letters of permission

Talent contracts

Scenes that need to be filmed

Scenes that need to be filmed:

Film a close up shot of Mallory’s face

Close up/mid shot/reverse shots-needed for when ‘you’ see the ‘ghost’ to build up suspense.

Jump cuts of characters walking and grabbing to demonstrate madness.

Film the beginning bit when they go into the building and have a tour. 

Film the scene when Mallory kills Fatemah

End scene-DST hall 

Sample Footage

From this sample footage we learnt that: 

• We need to use a boom to record the voices as it was to echoey. 
• The camera quality was also not as good, so we need to use a good camera. 
• Lighting needs to be used 
• Need a tripod so its steady

sample footage

Storyboards

This the finished storyboards for our film. We included the key scenes that take place and the main characters within it. 

storyboards from mahmuda on Vimeo.

Poster for Mallory & Audience feedback

First poster design:

This design allowed the watch to be in focus so it can imply the importance of it and so the audience know what this film involves. The hidden face of Mallory expresses her supernatural identity.

This poster design put the building in focus to imply the audience that its haunted. It also shows the residence of Mallory as she is seen in front of the door. The finger prints at the top shows the victims reluctant effort to escape as it results in their death. 

This is the final poster design for the film. We took aboard audience feedback to add colours that are conventional to a horror genre, We also included to victims faces for the audience to feel empathetic towards them. The tagline adds a creepy atmosphere to the film and leaves the audience to figure out why the reason is that she wants people to come to her building. The protagonist Mallory at the front indicates the main character.

Draft and edited script

  Script for Mallory

  script

Filming techniques

 The rule of thirds 

The frame is divided into 9 imaginary sections. This creates reference points which act as guides for framing the image.

The 180 degrees rule

Film practitioner

Name: Nirage

• He runs a label publishing company called Outcast and releases music videos. He has worked with many people including Craig David.
• He has worked with the BBC and produced documentaries as well as TV series such as 'Our Girls'.
• He has also worked with Asian Network radio station.

Camera tips:

• To focus on light you should look at the aperture, ISO and shutter speed.
• To reduce grain you should increase aperture.
• The frame rates need to be 24 per second
• Shutter speed needs to be 48 or round it to 50

Sound tips:

• You need to get a boom and get as close as possible to the person talking.
• The sample rate needs to be 48 kilohertz
• The Bit rate needs to be 24 bits a second
• The file needs to be in WAMs and not MP3 because the sound gets compressed and should be avoided.

Feedback

New dawn studios talked with a film practitioner about our film and what the plot constructs. We were told to change the protagonist from the tour guide to the main character Sophia, because she is the director of the film and it would be better if the story unfolds how the script does. This makes the audience unknown she is the protagonist and also makes more sense.

From this feedback we did not want to change our protagonist as we wanted the tour guide to have a bigger role in the film.

Permission letters for filming

  Permission Letter for Building

Signed 

  Permission Letter for Cast Members

Costume and prop list

For our film we will not need many costumes and props so we only have few items that we will definitely need.

• Stopwatch/Watch 

• Fake blood

• Papers (script) 

Horror film poster ideas

This is the font that might be in use for the title of the film.

Mallory, the main character will be in the front of our poster having long black hair and wearing a simple dress.

The back ground of the film will be all black with only just a spotlight shining down on Mallory.

The logo of the production will also be in the  poster but at the bottom.

Risk Assessment

  Risk assessment

Recce

Location: Central Foundation College Terrace

Description: A large old school building 

Purpose: The whole movie except the last scene will be filmed in this building.
Suitable: This is a good location to film because it looks haunted as its very old and goes well with our genre which is supernatural.
Not suitable: It may having a certain closing time so it would be hard to film at the right time and also there may be classes going on which may cause disturbances if we were to film during that time.

We will be using this location.

Location 1: Classroom
We will be using this room for most of the film, scenes 2,3,4,and 5 will be featured here. This room is efficient for our filming because its messy and seems like its been abandoned for a long time which makes it look creepy and conventional for a horror film. The cupboard in the room plays a part in our film as Mallory is seen hiding behind it during the end scene. The use of the creaking door adds a haunting atmosphere.

Location 2: Outside the building in the playground
This location is suitable because its big and spacious and allows the audience to feel the lonely atmosphere that Fatema encounters when Mallory kills her.

Location 3: The hallway leading to different classrooms
This location shows the inside of the building and gives the effect of the loneliness Naimah has to face when she sees Fatema dead. It also shows how old the architecture is and evidence of supernatural activity that she has to face.



Location: Central Foundation girls secondary school- Auditorium 

Description: A large hall with chairs at the back and a big projector screen.

Purpose: To film the last scene where the protagonist comes in front the audience in the film,

Suitable: This is a good location to film because it has loads of space for the audience to sit and a large screen so they can view the film.

Not suitable: It may be in use for something else so we might have trouble with the dates and timing to film at the right time.

We will be using the this location.

Narrative

I integrated Propp’s theory of having some of the conventional characters in my film. The first is the villain, who is Mallory and the second is the hero who is the protagonist, Sophia.

Levi Strauss’ Binary oppositions by representing good and evil as Mallory was the evil one and the three other characters along with the audience in the theatre as being the good ones. This connection results in changing the stride of the film from joyous and upbeat, where the group of friends have fun to measured and miserable. This was important as it shows Mallory, the tour guide is actually the villain and evil. It also suggest not to trust someone so easily as the group of friends did not know her true identity. This outcomes in audience interaction as they feel sympathetic towards the group of friends.

Barthes’ Enigma code is used when it comes to my film as the plot constructs a puzzle that the active audience is asked to solve while the characters act out the story. The audience do not know that the tour guide is actually a ghost who has come back to haunt people who enter the building. Narrative is delivered to the audience by expectation, suspense, tension and closure. The audience is led to believe that Mallory is a kind and welcoming normal person which leads to tension and suspense during the ending. The enigma ends with a surprising twist and the audience soon realise Mallory is malevolent.

Todorov’s theory regarding equilibrium was another narrative theory that applied to my short film. The equilibrium that opens our film presents a group of friends visiting an old building o film their story. This is then followed up by the dis-equilibrium where Mallory kills two of the characters. I challenged the Todorovs’s theory by not having a new equilibrium at the end. The enigma code is combined at the end of the film when the screen goes blank. This can be seen as a sad ending, using the uses of gratification theory as the audience’s reasons for seeing it may be for entertainment or social interaction.

My films narrative was multi-stranded through the perspective of Mallory’s side and the character’s as the non-linear flashbacks indicate more than one side of the story telling us how Mallory died and also the character’s point of view. This style of narrative manipulates time.

I included an enigma code in our film because it would create an active audience rather than a passive one. I wanted our audience to try and figure out what happened to the character Sophia and also to the audience in the film when Mallory appeared in front of them. The blank screen will leave open ended questions from the audience. This goes against Carroll’s argument when he says that the third phase of a film was the ‘Disruption phase’ where the characters destroy the source of the disorder and restore normality.  This however does not happen in our film because of the enigma code which is the cliff-hanger which is stereotypical in a horror film.

Treatment and Pitch

Treatment:

However, the age rating to the film has changed since looking up the BBFC age ratings and finding out that any sign of pain or infliction of it, needs to be rated a 15, so that is what we changed. 

Minutes of meeting

Interview with practitioner

Questions to ask a film practitioner:
1. What are the key things to do before making a film? 
2. How do you come up with idea's for the film?
3. How do you start writing the story-line for the film?
4. How do you choose the characters?
5. What are the main aspects to a successful film?


I tried to get in contact with the director of popular horror films such as Saw and The Conjuring - James Wan on social media via twitter. However I did not get a response back.

I also tried to get in contact with a horror short film director - David F. Sandberg, but also did not get any response either.

Ethnographic study

I observed a group of people whilst they were watching 'Insidious'. They were all creeped out through hearing the theme tune of the film at the beginning which shows that music and sound can create a sinister atmosphere and build the mood of the film.
The part when a shadow is shown it builds up tension as the music is suspenseful and also the dark lighting creates a creepy atmosphere which made the group of people quieten and focus on whats about to unfold.

The use of conventions such as blood shown in this scene focused the groups attention as they felt scared of what had imprinted the blooded hand on the white sheets. The presence of the unknown kept their attention high.

When the antagonist was shown the group freaked out because it scared them as the figured that it was devil haunting the child who was in a coma. The build up of the loud suspenseful music added more tension as the antagonist was shown only for a brief seconds so the audience is left to ponder and feel shocked.

When the seance takes place the group said they felt anxious as they didn't know what was going to happen next which left them feeling unsure and scared.

During the scene when the father goes to rescue the son, the devils lair is shown and also the devil himself which frightened the group as it silenced them and kept their focus on the scene as they didn't know what was going to happen next. The colors were conventional of a horror film as there were mostly reds and blacks used which created a creepy atmosphere. The use of dark shadows also enhanced this effect and added to the creepiness.

The part when the father goes to search for his son, petrified the group as it was pitch black and dolls were also shown which is another convention of horror films.

During the ending the music and sounds were louder as it built up to the climax which made the group sit at the edge of their seats eager to see what happens next. When the group found out that after all the rescuing the devil when inside the father which the wife discovers when she sees the camera where a picture of a ghost was shown instead of him. This built up the suspense and left the group to wonder what happens to the family.

General questions I asked about what they like and what they dislike about horror films:

Person 1 Likes: horror films with children in it such as Orphan and Chucky as it's more scarier because you expect them to be innocent and then they turn out to be evil which twists the story line.
Dislikes: horror films with a bad story-line such as Smiley because its not interesting and does not engage their attention.

Person 2: Likes: Horror films based on true stories such as paranormal activity as it creates a more sinister atmosphere as you know this has actually happened in real life.
Dislikes: Gory horror movies such as Saw because of all the blood and traps.

Person 3: Likes: Horror films with a twist such as The house at the end of the street as it plays with the mind and makes it much more interesting.
Dislikes: Supernatural films as they are boring such as Sinister because its the same thing over again and its not that scary.

The development of the horror genre

BBFC and Case study on controversial film

Horror film poster analysis

This poster underneath is a genre that relates to my film

Radio survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2ZFSPVB

Horror trailer analysis

Poster survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8CH7GRY

Audience profile