Title Design

The opening credits of our film will appear in a wispy, thin, quiet font that appears to be typed as you are watching.

Some credits will be embedded in the setting. For example, credits will be written in the footsteps of a running character, or on the back of their shirt, or where the house numbers are on a house. 

Working Title: The title of this film is likely to be “Lurking”

It will be a small, thin font to imply a quiet presence, unlike bold would look. Something like this.

Titles will all be typed onto the screen. They will come on looking like they are being typed in real-time and disappear with a fade. 

Titles will disappear after 2 or 3 seconds.

Depending on the color scheme of the scene we will be alternating colors. These colors include White, Black, and Red font colors. It will look something like this: 

• Directed by: KAYA ZEELER & LILY O'NEIL
• Directed by: KAYA ZEELER & LILY O'NEIL
• Directed by: KAYA ZEELER & LILY O'NEIL

The first and last name of the person who holds the job that presents itself on the screen will be emphasized. We will do this by making it boldfaced and significantly larger. For example, 

• Directed by: KAYA ZEELER & LILY O'NEIL
• Directed by: KAYA ZEELER & LILY O'NEIL
• Directed by: KAYA ZEELER & LILY O'NEIL

Other Information

Schedule:

• 3/4/2022- 3/6/2022

• Filming will begin. I will film all the scenes that include actors outside of my group. This is so the actors do not need to come back to film a second time. 

• 3/11/2022- 3/13/2022

• I will continue filming and try to finish filming all the scenes by the 13th. I will film the scenes that only include me or my partner. If there are any scenes including an outside actor that did not get filmed, we will film it during these dates.

• 3/18/2022- 3/20/2022

• This will be the leftover day for any last and final scenes that need to be shot. If there are scenes that need to be re-shot, it will be done at this time. After all the filming is finished, this is when I will also start editing. I am currently looking for a more advanced editing platform other than iMovie, but if I do not find one, my backup plan is iMovie. 

• 3/25/2022- 3/27/2022

• These will be the final editing stages. Last call for anything that needs to be reshot, re-edited, etc. 

Location:

I will be filming at Lily's house, my house, the car, Snyder park, and public places/stores around our city. 

Participants: 

Actors:

•             Kaya Zeeler
•             Lily O'Neil

Filming:

                        Lily O'Neil

Kaya Zeeler

Editing:             Lily O'Neil

                         Kaya Zeeler

Directing:            Lily O'Neil

                         Kaya Zeeler

Health and Safety:

My parents will be watching every time we film and they will be ready to step in at any moment in

case anything goes wrong. They will have a first aid kit, other medical supplies, and a phone ready

to dial 911. I have had a serious, thorough conversation with them to ensure they know what they

are supposed to be doing and how important it is. In this film, there will be multiple instances where

the actor is running. To ensure that the path is safe, I will walk through it first to make sure that the

actor knows the path well and does not get injured. In the scene where the actor gets “hit by a car”,

this will not actually happen. I will use editing to create this illusion. 

 

Script for Opening Sequence

 Script:

Scene 1: 

• Lighting: dark, being filmed at night.

• Non-diegetic sound: Season of the Witch by Lana Del Ray begins playing

• Cali walks to her car, gets in, and starts it. 

• Cali pulls out of the driveway and starts driving down the street.

Scene 2:

• Diegetic sound: (ding) Cali’s phone gets a notification and she looks at it while driving.

• Cali: (while laughing) “Why would she send me this?”

• Olivia is walking across the street listening to music loud in her headphones.

• Olivia is not paying attention and looks at her phone.

• Diegetic sound: tires screeching and car accident noises.

• Lighting: dark, being filmed at night.

Scene 3:

• Cali gets out of the car and is panicking.

• Cali picks Olivia up and brings Olivia to Cali’s backyard. 

• Cali: (sighing) “I’ll deal with this tomorrow.”

Scene 4:

Lighting: Daytime

• Cali picks Olivia’s body up and puts her in the trunk,

• Cali starts driving to the place where she will dump Olivia’s body

• Cali’s phone starts ringing

• Friend: “Hey, are you okay? We haven’t seen you recently.”

• Cali: “Yeah, I’m fine. I have to go, I’ll call you later.”

• Friend: “Why do you sound so out of breath?”

• Cali: “Gotta go, bye.” 

Scene 5:

• Cali arrives at the park where she will dump Olivia’s body. 

• Cali takes Olivia’s body out of the car and takes her to the spot where she will bury her.

• Cali starts digging.

• Cali finishes digging. 

• Cali goes back to the car and starts driving. 

Scene 6:

• Cali hears a voice behind her

• Olivia: (whispering) “Why would you do this?”

• Olivia: (whispering) “You’re gonna pay for this.”

• Olivia: (whispering) “I’m gonna get you.”

• Cali is worried, but quickly thinks nothing of it.

• Cali turns up the radio and starts singing the song.

• Cali’s phone chimes (ding), and a text from an unknown number appears that reads

            I’m gonna get you, along with another text that reads the directors' names. 

• Cali gasps.

​​

Title Design Research: Bird Box

1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which ones?

During the opening scene, two titles are displayed: the first is "Netflix presents," while the second is the title of the film in all capitals.

2. What connotations do the images carry? 

The graphic showing the movie's title has an empty/scary vibe about it.

3. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 

The genre is emphasized in the opening title scene, which features haunting noise/music playing over the lake, and the title is shown in all capitals. This exemplifies the genre by making the spectator both fascinated and fearful of what may happen next.

4. What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? 

Conventions are utilized to guarantee that the film appeals to the target audience by immediately establishing the thriller part of the picture. This is accomplished mostly through the use of music and camera angles. This keeps the audience on alert and wanting to see more.

Title Design Research: Antebellum

 1.    How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences of the film? Which ones?

In the opening sequence of the film, there are 2 different titles that appear. It begins with the studio the movie is presented by, then a black screen with red letters that says “ANTEBELLUM”. Then, the next screen is a quote by William Faulkner “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

2. What connotations do the images carry? 

The title images carry a dark, scary, mysterious, chilling connotation.

3. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 

The genre is reinforced through the title by using red, bold letters to emphasize the thrilling feel. The ominous music playing in the background also adds to the genre being reinforced. 

4. What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

Conventions used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience include the opening clips. The eeriness/thrill is portrayed in the opening scenes through the choice of camera angles, the setting, the acting, and the ominous music. 

Title Design Research: She Dies Tomorrow

 1.    How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which ones?

1 title is displayed during the opening scene. It is the title of the movie “She Dies Tomorrow” on a black screen. The letters are an abstract pattern, mostly including red. 

2. What connotations do the images carry? 

The image carries a mysterious connotation due to not really being able to figure out what is behind the letters.

3. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 

The genre is reinforced by adding very ominous music along with what sounds like a woman humming very eerily. The slow fade of the title along with this music creates a long, stretched-out feeling of nervousness because you don’t know what is going to happen next. 

4. What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

Multiple conventions are used. Music and editing are the main ones. The music definitely targets an audience of people who like thriller movies, and the editing goes hand in hand with the music. 

Title Design Research: Code 8

1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences of the film?

It lists studios that worked on the film as colony pictures, The Fyzz Facility, Ontario creates, lane e productions, XYZ Films, and blue ice pictures. Telefilm Canada is included as a producer on the list. The key actors and actresses in the film are then listed. Following that is a list of who cast the actors and actresses. Then there's the visual effects supervisor and the composer. The costume designer, editor, color designer, production designer, and director of photography are all listed after that. Finally, it identifies the co-producer, associate producer, executive producer, and head producer. The writer and person in charge of the script are then listed. Finally, the director and the movie's title screen are shown.

2. What connotations do the image carry?

The visuals make you feel frightened and suspicious. They are dimly lit and change often.

3. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The title sequence follows the norms of the thriller genre. They employed low lighting, suspense, and a setting of eerieness.

4. What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The opening sequence gives a brief description of a creepy storyline. It leaves the audience on the edge of their seat, this is due to the suspense the creators have created.

Title Design Websites

https://www.watchthetitles.com/ is the first website we're looking into. We're looking at this website to get a sense of how opening sequences should appear. This website gives us access to a large number of opening sequences. Particularly in the thriller genre. In these sequences, we can see how titles are used. Then we'll be able to apply it to our film. Our final project is the opening scene. And the design of the title is key. As a result, getting ideas and examples from this site is really beneficial.

https://www.artofthetitle.com/ is the second website we are looking into. We're looking into this website so that we may concentrate more on the titles. The titles themselves are the core of this website. It also discusses the musical selections in depth. More information and viewpoints on the titles may be found at this page. We'll go through each one in depth and even rank them. We will benefit much from this website. It provides an avenue for us to see how we should structure our titles, similar to the prior website. We enjoy how it provides comments and perspectives on the sequences, as well as what makes them special. Overall, these two websites will help us finish our last sequence.

Genre Research: The Requin

 What elements (Conventions) of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have?

This movie has a lot of medium close-up and over-the-shoulder shots that we plan to use frequently in our final task. It also uses many high angles that are very important in thriller films. 

What elements (Conventions) of the genre did the movie have that you like?

I really liked the setting. It was simple but it really added so much character and emotion into the movie. The makeup was very interesting to me as well, it being so really made the movie much better in my opinion. 

What elements (Conventions) of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you?

I did not enjoy the use of the ocean as the main setting. I believe it is very overused in movies and no longer has a sense of originality to it.

Genre Research: Blacklight

What elements (Conventions) of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have?

One of the main props in this movie is cars. We plan on using a car as our main prop. The lighting in this movie is also very dark, and we plan on following the theme of darkness.  

What elements (Conventions) of the genre did the movie have that you like?

I actually really liked the soundtrack in this movie. I can tell the soundtrack was made specifically for the viewers to acknowledge it. It included a lot of very well-known songs. 

What elements (Conventions) of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you?

I didn’t enjoy the action aspect of this movie. I do not think that action belongs in thriller movies as they are 2 whole different genres and it just does not appeal to me personally. 

Genre Research: Nightmare Alley

 What elements (Conventions) of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have?

Nightmare Alley uses costumes and makeup to emphasize the characters and the setting that the movie is placed in. It also uses lighting and camera angles to create suspense, even when the scene is not necessarily  “suspenseful”. 

What elements (Conventions) of the genre did the movie have that you like?

I really liked the dialogue in this movie. The dialogue created a feel that camera angles and other conventions could not. I enjoyed it because there could be many different interpretations of each piece of dialogue, so it was based on how you viewed it, not how the director wanted you to view it. 

What elements (Conventions) of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you?

The soundtrack in this movie did not really interest me. I think better pieces could've been used to convey the feelings and emotions of the movie.

Genre Decision Blog

 My partner and I opted for a thriller as our theme. This was due to a variety of factors. One of them is that this is our favorite genre. It's critical that you enjoy what you're doing so that the end product is as genuine as possible. Another argument was that in a genre like comedy or drama, where the exposition is often lengthier, it is more difficult to develop a storyline, or the beginning of one, in just two minutes. We feel that selecting the thriller genre will pique our interest in the project, resulting in a better overall outcome. We have a lot of ideas already. This includes where we'll shoot it. This is the music we'll be using. And even how we'll go about editing it. Choosing a thriller blog allows us to do anything we want. The costumes are one aspect of the genre that we appreciated as a group. In terms of wardrobe and make-up, you may have a bit more fun with a traditional thriller. You'll have more chances to think beyond the box. In addition, you'll have greater creative flexibility. However, there are a few things we'd want to avoid. We grimace in a lot of thrillers because the acting is overdone. Of course, there are exceptions, but in many thrillers, the acting is not to our liking. We'll make a concerted effort not to do so as a group. This project must be as realistic as possible. And I'm looking forward to seeing what our final product looks like.

Genre Research: Horror

 Close-up, tilted angle, low angles, hand-held camera angle, wide-angle, tracking angle, birds-eye/high angle are all common camera angles in the horror genre.

In the horror genre, a common Mis-en-Scène is:

Knives, crosses, machetes, chainsaws, axes, and masks are all frequent props in horror films. Horror films frequently employ gloomy lighting and are shot in popular locations such as the woods or a dark house. They're also almost usually shot at night.

Jump cuts, Parallel cuts, Crosscuts, and Over-Extended Scenes are all common editing techniques in the horror genre.

To create monsters and amazing effects, a lot of CGI is used.

Lots of sudden noise, loud noise, eerie noise, high pitched noise, and noise that is unpleasant to the ear are all common sounds in the horror genre. During the scene, there is also a lot of silence to add to the tension. The tension is frequently broken by a loud, unexpected noise.

Sinister, Hereditary, Insidious, The Conjuring, and The Ring are examples of horror films.

Dark lighting and a setting in a dark house are two elements of the genre that I like and would use. I also enjoy long moments with eerie sounds. The props are my favorite feature of this genre that I'd want to employ. The objects used to add a lot to the film's atmosphere and concept.

A hand-held camera perspective is one of the aspects of the genre that I would avoid using. This perspective is overused in horror films, and every film that uses it looks the same.

Genre Research: Comedy

Medium shots, over-the-shoulder shots, two shots, close-ups, and long shots are all common camera angles in comedy. All of these camera angles contribute to the success of comedies. Happy and uplifting music, brighter lighting to represent the comic part of the film (making it happier), clothes in comedy films consisting of brighter colors and vibrancy, and props in comedy films are generally wacky, amusing, or stupid are all common Mise En Scene utilized in comedy films. In comedy films, editing techniques include having precise scene timing. Editing as though the sequence was not filmed on one camera (using separate clips from numerous cameras for the same scene), Cuts, and adding or removing unnecessary frames. Upbeat cheerful music, laughing sound effects, and character conversation are all common sounds in comedy films. Comedy films include Bad Trip, Coming 2 America, Afterlife, Space Jam: A New Legacy. The way this genre makes the audience feel is one of the elements in this genre that we enjoy. The goal of this genre is to make the audience laugh and smile. The editing qualities of this genre would be used as elements. The sound in this genre is not attractive. With the genre, we ended up adopting, we would not be able to employ the same sorts of sound used in comedy films.

Genre Research: Thriller

• Close-up- may be used when your attention is intentionally directed to the character’s face and at times what is behind them.

• Extreme close-up- used as a powerful way to convey the emotion that the subject is feeling. They are used in thrillers to allow the audience to get a clear understanding of the emotions the character is going through. Used mostly to convey fear, pain, and sadness in thrillers.

• Low angle- to show the power struggles of characters throughout intense scenes.

• High Angle- to show the power struggles of characters throughout intense scenes.

• Costumes are more often than not very simple and plain. Muted colors are usually used to not take away from what is actually happening in the movie. For example in the Split trilogy, muted colors are used for costumes when we are to focus on the dialogue and action. And bright colors are used when they want us to focus on a character. Lowkey lighting is a high-contrast lighting technique that is typically seen in film noirs, thrillers, and horror films and is often employed in conjunction with dramatic action. The dramatic thriller is a fiction genre with several, often overlapping subgenres. Makeup Normally, clothing and makeup are particularly crucial in thrillers to produce effects like injuries and to make the actor appear evil. Props In thrillers, mirrors are frequently employed to show what's going on in the background, rather than simply the main character's face. Thrillers are typically set in ordinary suburbs and cities, although they can also be set in exotic locations such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, and the high seas for the most part.

• All thriller films employ a combination of fast and slow pacing while improving their films. This is great for building tension and anxiety, as well as communicating emotions and/or depicting characters.

• Screaming sounds are frequently heard in thriller films when the individuals on-screen are astonished by something that has a significant impact on the audience.

• I especially appreciate the components of the sceneries and the makeup and costumes in Nightmare Alley (2021), The Hunt (2020), The Kings Man (2021), and You (2018). It truly increases the mood and makes the viewer feel exhilarated. This will be incorporated into our project.

• One downfall to the genre would be the style of acting. I believe that finding a very good thriller movie can be hard due to the style of acting.

Our Pitch

Pitch 1: Two best friends decide to take a luxurious vacation on a remote island. Little do they know there's a dark side to the island that awaits them in the shadows.

Pitch 2: When a late-night drive goes wrong, you're forced to do things you never thought you would. But ever since that night, weird, unexplainable things have been happening, and you just can't shake the feeling something is watching you.

Pitch 1: We really like the idea of the first pitch. It is something different and interesting. We sat and brainstormed ways we could execute this pitch. We agreed that it is something we really want to do, but there are pros and cons. It would be exciting and creative, but there is no easy way to replicate the setting and effects that this pitch would require. 

Pitch 2: This pitch is another one that we found very interesting. Kaya and I agreed that this would be exciting to film and edit. The idea of it is fairly used, but we thought of ways we could make it our own. There are also pros and cons to this pitch. It is less exciting to film, but it is way more accessible and geared towards our skill sets and equipment. 

We decided to choose pitch 2. We thought it would be in our best interest to choose the pitch that is more in our skillset so we can execute it easily and focus on making it a better film rather than focusing on how to execute it. The pitch is: When a late-night drive goes wrong, you're forced to do things you never thought