Title of the Film, Title Font and Style
The title of our film is called ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ because a supernatural being has been hidden from the public and cannot be seen easily. It has its title because of the demon not be being able to be identified by the public but the demon’s presence is there right in front of their eyes the whole time. The words ‘hidden in plain sight’ were used to create an enigma code for the audience to create mystery throughout the rest of the film and makes the audience question who or what is hidden, why that object or person is hiding and who is looking for it. The mystery is an effective convention used in horror movies because it adds to the suspense which makes them more curious to what’s going to happen to the main character, in this case, the ‘detainee’. The word “sight” also adds a creepy effect because it means that a possible entity can be watching or seeing everything that happens in and out of the scenes, the audience will be unaware of when the object will or can appear and scare them.
The title is catchy and grabbing for the audience because it is an intriguing phase that can be used in a horror form if it has had a build up as a horror as it was being advertised or produced. The words used in the title can also be used to involve the audience because it means that they can be a part of the investigation that takes part in the movie.
The style and font are set as a written form that looks archaic for the audience. This is to create a creepy effect and also relate to the age of the ancient demon that is present throughout the movie. The white of the titles give a ghostly effect since ghosts are commonly seen as white inside horror movies, the also fade away like burnt paper and this is used to represent the spontaneous and sudden presence of a supernatural entity.
A faded red colour appears above the title to represent the splatter of blood that is left from the demon’s victims throughout the films, this is to make the audience feel intrigued and hint to them that there will be blood throughout the movie.
Setting/location
Our first setting was based inside an interrogation room which was used to have the scene where the detainee was being questioned by the two detectives. We were not able to get a room that has the original features of a real room used for questioning so the most suited room for the scene was Oliver’s living room since it was a controlled area where we could use dark lighting and isolated sound but it was also easily accessible so it was easy to film and edit when we needed to.
On the screen, in the background, we can see the curtains of the lounge but this can be used as an additional feature to get the audience to question the detective’s real intentions and if they are real detectives since it the questioning is not taking place in the police station. We knew that this area was always available for us since we didn’t need permission for access and didn’t have to worry about weather or other factors that may impact the continuity of our shots.
Even though it seems minimalistic, the forest is a classic setting for many horror movies such as ‘Cabin in the Woods’, ‘The Evil Dead’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project’ because it is the ideal setting for ominous and creepy settings, natural sounds and surroundings that can easily create a dark atmosphere for the audience. The cycle of the seasons can play a big part in different genres, for example, in Autumn the trees have bright and colourful leaves that fall off of them which can create a romantic effect for a romance based genre but in the Winter the trees look like they have been stripped of all life since they look grey and/or dead which symbolises death and decay and this is why we used the leafless trees in our film.
Forests are also common for killers and murders because it is an isolated area that is sparsely populated and it is easy for the antagonist to hide from the people he/she is stalking which can create more mystery in the scene.
Costumes
The mise en scene includes a typical London look for a teenager which is a school uniform that consists of a school shirt and school trousers. The two top buttons are undone and his sleeves are rolled up to make him look rebellious and cool. Even though he has made his appearance like that to fit his personality, he seems innocent but nervous and his facial expressions and appearance juxtapose with each other to create a red herring for the audience because they are unsure of if the detainee is innocent or not.
We based our detective's costumes on what the people of that profession would wear in the 1970s and the inspiration came from an old detective series from 2006 called ‘Life on Mars’. We used the casual clothing so it looked like the detectives are calm and trusting for both the other characters in the movie and the audience since it made them look more like the people they were talking to and not intimidating suits. We got the clothing from Oliver’s dad because we thought they looked the most suitable for our production since they looked like the type of clothing that people had during the 1970s.
Props
The Relic
We used house ornament for our demonic relic inside our film that is the shape of an evil being’s mouth from the underworld but it was originally was a cigarette tray. We chose this prop because it had features that looked like it will be from a supernatural realm so it will create a creepy and unnerving effect for the audience, it also matches the location we shot which was decayed and decrepit. We had inspiration from different movies such as ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘The Mummy’ and ‘The Evil Dead’ since they all involved finding artefacts that released a form of power that can be used to conquer lands. The object was round and obscure because we wanted the audience to be curious to what it is along with the character in the movie because it is unique and strange.
The Lamp
The lamp was a part of the mise en scene because it is a typical feature inside of movies that have interrogation scenes. It is used to make the interrogators look more intimidating for both the audience and for the detainee since it shines towards the detainees face, blinds them and makes it so they can’t see the detective's face as much, this is to add mystery to the scenes.
We also used it because it is a diegetic source of light that can light up the scene enough for the audience to see the characters on the scene without us needing to add an external light source and ruin the realism of the scene. Another use of the lights is to emphasise the characters actions and facial expressions, the audience will be able to see the detective trying to be friendly to the detainee, the other detective being impatient and the detainee being anxious about his position.
Camera Work
The camerawork in the film took a lot of thought and consideration, we had to work out which shot suited each moment otherwise it may not have had the same effect on the audience.
We used two continuous takes because we wanted to experiment with different filming techniques, using multiple types of shots in one take.
The low angle denotes authority from the detainee as he has control over the scene in the beginning. Later on, the camera angles are more level with the detainee showing a shift in power as he is becoming more paranoid and scared.
Another shot we used focused on and faced Detective 1, with the Detainee unfocused so that the audience’s eyes are drawn to the Detective instead of the Detainee whilst he is talking. We kept the Detainee in the shot so that the audience can keep a grip on the positions of the characters more easily.
Editing
When we were editing the movie we looked at the pacing very closely constantly going back over our film to see if it flowed well, with the 2 minute time constraint it was difficult to find a balance that suited the theme of the film consistently but in the end managed to get to a point in which we were happy with the result.
It was very important to make sure shots lingered for just the right amount of time but didn’t seem too jarring, an alternating use of long and short shots was the best way to go we found as every shot is different and requires its own attention.
A noticeable difference is that during the interrogation room sequence the shots are shorter because it cuts every time a line is spoken apart from during the
Story, How the opening sets it up and How characters are introduced
The plot to ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ is a teenager who comes across a strange object as he’s walking to school from home but he is unaware that this obscure ornament (the prop) was a demonic relic that possessed the first person to came into contact with it and this is what is shown in our opening. The rest of the movie will be about investigating the killings that have been happening with the police investigating each one as more murders are occurring due to the demon living, or hiding, inside of the detainee/victim.
The detectives are the first characters to be introduced in the opening as one of the detectives is asking the detainee about what happened in the forest.
We make the first impressions of the first detective to be good and effective to make him seem like a trusting and calm character for the audience. We did this by giving him a calm and quiet voice and slow movements throughout the scene and he also called the detainee as “son” to make him seem mature and professional.
The other detective was seen as aggressive and impatient during the first scene and this was to act as an opposite with the other detective. We did this by keeping him standing up because the character doesn’t like being in the same place for periods of time, he spoke with a strong London accent and he loses his patiently which is seen as he says “waste of time”.
The two detective characters act as a ‘good cop-bad cop’ style and method which is a common feature in many old movies that involves tense interrogation scenes.
In the first scene, the two detectives question what the detainee was doing during the time of the incident where he was found inside of an interrogation room. This introduces the two detectives into the movie.
Edward plays a typical teenager from a sixth form school in London. He is seen as a curious character but a nervous one at times throughout the film.
Genre and how the opening suggests it
Our movie is a horror movie because we thought it will be an effective style to produce with a large target audience and even though our opening is only around two minutes long we introduced our storyline for the horror movie with the characters, the plot and the issue within it.
From the picture, we can see the victim screaming after he picked up the mysterious object he found on the wall. After he puts the object down he hears a large demonic roar coming from inside his head and this diegetic sound adds tension to the scene because it is creepy and creates an enigma code for the audience of what sound was and where it came from originally. We end the scene with a cliffhanger after the character yells in pain to get the audience to want to know what happens next and make it more gripping since the second scene escalated from the first one.
Special Effects
We didn’t use that many special effects for our project but when we did, we did it in relation to the horror genre. In the two pictures seen above, they show the transition in filters as the demonic presence appears in the scene. This is to give an eery effect for the audience since darkness and darker colours represent the evil antagonist of the movie, it also acts as a hint to the audience that something bad or scary will happen to build the tension.
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