To help me answer this evaluation question, I am going to be comparing my film opening sequence to real film openings of horror films. The film opening I will be using is from the film 'Se7en' as I think the style and layout of the opening is quite similiar to my own. I will be using this film opening to compare the characteristics and features which should be included in a horror film, and talk about which of these aspect also appear in my opening sequence in a similar way.
Film Title
Although both film titles are different fronts, the way that both main title's are used and layed out is done a similar way. Se7en's film title is big, very bold and almost takes up the whole of the screen, which is similar to the way I have presented my film title in my opening. They both have dark backgrounds with white font which I think looks good as the main focus is on the title as it is made to stand out well. The creators of 'Se7en' chose to have the main titles in the middle of the opening sequence, there is nothing wrong with this and I think it is effective, however I wanted mine to be at ending as I wanted to build tension throughout the opening sequence then have the title very big and bold at the end.
Setting/Location
What I think is similar with both of these opening sequence is that they are both very dark, which makes it slightly unclear where they are set. Eventhough there are obvious features such as you know in Se7en that the character is working in an office or some type of basement because of all the documents he is dealing with, and in my opening sequence you can see they are running through the woods, these locations could be set anywhere in the world and at any time period. I like the fact that the setting and location isnt totally given away to the audience because it sets up some sort of mystery for the viewers. The dark lighting is a typical feature for a horror film and can be related, which makes the genre of the films is obvious from the very start.
The difference between my opening sequence and 'Se7en' is that in mine you get to see the characters straight away and see what type of people they are, whereas in 'Se7en' you do not get to see the characters at all, so you do not meet them until later on in the film.
Costumes and Props
The use of the costumes and props in very limited in 'Se7en' as you do not see what the character is wearing, you only see their hands and the documents and images they are dealing with, however in my opening sequence, even though we didn't use many props you can see the whole of the characters costumes. Just by looking at a characters costume, you can tell what type of people they are and which time of year the film is set in such as Winter or Summer depending on if they are wearing warm clothes or not. In my opening, you can see that the characters are two girls because of their long hair and that they are teenagers by the style of clothes they are wearing (jeans, converse trainers,basic tops).
In 'Se7en' all the viewer gets to see is peices of paper, documents and the character writing things, this does not give much away about what is happening or what the character is doing. It may suggest that the character is doing an in investigation and is on a mission, it could also suggest that they are quite a smart and intelligent character.
Camerawork and Editing
Both opening sequence use a variety of different shots, including lots of close up's and medium shots. 'Se7en' uses a lot of close up shots more than any others, this is to show lots of detail of what is happening. The editing of 'Se7en' opening sequence is very quick and chopping, showing lots of different close up shots, some get repeated but they are mostly all different. The choppy style of the shots is a good way of showing lots of happening and to show the quick movement in time. In my opening sequence, I used a wider variety if shots including long shots, close ups and high angle. These shots were mainly used to show vunrability of the characters as they are running away, and to show different points of view. The different points of view were from the characters as they were running, the villan chasing them and other long shots which suggest that maybe someone is watching them. When i was editing my opening, I tried to make some of the shots quick and chopping, similar to how 'Se7en' has been editied together, as it think that it makes it more exciting to watch.
Title and Font Style
'Se7en' and my opening sequence 'The Following' both have similar titles through their openings. They are both quite a 'scruffy' looking font, as if they have all been handwritten, which I think looks good and effective for a horror film because it sends questions to the audience such as 'Who wrote them?'. They are also the same colour, white on a dark background. The font isnt as big as the main title in both sequences which is good as the main title is the one which is supposed to stant out the most, but they have to be big enough size for everyone to be able to read. The way that the titles are positioned in 'Se7en' is similar to 'The Following' because all the titles in both sequences are randomly placed throughout the whole sequence and in 'Se7en' the titles are postioned near the middle of the screen, which is very similar to how I have posistioned my titles in my opening sequence. Both of these sequences contain the correct amount of titles and are in the correct order.
Genre
If they didnt already know, features such as characters, costumes, lighting, music and setting usually suggest to the audience what type of film they are about to watch. I think that the film opening to 'Se7en' doesn't give away much or give many clues to what genre it is apart from the dark lighting,font and music because you do not get to see many things such as characters and their surroundings. In comparison with my opening sequence to 'The Following' the audience gets to see the setting straight away and the low pitched, dark music starts to play. I think that straight away the audience can guess what type of genre 'The Following' is because the woods is a typical setting for a horror film and the music starts to build up tension almost from the beggining. However, because you do not get to see any characters or setting in 'Se7en' this builds up curiosity as the audience do not know what is happening and will want to carry on watching to find out, so either way I think both are just as effective.
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