Thoughts on the Initial Idea So Far

The current synopsis and script seem slightly clichéd, with an ending like "he woke up and it was all a dream" (although this was the opposite of what we were going for). Therefore to resolve this issue we have decided to rewrite the synopsis and script into a newer, more original style, and then reflect on this redraft. The basis of the idea will stay the same, as will the main character, however the other characters will be changed and the action within the plot.  

Draft Script

After looking at my research I've written the first draft of the script. 

FADE IN:

INT. FRANKLIN’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

FRANKLIN sits on his BED, alone, with his LAPTOP on his lap and HEADPHONES on his head with MUSIC playing loudly. He looks up and sees TOBY, who has BLOOD on him, sitting opposite, also on the bed.

FRANKLIN

Wha-what do you want?

TOBY

I want you to play.

FRANKLIN

Leave me alone, Toby. Please. I’m trying to work, and if I get it done I’ll play with you later.

TOBY

No, I want to play now! Play with me. Play with me. Play with me.

FRANKLIN

SHUT UP!

TOBY

NO! PLAY WITH MEEEEEEE!

FRANKLIN

(Shuts laptop, takes off headphones and puts them to one side)

OKAY. Okay. What do you want to do?

TOBY

I want you to play. Go into the big building across the road.

FRANKLIN

No, I don’t want to. Let’s play here. What do you want to play?

TOBY

GO INTO THE BIG BUILDING.

FRANKLIN

NO.

TOBY

Big building. Big building. Big building. Big building. Big building. Big building.

FRANKLIN

NO! Why should I?

TOBY (O.S) AND ENSEMBLE (V.O.)

(All together but timing slightly staggered.)     BIG BUILDING. BIG BUILDING. BIG BUILDING. BIG BUILDING. BIG BUILDING. BIG BUILDING.

FRANKLIN

STOP IT. PLEASE. Just stop. I’ll go. I’ll do whatever will make it stop. Let me get my shoes, and then we’ll go. But we’re not going in.

End of Scene.

EXT. OUTSIDE THE ASYLUM – NIGHT

Franklin WALKS down the ROAD towards the ASYLUM. Up close, Toby is visible, but in long shots he is not, and Franklin appears to be talking to himself.

FRANKLIN

Are you happy now? Can we go back home?

TOBY

No, I want you to go inside.

FRANKLIN

Why?

TOBY

GO INSIDE. GO INSIDE.

FRANKLIN

But why, Toby? Just get out of my head and let me go home!

TOBY

Go inside. Just five minutes. Go inside.

FRANKLIN

For fuck’s sake, Toby! [Franklin holds his head in his hands, turns away from Toby to face the wall, and then turns back around and Toby is by the door] Okay. Toby?

TOBY

Over here. Come on.

FRANKLIN

Argh. Okay. Five minutes.

End of Scene.

INT. INSIDE THE ASYLUM – NIGHT

Franklin walks into the Asylum slowly. Toby only appears every so often, scaring Franklin.

FRANKLIN

Will you please stop doing that? Why are we even in here?

TOBY

Come on. Let’s look around.

FRANKLIN

Toby, stop messing about, can we just leave? We’re not supposed to be he- I’m not supposed to be here.

TOBY

We know, hehehe. Look around.

FRANKLIN

Why are you doing this? 

TOBY

*Appearing randomly in places* Over here- Come on!

FRANKLIN

*Reluctantly running to follow* Toby, come back here!

Toby keeps appearing, leading Franklin deep into the location, still running to follow until Toby appears and stays put. Franklin stops running.

FRANKLIN

*Heavy breathing* Are… you… done… yet?

TOBY

Yeah, let’s get out of here.

FRANKLIN

Thank fuck for that. Let’s go back the way we came.

The two of them turn around and start to walk back into the direction they came from, when they see lots of bloody bodies all over the floor.

FRANKLIN

[Head in hands] *Muttering to himself* Get out of my head. It’s not real. Focus. Just get out of here.

Enter BANDAGES

BANDAGES

*Skipping* Hehehehehehehehe.

TOBY

Franklin! Come on, get out! Franklin?

FRANKLIN

*Being crowded around by the bodies getting up and starting to surround him* I… can’t… move!

TOBY

Come on, mate! You’ve got to get yourself out of here, before they get you!

BODIES (ENSEMBLE)

You’re ours.

BANDAGES

*whispers but loudly, walking forward out of the crowd towards Franklin* Go on, you’ve got to get out. Go!

FRANKLIN

I… I Can’t. *Franklin sinks to the floor and lies down and closes his eyes* [the screen goes black]. They’ve got me.

End of Scene.

INT. FRANKLIN’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

Franklin wakes up in his own bed and bolts upright.

FRANKLIN

*Whispers* …Toby?

TOBY

Franklin.

FRANKLIN

Are we okay?

TOBY

We’re okay. Go back to sleep.

FRANKLIN

Okay. Thanks for getting me out. [He closes his eyes and the screen goes black again]

End of Scene.

INT. IN THE ASYLUM – NIGHT

Franklin is back in the asylum, staring straight into the crowd around him. First person perspective so you don’t see Franklin. He blinks and everyone around him has gone. He blinks again and they’re all lying on the floor. He looks down, sees himself on the floor in front of him, in a pool of blood. He sees his arm has been cut open. He falls to his knees, sees his reflection in the blood and closes his eyes. Black screen.

End of Script. 

Draft Synopsis

After the initial planning of our five minute short film, I started to turn the notes into a full synopsis and logline of the film. Doing this before the screenplay 

Logline

To stop his imaginary friend from taunting him, a schizophrenic adolescent must obey the orders and venture into the old asylum before the break of dawn. 


Synopsis

Franklin is a schizophrenic, and one day he is talking to his imaginary friend, a young boy, when the boy starts getting more demanding, telling Franklin to go into the old mental asylum, He abides, breaks entry, and then gets trapped inside, with his young companion still by his side, forcing him onwards. As Franklin gets more panicked whilst trying to escape, his schizophrenia gets worse, and he starts imagining that he’s not alone as the asylum fills with dead bodies and taunting characters around him. Frantically, Franklin becomes desperate to escape, running and weaving, trying to find an exit, when he realises there is no escape and collapses to the floor. He wakes up, finding himself in his own bed, and after being urged to go back to sleep by his young companion, he fades back into his rest. But little did he know he hadn’t yet reached the end of his ordeal. 

Initial Planning of the Film

Genre Convention Research

In 1997, Bentley said that to successful media creation comes after “The rearranging of the old to create the new,” (Bentley, 1997). This involves studying the common conventions of the genre our product will fit in and trying to create our product following these conventions. 

In terms of researching the shots used and the overall construction of a horror film, I found this in-depth article on how to evoke real fear in the audience. It covers topics such as atmosphere, suspense, jump scares, and post-production, and how to execute the film effectively with each of these components. 

The article states: "It's more about haunting foreplay than bang, bang," which precisely sums up the atmosphere that needs to be created in order to produce a successful horror film, and it is this that I want to really focus on in the horror aspect of our hybrid short. It's about the steadiness of the creepy tension, not multiple, consecutive jump scares. This element allows us to really draw on the psychological aspect, which is the main part of the film, as well as making the audience feel on edge throughout the short. This technique of steady suspense is created, it says, by "a moody visual undertone that creates a sense of dread," leaving the viewer with "unforgettable imagery." This visual technique complements the suspense created through the dramatic score and allows to the viewer to be tense, waiting for the climax of the film as the suspense builds. 

The conventions of psychological thrillers are much more clear cut than in horrors, and therefore are much easier to follow in order to follow convention correctly. Now, the conventions of psychological thrillers are similar to those of horror, yet the focus is very much more on character. Some of the themes explored in this genre include death, reality and non-reality, and identity. Within these sub-headings you can explore the effects of the psychology on the character, and their friends and family. In our case, our main character has schizophrenia, a psychological disorder, which allows us to delve into his mind and how his mental illness changes the lives of his parents and his best friend. This depth of connection with the characters allows the audience to really sympathise with them, a component that’s often lacking in horror films, which focus on the action.

Other conventions of psychological thrillers include low-level lighting, fast paced editing, and juxtaposition between silences and highly tense music, flashbacks, and black and white. Making the most important and intense scene black and white to create more intense shadows will allow our film to stand out, with fast paced editing to show the fast paced fight and create suspense in the end result of the fight will allow the action sequence to have a large effect, whilst eerie silences followed by dramatic non-diegetic music, and Franklin’s thoughts and flashbacks about how and why he is where he is will create suspense like in the horror convention research above. All of these elements help to create and eerie and dramatic atmosphere and thus keep the audience on edge and unsuspecting of the next twist in the plot. 

Primary Target Audience Research

In 1974, Blumler and Katz created the Uses and Gratification theory which categorizes the ways in which audiences interact with media products, and it is evident that, as a film, media product is wanted from the audience for: entertainment, social interaction, and potentially information. With this in mind, knowing what the audience want to get out of the film specifically when headed by these categories, it makes my media product much more efficient as a piece of entertainment for a specific audience.

In 2008, Plunkett stated “A new generation of UK media power players are ditching the traditional gatekeepers and going straight to their audience via the web,” (Plunkett, 2008). This is just as relevant now, with the Internet being potentially the biggest worldwide phenomenon and thus this makes it so much easier to get quick audience feedback from people anywhere across the globe. 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a triangular model that visually represents the amount of each level of life that humans need to live. Physical things such as food, water, and shelter are absolute essentials, and therefore lie at the bottom of the model, whereas Maslow's depiction of the least essential things to human survival come with self-actualisation. Morality, creativity, and spontaneity are the main things that can be retrieved from a humans interaction with media, more specifically my media products: films, posters, and magazine articles. However, these are still essentials, and therefore people will be looking into entertainment to find self-actualisation. 

The NRS Social Grade Table shows the break down of the class system in the UK, based on household income due to profession. Based on my direct audience reach (being a student would be other students), the likelihood of having a target audience in the highest half of the NRS table is low, and therefore a narrative that people from C2-E can relate to/will enjoy most is the best way to go with this short film, however this will depend on the feedback I get from my audience research.

In order to easily create a survey for the collection of information about my primary target audience I used a website called Survey Monkey. This allowed me to quickly type in questions and answers and decide on the way which people can respond (I thought it would be easier for it to be multiple choice so that people would be more inclined to fill it in and also this makes analysis of results much easier). Once the survey has been filled in, it then put the information on graphs and in tables so they are easy to analyse, as I will below. 

My first question was How Old Are You? and it is clear from this response that everyone who completed the survey is  young person between 13 and 25. More specifically though, the main portion of the results come from 16-21 year olds and therefore this will be my primary audience. This means I have to cater for their needs and wants in the creation of my film and auxiliary tasks in order to attract them as an audience.  

From these results it is very clear that the audience I will primarily be targeting is of males and females and therefore the representation of the characters and costume etc has the whole audience in consideration.

From the response to this question it's obvious that with an audience of 16-21 year olds, they're mostly all students or workers on low pay and therefore the classes of my audience all stay fairly low and thus the representation of the higher classes is not an essential part of the creation of my film, and also making the film accessible to all audiences by making it free to access. 

From this it is clear that my audience is predominantly heterosexual. As my film is a psychological horror (found in the information gathered later on), representation of sexualities is irrelevant to the narrative and therefore the sexualities of the characters will be unknown. 

This data shows that most of my audience do already enjoy watching short films, and only 20% don't and this means for me that at least 80% of my audience will already have experience in watching shorts and know what to expect from a short narrative, therefore I have to make it unique and interesting. 

These results show that the majority mostly prefer horrors/psychological thrillers and therefore these are the genres that my short film should fit into in order to fulfil their needs. 

From this it is clear that using an Asylum as a setting for my horror film will be most appropriate so I can make a film that this audience will enjoy.

This information tells me that the name "No Escape" has the most votes and therefore this will be the name of my short and therefore a basis for my narrative to be based around. 

From this it is clear that the people who took this survey are really keen on seeing a new horror short because the basic logline that was most popular was "A schizophrenic adolescent seeks to escape his own mind in an unlawful venture into the asylum." This shows that a film about a boy in an asylum would be the most popular narrative for my primary target audience. 




Overall, this primary target audience research has given me a really good idea on what my audience of 16-21 year-olds want to see in a short film. They would like a horror film that is titled "No Escape" and focuses the plot on a boy going into an old asylum. This is really helpful in allowing me to come up with ideas surrounding this basis that the audience has set for my film. 


My secondary target audience is made up of 13-25 years olds, people of non-hetero sexualities, and people of higher social classes, mainly C1 (potentially with representation of adult professionals). This means that, although I have a specific primary target audience, there is no limit as to the amount of people you can cater your film for, and in that I can include themes, characters, locations etc that people outside of the primary target audience can relate to, hence the secondary target audience. 

Existing Film Poster Analyses

This film poster is for a horror film called Dead Silence (2007).

The layout of this poster follows the typical style for a horror film, based on my research. It has a banner line ("From the writers and director and producers of 'Saw'") which tells you what else the people who made this film have made, and therefore allows the audience to compare the style of that film to this one, then underneath this it has the main image, which takes up most of the room on the poster, before the title, which is the largest typography on the page, before the credit section at the bottom. Overall, the layout is really simple and easy for my to replicate in my own poster production so as to follow conventions.

The colour palette of the poster is red, black and white, which corresponds with the conventional colour palette of the film reviews. This scheme goes across the whole poster with the a change of colour in the image due to the colour of the subject's skin and the their green eyes. The green eyes create a sort of tension with the audience because they stand out from the rest of the poster and therefore attract your attention straight away. This allows the reader to connect with the poster and be drawn into it, therefore perhaps in my poster I could have a colour palette of black, white and red, but with a concentrated bright colour section that immediately draws in the audience. 

The poster uses a single image that takes up about 90% of the poster, therefore it's quite obvious. As for the contents of the image, the image is of a personified doll's face that looks like it's alive. This represents the nature of the horror film and what it entails. The focusing of the image is such that the finger the subject has in front of their face is most in focus and the sides of the subject's head is out of focus, sending a message to the audience that corresponds with the logline and the title of the film which are situated underneath. The colours in the image, as discussed above, are red, green and pale skin colour/browny in places. This furthers the realism created by the facial expression of the subject and add an eerie tone to the poster as a whole. As for the shot type, it's a low angle close up shot, because although it seems like it is eye-level, the eyes of the subject are looking slightly down and the positioning of the subject, with its head at the top of the poster, gives the audience the impression that the doll is looking down on you, creating tension.

The typography used on the poster is varied, with a simple and clear font in white at the top of the poster, however towards the bottom, the title, logline and credits are in more sinister fonts, but still different fonts and colours. The film title is in a white font that looks slightly 3D and ghostly which is instantly recognisable as horror even without the rest of the poster. The film title is much larger than all of the other text on the poster which makes it easily recognisable against all of the other text and allows the ghostly effects to be bolder and more obvious. The font for the tagline is different, and it is the only text on the poster that's not in white, it is instead in red. This allows it to stand out and create suspense due to its blood-like connotations, and simple and easy-to-read font. Finally, the credits at the bottom of the page are in white, and are quite small in comparison to the rest of the text due to there being so much of it to put on there and it not adding much to the overall effect of the poster.

The lexis on the poster is quite simple throughout. The tagline is "YOU SCREAM. YOU DIE." which complements the film title, Dead Silence, and also corresponds with the positioning of the subject in the image with their finger in front of their face in the "shh!" position. This linking  of all the different parts together works to create tension within the poster and make the audience feel scared but nervous to see what happens in the film.

Overall, this poster is simple, yet effective in creating tension. It's conventional, as I will explore in the next posters, and it quite simple to recreate for my own horror film poster.

The second film poster is for The Uninvited (2009). 

The layout for this poster is very similar to the previous one with the single main image, the "from the producers of..." line, the film title beneath the image in large typography and the credit sector at the bottom. This furthers the idea of these being the conventions of a horror film poster. 

The colour scheme is also very similar to the last one, it's just lacking in colour as it's in black and white. The connotations of these colours give the poster a very dark and scary tone, creating tension with the audience. This palette is very simplistic, yet it conveys the intentions of the film very well. 

The main image on the cover is a mysterious human-like figure with a bulbous head peering through a window. This position makes is look like the figure is looking through your window, at you, making the audience feel uneasy. This image takes up the whole poster, with the text on top of it. This makes it look even more real because if this picture was printed out in large it would look like it was happening to you and this I feel is the kind of thing the creators of the poster were going for; the poster brings in the reader as if it's happening to them and not in a film. This is furthered through the eye-level medium shot that's used. 

The typography on this poster is all very similar. The "from the producers of..." line, the film title, the tagline and the release date all use the same font in the same colour, white. The font used for this text looks almost like a child's handwriting in chalk, which creates suspense within the poster due to the addition of children to a horror film makes it a lot scarier because children are seen to be young, sweet and innocence and not scary, or to-be-scared. The typography of the credits changes to look more standard and compressed so that more writing can fit into a smaller space and so it doesn't take the reader's attention away from the rest of the poster. The colour of this text also changes slightly to an off-white/grey looking colour so it doesn't contrast as much with the black background and therefore is more concealed, furthering the previous comment on it being not overly visible as to take away from the poster as a whole. 

The lexis used is very simple and concise, not using too many words so express what the image is already telling you. The main lexis is the film title which is The Uninvited, and this immediately tells the audience roughly what the film is about, along with the image; eerie creatures that enter your home without consent. This alone advertises the film in a way that would entice an audience that likes horror films, however along with this there is the tagline and a "from the makers of..." line. The tagline reads "fear moves in" which furthers the tone set by the image and the title, yet adds an extra level of tension about the nature of the what is coming into the home. It describes it as "fear" which connotes the creature(s) embodying fear itself and taking a form that is terrifying. The poster also states that it is "from the producers of "the Ring" and "Disturbia"" which is an extra advert for the film if the audience has seen and enjoyed those films and therefore it will display similar features, though taking a different narrative. 

In conclusion, this film poster agrees with the conventions of horror film posters as outlined in the analysis of the previous poster and gives me a hint as to the kind of poster I should be producing for my own film.