My Short Film idea (Post 4)

My plot:

A group of friends go for a casual meet up at one of there houses, who will be viewed as the main character. This will take place in the evening, which will make the video capture a thriller/ horror essence. The dark is often associated with nightmares and evil, which is why I chose to do it in the evening, when it begins to get dark. I will be using music and sound to manipulate the tension of the scene and so that the audience are aware of a build up, thinking something is about to happen.

The opening scene will start with the camera focused on someone's hand knocking on the door, this is because I don't want the girl knocking at the door to be introduced first and will start to create a mystery from the start of the short film. The camera will then cut to the main character, who will be sat in the house, and the audience will then watch her going over to the door. This is when so will try to build up the tension with non-diegetic sound.

The plot of the film includes a group of girls and one boy hanging out one afternoon, however as the night goes on I want to include mystery. Such as using the camera to peer through the windows as if someone is watching them, which will hopefully capture the audiences attention. When peering through the windows the audience will be able to see that the group is laughing and mocking one of the girls from their school, but was not invited to the gathering. Throughout the short film, when individual characters are on their own, they will be murdered. The first murder the audience will be able to see an unknown figure standing behind them, introducing the new character as the killer. However, the characters will not know that they’ve been killed but will know they’ve gone missing. A quarter way through the short film one of the girls will find the body and then the characters reality will slowly unravel. Towards the end of the film the identity of the killer is revealed, which would have been foreshadowed earlier in the film as it is the girl they were mocking from their school.

Miss en scene:

Costume and hair- Each character will be wearing casual clothes, such as jeans and top. This is so the audience are aware that it isn’t a special occasion and just a group of friends wanting to meet up. The person playing the murderer will be wearing all black so that they are able to blend in with the night.

Lighting- I will be filming the short film in the evening when it’s dark to play on the fact that it’s genre is a thriller. Night is often associated with mystery and horror, more of a psychological thriller.

Setting- The film will be taking place at someone’s house as it will create an essence of normality and realism. The house will be in a rural area, making it isolated, it will surrounded by fields. But the house next door will be empty as recently the neighbours have moved house.

Character expression- At the beginning the characters will seem happy and laughing, which will tell the audience that when someone is trying to kill them that they’re in shock and unaware of the reasons. When finding out about the murders, the characters will show fear.

Props- as prop that will be important for the short film will be the murder weapon, which will be a knife. I’m planning for the knife to be seen by the audience at the beginning of the film and then disappears half way through.

Narrative:

Todorov- The film will follow the beginning, middle and end. This narrative helped me to figure out the plot line as I decided to have a linear narrative. The equilibrium will be the girls hanging out and having fun, but then is disrupted by the fact someone is murdered. The repair will be the when the girls will try to call the police, but goes wrong when the power line is cut and due to the excluded area there will be no service. The new equilibrium will be the fact that the girls are gone but everyone else still carries on with their everyday lives.