Planning - Considering Mise-en-Scene For Your Opening - Costume and Props

Alisha will be wearing a super dry jumper with high waisted jeans, she will be wearing little makeup to portray a reasonably young looking character to the audience implying that she is weak.  She will have fake blood on her when she gets captured by the predator. Alisha's clothes will contain blood also.

 

Brian will be wearing an adidas jacket and jeans to make him look like a stronger individual within the opening scene as the males within the film are seen as the stronger characters. He will have fake blood on him in the opening scene when he begins to experience danger. Brian will be carrying alcohol throughout the opening scene and will appear to be carrying the bag with alcohol on the way to their camp.

William will be wearing similar clothes to Alicia in the fact that he is also wearing a super dry jumper and grey jeans within the opening scene, this creates a casual look. He will have fake blood on him as he enters danger and his props will include alcohol throughout the opening scene.

The characters will also be drinking from a bottle of Ciroc vodka to emphasise that they are out in this secluded location to drink alcohol without the consent of their parents.

Planning: Casting For Your Opening

Casting is a very important part of the planning stages as it can have a major impact on our film if we get the casting incorrect. Casting is very important within any film production. We have to carefully select our cast in order to make sure that our opening scene is successful and the cast members follow the characters personality. In the casting process we can analyse whether the actor or actress is capable of taking on the role that we have created. We can do this by filming some footage of the cast members acting out a script and from there we can assess whether they are capable of completing the role. This will be able to highlight the strengths and weaknesses the cast members have. It will also highlight whether the actor or actress is confident enough for the role, which is extremely important. If someone we have selected isn't suitable for the role then the casting process will help us identify this quickly.

Character: Alisha Harold

Age:17

Alisha is an extremely enthusiastic individual who is very oblivious to the risks of alcohol and camping on her own.

We have selected Alice Piggott to participate in this role as she is an experienced actress because she has completed Drama at GCSE and received an extremely good grade. She is suitable for the role as she is almost 17 and reflects the character very well. She is very confident in front of the camera therefore, she will bring enthusiasm to our opening scene.

Character: Brian Prince

Age: 17

About Brian: Brian is a close friend to Alisha and is also very confident. He likes to make sure that he is the centre of attention most of time. He also never understands the consequences of his actions which is very similar to Alisha which puts more risk on the group.

Jamie is the right person for the role as he is a similar age to the character. His personality is very similar to our character however he can be shy in front of the camera so this may put us at a disadvantage.

Character: William Jones

Age: 17

About William: William is very shy character. He is know to hang back from the group until he knows that it is safe to join if with the activities taking place. He is an experienced camper so is very prepared for his camping trip however it is also his first time drinking alcohol as well so therefore it puts the group at even more risk.

Sam is the correct person for this character as he is the same age as the character and knows a thing or two about camping also. This also means he will benefit the group as he can  deliver realistic scenarios within the group to make the film opening more realistic and believable which was highly requested from our target audience when we received our feedback from our survey.

Planning - Location Planning For Your Opening

The Quarry

This post is about the location planning for our horror film opening. this is important in the planning stages of the film because when it comes to recording we won't have a car understanding of where to go and record our set piece.

These are some of the images from the location that we used for the filming, it is positioned near the entrance of the quarry. This is where our opening of the film will take place. We plotted the location here as the recording would be easy to complete. This is good because if any adjustments are needed, then we can easily access our location again. This is also an advantage for everyone in the group because everyone lives close by to the location. This location already contained a log which is what we needed within the scene for the cast members to sit on. Using the woods as our location to film, completing high angle and birds eye view shots will be easy for the group to film as we can climb trees. The drawbacks with using this location are the footpaths running through the area we are filming in, which is used by pedestrians and dog walkers. This means that we may be interrupt when recording which may set us back and we may loose out on valuable time.

The location we are using is a place called the quarry. It is located next to the A6183 in Kettering. It is  a large abandoned area that is mostly used for dog walkers and people that like to ride there motorbikes illegally. We have chosen this specific location as it is quite large and has a lot of interesting and mysterious places that we can use to convey common codes and conventions within horror films. We will be able to achieve various different camera angles from high and low angles which will add more and more effect to the opening due to the obstacles rod the woodland area. This location has numerous areas where we will be able to use more advanced camera angles, shots and movements. When it is getting dark this location will be at its best as it will appear more creepy and spooky however a good quality will be hard to achieve when it becomes dark. This will suit the horror movie opening. The location has different areas like an old/broken down house, a very steep and rocky hill and wide/open fields. All of these different features can be used to create a chase scene which will be very effective. 

Planning: Writing a Treatment

The film will start with an establishing shot of the quarry/woods.

The establishing shot will then fade into a long shot of a group of people walking into the woods with various bags containing drinks. 

Close ups of branches and leaves will include various titles of people behind the making of the film and will establish our groups name. The shot will still be following the group as they walk down the path.

The camera then goes to a mid-shot of the group in an ideal place to have their campout. They start to drink their beverages and all seems well.

As the gathering goes on people are feeling more and more drunk and need to go to the toilet. One member walks away from the set location and quickly realises they are lost.

As the member of the group starts to panic things can be heard through the bushes and trees. Eventually, after more and more bushes are rustled something attacks the person and kills them. Leaving a close up of the dead persons hand on the floor.

People within the group get worried about there friend who was taking a while and go to find them. Over the shoulder shots are used numerously to show people searching for the friend.

One by one everyone is taken victim to the unknown threat within the bushes until there is only one person remaining. The camera pans around the person showing their vulnerability. They run back to the campsite and realise they are still on their own.

Shortly after they have realised everyone is gone after shouting there names numerously, the last person if finally killed.

Blood is splattered on the cans on the floor near the fallen victim. 

Extreme close-ups of beer cans on the floor scattered around the floor with an unfocused shot of the figure of something in the background in black.

Planning : Target Audience Feedback

Within this post we will be looking at and evaluating the feedback we have gathered from the survey that we have produced. This will help us to see what most people expect in horror film openings. It is important for us to gather lots of different information in order to set up our opening so that it is successful. This can help us to develop more ideas and can help us to make sure we capture the theme of it being a horror.

The picture above shows that everyone who had completed our survey thought that a character should die within the opening of a horror film, this gives us an indication of what to include therefore it will influence us to include a death. This means that we will have to gather the correct codes and conventions to make this expectation successful. 

The age group that we have received our feedback from are the ages 15-18. This means that all of the information we have gathered will be an accurate result of what a teen at that age expects when watching the opening of a horror film. 

From the feedback we received from various people within the same age group as our target audience, we may base our characters ages around the same age group as the audience to attract more teens. 

From what we have received it seems that the majority of people find dark abandoned areas the most frightening setting for a horror film. In our horror film opening we had already decided to film in an abandoned area so therefore this put us at an advantage. This will make our film more scary and frightening.

Our survey has proved that the majority of our target audience prefer a film that is based on a real lie event. This means that people enjoy films when they are more realistic and believable. 

 from the results, we now know that our target audience wish to find out about the storyline at the beginning of the film within the opening scene but a very small amount. This means that we will need to make sure we do not reveal a lot of detailed information as to why things are happening or why they happen at a certain location in order to give the target audience the best experience while watching. 

Our survey has shown that the target audience expect to see the villain/killer in the opening scene. Some people may disagree however the majority of our target audience  wish for this to happen so therefore this helps us when deciding on our final ideas. 

Jump scares and gruesome/bloody scenes within horror film openings are the most popular. This is probably because they excite and make the audience feel a tension at the beginning of the film. Also, it could be due to the audience finding them very realistic which is linking back into the previous questions. 

Judging form the results of our survey, we have discovered that the majority of our target audience enjoy films in which people around the age of 16-21 are featured within and are out and about in abandoned areas.The surveys have shown that people prefer horror films which are based on real life events that give you a slight insight into the story of the whole film but not too much at all. Our survey shows that a lot of people prefer to see the villain in the opening scene. We have found out that the most popular type of horror movies include a lot of jump scares and gruesome, bloody murders. Looking at some of the response feedbacks we have received it seems like people like it when characters go missing and are killed. These surveys are useful as they indicate what is expected by our target audience which means that we can create the most successful opening we can possibly create.