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Evaluation 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Immediately when we began the main task we put so much more thought and time into it. Each part of our main task has been crafted and fine tuned to the genre we chose. We have done a lot of research int the issues shown in our film and also thought so much deeper into the mis-en-scene. We spent more time creating the right atmosphere on our film using Premiere Elements and select days for filming.

After our Preliminary Task we were given some feedback. From this we learnt that we needed to put more thought into the sound and lighting. We also knew we needed a strong genre and plot which reflected this.

Although the main taks was much more work, it was easier in a way because we weren't restricted with the shot types that needed to be used. In the prelinary task we had to use shot/reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule. This limited our choice of location and plot ideas. Our main task could be basically whatever we wanted, with very few restrictions.

Our first thoughts on what needed to be changed at the beginning of our main task were:
-Better acting
-Stronger plot
-Smoother camera work
-Better editing

We were much more professional about our main task and took it much more seriously. We made our film based around what we'd want to watch, thinking an audience similar to us would be the same.

Evaluation 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

This is a screen print of the programme we used to edit our film: Adobe Premiere Elements 7.0
We had a lot of issues with this programme. We didn't feel it was professional enough for the standard at which we wanted our film. The computers were also too slow to run it properly, it crashed several times every lesson which meant we lost work. It also puts the film into a format that only a very small number of other programmes recognise.

For our filming, we used a Sanyo Xacti camera and a tripod for to keep the flickering minimal. The only issue we had with the camera was that it had a very jerky zoom.

We also used:

Blogger - to record our work

Paint- to edit pictures

Youtube - to evaluate and distribute

VLC player - to play the film and play the music

Facebook - to ask permission to use the music

Evaluation 5

How did you attract your audience?

Evaluation 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We basically based our media product on ourselves. We made it around what we know people in our age group like. Arguably, the age range of 30+ would be better because they are the wealthiest, but as a young person, the things we can do are limited, so we spend a lot of time watching films and going to the cinema. We are also tend to use technology more, like iphones and laptops, so advertising is easy and we have more access to the films. We chose an age range of 14-18 because older than 18, they'd probably want something over the 18 certificate. They'd probably also want more action and more gore - something more exciting and not so deep. The main character is also 17 therefore 17 year old people can relate the film more.

 The two-step flow is more fluent through the 14-18 age range. 14-18 is a very social age, there are many ways that 14-18 year olds communicate and they have less going on in their lives, therefore they're more likely to converse about the films they've watched. Also 14-18 year olds also use film watching as a way of unwinding.

Evaluation 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A production company is responsible for every aspect of a film, from the filming to the distribution. Sophy, Alice, myself, the I.T team and Ms. Hammond make up our production company. Sophy, Alice and myself were responsible for every aspect of the film, with guidance from Ms. Hammond and the I.T team.

A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing (DVD, Video-On-Demand, Download, Television etc). A distributor may do this directly or through theatrical exhibitors and other sub-distributors. Paramount Pictures would be a suitable film distributor as they have distributed other films from the same genre as our, including 'Shutter Island'. Our film could also be exhibited through film festivals such as the Slamdance Film Festival or Screamfest Film Festival. This is where 'Paranormal Activity' was distributed which is classed as a horror/thriller. Our film would be suitable for a film festival because we are amateur producers without power. We therefore view our film as institiutionally similar to Paranormal Activity.

Sophy, Alice and I could also be seen as distributors as for our project we had to show people our film and get feedback. We did this through the use of dvd burning and youtube. Therefore youtube can also be seen as a distributor. These means helped us get a little recognition for our film.

We actually didn't spend any money on our film. We used resources we already had. If we were to make the whole film we would need much more money. 'Kidulthood' had a budget of £600,000. 'Kidulthood' is a film with no more action than ours, located in Britain therefore I think we would be looking at a similar budget to this film. This emans we also view 'Kidulthood' as institutionally similar.

We haven't actually put any titles on our film that show who did which jobs because we all did everything, Alice, Sophy and I are the production company.

Evaluation 2

How does your media product present particular social groups?

Lola Gray and the character 'Shutter Island' is based around, both have similar psychological issues. They both had issues that they couldn't deal with. The character in 'Shutter Island' has a much more severe condition than Lola Gray, but similar symptons for similar reasons. Other than the psychological issues, the characters are completely different. We didn't base our character on anything, it was just an idea from our heads.

There are obvious cultural differences between the two characters. Our film is set in present day Britain and 'Shutter Island' was set in 1954 in the U.S.

As shown in our character profile, we tried to create a character that could have been as normal as you and I, but her childhood shaped her to have psychological issues. Lola is of a lower social class simply because of her drug issues and her poor, unstable background. Social groups are determined by interests and wealth; Lola has no money which leads her to crime; we also see nothing of her interests because she has never had the time to enjoy anything. She is presented as a warm-hearted young girl, that has been pushed onto the wrong path. It is not a life she has chosen and it's a life she wants to get out of.



Evaluation 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 The first frame shown reveals the title of the film and the setting. We chose bold, red writing for the title because from our genre research we found that thrillers comonly have bold, powerful titles. We chose plain writing because it's strong and doesn't have any connotations of an older time period - it's modern. We chose red because it has connotations of anger and blood therefore it hints at the plot and creates tension and fear.

Our setting is acres of fields next to a railway and a rarely used farmyard. In the background you can see a building which holds farm equipment which we thought looked frightening. We also thought that people would make the connection between that building and the location of the flashbacks. Thriller films don't have a typical setting, it's such a broad genre, it can be anything. Psychological thrillers tend to have a secluded, empty setting which reflects the mind of the character; the setting of our film follows this convention.

We dressed Alice in dark clothes to keep with the de-saturated colour scheme. We covered her in mud to show how she'd struggled. We also put ketchup on her to represent blood as well as putting a lot of hair product in her hair to make it greasy, as if she hadn't been able to wash. The clothing in thriller films isn't typically imposrtant, it just needs to fit in with the setting to keep the flow of the mis en scene.

For the first, second and fourth frames shown we used a tripod to keep the camera steady. We used the zoom on the camera to pan out and show the setting. This was difficult because the zoom on the camera did not do a slow, steady motion, it was quite jerky so we had to re-film it many times before we got it right.

For the rest of the frames we used hand-held camera work because this meant the camera shook a little, suggesting Alice was shaking, showing the fear. The use of hand-held camera work also makes the viewer feel as if they are there and experiencing the same things as the characters. This is typical of a psychilogical thriller. For the first, second and fourth frames show the setting but don't show the character in detail, this builds tension and doesn't jump in with a character the audience know nothing about. The use of showing the character from afar walking towards the camera gives the audience time to study the character and form an opinion. The third and fifth frames show flashbacks where Alice is on the floor, this contrasts with the rest of the filming with the darkness and with the positioning of Alice. It follows with rule of thirds, but horizontally.

The sixth and eighth frames shown, show Alice in more detail. The sixth frame shows Alice's continuous motion of rocking; this reflects Lola's nervous disposition. This is also typical of psychological thrillers. This frame follows the rule of thirds, so it is comfortable to look at. The eighth frame is an extreme close up of Alice's face which focusses on the emotion, it makes the viewer feel uncomfortable and claustraphobic.

The tonal range of all the frames is very dark and de-saturated. This makes the scenes look dreery and morbid and it creates a depressing, tense mood.

The third and fifth frames show flash backs. The setting is completely different to the one in reality so distinction between tenses can be made. The continuous movements show she's thinking about something, it's causing her pain. There is also a contrast between the free, open setting and the dark, claustraphobic setting.

The use of the completely black frame, shows complete absence of light. This builds tension because the viewer has no idea what is happening. It leaves the viewer wondering what is happening to the character. The next frame is then the extreme close up which stays in the viewers mind.

We tried to follow the conventions of a psychological thriller in order to make the genre apparent this also meant we had a strong structure to our film. It made it easier to make decisions.

Audience Feedback Questionnaire

This is a copy of our Audience Feedback Questionnaire. We will give this to 10 people once they have watched our opeing sequence.

We asked ten people to complete our questionnaire after watching our film to help us review our work. The people who completed the questionnaires ranged more in age than the people who we asked to complete our previous questionnaire; this was because we want to compare the different opinions of our target audience and extended target audience to see whether they’re similar. Thriller films tend to attract a wide audience so it felt appropriate to ask the opinions of different ages.

We also made sure we chose people whose answers wouldn’t be bias by answering the highest, just to be friendly, since we wanted accurate results to get a clear idea of the audience’s opinion.

Question 1. What is your gender?

                        Male                            Female

This basically allows us to understand whether there are any correlations with a certain sex with their other answers as sex tends to influence their opinions.

Question 2. What age range do you fall into?

                        Under 14          14-18               19-25               26-35               36+

As you can see we didn’t ask any under 14 year olds or any 26-35 years olds. It happened by chance that we didn’t ask any 26-35  year olds however as we managed to get the ages above and below it shouldn’t make much difference to our results as they’re reasonably close age groups. Our thriller film isn’t really appropriate for under 14 year old audience so therefore their opinions aren’t valid for our review which is why it doesn’t make any difference to our questionnaire results. The 14-18 year old age group are our main demographic which makes their opinion more important for our feedback. For this reason the 14-18 age group were the majority who answered our questionnaire. As previously said we wanted to know the opinions of a wider age range as despite having certain demographics for our film other audiences tend to watch thrillers also.

Age is an important influence on people’s opinion so for that reason too we wanted to make sure we asked more than just one age group

Question 3. With 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, how well do you think the film meets the conventions of the thriller film?

1          2          3          4          5

The fundamental conventions of a Thriller films are intense and thrilling plot, often based around a single character; without these basic conventions our film couldn’t be called a psychological thriller. This question not only lets us know whether our film has met these conventions but also indicates people’s opinion on whether our film is successful or not. Most people answered 4 indicating that although the conventions weren’t noticeable the best they could have been, they were still strongly recognised by the viewers. However this is a reasonable response as we are only able to show two minutes of the beginning to a film so not much progress can be made. One person answered 2 which is disappointing and shows us that there’s certainly room for improvement. Bearing this in mind we asked in the final question what improvements could be made.

Question 4. How well do you think the film meets the sub-genre of psychological thriller?

1          2          3          4          5

For our film to meet the sub-genre of a psychological thriller we had to clearly show psychological elements that involved the character’s mind. We used flashed backs to do this and from our results this turned out very successful. Half put 4 and the other half put 5 which means that the character’s mental thoughts were recognised. Therefore we successfully achieved the psychological sub-genre.

Question 5. How would you rate the plot?

1         2           3           4         5

 The plot is the main part of a film, so for it to be a successful opening, it must be a good plot.

  For this question we used a scale of 1-5 for the respondents of the questionnaire to rate the plot. By doing this we get an insight of how good or bad the audience think the plot is. By looking at the chart we can see that there are mixed reviews about the plot, but the largest amount of people thought that the plot was good, giving it a 4 or 5.

Question 6. How well did the plot captivate you and make you want to keep watching?

1        2        3        4         5

By asking this question it allows us to see if our introduction was successful in engaging the audience’s attention. Our whole project is based around the plot. What is the point of the film if you don’t like the storyline?

From this feedback we can see that our plot worked well. We were given all 4’s and 5’s therefore the film fulfils its purpose.

Question 7. How would you rate the camera work?

Camera work was one of the things we decided needed to be better. Before our preliminary task we’d never seriously operated cameras before so it was a challenge.

This feedback clearly shows that our camera work is good, 4’s and 5’s show that it is better than average even.

Question 8. How would you rate the choice of setting?

The setting is a restriction we have, we can do it anywhere, but practically, it can only be within the Peterborough area. However the graph shows that our choice of setting was good. Some people think it could be better, but no one thought it was below satisfactory.

Question 9. How would you rate the film overall?

All 4’s and 5’s is an excellent result. There is room for improvement, but it shows all our viewers were happy. This also shows that we targeted the right audience.

10. Is there anything you would improve?

This is an open ended question because we wanted individual people’s opinions.

Some answers given are:

“Build the viewer into the plot – they are left wondering a bit too much”

“Better setting?”

“Longer flashbacks, less transitions between”

“Be more descriptive about the plot t the viewer”

Other than these, we were told we didn’t need improvements. This is all helpful feedback. It’s clear we needed the plot to be more apparent, though we found this difficult as we were just doing the opening. In hindsight we also agree that the flashbacks aren’t long enough, making the transitions a bit too frequent.  

Sound

When choosing sound for our opening we had originally thought of using non-diagetic sound like a heartbeat, this would have been used to dramatise and add tension. However the problem with this was actually having access to the sound as it would be difficult to record plus we didn't know where we would find a pre-recorded file. We also thought of using diagetic sound by having Lola whimper and scream which we thought would be especially effective used in flashbacks. The problem we found was that when we came to filming the sound of the wind was too loud for any diagetic sound to be heard and therefore only left us with a choice of non-diagetic sound.

We decided that the best suited non-diagetic sound for our opening would be to use a piece of pre-recorded music/ soundtrack. Because we are only filming the opening we wanted a soundtrack that wasn't too busy which lasted too long. After looking at other film openings it was noticeable how the majority of them used an instrumental soundtrack but as we didn't have the time or resources to record a piece of music we searched through some of the bands we knew for any instrumental or interlude songs.

We hoped to achieve a negative, distressed mood to our opening so we looking for songs which were played in a minor key. Whilst searching we came across Emarosa, a rock band from America, who used quite a few instrumentals in their albums. We found that the song 'Even Bad Men Love Their Mothers' would suit our opening film well so we asked them on their facebook account for their permission to use it.













The song we have decided to use starts of slowly and is only instrumental, it gradually builts up slightly which we thought appropriate as it reflects the build up in our opening. There are points when there are slight vocals that sound distant and aren't clear, this should help create an eerie atmostphere for the audience. It is also good for it is exactally two minutes long which will fit in with the time of our opening.




Here is the song we have chosen to use:

Weather

Prior to filming, we decided it would be sensible to check the weather forcast for that day. We wanted it quite sunny so we wouldn't have any lighting problems with the filming being too dark, and windy, as we thought that would add to the effect of the girl looking messy and dirty.

We wanted it to be windy to enhance the feeling of freedom when she escaped. We wanted there to be a contrast between the claustrophobic shots in the barn and the fresh openness of the fields.This should make the plot clearer to the audience when they see the opening, but still have a lot of unanswered questions.

Pictures of location

We wanted Lola to look dirty and beaten so we used makeup to create these affects. Blackened eyes give the perception that Lola is drained of energy or has been beaten which we want to be acknowledged by the audience so they can guess the possible plot. We used different hair products such as serum to make my hair look greasy; Lola would need to look dirty as if she’s been captured for a while and not washed.

 

We smudged the mascara around my eyes and down Alice's face so it would look like Lola had been crying in a possible struggle with her capturer, this again was something we hoped the audience would pick up on and think might have happened.

She wore some old clothes knowing that she would be getting them muddy plus we wanted Lola to look quite urban; therefore she wore plain tight jeans and a graphic plain top with a leather jacket. Using plain toned clothing added to the de-saturated colour theme.

The easiest way to make me dirty was to simply cover myself in mud. In the plot Lola has escaped in this muddy setting so to make it realistic she would have struggled around in the mud. She would also have gotten grazed or bloody whilst escaping so we used tomato ketchup on my clothes and hands to act as blood. We used tomato ketchup as it a vivid red against the dull setting and tones of my clothing. The blood could imply a violent struggle to the audience and keeps them guessing what has happened.

These pictures of the location were taken before filming; we took them when it was dark to show the eerie feel that is created. We wanted an eerie setting as Thrillers are tense and uncomfortable to watch. However when we uploaded these pictures it was too dark for our project to be filmed as it is barely visible. It is a clear setting with nobody around (apart from some horses which wouldn’t be included in our shots anyway) which adds to the loney, eerie atmosphere.

It’s not a very clear picture but it shows a barn which is the nearest building to where we’ll be filming. It is quite a frightening looking building as it is rusty and run down giving the impression that it isn’t looked after. Thriller films often use run down or empty places as they’re deserted and don’t attract people’s attention. As it will be visible in our film it gives the audience a place to link to with Lola being captured and believe that Lola was captured in this building. However because it’s not accessible to us we weren’t actually able to film the flash back from inside the barn, plus lighting might not have been efficient.  

This is another barn that will be included in our shots adding to the rural features of the location. This barn looks less ran down that the other one and therefore doesn’t look as creepy. Because of this we chose to include a closer view of the other barn so that the audience could link to this one more.

Shots

This is the list of shots we've planned on using when filming our project, we wanted to decide before hand so we knew what we were doing at the time of filming and therefore wouldn't waste time. As we have two settings we decided to film all of the clips for one setting at the same time, this would help us to avoid any errors regarding continuity by weather, lighting and match-on-action.

Outside shots:

 Begin with an establishing shot of the location, including track, hill and fields. This introduces the audience to the scene and shows that it’s in a rural, quiet place unlike a busy city.
Continue into a long shot following Lola walking towards the camera, the camera should be stationary. This long shot gives the audience the chance to study Lola’s appearance by her clothing and her movement. We will use this one shot of Lola walking forward and then edit flashbacks into it as this will keep continuity and match-on-action.
When Lola has fallen on the floor use a close up (/mid-shot as she rocks backwards) on her face to give the audience a clear view of Lola’s facial expressions this should help provoke them to judge or predict what has happened to her and what will happen in the film.

Flash back shots:

A close, long shot of Lola on the floor showing that she’s struggling to get free. The long shot shows gives a whole body shot of Lola so that the audience can establish that she’s got her arms and legs bound. This gets the audience think about how she has got there and why. It needs to be quite close to Lola so that the audience can focus on her and not so much her surroundings.

A mid shot of Lola by the door as she realises that she’s trapped. The audience will get a closer view of Lola’s facial expression and will also get a clearer look at her clothing. The audience are given the chance to study her appearance and her weak condition.

A high angle shot from behind, above Lola whilst she’s curled up on the floor, this makes her look vulnerable plus it will be like the audience are looking over her themselves. They are given a clear shot of hands bound together so can summarise that she’s there against her will.

Another long shot of Lola on the ground similar to the first one but this time she is moving a lot more showing her desperation to escape.

Another high angle shot of Lola but this time from in front of her whilst she’s unconscious. The audience will notice that she’s unconscious and will provoke them to feel pitiful towards her and question why she’s unconscious, who’s put her there, what have they done and why have they done this to her?

A long shot of Lola sitting up to show her slow, drowsy movement. Again this will need to be quite close up to make the audience focus on Lola.

An extreme close up of Lola’s eyes as she wakes up and takes in her surrounding. As she doesn’t know where she is her eyes begin to dart around exaggerating her panic. The audience will pick up on this and will again feel sorry for her. The audience will also notice her black, beaten eyes and messy hair and will make assumptions that she’s been beaten.

Mis-en-scene

Our aim was to create an eerie, dark scene which had an aire of mystery. In order to achieve this, we decided to film on a day with a little sunshine, so that we could still have a clear picture, but on a day with a little cloud so there was not too much colour. Typically thriller films have very de-saturated colouring so we wanted to show this as much as possible, we also edited it to make the colours greyer.

We picked a windy day to film so that our actress' hair would blow in the wind. Wind adds to the mood because it makes it seem colder, coldness is associated with unhappiness and fear. It also adds to the aire of mystery.

Editing Process

The editing process started off quite easy, we knew what we wanted to achieve. As we progressed it became much more difficult - the software we used was very temperemental, it was very slow and kept crashing. We also had difficlty finding the tools we needed on the programme. In places we wanted more lighting than we've achieved, but we couldn't find a tool that did enough without losing quality. We also would've liked to make the film look to be of a higher quality, the picture quality isn't great and the zoom on the camera does not allow you to zoom gradually so it would've been good if we could edit that. We edited our film as best we could and we think it works quite well, considering this is only the second time we've filmed and edited.

Storyboard

Review so far

Review of the project so far

Our original plot involved Lola Gray actually being kidnapped and focused on her being captured and tied up. When coming to film, using the altered script, it seemed to work well, however when we later reviewed the film we couldn’t match the clips and we felt the acting wasn’t satisfactory. Therefore we decided to further alter the plot, choose a different actress and change the setting.

            Changing the setting was mainly due to it being more available for our use and it fitted in well with our new plot. As the majority of the opening would have to be filmed outdoors we decided to choose somewhere rural quiet where there wouldn’t be other people around. We chose a muddy lane behind some houses, this gave a rural effect but also showed that the location had civilisation as the plot involves Lola living outside of London.

We changed the plot to focus on the character’s escape and to use flashbacks of the character being captured, this lets the audience get an insight of Lola’s thoughts- emphasising the psychological element of our genre. Another adaptation to our plot was Lola having schizophrenia. Now the whole plot is based around Lola’s mental battle between her past and the present. The film would be from the view of Lola and would show what she’s imagining and believing to be true rather than what is happening in reality.

It was difficult trying to find someone suitable for acting in our film as we didn’t want to experience the same thing twice and to have to start from the beginning again. Ultimately we weren’t able to find anyone who wasn’t in our group and as we were restricted on time we chose to use Alice to play the part of Lola.

With the script we wanted to have something which allowed the actress to be flexible and improvise since we had difficulties trying to stick to the script when previously filming. For that reason we decided to use a basic script which included the key elements, like the movement of Lola and what shots we would use.

           

Research

Schizophrenia- A person diagnosed with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations (most commonly hearing voices), delusions (often bizarre or persecutory in nature), and disorganized thinking and speech. The latter may range from loss of train of thought, to sentences only loosely connected in meaning, to incoherence known as word salad in severe cases. Social withdrawal, sloppiness of dress and hygiene, and loss of motivation and judgement are all common in schizophrenia. There is often an observable pattern of emotional difficulty, for example lack of responsiveness. Impairment in social cognition is associated with schizophrenia, as are symptoms of paranoia; social isolation commonly occurs. In one uncommon subtype, the person may be largely mute, remain motionless in bizarre postures, or exhibit purposeless agitation, all signs of catatonia. Late adolescence and early adulthood are peak periods for the onset of schizophrenia, critical years in a young adult's social and vocational development.

Child abandonment-Child abandonment is considered to be the leaving of a child on his or her own without any intention of returning to ensure their safety and well being. It is something that is considered to be among the most serious of offences a parent can commit in relation to their child. Child abandonment is normally discovered if a child or children are left alone for a long period of time and are observed to be behaving in a manner not normally befitting of their behaviour. This may include the children wandering around the area in which they live at peculiar times, asking others as to the whereabouts of their parent or indeed – as is often the case – children misbehaving or causing trouble in order to seek attention.

homelessness- Causes of homelessness: Poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence,  mental disorder, disability, lack of accessible healthcare. 

 drug/substance abuse-Depending on the actual compound, drug abuse including alcohol may lead to health problems, social problems, morbidity, injuries, unprotected sex, violence, deaths, motor vehicle accidents, homicides, suicides, physical dependence or psychological addiction. Drug abuse, including alcohol and prescription drugs can induce symptomatology which resembles mental illness. This can occur both in the intoxicated state and also during thewithdrawal state. In some cases these substance induced psychiatric disorders can persist long after detoxification, such as prolonged psychosis or depression after amphetamine or cocaine abuse. A protracted withdrawal syndrome can also occur with symptoms persisting for months after cessation of use. Benzodiazepines are the most notable drug for inducing prolonged withdrawal effects with symptoms sometimes persisting for years after cessation of use. Abuse of hallucinogens can trigger delusional and other psychotic phenomena long after cessation of use and cannabis may trigger panic attacks during intoxication and with use it may cause a state similar to dysthymia. Severe anxiety and depression are commonly induced by sustained alcohol abuse which in most cases abates with prolonged abstinence. Even moderate alcohol sustained use may increase anxiety and depression levels in some individuals. In most cases these drug induced psychiatric disorders fade away with prolonged abstinence.

Final Script

There isn't any speech or diagetic sound in our opening so our script is all stage directions:

Location: muddy track with bleak weather, houses in the distance to indicate civilisation. Very rural, fields and lots of greenery to show the contrast of a city-like setting. The track needs to be fairly long so the build up of Lola walking towards the camera can be done gradually. There will need to be a hill so that Lola is hidden from sight at the very start of the film and then appears over it onto the track.

Location of flashbacks: dark, cluttered garage or lower ground room where there is a locked wooden (but sturdy) door. Ground space for Lola to move around is needed as she stuggles to escape.

Quote: "Life is pleasant, death is peaceful, it's the transition that's troublesome." - Isaac Asmitov. Black background with white writing in Times New Roman Font, filling most of the screen.

Begins with an establishing shot of the location where Lola is introduced by stumbling down the hill. It continues into a long shot where Lola begins to stagger, whilst clutching chest, towards the camera. This shot of Lola is from quite a distance so it takes a while for Lola to get closer to the camera. This shot follows Lola for a little while until there is a flash back;

Lola is tied up in a dark enviroment. There is an long shot of her struggling to get free.

Then return to the long shot of Lola staggering down the track as she gradually gets closer to the camera. Lola should be walking with difficulty, sometimes looking around to check she is not being followed. Then another flashback:

Mid-shot of Lola panicking as she tries to escape by the door.

Return back to long shot of Lola staggering down the track, again slightly closer than the previous long shot down the track. Another flashback:

High-angle shot of Lola, curled up on the floor from behind so that you can see her hands tied up behind her back. Back to long-shot of Lola staggering down the track until she is about 200 meters away from the camera where she trips clumsily and falls onto the floor. Flashback:

Lola struggles on the floor due being tied up, long shot. Goes back to the long-shot of Lola sitting on the ground. She begins to rock steadily backwards and forwards and pulls her knees up to her torso. She the hugs and rubs her knees in a distressed manner. Changes to a close up of Lola from infront of her as she continues rocking, focusing on her face to show her distressed emotions. Flashback:

High-angle shot from the front of Lola while she is tied up, lying on the floor. No movement as she is supposedly unconcious. Goes back to close-up of Lola rocking, continues for a few seconds then another flashback:

Long-shot of Lola is sitting up, with her hands bound together still. She looks around. Return to close-up of Lola rocking. Then there is a black screen which is held for a second then a flshback:

close up of Lola's face and extreme close up of Lola's eyes as she wakes up from being unconcious. Eyes dart around as she takes in her enviroment and panics. Returns to close-up of Lola rocking and after a few seconds she hangs her head then followed by another black screen, held for a second which leads into the quote that is there for seven seconds. Then there is a final shot of Lola sharing into the distance where you are given a clear shot of her face. Finishes with a black screen that continues for six seconds until the end of the film.

-End-

Changes to Script

 Script/ Stage Directions
During the research of the sub-genre we discovered changes we can make to comply with the genre better. We can instead use first person narrative of the obsessed man so the audience have an incite into his mind and how he thinks. This will show him as a solitary figure which is a convention of the genre, it will also pose the question: is the narrator reliable? This will add to the psychological element.

New Draft:

Starts with black screen  

Narrator: Lola Gray. A beautiful model. A beautiful mess. I watched her you know?  I was always watching her. She had no idea who I was. She didn't know I was there. She didn't care I was there. It had to be done.

Sound of heart beat fades in, black screen fades out to show an extreme close-up of Lola’s eyes. Her eyes are shut, then when open the camera flicks to a point of view shot which is blurry and out of focus. When the shot comes into focus it then changes to a shot of Lola’s eyes which then become panicked and glance around quickly. The camera then slowly moves out to get a close-up of her face which is when the name of the actress is shown. It continues to move out until it eventually becomes a wide shot of Lola tied up. This is at a slightly higher angle as it is from above.

Narrator: She looked so beautiful. She shouldn't have been that way. She shouldn't have done those things.

Lola: (muffled scream) She struggles with the rope binding her hands. It shows a cut-in of her hands struggling until they finally become free. It then goes back to a wide shot and she removes the gag.

         (Heavy breathing)

She staggers to stand up, leans against the wall for support. When she stands up she looks around. Switches to a point of view shot scanning the room. It focuses on the window, and the table. It goes back to a wide shot of Lola and the room, she clumsily walks towards the window which she then tries to open the window, which takes great effort as she is weak from malnutrition. When the window is open she glances outside, it flicks to a point of view of outside the window then back to wide shot.

Narrator: She didn't want to go. I know she didn't. She didn't want it any more.

Lola then clumsily walks over to the table and drags it over to the window, again it takes a lot of effort. Once the table is placed in front of the window Lola clambers on to it and escapes through the window.

Once outside it continues as a long shot of Lola whilst she flees. At one point it changes to a point of view shot of her feet running, using a hand held shot. It then goes back to her eventually escaping the scene.

Narrator: I just let her run.

Plot Change

After we filmed our opening, we started to edit it and we realised our clips didn't fit together well. We'd used too many shots and angles which made it hard to make the continuity right. As we were filming, the sun also went down affecting the continuity. So we decided to film again. We decided to make it a bit simpler and use less shots

New Plot: 

Lola Gray is a 17 year old girl from London, England. She had a very troubled childhood; her mother abandoned her after she was born and for as long as she can remember her father has been kidnapping and abusing young women. He would keep them in an abandoned building, Lola would hear the screams as she waited in the car.

After years of neglect and mistreatment, Lola turned to drugs to deal with the pain, this lead to severe schizophrenia. She thinks she was kidnapped and tortured. 

The film is about Lola Gray's battle with her mind and reality. The audience see's a traumatic journey from the victim's perspective. 

Script

Initial Script/ Stage Directions
This is our first draft for our script. This is how we imagine our film to go. We realise that during the filming process there will be some improvisation from the actress and things may work a little better so we'll make some changes. We plan to add non-diegetic sound as this was in our feedback from our preliminary task and this is also one of the conventions of the thriller genre.

Starts with a black screen with news bulletin about model disappearance:

News reporter: British police are anxious to find world renowned model, Lola Gray. She was last reported seen five days ago at a party in London. Police urge anyone with possible information about her disappearance to come forward as soon as possible. Family and friends know little… (Fades out, title of film is shown.)

Sound of heart beat fades in, black screen fades out to show an extreme close-up of Lola’s eyes. Her eyes are shut, then when open the camera flicks to a point of view shot which is blurry and out of focus. When the shot comes into focus it then changes to a shot of Lola’s eyes which then become panicked and glance around quickly. The camera then slowly moves out to get a close-up of her face which is when the name of the actress is shown. It continues to move out until it eventually becomes a wide shot of Lola tied up. This is at a slightly higher angle as it is from above.

Lola: (muffled scream) She struggles with the rope binding her hands. It shows a cut-in of her hands struggling until they finally become free. It then goes back to a wide shot and she removes the gag.

         (Heavy breathing)

She staggers to stand up, leans against the wall for support. When she stands up she looks around. Switches to a point of view shot scanning the room. It focuses on the window, and the table. It goes back to a wide shot of Lola and the room, she clumsily walks towards the window which she then tries to open the window, which takes great effort as she is weak from malnutrition. When the window is open she glances outside, it flicks to a point of view of outside the window then back to wide shot.

Lola then clumsily walks over to the table and drags it over to the window, again it takes a lot of effort. Once the table is placed in front of the window Lola clambers on to it and escapes through the window.

Once outside it continues as a long shot of Lola whilst she flees. At one point it changes to a point of view shot of her feet running, using a hand held shot. It then goes back to her eventually escaping the scene.