Production Meetings

Because I was working independently and not within a group, so therefore I did not have any necessary production meetings as I did not have to discuss the production with anyone else apart from my the people who were acting within my short film. 

Filming Notes - Evaluation of Filming – Major Changes

Whilst filming, major changes actually occurred which impacts my initial idea. When I decided to my filming on the Sunday, I was originally going to do an entire scene outdoors before having the second half of my short film inside my house.

On the Saturday (day before filming), whilst doing my final storyboard, I realised that if I was to film outside it would not only be very difficult (due to the sun setting really early therefore there wouldn’t be much light – not good enough quality) but also wouldn’t represent a horror film or link up to horror conventions.

This is because I would have to film just before sunset, so one convention of low-key lighting would not be met and also because the typical mise-en-scene just didn’t create any real element of fear, as it was not an isolated or particular threatening location. This made me change my mind last minute and decide to do all of my filming indoors, a decision which I do not actually regret.

Another change that occurred during filming is the fact my narrative was no longer going to be based on a doll but instead on an internet supernatural Facebook stalker who uses nursery rhymes to lure people in and eventually kill them. I feel as this would be more effective as it works on the idea of a something very innocent and aimed for children (nursery rhymes) and puts a dark twist on it. The name of the short film would be 'DON'T ACCEPT', linking up to the idea that you should not accept or reply to this internet stalker.

Overall, the actual process of filming was done over different days, this being due to the fact some days certain people couldn’t be available to film whilst others could and realizing that certain props were needed before filming could continue.

This did put me at risk in the sense that my continuation could be potentially off however I made sure that was not the case by looking back at the previous clips to match the mise-en-scene/lighting perfectly.In conclusion, although having major changes, the filming process was actually a brilliantly challenging experience which I enjoyed.

Pitch Feedback

Pitch feedback from magrethxx

Analysis of ‘The Smiling Man’.

Analysis of ‘The Smiling Man’.

The short film opens up to a medium shot of a man walking what is most likely a street. This scene appears to be shot in the night time, I know this because of the low key lighting and the fact that the man is in the only one in ‘light’, this being an example of spotlighting, (the light most coming from a street light). This linking to horror conventions as spotlighting is a lighting technique used in horror frequently, this being effective as because only the character can be seen, it creates a mysterious vibe as we (the audience) are not exposed to anything else (this feeding unto the ‘fear of the unknown’ theory), making us at unease.

A few seconds into the short film and we now hear non diegetic, background music, the background music sounding like dramatic, dark piano music with an eerie feel towards it, this being effective in setting the mood and a way to indicate to the audience that the genre is a horror (by using sound that would automatically make them feel nervous). The camera then cuts to another medium shot, however this time in the scene we see the back of the man – neck down - touching a flower. This is not quite an over the shoulder shot as the camera is located a certain distance away from him, however, the fact that we can see behind him gives off the impression that someone is watching him, or in some cases that we are in fact in the point of view of someone following him. This is effective and links to horror as it feeds unto the huge convention of someone watching the protagonist.

To add on to that, the fact the man is touching red flowers can work as a possible red herring, this being due to the fact that red has connotations of evil, hell and negativity, so this possibly being a way to indicate to the audience that antagonist or negative situation is near, this also linking to horror conventions as all the connotations are basically what horror films are based in.

As the tone of the music gets deeper (this linking to the last point of a red herring. Deeper music = antagonist is near), the editing technique of a fade is used, a fade is effective within horror films because it creates an unsettling feeling as the audience cannot see the full frame of the scene and can basically can only see ‘snippets’. We see the title ‘2AM’. The short film being titled ‘2AM’ is significant itself is because 2 am is clearly very late in the night, just after twelve, this linking to horror and the supernatural due to the ancient legend that between the hours of 12am – 3am is where the evil ‘spirits’ come out. To add on to that, at this time in the night, most people are sleeping and are in the comfort/security of their homes, so the fact that the main character (the man) is out in the streets now puts him in a very vulnerable position, making the audience fear and worry for his safety, this being effective as it increases the fear factor.

The man stops in the middle of the road and here we see the eyeline match when the camera cuts to the next shot, which is a slightly long shot of an odd-looking man dancing and smiling in the middle of the road. In this scene, we hear the synchronous sound of the sound of his feet against the pavement, however it quite loud and appears to slightly echo more than average, this emphasizing the strangeness and abnormality of the situation the man is in. This slightly goes against conventions of short films because of the fact it has not been based on an average every day situation, as it is firstly not a normal thing for most people to be out in the streets at this time and to encounter a man of this kind.

We see reaction shots of the man (the main character not antagonist) who seems to at first find the antagonist’s behaviour not threatening but humorous, which creates a false sense of security (another horror convention) for the audience, as the fact he is unbothered and unaffected by the odd behaviour of the antagonist automatically puts us – as the audience – at ease. This is because, when it comes to films, they tend to offer a vicarious experience, this meaning, the emotions that the main character/protagonist experience we tend to feel as well, as we are living life through their eyes. Providing a false sense of security is a major feature of horror because creating it leads the audience into believing that all is well before attacking or doing someone bad, this being effective as it would be easier to scare them further on in the film.

As time goes on, the man start to realise that this situation is not normal and is clearly making him uncomfortable, this represented by his reaction shots and eventual action code of him starting to walk away, with the use of incidental music occurring in the background. When the guy is walking away, an over the shoulder shot is used to capture that moment, this is effective in increasing the fear factor for the audience as it gives off the vibe that someone is following him (which is true because the antagonist does follow him), and to add on to that, it is also a camera angle convention of horror. The camera pans, following the character whilst he crosses the road, this increasing the vicarious experience that most films hope to achieve, as it is almost like the audience is following the protagonist in his journey.

The use of the incidental, deep based music emphasises and increases the suspenseful atmosphere that has already been created, this being effective in the sense that it really sets the mood for the upcoming scenes. The camera then cuts to a medium shot of the man from behind, the camera panning up, this alone being effective as further on feeds into the idea that someone is following him, this representing the character as very vulnerable. Very soon we see a close up shot of the man turning around to look at something, with an eyeline match revealing in the next shot that it is the antagonist (the ‘Smiling man’) standing at the road in a mannequin like posture, with a creepy, unnatural smile to his face. This works as a jump scene because of the sharp note sound included when the antagonist is revealed again, the sound being effective as it emphasises the antagonist’s arrival and increases the suspense. However, this is not the conventional jump scare scene as nothing actually pops out of the screen, it’s the use of sound that makes it ‘jumpy’, (you could even say that the frightening use of sound juxtaposes with the visuals on the screen as what the antagonist is doing isn’t actually scary at all). I believe this is one of the reasons as to why this short film was so successful as it used abnormal behaviour and going against social norms to frighten and make the audience feel uncomfortable instead of relying on something popping out of the screen screaming.

After seeing a reaction shot back at the protagonist, although clearly alarmed by the antagonist’s behaviour, he appears to get over the incident quite quickly and goes on with his journey. We see in medium shots him walking down the pavement again from behind him, however what stands out in these scenes is that there is selective focus, only the man is in focus in the scene. This is effective in creating fear from the audience as only allowing us to see certain sections of the scene and blurring out the rest not only creates enigma codes (“What is he hiding?”) but also puts us in a vulnerable state as the fact everything is not visible to us means we are easier to attack because we are more unaware of the surroundings in the scene.

The man suspects something suspicious is going on again and after turning around slowly, we see a point of view shot of what he is looking at, this being the man who somehow transported to his side of the road, squatting down. This now introduces the possible paranormal element to the short film, as what the antagonist is doing – although being in a human form – is very near impossible. Long, deep based, ghostly, suspenseful notes are used within this scene to emphasis the danger that is evidently very apparent now. In the reaction shot, we see a medium camera angle of the protagonist staring back at the antagonist, his facial expressions clearly showing emotion of shock and confusion. Furthermore, in this shot, lighting from below is also demonstrated, this creating a distorted representation of his face.

When the camera goes back to the man, we see a long shot of him starting to get up from his squat position in a very spine chilling, odd manner, before starting to approach the protagonist, however his walk being extremely abnormal and unnatural. The sound in this part of the film is a mixture of short sharp notes (these used to shock the audience, evidently because of the antagonist’s unnatural behaviour) and very fast high pitched notes, this making the audience feel immediate tension.

When the antagonist finally reaches a close distance to the protagonist, immediately the protagonist speaks and we hear dialogue for the first time: “What the hell do you want?”. To which the antagonist does not reply to but instead maintains his statue like posture with the creepy smile and oddly turns around – walking away. The camera then cuts to another close up shot of the man, capturing him breathing out, this symbolizing that he is now relieved as he believes that the situation involving the antagonist is now over. This creates a false sense of security as by this point we are slowly converting to a relaxed state of mind, as because of the vicarious experience films offer (whatever the main character feels/experience we also feel and experience) we also assume that the situation is over. This is a technique/convention frequently used in the horror genre as it makes it easier to scare the audience in the long run.

However, we are all clearly deceived as only a few seconds later extremely high pitched, electronic rock music occurs and the camera cuts back to the long shot to reveal the antagonist sprinting down the street to the protagonist. Within this scene, tracking, panning and handheld camera are all used, this is to make us (the audience) feel more a part of the action that is going on, this is helped also by the use of the sound, as the electronic rock music being faced paced replicates the action of both the two characters.

Eventually the man stops running and we see point of view (these camera shots are still hand held therefore creates a sense of verisimilitude/realism) shots off the neighbourhood to see it completely empty, this giving off the impression that the coast is clear and the antagonist is now gone, thus creating yet another false sense of security. However, once again, we as the audience are deceived as the protagonist is quickly face to face with antagonist, this being the closing scene.

Overall, from watching the short horror film, I can see it fit into two major conventions, one convention being the cliff hanger/big twist aspect, because as an audience we didn’t get a full understanding of what occurred after they encountered again and enigma codes were still left unanswered, such as “Who was that man?”, however it also felt like you had watched a full narrative. Another convention that was used within this short film was one concerning characterization. As you are evidently only provided a small duration of time when creating a short film, the producer of this one kept the characters to a minimum and didn’t include much character development, which links to context of the type of media product this is.

Analysis of short film 'Lights Out'

The short film opens up to an establishing shot of what appears to be a housing area, with the title “Lights Out”. The scene is set in what appears to be very late at night, this demonstrated by the low-key, pitch black lighting, the light provided coming from the housing indoors. This automatically links up to typical horror conventions due to the fact that low key lighting is a huge element for this genre (as stereotypically, darkness has connotations of fear and evil thus is effective in setting the mood for horror films as their intention is overall to create an element of fear for the audience). To add on to that, the title of the film “Lights Out” instantly connects to the visuals that we see on the screen, as the lights are literally out. We here diegetic sound of rain, the sound also been synchronous as if you look close enough you will notice that it is actually raining outside.

The camera then cuts to a medium shot of inside a house, in which a woman is coming out what is most likely the bathroom. Costume wise, she appears to be wearing her bedtime outfit, which is clearly a very normal thing to wear. However, what stands out for me in this outfit is the colours, the outfit is all white, which is evidently a light colour. Evidently, the woman is the victim within the media piece, therefore, the use of all white clothing emphasises her innocence, this being because white has connotations of purity, this representing her as vulnerable, which is effective as she is the victim/protagonist. Her outfit alone also juxtaposes heavily with the antagonist and also theme of the short film, as “lights out” clearly is another way to indicate completely darkness, and the antagonist is also a completely black supernatural shadow like figure (till the end where the appearance is actually revealed).

Furthermore, the short film already links up to typical conventions of short films by the narrative, as the plot line is demonstrating an ordinary, everyday situation which will eventually have a twist.

We see the woman walk down her hallway with the use of a long shot and turning the hallway lights, in which she turns around and has the shock realization that a sinister, supernatural shadow figure is standing in the darkness. The fact that the antagonist itself is a shadow automatically links to horror lighting conventions of including prominent and projected shadows, the use of them being to indicate to the audience that the antagonist is near/about to attack!

 The first meeting with the antagonist is exhibited by an over the shoulder shot of the woman, her looking back at the hallway. The use of the over the shoulder shot is effective in creating suspense and fear factor as it gives off the impression that although she is directly facing the actual antagonist, she is also being watched by another person, this almost working as a double threat. Over the shoulder shots are also a convention of horror films for this exact same reason. The next camera shot after this is taken from the opposite direction, within the hallway, facing the woman. This can be seen from two different perspectives, either just simply being a shot within the hallway to demonstrate to the audience that nothing is actually there as the hallway is empty, this being effective as introduces the supernatural factor properly (giving a “now you see me, now you don’t” vibe). On the other hand, this could also be seen as a point of view shot from the antagonist staring back at the woman, this being effective as it putting the audience in the perspective of the antagonist emphasises their power, depicting the woman as even more endangered now as the audience aren’t even there to protect her (as we cannot see things from her side anymore, forced to take the side of the evil entity).

To add on to that, this particular scene also demonstrates spotlighting as the light is directly focussed on the woman (the spotlight is all on her), which is a horror lighting convention and also effective in emphasizing how alone she really is in that house.

The woman turns the light back on and off and each time we see the antagonist’s shadow getting closer and closer with each light switch, ironically, the antagonist only gets closer when the lights are off, this making the visuals and title of the short film link. We see reaction shots of the woman each time the lights go back on to reveal the shadow mysteriously disappear, this linking to the stereotype that people within the horror genre (specifically women) act in a very dim, naïve manner, loosing basic common sense. This is demonstrated in the woman’s behaviour, as instead of leaving an evidently threatening, harmful situation she continues on to put herself in danger even when the antagonist is getting closer to her.

Music wise, the sound is diegetic (so you hear the synchronous sounds of just the light switches), this works well in creating the atmosphere as it the sound is close to silent with the exception of the light switch, it is effective as the silence emphasises how alone she is in her house, highlighting her isolation. This linking to horror as isolation is a narrative/setting convention as it puts the protagonist/victim in a position where it is hard for them to get help because of it.

The sound is like this until the woman switches the light off one more time to see the antagonist directly in front of her, in which we hear typical jump scare music - this being deep based, eerie music, this clearly being another convention of horror films as jump scares are a huge feature. Jump scares tend to effective when a scene beforehand has led up to that moment (creating tension/suspense) which is what has been done and presented within this scene.

The lady then puts duct tape over the light switch to stop it from turning the lights off, before proceeding to go to bed. This is another example of characters within horror films lacking common sense because instead trying to find help and get out of the place which clearly has a dark entity inside, she stays there – putting herself at more risk. To add on the to that, I feel that symbolism has been used within this part of the clip with the use of black duct tape over the white light switch. This is because white evidently has connotations of innocence, this juxtaposing with black, as the colour has connotations of evil. 

To add on to that, duct tape is clearly a very strong tape which is hard to get rid of. How this works as symbolism is that is that the black duct tape represents the antagonist and the white light switch the victim, and how the antagonist is now latched to the woman and it is going to be a challenge to get rid of the villain.

We are then introduced to a medium shot of the woman’s room, in which a table light is provided as a source of light source within this scene, the camera then cuts to a medium shot of the woman in bed evidently trying to get to sleep. Soon after, we are then shown a point of view shot of the door in her room, being slightly open, the light from the hallway being visible. What builds suspense within this scene is the use of sound, we as an audience hear footsteps in the hallway, however the footsteps appear very eerie and unnatural, making the floor creak, this being a way to indicate that the coming of the antagonist. We then see a reaction shot of the woman who is clearly full of unease at the abnormal behaviour, to then we are introduced to an eyeline match of the door again, however this time the light from the hallway turns off. Automatically, this works as a warning sign to the audience as we already know (from the previous scene) that when the light turns off the antagonist is at its most powerful.

Sound is used heavily to create suspense as we hear the footsteps pace dramatically down the hallway, the sound quickly increasing in volume indicating that the antagonist is getting closer and closer. This is effective because as an audience we still cannot see the actual threat character therefore it puts us in a position where we have little power because we are in a position where we are getting intimidated/frightened but cannot see what exactly is causing that emotion. As a response, the woman frantically pulls her bed covers over her in an attempt to hide from the antagonist, within this portion of the scene it is particularly quiet, this increasing the fear factor for the audience because at this point it is very suspenseful and we are expecting something such as a jump scare.

When she eventually takes off the bed covers we see an eyeline match of the door, but this time fully opening and it slightly banging the wall. This is paired with incidental spooky, high pitched music. The woman puts the cover over her head again quickly (as the audience we see this as a reaction shot) before the camera then cuts to a low angle shot of the table lamp dramatically turning on and off, this being paired with deep based, low key, spooky incidental music, appearing to replicate the sound of an earthquake. Within this scene, we witness point of view shots, close up shots from inside her bed (so handheld camera shots) and shots through internal frames (the point of view shot of the plug is done from inside her bed, us seeing the plug from a gap within her covers). This is effective as it creates a feeling of verisimilitude, and we as the audience get to see things from her exact perspective and shoes, this making us feel whatever emotions she is feeling and overall feeding on to the whole idea of films being a vicarious experience. This continues for quite a while before the woman finds the plug and takes out, making it all come to an abrupt halt.

Peace seems to have formed, as this time when the woman comes out from her covers, we see a point of view shot of the door again, this time half closed like before with the light from the hallway being visible. From what it looks like it was all in fact a dream. However, this is a special convention of horror films frequently used called ‘false sense of security’ – a cliché used to lead someone into believing that all is well before attacking or doing someone bad). This is effective because it relaxes the audience and makes them feel all is well, this making it easier to scare them/make an impact later as they would be in a calm state of mind – not expecting this.

The short film clearly acts on this because as soon as the woman looks around and gets comfortable again, she turns around and to see the antagonist next to the lamp in a very threatening, unnatural manner (clearly being non-human) before turning off the lights, this being paired incidental music, working as a jump scare.

Production Schedule

Target Audience feedback

Question 1:

The majority of people who answered this question were female (70%). This actually came as a surprise to me as - looking back at my research - I found out that it is usually males who watch horrors/short films. This is due to the stereotype that men are more thrill seekers. 













Question 2:

The majority of the age groups of people who answered this question ranged from aged 16 – 26, this getting a mathematical average age of 21. However despite this being the average age, I knew that realistically the people who answered the questions from my questionnaire were actually my peers, so the average age was actually 17/18. To add on that, it also linked to the target audience convention for the horror genre as age 18 (a young audience) is the stereotypical target audience for horrors, therefore my target audience feedback fit this demographic. This is because of many stereotypes associated with young people such as them being thrill seekers and a horror film being a first date. This was effective and helped influencing my text on giving me an idea that I may possibly need to change my age certificate, as initially I was going to make it 15, however after seeing the results I considered changing it an 18. However, after looking through the context and plot of my actual movie it made me come to the realization that my short film wouldn’t fit an 18 certificate requirements and standards, therefore, it remained a 15.

Question 3:

I included this question to see if the short film convention that the majority of the people who watch short films are into media/creative arts or either getting into the industry or already a part of it. And surprisingly enough it was true! When looking at the responses, it was clear that the majority of the people were into hobbies that had a creative aspect (reading/writing) to it or directly involved in media such as photography, film and music! Thus, this proving my target audience research to be correct!

Question 4 & 5:

Response – The responses for specifically question four aimed at horror films mainly consisted of just how the film provided an emotional response for the audience, so this being things such as thrill, drama and excitement. I slightly struggled with this, because I know that when doing a short film it is slightly difficult to create character development/an emotional response.

When looking at the responses for short films, however, they were equally quite similar, with the general attraction being towards the narrative and story provided in the short duration of time. This made me realize I have to really make my media product stand out, try and make the most out of the little time I had.

Question 6:

The majority of my respondents (more than 50%) stated they wanted a cliffhanger. This linked up to conventions of short films regardless, as short films tend to include either a dramatic ending or cliff hanger, leaving the audience wanting more. Despite this being a convention, it motivated more to make sure my short film to not be the stereotypical, standard short film with a predictable ending and plot-line. The way I acted upon this way by going to my synopsis and making some changes to the plot-line, by making it more exciting and adding more jump scares/frightening scenes, I knew I had to do this in order to please my audience. To add on to that,  I also searched up very famous short films that did well in the box office, looking at their plot-line to see what made them different, stand out and be so popular as inspiration and an end goal.

Question 7 & 8:

Likewise, the clear audience favourite for what was the most important feature was the narrative/plot. This was beneficial in the sense it simply offered me the motivation to do exceedingly well within my opening sequence.

Shot List

Shot list

1	Shot type: Medium Shot Diegetic sound: Slight sound of possible music through earphones. Synchronous sounds such as birds and cars on road? Non-diegetic sound: None. Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene How would this be effective?: Medium shots are effective because they allow the audience to get a clear view of not only the character but their surroundings and background. This would link to be and be effective in horrors in the sense that it could be used in shot where the antagonist is following the victim/protagonist, whilst they are unaware. This would be effective in developing fear for the audience as it would create a sense of dramatic irony (the audience's knows something going on that the actual character does not), this being effective in creating an emotional reaction as they would have a rushed desire to help them, but would evidently be unable to - this increasing their anxiety and suspense.	Example of shot:
2	Shot type: Over the shoulder shot Diegetic sound: None. Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene Mise-en-scene: Outdoor scenery, so simple roads and pavement. A sneak peak of the antagonist costume. How would this be effective?: Over the shoulder shots would also be effective for the same reason as above, as the audience would have increased anxiety due to the fact we know that the antagonist is near the victim but we cannot do anything to help them. It also is effective as it gives off the impression that the protagonist is being watched.
3	Shot type: Close up shot Camera movement: Tracking (following the woman walking looking down at her phone) Diegetic sound: Synchronous sounds of music coming from her earphones. Non-diegetic sound: None. Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene Mise-en-scene: As it will be a close up of her on her phone it will just show her outfit and phone in the scene. How it is effective?: A close up shot is used in order to show and represent the emotion of the character. This would work well within reaction shots. This is good because we get see the character on a personal level by seeing the emotive response to something, this obviously due to the fact a close up shots gets into the personal space and very up close the character.
4	Shot type: Point of view shot Diegetic sound: None Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene Mise-en-scene: Outdoor scenery, so simple roads and pavement. The antagonist will be revealed in this scene. How it is effective?: Point of view shots are extremely effective because point of view shots put the audience in the perspective of the character, this providing a verisimilitude experience, so whatever the character feels and experiences it is passed down unto the audience. This is very beneficial for horrors because at the end of the day, it is all about getting an emotional response from the audience and increase the fear factor.
6	Shot type: Extreme close up shot No sound at all will be in this complete. These will be reaction shots and be in complete silence. Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene How is it effective?: It is effective for the same reason as close up shots, this is because we get to get up close and personal with the character and get an emotional response from them, this working well for reaction shots and allowing us to feel how they feel.
7	Shot type: Two shot Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base. Jump scare scene most likely. Lighting: Lowkey lighting, slightly blue tint? Mise-en-scene: In the bedroom, the woman is under the impression her husband is sleeping next to her when its really the antagonist. How is it effective?: A two shot would be effective because you can clearly identify both the antagonist and the protagonist in both one shot, making each character type easily recognizable.
8	Shot type: Long shot Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base. Lighting: Indoor scene will be here so most likely will just use the natural indoor lighting provided. However only kitchen and hallway lighting will be switched on. Mise-en-scene: Within the kitchen. The antagonist will walk in the hallway unaware to the woman. How is it effective?: This shot is effective in establishing a setting. In my house I have a hallway which is where I will do a similar shot to the one on the right screenshot. I feel this would be effective in the sense that I could do a scene quickly showing the antagonist walk across the room and then disappear.
9	Shot type: High angle shot How is it effective?: This would be effective because it would show the character in a way that makes it look like someone is looking down at them. This is effective because it makes the person look smaller than they actually are, thus, representing them as weak and vulnerable.

Recce and Location shots

My intended idea for my coursework was to shoot the outdoor scenes during the nighttime. I specifically wanted it to be shot then because I felt like that it would have been the most effective, due to the key 'low-key lighting' convention. To add on that, my outdoor first scene was hugely inspired by the short horror film 'The Smiling Man', which was also shot in the night time, so I wanted to achieve the same effect. Originally, I had the assumption that the street lights would provide me enough light when shooting, but simply from taking location shots in the night on my iPhone camera, I realized that the quality of the shot would not be up to standard and that street lights would simply not be enough. Because of this, I decided to take my location shots during the day and also when just before sun down. I am aware that my iPhone camera quality would be significantly worse in comparison to a professional camera, thus, when I am doing my test footage I will test out some shots in the night time just to see if the quality is good enough.

Within this location shots, I decided to take only one location shot within my house due to mantain a level of privacy as family members would not feel comfortable having full on pictures of my house up online, however, I will still film inside.

Location Shot #1 & 2

 Here I will shoot the scenes of the woman (protagonist/victim) walking down the street listening to music, this scene will be an over the shoulder shot of the antagonist looking at her walking down the street. The scenery of a long road and bushes create a dark feel as it almost gives off the impression that the woman is in an alleyway or a secluded area. To add on to that, the fact it is a long pathway possibly and the antagonist at the road almost waiting for her hints at the plot line (that she can't escape). I feel this will be very effective as it automatically puts the audience at unease. 

In the image to the left I simply have shown the length of the road/pathway in a better way. It also was taken before the sun down which gives off a better representation of what the final shot may be if I am not able to shoot in the night time.

















Location Shot #3

Within my short film, I am also going to do point of view shots from the victim/woman. This will be when she first notices them just standing in the middle of the road. After that it will be simple reaction shots of both their faces before the antagonist runs off in a crazy manner laughing to themselves. I feel that this will be effective as it will be a very tense scene of silence and just reaction shots before the antagonist's very odd exit, leaving the audience wanting more and answers (opening the door to enigma codes such as "Who are they?" "Why are they acting like that?")













Location Shot #4

When the antagonist runs into the road, I am planning for them to just stand in the middle of it for a while staring at the woman and waving. The woman will then turn around for a bit before turning back to see the antagonist has just disappeared and to see the shot on the left - a completely empty road. I feel this will be extremely effective as it now brings the supernatural element into the short film as it leaves the audience wondering how did this strange creature completely disappear from the scene in less than 5 seconds, they cannot possibly be human.













Location Shot Attempt. #

On the right you can see the location shot I attempted to take in the nighttime. Evidently - even though it would be ideal to shoot in the nighttime - the lack of lighting provided would possibly knock down the quality of the shot.

















Location Shot 4 & 5#

One of my dramatic scenes that I will shoot inside the house before the climax is the laptop webcam scene (an idea that I recently had). The idea is for the woman to check her laptop to see her laptop is on with the camera open. Strangely enough, her blinds are also open which makes her assume her husband is home. Whilst her webcam is on, she get's distracted on her phone, but we (the audience) will see the antagonist through the window as the blinds will be open on the webcam, however, she will be unaware as she is distracted.

When she does eventually get a strange feeling, she turns around and we will see a shot like this on the left, where nothing is actually there. This adding to the supernatural feel. I feel like this will increase fear factor for the audience as it provides a "Now you see me, now you don't" type atmosphere.

Risk Assessment

Hazard	People who might be harmed	Property which might be damaged (if eligible)	How this risk will be controlled?	Risk Assessment (LOW, MODERATE, HIGH)
As we will be working in a public place, we might cause distribution/alarm in the neighbourhood. Especially as one of the actors would be wearing a creepy doll costume	The people living in the area (our neighbours)	Property would not be damaged as we would take care of our surroundings we just might cause alarm to people who aren’t aware of the project we are doing	We will tell our neighbours and everyone in the area who might be directly affected about the project beforehand so that they are not shock/fear on the day of filming.	MODERATE.
Other cars on the road when having the road scene. The antagonist is set to stand in the middle of the road for a while.	Drivers on the road, cars going down the same road.	Not eligible.	I will make sure that when I record the road scenes I am very quick with timing and it does not drag for a long time to avoid these situations.	HIGH