Redlynch
Horror Short Opening Sequence [AS Media Studies]
Introduction
In my first year of Media Studies at S6C, we were tasked with creating an introduction to a movie based in the horror genre. We executed this project in set groups so we could collaborate, and share the workload of this project. The piece I chose to produce was called Redlynch. Based in a dark forest in the south of England, the camera closely follows 2 people on a relaxing walk, while eerie shots are displayed to the audience over the top of that footage.
We couldn’t all make the final cut for the opening sequence as the process would be too time-consuming. Instead, we decided to split the tasks equally to make the process of creating the final piece run smoother. The rest of the group were in charge of storyboarding, planning and other aspects leading to the completion of the project.
Responsibilities
- Video editing for the entire project, this included the cutting of clips, colour correction, transitions, audio and more. To edit the final piece I used Vegas Pro.
- I was in charge of filming 1/3 of the clips used in the final cut.
- The introduction scene at the start was created and rendered by myself using Adobe After Effects.
- The musical score was selected by myself as I needed it to fit around the look of the final cut. The pace of the score reflected when there were cuts and fades in the piece.
- I searched for artistic methods to portray abstract art which when edited can come across freakish. We learned how to make Rorschach art, the pictures shown are our attempts at re-creating such art, you will see the overlay on top of clips throughout the final cut.
Throughout the entire piece we documented every step on an independent WordPress blog that tracked the working process of the project.
Inspiration
The opening sequence photo shows the sequence of film titles. I kept to that so it makes the final product look more professional.
An American Werewolf In London – Opening sequence
Typography - Horror Films
On each of the 4 analysed film titles below, a common theme arises between all of them which links them all together as one genre of film.
- Times New Roman style fonts are used, that are different sizes depending on the word in the title.
- Red colouring in the title to highlight danger, fear.
- A caption near the title which instills a thought of fear and danger about the piece.
- Simple colour scheme, generally all greys, and blacks with little colours involved.
All of the above represent a set style that presents the idea that the piece is a horror, just through the typeface and font. These styles were later applied to the edit of Redlynch.
Rorschach Experiment Overlay
Paint-storming!
Our teacher introduced us to this style called Rorschach. It uses paint/ink on a page which is either heavily flicked or splashed on to paper, it’s then folded perpendicularly to the whitest side of the paper exactly in half.
Apply Design
After making three tests, we set them out to dry so we could continue on other aspects of the project.
Final Product
Once dry, individual shots of each individual Rorschach test were taken to be added to the edit, and then applied on top of the film layer by removing the black from the asset and lowering the overall opacity to create a ghosted effect on the Redlynch footage.
Colour Correction
Just to get a rough idea of what it would look like if we applied a set filter to multiple shots from the footage, I went into Photoshop and changed multiple shots colour scheme to a darker more eerie form.
This is the general colour scheme we want to use for our footage, some shots will had minor changes to the colouring as some were filmed at night.
Editing Process
For this I used Vegas Pro as my core video editing software as I am familiar with the power and editing toolset of the software. I used the audio timeline to layer the introduction music with the various shots that matched with the storyboarding.
After that, I adjusted the transitioning between shots to be a slow fade to create a prolonged transition. Following all the core editing of the footage, the special effects and Rorschach overlays were applied to the Redlynch edit. Finally, the last part to be introduced to the project timeline was the credits.
