Script for Evaluation - Question 1 - Director's Commentary for 'Equinox'

I will be recording and editing my evaluation for Question 1 as a director's commentary later today. Below is the script which I am going to record in smaller paragraphs before assembling it using Adobe Audition. Once I have done that I will add the edited audio as another layer on the timeline of the opening sequence (which I will loop because of the length of my commentary). Once I have completed this editing on Premiere Pro, I will upload the director's commentary onto YouTube after it's finished.

Script for Question 1

In my opening sequence for the folk horror film ‘Equinox’ I incorporated many typical conventions of the folk horror genre, such as an isolated setting, the ‘outsider/fish-out-of-water’ narrative, references to the occult and a sinister soundtrack.

Even before I knew what genre my opening sequence would belong to, I watched and researched lots of opening sequences from a range of genres, such as ‘Easy A’ (teen film), ‘Get Out’ (horror), ‘Interstellar’ (science fiction),  ‘500 Days of Summer’ (romantic comedy) and ‘Top Gun’ (action). This gave me a good appreciation of what is typically found in opening sequences of films, and I noticed that these scenes often focused on one or more of the following: introducing main protagonists, establishing setting, establishing genre, creating enigma.

My opening sequence uses all of these conventions, particularly creating enigma for the audience through the male character’s journey from built-up civilisation to an isolated rural setting, by establishing the genre of the film by incorporating unsettling non-diegetic music and through introducing two conventional character types found in horror films: the victim and the monster. 

I wanted to subvert gender representation so I present the male character as the victim and the female character as the sinister antagonist.

It was also important for me to find out whether these conventions of opening sequences changed or were influenced by genre, so I looked at a number of opening sequences both from the broad horror genre and, more specifically from the folk horror sub-genre. Horror films I analysed included ‘It’, ‘Saw’, ‘Carrie’ and ‘Hereditary’, and the folk horror films I analysed included ‘The Witch’, ‘The Wicker Man’, ‘The Blood on Satan’s Claw’ and ‘Midsommar’.

‘The Wicker Man’ and ‘Midsommar’, in particular, inspired me to focus on the journey from civilised society to rural isolation, and inspired by ‘The Wicker Man’ specifically I decided that a large part of my opening sequence should feature the protagonist travelling to and arriving at the remote location.

I was keen to establish this aspect of the setting, seen not only in ‘Wicker Man’ but also in ‘The Blood on Satan’s Claw’, and showed this in the last two shots of the opening driving montage where the setting becomes isolated and desolate as the protagonist drives down a single track lane surrounded by trees, but also through the extreme long shot of the protagonist walking up the vast driveway and through the crackling diegetic radio which breaks up and eventually loses the signal.

Looking at these opening scenes gave me inspiration about how to instantly establish the genre to the audience, but also helped me appreciate how the creation of enigma manifests itself in the folk horror sub-genre – I made sure tension, suspense and mystery was created through the phone call which hints at how isolated the location is, but also through the use of unsettling non-diegetic music, the extreme long shot of the protagonist slowly walking towards the house, and through the performance of the female antagonist and the creepy delivery of her final line.

Throughout the planning, I logged all my research onto a blog so that I could quickly and easily refer to my findings when creating my opening scene. This included noting all the conventions of folk horror films, shot lists and storyboards I could refer to, and appropriate music for my chosen genre. This was incredibly helpful when creating an authentic opening sequence from the genre as it helped me ensure that I incorporated the conventions I had found when looking at folk horror films such as ‘Starve Acre’, ‘The Wicker Man’ and ‘Midsommar’.

Even small details, such as my font, for example, conformed to the usual conventions of a folk horror film. My research suggested that usually the fonts used in the genre are slightly sinister-looking, but can be either serif (with flicks or feet) or sans-serif (blockier and bold). I had noticed that a lot of folk horror films used serif fonts which looked slightly archaic as opposed to the faded, eroded or scratched out fonts I had seen for some other styles of horror films. Initially I had planned to use a font called Codex which is a variation of the font used on the folk horror film ‘The Wicker Man’, but when I tried it I felt that it was too similar. Instead I used the serif font ITC Cheltenham for my titles partly because it is instantly recognisable as being typical of the genre, and therefore audiences would know what genre my film belonged to, but also because it has an almost ancient, archaic feel to it and this would make ‘Equinox’ seem more mysterious and uncomfortable, intended effects I felt were at the heart of good folk horror films.

In terms of my storyline and the use of film language, I decided to conform to some of the conventions of genre in my opening sequence, whilst challenging others. I followed the classic narrative structure and patterns of folk horror films – by first showing first the main protagonist embarking on a journey to an isolated community, an equilibrium which is settled, but which is quickly disrupted when the protagonist’s car breaks down and he is stranded in a strange community during a pagan ritual celebrating the Equinox. The end of the opening scene features an isolated location, typical of the genre, and I also used an editing style predominantly featuring long takes to build suspense and anticipation, alongside non-diegetic music and a range of camera shots that were typical of the genre. The main way that I challenged conventions of the genre was through the representation of gender, choosing to present the film’s male protagonist as the vulnerable victim and by making the monster/antagonist female.

I also noticed during my research that opening sequences generally have production company logos at the beginning, before the action commences. I have incorporated this convention into my scene by including the production company logos for A24, New Line Cinema and Blumhouse Productions – all production companies with a track record of making horror films, with A24 in particular well-known for producing films that could be classed as belonging to the folk horror sub-genre including ‘Bring Her back’, ‘Midsommar’, ‘Hereditary’ and ‘The Witch’. The credits or titles are shown throughout my opening sequence, which I found was a common convention. These titles include the production companies and the name of the film but also some of the actors’ names and the name of various crew members, including the director.

To find the right type of music for my opening sequence, I watched and researched different folk horror films and listened to soundtracks including those for ‘The Witch’, ‘The Wicker Man’, ‘Midsommar’ and ‘Starve Acre’. What I noticed was that most of the music was suspenseful, sinister and threatening, to help reinforce the negative tone associated with the horror genre, but also that the music harked back to an ancient, simpler, pre-industrial time. I chose music which I felt would unsettle the audience and hint at the danger the male protagonist was in, stranded in a community far from civilisation and with different beliefs and values.

In terms of the representation of social groups, I have focused on subverting the representation of gender that is typically presented in my chosen genre, which conventionally features vulnerable female victims preyed upon by male killers or monsters. Gender is represented atypically in my opening sequence, through hints that the male protagonist will be the victim of the film; isolated, alone and in danger, similar to the ways that female characters in horror films are commonly represented. My research showed me that there has been a change in the representation of women within the genre with the introduction of the stronger final girl character, but I chose not to introduce this character in my opening sequence as I felt that it was more common in other horror genres and quite rare in folk horror films.

I noticed male victims in some of the folk horror films I looked at, such as ‘The Wicker Man’ and ‘Midsommar’ and felt that it would be appropriate to incorporate this character type into ‘Equinox’. The first part of the sequence feature the male victim travelling out of his comfort zone, becoming more and more isolated from civilisation, and this is intended to create audience expectations that he is in danger. Conversely, I hint that the female character is potentially sinister, dangerous and threatening; more typical of the ways that male predators are usually presented in the genre. 

Whilst the female character does not act violently, the performance should suggest to the audience that there is something off about her, especially with the way she delivers her final line. These representations of gender may be unfamiliar to audiences of films from the horror genre and will therefore unsettle spectator expectations about what may happen in the rest of the narrative.