Evaluation of AOTT Activity (DYM)

Our film called "phobia" is about possessed dolls hidden through out a haunted house, who come to life and wreak havoc on any visitors they recieve. In our opening it was very important for us to create a strong mise-en-scene, giving rise to the dark imagery. There is no real sequence of events present in our opening, only a collection of symbolic and disturbing images that begin to get the audience in the right frame of mind for the film. These images are often key signifiers of the horror genre and more specifically the specific sub-set of haunted house horror. We also introduce the dolls as characters alongside industry information, such as the production crew and the film's title. These include the director, producer, writer and musical composer of the film. The dolls are only partially shown and you cannot see the entirity of their face, due to their position and dark surroundings, which leaves an air of enigma surrounding them as characters.The film's title "phobia" could stem from phobia's definition being an irrational fear. This could suggest that being scared of these dolls is entirely irrational and one would not expect them to be so dangerous, yet in actuality they are actively seeking prey to kill.

I think that the audience would be left feeling unsettled by the opening of our film, as well as genuine intrigue about who the characters of the film are. Thus far, alot of information surrounding the characters and setting have been withheld to keep the audience guessing and also make it easier to scare the audience, as a good horror film should. By not having any signifier that the dolls are the main character, they are essentially hidden in plain sight. However, it is still important to atleast show the main character in the opening sequence, as well as titles and signifiers of the genre, even if they are not identified as such. Although the audience do not yet understand the dolls are the main character, they will still be able to recognise them later in the narrative from the opening sequence, giving the narrative a more concrete flow. The title is vitally important in the opening as it suggests a genre for the film, as well as clarifying to the audience that they are about to watch the film they actually wanted to watch. This is important as you do not want members of the audience doubting that the film is indeed the one they wanted to watch 10 minutes into their viewing, you just want them to be seated and watching and enjoying the film. Finally, key signifiers of the genre are included in the grid, such as the key hole or female sillhouette, in order to make it explicitly clear to the audience what genre of film they are watching, so as to make sure the "correct" audience watch your film and give it a positive reviewing and thus possibly recommend it to their friends.

Ultimately I believe my group and I created an effective film opening and represented it well within the grid. There is an exceptionally strong sense of genre and tone establish in the opening, with subtle hints at the characters, setting and finer themes. As the shots are intended to be somewhat abstract, I would not be too worried if the audience were not entirely sure what they were watching, however it cannot be too confusing or the audience would stop watching altogether. So when editing great care would be taken so as to prevent this from happening, through careful choice of transitions and music. That said, as a grid it may be difficult to see where the story is going, as it is a static medium where no moving images or transitions are shown.k