We created an animatic storyboard to get an idea of what our initial storyboard will roughly look like, to decide whether the shots were right and this helped us out when deciding our final pieces. It starts off with the black screen and then going on to a shot of the television, panning to show pictures on the wall, obviously this isn't the real film opening so it is shown in different ways. The papers on the wall would represent what the girls where the pictures of the girls would be and the last pictures of the two girls at the end show how they would be pictures of girls in normal life. This is the step up from the storyboard and gives us a photograph side to understand it better. We decided that it might be a bit boring and the television was seen too much in the whole opening, we decided that when going across to the wall and seeing the pictures of the girls (which is shown in the last two pictures) we would have flashbacks of the girls at the scene of the crime, possibly only one of the girls, we don't want to over complicate matters and make the opening too much, as it is only the opening and not the whole film.
Post by: Jess Wilding Animatic Storyboard: Whole Group
We use consent forms to get the actor's permission to use the footage taken of them and to then publish it. They look like this:
As part of our Media Studies course we are required to make a number of films. This task is to create the opening of a fictional film. You have been selected to perform within our film opening. In order for us to proceed with filming work you must provide your consent to Chelmer Valley High School Media Department. This includes consent for us to use and image or recording of you, within our work. All those involved in performing in the piece will have to sign a consent form before the filming goes ahead. No one under the age of 16 should be filmed or photographed. In the case of a person under 18 years of age, their parent and/or legal guardian should also sign this Consent Form where indicated below.
Consent and agreement: I.....................................[insert full name] understand and agree that the footage taken of me within performance may be used, published, reproduced, recorded, adapted, modified, complied and edited by Chelmer Valley High School Media Students for the purposes of their G321 Coursework. I understand that by giving consent, Chelmer Valley High School Media Students can use my performance in whole or part, and will place it on their blogger website that holds their coursework, along with YouTube. I understand that the film will be uploaded via a school user name that only Media Students have access to and the public comments will be disabled.
As a performer you have the choice to be credited in the piece. Please tick the appropriate box:
0 I do wish to be credited on the work that is uploaded to YouTube and the Blogger site. I understand my name will be seen on the film.
0 I do not wish to be credited on the work that is uploaded to YouTube and the Blogger site. I understand that my name will not be seen on the film.
We had to organise all of the forms and make sure that even the people that will be seen in images only will have signed a consent form, this included the actor's: Amy Wilding, Roxanne Ransom and Yasmin Young.
After research on the Horror genre we realized that most characters, to create a scary atmosphere towards the audience, wear masks so in order to include this within our horror genre opening we needed to create a mask that our killer could wear.
Below is the process of making our murderers mask
We based our film upon a child scared by a pigs death so we tried to create a mask that has a pig like resemblance.
This would be the first step in making the mask to put the fast-setting plaster on the front of the face, during this step you have to get a straw and cut them into 2 small pieces and place inside the nose, this is so that the person you are using for this step will need to breath. You quickly mix the plaster with water and stir til a smooth consistency and place all over the face until completely covered. When the mixture has set this is what it would look like.
Equipment
To get the next step you'd have to put the same plaster on the mask (above) to get the overall finish of the person's face when the latex has dried. In this picture there is the latex, the pot to drain the access latex and the brush to make sure the latex is not uneven.
When the latex has been spread evenly on the mould then to dry the latex you would have to get a hairdryer (like the one in the picture above) and wait until you can see the latex has discoloured to a yellowish colour.
This is the type of colour it would turn when it was starting to dry, however the eye socket parts are still a bit wet, finish on drying and wait until they have discoloured more. You would have to repeat this step at least 10-12 times to get the desired thickness to the mask. (This took me about 3 hours)
Once finished these steps, you would have to peal back the mask from the mould. This was our latex mask finish. As you might be able to see around the sides of the mask they are a bit jagged, we didn't want to make it perfect as in our film the killer would have made his mask hand-made so it couldn't be really detailed.
Once the sides have been made a bit neater we would start on the bass colour of the face as it isn't the colour we would like it to be, it needs to be skin coloured. Any make-up being put on the mask has to be acrylic paint for it to not rub off.
After playing around with different acrylic paints and getting the colour we'd like, we got this colour that was the closest we could get to the required colour. We would have to wait until this has dried to put the next lot of colour on, as skin isn't just one colour we would have to put different types of oranges and yellows together to make it look more realistic.
After waiting for the pain to dry on the mask we decided to put the fake blood that we use on the girl in the bath on the mask in all the creases of the mask. This would make it look more creepy and would represent the events that happened to Bill Hasley as he had his accident.
After the paint and fake blood had dried we had to put different 'skin' colours to make the mask more realistic. This is a picture of what we were doing and trying to achieve.
This is what our final mask looked like once we had finished and what the one we would use in our film. We also put a brown substance on the eyebrows that is used in special effects.
We asked one of our members in our group to model the mask, just to get an idea of what it would look like on our actor considering our film as a whole and to see if it was good enough. Obviously, it looks a little big for our team member but the mould was for the actor casted as the role of Bill Hasley.
Props are vital to a film as they create the setting and without them the whole film may seem very unrealistic. These are the props that have been used in the film opening to improve our film and to involve the audience more as most of them are household items:
This is the television that we will be using to show the News Reporter broadcasting the murder of Kristen Blakley. Obviously in the picture we can see that there are stickers attached to the sides, these will be removed before filming.
These are the chest of draws that we will be using so that the television has something to stand on, if we didn't have this prop then the television would be too low to film. When filming we have decided that, to give away the setting as the stalker's bedroom, we placed the mask on the side of the chest of draws.
This is the final finish of the mask which we will put by the side on the chest of draws to give away the location of the film opening. This is a very important prop to the film as a whole, this prop doesn't give away the killer's real identity; Bill Hasley.
As you can see from the picture above, this has been taken when at the location filming. We have placed photos of the girls on the walls to get the audience asking questions of the whereabouts and the plot to the film, which they can try to understand through the news report, obviously the whole film hasn't been given away only through the opening.
This is the disc that we burned the news reporter part on, this will be heard throughout the opening to let the audience know what has happened so they don't get confused.
These are just photos from before filming that we cut out to put on the wall, this is to give away the obsession.
As the victims don't have any lines in the script, we have decided to not audition them as this would be unnecessary. We have taken photos of 4 girls at mid-shot and to cast the victims we will decide by looking at the photos only as we have an ideal image of what they will look like in mind. Whoever is best suited will get casted.
Jessica Foster
Devon Dalton
Yasmin Young
When looking over the pictures of the victims the our group favoured was Yasmin Young. Her dark brown hair and pale like face made us know that it the blood would show up well on her and we wouldn't need much or any face make-up to make her look pale, this benefits when we have the bath tub scene where she has just been found 'murdered' after the crime. These photos would have been, in the film, taken by the police as the 'scene of the crime' photos and she would need to look dead, as the bath tub will be pure white we wouldn't need a tanned female as it would make sense if the girl was pale, this is because after someone has died they tend to lose a lot of colour.
To make sure that everything goes to plan when filming, we had to come up with a filming schedule so that everyone in the group knew where we had to be at a certain time, what we would have to film, what equipment we would need, what actors would be required etc. By doing the film schedule it's a lot easier for us to finish for or even before the deadline.
After showing our original script and receiving feedback off pupils and teachers we realized the script is far too short for the length needed in the opening. Because of this reason we needed to create a new script that the news reporter can read. We tried to avoid changing the original script too much as after feedback they said it was good just too short so we based our new script around the old one. To create a realistic script we viewed various clips of news reports on YouTube, we did this so that we had a better understanding of the structure of a news report. some of the clips we viewed are listed below. We were also told to add stage directions to our script so that the actor is able to more quickly take the role of the character and so that the actor is completely understanding of what they need to do. We watched all types of news reports not only murder or missing victims to get a wider understanding of all types of news reports and the structure used.
A news report made for a film. 'Dawn of the Dead' (2004)
We chose to base our script for the news reporter on this clip as this was taken from a horror genre movie. This news report adds fear to the audience through the way it appears so realistic. It shows that we need to add clips in the back group for example CCTV footage and interviews with various people that could be potential witnesses. The way the news reporter is dressed in this clip is what we will need to base our character on, it will be a male as this is stereotypical and will be dressed in a suit preferably with glasses as this signifies intelligence.
After feedback we realized we need our script for the news reporter to last a minute and a half. I searched the Internet to find a murder news report that lasted a minute and a half and looked to see what is mentioned and the structure of the first minute and a half so i can apply this to my opening.
Script of clip
Reporter one
Ideas
I'm ..... Live at the .... studios
where we have word out of a questionable death
.... is live on the scene .... what do you have for us
Reporter 2
Just a few minutes ago we believe we may have seen around one o'clock in the afternoon the suspect in the death of ...... running through this area of ....... at one point the witnesses said they saw him running in this field wearing nothing but ............ were going to show you some dramatic video captured by a bystander who happened to get this on tape just as it was happening he apparently crossed the street under this .......
More information on location and various details of suspect.
From analysing the structure used in the first 1:30 of a murder mystery news report we were now able to base our own script for our news reporter on this one.
First Initial Script
NEWS REPORTER: Breaking news! Another body has just been found dismembered in the Chelmsford region in Essex. The body was found in Highlands park, the famous location of the V Festival, at 11pm last night. Witnesses believe they saw a man approximately 6ft tall wearing a mask escaping the area, police suspicions leads to believe this could be another attack from the 'masked killer'.
We will still stick to the bases of this script as we feel it is realistic and this is how we want our script to be we want to feel as if this news report is real to add a more scary atmosphere we need to use verisimilitude.
Second Initial script
(News Reporter: shuffling papers)
Hello Glen Harries here live at the studio. First tonight David Cameron new plans to cut even more resources in the education system.. *what's that?*
BREAKING NEWS! We have just received word of a repulsive revolting and repugnant murder.
A young girls body, believed to be the body of Kristen Blackley only 17 years, from Chelmsford, Essex has been found in highlands park, the famous location of the V festival at approximately 11pm last night. Witnesses believe to have seen a man in the region of 6ft tall wearing a mysterious mask escaping the area. Police suspicions leads to believe this could be another brutal attack from the notorious Ransom Ripper.
Descriptions of the attack were not enough to convict anyone at this moment in time. Police are looking at CCTV cameras around 11pm (the time of the murder) and are looking for any suspicious behaviour. This is the 3rd attack in the last month that has occurred in this specific area with all bodies found viciously assaulted. All deaths are pointed to the unidentified 'masked man' and police are currently searching for any form of evidence.
Due to this London road is currently closed from public use. Police are searching for more witness statements to gather all information to prevent any more aggressive encounters. If anyone has any information, no matter how small about these violent attacks please don't hesitate to contact the police on 0800 321123 , that's 0800 321123 or e-mail at chelmsfordpolice@essex.org . Any questions on today's report please call 0800928928 all information disclosed will be kept unknown.
I feel this script is effective, it is realistic and has a clear threatening tone which is what is needed for out film opening. We need the audience to believe this is as if its a real news report so that an eerie scary wondering and frightful atmosphere is created and from the start the 'masked man' is feared.
This is our second initial storyboard, we have made adjustments to this to make it flow well and fit our genre of horror correctly.
Overall view of storyboard
Separate shots of Storyboard
"Black Screen" - the film opens onto a black screen and it lasts for 0.05 seconds.
"What you are about to see is based upon true events" - the text slowly appears coming towards the screen and is the colour red to connote danger and death.
Long shot of the TV showing the news report of the murder of Kristen Blakely. The mask is on top of the TV in clear view.
The camera then slowly moves towards the TV and stops at a mid shot of the TV and the mask.
The camera then pans slowly to the left revealing a wall filled with ripped drawings and photographs.
The camera continues to pan revealing more of the photo filled wall.
The camera then cuts to a quick shot of a crime scene and a brutally murdered female lying on the floor covered in blood.
The camera then returns to the panning of the camera revealing more of the wall.
The shot then cuts to another crime scene in a bathtub where a female is covered in blood.
The panning has now cut out the shot of the Television yet the sound of the news report is still remaining. These shots will be handheld as we are acting as though the camera are the what the stalker is seeing through his eyes.
The panning then stops on the entire view of the picture filled wall.
A fast flash back to a mid shot of the TV, a bloody hand then appears from the right side of the frame and turns the TV off. The TV then remains fuzzy.
The camera then returns to the paused shot of the entire wall, the camera then starts to zoom towards the three large groupings of pictures on the left side of the wall.
The zooming increases in speed and stops at a shot of the three pictures with one crossed out.
The same bloody hand from before slowly appears from right hand side of the frame and picks up the picture next to the crossed out one.
The mid shot of the hand holding onto the picture.
The camera then zooms into the picture of a smiling female.
His left hand with his finger extended out with blood on the tip moves towards the picture and starts to draw a cross.
The finger continues to draw a bloody cross over the picture.
"What you are about to see is based upon true events"
Our inspiration for this short clip in the opening was taken from the 2008 horror film 'The strangers'. The film was based upon true events and makes the film more chilling as the audience know that some of the brutal scenes which took place have happened in real life.
A screenshot of the film opening titles, 'What you are about to see is inspired by true events'
Alternative endings
At first, we could not decide which ending to choose from on our storyboard. We thought that we could either leave our film as it is above or add a different ending to set the rest of the film up. These are the type of endings that we came up with:
First ending:
Long shot of a door in darkness with a white flickering light coming from above the door.
Long shot of the flickering light, a tall figure walks towards the door.
Second ending:
A hand-held shot.
The camera is shot from the Stalkers point of view as he is walking towards an opened front door.
The camera continues to unsteadily move towards the door.
The camera then stops at the front door.
After looking through our alternative endings we have decided to film the park scene with the swing swaying, however we decided not to have to girl on the swing so then the audience would ask questions like who was on that swing? How comes the swing is swaying yet there is noone on it? However, if this ending scene does not look right as we have filmed all in the interior and then jumped to the exterior we may have to re-think the ending.
