A Killer in Heels: Costume Design in My Film Opening

In psychological horror, every detail matters, especially what a character wears. Christina, the main character of my film opening, is a 36-year-old woman who looks completely put together, but under the surface, she's hiding something dark. Her outfit isn't just about fashion, it helps tell the story of who she is.

Here's the costume my partner and I decided on:

• Jeans- Simple but stylish, jeans make her look casual enough to blend in but not sloppy. They also make sense for someone who needs to move comfortably, even if she's up to something wrong.
• Black Top- Black is one of the most powerful colors in film. It represents mystery, control, and even danger. Christina's black top makes her look sleek and confident, but it also hints that she's hiding something. Black is often linked to villains, but it's also a symbol of power, showing that she's completely in control of what she's doing.
• Black Blazer- A blazer makes her look professional and sharp. This helps her blend into normal life, she could be on her way to work, grabbing coffee, or, in her case, buying supplies for something much worse.
• Heels- Most people wouldn't wear heels if they were panicking or rushing. Christina however, isn't panicking. The fact she can walk so confidently in heels, even while she's doing something so disturbing, shows just how in control she is.
• Short Blonde Hair- A clean, well-kept haircut makes her look responsible and put together. Blonde hair is often associated with warmth and innocence, as well as stupidity. This makes it more unsettling when she does something horrible. It tricks the audience into thinking she's someone they can trust.
• Neutral Makeup (Browns & Golds)- Christina's makeup is natural and put together not over the top. The browns and golds make her look mature and fitting for her age and personality. She's the kind of person that looks put together when she's doing something horrifying.
• Black Leather Bag- A high-quality bag shows that she has money and taste. It's also practical, it's big enough to carry small supplies, adding to the idea that she's always prepared.
• Jewelry- Christina's jewelry is subtle but meaningful. It includes her wedding ring which is key to the plot. She throws it into the hole she dug, symbolizing her marriage's end.

How Her Outfit Adds To The Story

Christina's outfit is meant to trick the audience. She doesn't look like someone who would commit a crime, she seems like a normal, successful woman. That's what makes her scarier. She isn't dressed as a typical scary villain but like a normal woman making her blend in.

The color black plays a huge role in how she's seen. It's a color of power, elegance, and mystery, but also linked to danger. As stated in lafilm.edu, "Black signifies grief, fear, mystery, and evil, but it also evokes thoughts of simplicity, tradition, and sophistication." This shows how powerful the color black can be.

Source:

            The Los Angeles Film School. “The Psychology of Color - the Los Angeles Film School.” The Los Angeles Film School, 12 June 2017, www.lafilm.edu/blog/the-psychology-of-color/.

The Silent Storytellers: How Props Build Suspense

Props aren't just random objects in a scene, they help tell the story, set the mood, and give the audience little clues about what's really happening. In our psychological horror film opening, every prop has a purpose. They don't just sit there, they show who Christina is and make the scene feel more real and unsettling.

When my partner, Addison, and I started planning, we made a list of all the props we needed and why they were important. Since our film is all about quiet tension making the audience feel uneasy, we chose props that seem normal on their own but, when put together, tell a much darker story.

Key Props and Why They Matter

• Pen and Notepad- Christina is seen writing and doing calculations in her car. At first, it's unclear what she's planning, but it shows she's thinking ahead. She's not acting on impulse this is all carefully planned.
• Purse- She carries a black leather purse while shopping which is part of the costume but also serves as a prop to make her look like a regular person running errands. It adds realism and helps her blend in.
• Shovel- Obviously for digging, but it's also symbolizing something bigger, she's burying more than just a body. She's burying her past, her marriage, and any chance of going back.
• Duct Tape & Black Trash Bags- pretty normal items, but together, they feel off. They hint whatever she's doing, it's not good. These props make the audience realize how prepared she is.
• Pillows for Fake Body- To make it look like Christina is actually moving something heavy when she drags the "body."
• Fake Body- The most important prop for making the scene feel real. Wrapped in black plastic, it lets the audience imagine the worst without showing too much.
• Machete- A super unsettling object. If she already killed him, why does she need this? It makes the audience wonder if she's making sure he can't be identified, adding more mystery.
• Car- More than just transportation, the car represents isolation where she's alone in her thoughts. It's also where she goes to bury the body.
• Ring- The biggest clue. When she drops it into the grave, it silently confirms that the body is her husband. Without saying a word, the audience understands the plot.

Why Props Are So Important

Every single prop in this scene helps create suspense. They don't just make the scene feel real, they make the audience feel uncomfortable. As stated in nightmaretoys.com, "When it comes to creating spine-chilling, hair-raising films, horror props play a crucial role in setting the eerie ambiance and heightening the fear factor. These props are meticulously chosen to immerse the audience in a nightmarish experience, amplifying the suspense and terror on screen." By picking the right props and using them in just the right way, we make sure the audience isn't just watching the scene, they're feeling it.

Source:

           Wilks,  Alex. “Which Horror Props Are Used Most Often during Filming?” Nightmare Toys, 13 Oct. 2023, www.nightmaretoys.com/blogs/news/which-horror-props-are-used-most-often-during-filming. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.

Building a Killer:Christina's Character Developement

Who is Christina?

 Hey! In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the development of Christina. Character development is one of the most important parts of a film. If a character doesn’t feel right for the story, the whole thing feels off—like something just isn’t working. 

Naming Christina 

I think a character’s name is a big deal when it comes to their development. My partner, Addison, and I searched online for women’s names, scrolling forever until we found the perfect one, Christina. We literally searched up the most common female names and landed on sss.gov, where the name Christina was number 58. It just felt right. It sounds sweet, but it can also have a different vibe depending on the context. We also needed a name for Christina’s husband, but since he isn’t the main character (and, well, he dies), we didn’t put as much thought into it. We just searched for common male names and landed on Luke. I won’t lie, Gilmore Girls definitely had something to do with that choice. 

Creating Christina

Christina goes through a massive change in the story, she starts as a normal, loving person but transforms into something completely different. Since her whole personality shifts, we needed to show that in how she looks too. At the start of the film, before everything happens, she wears bright, happy colors to show her original personality. Here's a mood board I made to show that.

But after the tumor starts affecting her, she switches to wearing all black, symbolizing the dark turn her character takes. She was once bubbly and full of love, but that love turns into anger. She loses empathy, becomes obsessive, and stops caring about right and wrong. Her lucid dreams take over, and she turns into someone unrecognizable. Here's the other mood board.

Sources:

Social Security Administration. (n.d.). Popular names of the 20th century. U.S. Social Security Administration. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/century.html

Shadows of a Killer

For my film opening, I'm creating a psychological horror centered around a woman who has just killed her husband, The story unfolds in a quiet mysterious way, with no dramatic chase scenes, no sudden bursts of violence. Instead, it's all about the eerie calm that follows the crime.

The Film Opening

The opening scene begins with the woman in her car, focused as she does calculations. What she's planning isn't immediately clear, but something feels off. She then heads to a hardware store where she quickly purchases a shovel, a machete, duct tape, and black trash bags, items that, on their own, might not seem suspicious, but together they paint a much darker picture.

She drives off into the night, the trunk carrying something heavy. The camera stays on her as she works, wrapping what appears to be feet in black plastic. Then, she begins digging. There's no hesitation, no second guessing just precise, deliberate movements. Finally, she drops something small into the pit a wedding ring before covering the hole. The ring is what gives you the clue that it was her husband.

The goal of this opening is to create tension without giving too much away. The audience should feel unsettled but still have questions. Did she really kill him? Why? How did she do it? This film isn't about the act of murder it's about the mind behind it.

The Plot

Christina a 36 year old woman married to Luke Moore has the picture perfect marriage. They met in high school and since then have been together. Christina always wanted kids but Luke was diagnosed with infertility and they were never able to have them. Although many couples break things off after they find out about infertility Christina and Luke grew stronger helping each other out through these hard moments. 

One day Christina started to feel sick, taking pills became her comfort. They weren't drugs they were over the counter pain killers. She began taking a lot as she got many heavy headaches. Luke even started to notice and got worried and told her to go to the doctors but Christina brushed him off. Little by little Christina wasn't acting like herself as if her personality was changing. She would get mad very easily and even got depressed. Even as she was struggling with everything Luke was always there for her. She started acting very differently and was still having horrible headaches, it's as if it wasn't the Christina everyone knew and loved. It got so bad Christina started having lucid dreams that felt real to her of Luke cheating, and even abusing her.

She started to make a plan to kill her husband, she couldn't handle it anymore. She planned it very meticulously. The minute her husband fell asleep she stabbed him over, and over, and over again. She stopped stabbing him when he stopped breathing. She cleaned up the mess and the next day put him in the trunk of the car, as if nothing happened. She then headed to the store and calculated his size for the hole she was going to dig. She bought everything she needed, headed to the Everglades and started digging. She wrapped him up and dropped him and her wedding ring into the hole. 

She then went back home as of nothing happened, but when she stepped into her house she fainted. Her neighbor which was a good friend of hers noticed her front door wide open so she walked in to make sure everything was okay. She saw Christina laying there without a wedding ring and rushed her to the hospital. Doctors found that Christina had a brain tumor which explains why her personality changed. When she woke up they asked about her husband and she said she didn't remember. Her neighbor Emily said that when she found her she had no wedding ring, so she inferred that he left her. Christina heard this and played along, showing her psychotic mind, blaming it on her husband.

Frame by Frame: Crafting a Psychological Horror

Hey, so the next step in my film opening is the storyboard. Now that I have my film opening in mind creating a storyboard will be very helpful to express my ideas visually and maybe tweak them. A good storyboard keeps everything organized and gives me a solid plan to follow. It's super helpful not only in the planning stages but also when you're out filming. Trust me, with experience it can get very chaotic out there, especially trying to remember shots and what you want it to look like. That's where the storyboard comes in handy it's a very helpful guide. Although the storyboard is my initial idea, I have changed shots and visuals while filming because in person they look better. 

Here's the storyboard we made. Check it out below!

Group Meeting #1

Hey, blog!! It's officially week 3 of working on my film opening, time is rushing by. Today in class my teacher set up group meetings where we got to share our film ideas and give each other feedback. My group included my classmates Emi, Roman, Isabel, and Sofia. It was super helpful to see what everyone is working on and it was super helpful getting feedback, it really helped with opening up my project.

Emi - Western: Death Is No Friend

Emi's film is a classic Western, but there's one big challenge filming in Florida which doesn't exactly scream Wild West. The story follows a cowboy with a bounty chasing them. Emi is handling costume design and she showed us some and they were amazing drawings. One of her group members is going to try to sew the costume which I think is super cool. As a group, we recommended Southwest Ranches as a filming location as they have a bunch of barns and stables, which could make it look more Western. Another idea we gave her is to film in black and white to give it the classic Western movie feel, especially if they add graininess while editing. Emi also mentioned filming during high noon and the showdown ends at a sunset. I love her idea and I cannot wait to see how her group does her project.

This is an image I found online which was similar to Emi's designs.

Roman- Suspense: Title TBD

Roman had the idea of an interrogation scene but still doesn't have the full plot. He's planning on filming in his garage, which works perfectly as a closed-in setting and it's a very versatile environment. His dad is in law enforcement, so he has access to fake props that will make the scene look legit. The story centers around a Mexican cartel member, which will be played by Roman who gets interrogated by law enforcement which will be played by his dad. Wetalked about using a bag over the cartels head, and possibly adding some Spanish dialogue to make it more realistic. One intense detail Roman is considering is a waterboarding scene, which eventually leads to a confession. The biggest thing he needs to focus on is his final storyline and plot, but overall I am very excited to see the outcome.

This is the vibe I think Roman is going for.

Isabel-Mystery/Horror/Suspense: Title TBD

Isabel's film is going to follow a psychotic doctor who experiments on his patients by giving them drugs that slowly make them sick. She described his workspace as a mix of extreme organization and chaos, with jars labeled with patients' names and drugs that fill up over time. If a jar starts to get full, it has a meaning that the patient is close to death. One of the creepiest parts is the ending, he puts on his doctor's coat, answers the phone and someone says, "Hey doctor." Just a simple line but it seals the film opening with what the main character does with all those pills. She said she wanted to add the credits to the patient's files, which I thought was super creative. She's going to rely on close-ups. I am once again very excited to see how she executes this.

Having some files like this is what I think Isabel is going for.

Sofia-Dystopian: Fate's Deception

Sofia's film takes place in a chaotic dystopian society with a mix of agriculture and lower middle-class living. She's drawing inspiration from Divergent and The Hunger Games, which totally fits the vibe she's going for. In her world, people are given powers at age 15, but instead of being a gift, the powers are actually something bad. Depending on what power they receive, they are sent to either military or research labs. The film's opening focuses on two girls, and one of them gets their power, which causes major conflict. Costume wise Sofia is thinking of having the characters wear beige gowns to fit with the society. We suggested she used Markham Park as a filming location as it matched the agricultural vibe shes looking for.

I think this is what Sofia wants her costume to look like.

My Takeaway

Honestly, I loved getting to hear everyone's ideas and helping each other. Seeing where my project stands in comparison made me realize I'm on track with my progress, which was calming. I also got some really helpful feedback. I cannot wait to see how everyone's projects turn out!!

Seeing the Unseen: Using Active Audience Theory in Psychological Horror

When developing my psychological horror film opening, I started to think about how audiences interact with media. Instead of just presenting a story for consumption, I want my viewers to engage with my film on a deeper level, questioning what they see, seeing things differently, and maybe even feeling like they're part of the mystery. That's where Active Audience Theory comes in.

What is Active Audience Theory?

Active Audience Theory suggests that people don't just absorb media like sponges. Instead, they interpret and react to it based on their own experiences, beliefs, and emotions. As stated in library.fiveable.me(2025), "This concept emphasizes the role of the audience in interpreting, questioning, and responding to media messages, suggesting that individuals bring their own experiences, beliefs, and social contexts to their viewing experiences." This means that two people can watch the same film and walk away with completely different understandings of it. In horror, this can be especially effective because fear is so personal, that what scares one person might not to another. According to Daniel Stoddart(2015), "Some social groups may be scared of things that other groups are not, this may depend on their hobby or interest, for example, a gamer would be more scared of zombies that a rabid horse. The things closest to us tend to be the most scary when utilised in the right way, the producer can easily do this by analysing the target audience and what they find most scary."

How it Applies to My Film Opening

Since my film is a psychological horror, I want the audience to feel unsettled, not just by what's happening on screen but by what might be happening. Instead of giving them all the answers, I want to create gaps in the story that force them to think.

Here are some ways I plan to use Active Audience Theory in my film opening:

1. Unreliable Perspective- The film might make the audience question whether what they're seeing is real or not by the character's mental state. This makes them active participants in figuring out the truth.

2. Minimal Information- Rather than giving out information, I want to leave certain details unexplained, which will allow viewers to piece things together by themselves.

3. Sound Design Tricks- Audio can make people feel unease without them even realizing why. I plan to use subtle eerie sounds to make the audience aware of every sound.

Why it Works for Horror

Horror isn't just jump scares, it's about making people feel something long after they've finished watching As stated in Sociology.Plus(2022), "The elements that interact with media consumption include prior experience, present beliefs, family, employment circle, and friends." By using Active Audience Theory, I can make sure my film isn't just something people just watch, but something they experience and interpret in their own day. I want them to leave them questioning what they saw. 

Sources:

Active Audience - (Intro to Film Theory) - Vocab, Definition, Explanations | Fiveable. (2024). Fiveable.me. https://library.fiveable.me/key-terms/introduction-to-film-theory/active-audience

Active Audience Definition & Explanation | Sociology Plus. (2022, October 8). Sociology Plus. https://sociology.plus/glossary/active-audience/

St       Stoddart, D. (2015). Audience Theories in Relation to the Horror Genre: Prezi.com. https://prezi.com/4zut-gylwj1m/audience-theories-in-relation-to-the-horror-genre/