Practise shots

Actor/actress contract

This is the contract I will ensure all my actor/actress' sign in order to protact their rights as actors and actresses.

   

 

The Placebo

actor/actress contract

Name:
Number:
Email address:

Role:

Terms and conditions

Roles and responsibilities as an actor/actress:

-        I will ensure that I will attend all filming sessions that are required of me, I will make it to the set location at its given date and time.

-        I will let the director know of any unintentional absences prior to filming

-        I will arrive early and ready to start filming at scheduled timing

-        I will ensure all items (such as phone) are not used during filming

-        I will give my full energy whilst shooting and enjoy my time filming

Rights as an actor/actress:

-        The director will not require for me to film out of scheduled hours (unless otherwise agreed upon)

-        The director will keep me up to date with changes in the schedule through effective communication

-        Health and safety procedures have been taken into account to ensure my full safety when filming

-         I am entitled to regular breaks when filming

This is to confirm that I ________________   _________________ give my consent to be filmed in Dystopia Pictures’ short horror film directed by Rahela Khatun-The Placebo as ___________________.  I give my consent for any edited footage to be used on social networking sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. I adhere to the terms and conditions set by the director.

Actor/Actress signature:

Sign: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

Director’s signature:

Sign: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

Permission for locations- template

This is the email I will send to the location manager's to gain their consent to film in the given location.

Dear _________,

I am writing to request if I can use the ___________________ on the following dates:

_____________ and time ___________ to film my short horror film. The ___________ will be used by myself and ____ people all risk assessments have been carried out and is safe to use once approved by yourself and the faculty.

This would be extremely helpful if I am able to use the ____ on the dates and timing required.

Signed: (Location owner) __________________________    Date: ______________

Signed:(Director) __________________________    Date: ______________

Lighting plan

Lighting plan

Scene 1: News report

This is the exposition, the scene will open with an establishing shot and then a slow pan across the living room to Sarah, all lighting will be high key natural lighting. I will film this 10am/midday to get maximum lighting, filming in personal living room is convenient as it has a big surface area for natural light to enter.

To film the news report I will be using the green screening room, this will have high key lighting and artificial use of lights, and this is because I am trying to follow the typical conventions of a news report.

Scene 2: Train station

I will not be using any artificial lighting here as the mes en scen is supposed to create a realistic view of the scene and therefore only natural lighting will be used.

Scene 3: Flashback

There will be high exposure of light in this scene, there will be no white balance because this is to create a dreamy reminiscing effect. This clearly indicates that this is a very important aspect of the film, it is visually different as there will be a soft focus and mild glow throughout the whole scene, it is to signify and keep separate the events of Sarah’s life from when she was young and now, despite Sarah mentally travelling from the younger years of her life to the older years what links them together is the sting and motif- the nursery rhyme and teddy bear.

Scene 5: In the house

When Sarah arrives into the house she will enter when it is broad daylight (natural lighting) however at this point the lighting will change very quickly and dramatically giving the scene more of an edge. Majority of the scene will be in low key lighting where by just the movement and facial expressions (through extreme close-ups) are visible. In this scene I want to create a dark and shadowy effect, the dark and night time in the horror genre is often associated with ‘the fear of the unknown’ and the ‘things hidden in the dark’, typically in the dark and night the villain carries out their evil plan, therefore by adjusting and editing the scene to make it look visually dull and dark I will ensure that my audience expectations are fulfilled according to the conventions of horror genre.

Props, costume and make up

Props, costume and make up

Cereal bowl and mug – This is used to create verisimilitude and set the scene of a normal morning where Sarah is having her breakfast

Newspaper- Sarah will be reading the headlines and will find a ‘missing girl’ poster inside the newspaper.

Lab jacket(s) – this will be used in the flash back scene the lab coat is to signify the use of scientific and lab work that’s part of Sarah’s life through her mother

Lab equipment- to set the scene of a lab
Toy teddy – this is used as a motif and a symbol of Sarah’s childhood

Make up, wig, old worn out/ripped clothes- these are for the zombie scenes in which is key in the film these props will be used to create zombie-like creatures which haunt Sarah

Bowl of meat- this is used to portray the life of a typical zombie also this is a key convention is zombie horror (gore) therefore I will need a bowl of minced meat which one of the zombies will be eating in a horrid manner.

Reece

Reece from as14rk

Risk assessment

Risk assessment

Dystopia Pictures

Hazard	Severity	Likelihood	Initial Level of Risk	Controls
Tripping over equipment and appliances  Scenes 1-10	Low	Low	Low	In order to prevent any members falling over appliances resulting to broken leg/arm etc I will ensure all equipment and appliances are put away safely towards a corner and not in the way of actors during production. Before any camera work begins I will ensure everyone taking part is aware of the surroundings which are being used for filming and therefore they will know the boundaries to which areas are not to be used and where all the equipment is if they need to use it.
Spillage of food and drink Scene 2- The breakfast table	Low	Medium	Low	Due to use of food and liquid in scene 2 there is a potential risk of spillage of liquid which could lead to: harm in electronics, and other cast members slipping in order to ensure this does not occur I will make sure Hajera (playing Sarah) is cautious and weary when shooting the scene.
Falling from a great height Scene 7	High	Low	Medium	As I will be using a time lapse in my film of the sun set to show the transition from light to dark and day to night, I will be in a very high building on the top floor recording for a few hours. The dangers involve falling over from a great hieght I order to prevent this I have therefore found a location that is convenient as it has a glass window which I will be recording from.
Light sensitivity 1-10	Medium	Low	Low	When using lighting as some individuals may have light sensitivity (whether mild or severe). The use of light, specifically high key artificial lights which (are adjustable ranging from extremely bright to extremely dim) may lead to individuals having eye related problems, as the change in lighting effects the eyes, in order to avoid this I will ask each member whether they are light sensitive and adjust the lighting accordingly depending on the scene, mes en scen needed and their own comfort.
Chemicals in makeup Scene 6-9	High	Low	Medium	As my theme is zombie I will be using make up to dress my zombies to ensure I capture the best possible mes en scen within my abilities, certain makeup has chemicals which could cause a potential risk to skin such as irritation and unwanted nuisance. In order to avoid this I will test all the makeup I am using on my zombies before filming and ask each person playing a zombie how they feel and where their comfort lies in using the makeup
Over working characters	Medium	Low	Low	When filming although it takes rigours, long hours to film, there is a risk of over-working the actors and actresses which could lead to back/leg/body pain and general fatigue and poor health. I will ensure that none of my actors and actresses do not feel they are being over-worked because I will spread the filming time out to make sure that they are not constantly beign filmed also I will make sure that they have regular breaks and stay dehydrated.

Analysing posters

In class we annotated various posters in the horror genre, this gave me an initial idea of the layout and the important factors to include in a poster. I found that there are many different creative ways to communicate a theme, plot and genre to audiences. The posters each has something unique about them, for example, in SAW there is no layering of images which makes the subject in both the foreground and background which is very interesting compared Survival of The Dead which has a clear background and foreground and it is clear what the producer wants the audience to focus on using the rule of thirds in the main image. Also, I began developing ideas for my own poster.

Treatment- final

Final treatment

Classification of my product

In my film there is no discrimination,, no drug use, language will be infrequent and minimal. Also there is no nudity, sex or violence.  

However, there is imitable behavior- when Sarah goes to the haunted house. This is imitable because the use of audio will be used to heighten the experience and therefore make it an exciting and thrilling experience for the audience, this could be an imitable behavior because audience of 12 may lack the understanding of actively choosing whether to copy the action or not.

Also, in my film there are frequent and strong psychological threats in which the undertone and underlining message is dark and psychologically disturbing, for example the idea of whether or not the end characters are zombies or not is something which the audience question and therefore for audiences below 15 it my be too much.          

Therefore I believe my product should be a 12 rated film, appropriate for audiences 12 and above and should be restricted to audiences below the age of 12. 

Treatment for film

Treatment

Script- draft

Script Draft

Proposal for radio trailer

Name: The Placebo
Tagline: How can you kill what’s a part of you?
Medium: Radio
Format: Audio

Target audience: 13+ teenagers

A typical target audience would be a student living with their family. Who enjoys watching mysterious movies, which make them think and appreciate the art of filmmaking. A teenager who is into fashion, keeping up with the latest trends, they love shopping for clothes and latest gadgets. They are active students who go to the gym regularly and jogging their local green park. Majority of my audience would fall into the demographic E because they’re students and have no income apart from the bribed pocket money from their family members. My target audiences are explorers because they are courageous, full of energy, always up for a new challenge and get a thrill out of seeking an adventure. Also, most teenagers are succeeders as they are highly motivated, very ambitious and have a set goal in mind, which they would not compromise or give up until they have achieved it.

Content of advert: In my radio trailer I will include a voice over which will be the main commentator, who will be saying aspects of the narrative in a creepy and scary way using a low pitch and sound effects. I will include speech from the film in order to relate back to the film making it stand out and bold, similarly this is conventional of trailers as they often have snippets from the film to lure in audiences by giving them a hint of what may come up, this will also create an uneasy atmosphere among my audiences because only adding snippets as oppose to the full audio will make it more intense as well as enigmatic. I will take inspiration from trailers such as 28 Days Later, the ways in which sound is used to play with real emotions is really cool and it has a rather empathetic tone to it, the sounds induce a level of sympathy for the ‘infected’ and to be infected. Also, in order to adhere to current conventions of radio trailers I will make sure my trailer has used the 4 sound codes in a stylistic and creative way, by perhaps changing the layout, pace and tempo of the trailer.

Publishing of advert: My radio trailer will be on various websites such as horror movie fandom websites, it will also be up on YouTube from accounts of local radio stations. Also, I will publish it on radio stations such as Capital FM, Kiss and local radio stations as it will ensure a larger audience.

USP: A main selling point of my film is that it challenges the ‘zombie genre’ as the zombies in my film are gruesome but harmless creatures. In conventional zombie films the zombies are gory, blood sucking creatures in my film however, in my film I will be challenging these zombies to make them human like brainless creatures therefore in my trailer I will make sure this is clearly portrayed by using sound effects of zombie sounds.

Competitive market: AMC’s- The Walking Dead, Danny Boyle’s- 28 Days Later these both are a clear example of what I will be up against in my short film, therefore I will need to make sure that the release of my trailer is at a time when these big block buster films are finished airing as it is more powerful and have a better advantage with a bigger budget. An alternative method of marketing could be adding my trailer at the end of these films as they do in cinemas- as they are of the similar sub-genre the same types of audiences are more likely to watch my short film if they are interested in films like World War Z and The Walking Dead.

Proposal- poster

Name of film: Placebo

Tagline: How can you kill what's a part of you?

Production name: Dystopia Pictures

Medium: poster

Format: print

Target audience: 13+ teenagers
A typical target audience for my film which will be promoted by my poster would be a student living with their family. Who enjoys watching mysterious movies, which make them think and appreciate the art of filmmaking. A teenager who is into fashion, keeping up with the latest trends, they love shopping for clothes and latest gadgets. They are active students who go to the gym regularly and jogging their local green park. Majority of my audience would fall into the demographic E because they’re students and have no income apart from the bribed pocket money from their family members. My target audiences are explorers because they are courageous, full of energy, always up for a new challenge and get a thrill out of seeking an adventure. Also, most teenagers are succeeders as they are highly motivated, very ambitious and have a set goal in mind, which they would not compromise or give up until they have achieved it.

Content advert: Layers of images, there will be an outline of a human which will have a zombie who is trapped inside the outline of the zombie, this is to show how one lives in the other, also to make a creative link to my film by connecting it to the theme of identity as the main struggle in my film. I wil use dark, hash tones in my poster as this was requested by my audience who believe that having darker colours in my poster are more scray and relate to the horror genre better. I will follow the tradditional layout of posters where the title is at the top followed by the subject and then credits with the tagline at the right hand side. I think this will be an effective method of marketing becuase film viewers will be looking at something which they are familiar and comfortable with, this will hopefully create a sense of trust that their expectations of horror will be met in my film. 

USP: The way in which I will make my poster stand out i is by playing around colours, for example I will make use of the editing tools on Photoshop, by ading in gradients as well as changing the opacity on certain images to create a fading effect. I want to create a consistent theme from my radio trailer and film of identity which will hopefully work well as a package.  It can be argued that my film to some extent also falls into the sub-genre of psychological horror therefore this hybrid isn't really found in other zombie horror films which makes it unique.    

Competitive market:
AMC’s- The Walking Dead, Danny Boyle’s- 28 Days Later, Incidious, World War Z these both are a clear example of what I will be up against in my short film, therefore I will need to make sure that the release of my poster is at a time when these big block buster films are finished airing as it is more powerful and have a better advantage with a bigger budget. An alternative method of marketing could be adding my poster at the end of these films, as well as icluding a small print of my film name and production name in other blockbuster posters, as the audiences of these films are more likely to watch my short film if they are interested in films like World War Z and The Walking Dead.

These are a few inspiration for my poster which will be adapted into a film poster, the theme of my poster would be relating to identity. An outline of a girl where inside the girl it's busy with things that are related to the film (zombie/haunted house). The outline would be carved by a misty smoke, and all the other things will be inside the outline as shown as blow:

Possible logo and font styles

I chose to keep a simple typography for my film, I wanted to keep a house style which is unique, sophisticated as well as it being aesthetic. The white in black is something that although is very simple it serves it's purpose of drawing in audiences. The fonts are very very closely related but are different for each text this gives the typography an edgy look. I think that to appeal to the target audience, a catchy production name is required, therefore 'Dystopia Pictures' resembles the horror and chaotic vibe horror films bring.

Pitch

Pitch from as14rk

Audience profile

              

Audience survey analysis Part 2

I wanted to get an idea of what my audience thought about posters and radio trailers.

73% of my audience selected ‘not really’ when asked ‘does a poster affect the choices of watching a film’ whereas, 21% selected ‘a lot’. I am hoping to change the views of the majority whereby the poster will intrigue the audience and make them question the storyline behind the image I will do this by using special effects and using a range of technology.

Some of the things my audience expect to see on a poster are: the setting, name and information of film, villain, scary doll, blood, innocent vs evil. These all tell me that in order to really entice my audience I will need to make sure that the poster is a true representation of the film. 

It is clear that my audience want to see colours which are ‘dark’, the colours conventionally associated with horror films- red (a representation of danger/blood) black, grey, brown to represent a negative mood. Therefore I will avoid using colours which are bright and are typically accociated with a good mood/happiness.

From question 4 I have gathered that my audience want to see a poster that is easy to interpret and has less writing. My audience do not want a busy poster that has ‘a lot going on’ as it will take away the value of what is being presented. Therefore I will ensure my poster is simple and is iconic of my film, giving as less as possible because one audience said ‘giving too much information’.

When producing my radio trailer I will make sure that I have included the plot of the film however ensure that there is not too much information as when I asked my audience ‘does a radio trailer need to include the plot of the film’ there were varied responses ranging from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ to ‘just a little’.

I asked my audience if a voice over affects the overall radio trailer, 95% said yes, therefore I will need to ensure that my narrator’s pitch and tone of voice is reoccurring and in a correlation to the theme of my film.

When asked about the types of sounds- the 4 sound codes majority of my audience said that they expect to hear sound effects the most. Perhaps the sound effects are what will add to the element of horror. 21% said speech and 8% said they expect to hear music therefore when producing my radio trailer I will ensure that I have included a range of sound codes however bearing I mind that my audience are expecting to hear sound effects the most. 

Audience survey analysis Part 1

Majority of my audience fall in the 16-18 gap, who are young teenagers, this suggests that the content would need to be under the 15+ classification in the BBFC.

Some of the most common horror films that my audiences have watched are psychological films such as ‘Insidious/paranormal activity/the purge/ The Walking Dead’. From my own perspective of watching these movies/films I believe that the common ground in all these films is the fact that they play with real emotions and stimulate sensations where the pressure of fear and thinking about what’s next intensifies the horror element by controlling the fear of the unknown. This suggests that my audience enjoy watching films that give them a thrill due to the lack of knowledge as to what’s coming next.

When asked my audience what makes a bad horror film, some replied with ‘cliché/bad story line/typical storyline with cliffhanger’. I now understand that my audiences want something new and not the typical of ‘teenagers in the woods’. Also, my audience do not want ‘a cliché storyline’ therefore in order to add a twist to my short film I will give create active audiences where they are made to interpret scenes that are opened to their own judgment of what it means. I know that in order to appeal to my audience will need to challenge conventions of horror. For example one of the key conventions of zombie is that they are bloodthirsty and have rigid, slow movements. In order to appeal to my audience I will challenge this convection by ensuring that I bring something different to the zombie element. 

64% of the respondents replied with ‘surprise sound’ when asked what kind of sounds scare them, and 28% said that silent sounds scare them and 36% believe loud and eerie sounds scare them. I will need to ensure that depending on the context of the scene that I incorporate sounds which are ‘surprise sounds’, I could manipulate time, space and sound through editing in order to ensure that the sound is surprise sound and at the same time loud/eerie and silent.

Some of the key conventions of horror films my audience expect to see in a horror film are: ghosts/jumpy/big twist/dark colours/villainous characters/death/scary music and setting/locations.

One respondent said, “when there is obviously some kind of danger but the protagonist STILL proceeds to investigate said danger”

 From this I have gathered that my audience want something that is dangerous for the protagonist as well themselves, this will help me develop the zombie element of my film because the very nature of zombies (inhumane creatures) are interesting as they bring many questions to existence therefore the ‘danger’ that my audience desire will derive from ‘investigating’ the zombies and their physical being.

Many of my audience would challenge is the violence and gore in horror films, perhaps the conventional use of violence and gore is not as exciting as it used to be. Therefore I will use violence and gore in a sophisticated way to entice my audience. Moreover, the other things my audience would challenge is the setting, the background in which the horror film is being shot.

When asked ‘does violence intensifies horror’ 76% of my audience replied with ‘yes’. This means that I will try and in cooperate a substantial amount of violence in my short film in order to sustain the horror atmosphere.

Almost all of my audience (95.83%) think that shooting a horror film in the dark/night time is far more scary than shooting a film during the day. Although my audiences think that the dark/night scares them the most I will challenge this by shooting it a sunset at the peak of the skies turning black.

Lastly, I asked my audience does the beginning of a horror film need to be gripping in order for them to enjoy a horror film. 80% said yes, therefore I know that from the very beginning I need to grip my audiences, perhaps using an enigma. 

Audience survey Part 2

Create your own user feedback survey

Audiene survey Part 1

Create your own user feedback survey

Final film ideas

Poster analysis- Uninvited

The first thing I notice in this poster is the blacked out, faded part of which should be the individuals face, the image offers a graphic insight as to what the film may be about as there is cross reference in the title and the image. The title ‘uninvited’ links to how the protagonist is lurking in to the window as though she is staring at something which she shouldn’t.  

In the forefront of the image, the female is placed in the centre of the poster using the rule of thirds the main focus automatically is the female looking into the window. Her hands pressed against the window denote her curiousness into what’s happening on the inside. The very fact that the dress code of the female directly opposes the season and background of image incites an element of unease. The t-shirt which is a clothing for the summer but is worn by the female in the cold, the frost and naked trees denote the season and the level of coldness.

The poster is created in a clever way whereby the audience are on the inside and the protagonist is looking into us, the windows act as a barrier safeguarding the audience from the protagonist who’s portrayed to be ghostly despite the lack of facial features. This is a key convention of horror posters as again, they play with the dear of the unknown, although the audience have only certain information, the poster does not reveal a complete image which in turn entices the audience to watch the film to find out the (un)importance of the face.

Moreover, the font of the title looks misty as though it has been drawn in, the fact that there are no capital letters suggest the informal nature of the film. The poster consists of colours ranging from black, grey and white. The lack of colours may be used to represent the horror genre reinforcing to the audience that this is a horror film. In addition, like most posters the extra information is at the bottom of the poster, however in larger font ‘January’ is written perhaps to indicate the importance of the month as it’s the month of release. By including “from the producers of…” will remind the audience of the block buster films and immediately they would associate the pleasure/amusement they felt from that film and would give them a positive response where they would be happy to explore this film as the audience will think ‘it’ll be just as good’.

Overall, this poster is very enigmatic and makes the audiences question ‘I wonder what it’s about’ and ‘what could she be uninvited to’ immediately amercing the passive audiences to watch the film.

Poster analysis- Infected

When browsing for posters this poster for a horror film called Infected (2013) appealed to me. It has a consistent house style in which, it takes a sophisticated approach where the title ‘INFECTED’ is at the bottom along with the slogan/logo of the film, the rhetorical question ‘how can you kill what is a part of you’ has a mysterious element to it, where the full face is not shown. Grabbing audience’s attention from the beginning.

Immediately, the first thing I notice on the poster is the hard, metallic colours. These colours are correlated with the horror genre as they offer an edgy and harsh tone to the poster. The poster is a simple yet refined theme which is followed throughout. The key information is at the bottom of the poster such as production companies, this is a key convention of a horror poster as most posters have the extra information at the bottom or at the back giving importance and significance to the top half (title and image).

The main image which is ¼ of a face gives a disorientated appearance; it acts as a symbol of identity as the face of an individual is what is used to identify a person. Therefore, only showing only ¼ of a face tells the audience that the film will be about identity and perhaps the loss of identity. The scars on the face which look deeply embedded into the face are a connotation of how the identity is ruined/torn apart. Moreover, the human features of the eye lashes and eye brow create verisimilitude as the image offers a graphic and unrealistic image but with the human features the structure of the face is brought back to it’s original form- a human face.  

The layout of this poster is unconventional as it has the name of the film along with the tagline and credits all together, perhaps this is to give more area percentage to the main image. The image of the face which is in the foreground takes up almost all the space on the page signifying it's importance to the narrative of the film. The little icon in the eye in the background carries an enegmatic feel to it which directly links to the horror genre. 

In addition, the fact that there is a symbol in the eye could be interpreted as that the only thing the individual (most likely the main protagonist) knows is whatever the symbol represents. Or that the icon is what shapes that individual. From the very beginning as an audience member myself I am amerced into the film and question myself further as to what the film will be about.