Evaluation

Videos of first task and final task

Charley is confused

The Chesnut - Final task

Permissions

I got permissions from all my actors to be in the film and to have their names shown in the opening credits.

Alice Rowlands (narrator and the Mother)

Libby Woolven (The rider and the friend) and Karli Ellis-Williams (The girl who gets killed.)

Storyboard

Folder with all the storyboards in it

Analysis and Target audience

I analysed the beginning of Pan's Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro, and released in the UK in 2006. The video I watched this from was in the original Spanish with subtitles in Dutch, so quotes may be different.

In chronological order:

Right at the start, there is only sound, there is the wind, wolves howling and heavy breathing while the opening credits roll. Because wolves are associated with horror films because of werewolves and also their roles in traditional fairytale. (For example Little Red Riding Hood.)
Humming is then added, which does seem a little out of place, because of all the horror conventions and then there is a calming presence via the humming, and it sounds like a lullaby, and adds to the non-diagetic sound at the start. It could connote that the audience is being lulled into a false sense of security, or that the humming is trying to put us at ease.

Then there are two still of writing, which set the time, place and the context of the film. (Which is Spain, 1944 while ruled by the fascist government.

The camera movements are very slow with a lot of pans and zoom ins used, with a mixture of cuts and fades used in the transitions.
The camera then pans to a girl - we now find that this is the source of the breathing.
A voice-over starts. He has a very slow and calming voice, so it reminds you of when you were a child and having a bedtime story read to you, which connotes that this could all be a story made up by a child.

The zoom-in into and 'through' the eye shows what's inside her mind, and things about her, because 'the eye is a window to the soul'.

The buildings connote a fantasy setting because they are similar to Greek and roman architecture, and the Romans and Greeks were known for their mythological beasts which connotes a fantasy genre.

And because you now know the girl is a princess, the semic narrative attached to a princess is that they need rescuing.

Like the girl in the story there is a blinding light, especially after all the dark shots! And white can connote a lab because of the colour coats and also white in sci-fi films is used a lot in costume. (Example: All of the clones in 'The Island' wear completely white uniforms.)

2nd Analysis - The Last Unicorn (1982)

The start starts off dark, getting lighter then going through blue to green and then a yellow based colour scheme, showing the night and then the progression into day. This connotes through mise-en-scene that it is safe and not scary as monsters and things like that are associated with the dark and night time, so the sun has 'banished' them for the day. There is a slow zoom in and then it pans to the right, showing us the forest and then other scenery found in the forest and the surrounding places. The flutes anchor the fact that it isn't real because they are associated with fairytales and soft pieces because of the sound that they make.

After the panning, there are two characters riding horses, they are hunting because there are dogs there and they mention later that they won't find anything to hunt.
And after that you see the shadow of a unicorn on the ground, this still leaves an air of mystery around the unicorn because the audience has not yet seen it for themselves.
One man is dressed very much like Robin Hood, the cap and tunic, so if he features on later in the film, he may have a personality and qualities very much like Robin Hood. Also the colours he wears connotes that he is young and inexperienced, as people with little experience are referenced to as 'green' which is the predominant colour in his dress code, and he also acts for the audience, as he asks a lot of questions, so the audience finds out the right information before the story gets underway.
The other man appears older because he is bald and has a very long beard, which is a media convention of old age, this is also anchored through his speech as he sets up the story for the audience and knows of the background story, which indicates that he is the wiser of the two, and older people are generally more wiser than their younger selves.




My Target audience is fans of horror and thriller films. And the age range would be 12-15 as there is no gore, no swearing and things like that, and the older range because they wouldn't identify with the characters as easily and the film would be gory/more scary, and there would be a lot more films that cater for that. Also the actors are around the age of 12/13, so a younger audience would be able to identify with them more.

Layouts

This is the layout for shots 7-13 corresponding to my shot list.

Costumes/Props

I don't use any props in my film.

Costumes for the rider will be dark clothes, because then they are more mysterious, they won't need to be in complete back as I'll be darkening the image in post-production.

For the two girls they can be in normal day clothes because so show that they are just every day and aren't anything special and to lull the audience into a false sense of that 'everything's fine!'

Locations

I chose the New Forest as my outdoor location, because it is local and easy to get to and is a good place to set a horror movie, as you do feel alone up there, which is a main convention of the genre and because of safety reasons, I will film the 'night-time' scenes in daylight, then edit them to be darker in post-produtction, so it fits in more with a horror convention.

Production Schedule/Shotlist

Date	What shots are being filmed (See shotlist)	Where will filming take place	What crew and cast are needed	What props and costumes are needed	What equipment is needed	Any further notes?
10th of March	1, 3, 4, 18, 19	New Forest on the steep hill around	Libby, Jazzy, Me on Camera	Dark clothes for Libby	Camera, tripod
23rd/24th of March	2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9 ,10, 11, 12	Mainroom	Karli Me, Libby Jazzy		Camera tripod

25th          None. Editing         none                Me              none         Computer and editing
of March                                                                                                 program

28th         Editing sound       none            Me                    none          Computer and editing
of March                                                                                                 program

Shotlist:

1.       Establishing shot  -New Forest

2.       Long shot – New Forest

3.       POV – New Forest

4.       POV –New Forest

5.       Close Shot – New Forest

6.       Zoom out – New Forest Jazzy

7.       Mid Shot – Main Room

8.       Close shot – Main Room

9.       Mid/Far shot – Main Room

10.   Close shot  - Main Room

11.   Over the Shoulder – Main Room

12.   Mid/Far shot – Main Room

13.   Mid close –Main Room

14.   Over the shoulder – From Main Room

15.   Close shot – New Forest

16.   Mid shot – New Forest

17.   High angle – New Forest

18.   POV – New Forest

19.   Mid Shot – New Forest Jazzy

Chesnut's scripts

For Chesnut there was a first draft. The second (and final draft) has been changed a lot, but the main idea has stayed the same. I didn't like it because the frist draft seemed to drag along, and in retrospect I realised that I was probably spoon-feeding the audience, which when watching a film  I don't enjoy either.

First Draft;

 

Final task script:

Check that I can use small part of a game/DVD.

Characters	Props	Set
1 (storyteller)	Bags/sleeping bag roll	My room
2 (host)	torch	Libby’s room
3 (body)	Glasses/drinks	Kitchen
Rider/Horse: Libby and Jazzy		Forest (around stables)
Parent

 

Scene 1:

Outside of house – daytime – cloudy overcast weather, or whatever is happening at the time…bar rain. There’s a car parked by the drive. 1 gets out of the car wearing casual clothes, with a bag and a sleeping bag.

 

1:

Bye! See you later!

Car drives off and the girl walks down the drive. She gets to the porch where she rings the doorbell.  A second girl answers the door.

 

2:

Hi! How are you? Come in!

 

Inside the house

1: (while taking off her shoes and leaving her bags by the front door –on the inside)

 

1:

Is 3 here yet?

 

2:

Yeah…How’s Jack’s mudfever?

 

1:

It’s nearly gone, but I might carry putting on the cream, just- (in case)

 

2:

Hmmhmm. (yelling up the stairs) 3! 1 is here!!

 

3 comes down the stairs.

 

 3: (greeting, friendly)

Hi how are you?

 

 

1:

I’m fine and Jack mudfever has almost gone.

 

2:

Do you two want any drinks? There’s juice, orange or blackcurrant squash, water and lemonade.

 

3:

 Could I have some juice.

 

1:

 I’ll just have some water please

 

While 2 is getting the drinks.

 

2: (to 1)

So has Jack finally calmed down?

 

3:

Of course he hasn’t, he’s a chesnut!

 

1: (mock offense)

Well thanks! Anyway it’s only because he’s in a new field!

 

3&1 get their drinks

 

1&3: (not at the same time)

Thanks

 

All three walk back down the hall into the play room

 

Time lapse of the sun setting.

 

End of scene 1

 

 

Scene 2:

 It’s now nightime, and the desk light is on, all 3 are in a bedroom lying on the floor, and are now in pyjamas. The blind is down. Scene starts with the girls laughing. 1 is lying on the bed with feet at the top, and there is a torch on the desk.

 

3:

So what now?

 

1:

Horror stories!

 She gets up and picks the torch up and then turns off the light on the desk. She lies down on the bed again and holds the torch under hers face, everything else is in darkness. After the first comma it will fade to just narration.

 

It happened on a normal night, like tonight, on Thetford Common. There was a girl, a tourist out on a hike. It was growing dark and she still hadn’t found her way back to where she was staying. She heard a distant neigh – like a screech, but the ponies hadn’t been there since 5 years before.

 

3:

 Screams

(back to narration)

 

They found her body 2 weeks later, no wounds or anything. And the only thing that was left behind there was hoof prints.

(sound of horse galloping)

 

 

End of scene 2

 

 

Scene 3

 A calendar shows a few days pass.

 

Now in a different house – at daytime. (Libby’s room.) Ambient lighting (blind up). 1 is listening to music/ playing on DS while lying on her bed. Also has her phone by her on the bed. Phone rings, sees that it’s 2, stops what she’s doing and picks up.

On 1’s second line it goes into another narration.

 

1:

Hey! How are you?

 

2:

You know how 3 has been missing?

 

1: (in agreement)

Hmmm?

2:

Well they found her…

 

1: (happy)

That’s great news!

 

2:

Well…not exactly. They found her in the forest. (Pause) Like they found the girl in your story. (ends call.)

 

 

FIRST NARRATION

 In a forest daytime (edit to be darker and in b/w)

Girl is also 3, wearing warm clothes as it’ll be cold! XD

 

Panning shot of the heath/where-ever.

Mid-far shot of girl walking towards on higher ground.

POV moves forward a few steps stops (wait a beat then sharp turn around).

Match action to girl turning around.

Fast zoom in on face

Instant cut to heathland.

Beat, then scream.

 

Girl lying down

Slow pan starting from knees few metres later there are some hoofprints.

 

SECOND NARRATION

Daytime again (edit to be darker and in black and white)

Girl wearing warm stuff/riding stuff (different than from last time!)

Start with mid-close shot. Slow zoom out.

Pan to L/J cantering away

Fade to black

 

END

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Draft

 

 

Final task script:

Characters	Props	Set
1 (storyteller)	Something soft to drop camera (if I’m allowed)	My room
2 (victim)	Laptop.
Rider/Horse: Libby and Jazzy		Forest (around stables)
Parent

Scene 1:

 

1:

It happened on a normal night, like tonight, on Thetford Common. There was a girl, a tourist out on a hike. It was growing dark and she still hadn’t found her way back to where she was staying. She heard a distant neigh – like a screech, but the ponies hadn’t been there since 5 years before. She heard something behind her…, and then

 

Phone rings- mother is on the other end. 1 can be playing a game on laptop.

Cut to a bedroom - late night – two girls sitting on floor.

2:

Yeah?

Mum:

“Hello mother” would be nice! Anyway, you need to get home now, [name]. {Girl one can turn lights on and open the door. And just wait by the door for 2 to finish her call!}

2:

Ok, I’ll leave now.

Mum:

See you!

2:

Bye…

Call Ends.

 

2:

Yeah…I’ve gotta to go now.

1:

Do you want a lift back??

 2:

Nah, it’s only a few streets and it’s not raining tonight.

 

 

 Shot of her walking through the forest.

Galloping heard. Girl looks behind her starts running. Swaps to POV and camera drop.(?) Cut to rider pursuing her, with camera in the bushes, low angle.

Cut to black

 

 

 

 

FIRST NARRATION

 In a forest daytime (edit to be darker and in b/w)

Girl is also 3, wearing warm clothes as it’ll be cold! XD

 

Panning shot of the heath/where-ever.

Mid-far shot of girl walking towards on higher ground.

POV moves forward a few steps stops (wait a beat then sharp turn around).

Match action to girl turning around.

To OTS on the horse, and walking forward a few steps. Ringing starts at start of this.

 

SECOND NARRATION

Daytime again (edit to be darker and in black and white)

Girl wearing warm stuff/riding stuff (different than from last time!)

Start with mid-close shot. Slow zoom out.

Pan to L/J cantering away

Fade to black

 

END