Location Reconnaissance

Treatment

Treatment
Characters: 

Although this is not mentioned within the PREZI above, the name of the character who is dressed as the provocative dead school, will go by the name of Veronica who dies first, due to her behaviour and ignorance to mock those that are beyond the grave ,which is mentioned within the narrative. Secondly, the final girl who is dressed as red riding hood will be named Maznah, this is a majestic name that will reflect this character's innocence and purity within the trailer. The male character who is dressed as the grim reaper will be named Damien, however this character is supposed to be the most dominant but ironically he dies before the final girl, implying that he is inferior to her, also breaking typical stereotypes of men.

Furthermore, as part of the proposal, there are many different tasks that me and my group must do to ensure the all stages of production runs smoothly, enabling us to create an effective but influential horror teaser trailer. These tasks will go under the three stages of production.

Aim/Purpose

The purpose of our teaser trailer is to advertise and promote our film before the full trailer and film is released, which furthermore contributes to an effective marketing campaign. However, the aim of our teaser trailer is to strike fear into mass audiences who view it, this furthermore will establish the genre and sub-genre of our film which is useful for viewers because our teaser trailer will also include typical codes and conventions of this genre, therefore audiences can identify whether they would be influenced to watch our film or not. Also, our narrative is based heavily around three teenagers who are disobedient to their schools rules, therefore teaser trailer can also teach young audiences about what is morally right, therefore providing young naive teens with guidance and a good pathway to follow.

Narrative Idea

The film will take place on the night of Halloween 2016 in a school which has 5 main rules. However, there is one rule in particular that is stressed by the teachers and school - students must not stay in school after 6pm. There are 3 curious students who want to know the reason why they can't stay and why it is such a big deal, so they break into school and have a look around. They soon realize that it is haunted as they start seeing abnormal things happening. They try to escape but appear to be locked in. Their panic is justified as they start to see hand prints, creatures and other horrific sights. As they run around frantically looking for an escape they knock over a frame with the rules in it, where an old newspaper falls out, it says a child's body was found in the school and it had to be shut down for 10 years. This leads to more panic when they discover the truth about the school. Once they find out, that's when all the paranormal and sinister things begin to make sense. The girl dressed as a dead school girl for Halloween doesn't believe in the supernatural at first and she is dressed more provocatively, therefore she is the first to die. The male character dressed as the Grim Reaper is the more confident character but he dies shortly after the girl. Both characters are seen to be "mocking" the girl that died in the school long ago, therefore they are targeted. The last character will be our final girl and her Halloween costume is more decent as she is going to be little red riding hood. She is the more intelligent character and the rational thinker in their group. All this trauma results in her trying to communicate with the ghost, unexpectedly the ghost replies and there is a flashback which informs her that the ghost is her mum's old friend who used to look after her. She calls her mum and asks her questions and her mum phones the police allowing the final girl to escape the school.  

Job/Production Roles

Group Members

·         Myself (Mansour)

·         Michael Ekanem

·         Jade Mathews

·         Noreen Mumtaz

Producer

The role of the producer will be taken by Michael. Therefore, there are many responsibilities that he will undertake. Firstly, he will have to ensure our teaser trailer is made within budget, this therefore means he will have to manage the distributions of finance that is injected into the three stages of production as well as secure finance for our trailer if its needed. He will also have to ensure we make the final edit of the film before the deadline. His role also entails overseeing our teaser trailer from its conception to completion. This will include ensuring the production process and all its aspects runs smoothly so that our trailer is made efficiently without any major issues. Michael will also have to work closely with the director and other production staff to make important decisions that will aim to serve as beneficial to our teaser trailer.

Director

I  will be the leading director of our teaser trailer. As a result, I will have to ensure I enforce dramatic aspects to our trailer so that it abides by the codes and conventions of horror, which is extremely important as these conventions will indicate the films genre. As a director, I will also have to be very creative during the production of our trailer, for instance, I must contribute unique and interesting ideas to the production of our trailer, this will lead to a more imaginative trailer that will serve the purpose of horror in an inimitable way. I will also have to oversee the different aspects of production, this can include cinematography, writing, editing, music, sound, production design and even costumes. I will also have to ensure our trailer maintains its realism through the stages of production so that our final edit is the best end product we could have come up with.

Director of Photography

I will also be the director of photography. This role therefore includes establishing the visual look of the teaser trailer itself. For instance, I will have to ensure the composition of the camera is accurate to ensure the shot itself includes important parts of the narrative, which can be in the form of props or characters. Good camera composition will also prevent cameras being unsteady. Directing photography also includes considering other influential factors that can impact the effectiveness of shots, this includes lighting, film stock, shot selection and camera operation. I must ensure shots are taken as professional as possible to add realism to the final edit. I will also have to work closely with the production designers and costume designers to guarantee that the visuals of the trailer match with the narrative and script which will focus on horror themes. My main role will involve physically operating the camera itself, therefore I will have the responsibility of filming the trailer to a high standard.

Production Designer

The role of the production designer will be taken by Jade. She therefore takes on the responsibility for the visual aesthetics of our locations and settings. For instance, Jade will oversee the designing of sets for our film trailer during production. For example, as our narrative includes the use of a school, to ensure our trailer abides by codes and conventions of horror, Jade will have to design some parts of the school to ensure it looks sinister enough for our trailer. This could include finding an old part of the school to make scenes look realistic and authentic within the genre of horror. Jade will also have to read the narrative and scripts to ensure she can design the sets and locations to match the storyline of our teaser. She will have to work closely with the director (Myself) and producer (Michael) so that she receives an incite as to how settings should look like. She will also have to use a lot of initiative to ensure she can create a tangible production environment out of a normal location, her job role is therefore extremely important as her finalised designs for sets will be used during all of the scenes of our teaser trailer, the visuals of our final edit therefore will reflect greatly from her designs.

Casting Agents

All 4 people from our group will play the role of casting agents. As a result, our whole group are responsible for organising the casting of actors in our teaser trailer. This therefore can include arranging and conducting auditions or interviews with potential actors to choose and negotiate the actor’s roles and when they’ll be required to film with our group. Choosing the right actors is very important for our trailer because we need to make it as realistic as possible. One possible method of casting we have been considering is using a judge panel. This includes having actors from other years such as year 11 drama students to audition with our group while we watch in an x factor style audition. This not only enables us to spot out talent very easily but will also aid with our ability to be a good decisive team.

Editor

The editor of our film will be Michael. Film editing consists of techniques and practise of assembling shots in a sequence that will aim to reflect the narrative of our teaser trailer which is what Michael will be doing. His role as the editor will take action during the post production stage of our teaser trailer. He will also have to work closely with the director to ensure the film is edited to an excellent standard without any errors or typical “movie mistakes”. Michael will also take out clips that are not needed to ensure the film only includes the best possible scenes and clips that were filmed during production. He will also ensure the sound of the trailer is up to standard, this includes ensuring the music and sound effects match the action on screen, as well as making sure the video itself is in sync. Being the film editor will require hours of looking through footage and then assembling clips, transitions and other effects into our teaser trailer. However, everyone in the group will supervise Michael so that the editing process becomes open for discussion, Michael can also receive ideas from other group members which is important as it will give him a different angle or view on how he should edit the trailer itself.

Costume Designer

The role of the costume designer will be taken by Noreen. As a result, she will be the person responsible for the visual look and design of costumes worn by characters. She will also have to create the character’s general look but also balance the scenes with a lot of texture and color on costumes. Being the costume designer also requires secondary research, this can include doing research on the costume designs for other horror films, this research will essentially help Noreen shape and form the costume designs for our teaser trailer. She will also have to read the script and narrative to ensure characters look identical to how they are portrayed within the story line. She will also have to discuss her ideas with other members of the group to ensure everyone is in agreement with her costume designs. Maintaining the quality of the costumes themselves is also extremely vital, therefore she may also have to clean and iron the clothing so that it is ready for use during the production.

Make Up Artists

The role of make-up artists will consist of both Jade and Noreen. As a result, they both are responsible for applying make-up and prosthetics to actors for dramatic effect and characterization. This also includes styling the hair of characters which is significantly important. For instance, make-up artists will have to ensure the hair of characters do not block their vision or face. Facial make up will also have to be immaculate to ensure characters look as realistic as possible. Just like the costume designer, the make-up artists will also have to research on other make-up and hairstyles to ensure the most suitability look for characters is chosen. Jade and Noreen may also have to take notes and photos of characters with their hair and makeup done, this can be done for reference but also to ensure the same visual appearance of characters is maintained throughout filming. Overall, the make-up artists are important because they will add realism to characters but there work on characters will also reflect the teaser trailers narrative and script.

Prop Manager

The last production role will also be played by Noreen and Jade. Therefore, they will be responsible for acquiring, properly placing and overseeing any props that may be needed and used for our teaser trailer. Other responsibilities will also include managing the props budget, making a list of props that is needed for the trailer, ordering and going out to purchase the necessary props, making sure actors and other cast members know how to use, operate and look after the most important props and overseeing the use of props in case there is a need to change any props to replace them for other more suitable apparatus. Jade and Noreen will need to ensure the props that are used in our production process is suitable for actors but also reflective of the script and narrative.

Schedule

Firstly, the schedule consists of the three stages of the production process. Our pre-production should be started on the 12th September and finished on the 20th November. The pre production of our teaser trailer includes research and analysis of trailers, proposal, mind mapping, shooting script, storyboard animatic, production and planning titles. Secondly, the production of our trailer should be commenced on the 21st November and finished on the 10th December. This includes shooting our films scenes, shots, cuts and cutaways. The post production process is the final part of production and should start on the 11th December to meet the final deadline of 21st December. The post production stage includes editing the film and sound to create a complete teaser trailer.


Target Audience


The target audience of our teaser trailer will be 16 year olds - 24 year olds. Our teaser trailer includes repeated moments of suspense and anticipation that is accumulated from the supernatural, however due to these being only snippets of our actual film, this will be shown in more sinistrous detail that wont be suitable for those under 16 because of the terrifying nature and themes shown within our full film. Our target audience is also quite young because we find that young audiences like to experience excitement and thrill, therefore we target young viewers to provide them with a visual experience that is likely to have inject fear into them but in a positive and influential way. Older audiences are less susceptible to believe in the supernatural as they are mature and may only watch films that reflect social reality. The classification of our film will be 15A, therefore anyone under the age 15 will need parental or guardian supervision.

Contingency Plan

During the filming process, there can be a few issues that can potentially cause problems but we do have a contingency plan for these situations should it happen.

There can be the case of someone falling ill, if this is to happen we may have to delay the filming process and to ensure that we get as much done to catch up as soon as possible. The sooner we get this done, the lower the amount of time we have will be used.  Whenever we do a catch up session we plan do film what we missed and to do even more on that same session. This avoids the chance of other catch up sessions if the actors are to become ill.

Second, there can also be a situation where certain rooms cannot be used for filming (as we’re filming in the school premises). We have set up a list for preferences for different types of rooms that can be used if our first preference can’t be used for any reason. It would be good to do this now just in case otherwise not doing this can waste time which we cannot afford to lose.

There can also be a problem if important equipment has been forgotten that may be important such as props like a torch. We are able to improvise as best as we can to resemble our prop such as using the flashlight on our mobile phones. If we can’t improvise we may have to postpone the scene and get it done in a catch up session.

There could be potential problems we may find days or weeks after filming this scene, this may be lighting, the actor/actress themselves or any other problem with the shot. If this was identified, we would go straight to the location where this scene was shot and we’ll make sure it’s perfect before making any further progress.

Another potential issue that can cause a problem during the editing process is that certain videos cannot be found for any unknown reason. We will go back to the location of that scene and film it again and to double check that it is fine and that it will be individually be transferred to the computer for editing. All files will be arranged by the date and time it was filmed. This was we are able to find and edit much faster as the scenes are filmed in order of our shooting script. Anything missed out or recorded in a catch up session will be given a name so we can easily find it and know where to place it during the editing process.

Hazard	Persons who may be harmed	Property which may be damaged	Risk controls already in place	Risk Assessment level	Further action required to control risk	Location where hazard may occur
Sudden Rain	Nobody	Filming Equipment	For group members to check the weather before filming.	Low	Carrying an emergency umbrella and raincoats to ensure actors and equipment remain dry from rain.	Outside of Heathland School
Unknown dogs	Group Members	Filming Equipment	To insist that people keep their dogs on a leash to prevent distractions and possible damage to members or equipment.	High	Filming away from dogs and other wildlife to ensure we can film without being at risk of any dog attacks, therefore avoiding dogs within our filming locations will help to do this.	Outside of Heathland School
Tripping Over/ Falling	Group Members	Filming Equipment	Ensuring people know where camera cables and tripods are always, to avoid tripping over them.	High	Only using tripods and charger cables when needed to reduce the risk of damage to members or equipment because of tripping over.	·       Inside of Heathland School ·       Classrooms ·       Corridors ·       Stairs
Serious Injury/ from high angle shots	Group Members	Filming Equipment	Ensuring group members don’t film on platforms that are too high or on edge	High	Ensuring the filming location is suitable in advance to film in, preventing any foreseeable injuries	·       Inside of Heathland School ·       Classrooms ·       Corridors
Dehydration	Group Members	None	Ensuring group members bring a bottle of water during filming.	Low	For group members to also bring some money so that they can buy drinks from the local shop if they do not have any bottled drinks.	·       Inside of Heathland School ·       Classrooms ·       Corridors

Item	Price	Character
White face paint and powder	£1	Damien, Veronica and ghost
Fake blood	£1	Veronica, setting and ghost
Fake chains	£1	Ghost
Grim reaper cape	£13	Damien
Braces for clothes	£5	Veronica
Bow for neck	£4	Veronica
High knee socks	£5	Veronica
Face paint	£1	Veronica, Damien, Maznah and ghost
Blood stained bandages	£1	Veronica and ghost
Total	£32

Firstly, we will need to add white face paint and powder to two of the main characters and the antagonist. For instance, Damien will need white face paint and a cape for his grim reaper outfit, the white powder will also make his Halloween costume look more realistic, suggesting that he is fully taking part in Halloween, which adds to the narrative of our film as Halloween is one of the key themes of our horror film and teaser trailer. Fake blood will be used to decorate the ghost to make it more horrific to the audience, it will also be utilized for Veronica who is dressed as a dead school girl, therefore fake blood will make her costume more authentic. Lastly, artificial blood will also be used for bloody hand prints on the walls which follow the typical codes and conventions of horror films, as its used as an enigma code. The fake chains will be used for the ghost to attach her to the table, adding a more sinister tone to her character. The braces, bow and high knee socks are all black and will be apart of Veronica's outfit which accentuates her provocative persona. Blood stained bandages will be used for both the ghost and veronica to make their appearance more eerie and formidable. Altogether, the budget shows all the equipment and props we had to buy however the equipment list expands on the other items we already own and will use resourcefully, however, all equipment will be essential to structure the narrative and characters of our film and trailer.

Equipment List

Equipment	Picture	Use
Frame		The frame will be used to display the rules of the school. We have chosen to go for an old, almost expensive looking frame to highlight how important the school feels the rules should be followed and treated with the utmost priority.
Torch		This will be used for the characters being stuck in a dark room, and emphasising the idea that they’re surrounded by darkness thus, draw attention to the idea of the unknown.
String		The use of this would be by tying it to a chair, where a person off screen pulls the string giving the idea that the chair is moving on its own.
Fake blood		The fake blood will be used on the ghost foreshadowing the idea of death and also used on some of the main characters to enhance fear in the audience, potentially giving the idea that they are in danger and aren’t safe.
Camera		This is one of the main components that we have to use in order for us to be able to film our teaser trailer. Furthermore, we chose to use an expensive camera in order for us to be able to get clear shots and use the different aspects of the camera to get our perfect shot for our teaser trailer.
Camera stand	h	This will allow us to effectively support our camera if we had to supposedly do a pan shot. It reduces the chance of it falling and causing any accidents and also enhance a still shot without it wobbling in our hands.
I-Pad		This may be used to film other shots when the camera isn’t there, likewise, it will be effective to film small easy shots for anyone in our group to use.
Newspaper article		This newspaper article will be the key focus as its sets of the context of this film. It is meant to give a sinister effect of a disturbing haunting history of the school hence, being the main aspect the teaser trailer is based around.
Laminated quotes		These will be displayed around the school, where we will have a blooded hand being spread on it, this, in turn, reduces damage to any school property and allows us to have more control over any variables.