Filming shots from 24/02/2013

Risk Assessment

Location Photos and Description - Bedroom

Location Photos and Description:

Bedroom

In the beginning of the two minutes and also at the end we have shots of Violet in her bedroom. Initially we want to begin the 2 minutes with an establishing shot of Violet in her bedroom. We want to do this beause we want the audience to get a beginning theme of Violet's personality because we want to create ideas in their heads of her personality. We want these thoughts of Violet to manifest at the back of the audiences mind while they watch the rest of the shot of her on her bed.
We feel though that having a bedroom that is quite obviously meant to show Violet as a dark character but then add in confusing actions, like her crying when hearing the voicemails from us and seeing shots of all of us running would make the atmosphere quite bewildering. To have the thoughts of the audience confused at the beginning of the film, we feel would be either a clever aspect or a bad decision. On one hand it could set up the theme for the entire film and help add into the sterotypical 'confusion' atmosphere of psychological horr films and therefore the audience would enjoy having to connect the dots of the script and create their own ideas and thus creating a fun yet tense ora to the film. Or it could go the other way in which the audience may be confused at the beginning and may even give up on the rest of the film because of how confused they are at the beginning but we want to take that risk because if it goes the right way, the way we intend it to, it will be extremely effective.

Examples from other films:
This was quite a hard thing to search for because you usually in horror films don't get a set environment all of the time. And especially not bedrooms. But more than usual you never get to see where the killer lives or at least not their bedroom. To not get these types of examples we might struggle to find the ideas and the base that we would like to to efficiently get Violet's character across.
On the other hand, we need to consider the fact that a lot of the idea of Violet's character and the theme of the film is that you expect her to be quite the normal teenage girl, apart from her 'odd' appearance. So we need to consider elements of a typical teenage bedroom, but then add other aspects in that would make the bedroom link to Violet's character more.

Scream 4:
This is a less obvious but good example of the type of horror we are planning to do. We were trying to consider all aspects of a teenage bedroom. In the film Scream 4 which involves mainly teenagers like our film and also is a film in which you are attempting to figure out the killer throughout, so we believed that we could all look at aspects of the setting in this film. 
A scene in the film involves a murder taking place in a bedroom and there are plenty of establishing shots that show the bedroom practically in its entirety. Although, this bedroom is very different in comparison to what we want Violet's to be like. Also the fact that the bedroom in the killing scene was made up of a lot of lighter colours such as pastels and feminine delicate patterns made the blood, violence and the killer himself contrast the norms of that environment a lot more. Thus adding a less obvious uncomfortable atmosphere in the scene in lieu of a destination such as outside where it can almost be covered.

This is the scene from Scream 4. The film has similar elements that we are considering as previously discussed. Plus we need to make sure that we include elements in our film that will get our rating up to a 15. This is for two reasons. One is plainly because this is the rating that we predicted our film to be at so we need to ensure that we reach the credentials for that rating. Secondly because to make a film that is successfully acceptable for the sub-genre of psychological horror we need to make sure that these elements such as the gore and the blood shed that is considered in this shot is included. 
As is shown, the difference in this environment to the one we are planning on having is that the colours and light to represent the character's more innocent personality. But we are considering having the bedroom quite dark to represent the traits of our antagonist. So we are going to consider adding the elements for example the bedside table and maybe a lamp that you would see in a typical teenage girl's room. But again we also need to consider making her have that something that makes her different. This is where the almost overuse of black is going to come in.

Another room we considered is a bedroom from a film that we have already used components from for hair and makeup which is 'The Craft'. 
The girl featured is the character that we have considered that Violet is a lot like also has a room we would like to look into. 
In this shot, 'Nancy' is burning incense and actually casting a spell onto a dagger. The dagger that is used in this shot is also like the dagger we looked into for Violet to kill with. Also, the fact that she has the old time looking candle mostly in show it conveys the cult type ways we would like to show in Violet. Nancy also has an array of candles on her desk that don't match and also has a large amount of pictures and what seem almost like tarot cards. These components are aspects that lead connotations of witchcraft and darker magic. This is the characteristic and the kind of aura that we want to show from Violet and her bedroom. A bedroom seems to be a very personal space and somewhere in which a person can express them self and we believe that showing this in Violet's room would prove this.

Shooting script

Title sequence storyboard

Tricky shots/edits/effects

Pull in focus shot: We are going to be doing this effect when a shot is shown of Charlotte leant against a tree out of breath, and the focus is on her, we see a faint black figure in the background, after a few seconds on Charlotte, it then goes onto Violet. We decided to add this effect in our film because it signifies which character should be focused on, and also builds up the tension in the scene. We feel that it will be a very tricky shot do to, as we need to get the characters in the right position at the right time. Also when we are pulling in the focus we need to make sure that we are not shaking around as we need the shot to be still.

Rewind shot: We are going to be doing a rewind shot. But we have decided to do it differently to make it seem more frantic to the audience, also it is a little different and is not used in many movies. As we originally planned for Charlotte to be dragged away by Violet, but we decided that it would really hurt, so we are going to film Charlotte falling over Amy's body and then crawling towards the camera, and then film Charlotte crawling again and make it in rewind so it looks like Charlotte is being dragged away. Even though this is a very tricky shot to do, it will add to the elements in our film which make it a conventional psychological horror, also it will look really skillful when it comes to watching it all back in the film.

Tracking shot: We are going to be doing a tracking shot a few times, once when the camera is following Charlotte and Amy in the woods, and then following Charlotte on her own. We think that this is going to be a tricky shot because of the speed that the girls are going to be running, the camera needs to keep within the pace of them without looking as jumpy. On the first shot, Charlotte and Amy are running away from something looking backwards, the camera needs to be following them from the side, and on the second shot of just Charlotte on her own, she is running away from something and needs the camera following her from behind as if its the camera's perspective that is chasing her. She also falls onto the floor after tripping over something, so after the camera has followed her, it needs to leap over her as she screams. Also we are using a tracking shot to follow Violet through the woods as if someone is following her, this is to make the audience confused because Violet is shown being the killer, or the one listening to the voicemails from her friends, where as we see her running away from something it tricks us into thinking is she not the killer.

POV shot: We decided to do this shot from Violet's point of view when she is trying to attack Charlotte with a knife. This is going to be a tricky shot because we need to get it exactly where Violet's eyeline would be looking out of her own eyes. Also we need to make sure that we get it right because it could represent different things, such as Violet is trying to defend herself, or in another way it could represent Violet trying to attack Charlotte so that is why we need to make sure that we get it right.

High Angle: We are going to be using this angle in many shots such as Charlotte jumping on Violet, and when Charlotte falls over Amy's body. Using a high angle represents a lack of power, who ever is in the  high angle shows that they have the loss of power. To make sure that we achieve the high angle, we need to make sure that our tripod is high enough, if we don't have a high enough tripod then the angle wont be achieved.

Independent distributor Brain Damage films

Brain damage films is an American-based worldwide independent film distribution company. They distribute films with horror and shock. Since being found in 2001, they have come to be one of the largest independent horror film distributors. I don't think that our film would come into this category as most of the films that they distribute involves a lot of blood and gore, our film is mainly about a girl that has a mental health problem, but it does still involve blood and gore, so this is why I chose to do this film as an independent distributor because it is in the similar category.

 One of the films that Brain Damage films have distributed is a horror film named 'Silent Bloodnight'. This film is about a group of teenagers that get involved with a killer who eventually nearly kills them all. A television reporter witnesses one of the murders, and she becomes the next target. The film is rated an 18, mainly because of the sex, nudity, blood, and gore. Our film has some of the elements this does with the blood and gore, but it is rated a 15 because our film doesn't involve sex and nudity, if it did, then it would be rated an 18 and be definitely linked to this film as I feel that it has an eye catching story line, and a spine chilling title.

Another film that Brain Damage films distributed is the psychological horror 'A Bothered Conscience'. Straight away from the title of the film you know that it is a psychological film. This film is about a young boy who is taught the traditions of the Ozark mountain men by his father. 20 years later, his father is murdered and it is up to Lucas to live his life up to his fathers expectations. He is haunted by visions of a violent past, and ghostly figures lurk in the shadows of the unforgiving forest. This film is similar to ours in a way because of the location, and also because of the screams and taunting in the forest. As they have totally different story lines, I feel that they do have some similar elements involved.

Location Photos and Description - Woodland

Location Details

For our 2 minute film, the majority of it shot in a wooded area quite late in the day and a couple of shots are shot in a bedroom environment.
Because our group all lives quite far apart we need to consider that we need a location that is easily reachable for all 4 of us that we are able to reach easily and it not be much hassle. We also need to consider that we are going to want to film these shots when it is getting dark so there are safety issues we need to consider and also the fact that if the area that we are filming in, especially the wooded area, is going to be quite far away from certain members homes and we are filming quite far away then we need to make sure that each person can get home safely and at a reasonable and safe time. So considering all these factors we are looking into locations across our local area to see what will sufficiently due for the film.

Options for the woods:
We are taking some inspiration from certain films such as The Blair Witch Project, Wrong Turn, Evil Dead and Last House on the Left.

These 2 shots are scenes from The Blair Witch project. The film is extremely notorious for its location and  the way that it is set out in its wooded environment is exactly the way that we are wanting to set ours/. The first shot shows a heavily wooded area that looks very secluded and secretive which is definitely an element of what we are considering to do in our production as we want our location to seem as though there is no way out which this environment does.

This second shot also shows the main character of the film, but she is in an area that does infact seem to be surrounded by leaves. We definitely want the leaves on the floor in our film as we want the diagetic and non diagetic noises of leaves and twigs crunching so that the audience is constantly reminded of the setting and environment and also so that the film relates in some way to real life. Also in the 'chase and fall' scene I believe that the leaves will come in as very effective because they can be used to be thrown on the characters so make it seem more messy and more of a struggle.

This shot is from the location of one of the Wrong Turn horror franchise which is mainly set in wooded areas. This shot is actually one of the shots that we are considering using for one of our shots, as we feel it is a creative shot and it will be useful to us to capture the characters face using a close up but also that paired with the fact that the environment is also shown in the background. This would re-enforce the characters situation and would make and audience empathise with them more.

These pictures are also very useful for us to use because for example the top shot is very good to be used as a two shot as we get a difference in levels which is good to show how powerful the characters are and you can see how they are coping with the situations that they are entailed in. Also the fact that there is quite flat ground is good and something that we want to consider whilst filming because then we will be able to easily run. A lot of our shots involve running and we are trying to consider that we need it to look effective like the characters are actually struggling to run but also we want all of the cast and crew to be safe whilst filming so we need to try and pick a relatively flat surface so it is safe.





The image that is to the right is from a 1984 film called Evil Dead. The movie is actually set out to be quite abstract and even the location, as well as the story line, messes with your head. The log cabin looks very confined as if there is no way out and that is a theme that we would like to register when considering our location. We would like to use the element of entrapment as we feel that this would create the mood, theme and atmosphere that we are looking for especially in a psychological horror as I feel that it is going to make the audience feel that they have to fit into this story line that they wont have anywhere else to go, much like the characters.

Mainstream Distributor

Although we think our film is aimed at an independent audience we believe a mainstream one could be interested if they do similar films. A company like 20th Century Fox. They're a worldwide company and have distributed many films recently including Chronicle and This Means War. Although these films are not the same genre as our film 20th Century fox do horror films such as Mirrors.

Mirrors
Mirrors is about a man who, after getting his life back on track, finds a job as working as a care taker to an old museum. The museum has a recurring mirror theme and after a few days he starts to see things in them, strange things. As he confides in his ex-wife about these sightings she believes it is a side effect of his medication stopping. They soon learn this isn't the case after he goes home to see his sister, dead. The story continues and shows how his family is threatened and how his children try to kill themselves due to the horror's in their reflections. This film was rated an 18 by the BBFC as it contains strong bloody violence and horror so I suspect that this mainstream distributor isn't afraid to distribute this kind of horror film therefor I don't see our film being a problem.

Props

The first prop we will be using is a mobile phone. This prop is key because it connects all our characters together. At the beginning Violet is listening to voicemails on her phone and this will give the audience a chance to understand what has been going on previously in the film.








The next prop we will be using is a small knife. The knife wont be used in a violent or aggressive way but will be seen on camera to indicate it has been used. This weapon will not be glamourized. It is basically used to just symbolise how crazy Violet is. She purposely took the knife to the woods and she knew what she was going to do with it.







For blood we decided we were just going to use ketchup. This sounds pathetic but we decided that because we were using a lot of it buying fake blood would be too costly. Ketchup is red obviously and when used in a large quantities will look effective.









We will be filming in woods so hopefully it will be quite muddy. The mud will add a dirty and scary effect that will look terrifying when Violet is in full crazy mode.

Location shots

For the woods shots we decided to film in Notton Woods near Royston, Barnsley. We decided that we were going to film here because as specified in the location ideas we needed a location in the woodland shot that would be ideal to get to and from and would also make sure that all members of the cast and crew would be able to get back home safely. Also we believe that as a factor that needed to be considered was the time of day that most filming would take place at, this location is ideal for us all to be able to get home at a reasonable time.  Before entering the woods there is a path that could be useful to film on. We need a path to establish the location because this is the main location for most of the film and we need for the audience to know the type of location that we are in. Because the location involves a lot of falling and running we also needed to give the audience the feel that there might be an escape for the characters, hence the path, but the audience are always left considering that the characters might not get out.
This is the path that we feel would be ideal for the shots.

This would be a very good shot to use as we believe that as we are trying to achieve the establishing shot this does it very well. We have the path that is not quite defined which would indicate that not many people come down this way to show something isn't right but had enough tread in it to more or less lead the audience into a false sense of security in that all of the characters are fine.

The tree's also represent the environment and could signify that the characters are quite trapped and enclosed as the trees seem rather overbearing like they are blocking whats in front.

We believe that that this would be a very good spot to use because again the path also splits so it gives multiple options and the clarity of direction becomes quite fragmented and leads up to the emotions of the characters which is quite torn and lost. Also the fact that there are many leaves on the ground that are quite yellowing would be good to use in the sound effect especially when the characters are running it would make a good and obvious sound. We believe also that the use of the loose leaves would be good for when a character falls because the fabric of the clothing would pick them up and look more frantic.



Whist in the woods there is an area that would be really great to film on. It is basically a big ditch in the Earth and if there is a chance someone could slip or fall during filming it wouldn't look bad or wrong. Hopefully it will be quite muddy as it was when we took these location shots because that will add a scary unhinged effect. Also the leafs on the ground will make great noises when there are fights and scuffles. It is quite a concealed area so there isn't much of a chance of anyone walking past whilst filming.

Whist in the woods there is an area that would be really great to film on. There is a dip in the land at this point and when we do the shots of someone slipping or falling during filming it would look more authentistic because you could actually understand why the characters trip. We have also talked about from previous horror films that this has tended to be the case. As we are using quite a well used notion of a chase that ends up with the person being chased falling we believe that we need to make it look realistic. In previous horror films when you see this is seems that they are falling over barely nothing and you don't believe in the story as much because their fate doesn't in fact seem very plausible. So we are happy that we found a place in which we could effectively do the shots we need to.

Hopefully it will be quite muddy as it was when we took these location shots because that will add a scary unhinged effect. It will make the characters completely opposite to what their personality is supposed it be like and this would evidence the stress of the situation and show that they are all desperate. Also the leafs on the ground will make efficient noises during the fast shot scenes of the fighting and scuffling between characters. Because the fighting scenes are going to become quite fast edited and fast paced we also want the sound to gradually build up so we feel that making sure we have authentic noises to match the location that seem plausible we feel we have found the right location for our shots. It is quite a concealed area so there isn't much of a chance of anyone walking past whilst filming which would definitely ruin the shots and would take a lot more time that what we are planning to use whilst filming.



We are also intending to have a shot in which Charlotte has her back against a tree as if to either be hiding, resting or both.

We found this tree in the location that we think would be very effective. The fact that there is enough room for Charlotte to hide behind would also be effective as it will fulfil its purpose to give the character and the audience a sense that she could escape. But also it is quite high so when we are intending to have Violet stood quite far away from the tree and watching her it will look quite terrifying and we won’t be sure whether Charlotte is going to get away or not.

This is another shot again of an ideal place that we found that would be effective for the shots. The place is also surrounded by trees which gives the atmosphere of being trapped like we would like to give out and play on our characters and the audiences emotions. Also because a lot of the shots and the areas seem quite similar then I believe that it will also evidence this atmosphere effectively.

We liked this location because we believed that this looks quite a lot like the shot of one of the paths at the beginning. To have too places that seem similar but in fact aren't really does help fit in with our genre. Our genre succefully confuses the audience and in fact the character and makes them feel quite unstable in their own mind set. To have a location that seems similar almost gives both character and audience the feeling that they might have been here before to find as escape as it is quite simliar to the path to get in/out of the woods so to have a shot to is simlilar would truly mess with everyones feeling of safety and sense of security.

As we went further into the woods we found another area with a small stream that would also be an interesting place to film. We thought this because the water could add a scary effect because the noises of splashing water will seem soothing but not when juxtaposed with the screams of dying characters. So this would fit in with the genre as it would seem that a sound that is stereotypically soothing and quite relaxing would be the unhinged effect that what is supposed to seem calm and relaxed is infact the exact opposite.

We also found this location in the woods and thought that for a couple of shots it would be ideal. We wanted to use this area because we felt that the wide open space would give us plenty of room for different types of shots. We also believe that when we do the fighting scenes and the tussling shots this would be quite a safe place because the ground is relatively flat which would be beneficial to make sure that the ground wouldn't be dangerous and could legitimately cause a cast member to fall, especially since the knife prop could be dangerous is mishandled too. But as well as the space to do the shots the background will always be the trees which will be, again, a great reminder and representation of the genre, atmosphere and stiuation.

During the film there is many shots where we have Violet sat in her bedroom. The bedroom needs to be another obvious representation of Violet's situation and her personality and so we needed to find a place and which this would be easily represented and almost obvious.
We got together and talked about different bedrooms in all of our houses and decided that it is obviously out of the question for us to actually re paint or redecorate one of our bedrooms because there wont be that many shots of the bedroom in its entirety so we needed to find a sufficient option. After the discussion we decided that we were going to use one of our parents bedroom as we felt that this room had the qualities that we wanted to include in Violet's bedroom. We decided to use this room due to its gothic qualities. There is a black carpet and a black leather bed coupled with black bedding. This room matches Violet's personality and her appearance as the clothing  and there is a lot of space to film and get the shots we need.

Horror Film Certificates 15 18

15
Paranormal Activity- 'Contains strong language and threat'
Paranormal Activity is about a family that is haunted by a ghost that hurts and scares them in unnatural ways. A young couple named Katie and Mika start experiencing strange happenings in their house. Katie wants to leave it alone but Mika is convinced to find out what it is. We later find out that these happenings are part of Katie's past and since professionals wont help them its down to Katie and Mika to get rid.
Full information can be found here.



Cabin in the woods- 'Contains strong gore, bloody violence, language and soft drug use'
This film seems, at first, to be your typical horror film but the twist changes this film in a way that no one could have suspected. There are 5 typical characters that are chosen to go stay in a cabin, in the woods. The characters are killed one by one in awful graphic ways and their deaths are controlled by a group of people that have to, every year, sacrifice blood to the devil for something bad they have done in the past. This film takes the horror stereotypes to a whole new level.
Full Cabin in the woods information can be found here.

Orphan- 'Contains strong sex, language and bloody violence'
Orphan is about a young girl who has a terrible past. The film seems slightly scary and thrilling until the unexpected twist at the end of the film. The main character, Esther, is adopted by a loving family who have just lost a child. Esther seems sweet and innocent but actually has a dark and scary past that puts the family in great danger. There is a lot of blood in this film and quite a few sexual scenes.
Full orphan information can be found here.




Sinister- 'Contains strong violence and horror'
Sinister is about a family who move house to find they have walked into a demon curse. The curse involves children going missing and family members dying due to an unknown drug. The father of the family is a crime writer and it is his job to uncover the curse before it is too late but he isn't fast enough and the film ends on a tragic cliff hanger which leaves the audience baffled.
Full information can be found here.


Creepshow- 'Contains strong language and bloody horror'
The creepshow is based on some tragic comic books by George A. Romero. There are five short films on this one set that basically have similar stories. They all consist of people dying, people killing or people being avenged. This film was made in 1982 and although at the time, would have been terrifying, isn't very scary at all. If his film was released now it probably wouldn't be as popular. as it almost seems comical.
Full creepshow information can be found here.


18
Nightmare on Elm Street- 'Contains strong sadistic horror and bloody violence' (1985)

Nightmare on elm street is about a child killer that goes back to his childhood street and tries to kill each and every child by evading their dreams. The trick to not dying is by staying awake but the teens find they can only do that for so long.
Full film information can be found here.


Texas Chainsaw 3D- 'Contains strong bloody violence and gory images'

This film is a re-make of the classic 1974 edition.This film is basically about a woman who travels to Texas to collect an inheritance. She takes her friends along to join the party. The house she inherits belongs to the grandmother she never knew and the story consists of the hidden horrors beneath the basement. Its frightening and costs her her life- aswell as her friends.
Full information can be found here.


Saw- 'Contains strong bloody violence'
Saw is a film about a crazy serial killer who nicknames himself 'Jigsaw'. Two men find themselves in a dirty, disused bathroom and their ankles are chained to a pipe. They are placed opposite of each other in this room and a dead man's body placed between them. The dead man is loosely holding a tape player and a hand held gun. Both of the men have a tape in their back pockets and they play the tapes. One tape tells a man that if he doesn't kill the other male then his wife and daughter will die
Full Saw information can be found here.

The Human Centipede- 'Contains strong bloody violence, threat and horror'
This film is about a doctor that turns to the dark side. He specialises in separating conjoined twins but has a mental breakdown and decides that he would like to put poeple together. His first victims are two best friends who's car break down so they arrive at his house for safety. He medically conjoins them, including a chinese man, and makes their lives a living hell. They're conjoined  in the most graphic way and it is truly awful.
Full film infomation can be found here.

The last house on the left- 'Contains strong bloody violence and strong sexual violence'

This film is about the tragic story of one girl who sustains terrible injurys due to a crew of men who have just got away from the police by killing the two officers who arrested them. The girl, who was with her best friend, survives the attack. Her best friend sadly doesn't. She escapes by swimming away and the men believe she is dead because they shoot her in the back. As she arrives back to the home where her family are staying she realises that the men who attacked her are there, in her family home, speaking to her parents. She survives.
Full infomation can be found here.