Representation Of Locations and Characters in Necro5is

Pitch / Story-Arc Video Review

This is a video, filmed by our Media teacher Ms Mayhew, that details our story-arc. Once we have finished going through it we are asked a couple of questions about both the story itself and the filming process (like some of the shots we are going to take and what effect that will create). The aim of this task was to see if we are confident with our current ideas and the way we are going to document them in our opening two minutes and in my personal opinion I think it went well.

Our Production Story Arc

Drone Test Footage

This video is a compilation of some of the shots that we got whilst testing out the drone. The drone is a DJI Phantom 4. It was interesting to see exactly how the drone worked and the extremely cool footage it could capture. In our final production we will be using some of the shots we captured on this day in our opening credit sequence, just because of how good they looked. Capturing footage with the drone was a new exprience and is one we can hopefully take further in future productions.

Test Footage

The test footage aspect of our planning is supposed to show what camera angles and techniques we can use in our final product, and to see if we can pull off all of the shots that we want during our final production. We went out today to get some footage, using my Iphone 6S. We tried a variety of shots and movement, all of which are shown below.

This is a close up of the subjects face. The aim of a close up is to show the emotion, through facial expressions, or to emphasise something they are saying or doing. Close-ups can also be used to show off a certain prop in vivid detail, because it has an importance to the story and/or scene.

This is a high angle shot, where the camera is placed above the subject and pointed down. It connotes the idea of power, as the camera is on a higher level than the subject. It could also present the idea of the subject being vulnerable or scared, as they are being loomed over.

This is a low angle shot, where the camera is placed on a lower point to the subject and is angled upwards.This makes the subject look very large, strong and powerful; due to the way that it stands tall above the camera and by extension the audience. High angles can also be used to represent someone on the ground.

This is a long shot, where the camera is placed quite a way away from the subject, so that they are shown in their entirety. For this example, we can see the characters whole body as he walks away. It is a way of focusing on the subject but also showing the whole of their surroundings.

This is an over-the-shoulder shot, where the camera is seemingly placed on the character's shoulder and is looking down past the side of their face. This shows what the character is doing with their hands as the focus point, in this case he is turning on his phone. It can also be used during a shot-reverse-shot dialogue between two characters.

This is a POV shot, where the camera is seemingly placed on the character's head and the view is what they see from their own eyes. I also incorporated shaky cam into this, which is something that is also used frequently when doing POV. The use of a POV shot could convey the ideas of fear, as though a character is running away from something.

This is a Mid-Shot, where the subject is framed so half of their body is shown. This can show the audience their costume, facial expressions or body language. It is the most common type of shot as it doesn't have any connotations, so where it can be used is almost limitless. However, it is a pretty simple and 'boring' shot, so using other ones is much more effective.

This is a worms-eye view, where the camera is placed on the floor and is angled up at the subject, making them look massive and towering. This shot gives off a very uneasy feeling, as you cannot see the whole of the subject and they are looming over you ominously. It can also be used as a sort of POV from someone who is laying on the ground.

This is an Extreme Long Shot, where the subject is extremely far away from the camera. It aims to make the subject look small, or to set the scene for what is about to happen. It will usually show an exterior/outside shot, as you don't tend to be extremely far away from a subject whilst in a building.


This is a canted angle, where the camera is placed on a slant in relation to the subject. The aim of this angle is to create an aura of disorientation, as you wouldn't normally be looking at something from this disjointed angle. It can also be used to portray unease or intoxication, due to the way the camera is tilted unlike a real-life, 'normal' viewpoint.


This is a zoom shot, where the camera is stationary but the lens is zoomed inwards, magnifying the subject, or outwards, making them look smaller. This can be used as a transition, or as a quick camera shot that draws attention to the subject in a disjointed way. Zooming can also be done at different paces, slowly or fastly, each with their own connotations.

This is a tracking shot, where the camera follows a moving subject. These shots will often be filmed on a dolly, a camera mount that moves. They are used to add motion to a scene and to prevent the subject from leaving the frame as they walk out of it. A tracking shot can be used in any situation, for example high paced action or a really tense scene.

This is a bird's-eye-view, taken from a drone. It is where the camera is situated high above the subjects and aimed down towards the ground, as though it is a bird looking down. They will often be taken using cranes or drones. They are often used during an establishing shot, or as a way of showing that the characters are in the sky, like in an aeroplane.

Opening 2 Minutes Script

**Scene 2 will be the drone shots, hence why it has been removed here**

Final Film Name : Necro5is

After brainstorming film names as a group and consulting our teaching as to which she thought were effective we have come to a decision on our final film name; Necro5is.

We chose the name Necro5is because of its connotations and the way that it links to the plot of our film. Firstly, we took inspiration from the title of Se7en, which includes a number in the name that links to the movie itself (as it is based on the seven deadly sins). We decided to implement this idea into our film, using the number 5 due to the fact that there are 5 main characters in our film. In order to find a good name, we looked at synonyms for the word death, since that is a key theme presented in our movie. We found the word Necrosis, which has the definition of; the death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue, due to injury or failure of the blood supply. This idea is applicable to our film because since we are doing a slasher, the majority of deaths in this film will be related to injury and blood loss, causing Necrosis. Whilst the links to our movie are a little far-fetched, I think the ambiguity of the name will make it effective.

Film Name Ideas

Coming up with a name for our film has been one of the hardest tasks in the whole of the Production Planning stage. What we decided to do, as a group, was to construct a spider diagram of all of the ideas that we had. When choosing a name we wanted it to be catchy and short, preferably one or two words. Also, we wanted a sense of ambiguity to be included alongside the name, so that from the very start of hearing about the film, the audience is interested. However, the name has to link with our movie and the plot it would follow (even if this is in a very far-fetched way).The spider-diagram below is colour coded with the purple text being the ideas for names and the blue text being very simple reasoning behind the name, its definition and/or its connotations. The red circle represents which idea the group is most likely to go with at this point; that being Necrosis. However, another name that we considered was Mortality, but it seemed to be too simple to be effective. Despite this, we may decide that whilst Necrosis is our favourite, the meaning behind it may be too unobvious for our target audience, so we may change it. this decision will be highlighted in my Final Film Name post.

Risk Assessment

Final Location Scouting and Explanation (Thorndon Country Park)

In this video, myself and Michael Barrett discuss our chosen locations for each scene of our opening 2 minutes that will be filmed in the woodland and our reasoning behind each decision. The locations are all within Thorndon Country Park (the other locations being focused on in another video). The reason behind this decision is that the park offers a variety of different environments, from thick woodland to open fields and is also extremely close to where all the cast and crew live.

Production Diary 11/11/16

Costume In Our Film Opening

Here is our group's costume mood board. It depicts some of our brainstormed ideas for our five main characters and the killer. Going through some of those ideas, firstly we have the attractive woman character who will wear a dress (perhaps in a red colour to add more connotation to the scenes she is in) and will have straight hair. Her character is stylish and attractive, which is why she is the obvious love interest for the males. The other female character, that of which is emotionally unstable, will have more messy hair and will dress like an 'emo' with black clothes and ripped jeans. There are 3 male characters, each of which will wear clothing that will reflect their personalities. The first is the more chavvy character, that will wear either tracksuit or skate clothing. The second character is the more posh intellectual one, who will wear either smart casual, a full suit or a shirt and waistcoat. Also they will wear glasses. Finally is the more 'normal' character who will just wear casual clothing that fits their age group. The things we brainstormed for the killer was a mask that is easily memorable, but not copied from another film or form of media and maybe a 'hillbilly' outfit, however due to where our film is set this may not be appropriate.

Lighting In Our Film Opening

Final Casting Decision

For our production, we have auditioned multiple people for the five different roles that our opening two minutes will contain. After looking over the auditions and analysing who fits which part best we have come to a conclusion for our Final casting. That conclusion is;

Debbie Millyard as The Princess
Charlotte Johnson as The Basket-Case
Luke Adams as The Brain
Joe Butcher as The Criminal
and Harry Taylor as The Jock

These are our cast members that will appear in our finished product. We have also decided on filming dates with all the cast and crew, which will be in the latter part of December.

Auditions For Jock

For the role of Jock we auditioned two people; Harry Taylor and Joe Butcher. Same as the other auditions, they had to learn the line and then perform it to the camera. I think the casting of Jock was the hardest for us as we didn't have a lot of selection and the line itself wasn't a good showcase of the character, as we didn't add any stage directions, however, the line itself does summarise the Jock's insecurities. For this part we were looking for someone who is comfortable in front of a camera and can act in a way similar to the Jock himself, insecure about the way they have to act 'cool' in front of people.



The casting element itself was quite easy as we had already chosen to cast Joe Butcher as the criminal character, which fit him much better. However, he still put on a good performance for this audition. Harry had to once again read from the script but this may be due to the rushed nature of his audition. Despite this he was able to show the insecurities of his character due to the long emotional pauses he takes whilst reading the lines. This is why we chose to cast Harry Taylor as the Jock.

Auditions For Princess

For the role of Princess we once again auditioned three people; Debbie Milliard, Charlotte Johnson and Cailin Brisbourne. They had to learn the already selected line, that of which would convey what it will be like to play this particular character. The things we were looking for were that; the applicant could add emotion and their own flare to the lines, could simulate the sarcastic nature of the  Princess character and were comfortable in front of a camera.



For the part of Princess we decided to cast Debbie Millyard. We made this decision because her audition was extremely impressive, due to the fact that she is a drama student. She was also excited to be a part of our project, which is a very key factor to have and was easily negotiated into coming to the 3 filming days. Whilst Charlotte was also good, she did audition for another role which we thought she was more suited to. Cailin wasn't able to commit to the filming days even if she had been cast due to being in another group, so Debbie was the most suitable person to cast.

Auditions For Criminal

For the role of Criminal we auditioned three people; Joe Butcher, Harry Taylor and Michael Barrett. Each candidate was given a line to re-enact that would resemble their characters stereotypes. For this part we used a stage direction asking for the candidate to be suppressing anger and included a swear word in order to convey that the Criminal is both easily agitated and does not pay attention to any rules. Also, his drinking problem is highlighted as he uses the words 'need' and 'drink'. What we were looking for from the candidates was that they could fake the emotion of anger on film, did not struggle with any lines and were comfortable in front of a camera.




Once we had seen all three candidates for the part we made the decision to cast Joe Butcher. This is because he seemed very comfortable in the role and was able to convey the feeling of deep-seated anger to us and the camera. On the other hand, Michael Barrett was not professional enough and was not able to complete the audition without laughing whilst Harry Taylor was good at acting but had to read his lines from the paper, which painted Joe as the model candidate.

Auditions For Brain

The casting stage for the part of the Brain was one of the hardest ones to find people to audition for. The basis of the character of Brain is that he is a very intellectual individual that doesn't really partake in the 'normal' acts that people his age take; like drinking, smoking and having a relationship. We wanted to reflect this in the way our cast member would look and act and as a result people didn't want to audition for the part. However, we eventually found two candidates; Luke Adams and Tom Ryan. During their audition they were tasked with learning the line (which included intellectually challenging words to reflect the speech of Brain himself). In our candidates we were looking for someone that could learn these lines and dramatise them in a way that is suitable for the character.



For the part of Brain we decided to cast Luke Adams. This is because the other candidate, Tom Ryan, failed to take the audition seriously and struggled to learn the line, an obstacle that due to time restrictions we are not able to work around. Alongside this, Luke put on a convincing performance and even when he made errors in the lines he carried on without a pause, which is very good for our production.

Auditions For Basket-Case

For the part of Basket-Case we auditioned three people; Charlotte Johnson, Debbie Millyard and Claudia Messenger. The aim of the audition was to learn the line and 'act' it out, with large amounts of emotion. This is because the character of Basket-Case is very emotionally unstable and as a result will be showing severe outbreaks of anger and sadness in the movie. The line itself conveys this perfectly, alongside the character's backstory for our film. What we wanted to see from the applicants was comfort in front of the camera, the ability to learn and reenact a line and the dramatic talent to show what the character's mental state is like.



After the auditions we decided that we would cast Charlotte Johnson for the role of Basket-Case. This is because her audition was outstanding and she met all the criteria for the character. Her audition was emotive and she added her own flair with the sharp intakes of breath before certain words. This took our group aback, so the decision to cast her was an easy one. Along with this, Debbie Millyard had already been cast in the role of the Princess and Claudia Messenger has commitments with another group so couldn't have taken the part anyway.

Script For Auditions

Above is our script for our auditions. As shown, there are 5 different lines, each one attached to a each character. We asked for our applicants to read from their line, and to pay attention to the stage directions shown in bold. Most of the script was written ourselves, but the Basket Case one is a monologue used widely to audition character types similar to that of what we were looking for. The lines used are aimed to represent the characters they are attached to and the stereotypes they will show in our film. For example, the Basket-case is very emotionally unstable (shown from the 'close to tears' stage direction). We did this because our applicants need to get used to how the characters will speak and act, in order for our film to be as professional as possible.

A Note On Character Titles

At this point in time, our group has not decided on names for each of our characters. As a result, in order for them to be referenced in our work, we have given each character a code-name based on their personalities and character archetypes. As one of our favourite films (and one of the two that we studied for GCSE) is the Breakfast Club, we haved used the names focused on in this as our 'code-names'.

Those names are, the Brain, the Princess, the Basket-Case, the Criminal and the Jock. Each one of these characters stereotypes will be detailed in later posts and there will be a separate post when the characters are given their actual names.

Production Diary 05/11/16

As of this moment in time, we have made steady progress in the planning phase for our film. We have produced 5 logos for our production company and as a result have also agreed on a final one. To take this further, we have also animated the final logo for use in our opening 2 minutes. We have also finalised the story development for our film, deciding exactly what we want to happen in the opening 2 minutes. Finally, we have produced equipment, prop and crew lists that will have to be used during our filming to make sure everything runs smoothly and we can capture all of the required footage.

Over the coming weeks, before my next production diary, we need to cast the characters in our film and produce a monologue for them to read from and then summarise our selection. Then we need to do some location scouting and spinning off this, we need to produce a risk assessment in order to iron out any problems. Finally, we need to think up some ideas for our film's name.

Crew List

Props List

Equipment List

Opening Scene Final Plot

Horror Film Opening Pitch - Conor

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Horror Film Opening Pitch - Tom

Horror Film Opening Pitch : Michael

My Pitch

Plot:
A group of teenagers get lost in a woods when they approach an old house, thinking that the house is abandoned they attempt to enter. On entry they encounter a man running down the stairs and out of a window on the other side of the house to them. Before proceeding to find out what the man was running from the jock goes forward first to check if the house was safe. Finding nothing the group go upstairs, finding a locked room which they soon discover what the man was running from.

Characters:
Stereotypical teenage group:

-        Jock

-        Princess

-        Geek

-        Weird one (basket case)

-        Criminal

Mysterious guy: much older-looking man from the teenagers.

Structure:

-        The teens see the house from a distance in the woods.

-        Approaching making jokes about the house, what’s possibly inside.

-        Getting up to the house, more cautious.

-        Entering the house, the man runs out, tone changes.

-        Jock goes ahead leaving the group near the door that they entered.

-        Jock comes back finding nothing.

-        The group go upstairs again, making jokes but all clearly nervous.

-        Geek notices locked door.

-        Criminal knocks door through and we see shock on all other character’s faces.

Horror Film Opening Pitch : Leon