Who's There? First edited draft

Action plan:

Pick up shots:
- Passing paper.
- Phone, shot of GC walking a different way.
- Add shot of GC between GB throwing paper and entering forest.
-GC

Sounds:
- Change / add music.
- Add sound effects of gasps, gurgles of blood, noises in the forest that make GB nervous / scared. Could be resolved by un-silencing clips to get the background noise of the forest.

Credits:
- Add missing credits.
- Possibly change font and colour.

Updated Script

This is the updated version of the script. The changes made are based on how we decided to edit our original script to be better and more effective.
  

Who's There Script: Improved by alfie666

Research, Planning and Editing diary

Here is the link to my prezi in case it does not appear:

http://prezi.com/tcqtg-5ozfxg/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Storyboard (original and updated)

This is our Animatic Storyboard for our Slasher-Horror film, 'Who's There?'.

After careful consideration we decided that we were going to change our opening of the film. This involved changing the storyboard.

Shot list

This is our new and updated shot list based on the changes we have made to the whole opening for 'Who's There?':

Shooting Schedule

We have updated the shooting schedule as we decided to re-film the entire thing and make changes to it:

Location Shots

                      

Final concept of film (edited in response to audience feedback)

This is the second and final draft of the concept of our film 'Who's There?'. The concept has been edited in response to audience feedback.

Synopsis of film:

Todorov's Theory:

Equilibrium

Disruption

Realisation the disruption has occurred

Attempt to repair

New equilibrium

2. The murder of two teenage boys by a masked killer (the killer has no motive to kill the boys or any other people he kills, he picks them off at random and this creates a 'nobody is safe' atmosphere). The boys walk home different ways, one of them receives a phone call from the other and all he can hear is heavy breathing and wind as if someone is being chased or followed, he hears a scream from Ben then all goes silent on the phone. He walks back, worried, to find him and he then finds his friends body on the floor, he takes steps back in shock of what he has just seen and walks back into the masked killers knife.

1.Introduced to a family who are moving into a house and unbeknownst to them it is near the area where the murders of two boys have recently happened (six months after the murders happened).   

2. Family receive an anonymous welcome card, open the door after its been posted and nobody is there.

3. Old woman from just across the street reveals all to family, after they research what they have just been told they are horrified to find an old news report about the murders of the boys. They also discover that other murders the same killer is believed to be responsible for started with receiving anonymous letters and messages.    

4. Family start looking for other houses after trying to cope with receiving more anonymous letters for a month they feel very unsafe and try to find a new home as fast as possible. However, they are unaware that it is already too late.     

5. The masked killer breaks into the house in the middle of the night when all the lights are off and everyone is asleep. He uses the knife to make scratching sounds on the walls, this wakes up the parents and then all they hear are loud bangs which they think are on the front door (it is in fact the killer walking up the stairs) the mother sends the dad to go downstairs and see what it was. However, as the dad opens the bedroom door a masked man is standing in the doorway, he kills the dad, the mum screams and this wakes up the daughter, the killer then runs into the room and grabs the mum. He waits for the daughter to run into the room before killing her mother, she then tries to run away but falls down the stairs, as she tries to get back up it is too late as he is already behind her. He then grabs the daughter and wipes her parents blood off the knife onto the clothes. He then tapes her mouth up and walks upstairs, when he comes down he is holding her parents blood stained bed sheets in his hands and uses them to her up, once she is tied up he drags her out of the house and into the forest. 

Target audience research

 We asked people from our audience to give us some feedback on the concept of our film. The age range varies from 16-42, this is because we wanted to get an idea as to what different people of different ages though of the concept of our film.

Upon acting on the changes, we have created a second draft of our final concept which has been edited to suit the criticism and feedback given by our audience.


            

Group messages

We made a group chat on WhatsApp for the group to communicate outside of school to plan what we are doing and tell each other what we have done, keeping one another up to date with the work that has been completed as well as work that still needs to be done and any changes we feel could be made:  

Script

This is the first draft of our script:

'Who's There' Script: Draft by alfie666

This is the improved and final version of our script. After talking to our teacher and receiving feedback we made changes to the script and edited it to make it better: 

'Who's There' Script: Improved by alfie666

Audition tapes, casting shots / reasons for casting, wardrobe choices and prop choices

Audition tapes:

                               

Wardrobe decisions:
   Why did we choose these clothes?

George Coates:
We chose a white shirt because it connotes innocence, as SAM is the younger of the two characters, he seems more vulnerable and innocent. As he is just wearing a shirt, with no jacket / hoodie, it makes him seem like an easy target.

George Butler:
We chose a red shirt as it connotes blood and danger. BEN is the first of the two boys to die, the red shirt almost foreshadows his death. Red is also a bold colour, this represents BEN's cocky and 'laddish' personality.

Alfie Chandler:
We chose all black for the masked killer to wear as it connotes mystery and a fear of the unknown. This is relevant because he is playing a masked killer so his identity is not revealed.

Research and Planning diary (week 2)

Monday 10th November:

• Alfie is doing the script and storyboard
• George B is doing location shots
• I am doing casting shots and wardrobe choices
• As Alfie is doing a large lump of work me and George B are splitting up more of the additional planning.
• For the additional planning I am doing test shots of special effects / make-up, screen shots of group discussions, feedback from audience and audition videos.
• Discussing casting, wardrobe, script, story boards.

Tuesday 11th November:

• Script has been completed, Alfie is doing a second draft and editing some of it. We are getting rid of the scene of the family moving into the house in the opening as it didn't really make sense.   
• Cast list has been completed. Ideas for wardrobe have been finished.
• Decided on using as gas mask and knife for the killer.   
• Made some changes to the final concept, changed some things that didn't make sense.

Wednesday 12th November:

• Second draft of script has been completed, storyboard is nearly finished.
• Started getting audience feedback.
• Location shots have been taken.

Friday 14th November:

• Storyboard finished
• Got audition tapes but we need to re-do them as we weren't happy with the quality.
• I completed the audience feedback and have put it into a presentation.
• I edited and made a second / final draft of the final concept in response to the audience feedback.
• We are still waiting for the location shots to be completed. 

Saturday 15th November:

• I made and tested out the fake blood
• We have started to make a props list
• George Butler has taken all the location shots 

Research and Planning diary (week 1)

Monday 3rd November:

• We decided on a final idea from the film concept and created a synopsis of the films narrative
• Discussed possible titles that followed similar trends to other, already existing, slasher-horror films.
• We created a logline, a short yet detailed outline of the films plot.

Tuesday 4th November:

• Completed and edited both the film synopsis and logline.
• Discussed more possible names, not yet decided on one. Torn between a longer more descriptive title, or a short yes effective title.    

Thursday 6th November:
We discussed:

• Will film around the Middleton church area, the country park woods, Woolstone church 
• Some things to put into the opening:
• - Point of view shots of killer watching the people
• - Dialogue between the two boys 
• - Sounds, such as footsteps, moaning, screaming. 
• What the killer would look like, mask of something childlike that would look scary. Weapon of choice, knife, axe etc.
• Decided on a title 'Who's There'.  

           

Research of existing slasher-horror film titles and ideas for own film title

   

This is my research into existing slasher horror film titles and ides for titles for our own film:

          

Logline for 'Who's There?'

Six months after two boys have been brutally murdered by a masked killer a family move into a house unbeknown of the murders that took place just across the street. They soon find out that their new beginning could not get any worse after they start to receive some messages from an unknown source. 

Final concept of film (first draft)

Synopsis of film:

Todorov's Theory:

Equilibrium

Disruption

Realisation the disruption has occurred

Attempt to repair

New equilibrium

2. The murder of two teenage boys by a masked killer. The boys walk home different ways, one of them receives a phone call from the other and all he can hear is heavy breathing and wind as if someone is being chased or followed then all goes silent on the phone, he walks back to find him and he then finds his friends body on the floor, he takes steps back in shock of what he has just seen and walks back into the masked killers knife.

1.Introduced to a family who are moving into a house and unbeknownst to them it is near the area where the murders of two boys have recently happened (six months after the murder happened).   

2. Family receive an anonymous welcome card, open the door after its been posted and nobody is there.

3. Old woman reveals all to family, they research anything strange that has happened in the area and discover that two boys were murdered in the area six months before they moved in.

4. Family start looking for other houses after receiving more anonymous letters it makes them feel very uncomfortable and unsafe.     

5. The masked killer breaks into the house in the middle of the night when all the lights are off and everyone is asleep, he goes upstairs and the first room he enters is the parents bedroom, he stabs them to death. The screams wake up the daughter, whilst the masked man is murdering her parents she runs downstairs to get a knife, she runs back up and kills the masked killer. She then takes the mask off and runs into the woods, the same woods seen in the prelude. 

Sub-genre codes and conventions research

 Horror films have certain codes and conventions that are stuck to in the creation of a horror film to make it seem like a typical horror film and for the audience to feel like they are watching a horror film. 

However the codes and conventions differ when we are introduced to sub-genres:

• Slasher
• Psychological
• SciFi (Science Fiction)
• Paranormal 
• Documentary
• Zombie horror
• Creature Feature
• Supernatural 

These sub-genres differ in many ways, for example, you wouldn't expect to see a werewolf in a slasher film, you would expect to see that in a supernatural film.

Slasher:

The plot that you would usually see in a slasher film usually involves a group of teenagers (this appeals to the common audience that watch these kinds of film) and a murderer with a weapon of choice (axe, knife, chainsaw etc). The group of teenagers would be doing something together such as having a party, going out or staying somewhere remote or cut off from other people would somehow end up coming into contact with the murderer. They are never usually killed off together, it is usually just one or two at a time and the rest of the group never suspect anything until they realise that some of the group is missing.

Titles of already existing slasher films are:

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Halloween
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Scream

Characters expected to appear in a slasher:

• Hero (character who tries, possibly succeeds, to overcome the villain in some way, whether it be distracting so the others get away or trying to stop the killer. Usually thought that the bimbo's boyfriend will be the hero, usually the unexpected person that becomes the hero)
• Villain (the murderer, usually has some sort of motive to kill or has something wrong with them, they are possibly a psychopath)
• The final girl (this character is typically a 'tom-boy' and virginal or possibly vulnerable and is usually the one to escape or to die last)
• 'Damsel in distress' (this character in a slasher is usually a pretty, blonde girl who is typically a 'bimbo' who is with her typically masculine 'jock' boyfriend and she usually gets killed first)

 Colours that typically are featured:

• Red 
• Pink
• Black
• Grey
• White

Psychological:

The typical plot featured in a psychological horror film would be a character with an unstable mind set and usually with a mental illness such a schizophrenia killing people (not necessarily having a link with them) for unknown reasons or maybe there is something in their mind telling them to do things although that's not to be mixed up with supernatural. This therefore almost involves the audience more or at least makes them think more about the reasons, and they then get more out of the film in contrast to just being told what is wrong (Psycho is a good example of this). There are many different branches of psychological horrors, for example they may include themes of identity, death, perception and existence.  

 Titles of already existing psychological films are:

• Psycho
• The Silence of the Lambs
• The Shining
• Inception

The characters that are featured:

• Villain (the killer/character the film is based on)
• Damsel in distress (the character that gets killed/in need of help)
• Victim(s) (the people who are killed by the murderer, there is never usually a typical type of person or group of people that are targeted, it depends on the issue of the killer and their motives)

Colours that are typically featured:

• Red
• Black
• White
• Grey

Paranormal: 

The typical plot for a paranormal film includes an abandoned house, a family, group of friends, couple or single character moving into that house and, a ghost, spirit, spectre or possessed person. The house may have the ghost in it because of something that was important to the ghost whilst it was still alive. For example, in The Woman in Black, the Woman in Black is haunting Eel Marsh House because she wants to get revenge for her son's death that took place there, and also because she was found dead herself there. 

Titles of already existing paranormal films are:

• Paranormal Activity (2&3)
• The Woman in Black
• The Awakening
• Ouija

The characters that are featured:

• Hero (Character who fights off or tries to fight off the being/solves the problem)
• Villain (the supernatural / paranormal being)
• Damsel in distress (a young girl, or a teenage girl who is in need of help, possibly got some sort of relationship with the hero)

Colours that are typically featured:

• Black
• White
• Grey
• Desaturated colours - greens are muted for example in The Woman in Black and The Awakening