Production company research

Rogue are a entertainment production company set up in 1997 owned by relativity media. The company has recently made two supernatural horrors: my soul to take (2010) and the unborn (2009)
My soul to tkae was unsuccessful at the box office, and was poorly received by critics. 
The unborn  was released to an overwhelming negative reviews.Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 11% based on 114 reviews, with the site's consensus stating: "David Goyer's Unborn is a tame genre effort with cheap thrills and scares that border on silliness." Meta-critic gave the film a 30 out of 100, based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating generally unfavorable reviews . We therefore decided that this production company may contribute ideas that would be detrimental to our film and they have not produced a supernatural horror which has done well in the box office recently. 

The Ring opening titles deconstruction.

0:03 Production company

0:09 Director 

0:14 and 0:21 Main actors

0:29 Film title

0:30 Actor

0:35 Actor

0:41 Actor

0:46 Actor

0:51 Actor

0:56 Casting director

1:02 Composer

1:12 Editor

1:22 Photography director

1:17 Production designer

1:28 Producers

1:39 executive producers

1:49 Screenplay writers

2:01 Director

This opening sequence is quite unconventional as it uses a series of strange images that do not seem to have any relevance to the film instead of starting the narrative. The starts slowly and softly and build pace and volume throughout conforming to the stereotype of horrors. The same image at the end and the start of the opening credits is very effective as it is repeated and therefore the audience will remember this easier. it also builds intrigue as the audience doesn't understand the relevance of this to the plot. The typography stands out simply because of the colour and also is it looks like a persons handwriting. this film opening subverts the convention that the film should be shown at the very end of the opening titles. 

Blumhouse Productions

As Blumhouse is a top production company which mainly specialises in horror films, we decided to do some research into how suitable it would be for our own opening.

Brief Background

• Best known for their micro and low budget films
• Recent productions include

- The Paranormal Activity sequences

- Sinister

- The Purge

- Insidious

The animation for Blumhouse is effective, especially when put in the title sequence of a horror film due to it's low key lighting and ominous atmosphere. As well as this, there is also a supernatural element as we see a ghost figure of what seems to be a young girl, which is in addition to the shadow effect (where the actual 'Blumhouse' name is revealed), therefore this suggests that Blumhouse would be a suitable production company for our genre. This is further suggested through the non-diegetic sounds of the flickering lights, a common convention in horror films as it further emphasises the idea of poor lighting and darkness.

Suitability for Audience

In order to try and understand what would be suitable for our target audience, we decided to list the types of age ratings and their restrictions recommended by the British Board of Film Classification.

U-Universal viewing which should be suitable for audiences over 4 years old

• Aimed at very young viewers
• Children animated films
• Shouldn't address any significant issues, e.g. discrimination, sex, violence, drug use
• Moments of emotional stress are quickly resolved

Examples of 'U' rated films:

• Up
• Despicable Me
• Rio

PG-Parental Guidance which should be suitable for general viewing, however some scenes unsuitable for younger audiences

• General viewing
• No themes unsuitable for children 
• But will explore challenging issues such as bullying and bereavement 
• Violence and bad language will be mild
• Passing references to drugs/sexual material, but no focus on this

Examples of 'PG' rated films

•  Underdogs
• Black Nativity

12

• Generally, not suitable for those under the age of 12 (unless accompanied by an adult in some cases)
• No dark or unsettling tone to upset viewers
• Use of strong language may be used
• Brief and discreet sexual material may be used
• Some horror films may be accepted in this category but only moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted. Also as long as the horror sequences aren't too frequent or have an overall disturbing tone.

Examples of 12/12A' rated films:

• Divergent
• Jaws
• Red Eye

15

• Strong threat and horror allowed but no sustained focus nor sadistic threat
• No themes are prohibited, but must be suitable for 15 year olds
• The following are likely to be seen:

- Strong language

- Violence

- Drug taking

- Nudity

Examples of '15' rated films:

• Insidious
• The Purge
• Cabin in the Woods

18-Suitable for adults only

• No themes prohibited
• Issues tackled may even be offensive for adults
• Strong horror
• Strong blood and gore
• No limit on use of strong language or violence

Examples of '18' rated films:

• Orphan
• Friday the 13th (2009)
• The Chainsaw Massacre 

Opening Title: Film Title

This was done on final cut pro, which is the software that we are using to create our actual film opening. 

I took the font that we were using for all of our other titles to make sure the opening title was in-keeping with the whole film opening.  

I manipulated the font to make it slightly blurred any more suitable to the supernatural horror genre. I then downloaded a font that allowed me to manipulate the font further, by changing the 't' in ritual to a cross symbol.

This links well to the supernatural horror genre of the film opening, making the title more interesting and effective.

Editing

Editing

We are now nearing the end of editing our film opening so I decided to finish some final editing sections to help improve both the quality of the opening and of my editing skills.  

 First of all I had the job to insert a title screen to inform the audience that the opening is now reverting back to a week earlier.  To do this I selected the T tab on the right hand side of final cut and inserted a black screen with the same text font as the named titles.  I chose a black screen rather than a picture in the background to put emphasis on the words and to create a caesura to build the tension.

 I then inserted a clip transition after the "1 week earlier" to create a smooth change before the last section of the opening.  I chose a blur transition because it ran the same time as the church bell sound.

 After reviewing the opening I decided that the second church bell did not sound completely right for the situation.  After listening to the final cut sounds of church bells I found a better noise layered it in.  After watching it a few times I decided to take off the increased speed of the girl turning around so it was back to normal pace.


We needed something to trigger the girl to turn around.  So to continue the story line we added in diegetic sounds  to make it seem as though she was being followed by the priest who is to exorcise her.
After listening to the sounds available on final cut I inserted male breathing and footsteps to seem as though he is following her.  The a snapping of a twig then triggers her to turn around, I then inserted a clip of the priest's eyes to inform the audience that it is him that is following her.  This looks quite effective as it helps to build up the tension and varies the camera angles.

Backing Tracks

Firstly, I decided to look at common types of instruments/sounds which are used in supernatural horror.
I particularly liked this sound as its echo effect is effective for supernatural horror as it gives the impression of distortion. As well as this, the whisper is also effective as it helps to add a mysterious and sinister atmosphere. I also liked the low pitched piano keys as it creates a harsh sounds and further adds to the sinister atmoshpere. Whilst the symphonies help to create an innocent child-like impression, I feel as though the singing takes away from the suspisious atmosphere which we are trying to create in out opening.

Religious Backing Tracks-Church Scene

As we want a song for the church scene, I decided to look for a backing sound which could be used for this.

I feel as though, if played at a low volume, this could be effective in our Church scene as the low pitched chant gives a more sinister portrayal. Also, this alongside our location and priest, further subverts common conventions and would be more effective for our audience when they discover that the priest is the antagonist.

I feel as though with is clip, we could manipulated this to make it seem more sinister. For example, similarity to the above, we could add an effect to make this more echo-y and slowed down in order to make it sound more distorted, which would therefore allow us to conform to supernatural stereotypes.