Update on cast and crew

I have now found all three actors that I need, and because there will never be all three actors in one scene, they can double up so one of them manages the sound.

Now I only need one person to help with the lighting, and I will direct and operate the camera.

Planning for pre-production exercise

One of the things I am focusing on in my project is lighting. Therefore, I have decided to experiment with lighting in my pre-production exercise. I am going to try and find a way of creating restricted areas of light, as well as experimenting with various colours of light.

For this, I will use colour filters over the lights as we did in our class project: The Moving Man. As well as this, I will try to use restricted light, which will mean using both conventional lighting (supplied by the school) and torches, which I will bring from home.

The pre-production exercise will most likely be a subject in a dark room under varying levels and colours of light. 

Synopsis

Initial ideas:

Characters (cast list):

Main character - A mentally unstable person whose friend committed suicide a while back. They feel responsible for the incident, and have never really recovered. They start to hear voices that get progressively louder and louder as time goes on.

They become convinced that their dead friend is haunting them. At the end of the film, they are driven mad and kill themselves.

Main character's friend - The main character's (living) friend who talks to talks to the main character. They are slightly unsympathetic at first, but they get more and more worried as time goes on. By the end of the film, they realise that the main character is suffering from more than just a mild delusion.

Dead friend - The main character's friend who killed themselves. They do not fully appear in the film, but the main character becomes convinced that they are haunting them. They are heard, and in some cases partially seen, but the only time they are fully seen is when the main character is remembering them when they were alive.

Synopsis

The film begins with the main character lying on the floor. The setting is dark, with a single light source. Whispering can be heard, but there aren't any recognisable words. As it grows louder, the camera approaches the main character's face and there is a fade to black.

The whispering grows quieter, but is still there.

The rest of the narrative is told as a sort of flashback. It follows the main character as they start to have nightmares (possibly taking place in a cemetery) about being watched by someone (the person is not seen apart from one hand), and hearing whispering voices. After a while, they begin to think that they are being haunted by 'her'. They try to talk to a friend, who seems unsympathetic at first (and asks the main character if they have been taking their medication), but as time goes on and the main character becomes more and more distressed and paranoid, their friend starts to be more concerned and tells them that 'it' wasn't their fault.

The main character then visits the cemetery, and starts to hear the whispering voices. At first, they think they are dreaming, but then they realise that they are awake and run away.

They keep hearing the voices even when they take their medication, and they become more and more upset.

There is then a sequence (in a different house) where the main character goes upstairs and the voices grow louder and are joined by other strange noises (similar to the part in the first Silent Hill game that I described) as the main character keeps going upstairs. They then see a door and knock on it, seeming a bit scared. They start to become more urgent, and eventually open the door. There they see someone who has killed herself. The voices grow very loud, and suddenly stop and the dead person disappears.

The main character seems to snap at this point. They go around the house throwing things and shouting. They then sit down and cry, muttering things like 'shut up' and 'leave me alone'.

The next scene is of the main character's friend. They seem to be uneasy. They pick up the phone and call the main character. The scene cuts to a phone ringing with an empty medicine bottle next to it. Then the film goes back to the start, with the main character lying on the floor in a dark room. The voices are becoming clearer.

The scene grows dimmer and the main character appears to be going to sleep. The voices become one voice and it is saying things like 'I'm sorry', 'it wasn't your fault'. Someone is in the room, but cannot be seen. They say 'I missed you'.

The film ends.

Extra ideas:

Props:

A photograph of the main character and the dead person (when dead person was alive) - this is on the desk of the main character at the beginning of the film, and as the main character hears the voices more and more, it seems to follow them around the house, being in every room. When the main character snaps and breaks things, they throw this picture at the wall.

A bunch of flowers - these are used in the nightmare sequence in the cemetery, as well as when the main character actually visits the cemetery. The main character is carrying them, but never puts them on a grave. At the end, the flowers are on the floor near the main character.

A medicine bottle/box - the main character takes medicine due to their mental problems (never fully explained). At the end there is an empty medicine container. This could mean that the main character has run out of it and so their illness isn't being kept under control, or that they have overdosed on something else.

Sound:

Whispers:

For the most part, the voices are distorted to the point where you cannot understand them. I was thinking of experimenting with sound editing programs. Primarily, I was thinking of reversing the voice, but I am also planning on finding other ways of distorting the voices and doubling them.

Other:

For the sound, I was planning on drawing inspiration from the Silent Hill games and using strange noises to unnerve the audience. However, unlike the Silent Hill games, I will use less obtrusive sounds to try and create an almost dreamlike atmosphere.

Pre-production plan

I am currently doing a number of tasks:

1) Finalising the synopsis of my film

2) Finding actors, locations and props

3) Planning my production exercise

My production exercise will focus on lighting, in particular restricted lighting with small areas of light in lots of shadow. In order to do this, I will use the TV studio and some lights, as done in the class exercise: The Moving Man, where I was in the lighting group. The lighting used in that was quite similar to the lighting I am planning to use, with a lot of shadows in them.

I have found two people to act in my final production, and I am thinking of locations I can use. Over the weekend, I will ask people if they can help by either acting, managing sound, or lighting. Possibly some people can double up, particularly the actors who don't play the main character.

As well as locations, I will also be thinking of props to use in my film, particularly ones that have relevance to the plot.

Over the weekend, I will be writing my synopsis of the film and posting it on this blog.

As soon as I have finished my synopsis, I will begin work on a script/screenplay and storyboards.

Production schedule

As part of my pre-production work, I have to create a production schedule detailing when I am 
going to start and complete various tasks. I have colour-coded the schedule depending on the category of task. Written material is in pink, Statement of Intention is in blue, production exercise is in dark green and filming/editing is in bright green. Red is important stuff like the mock exam and final deadline for everything.

As you can see, my first draft of the Statement of Intent is complete, and I have shown that I have already found a few volunteers to act ad help with my project.

I am hoping to start writing my synopsis and script/screenplay soon.

Statement of Intentions - initial draft

Statement Of Intent

My intent for this project is to create a live action, horror-influenced film. However, I am going to try and create more of a gloomy drama with horror features as opposed to a 'true' horror film. In order to do this, I am going to have a plot that relies more on the characters and their actions, and instead use horror inspirations in the style of film making. In particular, I am hoping to experiment with the use of light and sound to create unease.
For my film, there are two main influences that I will work from. One is a film, and one is a videogame series. They all share similar styles and themes in them, which is why I have chosen to use them as influences in my work.

Influence 1:

The first influence is a film called 'The Ghost'. It is a Korean horror film by Tae-Kyung Kim. From this, I have decided to draw upon the technique used in the film, where dreams and flashbacks give information and create atmosphere. The main reason for this in 'The Ghost' is because the main character suffers from amnesia, and gradually recalls things. In my film, I am planing for the character to be thinking back over the series of events that lead to what is happening at the present moment.
Also, I am intrigued by the use of lighting in the film. Instead of using the typical red lighting in horror film, it instead uses dark, shadowed lighting with green and blue tints, an example being the scenes with the main character's mother. During these scenes, the lighting is very dark, with lots of shadows in the room, and a green tint to the light, which helps with the horror aspect of the film, which is drowning, as it gives the feel of being underwater. This holds significance in the film due to the storyline, but I am still interested in the use of different colours in lighting to create atmosphere. In my own film, I am going to look at how to create atmosphere using different colours and levels of light.

Influence 2:

The second, and possibly stronger inspiration I have chosen is the 'Silent Hill' Playstation game series, in particular, the first and second games. I plan to study their style in mise-en-scene, sound, and camerawork in the cutscenes.
The mise-en-scene often contains a lot of symbolism in it, with small details such as pictures on walls and items on desks often holding significance to the plot or characters. There is particular emphasis placed on symbolism in nightmares and the fears and subconscious feelings of the characters. One example is the iconic monster 'Pyramid Head' or 'Red Pyramid', which is a monster that features a lot in the second game. It is found out towards the end of the game that it is in fact a nightmare version of a painting of the traditional town executioner costume found in town. This has symbolism because the main character has a desire to be punished that is manifested as Pyramid Head - a monstrous version of an executioner.
Mise-en-scene is used very effectively in the first game, with lots of things such as pictures of monsters/origins of monsters scattered around, and many items used in solving puzzles being related to children's books. These all reference the mind of the child from which the nightmare came from.
The soundtrack, particularly in the first game, is quite unique. Instead of using recognisable music, the soundtrack is mostly made up of scraping, squeaking and tapping noises that get louder and more chaotic when tension is meant to build. A good example of this is near the end of the game, where several items are needed to unlock a door. As they are put in one by one, the soundtracks starts out as silence, then an ominous hum, then a slight tapping starts. A high-pitched whistle starts soon afterwards, and the tapping grows louder and more echoing. Then the hum grows louder and the tapping turns into clattering, as if someone is hitting a metal sheet. By the time that all the items are in place, the noise has become metallic crashing, a screeching noise like a whistling kettle, all underlaid by a low, monotonous hum. This build of tension is created using entirely sound.
The videogames also use restricted vision extremely well. The horror aspect is almost entirely based on your character's vision being incredibly restricted, with predominantly dark locations illuminated by torchlight. For the most part, you are aware of a monster being nearby without knowing where or what it is. This helps give a feeling of powerlessness as well as fear and tension, which I am hoping to include in my film.






Finally, the 'camerawork' in the cutscenes, particularly the second game, is very well-done. There is a particularly effective close-up of one character where it shows her face and a knife that she was going to kill herself with, making both her expression (and emotion) and her intent clear in one shot. Another good piece of 'camerawork' is in a confrontation between two characters, where the angle changes rapidly, making the whole thing feel disjointed, unnerving and quite surreal.

My Film

In my film, I am planning to make a psychological horror-drama. I am going to use the theme that runs through both my inspirational materials, which is the idea of the past and the buried horrors in the mind of an individual surfacing to haunt them. My intention is not so much to shock the audience with these things, but to create a feeling of unease and mystery.
As mentioned earlier, to portray the main character's feelings of fear and isolation, I am going to look into restricted lighting, such as torchlight or single areas of light in darkened places to show how the character feels as if they are lost in shadows and darkness all alone. Another lighting device I will use is the colour of the light. I am especially interested in blue-tinted light, as it can either make something seem dark and shadowy or bleached out depending on the shade of blue, and also lends a dreamlike feel to the scene, which furthers the idea I am planning to use, where the whole story could be either a real haunting, or a delusion.
For camerawork, the two predominant shots will be close-ups to show emotion, and long shots to make the characters seem small and alone.
The strong symbolism used in 'Silent Hill' will be difficult to reproduce in a short film, so I will instead use mise-en-scene to signify whether or not something is a dream, and also refer to important plot devices, such as a photograph of the main character and their dead friend appearing a lot.
With sound, I am going to experiment with strange noises, particularly scraping and tapping, and other quiet noises to create an atmosphere of tension, as if there is something else there that cannot be seen. This will be used predominantly instead of real music.
Overall, through these features, I hope to create tension, mystery and unease, as well as portray the fragile mindset of the main character, and their growing distress as events continue.