'Parallel Minds' Sequence Production (Analysis By Cameron)

This is our groups final version of our title sequence production 'Parallel Minds'. It includes all the aspects needed to be qualified as a short film title sequence production as well as being a psychological horror as it includes the typical conventions of that of a psychological horror movie. For example, a flashback at the beginning of the production is seen of the group of friends having a good time, in black and quite to signify these are events of the past before contrasting and skipping to the current affairs of one of the characters being interviewed by a psychologist.

This raises questions from the audience as to what happened and why he is in this situation as it contrasts what appears to be happy memories at the beginning  something very typical of a horror genre movie to do, presenting moments of happiness to be contrasted with other more sinister events later on in the film. Due to this being only a title sequence, the use of these flashbacks with the interview with the psychologist is designed to make the audience question things and intrigue them without giving too much away as to what happens in the rest of the film. 

The use of the first person camera view during the flashbacks at the beginning are designed to signify who the main character is as these events from the past are presented through his eyes, also signifying the fun times he personally had before whatever events occurred later on. The use of the camera angles focusing on the main character as he lays down on the sofa such as the close up shots of his face as well as the mid shots signify he is the character of most importance and that the audience should focus on him the most. However after the first flashback when the main character is seen for the first time on the sofa, a slight panning establishing shot of the room, props as well as both the main character and the psychologist is shown to give the audience an idea of what is going on immediately. 

It is then immediately followed by the psychologist saying "George, or do I call you scar, which would you prefer?" automatically signifying to the audience that the main character is being assessed in some way. The fact that the main characters emotionless face, as well as sometimes ignoring the questions of the psychologist and answering shortly and abruptly, and sometimes in a louder tone of voice suggests this character went through some sort of traumatic experience or a horrific one, also presenting itself as a typical horror genre film convention. This also poses as another factor for the audience to view and question, further intriguing them to continue to watch the film as they want to find out why the character is in the state he is in, what could have possibly happened etc. 

As the sequence progresses in the middle of the production, another flashback occurs of the characters having fun times in the past, once again presented in black and white to suggest this also filmed in a POV state to signify this is from the main characters eyes and how he views things. This is again contrasted when it flicks back to the current affairs of the main character and the psychologist in which the main character gets up abruptly and raises his voice, signifying raised anger levels, increasing tension of the situation. This tension slowly being built up by the contrasting of the happy memories of the character as well as the anger of the current affairs the main character is in suggests further yet another convention of a horror genre film. 

Towards the end of the title sequence a final flashback is shown in a completely different setting to the first signifying another event to the audience, perhaps a more recent one, also shown in black and white. While this flashback plays, the natural sounds of the setting and the character are completely gotten rid of and replaced with horrific sinister non-digetic music played over the top to add a sudden increasing level of tension and horror to the atmosphere. The use of the lighting at the beginning of this flashback as the main character walks down the hallway is key and significant as the camera was proportioned in such a way to catch this light over his shoulder to add a more sinister look to the situation, also presenting itself as another convention of a typical horror genre film, with rising tensions. 

After the main character is seen walking through the door, his facial expression changes, and very quick abrupt jump cuts are used as he looks down to see what is on the floor, but is not shown to the audience to maximize as much tension to the situation as possible, and to once again make the audience wonder what is going on, and question things further intriguing them. After the jump cuts, the production company name is presented in red text placed over a black background, signifying this film will be sinister and horrific as red is commonly signified with anger and horror among many horror genre movies. 

As all this is happening, the non-digetic horrific music is still playing in the background, sustaining the tension and horror here. It then flicks back to the character who further advances over to what he is seeing on the floor and he begins to crouch down as the camera uses tracking to film him as he moves, but once again the audience has not yet seen what is on the floor as it once again flicks to a black screen with text saying "An In The Frame Film", once again in red, with the music still playing, all to maximize as much tension and suspense as possible, a very key convention of a horror genre film. Finally when it flicks back to the flashback for a third time, the audience see's that there is a dead body laying on the floor, with a bloodied knife right next to the body, posing as a shock factor to the audience, also a very key convention of a horror genre movie, also increasing the suspense further. 

The emotion of the main character is shown in the next camera shot, a mid range shot of the main character crouching over the body as he falls onto it and cries. This further makes the audience question what has happened here, who is the dead body, why did this happen, all these factors and questions intrigue the audience into wanting to watch the film further to gain answers to these questions, and the fact that these are designed to play on the mind are typical conventions of a psychological horror type movie. 

Right before the film finishes, the title of the film is presented once again with the red text over the black background and is timed with the music as it fades into it. This is once again designed to signify this film will be sinister from the use of the red text, and intrigues the audience into watching the film to find out answers to the many questions provoked throughout the title sequence.

SAW II opening scene - Shondell

This is the opening scene for the film SAW II. I chose to analyse this title sequence as we are using similar ideas to this for our own title sequence, as it conforms to the typical conventions of a horror movie. The saw title sequence begins with showing the film companies that were involved in the making of this film, however, this contrasts to our idea as we are going to jump straight into the pre title sequence. I believe that starting with the pre-title will catch the attention of the audience to create a bigger shock effect when something big happens, as the beginning or our pre title sequence is a flashback of a happy memory that once was, then the ending of the pre-title sequence is death which creates a bigger effect on the audience, as they would not have been expecting something so major, at the beginning of the film. In the opening title sequence of SAW II, the font used when showing the names of the film companies varies, but they are all very bold and have a rusty, old, edgy effect. 'Twisted pictures' has an animated barbed wire effect on it, which twists around the words and gives the impression of something painful, such as being 'twisted' or 'trapped' in barbed wire. The background is black and plain against the bold, edgy text which makes is stand out so the audience can actually read and be aware of the different film companies involved.

 The sounds used when the film companies are being shown, are very sharp and sound like rusty metal being scraped together, such as an old rusty door being opened for example, as this leads up to the pre title sequence, it gives the impression that it will take place in old, abandoned building, considering the effects and sounds used. Every sound used is very distinctive its gives the audience the feeling that all their senses have become alert and sensitive, such as the light flickering, and the static when the TV turns on.

The setting of this opening sequence is very dark and gloomy, it adds to the sense of danger and suggests that something bad is imminent. This is a good convention to have at the beginning of a film, as it entices the audience and gives them a sense of whats to come, but yet still leaves them wondering. The blood and gore is also very exciting for the audience, and the idea that death is a 'game' is portrayed throughout this, which also gives the audience something to question. The jump cuts used when the character is trying to get out of the trap are effective, as they create a sense of panic and anxiety, it helps the audience to understand the feelings of the character, as if they are in his position.The echoes created when the character screams, and shouts created a sense of isolation and loneliness as if no one can hear him, and no one will save him.

When the character is set the challenge by the masked figure on the TV, it creates a sense of panic and tension for the audience, as they don't know if he will live or die, this would engage the audience as they will be 'on the edge of their seats' waiting to see what happens, which gives the film that much more excitement. The whole mise-en-scene of this text is very unsettling, it foreshadows the idea of death, pain and isolation, which are typical conventions of a strong horror. The film title coming in at the end is very effective, because the whole pre-title sequence has given away a few hints of the film itself, and is a good way to start the film, to engage the audience then the title of the film fades in to set the story and to begin the film, this is an effective way to catch the audiences attention from the start.

Facebook Page for Parallel Minds - Viral Marketing - Shondell

To sell our product to the audience, I decided to use a form of viral marketing, social networking. I chose to make a Facebook page for our product as the target audience for our film is teenager/young adults, and they are the age group that mostly use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This way, our film will get out to our target audience easily, and they will be able to find out all the information they need through social networking, this will attract our audience and appeal to them, as they can see we are targeting a younger audience by using the things that they use to get the message out to them. 

We respond to questions and speak to our followers personally to provide them with important information they wish to know, and to make them feel more involved with the making and release of the film. We advertise our posters and trailers through these pages to entice the audience and make them more interested in watching the film. We also take into account suggestions and tips from our followers and fans to improve our marketing and advertisement.

We follow other pages similar to ours, such as Paranormal Activity  and Dark Skies, as they are similar movies to ours, and will help us gain followers and an audience in that same area, that are interested in our genre of movie, as they will be more interested in watching as to someone who enjoys comedies for example. 

Advertising through social networks: Twitter (Lauren)

In order to gain more feedback and interact with our target audience I created a Twitter page @ParallelMinds1, this allows us too keep our potential viewers interested as well as aid ourselves with necessary improvements that we could make as result of their opinions and feedback.

Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service which enables us to make tweets releasing vital information such as release dates, post videos and images: Parallel Minds opening sequence/poster and speak to fellow tweeters on a personal basis providing them with any information they seek to know. Furthermore alike our Twitter page we have also created a Facebook page with similar qualities: statuses to keep friends updated, videos/images/posters to give an insight of what is too come. 

Furthermore with the vast amount of users on Twitter and many promotional pages for other films; this allows us to consistently further our research through following their tweets, viewing their videos and gain feedback potentially helpful for the production of our work. For example we follow @ParanormalActi and @DarkSkiesMovie.