The document describes a student's horror film opening sequence that follows conventions of the genre. Dark lighting, knives and candles were used as props to create fear. The identity of the antagonist is kept hidden by framing shots to only show his body and hands, not face. Titles appear on a black background with transitions between to convey importance. The main title "Red Tears" is bold and red to stand out, with an earthquake effect to add to the horror feel. The soundtrack contains a harsh beat and sinister sounds to match the images and titles.

2. • I chose to create a horror genre opening sequence
• I did this by following the typical conventions of horror. For example,
I used weapons such as knifes and sharp tools as props laid out on the
table to create the effect of fear as I filmed the character sharpening or
caressing the objects. I also followed to rules of mise-en-scene which
meant the lighting used was dark and dull. This connoted the horror
genre as many horror films have dark scenes which adds fear and
danger to the sequence. To add to this effect, I also used props of
flickering candles again adding to the mystery and danger of the
character, giving the impression that the character the audience was
seeing would be important later on in the film.

3. Within my opening sequence I wanted to
challenge the conventions of a real media
product by keeping the characters identity
hidden. Most opening sequences either
tell a short story, show a back story which
is to later on be explained or present the
protagonist straight away to the audience.
However, my opening sequence contained
the antagonist (the killer) and his face is
never fully shown. I did this by framing
the characters face out of the shot which
meant I couldn’t use the typical camera
shots e.g. mid shot and long shot. Instead I
only contained the characters body (when
writing in his journal or embracing his
weapons) and his hands which uses a close
up shot to show the audience what the
characters doing. It was important to keep
the identity of the killer hidden as it added
effect of fear and mystery. This invites the
audience to watch the rest of the film and
encourages them to discover the killers
identity and the story of the film.

4. • The titles of my opening sequence were also important to convey the horror
genre
• I chose to edit my titles on IMovie so that they appear on a black background as I
felt this looked more effective and gave them importance (rather then just being
shown over the images) and added transitions so that each title slowly
disappeared and then a bold image followed e.g. the killer or a weapon according
to the beat of the soundtrack
• The main title of the film: Red Tears I chose to do differently to the rest. This was
so it was bold and stood out so that the audience are able to recognise this is the
title of the film. It also shows for longer than the other titles, is in a red colour as
red connotes danger, blood, fear, evil and death (all the conventions typical of
horror films) and I added an earthquake effect which means the titles vibrates
then slowly stop to then fade away, again adding to the effect or a horror genre.

5. • The soundtrack within my opening sequence is also
and important part of covering the genre to the
audience
• Like typical conventions of horror soundtracks, my
soundtrack contains a harsh beat in which the
images and titles are edited to and a sinister sound
which goes well with the props and images used
throughout
• I also made sure the music matched correctly with
the first appearance of my main title – Red Tears,
when the music is at its peak the title appears
adding to the effect of the opening sequence.
• When the scene of the newspaper clippings is
shown and the police lights are visible on the paper
itself, I added in the sound effects of police sirens
which I used from Imovie.
• The end scene of the opening sequence also finishes
when the soundtrack does.