First off, I believe it is important to mention that our particular film is based in the 1800s. Therefore all the above hold even more significance in our introduction as they are really important to set a dated mood.
The use of costume was the most important factor when it came to Mise-En-Scene, due to the fact that the costumes would be the first thing the audience look for to tell the time of which the movie is set in. Alice - who is playing the widow in the opening sequence - is wearing a plain black dress with black high heels, symbolising her lack of weath. The black dress also fitted in with the black-and-white screen shots - making it look more creepy and setting the mood to the maximum effect.
The murderer's costume was also simple. He wore a black cloak over him with simple dark clothes underneath. This showed the simplicity of a complex murder, contrasting brilliantly.
Although we didn't have many props in our 2 minute introduction of 'The Widow's Death', the props that we did use were extremely important. The diary at the beginning is vital towards the end of the movie as it explains who the murderer is and what is wrong with Alice's character; the widow. The diary was made up of the Complete Works of Shakespeare with two blank pages with a script on, written on it is parts of what the widow says in the opening credits. Another prop was the Axe which features heavily in the film because it is the constant murder weapon used by the unnamed murderer. This short axe added an even bigger spooky feel to the film and it helped the audience relate back to other horror movies, such as the Shining, and therefore it improved their horror experience due to its intertexuality.
The Diary -
The Rose -
The Axe -
The tone of voice used in the 2 minute opener was also very important towards the feel of the introduction and Alice used her vocal tones brilliantly. Dialogue is used straight away in our introduction - with Alice's voice heard as credits and a piece of film is seen. The shots in the opening sequences are Alice writing a diary. The voice-over (also done by Alice) is reading out the diary for the audience. Alice used a very high-pitched, errie voice, which, along with the creepy text, adds to the feel of the piece. A rendition of 'Ring A' Ring A' Roses' is later heard when the murder is about to take place, also done by Alice. In her beautiful singing voice, a slow version of the song is heard, cutting out all other sounds in the film. The tone of this performance is very important to the feel of the movie and I believe it worked out perfectly for our introduction.
The Location was also very important when it came to setting the mood of the piece. We picked an old fashion church to film in and around because it was both dated and easily accessible for filming. We had to pick a location which wouldn't have to the public swarming around it, and I know the Priest, so permission was easy to come by. The church grounds had a lot of warn-down graves, which was perfect for the dated mood we were hoping to set. We used a grave which Alice referred to when praying - Setting a religious feel to the Satanic piece. The inside of the church also looked dated which helped our 1800s piece look even better and this way, it set the mood.
Great Missenden Ch
urch -The Omen Church -
Everything mentioned helped to set the mood of the piece hugely and it therefore made our two minute introduction more successful due to the chosen location, the tone of voice used for both the voiceover and the singing and the costumes used. All of this made it a very good introduction to the film.
