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Simran Hussain G321 Evaluation: Costume and Props

The document summarizes the opening sequence of a student horror film called "The Basement". It introduces the three main characters - the protagonist/first victim, her boyfriend, and the antagonist. It describes conventions used like establishing the past event that sets up the storyline, and having three deaths occur within the first 90 seconds. It discusses the locations, costumes, props, camerawork, editing, special effects, narrative structure, and genre of supernatural horror presented in the opening sequence.

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112 views

Simran Hussain G321 Evaluation: Costume and Props

The document summarizes the opening sequence of a student horror film called "The Basement". It introduces the three main characters - the protagonist/first victim, her boyfriend, and the antagonist. It describes conventions used like establishing the past event that sets up the storyline, and having three deaths occur within the first 90 seconds. It discusses the locations, costumes, props, camerawork, editing, special effects, narrative structure, and genre of supernatural horror presented in the opening sequence.

Uploaded by

Pixxproductions
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Simran Hussain

G321 Evaluation

The aim of this opening sequence is attract the right target audience and to
intrigue the audience for the rest of the film from the very start. To do this, the
opening sequence entails some conventions necessary in horror films, for
example: the opening sequence is a past event that would help develop the
storyline further, common within horror films, another convention may be that
within the first 90 seconds of that of the film, a death occurs, in this case three
deaths occur at the same time.
The Title:
The title of our group production is
called The Basement. As a group we
had decided this name, after agreeing
that the title had to link directly to the
storyline. The way in which we
presented the title-card at the end,
was influenced by Insidious - from
which we developed many of our
previous ideas in the production too, for example, the opening shot of our
sequence was inspired by the background used in the poster for insidious.
This was an establishing shot used to set the scene in our production. The
Title was complimented by the sound, also used in insidious to present the
title-card. We thought that this sound was effective in making the audience
jump, since those looking for thrill are our main target audience; our product
achieved its goal in meeting the needs of the audience.
The location
We chose to film in two separate
locations of the house. The first was
the living room, in which we filmed the
first half of our opening sequence. The
second location was the basement itself;
this was the introduction to what the 90minute film would be based around. They
meet the requirements of what is expected
from a suitable, generic horror film location
as the empty living room connotes
loneliness, telling the audience that she is alone in the house. The basement is one
that held the storyline with a dark history. The overall use of a house as the main
location submits the idea of isolation as seen in our product, and verisimilitude, which
also allows the audience to connect with the film because it allows the audience to
understand that the character lives in a ordinary house, much like their own.
Connotes horror

Costume and props

Simran Hussain
G321 Evaluation
Costumes are key in identifying the
antagonist and protagonist. Our
protagonist character wears a simplistic
costume, allowing the understanding that
she too is just an ordinary person like
much of the audience to which we have
aimed. The Antagonist is a character that
wears an olden-style white dress to
establish a sense of supernatural
characteristics; this was complimented by the pale makeup done on the characters
face. It was obvious that our
characters costumes bent the
conventions of a film of any other film
genre, however in the horror genre, to
connote supernatural behavior in the
product, we found that the use of the
colour white for the antagonist would
make the ghost stand out in the
darkness of the basement, similarly
the dark clothing for the protagonist
would allow a general/simple look.
Props were not something that stood out in our production, however the use of
candles and matches supports the ideas of a horror film as the fire can connote
danger, which we later establish in the basement. Also the use of a phone which
shows us that the character has no other means of contact to the outside world other
than her phone, The phone is then left in the living room as she goes to the
basement, telling the audience that she has no form of calling for help, because the
house itself, is empty too.
Camerawork, Editing and special effects
Our product uses both a mixture of slow and fast paced editing, the slow paced
editing helps build-up tension before the attack. The use of fast paced editing later
contributes to creating a thrilling and suspenseful atmosphere for the audience,
hence why it is a generic convention within the horror-supernatural genre.
The camerawork presents our product in an expressive form to really engage with
the audience. We used low and high angles throughout the product to help ensure
that fear of the basement and build-up to the attack was dramatic and fulfilling to
connote fear and danger of the basement. We also used POV shots to allow the
audience to see through the world of the characters eye, so they could really connect
with what the character was feeling. The small depth of field was changed to bring
attention to when the audience was shown the ghostly figure creeping behind the
protagonist. Extreme close-ups were used to show the characters emotions at the
time. Special effects used were mainly used for the title page and the appearance of
the antagonist behind the character.
The Narrative
The storyline is typical in the way it is presented. The audience is shown only the part
of the story that sets the basis for the rest of the narrative. The opening sequence
shows us the first character to be attacked by our protagonist, a vulnerable girl plays
the protagonist, which is understandable for when she is attacked and killed so
easily. The Idea that after a few years, a family (of all girls-vulnerable, again) moves
in, they are also ones to bring back a new Equilibrium (following Todorovs narrative
structure) at the end of the whole story. The idea of a past event (our opening
sequence) leading up to create a base for the storyline is a generic convention, as

Simran Hussain
G321 Evaluation
horror films normally have a backing story to why the antagonist is the way he/she/it
is.
The genre
The supernatural-horror is a sub-genre for the popular horror genre. It is presented
in our product through all the various elements of cinematography, editing, (nondiegetic (score music)) sound and mise-en-scene. Allowing suspense, fear and
tension build-up to send chills through the audiences spines.
The characters
There are three characters introduced in our opening sequence. The first is the
protagonist who is also the first victim. She is introduced in a very natural way, one
that is oblivious to any dangers around her, until of-course, she hears the sound of
whispers. The second is the boyfriend, who doesnt physically appear in the product,
however, is presented as the hero who would have saved the damsel in distress if
he were present in the house. The third character is the antagonist who is present
throughout the sequence. It has a very dramatic introduction to the audience with the
use of loud score music to shock the audience, to which the character within is
oblivious.

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