3/31 actors

For our actors we made everyone wear all black in order to indicate that something is off, however as seen in the photo our main character is wearing a regular, more civilized outfit to signify that she is different than the rest.







i will include some sneak peaks of the footage when it downloads. As for tomorrow in class im hoping to discuss our options in terms of music.
we changed our story a little bit, the insane people were chanting an unknown language, screaming barbarically and chasing her. It is up to the viewers imagination to figure out what exactly happened to society, which, if we had filmed the entire movie, they wouldve figured out the whole plot. We made all the scenes extremely suspenseful so viewers will be enticed to see what happens next, and essentially put them in the main characters shoes.
very excited to see whats up and coming!

3/31 FINALLY FILMED!!!

Today was the day! sofia finally got back from her trip and we went out and filmed! i am so excited to edit and see the finished product. Filming was successful in terms of shots, i did a lot of them i was planning to do in some of the previous posts. Some difficulties we faced was the passing traffic due to our spot being right off the highway lol. we originally were gonna film at a different spot, which i showed you guys earlier but we found this one very close, and it was even better because the vegetation was overgrown and the gate looked super run down it was just the look we were looking for



in terms of props i asked my brother to use his scuba diving knife, and sofia let us borrow her butcher knife and duck tape to make it seem as if the "kidnapper" is dangerous.

3/24

How are we gonna make everyone seem crazy???
ive hit a road bump with this one...
we could either have everyone running towards her, or walking towards her appearing everywhere she goes, the only problem with this is that since it is spring break alot of people are out of town and we most likely wont be able to gather up that many people.

Another idea ive been thinking of is having everyone whisper creepy things to her, or unrecognizable things like in bird box. this scene was particularly interesting, and itd be cool to take inspiration from because of the creepiness in it.

or maybe even we could do something like the purge where everyone is wearing an identical mask, yet that would be also hard to do because of budget

i think the easiest thing we could do would be the whispering and i think we should go that route, but i also want to portray that these people arent okay and are after her, so i think they should follow her, i think the last scene before the opening ends should be her thinking shes finally escaped them, and then another one appears closer than ever

3/24 updates on progress

so since sofia has been in europe for the last few days :( 
i been waiting for her to return so we can start filming



we havent really been communicating much but ive been thinking of our main character and how we can make her appeal and relate most to our target audience, which is teenagers ages 14-19. by making her more relate-able to the average teen, the audience will easily put themselves in her shoes and add the scare factor in that what happened to her can happen to anyone

To achieve this i was thinking of showing a lot of pov shots so the audience can quite literally feel how she feels in the situation she is put in

i was thinking of portraying the girl as an every day citizen, i plan to do this by dressing her casually, and have her speak innocent and casually.

as the scenes play out, i think her character should develop more and more in the sense that she becomes more and more frightened, as opposed to the beginning where she things everything is okay. As she continues to feel more and more scared, the music will intensify along with it

3/17 title ideas

earlier i was reading this article on some blog i found  about the importance of a film title and i found it very interesting just how essential a good title is in a film. not only is it very important for it to e catchy, but for it to be direct. this brought me to the thought of our film and some potential titles we could use in order to set the tone for the journey viewers are going to embark on.  i really want to make it something the viewers will be extremely enticed to find out the context of the words behind the entire movie.

sofia and i cant seem to come up with a title for our film so i thought i would generate a few ideas on here to propose to her tomorrow

since our film is a combination of horror and suspense i think we need a name to match just that
all the suspense movies ive researched are kinda a sum up of the main point in the movie but doesnt give up whats gonna happen like Halloween, the blair witch project, and hush. the names all showcase the main idea but without context it is up to the viewers discretion to guess what it could be about.

because it is a psychological thriller i think it should have something to do with the mind itself, but there are also a number of ways we could go about this

i originally was using this software to generate some random titles but after seeing a few i found some inspiration of my own

"something in the shadows"
"who are you"
"her eyes"
"control"
"dimension zero"
"where is my mind"
"unidentified"
"endless road"
"generation stray"


these are only a few ive thought of but im gonna ask a few of my peers for input and i will see where that takes me.

3/17 updated storyboard

we updated our storyboard and finally got it drawn out so far. Its cool to see how the project changes as we plan it more. some of our ideas in terms of shots have been altered, our beginning scene is gonna start with an extreme close up of her opening her eyes. Nothing else will be shown in terms of her surroundings to create a suspenseful opening. after looking at this i want to make more changes.. oops, after her eyes open i think it should cut to a black screen with the title (which we havent decided just yet) along with this royalty free suspense cue, and then cut back to the scene i can see the idea in my head and im so excited to see that come to life!

3/17 more updates :)

sofia is leaving for europe this spring break! im so excited for her but this means we cant film this week :( instead we will have to wait until she returns but that gives us more time to prepare for what we will actually be filming so i wanted to talk about a few ideas i have in terms of editing and music


editing

So i was thinking in terms of font for the title and after looking at the common ones in film like in halloween



but i think this is far too basic and playful for the type of movie opening we want to do
so i kept looking and found this one

it fits our theme perfectly, its distorted in such a way that the audience knows almost immediately what type of film they are about to see and the website i would be using to achieve this would be this called urban fonts. very simple to use!

in terms of transitions and cuts i really wanted to do fast paced cuts to emphasize the urgency and suspense we are looking for a little like this


Music

Ok so i havent really discussed this with sofia but im gonna show her my ideas and this post when i see her tomorrow but i found some really cool royalty free suspenseful music to add in the background on this website

as for the forest scene goes, the forest doesnt really have any apparent sounds that can be picked up from the camera, so i found this really realistic nature sounds clip that i think we can add to make it all seem a bit more natural

heres one i found on the website, it is very creepy but subtle so it doesnt really give away what exactly is going on


this one is also pretty cool, also very subtle

i found this one on another website which i really liked because its very eire and suspenseful as it plays the intensity rises and i think that would be perfect for when the driver shows his mentally insane side

Sound effects

I know we are gonna need some added sounds to make it feel more realistic so heres a few i found

this one is foot steps walking on dried leafs which could easily imitate her walking through the forest

i really liked this one to play when she finally gets out of the forest

boy did i get excited about this one! listening to these sounds are giving me so many ideas. i wanna play this sound clip of ears ringing when shes waking up in the forest i think this would look so cool

3/17 Location

So for location me and sofia have agreed upon this spot, i was gonna go take actual pictures but this weekend has been a busy one so here is one from google maps!

we chose this location because it fits the exact ominous type vibe we are going for, shes gonna wake up deep in the Forrest and end up on the path that leads to the road, this area is a long road with trees and nothing else so it helps establish that she is alone and vulnerable.

i was also thinking in terms of shots this area is absolutely perfect! here are a few i was considering


I know the forest doesnt look dense however that photo was taken in 2011, it is currently filled with tall trees i really wanna recreate a shot like this



the camera far away so she seems like she is being watched from afar

\
one from behind as if shes being chased and to add to the suspense

3/10 Mise en Scene

Heres a few ideas I have on setting the scene :)

First, I want to film the hitch hiker scene in daylight, because it would be hard to see what is going on if it was nighttime, and instead use some filters to make it look a little darker. 

And the setting, of course, a forest area classic horror movie setting.

As for props, I think we need to make everything look a bit more rustic as opposed to the park that is Markham, to achieve this i think we should avoid the public areas and find some secluded areas, Im gonna go location scouting tomorrow. Also I think the drivers car should look worn out as opposed to a pristine new car, we must set the scene as realistic as possible. Im so excited for what we come up with, 

Here are a few images that have brought me some inspiration in terms of mise-en-scene 

I really like this image, and hope to incorporate this shot in our project, the way it is set up shows her vulnerability and infers that she is being watched

 maybe even a shot from outside of the car to show the driver slowing down to speak 

3/10 An updated production schedule

Here is a lil schedule identifying the main things Sofia and I have to work on this week

- Our script
I have so many ideas as to the dialogue in our film, I think it should stay very brief and ominous

- Scouting actors
Finding people to act in our film opening shouldn't be too difficult, we just need casual looking people and someone with a car to pick up the girl. Hopefully we can use a car on the bigger side to allow for easier filming

 - Improving our storyboard
Our story board still needs a lot of developing, and that will take place when Sofia and I write the script next class. I have many ideas and I know Sofia does too, and I am excited to post them when we conclude our ideas.

- Going over shots 
I have a few shots pictures in my mind, im sure ive discussed a few, but when we sketch out the main scenes it will all come together

- Discuss Mise- en- Scene
Im excited to see how it turns out in terms of Mise en Scene there are so many options we could go for.

- Filming schedules
So far Sofia and I have decided on next weekend for filming, hopefully we have all the production planning done by then! Only obstacle is the fact that i might be working! We will see.

- Music and Sound
We need to find some royalty free suspenseful music to fit the scenes, also as for sound goes we need to scout a few sound boards online and discuss if we are gonna include a voice over or not.

3/10 Changes

Sofia and I have decided to change the Uber idea because it seems a little complicated and decided instead to have the girl hitch hike, to achieve this we will need a long shot of the girl in the road  with the famous thumbs up



The Uber idea was cool, but I feel like making her a hitchhiker adds a bit more depth to the story.
The "crazy" driver that picks her up will seem normal in the beginning but will increasingly get more and more manic

Another change we have decided to make in the story is that she is not going to be getting an uber from school rather we are moving the location to Markham park because Sofia and I have both agreed that it is a more aesthetic approach. Instead of her needing a ride home, she is going to be running away from home which we agreed was a more dramatic approach, and will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

3/10 Peer Analysis

The peer Analysis we did in class really helped in terms of establishing our idea. After explaining it to my peers, a few concerns were brought up like how exactly we are gonna portray that the public is crazy, and after doing a bit of research on how other film makers have depicted this, I found inspiration in the episode "White Bear" of Black Mirror, when she wakes up and everyone seems unresponsive and in a state of trance, and all are doing the same thing. I think it would be easy to creative a scene similar to this with use of a dozen actors (whoever we can find)

3/3 shooting schedule

Hopefully Sofia and I will finally begin our process of preparation next weekend and hopefully begin shooting, i think we should split it up into 2 days of shooting, one for the entire car scene and another for her escape to the public. As for materials we need is we need casual attire for the girl,
along with some sort of Uber simulator on the iPhone, which i looked up on YouTube and found this one right here and we need to print out an Uber or Lyft symbol to tape to the car we use

As for shooting and casting I believe at most we will be needing 6-7 people 2 for the Uber scene and a couple more to showcase that the public is crazy.

3/3 Our options in terms of shots

 After  researching the most used and effective shots and camera movement in terms of scary films ive compiled this list to refer too during our  filming process so we can choose the best set up

1. Wide shot, to show figure of antagonist hiding identity yet letting audience know of their presence


2. Extreme wide shots- establish location, creates sense of isolation
We could incorporate this when our main character is taken far from civilization

3. Close ups, to help empathize with the character, we could use this when the girl is panicking

4.  High and low angles, high angle of girl so she appears hopeless, low angle of uber driver to make him appear powerful.
5.Lighting- dim and dark tones, maybe near night time

3/3 Our story board (so far)

Sofia and I are not entirely set on this idea but we were thinking of doing something along the lines of a casual girl, getting an Uber back to her house when she gets picked up by a seemingly insane man, who doesn't want to let her out of his car, locking the door, acting manic, and persistently telling the girl she is safe with him and that the outside is dangerous. The girl gets very scared and tries to leave, assuming something very bad will happen to her if she stays. She jumps out of the car only to realize that he wasn't insane and everyone around her has gone insane.

The Outline

Scene 1- Girl waiting outside of school for Uber, hops in casually until she realizes something is off with her driver
Scene 2- Driver makes wrong turn, goes way above speed limit driving towards forrest area (near highway 27)
Scene 3- Girl gets scared banging on window, and finally when he slows down she gets out and runs
Scene 4- Girl approaches public, begging for help thinking hes after her, but the public is really the one after her

I drew this image as a reference to what kind of shot i want from the girls POV, one where she can see his eyes but not his whole face, which creates an ominous atmosphere, also puts viewers in her shoes.

As for location I wanted it to be at Cypress, we can film her getting her uber, a seemingly normal day and film her at a wide shot getting into the car, and as they drive away, as for the location she gets dropped off at i was thinking some area close to the public but not too crowded, so maybe vista or markham?

3/3 More Research

So Ive been watching some behind the scenes footage from a few different horror movies, and ive found some inspiration for our film opening.

After watching the behind the scenes footage of Annabelle on Youtube, I have realized a few techniques we can incorporate in our film opening.
First of all I noted from most of their scenes they appeared to be a perfectly normal and typical family as portrayed in this movie still

The fact that they seem like an average family, due to their work attire and their small child enhances the scary aspects of the movie because it victimizes the average family, which creates a sense of terror as viewers are able to put themselves in their shoes.

We could incorporate this into our intro by making our main characters appear as an average citizen in every day casual attire.

Another film ive been researching is the Blair Witch Project, ive been particularly interested in their camera movement techniques, which is all mostly handheld this is a very interesting approach because it personalizes what you are watching rather than taking a traditional approach, maybe something we can also incorporate?

I also have been researching ways that we can make a horror movie that actually initiates a reaction in our viewers, i came across this article where they discuss the neurocinematics of horror movies where they explore ways fear can be evoked through film. I am definitely gonna look more into this!