How the production will be split -
1. The 2 teens return home just before dark to see something lurking near their house. After they see this they rush indoors and get away from the 'danger'
2. Strange things start happening around them and they start to get worried.
3. They panic for a while trying to work out what to do. They decide where to go and how to get there.
4. After going over their plan, they make a move towards a safe point.
5. On the way to the safe point they get chased and people jump out at them along the way.
6. They make it safely to the safe point and get away from the problem.
7. One character starts daydreaming and gets 'woken up'
8. Whole thing was a dream and they get on with their everyday lives.
Location Reports -
Locations - Nathan's house, nearby field and the roads connecting the locations.
This is where the start of my SCD will be filmed.
This is the surrounding area to the first image. This area will be used throughout the rest of the SCD. The red circle towards the bottom is where the start of my SCD will be filmed. The red circle towards the top of the picture is where the ending of my SCD will be filmed. The line between the circles shows the route of where my actors will be going once they leave the house.
The only minor risks that I could come across throughout the planned route is the slight possibility of slow moving cars and some slightly uneven surfaces going through a pathway to the circle at the top of the picture. The roads that will be used for filming are mainly private and some are public but they are not near any main roads or motorways, therefore the roads would only be used by residents and not for cars passing through the area. This minimises the traffic around the surrounding areas. The uneven surfaces are natural ground (30-40 metres) and should not be a hazard in the way that I will be filming in that area. I will be filming mostly slow movements on the uneven ground so this risk is also minimised by small things such as the actors being careful in the way they move around in this small area.
Budget - £0, no expendeture due to free hiring of equipment and actors.
Relevant Research - Horror/Thriller Genre
- Made to be unsettling. I have used two teenagers staying at home and get targeted.
- Often overlaps with other genres.
- Often the victims are home alone, in my story the two characters are home alone.
Source - http://g321elizabethmcphail.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/horror-codes-and-conventions.html
- Include creative heroes that stop the 'villain'. I have used one of my characters to do this in my story.
- Sometimes the narrative presents ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen. I have just used a regular day for two teenagers before they start getting targeted by something for no specific reason.
Source - http://www.slideshare.net/gueste004c90/convetions-of-a-thriller-film
Script -
As they are about to go indoors, they take a look behind them and see something in a bush. It does not look human and it looked like it was after them.
The object in the bush makes a grunting noise and starts to move forward. John and Simon quickly go indoors and shut the door behind them.
Planned shots -
Soundtrack Planning (intended techniques, list of required sound recordings needed, equipment and caballing needs, evidence of knowledge of appropriate sound levels etc.) -
For my soundtrack I will only use a few sound effects when it comes to emphasis on things such as doors closing and footsteps. When I am filming my SCD I will be using a shotgun microphone and therefore a lot of movements and sounds will be picked up accurately and will not need to be changed in any way. So far in my editing process I have not faced any issues surrounding sound that specifically need to be added in my soundtrack. I am going to use freesound.org for my sound effects. One major thing that I will be adding using sound is the presence of the mystery thing that is chasing the two main characters in my story because it is not shown straight to the camera and leaves everything up to the imagination of the audience. By adding these sound effects I hope to give the audience the impression that this mystery thing has power and if somebody was to be in contact or near it, they would have a lot of fear.
Final Production - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmLRNyFh6EU
Self Evaluation - After completing my production, I am generally happy with the outcome. I am happy with the overall feel of the project and in my opinion the storyline is easy to follow. The way the shots link together turned out fairly well with only a few issues that were eventually resolved.
If there was anything that I would have changed through the making of this short film, I would definitely be more organised when it came to getting actors as I had quite a few timing issues that ultimately led to me missing some shots due to rushing and not being able to have that much diversity when it came to locations. Although this was the main problem that I faced, it did not affect my progress much. Some things that I could have improved on is sticking closer to my script because although I did stick to it, I had to remove some parts due to either a lack of footage of the dialogue or not enough time to cover everything when I was filming. I also missed a few essential shots during the main time I spent filming such as shots connecting other shots well so I had to go back and do what I could to film these shots in the time I had.
I was happy with the overall product and the main things that I thought went well was the sound recordings on set, the soundtrack and how it fitted with the picture and my time management when it came to editing. I feel as though I had a reasonable amount of time for editing so I did not have to rush at any point and miss things out.
This is a selection of storyboard shots picked from random parts of my short film. I have shown my two characters both in different situations throughout the short film.
Characters -
John 17, Male, Average height, not very confident, fairly smart
Simon 18, Male, Tall, Slim, Confident, knowledgeable.
Simon 18, Male, Tall, Slim, Confident, knowledgeable.
The idea of my story is that 2 young adults get caught in a situation that somebody their age would not normally get caught into. The basis behind the story is that the two main characters in my story are just regular young adults going about their everyday lives when things around them start to become irregular. They hear rustling noises in the bushes outside John's house as they get home but choose to ignore them. When things start turning stranger after they entered the house, they decide to take a look out of the window, only to find that something is after them. They are surrounded in John's house and need to think of something to get themselves to the fields and to safety.
Location Reports -
Locations - Nathan's house, nearby field and the roads connecting the locations.
The only minor risks that I could come across throughout the planned route is the slight possibility of slow moving cars and some slightly uneven surfaces going through a pathway to the circle at the top of the picture. The roads that will be used for filming are mainly private and some are public but they are not near any main roads or motorways, therefore the roads would only be used by residents and not for cars passing through the area. This minimises the traffic around the surrounding areas. The uneven surfaces are natural ground (30-40 metres) and should not be a hazard in the way that I will be filming in that area. I will be filming mostly slow movements on the uneven ground so this risk is also minimised by small things such as the actors being careful in the way they move around in this small area.
Budget - £0, no expendeture due to free hiring of equipment and actors.
Relevant Research - Horror/Thriller Genre
- Made to be unsettling. I have used two teenagers staying at home and get targeted.
- Often overlaps with other genres.
- Often the victims are home alone, in my story the two characters are home alone.
Source - http://g321elizabethmcphail.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/horror-codes-and-conventions.html
- Include creative heroes that stop the 'villain'. I have used one of my characters to do this in my story.
- Sometimes the narrative presents ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen. I have just used a regular day for two teenagers before they start getting targeted by something for no specific reason.
Source - http://www.slideshare.net/gueste004c90/convetions-of-a-thriller-film
Script -
EXT. Street, Early Evening. Just getting dark
JOHN and SIMON are walking towards their house and start to hear things behind them.
JOHN and SIMON are walking towards their house and start to hear things behind them.
JOHN
What was that? I think we are being followed lets go inside.
SIMON
I'm sure we will be fine we are only a couple of steps from home. Come on.
As they are about to go indoors, they take a look behind them and see something in a bush. It does not look human and it looked like it was after them.
SIMON
That is definitely someone looking at us!
JOHN
Stay here.
SIMON
Where are you going?
John leaves the room and goes to look out of the window near the door. As he puts his head to the window, he jumps back in horror and panics. He goes back to Simon in the other room and looks in shock.
SIMON
What's happened? Is something there?
JOHN
We need to get away.
SIMON
Why what's happened John?!
JOHN
It's there..
SIMON
What is there John? Talk to me!
John continues to not make any sense and Simon goes to the other room to have a look for himself. When Simon looks into the window there is nothing. Simon pulls the curtains across the window.
SIMON
You must be seeing things, nothing is there!
JOHN
I saw it, it wasn't human and it looked annoyed.
SIMON
Sit over there and calm down.
John and Simon walk to a table and John sits down. Simon walks into the other room and gets John a glass of water. Simon then hands over the glass and sits down next to John.
SIMON
Drink that.
JOHN
I've never seen anything like it Simon. It was like it wanted something from me.
SIMON
So it was just out there? Looking at you?
JOHN
Staring. Like it was angry. Check that it is gone.
SIMON
Okay.
Simon walks up to the window where John first looked and checks behind the curtains.
SIMON
There is nothing there I think we will be safe.
As Simon turns away from the window and walks back towards John, there is a loud bang on the window.
JOHN
It is still there, Im not making this up!
SIMON
Okay get away from the window!
John and Simon move away from the window and sit down at the table.
SIMON
What are we going to do? This thing is not human and knows we are in here.
JOHN
I don't know but we have to think of something or we will never leave this house!
SIMON
We could try running past and going down the road?
JOHN
It's risky but I don't think we have a choice.
Simon goes to the other room and searches through the kitchen cabinets trying to find something to write on. Simon takes a few pieces of paper out of the cabinet and takes them into the other room where John is still sitting.
SIMON
This is what we are going to do.
Simon starts writing on the paper quickly and roughly drawing a diagram of where the pair need to go. John is watching over the plans.
JOHN
It looks right but what can we do if this thing just chases us? It looks faster and stronger than we are, we wouldn't be able to get away!
SIMON
What choice do we have? We stay here, we definitely don't make it out and if we run we have a slight chance of making it out of here.
JOHN
Okay we have to run then.
Simon looks down at the paper and starts to explain to John what exactly needs to be done and where to go. Simon points at the paper a few times and John nods in agreement.
SIMON
Firstly we need to go out the front of the house because that thing is probably still in the garden.
JOHN
Okay but we would have to walk past the garden anyway?
SIMON
I know but if we are quiet enough we can go past without being seen.
JOHN
We don't know that for sure, it could have very good hearing and hear us running past!
SIMON
You have to trust me here, there is no other way we can go.
JOHN
I don't think we can do this.
SIMON
Come on we have no choice!
JOHN
Okay and what if it does see us?
SIMON
We have to move very quickly. Chances are we could get away we need to go.
JOHN
Okay.
John and Simon get up and leave the room. They walk towards the front door of the house and get ready to leave. The pair move cautiously out of the front door and start to walk away from the house.
SIMON
Come this way, keep watching around us.
JOHN
Be quiet it could be anywhere by now.
Simon and John continue to move cautiously up the road, they walk past the garden and the spot the thing that is following them.
SIMON
It can't see us here so we need to move quietly.
Simon and John sneak past and do not get seen. As they continue to move up the road, they get spotted and start to get chased.
JOHN
We've been spotted!
SIMON
Keep moving.
JOHN
It's getting closer.
SIMON
Down here!
Simon and John take a sharp turn and get out of sight. They crouch near some bushes and hide.
JOHN
That was close, do you think we are hidden here?
SIMON
We should be fine just wait a second.
The pair wait as the area goes silent. They look where they can see and there is nothing blocking where they need to go. They are not being chased any more and start to move slowly back on to the road.
SIMON
Okay we move this way and get to safety.
JOHN
If we just move and keep watching our backs we should escape.
Simon and John check for the last time if it is safe to move and once they confirm that this, they start to move further away from John's house. As they reach the end of the road, they seem to be safe and continue walking just to be sure. They walk to the nearby field and sit on the grass.
SIMON
Well that was an experience.
JOHN
It's fine we are safe now.
Simon doesn't respond to John and starts staring blankly forward.
JOHN
Simon? What you looking at?
There is still no response from Simon.
JOHN
Simon!
John starts to push Simon to try and shake him out of the state he is in and the shot switches to Simon laying on the sofa at John's house.
JOHN
Are you okay? You were shouting about something chasing you!
SIMON
Oh I must have fallen asleep sorry.
JOHN
Come on let's go we need to finish our project.
Simon and John leave the room as the camera fades to black.
Planned shots -
1. Fade in from black to LS of Simon and John walking. Camera behind pair.
2. Switch to front shot of walking. LS.
3. MS of the pair stopping still and spotting something.
4. POV shot looking at bushes.
5. CU of John talking.
6. MS of pair.
7. LS as pair walk further towards home.
8. CU as the pair reach the front door and stop to check behind them.
9. MS one characters turns back to open the door.
10. LS walking through door.
11. MS from inside showing pair walking through the door.
12. CU for speech.
13. MS showing John walk from Simon and leave to go into the other room.
14. MLS John opening door.
15. MLS John walking through to the other room.
16. MS Simon spectating.
17. MLS John walking up to the window.
18. Over Shoulder Shot of John looking through the window and stumbling away in shock from Simon's perspective.
19. MS Simon walking into the room to meet John.
20. CU Simon speech.
21. CU John speech.
22. MS Simon walking to other room.
23. ECU John head in hands.
24. MS Simon looking through a window.
25. LS Simon turning around and walking away from window.
26. ECU John still head in hands.
27. MLS showing both John head in hands and Simon re-entering the room.
28. MLS Simon walking to the window and drawing curtains.
29. MLS Simon leaving room again.
30. LS Simon getting glass and pouring a drink.
31. MLS Simon enters room.
32. CU John hands clenched and water put infront of him.
33. MS Simon sitting down next to John.
34. CU shots of both aspects of conversation. One shot of conversation focused on each character.
35. LS Simon checking behind curtains.
36. MLS of seating area with speech.
37. MS Simon with curtains behind as he turns back towards John.
38. CU Simon telling John to get away from the window.
39. CU John confused.
40. MS Simon angry telling John to hurry.
41. MLS Pair sit down other end of table, away from window.
42. MS of conversation.
43. MLS John in focus, Simon walks past into other room in background.
44. LS Simon returning with supplies.
45. MLS Simon sitting down.
46. CU Simon writing on the paper.
47. MS scene.
48. CU of each character in turn.
49. MLS of pair leaving the table and going towards the front door.
50. MS of pair opening the front door and starting to leave.
51. LS of pair walking out of front door.
52. MS of pair talking.
53. Mixture of CU for speech and MLS for movement as the pair move up the road.
54. LS of pair walking past garden and spotting thing.
55. CU of pair looking to sneak past.
56. Over The Shoulder shot as one character cautiously moves past.
57. LS as the other character moves past.
58. Shot from behind of the pair walking past camera.
59. Pair look behind them and look shocked at something.
60. ELS as pair start to run away.
61. MS as the pair decide to hide in the bushes.
62. MLS as they move into their hiding spot.
63. CU of speech.
64. MLS of the pair looking towards where they came from.
65. Camera changes to POV as it looks around the corner.
66. CU of speech.
67. MLS of pair moving back cautiously onto the road.
68. LS of pair walking away.
69. CU of speech.
70. Mixture of shots as the pair walk far away.
71. MS pair arriving at a field.
72. MLS pair sitting down.
73. CU John talking to Simon.
74. CU Simon staring blankly.
75. MS showing John pushing Simon.
76. CU Simon being woken up.
77. MS John. Speech.
78. MS shot. Simon sits up. Speech.
79. MLS pair. Speech.
80. MLS pair leaving the room.
Soundtrack Planning (intended techniques, list of required sound recordings needed, equipment and caballing needs, evidence of knowledge of appropriate sound levels etc.) -
For my soundtrack I will only use a few sound effects when it comes to emphasis on things such as doors closing and footsteps. When I am filming my SCD I will be using a shotgun microphone and therefore a lot of movements and sounds will be picked up accurately and will not need to be changed in any way. So far in my editing process I have not faced any issues surrounding sound that specifically need to be added in my soundtrack. I am going to use freesound.org for my sound effects. One major thing that I will be adding using sound is the presence of the mystery thing that is chasing the two main characters in my story because it is not shown straight to the camera and leaves everything up to the imagination of the audience. By adding these sound effects I hope to give the audience the impression that this mystery thing has power and if somebody was to be in contact or near it, they would have a lot of fear.
Final Production - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmLRNyFh6EU
Self Evaluation - After completing my production, I am generally happy with the outcome. I am happy with the overall feel of the project and in my opinion the storyline is easy to follow. The way the shots link together turned out fairly well with only a few issues that were eventually resolved.
If there was anything that I would have changed through the making of this short film, I would definitely be more organised when it came to getting actors as I had quite a few timing issues that ultimately led to me missing some shots due to rushing and not being able to have that much diversity when it came to locations. Although this was the main problem that I faced, it did not affect my progress much. Some things that I could have improved on is sticking closer to my script because although I did stick to it, I had to remove some parts due to either a lack of footage of the dialogue or not enough time to cover everything when I was filming. I also missed a few essential shots during the main time I spent filming such as shots connecting other shots well so I had to go back and do what I could to film these shots in the time I had.
I was happy with the overall product and the main things that I thought went well was the sound recordings on set, the soundtrack and how it fitted with the picture and my time management when it came to editing. I feel as though I had a reasonable amount of time for editing so I did not have to rush at any point and miss things out.
I used Final Cut Pro to make my short film and I encountered no problems throughout my time using it and I feel like my project was successful using Final Cut Pro to edit. I used freesoung.org for my sound effects and I am very happy with the way they turned out.
Storyboard
This is a selection of storyboard shots picked from random parts of my short film. I have shown my two characters both in different situations throughout the short film.
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