Opening Plans

The opening will start with the main character being dragged unconscious into a room or open plan building by two other people, with possibly some unimportant dialogue, and being dumped onto the floor along with a bag.  It will fade to black for some titles, throughout this there will be a voiceover giving some back story.  It will fade back into the same shot with the person waking up and taking in his surrounding and finding the bag next to him.  He will open the bag finding a note explaining the situation (which the voice over will read out), some water, some food and a weapon which will most likely be a paper plane or possible something a bit more deadly.

Some gunshots will be heard in the background which will cause the main character to look up.  It will then cut to the main picking up his bag and weapon, walking to the door, opening it and walking out.  There will be some erie music probably low key piano music possible by the infamous Tim Minchin playing throughout the opening with some titles over-layed upon the video footage and some fading to a black out for the title.

Depending on the amount of time remaining it might also include the main character walking away from the building and encountering another player in this death game trying to reason with him and failing, leading to his first kill.

Audience feedback:

I have received a fair bit of audience feedback in person from friends and family all of them like what I have outlined above and think that it will make for an effective opening as it is.  A suggestion made by a couple of people was the possibility of seeing additional characters within the opening like someone friendly towards the main character.

Brief structural story outline

An underground organisation has been abducting apparently random groups of people every month and forcing them to participate in sadistic fights to the death on abandoned islands/cities or isolated locations where the last person standing gets to leave with their life.
The story follows a man from a military background who has not only risked his life for his country but to help make the world a better place.  He has been selected for the next game but does not want to participate, he attempts to find a way to get as many people as he can of off the island and with the help of other military people, also in the same death match, will successful but maybe not as much as he would wish.

Plans for shooting

Hair and Make-up
-messy hair and dirty looking faces for contestants
-Clean and tidy for underground organisation

Costumes
-ragged clothing- untidy and dirty
        - supplied by cast
-Gas Masks
        - Supplied by two cast members
-Combat fatigues
        - Supplied by cast members

Lighting
- Natural lighting mostly
- standard household lights for indoor shots

Shot Types
- Establishing Shot
- Close-up Shot
- Over the Shoulder Shot
- Long Shot
- Extreme Long Shot

Props
- Imitation weapons (airsoft weapons)
          - Supplied by cast member
- Axe/Machete
          - Supplied by me or cast member

Location Scouting Sheet

1) Risdens Wood, Harlow
Risdens would be good to shoot at as it offers both a largish field and a wooded area to shoot in, as well as having a small usually dirty hut that may be usable.

2) Dane mead wood
Dane mead offers a fairly large and dense wood land that I could shoot in as well as being surrounded by more woodland most of which is public.

3) Harlow Common
Harlow common offers a fairly large open field along with massive sections of woodland of varying densities, and although it does not have any building I think this is one of the areas that I will use to shoot my opening.

4) Overhall Farm
Overhall Farm as the name suggests is a farm although it features a large semi-derelict storage building with silos inside, it is nice and dark/dingy and will suit my opening nicely.

Importance of Genre

Genre is important to both the audience and the institutions as it defines what kind of things the film is going to include and the overall look/feel of the film.  The audience will use the genre of the film to help decide wether or not they may like it or not as all films of a particular genre will include similarities.  The institutions will use the genre to help with the marketing of the film, if they know the genre they can use iconography typical for that genre like horror films usually use lots of blood and gore.

Production companies are generally genre specific this is beneficial for them as they become more and more experienced in that particular area, building up a base of directors, producers, designers and actors who tailor for their genre.  Due to this they are able to more effectively produce films in their given genre as they will already have a good idea of the conventions and codes as well as possibly being able to re-use costumes and props to reduce costs.

The audiences generally prefer being able to determine the genre of a film before they partake in the viewing especially if they paying to see it.  This way they know if the film will be suited to their preferences before they spend any money, as no-one wants to pay to see a film they won't like.

What this means for my film opening?

Setting: The location I have chosen is a field with some woodland and a small derelict wooden barn.  These things are typical of horror film, as abandoned/open empty places are usually associated with isolation and therefore a lack of living people present creating a sense of vulnerability.  Also the overall aesthetics of the scene will be very dingy/dirty making for a more uncomfortable audience viewing.

Sound: I will use a variety of typical horror genre sounds probably including a eerie, sustained soundtrack for backing music and sound effects like distant gunshots and sticks breaking it the woods.  The idea of this is to unnerve the audience and crate apprehension.

Props: I will include some props typical to horror films like knives and axes, imitation firearms and fake blood, to try an make it seem more realistic.

Camerawork: I will use a range of camera shot and movements probably including some handheld shot and some point of view shot to try to involve the audience more in the film and create more tension.

Audio Permission

For audio I will be getting one of my friends to crate and record a piano cover of the track 'Welcome to the Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance.

Timed Analysis: Resident Evil - Afterlife

First two minute only starting 0:00 finishing 2:00

0:00 - Black screen
0:05 - Fades to helicopter shot of a large city
0:06 - Camera panning and moving
        - 'Screen Gems' fades in lower left frame
        - Enlarges gradually
0:10 - 'Screen Gems' fades out
        - Cuts to a closer helicopter shot of same city
0:11 - 'Constantin Films' and 'Davis Films/Impact Pictures' and 'Presents' Fades in lower right
        - Enlarges gradually
0:16 - Previous title fades out
        - Cuts to a helicopter shot of a block of buildings
0:17 - 'A Constantin Film' and' Davis Films/Impact Pictures' and 'Production' Fades in lower left
        - Enlarges gradually
0:21 - Title Fades out
0:22 - Cuts to a long shot of some buildings with a title 'out of focus' in the upper left
0:23 - Building come out of focus/title comes into focus 'A  Film By Paul W.S.Anderson'
        - Enlarges gradually
0:26 - Cuts to a establishing shot of a busy street
0:28 - Background goes out of focus as title fades in 'Milla Jovovich'
        - Enlarges gradually
0:31 - Cuts to a shot of some traffic lights and two signs in a different language
        - Lights change from  green to amber then to red
0:33 - Cuts to a shot of a street people crossing it
        - 'Ali Larter' fades in lower right
        - Enlarges gradually
0:37 - Cuts to a aerial shot of the crossing showing one person standing still in the middle
0:39 - Film title 'Resident evil' flies onto screen from camera
0:40 - Second part flies on as separate letters and join together 'Afterlife'
0:45 - Both parts of title fly towards camera and out of frame
        - Cuts to a tilt shot starting with the stationary women feet/legs
        - Footage slowed down slightly
0:52 - 'Kim Coates' fades in lower right behind a person's leg as it goes out of shot
0:56 - Title fades out
1:00 - 'Shawn Roberts' fades in upper left
1:04 - Person walks across frame removing previous title and bringing in 'Sergio Peris-Mencheta' lower right
1:10 - Cuts back to aerial shot above crossing still showing the women standing still
        - 'Spencer Locke' fades in upper left
1:14 - Title fades out
1:15 - 'with Borris Kodjoe' fades in bottom right
1:20 - 'and Wenworth Miller' fades in middle left
1:23 - Title fades out
        - cuts back to tilt shot of the women
1:24 - 'Canadian Casting by Robin D.Cook,CSA' and 'UK Casting by Suzanne M.Smith, CDG' fades in upper right
1:27 - Person walks across frame removing previous title and bringing in ' Costume Designer Denise Cronenberg' lower left
1:31 - Previous title fades out and 'Production Designer Arv Grewal' fades in upper right
1:35 - title fades out and cuts to a medium long shot of the women standing on the crossing
1:40 - Director of Photography Glen Macpherson, ASC, CSC' appears under someones umbrella lower left
1:43 - Previous title fades out and 'Edited by Niven Howie' Appears behind another person's umbrella lower right
1:49 - Title fades out
        - cuts to a medium shot of the woman
        - Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Berardi' fades in lower middle
1:52 - Title fades out and 'Music by Tommandandy' fades in upper left
1:55 - Person walks across frame removing previous title
1:56 - Cuts to long shot of the woman on the crossing
1:57 - 'Based upon capcom's Videogame 'Resident Evil'' fades in lower middle
2:00 - Title fades out

Timed Analysis: Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters

First two minutes only starting at 1:00 and finishing at 2:00

0:00 - Black screen
0:02 - Fades to an extreme long shot of moon
0:03 - 0:17 - Tilt/Pan to aerial shot over a forest
                  - Field and hut come into shot
                  - Man comes out of woods with lantern and goes to hut
0:27 - Cuts to inside the hut, man entering
0:28 - Cuts to a woman in hut, closing curtains
0:30 - Women steps back camera tracks
0:32 - Cuts to behind curtain, women's silhouette visible
        - Man's silhouette approaches women's
0:33 - Dialogue 'take them into the forest'
0:35 - Cuts to facing away from curtain
        - Two beds/bedside table, boy and girl
0:38 - Cuts to medium shot of man coming through curtains
0:40 - Cuts back to children in bed, waking up
0:43 - Cuts to medium shot of man leading children through the woods with a rifle
0:46 - Cuts to in front of the man, medium shot
0:50 - Cuts to extreme long shot of man and children
0:53 - Cuts to long shot of man and children
0:56 - Slight zoom as man and children stop
0:59 - Over the shoulder shot, between children of man
1:00 - two shot of children showing their expressions
1:01 - Dialogue 'You stay here'
1:03 - Cuts to close-up of man
1:04 - Dialogue 'I'll be back soon
1:07 - Medium shot of children, 'Wait!'
1:09 - Medium shot of man, 'I said stay here!
1:15 - Long shot of man walking away
1:16 - Dialogue 'Father'
1:17 - Close-up of man putting out lantern
        - Dialogue 'Wait!
        - Cuts to black
1:21 - Fades to aerial zoom shot looking down on both children sitting on forest floor
1:26 - Cuts to a long shot of children
1:30 - Cuts to medium shot
1:31 - Bird noises and a strange squeak
        - Children look at each other
1:35 - Cuts to a long shot with a small tilt
        - Children start walking
1:43 - Cuts to medium shot behind children following them through the forest
        - Tracks them slightly
1:47 - Cuts to medium long shot in front of children
        - Children walking towards camera
1:56 - Tracking shot
2:00 - Children looking out of shot

Timed Analysis: World War Z

First minute 0:00 - 1:00

0:00 - Black screen with 'Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions Present'
0:02 - Cuts to black
0:04 - 'In association with Hemisphere Media Capital and GK Films' Cuts in
0:06 - Cuts to black
0:07 - Cuts to 'A Plan B Entertainment/2Dux2 Production'
0:10 - Cuts to black
0:11 - Cuts to a establishing shot of a beach
0:14 - Cuts to a shot of some clouds
0:17 - Cuts to a shot of a cityscape with the sun shining through the buildings
0:18 - Cuts to a shot of a run down town/slum
        - Triangle showing a distorted view lower left
        - Triangle slowly gets bigger
0:20 - Cuts to a split screen 'A Marc Foster Film' on the left and a flock of birds flying on the right
0:22 - Cuts to a split screen both halts showing the flying flock of birds but from slightly different perspectives
0:23 - Cuts to another split screen with 'Brad Pitt' on the right and a distorted view of a street on the left
0:25 - Cuts to a distorted view of a house
0:27 - Cuts to a split screen with 'Mireille Enos' on the right and distorted view of houses to either side
0:28 - Cuts to a partially distorted shot of people getting of a train the distortion is other the people
0:30 - Audio overlay of a news channel starts
0:31 - Cuts to a split screen with 'Daniella Kertesz' on the left and the train platform shot on the right
0:32 - Cuts to a distorted shot of the coast and a guy pushing his bike along
0:34 - Cuts to another distorted screen with 'James Badge Dale' on the right and a shot of people on an escalator on the left
0:36 - Cuts to a split screen left people going down an escalator, right people going up an escalator
0:37 - Cuts to distorted split screen with 'David Morse' on the left and a shot of people in a train station on the right
0:38 - Cuts to a shot of the train/airplane timetable
0:40 - split screen with 'Fana Mokoena' and 'David Andrews' on the left and Shot of an airplane taking off on the right 
0:42 - Cuts to a shot of some trees with the sun shining through and lots of lens glare, slight pan
0:43 - Cuts to a split screen with 'Sterling Jerins' and'Abigail Hargrove' top left and lots of ants on the other part
0:45 - Cuts to a shot of another flock of flying birds
0:47 - Cuts to a split screen with 'Peter Capaldi' and 'Pierfrancesco Favino' on the left and a police officer talking to someone through a car window on the right
0:49 - Cuts to a distorted view of some scrolling message boards
0:50 - Cuts to  a split screen with 'Ludi Boeken' and 'Gregory Fitoussi' centre left and a crowded street on the right
0:53 - Cuts to a split screen with black on the left and a Tv studio on the right
0:54 - Cuts to a broken screen with ' casting by Kate Dowd' offset to the left and a shot of some water from a bridge on the right
0:56 - Cuts to a TV news view screen about dolphins swimming ashore
0:58 - Cuts to a split screen with 'Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar' on the left and the sea splashing some rocks on the right.
1:00 - Cuts to a split screen with 'Music by Marco Beltrami' on the right and a shot of a man on the left

Risk Assessment

Location Release Form

Talent Release Form