Audition posters

To make our film as professional as possible we intend to audition our characters. Here are some examples of auditions posters. We intend to make our own so that we can put them up and have our own cast group.

We are going to film the auditions to be as professional as possible. Here are some examples of audition tapes.

Changes to story.

To make our story seem more realistic but just as frightening,  we are going to make it so that the character with the book becomes obsessed with it rather than possessed. This will give the film a sense of reality to it.
Also we are going to make two alternative endings. One will be were the obsessed character gets carted away to a psychiatric centre, the other will be that she dies. However in both endings the book will be left where it was found at the beginning.

More changes could be added later.

Audition tapes

To make our film as professional as possible we intend to audition our potential cast. We are looking at existing drama students within the college to audition for our film.
These are some existing audition tapes that are made for films.

This is the the audition tape for juno. This features the potential cast acting together to give a good representation a chemistry with characters.



Auditions can also be done as solo auditions with the casting directors, it could be reading from a script or improvisation with a given criteria.

here is a link to  channel on youtube which has more audition tapes.

One ending concept.

One of our endings for our film would be for the main character (the one obsessed with the book) dying. A way we could do this so that it is entirely different from the deaths of the other characters would be to make it look like she was dying internally rather than from something else. A way which i think we could do this would be to make her bleed out of her eyes. 

Although this could be very hard to do it would be very effective.

Another way we could do it would be to make her cough up blood, which is the simpler option and could be just as effective if done correctly. 

Opening titles on TV.

Due to the duration of our film we need to focus on a short opening sequance so that it doesn't take up the time alotted for our full film. I have decided to look into openings of t.v serises because essentially these need to be short and snappy so that the episode can begin.
Some openings in t.v serises that i think link with our theme of our film.

This is the opening to the vampire diaries. It is around 51 seconds and contains a short sequance of each main character with some shots featured in the serise its self. I like this opening because it features blood like effects on it which have a good link with our film.

Other t.v openigs which have a similar feel to our film would be American Horror Story, grim, and
pretty little liars.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY.

These two openings are from the two different series of American Horror story. They are really distinctive i think because their style os so abnormal which links along side the concept of the programme.

It uses a series of close ups and some abstract effects which add to the strangeness of the openings. It is very low lit throughout both openings and this adds to the fear wanted to portray in the openings. 

It alos sticks to this overall dark idea with the names that appear. It has a weird font in a bright colour on a black background. 

GRIMM.

The opening to grimm is a very dark opening. It has a green look to it which adds a creepy unrealistic fell to it. Also due to the theme of the programme itself it splits the screen and has either contrasting clips or ones like the image below where it looks like one below.

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS.

Pretty little lairs opening contains a close up shot montage followed by a shot of the main characters. It is a very short opening for a tv programme as it is only 22 seconds. The close ups are of a dead body and look some what fake. This is quite a interesting effect.

Genre reseach

Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a bracing experience. They are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, Satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.

Action films usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional 'good-guy' heroes (or recently, heroines) battling 'bad guys' - all designed for pure audience escapism.

Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects, comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets. epics (historical dramas), or romantic genres. Dramatic biographical films are a major sub-genre.

We chose as a group an idea which features a popular antagonist 'The Slender Man' therefore the suitable genre of our film would be; horror, with sub-genres; suspense and survival. Our film will be presented with few cliches of our chosen genre but will consist mainly on our personal take of the genres. We will possibly be using special effect to create our mythical based story. Our film will portray deep emotion and character development as we follow the horror which The Slender Man evokes. With the sub-genre being survival the film will follow the victim as they quickly realise they are vulnerable and under-armed and they will have to strive to battle through.

Information from: http://www.filmsite.org/

Research into potential audience.

When searching for potential audiences, i will look into simliar movies which have similar traits to ours and look at their target audiences. In this context i will look at the target audience of the Television show Todd and the book of evil, which is aimed at the age range of 16-24.

The reason being that it has teenage actors, which use the current stereotypes of today's young people, such as 'goth' 'Metalhead' and uses a soundtrack which speaks to the target audience.
In the respect of the teenage actors, this film uses teenage actors, people who are of the same age range of the people that the television show is trying to go out and to grab the attention of that certain age range.

When we are trying to find a target audience we shall try to appeal to these trends, such as music taste, dress sense, and popular culture which today's young people will be interested in the trends being portrayed within the film itself, as well as the characters which today's youth may be able to relate to.

Research into a possible distributor

When thinking of a possible distributor for our film i have to think of multiple factors which may contribute to the company wanting to distribute our film, such as previous films within the same genre of ours which they have released, whether they will have the required resources and whether any resources are going to be wasted within the distributed process. An example of this is a low budget like ours going to be distributed to a big company such as warner brothers. Within this respect i chose a distributor which has distributed films within the same genre of ours for a low budget. Such as the Metrodome group.

 

Which has distribution films such as Black Christmas, which was released in 2009. The type of films which Metrodome distribute are films which more common than not unknown unlike the big hollywood films distributed by Warner brothers, these types of films also include actors which are not known, who may be starring within their first movie, and  may have not been in the acting proffesion long. Metrodome distribution also distribute films which are usually low budget and not as professionally edited in the way that Top budget films are.

For example, high budget hollywood blockbusters may use such techniques like special effects and controlled explosions, such as in action movies which involve Bruce Willis. While in comparison low budget films may avoid using explosions, but may still involve gun fights, knife fights etc.

I believe that metrodome Distribution would be the best suited to our film as it may be able to distribute the film to the best ability that it can with it being a low budget college film and is able to give us considerable recognition within the public.

Tricky Shots

Individual Analysis of Title sequences.

Title sequences are used for various different ways, such as establishing the theme of the film and may be used as a summary of Narrative which is related to the film.

Dexter

The first three frames of the film are shocking and relate to the film itself, for example the sequences show a mosquito landing on a man's arm to feed on his blood for sustinance. The man then slaps the mosquito with his hand. Which ties in the themes of the film, which is death.

ZombieLand

Zombieland's credits start at 2.47, involves the words of the people who are involved with the film, such as director/producer etc. in bright red bold letters. The red bold letters are portrayed in different cultures to have different meanings, such has blood, death and fear. The blood is a massive influence throughout Zombieland, and is used throughout to indicate danger. The images behind the titles show signs of destruction in the immediate environment. It also connects with popular culture by making a cameo appearance of Al Pacino from Scarface.

Hot fuzz

Another good example of a film that uses a their title sequences to portray the theme of the film to come is Hot Fuzz. Which is a Comedy involving two police officers trying to track down the suspicious deaths in their village of salford. The credits show the salford police badge, establishing the film title and the setting of the film. 

Individual analysis of Genre.

Horror

Horror, is a genre of film which is depicted by it's lighting, theme and acting. The main concepts of the film are such things as Dark lighting creating shadows within the film. 

Themes

Themes within horror can be such things like Supernatural or Psychological themes. The themes within horror may deal with peoples fears, such as a fear of spiders in the movie 8 legged freaks (2002)  The film depicts a story where spiders have grown to astronomical size and prey on human beings, this can alert the viewer and prey on their fear of spiders and cause a feeling of discomfort.

Films may also prey on other things such as the supernatural in which an alien operation to take over the earth ensues such as what is shown in War of the worlds, where the Earth is under attack from alien forces of the unknown which is not known until the ending of the film. 

Stereotypical things which can be shown within the horror genre is things such as Zombies, vampires and cannibals.

Horror movies first came around with the creation of silent short films within the 1890s by the pioneer Georges Méliès who's first depiction of horror films was the silent short The Haunted Castle.

Lighting

Lighting within horror films is generally dark and depressing, grasping the viewer and showing some sort of unknown danger within the darkness. This makes the viewer think and wonder what is in the darkness. Films which have dark lighting usually have sadistic themes, such as SAW films or Hostel, where there is a  serial killer on the loose killing people to no succesion of the police.

Other films which in my opinion use lighting well are supernatural films, such as Alien vs. Predator, in which the darkness can indicate imminent danger, unknown danger however imminent.

Basic Script .1

Basic Script

Murderer  M

Girl 1     G

Boy 1      B

B: G, is this yours?

G: What is it?

B: this creepy ass book I found in the garage

G: Sounds more like M’s to be honest.

B: Oh right, is she upstairs?

G: yrh I think so, don’t worry ill give it her

(g walks upstairs with book and finds M in her room unpacking a box with music playing really loudly)

G: Oi turn that racket off

M: dude you love this song!

G: I know, is this yours?

M: No, but I want it so it is now

G: okay then enjoy your creepy book

M: I will don’t worry

G: (laughs) im off out for a bit, do you need anything?

M: no I’m good

G: ok ill be back in like 2 hoursish

(M waves G as she leaves the room. She opens the book and gets a paper cut that drips blood onto the page, she puts the finger she cut into her mouth to stop it from bleeding, she puts the book on the floor and walks over to the bath room. Camera stays focused on book where you see the blood disappearing into the pages)

-int- ( M is in the bathroom and washes the blood of her hand, the room starts to go blury for her, she falls to the floor and starts convulsing as she gets possessed. The camera acts like a mirror and you see M’s hand reach for the sink, as she stands she looks different and smiles at the camera.)

-off camera- B: M! come help me with these other boxes

(M walks out of the bathroom and towards the living room where you see B struggling with the boxes. CU of door in focus with living room out of focus, M closes the door)

B: hey, you okay? Whats wrong, wait what are you doing? M seriously this isn’t funny stop please wait! – silence –

(Throughout this line, the camera will back away from the door and will show shots of other parts in the house ending with a floor shot of the book open in M’s room. You see her running back into the room covered in blood and picks up the book smiling then stares directly into the camera. Camera shakes and then goes to black)

(M is sitting on the sofa holding the book and staring into nothingness when you hear the door unlock, she looks towards the living room door)

G: I’m back! But I’m having a bath, cause I can since this is our new house. –pauses- Hello?! Anyone here?

(walks past living room and goes into bath room and starts running bath)

G: seriously have you all died while I’ve been out?

(walks into living room)

G: M? Why are you sitting in the dark? – waits for M’s response?- The fuck is wrong with you? Where’s B?

(M slowly starts to stand and smiles sadistically) 

(Cuts to clips of M dragging B’s unconscious body across the back garden, B starts to regain consciousness)

B: -faintly- M please stop.

(M grabs B by the neck and holds her up against the fence and strangles her. Cu of B’s eyes until they close. M throws B over the fence)

(Cuts back to living room with M and G)

M: there was a slight incident, I don’t think B’s going to be back anytime soon.

G: what is wrong with you?

M: Me? Nothing’s wrong with me. I am enlightened towards everything now.

G: I don’t understand.

M: why would you? You are nothing at all. That’s why.

G: The fuck? You need help you psyco.

M:You need more help than I do

(pulls out knife from behind her back)

G: why are you doing this?

M: Don’t worry because you’re my favourite I’ll give you a head start , I’ll count to three.

G: M seriously

M: 1

G: what the fuck?

M: 2

G: (Starts backing out of the room) Your sick!

M: (smiles) 3

G: ( runs toward the bathroom and tries to close the door)

M: (pushes door open and G backs up towards the bath)

G: Can’t we talk about this?

M: There’s nothing to talk about this is it

( Shows G holding a deodorant can behind her back, M starts walking towards her and G attempts to spray her in the eyes with the spray. M ducks out of the way and grabs G by the throat and pushes her into the bath holding her under the water, G struggles and manages to break free of M for a second until she regains her grip and then smashes her head on the sink, you see the blood spilling out into the water)

( M walks back towards the living room and picks up the book again, the shot focuses on her hand and then moves to her face where there is blood coming out of her eyes. She screams and falls to the floor. --- A hand reaches down and picks up the book. She has the same symbol that’s on the fron t of the book on her hand. Cuts to black.

----- CREDITS-------

Screen black. Title—3 weeks later

AA: It’s a lovely house, big spacious garden and plenty of room inside.

(Hand reaches towards door handle and you see it has the book symbol on it –high pitched noise) fades to black)

Companies intros on film

Due to the fact we are going to try and make our film look as professional as possible, i have looked at other production companies logos which are then animated and put onto the beginning of films.

They have their trade make logos as well as their animated openings which are iconic and easily recognised.

Hopefully we will be able to create something that looks this professional and iconic.

Story Boarding

Story barding is when you draw out the shots that are going to be in your film. They go in a sequence from start to finish and involve the direction of movement as well as camera operations.
Drawing basic story boards show whats going to happen in the simplest form for example:

These sort of mood boards usually contain stick figures or cartoons, it gives an easy representation of whats going to happen with out going into intense detail.

Some story boards are hand drawn and incredibly detailed for instance:

These are very easy to follow and you know exactly what is going to be seen in each shot.

However this detailed style of drawing is very time consuming but also gives a good finished piece of work

Some people opt for doing computerised story boards:

These story boards add colour to the scenes and give an impression what the shot will genuinely look like on screen.

This link will take you to a youtube channel the focuses on the different elements needed to make a good storyboard.

Also here is a youtube video of a man explaining the importance of different elements of story boarding.

Stand still logo.

idea for animating logo.

We have decided to expand on our logo idea, we have our basic static image and are now experimenting on how to make it more exciting.
We have started animating our logo so that the goldfish rides his tricycle we are then going to add the words "goldfish on a tricycle:" to trail after him as he rides, and then we will add a squeaky wheel noise to it as well. 

Soundtrack Idea.

For our film we want to create our own music containing covers and original music. 
We have decided to cover Panic by Pretty Reckless, Nightlife by Green day and also featuring an original song by a member of our group, Stars by black echo. 
We have decided to do this because it will add our own personal spin on our film and also will make it seem more professional over all because this way we can then produce an official soundtrack for our film. 

Basic step by step for film.

This is the first draft of a step by step guide to whats going to happen throughout our film. This is most likely going to change through development however this is our basic concept which we are going to work back into it and rework. 

Propp's theory of Narrative.

Valdimir  Propp was a russian intellectual who argued that fairy tales should be studied and compared by examining their most basic plot components. By this logic all movie plots have 8 characters in which they are distinguished, these 8 characters are; Villain, Hero, Donor. Helper, Princess, Father, Dispatcher and False Hero.

The Villain: is the main antagonist within the movie, most commonly referred to as the bad guy and the hero's enemy. Usually whom is usually evil.

The Hero: is the main protragonist of the movie, whom is usually motivated by something, such as money or love. The hero does not have to be heroic in the way most people understand.

Donor: The donor, sometimes known as a companion provides the hero with some kind of magical property.

The helper: Who aids the singer.

The princess: Reward for the hero, and object of the villains schemes. Again this is not necessarily a damsel in distress the princess can be male.

Her father: who rewards the villain, does not necessarily have to be the father of the female character, can be an institution or government. Or in the case of Harry Potter; Albus Dumbledore.

Dispatcher: The person who sends the hero on his way and sends him in the right direction.

The false Hero: A character who appears the end of the movie who claims to be the hero.

BBFC film classifcation research.

The BBFC 



The BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification. This institution regulates the age ratings of the films which are distributed in the U.K.  Their age ratings are decided on  multiple factors, such as Theme, Language, Horror, Violence, and Sex.

The film that we want to do is a horror movie which makes people think and makes them jump out of their seat. The British Board of FIlm Classification states that a 15 film should portray horror as a strong menacing threat however, this must not be sadistic or sexualised.

As for language, there may be frequent use of strong language. However the strongest of the language must be justified by the context. And repeated or aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be accepted.

Our Film

For our film we have decided that it deserves a '15' classification.  This is because of the horror theme which is very strong throughout the short film, being around the theme of a book, and has mild language in the script with no language being any stronger than the word 'fuck'. This is used in moderation and not for example every five seconds of the film.

Attempt at an opening title theme

How to make Guts

We have also been thinking about making some gut for our film so we found this video as we believe its a simple but effective way of creating the illusion of guts. If we use this idea we will also create our own tutorial fon how to make them.

How to make fake blood

Fake blood will be used throughout our short film, so we found this tutorial on how to make it which we think will be helpful for us as it shows easy and simple ways on how to make different types of blood. We decided to research how to make blood so it looked more effective and realistic in our film. This will also help us because we are going to make our own video on how to make blood so will help us with different ideas to how we can show it.

Creatively breaking the 180 degree rule

Some directors might deliberately break the 180 degree rule for a special reason such as to produce disorientation in the audience's mind. You may see this during battle sequences or a dance number. If the action takes the participants round a turn after that it can seem logical to the audience that action is moving in a another direction.

If actors are moving about during the action of a scene much attention needs to be used to maintain the apparent physical correlation of the actors to each other and to the set elements. If the scene is done as all close-ups it will be extremely confusing as to what is going on. An occasional wide, establishing shot can remove the misunderstanding.

Learn about the 180 degree rule and loads of other principles of filmmaking at the most comprehensive free online film school 4Filmmaking.com. Learning filmmaking isn't difficult and most all of the basics you ought to know are clearly explained on the Web.

Character Profile: Kirsten

Name: Kirsten.

Age: 18

English Literature student and college.

Loves literature and reading,

Is handed the book by Christopher and

Is driven insane by the vast powers of the book.

Can’t be stopped when in her fuelled rage.