Examples of influences on our film

Title sequence:

After researching into many different title sequences, we came up with ideas that linked to films similar to ours. I looked into the opening of, 'The woman in black,' as it is very much like our film. We could use white fade in and fade outs to foreshadow that our protagonist is a ghost. We want the hanging scene to begin out film to set the genre and give a bit of context into the narrative. This will be followed by Agnes opening her eyes and sitting up in bed which will hopefully make the audience jump as it will be fast paced, and we could add a sound effect such as a scream.

Characters:

We subverted and supported the character stereotypes with our choice in roles. Our protagonist is female which supports the stereotype of women in horror films, however she is brave and stands up for herself; plus she doesn't rely on other people to save her. The antagonists in our film are Agnes' parents which also create a lonely mood and atmosphere for the protagonist. The use of the 'helper' which is the policewoman provides a sense of false security. This is because, they want to help but as our film is a non-linear narrative the audience do not know that it is already too late to save Agnes. We chose the character roles to specifically fit the genre and so that the audience will be able to connect with and understand each role.

Make up:

We understood that make up was an important aspect of the film. As we are creating a horror, the make up was/is vital as it adds to the verisimilitude effect and looks scary. We knew that our faces should be pale to represent the feelings of the characters. Also it links to the genre and the fact Agnes is really a ghost. Dark eyes were important as it creates a sinister feel for each character. The colours used on each character's face is mainly, white black and red. The white and black create a scarier effect, but red has many connotations such as danger and death. By using red lipstick on Agnes' mum for example, it represents that she is a bad character. We were influenced by the make up used in Tim Burton's, 'Sweeney Todd,' as the characters have very pale faces but the red with the clothes and blood contrasts this and creates a sinister effect.

Music:

We will use music that the audience will be able to associate with horror films. This will allow the tension to build and they will understand what the genre is easily. We have gotten our inspiration from, 'The woman in black,' as well as, 'The others,' as these films are similar to the one we are creating.