Casting For The Stalkers

We cast Louise Chick as our female protagonist because she looked the part of a victim in a horror film. She is young and blonde and so conveys innocence, meaning that the audience will fear for her safety, and keep them interested in the film. This is her audition tape, where we asked her to read out our first draft script, which would be used for the voice over on the credits.


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We have now cast our two minor parts of the stalkers. Although these characters are integral to the film, they have no dialogue in the opening two minutes and are only seen fleetingly. For this reason, we didn't need to hold a proper audition, more ask for volunteers and then check they were okay for the times when we are filming in January and were old enough. These are our stalkers;

Stalker #1 - Matthew Bonner
Stalker #2 - Keegan Featherstone

We recorded them briefly just saying who they are, and what part they were going to be playing.

Prop List

These are the props that we used in our Horror Film;

-dark clothing

-set of keys

-red hair dye

-white coat

-hooded jumpers.

As per most horror films, we will make use of fake blood, probably on several of the shots of the victims laying dead. We'll also use makeup to try and make bruises on some of the female victims in the various flashes. Here we experimented with different makeup tecniques to create brusing to the characters face. As you can see, the coloured makeup created a good bruise on Emmalines face, therefore we will definatly be using makeup when creating the flashes.

We'll also need a set of house keys for our main female character to drop, as this motion alone leads into one of the flashes of film showing part of what has happened after this point.

Our male characters will be wearing hoods, so that their faces are almost entirely shadowed, so the hoods are essential, this also adds to the ambiguity of the characters and the film as a whole.
As for the female character costumes, they will be wearing formal or casual attire, to show that there is a range of victims and that no particular class is targeted, but there will be nothing particularly defining about their costume, for example we will avoid using red in their clothing, as this is a colour usually associated with the antagonist.
A white coat was used on the main character, to show her innocence. It was also good because as we were filming in the darker part of the afternoon, you could see our main female character very well.

Gant Chart

Gant Chart

Location Scouting

Through out our opening piece we needed 4 different locations, 1 being a household and the others being walking areas outdoors. We thought we should vary the different locations alot and thought woodland would be an effective idea. This is a typical convention for horrors but is scary to a viewer as the actress seems surrounded by the unknown.

We had to look for a household area to film in for a quick flashes, we figured it would be best to film in one of our own to avoid an invasion of someone else's privacy. After decided that my (Emmaline) house would be best to film at as it is near all 3 of the other locations we had to decided on which room would work best. We chose the bedroom to film in because a bedroom is a place especially personal to each individual person and that thought of a complete stranger in our bedroom without consent will hopefully provoke fear.
The first bedroom we felt was slightly too dark and although this may bode well with the horror film, does not portray the idealistic view of an innocent victim. We also realised it would be difficult to find a good place a perpetrator could stand un noticed in this room.

This was a final choice of bedroom to shoot our victim in because it's a light colour reflecting the innocence of our actress. It will also be easier to have someone hide in this room as there is also another room attatched. The double bed may also make the charactar seem more realistic and imply she is the only resident in this household, whereas single beds seem more child like.

These are the garages that we filmed at. They are garages that are for the housing estate at the back of Church Road. By the look of them though, we think they might be deralict and un-used. We chose these because of the way they look, and someone walking through here would look vunerable. They are dark and the moss and grass outside of them is overgrown. It just looks like a deralict place, thats ideal for filming some shots for out Horror Film. We don't need consent from the owners because it is a public walk through, and as I said before, I think they are deralict.

These are the woods that are located right by Chelmer Valley and Broomfield Hospital. We thought they would be ideal, because there is actually a footpath so when filming, it wouldn't look as though we were just randomly treking through some woods. The woods are quiet as well so there wont be much background noise. Also, the lighting is good because the trees don't cover up too much of the sky. The only problem with filming here, is that it is quite muddy, so we would have to be extreamly careful when taking our actors and equipment down there, incase of any accidents.

This is Court Road. We chose this location because of the lighting, and the sense of being alone. Although there is houses, the grass strip goes on for a while so when it is dark, it makes you feel alone. Also, the street lamps are quite spaced out, therefore when it is dark, you can only see the part of the road that the street lamps light up. Because however, it does get dark quickly, we would have to film this shot around about 4.30 because thats when the light is starting to get darker.

The photographs for the storyboard were taken during the day, but the film will be shot at night, adding to the atmosphere and highlighting relevant moods, details etc. We will write a consent letter confirming that we have permission to shoot in Emmaline's house, as it is important to use a natural domestic environment, as it will add to the theme of the movie, a place of safety- the home environment- becoming inhabited by the stalker figures.
The pictures are to be added soon.

Horror Film Questionnaire

We created a short questionaire to give to people who apply to our target audience to research how effective our ideas may be and to adapt what we felt neccissary. The questions were the following.


What do you feel is most effective in scaring the audience in a horror film?

Jolty Movements & Jumpy Music.

Blood & Gore

Supernatural Creatures/Animals

Hauntings/ParanormalEvents

Other

____________________________________________________

What do you feel is a successful location for the setting of a horror film?

Underground

In the Country Side

Deserted, Isolated Areas

Households/Living Areas

Other

How many characters involvement do you feel is appropriate for a realistic film?

1-3

4-6

7-10

11+

For which do you find yourself more fearful of as the antagonist (villain)?

Male

Female

First draft Script

Script First Draft

*heavy breathing*
(muffled voices, loud door slam and the sound of a key turning in the lock)

*whispered*
female voice: f***. F***…f***…*slightly louder* f***

*voice cracks* oh my *raises voice* God

*starts screaming/crying – panicking and hyperventilating, begging, spontaneous*

*sobbing* Let me out!

(key turns in lock again, dead silence, heart thudding noise? Door creaks open)

*whisper* no... please…please no…oh god *gets louder and louder*
(boots thudding across the room, echoes)

*screams, dies down to a humming noise*

Form For Parental Consent

If the actors that are going to appear in our films are under the age of 18, we need parental consent. This is so that their parents understand fully what we are doing, where their child will be and also, what the footage will be used for and shown to. We need parental consent aswell as consent from the respondant so that they know exactly what we are doing.


Chelmer Valley High School Media A Level Class.


Dear Parent/Carer,


We are writing to you, to request the permission for ___________________________ to be filmed for our Media Coursework in January 2010.

For our Media Coursework, we need to produce the opening of a Horror Film and require your consent for____________________ to be filmed. For identity purposes, we will not credit ______________________ unless given permission to do so, which can be decided after filming.

When filming, we will be following strict Health & Safety guidelines and will provide_________________ with a full film schedule.

The footage will be uploaded onto ‘You Tube’ to be used on our group and personal Blogs and it will be necessary for the examiners and teachers to view the footage.

Thank you for your time and co-operation,

Jo Roberts, Rosiee Fenner, Lucy Clark & Emmaline Gordon.
A Level Media Students
Chelmer Valley High School

Consent;

I _________________________________________ (your name) give

The permission for __________________________ (name of child) to be filmed for AS Media Coursework purposes.

Signed: __________________________________ Date: ___/___/____

Print Name: ________________________________________

Signed: ____________________________________________

If you have any queries, do not hesitate to contact;
Miss G Peacock - Head Of Media
Chelmer Valley High School
Court Road
Broomfield
Chelmsford

Consent Form For Cast Respondant

We created a consent form for the actors appearing in our film so that they know exactly what we are doing, and what their footage would be used for and shown to. For us to film them, we have to have written consent from them.


Chelmer Valley High School Media A Level Class.


Dear Respondent,


We are writing to request your permission to use footage containing yourself as part of our A Level Media Course at Chelmer Valley High School.

The footage will be used as part of our Media coursework, and will therefore be placed on ‘You Tube’, our Blogs and viewed by the examiners, teachers and ourselves.

We guarantee that no personal information will be shown, so your identity will remain personal, and it is your choice whether to be/not to be credited.

Thank you for your time and co-operation.


Jo Roberts, Rosiee Fenner, Emmaline Gordon and Lucy Clark
A Level Media Students.
Chelmer Valley high School




Name: _______________________________ D.O.B: ___/___/_____

Address: ________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

I give permission for the footage of myself to be used in the context as mentioned above.

Signature: _____________________________ Date: ________________



If you are under the age of 18, or will be for the duration of the filming (January 2010), please turn over.