AS G3: Shots from Films That Inspire Us

The Conjuring (2013 - James Wan) Doll Close-Up

• Centered close-up of iconic doll, very conventional of horror as it twists something we see as pure and innocent in order to make it more horrific.
• A grey wash is used to desaturate the shot, draining colour and life from it in order to create a sense of dread and foreboding. In contrast if a yellow wash or tungsten white balance had been used it would have created an atmosphere of warmth and life.
• This could help to introduce a sense of dread in the scene, which is vital as the actors available to us may not be professional.

The Strangers (2008 - Bryan Bertino) - Record player

• The cheerful old music juxtaposes the sinister atmosphere emphasising the disturbing nature of the scene.
• By using a close-up of the source of the music clearly links the soundtrack with the visuals.
• This creates a sense of artistic fluidity in which the soundtrack links in with the scene, which looks very professional.

28 Days Later (2002 - Danny Boyle) - Eye Opens

• Close-up emphasises tender nature of the scene.
• Aligns us with the character as he is the first person to be seen.
• Breathing sound effects highlight the importance of the character and perhaps show the fragility of his situation.

The Ring (2002- Gore Verbinski) - Zoom into close-up of clock

• As the telephone rings the camera zooms into the clock quite rapidly; there is a link between the two mediums
• The emphasis on them intensifies the atmosphere; foreboding is introduced
• The idea of linking things together that emphasise one another explains the storyline clearly.

The Ring (2002 - Gore Verbinski) - Reflection of TV in window

• During this clip there is silence, and then TV noise
• The reflection allows the audience to see the character's reaction and also to increase the sense of the unknown
• We have a TV in our opening so this effect would work perfectly if we did it effectively and obviously enough.

The Ring (2002 - Gore Verbinski) - Phone in focus, Long-Shot

• There is a focus on the telephone and everything else is blurred, the shot then switches to the girls in the background
• This shot is interesting because it is a long-shot but this particular clip lasts a long time as there is tension and things can happen in the background and then the action is brought to the forefront
• This shot yet again emphasises objects and their important role in the storyline; makes the situation clearer
• Even having a shot where there is silence and the focus switches between the character in the background and the object close to the camera shows the significance of the object and the audience subconsciously associate this object to the situation

AS G3: Treatment - Identity [WORKING TITLE]

"Identity" is the tale of a young woman (16-23 years old) who wakes up in her home without any memories of the last few years of her life. She looks around to attempt to establish her identity and notices a number 5 carved into her hand, surrounded in a bandage. She decides to follow the lead, following the numbers as they count down from 5 to 1 as she is led to the plain living room, where she finds herself holding a TV remote with only the "1" left unscratched. Pressing it, she sees herself through a webcam on the TV and instructions appear, telling her that "If you ever want to gain your lost memories, if you ever want to see your family again, if you ever want to get your life back...do as I say."

AS G3: Concept Development

We have decided to work with psychological horror, and develop our story from that.

Characters

• We have decided that we would like to go for a female lead, between the ages of 16 to 25. The character will definitely be playing on an emergent ideological setup. 
• Our antagonist will most likely be an unknown person, but definitely nothing supernatural, as this would be unconventional of the  psychological/horror genre.

Plot

• A teenage girl wakes up in a comfortable looking home, in a bed. 
• She looks around for identifying marks, as a voiceover asks "Who am I?" etc.
• She feels pain in her hand and looks down to see a bandage which she curiously unravels to reveal a "5" on her hand
• She continues looking around and finds nothing until she sees a "4" on the door
• She opens the door and enters the hallway, looking around once again, finding a picture of herself next to a person who has been torn out
• She enters another door with a "3" on it, leading to a plain room
• She looks around the room and sees a TV in the corner with a remote on the table. She sits on the sofa marked "2"
• She looks at the remote which has had all the numbers scratched off except "1" so she presses it, turning on the TV
• The TV merely shows herself through a webcam, and as she stares at the screen in confusion words appear
• "If you want to regain your memory," "If you want to see your family again," "If you want your life back..." "Do everything I say." 

Camera

• Distance(s): Close up of protagonist, so the audience is aligned with her and is a part of her struggle.
• Movement: Establishing shots of where the protagonist wakes up, perhaps use of panning or dolly.
• Angle: Predominantly eye level or high angle shots to make the character appear small and vulnerable. Possible use of CCTV camera angles, to give the idea of being watched - however, we do not want to emulate the "Saw" (Wan, 2004) effect.

Sound

• Dialogue: We will use a voice over to "hear" the characters thoughts as she asks herself questions such as "who am I" and "where am I".
• Sound effects: Possibly the breathing of the character in the beginning of the opening.
• Music: "Urban" sounds, for example grime or electronic music. Alternatively we could use an entirely different musical theme that feels intentionally out of place, such as 1950's music. 

Mise-en-scene

• Lighting: We'll be filming during the day, which will mean diffuse sunlight will be accessible to us and will also produce a nicer image in-camera than if we shot at night (less noise).
• Props: An ID card, or a card that reveals a little of the story behind our character, without spoiling it. Potentially a mysterious number written on certain props, for a mysterious unknown reason. Edit: One of the props we discussed was a television-remote, with every other number except "1" scratched out. It will be connected to the costume and will be essential to the plot.
• Location and sets: For the storyline, we agreed that the use of an urban setting, such as a house. Would be ideal for the opening.
• Symbols: We thought the idea of using numbers would be an interesting concept to work with, as it connotes either a code or a countdown. Edit:
• Costume: As we want to create a sense of verisimilitude, our character will wear modern day clothing. Possibly slightly rugged, to show that she's been either taken from her home or somehow revealing a struggle. Edit: Part of the costume will consist of the number "1" being cut into the hand of the protagonist. This will act as the first clue for the lead.

Editing

• Cutting rate
• Begin the narrative AFTER the opening title - i.e. Title before the first shot
• Typography
  
  

IH: Production and Distribution of Horror Films

Discuss the ways in which horror films are produced and distributed.

Production of Horror Films

Independent Horror

• The codes and conventions of the horror film genre mean that the films can be produced on a low to micro budget, sometimes producing huge amounts of profit depending on the success of the distribution. For example "Paranormal Activity" (Peli,2007) tells the story of a young couple who are haunted "by a supernatural presence in their home". The conventions of the genre meant that the film could shot on a micro budget of $15,000 yet made $193,355,800 in the box office, making it a huge success as it generated over 150x the original budget on the opening weekend alone. "Paranormal Activity" was originally an independent horror film but was bought by Paramount Pictures after being screened in 2007, when it was then modified and released in 2009

• Advances in the popularity, power and accessibility web 2.0 mean that independent filmmakers can extensively use social networking to gain the public's attention and even offers new platforms from which to release content, such as Vimeo, YouTube or other personal websites. Furthermore with the advancement in popularity and notoriety of crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter and Indigogo as respected means of gaining funding, filmmakers can now fund entire productions with money gained from the public. An example of this is "VGHS: Video Game High School", the webseries launched by world-famous YouTube filmmaker "FreddieW" who used his fame and popularity to draw the public's attention to the VGHS Kickstarter page which got $200,000 more than originally pledged. The team then used the further popularity from this series to release "VGHS: Video Game High School Season 2" which once again received hundreds of thousands of dollars more than originally pledged on the Kickstarter page. While both seasons were extremely popular, the public could watch the episodes on the YouTube channel (where a YouTube partnership advertising scheme is used to generate profit) or a week earlier on the RocketJump website, where an even more profitable advertising scheme generated money.

Industrial Horror Films

• As with all industrial films the size of the budget available to industrial filmmakers is significantly increased. This means often films are more visually impressive, contain extensive visual effects or have Hollywood A-List actors as they not only potentially offer better performances, they hopefully provide a reassurance of the films quality to the audience. An example of an industrial Hollywood horror film is "The Cabin In The Woods" (Goddard,2012) which had a budget of $30 Million, generating a disappointing $66 Million technically making the film a failure. Given the success of certain Horror films, often sequels, occasionally prequels, and a host of spin-offs are made. An example of this is the previously mentioned "Paranormal Activity" film which since became a franchise, with six films in. The films become less well celebrated as the franchise continues, however despite the lack of critical acclaim the films manage to remain huge successes.

Distribution of Horror Films

Industrial Horror

Mainstream industrial horror films are distributed much like any other industrial film: with an advertising campaign involving trailers, posters, websites, billboard adverts and TV adverts etc. For example "The Conjuring" (Wan,2012)  first released posters introducing the stars' characters, followed by a teaser trailer which was released at Comic Con (many of the attendants were the target audience). As with "The Blair Witch Project" (Myrick/Sanchez,1999) the film based its advertising campaign heavily on the idea of the film being "based on a true story" as it follows the tale of real life paranormal activity specialists Ed and Lorraine Warren who inspired "The Amityville Horror" (Douglas,2005). In the final weeks leaving up to the films release the real-life Perron family made appearances on talk spots, which was finally followed by a featurette entitled "The Devil's Hour" which showed the real-life Lorraine Warren explaining some events in the film. The film was a huge success at the box office, with a budget of $20 Million making $316,700,141 at the box office.

Independent Horror

As with all independent films distribution is generally significantly harder than it is for industrial films. The constrained budget mean that TV trailers and billboards etc cannot be afforded, so the filmmakers have to use more ingenious ways to create buzz about the film. With the total availability of web 2.0, things such as free software, social networking, advice forums and videos have never been easier to access. This means that those with the skill and ability to innovate have a greater chance of distributing horror films than ever before, for example raising "buzz" through social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and the video sharing website YouTube. Essentially developing technologies have democratised the film industry and made the life of the independent filmmaker significantly more viable than ever before.

AD: Production and Distribution of Horror Films

Discuss the ways in which horror films are produced and distributed.

Production of horror films

Independent Horror

• Horror films have a common feature: the budget needed for a horror film does not necessarily have to be anywhere near the million mark and can, with the introduction of funding websites such as Kickstarter, be funded completely by the audience, as for example the Kickstarter funded film The Sky Has Fallen (Roos, 2009) did.
• A classic example of a low budget, independent horror film is the film The Blair Witch Project (Myrick, Sánchez, 1999), which had a budget of $22,500 (£13,814) and made $248,639,099 (£152,661,078) at the box office, essentially making it one of the most successful, low budget movies of all time. Filming of The Blair Witch Project took a mere eight days to film, the dialogue was entirely improvised and all of the majority of the events in the film were unknown to the three actors. While this is an old example, it does show that the time required to shoot a horror does not necessarily require months of filming, and that improvisation can pay off.



• Another example of a low budget horror film would be Shrooms (Breathnach, 2007). The film made an approximate worldwide gross of $4,954,621 (£3,042,050). As it is a film distributed by Vertigo films, it can be assumed that the film is of a low budget, with limited visual effects, relying mostly on pro-filmic effects to instill terror into the audience. What is notable in this example is the fact that it was a low budget movie that did not receive high reviews, nor have a long life span in the cinema.
• As it is with most horror films involving gore, the majority of the effects available to the director and crew are pro-filmic effects. The creation of pro-filmic effects are surprisingly cheap and very easy to create. For example, the YouTube channel IndyMogul has an impressive collection of tutorials on creating iconic chestbursters, zombie gore, makeup and props, showcasing the possibilities of using day-to-day items as potential film props. This means that effective on-screen effects are possible to create on a small budget, and as such make up a small part of the overall capital available to the production crew.

         

Industrial Horror

• Larger scale industrial films have, as they are usually produced by the six major studios, have the means of creating visually impressive films, utilising both pro-filmic effects and visual effects to create a visually impressive, high budget movie.
• Not all of the major studio films are necessarily successful. An example of this would be The Apparition (Lincoln, 2012), with a budget of $17 million made a mere $9,627,492 in the box office, essentially making it a massive flop. This example shows that even though the movie contains high budget visual effects and has the means of showing them off, it doesn't make it a good film.
• Another example of an industrial level film with high success would be A Nightmare on Elm Street (Bayer, 2010), distributed by New Line Cinema, a subsiduary to Warner Brothers. While it was not received well by critics, it still scraped in a its opening weekend just over $15 million, with the income from the total box office of just over $117 million, making it the eight highest grossing movie in unadjusted dollars. 
• Franchises that have already been established can, and are, visited by mainstream media, as it draws upon an existing fanbase that will presumably be drawn by the franchise. An example of a franchise would be A Nightmare on Elm Street (Craver, 1984), which has resulted in nine films, a television show, novels and comic books. The films in the franchise have collectively grossed over $455 million in the box office worldwide. 
• Existing media such as books, comics or video games are equally considered by media conglomerates for films, as for example with World War Z (Forster, 2013), which was loosely based on the book of the same name, written by Max Brooks.

Distribution of Horror films

Horror film distributors have in the last decade begun using the Internet to promote their films, making distribution relatively easy to make and is not as costly as large billboards or other synergistic promotional activities, that require massive funds. 

• Viral video campaigns can for example be for the film World War Z (Forster, 2013), known as "Crisis Zero". The Crisis Zero campaign was established to draw potential audiences using social media for people to connect with the film, allowing independent directors and fans of zombie films to add to the story of the film, building up the buzz factor of a film. Example below:









Cinema trailers in connection with other horror films are put in purposefully to attract audiences, as the audience will most likely be male fans of horror between the ages 15 to 29, all of whom will be expecting to see a horror film in the first place, in which case promoting other horror films will attract audiences who are already interested in the genre.
Additionally, large conglomerates use subsidiaries to promote merchandise to for a horror film (and any other film in general), for example collector action figures, keyrings and in some cases bedlinen. An example of a piece of merchandise from a film being distributed by one of the major film studios is the fedora worn by Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street (Craver, 1984), distributed by Warner Brothers on their online shop, WBShop.
For independent distributors, the primary way of gaining an audience is by creating an internet buzz. This can arise from a simple website showcasing the film or, as the filmmakers of The Blair Witch Project did, practically handing out flyers with "Missing" signs around the Cannes Film Festival. Essentially, this is a viral, low budget campaign. This is also known as self-distribution. An advantage of this is that none of the budget goes to the distributors and the filmmaker can decide how to use the budget for distribution themselves.
Moreover, independent films may not have the funding necessary to have their films shown in the cinema, which is a costly business. Therefore, alternatives such as YouTube, Vimeo or similar media websites save that expense.
Additionally, some independent film studios have begun setting up their own webshops, as Warner Brothers have done with WBShop. An example of this would be the independent studio, RocketJump, which sells merchandise from their various webseries.

To conclude, the way in which films are produced and distributed has changed dramatically the last decade, especially when taking into account the technological advances within digital technology. With the introduction of easier and free distribution media such as YouTube and Vimeo, and the falling prices of editing software, with even some software being so simple and cheap that children can use it with ease, examples of these being Vine, Adobe Premier, the recent developments within digital and camera technology has spawned a new generation of low or no budget filmmakers. By calling upon websites such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo, young filmmakers are able to procure the necessary funds to achieve their project. As mentioned earlier, independent studios have begun creating own merchandise to promote their product, just as the industrial studios do. In essence, this could indicate that the gap between industrial and independent has come down to the subsidiaries and assets available to the studios, and not the funding and skill-level of by the filmmakers.

GP: Production and Distribution of Horror Films

Discuss the ways horror films are produced and distributed

Distribution and production in the film industry are affected by the genre of film in most cases, and horror is also characterised. With these characteristics come benefits and disadvantages of the production or distribution. However, this varies between the independent and industrial films. 

Independent Films
Production

One advantage of the production of the horror genre is that horror is generally cheaper to produce than other genres, such as sci-fi. This advantage comes into play for independent films, in particular, Vertigo Films. A Night In The Woods (2012 - directed by Richard Parry) had a very low budget, but with the concept came a cheap location in the woods. Pro-filmic effects are used more in independent films, even though industrial films also use them (lighting and make-up) to create the desired outcome compared to special effects post-production in industrial films. This can be seen as a disadvantage; the quality may not be as good and the possibilities can be seen as limited, but pro-filmic effects can be very effective in sub-genres such as zombie horror and splatterpunk horror. Also, Richard Parry chose to use an improvised script instead of pay for a professional script writer. With less money spent on production comes more money to be spent on the distribution.

Distribution

 Spending more on the distribution means the film gains even more potential consumers; the film can potentially have a higher profit. When distributed, there is emphasis on the scary moments and conventions of horror; the marketing campaign has a focus. This emphasis is common within industrial and independent film companies.




 A Night In The Woods used the internet for their horror film campaign through the medium of YouTube as marketing for their trailer. The benefits of putting trailers on YouTube is that videos can go viral and can be shared easily. The internet is perfect for independent films as there is a potentially very large number of consumers with the internet community being so close-knit. Also, Internet advertising is much more cheaper than having a physical poster at a bus stop and is potentially more effective. 

Industrial Films
Production

Industrial horror films have a huge budget so the production is bound to be high quality. With a high quality production there is a wider range visions that can be created, put onto screen and brought to life. However, although major conglomerates have the money, horror doesn't (usually) always need as big a budget as some of the other genres need. The Conjuring (2013 - James Wan) is an example of an industrial horror film as it had a budget of $20 million. With money comes more studios involved with the film; production is higher quality. Also, there are more contributors, such as writers, producers, cinematographers and musicians because of the access to the money; quality is more likely to be higher. However, even though The Conjuring had around a $300 million profit, doesn't mean all high quality industrial film profits exceed their budget.



Distribution

Just like independent films, industrial films know what the consumers want and what the consumers expect of the horror genre; the trailer shows off the conventions. The conventions include dark colours, 'jumps', maybe gore, iconography and a tense mood created. Industrial films also have access to synergistic promotional activity such as merchandise or advertising in restaurants. Horror movie trailers can also be shown in cinemas during the adverts; this is particularly effective is the film about to be shown is of a similar genre. Industrial films can also reach other to more potential consumers through the internet compared to independent as the money for distribution can be spent on advertising on cinema websites or social media adverts (such as Facebook timeline advertising). Subsidiaries mean merchandise of the film can be created which further promotes the film. The relevant audiences are normally targeted, and The Conjuring is an example of this as The New York Comic Con saw the teaser trailer first. Also,  The Conjuring emphasised the storyline by showing the real-life Perron family in interviews weeks before the release date and promotional images were released months before the release date to start a buzz (this was done through the internet and the outdoors, such as posters). The marketing of the images was powered by the budget to purposefully create a hype, anticipation and to further extend the audience reached.

To conclude, industrial films tend to have the upper hand when it comes to distribution as a higher budget results in more advertising and exposure to wider masses. However, technology has aided indie films with distribution as  creating a Facebook page rather than buying a billboard on the side of the road and has the potential to reach just as many people. Technologic convergence has democratised film making for indie producers and is a way of targeting positive technological determinists through products and services through marketing. Cross media convergence is an advantage to industrial conlomerates such as Warner Bros as further exposure is given to the franchise. In terms of production, industrial films have greater competition each time technology is updated, but still have access to more technology than indie films due to the higher budget.

 

IH: Technical Analysis - "The Blair Witch Project" (Myrick/Sanchez,1999)

The following extract is from the ground-breaking experimental psychological horror film "The Blair Witch Project" (Myrick/Sanchez, 1999). The film is most famous for it's use of new techniques within the horror genre, such as pretending the film was genuinely footage from a student film project and continuing this theme through the use of almost exclusively handheld footage. The clunky, home made feeling of the opening first few minutes is key to setting the film's pace, as although very little happens during the opening scene the way it is filmed and edited clearly continues the idea of the footage having been found.
Source:
http://www.mojvideo.com/video-the-blair-witch-project-part-1/a7b4b8606ecf30cea4c2

Camera	Duration	Mise-en-scene	Sound and effects
Artisan/Havan Films	00:00 - 00:15	None	None
The Blair Witch Project	00:18 - 00:25	None	None
"A year later their footage was found"	00:29 - 00:40	None	None
(Handicam) Blurry ECU of hand on camera, zooms out and becomes less blurry to reveal lady talking (ECU to mid shot to long shot)	00:43 - 01:03	Normal looking home, comfortable looking pretty lady, old TV (sets the time period roughly)	Lady talking, the man behind camera talking
(Handicam) Close up of her hand as she touches the books	01:03 - 01:16	Messy pile of books, hand is gloved	Lady behind camera talking, man talking in the distance
(Handicam) Woman walks up to crew member who has arrived in car	01:16 - 01:22	Car is plain and cheap looking, man is dressed for expedition	"Hey it's Mr Punctuality" dialogue
(Handicam) Man prepares camera for shooting	01:23 - 01:30	Messy car boot, enhances verisimilitude	"No one knows I took it...but I got it." Reiterates guerilla low-budget filmmaking theme
(Handicam) Man pointing camera at lady	00:31 - 01:36	Man shooting woman, woman shooting man emphasises friendly playfulness	"I can see you!" (sing-song voice)
(Handicam) Reverse of previous shot, as shown through black and white camera	01:37 - 01:42	Woman wrapped up in warm clothes, ready for expedition	Use of profane dialogue enhances verisimilitude
(Handicam) Man lying down, clearly tired	01:43 - 01:52	Non-verbal language suggests tiredness	Discussing pre-production
(Handicam) Mike appears from doorway	01:53 - 02:11	Mike is carrying extensive amounts of kit (reminds audience of filming theme)	"Hey I guess you're Mike?" Dialogue reminds audience he is new to the group
(Handicam)Shot of Mike in the car	02:12 - 02:16	Car is simple and cheap looking, enhances verisimilitude	"I'm really excited, thanks for the opportunity" reminds audience he is new
(Handicam) Man driving the car	02:17 - 02:22	Same as previous shot	"We have so much battery power we could fuel a small country for a month"
(Handicam) Man showing food bought	02:23 - 02:26	Supermarket trolly with products in	Dialogue listing food bought
(Handicam) Marshmallow bag. Camera pushes against bag then retreats and repeats	02:29 - 02:40	Bag of marshmallows amongst other products	Crinkle of marshmallow bag accompanied with "Soft marshmallows!" dialogue
(Handicam) Move in on ghost sticker slowly	02:41 - 02:47	Ghost sticker in window connotes the paranormal	"Oooh spooky!"
(Handicam) Woman sitting in an interview position	02:48 - 02:57	Restaurant sets scene for the first interview, raises the key question	First mention of "The Blair Witch"
(Handicam) Woman speaks about how she wants to present the film	02:58 - 03:09	Black cat in background connotes bad luck etc	"I really want to avoid any cheese" is colloquial dialogue, enhances verisimilitude whilst continues theme of filmmaking
(Handicam) Small montage of preparation, then slate preparation	03:10 - 03:42	Production slate + camera equipment once again emphasises filmmaking theme	"Kiss the slate!" Introduces idea of superstition, biting of slate keeps atmosphere happy and funny

While it would not be wise to attempt to emulate the "found footage" theme of "The Blair Witch Project" (as it has since been done many times in films such as "Cloverfield" (Reeves,2008) and has a tendency to make the audience feel nauseous unless executed perfectly), the idea that we could set an idea for a theme such as the "This footage was found" theme and then film in such a way that supports this claim, is definitely worth exploring.

AS G3: Video Evaluation [First Edit]

The group is proud to announce that the first edit has been completed thanks to the hours spent toiling away at a keyboard by our chief editor, Georgia P. Now that the primary edit has been exported we can evaluate and collect feedback from a focus group, and hopefully finish the editing process in spare time.

Evaluation

Here is a series of points that need considering for the final edit:

• Sound mixing needs to be organised so that the cuts between shots can be as smooth (and therefore as non-distracting) as possible, so the audience can get emotionally involved in the film
• Soundtrack is ABSOLUTELY necessary to increase the tense, thrilling atmosphere we're going for
• Perhaps heartbeat or heavy/close breathing sounds could be added for extra effect
• Monster sound effects need to be added multiple times
• The first shot with the left-turn sign post in has no sound
• The title and credits need doing properly
• There needs to be proper credits
• The description could be altered to show more about the brief etc.

AS Group Three: Trapped - Wilderness Woods Task

AD: Technical analysis of The Shining opening

The following extract is from Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining from 1980. As the majority of the shots are taken from the outside of the moving car, and involve very little information on the characters, the primary focus of this analysis is on the use of score to set the mood and the genre of the film. 

Camera	Timecode	Mise en-scene	Sound, editing and effects
Title logo for Warner Bros. Pictures.	0:00 to 0:12	None. The audience is informed of the subsidiary responsible for the distribution of the film.	None
Extreme Long Shot (XLS) of lake, flying track, Establishing shot, possibly done with a wide-angle lens.	0:13 to 0:30	Sound puts the otherwise calm and tranquil scene into a different perspective, giving off the idea that what the audience otherwise may think of nature is wrong. The sound contrasts the high-key lighting of the shot.	Score begins, sinister and deep tones. Foreboding. No diegetic sound.
Tracking continued, tilts to the right.	0:23 to 0:30	The tilt connotes discord, enhancing the sense of foreboding.	Fade out to next shot. Sinister music continues. Continued silence on the diegetic sound front.
High angle birds eye view, XLS	0:30 to 0:50	A car is seen driving along the twisted road, among tall trees. The mass collection of trees connote the lack of people and the emptiness. The narrowness of the road could be interpreted as the car driving towards something that cannot be escaped easily, a way with only one way out.	Fade in from previous shot. Further continuation of the sinister music.
Cut. XLS. Continued tracking.	0:50 to 1:08	The barren section further connotes the lack of sanity in the emptiness of nature, the tall mountains in the distance signifying the consequences ahead.	Music continues, around 0.54 additional instruments are added. Judging from the noise that is made, it is an autoharp that is used.
Cut. XLS, tracks closer to the car, long shot car crabs right.	1:09 to 1:39	The large cliffside connotes the idea of slipping into insanity or chaos, that danger looms over the story. The yellow VW Beetle connotes that the characters in the film are most likely a family, a mother, father and child, using the idea of the nuclear family.  The yellow colour of the car could potentially have the symbolic means of  The helicopter flying by and over the cliffside could connote the speed of which the insanity ensues, and how the characters are driving into insanity.	The music continues, string instruments are continued, and an added distorted scream-like noise plays. In the meantime, titles appear, showing actors, director and title of the film.
Cut.	1:39 to 2:09	As the music intensifies, the	Further titles.
Cut. XLS. Further tracking.	2:10 to 2:33	As with the
Cut. XLS.	2:33 to 2:44	Further emphasis of the road to insanity, with the colour symbolism of white signifying death, the green colour of the woodland clashing with
Cut. XLS. Introduction of the hotel.	2:44 to 3:00	The grey roofing of the building	Overall, the cutting rate is slow, giving the audience time to observe the location, understand the remoteness of the location and the isolation of the characters from society.
Camera	Timecode	Mise-en-scene	Sound, editing and effects

What is most interesting to note is that the previous analysis of Funny Games (Haneke, 1997) is very similar to Stanley Kubrick's opening. It could therefore be discussed whether or not Haneke used a similar convention to The Shining, perhaps to a point where Haneke is paying homage to Kubrick's style of opening. However, what differs from the two is the fact that Haneke uses non-diegetic sound and diegetic sound to establish the characters and the plot of Funny Games, whereas Kubrick focuses simply on the use of a sinister and foreboding score to achieve the same effect.

While the possibility of shooting with a helicopter and creating a similar effect is highly unlikely to be achievable, what we as a group can learn from this opening is that the sense of foreboding can be done through sound alone, and is as important as what is visually present in the shots.