Planning our opening sequence
We have decided to base our film opening around an abduction and murder of a teenage girl. The opening will gradually introduce the idea of the abduction and murder with the use of dual narrative; flashbacks and the present. Through doing this it will ensure that the audience are instilled with suspense in order to meet the stereotypical conventions of the genre thriller/horror. Within the opening, a 'déjà vu' effect will run throughout, with the previous events recurring in the present.
With our opening using dual narrative, the events of the past and the present will be linked through flashbacks of the same place, just at different times. The two contrasting time frames but the same location will build tension in the audience as it almost foreshadows what will happen in the present, and will help us to create a narrative that meets the conventions of our genre. The transition between the past and present will be made using the stereotypical effect that portrays the shot as being old or previously filmed. Eventually the two time frames will link, as the events of the past will replay in the present, but the audience will be able to detect this happening before it is actually shown as the type of shots will create tension. Also the frequency of the antagonist in the shots will be increase with more focus on him, showing the audience the possible danger that he may pose, making them anxious for the protagonist. We aim to have the narrative shown through the point of view of the protagonist, as we feel that this would help to engage the audience, as well as show the audience how they are feeling, evoking more sympathy and allowing them to connect to them more.
Our film opening will have three characters in total, one of them only present in the flashbacks. They include a protagonist, antagonist, and a female victim (friend of the protagonist). The protagonist and the victim will be aged between 16-18 as this age includes the target audiences age, so we felt that this would help them to relate to the characters. As well as this, we chose the protagonist to be female as conventionally they are men so by defying this it will appeal to more people. The antagonist will be male, and will wear all black, as black connotes danger and darkness, which is reflected by the location as well; he will wear something to cover his face as this will conceal his identity creating more tension as the audience are suspicious of who he is. Men are stereotypically stronger than women, so this is why the antagonist is male, linking well with the narrative. The protagonist and the victim are of a particular age, as well as their gender, where when alone conventionally are vulnerable, hence the murder.
For the location of the opening sequence, we have chosen a woodland area as it a space that is open for use, but also hold all the suitable connotations of horror, for example isolation which would create a sense of fear in the audience as they would know that there is no help near, signifying that something bad will happen. The lighting will be all natural, which would reflect nature and how nature will also take it's cause. The darkness that the trees will bring will represent the mood of the film as well as tension as darkness often has connotations that something bad is going to happen, linking into our narrative. Filming in the woods will give us no control of the environment or any changes we want to make, but it will reflect the mood we want and comply with stereotypical conventions of the genre we are following.
We will mainly use over the shoulder shots and POV shots to introduce the antagonist as his identity will not be revealed during the opening 2 minutes of the film which will create a sense of mystery for the viewer. In order to establish the antagonist's location we will use panning shots and tracking shots when following the victim. Close ups of the two girls will help the audience to establish their emotions and understand how they are feeling through facial expressions and body language; this will also create tension.