Pitch

PITCH

WORKING TITLE: Mandy

GENRE: Horror Short film.

DURATION: Ideally 5 minutes or just a bit over five minutes.

BUDGET: Low

WHERE WOULD IT BE SHOWN: Either online on YouTube or Art house cinemas (as it is low budget, independently produced and a short film, it has a niche audience)

DEMOGRAPHIC FOCUS/TARGET AUDIENCE: 15 – 30 year olds. Typically, a young audience as they tend to be the ideal audience for horror films.

SECONDARY AUDIENCE: Professionals or beginners within the film industry, with knowledge/experience of short films.

LOGLINE: The anniversary of an ancient, haunted dolls ‘end’ has a dark twisted turn when she comes back in human form, with malevolence in her heart.

PITCH/PLOT:

For my narrative, my main idea is to create a supernatural horror based on a real life 'doll' coming back for revenge. How I would create and demonstrate this narrative is by having two main characters, one being a middle aged woman (the victim) and the other being a doll reformed into a young girl. The middle aged woman will be in her car driving and occasionally texting what appears to be her significant other when she suddenly puts it at a halt due to a strange young girl dancing in the middle of the street and repeatedly singing a creepy 'la la' song. Eventually after tense moments of silence and the girl stopping to stare at the women in the car, she will run off the road skipping and smiling away like nothing happened. This would act as the start of the build up to the climax of the short film and I also believe this will work well in an attempt to creep out the audience as the girl's behaviour is clearly not normal. As the narrative carries on, it will soon be revealed that the ‘young girl’ is not actually a young girl but a notorious doll named Mandy who has come back in human form. When the woman comes home strange things start to happen before she is eventually confronted by Mandy.

PRIMARY/SECONDARY RESEARCH:

I researched real life haunted dolls so I could have a background story/true story to base my piece on. The background story I found was most suitable was a doll called Mandy. Mandy was a notorious doll in 20th century who basically got the title of a ‘haunted doll’ after these reports: “visitors reported hearing tiny footsteps in the room where the doll is kept, and claim that their cameras malfunction when they try to photograph her. Some have even said their purses; lunches or other personal articles get moved around the building when they visit her display. Strangest of all, according to museum staff, other dolls kept in the same glass case as Mandy have been knocked over or damaged.”

So I based my short film based on that, with Mandy basically returning but within a human form, with the area she originally came now being for suburban homes – the current residents being completely unaware of the history. So the night my film is set is the anniversary of Mandy’s notorious end, and she’s come back for revenge. Throughout the short film I will give hints of the background story from creating fake newspaper articles regarding Mandy (or maybe even trying to relocate old ones that actually existed!) from text messages that will come from her husband. I will also put a short ‘background information’ regarding Mandy in the beginning (this being a common convention of horror films), for example: “In the 20th century a famous doll named…”

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN/CHARACTERIZATION: I will have two main characters and that is the woman (who will be Mandy’s victim) and Mandy herself in human form.

MISE-EN-SCENE/VISUAL MOTIFS:

Protagonist – Regular costume of just an everyday casual outfit. This to represent her and the situation as ordinary, this linking to short films as most take on the idea of a normal everyday situation with a twist.

Antagonist – Porcelain doll costume and mask, fake blood on doll which will increase as the short film goes on.

Lighting and setting – Low-key lighting, set in the night-time and in suburban area.

Visual Motifs: Will feature the biblical cross and possibly bible to link up to religious references within horror films, used to create a false sense of security.

RATIONALE: I chose this idea because I felt like although it would be a challenge (due to the complex and detailed narrative) I wanted to try and achieve this. Also, after a successful film opening I did in AS, I felt that I had more skills now so I could do an even better piece.

CONSTRAINTS AND CONTINGENCY: One problem that may occur is finding a correct, suitable doll outfit and makeup and another problem will be filming in the middle of the street at night as it may make neighbours feel uncomfortable, therefore, to fix this I will alert my neighbours that I am doing a school project beforehand.

SIMILAR FILMS: ‘The Boy’ ‘Annabelle’.

Lighting Plan

When it comes to the lighting techniques, I am going to try and feature the majority of the lighting techniques in my 'Lighting Research and Examples' slide-share, this is because they all follow major horror conventions, this ultimately helping me increase the fear factor within my final media piece and thus making my short film very effective.

After looking at my lightning research, I have decided to round it down to two lightning features that I will definitely feature. Down below I have listed down the lightning that I will definitely feature within my short film and why:

Low key lighting - I feel that I need to feature this because not only is it a main and key convention of horror but also because the mood would just not be set right if high key lighting is featured. Although there are some horror films that have been effective with high key lighting, I feel for the message and story I was trying to get across it would not be effective in high key lighting. I feel if I was to feature high key lighting it would not achieve the same effect as the 'fear of the dark/unknown' concept could not be achieved. To add on to that, my antagonist only makes an appearance when in the dark, they play a big emphasis on the darkness, therefore low key lighting needs to be featured. A good example of low key lighting being used in an effective way is in the horror short film featured below, what I also find effective about this is that there is also a blue tint in the short film.

Shadows - I feel that shadows are extremely effective within horror films as they are an amazing way to depict an evil entity or most likely the antagonist, it also is very effective in building up suspense because although the audience can see the possible threat it is not fully revealed. This works well as a red herring. 

Lighting Research and examples

Lighting research from magrethxx

Target Audience Research Questions

Question 1 and 2:  Evidently I created this question in order to have a clear understanding of the age group/range that would most likely be watching my short film and also to see if the age group/range would match target audience conventions of horror films (the target audience for horrors typically being young people from aged 15 - 30).  Furthermore, I wanted to see if it would also link with the target audience convention that most people who watch horror films are males, due to males stereo typically being more 'thrill/action seekers'. Seeing the results from this information would ultimately help me in not only deciding what rating my short film should be (whether it should be an 15 or 18) but also see if the previous research I did concerning the target audience actually applied to real life.

Question 3: I specifically put in question three for similar reasons as stated above, but this time linking up to the target audience conventions of short films. One major stereotype concerning the target audience of them is that the main people who watch are either those interested in joining the film industry or are already in the film industry. 

Question 4 and 5 : I generated question 3 so I could get an insight on what made people love and favor that particular short films and horror films. This would help me in finally in knowing what attracts my target audience to this particular genre, using their feedback and comments into my own piece of work. If a specific thing is mentioned within this question I will try put aspects of it into my own work.

Question 6: I created this question because I wanted to know if my audience preferred a short film which featured and demonstrated an entire narrative or refereed the more conventional short film which included a cliff hanger at the end (so not all but enough information is revealed). This would help me in deciding what type of story-line and what type of events would occur within my film.

Question 7: Now within this question I highlighted what I believe are the most important things to focus on within a film (any genre) and the 4 things which make a film what it is basically. Within this question, the people answering would rank what they believe is the most important out of each of these 4 individually. This would help me into deciding what I should focus and concentrate more within my opening (so if mise-en-scene was ranked number one I would focus most on mise-en-scene as my audience believes that is the most important) 

Question 8: This question would just give me a more deeper insight as to why my audience believe this is the most important feature within the opening sequence. 

Treatment

Treatment

OUTLINE: DISCLAIMER: MY INITIAL IDEA HAS CHANGED. THIS SHOULD BE MY FINAL IDEA.

For my narrative, my main idea is to create a supernatural horror based on a real life 'doll' coming back for revenge. How I would create and demonstrate this narrative is by having two main characters, one being a middle aged woman (the victim) and the other being a doll reformed into a young girl. The middle aged woman will be in her car driving and occasionally texting what appears to be her significant other when she suddenly puts it at a halt due to an a strange young girl dancing in the middle of the street and repeatedly singing a creepy 'la la' song. Eventually after tense moments of silence and the girl stopping to stare at the women in the car, she will run off the road skipping and smiling away like nothing happened. This would act as the start of the build up to the climax of the short film and I also believe this will work well in an attempt to creep out the audience as the girl's behaviour is clearly not normal. As the narrative carries on, it will soon be revealed that the ‘young girl’ is not actually a young girl but a notorious doll named Mandy who has come back in human form. When the woman comes home strange things start to happen before she is eventually confronted by Mandy.

PRIMARY/SECONDARY RESEARCH:
I researched real life haunted dolls so I could have a background story/true story to base my piece on. The background story I found was most suitable was a doll called Mandy. Mandy was a notorious doll in 20th century who basically got the title of a ‘haunted doll’ after these reports: “visitors reported hearing tiny footsteps in the room where the doll is kept, and claim that their cameras malfunction when they try to photograph her. Some have even said their purses, lunches or other personal articles get moved around the building when they visit her display. Strangest of all, according to museum staff, other dolls kept in the same glass case as Mandy have been knocked over or damaged.”

So I based my short film based on that, with Mandy basically returning but within a human form, with the area she originally came now being for suburban homes – the current residents being completely unaware of the history. So the night my film is set is the anniversary of Mandy’s notorious end, and she’s come back for revenge. Throughout the short film I will give hints of the background story from creating fake newspaper articles regarding Mandy (or maybe even trying to relocate old ones that actually existed!) from text messages that will come from her husband. I will also put a short ‘background information’ regarding Mandy in the beginning (this being a common convention of horror films), for example : “In the 20th century a famous doll named…”

Ideas mind map

Types of horrors (sub-genres)

Types of horrors (sub-genre) from magrethxx

So what type of genre will my work be? : My horror film is going to be a psychological supernatural horror, I have decided to choose these sub-genre's because when looking at the actual context of my short film, it features both theme of the supernatural through my antagonist being a paranormal being and the psychological theme coming from the fact that the antagonist play's with the victim's mind and uses mind games/twists to delude and manipulate them.

Target audience for horrors and short films

Made with Storyboard That















TARGET AUDIENCE OF HORRORS:
In the storyboard above I explain the target audience for mainstream horror films (whether it be a short horror film or the full legnth movie), to get a better view of the storyboard just click on the actual storyboard in which it will direct you to a link of an enlarged version. However below is a basic transcript of what is said in each text box from the storyboard:

The target audience for horror films tend to be people within the age bracket of 15 - 30 - young people. This is because young people tend to enjoy thrills that horror films provide, horror films can basically excite a younger audience easier than an older or younger one. These thrills are more likely to excite a younger audience rather than an older one. Many young audiences are not put off by graphic images also, but are actually drawn towards them. For example, The Human Centipede (2009) is well known and viewed specifically because of the graphic images and themes it contains. However, many older audiences will be put off by the use of such graphic violence.

To add on to that, young people tend to be less susceptible and more tolerable of the disturbing or unnatural images that come with horror films, in comparison to an older audience being easily put off and offended (some could say this is because they are 'old fashioned').

Although horrors have no gender specific target audience, they do tend to be aimed more at males due to the fact that stereo typically, males are more excited by violence and gore in comparison to females. Horror films tend to be watched as a social event, whether it be a group sleepover or a couple on a date, which also justifies the age target range as people of an older age range generally entertain themselves in other ways. To add on to that, there is no specific class range for horrors, however it does tend to be working class for the same reason above. Horrors are clearly not aimed for a younger audience due to the graphic and clearly inappropriate context included. 

TARGET AUDIENCE OF SHORT FILMS: 
Short films actually have a niche audience. This is because when looking at where short films are stereo typically shown and distributed at, it tends to be at festivals dedicated to film (sometimes specifically short films) or put onto social media sites such as YouTube. This is because the producer of a short film - in most cases - is an upcoming film director/creative/student trying to get into the film industry and/or has a passion for film, or it is a person who is already experienced and a professional within the industry simply producing more content, this being very different to a mainstream, full legnth film which would have an evident wider audience and be shown at national, major cinemas. Therefore, the short film industry’s audience is quite specific compared to that of the mainstream audience of larger full length films. This giving an overall target audience being similar people to the producer, so upcoming film directors, students interested in film or experienced people within the film industry. For example, the industry professionals and investors may be look at short films to find potential in a director, producer or writer to work for them for the particular company. They would be viewing the films for inspiration for their own work as an amateur film maker.

As most short films would be distributed and shown at film festivals or on social media, this signifies that most of the audience would also be particularly young as festivals tend to be an event more aimed at young people and also because a younger audience would be more familiar with the use of internet, linking to the fact a lot of the short films are shown on YouTube.

Despite this, As short films are not an actually genre but a type of media product, they are technically aimed at everyone until they are categorized into a specific genre, as they can be cartoon short films clearly aimed at children and a sexual based R18 short film. Despite this, the likelihood of a short film being aimed at a younger audience of children is unlikely due to the fact that short films tend to appeal to a niche audience as to know what a short film is, most likely you are person who is already interested in film. So a person who is already in the film industry or is trying to get into the film industry is most likely going to watch short films.

The age, gender and class could also depend purely on the type of film you would be watching afterwards.

Roles of Team

As I am going to be working unaccompanied the majority of the work will be done by independently, therefore the most of the roles will have to be assigned to me, this including things such as the filming, editing, planning, research.
However, I will have other people participating in my work at some times, these times being for the actual recordings of my short film as I will need people to act in the short film. For that I will assign the role of the victim to my Mum and my friend to play the role of the antagonist.
To add on to that, I will not be working independently evidently for the target audience research as I will need not only feedback but answers from peers on what they look for in horror films.

Prop list, Costume list and Mise-en-scene.

Andrew Tudor and other conventions

Analysis of short horror film ‘Bedfellows'

The short film opens up to a black screen with the film company logo at the front with a slogan at the bottom stating ‘we create nightmares’, although this may seems like a very conventional, typical thing to occur in the beginning of any media production, it links to the fact that many short films are created by independent film companies. The ‘we create nightmares’ slogan is effective as it sets the mood for the short film, making it very clear and easy for the audience to recognize the genre of the film and in a way preparing them for the horror elements that are about to occur.

In the background you can hear non-diegetic, incidental music of what resembles generic horror sounds such as a deep base, high pitched sounds that resembles a scream and almost sounding like a chamber, this linking to the horror genre as all of these sounds have connation’s of fear and vulnerability. This works well as the low, ominous tone from the sound suggest an impending startling event.

We are then introduced to a blue screen with the title ‘Bedfellows’ appearing on the screen, this being an actual technique from the director of the film to create a false sense of security for the audience. This is because the term ‘Bedfellows’ simply means “a person who shares a bed with another”, alongside that, the colour blue is often associated with depth and stability, symbolizing emotions of trust and confidence. This is manipulating for the audience but also effective, as the use of colours and word play will have them assuming that the film isn’t actually that much to fear and would make them feel comfortable, when in fact the use of the colours and word play completely juxtaposes with the actual narrative.

This links to conventions of horror films as the intentions of horrors are simply to fear which is what the short film ‘Bedfellows’ is achieving as created a false sense of security makes it more effective to scare someone in the long run. The fact that the short film is called ‘Bedfellows’ makes it quite clear to the audience on the context of the narrative, this linking to short films as they tend to make there narrative very obvious and easy to follow.

The camera then cuts to the next scene, this being a medium shot of what just appears to be a couple sleeping in bed, a scene which just appears to be a very normal, everyday activity. The ‘everyday’ scenery or ‘relatable narrative’ is also a very common convention of short films, this is because short films tend to avoid having a very complex, complicated storyline and stick to situations which start from a very normal situation but then end up having a ‘twist’ to it, something which is heavily demonstrated within this short film.

The lighting is low-key as it is set in the night time, however the scene appears to be giving off slightly ‘blue tone/lighting’, this further helping on creating a false sense of security for the audience. This links to horror conventions as low key lighting is essential in creating an atmosphere as it creates a feeling of the ‘unknown’. This is also effective as it creates more suspense as the audience are aware the genre of the short film is horror however nothing is appearing to be actually going on, so at this point many enigma codes would be going through the audience’s head. This working to the directors advantage as it builds emotions of nerve for the audience as the audience approach the climax. This also links to horror as the overall purpose is to create fear.

After a short while we start to hear diegetic sound of a clock ticking, this being effective in the sense it adds and creates suspense and tension as the audience have to wait for the events to occur, the clock ticking emphasises how long we as the audience have to wait. To add on to that, the fact that the clock sound is paired with complete silence creates fear and anticipation. Very soon this diegetic sound is paired with the sound of a phone ringing in which extremely short dialogue starts: “Danny can you hand me my phone?”

The dialogue is clearly coming from the woman within the bed, so as an audience we assume that ‘Danny’ is the guy (in most cases being a boyfriend/husband) on the other side of the bed, which gives us a false sense of security as we know as an audience the character is not alone (as seclusion/isolation is a major convention from the horror genre) however, this short film within the horror genre, so most likely it will stick to horror conventions by having a big twist.

After being clearly frustrated over Danny not acknowledging her, the female character picks up her phone from the other side of the bed herself, which is when ‘The Big Twist’ horror convention is as it is revealed that the person on the phone is actually Danny himself, explaining to the woman as to why he will be home later than usual, this giving the audience the realization that the person on the other side of the bed is not Danny, clearly now introducing the audience to a possible antagonist. This not only opens up a door of enigma codes for the audience such as “Who is on the other side of the bed?” but also is effective in creating anxiety for the audience as now they uneasy as the horror convention of “fear of the unknown” is clearly being introduced.

Within this part of the short film, when she picks up the phone blue light appears to be reflecting her face (blue having connotations of security and safety) which quickly fades away from her face when it hits her that something unknown is in her bed, this meaning the narrative and lighting link, this also being a way for the producer to indicate to the audience that the short film is about to take a dark turn.

We are then introduced to a close up shot of the woman with her eyes moving towards the other side of the bed, the close up emphasizing the fear and anticipation in her eyes as to what is on the other side the bed, this adding more to the suspense as the audience is still unaware of what is on the other side of the bed.

The camera then cuts to a medium shot and here we are revealed to the antagonist in the main focus, the antagonist (who represents your stereotypical supernatural antagonist, looking significantly abnormal and almost dead, with sunken black eyes and white ghostly skin) being in full view of the audience but not to the woman as the antagonist is covered by sheets. This is a form of dramatic irony within film as the audience is aware of the antagonist but not the actual character. As the climax approaches (the climax being the woman taking off the blanket so she finally sees antagonist) the music increases in tempo, volume and pitch thus becoming incidental music as it increases the suspense and tension.

Within this medium shot, binary oppositions are also clearly demonstrated as we can identify the good to the evil, when although the woman doesn't necessarily have the label of a 'protagonist', we as an audience can clearly distinguish who out of the two has a bad intentions vs good ones. A bit can be said also about representation in this shot as the woman is obviously a blonde, light haired females, and typically in horrors (and in fact most films) blondes are stereotyped as naive and dim. The behaviour of the woman within this clip suggests those stereotypes are correct because instead of acting more logical by leaving the room and a clear potiental threat, she puts herself in more danger by attempting to confront the antagonist. Despite this, this can be seen as general stereotypical behaviour of someone within the horror genre as people in horrors tend to act very non-logical in particular situations.

When we as an audience finally reach the climax all we see on the screen is a montage of close ups and extreme close ups of the antagonist doing typical actions of a supernatural antagonist, like having screaming at the scream, this clearly being matched with the synchronous sounds of the actual scream. this linking to typical horror conventions as it is a jump scare, a jump scare being a technique common in horror, intended to "scare the audience by surprising them with an abrupt change in image or event, usually co-occurring with a loud, frightening sound."

Overall in the narrative itself, the short film stuck to narrative conventions of short films by having a short duration of time, the film actually only being around 1 minute 50 seconds, but by also having a completely normal, relate-able situation (a couple in bed together) and creating a big twist to it.