Rough Edit

After our first shoot, we have made a rough edit of oru sequence to see what we have and haven't got. From this, we can see if we need to shoot again, and if we need to redo any shots.

There are some problems that we have already  noticed, the focus is off in some shots, and there are bags in the background of another. There are also some contiunity issues that we need to rethink (Where did the girl come from? Where did the man come from? What are their motivations?). We also need to imporave our fight scene, as we don't find it convincing.

Actor Contract

Here is our actor contract, whcih both of our actor's have signed:

Group_6_Actor_Contract

Shot List

In preparation for our first shoot on Sunday, we have created a shot list. This will help us keep to time, and ensure that we do not forget any shots.

Shooting Day

 

(note) - we have changed the meeting time to 10am for convenience.

What could go wrong?

These are the specific problems which could affect us:

• Bad weather conditions - could affect shot quality & cause issues for health and safety (actors slipping over/hurting themselves) - if there is rain we will make sure we take umbrella's and we will make sure we have a plastic bag to protect the camera. We will also have lots of warm clothing available for the actors and crew.
• We have to makes sure we finish filming by 5pm as otherwise the footage will be too dark and will appear grainy. We also do not want the actors to become tired.
• We will all make sure that we arrive on time and are organised, as we have a strict shooting schedule that needs to be kept to - if there is a problem getting somewhere on time we will make sure we contact each other in some way.
• As we are outside in a public place we have to make sure that there are no members of the public in our shots, so we may have to wait for them to leave our location before we continue shooting. We will also have to be careful that no other voices can be heard whilst filming as then the creepy atmosphere will not be as effective.
• As there is a chance that the location could change in some way, due to any possible problem e.g. a tree falling over; we have to try and film everything as well as possible on the first shoot so that continuity errors are less likely.
• We will remember to charge the camera's battery, and each member of the team will check that they have their allocated piece of equipment before arriving at or leaving the location. This will reduce the chance of anything being lost/forgotten. If there is an accident (which I'm sure there won't be!) we will inform the teachers as soon as possible and try to fix the problem together.

Character Profile - Girl

Name:
Poppy Johnson

Costume:

School uniform:

White shirt and tie

Long skirt and socks

Glasses

Satchel

Connoting – innocence, perfect/proper behaviour

After attack:

Ripped/bloodied shirt and tie

Socks rolled down

Scruffy

*Notice high heels*

Connoting – slight sex appeal, danger and femininity – a contrast to the previous innocence

Why lipstick?

We thought that the lipstick was a feminine touch that enhances the contrast in our character after her attack. It is also quite perverse as a ‘signature’ and degrades the male she has killed which we hope will encourage our female audience to feel empowered and united.

Personality

In the beginning, we want her to at first seem quite boring and geeky; the sort of person that doesn’t go out much. To her parents, teachers and friends she should seem like a perfect, innocent girl. This should contrast to her after she has killed the man, as she should look feistier and more confident. She will modify her outfit while she is choking the man so that at the end she has more make-up on, her hair is out, skirt rolled up and tie loosened.


How this is her 'coming of age' thing -


Throughout the rest of the film, the aim would be to use the film to show the girl’s character grow and develop. She is a sort of vigilante, so we hope that the young people that would watch it would be able to appreciate the growth that she experiences as it is a more extreme portrayal of the experience of being a teen. 

Why does she kill people?

To attract both male and female audiences to our film, we need to have a strong female character as well as the theme of murder and violence (thus merging chick-flick and horror genres). Therefore, we have developed our film idea so that the female lead is changes throughout the film: as she becomes older and more mature she is learning to fend for herself as an adult woman. At the end of the film, she is empowered and a stronger person as she has stood up for herself.
Specifically in the opening scene, we will show this change through her costume, as well as her actions. She will begin wearing her school uniform, which is neat and proper. By having pigtails in her hair and a childish outfit on she will come across as innocent, weak and vulnerable. However, once she has killed the man who was stalking her, she will walk off into the distance, dominating the frame, with a messier school uniform. Her skirt will be shorter and her shirt un-tucked. Her hair will be out and she will have put make-up on. This new outfit will present her as much older and will play up her sex appeal. Overall, her costume change will be a visual aid for the audience, showing how her personality changes throughout.
While she is fighting the man, her actions will be controlled and sharp, showing her to be very skilled at fighting. This will not only show that she is experienced in fighting people, but will also break the stereotype of weak women, creating a twist in the horror genre and empowering her.
Overall, we feel that by giving a reason for our female character to be killing the men that she dislikes and having a good outcome from it, that our film will be more appealing to the teen female audiences, as the characters are more relatable and almost likable. We intend for the audience to take her side throughout the film, rooting for her to succeed despite the violent nature of her actions.

This is a moodboard for the girl. The pictures are mainly about the girl's attitude change and how she will look before and after the attack.

 

Character Profile - Man

Name: John Smith

Age: In his 50's

Clothes:

• Black Gloves
• Hat/Hood
• Dark Clothing
• Dirty Shoes/Boots

We are not supposed to find out much about his personality, other than us revealing that he is following the girl. This signifies to the audience that he is not to be trusted and that he most probably is a kidnapper. We will show his creepyness through shot types as we will not reveal much of his body, making the audience question his role in the film. We want him to immediately come across as the antagonist, therefore placing the girl as the protagonist, meaning they'll be shocked when their roles switch.

In our opening the man is supposed to appear unlikable and creepy, so we decided to have him wearing dark clothes, which connotes mystery and evil. By hiding his face we are not allowing the audience to get any idea of who he is, so they won't sympathise with him when he is killed. The gloves are also a stereotypical item which criminals have in films/television series. Because our shots only reveal little parts of the man at once, we need each item of clothing to be very specific. By making the man creepy and evil we are appealing to the female audience as they will want to see revenge taken as it acts as female empowerment. The man dies at the end of the opening sequence so we don't want to make his character too detailed. He is supposed to be one of many men the young girl will murder and so we want him to be anonymous at this point.

The man will put up of some kind of fight against the girl, but he will be easily beaten, making him seem small and weak. When he is being killed he will be on the floor, shown through a high angle shot to show that the power has transferred from him to her. His movements will be quite sloppy and dis-organised, contrasting with the girls clean, smooth movements which will then cause him to be taken out.

(picture of actor in character clothing on set)

Props List

These are the items we have decided are necessary for our opening:

• Gloves
• High Heels
• Tie
• School Uniform
• School Bag
• Books
• Make-up
• Hat
• Male Costume - jumper, jeans, hat, old shoes

This is the school uniform our female character will be wearing:

Storyboard

Here is our first storyboard which is still being worked on and edited:

We broke down our opening into all the separate shots we want to film, with annotations about shot type and camera movement. We used post-it notes so that the order of the sequence could easily be re-arranged without too much hassle. We tried to include a range of shot types to create variety and to keep the opening interesting. We colour co-ordinated the post-it notes so we could easily distinguish between them:

• Green - Long Shot (LS)
• Yellow - Point Of View (POV)
• Blue - Mid Shot (MS)
• Pink - Close Up (CU)
• Orange - Wide Shot/Establishing Shot

After a meeting with a teacher, we decided that the fight sequence (in the middle) needed to be better planned, and so we booked a session with them to learn how to properly film a fight sequence.

Rough Storyboard

After planning our sequence in ten second intervals, we drew out a rough storyboard to illustrate our ideas:

Character Names

To show the character’s true nature/ her secret killings, we have been debating whether she should have a name that has connotations to evil/ death/ blood. We came to the conclusion that her name could be a red colour, e.g. Scarlett, Ruby.

This may be a good idea for part/all of the title, e.g. Scarlett Kisses. This would be an effective name as it links to a large part of the film; the character’s name and her signature doodle on her victims.

Name options:

FIRST NAMES

Ruby

Scarlett

Crimson

Fuscia

Heather

Magenta

Poppy

Viola

Hazel

Siena

LAST NAMES

Jones

Smith

Johnson

(Red = final choice)