In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)
Title of The Film: As a group of four we came up with the name 'Detainment' we all thought this was good as it has not been used for any other film and it meaning fits in well with our film. Detainment means - 'To keep in custody or temporary confinement.' This fits in well with our opening two minutes because this is what has happened to Shaun McGee, the main character, he ends up being detained in a classroom due to being in detention for not doing work and he then finds himself being killed because he had been detained.
Setting/Location: The setting for our two minute is set on school grounds which made it easier to film and organise when we would film. The building we filmed, in and out, is an old wood and brick built science block which has lots of character and almost a scary/eerie feel. filming inside the old science block meant that there was old furniture in there and things where falling apart, this enabled us to give a better sense of verisimilitude throughout the whole opening scene.
Costume & Props: Shaun, who is the main character in the two minute opening scene, is wearing normal clothes any normal teenager would wear; blue jeans, t-shirt, coat and white trainers. This shows us that Shaun isn't scruffy and neither is he rich and wears designer clothes, this might reflect on his personality as well. The teacher is dressed smartly and how a science teacher would; black jeans/trousers, a shirt, a long white lab coat and a pair of glasses. Dressing him like this shows the authority difference between the teacher and Shaun, also putting glasses on the teacher makes him come across as more intelligent and even more powerful. Lastly we have the killer, he is wearing jeans, a hoddie, and a long white lab coat. Dressing the killer like this enables us to hide their identity and also confuses the audience due to the killer wearing a white lab coat like the teacher. The killers prop is one of the important things in the film and that is the knife he/she uses to kill his victim, Shaun.
Camera work & Editing: We have decided to use simple but effective shots throughout the two minute opening scene. We have used over the shoulder shots when the teacher is speaking to Ben, we have used high angle shots to make Shaun feel vulnerable and powerless, also to give the effect he is on a security camera, like he being watched. We also used long, medium and close up shot throughout the opening scene. The shot in screen grab 4 is my favourite shot. This is because it makes the audience feel like they are spying on Shaun and creates the feeling that he audience are part of the film. I also like this because it is an unique shot that not many people have tried to use in their two minute openings.
Title Font & Style: The font we decided to use is plain and simple, it is easy to read an attracts the audience. We made sure not to make fancy writing because this may confuse the audience and frustrate them because they may not be able to read the credits. The actually title of our film is in big bold letters which is in red with a black background. We chose to do this so that the title of our film which is in red to symbolise death and blood would be able to stand out on a plain black background.
Story and how the opening scene sets it up: Our story is like most horror film plots. We have a killer or maybe even killers, that are killing 'innocent people apparently for no reason at all, and it is down to one of the first victims best friend to find out what is happening. the two minute opening scene really sets up the rest of the film very well. It is important to include something the audience wants to see in the few minutes of the opening scene so they are drawn in and carry on watching the film and hopefully 'get lost' in the film. The opening scene also introduces the main character of the whole film, 'The killer'. This is important because the killers identity is a secret in the first two minutes and the audience will want to watch more to find out who it is.
Genre and how the opening suggests it: The genre of our film is Horror. We decided to chose horror because it wasn't difficult to to come up with ideas and settings, compared with a Comedy or a Sci-Fi and we also didn't have a budget to go to wild with our ideas. The opening suggest it's a horror with quick cuts nearer the end of the opening scene as well as scary non-digetic sound. There is also a bit of the opening scene where the camera shows a white board with writing on it which include; Death, Blood, Die, R.I.P etc.. This suggest that this is a horror film and now the audience should defiantly know.
How the characters are introduced: Shaun is introduced straight away but we do not immediately see his face instead we see just his feet walking for roughly 10 seconds ( see screen grab 8) then it cuts to a shot behind a bush like someone is watching him, and we see his face and what he looks like. We also learn that Shaun is quite impatient as he throws a pen at the white board in frustration that the teacher is taking his time to come back. The teacher is introduced to look quite smart and superior to Shaun, but he also has an element of nerves about him which may suggest that he is a new teacher trying to make himself known. The killer is last to be introduced and he/she makes a big entrance. The killers face is covered up so no one can see his/her facial expressions or emotions when killing Shaun.
Special Effects: The only special effect we used was when we did the murder part of the two minute opening scene. We had to come up with an idea of how to make a cutting of the neck look realistic without actually cutting Matt, who played Shaun. To do this we looked on youtube for ideas and found one that would suit our style of murder. We taped a pipette filled with fake blood to the handle of the knife so the blood could easily be disbursed and then we used the blunt side of the knife to make it look like Shaun was being cut.
