Coursework: Preliminary exercise - PLANNING


1) State the genre you have chosen - horror or coming of age drama.

 The genre I have chosen for my preliminary exercise is horror.

 2) Choose at least five films in your selected genre and watch the trailer and one scene from each film. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene.
Insidious




  • Mixture of colour and black and white which adds to the horror aspect
  • suspense is created through non diegtetic music
  • The use of dialogue and extended scenes - helps to establish the narrative (their son is possessed)

  • The use of a child as the main character - depicts innocence and makes it ore creepy (children are often the victims/possessed characters in horror films)
  • Concept - seeing dead people plays with the idea of the supernatural and being involved in something that is out of the ordinary.

Get Out Official Trailer

  • Jump scares - frightens the viewer and leaves them on edge throughout the trailer
  • Combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds - the diegetic sound of the spoon tapping against the cup builds suspense because it suddenly fades in and out after moments of silence
  • Offers alternative representations compared to the ones typically shown in horror films - the black character is shown as the main character and the white people play the villains and the evil characters
  • Plays with the idea of the thriller genre and taps into the concept of psychological thrillers/fears

Blair Witch (2016 version - original also worth watching)


  • Based on documentary style footage - makes it appear more realistic 
  • Handheld camera movement - captures the fear, shaky movement depicts urgency
28 Days Later

  • Jump scares
  • Fast paced editing
  • Eerie music 
3) Write a 250 word statement of intent for your film scene. This should follow AQA's guidance (look in your coursework booklet) and clearly lay out how you will use media language to meet your brief. You should also discuss what representations you plan to create (either reinforcing or challenging stereotypes) and how your scene would appeal to an audience.

I intend to produce a 90 second clip focusing on the genre of horror. The films that have inspired my genre and narrative are the likes of 'get out' and 'insidious'. In terms of the narrative, I will be following and including the conventional aspects of a horror film in my clip such as low key lighting to create an eerie feeling, non-diegetic music that creates suspense and slow paced editing to also add to the suspense. 

Within the scene, I will have two people in a secluded dark room where the paranormal activity has been taking place. My target audience for this scene would be aimed at young/mature adults, in particular 18-21 year olds. The reason I have selected these ages is because it reflects the age of the person in my cast. Therefore, the audiences will find my scene more describable/familiar as they will be able to identify with the characters- links to Uses and Pleasures-1974). Also, people of this age range can understand supernatural activity/paranormal, they can successfully deal with mental thrillers. Also, the audiences don't need to be overly smart to understand the plot, so it appeals to all types of (information about people/combinations of different kinds of people).

I intend to create a cast that reflects a (related to a group of people with the same race, culture, religion, etc.) minority- Asian. This will help me attract a wider audience, not only in terms of age, but of (groups of people related by culture, race, religion, etc.). Therefore, I will be destroying (by sneaky actions) the usual (prejudiced mental pictures) seen in Horror films. I will also be reflecting a positive representation of young people in this film scene- this is because many horror movies now/recently represent young people as dangerous and threatening, however, this young person is (far apart from others) and disturbed. This allows the audience to easily importance and focus and identify with the character.
4) Write a script for your film scene. You'll find guidance for writing a script in the BBC Writers' Room (click on the Script Library to read real examples of professional scripts).

Character 1: ‘Oh look there’s something there’ JOKINGLY
Character 2: MCU of group remains for next few shots‘Where?!’ Scared. Then sighs. ‘Really, you gonna do that on me’. Group laughing
Charcater 3: ‘Who’s idea was this anyway’
Character2: ‘You scared?’
Ch3: ‘pfft no’. Sheepishly
Ch1: ‘good’
Ch2: ‘Oh shit look there!!’ MCU of face
Ch3: ‘WHAT, WHERE WHERE!!’ – turning around on the spot, sacred wide eyed (MCU of CH3)
Ch1 and 2 laughing (Filming CH3 MCU)
Ch3: ‘Whoa what is that?!’ CU of face
Ch1 and 2 stop laughing MCU of group
Ch2: ‘yeah yeah shut up’ CU of face
Ch1: ‘nah actually look theres someone there’ pointing phone camera at person , Long shot of field small pan
Ch2: ‘theres nothing there’ CU of face, confused
Ch1: ‘look shine you’re light there’ MCU of group, low angle taking control of phone
Ch3: ‘is that a person’ MCU of group then wide shot of field
Ch3: ‘yeah its coming to us, you said this place was abandoned’
Ch2: ‘its is, theres nothing here’
Ch1: ‘how can you not see it. Brief pause ‘its staring at us’
Ch2: ‘what are you looking at, there’s nothing there’. Concerned
OTS shot of person staring at group. MCU of CH2 and CH1
Ch3: ‘then you’re not looking properly’ MCU of CH1
Ch2: ‘fine then I’ll check it out’, frustrated. Ch1 and 3 following
Ch3: stopping ch2, ‘what are you doing?!’
Ch2: ‘Im showing you theres nothing there’
Ch1: ‘dude its getting closer’. Louder: ‘its getting closer!’
Shot of feet of person walking towards group
Ch2: ‘can you stop this shit, its not funny’ looking at ch1
Ch1: ‘is there something wrong with you?’
Ch3: ‘guys shut up its starting to speed up’
Ch1: ‘its starting to run.’
Shot of person running to group.
Ch1: ‘quick run!’
All start to run

5) Storyboard at least five key shots from your scene, take a photo of the storyboard and upload it to your blogpost. What visual style are you trying to create? Storyboard sheets are available in DF07.






6) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here. 
SHOT NO.
SHOT
FILMED?
1
POV SHOT- STRUGGLING TO SLEEP
2
OVERHEAD SHOT- SEE THE CHARACTER MOVING/TURNING
3
CLOSE UP ON FOREHEAD (SWEATING)
4
CLOSE UP OF CHARACTER GRIPPING BEDSHEETS
5
POV SHOT- SEE THE FIGURE INFRONT OF HIM
6
OVERHEAD SHOT/ EXTREME CLOSE UP ON EYES OPENING
7
MID SHOT OF CHARACTER SITTING UP
8
MID SHOT OF CHARACETR STARING
9
MEDIUM CLOSE UP ON CHARACETR LOOKING IN DIRECTION OF SOUND.
10
ESTABLISHING SHOT OF CHARACETR GETTING UP FROM BED.
11
MID SHOT OF CHARACETR WALIKING OUT THE DOOR
12
EXTREME CLOSE UP ON FEET
13
TRACKING SHOT- WALKING IN HALLWAY
14
CLOSE UP ON FACE
15
EXTREME CLOSE UP ON HAND (GRIPPING SHIRT)
16
MID SHOT OF CHARACETR WALKING BACK TO BEDROOM
17
CLOSE UP ON CHARACETRS FACE
18
OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT- SEEING THE DUPLICATE
19
CLOSE UP ON FACIAL EXPRESSION
20
MID SHOT OF DUPLICATE
7) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting.
  1. Lighting- low-key lighting will be used at most of the time to create shadows, the time of day will be evening to build up the tension and suspense
  2. Actor- 2 character.
  3. Movement- the character will be unstable and upset.
  4. Props- no clearly stated/particular props will be used. Just the rooms.
  5. Setting- (separated far from others) setting- increases tension/jumps scares. The rooms will be empty and downgraded.

 8) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by Wednesday 27 June. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. 

 I will be shooting my scene over the next couple of days depending on when my actors are free to shoot, therefore i have no specific dates as to when i will be filming.

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