Treatment (First Draft)

Treatment (First Draft)

This treatment will establish the key concepts involved within our group’s short film, as well as the several constraints we have to overcome and any other relating details.

1.      Classification/Genre

In terms of the genre, our short film is categorised as both a horror and a thriller, as it contains elements from both fields. The selection of these two genres were chosen as our group had a major interest in TV programmes/movies within these realms. Dexter and Criminal Minds are two examples of the aforementioned.

2.      Synopsis

A vigilante killer takes justice in his own hands as he eliminates those individuals who have wrongly been freed by the current jurisdiction. Sparked by the death of his wife, he intends to proceed into killing a male who has seemingly been unjustly sentenced to community service. The justice system fails to prevent these assassinations from happening as the vigilant killer remains safe within the public sphere.

3.      Similar professional products that has inspired you and how?

From background research, the professional product that has most inspired us was the TV show Dexter, this is due to its congruence with the classification and genre. By analysing Dexter’s opening sequence we have decided to use a corpus of micro shots in our opening scene, in the same way than that of Dexter.

In Dexter it seems that the use of micro shots, allude to a sense of false accusations in order to mislead the audience and prevail an ambience of suspense. However, we have decided to diverge from this idea and take it to a more obscure level. This is created by the means of implying, in this case, the key characteristics of the vigilante killer instead of showing them as a clear unit in the short film. In other words, showing the newspaper report of “A mother of two killed by known murdered” twice, connotes the association of the killer within the two sections of the film where this heading is shown.

4.      Uniqueness

 

i.                     Audience

In terms of the target audience, we have discussed to have a target audience of males who are fans of film and TV shows within the horror/thriller realms. This is because females are nor commonly associated with watching these kind of films. Although, we are aware and we do consider, that this is a stereotype the majority of this social group would be classified within these terms.  We have not been able to pinpoint a specific age boundary as every individual over 18 (graphic scenes of violence would constraint under-aged viewing) would be legally able to watch the film and therefore will be able to be a potential audience.

 

ii.                   Length

As we have limitations of having a short film which is maximum 5 minutes we have decided to aim for a final cut time of around 4:30 – 4:45 so we can have enough time left over without going over the limit.

5.      Logistic and feasibility – In terms of equipment, location and actors.

 

i.                     Equipment

For our short film we will be using a diverse number of different props that include; fake blood (which will be used throughout), tools (knife and rope), a chair, a cork board with newspaper clipping and string connected, original files and newspapers (made by ourselves).

ii.                    Location

The storyline we have created consists of two main locations. These seem suitable enough as having 3 locations would make the filming harder as well as risking the consistency and coherence of our short film.

The first location will be based in a container, were the killer is based. Here there will be all the main equipment discussed above – newspapers, knife, rope, chair… This scene includes the individual cleaning up after his first kill in the beginning scene and where the newspaper article of the next victim.

The second location will be a forest (Epping Forest). We have decided on this location as it will be an empty space which will be easy to film in. We will not have to worry about other people being in our shots as well as having an interesting scenery and no constraints for filming as it is a public sphere. Here we will shoot the persecution scene between the vigilante and the victim, in this location the obstacles will give a far more interesting outcome. Moreover, we will be able to present a variety of different camera angles which will aid our piece to look more professional.

iii.                  Actors

In essence, our short film consists of roughly 1-2 character (as one is not clearly shown) and we have decided we will not need more than 2 actors. However, we are considering in only using 1 actor as it would prevent us from having any impediments with recruiting actors. Furthermore, it seems that it is not necessary to have two characters as the vigilante killer is presented from his perspective and merely his hand is shown.

6.      Health and Safety issues.

When filming the forest scenes we have considered the several health and safety issues we have to establish before shooting. We will be extremely cautious specifically in the persecution scene, as the actors running could get injured by falling over or getting cuts. Therefore we might have to lower the speed motion on the actual shoot and then edit the productions afterwards in order to diminish the probability of having any health and safety concerns.

7.      Where would your film be screened/distributed? Includes YouTube and other Internet channels?

There are several platforms where our short film could be shown. We envision our product to be primarily uploaded to sites such as YouTube which would allow a great first recognition from audiences and a corpus of useful feedback. Subsequently, we would then negotiate whether we would want to screen our film on the TV or the cinema, as it would be more difficult to do the latter. This is because we feel if shown on a larger screen it would be far more difficult than screening on the TV. However, the recognition of the public would be greater appreciated in the cinema than in any other platform.

 

Polished Initial Ideas

 

Here as aforementioned in the last post, are the initial ideas given by my group. They are far more extended and more detailed as there has been more group discussions in order to elaborate in our production.

Initial Short Film Ideas

 

Here are the initial ideas my group has decided of the short film where genre and style of the film has already been decided and the storyline just needs some sort of guideline to work. For me, I am keen on working with these set of ideas and will be helping by giving my own set of ideas on the horror/thriller genre which I am myself keen on.

Research: Third Case Study

Third Case Study: Victim (based on Slender Man) Student Award Winning Short Horror Film

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Directed by Eddie Adamson, 2013

Starring Jake Holmes and Jordan Scott

 Synopsis:

A teenage boy has a morning run when he suddenly sees a white, faceless figure in the distance which suddenly disappears when he looks again. He is then intrigued and even anxious about this occurrence and he proceeds on discovering what this figure really is. A persecution takes place in the middle of the night in a forest and he is then ambushed and implicitly attacked by this entity.

The narrative is linear as we follow the events in the protagonist’s perspective chronologically.

How are the characters represented in “Victim”?

In this short film there is only one main character (without counting the faceless figure as a character). The teenage boy is seen as normal, although the isolation that the short film presents on this extract startles the audience. There is no family, friends or else. He is completely isolated which seems a recurring motif throughout the extract, the protagonist is alone fighting against this “fear” of the unknown.

Use of Camera?

Types of shot: handheld/shaky camera, wide shots, long shots, close-ups.

1)       Handheld/shaky camera: persecution scenes or when in the “slender man” perspective.

2)       Wide shot: let us know the body representations of the characters in this case the protagonist’s fear.

3)       Long Shot: when the protagonist looks at the figure lets the audience wondering what the figure is, it intrigues and engages the audience to the short film.

4)       Close-ups: showing the inner emotions of the protagonist in this case.

Editing:

In terms of the editing, the most prominent technique was the use of fast cutting shots, which is in essence an element of horror/thriller short films. In addition to this, at the end of the short film a scene presenting a supernatural nature of the figure is shown which is created via the use of post-production – editing.

 

 

Mise-en-scene: Location, lightning, costume, props and make-up:

1)       Location: the location focuses both in a plain field/forest as well as his house.

2)       Lightning: the lighting throughout the start of the short film seems normal which is quite menacing and ominous towards the rest of the storyline. After seeing the figure the short film suddenly starts to proportionally show dimmer lighting which foreshadows the end of the film.

3)       Costumes: there are no extravagant costumes as the protagonist wears usual clothes showing that he is a normal teenage boy. The figure wears a white mask to represent the idea that he is or it is “slender man”

4)       Props: the computer shows how intrigue the protagonist was when discovering this figure when typing “white, faced figure”. The phone to use as a torch when he is in the middle of the night in the forest.

5)      Make-up: there is no distinctive make-up here unless the figure has some but it isn’t outstandingly shown to the audience.

Sound:

The use of sound in any film more importantly in a horror/thriller film is crucial for success. This is because the bulk of the atmosphere is shown through the use of sound. In this case ominous music and emphatic non-diegetic sounds give a far more fearful outcome.

Target audience:

I personally feel, that again the film would be targeted to a young audience of about 18-25 years old as it contains strong language and violence. This short film would be perfect for the mass audience which are keen to watching horror or thriller films as this piece is within those genre boundaries.

What ideas could you use in your own short film?

In our short film, I believe that an implementation of a range of different shots when the actor is just performing one action (running in this case) would make the film far more horrific and thriller-like as well as adding flow to the storyline. Moreover, the opening sequence of this short film is strange and ominous which is what our short film is attempting to create. For this reason, adding a series of shots with a similar kind of music will make the beginning of our horror short film more poignant.  The

Research: Second Case Study

Second Case Study: Closed Doors

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Written and directed by James Button, 2011.

Synopsis:

Closed Doors tells the story of a young man (early twenties) who over-hears banging sounds from his neighbours’ flats and fears it might be domestic violence. Having dealt with this with his own parents he decides to investigate upon these strange occurrences. As he knocks on the door, a woman answers and tells him nothing is wrong – although he doesn’t believe this. She closes the door and the main character begins to walk back to his flat when he spots a drop of blood from his shoe. He knocks back on the door and the same woman answers only this time with a nose bleed, which leads him to believe she is being beaten up by her partner. He questions her again and she still insists nothing is wrong. The protagonist steps back and dials “999” when the woman’s partner opens the door and questions him. Still believe some abuse is going on he invites the woman to come with him to which her partner pushes him and tells him to leave them alone and closes the door.

The main character get angry and begins to have flashbacks of his abusive father. He kicks the door open and begins a fight with the woman’s partner until repeatedly hitting him with a bottle, the same way his father did in his flashback. As the woman’s partner lies on the floor the main character calms down and looks at his shoe where there is not a stain nor the woman has a nose bleed, as he continues to look around the room he sees candles and roses meaning there was no violence. He quickly leaves and returns his flat shaken up by the events sits back down at his desk where he began and takes a creased picture of himself and his mother. 

The narrative is disjointed as containing flashbacks presents a non-linear timeline.

How are the characters represented in “Closed Doors”?

Firstly the male characters seem to have a role reversal with the good and bad portrayal. However, the female character does not change as she is seen as the damsel in distress and the one who suffers from the actions the male characters do.

1)       The protagonist: he is extremely shy throughout which is caused by his childhood experience presented in his flashback. He is primarily shown as the “hero” of the short piece which then reverses due to his misconception of the accounts. 

2)       Second male character: firstly he is presented as the “villain” of the short piece as he is conceived to be the troublemaker from the protagonist’s perspective. However, when the violent actions of the main character are over he is presented as innocent.

3)       Female character: unlike the other two characters she is seen as fragile and innocent throughout making her the stereotypical woman who needs a man to protect her.

 Use of Camera:

1)      Types of shots: wide shots, mid shots, close ups and handheld.

2)      The wide shots are often used in order to present suspense as the audience can look around the character’s surroundings and know that something will happen but this is unknown throughout.

3)      Close ups lets the audience acknowledge what the character is feeling and how the tension is built up by how the character’s present their emotions.

4)      Handheld/shaky camera: this allows the audience to realise that there is a disturbance within the storyline, there is a constant relation to fear and tension.

Editing:

The editing in “Closed Doors” helps to create a suspenseful feel to the short film. This is done through the fast cutting rate between the shots as it shows that a lot is going on during the scene. Another kind of editing techniques used in this short film is shot-reverse-shot. This portrays the conversational scenes although it also allows to capture the emotions of the characters and in this case builds up tension.

Mise-en-Scene: Location, lightning, costume, props and make-up:

1)       Location: the location of this piece takes solely within a block of flats.

2)       Lightning: the lighting presented is quite dim in order to augment the suspenseful tone that is typical to a horror film. The darkness undertones in this short film the domestic violence which is a mere hallucination for the protagonist.

3)       Costumes: the costumes within this piece are not very significant. This is because they have no major role in conveying meaning. The characters are all dressed in a causal way which is normal. Although it could be seen that the colour choices portray the emotions (anger) or even the recurring symbol of blood by the colour red.

4)       Props: There are a few props in this piece, such as the cup which the protagonist uses to try to listen through the walls. The bottle which he uses to beat the male character such as the way his father did in his flashback. The final prop is the picture in the frame on his desk of himself and his parents, though his father has been folded over which metaphorically states that he isn’t part of his life no longer. 

5)       Make-up: only a small amount of make-up is used in order to convey the violence thematic; the blood dripping from the female character’s nose, for example.

Sound:

The sound usage is extremely important, which is typical for a horror/thriller film. This is the major feature that creates a successful feel of the short film. A number of sound effects contribute to the suspense of the short film. These include; echoes which make the scene feel big and empty, bass notes and flat line noises that create tension, heartbeat effects which shows the feat of the characters. And finally and potentially most important, silence which creates the bulk of the suspense as it makes the audience think that something is about to happen.

Target Audience:

Personally, I feel that the film would be targeted to a young audience of about 18-25 years old as it contains strong language and violence. This short film would be perfect for the mass audience which are keen to watching horror or thriller films as this piece is within those genre boundaries.

What ideas could you use in your own short film?

Within our film production, we hope to create a piece with this similar genre, though we would not take any ideas from the story but merely the function of sounds in order to create suspense in our persecution scene. As well as the lighting and the mise-en-scene. (Not the location)

Research: First Case Study

First Case Study: Dexter Opening Sequence
 

(Dexter directed by Michael C. Hall – TV Show 2006 – Present)

Synopsis of Dexter:

Dexter Morgan is the protagonist of this programme, a likeable, self-effacing Miami police forensic expert specializing in blood-splatter analysis. However, he has a dual personality as he is secretly a serial killer during the night. Dexter’s homicidal tendencies were adopted by his police officer father, Harry (James Remar) who encouraged his son to channel his violent impulses in a positive manner, and also pounded a strict moral code into the boy.

Consequently, Dexter grew to vow to “take out the trash” and continue “honing his craft” by murdering other serial killers and similar delinquents who had been able to surpass the jurisdiction. Remarkably, Dexter managed to emerge a sympathetic figure via inner monologues where he explains the motives of his actions. This facet led the audience to not suspect of him being a killer: not his adoptive sister, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), a Miami cop; nor his emotionally scarred girlfriend, Rita (Julie Benz), nor his police superior Lt. LaGuerta (Lauren Velez). Only his colleague Sergeant Doakes (Erik King) recognised that there was something strange about the personable Dexter.

Summary of the opening sequence:

This shows the morning routine of Dexter. We see him completing a series of normal tasks; waking up, shaving, eating, getting dressed and so on. All of this take place in a liner sequence and alludes to the true nature of the protagonist, that of him being a serial killer. The director hints to the thematic of the killer as the tasks are portrayed in a way that gore is ever-present.

How are the themes, groups and characters represented?

1.      Themes:

In terms of themes the main thematic seen in this extract is that of gore and killing. This is represented by the minute actions that symbolise the tasks he undertakes when killing individuals. Examples of this are Dexter shaving (hints to him cutting his victim’s neck), cooking (the way he prepares the bacon alludes to the way he treats the parts of his victims’ bodies et al. They are all interlinks as the sinister behaviour presented foreshadows what he does in his secret life: cutting, slicing, strangling and smothering.

2.      Characters:

Dexter is the sole character of this sequence which is not a surprise as the show is entirely about him. It is shown through his perspective only and the director may attempt to already create a juxtaposed characterisation of the protagonist – is he good or not.

Camera Techniques:

1.      Micro shots:

Throughout this extract there is a predominance of micro shots used. This vaguely allows the audience to gain a small understanding of the detail of the storyline, which then produces a sense of intrigue that the director purposely achieves. The implementation of such an abundant number of micro shots connotes a sense of rapidness but yet efficient working ethos by the part of Dexter. He is able to communicate his precise actions via a small picture of the occurrences. This is then expanded by the bigger picture of the storyline which is revealed in the different episodes.

2.      Close-ups:

There is a great amount of close-ups in this section which illustrates the closeness the audience is not only with the protagonist but on the actions he do too. This foreshadows how the audience will undertake seeing these actions being carried out not only in Dexter’s daily life but in his hidden, night life. Moreover, the use of micro-shots mediate the protagonist’s secret life as it is only the audience and Dexter the ones who know how he really is like which contrasts with the mid-shot at the end of the extract as that is the face he presents to the outside world.

Editing:

-         The editing in this extract is in time with the pace of the soundtrack that accompanies this piece. There is a normal cutting rate between the shots however there is a tendency of changing pace of events such as that of the juice of the pomegranate squirting out. More specifically, the sound editing seems the most important as the exaggerated sounds of the actions makes the scene quite quirky in a way that the audience is overwhelmed by how the actions are taking in such a powerful approach.

Mise-en-Scene: Location, lightning, costume, Props and Make-up

1.      Location: the entire sequence is located in his house apart from the ending shot where he goes out of his house to work.

2.      Lighting: the lighting is ever-changing throughout depending on the shots. However, as a whole the light is quite dim which connotes the secrecy of his life is hidden. It is obscure, ominous and suspicious. This contrasts with the ending shot again as it is when the character places his “mask” of being a good Samaritan to the world.

3.      Costume: there is hardly any costumed shots but we do see that Dexter’s dresses as any other civilian. He is portrayed as an individual within the “norm” which reinforces how nobody is ever suspicious of his secret night life.

4.      Props: There are many heavily emphatic props which convey the thematic meaning of the TV programme. The knife, shoe laces, blood et al. these are extremely relevant to the episodes as they relate not only to his daily normal routine but his serial killer life. Therefore, the props are the key to reveal the great motif of the entire show: his dual identity. For this reason, choosing props will be a major task within our short film as it must convey our cinematographic meaning.

5.      Make-up: In terms of make-up, there seems not be any. If there is it is not apparent and personally is not needed as it does not seem relevant to the greater thematic or purpose of the opening sequence. 4

Sound – dialogue, ambient sound track, music or other:

Throughout there is a soundtrack with no dialogue used, this consistence soundtrack piece adds to the mystery of the protagonist’s life. This is because the actual soundtrack is both benign but yet strange just like the character the director has created. The consistency of the soundtrack also gives cohesion to the opening sequence and prevents it from becoming boring.

Research Task

Having completed my production schedule, I will be focusing on analysing three different short films related to my own short film production. This will maximise my level of understanding of the horror genre as well as providing a range of ideas that can be applied to my own product.

 

In the following case study posts, I will provide a link with the actual short film being analysed in the title of the product and then evaluate its content.

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

I have composed a production schedule (you can click the link above if needed to see via timetoast) in order to keep organised when working on specific tasks. This will help with my overall production as I will be in track when completing tasks and knowing specifically what I have to achieve before each deadline.

Late Project Arrival

I have arrived late to pursuing A2 Media Studies at my college. For this reason, I have discussed with my teacher about the consequences of doing so. I will be catching upon with all the work that I have not been able to hand in.

Although I will be catching up with all the work at a different pace than the rest of the students in my class, I will be posting according to the deadlines set in our assignment brief. This is because it would facilitate my teacher's, the examiner's and my travel around the coursework.

 

Furthermore, I will be producing my independent audience research as I was not able to attend the focus group pitch. I have then decided that forming a questionnaire relating our group proposal (the treatment) I will be able to collect a set of audience feedback that I can reflect on further.