Shooting Schedule. . .

Photos of potential locations. . .

When choosing the location to shoot the scenes of our teaser trailer we had to consider many factors of mise en, restrictions and accessibility. We needed to find settings which best portrayed the right effect we our trying to convey to our audience.

The locations we needed consisted of both indoors and outdoors. The shots taken indoors, we should have no problem with as we have control over many variables that would otherwise oppose as threats. However, the majority of our teaser trailer consists of exterior shots so we have no control over extraneous variables such as weather, sound and light. This means we need to plan our shooting schedule wisely and take into consideration forecast, time of year and time of the day. As we our shooting during winter season, days are short, temperatures our low and weather is unpredictable.

We only had two key locations for all our indoor shots. A number of rooms around my house were used due to its accessible location and modern style interior. This therefore represents a typical modern family making the context of our trailer as close to reality as we can. However, we will adapt setting in order to convey the best possible effect, as you can see below we have achieved this by adding elements such as newspaper cutting on the wall. The other indoor shots will be taken within a chapel in one of the local villages. First we need to gain permission for its use; luckily Ellie’s grandmother is one of the key holders for the building so this should not cause an issue. These shots will only be brief and will allow us to fulfil the effect we desire, i.e. echoes, lighting etc. This location is related to the religious orientation of our extract, although it will not be made clear to the audience.

We have various locations for our required outdoor shots. Luckily for us, there is a local bonfire party happening in our local town. This is perfect for establishing a solid equilibrium we hope to establish, so this is an evening we will be sure to be taking advantage of. The second key location is again within the town of Towcester, within the neighbourhood of Shires. This shot will only consist of a back path; the reason for this location is due to its close proximity to our young actress. The last of the outdoor shots will be set within and just outside the local recreation ground. We have chosen this location due the facilities it offers. For example, the climbing and the swings will be perfect for our murdered children scenes i.e. a child ‘draped’ over a swing. Other reasons include it just alongside a high street, so this opens up a number of other various shot opportunities.

Permission. . .

Dear …………………………………………,

We as a group are currently creating a teaser trailer, film poster and website for our A2 Media piece of coursework and I would kindly ask for you to give your consent to use both the still and moving captions taken of you over the month of November 2010.

If you are happy to give your permission for the said use of your captions, would you please sign at the bottom of this letter and return to a member of the group.

We will also be pleased to show you the final product and would appreciate later feedback.

Kind Regards,

Lewis Tillyer, Chris Mahoney, Guilano Rapoz and Ellie Gocher

I ……………………………………………. Give my permission for you to use all captions taken of me in November 2010.

Signed

………………………………

Storyboard. . .

Why we watch horror/thriller films. . .

There are a number of reasons why people watch horror films; this is down to a number of factors such as individual differences, past experiences etc. I personally watch horror films in order to gain physical effects such as a rise in heart rate, jumping and gasping. All of these offer me the chance to experience physical changes which are rarely used in everyday life. A second reason people may choose to view these genres is escapism. For example, in films such as Alien it allows the audiences to engage in an unknown world to theirs, these results in them briefly forgetting about all threats, worries and problems they may have in their everyday life. Another may be to intrigue, solving puzzles or estimate later events. For example, the Saw movies are all based around jigsaws puzzles and games. This gives the audience a chance to work out what the characters have to do or even what they may have done. This involves the audience taking an active role (uses of gratification theory) as it involves the audience to think for themselves and interpret the situation in individual ways. A major reason may be that they often involve content associated with anti - mainstream activity. An exploitation of a taboo subject; something not acceptable within everyday society. This may offer the viewers the opportunity to access behaviour which they would not otherwise get the chance to see, i.e. a murder. Personal fear may also be another reason. For example, those afraid of spider may watch Eight Legged Freaks as this can be used as a means of facing their personal fear and taking a step of bravery. Lastly, people may choose to watch such genres due to the triumph of good over evil.

Possible challanges. . .

During the creation of our media productions we are likely to face a number of practical, ethical and theoretical challenges which we will have to consider –

Practical – The enviroment may become a challenge primary due to the weather. Any poor conditions such as rain, frost and high winds will all effect the quality of the picture and sound as well as making it extremely uncomfortable for those involved, i.e. the cast and crew. Other enviromental issues may be the space and locations available. Funding,  equipment and software all fall into the same belt, each is associated the overall professionalism and quality of our final production. For example, working with a poor camera will result in both a bad picture as well as sound.  One of the major practical issues our group is likely to face is time. Not only may we find it difficult to organise times when all the cast and crew are available to meet up and film, the limited hours in the day may also become an issue we will have to overcome, i.e. lighting concerns.

Ethical – Consent, we will have to gain permission from all those revealed within the filming and  images taken. We will be using a diverse range of people and ages within our productions, so this may result in  a long process and close attention to childhood formal consent. 

Theoretical – Values of Production Company, narrative, characters believable (acting skills), iconography.

Our Pitch. . .

Sunday's Child Synopsis. . .

Waltonbury, a small and secluded rural village on the outskirts of Hertfordshire, has always been recognised for its close knit community where everybody knew everyone and secrets were unheard of.

That is until the first child went missing…

She’s young. She’s beautiful. Her corpse, laid bare in the bypass betrays no secrets, that is except for strange numbers seared onto the inside of her cold lifeless hand.

The first body was a warning.

When Molly, a teenage girl living in the village discovers that her sister goes missing, terror spreads through the isolated town. Molly begins to fear that a brutal serial killer is stalking the village streets; a shadowy madman without mercy or apparent motive. How could this be happening in a place so serene?

The final body…might be hers.

With the death toll rising, Molly races to expose a deadly conspiracy and the sadistic killer at its heart, and every move she makes could be her last.

Sunday's Child Film Plot. . .

• Opens with a young girl running from an un-seen threat and eventually getting brutally killed by a hooded character.
• Credit Sequence
• Few months later, the village (the girl killed was from) are throwing a fete.
• Little girl goes missing
• Police are investigating, forensic science teams, etc. But they cannot trace the girls’ whereabouts or the killers.
• Girls’ parents begin arguing more and more and the mother has turned to drinking.
• Girls older sister can’t stand problems at home anymore and as police cant find anything she begins to create her own investigation.
• Girl begins to investigate around the village, asking citizens what they saw happen at the fete, where they were etc. Uses microphone to record investigation
• Other incidents begin to occur- a small group of children (all similar in age to the previous) go missing from the village playground.
• Police get nowhere with investigation.
• Molly finds security in her boyfriend, her parents disapprove of her having a boyfriend, arguments occur between parents and molly, they blame her for daughters’ disappearance.
• Whilst investigating one day, few days after playground incident, molly is walking down a road in the village and senses someone/ something watching her, making her insecure, when she turns to see what’s there she sees no one. As she turns back she bumps into the village priest. He apologises and comments on molly’s sisters’ disappearance and how he hasn't seen them both in church for several months. Molly smiles and carries on walking.
• Molly arrives at the playground and looks around for any signs of evidence. She can’t find anything. As she goes to leave she notices a large adult size shoe print of some mud on the path. She quickly takes a photo and returns home.
• Whilst looking at the shoe print image on the computer, struggling to find any clues of suspects from it, she sits back in stress. As she does so, she notices a pattern of mud on a flyer in a pile on her desk. She suspiciously picks up the flyer, for it to reveal the same footprint as the image. Unaware of the priest watching her outside the window (masked)
• Flashback- when molly bumped into the priest dropped some flyers and the priest accidentally stepped on one.
• Molly quickly grabs her bag and microphone and runs out of the house (night time).
• Molly runs to the village church, the lights are on inside unusually and the door is unlocked.
• Molly creeps in quickly, looking around for children and the priest.
• Suddenly as she walks round the corner and into the main church hall a horrible smell hits molly and she sees all the missing children, all dead in the church pews, etc.- ‘Sunday school’ style.
• Molly runs to her sister to see if she is alive- she doesn't move suggesting she's dead.
• As she stands in the church, breathing deeply and beginning to cry, the priest appears from shadows and begins to loudly preach and pray, cornering molly.
• As the priest leans into her, raising his blood-stained hands, molly takes out a bible from behind her back and smacks the priest around the head.
• As the priest crouches in pain, molly pushes past him and begins to run for the door.
• Just as molly is about to reach the door, it swings open and a crowd of the village adults swarm in.
• Molly is relieved and quickly reveals how the priest is the killer and they have found him, however, the adults all ignore her and continue to walk towards her, forcing her back into the church, whilst chanting prayers.
• Molly begins to panic and scream- “what's wrong with you?”, “he killed them all!”, “he’s right there! Why won’t you help me?”
• Adults all crowd around molly and the priest leans in and sedates her, she screams and then blacks out.
• As she wakes up, slightly dazed at first, she notices she is outside and all the adults are down below her. Molly looks around and has realises she has been crucified. Molly screams in pain and disbelief of it all.