Grace Suiter - AS Media Studies
Treatment
As a group we equally divided the different elements which make up the treatment process. I was alocated Location and we decided this as a group because I am close to the destination we are considering filming at and I also know my way around the lcation. Therefore I know where there are good areas to film and make the most of the chosen location which is Shouldham Warren. Tommy was alocatedthe job of finding the characters for our opening as well as researching different production companies which we could feature within our opening scene. We thought he would be good at finding the characters because we need a tall male character and because he is a male, he is likely to have male friends who fit this criteria. We also thought he would be good at researching the production companies because he watches alot of thriller films and so he will be able to identify a professional production company. Katie was therefore put in charge of finding and locating props and costumes we could use which would look realistic and be in a suitable price range for us to purchase. We decided Katie would be good at doing this because she is also good at research and knows where to buy good quality products. Therefore, collabratively Katie and I are going to research the credits and find which colours, fonts and sizes will be best for our opening scene.
Location - 7th December 2014
I was in charge of deciding our location and so today I went to Shouldham Warren to find different scenery which we could use within our opening. We decided on the woodland setting because our audience research confirmed that it was a popular setting which should intrigue lots of viewers. It is the closet woodland area surrounding us and it is also quite an accessible setting which means we get use the setting whenever we wish. Also during Winter, the nights get darker earlier and so it is easier for us to get natural lighting if we wish to. This may make our opening look more realistic as opposed to using filters and if we have the oppurtunity, we may as well use it. Below are the different pictures I took whilst walking around the warren and as a group we can decide which settings look the best. An establishing shot of the warren may be useful because it would show the viewer where our thriller opening is set and then allow them to think of ideas as to what might happen.
Production Company 8th December 2014
Tommy researched different production companies and discovered that there were a few different types of production companies. The three companies which stood out to Tommy were:
-New Line Cinema
-Blumhouse Productions
-Hammer Horror/Hammer Film Productions
Once Tommy had found the three most popular film production companies, I decided to look into them and see what thriller films they had previously created. New Line Cinema produced films such as Final Destination, Seven and The Conjuring and therefore would be a suitable production company for us to present our thriller opening as. They have also produced hundreds of other films which come under a variety of different genres. Blumhouse Productions is the second production company which Tommy identified and they are well known for creating thriller films and are responsible for the scary thriller and horror films which include Ouija, The Purge and the four Paranormal Activities. This film production company would definitely be a worthwhile company to feature because they are well
known for thriller films and make very creative and spooky thriller films. The final production company that Tommy discovered was Hammer Film Productions and was founded in 1934 and so it is a very successful and was best known for creating gothic horrors as well as thrillers and science fiction films. Their thriller films were very similar to Hitchcock's 'Psycho.' They would be a good production company to feature however they are slightly outdated and haven't created many thriller films in recent years and so Tommy thought that Blumhouse Productions would be the best production company to use. We agreed with him and we thought it would be the best one because it has produced extremely popular thriller films which never fail to intrigue the audience. Therefore, we will be featuring Blumhouse Productions in our thriller opening scene.
Costumes/Characters - 8th December 2014
Katie was in charge of deciding what costumes we will all wear and she decided that the girls should look casual and the main feminine character should wear white to promote her purity. The clown will also be dressed in a full clown costume to make it as realistic as possible and either face paint will be used or a clown mask; depending on which one looks the scariest.
Annabel Owen
Annabel will be wearing a similar style to the rest of the girls and this will include suede ankle boots, washed out denim jeans, burgandy jumper and a navy coat with a fluffy hood. Annabel will also wear minor amounts of makeup to promote her innocence and vulnerability amongst the group of girls and this should make the audience feel sympathetic towards her because they imagine that she is in danger. Her hair will also be down and this will show her youthfulness and should indicate to the audience that she is a young victim. She will be carrying the camera which is our main prop. She'll be holding the camera because she'sthe character who identifies the clown and realises that the group is in danger.
Josh Obisanya
Josh is going to be acting as our clown and these are not the clothes he will be wearing during filming. We chose Josh because he is reasonably tall and doesn't mind being our clown which is extremely helpful of him. He also featured in our preliminary task and therefore we know that he understands the way we work and he will also try his best at the role which he was given. Josh will not be wearing a full on clown costume because we decided that they were quite expensive for a one time costume. We therefore decided to use a orange boiler suit which is a convict costume. This suggests the impression that the main character has criminal tendencies and is not a character to joke around with; but one to fear. He will also be wearing a clown mask and this will be his costume (images in the props section).
Grace Suiter
I am also one of the girls in the group of girls and my outfit will also be casual and natural to express the youth of vulnerability of the character. This in another example of what I will be waering; brown ankle boots, dark blue jeans, grey jumper and a tartan scarf. I will also be wearing a coat, depending on the weather which will presumably be cold during January and February. The four female characters also need to look similar because they are a group of friends and if one girls looks more formal than the others, then this would be classed as a continuity mistake. Therefore, the jeans, jumpers and coats all fit together well. I will also be wearing minor amounts of make up and have my hair in a natural way to show my innocence.
Zara Hipsey
Zara is similar to the other girls because she will be wearing denim jeans, brown ankle boots, navy coat, knitted jumper and a scarf. This is quite a youthful style and promotes all of the girls as a whole as being vulnerable and purity. Zara will also be wearing minimalistic make up and have her hair in an everyday style; either straightened, natural or in a ponytail or topknot bun. This will make all of the girls look like a group of friends because they normally dress similarly and like the same things.
Katie Summers
Katie is one of the girls in the group of girls. Katie discussed with us about the costumes and finally decided that the group of girls should wear quite natural and casual looking clothing and then similarly, they should also wear natural looking make up. This should make them look innocent and show their purity; whereas if they were wearing more revealing clothing, this would not look as pure and natural. The setting is in a warren and so the clothing has to also coincide with this. Otherwise it would look absurd and out of place; the costumes have to fit the continuity rule and look the same throughout. Therefore this natural looking costume doesn't require any special care to be taken place and can change closer to the time as long as it still looks casual.
This is just an example of what will be worn; brown ankle boots, black jeans, black/grey jumper and a navy coat with a fluffy hood.
Characters/Actors and Actresses - 8th December 2014
We was all in charge of finding suitable actors and actresses and this was quite a simple task because many people were willing to do it. Luckily, Katie and I had already discussed the project with our friends and they were more than happy to act in our thriller opening and because we are already friends with them, it should be more realistic and entertaining. However, it was much harder to find a clown because lots of people are slightly concious about dressing up as a clown and so Katie, Tommy and I were all in charge of finding a male clown. Thankfully, we all thought of Josh and he was more than happy to be our clown and we thought he would be a good clown because he is tall and also serious when it comes down to working. We decided against having a protagonist because it adds to the tension because the audience realise that there is nobody to save the damsel in distress.
Katie Summers - Main female character (damsel in distress)
Josh Obisanya - Clown Character (antagonist)
Annabel Owen - Extra in the group of girls
Zara Hipsey - Extra in the group of girls
Grace Suiter - Extra in the group of girls
Credits - 10th December 2014
Katie and I were responsible for researching the opening credits and titles. We therefore went on Microsoft PowerPoint and trialled different sans serif and serif font styles to see which ones we thought would be suitable. The powerpoint on the lefthand side shows the different fonts we trialled and the reasons why and whether we thought they would be suitable. The wide variety of different font styles gives us a wide range of different font styles we can use in our thriller opening. Meaning that we are not restricted on what we can use and we know what will look sinister and creepy and what won't. Katie found the first couple and I continued to find the final four as she continued to find the soundtrack.
Soundtrack - 10th December 2014
Katie researched different sounds we could include in our thriller opening. Katie and I had previosuly discussed different sounds that we thought we could include:
-Jack in the box
-Clown laughter
-Nursery Rhymes
Katie therefore decided to try and find copyright free music off of the internet and this proved to be very difficult. However she did find a website called 'Epidemic Sound' and they provide copyright free music and so we can use this in our thriller opening. She also discovered a YouTube channel whereby the user allows you to use his music copyright free for no fee.
The top left video is of the Copyright free music which we could use in our thriller opening and the screenshot below is the description. The description clearly states "Royalty Free! That means I allow you to use this in any of your video making needs." Therefore we have the permission from this Youtuber. The screenshot in the top right corner are from 'Epidemic Sound' which is also provides copyright free music and the three sounds are potential clips which we could include in our thriller opening. They also fit our genre which is a horror-thriller.
Props - 4th January 2015
The majority of these props should be quite simple to get a hold of, however there is a fake axe and the only place I could imagine buying a fake axe would be at a fancy dress costume. Therefore I will visit local fancy dress shops in Kings Lynn tomorrow (5th January 2015) and investigate prices and the costumes and props which are available. If possible it would be useful to find fake blood, fake weapon and clown items and costume there. However if this isn't possible then we can use ketchup as fake blood and search the internet for clown items and props. The camera/phone is easy because as a group we are all up to date with technology and have camera phones and cameras which would be suitable to use. We also have old female shoes which we don't mind using and so hopefully our props shouldn't be too difficult to find, or too expensive!
The slideshow I created on the left hand side shows the different props which are available for us to purchase from Amazon! I researched fake blood and cuts, clown accessories and fake weapons and they are all available for a reasonable price. When buying products, we have to consider the lighting because we need to decide whether they will actually be seen. For instance if we use low key or natural lighting during the late afternoon, it may be difficult to interpret props. However, we will still use them, we just have to consider which ones will be the most realistic to look at, as well as being a cost effective price. We also have to consider that if they are from the internet, they may not look as good as advertised on the internet. If we purchase a make believe sledge hammer from Amazon and it turns up and looks like a childs toy, then we will be pushed for timing to buy a back up.
Click on each individual slide to enlarge
Whilst researching Clown Costumes I discovered that they are quite expensive to buy outright and may not look as convincing in real life. The problem with hiring is that you have to hire it for a fixed period of time for a fixed price and so this would limit us as to when we can film. Especially if we have to rely on a shop to supply us with the costume which may not be in the best condition if it has previously been used. It also limits what we can do to the costume, it would prevent us from adding blood and perhaps cutting into the costume to suggest to the audience that the characters in the bushes or also injured.
In addition to this, I rang a local fancy dress shop on Wednesday 7th January and asked how much it would be to hire a clown costume for the day and they said it would be
£15. This is reasonable but it also restricts us as to when we can film because we will defintely have to have everything complete; otherwise there is a risk of having to pay £30 to ensure that there are no continuity errors. We therefore decided to use an orange convict costume which suggests to the audience that the character has criminal tendencies and isn't somebody to be messed with.
Convict Costume
This is the costume which Josh will be wearing as opposed to a clown costume. We decided to do this because we thought it would suggest criminal capabilities which would build tension for the audience and make them wonder what he will do next. We are still sticking with the clown idea though because Josh will aslo be wearing a clown mask which will add to the mystery of the opening. We will never see his face because it will obviously be covered by the mask and this also adds to the vulnerability of the female characters because they do not know who is behind the mask either.
This is the Clown Mask we have ordered from Amazon and we decided to order this one because it is extremely creepy and shocking. This means that it should terrify the audience and keep them intrigued to watch the film. It also has the red hair which is a stereotypical feature of a clown and this eliminates us from having to buy an extra prop.
