Emmaline Gordon Resit - Organisation of Actors, Props and Locations

Organization of Actors
Now our leading protagonist female actress has been established we are now set the task of finding and confirming dates that she is able to attend, these must be similar dates that our two chosen 'stalkers' must be available to film on too. However before this it is important that we have consent forms signed by the actor and actress’s parents as the actors are all under the age of 18. This was not a problem and they were all given permission without any issues from parents or guardians. We set filming dates that we wished our actors and actresses to meet at. The final date we chose 2 dates to film on the 19th and 21st of January 2010. By choosing dates close to each other that our actors and actress' were available it guaranteed that the type of day would be similar, (for example cold weather and darkness of the evening). We agreed to meet at 4pm at 6 Nash Drive as this was a convenient time for all our actors. It also meant that we were filming at the same time of night on both occasions to establish continuity. 6 Nash Drive was my property and a central location to all places we had chosen to shoot our horror. This was convenient as we did not have to carry equipment far and it was also an area that we located to shoot. This meant our actors would have somewhere to wait when waiting to film rather than in the cold.
Props
The most important props to organise we decided were the costumes for our actors. There are 3 characters that we are choosing to film on the 19th and 21st. One of them being our female protagonist with which we chose to dress in a white coat to connote her innocence. Our team member Jo offered to bring her coat so we kept this it our meeting area until the actress arrived. The 2 other actors were dressed in black coats and they were instructed to bring their own if possible. Both Keegan and Matt did so, all 3 actors were already dressed in black trousers as we asked. For Louise (the protagonist) it was to create the affect that she was on her way home from work and was having an ordinary day-to-day life. Other props that were necessary for us to organise were house keys that we would be shooting a close up of at the end of the piece. For this we used my own keys as they needed to be able to open to front door to the home we chose to film - which was 6 Nash Drive.
Other props needed was make-up in order to create the look of bruising on ourselves 9as we chose our self for the flashes).For the other flashes we used many props, for example we used a bath filled with red hair dye to create a blood effect. We also used house-hold brown tape to tie out our mouths and arms for the quick flashes in the attic. The filming of these flashes happened on separate occasions as we gathered them when necessary, for the props used when filming with the actors once we had established a filming schedule we organise and held the props in a small cupboard until the filming day where we got them out when necessary.
Locations
All the locations we chose to film in were central the household we wished to use for the final attack. This not only made the filming seem continuous it meant that the different locations were not too far apart so that travelling would not mean a unnatural change in lighting. We did plan for the opening to get darker lit - due to the time of year and the effect we wished to achieve. The household we chose to film in was convenient with a lightly painted bedroom to connote the characters innocence. It also had a dark hallway that connoted the character being of a negative 'dark' nature. Another location we chose to film our opening is was a woodland area, which is a typical convention of horror films. It creates suspense as a perpetrator would be easily hidden behind tree's and woodland usually indicates a lack of civilisation leaving the victim utterly alone with her attacker. The lack of leaves on the tree show automatically that is it winter time which connotes the cold and this portrays fear - another code and convention of a horror film. Based on all of this we felt that the woodland would be a good place to film our opening to create the suspense we wished. For similar reasons we chose some run down garages to film in, also connoting the isolation of the victim. It is also a place again where perpetrators can wait undetected in the shadows between each garage - there is an example of this in our film. By using a place seemingly run down and creates a sense of abandonment which creates suspense and mystery. It brings up questions as to why the place may have been abandoned. If there had been previous incidents occurring there before? All of which are left down to the viewers interpretation and may project to an individuals specific fear. The final main place we chose to film for our protagonists journey home from work was a street - showing she is nearing civilisation which creates continuity as she is about to arrive home. However by the time she has reached this street is it dark and there is no one around. This again connotes abandonment and her vulnerability to the situation she is in as someone is following her. The street in actual life was In fact right by her home so that the piece used verisimilitude to its full extent. The last location used was for some of our flashes that did not involve the main protagonist, for these we used an attic and bathroom. The bathroom contradicts horror conventions as it is an ordinary household room which contrasts so greatly to what appears to be blood and a female lying unconscious in the bath. This makes the scene uncomfortable for a viewer which is a desire in the opening of a film in the horror genre. By using an attic the opening conforms to typical conventions as an attic is generally the darkest coldest place in the house. It is a room out of reach to the rest of the household and again connotes abandonment and helplessness for the victims. The attic we used specifically had beams that could be used to tie the victims to them showing how they are being held hostage. It is not immediately obvious in the flashes that the place chosen to film is an attic as it in important to not give away the plot summary too much and the girls should infact have been held hostage in just a room in the abandoned house, but we felt that the attic used accurately denoted the darkness and lack of civilisation we aimed to achieve.