Costumes and Prop List

Clothing:

• For the girl: Boots for walking, jeans, top, and jacket.
• For mother: Laidback clothing, that signifies the cold, unemotional state she is in since her daughters death.
• The invisible man: Trousers and shoes. 

Props: I will need:

• Letters from the dead sister, to signify her mental state.
• Newspaper clippings to signify that the girl doesn't want to believe her sister committed suicide and has become obssessed with the case.
• Pictures of the dead sister, to invoke smypathy in the audience and maybe represent what the girl is working so hard at.

I will need to consider how I am going to get these props and how long it will take to make them.


Making the letters and hand written could take between 1 to 2 hours.
The newpaper cuttings and the amount needs could be gathered both from a real newpaper and made up, which would cut down on time needed. A few on the computer which is about the case is going to be need for realism. so 1 to 3 hours.

Certificate

After looking at what certificate I should have if I was shooting the whole film I concluded it would have to be either a 15 or 18. There following are guidlines for a 15 rated film:

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely  to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

However, in the two minute opening I will be shooting, there isn't any violence but there is talk and hints of disturbing images and themes such as suicide and stalking, so I wouldn't lower the rating below a 15.

Age and Audience

My film is aimed at elder teens and adults. It is along the liunes of a mystery thriller and would appeal to an elder audience, or those that like solving things. Although teenagers might associate with the disbelif of the adults about the real causes of the suicide. I can demostrate this through an argue with her mother, as she tries to pursaude her mother that her sister didn't commit suicide. Then the walk through the forest, where the paranoia sets in and she experiances something like her sister will tense the audience as they feels suspence.

The Plot Synopsis:

Girl’s sister thinks someone’s following her, is put in asylum and commits suicide. Girl doesn’t think her sister insane and investigates death. While on walk, experiences same paranoia which turns out to be her dog, escaped from the garden. Goes to sisters boarding school, meets nosey report Adam Kale. They research, finds events happened before. Girl goes home, only to find another student put in asylum. Visits, she too talks about a man following her. Girl is called by Adam, says found one of the old staff. Visits; he tells her about nurse who terrorised patients, went to jail. Released and disappeared around same time as the first suicide. Then tries to find picture in local precinct record room. Student calls her, the man going to kill her.She races to the asylum.

On the whole, the film is about how words and feelings can affect the mind more than physical actions can and how one person's determination can change things.

Location Report

Settings in order of appearance:

1) Church/Grave Yard
In this setting, Mia is visiting her sisters grave. This place is usually quiet and deserted, so people won't be a problem.

2) The Girl's House, including:

• The Kitchen Dining Room
• The Hallway
• The Garden

2)      3) Walking scenery

The house will be using my house, which I can access very easily and so will the walking scenery as I live in a conservation area. I might however, have a problem getting the people I need at a time that works for everyone.

I will need to be aware of other people in the local area in the walking scenery, such as hikers. I also need to be aware of what time of day and what the weather will be like on the day of shooting, how that will affect the scene such as if it’s been raining, the ground outside could be muddy. I also need to think about what days the people I need to help me will be available.

Cast

In the two minute opening of my film only two characters will be seen:

The girl and her mother. 


The girl: Leia Evans
Her mother: Kristina Evans

Film Plot Summary

My film is about a girl who’s younger sibling supposedly went insane and then committed suicide. Her sister wrote her letters, talking about footsteps behind her and the ‘invisible man’. The girl thinks there is something being covered up and that her sister was generally worried about someone following her. After a scary walk which only turns out to be her dog following her, having snuck out, the girl wonders if this was how her friend had felt during those months before she was put in the local asylum. Deciding to investigate, she starts at her sister’s Catholic boarding school. After researching the history, she find the school has repeated incidents of insanity and that somehow it’s connected to the asylum. With the help of nosy local report Adam Kale, she begins digging into the first event. When she returns home, she hears another student has been put in the asylum and goes to visit. After conferring with the kind doctor who oversaw her sister she sees the girl, who talks about a man following her and leaving messages on the wall but they’re gone in the morning.  Adam then contacts her, saying he’s tracked down one of the old staff. The man, a former nurse, tells her about a staff member who had thought it funny to torment the patients and was later arrested. An inquiry into the man’s whereabouts finds he was released and subsequently disappeared fifteen years ago. While trying to search the cold case records she finds a picture, it’s the doctor from before. She then gets a call from the girl and rushes to save her. She finds them on the roof, the doctor about to coax her in to jumping. He tries to play it off, saying he was trying to stop her. The girl says his real name, they struggle and when he tries throwing her off the roof, Adam appears and pulls him off when the police arrive thanks to Adam. 

The point of the opening is to show what we think is there but isn’t can be scarier then seeing what is there. How the mind plays tricks.

It fits into the convention of thriller because it has suspense in that the characters don’t know what’s going on leading to suspense, the constant sense of danger implemented by the opening and thrill of a mystery unsolved.

Equipment for Filming

I will need for actual filming:

A Camera, a stand for the camera.

What I need when filming:

Costumes, letters and newspaper cuttings.

Film Classification

The BBFC is in charge of film age classification, such as 15 or an 18 rated film. These guidelines are updated every four years.

The general guideing principles for the ratings are:

• that works should be allowed to reach the widest audience that is appropriate for their theme and treatment.

•  that adults should, as far as possible, be free to choose what they see, provided that it remains within the law and is not potentially harmful.

When applying theses preinciples they must pace three qualifications:

 1. whether the material is in conflict with the law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence
2. whether the material, either on its own, or in combination with other content of a similar nature, may cause any harm at the category concerned.

3.whether the availability of the material, at the age group concerned, is clearly unacceptable to broad public opinion. It is on this ground, for example, that the BBFC intervenes in respect of bad language.

 Things taken into consideration are: Discrimination, Drugs, Horror, Intimate Behaviour, Language, Nudity, Sex, Theme, Violence.

The classifications are: U - Universal, PG - Parental Guidance, 12A and 12 - 12 years of age and over 12 yrs, 15 - 15's and over, 18 - Adults, and 18R - 18 Restricted.

Thrillers - A History

A thriller is basically something that gives people a rush; it makes them sit on the edge of their seats with bated breath. Thrillers are conventionally a mixture of intrigue, suspense and will they dare to do it. In the 1930’s to 1940’s thrillers were commonly those of a gentleman detective, where a smart comment could save you from a troublesome situation. Films like ‘The Thin Man’ had sophisticated heroes, wearing fine suits and caught up in mysteries of danger. 

Alfred Hitchcock is a good example, his 1935 movie ‘The 39 steps’. The main character is targeted by a spy-ring, fleeing to the Highlands. Full of double-crossing characters, chase sequences, and flirty dialogue between the lead male and his leading lady, the film made conventions for exotic action thrillers. This would later go on to form the block for the James Bond films. 

These kinds of thrillers happen at breakneck speed, never allowing the audience time to reflect. It uses principles like a fast moving plot but with elements of psychological depth. One such example is the Bourne Supremacy, 2004. 

Some of the best thriller filmmakers tend to be people that can make the best, most complex plots but also are masters at telling them: (e.g. Hitchcock, John Frankenheimer and Michael).

Now that isn’t to say all thrillers come from detective mysteries or action packed adventures. Thrillers also began to encompass the psychological side of things. More recent films like ‘The Butterfly Effect’ or ‘Black Swan’ don’t have any action adventure of epic proportions, they focus more on the mind and the effects it can have on people. In Butterfly Effect the leading male becomes obsessed with saving the girl, while in Black Swan, Natalie Portman’s character ends up stabbing herself repeated. 

A key aspect of Thrillers is tension. Tension comes from a menacing situation, the feeling of danger, or even just the threat of a life being taking. A good way to do this is to start the film off by giving them false shocks; a hairdryer fails and sparks while in the bathroom with character. Will the character die by electrocution? No, they survive with harm but the tension hasn’t dissipated because now you’re expecting something to happen. 

The characters of Thrillers are often normal people, not use to being subjected to danger unless it’s more of a crime thriller. The films also take place in suburban cities or town, places familiar to them which now seem darker and less innocent then before.

There isn’t a limit to how many kinds of thriller’s there are. James Patterson, 2008 listed some of these kinds, saying: There are all kinds. The legal thriller, spy thriller, action-adventure thriller, medical thriller, police thriller, romantic thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, religious thriller, high-tech thriller, military thriller.

As you can see there is no one true definition of the thriller genre. The only thing that all thrillers must fulfil is to thrill its audience, if it doesn’t thrill then it isn’t a thriller.

Thriller Posters - Case Study 3 - Taking Lives

One of the first things you notice is that this poster is not in colour but a contrast of light and dark. The female is held within the males grasp, which could show the male as the more dominate but also the way the hands are position can fool people in to thinking she is being strangled or caged. Her lips are a central feature and have the most light, lips are an indication of the sexual themes that could be in this film. 

The mans face is hidden, giving him more sinister appeal. Is he or good or bad is the thought. Is this just a lovers affair or is it darker?  Then there is also the films title being in creep writing, like someone has scratched it in their final moments.

One last thing is the actors or actresses apeal, Angelina Jolie is a well known actress and something of sex symbol. This could potentially draw in more spectators of the film.

Thriller Posters - Case Study 2 - Inception

From the name of the title to the background image we are hit with this imaganitive, mysterious poster. "Your mind is the scene of the crime' is an unusually tag line and draws readers in. What does it mean? That the knowledge is in someone's head? No, doesn't make sense. Doesn't conform with the background.

The warped sense of direction is intriguing and you just know you are going ot like this film. The upside down characters has a sort of psychological effect or meaning, as being upside down is defying the laws of gravity and we don't enjoy change or rules of comformity being broken.

The buildings are all dark but reflective, and so the faint light emerging from behind has a greater effect in contrasting with the blue-grey-black theme.

It is also important to note that all the characters are wearing smart clothes or suits, the smartest being at the front. There is also the main figure of Leonardo DiCaprio, standing slihhtly apart from the rest - to signify this male power perhaps or the theme of a lone hero against the world.

Thriller Posters - Case Study 1 - Black Swan

 

Black Swan at first glance is a very interesting piece, the most obvious feature being the  crack down the middle of her face. The crack could signify many things. A fracture person, who has been broken. Pieces of a jigsaw. The different dimensions of her person. Some dark on the inside, lieing beneath this image of perfection, awakening and beginning to spread out. It could also be a representation of beauty not meaning perfection. 

Her lips are very prominent and pinkish red coloured, which is a convention used to create a representation of sex and attraction. Also the framed eyes and intense colour (Likely through photoshop) draws you in and again invokes this sexual imagery. 

The intensity is also potrayed through her unemotional expression and staring eyes, creating also a personal connection to the audience. The dark background also emphasises the paleness of her skin, perhaps to make a likeness to porcerlain which is easily broken.

Natalie Portman, while also being the main character, is well known thorugh her popular role in the Starwars films as Senator Padme Admidala. There is also the comment 'extrodinairy introxicating masterpiece' which draws in the spectator at the promise of a good film.

Lastly but not least, the title is a very obvious central point. Black swans are rare but it also opposes the idea of goodness, a symbol which white swans portray. In the story of swan lake, there is both a white and black swan. One representing purity (Odete), the other a sinister seductoress (Odile).

Preliminary Video

This is my preliminary task and the first piece of editing I've done. It isn't perfect but I'm proud of it. We did the task by staying on the left side of both characters and filming from the waist up when we filmed the speech sequence, making it follow the 180 degree rule. Our match on match action was when we filmed me opening the door. We filmed me turning the handle and pushing open the door, before then cutting to the other side as I entered the room. We then used the shot reverse shot in the form of over-the-shoulder shots switching between characters.The editing was complicated as we couldn't use the correct program and part of the sequence wouldn't fit right and even we I said done, I wasn't entirely happy with the finished product. I think I will learn to make sure I always have a back up of a scene.