Evaluation of AOTT Activity (DYM)

• The idea we had for our film was that a girl would be killed (by an unknown person) and later found trapped in a hole alive. She ends up being possessed and the demon inside of her wants revenge on the person who killed her and hid her body in the hole/dungeon. In the opening, the girl is seen dead (hanging) and a series of spooky events occur as she begins her mission to find whoever killed her.
• In the film opening, the audience are introduced to the main character as well as being made aware of her death and strong determination to find revenge. The genre (horror) is made very clear through the showing of blood and disturbing images such as the baby doll's head and the girl's feet both with blood dripping down from them.
• The titles include images that all connote fear, panic and darkness which obviously links to the film as these are all common features of the horror genre. They also focus mainly on the girl and her possession which helps to show that the film idea is mostly about her.
• By the end of the opening, the audience should be intrigued as to what will happen in the rest of the film because we chose to keep it quite ambiguous as to leave room for mystery which another key feature of horror films. If the film opening was how we hoped it would be, then the audience should be left feeling unsettled and scared, due to the disconcerting images.
• We included the introduction of the main character in order to add some sort of understanding that the film would be about her and to allow the audience an insight into her life and personality before the rest of the film goes on to explore other things. Also, we included opening credits as these are required by the law for all film openings, they show who the producer/director/etc is. Furthermore, a variation of camera angles was used to make it a bit more interesting as it would be boring for the audience if they were all the same. The different camera angles also help the understanding of the film, such as the low angle shot on the baby helps to show that baby is perhaps powerful and important and could be significant later on in the film as the story progresses.
• I think our film opening was successful to an extent as it portrayed all the characteristics of a horror film that we wanted and appears ambiguous and intriguing. It also makes use of a variety of shot types and camera angles, which broadened our knowledge of  them and enabled us to put them into practice. Ultimately, looking back on it, I would have liked to experiment further with lighting as this could have helped emphasise certain aspects more, such as the element of mystery.