Dragon Den Pitch
Daniel Chandler:
The genre of my five minute film will be horror and thriller. This will include a few jump scares and anticipation throughout the film, not too many as this may cause the audience to expect it and will end up not being as scary. Chandler theory explains different genres have different elements, such as horror usually includes blood and gore. Therefore, my five minute film is about three people being preyed and then murdered. I will include the usual aspects of horror, like blood which will make it more gruesome and darkness which will help to create an element of surprise.
Blumler and Katz:
- My short film is supported by Blumler and Katz theory of audience, which means hopefully I'll cause a diversion from reality and entertainment for the viewers. I want the film to be gripping and people to be fully engaged in the film as it will create a better atmosphere if people are enjoying and paying attention to what is going on.
- The message hidden within the film will be that there are always consequences for you actions. My short film is about a group of teens who make another girl's life hell, due to their actions the group suffer and are murdered by the girl that has been bullied for revenge. Therefore this links to Blumler and Katz as it is informative and educational.
- I want to create a relationship with the audience with one of the characters, someone who will be seen as the innocent one of the group and will try to stick up for the bullied girl, but not too much as she is afraid of getting pushed out the group.
Setting:
The film will be taken in a rural house isolated from other houses, an urban surrounding in the countryside would be the preferred setting. I wanted to have the house surrounded by fields as it gives more of a feeling of loss and isolation, alone where no one is around to help when in a bad situation, this helps to create an edgy eeriness to the film. The time I will set the film will be at night as it is dark. This is important to keep the film with an element of horror. Making the film when its dark will also allow the tension to build up for the audience.
Lighting Technique:
I am thinking of doing my filming late at night to get the darkness, foreshadowing that something bad is going to happen. This will help to give more suspense and a bit of mystery. However, I am aware that I do not want it to be too dark as I will not get good camera quality, which is important otherwise viewers will see the film as cheap and will have lack of interest. Therefore, I will use torches and the street lights to get better lighting as it will stick to the theme of night.
Sound Technique:
In my short film there will be quite a bit of dialogue to get the short film going, although not too much because I do not want to lose the audiences focus. There will slight dialogue so that the audience can get to know the characters. To keep the audience engaged I will add non-diegetic sound, meaning I will place sound over the top of certain scenes that only the audience can hear not the cast. I will use the sound to manipulate the tension, for example when someone is about to be murdered I want to create a atmosphere to allow the audience to be aware of the fact something is about to happen. The other lighting will be lighting that will be seen in the film is house lighting. By this I mean just normal lights that are placed inside the house. I will be able to use the lights to create a atmosphere later on in the film. Such as flickering the lights or turning them off to portray the fact that the fuse box has gone or been cut.
Editing Techniques:
I will do jump cuts to create anticipation and quick movements. This will help to keep the film at a good pace so that it doesn't make the audience lose focus or interest. It will also allow for me to zoom in on individual expressions that will give an audience an idea of how they are feeling. Match on action would be a good idea for this kind of film as it will allow for me to build a captivating quality of filming. It also enables for me to leave a scene on a cliff hanger, which I can unveil later on in the film.
Short films that I have researched:
I have been researching different ways I could carry my story line. The short film 'I heard it to' helped me to establish new layouts. Such as having everyone upstairs and them hearing a voice. This gave me an idea of when filming to incorporate muffled sounds and in the middle when one of the characters hear there friend calling their name, however, it will be when the lights are out and as she heads downstairs she finds out it is just a recording. This will make the audience apprehensive and nervous. The idea of a blank screen when the actor covers her eyes brings the focus on the sounds. This will help to bring nerves to the audience when she goes to open her eyes.
Short films I have taken inspiration:
The short film that I have taken inspiration from is 'The open door', which I think is the route I would like to take as I liked the idea of someone being trapped inside the house with the girl.The effects that are sued in this have given me ideas on how to make the jump scares more effective, such as lighting or intense music. The camera angles are shown to important in this film, for example, the camera is shown over the shoulder, therefore the audience know but the character doesn't. The idea of black and white was a good idea as it emphasised on the fact that when the screen goes black and white something is about to happen. However, I do not think my short film will have the same effect due to having a different layout to hers. But, I will use the idea of darkness being the metaphor of danger and the light to be more of a safe haven. A lot of the short films I watched had incorporated a camera angle of focusing on the killers hand when they enter a room. This is so the audience know where they're heading as well as knowing where the girls are.
What I want to avoid:
I want to avoid my film being repetitive or the same as other thriller/horror films. This would make the film boring as the audience would find it predictable and inevitable, whereas I wanted the film to be elusive and heart-wrenching. I also want to avoid having poor actors because this plays a huge part on how popular a film can be. If the audience don't like someone or find them irritating it can have a huge impact on how they view the film. Another thing I would like to avoid is bad camera quality, this regards both camera angle and editing. This needs to be precise when doing the cuts, especially when doing cuts like match on action. I want to maintain a professionalism throughout the film so that it doesn't look tacky or cheap.
Why is it original:
I believe the film that I will make is going to be original as I have taken inspiration and ideas from other films but adapted my own twists for a bit more originality. I didn't want to copy other films otherwise the film would become predictable and I would lose audience interest.
