Reflections so far:
I think so far we have worked well as a group and come up with an exciting idea for our opening sequence. We have encountered some minor problems along the way while drafting and planning the idea for our opening sequence, but I think the final idea we have come up with is something we will be able to execute well given our constraints.
Looking ahead:
The test shoot will be a great chance for us to trial our ideas and see if they work within the setting and the shots and are actually feasible, and also if they look good. Some of our shots we aren't 100% sure about but I believe that once we complete the test shoot we will be able to rectify them and have a solid opening sequence by the end of it.
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
R+P Post 9: Our script
For our opening sequence we constructed a basic script and typed it up for the dialogue contained in our opening sequence. As our opening sequence is eery and suspenseful and follows the movement of one character, it only contains a few lines of dialogue.
R+P Post 8: Our opening sequence idea, to include sound and titles
Opening sequence: Our opening sequence will begin with the stalker and main character, Grace, checking up on the social media of the girl that she is stalking, Ella. While going through her Facebook she discovers that Ella is now in a relationship with Grace's ex-boyfriend, Anthony. This angers Grace and causes her to cancel her plans with her friends when they call her and plot her murder of Ella, crossing her face out on her mood board.
Grace then receives a Twitter notification from Ella who has just left to go to the gym. Grace looks at the clock and realises it's time to leave and follow Ella. Grace watches Ella walk past her house from her window, and then rushes to pack her backpack with a knife and various other stalking equipment.
She runs down the stairs and out of the door, while pushing past her brother telling him she'll be "gone for a while". The sequence ends with Grace slamming her front door shut and taking a deep breath, ready to stalk.
Titles:
For our titles we researched into existing film opening titles, and our primary influence was the website Art of the Title (www.artofthetitle.com).
One title sequence that really inspired our decisions was American Horror Story. American Horror Story is a gothic horror TV series and the simple white font that contrasted with the creepy music gave us ideas for our own sequence.
The titles that we plan to include are:
Grace then receives a Twitter notification from Ella who has just left to go to the gym. Grace looks at the clock and realises it's time to leave and follow Ella. Grace watches Ella walk past her house from her window, and then rushes to pack her backpack with a knife and various other stalking equipment.
She runs down the stairs and out of the door, while pushing past her brother telling him she'll be "gone for a while". The sequence ends with Grace slamming her front door shut and taking a deep breath, ready to stalk.
Titles:
For our titles we researched into existing film opening titles, and our primary influence was the website Art of the Title (www.artofthetitle.com).
One title sequence that really inspired our decisions was American Horror Story. American Horror Story is a gothic horror TV series and the simple white font that contrasted with the creepy music gave us ideas for our own sequence.
However we also had to keep in mind the conventions of titles, such as introducing the cast and crew and informing the audiences of the institutions behind the film.
The titles that we plan to include are:
- Directed by Prudence Carter-Phillips
- Produced by Gabriel Meytanis
- Starring Celine George
- and Ella Thompson
- Edited by Josh Oranu-Noah
- Follow
Sound:
The track we chose for our background music is called "Saw The Devil" and is composed by Alexis Smith and Joe Henson; it can be found on AudioNetwork. We chose this track because it has a medium tempo which suited the pace of the editing that we planned. Furthermore, the track is quite simplistic so it doesn't distract from the plot of our sequence however the pulsing beats add to the atmosphere of tension and fear. The track builds up and climaxes at certain points which we felt would suit the growing anger and determination of our main character.
The track we chose for our background music is called "Saw The Devil" and is composed by Alexis Smith and Joe Henson; it can be found on AudioNetwork. We chose this track because it has a medium tempo which suited the pace of the editing that we planned. Furthermore, the track is quite simplistic so it doesn't distract from the plot of our sequence however the pulsing beats add to the atmosphere of tension and fear. The track builds up and climaxes at certain points which we felt would suit the growing anger and determination of our main character.
R+P Post 7: Our film's title and plot outline
Our film title: Follow
Plot outline: The film follows the main character Grace, an 18 year old mixed-race British girl. She lives a seemingly normal life, but hides a secret obsession with another 18 year old, mixed race British girl named Ella, and goes to extreme lengths to stalk her both online via Ella's social media and in real life.
Grace is going through Ella's social media when she discovers on Facebook that she is now dating Grace's ex-boyfriend, Anthony. This angers Grace who decides she has to kill Ella. Throughout the film Grace makes various attempts to kill Ella which ends in a climactic fight between them two, but Ella wins. Grace is forced to run away to another town where she finds another victim to stalk.
The reference we used for the plot was Single White Female. This is because it is a thriller film that follows how one a girl, Hedy, moves into an apartment and obsessively stalks her roommate, Allie. Hedy even kills Allies boyfriend and manipulates Allie into siding with her. Overall it is a very psychologically disturbing film so we decided to use it as inspiration for ours.
Plot outline: The film follows the main character Grace, an 18 year old mixed-race British girl. She lives a seemingly normal life, but hides a secret obsession with another 18 year old, mixed race British girl named Ella, and goes to extreme lengths to stalk her both online via Ella's social media and in real life.
Grace is going through Ella's social media when she discovers on Facebook that she is now dating Grace's ex-boyfriend, Anthony. This angers Grace who decides she has to kill Ella. Throughout the film Grace makes various attempts to kill Ella which ends in a climactic fight between them two, but Ella wins. Grace is forced to run away to another town where she finds another victim to stalk.
The reference we used for the plot was Single White Female. This is because it is a thriller film that follows how one a girl, Hedy, moves into an apartment and obsessively stalks her roommate, Allie. Hedy even kills Allies boyfriend and manipulates Allie into siding with her. Overall it is a very psychologically disturbing film so we decided to use it as inspiration for ours.
R+P Post 6: Our chosen genre and how we plan to connote this
The genres we have chosen for our film are:
- Psychological
- Thriller
- Stalker
In order to successfully connote our genres we got inspiration from one of our references One Hour Photo. We liked how in One Hour Photo it was told from the perspective of the stalker, and how he became obsessed with the lives of one family through his occupation developing photos. The thriller element was connoted in One Hour Photo through the contrast between the seemingly ordinary every day life of the stalker and his dark secret stalking of the family. This inspired us in how we communicated our genre in our sequence, as we decided to make the main character a seemingly ordinary 18 year old girl who lives a double life.
One idea that directly inspired us from One Hour Photo that communicates the genre was the idea of the moodboard. This displays the disturbing psychological lengths that the stalker is willing to go to.
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| Main character of One Hour Photo and his "moodboard" |
R+P Post 5: How we plan to attract/address our target audience
We plan to attract our primary target audience, fans of psychological thrillers, by making using conventions of the genre in our opening sequence to evoke feelings in the audience. For example we plan to the combination of tight, CU and ECU shots of Grace's eyes and mouth and sound effects of heavy breathing as she wakes up to create a sense of claustrophobia and unease.
Our primary audience of 15-24 year olds will be attracted through the use of familiar social media platforms throughout the opening sequence such as Twitter, as shown above. Furthermore the certification of the film will be a 15 which will address the target audience as they will be likely to watch films that are certificated specifically for them.
R+P Post 4: Representation of social groups in our opening sequence
The main social groups that we chose to represent in our sequence are middle class British teenage girls. We have chosen to represent them through the use of an 18 year old female protagonist called Grace who is mixed race and British.
We have chosen to represent these social groups through the use of social media and the setting of our opening sequence.
Our opening sequence heavily revolves around the character's use of social media to carry out her stalking, and we decided to use social media that is popular with female teenagers such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. This is because teenagers are typically "addicted" to their smart phones and maintain active profiles on them, therefore in the opening sequence Grace, the protagonist, will regularly check the girl she's stalking's social media.
The reference point we used as inspiration for this was the Channel 4 television film Cyberbully. The film is focused around the main character, a teenage girl's, constant use of social media to contact her friends and express her thoughts. The film goes on to show how she is stalked and terrorized through her social media.
We have chosen to represent these social groups through the use of social media and the setting of our opening sequence.
Our opening sequence heavily revolves around the character's use of social media to carry out her stalking, and we decided to use social media that is popular with female teenagers such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. This is because teenagers are typically "addicted" to their smart phones and maintain active profiles on them, therefore in the opening sequence Grace, the protagonist, will regularly check the girl she's stalking's social media.
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| Use of Twitter in Cyberbully |
R+P Post 3: Our production and distribution institutions
Our production company is called Bugle Films. It's a British independent film company that is based in London, and it specialises in films of the thriller and horror genres. We decided to create our own production company so that we could have a company which was specifically designed to produce films like ours.Distribution Company:
The distribution company that we decided to use is Film4. This is because they are a British company that is based in London and have distributed many British independent films, including some that have target audiences to ours such as the Inbetweeners Movie.
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
R+P Post 2: Our target audience
Our Primary Audience:- Fans of psychological thrillers
- Girls and boys aged 15-24
The reference point that we used for our primary audience was the film Stalked at 17. We felt it was appropriate to use as inspiration as it is also a thriller film centered around stalking, and the certification of the film is a 15. Furthermore the film contains violent psychological themes to attract the target audience but enough to ensure it is rated only a 15.
Our Secondary Audience:
- Fans of horror films
- Fans of British indie films
We chose fans of horror films as our secondary audience because we wanted to incorporate elements into our opening sequence that would be scary and frightening. As our production and distribution companies and overall style of our opening sequence was typical of a British indie film, we decided to make the secondary audience also fans of British indie films.
R+P Post 1: How we intend to work as a group
In our first group meeting we decided on the times for our weekly meetings. We decided to meet each Monday and Thursday at the following times:
Week 1:
•Monday 1:50-2:20pm and 4:00-4:30pm
•Thursday 2:00-3:00pm
Week 2:
•Monday 9:00-9:30am and 4:00-4:30pm
•Thursday 11:30-12:30pm
Week 1:
•Monday 1:50-2:20pm and 4:00-4:30pm
•Thursday 2:00-3:00pm
Week 2:
•Monday 9:00-9:30am and 4:00-4:30pm
•Thursday 11:30-12:30pm
We agreed to meet in the Media Department for the meetings and ensure that we have done individual research ourselves that we can bring together at the meetings. Furthermore, we have decided to set up Facebook and Whatsapp group chats so we can communicate effectively with each other and convey any ideas or questions what we may have.
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