Although I have planned my short film to have little to no dialog I still felt it necessary to write a script, however it is quite basic script and in some ways is just a vaguer version of my shot list and synopsis. The script may only be basic but I feel like this,along with my shot list and other visual planning will help my actors have a more accurate understanding of what I am asking of them and what role I want them to play. I am going to print off my script as well as my shot list to have a paper copy during my shoot for my actors to refer to while filming takes place.

My research and planning into my visuals and plot helped me massively in creating this script and helped aid the development of my ideas which eventually helped me in writing a cohesive and understandable script.

This blog will include screenshots of my shot list that I have written for my short film, although I have planned my shots in as much detail as I can at this point, I am open to adjusting some shots, adding or removing shots once it comes to filming and when I am editing too. I am sure I will stick mostly to the shots I have written here but will be using this mainly as a guild line, and letting my creativity build upon what I have already planned, rather than having the shots set in stone with no room for adjustments or improvements. These changes could be as small as changing a camera angle on a certain shot or could be as big as completely re-planning a shot or series of shots, but at this point I cannot plan for these kind of changes.

My short film will consist of 4 characters, made up of 3 cult members and my main character, Ella, however in my film the main character is the only character that really has any significance to the story. Whereas my 3 cult members will be acting more as props than actual characters, and will just be used as a symbolism of Satan and Satanism etc. This character will embody some classic horror stereotypes, for example being a young and attractive teenage girl to appeal to the male audience and, through costume etc, will also resemble a bit of a ‘slut’ as that has always been a very common character to be seen throughout the horror genre. My character will also be a very troubled character and this will be shown through self-harm SFX and drug use throughout some scenes of the film, I want to present her as being ‘lost’ and searching for faith, which is why she ends up being involved in the occult etc.

I have chosen to cast Ella as my main character for many reasons, but mainly because I feel like she could very much embody the character I want to portray in my film. Apart looking the part, blonde, pretty, petite, I also think she can play the ‘slut’ and ‘damsel-in-destress’ stereotype I am looking for in this character. Ella is going to be acting throughout the film although will have minimal to no lines, so most of the acting will be through facial expressions and body language, I talked about why I wanted to do this and the inspiration behind it in my blog on the film, “Hereditary”.  Because I am hoping to portray a very specific character and personality without the use of a detailed dialog, I feel I will need to rely on my actresses acting skills a little better and trust that Ella can portray emotions and experiences through facial expressions, body language and physical activities, for example smoking a cigarette, doing drugs etc. I trust in Ellas acting abilities and skill to help with all of this, she informed me that she received a B in her GCSE Drama and I have also done a casting tape of her reading aloud a short section from a horror script that I found online.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ol4mOSEZ_F5NhAnpTlLRuYj_4QBidgyI/view?usp=sharing

Overall I feel extremely confident that Ella can play the part I need her to play and portray the character I am wanting in my film.

 

All of my production equipment and resources are mine and therefore I do not need to go through the hassle of booking out any equipment from college, it also means I get to work with equipment I am used to working with and that I am comfortable with how to use. I am not using too much equipment either, just my DSLR Canon 750D camera and my ring light, both of these I have used multiple times, for both personal use and for filming too.

I used my camera and light to film last years project, because of this, I know I can get the right effects I need for the horror genre. My camera is fairly easy to film on and has an SD card with 16GB of storage on it, I will be transferring my footage from this SD card to my laptop and then keeping my footage on my laptop while editing in case anything crashes, gets lost or fails. In terms of lighting, I am using my ring light, I use this almost daily to take pictures for my MUA portfolio, I normally use a white light filter on the light which create a very bright light. For the filming of this project I will be using the ring light with a burnt orange filter over it to create a warmer and less harsh light. I think the ring light should give the effect I need, as I have used this light before. My only concern, but main concern, would be that the light colour and temperature would be perfect but that it may come off a little too intense, in which case could lead to my shots being over exposed.

For post production, although I have editing software on my computer, I have decided to book out some time in the edit suite at college and use Final Cut Pro todo my editing. This is because, other than 1 project so far, I have edited every project on this software and so am so much more familiar with it that anything else. I do have Di Vinci Resolve on my laptop, however, I have only used this software once and so am not as comfortable or confident with it as I am with Final Cut. I used Final Cut for my horror work last year and so know what features on this software work the best for the horror genre and the look and atmosphere films within this genre should have.

I am going to email now and ask to book out some time in the editing suite so that everything is in order and prepared for when I am ready to edit. I am going to try to ask for time next week so that I have all my footage as well as having some extra time after this incase I have to re-film or re-edit anything.

When creating my proposal, I had to fill out a production schedule for pretty much my entire project, I knew then that I couldn’t be 100% sure of my schedule and that I also may stray away from the schedule and may ‘fall behind’ in terms of the time frame I had set for myself. I thought, since I am creating another schedule now for my production and post-production, that it may be worth looking back at my initial schedule to see how accurately I had stuck to it.

Initial Project Schedule.

Production and Post-Production schedule from 23rd of April to 12th May.

Week Commencing 22nd: This week will be used to finish off the planning documents and and preparation for filming, which will be happing on the days of the 25th and 26th. My actress Ella and I will be driving up to Cumbria on our study days to film my short film and I have made sure to give her a copy of the script and shot list so that she feels as prepared as she can be. I will hopefully have my laptop back by then (I wrote about my laptop issues in an earlier blog) so that I can put my footage onto my computer as soon as I have filmed it to lessen the chances or loosing any of my work.

Week Commencing 29th: I am going to be emailing the media bookings email so I can book in for the edit suit for as much time as I can throughout this week, I will also be using this time to reflect on how my production went and how my research and planning helped make my production successful, as hopefully it will be successful. I am hoping I could get the majority of my editing done this week and the week after so that I have time to re-film anything incase it comes to that.

Week Commencing 6th: I am hoping that this week will also be dedicated to editing but I am also going to be using this week in case I need anything re-filmed, I will by this point have had plenty of time to go over my footage and start editing so will be able to have a better idea of what has worked for me and what maybe hasn’t. I would like to be able to re-film anything in case I need it before the final two weeks so that I am not rushing anything that may need more time.

I have decided not to plan for the week commencing 13th May or the week commencing 20th May as I am not sure what could go wrong or right within this time, I will revisit this subject once I have finished filming and/or editing, as then I will be able to plan accordingly and accurately to what I will have done by then.

My original production schedule was made with a completely different idea and plan in mind, I was planning on creating a horror promotion and now that I am creating a short film my whole schedule has changed to fit my new idea. My original schedule had me down to film from the date of 1st April, I obviously did not start filming at this date and instead am staring about 5 weeks later than that. This isn’t actually that much of a big deal as originally I needed time to release my posts to create a film promotion campaign, as I am now just creating my short film, I do not need to set aside the same amount of time to release it as I did initially.

I decide that I needed to look further into what symbol I want to have my main character, Ella, draw on her mirror, which subsequently gets carved into her back. I also felt it would be important to know the proper meaning of the symbol so that it made sense in the context of the film and was a well informed choice rather than just throwing some random symbol in. I looked at using an upside-down cross, however the origin of that symbol isn’t technically satanic and so doesn’t really fit with what I am wanting to portray with the use of this symbol. So instead I wanted to do some research into the “Inverted Pentagram” to see if it would fit, and it does.

Inverted Pentagram: This symbol involves a star enclosed in a circle. However, the star is inverted, with its basal two points up. This symbol stands for evil and is used to conjure evil spirits. It also stands for Satan and the Antichrist’s dominion over the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Satanists are found wearing this symbol on their necks in the form of pendants, while carrying out satanic rituals. This symbol is also found on the heavy metal Satanic album; the Slayer.

I want to use the symbol because of its connection to it being used to ‘conjure evil spirits’, which I feel could help create a great segway from reality to the ‘dream’.

I am going to be putting all my planning document in a folder in my google drive so that, once done with planning, I can have everything in one place and it can be viewed altogether. However, I am also going to be copying and pasting my treatment into this blog so that there is evidence of it here, along with all my research etc.

Treatment

WORKING TITLE: Satan’s Game

OVERVIEW OF PROJECT: A Short Film

GENRE: Horror: Paranormal/Psychological

DURATION: Between 4 and 7 minutes, 4 main scenes filmed in two locations.

TARGET AUDIENCE: – Gender: Both, traditionally male, but nowadays both genders tend to be drawn to the horror genre.

Age: typically 15-35, most horror films tend to have a BBFS rating of at least 15.

Psychographics: Mainly ‘Mainstreamers’ as the Horror genre is quite popular right now.

Social Demographic: Typically middle (C1,C2) due to having jobs and therefor being able to afford to buy films and go to the cinema.

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH: For my primary research I took a look back at my last project and used this as research for my target audience and to show my understanding of the genre I will be working within. I also took a look back at some of the responses I got from last years project, as I was also working with the horror genre then to, I did this just to see if any of my feedback could help me in developing my ideas and what to research for this years project. I also did a questionnaire asking for peoples personal experiences with nightmares and night terrors to help build my idea for the plot and make it more relatable to my audience.

I decided to involve some topics into my short film that required a little more research to be able to properly portray them through my film. These include topics such as the occult and Satanism, nightmares, and Tarot cards and Ouija boards. I also did research into other short films as well as some horror films that either involved similar topics to mine or that I could take inspiration from in terms of the visuals.

My research has definitely helped shape my idea and has even changed many aspect of it, as now I am creating something quite different from what I had initially intended to, which was a horror film campaign and trailer, where as now it is a short film. I had also initially thought I would be going down the slasher sub-genre route where as now I am sticking more to the supernatural sub-genre.

YOUR PRODUCT: Initially I had intended on doing a horror campaign but within a few blogs of research, I had changed my plan to a short horror film. The short film will be around 5 minutes long and will be around 4 scenes long, one of which is a nightmare/night terror sequence.

Here is the short films synopsis that gives a rundown on the short film scene by scene and a rough introduction to the main character: The film starts with our main character, Ella, a pretty, normal, blonde, teenage girl, with scars on her arms, who has found a new fascination for the occult, she wants to feel something, she wants something to believe in. She has been playing around with her Tarot cards, hoping to connect with anyone, anything, and is getting frustrated with her non-existent results, and eventually spirals into darkness from this frustration. Why isn’t it working, she’s following all the rules?

The second scene includes Ella looking at the rules of her Tarot cards, one of them being that it is crucial to be sober while using the cards, and deciding to ignore them. She then goes through the night using drugs, consuming alcohol but still, with no use, throws the cards in the bin, has a cigarette and goes to sleep.

She is then woken up to the sound of chanting, dazed and confused, she looks around to find herself in an unfamiliar surrounding. The room she is in is not her own bedroom that she fell asleep in, nor is it even the same house, the building is old, dark, cold, with mirrors as the only furnishings, if you could even call it that. She is suddenly very aware of the people in the room with her, what seems to be a small cult is surrounding her and are performing some kind of ritual. There are candles burning in a circle around her and strange symbols on the walls and mirrors, is she dreaming? As the chants get louder and strange images flash through her mind, Ella is now aware something is very wrong. She can feel a pain throughout her body as if she had been pulled through a sea of broken glass, the pain becomes worse and Ella now notices the fresh cuts on her arms, these scars were almost gone when she went to bed. She reaches to her back where the rest of the pain seems to be coming from and notices the blood on her hands as she brings them into view. Trembling and facing away from the nearest mirror Ella slowly lifts up her shirt to reveal the Satanic symbol carved into her skin, she screams as the screen fades to black.

She is awoken suddenly, back in her room, in her bed, safe. This was the worst nightmare she had ever had, while still in terror of what her mind had just conjured up, Ella walks out of the room to get a glass of water. As she walks back into the room to get a cigarette to calm her down, she glances in the bin to throw away the dead lighter and is horrified at the absence of the Tarot cards. The Tarot cards, the ones she had sworn she threw away, are neatly piled up on her pillow, as if they are waiting for her. Was it ever just a dream?

CONSTRAINTS AND CONTINGENCY: Issues I may come across I think will mostly have to do with the amount of filming and editing I have given myself, and although I am sure I will get everything done to a great standard, my timing is key to making sure nothing goes wrong. Also, when looking into audio and music for my piece I am going to have to be carful as not to use anything copyrighted, this means looking mainly at creating my own sound effects or getting sound from copyright free sights, and in terms of my music, I will have to do plenty of research into the usage rights of the track(s) I may decide to use. Earlier on in my research stages I had also thought that I may have ended up with no location, as that was a very hard aspect to sort out for my short film, however, I feel I handled this well and got in contact with the right people to finally get the perfect location.

TIMESCALE: The researching part of my project by far took up the most time, as I ended up spending around half of my overall time on this. However, I do not regret spending the majority of my time on research as this has made my planning a lot smother and my idea come to life and become more cohesive. This left around 2 – 3 weeks for planning, which I feel is enough as I had already made all my decisions as to what I want to do through research and essentially just have to complete all the documents now that I am in the midst of planning. This leaves 2 – 3 weeks for filming, which, again is more that enough as I only really need 2-3 full days of filming. Then the rest of my time will be set aside for editing, again, I feel confident in this as editing is one of my strongest points and skills in this whole project.

BUDGET:  My hypothetical budget for my film would be pretty low budget as I am doing all the filming, costume design, makeup, set design, and editing myself. The only real budget I would be putting aside for is the props and costumes I would be buying, the actors, 4 of them, non of which are professionally trained, and my equipment, which in this case I already had prior to this project. I have paid for a few things, like the long cloaks for the costumes etc, but nothing else, my location is that of a family friends so I am using it for free, but hypothetically, if non of this was the case, I would budget my films at around £300 – £500. So overall a pretty low-budget film, but, as the film industry has proven time and time again, that isn’t always a bad thing.

I have just started working on my treatment and almost fell at the first hurdle, I had gotten so caught up in the rest of my idea and planning and so completely forgot to actually give my short film a proper title. I had this idea of freezing one of the first frames of my film, not right at the beginning but a few scenes in, and having my title flash up on the screen. I wanted it to fill the whole screen too so needed it to be a relatively short title, and I wanted it to allude to the events of the short film without giving too much information about the plot or giving away any spoilers to the film. This very much seemed like an easy task, but was actually quite challenging, all the titles we could come up with from the off, either sounded too cheesy, gave too much information away or, frankly, sounded like the title of an 80’s porno.

Here are a few of the titles we considered:

• Night Terror,
• The Dream,
• She Sleeps,
• Ritual,
• In The Barn,
• Tarot,
• Card Games,
• The Card,
• The Rules,
• The Devil’s Card
• Satan’s Game,

I have decided to call it “Satan’s Game” as I feel like it alludes to the events of my short film quite well without giving out too much information on the plot to the point of spoiling it. I have also not found any other films, full length or short, by this title, there is a horror game, but from what I can tell it seems a fairly original title. This blog may have only been a short one but I felt it was as important of a decision as any.