Hybrid Genre

 Most horror or suspense films include a brief comic relief or a slight and quick tone change, and most comedies manage to implement a fleeting mood relief (typically just to add structure and seriousness to the plot). However, these film genres are so distinguishable from each other that compromising an effective tonality between them is daunting and rarely done successfully. With my film, I strive to disestablish the redundant contrast between these two genres. Instead of just using occasional comic relief as a tone changer, I want to implement humor into the basic plot line, without undermining the suspenseful element in the film. Having the main character and even the title appear as tawdry and "cheesy" adds a humorous tone to the film. The quirky shots, colorful props, and plain dialogue used in the opening again add a whimsical element to the film. Despite the playful feeling, my film still must maintain the composed suspense to it and eerie feeling. The dialogue might feel plain (creating the lighthearted atmosphere) but the main character's (the killer's) bizarre and disturbed seriousness creates the feeling of marginal isolation and showcases him as an omen to the killings that would continue to happen further into the movie. I want my opening to scream "horror" and scream "comedy" with an effective balance between the two tonalities.

Shot reflecting the whimsical tone of the film. 

The uncomfortable and somewhat bizarre composure to the character adds an ominous tone.

Musical Inspiration

Kid Cudi's Indicud Album Cover

  My opening and screenplay is inspired by Scott Mescudi's (or Kid Cudi's) "The Resurrection of Scott Mescudi". The bass and drum infused intro to his junior album, Indicud(2013), is a heavy-synthesized instrumental with dense drums. My dark, intense, and somewhat cliche (yet still maintaining a raw and quirky element from it that differentiates it from other scary movie openings) is a reflection of the song's murky and thick sound. The song features a snippet from The Good Son (1993) adding a quirky, mysterious, and unusual element to the song.

Over-The-Shoulder Shot Research

How to Frame Over-the-Shoulder shots: a Detailed Guide, with Pretty Pictures!

Since one of the shots I'm going to do is an over-the-shoulder shot and it's one of the most difficult shots to film, I decided to take extensive research into it. According to LaFilmMaker.com, a wide over-the-shoulder shot of short length focal point showcases the character in the foreground as more dominant than the other subject, which is especially useful in my situation, since the person in the foreground (the murder) must appear significantly more dominant than the person in the background (the victim).

Fake Blood Research

I plan to use blood for the opening sequence. I used this website (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/fake-blood-recipes) to do my research on how fake blood is created and what I can do to change its appearance to better suit the purpose of the blood.

The most common recipe for fake blood is using corn syrup, water, and red and green food coloring. However many argue that simply just this does not look like blood. Adding cornstarch to the mixture makes the blood lose its transparency. Adding chocolate syrup to the mixture is typically done for black-and-white films since the color isn't exactly red but the appearance looks darker. I will not be using a lot of chocolate syrup for my mixture, since my opening will not be filmed in black-and-white, but I will use as little as I can to make the blood seem more realistic.

Character Development

 Consulting with my classmates today, I learned that most of their ideas for plots were developed through producing their main characters first. This is going to influence my creative process and cause me to develop some characters first.

 Director, Quentin Tarantino, focuses major importance on his characters and their personalities. He claims that Inglorious Basterds (2009) wouldn't have been made if it weren't for the proper casting of the supporting role of Hans Landa. He was about to give up on his movie because he couldn't find the right actor to play Hans Landa. However, he says that Christoph Waltz, the actor who ended up playing Hans Landa, ultimately saved the film. Christoph Waltz won several awards and claims that Hans Landa is one of the most well-written characters he has ever come across. Being a man who knows several languages, Hans Landa was written as a charismatic manipulative man who uses the art of language to intimidate his foes. Tarantino's next film, Django Unchained (2012), once again featured Christoph Waltz as a supporting character with a beautifully written character. Both movies opened up with a scene exemplifying the articulate behaviors of both of these characters.

 The characters I have in mind so far is an articulate detective, somewhat sharing similar traits of Hans Landa or Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz's character in Django Unchained), and the antagonist, a murderer. However I have yet to figure out what characteristics the murderer might hold.

Development in Details

 With an exclusive commentary about the typography in the opening sequence of Seven (1995), I learned that tone and character can be established with elements other than just actions of the opening sequence. Detailed props and opening titles can also establish elements of a movie. The opening sequence of Seven (1955) shows shots of written hand notes and intense typography, by contrasting shadows and back light. This establishes the dark tonality of the film. Art director, Clive Piercy described the hand-writing on the notebooks as obsessive. The intense typography was chosen very carefully to reflect the compulsory and destructive behavior of the main character.

Obsessive hand-writing 

How the art direction of this opening sequence places its importance on typography influences my consideration on how creatively I can introduce cast and showcase the tonality of the film at the same time.

Link to a page about the opening sequence and the exclusive

commentary: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/se7en/