Process and Planning

Ideas for Main task

Initial ideas we had for our Main Task

1. Our first Idea was to do a Horror/ Comedy opening to our Horror/ Comedy film. This would have included our main Character, Iris performing day to day activities in her human and then flashing to Zombie form, while a voice over read a sombre poem that linked sarcastically to her tasked that she would fail to complete due to her true zombie nature, Although this would have been comical we felt it would have left us nowhere to go, in the comic sense for the rest of the film. Our research also showed us that if we were aiming to turn the horror genera on its head then we had to start it in the typical way.

 

1. Our second Idea seemed far better as it made Iris more relatable but not immediately comical. We decided to start the opening with Iris being followed as this immediately makes the audience think that her stalker is monster, when actually it’s Iris. Using our research we decided that this darker opening would be good because it would directly criticize the typical role of women in horror movies, the damsel in distress, hopefully attracting a more female audience.

Story board plan

highlighted red shows what de didn't include
Highlighted in Green shows what we chose to include




Storyboard plan:

·      Establishing shot of streets

·      Point of view shot, iris walking down street

·      Point of view at ground/shoes

·      Point of view, turn and see man behind blurred/ in shadow.

·      Point of view/ Medium shot from murderers perspective on Iris’s back.

·      Zoom in on to Iris’s back

·      Extreme close upon hand turning Iris around (slow=suspense)

·      Medium shot of Iris turning, with hair, from front

·      Close Sharp turn normal face, Smirk???

·      Close up Flashes to Zombie face

·      Pause on zombie face

Go to script

‘This isn’t my proudest moment…….’ We did use a script in the end

Sound of dripping blood/ nail varnish fades in

Blackout to blood dripping on dresser  

? Rewind walk to town from home back to bedroom?

? Zoom in on eye blink putting on mascara? This is the one we chose to used

? Close up on Zombie face zoom out into mirror?

·      High angle shot on pool of nail varnish (Red)

·      Zoom out to reveal varnish bottle, as well as other makeup

·      Close up on eye show mascara being applied

·      Flash to horrid eye

·      CU applying lip stick

·      Flash to horrid teeth

·      CU brushing hair

·      Flash to static hair

·      CU cheeks applying blusher

·      Flash to veins

·      Face in Mirror

·      Flash to Zombie reflection 

‘As you can see I’m not exactly normal.. Even if I try to be.’  

 

 

Organising clips:

Previous plans:

We had first planned to organise our clips so the Stalker scene came first and then we would have some kind of transition from that scene to the next which was the bedroom scene. We decided this because we wanted to so continuity but we found in the end that the pass was lost in organising them that way. We were also finding it hard to decide how we were going to transition back to the room scene after the Stalker scene, could we rewind Iris's walk down into town? which would be quiet comical or should we zoom in and back out  of  one her eyes? Which would be far more serious but would slow down the pass and probably be too much of a climate. Therefore after we had organised the stalker scene clips, dispersing the room clips in between them, this surprisingly added to the tension and made the piece flow far more effectively.

 

However in the end we decided that we still wanted tot have that direct comparison between normal Iris and Zombie Iris (in the bedroom scene) so we created a compact clip, This involved selecting The two clips we wanted to combine right clicking and then selecting 'New Compound Clip...' demonstrated by the picture below. 

 

This allowed use to move both contrasting clips so that they were in-between the Stalker clips. We did this throughout our film.    

This was the end product:



 

 

Transitions:

1. Transition One:

Previous plans:

We had planned at the start of our project to only have One Establishing shot at the beginning but we ended up with far more and we had to decide how we were going to transition from one to another.

What we did: 

In the end we decided to use a 'Blur' effect so that one shot faded into the next, symbolising her journey. The image below shows how we positioned the transition to ensure it was the right length and that we saw the best sections of the shots. This was really difficult but was effective when we'd finished it. 

2.          Transition Two:

 

Previous plans:

We didn't actually change this idea, we developed it, I'd really fallen in love with the idea of trying to recreate the transitions used in  BBC One's 'Whitechapel' which are flashing quick images related to the program distorted by red light. You can see what I mean in this clip.

 

 

I wanted to recreate this effect, and did it by distorting an image of the candles.

Here is a picture of the candle we used, this image has already been magnified so it only shows the candle and we changed the exposer so it has a yellow glow. 

 

 

This is and image of it turned upside down.

 

The next change we made was to tilt the shot to one side and zoom in even closer.

 

 

Then we went back to we went back to the image we had started with, I think this sequence of clips will unnerve the audience and add to the mysterious atmosphere of the film clip.

 

 

Next we has to create a title to follow after them we ended up having our titles on black slugs with white writing in a feminine font.

 

 

 

Next I connected the titles to the clips with another 'Light Noise' transition and finally transformed it in to a Compound clip, after which we added a 'light noise' transition to the beginning of as well.

 

 

Normal Vs. Black and White:

When we had filmed our establishing shots we didn't feel like they were scary, dramatic or dark enough to convey a haunting atmosphere to the reader. Due to the fact that we had to film it in the late afternoon so there was enough light.0
Therefore we decided to change the colour pigmentation so they became black and white, then we changed the exposer to give the clips a more textured, deeper darkness. We found that this was really effective and replicated it on to our Stalker clips so they really unsettled the audience in a way that they wouldn't be able to put there finger on.

 

This was the finish product:

 

Problems encountered:

This is one of the problems we encountered when we were editing our establishing shots.

 

This establishing shot when we came to adding in transitions was too short. This was because of how the transitions had to over lap each of the transferring clips meaning that the length we wanted the transitions to be would only leave a very small section of the clip free from transitions this image demonstrates this: 

Therefore we decided that the best way to over come this problem was to copy the clip and place them side by side, as everything in the clip was stationary this had no effect on the continuity but to tidy it up a bit we created a compound clip meaning it was easier for us to add the transitions.

 

Sound and Mise-en-sen:

·        Lighting:

In the bedroom scenes we are going to use a set of fairy lights round the mirror and a large movable light that allowed use to change the lighting easily. Also some candles to give the room a girly and slightly spooky Mise-en-sen.

 

·        Props (makeup products):

We are going to use loads of props such as the Candles, Mascara, lipstick, Foundation nail varnish, make-up wipes and other products. All of this will convey to the audience how hard Iris tries to hide her Zombie look.  

 

·        Make-up:

Make up is going to be hard to do as we want to make it obvious that she’s a zombie but realistic as well, after watching various make-up videos on You Tube we’ve decided that we are going to give her Black under eyes and then a set of veins down the left side of her neck, we’re also going to face paint her face white so she looks paler.

This is one of the videos that inspired us:

This is an example of what we want to achieve (but maybe a bit better).

 

Here’s an example of the videos we watched:  

·        Hair:

As we don’t plan to see Ru’s face at all we not bothered about his hair, Lilly’s though is quite important we plan to have it relatively strait and tidy to begin with but when she becomes her Zombie self we’re going to back comb it so it’s messy and in disarray.

·        Setting:

The first section on the film is going to be set in a dark road in a quiet market town where Iris lives; although it’s a quiet market town it’s not very nice or safe. The second section is set in Iris’s bedroom she has a nice room but it’s not too girly she has a lot of make-up and the room is very messy. This will make the audience uneasy and the cut from the setting of the street is going to make the audience uneasy.  

·        Costume:

The costume that we want Iris to be in is a black skirt and top as we want to make her look dark and tormented. The skirt will also make her look more feminine and venerable. For the stalker scene we want her to be wearing a thick mac like coat as this would make her look quite pretty but also show how it’s cold out, adding to the uncomfortable atmosphere.

For the Stalker we want him dressed in dark tracksuit bottoms and a dark jumper so he doesn’t look nice and so it’s obvious that he’s the bad guy.    

Equipment planning:

The Hardware that we’re going to use is a Tripod and a Camera. Once we’ve film the shots we’re going to up load them on to Final cut pro and edit them on that software. We are planning to film at dusk because its dark enough to create a scary atmosphere but not too dark that the camera won’t be able to pick up Lilly and Ru.

Location:

The location that we have chosen is in Frome and is called Palmer Street, The street is quick dank and has a pound shop on the corner, its over looked by a number of buildings with a high pavement to the side. We chose to film at the top end of the street which links up to Catherine hill through and alley way down to the set of steps which leads you off the high pavement. We really like this section of high pavement because it’s at the end of an alley and will give the audience the impression that Iris has walked through it and that it’s unsafe. The cheap shop on the corner adds to the image of a dark neglected street on the wrong side of town which isn't very safe. Also the steps will allow us to experiment with camera angles and how we use continuity.   

Time schedule

Main Task Time schedule:

3^rd March –

• Complete editing and hand in to Sir

27^th Feb –

• Polish and complete it

24^th Feb –

• Add in music
• Decide on Music
• Final re-juggle clips for the final time

22^st Feb –

• Show Sir
• Work on Titles
• Edit establishing shot clips

20^th Feb –

• Film any extra clips e.g. establishing shots
• Complete transitions

15^th Feb –

• Work on transitions
• Edit clips

14^th Feb –

• Start thinking of Music
• Show Sir, sort out any issues
• Should of sorted out basic order of clips

11^th Feb –

• Cut clips so they only include what we want
• Delete unwanted clips from computer

10^th Feb –

• Start editing
• Upload all  film material

6^th Dec –

• Film all the shots of Iris and Stalker

3^rd Dec –

• Decide on filming date and time
• Invite actors to be involved
• Decide on actors

2^nd Dec –

• Take pictures for story board
• Make story board

28^th Nov –

• Decide on location

Actors

We are planning to use a female and male actors, no camera person as we’re doing it ourselves but help from a technician if we find the software difficult to use.

In our film we decided that we needed two actor one man and on woman, I have two friends Ru who’s 17 and Millie who’s 15 we decided that because I knew them from an acting class that I used to do we should ask them if they’d like to be involved. They were both very happy to help us out. We first contacted them by text asking if they would like to be involved them we spoke to them in person so they could ask us any question and so we could give them a date and time for the filming. We also texted them as well to make sure they knew and so they could refer back to it if they forgot.

We were quite selective with who we asked, we wanted them to be good at acting and a little bit unique in the way they looked and dressed for example I knew Millie liked to wear black and that she often wore a skirt and I loved her red haired, I just new she would be perfect for Iris. We wanted our stalker to be quiet tall to contrast with Millie’s height and for him to wear dark cloths, Ru fit this description perfectly and also played the part really well.

Synopsis (mark 1)

Synopsis (mark 1):

I am going to create a horror/comedy Hybrid movie title sequence. The plot is about a 17 year old, girl who is actually a Zombie and has to hide what she is from the world until she falls in love and has to open up to her boyfriend. This is of course a comedy/ horror so our target audience are young people between 15 to 25 years. The style will be typical of a horror film; using enigma coding and creating a tense atmosphere and a typical opening e.g. Iris (our main character) will be walking down the road in the dark being followed by a man; leading the audience to believe that she is going to be the victim, when actually she’s the murderer because as he grabs her and pushes her against the wall, she attacks him. We will freeze the action here and cut to her getting ready for a night out in her room, this is where the atmosphere changes to a more relaxed feeling with makeup and clothes used to create a girly mise-en-scene. As I have already said the characters introduced to us in the opening sequence are Iris our main character who is a zombie. She is 100 years old but looks 17 and the ‘Stalker’ who is in his late 20ies and wears a hoody, tracksuit bottoms with a flat cap. We will make Iris relatable by using narration (like in warm bodies).

Photo story boards:

This is the Photo-story board that I created for my main task, which is about a young zombie girl tying to fit in to society.

This is my story board for my preliminary task, which is an  apprentice your fired scene.