Planning: Shot list

Shot Number	Shot Type	Actor	Description
1		N/A
2	POV	N/A	A point of view shot of a tent from a low angle through a bush in the forest, setting the tone of uncertainty.
3	MS	Ben	Tent zip opening. Male character peering out.
4	CU	Ben	Close up of male putting on glasses.
5	WS	Ben, Tabitha	Male leaves sleeping bag in search of wood. Dolly movement incorporated.
6	POV	Ben	A point of view shot through the branches of the trees in the forest, focusing on Cyrus.
7	OSS	Ben	Over the shoulder shot from behind male character as he walks through the forest.
8	XCU	Ben	Shoved on the ground by an anonymous individual, and is seemingly being attacked as he struggles.
9	MS	Tabitha	Mid-shot focusing on female tying her shoes and wondering out of the tent in search of her boyfriend.
10	TS/POV	Tabitha, Ben	Two shot of the female and the dead male character, through the perspective of a pair of spectacles.
11	OSS	Tabitha, Killer	Over the shoulder shot of Erin from the Killer as she sprints to safety, before being knocked out with the brick.
12	XCU	N/A	Low angle extreme close up of the blood stained brick on the forest floor.

Planning: Storyboards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we begin filming, we intend to use these storyboards to structure our main idea in production however, we may need to change a few minute details that may not be part of what we planned. This helps us to find potential problems before they occur, and save time in the process. Furthermore it allows room for experimentation before the genuine scenes are shot. The storyboards we are using consist of dialogue, camera movement and shot, location with rough sketches of our scene.

Planning: Filming schedule

Our plan is to film on the 17th of February. Our group plan is to start filming our horror opening on the 14th of February, in the half term. We will work from midday until we are satisfied with the end footage. Throughout the day, we will make sure to have photo-graphical evidence of taking part in the filming. We will also be sure work efficiently as we need consistent lighting in our production. 

Planning: Casting

Why is Casting important?

In my opinion, Casting is one of the most important processes in Pre-Production and requires a high amount of care when doing it. Casting involves running auditions from the potential actors, to find the most suitable person for your film. It is important that you find someone who is not shy in front of a camera, someone who will not burst out with laughter when filming, and someone who can create verisimilitude within the production.

This is Darren, playing the role of anonymous murderer. he was good for the role because of his height and build, this is good for the role because you couldn't have a small person as a murderer because it just wouldn't work.

This is Tabitha, playing the role of Tabitha. The reason why i chose her is because she is doing a level media at South-fields and has strong acting skills. She is not camera shy and can improvise if needed. She can also remember lines quite well. 

This is Daniel, playing the role of Ben. Daniel is Tabitha's boyfriend in the movie and real life, so it is easier to picture them camping together. He also does media so they both have very strong acting skills. 















This is Kofi, he is one of the directors and equal to Matthew Hope's role in the production. Kofi is also playing the part of anonymous murderer. We thought he was suitable for the role of the murderer, as he is a calm and collected individual which would work well in our production. His height is also beneficial because it means he is able to help in certain scenes when Darren is not around.

Planning: Mise-en-scene

Enthusiastic, idealistic, and creative. This is Erin. She is able to do almost anything that interests her. Great people skills. Need to live life in accordance with her inner values. Excited by new ideas, but bored with details. Open-minded and flexible, with a broad range of interests and abilities. Also the girlfriend to ben.

Friendly, adaptable, action-oriented. This is Ben, his is focused on immediate results. Living in the here-and-now, he is a  risk-takers who lives a fast-paced lifestyle. Impatient with long explanations. Extremely loyal to his peers, but not usually respectful of laws and rules if they get in his way of getting things done. Also Tabitha's boyfriend. 

And finally we come to the anonymous murderer. He was bullied at school by everyone, he was isolated and started to fantasise about killing the teenagers that bullied him, he then worked at his fathers construction yard for 20 years with his father. But then his father got run over by a teenage couple who driving erratically. He then killed this couple and this started his killing spree.

  

Planning: Location

The location we considered was a wooded area close by. This location needed to be a heavy wooded area, so it would be suitable because horror films are meant to be set in a secluded location. This creates a sense of isolation for the character, so there is more of a fear factor as they feel that they are not near civilisation and cannot scream for help.

The first location we considered was the Brambleside woods. The location was a possible option that would fit the requirements needed for our and opening, because it was a well wooded area which was able to fit into our originally decided location and premise. This was also the most appealing to our group, mostly because it was the closest place to film, and easiest to access. The location was also quite large so we were more flexible in terms of which area to choose to film. This could come in useful in case we needed to re-film at all, perhaps due to lighting issues in particular. With the benefit of the size comes a possible flaw to the location, with the potential for audio problems. This is due to the road that is in vicinity of the area we want to film, and could be very busy while filming. 

The second possible location that was considered was an enclosed area that was also dense with trees. The location was able to fit the category in terms of isolation that is felt in the background location. This area in comparison to the Brambleside, is more difficult to access as the entrance is not as well maintained as the Brambleside entrance. This location is also not as close by as the previous one, meaning some further complication could be caused in the scenario that we need to re-film.

We decided on this location because it was abundant in trees that were needed for the wooded area we wanted to recreate for our original plan. It also provides the shady settings suitable for the dark ambience needed for our scene. The location is relatively nearby, and also well secluded so there would be no problems with interruptions.

Research : The Importance of Titles in Film Openings

Titles are important in films because just by the titles, the audience are able to tell what type of film it is going to be just by looking at the titles, an example of really good opening titles are the titles in Se7en.  which was directed by David Fincher who did a really good job when it came to the titles. This is because the writing is very scratchy and the titles are in black and white as well. The font changes as well to try and create confusion amongst the audience. The image on the right is an example. As you can see, 2 of the words are normal whereas the other 2 are in a different font and this can be used to try and create confusion for the audience and make them feel a bit scared.
Also there is another example and this can be seen within the flashes and this looks quite random and the audience may not be able to understand what it means.

The image to the right looks really confusing and unusual as well because the audience may only understand the 7 dashes but the rest of the image looks very confusing and people will be wondering what the words and symbols are about. Also the writing is very sketchy as well.









In Se7en as well, Kevin Spacey wasn't mentioned in the opening credits of the film because of the "John Doe" effect and after the film was finished, people would realize that at the start, the cutting of the fingers was to eliminate the fingerprints so they cannot be traced to him.  So instead they included his name twice in the final credits.

But Se7en was one of the first films to start using these titles but time has gone on,  a lot of films are starting to use the techniques that were used in Se7en meaning that the effect on the audience can no longer be there because it is getting over used now so the audience are not intimidated by the titles anymore. Also since the improvement of technology, the titles are much easier to replicate meaning that the hard work the producers of Se7en did doesn't really mean a lot now because titles are much easier now.

The good thing about the titles is that there were no computer effects being used which made the titles even better. The titles were made by the production designer John Sable and filled in dozens of notebooks and pages with a lot of writing and images to make the titles been more intimidating.

Research: The importance of sound in films

When looking into sound for horror films, we first looked at Bernard Herman. Herman was responsible for the orchestral score of the "shower" scene in Psycho. The reason it was so memorable wasn't just to do with clever use of the intense screech of violins, but it was cleverly built up to through the use of increasing volume and quickening pace of the violins. These aided and complemented the use of editing within the film that added to the atmosphere. We first watched this scene without sound to begin with, and found that it created a shrouded ambience. This was most likely due to the lack of non-diegetic sound in the scene. However when the scene had non-diegetic sound playing over it, a added factor of mystery was added early, and the enhanced the emotions felt.

     













Mitchell and Webb radio clip was played so that we could listen to the difference non-diegetic sound made to everyday life. It was a rough experiment piece that helped show how background music can enhance emotions felt in common routines carried out in an normal day. An example of this is when the woman in the clip is asked to accompany the man somewhere. Without conveying to the audience the emotion felt in the scene, the non-diegetic sound heightens the felt emotions of love in the scene.
                                                                
We then looked at Pulp Fiction's at a scene called 'Mia's House'. The clip begins with a sound bridge of a car door closing from the previous scene. This transitions the sound of the car door closing to end the previous scene, straight to Mia's house which helps to stress the connection between both scenes. The sound of sequoias is incorporated to add to the perception of night time. Though small, it further sells the idea of the scene being set late in the evening as it can be identified with. The final instance in which sound is significant, is when the song 'Son of a preacher man' starts playing in Mia's apartment. The song starts playing subtly in the background as the male character enters, and adds to the mood of flirtation that begins. The scene is then made more memorable when the song turned out to be diegetic sound towards the end of the clip and tricks the audience.   



 We looked at the term of a Foley in the terms of film making to begin with, We found out that foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from audio made by animals, to the sound of footsteps on different terrain. The foley artists usually go unnoticed by the audience. Foley helps to create a sense of reality with a scene by emphasising smaller sounds not heard without foley otherwise.