Brief description

I know that with any film openings, the audience should be gripped from the start so that they will continue to watch the rest of the film, it should been informative to make them curious but not enough to give away everything. Horror films tend to introduce the idea of something wrong to set the mood of a scary event about to happen, it should also make the audience expect something mysterious too.

The Storyline

A man is shown sitting in an office doing what appears to be the planning of a murder. He is seen looking on the internet for objects which could be used in attacks; therefore he is shown as a Hitman. We see a 'Flash back' of him murdering someone in a field at night, then cutting back to him working in the office again. At the same time, on the radio, a news report of a killing incident is being transmitted. Because the camera focus will be on the office worker, the audience will develop an understanding that the news is about him; but he is oblivious to this and remains to have an expressionless face.

A telephone conversation is added evidence to the audiences' perception of him being a bad person, we hear him discuss deals with the other person on the phone.

He writes reminders of tools he needs onto Post-It notes and information on a piece of paper, he does this violently in a frustrated manner.

We see him writing a wrong address and date so he rips up the sheet of paper and tosses it in a bin (this part is one of the most important scenes in the film opening). The man then writes the correct date on a new piece of paper.

Research for funding in England

Information in film-making & funding

Commonly, horror films are relatively low budget compared to other film genres such as action-adventure films, this is likely to be because often horror story lines try to appear as real to life as possible and as if they events actually happened, so highly technical equipment such as CGI are sometimes not needed. This applies to my own production.

I found several informative website explaining guidelines towards gaining funding with companies.  http://filmlondon.org.uk/funding_and_talent
http://industry.bfi.org.uk/funding
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/links-funding

Funding would enable a company or team to produce, distribute  market and exhibit films. Here is an example of a industry's logo, which would typically be featured at the start of a film opening. This is to show that this company was involved in the production of the film. I will put this logo in at the start of my production, which shows that a professional company is involved with the distribution.

Real Life Example:

This is a British film which had an estimated budget of £500,000. 

The cost of the actors being in my production was nothing, they were colleagues of my mum and volunteered to be in it, however if I were to really make this film, given funding and a budget, obviously there is a more likely chance that the actors would be paid for their time.

Music Idea

I understand that sound is very important in films as they create another atmosphere which can lead the audience to become more interested. Also it can hint on events that may happen later on or even exaggerate what is seen at the same time.



After watching the opening sequence of 28 Day later, I understand that having a light high pitched soundtrack is a convention of horror films, it then gradually becomes louder (more textures and range of sounds, including at least one layer of low frequency sound) and increases in tempo as the film goes on. The visuals are usually cut in time with the music, rather than the other way around.





The accompaniment for my film opening will be a song created by a friend of mine. He goes by the name of Xenon and his music is uncopyrighted.

Xenon's genre is dubstep, (a modern pop style.)
-71% of dubstep listeners are aged between 16 – 25.
-That majority of those listeners are with 69% of the audience being male and 21% being female.

I think this song is really relevant to what I want the audience to think, as it is aimed at young people; ages between. Eerie sounding music are featured in horror films; to hint that something bad is about to happen, so the audience will start to fear something.
That's the response I would like.

Film Treatment

Working Title: "Postered".

This is my first idea:

A voice over from one of the characters will say: 

"I used to be so close to my family, like there was an unknown force that was holding us together. But one day, a stranger came and took me....pulled me away from everybody else. Now all of my family are being torn apart."

-We see (what appears to be) an ordinary man who is doing work in an office. He doesn't even realise it, but he has just brutally murdered and decapitated a whole community. He does not have a split personality or any other mental disorder; knowing this, it may confuse the audiance until they find out what actually happened.

(I'm not sure whether make this so that it's all metaphorical and with a deeper meaning, or to do it physically as though a family have literally just been killed.)

• The genre is Abstract Horror.
• The story is told from an unconventional perspective.
• Contains hints and small bits showing the kidnapper.
• The family are revealed all together right at the end, so it is like seeing them from before they had been abducted.
• It may become a bit of an anti-climax to some people.

Inspiration from:

A pack of Post-It Notes
Wong Fu Productions
The Jubilee Project

My idea is to show the events happening from a no-human's point of view, just like in this short film.

The company behind this work is called Wong Fu Productions, they often create abstract drama pieces.

I found that in this production, the narrative technique was very interesting an I wanted to make mine in a similar way. The characters in this film use post-it notes to convey messages to each other and also to the audience.

Although the genre of this if romantic, I decided I wanted to use the props in much the same way

However, I have chosen to take a more realistic approach to this first idea and turn the man into a young woman's stalker. I have kept with the theme of a murderer but now they main focus is of real people. This is because my original idea was probably too complex so I decided to simplify it.

Audience Profile

Little Miss Sunshine Review

This is not the same genre of film that I am planning on doing however this has helped me understand the structure of what a film opening should look like. The pace of each shot and the super impositions of the titles are something that I will copy, there is also only one song used throughout, so I will only use one song too.

Analysis of an Opening Title Sequence

I analysed a film's opening sequence so that I could understand what my production should look like in terms of how it will be establishing the characters and the setting. The structure is also influential because I could plan my final production in a similar way. 

Little Miss Sunshine

We first see a shot of Olive Hoover watching a television programme about a beauty pageant and the crowning of Miss America. The low angle shot shows that she feels in power for a while, but I think the light coming from the windows in the background help to show how innocent she is. One hand is holding the remote controller and the other is clutching her slightly rounded stomach. Her size is an important aspect to the story.



The viewers can clearly see again Olive’s chubby body and already know that she would never be able to win such a competition. We clearly see again Olive’s chubby body, the high angle shot now shows us that she is small and vulnerable.

Richard Hoover is the father of Olive and Dwayne and thinks he is the man of the house. A side profile of his face dominates the frame at a low angle giving the impression that he has a lot of power. We can clearly see his large, exaggerated arm gestures which help him to emphasise what his trying to say.




I found his audiance size was a little disappointing and perhaps it will be surprising to some viewers. This anti-climax moment hints his future failures, giving the viewers a clue as to what will unavoidably happen to Richard’s disastrous project.




Showing a successful bench-press from Dwayne could show there is a small amount of hope, partnered with a lot of determination and struggle so we can all learn from his persistence. On the wall in the background, a painting of Friedrich Nietzsche is deliberately placed there.



The very low camera angle shows Grandpa taking drugs secretly; I think the feeling of having a “hidden” camera gives the effect of seclusion and also a surprise reveal. The cut-in which showing his delicate movements in his hands.

 In the hospital Franks is sitting alone, situated at the far left side of the camera’s view.  The wide shot is done for the purpose of showing how empty and basic the rest of the room is, implying no one cares that he has been left there.

The title is incorporated into the last few frames of this sequence and shows contrasting ideas because the word “SUNSHINE” is written in bold capital letters which are superimposed across Frank’s depressed face. The irony of this may seem humorous to the audience as there is no correlation between his appearance and the words.