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I've added more things to my Pinterest board☺️

The Void

We've come to a point where I've finished all of my practical and planning work however I cannot start filming until next week so I'm stuck in what can be referred to as 'The Void'. To try and fill said void, I'm going to find some more horror imagery to add to my Pinterest board. 

Changes in filming schedule (AGAIN)

This is turning out to be very stressful indeed! I have to push my filming back another week - which eats into my editing time - because both of my actors are unable to film at the times I've set. It's  not their fault, it's just clashing schedules. Also due to delays in the Year 13s filming, there's no cameras at my disposal so I'm going to film next week instead :-)

Preparation!

Here are some of the props I've created for my final piece so far! I've created my own Polaroids with pictures of Laura with her friends and family; these are key to the first scene. I've also taken some photographs/

test footage for my final piece. 

Change in filming schedules

Unfortunately due to illness and lack of props, I've had to postpone my filming until next week. Ideally I wouldn't have done this and it would've all been done this week but unfortunately several things have stopped me from doing so. However this gives me more time to perfect my ideas before I start to shoot :-)

Preliminary Footage & Test shots

Here are some test shots for lighting for Scene 2; I also brought Laura to the location so she could familiarise herself with it and help me decide what needs moving and how to best arrange things for each shot. I'm really happy with this location as it sets the atmosphere perfectly for my piece! 

Preliminary footage of doll

My final piece is in association with James Wan, so as an ode to him and his first horror 'Dead Silence', I'm having a doll feature in the opening shots and in scene 2 of my piece. 

Production schedule

Production Schedule

 

Tuesday 27th:

 

• Scene 2
• Location: Garage
• Cast: Laura Greenley
• Shots: ECU (Light, doll, puddle, water dripping, tools, Laura's eyes opening), LS (show Laura lying on the floor in the garage), MCU (Laura looking around and moving slowly) P.O.V/Handheld (frantically looking around), Over the shoulder (showing her pushing herself up onto her knees- hands in a puddle of blood, lifts hand) MCU (Laura looking at her hand in shock), 45 degree upwards tilt & 180 degree pan around the room (Laura looking around once more), High Angle shot (Laura trying to get up and falling to her knees in pain) CU (Laura's face in pain) Travel shot from Laura's face to her stomach covered in blood, CU (Laura gasps), ECU/Flashes (bloodied tools surrounding her), MCU (Panicked laura clutching her stomach and crying in pain), High angle (Laura trying to grab onto some shelves) MCU (Laura pulling herself up) MLS (Laura leaning against shelves and trying to slowly walk forward to garage door) CU (feet walking over tools and through blood) MS (laura leaning against garage door, trying to push it open) Over the shoulder (door behind her slams open quickly), MCU (Laura turns around) Fast follow (towards figure in the door).

Wednesday 28th:

• Scene 1
• Location: My house/Ethan's room
• Cast: Kieran Gray
• Shots: MLS (Kieran leaning on desk), CU & pan (over the photographs), MCU & upwards pan (Kieran leaning on desk), MCU (Kieran picking up a photograph), CU (Photograph with Kieran Gray written on it) ECU (of the faces in the picture), CU (Kieran's face, looking pained and distressed), Over the shoulder (throws down photo and picks up another one) CU (Photograph with Laura Greenley written on it) ECU (flashes of gruesome bloody photographs) CU (Kieran shaking his head and clenching his eyes shut) P.O.V (picks up pill box and pops one into mouth) MCU (Putting down pill box. Pill box with the title 'Neurosis' written on it) MCU (Kieran looks upwards to photographs stuck on the wall) P.O.V over several photographs stuck on the wall - they read Becca Connor, Jess French, Elleah Stanton, Ellie Leckenby. Flashes of scenes that took place in the photograph happen here), ECU (Kieran's eyes darting back and forth), High angle (Kieran looks down and picks up a selection of photographs that read 'Casting by Billy Hopkins', 'Music by Kevin Macleod', 'Costumes designed by Sheila Quinn'), Pan over desk (shows photographs again), CU (Glass of water on desk, you can see a photograph that says 'Edited by Rhiann Quinn through it), CU (Kieran picking up a piece of paper) CU and pan downwards ('Produced by Eli Roth and James Wan', 'Written by Wes Craven', 'Directed by Rhiann Quinn' then Laura's face on a missing poster - flashes of more gruesome photos) MLS (Kieran throws all the photos off the desk and slumps to the floor)

Thursday 29th 

• Scene 1
• Location: My house
• Cast: None
• Shots: CU (Lionsgate logo in photo, Blumhouse productions logo in photo, James Wan photo)

Call sheets

Here are the call sheets for both of my actors with the start times, end times and locations listed. I will be providing all props and costumes so my actors won't need to bring anything but themselves!

Locations!

I've finally got both of my locations sorted; my granda's garage for the second part of my opening sequence, and my brother's bedroom for the first part! The reason I'm using both of these locations as I am familiar with them both and I know that they're safe and comfortable for my actors to use. Secondly, they're versatile; both locations belong to family members that won't mind me moving things around or making changes (as long as I clean up afterwards!). My brother's room works well because it matches the idea I want for the main boy protagonist's room and also it has a desk and a chair that will be the main focus for the first half of my opening sequence. Things will obviously have to be moved like the TV and the Xbox which my brother has agreed to help with. 

The garage won't need much rearranging as it's meant to look like a dirty old garage; all I'll be adding is some fake blood and a doll in the corner as well as maybe scattering some tools around. 

Laura Greenley saves the day!

Laura has agreed to be my main actress for my final piece (yay!). Since I only need her for one day, it won't impinge on her media project which is what's most important and it means I have a new lead actress - who by the way, is very good! 

Spanner in the works!

Unfortunately my lead actress has had to pull out at the last minute - we were due to film on Monday - so I'll have to find somebody to replace her with. Hopefully I'll search around and I'll find somebody within the next few days or so!

Name of the 'sister'

I have decided that the name of the missing sister will be Laura; I find this will be the easiest way to shoot the shots I want. I want to shoot some 'natural' scenes where Laura - the actress I've picked - is just around her friends so rather than make her friends call her by a different name (possibly ruining the natural atmosphere I want for the scene), they'll just refer to her as that.

Set Design

Here are some rough sketches of how I want my locations to look like in my title sequence. 

Costumes

Here are the costumes I will need for my final piece.

Props List

Here's the props list for 'Departure'. Overall I don't actually need that many props for my title sequence as the props I do have each form a large part of the sequence itself.

Scenario for 'Neurosis'

Neurosis

(Film opens with a fade into the back of a man leaning over a desk, his head bowed. He's looking at a multitude of photographs that are scattered on the desk in front of him; these are all photographs of his sister. She is missing. There are photographs of her at social events, with friends and family. The man brushes aside a photograph to reveal a missing poster. There are also photos of police evidence, such as footprint and blood splatters, amongst the mess. The man's face is scruffy and he is unwashed. His eyes are red and there are bags underneath them. His eyes dart rapidly back and forth over the photographs before he slumps into a chair)

(The scene opens in a dirty garage. There is a single light hanging from the ceiling. There are a vast array of objects in the garage, from saws and tools, to old broken dolls and ladders. A hose drips water into a puddle ominously. A girl is lying on the floor in the garage, wearing an old tattered shirt and ripped, bloodstained trousers. Her eyes slowly open and she takes a few seconds to fully regain consciousness. Once she's awake, she turns her head to try and make sense of where she is before slowly attempting to get up.)

Girl: GAH! (clutches her stomach in agony and stumbles to the floor once again. Breathing heavily, she uses a nearby shelf to hoist herself up) *noise of pain* 

(She manages to stand up with the help of the shelf. She clutches her stomach once more and lifts her shirt to reveal a dirty infected wound on her abdomen. She cries out in shock, stepping back and kicking some paint cans as the door to the garage flies open.)

Breakdown of Titles

I have decided on the order of my title sequence after researching many other horrors and thrillers and doing my previous work on the conventions of a title sequence.

• Lionsgate Entertainment presents
• A Blumhouse Production
• In association with James Wan
• Kieran Gray
• Laura Greenley
• Neurosis
• Becca Connor
• Elleah Stanton
• Jess French
• Ellie Leckenby
• Casting by Billy Hopkins
• Music by Kevin MacLeod
• Costumes designed by Sheila Quinn
• Edited by Rhiann Quinn
• Produced by Eli Roth and James Wan
• Written by Wes Craven
• Directed by Rhiann Quinn

Music

I've been looking for music to play in the background of the beginning of my title sequence and I've actually found it quite hard to find a piece of music that I could deem suitable for the atmosphere of my piece. On the internet, there was an abundance of horror soundtracks and pieces of music that in themselves were brilliant however, I needed something more eerie and unnerving that would fit a film about a missing girl and that could be manipulated to fit the shots I wanted.
After quite a long stretch of looking, I found a selection that I thought would be effective in my final piece.

Day of Chaos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po1FBMIJ-Mc

Evening of Chaos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTH_e_tUPuE

Unease Piano - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUW5SAL9PNg

It is Lost - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ntJ04HuRgY

Metaphysik - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p62skjxCmbs


After much deliberation (to be honest, I would be surprised if I change my mind several times before the actual filming process begins!), I have decided to use 'Evening of Chaos' as the background music in my title sequence. Despite the fact that all of the pieces could've fit and been effective in creative an atmosphere, I believe that this was the one that fits my idea and what I have in mind the best. It has the eerie atmosphere you'd expect from a horror/thriller and will fit in well with the shots I use.

Genre, Representatin, Audience and Institution

Genre:
I have chosen to focus on horror and thriller for my title sequence. Horror, as a genre, is extremely vast and can focus on many different elements to provoke fear. Some horrors focus on physical monsters that invade our reality, some focus on serial killers and murderers, some focus on more psychological or paranormal aspects, but they're all used to induce one thing: fear. Thrillers use similar techniques however most thrillers tend to steer clear of any paranormal or supernatural elements and try to stay more grounded in reality. Films in these genres generally end on either a cliffhanger or on a generally sad ending (a lot of characters have either died or gone missing etc.). There are so many sub-genres within both horror and thriller and I have decided to embrace elements from psychological-horror/thriller and crime-horror/thriller in my final pieces as I feel they work the best together. I feel like using the horror and thriller genre allows me to experiment and be versatile without even using any dialogue or narration; the beauty of these genres is that you can create an atmosphere easily and effectively with some decent lighting and choice of shot whereas with other genres like comedy or 'indie' films, I personally would find it hard to fully establish the genre without using dialogue.

Representation: 

My title sequence has two main protagonists: a brother and a sister. The brother will be roughly a 17 year old male and the sister will be 16. Many teens in horror films are the focus point and many get killed almost immediately; there are also usually definite 'roles' each of the teens play in plot (the jock, the nerd, the virgin etc) and they tend to die in a certain order. I didn't want to stick to this stereotype of teen horrors, I wanted to focus on the psychological damage the brother has suffered at the hands of his sister going missing and also, despite her being kidnapped and mutilated, the sister's emotional strength and strong common sense (I'll display her strength in the photographs and I'm definitely not having her do some sort of daft scream or anything like that!).

Audience:
My key demographic is both males and females - it's why I've made the two main protagonists a male and a female - in the age range 18 - 25. This is the age range for many of the horror films I've studied and since I have taken inspiration from them, I believe my title sequence will warrant a similar age range.

Age Certificate:
My film would have an 18 certificate as not only is this right in the key demographic I'd be aiming for, it contains gore and horror elements that may not be suited for anybody younger.

Institution:
After doing my research on Wikipedia and IMDB, I have decided that my film will be produced by Blumhouse Productions, who have produced 'The Purge', 'Insidious', 'Sinister' and 'Paranormal Activity' and are prominent producers of horror films. I also want it to be in association with James Wan, a well-known director who specialises in horror films. I want my film to be distributed by Lionsgate as they are synonymous with horror films after distributing 'Saw', 'The Last Exorcism' and 'The Cabin in The Woods'. I feel like these film companies fit well with the film I want to create.

Outline of plot

My final piece is going to be in the style of a horror/thriller as I believed I know those genres the best and I can be extremely creative and versatile within them. I have had the outline of my plot in my mind since we began - I'm a perfectionist you see :p - and I've taken a lot of inspiration from films like 'Se7en', 'Saw' and 'Psycho'. I have also taken inspiration from directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Eli Roth regarding props and the shots I will use. 

My aim is to create a very dark, angsty mood with my title sequence; I want the horror and thriller themes to be evident in every single shot I use. However I don't want it to be jam-packed full of cliches so as well as taking inspiration from other films, I do have a very clear idea of what elements of my own style I can incorporate. 

The opening scene will be set in a boys bedroom however it will be dimly lit and the main focus will be on the boy himself and his desk, which will be littered with photographs. The boy's costume and general appearance will connote his age via mise en scene as the rest of the room won't be included in the shots and the desk itself will be clear bar the photographs and a small mug that says 'Brother'; this is what will clue the audience in to the relationship between the boy and the other character in my piece: his missing sister. We then see that amongst the photographs, there's a missing person poster as well as photographs taken by the police of footprints and blood splatters. I want to include most of the credits here as the photographs will be polaroids, I want to scribble the credits on the bottom. I also want to use flashback style shots by focusing on certain photographs - possibly one of her with her friends or one of her at prom - and having a flashback to when that picture was taken and then back to the picture itself. This is where all of the credits will happen before I move onto the opening scene. I want to portray this character as a concerned brother who is teetering on the side of obsession over finding his sister; I want him to be slightly scruffy and dishevelled in appearance to connote that he hasn't been eating properly or washing as he's been so focused on studying these photographs. There will then be a black screen as the camera does a 180 pan from the boy to the darkness in his room.

Then I will have the opening scene which will open in a garage with a single lightbulb on a string on. I'm taking inspiration for movies like 'Saw' and 'Hostel' with this choice of location and I want it to appear as dirty and grimy as possible to add to the horror. There will be a multitude of shots of dripping water, dirty old saws, flies and all the stuff that connotes horror and gore however I want to intermix them with shots of normal things like close ups of paint tin labels, lawnmowers and screwdrivers so show that whoever owns the garage is yes a pyschopath, but also does the same things that you and I do and owns the same things as we do: he is just like us. I took this idea from the title sequence of 'Se7en'. We will then see a shot of a teenage girl, covered in dirt and generally battered in appearance, opening her eyes for the first time. This is the missing girl and the audience will realise this from the photographs shown previously. She will struggle to get up and collapse to her knees before looking around frantically. She will then suddenly cry out in pain as she struggles to get up once more and she notices she's wearing somebody else's ripped old clothes. She lifts up the bottom of her shirt to reveal a bloody, infected wound on her abdomen. She starts to cry before the door behind her flies open and that's where my sequence will end. Very dark, I know!! 

Vlog 2!

So this is my second vlog overall and my first final piece vlog! I want to record a lot of vlogs throughout this process and I believe it is the most honest way to record the different milestones throughout this project; it is also massively useful to have different pieces of film that I can compile together to contribute to my evaluation,




Vlog 2 from Rhiann Quinn on Vimeo.

David Fincher

The final director I decided to research was David Fincher, a more modern director in comparison to the others. He is well-known for directing 'Se7en', 'Fight Club', 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' and 'Gone Girl'. He has been nominated twice for the Best Director Academy Award and has won both a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for 'The Social Network'. 

His feature debut was 'Alien 3' which despite being panned by critics and audiences, got an Academy Award nomination for its visual effects. Then in 1995, Fincher directed 'Se7en' which grossed millions internationally and shot him to prominence; he went on to direct 'The Game' and 'Fight Club', the latter which was originally panned by critics and did badly at the box office has rounded up a huge cult following. 

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/fincher/ 

Martin Scorsese

The penultimate director I researched was Martin Scorsese, one of the most significant filmmakers of all time. He is part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking; in 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to film preservation and in 2007 he founded The World Cinema Foundation. 

Scorsese's body of work is amazingly impressive and addresses themes such as Italian-American identity, machismo, modern crime and many more. A lot of his films are notable for their use of violence and liberal use of profanity; The Wolf of Wall Street holds the record for the most uses of the 'f-word' in a mainstream non-documentary film at 569 uses!

Scorsese has directed many landmark films such as 'Taxi Driver', 'Goodfellas', 'Cape Fear', 'Raging Bull', 'Mean Streets' and more. 'The Departed' got him his first Best Director Academy Award and with 8 nominations for the award, he is currently the most nominated director alive today. 

He is well-known for working with actors such as Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/scorsese/ 

Christopher Nolan

The next director I decided to research was Christopher Nolan. Nolan is known as the director of the Dark Knight trilogy that revived the series after the abysmal 'Batman and Robin'; he is also known for 'Inception' and 'Interstellar'. 

Despite only directing nine films overall, altogether they have grossed over $4 billion worldwide and have garnered 21 Oscar nominations. Nolan has come a long way since 'Following', his first feature film, that he funded himself and filmed with his friends; he has worked with huge stars such as Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway and the late Robin Williams. 

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/nolan/ 

Quentin Tarantino

The first director I started to research in the thriller genre was Quentin Tarantino, one of the most infamous directors in the world due to his use of violence, non-linear storyline and satirical subject matter in films. I personally love all of Tarantino's films and I have watched Pulp Fiction more times than I can count! 

Tarantino grew up obsessed with film and actually worked in a video store whilst he was learning to act; his career began when he wrote and directed 'My Best Friend's Birthday'. However his independent film career really began when he directed and released 'Resevoir Dogs' which is regarded as a cult classic. Then one of the most famous films in the world, 'Pulp Fiction', was released and it instantly became a critical and commercial success and to this day is regarded as one of - if not THE - best films ever made. 

Tarantino then made 'Jackie Brown' in 1997 and then in 2003, he released 'Kill Bill: Vol 1' starring Uma Thurman (who he has described as his 'muse'). Tarantino has build up an informal 'repertory company' of actors who have appeared in multiple roles in this films: Samuel L.Jackson - who has appeared in five of Tarantino's films - Uma Thurman, Christoph Waltz and Zoe Bell.

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/tarantino/ 

Thriller films

I am doing the exact same thing I did for the research into horror films and their directors for the thriller genre as I want my final piece to be a horror/thriller so I need to have an equal level of research on both areas. I once again separated the 'classics' from the 'moderns' and tried to find a trend of common thriller directors; surprisingly enough I found it easier to find a trend with thrillers than with horrors as I find nowadays a lot of independent horror films with lesser-known directors are becoming more and more successful. I have decided to do my research on the following directors: Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and David Fincher. 

George A. Romero

I returned to the classics for my final director: George A. Romero. Often referred to as the grandad of zombie movies, Romero is a director, producer, screenwriter and editor who is best known for his series of gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. His 'Dead series' began with 'Night of the Living Dead' which became a cult classic and a defining moment for modern horror cinema. Romero's depiction of 'zombies' are often believed to be the 'original' zombies or the 'classics' - some even go so far to say that they are the only true type of zombie and the more modern running depictions don't have the same effect as Romero's slow-moving originals. Romero also directed 'The Crazies' (one of my favourite films ever!) which was about a bio spill that induces an epidemic of homicidal madness. Romero returned to the zombie genre in 'Dawn of the Dead' which was shot with a budget of just £500,000 yet grossed over £55 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult films by Entertainment Weekly in 2003.

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/romero/ 

Eli Roth

The penultimate director I decided to research was Eli Roth who is also a well-known actor (he often features or has little cameos in the films he directs or produces). He is known for directing 'Cabin Fever', 'Hostel' and its sequel 'Hostel: Pt II"; he also acted in Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Bastards' and won awards for the role. Roth's familiarity with both being in front of and behind the camera makes him very creative and versatile. He also co-wrote the script for 'Cabin Fever' with his college roommate at the time, Randy Pearlstein. 

When Roth started directing Hostel, he reportedly turned down studio directing jobs to do so - showing he's extremely dedicated to the films he's making and is also largely independent in his choices he makes about films he wants to direct - and also only took in a salary of $10,000 to keep the budget as low as possible. 

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/roth/ 

James Wan

The next director I went on to research was James Wan, a more modern director  so I could compare him to some of the more classic directors.

Wan is widely known for directing the horror film 'Saw' and producing the entire franchise, as well as actually creating Billy the Puppet (the puppet that Jigsaw is seen using in the film). He has also directed 'Dead Silence', 'Insidious', 'Insidious: Chapter 2' and 'The Conjuring' (and is set to direct the upcoming sequel!). Before his success in mainstream, Wan worked on smaller films such as 'Stygian' before hitting the big time with 'Saw'. His venture into gore shot him to directorial superstardom and 'Saw' was a global success; Wan produced all of the following 'Saw' sequels which were all successful too. 

In 2007, he directed 'Dead Silence' which he described as an "old school" horror that was "in the spirit of old Twilight Zone episodes". Wan directed this film to try and distance himself from the gore he'd become synonymous with due to the success of 'Saw'. 

Then in 2010, he directed 'Insidious', a very psychological paranormal horror; Wan also had complete creative control over Insidious.

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/wan/ 

Wes Craven

The second director I decided to research was a personal favourite, Wes Craven. He has written and directed some of my all-time favourite films and created some of the most brilliant and infamous horror antagonists in the history of the genre: Ghostface (Scream), Freddy Kreuger etc.

Craven is largely known for his work in the horror genre, particularly in slasher films where he made himself known.

His directorial debut was with 'The Last House on the Left' before going on to direct 'Nightmare on Elm Street'. 

Craven's works often focus on the idea and nature of reality; the premise of 'Nightmare' dealt with the consequences of dreams in real life and in 'New Nightmare', he brushed against the fourth wall by having actress Heather Langenkemp play herself as she is haunted by the villain of the film she once starred. These clever and new ideas are what shot Craven to prominence.  

Pinterest board: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/craven/

Alfred Hitchcock: 'The Master of Suspense'

I decided to start my research with Alfred Hitchcock, one of the world's most respected film directors and somebody whose contributions to horror are remembered vividly today. Hitchcock is somebody that many have idolised over the years and for a good reason too. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller/horror genres and also revolutionised the use of a camera to move in a way that mimics and person's gaze. He used this to manipulate his viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism; he also used many techniques to maximise suspense and anxiety, which is why some of his films are included in some of the scariest ever made. We all know 'Psycho' and it's infamous shower murder scene and the fact that that one scene has become a icon in horror (and still is 55 years later) is just one example of Hitchcock's ability as a director. I would argue that scene is one of the most memorable in history. 

I actually didn't realise how many films Hitchcock had actually done - I could only include a few on my little filmography list - and this is another reason why he's such an icon amongst directors. I should hope to mimic or use some of the techniques, especially his camera techniques, in my own final piece. 

I also created a pinterest board and collected a bunch of photos and posters of the films he has worked on: http://uk.pinterest.com/09f8qurh/hitchcock/ 

Research: One

To start my research into horror films, I listed a bunch - both 'classic' and 'modern' - alongside their directors so I could possibly find a trend in directors or in similarities between titles. The reason I did this is so I could possibly use some techniques from the films I wrote down in my own piece (e.g. 2007's Paranormal Activity revolutionised the use of 'found footage' style filming and I have considered using this in my own project). I also wanted to find a trend of directors so I could choose some to study; I decided eventually after following the trend that I would study Alfred Hitchcock, Wes Craven, Eli Roth, James Wan and George A. Romero. All of these are renowned horror directors that have made their individual mark on the horror genre, whether it is due to revolutionising certain camera techniques like Hitchcock or being credited for creating a sub-genre within horror like Roth.