Independent Research Task - soundtrack

Independent Research Task 2

 

How to soundtrack a horror film

My group has two Music Technology students in it, including myself, so we can use our knowledge and resources available to us to create our own soundtrack from scratch that is tailored to our own vision.

Although I have watched an obscene amount of horror movies, I find that I generally focus on the action a lot more than the soundtrack (with a few classic exceptions of course, think Hitchcock's 'Psycho') so I definitely had to seek out tips on the music composition side of horror audio production.

What I Researched

I watched a couple of youtube videos following a musician building a horror soundtrack whilst explaining their thought process and sharing tips on how to get a good sound, I found this video very useful;

I also began listening to horror soundtracks as I did some of my other work - a very interesting experience that may have made homework feel even more stressful, but certainly very dramatic.

One of the soundtracks I listened to was from Halloween (2018) as I'm a big fan of the very talented John Carpenter, but I wanted a more modern and clean sound to get inspired off of, hence the more recent film choice.

I particularly liked this specific track from it as it included a sound achieved by running a violin bow across guitar strings, I found the creativity behind this very inspiring and motivating;

What I Found Out

I learnt a lot of useful tips on how to build a scary and off-putting sound, such as the use of 'Tri Tones'.

Without getting very specific into music theory, a Tri Tone is a chord build from three notes that are three whole steps apart from each other, resulting in a very unsettling sounding chord nicknamed 'The Devil's Chord', these chords were actually banned in very early Catholic music because of their evil tone.

I also learnt that a good way to emphasise a jumpscare, which our sequence will include, is to just play a jarring note at a significantly higher level than the rest of the track right at the moment of the scare, this is fairly self explanatory as it would very simply add to the element of surprise and cause the viewer to jump.

There are two main easy techniques that are commonly used for simple horror soundtracking;

Technique 1

This technique is called a 'Tone Cluster' and involves playing multiple notes that are one semitone apart (basically, two notes next to each other on a piano), sounding very dissonant and uncomfortable, these are simple background chords to create a good basic foundation.

Technique 2

This technique is called 'Sound Mass' and relies a lot more on the tone of the instrument, achieved by playing a group of notes in any way you want, such as basically pressing your hand into any group of piano keys for an easy unpleasant "chord", and then focusing more on (digitally) changing the nature of the sound by adding effects usually. I like the creative freedom this method gives you and how little musical ability it requires, meaning anyone could produce this simply by messing around with any software. 

My Take:

Finally, I decided to test myself and speed run a very short sample of a horror soundtrack within 5 minutes, although it is clearly not a very good track, it definitely taught me how easy creating creepy music was by applying techniques from this research;

Independent Research Task - hot wiring

Independent Research Task 1 

How to hot wire or break into a car!

The first part of our sequence opens on the survivor getting into an abandoned car and attempting to restart it through the process of Hot wiring.

However, the abandoned cars in our current chosen location are, well, very abandoned, and we cannot guarantee that we would be able to open their doors in order to shoot this hot wiring sequence, so it would also be useful to know how to break into a locked car (to clarify - the survivor would be doing this as part of the sequence, and most likely failing at it, not the production team as a way to get into these cars that don't belong to us)

Hot Wiring

When you turn on the ignition on your car by turning the key, all it does is it generates an electrical circuit that goes from the battery, to the ignition, and to the starter motor, which then turns the engine over to start the car. 

Hot wiring simply means achieving this without the key - this is obviously mainly used to commit theft, so when searching these instructions up I made sure to add a '- for filmmaking' and '-for emergencies' at the end of my searches, even though it ultimately didn't change the content of the results.

All you need for this process is a screwdriver and a wire stripper,  but this can be replaced by a pair of pliers or even scissors, which would be easier to find in this post apocalyptic wasteland.

THE STEPS:

(optional for this project) Step 1

The first step would typically be to insert the screwdriver into the keyhole of the ignition and turn it, which may work for smaller cars.

However, this step isn't really necessary for the rest of the process and not filming this extra shot may save us some time, so we would probably have to skip straight to Step 2.

Step 2

The first step we would film is the survivor removing the steering wheel cover's screws, once the cover is removed, she would then pull out the access panels underneath to reveal the ignition system's wires.

Step 3

The wires will be split up into three different bundles,  she would pick out the bundle with the ignition and battery wire, and then separate those two with the battery wire typically being red in colour (although since we are not actually attempting to steal the car in real life, it wouldn't really matter what bundle she picks out). 

This section may present some issues if we tried to replicate it in person as we would be using a real car on a prop set; so unless these cars are absolutely hopeless to revive, we would most likely have to hide the real wire by perhaps simply not removing the access panel, or by adding an extra bundle of fake wires to the bunch that she would pull out in place of the real ones.

Step 4

Finally, she would remove some of the insulation off of these two wires using the pliers/scissors, and twist them together (this is safe as these wires do not have live wires, and we would most likely end up using fake wires anyway), in real life this would then lead to the ignition, radio and lights turning on - however, she wouldn't succeed at doing so in this sequence as the cars this world setting are long past saving, or perhaps her character is simply not sure how to do it correctly.

Step 5 (not shown)

The next step would be to repeat the process with the motor wire, but at this point in the sequence she would begin to hear the revving sounds, or just simply give up and sit back in the car seat.

Breaking into a car

This process would be a lot more simple and is more of a back-up in case we are unable to open the car doors.

We would have two options for this back-up:

Option 1

We would simply have to shoot the survivor scavenging the ground in the junkyard to find a piece of metal wire - most likely a metal clothing hanger which she could untwist the top of.

She would then just slide this wire in the little space between the window and the edge of the car door and shuffle it around to try and unlock it (she fails to succeed in either scenario so perfect accuracy isn't really necessary as her character is most likely going off of what she has seen in films pre apocalypse, or pure guesswork)

Option 2

This would be the simplest option to film (and consequently the most boring one, but is a safe option in case the last two are not possible to pull off for any reason).

All the survivor would have to do is pull out two small screwdrivers (which she most likely would have collected in previous scavenges and saved them for this moment), jab one into the top of the car door's keyhole, shove the other just below it, and aimlessly twist it around.

Moodboard

 

Mood board for Developed Idea

This mood board is made up of various different visual inspirations for our developed Idea

(link to HD)

Character Designs

Motorcycle Killer

The idea we have in mind for the killer is very specific; a menacing battle axe wielding biker. Images for this were obviously very difficult to find, so instead I physically drew my vision for the main shot of the killer as he gets ready to swing at the survivor.

         

Apocalyptic Survivor

The idea I had for the survivor is fairly basic, with practical slightly ripped clothes (but long sleeved/with a jacket as we would be filming in cold weather) and a generally dishevelled appearance (messily tied up hair, a bit of dirt or scrapes on her face and arms, etc...) Her colour palette would consist of earthy neutral tones, supposedly to facilitate camouflaging against any threats.

          

Setting

The first section of this sequence would take place in a junkyard filled with abandoned cars, one of which the survivor would attempt to hot wire or break into, depending on what we are able to achieve on the day in our chosen filming location (if available).

Our Developed Idea

We worked together to construct this detailed breakdown based off of our feedback

Some new developments we added to our final idea involved changing the very beginning and end to make it more interesting and substantial;

The original beginning followed the girl simply scavenging for resources at a junkyard, but we decided that she should instead be attempting to hot wire an abandoned car at that junkyard, then she would check her phone for signal from inside the car rather than walking around the abandoned town as it could be difficult to find a good location for that specific shot.

The original ending showed the girl going to step back outside the shack, only to be jump scared by the killer at the door reaching out to grab her - we changed it so that, whilst the girl leans back against the door in relief, she slides down to sit against it to catch her breath before a (fake) weapon -a battle axe for now- suddenly crashes into the shot next to her as she jumps back and screams. We then see the killer as he forcefully pulls the axe back out of the ground and gets ready to swing it back around to kill her, the sequence would then end on a shot of the room from outside the door, we continue to hear her screaming as blood splatters against the floor of the doorway.

FULL BREAKDOWN;

• Girl is scavenging around Junkyard

• She comes across a car and opens the door before crawling in

• She starts trying to hot wire the car (more detail after independent research task)

• It fails to start so she sighs in defeat and sits down in the front seat

• She takes out her phone and checks for any signal

• We gradually hear a very quiet buzzing sound from the distance

• the sound grows louder and louder to eventually reveal it as the revving of a motorcycle

• She gets an intense look of pure horror on her face and sits fully paralysed for a few seconds 

• Just as the revving suddenly gets significantly closer, she gets it together and throws herself out of the car 

• She sprints as fast as she possibly can to a run-down looking shack

• She jumps inside and slams the door shut 

• She quickly crouches down with her back against the door, her hands pressed against her ears and her eyes shut tight

• The sounds of the motorcycle quickly approach the shack 

• The sounds slow in pace as they reach the doorway from the outside 

• The motorcycle starts to circle around the shack

• The girl jolts from shock and follows the sound with her head as it passes by every wall 

• The sound then suddenly drowns out and somewhat disappears

• She sits completely shivering for a few seconds and cautiously takes her hands off her ears

• She quietly lifts herself up and turns around to creak the door open

• She peeks outside and scans her surroundings before fully opening the door to reveal an empty scene

• She steps back inside and leans against the wall, sliding down to sit against it, she sighs in relief

• All of a sudden a battle axe crashes into the shot right beside her 

• She jumps back and screams

• The killer then pulls the axe back out of the ground and holds it above his shoulder, ready to swing it back around to kill her

• We then look in from outside the open door, we hear her screaming as blood splatters onto the floor of the doorway

Feedback from our Group Pitches

 

Feedback received for Group Pitches

This is the Feedback we received as a group

General Feedback

A great piece of advice we were given for deciding on an idea was to just think about which one we would have the most fun filming; this somewhat ruled out the Meeting the Parents idea as the fun would mainly come from the final product, and whilst the Ghost Story would have been very exciting to set up and film in a dark flashing classroom - the Motorcycle Hunter sequence would ultimately be the most fun to develop and film even from the creative freedom of the set itself.

Group Pitch 1 -> Meeting the Parents Sequence

The main issue we were told this sequence would bring was its reliance on acting - the tension is mostly built from the extreme suppressed anxiety the main character expresses, so if we were unable to find an actor who could act out these kind of emotions to the extent that this idea requires, the effect we hoped to achieve would just not work and could come off as flat or awkward.

 

Group Pitch 2 - >Ghost Story Sequence

The main problem with this idea was the different cultural setting - if the dialogue is in Japanese, it sets the story in Japan, which would be hard to convey as it is difficult to build a Japanese classroom setting from the classrooms available to us, e.g. the posters in english and english plugs.

More notably, there might be an issue in finding Chinese students who can speak Japanese, and it may be problematic to pass off Chinese students as Japanese of course.

 

Group Pitch 3 -> Motorcycle Hunter Sequence

We were told that adding a post-apocalyptic setting to the current story could add a lot to this sequence, we would also have to develop a backstory for the main character e.g. she is a survivor of the apocalypse and has collected a lot of resources that the main villain would want to potentially take, we would also have to remove the element of a full blown motorcycle chase scene and instead portray it through sound effects.

 

 

Group Pitch 3

This was the Idea we ended up deciding to develop further

This was the third and final idea we pitched as a group; The apocalypse survivor hunted down by a man on a motorcycle

 

Group Pitch 2

This was the second idea we pitched as a group; The high school girl who's soul is taken by a ghost

 

Group Pitch 1

This was the first idea we pitched as a group; The spy meeting his girlfriend's parents

Camera Workshop 2

  

Camera Workshop 2

Taking the camera out of its case!

180 degree rule

To start this workshop, we were taught the important 180 degree rule used to ensure that the scene runs consistently smoothly and makes spacial sense to the viewer.

Essentially, when filming a scene, a single imaginary line must be drawn through the set, and the camera has to stick to only one side of it/only filming 180 degrees of the scene.

The scene should not include a shot from the other side of the line (aside from a purely stylistic choice) as it could potentially seem like the characters have switched sides, which prevents the scene from running smoothly.

Rules of three/grids + interesting composition

Another rule we were taught is used for deciding on composition - a shot can be divided into a grid of nine squares, and the four points where the grid lines meet near the centre of the shot are called 'hotspots'. Rules of three refers to placing the subject in one hotspot, typically leaving the rest of the shot somewhat blank in order to draw the viewer's eye. The most used hotspot tends to be the first one (top left) as that's where most people have been conditioned to look from reading.

A good tip we were given to make a shot appear more interesting was to film subjects at the same level as them - this is because the camera looking down or up at an object mimics what you would see as a human, so it looks more 'normal' than if you were to actually shoot at the subjects level, which could seem more unfamiliar and visually engaging since it's not a typical sight. 

Rules for shooting

Once we were ready to start filming a sequence, we were told to shoot the wide shot first in order to showcase the entire set and fully ground the viewer into the setting before shooting progressively smaller details - mid shot second, close-up third.  

We were also taught about continuity - making sure that the details of a sequence are consistent in every shot, this includes hair, props, background, character positioning etc... in order for a scene to run consistently and maintain realism.

One way of ensuring continuity for character positioning was the use of marks, where you'd mark a spot on the floor that the character is supposed to walk to/from/stand in, typically with a piece of tape, so that their position in the shot stays the same every time.

Call outs

We were then walked through a series of phrases you have to call out before and after hitting the record button.

Stand by!   

-> Called out to announce to the crew to get ready to start filming, the specific phrase 'stand by' is used instead of 'get ready' for example as it can't be mistaken for any other meaning. It should be met with a collective 'Standing by!' by the crew.

Roll camera!           

-> Fairly self explanatory, called out to instruct the camera operator to hit record, to which they respond 'Camera Rolling!'.

Action! 

-> Called out to the actors for the scene to begin, it should be called after hitting record in order to capture the entire scene from start to finish, even if it's not the focus of the scene, as you never know if you might catch an interesting reaction that you could cut in with the main action.

Cut!                

-> Called to instruct the camera operator to stop recording, the camera should keep recording even after the scene has ended up until this phrase is announced for a similar reason as to why you record before 'Action!' - to capture the entire scene for any potential reactions/exits.

Final advice!

A final tip we were given was to never watch footage back on set - mainly due to timing and budget as sets tend to be very expensive to rent out and you wouldn't want to take up all of the time you have for shooting by reviewing the footage. However, even if you roll back a single take, you should never allow the actors in it watch themselves on screen as they might suddenly get self conscious and perhaps try to change how they look/move in the next take, which often ends up just looking awkward and only ends in the actors feeling insecure.

Camera Workshop 1

 

Camera Workshop 1

Taking the camera out of its case!

Introduction

To start off our very first workshop, we were presented with a duffle bag holding a tripod and a carrying case containing the camera itself - the camera we used was a Black Magic 4k mini URSA - a very exciting camera to start with for me.

General starting rules + tips

The first rule we were told was the 'yours' and 'mine' rule - when handing someone a piece of equipment, particularly expensive equipment like those cameras, you say 'yours' once you feel the weight of the object shift to the other persons hands, and they say 'mine' once they are fully holding it, so that you know you can safely let go. 

When setting up a tripod, one tip to follow is unlocking all of the locks before extending all of the legs in one go, otherwise if you unlock and extend one at a time it would quickly get very awkward to set up. The other tip was to always extent the bottom legs first and not start with the top ones as the tripod's centre of gravity would make that difficult to manage.

Once the camera was safely secured onto the tripod, we had to make sure it was level using the spirit level by unscrewing it from underneath the tripod and shifting the camera around until the little bubble of air was in the circle.

Camera Settings

To start setting up a shot, the camera's exposure and white balance had to be be adjusted accordingly - the exposure being how much light reaches the camera's sensor, changed by a little blue tab by the lens. White balance is how a shot's colour is adjusted to look natural and realistic as man-made lights tend to have warmer tones whilst natural light is blueish, so settings for either have to be changed to look equally good, the setting is selected on the camera's touch screen where you pick what automatic setting fits the type of lighting you are using best.

The next step once we had our shot's settings ready was to make sure it was in focus, to do this we had to zoom in all the way onto any object and twist the wheel just behind it until the image was at its sharpest. A tip we were given for focusing a person's face was to make the eyes the main focus point as it's the most detailed part of someone's face.

Finishing up!

Finally, we learnt that the phrase 'Strike the kit!' means that it is time to pack away your equipment, usually announced once you have finished filming for the day instead of the cliched 'that's a wrap!'.

Feedback for Pitches

 

Feedback received for concept ideas pitched

Concept Ideas pitched were Idea 1 & 3

IDEA 1 - THRILLER

I was happy with how the class received this pitch and with the general reaction to it.

I received a lot of positive feedback; a few people expressed that they liked the overall plot and that it was a cool idea, they also enjoyed the fact that this sequence involved a twist/revelation as it could be interesting to watch.

The constructive feedback I received;

-> This sequence is set at a dinner table with a family eating together, I was informed that shots

     involving food are very difficult to film due to continuity issues, the food going bad/cold, and other

     general complications with scenes like this one. To solve this, I could perhaps set it at the dinner table 

     once everyone has finished eating, that way the plates could be empty or have a significant less quantity

     of food on them to work with, or even set it before dinner start is served so that they are simply waiting

     for the food to be done. Alternatively, they could just be having tea or drinks together with no food at

     all if this still presents a problem.

-> The main character in this sequence is secretly wearing a microphone, and part of the tension created is

    formed when someone puts their hand on his back and the possibility of them finding out about it 

    builds. However, now I know that microphones tend to always go in front of someone rather than on

    their back, so I could make it either so that he just has a wire going down his back from the microphone 

    on the front - or, rather than put their hand on his back, they could wrap their arm around him in a side

    hug to a position where their hand is on their stomach, where they could also find out about the bug.

-> It was suggested that, rather than revealing the main plot point (the main character wearing a bug) in

    the form of a twist, I could reveal it from the very beginning so that tension is created from the very

    start - using the idea of Hitchcock's bomb. Whilst I liked my original idea of being unsure as to why he

    was acting so terrified, and then gaining a sudden sense of understanding as to why in a typical 'ohhhhh'

    movie moment - I understand where this suggestion came from and it could be interesting to explore

   perhaps showcasing him putting on the bug before stepping outside to meet the family, so that we

   instantly know what is happening and feel nervous for him from the get go.

IDEA 1 - WESTERN/HORROR

I received similar supportive reactions to this idea, perhaps leaning towards this idea being more original, I also understand that ideas for westerns are well received as they are not often suggested, which was actually part of the reason I challenged myself to try to come up with one.

The constructive feedback I received;

-> Essentially, I was told that unless I was willing to change a lot of aspects about this sequence in order to make it realistic to film with the resources available to us, I was better off saving this idea for my later career in film school perhaps when I had the necessary equipment. This was due to a good location being hard to find for this as it was set in a farm house/horse stables, and general difficulties with achieving my exact plan to do with set location.

Filming Roles

Main Roles on Set

The entire process of making a film requires hundreds of people in different roles, but the most distinct roles can be summarised into 5 main titles.

DIRECTOR

The Director holds the vision for the film from start to finish of the entire filmmaking process, they lead the creative process and are ultimately responsible for the general final outcome. 

The main goal of their job is essentially to maintain the overall vision for the film so it remains creatively consistent, they must efficiently translate their 'director's vision' to the crew, working closely with the scriptwriters and often being scriptwriters themselves, they are also heavily involved in the editing process to ensure the final product fits their original vision.

There are a very large amount of famous directors, they are often the most recognised titles after the main cast, some of the classic directors I look up to the most and my two favourite films by them include:

• Wes Anderson -> The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom 
• Edgar Wright -> Shaun of the Dead , Last Night in Soho
• David Fincher -> The Social Network, Se7en 
• Steven Spielberg -> Jurassic Park, Back to the Future
• Greta Gerwig -> Ladybird, Little Women 
• Woody Allen -> Annie Hall, Bullets over Broadway

I haven't had that much experience as a director just yet, but it is my dream to go down that path and the best advise i've gathered so far through the few short films I've made is to NOT be afraid to be assertive and passionate. You are creatively in charge of this project, it is like your own piece of clay that you have full freedom to mould into anything you could possibly manage, and if that's something you get excited about then it is the most thrilling experience to fully immerse yourself in your process. Especially if your director's vision tends to be very strong, don't be shy to take your time on setting up the perfect shot and even tediously instructing your crew (with full respect of course, you can't expect your crew to work well with you if you can't show them that you appreciate the important hard work they put in). You may feel insecure about asserting yourself in the moment, particularly if you're a perfectionist or not used to being "bossy", but the final result of all the hard work you and your crew put in will make all of it completely worth it and it is something you can treasure forever. So don't hesitate to let yourself go creatively wild because the pure passion and love you feel for your craft can be so exhilarating and rewarding, there's really nothing like it.

CAMERA OPERATOR

The Camera Operators are responsible for actually filming and capturing the film's story. Their job consists of deciding what type of camera or camera lenses to use for the desired shot, keeping composition and framing in mind, and then recording the action over and over from different angles and movements. They often work closely with the lighting crew in order to efficiently coordinate and create the best looking shot.

Some talented Camera Operators that have worked on big films include:

• Roger Deakins -> 1917, Blade Runner 2049, Sicario
• David B. Nowell -> Ant-Man and the Wasp, Jurassic World, Kong: Skull Island
• Janusz Kaminski -> Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, West Side Story

Some advice for this role involves becoming an absolute master of your craft and knowing everything you can possibly offer inside and out, be enthusiastic and eager in your work and offer your own creative input, after all you know your job better than anyone else on set and who knows what surprising ideas you could contribute. Don't just passively stand by and wait to be told what do to, be engaged and involved in the process, your initiative and knowledge will almost definitely be acknowledged and appreciated.

 

EDITOR

A Film Editor is essentially handed hours upon hours worth of raw footage, and are in charge of taking only the best parts and putting it all together to shape the story, they are often described to work the closest with the Director as editing plays an undeniably essential role in the final outcome as they have to encompass the film's entire magic, they are storytellers in essence.

Some of the highest grossing editors include:

• Jeffrey Ford -> Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Spiderman: No Way Home
• Michael Kahn -> Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Sally Menke -> Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2, Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction

Some excellent qualities that truly distinguish talented editors are; 

- great communication skills - a large part of the job involves making sure you and the director, or anyone    else in charge, are on the same page about your work.

- patience, and the general ability to accept the amount of effort that goes into getting the perfect cut 

- decisiveness and trustworthy judgement.

- exceptional attention to detail and sensitivity to emotional depth.

- slightly less poetic but, good time management skills and ability to carry a heavy load of    

  responsibility/pressure.

ART DIRECTOR/DOP

Art Directors carry the responsibility of determining the overall "look" of the film, they work with conceptual artists and set builders through extensive sketches and artwork in order to construct the visuals that work best with the project - they have to understand what the final goal for the film looks like and what they can do to achieve it.

Some Art Directors involved in film franchises with iconic visual designs include:

• Gary Tomkins -> Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Brian Stultz -> Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Spiderman: No Way Home
• Lauren Polizzi -> Captain Marvel, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1&2, Stark Trek into Darkness

To be a good Art Director you should possess great teamwork skills and be able to work efficiently with everyone's individual talents, it also helps greatly if you are friendly in nature and are able to see people's best potential.

PRODUCER

A Producer is in charge of making sure the film actually happens, they are responsible for financially arranging the project and hiring an entire talented crew, including the director, they oversee and supervise the entire filmmaking process from start to finish.

Some of the most powerful and highest grossing producers include:

• Kevin Feige -> Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Spiderman: No Way Home
• Kathleen Kennedy -> E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, The Sixth Sense
• Jerry Bruckheimer -> Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Film Producers should be ambitious and dream big, even if you have to start small, you should keep your goals and hopes high because your drive is what is making these projects happen. Appearance also plays a large part in being a successful producer, not physical appearance, but you should ensure that you keep a high reputation and maintain positive relationships with everyone you work with because unfortunately for this role, public opinion of you can really make or break your career.

Comparing Opening Sequences -> Grease + AHS

Comparing Opening Sequences

Grease vs American Horror Story

American Horror Story, 2011, dir. Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk

    

Grease, 1978, dir. Randal Kleiser

GENRE

Grease

• The genre presented isn't very fixed, rather it seems to be a combination of a teen drama, musical, romance, and a comedy
• Teen drama - characters introduced are all teenagers getting ready for school
• Musical - heavy musical themes like the upbeat positive song playing mentioning the title of the film title, along with the characters dancing and singing to it.
• Additionally, the credits say '(actor name) as (character name)', like 'John Travolta as Danny', the key word 'as' makes it clear it is a show as these sort of credits are typical for stories/pure fiction, the font is also comic-like, further enhancing this.
• Romance - the two main characters presented are polar opposites, the sequences of a boy and a girl close to each other suggest that a romance will occur between them due to associations with opposite genders.
• Comedy - the style of the drawings is cartoonish and exaggerates the characters features, their animations/actions are also very exaggerated to enhance comedic stereotypes

American Horror Story

• The genre is very clearly presented to be horror
• the soundtrack sounds disturbing, its slowly paced, low pitched, and mysterious
• Iconic horror imagery is shown in flashes, such as skulls, blood, knives, and creepy dark rooms
• The font of the titles is in a gothic style against a dark background

MAJOR KEY TITLES

Grease

• All 21 titles are shown, the more prominent titles include character portraits next to their respective actor credits
• The rest of the titles are mainly showcased as part of the character's world, such as on billboards, and appear on the screen for a few seconds each before moving on to the next, whilst the AHS credits just jarringly flash for a second or so before disappearing

American Horror Story

• The only titles shown are 6 of the main cast, the two creators of the show, and the title of the show
• No indication of which actors play which roles is shown like in the Grease opening, only their names against a black screen flashing briefly in between the rest of the creepy shots
• The only distinct credits are given to the creators of the show as it reads 'created by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk'

TONE

Grease

• The tone is presented to be lighthearted and comedic, this is mainly clear due to the very upbeat funk/disco song playing along to it
• The animations are very colourful and their style is bouncy, not meant to be realistic or taken seriously, simply as a fun way to briefly introduce the characters and their archetypes

American Horror Story

• The tone is presented to be disturbing and morbid, this is made very clear from the soundtrack and imagery
• The soundtrack sounds creepy and unsettling, and paired with the sudden flashing images create very mild jump-scares
• The imagery is gory and sinister, like the body parts in small jars and mysterious medical equipment

TIME & SETTING

Grease

• The style is strongly reminiscent of the 1950s due to iconic period imagery shown, like a drawing of Elvis Presley, or the characters' costume, hair, and the cars they drive belonging to or being typical of that time period (e.g. the 'greaser' look)
• The look/layout of the town they are in and the cars in it reveal it is set in the US, the song is also sung in an American accent, helping to set the location
• The teen characters getting ready for school suggest that it will mainly be set in high school - the shot of the school at the end is the only image that fades from animation to real life

American Horror Story

• The setting and time is less clear cut than that of the Grease opening, but from the occasional quick and shaky flashes of the location, we can make out that the majority of it takes place in a creepy dark basement filled with morbid items
• The beginning includes shots of very old photographs of toddlers, possibly suggesting at least part of it takes place in perhaps the early 20th century

NARRATIVE HINTS

Grease

• A love story between the two main characters is hinted at from the juxtaposition of male & female characters
• Themes of cliques/”gangs” as it shows groups of girls/boys dressed in similar clothes hanging out together
• Cars seem to be important in the story, shots of the teenagers driving fast and irresponsibly in them suggest themes of teenage rebellion

American Horror Story

• The shots of body parts in jars along with medical equipment could suggest the storyline of some crazy scientist or doctor taking experiments too far

CHARACTERS

Grease

• 'Danny' appears to be lazy from how messy his room is, he also seems vein as he focuses on his looks a lot, he is presented to be cool and a rebel with his friends, he is perhaps a leader to them - this is due to the 'greaser' look connoting rebelliousness and being a 'bad boy'
• 'Sandy' seems to be wealthy from her room and fancy nightgown, feminine from her delicate pastel coloured clothes, kind and gentle from her smile and light walk, she is presented as a beautiful girl who is perhaps a little naive, a 'good girl'
• This juxtaposition between the polar opposite characters of opposite genders strongly hint at a conflict narrative romance

American Horror Story

• No real characters are shown except maybe a couple of shots that appear to be from the perspective of a character, perhaps a killer, or someone exploring the scene as they hold a flashlight in front of them
• The shots of the white dress connote an innocent female character, perhaps hinting at a character like this, maybe as a victim

WHICH ONE IS MORE SUCCESSFUL?

Both sequences are very successful at establishing the type of film/show they are from tone and genre. Whilst I think that the AHS opening is more effective at clearly stating its genre as clear cut horror and its tone as disturbing, and the Grease opening is a little harder to confidently identify; in my opinion, the Grease opening offers a more interesting and entertaining introduction to the narrative. It perfectly encapsulates the energy of the rest of the film and introduces us to the stereotypes the characters adhere to very smoothly, yet doesn't really reveal anything about the plot except pointing out major themes - this gets the audience familiar with the setting, but still leaves room for curiosity. The AHS opening is still very engaging, but in my opinion is a little too vague as it doesn't really include any real information on what might come up, leaving the audience questioning whether the show will actually include anything they would be interested in watching, or is simply very stylised.