Poster Inspirations

These 2 horror movies (Uninvited and Mama) were both popular but also very well made films that are seen as great templates for sinister horrors.

This poster is similar to ours as the character in the poster is unidentified. This leaves mysterious and creepy enigma that we want as it will attract the audience. I also like how the colours are black and white because it gives a scary feel to the film and we also had this with our film poster.

This film poster is also another inspiration because it has an unidentified figure as the main feature. In our poster we wanted an unidentified character as it leaves a lot of questions and this is a common convention for horror.

BFI Trip

This is a picture of all of the media student on our media trip to the BFI building.

On this trip we learned all about mainstream films and the difference between different production companies and high budget and low budget films. Mainstream film institutions would involve 'The Big 6' which would be the following companies:

- 20th Century Fox

- Warner Bros

- Universal

- Paramount

- MGM

- Disney

- Universal

Titles list for 'Gone'

The following list are all of the titles in order that feature in our opening sequence:

• A Production by Silver Lining - 2 seconds
• A Production by White Box Studios - 3 seconds
• A White Box Film - 3 seconds
• James Brookes - 4 seconds
• Connor Snell - 2 seconds
• Tom Wise - 3 seconds
• Casting by Tom Wise - 4 seconds
• Co producer Tom Wise - 2 seconds
• Music by Marco Beltrami - 5 seconds
• Gone - 2 seconds
• Edited by Tom Wise - 6 seconds
• Production designer Tom Wise - 2 seconds
• Director of Photography Jack Beeson - 2 seconds
• Executive Producers White Box - 2 seconds
• Produced by Big Talk Pictures - 2 seconds
• Screenplay by Jack Beeson - 2 seconds

Shot List

Today in class, we came up with a list of shots that we are planning to take for our opening sequence 'Gone'. We tried to vary the shots including, panning shots, move shots and long shots. We know that these shots will change over the course of making our film 'Gone' because we will find ways of improving our film.

Inspiration - Insidious

Whilst we were thinking of our opening and the shots and titles that we were going to use, we decided to look at a similar opening sequence that was already popular. We looked at Insidious as this would be a good opening sequence to follow as it is everything that defines a horror film. We looked at the titles and different shots and also timings which were quite unexpectedly important. My favourite genre of film to watch is horror and Insidious is one of my favourites so this opening sequence was already sort of an inspiration. I enjoy being scared and this is what I tried to include into our film 'Gone'.

Music Research

We needed to look at some music for our film 'Gone' because all of the good horror films include creepy music that builds up tension and draws the audience in.

The first music we looked at was 'Tea for Three Plus One' by Marco Beltrami. We did this because the film 'The Woman in Black' was a very popular and well made horror movie and we thought that this type of music would definitely attract the audience.

This was another music track which we looked at. We really did like it but we came to the conclusion that this track was to linked in with Insidious. 

Audience Research for 'Gone'

Audience Research

Who are you targeting?

At the start of the film we were targeting the age range of 15-40. This is because our film is a horror and contains a substantial amount of gore and horror. The certificate for our film is a 15. We want as many people to like our film as possible so we have included the basic conventions of a horror film so that they know what they can expect.

Who is most likely to see our film?

I think that our film will most likely attract the age group of 15-25. People that love horror films such as Sinister, Evil dead and Insidious will also love our film as they are quite similar. A lot of young people will want to come and see this film as they are the biggest age group that watch horror movies.

Who is your primary audience?

Primary audience - People who enjoy horror films.

Secondary audience - People who enjoy films that have an adrenaline.

Fonts for 'Gone' Research

Font Research

Today we decided to research which font to use for pour titles in our opening sequence 'Gone'. The font type that we found most suitable was the 28 days later creepy font because this fits in with our genre of horror as the letters seem deranged. As we edit we will have to make sure that the font still seems suitable because we did receive comments saying that it might seem a bit too cliche.

Characters and Roles

Myself - I took the role of being the young boys friend who he was playing football in the park with. I was the character who kicked the ball in one of the first shots and was looking around for the young boy in the park. I was also the character who was running down the pathway and I was doing this because I was in shock of something that I saw.
At the start of this whole process, it was me who came up with the story and I wrote it out.
I filmed a lot and put a lot of work into each step of the film.

James - My brother James was the role of the young boy who went missing and mysteriously and in a sinister style walked around the place randomly. We did this to create a scary and creepy feel.

Jack - Jack mainly had the role of filming and directing. Jack had to make some really good shots which we pulled off which put him in uncomfortable positions and conditions.

Tom - Tom mainly had the role of editing. We changed a lot of shots and music which we wanted in our opening so Tom had a lot to edit i not a lot of time.

Synopsis Planning

Our film involves a young boy who goes missing in a park.

Location-
Our first location was at Shennans Park which is a park opposite of my house. We filmed a lot there, however it was very dark.
Another place which we filmed was in school: We filmed against the walls, on the field, down the corridor and on the playground.

Props-
Our first prop which we thought would be useful in our film was a football. This gave the audience a sign of innocence of the young boy because he was playing around with his friend with a football in a park.
Another main prop which we used in our film 'Gone' was the 'Missing Boy' article. This was very important as it showed the audience a little bit of what the film was going to be about.
We also smeared mud on my brothers face who played the character of the little boy.

Institution

Film4

Film4 is the institution that we will be using for our film 'Gone' and is a production company which is British based that is widely known internationally. It is responsible for backing a large number of famous films and this is one of the reasons in why we chose it. 

This is the Film4 production logo in which we will be featuring in our opening 'Gone'.

Film Certificate

Film Certificate - 15

We needed to find an appropriate certificate age for our film 'Gone' as it will include a lot of gruesome and sinister horror. Taking this into consideration and also the audience which we are aiming for which is 15-35 we decided that the most appropriate and suitable certificate would be a 15.

Sound and Reporter choices in our film 'Gone'

Missing Boy Report Voiceover

This was the news article/report which we used in our film 'Gone'. It linked in to our film extremely well and it gave the film a sinister effect to the audience. It also allowed the audience to receive an easier understanding of the film. It was extremely specific when we had to cut the voiceover and it was vital in making it right in order for it to flow correctly.

'Gone' Poster

These are the posters that we made and edited on Photoshop for our advertisement.

Feedback from First Draft

These are the feedback sheets which we were given because other classes watched our first draft of our film and gave it a mark out of 60. Overall we were happy because it was only our first draft, we still had much more to do and we got reasonably good marks anyway. People said if the genre could be easily identified and also what was good and what was bad.

This was one of our best marks for our first film draft - 50.  We were very happy with this feedback as they said that our film was easy to identify the genre. They complimented the whole opening and said that music and the radio voiceover was 'really' good. They also commented saying that it draws people in, meaning a lot of enigma was there. The only thing they said that was critical was that the flashing face was random but we took that as a pinch of salt as no one also correlated with this.

This was also another high score for our first film draft - 49. They said that they liked most of the shots and the music was positively dramatic, however couldn't identify the specific genre as they thought our opening was mystery. They also criticised where our titles were placed but this didn't put us down as we hadn't finished improving our titles so this was just a little push to show us that we did need to change them. 

This was one of our lowest scores for our first film draft - 36. They could easily identify our genre which was a good thing but they said that a lot of our shots were too dark and we did agree with this so a step that we took after we received our feedback was to make the shots brighter or to retake the shots which were not easily visible. They did say a lot of good things on the other hand by saying that the film did present an adequate enigma and that the enjoyed our effects and text.

'Gone' PowerPoint

'Missing Boy' Article

'Missing Boy' Article

This is our article which we made which is key for our opening sequence. This is because at the start of the video we see different parts of the article, starting with the image, then the title which says 'Missing Boy' in capitals which gives some help to the audience about whats going on and then it leads on to the text.

Second draft for 'Gone'

Shooting Risk Assessment

This is the risk assessment which we had to follow when we were filming 'Gone'. We had to rate the risk level out of 10 and had to put in control measures to make sure it was safe to film in the area and conditions.

Shooting Schedule

This is our shooting schedule for our film 'Gone'. We did stick to it but the final shooting day had to be arranged because some of the shots that we took were too dark and we had to include different shots.

First draft for 'Gone'

Gone Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our film ‘Gone’. We have 15 shots in total and this is the first one. The first shot will be in a creepy misty park. There will be a boy on his own who will be walking through the park with his back to the camera. It will be a long shot. The title will form from the mist which will say who the film was ‘Directed by’. This shot will last for 17 seconds. The second shot will be a close up of the side view of the little boys face as he’s walking. This shot will last for 3 seconds. The third shot will still be the boy walking but a shot from the side. It will most likely be a tracking shot and the title will also come from the mist and it will say who the film is ‘Written by’.  This shot will last for 3 seconds and is a tracking shot. The fourth shot will be another close up of the little boys face but straight on as he’s walking. This shot will last for 3 seconds and is a close up. The fifth shot will then go back to what the first shot was like, with the boy’s back to the camera and the title will come out of the mist saying ‘Produced by’. This shot will last for 5 seconds.. The sixth shot will be a flashback to 3 boys playing football. Each character will have a title above their heads which will show their actor name. They will make a couple of passes between each other and then the shot will move on. This shot will last for 5 seconds and is a 180 degree shot. The seventh shot will be of the little boy kicking the ball football and then you see him apologise to his friends and you can guess that he kicked the ball too far. This shot will last for 5 seconds and is a close up. There will be a title saying ‘Director of photography’. The eighth shot will be of the ball going down the hill and there will be a title saying ‘Production designer’. This shot will last for 5 seconds and is a side shot. The ninth shot will be of the boy running down the hill after the ball and there will be a title saying ‘Edited by’. This shot will last for 5 seconds and is a tracking shot. The tenth shot will be of the boy at the bottom of the hill, looking around for the ball. He cannot see it and he turns around and runs and you can see that he’s scared. There will be a title which will say ‘Cast. This shot will last for 20 seconds and is a close up to tracking. The eleventh shot will be over the shoulders of the other two boys and you see them start to walk towards the hill. There will be a title saying ‘Casting by’. This shot last for 4 seconds and is a long shot. The twelfth shot will be of the boys walking towards the camera going down the hill. This shot will last for 6 seconds and is a side shot. There will be a title saying ‘Costume designer’. The thirteenth shot will be of the 2 boys looking around for the little boy. They do not find him. You then see a shock on their faces. This shot will last for 10 seconds and is a side shot. There will be a title saying ‘Music by’. The fourteenth shot will be of the 2 boys running down the pathway. During this shot, there will be music and tension building up and then there will be a sudden stop. This shot will last for 15 seconds and is a close up. The fifteenth shot will go back to the first shot of the boy walking through the park. There will be a title saying ‘Gone’ in the fog and then the boy will fade into nothing. This shot will last for 10 seconds and is a side shot.