The document discusses how a student film opening uses conventions of horror film openings. It examines five conventions used: 1) a secluded location to make characters vulnerable; 2) mis-en-scene elements like fake blood and tools to imply danger; 3) ominous sounds to build tension; 4) a fake scare to startle the audience; and 5) implying planned killing rather than showing it to intrigue viewers. The opening challenges conventions by changing the timing of death while effectively using researched conventions to create a pleasing horror film introduction.

1. 
Evaluation Questions.
Question 1

2. In what ways does your film
opening use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real film
openings?

3. Answer…
The next few slides will enable you to see how our
horror opening uses the conventions expected within a
horror film and why they have been used, how we have
developed them and how they may challenge the
conventions seen in real film openings.

4. Conventions
Due to previous research, which can be viewed on all of
the group member’s blogs we were able to familiarise
ourselves with the expected conventions within our
own horror movie opening. The next few slides will take
you through how we within our opening used the
different conventions, why and the effect they had.

5. 1. Secluded Location
Through research, we discovered that the use of a
secluded location causes the audience to become
familiar with the fact that there is nobody around to
help the characters in danger if they were to need it-
this causes the elements of fear to rise. As a group we
took it upon ourselves to take advantage of this
convention and use it within a shot in the woods- this
shows that there is no one around.

6. 2. Mis-en-scene
The use of mis-en-scene within our opening has a great
relation to the conventions expected of horror movies. In
some shots we have used fake blood, which instantly
connotes danger and death linking to the expectations of a
horror movie. We also had tools, such as spanners,
screwdrivers and hammers in the back ground of some
shots- this portrays to the audience that the elements of
death may be abnormal in some ways rather than normal
ways such as via a gun. We also had a knife within our
opening to stab a photograph, this also adds to the creepy
and time-scaled element (how long is left?!)

7. 3. Sound
As we had previously researched the importance of
sound within horror films (Planning) it was important
that we had used this information and put it into
practice in our opening. The sound we used had a slow
pace linking to the idea that something unexpected
may happen and also linking to movements of
characters and creating a spooky era.

8. 4. Fake Scare
Within our opening, because through research we
learnt that fake scares are almost as effective as serious
scares we thought it would be useful to add one into
our opening- so we added a minimal fake scare within
the shot of the young girl walking through the woods-
the fake scare was that whilst the camera was focused
on the woods, it could be said that the character
coming from nowhere linked with the sound is a fake
scare- this was also said and agreed by Tayla Thorley
(aged 17) who watched our opening and picked out
numerous conventions.

9. 5. Planning to kill
Although it isn’t unusual for someone to die within the
first five minutes, we as a group decided to go against
this and change it to the planning of death- this is when
the Caretaker stabs the photograph of the student
which portrays to the audience that something is going
to happen in the future within the film which is
encouraging to the audience to continue to watch the
film.

10. Overall…
Overall, as a group we believe that we have challenged
conventions of horror films and added them into our
opening in the right way and effectively.
This has overall caused us to be pleased with our
opening because we have based it upon our research
successfully and overall achieved our goal.