Abscense

Hey guys, I'm going to an R.E conference so won't be there for the lesson on monday. So any descisions you make just take it that i'd agree with them and maybe post them up here so I can see or something.
Thanks guys, Shaun

Group Meeting 3 - Notes

We decided our shoot times and dates as shown in the post named 'Shoot'. We also pinpointed the people we wanted to act for us as killer and victim, who we managed to chase up afterwards and ask. This was successful so we now have our actors and just need to finalise their parts with them and their responcibility in taking up the roles. We talked about the props we need to find ourselves and split up these between us to find over the weekend. Anything we do not have we will sort out on Monday the day before the shoot, but we are confident this will not be the case. We also talked about how we could manage time on the day of the shoot and realised we all have a free period 6 after lunch, in which we could grab one or two willing helpers and clear out the space as well as set up lights and camera (we would have to let the caretakers know what we were doing and not to move the setup - obviously saying we would clear up thoroughly afterwards that evening). This raised the issue of helpers and we discussed who out of our friends would help, so we now have a few names lined up (one who we have asked and is yet to confirm). All this left us to clear up was much of the paperwork for the shoot such as storyboard, shot logs, shot lists, shooting scripts, shooting schedule and actor scripts. We quickly agreed on what we would do in the double media lesson in the afternoon (friday) - mostly this paperwork and finalisation, which we successfully completed in a very productive lesson in our edit suite.

Kris

Shoot

Date: 02/12/08
Day: Tuesday
Time: 3.45pm +
Location: Latymer School Basement
Actors: Rob Demont, Matt Doyle & one of us to play an extra victim
Helpers: Barney Carter-Phillips? (if not we have someone else lined up)

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

Actors

Playing the part of the victim...

Name: Robert Demont

Age: 16

Gender: male

Size: short-ish

Hair Colour: blonde (short)

Eye Colour: blue

Acting Experience: 'Mickey' in Latymer School production of 'Blood Brothers', 'Magwich' in Latymer School production of 'Great Expectations', drama student.

Playing the part of the killer:

Name: Matthew Doyle

Age: 16
Gender: male
Size: massive

Hair Colour: dark brown (long)

Eye Colour: blue
Acting Experience: part of the chorus in Latymer School production of 'Great Expectations', drama student.

Shot List

Scene 1 - Victim waking up and struggling (try from different angles)
- ECU victims eyes
- BCU victims eyes and nose
- CU victims face
- MCU victims head and neck
- MCU victims head and neck (from behind)
- MS victim struggling
- MS HA victim struggling (behind over shoulder)
- MS LA victim struggling (behind over shoulder)
- MLS victim struggling
- LS LA 360 arc victim struggling
- LS 360 arc victim struggling
- LS HA 360 arc victim struggling
- LS victim struggling
- LS HA victim struggling
- LS LA victim struggling
- VLS crab victim struggling
- VLS crab victim struggling (from behind)
- CU victims left hand chained
- CU victims right hand chained
- CU victims waist chained (padlock)
- CU victims feet chained (metal tray)
- CU tilt or crane up from feet to shoulders and head
- Steady zoom out from CU face to LS victim struggling (could tilt to one side slowly)
- Crash zoom in from LS victim struggling to CU face

Scene 2 - Killers entrance
- POV handheld track of killer entering basement to victim
- Track following killer entering basement to victim (over shoulder)
- CU of killers feet walking down stairs
- CU of killers last step onto puddle
- CU of killers feet walking on level ground
- POV LS killer spying on victim through gap in shelves (not showing victims face)
- OTS LS killer spying on victim through gap in shelves (not showing victims face)
- LS killers shadow on wall (walks towards then turns right)
- MS killers shadow on wall (walks past)
- LA VLS killer walking past camera, looking around corner to victim (fully blacks out screen for split second)
- VLS killer walking past camera, looking around corner to victim (fully blacks out screen for split second)
- CU killers nose, mouth and neck as he zips up his jacket or zips down his jacket slightly
- CU killers fingers tapping against sides
- CU killer stretching out hand or cracking knuckles

Scene 3 - Killer/Victim conversation
- POV LS light flash with nothing in room ahead (from victims POV)
- POV LS light flash revealing killer (from victims POV)
- POV MLS light flash revealing killer (from victims POV)
- POV MS light flash revealing killer (from victims POV)
- POV MCU light flash revealing killer (from victims POV)
- HA OTS LS killer walking towards victim
- LA LS killer walking towards victim (from bottom left)
- LS mastershot of conversation (side on)
- MS OTS victims whole conversation (over killers left shoulder)
- MS OTS killers whole conversation (over victims right shoulder)
- CU killer chosing weapon and picking it up
- Quick pan down from victims face to weapons
- Handheld shot following killers weapon towards victims gag
- MLS Crab behind victim as killer speaks
- MLS OTS HA killer speaking (so weapons can be seen behind on ground)
- MS killer putting victim to sleep (side on)
- CU victims face falling to sleep
- ECU victism eyes falling to sleep
- POV room going blurry (from victims POV & going out of focus)
- LS of victim asleep and killer walking away

Scene 4 - Killers exit
- POV handheld track of killer exiting basement
- Track following killer exiting basement (over shoulder)
- MLS other victim chained to wall
- MCU other victim moaning
- CU bloody hand on door pane as lights go out

Cutaway Shots
- CU drainpipe dripping water onto puddle
- CU pipes near ceiling
- CU lights flickering
- MS blurry lights shimmering (out of focus)
- CU saw swinging from side to side hung up on peg
- CU sinister object on shelf
- CU scattered paper
- CU weapons lined up on ground

Kris

Script Final (edited)

Killer enters the corner of the room, walks towards the victim in the chair, takes his weapon of choice and uses it to ungag him instead of kill him, to the surprise of the audience. The victim gives a confused moan.

Killer (calmly and reassuringly): Theres no need to be frightened, we're gonna take good care of you.

Victim (bewildered): What? No, please -

Killer: I said theres no need to be frightened... we try to accomodate all our new guests as best we can.

Victim: But -

Killer: Trust me.

The killer begins to feel inside his coat pockets.

Victim (in confusion): Who are you? What am i doing here?

The Killer takes a sympathetic look at the victim.

Killer: Hmm you look a little dizzy... would you like a drink?

Victim (more anger): Who are you?!

Pause.

Killer (with more charm): It would be aweful of me not to offer you a drink. I'll bring you down some water on my next visit.

Victim (in desperation): Your NEXT visit? Wha - Whats going on? What am i doing here?!

Killer (with sudden frightening anger, quickly desceninding into calm): PLEASE - be quiet. If you wouldn't mind. We've been recieving alot of complaints recently...

Victim: What? Where am I?! Who the hell are -

Killer (suddenly): I SAID BE QUIET.

The killer grabs the victim by the jaw. The victim moans in pain and desperation. The killer thinks to himself and regathers his calm state of mind.

You seem terribly confused. I recommend you catch some sleep now.

The killer ignores the desperate moans and plees of the victim and forces him to sleep with a drug. The victims eyes roll and eventually he slumps into his chair asleep.

Killer: Better, thanks. Its greatly appreciated.

The killer smiles to himself and begins to walk out the room quietly humming to himself the tune of the lullaby 'go to sleep'. As he walks down an aisle between some shelves the sounds of other men screaming becomes more evident. Another victim chained to a wall starts to moan out to the killer as he walks past.

Killer: Now, now Mike. You take good care now.

The killerwalks towards a door where there is the sound of someone moving. The killer opens the door and walks through it.

Killer: And you Jack. Good night.

The killer shuts the door forcefully. A blood stained hand can be seen making an attempt to grab the handle but simply thumpingon the door palm first before smearing helplessly down the glass. The killer stops in his tracks and faces the door with a look of inconvenience on his face.

Killer: Ah, another job for the cleaner.

The killer laughs subtly in a sinister way before murmering something to himself.

Killer (almost secretively): She'll be dead pleased...

The killer laughs again to himself and leaves the basement to the sound of his footsteps and his "oblivious" humming.


Kris

Script Draft

Killer enters the corner of the room, walks towards the victim in the chair, takes his weapon of choice and uses it to ungag him instead of kill him, to the surprise of the audience. The victim gives a confused moan.

Killer (calmly and reassuringly): Theres no need to be frightened, we're gonna take good care of you.

Victim (bewildered): What? No, please -

Killer: I said theres no need to be frightened... we try to accomodate all our new guests as best we can.

Victim: But -

Killer: Trust me.

The killer begins to feel inside his coat pockets.

Victim (in confusion): Who are you? What am i doing here?

The killer kneels down with a torch, ignoring the question.

Killer: I'm just going to check your eyes, you might be feeling a little dazed.

The killer forces the torch towards the victims eyes and checks his pupils.

Victim (with more anger): Get off me!

Killer: Hmm you look a little dizzy... would you like a drink?

Victim: Who are you?

Pause.

Killer (with more charm): It would be aweful of me not to offer you a drink. I'll bring you down some water on my next visit.

Victim (in desperation): Your NEXT visit? Wha - Whats going on? What am i doing here?!

Killer (with sudden frightening anger, quickly desceninding into calm): PLEASE - be quiet. If you wouldn't mind. We've been recieving alot of complaints recently...

Victim: What? Where am I?! Who the hell are -

Killer (suddenly): I SAID BE QUIET.

The killer grabs the victim by the jaw. The victim moans in pain and desperation. The killer thinks to himself and regathers his calm state of mind.

You seem terribly confused. I recommend you catch some sleep now.

The killer ignores the desperate moans and plees of the victim and forces him to sleep with a drug. The victims eyes roll and eventually he slumps into his chair asleep.

Killer: Better, thanks. Its greatly appreciated.

The killer smiles to himself and begins to walk out the room quietly humming to himself the tune of the lullaby 'go to sleep'. As he walks down an aisle between some shelves the sounds of other men screaming becomes more evident. Another victim chained to a wall starts to moan out to the killer as he walks past.

Killer: Now, now Mike. You take good care now.

The killerwalks towards a door where there is the sound of someone moving. The killer opens the door and walks through it.

Killer: And you Jack. Good night.

The killer shuts the door forcefully. A blood stained hand can be seen making an attempt to grab the handle but simply thumpingon the door palm first before smearing helplessly down the glass. The killer stops in his tracks and faces the door with a look of inconvenience on his face.

Killer: Ah, another job for the cleaner.

The killer laughs subtly in a sinister way before murmering something to himself.

Killer (almost secretively): She'll be dead pleased...

The killer laughs again to himself and leaves the basement to the sound of his footsteps and his "oblivious" humming.


Kris

Group Meeting 3

Things we need to discuss:
- Who's bringing what from checklist.
- What we need to buy before shoot.
- Helpers/actors.
- Shoot dates/times.

Shaun

Check List

Stuff we need to bring ourselves:
- Ingrediants for fake blood (Jack's writing it out)
- Make-up
- Fake scars
- Black tape
- Small torch
- Bottle to carry water
- Trench coat
- Black boots
- Gloves
- White polo top
- Jeans (x 2)
- Trainers
- Any clothes for other victims i.e. hoody, jeans, shirt...

Stuff we need to get from media department:
- White sheet/throw
- Studio Lights (x 3)
- Blue filter gel (x 3)

Shaun

How to make BLOOD!

Need:
Corn Syrup
Red Food Colouring
Blue Food Colouring
Flour

Step 1

Measure 1/8 of a cup of corn syrup into a small bowl or measuring cup. You may use light or dark corn syrup, but light corn syrup may require a bit more food coloring.

Step2

Add about 20 drops of red food coloring to the corn syrup and stir well. If you are going for a nonrealistic, super gory fake blood effect, bright red may be just what you are looking for to complement your monster makeup. If you are going for a more realistic look, add blue food coloring one drop at a time until you reach your desired shade.

Step3

Thicken your fake blood for easier application by adding about 1 tsp. of sifted white flour. Stir the mixture as well as possible and let sit for 10 minutes. After the mixture has set and thickened a bit, the extra flour will float on top where you can easily remove the clumps. Adding flour will also make your fake blood less transparent and more realistic.

This tutorial was taken from http://www.ehow.com/how_2191800_make-fake-movie-blood.html

Jack

How to make Wounds - Indy Mogul

I was doing some research on how to create realistic wound effects on the internet and I found the site http://www.indymogul.com/ it's really helpful with trying to make convincing effects on a low budget. It's easy to get hold of the materials they use too. Some of the tutorials on this site are very big-scale like making a 'swamp monster' costume or doing things for Sci-Fi movies so it takes a while to sift through that but there is a lot of interesting things to do such as decpitating someone or ripping their heart out if we were creating an extremely gorey horror movie.

Jack

Character Appearances

Victim 1
Plain white t, jeans, trainers, black eye using make up, messy hair, water on face for tears/sweat

Victim 2
White shirt, jeans, trainers, covered in fake blood

Victim 3
Doesn't matter just dark clothing

Killer
Dark trench coat, black boots, black jeans/trousers, gloves?

Jack

Final Idea (after test shooting)

Title: ?

Slogan: ?

Location: Latymer school basmement

Actors: Kris, Shaun

People on set (need helpers): Kris, Shaun, Jack, Barney?

Characters (need names): 1 - victim who wakes up chained in chair gagged up, moans and tries to free himself, is sent to sleep, 2 - killer who spies on victim, then sends him to sleep before walking out of the basement, 3 - one or two more victims, one covered in blood who grabs for the door before the killer walks out, one maybe banging a spade or trying to escape in some way

Equipment we have: camera, tripod, headphones, 3 lights, blue filter gel for each, white sheet

Props we have: weapons, chair, chains, rope, padlock, metal tray, any sinister objects in basement, pipes, electric lights, shelves etc

Props we need: fake blood, black tape

Other things we need: water source, something to clean up fake blood

Storyline: victim wakes up in chair, killer spies on him before walking in, killer looks like he will kill him with a weapon but instead rips off his gag, he talks to the victim reassuringly before forcing him to sleep with a drug, killer then walks out of the basement to desperate plees for freedom from other victims, he slams the door as a victim tries to escape - their hand imprinting on the door in blood

Techniques to use: starts with CU's of victim waking up, flash cutaways using motivated cuts to show he is chained up, then long shots and cutaways shots establishing where he is, POV shot showing killer spying on him, parallel editing between victim and killers footsteps as he enters, match on action as he enters, shot/reverse shot for conversation, POV tracking shot for killers exit, fade to black at end revealing title of film, cutaway shots of dripping pipes/flickering lights/random objects throughout sequence with titles/credits appearing alongside

Sounds to be added after: unsettling sounds such as banging/rustling/echoing etc, buzzing lights, dripping water, faint male screams and moans, maybe some unnerving music?

Shaun

Props

For our real shoot we will need a bunch of props to make the affect of a killer's cell full of victims.
We will need:

• A saw / circular saw
• A mallet/hammer
• A chisel
• Nails
• A crowbar
• Black tape
• Chains
• Pad locks
• Fake blood
• Chair
• Metal tray (for feet)

Shaun

Test Shoot

Our test shoot went very well and we got some great footage. We worked for 5 hours down in the basement. It took nearly an hour just to set up the location though with moving a lot of boxes and mops as well as seting up the lights. We then tested the lights for a good amount of time testing which ones looked best and recorded some different gels and intensities. After this we tried a few different shot types and came up with this idea of a really long POV track shot. We did this a few times each time adding extra things in till the end where we had a great shot. This was the best bit of our test shoot as it helped us come up with the idea for our whole film. Getting feedback from Ms Blackborow gave us loads of great ideas, and now we've basically got a final idea. However, there were problems with the shoot, most involving the lack of spacve in our location. Our shoot involved a lot of time spent on moving equipment, clearing space and removing objects which did not look right in the shot. The location wasn't perfewct as there was so much clutter and we didn't even remove it all. A lot of it we left and we also had to use a sheet to cover a lot. In the real shoot we plan to get helpers to help us clean up and make space for us.
Shaun

BLK feedback

pleased it went well today, looking forward to seeing the footage
:-)

can you change your colour scheme slightly? - the text doesn't stand out enough against the background . . .

Test Shoot - Monday 24th November

Here are some photos I took to show what we did on our test shoot.

A window in the basement we could use as a spy hole.

Where the victim will be sitting in the basement (once removing all the clutter).

Close up of the chair.

Testing out lights at low intensity.

At high intensity.

Filming some initial test shots.

Using the blue filter gel on the lights for cold metallic effect.

Using the orange filter gel on the lights to create a dangerous effect, in contrast to the blue.

Filming from the victims point of view.

Using the chain and padlock as props.

Close up of the chain and padlock.

Close up of a hand chained up.

Using the metal tray to chain the victims feet to.

The chair fully set up with chains, rope and metal tray (just missing the victim).

The weapon line up.

Close up of where the victims feet will be.

Low intensity lighting with blue filter gel (our final lighting setup).

Stairway for killers entrance.

A possible close up of the killers feet on stairway.

Point of view shot of killer walking into basement.

Killer looking through door where blue light shines through.

Our favourite shot of a victims hand on the door.

A hole in the door glass which could be exploited for shock.

What the killer sees as he enters.

The killers shadow as he walks.

Pitch black in hallway between the two light setups, disorientating the audience before the killer reaches the victim in the chair.

A gap in the shelves which the killer can look through and spy on the victim.

What the killer will see (with victim sitting in chair).

Kris

Treatment

1. The action: identify the event your idea is based around; what actually happens (discovery of a body, an illicit meeting, a witness seeing a crime being committed, a criminal act taking place, a telephone call, a chase, a short journey etc)?
A man is bound and gagged, in a chair in a basement. The character wakes up and is very dazed. A new character walks down to the basement. He appears to be the killer but holds a reassuring conversation (if not ironic) with the victm. Instead of killing him he ungags him before sending him to sleep again. The killer then exits whilst other victims in the basement can be seen pleeing for mercy and trying to escape.

2. The theme(s): what should it make the audience think about or feel, what ‘issues’ will it raise (revenge, sexuality, voyeurism, stalking, obsession, greed etc)
Revenge, murder, torture, claustrophobia, trapped, watched, cold, psycho, irony, possible obsession?

3. The narrative: how is it structured - classic narrative pattern or break with convention, real time or different time zones, flashbacks/forwards, dreams etc. Will there be dialogue? What about diegetic/ non-diegetic sound?
It will be real time in a continuous sequence. It will be structured in a way to not establish the location of the victim until about 30 seconds in, not reveal the killer until about 1 minute in, and not reveal the actual situation (more than one person being kept there) until the end of the sequence. It will have dialogue in the final minute but most sounds will be added on over the top despite being diegtic. The only possible non-diegetic sound will be any music we make to build tension.

4. The character(s): who are they, identify their roles, what are their characteristics, including gender, appearance etc?
The victim is male and normal looking with plain clothes such as a white polo top. His personality is unclear except for the fact he is terrified and wants to break free. He could be fairly well built and tall to scare the audience that such a male is powerless to the killer. He will look bruised and battered with black eye, cuts, dirt and messy hair. His clothes could be ripped and slightly dirty or blood-stained. The killer is male and suspicious until he begins to talk. He wears a dark trench coat but other than that is fairly normal looking despite him being tall. He seems normal as he talks but holds tones of twisted irony. As he walks away he murmers and sings to himself and it is clear despite acting normal and charming around his victims, he is a bit of a psycho. He is also strong, ruthless and powerful in occasional sudden movements such as forcing a victim to sleep. He could be pyschotic and seems to pretend he is running some sort of hotel, looking after his "guests".

5. The setting and choice of location: where is it set?
The location is the school basement. We have cleared out some space in a corner for the chair, with a white sheet covering alot of boxes that will add clutter. Here there are pipes and a flickering lights. We also will set up a light with blue filter gel here to give it a cold, metallic look. The rest of the basement is dark and it could be any basement - this is unclear to the audience. There is a stairway and then a door where we will set up another blue light behind to create the effect of this cold light coming from the doorway. This will also show another victim covered in blood in the blue light. Between this door and the corner of the room with the chair, there is an aisle between some shelves. This will be nearly pitch black to not show the clutter and to disorientate the audience by not showing so much perspective in the room from location to location. We may shine one more blue light behind one of the shelves to cast half the aisle in shadow, but being able to see little glimmers of the corridor.

6. The mise-en-scene: identify colours, lighting, dress codes, the overall visual look
We are using low key lighting using 3 standard studio lights with blue filter gel. The overall look will be blue, metallic and cold like many modern horror films. There will be lots of shadows and darkness to add to mystery and tension. This is not hard in a basement with no naturl lights on. It will create an eery atmosphere boosted by the sounds we will add. The dress code will be plain to keep focus on the situation and setting (plain such as white polo tops, jeans etc). The killer will where a dark trench coat to set him apart from the others.

7. The camera work: the style you are aiming for
The fist minute will show the character waking up, using CU's at first (a montage of different angles) to show his reaction. Next we will establish the scene using motivated cuts (the actor looking down followed by flash cutaways showing his chains etc) and then LS establishing shots. We will then parallel edit between shots of the victim and POV shots of the killer spying on him (shot framed by shelves) and his footsteps. Next a shot/reverse shot and continuity editing will show conversation between the 2 and reveal the character and situation. Finally, a long POV tracking shot will show the killer leave the basement and reveal that there are more victims trapped in the basement. The final shot will be of a hand coverd in blood smeering down the glass on the door as the killer closes it and says something ironic before his footsteps are heard leaving. This will fade to black revealing the film title. The whole sequence will be cut up by random cutaways establishing the basement feel of the scene and eeriness, accompanied by credits. The style will be disorientating and as if we are spying on the victim. LA's will make him look small and powerless, with CU's amplifying his terrified expressions.

8. The editing: edited as a continuous sequence, use of cross cutting, use of montage, or combination?
A combination of montage (flash montage), cutaways, some continuity edting (dialogue and conversation) and a long POV tracking shot.

9. Has your idea been ‘tested’ against the key criteria (the 8 questions)?
We tested the 8 questions on test shoot and now can say the idea is practical and uses the strengths of the group and the location (the darkness and lighting). The combiantion of camera techniques will show off what we have learnt this term and we can definately shoot in the time and available and using the resources we have in the media department, as the test shoot was successful and we are filming at school. We have gained permission to the basement for the next 2 shooting weeks and we have access to the 3 studio lights and blue gel filters we need. The sequence will include conversation and dialogue and we are most likely to act ourselves so are extremely reliable as it is for the benefit of our own projects. The only issue we have is space in the basement as we have to move lots of things, and we would like the blue lights to be flashing (flickering) so we need one person on each light. 2 to 3 helpers maybe recquired to help on lights, play extra victims and their sounds, and to help clear out the space before shoot and put everything back. We have reliable friends who are willing to help out and be part of the project by helping out in such a way.

10. Group responses?
We have gone through many ideas and after test shooting we have cut our ideas down to this last idea. We have realised it will be hard to get quality actors to play a completely psychotic killer, so have changed this to make the killer almost normal-like. The discovery of the long POV tracking shot has boosted our idea and the lighting is perfect for this idea. We have come up with this final idea through the props and resources available to use in the basement.

11. Teacher responses?
Miss blackborow wanted us to not make our idea so complicated so we have avoided a time change, more than 2 main characters and too much going on. She also suggested we build up tension for the first minute and not introduce too much action. She liked the idea of the killer being normal and suggested he be charming whilst being ironic, as if seeing to guests. She decided the long POV track would be better with the killer leaving as to not establish there is more than one victim until the end. With these changes we have come up with this final idea with which both we and the teacher are happy will work.

More Influences

This is a scene of Gollum in 'Lord of the Rings 2'. He is having an argument with his other side, Smeagle, because he is a schizophrenic. The scene uses shot/reverse shot on the same character to make it look like two characters talking to each other, when really it is the same character. We hope to achieve the same technique for our character who could be a schizophrenic arguing between his good and bad side.

Jack

Test Shoot Times

Possible Times:
Monday 24th Nov: Inset day 9-5
Tuesday 25th Nov: 4-8 half shoot
Friday 21st Nov: 4-8 half shoot

We decided to shoot on the 24th November.

Jack

Influences

Saw 1 - Opening Sequence


Saw 2 - Opening Sequence


We thought our opening sequence could share alot of similar features to the openings of 'Saw 1' and 'Saw 2', obviously taking into account our budget.

The aspects of 'Saw 1' we thought we could use were the location type, the sounds/atmosphere and certain shots. The location is in a bathroom rather than a basement, but holds the same kind of disused and dirty feel as our location. We particularly liked the watery effect shown in the bath scene, and the fuzzy electric effect shown by shots of the lights when they flicker on. These are boosted by eery sounds of dripping water and electricity generators, a background fuzz we feel we could emulate fairly easily with fans or the light sounds themselves, and using water from a bucket to drip on the pipes. The overall sound is fairly silent with sudden drum sounds matching random flash shots to scare you. We could record drum sounds and use the same kind of shots to help build tension and keep the audience on guard for action. That leaves the very faint high pitched violin twing that occasionally rises and falls as tension runs its course. I don't know how we could emulate this, possibly making our own violin sound on the computer as a kind of audio track. A shot I really liked from the 'Saw 1' opening was the point of view shot from the character as the lights turn on, as this is blurry as if he is in a dazed and blinded state. We could use this for our character as he wakes up, altering the focus on the camera at this point for blurred effect. Also, I feel we can reverse the effect of darkness to light shown in this scene, by the lights flickering and going out at the end of our sequence. This would be effective in mystery, suspence and the meaning of loss of hope, while leaving a black slide to put the title of the film without having to use a cheesy fade to black effect.

We felt the camera movements and lighting in the 'Saw 2' clip were extremely effective, and we could use a similar kind of style. The lighting was fairly bright, with the combination of grey/green slimey walls and yellow/white lights giving the whole clip a neon green/yellow kind of bright tint to contrast the shadows and darkness. The lights in our location are very similar, whilst the walls (mainly concrete and brickwork) are more dusty yellow. The overall effect could be a slight neon yellow tint to create bright contrast to the shadows, especially if we shoot at low key lighting with lights only focused on the character and the rest relying on the room lights as they flicker. The shadows created will give a great opputunity to mask the killer and add mystery to his identity, as well as possibly shocking the audience when he arrives. The camera movements in the 'Saw 2' clip are almost an array of different angles of the victim in the chair pieced together in a lightning quick montage. Here this is so fast as to depict the idea of racing against time, but we could use such quick camera movements as flash cutaways to clues of the victims whereabouts, fast-forwarded pans, arcs and tilts of the victim at different angles, and cuts of his face at different distances quickly pieced together to zoom in on him in a mechanical style. This would create the effect of panic, confusion and disorientation as well as giving the film a modern rejuvinated and alternative effect. The sequence could be fast and pacy at some points, but we will also slow it right down at points to build up tension and introduce the characters, setting and situation, as well as creating space for continuity techniques over montage. The camera movements for 'Saw 2' will only be used at certain points in our sequence and not for the whole duration, as this would not work for our project, and we have to take into account that we are shooting an ameteur film with average equipment.

We will try to combine similar aspects, and will go as far as we can to emulate some of the techniques shown in the clips on a low budget. We felt both clips had an interesting style, especially in the titles, with 'Saw 1' showing a slow and gloomy effect with cold, blue and rippling watery titles, and 'Saw 2' showing an inconsistent and unpredictable effect with neon yellow/green flickering electric titles. We could use either of these styles in our titles and credits appearing alongside such features as dripping water and flickering lights, to either create a solumn or threatening atmosphere. Both are rather chilling and signify danger clearly. We hope to amplify both with effective titles between clips that use many of the techniques shown in the early scenes of the 'Saw' movies.

Kris

BLK feedback

Wow! Nice work boys! Interesting idea, although my concerns are:
1. Very complicated, with several scenes and the confusion for the audience over time frames. Perhaps it could be scaled down a bit? It's too much for only 2 mins of screen time; you will need to build up the mood/mise-en-scene slowly and introduce your characters and there's no point rushing that in order to get in lots of action.
2. the caretaker may be ok with one filming session but I'm not convinced they'll let you complete an entire shoot down there. Great photos though and the location is perfect for what you need.

Characters

Victim 1
Possible Names: Mike, Pete, Jack, Matt, Tim, Tom.
Role: Victim, tied up in chair, struggles, uncertain conclusion.
Appearance: Bruised, battered, fake cuts, black eye, messy hair, sweating, tears?
Clothes: Suit or shirt/tie, ragged trousers or smart trousers, shoes or trainers.
Needed Acting Traits: male, fairly well built, can act really scared/confused/dazed, can produce fake tears.

Victim 2
Possible Names: Mark, Mike, Dan, Pete, Joe, Jack, Nick, Matt, Tim, Tom, Chris.
Role: Friend of victim 1, has been lead to victims location, find location to find noone there, is killed by killer.
Appearance: Bruised and battered, sweating, fake cuts, ripped clothes, out of breath.
Clothes: Plain white t splattered in blood, jeans (ripped), trainers.
Needed Acting Traits: Male, athletic, can act scared/confused/angry.

Killer
Possible Names: Unnamed or has a nickname to do with the title.
Role: Walks about victim 1 possibly assembling torture tools, follows victim 2 into basement, kills victim 2. Very childish, he never grew up. So murder ways are very strange and have child-like signifiers.
Appearance: Ambiguous, tall, in the shadows, masked or face shadowed, threatening/menacing.
Clothes: Black boots, black hoodie/jacket/cloak, black fingerless gloves, mask?
Needed Acting Traits: Can look powerful/menacing, tall, physical, well-built, can speek in deep/threatening voice.

Kris

Final Idea

The sequence will be set in a basement-like room. It will open with shots of a victim in a suit, beaten up, bruised, gagged and tied up to a chair. He will struggle and look terrified, moaning out of desperation. Shots will be cut up by cutaway shots establishing features of the room such as a puddle with dripping water, a broken pipe, a flickering light and a brick wall with the mans shadow. Credits will appear alongside these objects. The sequence will begin alternating between 2 scenes using parallel editing - one of the victim as a figure appears and begins assembling some torture weapons and one of a mystery person running. We will see features of this person without seeing their face and will see them run down some stairs into a dark cellar (the basement). The audience believe the 2 scenes are happening at the same time, with the person running towards the victim. As the person enters into the cellar, we will cut away to a third scene following slower more sinister footsteps down the stairway. As the person moves around the corner towards where the victim should be, a dark shape moves across the screen quickly. The tension will build up towards this climax as we follow the person around the corner to find an empty chair and words along the lines of 'too late' scrawled across the wall in blood (or red paint). This will confuse the audience who expect to find the victim in the chair. At this point the camera faces the person who we see full on for the first time, as he begins shouting for what appears to be his friend (the audience finds this out now). As he moves towards a dark corner, a figure appears from out the darkness and grabs the persons neck from behind at knife point. There is some kind of brief significant conversation between the 2 before the killer slashes the persons throat. We do not see the point of penetration but just a quick action assuming the murder happens as we cut to a shot of the empty chair with flickering lights. The lights go out and the film title appears. The rest of the film will trace back what happened before the victim was caught, establishing the characters, and will then follow what happened and why. It will contain aspects of murder, suspence and gore, focusing on a modern combination of horror and thriller.

Kris

Prop List

Clothes:
Suit/shirt/tie
Plain white t, jeans
Black hoodie or jacket/black boots/fingerless black gloves

Props:
Chair
Rope
Black Tape
Ribena or fake blood
Red paint
Water source (bucket?)
Knife

Shaun

Title Ideas

The Follower

The Followed

Hunted

Trick of the Mind

The Time Trick

Twisted Irony

The Timekeeper

Too Late

Saving Seconds

Death Count

The Counting Game

Count to 3

Overdue

A Lesson in Punctuality

The Trail

The Race

Traceless

Clueless

Tracing Time

Wasting Time

The Appointment

Follow Me

Kris

Group Meetings

Group Meeting 1 - Notes

Genres
- horror (slasher or supernatural)
- thriller (gangster or crime)

Possible Locations
- school (latymer great hall or basement)
- graveyard (chingford cemetary)
- woods (epping forest, pole hill, high beach or ponds near butlers retreat)
- canal (waterhouse by 'halfords' at outer chingford retail or 'boat club' by chingford resevoirs)
- abandoned house (unused house next door to a friends)
- lonely bar (Jack's dads bar or a bar near to latymer school)
- old fashioned historic buildings (tudor museum, 'the harvester', a pub or 'butlers retreat' - all leading onto chingford plains)
- alleyway covered in forest (organ lane near Kris/Jack's house)
- car park and backstreet alleyways (sainsburys car park at chingford mount)
- abandoned littered streets and warehouses (near lea valley odeon and picketts lock)
- church (st peters and chingford green)

Possible Characters
- a female teenage victim (with loud scream)
- a small friendship group of either girls or mixed gender from a posh public school
- a couple of hard-looking italian or cockney gangsters
- a confident teenage boy who can run fast
- a teenage male or grown up to act as the villain (not necessarily ever seen in shot)
- a group of youngsters our age who can sing!

Available Actors
- ourselves and other media students
- sixth formers who do drama, are past media students or are willing to make themselves available to act
- Jack's cousin and his friends

Ideas
- a murder
- a past event (either a murder or supernatural happening in the 1950's or tudor times)
- a secret gangster meeting or confrontation (leading to a murder, shooting or bust-up)
- a monster/unseen creature attack
- a vampire musical (probably not going to happen!)

Group Meeting 2 - Notes

Idea 1
Location: Latymer School Basement
A victim wakes up tied up in a chair and gagged. With only the sound of dripping water and faint echoes, he begins to hear footsteps. The scene will cross cut between shots of the man in the chair and shots suggesting someone is walking down towards the basement where he is. The sequence will provide some sort of twist, with one idea being that a climax to the scene will quickly switch to a friendlier scene from 24 hours earlier via a graphic match. A link maybe shown between the killer in the present scene and a friend the victim is with in the past (possibly showing the victim who is his friend the same knife used in the present scene, or an item of clothing, tattoo or accessory seen in the same way). This will lead to the audience already suspecting the killer in the opening sequence, but the film will lead on to reveal a different killer in a surprising twist. Another idea is that the two scenes using parallel editing (of the victim and of footsteps etc) are at different points in time, with either the footsteps being a few hours before the victim scene, or a few hours after. The first of these would make the audience think the victim was about to be attacked but would be surprised to see the killer simply setting up his trap (possibly using a knife to cut a rope or something, instead of killing the victim). The second would reveal what you think as a killer to be a friend of the victim who has apparently been lead to believe he will find his friend here (through what he says as he enters and his shocked reaction to find his friend not there). With the audience confused, the friend would face an empty chair and a wall marked with blood saying something along the lines of 'too late'. Then out of the darkness a figure would suddenly appear and grab the friend before presumably killing him. The audience would then want to know what happened to the victim in the chair but will not know until later on in the film. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, slasher horror, revenge and suspence thriller.

Idea 2
Location: Path by canal/Bridge
The sequence could be a mysterious continuity-based opening showing a teenage boy walking by a canal. He will look troubled as if in a bad way (messed up life, possibly on drugs). Sinister noises and images disturb his walk in an eery silence. The sequence will either involve someone following the boy and killing him, him witnessing a murder on the other side of the canal only to be murdered in exactly the same way moments later, or his route to be disturbed by the presence of perculiar hooded beings (possibly to look like normal youths, only to be wearing hoodies backwards to mask their faces). Another idea would be to show the boy entering onto a plain bridge to find a dead body lying in the centre. Curious, the boy could move towards the body to find it either dead, a doll or dead but with a sinister and chilling appearance such as a painted face or mask. Then two hooded figures on either side of the bridge he had entered could appear and close in on him, trapping him. They could either kill him or he could jump off the bridge into the canal (which would admittedly be dangerous to film). In each of these ideas it would be hard for the audience to distinguish imagination from reality due to the boys confusion and possibly the sight of him carrying or doing drugs that may make him see halucinations. The end of the opening may show the victim dead with scratch wounds and bruises having supposedly been attacked by the silent hooded figures (zombie-like?) but the last shot could steadily zoom out from the body to show no beings around, suggesting he was seeing things and was attacked by his own mind and ended up killing himself through the horrible images he was seeing (with the bridge scenario ending up in him being drowned in the canal because of images he had seen in his mind). The film could have a moral message against drug use and youth gang crime. I thought the rest of the film could be about a a new drug which is disguised as a standard drug such as LSD, but is actually designed to kill its victims - a possible mass murder or terrorist attack on youths of the western world. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, thriller, psycological and creep-out horror.

Idea 3
Location: Abandoned house or 'White House' at Gilwell Park
We do not have a particular idea for these locations but is simply a back up idea in case the other 2 locations are not available. This would probably involve mainly interior filming too, to be safe. One idea we have is a group of teenagers arrive to check out the haunted legends of the abandoned house. One character (a girl) stays outside on look out as she is too scared. Sinister going-ons around her unsettle her and she calls for her friends. The opening sequence could involve her entering the house upon panicing that there is no shout back from inside. She could, to her horror, discover the bodies of her friends inside and either be caught herself, or run away. In running away, the rest of the film could be centered around her trying to escape from the forested area she has entered, entirely from her point of view, or just following her character. The film could be disorientating and end up in her being trapped by her surroundings (unable to leave the park) because of this curse/legend - although this will appear as her lost and apparently going around in circles. She would eventually be killed, possibly in a twist of events. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, slasher horror, disorientation and supernatural horror.

Shaun

The Masterplan

Our Shooting/Location Plan

At some point next week (17th-21st November) we plan to ask for school permission to use the school basement for test shooting on Friday 21st November, and real shooting the following two Fridays - 28th November and 5th December. We will ask the school caretakers and if necessary, the school office.

If successful we will use the following dates, using the test shoot as a 'location reccie' (or doing this another week day night that week).

If unsuccessful we will use our inset day (24th November) as a 'location reccie' for our other 2 locations in Chingford near to where we all live, and also as a test shoot. We would have to sort out dates and times to shoot for the following 2 weekends, using the preferred location from the test shoot.

Jack

Location Reccie

Location Reccie - Basement

For this location we thought we could have someone tied up after being abducted. I think this is a good location as it is easy to control the lighting because there's no outside light so we could make it dark easily. The wires and what seems like pipes could easily be the source of some sound effects we could add on like dripping water or the sound of electricity sparking. We would obviously move all the things in the middle of the room and put a chair there instead where they could be tied up by themselves. The rubble is also quite good as it gives it a very disused feel. The black wall behind where the chair would be is also quite useful as it accentuates the actual character.

Jack

Hello!

Hello and welcome to our blog.

We already have some great ideas for our project - an opening 2 minutes of a film.

We have ideas for mainly the horror genre, although a gangster thriller remains an option.

Hope you enjoy it. Now its time to work boys!