We have decided to work with psychological horror, and develop our story from that.
Characters
- We have decided that we would like to go for a female lead, between the ages of 16 to 25. The character will definitely be playing on an emergent ideological setup.
- Our antagonist will most likely be an unknown person, but definitely nothing supernatural, as this would be unconventional of the psychological/horror genre.
Plot
- A teenage girl wakes up in a comfortable looking home, in a bed.
- She looks around for identifying marks, as a voiceover asks "Who am I?" etc.
- She feels pain in her hand and looks down to see a bandage which she curiously unravels to reveal a "5" on her hand
- She continues looking around and finds nothing until she sees a "4" on the door
- She opens the door and enters the hallway, looking around once again, finding a picture of herself next to a person who has been torn out
- She enters another door with a "3" on it, leading to a plain room
- She looks around the room and sees a TV in the corner with a remote on the table. She sits on the sofa marked "2"
- She looks at the remote which has had all the numbers scratched off except "1" so she presses it, turning on the TV
- The TV merely shows herself through a webcam, and as she stares at the screen in confusion words appear
- "If you want to regain your memory," "If you want to see your family again," "If you want your life back..." "Do everything I say."
Camera
- Distance(s): Close up of protagonist, so the audience is aligned with her and is a part of her struggle.
- Movement: Establishing shots of where the protagonist wakes up, perhaps use of panning or dolly.
- Angle: Predominantly eye level or high angle shots to make the character appear small and vulnerable. Possible use of CCTV camera angles, to give the idea of being watched - however, we do not want to emulate the "Saw" (Wan, 2004) effect.
Sound
- Dialogue: We will use a voice over to "hear" the characters thoughts as she asks herself questions such as "who am I" and "where am I".
- Sound effects: Possibly the breathing of the character in the beginning of the opening.
- Music: "Urban" sounds, for example grime or electronic music. Alternatively we could use an entirely different musical theme that feels intentionally out of place, such as 1950's music.
Mise-en-scene
- Lighting: We'll be filming during the day, which will mean diffuse sunlight will be accessible to us and will also produce a nicer image in-camera than if we shot at night (less noise).
- Props: An ID card, or a card that reveals a little of the story behind our character, without spoiling it. Potentially a mysterious number written on certain props, for a mysterious unknown reason. Edit: One of the props we discussed was a television-remote, with every other number except "1" scratched out. It will be connected to the costume and will be essential to the plot.
- Location and sets: For the storyline, we agreed that the use of an urban setting, such as a house. Would be ideal for the opening.
- Symbols: We thought the idea of using numbers would be an interesting concept to work with, as it connotes either a code or a countdown. Edit:
- Costume: As we want to create a sense of verisimilitude, our character will wear modern day clothing. Possibly slightly rugged, to show that she's been either taken from her home or somehow revealing a struggle. Edit: Part of the costume will consist of the number "1" being cut into the hand of the protagonist. This will act as the first clue for the lead.
Editing
- Cutting rate
- Begin the narrative AFTER the opening title - i.e. Title before the first shot
- Typography
As we discussed yesterday, I think the most viable option is to begin the narrative after we've shown the title of the film. That way, we don't risk it looking like a trailer, and are able to establish character(s), setting and genre, without actually showing off the entire plot in the short two minutes that we have for the opening.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not too sure about the idea of the protagonist asking personal questions of identity as a voice over - to me, it screams cheesy and cheap. Ideally, we should show it, not tell it. As to how we're going to achieve this is still something to consider, but it is something that we have to keep in mind.
Finally, I think we have to be extremely careful that we don't end up setting the opening up to be interpreted as a thriller. We're doing psychological horror, something where the mind is tricked and the audience is left with a sense of self-reflection and - hopefully - terror of the self.
Ideally I would have liked to cut to the title after the instructions on the TV have appeared, but I agree we run the risk of making it look like a trailer unless the title appears at the start. It's a shame, but it might be necessary and it could be included in any evaluative process afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI agree it could be cheesy, but I worry that if we use non-verbal language to "show" her memory loss we risk making it look EVEN cheesier as the acting skills available to us are not "professional level".
Once again, It's definitely important to keep the genre and conventions in mind when going about filming the piece but as long as we keep the focus on her memory loss and the unconfirmed fear she is being used (and the fear she's imagining it all) then it would undeniably be a psychological horror.
Great work - the detail is very good at this stage and you are thinking it through thoroughly which is what we want - what are your thoughts on the cheese Georgia?
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