My Pitch
A boy who is trying to get away from his over obsessive ex-girlfriend gets stalked as he enters a new relationship. The film will begin with the main character out for a walk with his new girlfriend late in the evening. As they kiss, hug, do as teenagers do in relationships, the ex-girlfriend pops up out of focus. She begins to follow them, getting between them and making the boy paranoid. The current girlfriend, unaware of what he can see suspects that he is still hung up on his ex and starts to get annoyed. The climax would be that he snaps at his current girlfriend, turning around and seeing his ex's face on hers. Afraid, he breaks down and the movie will continue from the beginning, how he met his ex and how she turned obsessive, perhaps adding an element of the supernatural as her motivation for stalking him.
Group Pitch
The year is 2018; a young man going by the alias "Jack the Ripper" is terrozing the students of Whitechapel, brutally murdering them and leaving their bodies on display for the general public to see, whether its in a park, street or the school itself. Jack is consistently finding victims to kill, and the police are frantically trying the culprit, to what the media are calling the "Ripper Murders". With the general publics paranoia becoming more and more evident, and Jack growing more confident, the local police force is tasked with finding the Ripper and removing him from causing more harm...
Logline
In an alternative universe, Jack the Ripper plagues a local school, butchering students in a grisly fashion and leaving the bodies on display on the streets of London.
Target Audience
The target audience of our film, will be older teenagers (15 and over) and young adults, mostly because its a gory, violent film which would not be suitable for younger children, and the level of violence would probably dissuade older people from enjoying it. Also, with the type of characters we plan to include being teenagers and the setting being in a school, the target audience will be those who can still relate to them. Therefore, I believe that our target audience would typically be 18-27.
Genre
Our film is a gore-horror, which means that there will be a lot of violence, blood and gore to scare the audience. This was a good choice, because it reflects the history of the Ripper murders, and it helps the film conote feelings of fear, disturbia and paranoia.
Survey
Questionnaire Analysis:
In our questionnaire, we came to the conclusion that the majority of people who liked horror films were generally teenagers and young adults. An example of how we know this, is that students such as Antonio and Osman (both teenagers) enjoyed horror films more because of the gore and violence; Antonio states that when it comes to horror films, that the violence is his favorite part because it scares him (in a good way.) However, it seems that young adults such as Miss Horton, Miss Hingston and Miss Salts like horror more for the suspense and mystery, which builds up into a jumpscare; or as Miss Hingston puts it - "Thats the best part".
Our survey also taught us that most adults who watch horror films, often side with the victims, mainly because its relatable to what they would do; in comparison, we learnt that some of the students sided with the killer, mostly because they feel that the victims deserved their fate by trespassing or being morally wrong in some cases. The idea that we side with the victims is a common sterotype within the horror genre, and by finding out that many people actually side with characters such as Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th).
When it came to our film, we were pleased to find out that a majority of the people we asked, said that they would happily watch our film citing that the idea of Jack the Ripper in a modern day setting, sounds orignal, unique and interesting.
In our questionnaire, we came to the conclusion that the majority of people who liked horror films were generally teenagers and young adults. An example of how we know this, is that students such as Antonio and Osman (both teenagers) enjoyed horror films more because of the gore and violence; Antonio states that when it comes to horror films, that the violence is his favorite part because it scares him (in a good way.) However, it seems that young adults such as Miss Horton, Miss Hingston and Miss Salts like horror more for the suspense and mystery, which builds up into a jumpscare; or as Miss Hingston puts it - "Thats the best part".
Our survey also taught us that most adults who watch horror films, often side with the victims, mainly because its relatable to what they would do; in comparison, we learnt that some of the students sided with the killer, mostly because they feel that the victims deserved their fate by trespassing or being morally wrong in some cases. The idea that we side with the victims is a common sterotype within the horror genre, and by finding out that many people actually side with characters such as Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th).
When it came to our film, we were pleased to find out that a majority of the people we asked, said that they would happily watch our film citing that the idea of Jack the Ripper in a modern day setting, sounds orignal, unique and interesting.
Online Survey
We asked several people to complete an online survey which we sent out via email to as many people as we could to get a wide range of results. This are the results:
Survey Analysis:
From this survey, we learnt a lot about who our target audience might be for our movie and what they might want in a horror movie. In question two, we asked people what their favourite genre of movie is to get a feel for the type of movies these people enjoy, which would influence their choices as they might not like horror movies so much and might be creeped out by certain elements that people who do like horror movies wouldn't be bothered by so much. Horror is, unfortunately one of the lowest voted for genres, with only one person saying its their favourite. As for what scares people most in movies, it seems anything unknown or jumpy, like jump cuts, it the run away answer. Question 4 had very varied answers when we asked for favourite horror movies, ranging from newer gore-fest type movies like Saw to classic like Psycho to lesser known ones like Wait until Dark.
We also got very varied answers about what people enjoy in a horror opening with action, a good story/ back story and music coming up more than once, while for the question 7, the answers were completely split, 50% for a slow paced opening and 50% a fast paced one. For our movie, I think it would be better for a fast paced opening as there are going to be a lot of killing straight off the bat.
To gain an even better understanding of what horror movies people enjoy, we asked what sub genres they liked, with psychological horror coming up the most, which links into people liking the anticipation and unseen in a scene, rather than getting straight up gore or body horror.
Flashbacks and Chronological order got the same amount of votes, which happen to be almost exactly the opposite of each other, but we would start with a flashback and continue in Chronological order to keep it mostly simple, but add in what people want. Similar to this question, the third has two favourite answers, forests/wilderness and abandoned buildings which prove to us that people like isolation and fear built around that in a horror movie. This may work for our movie as long as we find an area that is close to the school we plan to use for our movie.
Camera Shots
These are some conventional camera shots that we have studied and will utilize in our film opening
Point of view shot (POV)
I like this shot as it puts you in the characters position and gives the audience a sense of reality as they are watching the movie from the characters perspective. I would like to use this shot in my movie to put the audience in the killers position when he is in the act of murdering. I feel this will be good for my movie as it will intrigue the audience and it is a good shot to use to make the murder scene more dramatic. I got this shot from the film halloween and really liked the way the directer used it and it has inspired me to use it in my film opening. |
Dutch angle
Dutch angle also known as a tilted shot is when the camera is slanted to one side. Dutch angle is normally used to create tension and also suspense. The use of the camera slanting shows that something is about to happen, normally it builds up tension and even though you have an idea of what will happen it will still cause some sort of surprise, my idea is to use a dutch angle in my film to create tension and build up some suspense. |
Close ups
I like this shot as it can show the audience a lot of detail about one specific thing this shot is traditionally used to either show a characters facial expression or an important object in the film, and the close up emphasises its importance. In my film i want to use this specific shot to show the murder weapon, i feel this will be good because it will add emphasis and importance to the weapon. The film "the Conjuring" is where i was inspired to use a close up, although in the film they use it to show a doll, whereas in my film i intend to use the shot for the murder weapon. |
Long shot
Long shots are used to show the whole picture in the scene for example showing the setting or a whole figure of the character. I would like to use this shot in my film to show she setting of my film, so i can get the whole surroundings into one shot. Again i was inspired to use this shot from the movie Halloween, i like the way the long shot shows not only a full image of the main character but it also includes the background setting. |
Panning shot
I like this shot as it can be used in different ways, one way panning shots can be used affectively is to set the whole scene as the shot uses the camera to move, so a panning shot would be perfect to get the whole view of the setting. Another way that panning shots can be used especially in horror films is to show a character being followed or watched. In my film i am thinking of using a panning shot to set the scene and show the whole setting. The film scream is where i got the idea of this shot from, as seen in the image a panning shot is used to show the setting, and this is what i want to do in my film. |
Lighting Research
Low Key Lighting
The lower the key light, the more shadowy the effect. The shadows created by low key lighting work well in mysteries and horror films; such lighting has become a convention of those genres. In our film, low key lighting will be utilised a lot, in order to create the dramatic, eerie atmosphere that we are trying to create within our film opening. An example of this, would be in scene 4, with the dark alleyway; the shadowy location will naturally have low key lighting, and as a result conjure the type of fear factor me and my group are trying to replicate. |
Backlighting
The process of illuminating a subject from the background; it essentially lights the foreground up through the background. This creates a glowing effect on the edges of the subject, while other areas are darker. The backlight can be a natural or artificial light. In our film, we will use backlighting a lot, to help make "Jack" look more intimidating in the shadows and during specific scenes. |
Draft StoryBoard
Script
Locations
Scene 1
We have chosen this location because it fits perfectly with what is going to happen. A teenage girl walks through the park on the phone. She is completely oblivious to as to what is going to happen to her. She was talking about a boy and flicks her hair in a very arrogant way. Jack hides behind a tree and we see a point of view shot of him looking at the victim. She then looks behind and sees nobody ther. She gets paranoid and starts walking in a fast pace. Fear is plastered on her face and she says "I think someone is following m-" She looks back and Jack plunges a knife into her stomach. This location is ideal for this scene as it shows people how Jack could come out of nowhere and how nobody is safe anywhere. We needed a place secluded and quiet and this park is where the job can be done.
Scene 2
As a group, we chose this location mainly based on its dark, eerie setting and the fact that there are mulitple areas in the location that we can shoot angles and shots. In this location, Victim 2 is going to be killed by Jack as he takes a selfie in the darkened park, being stabbed to death. The natural lights from the surrounding area such as streetlights and are useful, because it allows us to film the scenes a bit easier, without having to use torches and other light sources to illuminate the area.
As a group, we chose this location mainly based on its dark, eerie setting and the fact that there are mulitple areas in the location that we can shoot angles and shots. In this location, Victim 2 is going to be killed by Jack as he takes a selfie in the darkened park, being stabbed to death. The natural lights from the surrounding area such as streetlights and are useful, because it allows us to film the scenes a bit easier, without having to use torches and other light sources to illuminate the area.
Scene 3
We have chosen this location because in this scene, there is alot of running and panting. The staircase would be used to increase the panting and it looks a bit old. We needed an on the school set, hence this scene would be shot in school. This would give the audience a fear that Jack targets children in school as well. He could be in the least expected area which is a school and that is why, this locaton is perfect for the scene. The material of the staircase is such that it would make a loud noise if someone were to run on it. Hence, this would help build the anticipation along side the background music. In this scene, the victim's head is bashed on the staiscase and there would be blood everywhere.
We have chosen this location because in this scene, there is alot of running and panting. The staircase would be used to increase the panting and it looks a bit old. We needed an on the school set, hence this scene would be shot in school. This would give the audience a fear that Jack targets children in school as well. He could be in the least expected area which is a school and that is why, this locaton is perfect for the scene. The material of the staircase is such that it would make a loud noise if someone were to run on it. Hence, this would help build the anticipation along side the background music. In this scene, the victim's head is bashed on the staiscase and there would be blood everywhere.
Scene 4
We have chosen this location because we needed a place with a large space with not much noise. In this last scene, Victim 4 is strolling through the alleyway. She is humming a song and is very bubbly. The camera shows the front of her body and you can see Jack far behind walking across. Victim 4 bends down to tie her shoelaces. She then gets back up and turns around. She then see’s Jack and was a bit startled. She brings herself back together and smiles in a very innocent manner. "Oh! Hi there!"Jack punches her and the camera angle shows the point of view of the victim while being punched and then falls to the ground. The Victim groans but starts to wake up. We see the point of view as very blurry as she tries to look around as to where she is. He empties the bottle of alcohol on the victim and she looks around confused and startled. Jack then turns around, lights his matchbox, and throws it over his back. We hear the fire start as the victim starts screaming in a very terrifying way. He then walks off in a very calm manner as though he had not just murdered an innocent young child. The camera angle shows a worm’s eye view of the victim screaming as Jack walks off still being 5 feet away from her. The camera then cuts to Jack being 15 feet away as the girl continues to cry out a bit softer this time.
We have chosen this location because we needed a place with a large space with not much noise. In this last scene, Victim 4 is strolling through the alleyway. She is humming a song and is very bubbly. The camera shows the front of her body and you can see Jack far behind walking across. Victim 4 bends down to tie her shoelaces. She then gets back up and turns around. She then see’s Jack and was a bit startled. She brings herself back together and smiles in a very innocent manner. "Oh! Hi there!"Jack punches her and the camera angle shows the point of view of the victim while being punched and then falls to the ground. The Victim groans but starts to wake up. We see the point of view as very blurry as she tries to look around as to where she is. He empties the bottle of alcohol on the victim and she looks around confused and startled. Jack then turns around, lights his matchbox, and throws it over his back. We hear the fire start as the victim starts screaming in a very terrifying way. He then walks off in a very calm manner as though he had not just murdered an innocent young child. The camera angle shows a worm’s eye view of the victim screaming as Jack walks off still being 5 feet away from her. The camera then cuts to Jack being 15 feet away as the girl continues to cry out a bit softer this time.
Makeup
In addition to costume, the actors will be wearing makeup, for numerous reasons such as:
- Illuminate their face so the camera can see them
- Apply fake injuries via latex (burns, cuts, etc)
- Standing out from the crowd in a film
Primary Makeup
In film, primary makeup is important because it is used to help the camera and lighting equipment fix onto a persons features during filming (eyes, face, etc.). When primary makeup is applied to a persons facial features, it can help illustrate the actors expressions and emotions more visibly. Liquid Latex (SFX Makeup)- As stated above, we are using a lot of gore and violence to further the plot of the film; with liquid latex, we can create the gory cuts, stab wounds and burns by adding liquid latex to the persons skin.
Price= £10.99 |
Secondary Makeup:
While it may be called secondary makeup, it is incredibly important and effective in films, especially within the horror genre. This is becuase it can be incredibly detailed and complex to create, especially things that typically require latex to craft such as cuts, burns etc. An example of sceondary makeup in horror films, is Freddie Kruegers burnt face which was incredibly detailed and required hours of applying each day to make it look perfect. Fake Blood- In our film, we are using a lot of gory special effects; we therefore need fake blood in order to create the violent visual effects in our scenes to conjure the effects we need. An example of this, would be the killing of the first victim, where Jack violently stabs her to death- to add more drama, we can use the fake blood to create an effect of more violence.
Price=£12 |
Props
Rubber Knives- This will be the killers weapon of choice; as such it is going to be included in most of the killing scenes, and is therefore one of the more prominent props on set. In every scene the knife is in, we can assume that Jack is going to hurt someone.
Price= £9.99 |
Lanyard-The purpose of the lanyard is that it signifys each victim that Jack kills; every lanyard that Jack collects is a kill on his list.
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Phones- Will be used for two major kill scenes in the opening, signifys the age of the victims. For the film, we are going to have the actors use their own phones, so we can create a sense of realism.
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Vodka Bottle- Used to create the "burning scene", where Jack burns someone alive. It won't actually have flammable liquid in it, so instead we are going to use a clear liquid (i.e. Water) to replicate the alcoholic Vodka.
Price= £0.00 (not buying alcohol) |
Costume
In our film, costumes play a large role in illustrating the different characters i.e. Jack and the Victims. Villains, tend to wear dark, eerie clothing in order to portray the character as evil, creepy or disturbing, while characters who wear bright, casual clothing can be interpreted as being quite joyful, happy and innocent (especially if they're wearing white). Me and my group, have decided that these are the types of clothes that the characters in our film will wear:
Victim One
Victim one is meant to be a very girly-girl, feminine and self-obsessed, so we want to show this through her clothes. We want her to be wearing a skirt to emphasize her femininity. We also want her in a jacket with a fluffy collar which can indicate that she is a bit pretentious and snobbish, as it has a fancy, almost tacky feel to it. We wanted her hair to be up in a high pony tail as we have noticed in other representations of characters like this, they have this hairstyle, perhaps because the higher it is, it's like they think themselves higher than everyone else. Additionally, it makes her look neat, showing just how clothes and image conscious she is as she always has to look smart/ pretty. She will also be wearing a fair amount of make-up, more so than any of the other characters, to further emphasize these points.
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Victim Three
This character is meant to be a bit of a tomboy, but very laid back so she is going to wear a very baggy hoodie, an old shirt and trackie bottoms. These will take away some of her femininity, the shape of her body, to show her as a more masculine character, a tomboy who would enjoy sport over gossiping. Also, a pair of trainers and a Letterman jacket to look a bit sporty. She will have to have a pair of headphones in as well as we decided she would be face-timing a friend who will end up as a witness when victim three is murdered. Her friend will see the killer walk over the phone ashe takes the victim's lanyard. Make-up wise, she will have very little because she isn't meant to care much about appearance so much. |
Victim Four
Victim four will be wearing school uniform as she is a younger student at Whitechapel school and it will also present this innocence about her as she still has to conform to the school's choice of clothing for her, as well as having her uniform being very neat, to she her as a good student- even out of school, she respects the clothes. As for her hair, she should have it very natural, keeping it appropriate for school and showing that she doesn't care much about her appearance- more about her studies. We want her in a skirt to represent her youthful femininity and tights to show that she is conservative. |
Jack's costume
Ski Mask/Scarf
Hides Jacks face so we cannot see his identity. Represents mystery, danger of the unknowing and fear. Its useful because the real "Jack the Ripper's" identity was a mystery, and by using a mask to cover his face we can follow the mythology of the serial killer |
Black Hoody
Will be Jacks signature attire when he kills his victims, because it allows him to hide his face from both them and the authorities. Furthermore, the fact that its black, implies that he is sneaky, dangerously cunning and helps to imply death is imminent. It also allows for him to blend into the dark areas of our locations when we film our opening scenes. |
Actors/ Character description
Information
Name/Alias: "Jack the Ripper" (Real Name is unknown) Played By: Daniel Role: Antagonist Age: Unknown, possibly mid-late teens. Ethnicity: Unknown (Presumed British) Appearence
Background Information- "Jack" is violent sociopath who will stop at nothing to kill his victims for sport, as a means of self gratification. Angry, resentful and incredibly brutal, the Ripper is a dangerous man to bump into... |
Information
Name: Nikki Jones (Victim 1) Played By: Francesca Barnes-Grundon Role:Victim Age: 17 Ethnicity: White British Appearence
Background Information- Victim 1, is a self obsessed girl who thinks the world revolves around her. She is filled with drama and boys and loves looking at herself. She was the first victim in the opening scene and her obliviousness and stupidity is what gets her killed. |
Information
Name: Peter "Petey" White (Victim 2) Played By: Daniel Donovan Role: Victim Age: 17 Ethnicity:White British Appearence
Background Information- Peter is an arrogant, narcissistic teenager, who is self obsessed and incredbly vain. Careless to the point of stupidity, Peter is an unknowing target of Jack and meets his untimely, gruesome end because of his self absorbed vanity. |
Information
Name: (Victim 3) Played By: Yuden Lama Role: Victim Age: 17 Ethnicity: Asian (Indian) Appearence
Background Information- Victim 3 is a tom-boy; she loves sports and takes that advantage to try and run away from Jack. However, due to her over confidence, she finds herself trapped and ends up getting her head smashed in. |
Soundtrack/Sound effects planning
1) For our a soundtrack, we wanted a slow paced, eerie opening soundtrack that we feel helps accentuate the Jack the Ripper mythology i.e. dark, Gothic music such as church bells, choir singing etc. A good example of this, is from the video game Assassins Creed Syndicate DLC soundtrack - its creepy, eerie and it gradually builds up over time yet retains its inital unnerving rhythm. |
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2) In the first scene when the first victim is walking down the alleyway, she has her headphones in, listening to music, and more specifically, this song, Stan, by Eminem. I feel it reflects the situation well because it's sad, ominous yet is still considered modern music. Furthermore, it can be interpreted as foreshadowing her fate as she is ultimately killed, and in the song, Stan kills his girlfriend and daughter before accidentally killing himself.
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3) The crackling fire sound effects, are useful because they allow us to replicate the sound of a fire crackling and burning without us actually having to set fire to something. Furthermore, its incredibly effective in making the sound of the fire seem louder when we get a close up of Jack's face when he throws the match, which in turn gives it more dramatic effect.
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