Evaluation activity one

The title of the film

When thinking of titles for my film, I really wanted to come up with a title that would be both scary and yet related exactly to the film. I thought that the title “Unrequited” fitted perfectly with both the genre I was going for and the plot of the opening sequence. Unrequited is film about a boy that gets bullied in school, and is a bit of an under achiever. He is also in love with one of the girls that bullies him, which makes it hard for him. He finally has enough and hangs himself. I thought unrequited would be a good title because I was hoping it would attract the audience and make them want to know what exactly was unrequited. I feel that unrequited has a somewhat eerie feel to it and this was the exact title I was going for. Also as it is just a one worded title, I feel it gives of a stronger horror vibe, rather than a sentence name.

Location/setting

There are many aspects to a movie that gives it its certain genre, for example a romance will consist of soft music and a happy atmosphere, which is the same for horror. So when planning my opening sequence I wanted to make sure that the setting was dark and spooky. I already knew where I want to film, and that was in the school, so my location was already set. I didn’t need any other places for my opening sequence, so I was quite lucky. The only I needed to worry about then was the setting. Even though I had set out to make sure that it had to look dark and spooky, I wanted to the horror to happen in day light, when no one expects it. By doing this, I was also making my video slightly different to other film openings of the same genre. The school that I filmed in isn’t exactly scary looking, so I had add some special effects in that I will talk about later. 

Costumes and props

I didn’t really set any exact costumes when filming my opening sequence. The main character (the boy who commits suicide) was wearing a brown cardigan and normal school trousers and shoes, which is exactly the look I was going for. As I didn’t want the boy to come across geeky, the cardigan added a somewhat rebel-like feature, as he is avoiding the correct school uniform. The two school girls were originally going to be wearing their dancing clothes, but I was unable to get my hands on any dancing costumes. So in the end I decided to just keep the girls in their uniform so that the audience would know they were school girls.

There aren’t a lot of props that I used in my film opening. The main prop I used was a scarf that the boy was going to use to kill himself. All the other props that were used were not added in deliberately, for example when the two girls are in the toilets and one is brushing her hair, this wasn’t added in on purpose. Although it did add to what girls would normally do in the toilets, and therefore made it more realistic.

Camerawork and editing

Camerawork is very important when it comes to creating an opening sequence as it’s basically your foundation. When I was filming I found myself being able to hold the camera still enough to look like a good shot. I used a range of different shots such as following shots, close ups, medium shots and more. I felt these shots gave effect to my video, as If I had shot the whole thing with the different camera angle, my audience would have lost interest quickly. Some of the shots such as the close ups gave my opening sequence more of an effect for example when there is a close up of the scarf that he is holding in his hand, this really adds effect to the tension and the question of what’s going to happen next.

Title font and style

For my title font I wanted something that would be both scary and maybe a little gruesome looking. I knew before I had even started looking that I would most likely find the font I was looking for on dafont.com. This is a website where people upload their own fonts for people to use. Within a few minutes of looking, I had found the font I was looking for. It looked spooky with an element of gore which was perfect.

Throughout my video there are a number of different titles with the names of the production etc. These were all written in different fonts. I didn’t actually mean for that to happen, it’s just I didn’t go through the fonts again. Because my video was relatively dark, I decided it would be best to make the writing white, so that people could see it, but it wouldn’t take the concentration of the audience away from what was happening in the shot.

Story and how opening sets it up

My story is basically about a teenage boy, around the age of 16-17 that gets bullied in school. Not only this but his school grades are dropping and he are finding it hard to stay on top of things. But the only thing that’s important to him is his love. He’s in love, and has been for a good few years now. She’s a popular girl, and therefore she bullies him too, but he’s not bothered… if it’s the only way he can be closed to her then that’s what he’s prepared to face. Eventually everything gets too much, and he comes to terms of the fact that he is never going to get his girl, she he decides to commit suicide in the school toilets. In a last attempt to win her heart, he hangs himself in the girl’s toilets, convinced she will come in and find her. A few years later, two girls are in the same toilets talking about how they have a dance competition coming up, and how they’re both nervous. Through mid-conversation one of the girls reminds herself to tell her friend the story about the boy, her other friend doesn’t really believe her and the conversation is dropped. A few moments later, the girl that told the story realises that its lesson time, and leaves the toilets. The girl who didn’t believe her still remains in the toilets and does her hair. The flashbacks start and we see the boy coming down the corridor again. The door in the toilets slams shut and the last thing we see is the girls face. 

Genre and how the opening suggests it

For any film, presenting the genre is very important. There are many aspects of a genre needed in a film to make that clear for example if you wanted to do romance, somewhere you’re going to need soft music and a happy atmosphere. The same applies for horror; you’re going to need the same sort of thrills when it comes to any horror film. I wanted to add these aspects into my film opening as well. I think the main reason as to why mine seem to be a horror is because of the distinct music that I put in. It fitted perfectly with the opening until the last 10 seconds or more when the song became a bit more uplifting.