The title of the film:
We deiced to call our film 'Chapel Lane' we decided this because we liked the idea of calling the film after the place where it was set and we got the inspiration from the popular TV show, 'Ripper Street'. We also thought that this was a good name because we have set the opening in a church/graveyard which relates to the chapel. The connotations of having set our opening around a church is something that relates with horror movies as they are quite a spooky place. Naming the film after a street made the film feel like its all set in one place and you cant get away which shows the feeling of the girl in the beginning.The word 'Chapel' relates back to the Victorian era so by calling it this we made the film dated even before people watched and it gave the viewers a clear indication of when it is set and the genre. 'Chapel also has relations to religion, making the viewer think that the film is something to do with religion and churches but in reality its about a man stalking women in the Victorian era. We researched different names that we could use on the internet to see which ones we liked best, it took us quite a while because we couldn't all agree on one but in the end we found one that we all thought would suit really well.
Setting and location:
For the setting and location we had it set around a church and graveyard. I think that this is a typical setting for a horror movie. A church and graveyard give an eerie atmosphere and has an unsettling feel to it as the viewer because it can either be something that you relate to happiness such as weddings or unhappiness relating to funerals. therefore the audience aren't sure at the beginning what they should be feeling as the church door is shown in the first establishing shot. Once they find out what is going on the viewed may feel uncomfortable because what is happening is in complete contrast to the setting as it is a religious place it would be going against many religions and would be seen to be a disgusting act on Gods territory. Filming in this place made it seem more realistic as if it were really set in this time which is what we wanted, the old stone walls with bits missing out of them really captures the 'old' feeling and creepy atmosphere. When filming, as it was in a public area we had to watch out for passers by, so we had to stop filming a couple of times to let them past.
Costumes and props:
Costume was the most important thing to get right, if we didn't get the costume right then no one would believe that our film was really set in that time period. We needed the audience to believe and the easiest and most effective way was through visual costume.We chose outfits that would fit in with the era for example the man was wearing a black suit, white shirt and tie and a black top hat. this gave the audience a sense of mystery about him because he looks very formal and important someone who you could trust, but it was actually misleading because he is a violent murderer. For the girl we had her dress in a dark green dress and a black cloak. This giver her an innocent feel about her because she wants to stay covered up and doesn't show too much skin.
The props we used were a hand held mirror to show the reflection of the stalker man behind her and a cigarette that the man smokes at the beginning. The use of the mirror was to show that character as being innocent as she was just checking her make-up when she sees this man behind her. The cigarette shows the man being independent and looking a bit like trouble making the viewers wonder what hes up to.
Overall I think that our camera work was very good. We tried to stick with time and era and not using a tripod for some of the shots as they wouldn't have used them in those times. As a result of this I think it had good and bad consequences, for example it actually looked quite effected because the camera was unsteady it made the whole film opening unsteady and it came across in a creepy way, like it was the man following and it was him making it shake. On the other hand I think at times the camera was too shaky and did look a little unprofessional, most of the time you wouldn't really notice it at all but at some points its really noticeable. I think this was partly because as I said before we filmed in a public place where there was people around all the time, so sometimes we would have to stop and let them pass which unfocused us a little bit. Also because we were filming outside, some wind came along now and again a knocked the camera making it move. To set the scene and establish our characters we used some camera angles help us, for example there was a shot of the girl in the middle of the opening to show the audience where we were. We also used a close-up and extreme close-up when the man is smoking, this shows in detail what he is doing and gives an indication of what hes like. We used match on action when we see the girl walking towards the camera and then we get a shot of her looking behind, giving the feeling that she thinks someone is watching her.
For our editing we changed the picture to black and white to really capture the Victorian era. We also got rid of the diegetic sound of cars, people talking and the wind going through the camera and replaced it with non-diegetic music to add as sense of emotion. We also changed the brightness to make the piece seem more dark and mysterious.
Title font and style:
We wanted our font to look old fashioned and fit in with the Victorian era. So for this we chose an italic type font that was curly and flicky to make it look like it had been hand written by someone. It looks like old English writing, we didn't want to use a font that would be big and bold or make it look modern. We used plain colours such as the pink/peach and gray, this contrasts with the black and white filming and the whole idea as the opening is about something dark and bad the title is light and innocent. The colours look old fashioned and are not the typical red for a horror film, but I would say ours is more a thriller.
Story and how the opening sets it up:
We have set up our story is though the most important thing, costume. This immediately lets the viewers know that it is set in a different time period to ours and its the first thing they see. It is also set up with the black and white filming letting them know it old fashioned. The first character we see is the man and we see him having a smoke, then the girl is introduced and he watches her walk past. From this the viweers will get the idea that the story is evolved around these two characters and something happens after he starts stalking her. But it doesn't tell you what that is, so the audience will have to watch the rest of the film to find out.
Genre and how the opening suggests it:
The genre of our film opening is a gothic horror/thriller which is shown straight away thought the use of the Victorian costume and the black and white filming. This showed the viewers when it was set and gives a horror feel to it as it is dark. For a convention of a horror film, most that we watch started to build up the tension so that's what we did. We didn't go straight into the action of the girl being murdered we built it up a bit through the man stalking her first.
How the characters are introduced:
For our man character, who is the main character, we see him come out of a church and then lights up a cigarette showing his 'couldn't care less' attitude towards the holy place where he is standing. As he finishes smoking the girl also comes out of the church and walks down the path. She is introduced as an innocent character who keeps herself to herself whereas the man is shown to stalk the girl.
Special effects:
For our film opening we didn't really use any special effects as we wanted to keep it all as natural as possible because we wanted the Victorian era to be realistic. If we had have used them it would have spoiled all are hard effort of getting the costume right and the location right.
