Completed Film Opening

Below is the finished product 'Alec'. This is the first 2 minutes opening of 'Alec' including opening titles, the distribution company and our production company. Below that is my preliminary task i did at the beginning of the year.

Question 1, 4 and 5 done by me.

Question 2 by Sean.

Question 7 by Sean.

Question 3 and 7 done by Sam.

Draft Opening: Audience Screening

We have completed our first draft of the opening to our film "Alec" including titles. As a group we held a private screening involving our target audience to critique our opening two minutes so we can see what we need to improve on.





After screening several time we were told our opening felt more like a trailer as all of our titles were at the end rather than spread amongst our opening. After having a look at many other movie openings online we found that most of them also had their titles more separated that the ones we had done so we are going to change that. Also they found that the beginning of our opening started way to fast and needed more of a slow introduction so that they were not bombarded with information all at once. We placed them between shots we had already taken so that the audience can take in little bits of information so they can focus on the actual movie opening. Other than these minor corrections our audience feedback was rather good. It provided the right atmosphere and challenged horror movie conventions by not having somebody die within the first 2 minutes but also stayed true to the genera by being in a secluded location.

Construction: Evidence of Editing

Written by Sam

This is a short video of me editing a part of our film using videos and pictures to display evidence: 

Construction: Filming and experimental edit

By Ashley

During filming we shot each scene multiple times to make sure we had enough footage to edit with: if a shot wasn't good enough at least we had back up footage. Problems we came into were that the candles we used were less luminecient than we initially thought they we're going to be so to combat this we altered the position of Alec (Olly) to be in front of the candles so you can clearly see his silloette.

Here you can clearly see the candles not emitting enough light for the setting. This is where the beginning shots were taken.

Also the location we went to had been littered since we had last been there to scout for location planning. It took us considerably more time to set up and make sure the location was dressed to our liking. In contradiction to my last statement the location looked more rustic and abandoned so the audience watching can clearly seen this is a secluded location one of the key conventions in horror films. The graffiti added to the spooky and mysterious feel we were looking for within our opening.

In these photo's you can see the graffiti and how it makes the setting more spooking. You can also see us altering the alter for some of the scenes.

Construction: Evidence of Editing Opening and Logo

Editing of the film was a long and simple process in which me, Sam and Sean went through. Sam had edited many rough versions until he came up with this final version which me and Sean had our say. It wasn't a very hard process as Sam have already had strong experience with editing in Adobe Premiere pro, After effects, Audacity. Microsoft encoder, Adobe encode and adobe audition. However with Sam editing our 2 minute horror film opening it has given him more experience and more knowledge about the software he had used. For instance 3D animation he had learnt when creating our logo and setting a light in during the film.  

This is a short video of Sam editing a part of our film using videos and pictures to display evidence:

Below is a short video of Sam editing our logo in which Sean had produced, however he had animated it to give it an old film look and added an old feel reel sound effect above it. I created this in Adobe After effects and premiere pro, I used these softwares to increase its professional value . 

Mine and Sean's contribution to this process was mainly opinion based. We looked at each version of our opening and logo that Sam had edited and gave constructive criticism to make it stronger. Examples of this is when sam had the first edit together I thought the beginning was way to short and sharp there was no gradual start to the opening so tension was lost; he combated this by adding a prolonged darkness to the start of the film.

Also with Sean's  titles first they were plain white which we thought were fine for a bit then I recommended we tried rust as in making the letters look like they were made out of rusted metal. Sean tried this and it worked very effectively so we kept this idea.

Sam using green screen to give it an cinema effect called ' Letterboxing'


Lighting was also used in the post production of Alec because we hadn't had the best of lighting to see lighting and we wanted to get rid of any natural light so we can make the audience feel as if the main character is closed in. Below is the settings Sam used for the scene were Alec exits the first scene area and you can see red against the wall. That originally was natural light lighting but changed. Sam also gave an orange tint glow to the words on the wall so the audience is able to read it better.

Construction: Titles

Sean created the titles in photoshop.

First, Sean took a copyright free rust texture from google. Recommended by Ashley.

After that, Sean clicked on the 'Text outline' tool.

Sean type out the desired text.

Next, Sean right click and press 'Select Inverse'.

Sean then press delete, removing all of the texture (bar what Sean selected).

Finally, Sean delete the white background, leaving it transparent. Sean saved the image as a PNG, in order to retain the transparency, and send it to Sam to be edited into the film.

My contribution to this process was opinion input like the rust and a discussion on what the font should be. Also in the poisoning of the titles on screen. Where they should be and in what order.

Planning: Filming schedule

We have created a filming schedule so we know what time we are all available to go out and film our horror teen movie (Alec). So when it comes to us filming we know the schedule and set times for when we will film each individual shot. This will ensure that the whole group will know what dates we are filming.

Saturday 28th of January

At 13:30 on Saturday us as a group will be filming altogether at the abandoned building located at Grafton Underwood at 13:40 we will do our first shot which is a long shot of Alec praying at the alter slowing tracking in.

From 13:40 to 14:00

During this time period we will be dressing the location to fit the feeling of an abandoned yet occupied establishment. We will dress the alter with a bible, crucifix , several church pillar candles and a piece of fabric to cover the table itself. For the hall way we will add bible verses, giant cross, add more church pillar candles and a dead body (actor).

From 14:00 to 15:00

From this time frame we will be filming 2 - 6 scenes and making them in the finest detail for our viewers. We will film he scenes in the hour (estimated time) which will the lead us to the next hour when we are able to complete scenes 7 - 11.

From 15:00 to 16:00

During this time, we will be filming our scenes 7 - 11, during January it gets dark around 16:30 so we plan to go back the next day which is Sunday, and finish our final scenes.

Sunday 29th of January 

From 13:30 to 14:30 

This period, we will finish all the scenes we have been developing through story boards and performing all of the shots so we are able to move on with the editing.

Planning: Shot List

Horror Opening Planning : Shot List

Number of Shot	Storyboard Number	Shot description	Time allowance ( seconds)	Shot
1	1	Fades from black. Alec kneeling in front of altar. Shot from behind. Slowly zooms in.	5	Long shot
2	2	From side; shows both Alec holding rosary/cross, and altar.	4	Mid shot
3	3	From front, follows Alec as he rises and crosses himself. Mid shot.	8	Mid shot
4	4	Camera stays stationary, initially match-on-action  Alec pockets cross/rosary,	2	Close up
5	5	From behind, shows him walking out of room	5	Long shot
6	6	Extreme close up on his eyes? can be removed if we need to/it doesn’t work.	2	Extreme close up
7	7	Establishing shot of corridor; shows off all the props/stuff in corridor. Alec can be slightly seen walking out (if the area allows it).	6	Establishing shot
8	8	Camera on floor, pointed at corpse	4	Mid shot
9	9	Camera slowly follows Alec down hall as he walks	6	Long shot
10	10	Camera shows Bible verses on wall	About 3-5s on each. Brief. Keep film moving.	Mid shot
11	11	Camera tracks sideways, past cross on wall	4	Mid shot
12	12	However many shots we need of the credits? if they’re on the wall?	2-3s on each.	Mid shot
13	13	Alec entering planning room. Over the shoulder as he enters the door	4	Over the shoulder
14	14	Wide shot of room, shows papers on wall	6	Wide shot
15	15	Pan across wall, show pictures of people/detailed paper	10	Mid shot
16	16	Extreme close up on Alec’s eyes, look determined/angry	4	Extreme close up
17	17	Focus on ‘Grand Rapture’ text. Fade to black	7	Mid shot

Planning: Considering Mise-en-Scene For Your Opening - costume and props

Written by Me.

After writing the synopsis for our film "Alec" and considering the location of the movie opening, we had to style our location to match our preference. The abandoned hallway at Grafton Underwood needed to represent Alec's sanctuary. The hallway is bare with broken bricks and pipes along the walls with old slabs of concrete resting on the floor. We need to add several props to the location for it to give of the effect of an abandoned yet lived in place, in which Alec will come to pray to god. The props we are adding to the location are rusted chains along the concrete slabs which we can zoom into to create tension. Church pillar candles as they remind people of a religious place, a place in which people feel safe or uncomfortable depending on the scenery around it. We'll also add a large cross at the end of the hallway chipped and a bit withered to enhance the tension in then scene. We'll make this from two one meter length bit of wood. The candles will create an atmospheric mood lighting for the hallway which will give an easy feel.

In the room next to the hallway there will be an alter Alec will prey to, communicating with god his intentions and why he is doing it. This is in a hall within Grafton underwood next to our first location of the abandoned hall. The location comes with a giant concrete slab table which we will use for the alter. On the alter we will put a worn out bible to show it has been there for a while, a bowl of an unknown red liquid which is probably blood. The blood will be made out of water mixed with a teaspoon of flower and red food colouring. The alter will also have a worn our table cloth over it with tears in it. Some small but relevant items on the table will be rosary beads and a crucifix all lit up with some candles. There will also be a cloth for Alec to kneel on. The bible will be worn out but look in a newer state to the rest of the props which shows how Alec takes care of his religious totems.

Last of all we were thinking of the clothing of Alec and the dead body. The dead body will be wearing a worn and torn grey shirt to show struggle and simple jeans with some trainers with a little blood and bruising. Alec on the other hand will be wearing a very smart trench coat with a black shirt and a vicars collar. Round his right hand and shoulder there will be a wrapped chain with comes out of his coat sleeve without seeing his hand. The pockets of the trench coat will have rosary beads in which he will take out and hold in his left hand. He will wear some black loose jeans with a brown belt around his waist. The shoes he wears will be black booted shoes with no laces. This outfit makes Alec seem very intellectually but with the chain and rosary beads, psychotically religious as well.

Alec will wear standard black jeans to match his overall dark outfit.

He will wear a heavy duty style boot like a doc martin.

Alec will wear a standard vicar shirt with a collar, although very young he is very driven by his religion.

Alec will wear a brown belt which looks worn. This will hint towards his character by showing he doesn't care too much about his appearance/clothing.

The chain will be wrapped around Alec's arm and dragged along the floor behind him. In addition, we will sand down/scratch parts of the chain, and possible dent it; the implication will be that it is old and used as a weapon. As opposed to showing him use the chain as a weapon, we will simply hint towards it.

Candles will be distributed throughout the scene and used to decorate and light the set. According to leading candle reviewers on the Sainsbury's website, the candles melt incredibly quickly- however, this is more of a boon to our group than a hinderance. This is because the short life of the candles will make them look older than they are, giving the set a more lived-in feel.

We're going to make a cross and put it in the set. We'll make it look old and worn, and prop it up against the wall-
Pictured is the cross we had produced by the woodwork department in school. We gave them the dimensions we desired and it was produced by the end of the week.

The completed cross, with a black background.

The cross, with Ashley for scale.

Ashley posing with the cross.

Planning: Casting

We originally had two auditions. We tasked the actors with reading a monologue we had prepared that matches the character of Alec- his demeanour, outlook, perception, etc. We judged them based on the delivery of their lines, and how well they seemed to get into character- if they understand the character well in the monologue, we hope they will be able to translate this to a successful performance in our actual project.

After much deliberation, we decided on the candidate below. This is because his delivery was the most impressive and clear- he seemed to understand the character of Alec, and be able to get into character. This is important- unless they understand how Alec thinks, acts, and talks, then they cannot figure out the more minor details we will use in our main performance- his facial expressions, the way he carries himself, etc. As mentioned, the most impressive demonstration of this was in the audition below, and we will be moving forward using this man as our lead act.

Planning: Location Planning

Keystone - No hallway for us to create a good environment or the killer to walk down. Too light so it would inhibit the amount of tension we could create.

Abandoned Hospital - Impractical to film, hard to reach, hard to design props and get permission.
Mental Hospital- Same as above.


K.S.A- Hard to decorate, too modern, hallways bend too much.


KBA Pavillion- Too many windows/class rooms, carpeted floor, hard to decorate (and probably won't get permission).

Exterior of the main bunker we are going to film in.

Grafton Underwood- We have decided to choose Grafton underwood as it is an easy location to reach and has a variety of bunkers to choose from. It is run down but not to the point where we can't decorate it to look like a sanctuary for a religious icon. We have chose the big mess hall and the hallway next to it in the biggest abandoned building. Having the biggest abandoned building will give us freedom to manipulate the environment to suit us. The hallway has preset features that will help with the atmosphere of the scene which is one aspect of Mise-en-Secne. It has rusted pipes and broken concrete slabs which will add the opening. We are also using a giant mess hall for the planning/ alter scene. This is useful as it comes with a giant concrete table for the alter so that we don't have to build it. These locations are accessible by the public and therefore are easy to use. None of our props create a permanent effect on the location so therefore it is easy to set up.

The inside of the bunker where we will set up the alter.

possible door Alec could use as a transition to
another hallway

The main hallway we will use for Alec to walk down
it is dark enough for us to create tension but can be easily lit
up with candles and dressed effectively.

The room in which we will set up Alec's
murder collage in order to build up to a climax.

Planning: Producing a Storyboard

We went through several stages of storyboarding. Initially, I drew up the shots in a rough, time-efficient manner. We did this to get a general concept of how the film will pan out, so we can draw up the storyboards in a more detailed, skilful way. Pictured is the original storyboard.Both sides of the storyboard.

From this, we constructed a full set of storyboard panels. I was responsible for drawing these, using the original storyboard as reference; I drew these as I do art as a subject and therefore would be more suited for drawing them.

Pictured below is the finished storyboard panels.