Film Opening Idea
This is our pitch and the initial idea we came up with for the narrative of our film. We had to present this to our teacher with evidence of how we would deliver this on camera, for example the location of where we were looking to film. Our pitch may differ slightly from our film opening as we may have thought of new ideas that would fit the concept of our film better.
Mood Board
This mood board sets the atmosphere for our film opening. The black unconventionally signifying good rather than evil is because of the shadow shows during the light where murderous activities take place. so in the dark where shadows cant appear they are safe. The colour of 'good' being white signifying the purity of the darkness as none of the characters will die. To emphasize this idea further are the shadows walking showing unity of the 4 characters and how they will stick together like a family to overcome the evil.
The two pictures being in the middle section crossed over into both good and evil represents the persona of the villain as in the shadow. The picture on the middle right represents purgatory, which the shadow is in. The shadow is trapped in the spirit world on Earth and murdering the innocent for vengeance for his own death. Because of this he is unable to proceed to the next realm in the spirit world. The picture of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde connotes how the shadow in reality is/ was just a child when he died however he's turned into a murderous monster.
The yellow section of the mood board represents all hat is evil in the film. The yellow connotes the sun and of course shadows appear during sunlight creating the colour to be signified as evil in our film. the evil being in black represents the deadly shadow and the font makes the writing look as if it is dripping blood which is evident when the victims get slaughtered. The picture of the field represents our location and how it appears as a innocent, relaxing getaway however is the complete opposite. The field/ country adds to the convention of a horror being in secluded location. The upside down cross on it own symbolises evil but as well represents the reality of spirituality with the shadow with a knife representing our villain and his desired weapon of murder.
The two pictures being in the middle section crossed over into both good and evil represents the persona of the villain as in the shadow. The picture on the middle right represents purgatory, which the shadow is in. The shadow is trapped in the spirit world on Earth and murdering the innocent for vengeance for his own death. Because of this he is unable to proceed to the next realm in the spirit world. The picture of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde connotes how the shadow in reality is/ was just a child when he died however he's turned into a murderous monster.
The yellow section of the mood board represents all hat is evil in the film. The yellow connotes the sun and of course shadows appear during sunlight creating the colour to be signified as evil in our film. the evil being in black represents the deadly shadow and the font makes the writing look as if it is dripping blood which is evident when the victims get slaughtered. The picture of the field represents our location and how it appears as a innocent, relaxing getaway however is the complete opposite. The field/ country adds to the convention of a horror being in secluded location. The upside down cross on it own symbolises evil but as well represents the reality of spirituality with the shadow with a knife representing our villain and his desired weapon of murder.
Audience Research
- The majority of our respondents preferred the villains showcased weapon to be a knife, rather than more mechanical weapons such as guns and chainsaws. We will incorporate the villain handling a knife in the beginning of the narrative in our opening, this will also give the audience a vague insight as to what is to come as well as a brief interaction with the villain.
- The core age of people who answered our questionnaire were between 15-18. By this we will focus on appealing the opening to this age range. We will focus on obtaining actors to play characters of this age range, as it will be more relatable to the majority who evidently are interested in horror films and encouraging them to watch it.
- The most memorable opening scenes for our respondents were those that began with a disruption/ disequilibrium. We will make sure that the beginning of the narrative too starts this way as it is the most evident way to engage the audience.
Characters and Actors
The characters that we decided
to include in our horror film opening play on conventional stereotypes with a
subtle twist to have them more relatable to our target audience. The characters in our film opening appeal and
perform to an overview of mainstream personas presented by the contemporary
youth. To bring more verisimilitude to
our opening we found actors who are in reality these stereotypes, so the
portrayal of the characters doesn’t look forced. This also helped make the organisation of
mise en scene such as costumes less time and money consuming as they already
had the clothes we were looking for them to wear.
These characters have never or rarely portrayed in horrors. This will also keep the audience second guessing about what is to come because they would be unfamiliar with the type of actions each character is likely to make. The main aim is to keep this horror unpredictable and subvert the over used generic conventions we see in past and contemporary horror films keeping this one interesting.
Organisation of actors
Due to the scheduled independent study sessions on our timetables we were able to arrange suitable times we were all prepared to use our time to film. At convenient filming conditions and times for my group one or both of the actors may have had a scheduled lesson though they were able to do work up to a stable point where they were comfortable to leave. We emailed their teachers for permission and confirmation for our actors to leave the lesson to film.
These characters have never or rarely portrayed in horrors. This will also keep the audience second guessing about what is to come because they would be unfamiliar with the type of actions each character is likely to make. The main aim is to keep this horror unpredictable and subvert the over used generic conventions we see in past and contemporary horror films keeping this one interesting.
Organisation of actors
Due to the scheduled independent study sessions on our timetables we were able to arrange suitable times we were all prepared to use our time to film. At convenient filming conditions and times for my group one or both of the actors may have had a scheduled lesson though they were able to do work up to a stable point where they were comfortable to leave. We emailed their teachers for permission and confirmation for our actors to leave the lesson to film.
Storyboard
These storyboards show a visual representation of our horror film opening. They show the official sequencing of our opening scene in chronological order with notations around each frame of; camera angles, transitions, editing, miss en scene, non diegetic and diegetic sound. This helps us to keep on task and also sequencing the raw footage onto iMovie. However there may be slight changes on our final film opening to something that will suit better.
Script
The script directs the actors as to how the conversation should flow and also directions for their actions on screen. The script finishes with Jason describing the events of the murder which will be recorded as a voice over when we edit as the visual murder is being played out. Our script contains explicit language to create verisimilitude as almost every teenager swears in a general conversation which will also enable our target teenage audience to interact more with the film also. As well, the use of swear words with the female characters emphasises their strong personalities in this pro feminist horror film. The swearing will not alter the age rating of this film.
Shooting Script
The shooting script enables us
to plan and schedule what scenes we are shooting and when. With this
information we are able to arrange transport from school to take us to the
desired destination. Because my team members and I live in different areas we
were able to divide our city to find the best location for our setting. The location we resulted in was public property so we didn't have to ask for permission to film there. The shooting script
also set us a schedule by when we would finish filming to start editing.
The shots we filmed were not in sequential order to that would be shown in our
film opening. This was because of convenience but also logic to shoot
all the shots that we needed in the desired environment when we were
there, this also helped is to keep on schedule and to get what we needed
swiftly and up to a standard we were happy with as well as being
more convenient with travelling arrangements.
Props
Making of blood
Ingredients: Equipment:
-Syrup -Bowl
-Red and black food colouring -Spoon (anything to mix with)
-Water
-Syrup -Bowl
-Red and black food colouring -Spoon (anything to mix with)
-Water
Method
We will use the blood during the murder scene in the alley. We made enough blood to fill and 500ml bottle so we were able to reshoot the scene in case of any mistakes.
The football
The football
The football will be used for the seen in the field as the 4 protagonist are having a casual 'kick about' whilst discussing the murder of a girl. We borrowed the football from the PE department at school which saved us time and money to get our own. This was also more reliable because we are guaranteed use of it whenever we want to film.