Unit 16

I decided on the name Enigma Productions because the meaning of 'Enigma' is mystery and the unknown and that links to the genre the company produces which is horror. I used the bloody question mark to extend the mystery but with an added twist.

Task 1- Researching Film Openings


The first film I researched within the same genre as my film was The Woman in Black (2010).

The film starts with piano music playing and tea pretending to be poured into little cups. Immediately the audience will recognise that it is a children's party of some sort. This makes the film seem innocent to anyone that didn't know the film was a horror. Although the music does have an eerie element to it to foreshadow what will happen.
 The next shot supports that people will think its innocent as it shows three young girls playing and drinking tea, like young girls do. The music is building up and getting louder throughout the whole scene which suggests that something will happen.
The music suddenly shifts to bells as the girls put the teapot down and they look at the camera/ next to the camera. The audience can't see what the girls are looking at which keeps them guessing what will happen next and at what the antagonist is.
The music gets louder as the girls move their heads to look at the window to build tension. The camera cuts from a high angle long shot to a low angle wide-mid shot so that the audience is able to see the girls reaction and their facial expressions. The camera then cuts to a shot of what the girls are looking at.

We see the girls stop what they are doing, drop their dolls and cups and begin to walk over to the window. The girls walk over their stuff, breaking it in the progress. The audience are still wondering what the little girls saw to make them act like this, they are also wondering what the girls are about to do.
It goes silent after the girls jump out of the window until we hear a mother shout "my baby". The silence allows the audience to take in what just happened and makes them try to figure out why. The camera then zooms out until we can see the whole room and we finally see what the girls were looking at.





A) Purpose: Entertain & Confuse the audience.
B) Form & Style: The opening of the film takes place in a playroom located in the attic of a house. It's set in Crythin Gifford which isn't a real place but Susan Hill said she imagined it being on the East Coast of England near Whitby and Scarborough. The film is about a lawyer going through the possessions of a recently deceased woman only to find that the house is haunted by the spirit of a woman who lost her son in the marshes and seeks revenge on the children of the town.
C) Content: The opening scene is mostly made up by using Close Ups of the girls or the cups and dolls the girls are playing with. There are also quite a few Mid shots so that all the girls can be seen at the same time. One Point of View and one Over the Shoulder shot was used but both are also classed as a long shot so that the audience can see the whole room it is set in.
D) Meaning: The film was intended to make the audience wonder what was going on. The use of eerie music over what seems an innocent situation confuses the audience and makes them wonder what is going to happen next.
E) Genre: Drama/ Horror/ Thriller.
F) Target Audience: As the age rating is a 12A, only people over the age of 12A are able to watch it.
G) Frequency: The first installment in a two film series.
H) Production Process: The film was announced in 2009 with Jane Goldman as screenwriter and then later James Watkins as director. Daniel Radcliffe was announced to play Arthur Kipps on 19th July 2010. Radcliffe saw a psychologist before filming to better understand his character. The filming started on 26th September 2010 and finished 4th December 2010. The exterior shots of the Eel Marsh House were filmed at Cotterstock Hall near Oundle in central England. For it's British Theatrical release, several changes were made in order to qualify for a 12A rating. Momentum Theatrical, the distributor, arranged to have six seconds cut and for changes to other shots, with scenes darkened and the sound level reduced on some others. Despite the cuts, the 12A certificate was seen as highly controversial in the UK, and the British Board of Film Classification received 134 complaints from individuals that the rating was too low, the most complained-about film of 2012 according to BBFC figures.  
                                                                                                                                      

The second film I looked at was Jaws (1975).


The scene starts with a long shot of a group of underage teenagers that are drinking and smoking something. Underage teens are used because when they get attacked and killed by the shark it sends a message to the audience that when you do something wrong/ illegal then you should pay for what you have done.
This long shot of a girl running to water getting undressed further supports that idea as she is about to do something wrong, having sex before marriage, in the eyes of society and therefore should be punished.

This long shot from underneath the girl shows that she is very vulnerable as she is all by herself in an open space with nowhere to go. She is placed in the center of the screen so that she is shown to be the main focus for the audience and the predator. 

The close up of the girl allows the audience to see her reaction when she is first attacked. When the first attack happens we hear violins screeching, this sound is uneasy and puts the audience on edge for what is about to happen.
This mid shot of the girl allows the audience to see both her reaction and what is happening to her. Although we never see the shark we are still aware of it through the shots, acting and setting. The acting is very good and makes us believe that she is actually being attacked by something.

A) Purpose: Entertain and Scare the audience. Get social message/ values to younger viewers.
B) Form & Style: The opening of the film takes place at a late-night party at the beach on Amity Island. A young woman goes skinny dipping in the ocean but is violently pulled under. Amity Island is actually Martha's Vineyard, a holiday retreat, of the coast of Massachusetts.
C) Content: The scene is made up using a range of shots, long shots are used so that the audience can see what is happening around the character and close ups are used for seeing the characters reaction.
D) Meaning: The introduction was meant to scare the audience and it was successful. The use of shots from underneath like a predator and the shots of the girl being dragged and pulled about increases the scare factor.
E) Genre: Adventure/ Thriller
F) Target Audience: The film is rated PG so it is suitable for anyone of any age but children would need to be with their parents in order to watch it at the cinema. 
G) Frequency: The first instalment in a four film series.
H) Production Process: Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown independently heard about Peter Benchley's novel Jaws. Brown came across it in the literature section of lifestyle magazine Cosmopolitan which his wife edited at that point. A small card written by the magazine's book editor gave a detailed description of the plot with a comment saying that it "might make a good movie."

                                                                                                                                      
Task 2 & 3- Generating & Devolping Ideas

 Pre-Production
I am toying between an idea of having someone escape a serial killer and then becoming the anti-hero by tracking him down and making sure no-one else gets kidnapped. The other idea I have is a spirit or something possessing someone and making them kill.

Idea 1- The Reaper









Idea 2- Everthing Changes

Rough Script Idea

POV Shot of a door opening from the inside. James is outside. Isaac is holding camera.

James: Hey buddy, you ready for this? (Actors name appears on screen.)

Isaac: Yeah man, I'm buzzing. You?

James: Yeah, so ready. Where's Brenden at?

Isaac: Gone to pick up some last minute supplies. Come in. Chloe and Holly are through there. Why don't you tell the camera what we are doing?

James: fine. There's this abandoned building that is allegedly haunted and we're gonna check it out. Isaac doesn’t believe in all this bullshit.

Cuts to multiple shots of them in the car messing about, listening to music. They pull up outside the house.

Chloe: Look, it's Brenden. (Points to Brenden)

Everyone gets out the car.

Holly: Hey Brenden. (Hugs Brenden)

Brenden: Hey guys, how you all doing? (Hugs James, then Isaac)

Isaac: You guys all ready for this then?

James: Yeah, let's do this this.

They all walk to the door, 

Isaac: I love you.

Chloe: I love you too.

5 Second kiss between Isaac and Chloe as they walk in the door.

Camera pans up and we see a figure in the window.

Brenden: (Panicked) Guys wait up, I think I just seen something in the window.

Isaac: Stop being paranoid, you're probs just tired.

Blackout. 


Task 5- Production Plan

Chosen idea: Everything Changes

a) Timetable
    Filming: Thursday 21st April
Release Date would be around Halloween as there is a big audience for Horror films around that time.

b) Resources & Equipment: 
  • Camera provided by school.
  • Friend's car.
  • House
  • Abandoned Building
c) Personal and Activities:
  • Director (Me)
  • Actors (Me, Daniel Kelly, Scott Morrison, Ruth Parker and Dawn Farmer)
d) Budget: I will not need to buy any props or equipment so the budget will be very low, I may need to pay for petrol.

 e) Relevant Legal and Ethical Issues: I will make sure my production faces no legal issues and if this is unavoidable then I have methods to treat these issues with care and respect. 

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