Age certificate research

Age certificate research 

Age certificate U

The age certificate U stands for universal which the universal film should be appropriate for viewers aged four and over.  Universal films should not raise any significant concerns in regards to any discrimination, drugs, language, imitable behaviour, nudity, sex, threat or violence.
There will not be any bad inappropriate language  but some universal films may contain infrequent use of mild language such as words like "damn" and "hell".Universal films usually contain positive messages about, loyalty, friendship, honesty, particularly amongst children. The film normally has a happy ending and the overall tone of the film should be one of reassurance.


Age certificate PG


The age certificate PG stands for parental guidance which means that this film is suitable for general viewing, but there may be some scenes which may not be suitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged eight and older. A PG film will not contain any themes which are inappropriate for children. PG works can explore challenging issues such as bullying, bereavement or racism. A PG film will may contain mild language, undetailed and infrequent sex references (which is unlikely), mild violence, there might be innocuous or passing references to illegal drugs, in addition, drug references may be permissible if there is a clear anti-drugs or an educational message that is likely to be understood by children eight years and older.


Age certificate 12


Films that are classified as a 12 contains material that is not suitable for any viewers that are under 12 years old.  Films that are classified as a 12 contains mild/moderate language, moderate sex references which may be briefly and discreetly portrayed, dangerous behaviour may be present but not in large detail to prevent it from being copied from children, there may be frequent sight of drugs. some horror films are classified as a 12 as it may contain moderate physical and psychological threat as long as the horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained as the overall tone is not disturbing.


Age certificate 15


Films that are classified as a 15 contains material that is not suitable for any viewers that are under 15 years old. Films that are classified as a 15 may contain strong violence, frequent strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence, discriminatory language or behaviour and drug taking.



Age certificate 18


Films that are classified as a 18 contains material that is not suitable for any viewers that are under the age of 18 years old. Films that are classified as a 18 may contain strong issues such as: very strong violence, frequent strong language or very strong language(may be aggressive) , strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, strong horror (may be sustained) , strong blood and gore, discriminatory language and behaviour, may also contain drug taking.



The age certificates of 15 and 18 links in with my film as it contains material that is not suitable for anyone under the specific age. My film contains strong horror that may be sustained (which comes under the age certificate 15 and 18), strong blood and gore (which also comes under the age certificate 15 and 18), violence and also maintain some strong language which comes under the age certificate of 15.
So overall my film will likely come under the age certificate 15 as it does not contains all the features that come under the age certificate 18 such as: very strong violence, frequent strong language or very strong language(may be aggressive) , strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, and drug taking.
But does contain strong sustained horror, strong blood and gore. But does come under the age certificate 15 as it contains some of the features such as: violence, strong language and horror but does not contain: portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence, and drug taking. This film may come under the age certificate of 15 as it does not contain all the features of the age certificates 18 and the age certificate of 15 but does contain some.

The usual certificates for a horror slashers is an 18 ( 75% of them) and 25 % of horror slashers being an age certificate of 15. Some examples of age certificates for horror slashers are: A nightmare on Elm street (18), Halloween  (18), Scream (18), The Texas chainsaw massacre (18), Friday the 13th (18), Black Christmas (18), Psycho (15), and Happy Birthday to me (15). This influences my decision on the film to be an age certificate 15 as the horror slashers that have an age certificate 15 has the same codes and conventions and features as my film, also I want my film to appeal for a larger audience and by the film having an age certificate 15 instead of an age certificate 18, there will be less limitations on how old the audience has to be to watch the film.

Analysed horror slasher clip - Scream (1996)

Analysed horror slasher clip - Scream (1996)

In the opening scene for Scream (1996), the costume for the victim/protagonist was a beige jumper and light pale blue trousers which can suggest innocence as a jumper gives the impression to the audience of a warm, comfortable person and makes her innocent as the clothing is not provocative. Also the director chooses the beige jumper, as it is a light colour which if any blood is on the jumper it emphasizes the blood and  makes it more visible for the audience which creates more of an unsettling feel for the audience (could potentially reinforce the fear of gore) By her being seen as innocent from the audience, the audience can sympathize with the character which by her being in danger makes the audience feel tense as they do not want her to be harmed in any way, whereas if it is someone who is not innocent the audience may not be as sympathetic towards the character's well-being.

The setting was set at an isolated house in the middle of nowhere which adds more vulnerability to the victim as she has no one to help her and creates the feeling that she is trapped which therefore the audience may feel tense and be on edge as they are anticipating that she is going to be attacked by the antagonist. The setting is also set at night which night time connotes as sinister, dark, and evil which is being emphasized and creates the clash between good vs evil (binary opposite, Strauss), by the time of day being at night, it may evoke fears of evil and death to the audience.

The colour of the interior of the house can be seen as innocent and pure and by the dim lighting near window creating shadows it can be perceived as the darkness is slowly lurking inside the home in which the antagonist may target the protagonist whom is perceived as pure and innocent which emphasizes the innocence of the protagonist. Also the director has chosen the interior of the house to be the colour white as it emphasizes the colour of blood if any blood is splashed on the walls which can make the audience surmise that there may be gore in the near future which may lead to dread and fear.

There was only one prop used which the protagonist used which was the white phone which makes it more sinister and psychologically scary as the audience cannot see the antagonist but only hear him talking to her and him being near her which can reinforce the fear of the unknown to the audience which they may feel tense ans they might expect him to make a frightening appearance in the near future but the audience does not know when which makes the audience feel dread due to the anticipation.

There was various camera shots used which was the use of long shots on the protagonist which is used to make her look smaller in size which makes her look more vulnerable and also the use of the camera movement of tracking which can be seen as if she is being followed and hunted by the antagonist which makes the audience feel tense as they are watching her being hunted by the antagonist and may not want her to be attacked from the antagonist and feel tense because they cannot control the situation and the outcome. There was also close ups of the popcorn on the stove which the popcorn is getting bigger which can suggest that metaphorically the problem arising in the current situation is getting bigger as the intensity increases which makes the audience feel on edge.

There was stings used to make the audience feel frightened and unsettled, there was also diegetic stings towards the protagonist as at the current time she was scared and heard the door bell ring made her startled and the same with the phone ringing, and by her reaction of screaming of fear makes the audience sympathize with her and again creates the same feeling of tension and an unsettling feeling as the audience may not want to see the innocent protagonist harmed.

The narrative structure of this scene could be identified with Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory of the five stages of the narrative which in this scene, the first and second stage could be identified as the there is an equilibrium (innocent protagonist at home making popcorn), and a disruption to the equilibrium (the antagonist scaring the innocent protagonist). Another narrative theory used is Strauss' theory is based on binary opposites which can be seen within the scene such as light vs dark, innocent vs evil, male vs female, and weak vs strong.

There was many codes and conventions used within this scene.One convention used was the location/setting being isolated which she was at a house in the middle of know-where and away from society (no one to call for help). Another convention used was low lighting to create shadows to make the atmosphere more sinister which there was low lighting near the window within the protagonist's house creating shadow on the white walls (which helps the shadows to be seen better for the audience's perspective). Also another convention used was stings which was used to alert and startle the audience which were used at various times within the scene. Another code and convention used was the camera movement of tracking on the protagonist to make it feel like she is being followed and hunted.

For my main task, i will use some of those codes and conventions such as the setting being of an isolated place to make the protagonist(s) more vulnerable and weaker, I would also use stings to increase the stimulus intensity, for example, a hand grabbing the protagonist being supported by a sting (loud noise). Also I might use the code and convention of the camera movement of tracking being used on the protagonist to make out that they are being followed and hunted by the antagonist which will create tension for the audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3lSvJ5RXKA

Analysed horror slasher clip - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Analysed horror slasher clip - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

In this scene of The Texas chainsaw massacre (1974), the costume for the antagonist is a beige dirty apron, also wearing a leather mask made of skin and leather which makes his appearance unsettling and frightening to look at which is to evoke fear out of the audience, also the antagonist may feel insecure of the way he looks and decides to wear the mask to hide away his face, which may also wear the mask as he may see the mask as a trophy as it is made out of skin which is possibly from another victim he has killed. The costume of the young women is  promiscuous clothing as she is wearing red shorts and a blue strap top to emphasize her frame and figure for the male gaze (Mulvey) which when she is killed by the antagonist the male audience feels displeased which is to create an unsettling feeling to the male audience as the male audience will feel tensed when she is faced by the antagonist by there being a high chance she is going to be killed by the antagonist who has an unsettling appearance which this is a binary opposite of attractive/ugly (Strauss). The colour of the antagonist's costume and mask is a dirty white which the colour white in horror connotes death which tells the audience that he is the antagonist causing a disruption to the equilibrium, thus killing victims, which creates anticipation for the audience as they can expect that he is going to harm victims. The colour of the young promiscuous women's shorts is red which suggests that she could face danger as the colour red connotes danger, death, and blood which could subliminally tell the audience her fate which will lead to death. The colour of the interior of the house is dull colours which makes the home look lifeless which makes the audience feel negative emotions as there is no warm or bright colour seen except from the red decoration located near the door in the hallway which symbolizes blood, slaughter, evil, and death which he dragged the young women through which emphasizes to the audience that she is going to get killed which makes the audience feel dread and fear due to the build up and tension of her being carried through the door way and being hung in the room. The colour of the house is white which the size of the house is large which as mentioned earlier that white connotes death which the audience can assume that is the place where victims could potentially die.

Props used was the signature weapon (iconography) which is the chainsaw used by the antagonist which at first sight, the audience will feel dread and possibly prepare for a brutal attack from the antagonist onto the victim which  the chainsaw emphasizes a slow painful death towards victims which the audience may feel dread and fear due to the anticipation of the antagonist using it on his victims.

The performance of the victim who was the young women was that she was scared and horrified and also felt sick due to seeing the room full of bones which reinforce the fear of death to the audience as the audience can sympathise with the victim as it makes the audience see it through her perspective due to the close up shots at a high angle of the bones as it is seen from her perspective and she tries to run out but is chased by the antagonist which emphasizes her vulnerability and her inferiority where the antagonist makes a screeching groaning sound which sounds like a boar which he imitates because it emphasizes his cannibalistic ways which reinforces the fear of gore to the audience which the noise by itself provokes fear due to the unsettling noise which conditions the audience to the stimulus created as every time he creates that sound, the end result could result in death which creates the feeling of dread for the audience as the audience anticipates that the antagonist is going to attack someone.

The setting is at a house on a large isolated farm which reinforces the vulnerability of the victims as they are trapped and no one can help them if they face trouble which makes the audience feel tense due to them possibly predicting future problems the victims may face. inside the house is lots of skulls and bones of animals and humans which connotes death which increases the vulnerability of the victim and the bones and skulls also suggests that the antagonist keeps them as trophies as he feels gratitude from killing and hunting his victims down for sport as it is seen in his performance by him chasing his prey (the victim) and making a boar groan as he is chasing her which is symbolized as a boar hunting its prey. This creates an unsettling feel and dread for the audience as they are prepared for a tensed chase between the antagonist (predator) and the victim (prey) which is most likely to result in death. The hooks seen in the room with all the skulls and bones is used by the antagonist when he hangs his victim on it which the audience will experience cringe feelings (flinch in fear) due to them embracing the impact of what the victim may feel when the hook penetrates the victim's back and hangs her. The hook is a type of blade which connotes a slow painful death which creates an unsettling feeling for the audience.

There was some low angle shots of the victim which is used to make the victim look more vulnerable and inferior to create more dread and tension for the audience as the victim is seen as weaker than the antagonist where there was medium shots and close up shots to emphasize the size and the superiority of the antagonist to make him look bigger and stronger than the victim and also so the audience can see the detail of the antagonist to create an unsettling feeling for the audience as they may fear the sight of the antagonist.

The sound use was the sound of chickens clucking to emphasize that the victim is scared as chickens are perceived as weak and fearful of most things which the director is trying to make a connection between the chicken and the victim and also the chicken is perceived as the prey which the victim being like the chicken is also perceived as the prey due to the correlation between both beings. The lighting was bright outside which when the victim tries to run outside which the light is perceived as hope and freedom but she is captured by the antagonist and lures her back into the dim lit house which the lighting can be perceived as darkness and it being evil as if she is being consumed by the darkness, hope being taken away from her which adds to her vulnerability making the audience more tense due to their being an uneven match between her and the antagonist which the audience can sympathise with her as if it was them being put in her perspective and through this they experience fear and torment.

The narrative structure being used is Claude-Levi-Strauss's narrative theory of binary opposites which can be seen most often, for instance, weak against strong (the victim vs the antagonist who possesses the weapon (prop) chainsaw is bigger built), good against evil (victim against antagonist), attractive against ugly, and male against female. Another narrative theory that could be used is Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory which describes the five stages of a narrative which this clip shows the disruption to the equilibrium which is when the antagonist is hunting and killing victims which by following these narrative structure you would expect to have the recognition of the disruption to the equilibrium, then the attempt to repair the the damage done to the equilibrium, and then a new equilibrium made.

There was many codes and conventions found within this clip such as: the characters including the antagonist who is almost invincible and is relentless which kills numerous amounts of people and carries their signature weapon, in this case a chainsaw, which is used to emphasize a slow painful death, the antagonist wears a mask to create an unsettling feeling when the audience see them as they may be frightened due to the sight of the antagonist.The female victim showed recessive traits which emphasized how weak she was which creates a big contrast (of strength) between the antagonist and the victim.The female girl is the promiscuous girl due to her make - up which enhances her looks and her clothing (costume) which also emphasizes her frame and figure, when she is killed, it creates an unpleasant feel to the male audience. Another convention is the location being isolated and it being on a farm and a house which creates isolation for the victims as there is no one else to help them as they are away from civilization and also makes the victims more vulnerable as they are trapped. Another convention is the camera shots used such as low angle shots which is used to make the victim look more recessive,weaker and inferior, which is used to create a contrast between the victim and the antagonist to make the audience on edge due to anticipation building up to antagonist hunting the victim.

The codes and conventions i might use from this clip for my main task is the iconography of the mask which is used to cover the identity of the antagonist and to provoke fear to the audience due to unsettling appearance of the mask. Another convention i might use is some camera shots such as the high and low angle shots which is used to emphasize the superiority and inferiority of the characters to create a contrast between the protagonist and the antagonist to create fear for the audience when the two characters face each other. Another convention i might use is the location being isolated which is used to make the victims look more vulnerable to the audience to create more tension through out the film to keep the audience engaged within the film.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY1EvwGLbess

Analysed horror slasher clip - Halloween 1 (1978)

Analysed horror slasher clip - Halloween 1 (1978)

 In the opening scene in Halloween 1 (1978), Michael is wearing a colourful clown costume which clowns can be perceived as sinister and evil which is disguised by the bright colourful stripes which describes the child who is Michael who is evil inside but due to him being a child who are perceived as innocent and good, it disguises his true inner self just like the clown costume because the director chose this as it perfectly represents Michael of  that evil antagonist in which is being portrayed.

The colour of Michael's sleeve is green which symbolizes anger in which he holds the knife (which is a prop, which the knife inflicts a slow painful death which shows evilness ) in the same hand as the green sleeve which emphasizes even more his anger and aggression and shows even more when attacks the victim whom is his elder sister, which also emphasizes the evil and aggression of Michael who he kills his own family member which this will shock the audience and the audience feeling unsettled due to his actions.


The performance of Michael was that he showed no emotions when his parents took his mask off, even though he had just killed his sister, which is seen as shocking and upsetting in which Michael just had a blank face which shows that he has no emotions and emphasizes how evil he is and shows traits of a psychopath.

Michael's hair is blonde in which the colour blonde is perceived as innocent which due to Michael's actions he is not innocent and  it is a binary opposite as he is evil and psychopathic which the colour of his hair is a disguise to his true character.

The setting is at night which brings a cold, chilling atmosphere to the audience and by it being dark it shows evil and sinister elements  as night is where evil is lurking as most sins and crimes are committed at night and this brings anticipation to the audience as they may surmise that something bad is going to be committed.The trees are leafless which shows that the season is Autumn which autumn is Halloween season which adds to the sinister atmosphere by Halloween being the occasion to celebrate the dead in which is subliminally telling the audience that death is the hidden message, which is hidden in the surroundings and possibly some characters may face death in the near future as this leads to anticipation and dread to the audience. The house is big and white which is dimly lit, this shows that death is near due to the colour white symbolizing death and by the size being big shows that a problem will arise in the future that will be intense and cause harm to others,and by the house being dimly lit it has a sinister feel to it which adds to the atmosphere, and also the dim lighting could suggest that a sinister force is upon the victims within that house which is clouding over them. This will lead to anticipation and dread to the audience as they may surmise that something bad is going to happen. 

For camera work, the main shot used was the point of view shot of Michael which the director chose to use this camera shot because the audience can see the world and possibly the thoughts and emotions of the antagonist.This also adds to the fear of the unknown as the audience does not see what the antagonist looks like but only small details such as the sleeve of what the antagonist is wearing, but mostly it was used to shock the audience as it tries to compare the antagonist's thoughts and ideas to the audience in which the antagonist's actions was of harm where the audience would not do that and possibly feel the evil and sinister aura of the antagonist, but overall the point of view shot was used to shock the audience as when the camera shot cuts to a mid-shot it shows the audience that the antagonist was a young boy which the audience would not expect that those actions being made from the antagonist was coming from a young boy. This straight away sets an unsettling tone to the start of the film which engages with the audience as they hooked to what is going on and will carry on watching more. 

For sound, crickets can be heard in the background which this creates that ambient night time feel and also can suggest that it is the sound of conservation which indicates that all of society are a sleep or are not nearby as you ca not hear any human activities but just crickets which shows some isolation as no one can help the victims if they are in trouble which adds to their vulnerability and this makes the audience feel tense as they are vulnerable to any antagonists. A sting was used when the bedroom light went out which makes the audience startle and this shows that metaphorically that good is taken away but evil has just started as light is good and dark is evil. The sting at the start sets the tone for the rest of the film straight away and eerie piano music starts to play which is used to build up tension in a sinister tone and makes the audience surmise that something bad is going to happen in the near future which makes the audience feel dread and feel tense. The sound of the antagonist's breathing behind the mask was loud which the audience can feel and sense that he is about to do something bad, which is shown through the intensity of his breathing as he is preparing to do something extreme and through his adrenaline which will increase his breathing. The sound of his deep breathing creates an unsettling feel for the audience as it may send chills down their spine . 

For lighting, there was various lighting as when Michael was in the house it was dark and had blue, purple and white tone to it which is used to create cold feel and atmosphere which also symbolizes death and evilness but when Michael's sister's boyfriend walks down the stairs it has a warm lighting which shows innocence but when Michael walks up the stairs there is dark lighting in the hallway and rooms which suggest that there is an evil aura which is being carried by Michael and suggests that something bad is going to happen which creates anticipation for the audience as they may insinuate that he is going to do something bad to his sister.

The narrative used was Todorov's narrative theory of the five stages of a narrative in which there is an equilibrium everyone is okay, a disruption to the equilibrium where the antagonist kills one victim which will therefore lead to the rest of the five stages which is the recognition of the disruption of the equilibrium, an attempt to repair the damage, and then a new equilibrium.

There was many codes and conventions throughout this clip, which there was the horror sub-genre horror slasher as slasher horrors have a psychopathic killer whom wears a mask to cover his identity which Michael wore a clown mask for the purpose of trying to scare his sister and also killed his sister , another convention is that Michael was holding a knife which is a convention in slasher horrors as knifes are used to inflict a slow and painful death upon victims, another convention used is the setting was set at night to create a sinister tone and was also set within a house to make the victims inside the house feel isolated and trapped (creates more vulnerability for the potential victims), There was the character of the promiscuous girl who was Michael's sister who was killed first within the film which is the code and convention of a horror slasher, another convention is the eerie music and stings being used which the eerie music was the eerie piano theme which was played when Michael was about to kill his own sister and the sting was used when the bedroom light seen from outside was turned off which is to startle the audience, also another convention was that the main camera shot used was the point of view shot of the killer/antagonist to see through the killer eyes to create an unsettling feeling to the audience which the audience can see the point of view shot of Michael and the sequence of events leading to killing his sister, and the last convention seen in this clip was the iconography of the colour white which is seen/ perceived as death which there was lots of the colour white used such as the big house which was white to emphasize death to the audience which the audience could surmise that someone is going to die which creates anticipation and tension for the audience.

For my main task,  I would use some of these codes and conventions such as the point of view shot of the antagonist as the audience can see through the perspective of the antagonist and also can create an unsettling feel to the audience as they can see the sinister thoughts and ideas of the antagonist and the audience cannot see the antagonist's appearance which reinforces the phobia of the fear of the unknown, another convention i might use is stings which startles the audience and sets the tone for the rest of the film, i will also use the convention of the setting being at an isolated place such as a school or college instead of a house to appeal to an teenage audience, another convention i might use is  iconography of the genre such as the colours black, red, and white to reinforce the sinister meanings to the audience and to include a blade/weapon which the killer holds to emphasize that it is going to be used on a potential victim and cause a slow painful death which the audience will experience dread, tension, and fear due to the build up and anticipation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELF1DCf1ChA

Analysed title sequence

Analysed title sequences

In the title sequence of Halloween 2, within the mise-en-scene, you first see titles of an orange font which is used to connote Halloween as Halloween is associated with dark and orange due to pumpkins being orange symbolising the season and also black symbolising night as night connotes sinister, evil, when sins and crimes are committed which the overall colours are used to make the audience feel immersed within the genre of the film. the black background can be seen as darkness surrounding the pumpkin and the titles as if it is going to envelop them which makes the titles and pumpkin isolated which will subliminally make the audience anticipate tension of vulnerability for any characters in the near future due to evil lurking within the atmosphere which creates a sense of danger for the characters within the film even though the audience has not seen the characters within the film yet . Also the darkness of the background emphasises the colour of the titles and the pumpkin which is trying to enforce those meanings towards the audience so they get a strong feel of the film. 

The titles are in upper case which the director has chosen because the titles has sharp corners which connotes in iconography terms, sharp as a blade, which means to inflict a slow painful death, which has been subliminally done so that the audience can identify what the genre of the film is and what could be expected within the film, which makes the audience engaged within the film. 

later in the title sequence the camera slowly zooms in on the pumpkin which is done as shadow surrounding the pumpkin fully envelops the pumpkin as if the darkness is consuming the pumpkin in which the lit flame symbolises life and the darkness is taking away the innocence and also taking away life which is further emphasised when the pumpkin splits in half and a white skull appears which a skull connotes death which creates an unsettling feel for the audience and prepares them for a tense and horrifying slasher film. 

The camera zooms in the skull's eye sockets as it creates the feel for the audience being consumed into the darkness and into death. This creates a sinister tone for the rest of the film which will make the audience gripped to the film. 

The sound used within the title sequence is an eerie piano theme music which is to create tension as if the music is of a sinister chase music which will make the audience on edge and to create a sinister atmosphere and tone for the film.  

Within the title sequence, the production and institution company is shown first which is then followed by two famous actors' names to engage the audience into the film, which is then followed by the Title, Director, Actors and Actresses which two names are shown at a time, Editors, Executive in charge of production , Music by, Associate producer, Production designer, Director of photography, Executive producers, Written by, Produced by, and Directed by. All the names are bigger than the rest of the other words and are in capital letters, whereas the other words and roles are in lower case. All the titles are shown on the right due to the main focus being on the pumpkin on the left side of the screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk1OWy-Ss0o

In the title sequence of Insidious,the colour of the titles are red which connotes blood, danger, evil, and death which the colour is used to create an unsettling feeling for the audience which also reinforces the fear of death which is to frighten the audience which is further supported by the title effects which gives off a mist effect which represents a paranormal theme which also reinforces the fear of ghosts and supernatural horror to the audience. 

The colour of the background is black which connotes darkness, sinister, evil, and death which is used to make audience feel frightened due to the colour reinforcing the fear of death. The sound in the background is ominous which make the audience anticipate that something bad is going to happen. The ominous background creates a strong sinister atmospheric presence which will make the audience feel unsettled and scared. 

The lettering is also in capital letters which slows the audience's eyes when reading so the audience can absorb all the detail and colours of the lettering and background. The titles move which creates the sense of unease for the audience and also due to it moving creates a sense of danger and fear of the unknown as the titles within the environment/ surroundings (background) are constantly changing which creates the feel of no control. 

When the camera focuses on the lamp, the camera rotates 180 degrees which is done to create a sense of unease for the audience and also by the camera rotating, it makes the lamp look like a full moon which the full moon symbolises in some cultures believe that the full moon causes demonic influences. The moon also represents night time which the night can be associated when evil activities and sins are committed which makes the audience feel a sense of dread. The camera pans across the rooms inside the house to create the feel that spirits are travelling/moving inside the home and also it is used so the audience can see the interior of house and to create the feel of vulnerability and reinforces danger to the audience. 

The lighting inside the house is dark which represents and creates a sinister atmosphere to make the audience feel frightened and feel dread as they may surmise that something bad is going to happen. Later in the title sequence the camera pans across a room and the sound of sinister string instruments play as the camera focuses on a shadow of sinister figure which is done to evoke fear to the audience. The camera zooms into the sinister female spirit in the distant corridor which is done to make the audience feel more danger the closer the camera zooms onto the spirit, this makes the audience feel scared and frightened. 

Before the film's title name appears on screen the sound is very quiet and is just a black screen but then the title name appears which is a strong colour of red which symbolises death, evil , and gore which the lighting creates shades that shift on the lettering which creates a sense of unease and also emphasises the size of the title which has a stronger intensity of the meaning it connotes. The title is supported with a sting of sinister high pitched string instruments which has been done to make the audience feel startled and frightened. This sets a sinister and frightening tone for the rest of the film and the purpose of this to make it easier for the audience to be scared/frightened during the film and by this engages the audience to the film as the audience would want to see more. Near to the end, there is a sequence of different places and rooms of the house which were in black and white which those colours reinforce death, sinister, and evil which makes the audience feel unsettled. 

Within the sequence of photos shown, various objects within the photos move, which connotes paranormal elements which reinforces the fear of ghosts which will therefore make the audience feel frightened and also identify that this film is a supernatural/paranormal through these codes and conventions being portrayed within this title sequence. 

Within the title sequence, the institution and production companies was shown first, followed by the Director, Title, Actors and Actresses which one name is shown at a time but the lesser-known actors and actresses are shown with two names at a time, Casting by, Costume designer, Music by, Edited by, Production designer, Director of photography, Line producer, Co-produced by, Executive producer, Produced by, Written by, and Directed by.  

The pattern of names appear from left to right vice-versa i.e. name appears on the left side of the screen and the next name appears on the right side of the screen and does this pattern throughout the title sequence. All title and words are in capital letters and the names are bigger than the other words within the title sequence.  

       

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e1feo4DUk

In the title sequence of A nightmare on Elm street, the title name is red, bold, and in capital letters. This title name visually connotes blood, evil, and danger which are all codes and conventions of horror. Capital letters is used for the title name because it slows the audience's eye down when they read the title name. Also the capitals of the title name emphasises the name, also by the title being in capitals, it creates a sharp effect which can symbolise a sharpness from a blade which is a code and convention of iconography of horror as blades symbolise a slow and painful death. The letter 'A' is on top of the letter 'i' in the word nightmare, which replaces the dot on the letter 'i' to make the title look more squashed and dense to reinforce the connotation meanings. The word 'nightmare' within the title is emphasised through big, bold, red capital letters to further emphasise the meaning of nightmare. The words ' Elm street' within the title has white font which can symbolise life and innocence as a street will contain residents that live there. The red word 'nightmare' is bigger than the white words 'Elm street' which can symbolise vulnerability which is further emphasised by the white words being thin and the red word being large and bold. It is if the evil and danger is bigger than the innocence which overall shows that there is great vulnerability.  The background is black which emphasises the titles even more. The colour black connotes sinister, darkness, and evilness which is the codes and conventions of horror which is envelops around the titles. 

The rest of the titles are white and thin. The names credited are in capitals and at the bottom of the named role. 
Within the title sequence, the production and institution companies are shown first which the director is shown after as the famous director may engage the audience to watch the film. The title follows after the director, then it is the actors and actresses which the main actors and actresses' are shown on the left side of the screen, which only one name is shown at a time, but the lesser-known actors and actresses are all shown on the right side of the screen which may have been done to save time. It is then followed by 'Casting by', 'Director of photography', 'Mechanical special effects designer', 'Associative producer', 'Film editor', 'Music by', 'Co-producer', 'Executive producers', 'Producer', and 'Written and Director'. In this title sequence, the names of all the people credited are all in capitals and are bigger than the roles listed within the title sequence. The majority of the titles within the title sequence is on the left as most people read from left to right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn_DjzN8410   

Overall, all three title sequences analysed has a similar order in terms of the institution and production companies appearing first followed by the director, actors and actresses, etc. But in the more modern films such as Insidious, there is different roles which are not included in the other two title sequences (Halloween 2 and A nightmare on Elm street) such as Line producer and Costume designer. This tells us that modern films today has evolved over the past years as there is more roles required in films today. The title sequence of Halloween 2 is the most basic title sequence compared to the other two title sequences as the titles are constantly in the same place and has no variance whereas A nightmare on Elm street is less basic than Halloween 2 as some of the titles are in different places on the screen when they appear and also the letters and words are not perfectly horizontal whereas the titles and letters in Halloween 2 are perfectly horizontal which looks very basic. Insidious is the least basic as the titles appear at different places on the screen which they fade in and fade out when the titles appear and disappear and has mist effect coming off the titles as well.

My preferred type of title sequence is the title sequence of Insidious as there is a lot of variance and has some effects such as fade in and fade out and emits mist when the titles appear and disappear as it sets a tone at the beginning of the film which engages the audience the most.

In my title sequence for my film, I am going to try and achieve some of the features from the title sequence from Insidious such as the effects involving the titles and them being at various places on the screen when they appear i.e. one name appears on the left and the other name appears after the previous name on the right. I will also use the font style of the titles form Halloween 2 title sequence as it has a sharp effect connoting a type of blade and use the colours from Insidious to represent blood, danger and evilness and also by the titles having those features it connotes the horror slasher genre. I will choose these features for my title sequence as i want my title sequence to be very interesting and engaging for the audience, and also the audience can identify straight away what genre they watching.





Institution research

Institution research 

Lionsgate is an film institution which has produced horror films such as: American Psycho, Cube 2: Hypercube, Saw, Saw 2, The Quiet Ones (distributed), You're Next (distributed). The horror films that Lionsgate have been involved in which are slashers is only You're Next which has ideologies of a horror slasher such as the iconography has signature masks, weapons, colours that are of black and red. Reinforces isolation, gore and sinister/eerie atmosphere.It also includes almost unstoppable masked killers, masked killers suddenly appearing to startle the audience, eerie music, slow editing,  
Lionsgate is committed to being an innovator - creating windowing strategies to adapt to audience needs and changing viewing habits.

The most likely production company who will produce my film is dimension films because they specialise in producing horror genre films and have produced successful films of horror genre films such as: Halloween 1 (2007), Halloween 2 (2009), Halloween - the curse of Michael Myers, Halloween H20 - 20 years later, Halloween resurrection, Amityville horror, Black Christmas (2006), Scream 1, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, Hellraiser 3 -Hell on earth, Hellraiser - Inferno, Hellraiser - Hellseeker, Hellraiser - Deader, Hellraiser - Hellworld, Dracula 2000, Dracula 2 - Ascension, Dracula 3 - Legacy, Darkness, 1408, The mist, Apollo 18, The hole,  Wolf creek, Rogue (independent film), dark skies, after shock, Amityville: The Awakening, Mimic 1, Mimic 2, Mimic 3,  Existenz, Below, They, Cursed, Pulse, The Gathering, Venom, and Phantoms.whereas Lionsgate does not specialise in producing horror slashers as they have only distributed one horror slasher at this moment of time which dimension films have produced and distributed 15 horror slashers.


The ideologies of my film convey horror slashers in which includes eerie music, usually a masked killer, almost unstoppable killer, gore, sudden appearances of the killer to startle the audiences, Final girl, masculine males are killed, the props used are usually knifes or any other type of blade to inflict a slow painful death and to reinforce the fear of gore, lighting is normally dim which is supported with eerie music to create an eerie atmosphere, point of view shots, low angle shots, slow editing, the colours of red, black, and white is used within the film especially in the title sequence. These ideologies is also shared with many films that dimension films have produced such as Halloween 1 (2007), Halloween 2 (2009), Halloween - the curse of Michael Myers, Halloween H20 - 20 years later, Halloween resurrection, Black Christmas (2006), Scream 1, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, Hellraiser 3 -Hell on earth, Hellraiser - Inferno, Hellraiser - Hellseeker,Hellraiser - Deader, and Hellraiser - Hellworld.


These ideologies fits in with an existing institution such as Dimension films as they have made lots of horror slashers as mentioned above, whereas Universal pictures which have made The Strangers, Halloween 2 (1981), Psycho 2, Psycho 3, and Psycho (1998). which they have made less horror slashers as they do not specialise in horror slashers.

What is a Mainstream film?
Mainstream films are distributed or screened in film theatres which makes films have wide releases.In a worldwide perspective, these films could be defined as Hollywood films as they make up the majority of worldwide film releases, it appeals to the global audience.

What is an Independent film?
Independent films are made by a professional film production which results in a feature film which is produced completely/mostly outside of the major film studio system. Independent films are sometimes distinguishable due to the film's content and style. Independent films usually are made with a low budget compared to other major film studios. Independent films are often screened in local, national, or even international film festivals before they are distributed for theatrical and retail release.

My film will be mainstream because i want it to appeal to a global audience as i want it to be as successful as it can. This has been achieved with many horror slashers that have been produced by successful institutions such as Halloween franchise which has been made from Dimension films and Universal films, Psycho franchise which has been produced by Universal films, and Scream franchise which has been produced by Dimension films. Also the successful horror slashers are mostly mainstream that contains most of the same ideologies of my film.