Title Typography

Final Title Typography

We got together and discussed the ten fonts that was previously posted of the possible title typography that we might use for our title. We then settled on the following font: Optimus Princeps. The image below is an example of what our title would look like with this font:



We felt this was the ideal typography four our film opening due to it being a very traditional looking font and not sticking biasedly to one side of the genres. For example if we had a bold, sans serif capitlised font like the following of an action genre:



We wouldn't use the text above because it is a typical font of a action thriller with bold, sans serif and capitalised text. However the smoke kind of rubbed out affect on the text looks good and make it seem distorted and more of a horror. This is something we could use in our own text over the top it to give it the same effect.



Furthermore this is a science-fiction/psychological thriller that uses the same bold, sans serif, capitalised text as the Skyfall text above. Furthermore the colour red would represent danger and make it stand out more because it is an eye catching colour. This is not what we want to go for as a look as we want a more mysterious, classic and old fashioned serif font.

The reason why we wanted to choose a font such as 'Optimus Princeps' was because we had looked at previous fonts in horrors and thriller-horrors that had this similar style of old fashioned, classic styled text.

For example these are some similar horror typography fonts:

Then here are some examples of some more specific horror thriller typography fonts that are very similar to ours which we have based it on:









This is why we wanted this classic, serif, old fashioned style similar to times new roman because it is very reoccurring in horrors and thriller horrors.

My Conclusion: Overall, as a group we have decided on our font: Optimus Princeps. We all felt that this was our favourite font and the best font for our horror-thriller. We thought the other fonts didn't fit our genre due the styles and the effects.

Reflection Testing

(Group members work)

On our first shooting day before we set off with recording Matt and I decided to do some reflection testing in the mirror above the fireplace which we could incorporate as some type of shot in the storyboard of our opening. We thought that we could capture the protagonist exiting or entering the room from one of the following angles. Therefore by doing this we can also show someone else in the mirror or in the background behind her which she cannot see. As after researching into mirrors in horror films we know that they sometimes present paranormal, souls and ghosts to be trapped in mirrors or a mirrors a gateway to seeing these spirits. For example the following picture:

And this is our interpretation of a reflection shot:

My Conclusion: From the reflection testing with a group member, we have looked at the types of reflections that we could possibly use in our title opening sequence.  Some reflections we could use and worked well in some shots and angles. On the other hand, some didn't appear clearly and didn't create the effect we wanted to achieve.  

Our Setting

For our setting we wanted a slightly upper classed house hold so we could target our audience and bring the tension in the scene into the audiences houses and make it relatable by having a stereotypical household . Therefore as a group we looked at each others houses and came to the conclusion that Lauren's house was the best and almost perfect for what we wanted. This was because she had a nice spread out house with a kind of spooky surrounding to her house which can also add to the horror element of our thriller-horror. This is because her house is situated within black park and has a very open garden with trees surrounding it. Furthermore she also has other aspects of her house such as baby equipment, baby room, fireplace with mirror above and old fashioned kitchen. This was just what we were looking for. With this stereotypical slightly upper class house establishing that this family and surrounding should be safe and secure as stereo typically the rich white families in films and especially horror films are more safe than ethnic ones. On the other hand this is also stereotypical of other films with similar surroundings and allows the audience to prepare themselves for what the film is about in this opening scene with the use of any establishing shots. I think this surrounding and location is typical of the type of film we are trying to create and therefore reflects on what we want as well as create the scenes and tone that we are aiming for.

Story Board and shot list

Shot list

This is our shot list for our opening title sequence. The shot list guides and helps us  when we start filming. After we have done the basics of our shot list we were then able to explore and develop by trying a various amounts of different angles for the same shot to see which one we think fits the best.

Our story board also guides us as we have an idea of what our title opening to look like. This also helps  when we come expand and adjust on the shots, when we start to film.





Story Board

Summary of our Horror Qustonaire

The Summary:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Hl_3IOKZr5p_J973ko0egFDMpKZd6SKRHwOPsd7nu7s/viewanalytics

From our horror questionaire we have taken away important information that has help us in the filming and editing stages of our title opening. The conclusion from the questionaire is: Our target market or mostly males and aged between 15 and 17 years old. These are the most common audience for horror films as they visit the cinema with their friends. Characters expected to be in a horror film are teenagers, small children and women or a woman as they are stereotypically weaker and more frightened than males. The most popular setting for a horror is in a house as it brings the horror into the home. This makes films more scary as people feel safe in their houses and to bring the horror to the houses makes the audience feel tense and anxious. Low and high pitch sounds are popular as they help to create moods within the film. Small children and ghosts or paranormal activities are popular as they have ben selected as the most scary things involved with horrors and thrillers. finally people like the idea of having big and bold font in a serif style for the title of a horror.
We can use this information to help us and guide us in the filming and editing stages.

Horror Questionaire

Please may you fill out this quick questionaire. Thank you.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Hl_3IOKZr5p_J973ko0egFDMpKZd6SKRHwOPsd7nu7s/viewform

Idea Issues and realisations

In the lesson the other day we started to talk about the idea in my previous post further and discussed in ways of which we could actually film and make this story as well as starting to come up with shot lists. However the further we looked into this idea the more issues we noticed with it.

First of all we began to notice how we would need a bunch of children to help us film this as we were planning on having some possessed children. This we then thought would be too hard to accomplish as only I had a younger brother. Furthermore we also realised that a lot of the shots and technical aspects of our story that we would want to do, would be very hard for us as we do not have the professional equipment for it. For example we cannot do a steady pan shot or tracking shot in the woods as there is no hard flat floor to balance the tripod on. As well as this we decided that having more than 2 or 3 people in the entire piece would be too hard as well as be too complicated just for the first 2 minute opening. We then started to discuss how having only 1or 2 characters makes the opening broader and more of a thriller with mystery so therefore we came to the conclusion that we had to come up with a new story idea.

We now know and have come to the conclusion that we only want 1 or 2 characters and for it to situate within a household to make it easier. As well as this we also realise that as it is a horror thriller it is good to be inside a home as it brings the danger to your home and makes it scarier and anticipating for the audience. Furthermore we want a very mysterious start with not a lot happening or a lot giving away as this will add to the tension and give the thriller the horror tone we want with the mysterious vibe. We also want to add to this with the loss of sound and when there is sound it is quiet so when something does happen it comes as a big shock which adds to tension. Furthermore we were thinking of using sound to sync with the editing. So when the beat heats or it gets faster the cutting syncs with this to add to the dramatic of the opening and create tension. I was inspired with this after watching and analysing the shutter island opening. We thought the sound could be incorporated with the editing to gain tension like a typical thriller and then maybe this beat or editing can get faster to heighten the tension or vise versa. Therefore we have learnt that before jumping to conclusions with ideas we must thoroughly see them through of how we can do it and if it is possible. I feel this was a very good learning curb and we now know exactly what we need to do.