Questions before filming

8 Key Questions to answer before you start filming your coursework


1. The action that happens in our film opening is a girl is walking home late at night and starts to feel dizzy, while this is happening a diagetic sound of something wispering her name will be going on. She gets to the house and looks for her pills, Antipsychotic - which is the medication for people with schizophernia. She will enter the house and using an over the shoulder shot we will have an over the shoulder shot of the imaginary friend watching her. The girl is then sick and has flashes of her killing something with flashing images of the imaginary friend making her do it. This then leads to her going crazy in her kicthen, leading to the cliff hanger of her possibly killing her mother.

2. The theme of our film opening is horror, so we aim to scare our audience while raising awearness about schizophrenia and the symptoms behind it. In a way there is also a sence of obsession in our opening, as the imaginary girl is obsessed with the girl she's controll, as she doesnt leave her alone and also the girl is obsessed with not seeing her imaginary friend. Victemisation is also a key theme in our opening, as the girl is being victemised and pushed into doing the things that the imaginary friend wants her to do.

3. The way that our opening is stuctured is that its set in present time but we use flash forwards to her seeing herself killing something. There will be no dialogue here but there will be both diegetic and non-diegetic. The diegetic sound we'll use will be of her panting and stabbing something, while over lapping with the tension thrilling non-diegetic sound of music.

4. There are two characters in our film opening, the main character doesn't have a name but is played by Abbi Stilgoe. The girl suffers from schizophernia. The reason i wanted to use Abbi is because she (in the nicest way) doesn't stand out in the crowd as being ill, like her character therefore i wanted to show that anyone can suffer with schizophernia. 

The other character is Abbi's characters imaginary friend, played by Chloe Smith. Chloe's appearance on the other hand is very harsh and scary in our film. She's playing a girl of the same age as Abbi of around 17 years, but is dressed in a blood and mud stained while top which is ripped all over along with ripped legins. Chloe's make up is going to be pale and bruised, kind of like Samara off "The Ring" her hair is also going to cover her face as i think this will add tension onto Chloe's character.

5. The choice of location is my house. This is because it's easily accessable from school. But also because we dont want the location to tell the horror/thriller plot of our film opening, as we want the action to tell the story. Therefore we want the audience to relate to the character, doing this by them having the same kind of living life style as our main character. 

Planning Questions On Film

8 Planning Questions for your film

1. Is it practical?
Yes. Our practical idea will easily be done as we are not adding any highly technical effects. Also we are doing the costume and makeup for our actors our self, so we wont have to spend loads of money on making our characters look realistic. Our location is also very practical as its where everyone can easily get to, both actors and us filming. This will also lower any costs and hassle of everyone getting to the location on time. Also having the actors as close friends who live close to the location will make it easier, also saving valuable time.

2. Is it an idea that works to the strengths of the group?
Something which I found has straightened the group is that we all gave our own ideas about the film, which made us all understand what the other one was thinking, this then led to us feeling comfortable with each other about how we felt and we knew that the others wouldn't laugh about that idea. Also relying on each other to show up and be ready to give ideas and put them to action makes the group stronger, as it shows that we're all willing to work. The individual qualities which we all bring make our group stronger, Rob does this by being motivational every lesson - coming in wanting to get something done in every lesson and not to waste time. Becky strength i think is making our story simpler, she did this by when we were planning our opening Rob and I wanted to do really adventurous things, but Becky dragged us back down telling us to think about what is easily accessible. I think the strengths that i bring into the group is that I'm very artistic, as i drew pictures of the costumes and took photos of the locations, this makes the group stronger as it creates a picture for the rest of the group and anyone who wants to see what we're aiming to do.

3. Will it show off the skills you have learnt so far on the course?
I think this practical exercise will show of the the skills i have learnt so far on the course, because we're using a variety of different camera shots while filming and using effective editing skills when editing. Therefore, it will show how much i have learnt but also expanding new ideas and adapting them to make a effective film opening. As we do want to show what we had learnt we are putting in match on action, 180 degree rule and a whole range of shots.

4. Is it something you can reasonably shoot and edit in the time available?
Yes. We have already started planning the maxi um time we can spend on filming while leaving enough time for editing. Also as the location is only a 5 minute walk from school, it wont waste time on getting there, giving us more time to film. The opening however, as we want her to be walking home in the dark we will have to do in the evening, this could be difficult if not everyone can get there due to the lack of transport.

5. Can you get access/ permission to shoot in the chosen location at the chosen times?
Yes, as it's going to be filmed in my house, and with permission from my parents (who are fine about us filming in the house as long as we don't make too much mess). This is very useful as we don't have to schedule a time to film as my house is always open, it will just be a case of when everyone is free at the same time. As the location, as i said, is close by the access of the location will be very easy, again not letting us waste time on getting there.

6. Can you organise lighting to use in that location?
This is the only thing that we might not be able to use effectively, as we only have the basic lighting in my house, however, as most of it is filmed in the kitchen, where there are many different lights scattered around the room, which will either make the room brighter or more dull, depending on what lighting we're wanting to achieve.

7. Have you included dialogue? If so, will it work to shoot conversation in that location?
As we are doing a horror opening, and we want it to look as professional as possible, we thought that we should use the least amount of dialogue as possible, the only when her mother enters the kicthen and says "whats wrong darling?" This only dialogue in the opening will work in the location as we aim to make our location look as scary as possible with low lighting adding tension, so this line (which ends our film) will add more tension, ending the opening on a cliff hanger.

8. Do you have guaranteed high quality reliable actors to play the characters?
As both Becky and I do drama and know all of the actors in the drama classes and are close friend with the actors we have chosen, we know the qualities of these people, therefore we know that they're reliable and also are very good at acting. As they live close by there should be no problem with transport to the location and from the location.

Audience Feed Back

Audeince Feed Back

Story Board

Location

This i think would be a good point of view shot to do for the "normal" girl, and we could have her imaginary friend at the bottom of the garden to build up tension for the audience, as she's getting closer and closer.

Location

This is just a photo of my window, i don't think it would be an effective camera angle to use, as it doesn't show much, even though we can easily see in, it just doesn't give enough tension away. 

Location

This is taken from the outside looking in. Which will be used when doing an over the shoulder shot of the imaginary friend when she's watching the "normal girl". It will all be in the dark, so we wont need to worry about the reflection on the window.

(Can see my doggie too :) )

Location

In front of the sink is where the "normal" girl will be standing, looking out of the window. So this is once possible camera we could use, showing that there is no one looking into the window.

Location

This is the view that the imaginary friend will see once she enters the house, from the back door. We're not sure whether we're going to have a shot of what the imaginary friend can see, as it will be confusing for our audience and its about what the "normal" girl sees and not what her imaginary friend sees.

Location

In a short scene the main focus is all on the knives. We thought that it would be effective to have, at once point, the point of view of the knives, so we have the girl's hand coming closer to the knife and pulling it out, exaggerating the sound that comes out of pulling the knives out. 

Location

Once the imaginary friend enters the house, she'll be standing in the back door's doorway, too add tension we're having just her feet showing then a point of view of our main character seeing her, with every blink coming closer. 

Location

Towards the end of our opening, we're having the girls mum entering the room from either the door she entered from or the other door, we then end the opening with her mum asking "What's wrong?" This shot will be taken so it starts with the knife, which is by the girl's side is in focus and as her mother enters her mum comes into focus. Ending on a cliff hanger so the rest of the film can continue. 

Location

This will be the first shot of the kitchen that the audience will see, using a point of view of our main character. It also will show the imaginary girl looking through the window, showing that its all in head. 

Location

This shot we will use when we see the girls hand come out from the doorway of the toilet. In this particular scene we aim to make our audience jump and to build up tension, as she'll be slowly dragging herself out of the bath room. 

Audience Profiling

Media a a A

Location

Down stairs toilet. Which is only showed for a shot time. Using point of view shot and high angled camera, showing her being sick. 

Location

Leading to the down stairs toilet, which is only showed once in our film opening. Point of view used again on this shot. 

Location

Hall way, leading to the kitchen. 

This part of the house is used a lot, as its the first part of the house the audience will see as she looks around, still keeping to the disorientated look. 

We later also use this when she walks, after being into the down stairs toilet, into the kitchen to wash her face. Using again, point of view shot. 

Location

(Picture wouldn't turn round)

There's a short bit when the girl is at the porch, trying to find her pills when she realises that she's ran out, disorientated point of view used to show the audience that she needs to pills as she's getting dizzy and hearing things. 

Location

As the girl is walking to the house, she turns as she thinks there's someone behind her, which in reality its all in her head. 

Location

Here is what our next shot will be, with a disorientated shot as she walks up to the house. While she's walking up we're going to have scary noises, which are going to be noises from her head, to fit in with her schizophrenia. We haven't yet decided what these noises will be, as we don't want a lot of dialogue in our opening. 

Location

For our location of our film opening, we decided to do all the filming at my house. We're going to do the filming inside the house using the Hall, down stairs toilet, stair, utility and kitchen. While also using the outside, which consist of my drive, porch and back garden. 

Here is a photo of my drive, which is where our first scene will take place, as the girl walks up towards the house. 

Costume Ideas

For the character of the girl's imaginary friend, due to her schizophrenia, the first idea myself and the others got was to have her dressed in white, maybe a night gown or a stereotypical mental home gown, to show that she's not right in the head, like the person who's thought of her. We also thought to make her look more scary to have her clothes worn out and dirty, this could represent the damage that the drugs in which the girl has taken to get her out of her head, causing damage to the imaginary friend's state.

Her hair we thought should be long and black, maybe covering her face, so her identity is never revealed, also if it was greasy, that would add to the appearance of her being dirty. 

Her skin tone we thought should be of a an off colour or really pale, to represent death, because she makes the girl bring death on other people.

Where we got these ideas of making her look like this are from things like the grim-reaper, as his real identity is never shown, and is always in black, like her hair with her face covered, like his is. Also from the dead girl in the ring, because she wears a gown which is worn out, also because our character is a girl of around the age of 16, we wanted her to be wearing something that shows her child like state, so if we were to use a night gown, it would show that she is still a child, just a scary messed up one. 

First Rough Plan

In our group we discussed what genre we would like our film to be about. Both Becky and I liked the idea of doing a Horror genre, as we felt we could do a lot of different camera shots and be creative with our plot and settings. However, Rob liked he idea of doing an action, kind of like the opening of James Bond, with the chase scene. 

The ideas that Rob gave for his action film was to have it starting in a dark room, with just a man and his laptop, then for a strange figure to come in and steal his lap top, which would lead to the chase scene. He thought this was a good idea as we could experiment with different camera angles. He also wanted it to end on a cliff hanger, which would lead to the middle and ending of our film opening, he said that we could do this by having a timer for a bomb which when it reached 0.00 it would end. 

Becky and I liked Rob's ideas, but we found that where he wanted to set it wasn't adventurous enough, as he thought about basing it in the school. Also, we both thought that it was a pretty basic idea, and our idea of having a forest setting for the film opening, we could adapt more things into it.

After talking through all the ideas and making everyone happy about what we were doing, by scrapping the idea of having a chase scene, stalker man in the forest, forest itself involved and any bombs going off, we came to the conclusion of doing our film based in a house with a twist.

Here is our plan:

We would start the film with a long distance shot of a "normal" girl walking home to her house. We would add more shots in of her walking, to make it more snappy and attractive if needed to make her walking longer, the other shots we could include are extreme close up of her feet/eyes/back of her head. When she puts her key in the door to open it, we'll have match on action with her opening the door and entering the house. So far, all would seem normal as she walks up the stairs to her room we would make her act as though she's dizzy and in pain, using a disoriented camera function, to link the action to her feelings. Once she gets into her room, still dizzy she'd start frantically looking for her pills, tipping things over, showing how important they are. Using again different angles of the whole room with her tipping things up and close ups of her face, showing emotions. Once hysterical she falls asleep and starts having, what she thinks is a bad dream. With a girl killing her mum, the girl is insane with dark black eyes, pale face, cuts over her face and hands and messy hair, using flash back kind of techniques to make this clear to the audience as to what she's dreaming, then flashing back to her moving in her bed, representing that shes still dreaming. She wakes up, walks towards the mirror, over the shoulder angle of her looking in the mirror, then using the camera as though that is the mirror, the audience can see that she is the girl she was dreaming about and questioning is she going to kill her mother? Then having her walking, as though processed by something, she walks to the landing with a knife in her hand where she sees her mother who is at the other end of landing. Then ending the opening with her mother saying "What's wrong" Then a close up of the girls black dead eyes, showing that she's not right. 

Examples of other texts

Shrooms Opening. Only up to 1.25 minutes.

As my group would like to make a opening based around a woods scene and distressed people, to draw an audience in, i found that shrooms' opening linked very well to what we would like to do.
I think this because of the way that the credits are on and in the back ground to can hear heavy breathing, already within 15 seconds the audience are wanting to know whats happening. Whether the person is in pain or indeed running away from something or someone. The use of close ups in the opening, makes the audience question what is happening, with the use of a man in a sack mask and a dark shilot of a woman, why are they there and what are they there for? Again, making the audience want to know more. And this is what we have to incorporate into our opening scene.
The place in which the chase is taking place sets the scene really well as its in what seems to me to be a isolated forest, which is foggy, therefore setting an ery scene. Also that the lighting is a dark pastel grey/blue, makes it not seem like the middle of the night but late evening or i think early morning, therefore i could link that this girl has been stuck somewhere all night and has only just got out and is trying to find help. Linking back to flashes of images, maybe that's whats she running from, as they were all in the place she was kept in. The dark shadows makes the audience want to know what they are and what they look like as their identity is hidden, by the use of bright lighting behind them and blurring the camera.
The sound used, like the screaming of girls, makes it seem like a torcer chamber for girls, and her being a girl running way i could link in that she got away from this place.

Examples of other texts

Wolf Creek, The Sniper Scene. (VERY gory)

In our group we discussed about using a shooting scene within our film, i thought that this was a good example of a piece of text that uses a shooting scene. Also the hand held use of the camera, which we would like to input into our own film, i found is used very well in this example. 

I like the way that we're shown the target through the use of the aiming bit of the gun, as it adds emphases onto what he's aiming at and how close to his target he is. Also creating tension, as we want the girl to be okay and get away safely. 

The use of hand held camera, makes it feel like the audience is there and also makes it all more confusing for the audience, but also makes the audience feel like they are that character as they;re seeing what they see. 

I like the way that the whole scene is based around being watched, as she isn't a wear where the man is who is trying to kill her, either are the audience, so this is also adding impact and tension.