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!