TITLES 5 Fonts in Slasher Film Opening Titles

...

5 fonts for slasher movie openings from ChristianStricks

...

Here are 5 examples of titles in other slasher film openings, which will be applied to research towards the font we will finally pick for our film opening.

CONVENTIONS Research So Far

Reasearch on Cherry Falls
Film Distribution of Four Lions (Warp)
'71 (Warp) v. The Worlds End (Working Title)
Questionnaire Audience Feedback
Distribution of micro-budget films
Slasher Franchises
Typical Title Sequence
Titles of film "Austin Powers"
Vodcast on past coursework
Film Opening Analysis
Shot Types
Favourite Film

SAMPLE SCENE Killing scene (SOUND EDITING NOT DONE)

...

...
Here is a rough-cut without sound effects of how the killing scene is going to play out. It is a base design and needs improvement. This needs to be refined and added to the newest rough cut which will be uploaded by tomorrow.

What went well:

• Planning made filming easy
• Clear directing
• Quite effectively edited together 

What went wrong:

• Makeup got a bit all over the place
• Missing a few shots and cross cuts to break up sequence
• Need more sound effects and better editing 

OS PLANNING What we have filmed / what we need

To Film:

• Establishing shots
• More realistic opening of door during garage scene

Have Filmed:

• Bedroom scene
• False scare
• Jigsaw like Santa on t.v
• Stabbing
• Getting dressed

AUDIENCE Analysis

Over the course of our AS Media Studies year we have received countless amounts of audience feedbackvarying from verbal, written and online feedback.

Overall they were positive, they liked a few things here and there however, the feedback we have received has been more than appreciative. I mean just look at our first few sample scenes, they are 100% different to our final cut. A recurring problem for us was trying to increase the pacing in the film openingbut in the end I think we managed pretty well. From the first rough cut to the last, the whole group thought "oh we can cut a second or two there," but had it not been for feedback saying, "This pace needs to increase dramatically," our film opening would not have been as good as it is now.

We have received feedback from ages ranging from 14-22 and have also received a bit of feedback from older adults. I admit, some of the feedback we received was vague and we couldn't really use it. However this gave us an insight as to how these people of these ages were analyzing our "media" and we could build upon that instead. This also links into Stuart Hall's preferred reading theory as, especially for the title feedback, we received a lot stating which one looked "most horror" or "most cool." when we as creators wanted the most fitting for the genre. This means the audience who analysed the title fonts applied it to the knowledge they had on slashers to choose their preferred ones. This came from our target audiencemeaning we had to take a lot of it into account when choosing the final fonts for our titles. They would not have been what they are now, if it weren't for this feedback as our group had a slight discussion about this too.

RESEARCH Cherry Falls

Verdict

The film opening of Cherry falls is a couple who are being intimate and showing obvious sexual attraction between the two. The cuts are mostly close up and are short. The editing is fast paced with sinister non - diegetic music in the background which makes the audience hold their breathe. The couple have a small argument and the shot goes from inside the car to the outside from a stalkers POV.This is a common convention in slasher films. There is non- diegetic sound in the background such as crickets chirping and wind blowing to create the verisimilitude. There is another car that pulls up and the male gets out of the car to play the role of the strong hero, while the girl stays and watis for him to return. The actress holds her fright and sadness throughout the film opening and never 'recovers'.

To sum it up

• Fast paced editing.
• Large variety of different shots.
• Use of close ups (with hand placement, to show more emotion).
• The characters are frightened throughout. 
• Use of diegetic and non - diegetic sound to create verisimilitude.

How will we apply this to our film opening?

1. We will use a variety of shots and shorten our takes from our previous rough cut.
2. There wil be close ups of hand placements to signify more emotion.
3. To create verisimilitude the actor/actress will need to seem frightened even after the scare.
4. Have fast paced editing to keep the audience engaged. 

VODCAST 6: Interview with guest speaker

...

...
This is an interview with a guest speaker, we answer a variety of questions about our blog, coursework including the problems we have had, how our idea has changed and what may surprise an outsider about our work.

DISTRIBUTION Film Distribution of Four Lions (Warp)

...

Four lions film distribution from ChristianStricks

...

Film distribution of the film Four Lions (Warp, 2010) made in the same format as the previous comparison of film distribution.

'71 (Warp) v. The Worlds End (Working Title)

...

Warp v wt 71 v worlds end from ChristianStricks

...
Comparing the distribution of both films to each other.

OS INDUSTRY Star Wars: The Force Awakens

NDUSTRY RESEARCH Star Wars: The Force Awakens

...

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Facts/ Successful from OliStr

...

Here is a post highlighting why Star Wars: The Force Awakens was such a successful movie.

JC INDUSTRY Les Miserables

Les miserables analysis from James Clinnick

...
Analysis of Les miserables, the post shows the box office, figures, age ratings, distribution facts etc.

JC BBFC Ratings

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) are a trusted guide to media content and work as a independent, self-financing, not-for profit media content regulator, this means they aim to protect the public from content that may be harmful and to empower the public to make informed viewing choices

...

...

BBFC Guidline for an 18 age rated movie

...

...

BBFC Guidlines for a 15 age rated movie

...

...

BBFC Guidlines for a 12 age rated movie

...

...
If a movie is rated an 18 it severely reduces the reach of the film, the movie is much less likely to do well in cinemas as the most common age to go to the cinema is 15-16, this is a huge loss of market potential and will not only reduce the box office but the overall success of the film. However, the majority of slasher films will be an age 18 due to the gore and swearing, also, having an age rating of 18 for a slasher film can appeal too a slasher audience as it can suggest gore and for the movie to be scary. Because of this we are aiming our film for an age 18 certificate, also, because our film is micro-budget we are not looking for a theatrical release so the negative sides of having an 18 certificate are less prominent. Here is one of our previous posts with research on age ratings in slashers

Re-Pitch

...

Re Pitch/ review from ChristianStricks

...

In this re-pitch we discuss how we have gotten audience feedback, updates to our blogs and about BBFC ratings.

AUDIENCE Questionnaire Audience Feedback

...

...
...

...
Questionnaire made for audience feedback 

PODCAST 9 - Review of rough cut

...

...

In this podcast we go over things that we need to improve from our rough cut

JC PLANNING Screenplay Film Opening

...

Screenplay christmas sleigher from James Clinnick

...
Screenplay made for the film opening.

SOUND FX Stabbing Sound

...

...

Sound effects using a watermelon to recreate a stabbing sound effect which will be used as diegetic sound in our killing scene to create verisimilitude.

PLANNING location scouting

This is the first location we where thinking of for our zombie hybrid film opening, however that idea got changed quickly. It is in a farm area and would have been great for the opening scene.

This is the house we were planning to use for our film opening but we agree that it seemed to be in a location where there is little to no isolation due to it being a triple house with neighbours either side.

The next location we thought of was just a garage and from the outside it looks very isolated and scarry and looks like a run down place perfect for a slasher film. However it is really just a garage and that is evident from the outside so it wouldn't work as a building that we were supposedly going to film in.

Our final choice was this house. It had a garage (even an extended one) and it had the windows and blinds which we used in the room for out film opening. We thought that this house would achieve verisimilitude as it ticks all the conventions of a house in a slasher opening.

This is the garage we decided to use with a few of the props moved around. The garage is not modern or in pristine condition so we thought it suited a killing scene well.

DISTRIBUTION micro-budget films

Distributing a micro-budget film can be a very hard and complicated process for the film to become a success. Either getting a cinema release of having a DVD release are the best ways to make the film a success. There are two main ways of distributing your film, through a distributor or by yourself.

Through Distributors

The best way to find a distributor for your film is to get the film shown at a film festival. This method will be costly but if you take the risk and manage to get a screening then there will be likely success to follow in finding a distributor. Coz Greenop managed to get a screening at Cannes Film Festival, and got the attention of some distributors there. He also tried to contact many distributors on social media. He managed to the his film on DVD in Walmart (USA) and Tescos (UK) which are the largest DVD distributors in USA and UK.

The Top 10 distributors in 2017 (micro-budget films will most likely not be picked up by any of these distributors)

Self Distribution

Some people may chose to have full rights to the film and distribute themselves, which is a trickier process. The way this can be done is creating a website targeting the audience which the film is aimed for. The micro-budget indie can also be distributed through other platforms such as streaming websites (Netflix/Amazon Prime) which are much more open to indie and micro-budget films than VOD's such as iTunes. This method is a lot harder since you have to do all the marketing yourself but you keep a much large percentage of revenues.

Which Distributor?

There are many horror and low budget indie film distributors. You are probably not going to be picked up by any of the big 6, however there are many other good distributors as well.

Some of the distributors are:

• Terror Films
• Brain Damage films
• Hammer Film Productions
• Anthem Pictures
• Breaking Glass Pictures 

Here is the website for Terror Films which also will help distribute your film onto streaming services

(Click on image or here to go to website)

We would use Terror Films to distribute our final cut.

PODCAST 8 - Reflection on shoot

...

...
In this podcast we talk about what has  been changed and what we need to improve on from the first rough cut.