Research of Saul and Elaine Bass

Saul Bass was a prominent American graphic designer of the twentieth-century, his role largely focused on creating motion picture title sequences as well as corporate logos and movie posters. In the modern movie world Saul Bass is seen as the pioneer of title sequence designing. Elaine Bass was Sauls wife, she was also an American title designer and a filmmaker. She worked alongside Saul Bass for 40 years who she ended up marrying in 1961, together the two developed many projects for directors such as Martin Scorsesse and Danny DeVito.

These two were graphic title sequence designers and they are so well known because Saul introduced a new art form with his imaginative film title sequences which had the effect of conveying the essence of the movie, which prepared audiences for what they are about to see. Furthermore, this married couple was known because of the Elaines book Saul Bass a life in film and design.

Saul Bass worked with some of the Hollywood's greatest filmmakers which include, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder and Martin Scorsesse, Furthermore he worked with his wife Elaine Bass. 

The title sequence of psycho is one of Saul Bass's most popular sequence, this was made in 1960 and it is revolutionary for this time. This is because it relates genre, theme and mood, all at once. 

This title sequence relates to genre by the lack of colour and the fast paced transitions between each title, this fast pace movement on the titles creates a sense of tension and uncertainty. Furthermore, this along side the line movement, which splits the titles in half relates to the theme of a slasher, this along side the tension that is created from the sequence being so fast paced shows the genre as a horror. Overall this tells the audience that there is a mood of uncertainty alongside a genre and theme of a horror slasher. 

Looking at the title sequence the narrative is hard to tell as the sequence has no pictures, or drawings of people, but this doesn't matter because of the conventions that are used. Due to the fast paced nature of this opening scene and the fact I can see that his could be a slasher horror, I can tell that this film will be focused on a killer who kills people for the fun of it.

I think this opening title sequence works so well due to the music that is played in the background, this mix with the music and the fast paced titles, it creates a big embodiment of what it is going to feel like watching the actual movie. 

One big film that I can see has been influenced by this style of title sequence is James Bond, this is due to the blank nature of Saul Bass's title sequences, which don't give much away about the movie but also tell us enough for us to tell what he theme and genre of the movie is going to be. 

Making of symbols

 Yesterday I spent my eventing making the first satanic symbol we are going to use for our photo shoot, this took me over an hour. This time was used finding sticks in the woods at night, this took around half an hour trying to find the best sticks for my symbol. I used the flashlight from my phone to look for the best sticks some of them were lodged into the ground so I had to fish them out. I made multiple journeys bringing sticks to outside the boarding house, in order for me to collect more. I got five sticks and I stuck them together with elastic bands, this took around another half an hour, which also included spray painting with crimson red gloss. Whilst spray painting the symbol in the pitch black, I heard a weird noise from the woods, it wasn't a fox.. 

The BBFC

 

The BBC is the British board of film classification, they are in charge of the regulation of films and the age rating, as well as that, they are in charge of setting the rules that control a certain set of products in a film industry. This includes what is allowed to be in a film and what isn't. The public are able to complain or talk to the BBC if they have an issue or are unhappy with the films content. This means that films or movies in the cinema are not allowed to be exposed to the public if they haven't received an age classification. These ratings include 6 different ratings:

The things in which are considered when classifying the age of a film are: 

• violence
• obscene language
• sex or nudity
• self harm
• criminal activity/dangerous behaviour
• lighting
• drugs
• alcohol
• even children acting within films

This will also look into the context of the film. If the film is either realistic, fantasy based or animated this means that these type of films are often allowed to include RI8+ more violence and get a lower age rating as audiences are able to identify that this isn't real, this is due to what is believed by the BBIC. This includes having to look into INC-17 the way ideas are presented within films and how these are dealt with, For example if a film includes the use of drugs and it is presented in a sensible fashion, then a PG-13 film might be given a lower film certificate. Where as if it is presented as fun and no consequences to it (unrealistic) then a film will be given a much higher film certificate, When it comes to violence and the way they look at it, they have to investigate it in a detailed way. There is a lot more that is considered but this is a few of the most important ones, for example they have to ask why there is violence/ is it self defence/ what harm or injuries were caused/ is the violence enjoyed.

Our movies age rating is a 15, this has been inferred by looking at similar movies to our idea. The movies that are similar to our opening scene include the movie Wrong Turn and the Scream movie trilogy, although these are both 18s our opening scene is a lot less violent. Our target audience would be towards anyone over the age of 15 that enjoys horror, this is very broad but when it comes to horror movies, a horror enjoyer can be anyone of age. 

Research into similar products

My groups decided genre is horror, this is because we all came to an agreement on making a scary horror opening scene, this is because we all enjoy horror and we feel like we can easily establish this genre in the open



ing scene. My group also had a little debate on whether it is horror or thriller, this is because tension is going to be created throughout, driven by the scary music and the loud sounds to keep the audience on edge. What made us come to a mutual agreement is that we are going to have a big massacre scene where we are going to be using meat from a butchers shop to capture the shier chaos from the creature that haunts these forests. 

A genre is established by conventions throughout a film, genres are used to appeal to a certain audience and there are three different types of genres, sub genres, hybrid genre and a film with one genre. 

Our opening scene theme is just horror, although my group has talking about it having a cultist theme we have concluded that it is majorly swung to a horror. 

My group has decided on four films that are very similar to our idea:

Wrong turn:

Wrong turn is a movie which really relates to our opening scene, this is due to most of the movie being set in the woods in broad daylight, this group of friends are stalked by a cult in these woods who end up killing most of them.

The characters in wrong turn will relate to our dog walker, as this movie is about a group of friends who are just normal teenagers going for a hike in the woods. Whilst minding their own business walking through the woods off path they start getting stalked by a tribe, and a few of the characters get picked off by a variety of traps throughout the forest. These friends relate to the character of our opening scene who is the dog walker, this is because he's just a normal man walking his dog through the woods when he unintentionally comes across a ritual summoning and the sacrificed girls body, the creature summoned then stalks him until the right moment. 

The setting of this movie is in the woods, which relates to our opening scene. Horror is very much associated with events occurring in the forest which in this film tends to happen a lot. The horror aspect is very much used as a big convention to forests, this is because of the decolate and abandonment you feel from being all alone surrounded by trees, the sound of nature tends to deafen out any other sound, which can create a big sense of uncertainty. This is because you don't know who or what is around you, and you don't know whats going to happen. This relates to this film very affectively as you don't expect anything to happen, out of nowhere tension is created which gets the audience invested into the horror aspect. This is the effect that we will be capturing in our opening scene, where just an innocent normal man walks through the woods, only to stumble on a blood bath. 

This film is majority set in the day, this means that there is bright lighting through the tree canopy throughout, this bright lighting throughout will be used in our opening scene filming also. This bright light connotes to the innocence of the our character and the build up of the events that will take place. The costumes the characters wear are just their normal outfits with the right hiking equipment, the props used include a lot of fake blood and makeup to signify a disfigured body.

The camera techniques from this movie that we are likely to use is the handheld shaky camera technique as well as birds eye view over the top of the woods (if we can) as well as establishing shots which show the vast size of the forest. 

The editing techniques used that we are likely to use in our opening scene is eye-line - matches, wear the camera focuses on the eyes, onto what the characters are looking at.

Scream: 

When looking at the narrative, and what we decided to do. The beginning of our opening scene is the man walking through the forest on a dog walk. Scream follows a narrative of a young girl, home alone, making popcorn. She suddenly receives a call which turns int

o her being tormented by a male killer, and ends up dying at the end of the opening scene. Comparing this to our opening scene and the similarities between them, our character in the beginning is unknown to the danger that is further along. He e




nds up coming across this bloody scene, which ends up being the unfortunate death of him. 

The setting of Scream takes place in the women's home, she is alone which is what makes her so vulnerable within the scene. It is at night which also relates to our opening scene. Within our scene the main character of the scene is male. stereotypically you wouldn't fear for the mans life, yet what ends u happening is he is scared, and you suddenly change that opinion. This goes against the stereotypes and conventions of a horror. Overall Scream and our opening scene are quite similar yet also differentiate. 

My group is doing horror and there isn't a direct theme to our opening sequence, with Horror being the main theme there is a lot of scenes with blood and disturbance. Within scream this is quite similar as there isn't a direct or key theme that can be in related to it, horror tends overpower any other theme which creates it to be the main theme of it. 

Our opening scene takes place in the woods. We are filming in the day so lighting isn't a huge deal as we will be using natural light. Within Scream it was filmed in a house so they were able to use artificial lights that the house had already, and just incase we have to film in some darker shaded locations in the woods we will be binging artificial lights. Looking at the two opening sequences the props that were used are surrounding a house and the woods location. The set in scream was the basic necessities of a village house, while our opening scene is just simple necessities of the woods. What we have in common, is using what is around us to the advantage. We are using twigs, sticks, the tree foliage etc. 

In Scream many camera angles are used effectively which do not give too much away so that suspense is built at all moments. Capturing facial expressions is one thing that scream do quite well with the use of close up shots. One of the key shots we will use is establishing shots as they are contributing factors to the introduction of a location. Scream do this as if the young girl is being watched, which is something we will be trying to achieve within our opening scene. We want to communicate the idea as if he is being watched and is not alone.

Stranger things (series):

The narrative of stranger things about four innocent kids trying to rid the world of creatures from this parallel universe, one of these kids has powers which comes to the aid of all these kids, as she has a connection with the supernatural she is able to rid the world of traces of this parallel universe. This narrative relates to our opening scene as the narrative of our opening scene is about a dog walker after his encounter with this creature, living through it and then hunting down the creature as well as the people who summoned it. 

This series is similar to our opening scene due to the characters, these characters are four innocent kids who have to defend theirselves off from a parallel universe which contains demonic creatures, just like our opening scene, we have a creature that has been summoned from another place who is accompanied by his victim which is the innocent dog walker, not knowing what he has found. 

The theme of stranger things is horror and supernatural just like our opening scene. In stranger things there are horror elements throughout with a creature killing people just like the demonic creature my opening scene. 

In stranger things there are a lot of locations, but the location that most relates to my groups opening scene is the woods. Which has a big part in the first season of stranger things. 

The costumes in stranger things are just the four kids wearing their own clothes, the lighting majorly bright with dark elements throughout, our opening scene will be on the same line as this. The props used is fake blood, and carved writing on walls, and scratches throughout over various things in this series. My opening scene is going to be using a lot of these props.

In stranger things not much is given away to present it as a horror in the first episodes this is to relate to the conventions of horror, it is crucial that the horror factor isn't given away so that suspense can be built up. It is very important in a horror to capture close ups of the characters and this is done very well in stranger things. One of the big shots we will be using is an establishing shot as they show the outline of the location. Stranger things does with the main characters to show that they are being watched by a creature we can't see, which is something we will be trying to replicate in our opening scene. The idea of our opening scene is that the old man is not alone and that he is being watched. 

Blair witch project

The narrative of The Blair Witch Project is about three friends who go hiking in the woods, everything starts off as normal until a few hours in when they realise they are lost, this makes them a stressed enough to loose their mind. They then get theirselves together but start facing paranormal experiences, they come across a lot of symbols made out of sticks as well as other materialistic items like eyeballs, blood. Things get crazier throughout, a bit like the narrative to our opening scene, where it start off normal, then things take a turn. They come across body parts of one of their friends who had gone missing and they begin to freak out, this relates directly to our opening scene also, as our main character (the dog walker) comes across many pieces of scattered body parts belonging to a little girl. 

The characters of the Blair Witch project are all friends and they all go on a trip hiking together, these characters mental state slowly deteriorate throughout, with a big event of getting lost changing their mindset for the worse. This relates to our character a lot, as he is an innocent man minding his own business taking his dog for a walk, but then he comes across weird symbols. Which make him freak out and loose his mind.

The theme of Blair Witch Project is just horror, there isn't a specific theme because we are not shown much throughout the duration of the movie. This is the exact same to our opening scene, we don't have a specific like slasher as we don't actually see the cultists or creatures throughout. 

In Blair Which project the location is set in the forest, the sets of this film are based just around areas in the woods, which have props of satanic props throughout. Comparing this to our opening scene this relates perfectly to where we our setting our filming, we are filming in the woods with satanic symbols going to be throughout. 

The costumes in Blair Witch project is just own clothes and some camping gear, this is due to the characters going for a hike just as friends and camping over night, until tragedy strikes and they get lost. This is the same as our opening scene our main character is just wearing his own clothes. 

Shooting a dialogue sequence

Filming 

In my filming I teamed up with Daisy, Meadow, Mathew, Lila for our dialogue sequence, we filmed a scene in the studio set room. What we filmed a scene of an angry janitor who wasn't satisfied with his job, who then spoke out of line and said he hated his job, this then got a reaction out of the employee in the room which engaged a dialog sequence. 

The techniques I learned throughout the sequence was the 180 rule, we used this throughout our filming and we did a lot of shots from different angles. The workshops we had before this really helped as we knew how to set up the camera very effectively and quickly, as well as being able to use the spirit level properly. From the previous workshops we also knew how to get the camera in focus and we knew what and where to film. Some other techniques we used were more convenient, for example the actors which were me and Meadow both knew where to stand when filming as well as being able to know when to start the acting sequence without confusion. This was done by the stage processes that we used, we would say stand by before we started filming, roll camera, camera rolling, action. 

One of the problems my group ran into is that there was not enough freedom for angles in our scene, we solved this by filming our sequence not from the beginning, but from certain parts in order to allow the camera to film closer without any interference. 

What we could have done differently is have filmed more from different angles abiding by the 180 degree wall in order to have more material. This was because my group could've had more freedom with the amount of space we worked with.

What we have discovered that we could do better next time is have better camera composition, in a lot of the sequences we filmed there was a lot of space by the feet and above the heads, so next time we could use the rule of thirds to make sure that we have the camera focusing on the actor. My group should be prepared to film more, with the 180 degree rule more enforced as well as getting rid of all the extra head space and leg room. 

Editing 

In the editing part of the workshop I worked on two different groups, I worked with Jemma, and we edited my sequence and another groups sequence. I did two groups because my filming ended not having enough material and it was quite difficult to get something together, but this is why when editing the sound to the sequence for the first time I used Lauras group to edit. 

My group had a lot of problems with the material we filmed which was obvious in the editing, some of these problems included having the wrong white balance, our whole filming looked too dark which could mean we used a white balance which is supposed to be used outside. We also didn't have all the footage that I needed in order to create an effective sequence some clips and angles that I wanted were not available to me. 

The skills I learned in this workshop included unlinking the sound from the actual video, this made it so I could get rid of unwanted sound as well as adding sound bridges to make transitions to different shots sound a lot more fluent and overall better. I was refreshed on the shortcuts to use which included zooming in and out in the editing software, as well as taking parts from the sequences we filmed and adding them to each other to capture the different angles all together. I remembered how to split the videos and the shortcut to the arrow pointer which was V, furthermore, I remembered how to delete the unwanted clips. This experience gave me the knowledge in how to create a better sounding transition between clips, and about popcorn editing, which is the video focusing on the person talking in a dialog sequence. 

Overall we followed the 180 degree to our best ability, but due to our dialog sequence being a bit all over the place with me walking in from a complete different angle the 180 rule was jumbled up. Overall this didn't lead to a big difficulty when actually coming to edit the sequence as I was able to use different angle shots efficiently. 

From looking through the footage what I would've done differently on the day now understanding where we went wrong is having the right white balance, this is an easy fix and a problem that my group was not able to spot. Furthermore, from looking at the footage I can see that we didn't have enough material from different angles, so now knowing this I would've filmed the sequence over and over from different angles. Additionally, filming this again my group would've used the 180 degree rule more effectively focusing on both me and Meadows face more at different angles. The last thing I would improve is the composition, this would be done by making sure there isn't a big space above the actors face as well as making sure there isn't too much leg room. 

What I will do differently editing my actual sequence is I will make sure that we will have plenty of film material, and from different angles to make sure that I have all I need. I will also put the filming into different folders to make sure the film scenes are easily accessible and so I can use footage that I haven't used yet later on. 

Overall my group will approach my actual sequence making sure we have the right white balance and  good camera composition. Furthermore, we will discuss throughout about how we want to do the transitions. 

 Target audience 

The target audience is important as it ultimately helps to make money, it also helps show what conventions need to be followed in order to appeal to the audience. It is important in making choices also, in telling the narrative, placing the right props, using the right characters and casting. Furthermore, the target audience is used to market a film to the right people. 

Our movies target audience is Horror enjoyers, this can appeal to both genders, men and woman. This is because our opening scene doesn't have any specific classification about a gender it relates to. 

Our movies age rating is a 15, this has been inferred by looking at similar movies to our idea. The movies that are similar to our opening scene include the movie Wrong Turn and the Scream movie trilogy, although these are both 18s our opening scene is a lot less violent. Our target audience would be towards anyone over the age of 15 that enjoys horror, this is very broad but when it comes to horror movies, a horror enjoyer can be anyone of age.