Location and costume research

Research - Location, Costume And Film Trailer Influences:

Last weekend, our group met up at Porcester Library to create the storyboard for our film which will help us work out which shot we will be using and when. See storyboard blog for fuller detail.

Location:

We then went to Dammy's house to check if it was suitable for our filming. When we got there, we realised that there was a problem with not having a bathroom downstairs which was required for many of the shots. Another obstacle was that the mirror was not right in front of the sink in the bathroom. Not least, it would be quite far to travel back and forth for filming. Consequently, we decided to change location, selecting Legjenda's house which was much more conveniently located and therefore was much closer for travelling purposes. There was much more space to deploy different camera angles and the stairs leading up to a bedroom were in a position we could use to our advantage to film different shots. The mirror was in front on the sink which was essential for the camera not to be seen. Lastly, for our exterior shots, the area would be relatively quiet at night.

Costume:

The costume design for the one female role was crucial to establish her character in an economical way appropriate for a short sequence. In the exterior shots, Legjenda will wear trousers with a black coat and scarf, together with high heeled shoes which will be worn to make a clicking noise while walking. This gives us the potential to diegetically enhance the sound of her steps to add a sinister effect. For the interior shots in her house, Legjenda will be wearing pink pyjamas, which will make the scene more realistic and therefore add to the ominous impact of the supernatural effects.

Research Influences - Mirrors Trailer:












In the trailer for the film Mirrors, there is a moment at approximately 33 seconds into it where the camera swiftly moves forwards into the darkness. This shot is quite similar to the one we use in our supernatural thriller where the scary, supernatural Legjenda, the reflection of Legjenda from the mirror, walks up the stairs in the dark. Although our idea was inspired by Mirrors, we made it our own by having the camera move up the stairs instead of straight along. Another difference is that our film Beyond Reflection is a bit darker in mood, in keeping with the sense of foreboding of the supernatural genre.

A key moment of our narrative arose from our idea of having the charater Legjenda's reflection still in the mirror after she has gone away. I think in Beyond Reflection, this effect works very well. However, were we to film it again, I feel it would have looked more supernatural if the audience could see a bit of the shoulder moving away in order to make it look more realistic.

Costume

The selection of high heels was important, so that when recording outside the audience can hear the female character Legjenda's steps as she walks. This was also a consideration in our choice to record the footage in a quiet location where sounds echoe more at night. The sound of footfall is also a conventional audio device that helps augment a suspicious, menacing mood, as it is stereotypically associated with the fear of being followed, particularly when the footsteps are heard to speed up suggesting panic.

I also chose for the character Legjenda to wear a coat with a scarf so the audience would also know the wintry season and would be able to imagine how it would feel to be in her position feeling the cold and being eager escape the dark streets to get to the safe warmth of her home. The adds to the effect of the way this expectation is then subverted.



The other following pieces

of the costume we chose because
they look smart and shows that
she has come from college so it
gives the audience an idea of her
lifestyle.

Also with regard to
some of these items the
contemporary audience of
reception will be able to identify
with the protagonist because
the items were recently
purchased in the shops of
London and are quite popular
with females of the protagonist's
age group.

This style and dress also has the
advantage of representing the
urban capital of London as
a location where statistically
people are less safe on the streets. 

 Legjenda's slightly glamorous
handbag contrasts with the look
of a more traditional college
bag and also connotes her
vulnerability as a female walking
alone at night.
This adds to the irony that it
is within her home, traditionally
connoting safety, that she finds
herself at risk.

Costume

I decided to choose this type of pyjamas for the character Legjenda. It gives her a youthful look nothing too smart or grownup. The sweet, child-like image and colour pink connnote her innocence and vulnerability. Also this type of costume would be more readily identified with by our target audience as we are aiming primarily at the 16-24s age group.

"Logo"

Logo:



After discussing whether it would be beneficial to have a logo which represented our initials as a group, we thought of the logo L.I.D. as in addition, this was a play on words. However after deciding that it was too ordinary for our brand identity, we sought a more unique, sophisticated logo which would make our film stand out as a professionally created product.

We decided on the words Liquid Space as it not only linked iconographically to our film via the moon, the image also conformed to the conventions of the supernatural thriller genre and therefore would be effective in setting the tone of the film.

Before creating our final draft, we researched different high production value institutional logos such as 20th Century Fox and Pixar in order to understand how to produce one to a professional standard. logos The indication we gained from viewing a series of prestigious logos was that they all conformed to the concept type of films and genre each institution was recognised for producing.

We designed our logo to be based within outer space with the moon in the background and the letters Liquid Space placed over it at an oblique angle to suggest something that would be out of the ordinary. Whilst creating the logo, we decided to deploy a Bubble font script and produced the actual logo on Photoshop.

To further improve our logo, we intend to produce a moving image using the program Final Cut to feature as part of the presentation of our logo at the beginning of the film.

Moving Image Logo with Sound:

(see appendix )

When establishing the supernatural thriller theme, we thought about conveying the genre of the supernatural within our logo. As seen in this clip, we composed a soundtrack that enhanced the supernatural atmosphere. We created this track in the programme Garageband and made the score sound eerie and unnerving in order to create an atmosphere of suspense and drama which also goes with the conventions of having a supernatural thriller. I tried to use music that would evoke a sense of unease, so it would add to the suspense of Beyond Reflection. I think this illustrates the extent to which music plays an important part in reinforcing the genre.

I also designed the logo image to be in space with the words Liquid Space, a name on which we decided as it stood out and was unique. In terms of the font we used Bubble. In creating the logo I initially encountered problems with using the program Live Type because it didn't have the various fonts I wanted to deploy in our logo. Consequently, I opted to use the program Flash, which enabled us to create our logo the way we wanted.

Script

Beyond Reflection


EXT Outside the house – Night

LS-Establishing shot of Legjenda walking through the gates towards the door it is very dark and quite all you can hear are her shoes. She is cold and tired, walking slowly.

Cut to

Close up of the full moon

INT Inside Legjenda’s bathroom

CU- Legjenda brushing her teeth side on, her reflection shows in the mirror, the bathroom light is on. She is wearing her pyjamas.

Cut to

Point of view shot- Wrist watch showing midnight. Still hearing her brushing her teeth.

Cut to

MS- Legjenda rinsing her mouth as she goes down the reflection stays in the mirror. Still hearing the water running.

Tracking- Legjenda leaving the bathroom and walking up the stairs into the corridor going to open her bedroom door, no lights are on.

Match on action

Legjenda opening the door into her room only the lamp is on.

Panning

She walks to her bed and lies down putting the duvet over her closing her eyes. Pause for a few seconds on her face.

Quick zoom out

Tracking out the room, into the corridor, downstairs and into the bathroom where the light is still on.

MS- Mirror where the reflection of the girl is still there. The reflection starts coming out the mirror, into the camera.

Black out

MS- Reflection walking out of the camera

Panning to the stairs

Cut

LS- High angle first landing of the reflection walking up the stairs past the camera.

Cut

LS- Top of the stairs of reflection into the corridor.

Cut

LS- Next to the front door of reflection going into Legjenda’s bedroom stopping at the door.

Quick Cut

To legjenda’s face, she opens her eyes and looks around, the lamp is still on.

Swift shift to the left

Quick zoom into the lamp

Fade in

The full moon

Location

Planning of Location:

The is the location that we used
to record our exterior shots.
We chose this location because
it is a stereotypical suburban
setting of modern built
apartment flats and was quiet
during the day to enable us to
be time efficient in filming and,
importantly, met our need that
it would be quiet so the audience
would distinctly hear the character
Legjenda's solitary footsteps,
which would contribute to
creating a mysterious atmosphere.

Pitch

Titles and Promotion:
We decided to call our supernatural thriller opening Beyond Reflection because the concept is strongly connected to the film's theme and action. Our one-line sales pitch is: It's a normal wind-down evening until the moon comes out and her reflection comes alive and our tagline is Who can you tell when your own reflection is out to get you. This tagline reinforces the genre and gives a hint of what the film could be about.

Brief Synopsis:
The narrative is based on the premise that at midnight, when it is a full moon, if someone looks in the mirror, their reflection comes alive and tries to replace them, trapping them in turn in the mirror.

Location:
We chose to film our sequence in Legjenda's house as it was convenient and was suitable to create a sense of realism. Additionally, the lighting was suitable for creating the right atmosphere and, in the case of the bedroom lamp, suitable for using in creating the special effect in the dissolve shot to an image of the moon. For the exterior shots, the area was not too noisy and would not therefore be likely to interfere with or delay our filming. Significantly, we will be filming at night, in keeping with the conventions of the supernatural thriller genre and adding to the mood of fear and horror.

Target Audience:
We have chosen to aim this at 15 to 24 years olds as statistics show they go to the cinema more often and are also most likely to watch a supernatural thriller, which is why we have given it a rating of 15.

Fuller Outline of the Opening Sequence:
We start off seeing the the character walking home at night, when she gets home, she's getting ready for bed; brushing her teeth whilst looking in the mirror, there is then a cut to her watch which shows it's midnight, using an eye-line match, when she goes down to rinse out her mouth the reflection remains in the mirror, this is unnoticed by the character, by doing this it creates dramatic irony and reinforces the genre. The character is followed as she goes to bed upstairs, suddenly the camera quickly zooms out, goes back down the stairs, to the bathroom mirror. We the see the reflection coming out the mirror, appearing as if it had walked through the camera, this involves the audience and puts them in the action. The reflection then goes back upstairs into her room. As the reflection opens the door the character opens her eyes and we go from close up from and aerial shot to a quick shift zooming into the lamp besides her, which then fades into the moon. There are cuts to the full moon throughout the extract signifying it's importance.

Influences:
We were inspired by a range of supernatural thriller films. In particular, we were fascinated by the film Mirrors, which uses mirrors to inflict pain onto people. In addition, a scene from The Ring 2, where the little boy is looking in the mirror, taking photographs, which only he can see the other female character in was a source of stimulating ideas. Both these films exploit the conventions of the supernatural thriller genre and by using ideas these two films in particular, we were able to produce our own ideas and interpretations which would be practical for us in making our film.