as well as including darkness to empathise the time of the event happening. 

Furthermore in this key frame, it focuses on the facial expressions and appearance of the female character, when reporting in the police station. In this specific shot that is being analysis, the camera shot that will be constructed will be mid shot as well as eye level looking directly in to the camera lens to show anxiety and being scared of reporting what has happened whilst experiencing flashbacks of the horrifying moment of being chased by the antagonist of the opening sequence.  By having this, it communicates the meaning and emotions of the character to the audience more effectively; this was influenced by the feedback of the vox pops, of someone responding with pain being an element that is used in films to scare them. This will be used half way through the opening section, whilst cross cutting is being used of being chased through the forest and to reporting the incident in the police station. By incorporating this scene within the opening sequence it makes it effective, as well as engages the audience that are watching the opening sequence. 

Plot Synopsis.

A normal sixteen year old female, innocent gets chased by the man of her nightmares. The film constructs the different moments of her life that leads her to reporting the incident in to the police station. But the police character she is confiding in isn’t the right officer that she can trust for the horror she is experiencing. A young sixteen year old, makes her way through a forest to then being chased, and wanting to escape the danger that is right behind her. The horror starts from the opening to the end; it’s not a nightmare when the pain soon shows that its reality that she feels. 

Mindmap for Thriller opening.

by chanelprobets

Audience Research 2.

Media Questionnaire.

Conventions of a Horror film.

Conventions of a Horror film: 

One convention that is used in the opening section of a film is the setting, this is to establish where a scene takes place and to inform the audience this, so they gain an understanding of where everything is located at. This screen grab is taken from a film called 'The Shadow of death' which is a horror genre film, and has influenced me on my task, to include a setting that creeps out the audience as well as keep them engaged, this is low key lighting and establishes that the setting is a forest, which already makes the audience ask questions, and what is going to happen next. 

Furthermore, another successful convention that is used in the opening sequence of a film is the distribution logo as it informs the audience information of the company and distribution of the film that has been produced and currently being presented. This is presented as well as a score being heard in addition, this already makes the audience want to carry on watching as the musicality sounds spooky and as if someone is running away from something, which is commonly heard in horror genre films. 

Also another successful convention that is used in horror based movies is establishing one of the characters that are included in the opening section of the film, this is used to inform the audience what characters are involved, as well as withholding information to keep the audience questioning who they are and why they are involved. As well as characters being presented in the opening section, they are usually wearing unattractive clothing, this is commonly drags and dirty clothes to make the audience intrigued  As well as this they usually wear scary looking make up. 

Moreover, another convention that makes an opening sequence successful is something with the meaning of withholding information. For example, this image might not be clear and relate to the whole climax of the film, but it's relevant to what is currently happening, and therefore it keeps information still there that hasn't been exposed yet, but drops small clues to keep the audience engaged  For instance, in this section of the film the audience can see a close up of a mouth, yet we don't know what is going to happen next or what is happening to the body of the mouth that this belongs too. 

Another convention that makes the opening sequence of a movie effective is by including and presenting a prop within the opening sequence, in this opening section of 'The ring', there is a female on a phone which is the prop, within this moment tension is being created as the audience don't know what is going to happen next to build a climax. Using a prop also gives the character a sense of naturalistic acting as well as a sense of realism. 

Analysis of opening sections to two films. (Thriller)

The Conjuring 
Editing is used throughout the opening section of the film 'The conjuring'. The editing used has made an impact on what is presented to the audience. For example in the opening, there is dark colored lighting that is used, this creates an impact on the audience, of darkness and spooking the audience, to engage them in to carry on watching. The use of darkness which is displayed below withholds the information of who these characters are, and how there relevant to the overall climax of the film. An example of this is displayed below:

Furthermore, a close frame is used in the editing to communicate to the audience the idea of the students that are in the household informing the people that they feel uncomfortable about what they are talking about. The close frame being used shows that because they are nervous it informs the audience, that they do not feel confident in what they are talking about, and because of this the proxemics therebetween them is tightly compact, and this also makes the audience feel uncomfortable, yet feel sympathy towards them because of what they have experienced. An example to communicate this is illustrated below:

Also within this moment there is a long take to empathize the idea of the three different students informing the investigators about their experience, and how this has made an impact on them and how they don't want to belong in the household any further. The use of this editing that has been used, allows the audience to focus on whats being displayed, as well as getting an understanding of why this is happening and how this section from the opening section links to the structure and the happening of occurring events that happens throughout the film. An example of the long take is conveyed below: 

 
Sound is used throughout the opening section of 'The conjuring' for various meanings and reasons. One reason is so that it engages the audience it to carry on watching whats happening, as well as linking to what is being displayed in the scene, so that it makes the scene look as naturalistic or abstract as possible. One sound technique that is used in the opening section is a score, this is used as the titles appear within the opening section, to settle the audience to start watching the film, and make them feel engaged to whats going to happen and occur within the film. An example of the score that is used, is presented below as well as what appears on the screen, being the titles. 
 
The example that is displayed above, is also the section where it includes the titles that are displayed within the opening section. The first title being the distribution logo, informing the information with the audience. Then the second title being the company logo, which appears shortly after informing the audience what company was used to produce and work for this film, in the media side of it. No names appear in the beginning section of the film, i think this is successful because it doesn't take away the tension that is created from within the sound or of what is being displayed. I think if that the names did appear, it would loose the audience attention in to the font that is being displayed instead of what is actually being presented within the opening section, also within this film the audience need to watch from when the film starts to when it ends, so that they have a good understanding of the whole film.
Furthermore non-diegetic sound is used within the opening scene, to create a tension within the moment so that the audience can gain a sense of what the character is about to experience and that this could potentially be a horrendous part of the opening section to engage the audience attention in to what is happening and that the basement already has the assumption of being scary and leading to themes such as death, torture, neglection, pain and horror. An example is demonstrated below, to convey how the sound is used as well as what is being displayed within this moment:
 
Another two examples of sound that are used is dialogue and diegetic sound. Dialogue is used within the first few minutes of the opening scene, when the three students are talking about what they have experienced and what they are nervous about, dialogue is used when they are talking to communicate their thoughts, emotions and worries across to who they are talking to within this moment. Diegestic sound, is used later on in the opening sequence when the female is walking up the stairs, and because of the pressure from her feet it creates a darkened sqeek noise on the staircase, which emphases the genre of horror and mystery, and also to keep the audience feel engaged.


Mise En Scene is used throughout the opening section to create an understanding to the audience of who each character is and how the props and setting are relevant to the opening structure of the film opening. One prop that is used is a horrendous looking doll, this is used to scare the audience but also to keep them watching to see why the doll is used and how it's relevant to the meaning of the film. The doll has dark hair, a grey looking dress type of costume and links to the whole appearance of it looking like a child like female. This withholds information which keeps the audience focused on to what is happening, and who this doll might represent or who it is in possession of and why it belongs here. This is a successful prop used as it does withhold information, keep the audience engaged as well as make them ask questions, to wonder why things are happening. 

Cinema photography is used throughout the opening sequence for different meanings and impact to keep the audience focused on the different scenes that are being displayed. Different types of shots are used, for example a close up is used when the camera tracks in to the toy doll, this is used to communicate to the audience the horrifying appearance of this tortured doll and how it has sacred the three female students that are living in the household. Another camera shot that is used is a mid shot, to establish to the audience where the students are setting, the emotions and appearance of the three female characters and why they are there. This engages the audience, and makes an impact on them feeling scared and intrigued at the same time. 

The Helpers.

Editing is used throughout the opening section of 'The Helpers' using different techniques for different reasons and meanings. One example of editing that the opening section uses is a long take of a vehicle driving, different camera shots are used but focus on the same white colored car that is driving along on a long distant road. This informs the audience that there is a car driving in this location, people are driving the car, potentially driving to a specific location but not sure where to yet. This part still withholds information, but engages the audience to carry on watching, to see whats going to to happen next and whether people might get affected, or where the car will stop at. An example is given below to show that there is a long take of a car moving on a sandy looking pathway: 
  
Furthermore another editing technique that is used in the opening section of 'The helpers' is the continuity editing that is used in the opening section. This is used for impact, it makes the audience feel shocked and intrigued to whether there is something wrong with the car when it spins in to the road and off-track. The editing of this is successful and effective because, it shows the audience a different range of camera shots that film the same thing, this makes the audience gain a sense of realism and what is happening to the car as well as the people inside and who is controlling the vehicle. The continuous filming is successful because the car is continuously moving at the same pace until it stops at the road side, and the people are still in the same positions, however their body language is different and makes the scene look as naturalistic as possible. 

Moreover Mise en scene, is used successfully because of the costume and make up used, which gives the audience an understanding of the characters personality and characteristics. For example, one of the male characters are displayed of a 'geek' type of character because of the costume, make up and props that belong to this character to make them who they are and give the audience an understanding of who the character is. The costume of a checkered t-shirt and glasses, gives the audience the judgement that he is potentially focused on studying and passionate about learning, it also creates the impression that he doesn't mind what his appearance looks like, though he is clean he is fine sticking to the basic clothing. The fact that he wears glasses, shows the idea that he has something wrong with his eye sight, and that he needs these to have a clear vision so that he can see things to a high quality. This is an element of the character which gives him a 'geek' stereotype and judgement formed by the audience watching this character. Also the prop of a video camera, informs the audience that this character is adventurous  and likes to record journeys and experiences that he participates in, this contrasts against the other characters, and highlights him as a 'geek' type of character, and because of this he's a sort of background character. An example is conveyed below which shows the appearance of this male character: 

As well as there being Mise En scene and Editing used, there is also cinemaphotography, titles and sound used. Cinema photography that is used is camera shot's such as a close up which is in the image illustrated above, this communicates the facial expression of this character which shows what mood and emotions he is feeling, the use of a close up also informs the audience of what his identity is and what his appearance is like. This is an effective shot because the audience can gain an understanding of the character from this shot. Another camera shot that is used is a perspective shot/ P.O.V shot, this is used so that the audience can see the scene or situation from behind someones shoulder so they can see whats happening like that character can, which creates a sense of realism and so that the audience are experiencing this as well as the characters. Using this type of shot is effective and makes the audience want to carry on watching to see what happens next, because of seeing it from someones perspective and not just establishing what is happening. 

Moreover the different titles that are used have different meanings, and run in a chronological order. A duration of the titles is displayed below: The titles run from the most important as it shows the distribution logo, company logo and then well known actors and actresses which is used to engage the audience and inform them on the people involved throughout the film, and then the minor and some important roles that were combined within the making of the film to produce the whole of it. This is also used to settle the audience, and begin to make them focus from the beginning of the film, so that from when their focus they can gain an understanding from start to end of the whole film.