Research and Planning: WorldCloud - WordItOut

Paige and Alice WorldCloud - Word cloud - WordItOut

I used the technology WordItOut to put down ideas and brief themes that touch on our film trailer idea and the film genre, by doing this I hoped to generate and inspire ideas for our film names. This was a useful thing to do as it has allowed me to think further about the film plot and what would be an effective name that links to the film.

Research and Planning: Villain Identity

This weekend I have been thinking about the identity of the villain in the film trailer I will be producing. Our group has been discussing this matter and we have decided to keep the identity hidden as this could be a potential twist for the film. As the victim is a young girl, I think the audience would expect the stalker to be male however by hiding the identity we could potentially make the stalker a female. This decision means I have to think of ideas of how to hide the face of the villain, I have decided that I don't want to do the typical hooded figure, I think a mask could potentially be a scarier option. By using a mask this could enable our group to use head on shots of the villain as there identity will be well and truly hidden whereas I feel if the villain's costume was just a hoody, the face would be in view and most of the shots would have to be from behind or from the side as the identity could be shown if we used head shots. 

I have been looking at films which include masks and found the following as good examples:
- V for Vendetta
- Saw
- The Phantom of the Opera
- The Strangers
- Friday the 13th
- Batman

A mask seems sinister and provides a form of disguise as well as identity protection for the villain.

Research and Planning: Mask

As I am the Mise en Scene manager for our groups film trailer, I have to start thinking about props, costumes and setting. Today I have thought up the idea of the villain wearing a mask, I will present this idea to my group and see whether they feel happy with my decision.

Research and Planning: Treatment

My group has decided to go with our first proposal with hints of the second proposal. 
In Treatment I am going to make a list of how I expect the trailer to go-

-Production Company Logo quickly flashes up.
-Montage of shots that show the girl in a happy place in her life e.g. talking with friends and getting good grades, in the midst of the happy shots will be quick flashes of negative sinister things starting in her life e.g. weird text messages and people she knows acting strange with her. 
-Caption appears "YOU NEVER KNOW WHO IS WATCHING" which will fade into next shot. 
-POV shot from stalker showing their secret hideout where they collect images of the victim, a shed wall full of photos of the girl.
-Quick straight cuts that are close ups of the photos of the girl on the wall. 
-Long shot of the girl/victim talking to her friends telling them about her being on her own tonight.
-Medium Close up of the girl confiding in her friend about the stalker that she thinks she has.
-Long shot of the girl sat in her house where she should feel safe however sinister stalker is watching her threw the window and she is unaware.
-Zoom into the stalker in the window.
-Medium shot of neighbour asking hooded figure what they are doing stood at the window. 
-Over the shoulder shot of the hooded figure running away.
-Caption appears "YOU NEVER KNOW WHO TO TRUST"
-Long shot of the girl being directly followed in a underground tunnel this will be low lighting to create a creepy atmosphere that will build tension.
-Wide shot of underground car park to show a car with the boot open and the masked stalker with the girl.
-Shot reverse shot of stalker and the girl, show close ups to gauge the characters reactions.
-There will be a struggle and more jump cuts in the end of the trailer, the girl ends up being put in the stalkers boot.
-Film Title fades in and out.
-The date that the film is released fades in and out.
-Shot of the girl inside the boot screaming and yelling for help.
-Fade to black. 

Research and Planning: Final Proposal Decision

After presenting the group ideas to my tutor, we have come to a decision about which proposal would be most realistic for us to create and which idea is the most interesting. I feel that most of our proposals are complex and would be gripping for an audience however we have to think about which idea will be most viable. Angela (Tutor) presented the idea of mixing elements of each proposal together which is a possibility as the plots are similar in certain ways e.g. element of stalker/ person obsessed.

Research and Planning: Treatment Ideas

 Proposal One (with elements from Proposal Two.)
 - Montage of main character/victim with friends and doing other various things that she         enjoys doing- this is before the stalking begins, this shows her normal life and helps to establish the character in the film trailer.

- POV shots from the villain's point of view in the shed scene as they are not going to be revealed.
- Ambiguity over the stalker- there is three possible villains: A past tutor who is obsessed with the character, a member of the friendship group who begins to act stranger, a creepy ex-boyfriend who hasn't quite got over the break-up.
- Close-up of the masked stalker as they are masked the audience will not know which of the possible villains it is but starts a guessing game, this involves the audience in the film and will persuade them to go to see it. 
- High key lighting at the beginning and then switches to low key to show the shift in mood and events.
- Ending: Struggle between the victim and villain in an underground car park.
- A wooden shed includes pictures of the victim that the stalker has collected- he has a shrine for her.
- Medium shots and long shots so that we do not give away the identity of the stalker.
- Jump cuts towards the end of the trailer that show the villain being in one place and then another in a short amount of time- it shows that they are everywhere and there is no escape for the victim.

Research and Planning: Proposal Questionnaire

After thinking up three proposals for the film trailer that I will be making with my group, I though it would be a good idea to give out a questionnaire and ask people to tick which plot line they like best. Hopefully, this will help me decide which to pick to take on to treatment. The results of the questionnaire are shown below: