A blog to showcase our AS Media Studies coursework.
Credits Typography
Based on our research on typography, most horror movies us font which is appropriate to the movie which will follow it. Most of the horror movies we have researched included the colours Red, yellow and orange. However, for our film opening, the main idea was to make everything (outwardly) seem normal, and not have anything alluding to its violent nature until the end. Therefore, our titles introducing the actors' names, makeup, visuals, sound come before the main title sequence, and they are introduced with a fade-in effect on final cut pro. The colour of the titles are white,which is a reference to what the Killer wears. For our final title, this would reflect the true nature of the film opening, so we decided to chose a font which looks like it was written in blood. We chose the font from a website called fontspace.com, and edited the colours in Adobe Photoshop. The title, "Oni" is a reference to Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular in Japanese art, literature and theatre.
Depictions of Oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic ogre-like creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common. For our film opening, the mask is white, and the killer's hair is neat to further highlight normality juxtaposed with violence and death.
The main title is supposed to fade in and out exactly the same as the previous titles, in order to keep the atmosphere the same, as there are already "jump scares" within the music.
This is our final opening credit title.
Production Companies
Blumhouse Productions
Previous films: Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister, The Purge, Dark Skies
Blumhouse Productions is an American horror movie production company, founded by Jason Blum. Blumhouse produces micro- and low-budget horror movies, such as the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, and Sinister franchises. In 2014, Blumhouse produced the Academy Award–nominated drama film Whiplash, for which Blum was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.The company currently has a 10-year first-look deal with the studio Universal Pictures. Being associated with Universal Pictures as a Subsidiary allows for easier distribution and promotion of media products, as Universal is one of the largest film producers and media distributors in the world, alongside Warner Bros. and Disney, for example, which is good for low-budget horror films, such as our film opening Here is a clip of their production company opening:
Rogue Pictures
Previous films: Seed of Chucky, Cry Wolf, The Return, The Strangers, The Unborn, My Soul to Take
Rogue Pictures is devoted to producing and distributing high-quality suspense, action, thriller, and urban entertainment with mainstream appeal and franchise potential. Its parent company, at present, is Relativity Media
Rogue Pictures was originally formed by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment in 1997 as its low-profile or low-budget film production division, but it became defunct in 2000 after PolyGram was purchased by Universal Studios. Later in 2004, the company was revived by the Universal Studios-owned Focus Features to produce and distribute films in the specific genres of horror, thriller, African-American, high suspense and action. In 2009, Relativity Media acquired Rogue Pictures from Universal Studios with over 25 films in its library. However, the studio later had films progressively having less and less box-office grosses. In early 2014, the company was quietly retired due to the disastrous critical failure of Movie 43 (despite the film being a moderate box office success). Here is a clip of their production company opening:
Benderspink Productions
Previous films: The Ring, The Butterfly Effect, Insanitrarium, Kill Theory Benderspink Producer Chris Bender and producer/manager J.C. Spink have turned Benderspink into one of the more successful hybrids in town, thanks to their solid judgment about what audiences enjoy.They produce horror films but by no means exclusive to the horror genre (summer hit We’re The Millers is one of theirs, as was Monster-In-Law, which some might consider a different kind of horror movie altogether), the company has done well by finding solid remake fare (The Ring), low budget franchise possibilities (there were two straight-to-video Butterfly Effect sequels), and high concept fare (Demeter follows the tale of the 19thcentury ship that brought Dracula to England).
Dark Castle Entertainment
Previous films: Thirteen Ghosts, Gothika, House of Wax, The Reaping, Orphan, The Apparition Dark Castle Entertainment is an American film production company, which is a division under Silver pictures, which was affiliated with Warner Bros., now affiliated with Universal Studios. The name pays homage to a film maker named William Castle, who made horror films in the 1950s and 1960s. When formed in 1999, the company remade Castle's films as well as branching into other genres of movies. Some of its filmography include House on the Haunted Hill, Ghost ship and Thirteen Ghosts. In 2015, Jason Blum of Blumhouse productions spoke twice to Joel Silver about doing a co-production for their parent company, Universal, to distribute, but haven't found the right project to do so. We felt that this was a good production company, however it focused more on the sub-genre of ghosts, rather than our intended psychological/slasher horror sub genre. Here is a clip of their production company opening:
I then conducted a survey to find out which would be the most suitable production company for our film opening. I did this by showing 15 seconds of the (unfinished) film opening, and then asked which of the four production companies they thought was best.
The survey showed that 9/19 people, or 47% said that Blumhouse productions was most suitable for our film opening, which has additional benefits of promotion and distribution from its parent company Universal, if it were to premiere.
Above is a shot of the colour board in Final Cut Pro which allows me to alter the tint, exposure, and saturation of the shot.
I used it to make the shots of the meat more prominent. The first two images (top left and right) are a before and after comparison of the same close-up. The right shot is how it looked without any editing, and on the left the exposure has been decreased, and saturation brought up for the shadows and mid-tones to make the red stand out more.
In the over-the-shoulder shot, the cutting board and meat was made brighter to emphasise the action taking place. The surroundings were made darker, and a blue hue was added for a look more similar to those found in horror movies.
The shots of our masked killer were edited to give a stronger contrast on the mask itself; with more downcast shadows for a sinister and dramatic expression. The overall exposure was reduced as well as the exposure of the light coming in from the window.
The top right shot featuring the mask being grabbed was also edited to make the blood brighter.
This blog is run by the two of us (Virginia and Shanette) to showcase out media coursework in the making of out final film. To see our individual work, locate the Filter section of the menu above.
Based on our research on typography, most horror movies us font which is appropriate to the movie which will follow it. Most of the horror movies we have researched included the colours Red, yellow and orange.
Therefore, our titles introducing the actors' names, makeup, visuals, sound come before the main title sequence, and they are introduced with a fade-in effect on final cut pro. The colour of the titles are white,which is a reference to what the Killer wears.
