Risk Assessment

Location Recce

Storyboard

Script

Shot List

The three girls seem happy and excited which is a contrast of what you would expect in a horror film.

Seeing the back of the HOODED MAN'S head is to keep him mysterious. Then tracking around him is to give a little away about the man, but not revealing to much. Also showing the evil expression printed across his face gives an idea about what he is like, and is going to do.

The superimposed image is to show a past event which has taken place in the flat and sets up an idea of what may happen in the future. Also gives a contrast with the other light hearted scenes, and is unexpected to the audience.

The scene with the OLD LADY is there to frighten the audience, as well as LAURA, as you get a clear sense that something terrible has happened in the flat before hand with the OLD LADY'S reaction, and the shot reverse shot helps to intensify the conversation.

We then see another superimposed image which enforces the first superimposed image and the OLD LADY'S reaction, to create more suspense and wonder.

When KATHERINE and MICHELLE notice the man staring at them we get a clear sense they are going to be the HOODED MAN'S next victims, and that he isn't afraid of being noticed and creeping them out before hand.

The build up to the scene with LAURA entering the empty flat is meant to be that the audience expect the other girls to have been taken already, and gives an obvious appeal of what has happened to them. The hyperbolic door bell sound links with this as you expect it to be the HOODED MAN, and creates a tense atmosphere.

However this is contradicted in the last scene with the KATHERINE and MICHELLE being at the door as it is unexpected, and allows the audience to breathe and return to the light hearted tone implicated at the beginning of the opening sequence.

We have chosen to fade to a black screen when introducing the credits as they slow the pace and intensify of the play, as well as creating more of a suspense. The black screen also helps with passage of time as they move the sequence from scene to scene, and place to place throughout the day. We have also decided to have more action than titles becuse this way is more apparent in our textual analysis of opening sequence from other films in the horror genre, rather than titles over action.

Treatment

Questionnaire to Target Audience and Evaluation Results

Questionnaire Results

Gender

Male- 14

Female- 26

Age

How often do you go to the cinema?
Once a month- 16

Twice a month- 10

Once a week- 2

Other- 12

What genre of film do you see?
Horror- 10

Comedy- 12

Romance- 3

Sci-fi- 2

Adventure- 7

Fantasy- 1

Rom-com- 2

Action- 2

War- 1

What is your favourite genre and why?
A lot of people voted for horror films and the reason for this was because they like the thought of being scared. There were also a number of people who voted for comedy because they like being entertained and they like a laugh. Adventure films are popular as they are interesting to watch and grab the audience’s attention. However the majority of the questionnaires were from the females. This has lead us to using vulnerable female characters as it attracts female watches as they get a clearer insight and can relate to them.

Who would you go to the cinema with? Does it change what genre of film you see?
Out of the males, some went with friends, however it was common for them to go with close family members. This reflects their ages because they’re family like wives and children. Where as half of females mostly go with friends. As an overall most questionnaires said that whoever people go with has an effect of what they see.

What is your favourite horror and why?
The results show that most people have stated that they enjoy films that have an interesting solid story line, because they are not just about death or gore yet they keep the audience interested. The majority also like films that give the sense that it could really happen to you.

Because of this we plan to set the location in a block of flats to make it seem realistic,
as well as it being near a woodland area to keep it scary. We have also said not to include any blood or gory scenes as it may look tacky and amateur. Also as we have a low budget we will not have the equipment or facilities to make it look good enough.

Describe what you look for in an opening scene of a horror film and why?
There were many different views about what people look for but an idea about what the film is going to be about, but without giving too much away, was the most apparent. There was also popularity in being introduced to charters as well as the actors playing them. Background knowledge also came up a lot. In the editing scene scary music was well-liked as was flashbacks.

We have already decided that the characters will be introduced in the opening sequence and we will need to make sure that we do not give much away so that it is interesting for the audience and makes them want to continue watching. However it will be hard to introduce background knowledge as there is no previous film, so it will need to be attractive and grabbing to keep the audience attracted to it. Also the music chosen needs to be appropriate and fit well with the genre and need to have the scary, eerie scene people look for, so that they feel uneasy and conscious.