Practice shots for thriller film

Today I decided to take some practice shots with the main actor. Although it does not match our idea for old fashioned mise en scene. It has made it so that I have a good idea of how we could place the shots and how lighting can set the mood.This is shown in the beginning shots which are a lot darker than the later few.


One Page Pitch

Working Title: A Soul's Redemption

Tagline: Sometimes the kindest of hearts can be tainted

Film Genre: Paranormal thriller

Length: 1 hour and a half. The reason our film is this length is because there is a lot of information which needs to be addressed to the watcher. This is proven with what I have written about the plot below.

Plot:  Bertie has been possessed by the devil when a dark part of his soul has been unlocked after witnessing everyone he loved being killed. This caused him to be possessed due to his soul being caught by the devil after the anger of seeing the murderer kill his family weakening his good will. This means Bertie is still in his body but trapped in the devils grasp.  But then a person comes and triggers a memory which keeps reoccurring meaning that Bertie begins to fight against the devil to return to his body.

Statement of intent: The main theme of our story is that even those who once had such innocent eyes can be changed simply by the devils hand. We want to tell this story in order to teach people how one event can change a person’s life forever and cause them to be someone they may have hated before. However, Bertie gives out the message that it does not define you as a person but can simply just make you stronger.

 Visual realisation: We will put black and white colouring  when editing and use high angled shots, tracking shots and close ups. Cabin in the woods slightly explored this with the use of dark lighting and basic colours like brown. Also the Blair witch project has also done it with night vision, a hand held camera and dark lighting.

Target Audience: We have chosen a target audience of 13-17 year olds. The reason we have done this is because anyone at young age may find parts uncomfortable to watch and agitating due to the way Bertie is acting. We were guided by Cabin in the woods for our target audience which is an inspiration for our thriller. 

Story synopsis: A young boy playing in the woods. Does he mean any good? No one will ever know. All because the devil is in control. While Bertie fights in his mind, hoping that he will survive. 

Extra research: While telling others of our thriller I was told that Bertie was a parallel to Anaken Skywalker from Star Wars. The reason is because Bertie turns evil out of losing the ones he loves. While Anakin does simply from the fear of losing his wife and unborn children. Therefore this shows the common theme in films with good against evil. 

"What if" premise: What if a boy got lost in the darkness? What if the devil finally walked the Earth? What if you lost everything? Would you fight the devil in an invisible battle? Or would you give up and let the bad side take over?

Planning Page 1

Planning Page 3

Planning Page 2









Screenplay and Script writing

Thriller opening - Initial Ideas

The Plan:

Casting:

Elsie Williamson: Actor and singer for cover song in the background
Bertie Williamson: Main actor
Connor Sanderson: Cameraman
Annabel Lowe: Make sure the mise-en-scene is not broken and Creative mind when looking for the best shot/angle

Setting: Widderson Spring Wood

Mise-en-scene:

• Old fashioned which means in the editing process we will change it to black and white.
• Due to it being set in the past the costumes will be arranged to make it look old fashioned. I will wear a dress while Bertie will be dressed in dark clothing to represent that he is dangerous. 
• Newspaper to show missing boy who was acting unusual before he disappeared. 
• Set in woods to create a certain ambiance of mystery and vulnerability for the person passing through. 

Sound: 

There will be a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. I will be doing a cover of "If you go down to the woods today by Henry Hall" using the editing software mix craft to record it after the filing process so I know when to fade the song in certain parts and then turn it back to normal volume. This means that we get a mixture of the uneasiness the song causes and then the natural sound creates a tension due to how quiet it is.

Camera angles and shots:

• At the beginning of the opening we will use an establishing shot to show the setting of thriller.
• Throughout the opening sequence a mixture of panning will be used to follow Bertie running around like something has taken control of his body.
• Also we may use motion tracking and freeze frames when showing the titles like they are following or running away from him. 
• Long shots and close ups may also be used when I am walking down the path on a walk when I hear a noise.
• Finally the last shot we plan to use is a low shot of me falling and then cutting to the title of the screen on a black background and white text. 

Plot: 

It will begin in the woods with nothing there and then you will see a person run across the screen. It will then cut to a newspaper article addressing that a boy who was once full of life started to act unusual to his normal self and then disappeared. This will be easily understood when I create a bold easy to understand title. It will then cut back to Bertie in the woods with a mixture of shots flowing into one another. Bertie will continue to appear to do unusual things and then cut to me walking down the path. Bertie will attack me which will build a climax and cut to the title of the film on a plain black screen with the title in white.