Mood board

Research and Planning Targets

You have done some good independent research this term and have shown a solid understanding of film. Your film's planning needs to be much more detailed and thorough. You need to evidence storyboarding and your filming plans much more - and include video posts and diaries. I need to feel like I am a part of your group's journey towards your film being complete. Delegate responsibilities within the group to meet your upcoming deadline!

Filming attempt #1

  On the third of December the three of us, accompanied by three other actors, traveled to our decided filming location. Having found out the day before that we would not be allowed to film at our original choice of location due to security changes, we had to walk two and a half miles to an abandoned house in Bookham, Surrey.

 There are a lot of risks associated with having to find a last minute location. And as far as risks go, turning up and finding the house being renovated is not one we had considered.

  Not letting this step-back stop us, we decided that in an area so densely filled with old buildings, there must be one that we can find permission to film in.

  Sadly, our search was in vein. After walking around for about four hours, we decided to throw in the towel. Our time would be better spent researching a new location and filming a different day.

Makeup ideas for the summoning

Makeup ideas for the summoning

The monster- make up ideas

We have decided to do the monsters make- up like a combination of the ideas above as we believe that they will look best in the opening we are making. The two ideas combined will also look very creepy in certain lights like natural light and also additional studio lighting if we use it.

Prop ideas

Prop Ideas

  One of the appeals of a horror films is that, unlike an action film that needs guns and cars, a horror film needs a very minimal number of props. The few props that we need for our scene are face paint, fake blood (both of which could be classified as makeup and not props), a lighter/matches and most importantly to the story, a Ouija board. The matches are essential to the movie plot because the last 15/20 seconds of the film involve Matt holding a match and going round the stage until the monster comes up behind him. The fake blood and face paint is essential for Luke, as he is the monster and therefore needs to look scary, we will use white face paint to make his face completely white and the fake blood will be used around the eyes to add depth and emphasis to the character. The Ouija board is the whole point of the movie and therefore needs to be to a good standard, we got Billy to create his own Ouija board which we'll be using in the film, the pointer we got in the film was made last second but still does the job we want it to do.

Script for the summoning

Script for the summoning

Characters 

Matt-Jock
Zoe-Girl
Bill-Average guy
Conor-Darker guy
Billy-Geek
Luke-Monster

Introduction

Independent film making studio's (IFM)
Beginning credits

*Camera pans upwards, revealing setting, main characters walk past the camera and enter the settings doors with the doors shutting behind them, panicked gasps are heard from some members of the group, Bill places hand on door and attempts to open it to no avail*
"Matt: well, there's no turning back now"
*Anxious looks between Billy, Zoe and Billy as they look to Conor for answers*
"Zoe: Whats the plan then"
"Conor: Well......."
*Conor takes a Ouija board out of his bag and reveals it to the group*
"Matt: A Ouija board really?"
*A dim light appears through the darkness from one of the rooms, the group share some uneasy looks and then proceed to head towards the room, camera cuts to the designated room where candles are placed appropriately around the room and on a table*
"Conor: Well here goes nothing"
*Conor places the Ouija board onto the table in the appropriate place*
"Matt: You know what to do guys"
*The group position themselves accordingly around the and place one hand on the pointer*
"Zoe: are there any spirits here?"
*Pointer moves to yes; as a close-up is shown*
"Conor: Can you tell us what happened to our missing friends"
*A few candles on the outer ring burnout and the pointer points to no*
"Zoe: why not"
*Camera focuses on group (birds eye) as more candles burnout and pointer moves in quick succession of three letters (you)*
"Matt: You? what do you want from us?"
*pointer points to five letters (death), group looks uneasily at each-other, a few close-ups one used and focuses on Billy*
"Bill: death?"
*Ouija board bounces slightly, group gets startled and Bill and Billy step back, Ouija board begins to vibrate violently*
"Matt: whats happening "
*Ambient sound presents spirit presence, which is followed by a birds eye view of the group, each member pushed back into the darkness behind them and the remaining candles go out, shuffling is heard, followed by some heavy breathing*
*Flicks lighter twice before igniting on the third attempt to shown to be distressed and looks around quickly, heavy breathing becomes more apparent and other ambiance stops. A ghostly face appears from the darkness behind Matt s left shoulder, creature becomes angry as shown on its face, the lighter is extinguished and a loud scream is heard*

Ideas for opening two minutes- The summoning

Ideas for opening two minutes- The summoning

-Ouija board   -zippo lighter -make up for ‘monster’

Genre:

 Horror.

Characters:

    -‘Leader’ – Brave. Jock. –Leather jacket, white shirt, black jeans, dark shoes.  –Matt.

    -Wimp/Geek – scared. –Geeky t-shirt, Jeans, converse, check shirt. – Billy.

    -Girl – preppy –Skinny jeans, cardigan, nice shirt, shoes. –Zoe.

    -Dark one – suggests Ouija board – Black jeans, dark clothing, dark shoes.– Conor.

    -Average – normal guy – jeans, sweater (zipper), casual clothes, Vans.– Bill.

    -Monster/ghost - Scary – Luke.

Title sequence:

    -Names of featured people.    –Names go with establishing shot.     –Logo: Independent Film Making (studios)

Music:

    -Discordant.    –Eerie.    -Creepy.    –Piano.    –Guitar.   – Goes with establishing shot.

Scenes:

    -Establishing Shot.   –Ouija Board.   –Lighter Scene.    –Title Scene.

Name Suggestions:

Initial ideas	Shortlist	Final idea
-          The Morgue	Darkening	The Summoning
-          The disturbance	Darkest fate
-          The mortuary	Candle Light
-          A game of monsters	A Ghost’s Game
-          The summoning	The Forgotten
-          Dark script	Behind it All
-          The devils deal	Veil of Darkness
-          Blood haunting	Darkness Veil
-          The devils conjuring	Gateway
-          The spirit within	The summoning
-          Possessors grip
-          The screaming flame
-          Borderline / Borderline
-          The spirits influence

  We have decided that the film we want to make will be a horror. The appeal of the horror genre is that it is very unlike any other genre; when you see a horror film you instantly know it is a horror film. In a lot of ways, this makes a horror easier to film, as you have a distinct structure and idea of what you should be doing during filming. Further appeals of making a horror film are that you only need a minimal amount of props, so the price of production is kept low.

  When brainstorming our film we knew we wanted to strike a good balance between being faithful to the genre, but also have our own spin on things. The risk of sticking too close to genre conventions is that the film becomes cliché, and while being cliché is it’s self a convention of the genre, it is not something we want to include in our film. On the other hand, if we try too hard to be different and have our own spin on things, we risk the film losing touch with the genre.