Costume Ideas

Harry

While sleeping, Harry is wearing a white t-shirt, connoting that the audience's first reaction to him is that he is innocent. He is wearing blue pyjama bottoms connoting that he is peaceful when asleep. We decided to portray him as innocent in the opening inorder to surprise the audience and add twists to the film. Also, through him being portrayed as innocent, the audience will sympathise with him, causing later events to be more shocking and forcing the audience to see previous events differently which is a convention of a psychological thriller.

The first day he wears a red shirt connoting the danger that he holds and the possibility that his daughter is dead. He is wearing smart jenes making him look smart casual. We wanted him to look like this because it shows he is looking after himself, and connotes that he is a respected person. This then makes the aspect of him losing control over himself later on shocking and proposes the idea that people are different to what they appear. This is a regular occurring theme throughout the entire film so we wanted to include it in our opening as what is in an opening should be reflected throughout the film.  

The second day he will wear a dark blue checked shirt and jenes. The dark colours hold negative connotations and aids the creation of a dark atmosphere. He also appears to be scruffier than befor which helps to show that he is taking less care of himself and foreshaddows his life going down hill.

On the final day, Harry will wear a brown hoddie and and navy blue tracksuit bottoms. These are comfy cloths generally associated with sitting around the house, connoting that he has no reason to leave his home and is in need of some comfort. Through him not leaving the house shows that he has given up on going about his daily routine, connoting that he depends on his daughter. Also, on this day he will run out of pills showing how dependant he is on thoes too. Through the pills running out when his daughter is not present connotes that he was keeping his life on track for her. The dark colours of this costume furthur aids the dark atmosphere and as the audience begin to see the true side to Harry, connotes that he is a dark character.

Penny

Originally, we decided to have Penny in clothing with relevant connotations to later on in the film, however have decided that it would be more beneficial to portray her as an innocent character so that the audience sympathise with her which will help make later events more shocking. The white T-shirt she is wearing connotes her innocence, and the blue jacket furthur connotes that she is a clam character. These therfore connote that she is not the person who will looes her temper or intend on causing trouble-the opposite to her character. The dark orange skirt also connotes that she is a dishonest and decitful character who is capeable of causing trouble. Through the use of a school bag and bright pink shoes, we hoped to portray her as a typical teenager who attends school. This would make her appear more innocent as she is just seen as going around her everyday life.

Shot List

This is our final shot list. Due to timings, we are also considering showing Harry going about more of his morning routine such as breakfast, however feel that these shots will probably take too long. However, we may also decide that our film may get too repetitive and therefore decide to show him a breakfast to add in variety and make the film more interesting to watch. We may also reduce the time of some of the shots to ensure that our film is faced paced which is a convention of a psychological thriller. Final Shot List

Script

This is the final script that I have written. I have condensed it down from the two previous drafts, and through this hope to enhance Harry's dependence of Penny.Script Second Draft

Props list

When we are filming we will need to ensure that we have the following props:

• Litter to make Harry's room appear messy and unkempt. This will show that he is not looking after himself and enhances his dependence on Penny. 

• Scrabble for one of our titles and to make it appear that he has been playing with his daughter. Scrabble is made up of dark colours, connoting the sinister atmosphere we intend to create in the opening.

• Baby photos showing Harry remembers his daughter. By having the picture on the wall, it connotes that he loves his daughter and that he always has. This connotes that he still does which is partly so desperate to find her.

• Picture his daughter drew, acting as a title and showing he had a good relationship with his daughter. The picture will be drawn in bright colours, connoting that the child was happy. The people in the  picture will also have smiles to connote that the family were once all happy. This will help to create a furthur sense of myster and encourage the audience member to continue watching because they want to find our how the family became broken.

• Alarm clock to wake him up and show him going about his daily routine. As the days go on, it will take Harry longer to turn off the alarm, connoting tiredness and that he has given up now that Penny is not with him, thus connoting her maturity for looking after him.

• Pills and pill pot as the lack of pills will show that he is mentally unstable. We will also show a title on the pot. The pot is going to be dark brown or dark orange. This connotes that the pills hodl negative connotations which are seen later in the opening.

• We decided to use cereals instead of bread. This is because children typically prefer cereals to toast, making in appear that Penny has recently been living in the house. Through the cereals always begin present, connotes that Harry has not given up hope and that he believes Penny will come back.

• Carton of juice to show a title and him going about his daily routine. Light colours will be used on the carten, connoting that he is happy going about his daily life and that his mental illness does not effect him in this aspect of life.

• We will use teabags to show a title. This also connotes that the child might be slightly older, as teenagers typically drink tea. However, with the juice being earlier shown, shows that the house is lived in by both an adult and child. The everyday props used such as the tea bags and cereals will be brightly colored, connoting that Harry is normally happy going about his everyday life.

• Newspapers to show he is looking for his daughter and to include a title. The text will be red, connoting that dangerous information he may find in the paper, such as the news that his daughter is dead.

• To do list to show the lack of activity in his day and how this activity decreases the more mentally unstable he becomes. We will also show a title on this list.

• Sticky labels and pens to help create the titles

We need a props list to ensure that we have everything we need at the location for filming We will get these props for places like supermarkets because we need to find them at a cheap price as we are an independent film company so need to produce the film on a low budget. We also need to consider the connotations of our props and if they fit the generic conventions of a psychological thriller.

Considering Sound

Sound is a key element we have to consider when planning our opening. We will need to consider what sounds are going to be in each show and also how we will get those sounds. Any music used must be royalty free so we need to take this into consideration. However, there are ways around this, for example we can download music from royalty free websites or create them ourselves.

Sound ideas

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Sound can have a huge impact on a film. The music used in our opening will help establish the atmosphere and will reflect the mood of the duration of the film. It is not necessary to follow the generic conventions of a style in music. Not following these conventions will have an impact on the way our opening is viewed. It could surprise the audience and make them feel unsure of what they are viewing, resulting in a strange atmosphere being created. It may also cause the audience to think they are viewing a film of another genre, making the later events a surprise and shock.

We will need to consider the conventions of non-diegetic music within psychological thrillers. This will help show us the style of music we may want to use within our opening, and what effect they could have.
We will also want to consider if and diegetic sounds will be heard, for example, we are considering having only diegetic sound in the scenes outside. This would highlight the significance of them and hint at their importance for the rest of the film. As we would only be having natural sounds, we will consider using the pholey effect to help enhance these sounds.

Considering Mise-En-Scene

There are a lot of elements that we need to consider when looking at Mise for our film opening. By looking at and planning these elements now, it will allows us to be prepared and organised for when we film.

We are going to come up with a celebrity that we would ideally like to play the characters in the opening. This will help us to have a vision for their appearance and possibly help us gain an idea for costumes depending on if they have been in a film of this genre. We would like the actor who plays Harry to look like Stanley Tucci, because he is old enough to have a daughter and also creates the image of a sinister character.

Auditions are going to be help when we cast our opening. This will allow us to find an actor who is similar to the celebrity we have chosen and also see their acting skills. We will also see if they can follow directions. This is essential as we need them to be able to follow a script as well as any changes we make to the script on the day in order to improve our opening.

When looking at costumes, we will look on the internet to find some ideal outfits. This will enable us to have a vision of what we shall get or make. We need to do this early on in order to ensure that we have our ideal costume by the time we film and to make sure that it fits out actor.
Low key lighting is a convention of a psychological thriller, and for this reason we shall use it in our opening. However, it is important that we experiment with this lighting to ensure that the scene does not appear too dark on camera, and that everything in the frame can be seen. The picture bellow helps to demonstrate low key lighting, showing how the use of lighting can help to create a dark and sinister atmosphere.

In terms of location, we are going to visit a number of potential places for filming. This will allow us to find our ideal location. We will need to do this soon in order to ensure that we can film there and get permission if needed. By looking at a number of places, we can have a back up location in case we are unable to film in our ideal place.

Preperation for our Film Opening

In order to be organised come  the filming, we will need to be prepared and organised. For this to happen there are a number of things that we need to do:

We will hold auditions for our cast. This will not only allow us to see their acting ability, but the ability to follow directions too. This is essential so that we can film smoothly and gain what we wanted from the actor. At the audition, we will be able to try various costumes on the actor to see that they will look like we imagined the character to.

We will look on the Internet for potential costumes for our characters to wear. This will allow us to gain an ideal look for our character and allow us to  have an image of what we would like for when we are buying or making our costumes.

We are going to make a list of props and equipment that we will need when filming. This will allow us to ensure that we have everything that we need when filming and to give us time to buy or make the props needed.

We are going to visit a number of potential locations for our films are list the positives and negatives of each. This will allow us time to find the perfect location and also give us time to get permission to film there if needed. By us looking at many locations, it will give us a back up place if we are unable to film in our ideal one.