Reminiscence - Costume

The mise en scene for our shots involving the two teenage characters focused on the current fashion trends of the target audience, as they of a similar age to the characters we felt it was important that the actors who would essentially be portraying there demographic in the film were clothed and accessorised appropriately. Bearing this in mind the two characters predominantly featured in jeans, hoodies and trainers etcetera. The props provided to the teenagers were also typical of the demographic they were representing on screen, mobile phones and T.V remotes were the main props utilised in the scene involving the teenagers.

When shooting the scene with the news reporter we wanted to make sure that the time of year came across in the choice of clothing, as the title tells us the film is set in November we made sure our on the scene reporter was suitably clothed to be realistically carrying out her job in the cold conditions. This helped to develop information about the time of year the events of the film take place in. Because of this the reporter is seen wearing a long coat to shield her from the elements.

As she was on live television we needed to make sure the reporter had a form of communication with the camera feed, there were many possibilities including headsets but in the end we opted to utilise a classic looking microphone as this is the expectation most, if not all of the target audience would have.

When compiling the costume for the killer we wanted to give him a unique trademark that no other villain had, and so we decided that half of his face would be covered in bandages concealing himself and suggesting he is in a period of healing. The rest of the outfit was a contrast to the white bandages as he was cloaked in an all black outfit consisting of trousers, gloves and a long coat. The coat in particular keeps him shrowded as it masks his physical appearance lending the idea that this man could be anyone out there.

Reminiscence - Music

The following music tracks are royalty free products hosted and retrieved from the site http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

The seven tracks underneath will be chopped and remixed into a clip roughly 30 seconds long for use in the title sequence. It will start softly slowly building up to a crescendo before easeing back down again to a child friendly level, in this way the piece is a compressed mirror of the films pacing of events.

• Darkest Child: This soft and eery track will provide the opening to the composition.
• Children's Theme: This unsettlling remake of a classic nursery rhyme is the second possibility for the compositions opening.
• Chase Pulse: As the initial quickening this tracks rhythmic beats will slowly build the pace.
• Chase Pulse Faster: A quicker part of the previous section this will further increase the pace and ferocity of the track.
• Gloom Horizon: A small segment of this piece will feauture to provide a brief drop in tension through it's haunting arrangement.
• Mechanolith: This energetic and edgy piece will provide the penultimate build up before the softer end section.
• Pop goes the weasel: The intro bass beat of this track will feature throughout and the soft part at the end of track will be used to conclude.

These three tracks will be considered for use in the opening scene of the production, creating unsettling atmospheres at key moments including the hand of the killer appearing on the window as well as the moment the assumed killer is on the phone.

• One of them
• Right Behind You
• Unlight

Reminiscence - Creating a production company

When deciding on a production company for the project it was essential that the name suited the purpose of the production.  As our company would be producing a psychological thriller we wanted the name of our company to represent the ideas and values that embody this style of film.

Borderline does a good job of representing these core principles as the name implies that the films produced will contain themes and ideas that challenge the standards set by society, literally stepping onto the borderline of the acceptable. The literal meaning of the term is as follows: "Barely acceptable in quality or as belonging to a category; on the borderline" and this is where this implied idea originates. It also distinctly classes itself in the psychological thriller scene through association with the mental illness BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder), the image of the physical line is used to tie in with this association and strengthen it.

The logo itself combines the use of Black and White on each side of the line, with each side having the opposing sides colour used for the writing, this is used to show the way light and darkness is perceived, that in all good there is a hint of evil and vice verse. Representing the fact that these views of first impressions are based on opinion and nothing is certain. As a more literal interpretation it can also represent the public divide between races (shown by the line) but also shares a minority of integration.

By mixing the light with the darkness, we also show that behind every action, no matter how pure or evil the intention, to someone else that may have a negative or positive influence. The Darkness within the light was given a larger piece of the logo as the inner evil within an otherwise good person is what creates fear in a paranoia fuelled society.

Reminiscence - Actors and Character Roles

Actors - Shane, Josh, Lewis, Mrs Bobbett, Mrs Twydell and son

Killer/Antagonist - Lewis

The group chose me to play the killer for two main reasons.

Firstly because I looked comfortably old enough to play the role of the character who is supposed to be around 20 years old, my appearance also is not of a stereotypical teenager which helped in this role.

Secondly because we had decided that filming for the title sequence would be done at my house it was more convenient for the group to use me as the actor for this part.

Teen 1/Protagonist - Shane

Shane was chosen to portray the male protagonist in the film as he fits the modern stereotype of a male teenager, this then made him the actor that most of the audience would be able to relate to. In most films the male lead is attractive in order to make them appear less threatening and more likeable, this was another reason we chose to use Shane for this part.

Teen2/Comedic Relief - Josh

Josh was chosen to fill this role as the character was close to the protagonist it would be assumed that they would have a similar dress sense and general appearance. It was for this reason that Josh was chosen to fill this role as he had a similar dress sense. As the comic relief he also needed to appear somewhat cheeky and he amply does this.

News Reporter - Mrs Bobbett

This character needed to have an appearance that was noticeably older than the two teens. We also wanted this character to be female as the stereotypical reporter is this gender so as to appear to less threatening. The news being portrayed meant we wanted our character to portray alot of emotions in her facial expressions, it was because of this that we chose to use Mrs Bobbett for this role.

Angry Mother - Mrs Twydell

The character needed to portray stereotypical emotions and worries of a mother, in order to achieve this sucessfully we chose to cast the character as someone who had already experienced these worries in real life. Mrs Twydell was suited to this role as she is a mother and was readily available for filming.

Misbehaving Child - Twydell's Son

We needed the child cast to be between the ages of 6 and 9 this was because we wanted to create an emotional link between this child and the killer's sister, this would allow the audience to establish a feel for the film with this use of foreshadowing. The child cast was keen on acting and was also able to film at the same time as Mrs Twydell. As he was her son, the process of gaining consent was also simplified.

Reminiscence - Props

Dolls - The killer plays with these in the title sequence and it becomes an iconic image throughout the film, as a symbol of death left on the victims of the villain.

Tools - Never revealed where the villain is based so we can assume he has and uses a large variety of tools as weapons to mame and disfigure his victims.

Telephone - Used in the opening scene, provides safety in the ability to communicate.

Gloves - Killer wears them as part of the all black outfit, add mystery to him and prevent others tracing him.

Microphone - The news reporter uses one as a classic symbol of news broadcasting.

TV - Used by the antagonist to watch the news on.

Balloon - Red, signifies danger and a loss of control, reminder of the child

Calendar - used in the title sequence, record of past days, countdown to future.

Picture frame - used in the title sequence, develops backstory of the villain and his troubled youth.

Cake - used in the title sequence as a tribute to the dead sister.

Candles - source of light for the villain, very basic and primal, links to the fire that he killed parents with.

Birthday card - used in the title sequence, regrets, unsaid wishes etc.

Reminiscence - Script

Scene 1 - A child's plea

(Scene begins with a long shot of a mother and child, they are standing near a road and the child is being disciplined by the mother, the child is holding a red balloon)

Mother - (angrily) Look at me when I'm talking to you!

Child - (defiantly) I am!

Mother - Don't you backchat me!

Child - I'm nooooooot!

(Shot changes to a high angle shot with a close up of a hand grasping a doll, looking down upon the pair from a window.)

Mother - (threatening) I've had enough of you! You're grounded, you just wait until I tell your dad!

(Low angle shot of the rising red balloon that the child has let go of in a panic)

Child - (afraid) No! Please don't tell dad! I'm sorry!

The idea behind this initial 20 second scene is to provide the suggested killer with a motivation for his actions and to introduce his trademark item, the doll. By familiarising the audience with this concept early on we are able to lay the foundations for the rest of the production. The high angle shot of the suggested killer in particular is used to show there power.

Scene 2 - Crime Scene

(Initial long shot of news reporter in front of a crime scene)

Reporter - (Calm with an undertone of fear) Police tonight launched a multiple murder enquiry after the    gruesome discovery of a mutilated body around 7pm yesterday on Shakespeare Road.

(Low angle mid shot of covered body being removed from the scene)

Reporter - (freaked out) It is believed to be the fifth in a series of killings where the body is left... with a doll?

(Close up of doll)

(Transition to a zoom out shot of two people watching the report)

Reporter - (Regaining composure) Police still have no leads on the case and are appealing for witnesses. Just when will it end?

(Couple exchange worried looks on the sofa)

Josh - Did you hear that? That's the road Shane lives on! (anxious)

Kelly - (comforting) Maybe you should call Shane, just to make sure he's alright?

Josh - (picks up phone) OK, you're right, I'll call him.

(cut to a close up of side table/chest of drawers type object with phone vibrating on top)

(Hand suddenly jumps on phone)

Josh - (Hesitantly) Hello? (pause) Shane?

(unknown individual brings phone closer to face, hand has a res substance over it in parts, shot cuts out anything above the top lip)

Shane - (sinister voice) Shane's not here right now.

Josh- (Scared and worried, looks over to Kelly for support) Who is this? Where's Shane?!

Shane - (Still sinister) He's Dead! And I'm coming for you next...Josh.

Josh - (Increasingly scared) This isn't funny, who is this? How do you know my name!?

(Shows full face)

Shane - (laughing) Just messing with you, it's Shane.

Josh - (relieved yet angry) Don't do that ever again!...you had me worried.

(Shane looks out of window onto the crime scene)

Shane - (smugly) Sorry mate, it had to be done.

Reminiscence - What's in a title?

When deciding the title for our horror film, we thought it was important that it would be a true representation of what the film would be about. In the case of our film, the title had to link to the theme of the past merging with the present, 'what comes back' in essence.

Other issues when deciding the title was the length of it, we wanted it to be short and simple, something that would stick in the minds of viewers easily. It was therefore necessary that we did not exceed a 3 word limit so as to keep it punchy and clear.

When considering the plot of our film, there was a lot of back story that needed to be addressed in the opening few minutes of footage, a way we thought would be good to cut down on this would be to include the date of the siblings death in the title, this would allow us to link events in the title sequence to the title itself even further than we had already envisioned. By doing this we are also able to deliver the same amount of information to our target audience, but in a way that is not going to bore them.

Lastly as our film was going to be in the horror genre we wanted the title to have a sense of eeriness about it, so as to immediately create an unsettling feeling in our audience.

With all these contributing factors we had many suggestions for the title, these ranged from "Happy Birthday" to "Resonance" and many others, but in the end we settled on the following:  

When we first mentioned this word for the title it immediately sounded right. Not a commonly used word it had the feeling of unsettlement in it's sound that we were looking for. It also had the distinct feature of portraying exactly what the film was about in just one word; the recollection of past events that create a mental impression and are then revived. The addition of the date underneath in the contrasting red creates viewer significance with the date as it stands apart from everything else and the red used connotes danger,l giving further meaning to the date. Finally the use of a font that was perceived to look similar to a child's handwriting ties in with the plot of the young child's death, while also making the title seem even more eerie than it already is.

Reminiscence - Location Photos

The location we ideally wanted for the title sequence would be very dark and atmospheric, when it came to shooting we didn't want much to be given away and the viewer is left to imagine where the strange actions are taking place, by restricting the information we gave to the audience this will make them feel more uncomfortable as the eerie actions depicted could be done in any common location. This sense of not knowing the location of your villain will be an homage to the title sequence of "Se7en" that used vague shots to establish character yet keep location unknown.

The setting for the news report scene will preferably be done on an ordinary street outside a pair of fairly common looking houses, by doing this we will instantly create a sense of familiarity with the target audience by utilising a location they would be expected to readily associate with, and therefore the realism of our film will be enhanced.  By increasing the realism we also increased the fear factor in the audience by suggesting that these seemingly extraordinary events could easily happen in the unsuspecting environment the target audience relates to. Films like "Final Destination" have made the unsuspecting and normal situations and locations terrifying effectively for years and we hope our film can capture that essence as well.

 

 

Reminiscence - Production Schedule

FILMING

• Tuesday 6th December - (title sequence)
  Equipment Needed: HD Camera and tripod stand
  Filmed By: Lewis' Mum
  Actors Needed: Lewis
  Props Needed: Cake, Candles, Doll, Pictures, Birthday Card, Pen and Calendar
  Location: Lewis' Garage.
• Saturday 10th December/Sunday 11th December - (opening scene 1st part)
  Equipment Needed: HD Camera and tripod stand
  Filmed By: Mrs. Twydells Partner
  Actors Needed: Mrs. Twydell and Son
  Props Needed: Red Balloon (cut out)
  Location: Driveway outside Twydells House
• Tuesday 13th December - (opening scene 3rd part)
  Equipment Needed: HD Camera and tripod stand
  Filmed By: Shane and Josh
  Actors Needed: Shane and Josh
  Props Needed: Mobile Phones
  Location: Shane's House
• Friday 16th December - (opening scene 2nd part)
  Equipment Needed: HD Camera and tripod stand
  Filmed By: Lewis
  Actors Needed: Mrs. Bobbett
  Props Needed: Microphone
  Location: Outside Caretakers House

Reminiscence - Group Roles

Photographers - Josh/Shane
We chose these two members of our group to be responsible for capturing images of potential filming locations that we had previously shortlisted as well as any that they came across. The reason we picked them to take the pictures was that out of our group they had similar work schedules and so had free time to go off and take the pictures together while the other members of our group had lessons to attend.

Props designer - Lewis
As I am quite a good drawer and am very creative I was chosen to design and draw up the props that we would be using in our film, as our budget was limited to our own finances any designs that were made had to be easily available to us and affordable. When designing the props for the villain to use in the title sequence I made use of my sisters toy collection for inspiration and contributed most of the material that was used in the final concept of the villain.

Musical director - Kelly
Kelly's role was to source the music tracks and sound effects that we would be using in the film opening, she was chosen as she listens to a wide variety of music genres and would therefore be as unbiased as possible when it came to personal music taste. During the editing process, I helped out with this role as we tried out various tracks to our title sequence.

Director - Shane/Josh
Shane and Josh were chosen to direct the production as they had done GCSE media for the previous two years and thus had the most knowledge of the technical camera shots. From this role they could help myself and Kelly in the filming process and suggest alternatives to shots they felt weren't working as well as they could be.

Script - Kelly/Lewis
Myself amd Kelly decided we were best suited to writing up the script for our film as we would be able to utilise our extra creativity and greater film viewing skills to assemble a suitable script that would be both compelling for the actors to perform but also manage to captivate the audience watching it.

Costume designer - Shane
As all the characters not played by an adult in our film opening were male we needed to make sure that the person in charge of designing the costumes was a male as well so they could have knowledge of what's in fashion in order to make the characters more believeable. As Shane is quite fashionable we decided he would be the best choice to fulfill this role.

Location manager - Josh
Josh was assigned the role of finding suitable locations for filming, this was done as during the group discussion about locations it was deduced that Josh had the easiest access to the most locations that could serve our narrative purposes.

Lighting Manager - Josh
As Josh was responsible for sourcing the locations it made sense that he would also be responsible for evaluating the lighting opportunites each location gave us and seeing what would best work where, it was for this reason that he was chosen as the lighting manager.

Producer - Kelly/Lewis
When it came to editing and producing the final version of the film after all the filmwork itself had been done, members of the group had different ideas about how we should eventually edit the shots we had access to, it was because of this that myself and Kelly who had similar ideas chose to edit as a pair while Shane and Josh did the same.

Casting - All
We thought it would be best if we decided upon the cast of our film as an entire group, we did this so that we could get rid of any biases towards friends and also come to a uninanomous decision early so as to avoid conflict within the group at later stages of the production.
Assistant director - Lewis
I was able to take on this role so as to make sure that the character I had envisioned in my original sketches and background planning for the villain was accurately portrayed in the title sequence without making him seem too cliche, with a degree of control over the shots we were filming I was confident that I would be able to achieve this goal.

Reminiscence - Plot

We thought that if our 2 minute short section was to be as successful as it could be then we would need to develop a plot line for a full sized movie so that we know exactly what needs to be achieved in this opening section that we are to produce.

Killer Haunted by siblings death on there birthday, feels anger towards the role parents played in this. After killing own parents develops a taste for murder and decides to punish those he deems to be incompetent parents.
(These ideas will be pursued in the title sequence of the clip)

Every year on the month leading up to the deceased siblings birthday, murders take place on parents with children aged 6-11. The victims body is then adorned with a doll as a reminder of the dead sibling. In order to test the remaining parents love for their child the killer leaves a clue to the child's location.

Latest Killing occurs on the street of a teenage babysitters house, the concerned friends of this teenager proceed to ring them in order to confirm their safety. (end of sequence)

They then travel to the babysitters house for a house party. During the party, the child is left unattended and the killer (a guest at the party) snatches the child and slaughters the majority of the household.

Killer leaves an address for the survivors to follow if they want the child back, it is revealed that at each location a sacrifice must be made for the next location to be revealed. They must reach the final trial by midnight if the child is to live.

The body of the latest killing is revealed to be the mother of the child being babysat by the teen. Who after years of looking after the child feels they are a better parent than the biological ones. After the mysterious disappearance of the teen from the surviving group, others begin to panic.

When finally reaching the destination of the child, the survivors are shocked at the discovery of the teen being the killer, A standoff ensues when the plea of the terrified child finally gets through to the killer, who can finally come to terms with the death of their sibling and commits suicide.

Reminiscence - Storyboards

Title Sequence Storyboards

The following images set out our initial plans for the flow of our title sequence, the shots will be short and atmospheric in a dark indoor setting, the one outdoor shot (the establishing shot at the begining) will continue the dark theme by being shot at dusk, this will allow for a dark shot, while not compromising on image quality.

Opening Scene Storyboards

Our plan for the opening of the film is to make 3 short interlinked segements that will make the opening a fast moving more pacey affair. This will be done because it would allow us to immerse the audience in the reality of the world the characters live in quickly, giving us more screentime to use building up atmosphere. It also introduces the audience to some of the films main characters with the first segment introducing the child that is to be kidnapped, the second brings in the reporter who's child was taken two years ago and the last introduces the two teenage boys.