'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. 

Paranormal Activity Poster Analysis - Lauren

Prior to the filming process of our film and to help with the producution stages I have decided to evaluate a movie that demonstrates the conventions of a phychological horror alike ours- Paranormal Activity. The use of framing captures the young couple edging away from the open door presenting the fear of unknown; also the open door could symbolise the vunerability and innocence as it is approaching. It establishes their surroundings particularly the bedroom accompanied with the time in the right hand corner, siginfying the high levels or fear to the audience as we can see it is 3am in the morning ideally the time they would be sleeping. This is also conveyed in the use of shaded lighting and the greyed effect of the night vision photography, it creates an uneasiness as we realise the couple's actions are being closely watched despite the hour of the day. The lack of clarity that is shown within the effect used portrays the characters emotions as they are unsure what is lurking just metres away from them outside the door.

Furthermore the cropping of the image captures the young couple in the bed whilst the door is still in focus, allowing the focal point to be the connection of the couple edging away and the door opening to the darkness. It has been carefully cropped to ensure the main objects (bed and door) are central in the poster as well as presenting their surroundings as a bedroom. The mise-en-scene also emphasises the uneasiness as the audience witness its early hours of the morning and the image has been captured from a camera recording them throughout the day. The use of the time have been displayed is important as it allows us to realise the lack of normality of the couple being awake at that hour shifting the fear between the characters and the audience. The setting of the bedroom accompanied with the two-shot of the couple establishes the relationship in their environment with their positioning in the bed which would ideally be a content and empowered by love; yet contrastingly in the scene the prominent emotion is fear particularly radiating from the open door. 

The use of the colour used for the font could conveys danger, the deep shade of red closely links to blood provoking a sense of unknown fear as well as the use of capital letters which enforces the terror of the statements and quote. The clarity of the font contrasts the lighting and effect of the night vision which is unclear- ensuring the audience can establish the difference and realise the importance of the text stating the horror the film. The slogan 'DONT SEE IT ALONE' stirs the fear within its target audience capturing their attention however not revealing too much of the plot. 

SAW III Poster Analysis - Shondell

This is a poster for the film 'Saw III'. I chose to look closely at this poster because it links to the ideas that we have for our film poster. The lighting in the image is used well as it uses low key lighting on one the left hand side as the light is being shone on the right hand side of his face, which creates a shadow over half of his face, slightly revealing the emotionless yet sinister look on his face to make the audience wonder what he is thinking, or what he is about to do. The black and red cloak he is wearing in the image suggests he may be trying to hide his identity, which may also sugggest the darkness crossing over half of his face, and that fact that he is positioned in the way that his shoulder is facing the audience, signifies that he is not being completely open and honest, he may be trying to keep his identity a secret from certain people, but he's letting the audience know who he his for the purpose of the film itself by partially revealing his identity. The title text on this poster seems almost 'fire-lit', it could signify danger, as does the font used for the title, it is very uneven and seems to use an 'old paper' effect on it, to make it look dirty or rusty, as if it has been scored into a surface of some sort with a knife or sharp object, these effects link to the genre of the film as a gore-filled horror.

The rest of the font on this poster is also quite rough looking, and uneven, this also could signify the cutting or scoring with a sharp knife or object as the text gives that look/effect. All the text on the poster is in red and the inside of his cloak is red, which again, could signify danger, blood or death as there is a lot of this in the Saw films, this gives away the genre of the film to the audience as the colours, lighting, framing and mise-en-scene all conform to the typical conventions of a horror movie. This poster is very plain, but effective, it would appeal to the audience because of the fact it gives nothing away, it makes the audience want to know more, the simple phrase 'Legends Never Die' and the title 'SAW III' tells you nothing about what the film involves, which leaves the audience wanting more, so therefore they will fulfill their need to know more by going to watch the film in the cinema.

The positioning of the character on the poster is in the middle of the frame, so this shows the importance of the character as he is the main, and only, focus on the poster. This could suggest to the audience that he is, or is one of the main characters in the movie. The text is smaller and less significant than the character himself, which also suggests that he is more important than the title of the film itself. The fact that the text 'Legends Never Die' is positioned over the character, suggests that it is referring to him, and represents him in a form of death itself, as he is wearing a black cloak that signifies the form of the master of death 'the Grim Reaper'. This could send a message to the audience that even when he is dead, he will still live in spirit, and find a way to get through to his enemies or victims. These techniques are used to appeal to a wider audience, the poster is simple yet effective to leave the storyline open for questioning to lead the audience to want to know more.

Analysis of The Shining - Charlie

This is a film Poster from 'The Shining' which is a famous psychological horror from 1980 directed by Stanley Kubrick. 

The shining does not show many conventions of a sterotypical film poster but becasue of the way that it presents themes of a psycological horror it makes it a affective and eye catching advertisement. I have chosen to analyse this film poster becuase it is from a famous film so it is very well known. Althought this certain film poster looks simple, it give the audience a sense of what is to come in the film.

The face in the poster looks crazy which is what we hope to portray when we make our film poster becuase the genre of the film can be shown to the audience without having to have too much actual text. The main part of the film poster is a well known iconic part of the shining which draws the audience in and makes them interested in what is going to happen.

The writing is bold which draws in the audience. Having the text at the bottom works well because it makes the title and director clear and noticeable. Part of the text is in red which represents danger and blood. 

overall this film poster for "the shining" is well made and has some good features that conform to the horror genre. 

by Charlie Herbert