This is a picture of 9 different screenshots of our film, called pursuer. These screenshots all show different areas of how we made our film look more authentic.
Screenshot 1 - Title/Name of film: This first screenshot is of the title of the film. I think that this was a very good opening of our film because of the way it came up on the screen, letter by letter to bring suspense. The font and colouring of the title is also very good. As the red font connotates blood and violence. For example other films like Scream and Shawn of the Dead which use a mixture of red,black and white for their title screens. The music that is played over the title already gives the audience an idea of what may be coming in the film.
Screenshot 2 - Title Font and Style: This second screenshot is of the font that we used for our movie. As you can see the colours we used were red, white and black. The red and the white connotates skin and blood which would give a clue to the audience what might happen in the film. The font size was also very good as it isn't too large to fill the whole screen but isn't too small so that the audience can read it easily.
Screenshot 3 - How characters are introduced:
The third screenshot shows the audience both main characters in the clip. The way we have done it though, is so that it is an over the shoulders shot of the unknown character looking at Paul but this shot is done so that you only see the unknown persons clothing and not their face. This suggests that their identity is to be shown later in the clip but not until the climax. This also gives the effect that Paul and the unknown character are all alone and there is no help for Paul.
You see this method used in quite a few horror films to make the killer apparent to the audience but not to the victim.
Screenshot 4 - Camera Work and Editing:
This screen shot shows our main character, Paul getting followed by the unknown person. The way we have shot this is so that we can see both people but the rails from the bridge covers up the unknown person's face. This is very useful because it keeps the audience interested in the film to try and figure out who the Unknown person may be.
Screenshot 5 - Setting/Location:
This is the establishing shot of Paul's house and him walking into the house. This was a useful thing to do because it made sure that the audience knew where Paul was after the cut from white. This keeps the audience interested in the film because people could think that Paul is safe because he is home or that he may still be in danger. What the audience don't know is that Paul is still being watched by our unknown character.
Screenshot 6 - Costumes and Props:
In this screenshot we used a POV shot of the laptop with the words "I'm watching you". We used this prop well as it was a way of telling Paul that someone was after him. We also used specific clothing. For Paul we had quite casual clothes like he had just come back from school or collage. This is also known by the school bag he has on his back. For our Unknown character we had her in very dark clothes with dark shoes to make her seem more mysterious.
Screenshot 7 – Genre and how the opening suggests it:
The screenshot is the close-up of the phone calling 999. This suggests a Horror/Thriller film because most of these films pay great attention to small things like phones, hand movents and objects etc. This also shows it could be a Horror/Thriller because of the number that the phone is calling. You normally phone 999 if you are in trouble and need help. The opening scene also give a clear idea to the audience who the good and evil characters are. Paul being good and the Killer being evil.
Screenshot 8 – Story and how the opening sets it up:
This screenshot is of the main character called Paul, who the movie is centered around. The plot in the opening sequence is quite straight forward, Paul who is a college student is on his way home from college and he starts to be followed by someone. He does not realise this as yet. He is followed all the way home. Paul goes into his house to start his homework; he is interrupted by a message that appears on his laptop. It says “I’m watching you!” he is freaked out and goes to grab the phone; he dials ‘999’ and calls the police. You then see him put the phone to his face and as this happens his facial expression changes to become very alert and aware. He has noticed someone standing in his garden, it switches to a POV shot and he sees the ‘unknown’ character just standing there next to a bin, playing with a large kitchen knife which is unidentifiable until he starts turning it round and playing with it. This brief opening sets up the plot for the whole film which is based around Paul and there will also be another story running alongside this one, based on the same scenario.
Screenshot 9 - Special Effects:
Because of how the film was made we didn't have an opportunity to do any really good special effects although we used the camera to create a blurry effect in the last scene of the film. This gives the POV effect of Paul, showing that he is confused and scared of this strange person who is wielding a knife outside his window.
In conclusion i think that we did quite well in making a believable Horror/Thriller Film opening scene.
