Research on Schizophrenia

As the character in our film opening suffered from schizophrenia, I decided to research the effects and symptoms of the illness. I did this because it would help more with the way i want the character to act and to make it clearer to the audience the illness they're suffering from. 

The way of researching schizophrenia was by typing it in on google, looking at its effects and treatments of the illness. 

Research i found about the effects of Schizophrenia is that "Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms. These include:

• hallucinations - hearing or seeing things that do not exist, and
• delusions - believing in things that are untrue.

Hallucinations and delusions are often referred to as psychotic symptoms or symptoms of psychosis. Psychosis is when somebody is unable to distinguish between reality and their imagination.

The exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown. However, most experts believe that the condition is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors." (http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/schizophrenia/Pages/Introduction.aspx, 24.03.10) 

This research helped with how Abbi could act out her character without being offensive to people who do suffer from the illness who may be watching the film opening, the way that Abbi acts out her character, without being over the top or offensive would help with the way that the audience feel closer to her and sympathise with her due to her illness.

I found out from doing research on the treatment of schizophrenia that most cases of the illness is controlled by anti psychotic medicines, this was good to know as it was what i was able to look further into and put onto the pill box that Abbi's character throws on the floor once discovering that its empty. 

The main medicine i focused on was Resperidone, which is taken orally by a pill, it is a one of the treatments for schizophrenia. Knowing this i was able to write onto the pill box,  "Resperidone. Anti psychotic medication. Two tables to be taken every hour with food." The final pill box looked really effective as it resembled a real-life pill box, as it didn't have the illness plastered all over the label like our first pill box did. 

Photo's whilst doing filming

Here is a photo of when Abbi gets to the door and searches for his pills, but finds out that she's got none left. Here I used a point of view shot because i wanted the audeince to see what Abbi's character sees. This will again make the audience feel more involved with Abbi's character, and they'll understand more what's happening and why.

Photo's whilst doing filming

Here is a camera angle I used in the second lot of filming to break up the long walk to the house, while also making the audience feel more involved with the character. The idea of this shot is to also make the audience even more a wear of where Abbi's character is heading, while linking to the dizzy way she walks and acts as she approaches the house. 

Photo's whilst doing filming

This shot i didn't use while doing the second lot of filming, but if i was too film it again i think i would use this shot to make the audience feel more involved with the character. And obviously I'd have Abbi looking more dizzy as i told her to walk towards me normally so i was able to get a full shot of her.

Photo's whilst doing filming

Here is a photo of Abbi standing at the lamppost, which is where the audience and viewer first see Chloe as the imaginary friend, this is also when the audience see the location of where Abbi is heading. 

I think this is a good shot, as we use a eye line match shot for Abbi, as shes looking at the house then the camera goes to a point of view of the house. Obviously his cant be shown in the camera shot, but i think it's very effective in the film opening. 

Music

When choosing music i was originally going to make my own music to fit in with the film opening, but due to not having enough time i was unable to do this and had to result in finding music off a legal down load page. The free down load website i used was www.freeplaymusic.com. Here, after putting in several key words, such as; scary, tension and horror i found my piece of music which is now in my film opening. The title of the music is called Platform, and it was found under the key word of tension. The music is slow building with tension building sounds, done by quite builds up of string music then loud drums. 

I think this piece of music fits in well with my film opening, as it shows adds tension to the action within the scene. 

I'm considering adding my own music underneath, to add more tension to the action, this could improve the affect it will have on the viewer. 

Actors

This is the other actress we will be using our film opening. The reason we chose Abbi was because we know she can act and she lives down the road so there would be no problems with her not being able to get my house to film.

The original idea of the main character, Susie, was to have her in dark clothing looking like a Gothic character. But then I said that it would be more effective if she looked like a "normal" girl, as this would show that anyone can suffer from schizophrenia, and would make the film more dramatic as its everyday people, which would also add to making it scarier, as they don't stand out from the crowd.

Actors

As we're close to people who do drama we decided to use a close reliable friend in our media film. We decided to use Chloe Smith to play the imaginary friend, we thought that Chloe fitted this character well as she looks innocent and playful, which is what we wanted the audeince to view her as, before they see how twisted she really is.

The plan for Chloe's hair and make up is to have her hair (which is now brown) messy and greasy, maybe over her face to add more tension to who she is. Her make up will be pale with a green tinge to it, this will give the effect that she's ill or possibly dead. The reason i want her to look like this is because i want to make it clear to the audeince that its the drugs that the main girl has been taking to make her imaginary friend go away have made the imaginary friend slowly die and become more disfigured.

The costume which we want Chloe to be wearing is something that looks along the lines of a hospital nighty, however, as these are very hard to get hold of and we dont have enough money to buy a new outfit for Chloe to wear, we're thinking of putting her in a large white T-Shirt, which we will cut up and make dirty to give it a more worn effect.

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.