Title Sequence

Here is an example of the Title Sequnece used in the film, the idea was to follow the example lead by the Se7en and Dr. Moreau trailers and use images that could be seen in the film but exagerated and blown up to large proportiuons so that the auidience is under no illusion as to what the premiss of the film is.

However it just be noted that the images used, while push the films storyline down the audience throats, the actual message is kept a secret since the overall message must be something the audience reaches on their own and if it was placed in the Title Sequence then it could turn eitrher confuse the audience or make the titles too long for the film to be presented with the time requirements.

The scenes used were present in the film however more exajerated to show the presence of media in both DVD, film and TV buty filmed in such a way as to make them appear disorderly, chaotic and generally weird. This coupled with the music score I feel compels the audience to realise this is a psychological horror and given that the music used is used throughout the film serves as a subtle reminder as well as an atmosphere builder. Furthermore the use of distortion effects on the actor names and responsabilities serves to emphasise the idea of a disturbing element present and after viewing Se7en's title it was possible to put in the actors without the need for sayin if they were actors or not so that any plot twists are kepty secret until revealed.

Photo Storyboard

Shots 1 - 6 : Appartment Opening Scene

These shots are used as an establishing scene where the use of voice overs is used to the maximum so the characters mental imkbalances can be made evident but also for him to explain who he is, what he does and what his opinions are about his situation. The use og close ups is used on certain props i.e. DVD's, notebook, player etc. so that the audfience will know that these play an important part in the movies story progression.

Shots 8 - 23 : Office Scene

These shots were made to establish the supernatural element of the film and also introduce anotrher character beside Derek not only that but, unknowingly to the audience, the plot twist will be entered here by introducing Ben as a charcter made apparent in the part where he turns away and his face is slightly in shodow yto suggest an alternate persona.

The use of close ups will be continued here to emphasise certain props i.e. DVD, radio, video camera (these have been proxied in the storyboard, hand cleanser is video camera, leaflet rack is radio and pink leaflet is the DVD itself). Not only that but the use of high and low angle shots performed in the over-the-shoulder method is done to establish a conversation is going on but also to maintain Derek as a small and powerless character and set Ben up as the powerful agent who controls the flow of this scene.

The end shot will be used in a graphic match to either inside a car or inside the apparement depending how much time is available in film, this is done to emphasise the importance of this DVD in the films plot and a faint music score will be sounded once it been handed over to again empasise it imporatnce, music will be eerie and tense to suggest a supernatural or horror experience.

Shots 25 - 43 : Apartment Car Park & Hall Scene

Now that the introductions of the characters and the necesary plot developing props have been established these scenes are meant to enhance the supernatrual feel and general horror atmosphere of the film by introducing a a suspicious stanger, rapid shot transition and intorduction the films main music score. The over the shoulder shot of the main charcter will have a showdy figure standing behind him wearing nothing but black and with their face obscured, the transition between the character seeing this figure, with them standing at a distance, and him turning to walk off when the figure will suddenly be transported behind him which will add tension and mystery.

The music will have kumped in at this point and the protagonist will be running away from this figure to the exit wherre the shot transitions to a low angle shot as he nags on the door while desparetly trying to find his key. This is a conventional shot in horror movies used to add tension and increase the hoerror factor with the possability of the figure catching up to the main character. After Derek has made it through the door and closed it the music will cut off to indicate the danger has momentarily passed and will allow for more voice overs to displayDereks unease at whats just happened hinting that it isn't over yet and the susquent close up of him waiting for the elavator will have a voice over hsouting at the lift to hurry again adding tension.

This will also be interlaced with match on actions of the elavtor button to show the importance of the actionm the lifts dorrs closing will signify the end of that p[erticular scene all of which is geared towards hightening dramtic tension and horror elements.

Shots 45 - 77 : Main Apartement Scenes

This is what the film has been building up to, where all the pieces come together to form the comclusion and where questions are settled. The first few shots is just the protaginist entering his flat using both medium and match-on-actions to display the transition of surroundings, this will be interlaced with voice overs so the audience can here the protagonists thoughts on the evnts thus far and also to give them something to listen to while the character just walks, when he places the DVD in the drawer this should be remmebered by the audience for later shots.

The use of the close-up for when the vcharacter wakes up, sound effect added here of door slamming shut, afetr sleeping will be the ignition for the horror element to kick in again and the transitions between him getting up and moving to the corridor will have a music score come in similiar to the car park scene and the offcie scene. When the protagonist comes into the hallway the shadowy sttanger will be in his apartment using an over-the-shoulder-shot so the audience can see what Derek is looking at.

A sound affecdt will be added to distract the main character so he looks away where his face will dominate the screen temporarily oscuring the masked assailant, the transition will switch from an over-shoulder-shout to a medium-long shot of the character facing the opposite direction with a look of surprise which will be answered when the camera changes back to an over-shoulder-shot to reveal the assailant gone. There will be a quick motion on the character to indicate he's going back into the lviing room when the camera will cut to inside the lviing room which has now been wrecked with DVD's everywhere and the notebook & DVD spread out on the table so Derek could see it.

The camera will pan from this screen of destruction to Derek who will have a look of shock on his face until he notices the DVD and notebook ( previously placed in the drawer when he first enetered the flat, "how did it get there"). Derek will move over to the table cutting to a point-of-view shot to show what the character was looking at since the audience may not have seen the DVD and notebook at first.

The camera will cut to a medium shot of the protagonist sitting down looking at the notebook cutting quickly to another high agnle over-shoulder-shot to show what he's looking at with a voice over stating what he's looking at again incase the audience doesn't see. Derek will look at this then look at the DVD, similiar to a scene in the Ring, and then go over to mplace the DVD in player causing another cut to match-on-action.

The next few scenes will be shot-reverse-shot as Derek watches the DVD and his resulting reactions, done in medium-close ups so the audience can note his body language. When the character in the DVD jumps Derek will shout in distress and, hopefully perfectly timed, when the DVD character feet would snap Dereks feet will snap in front of the TV screen in a medium shot to display the DVD's hanging scene with Dereks feet dangling indicating he too has hanged himself showing that Derek as copied the DVD's character who it will be revealed was Derek himself.

There will be a brief fade-out and when it comes back it'll be the camera zooming into a set-up video camera, the same one he was looking at in the offcie scene & when the camera stops zooming a hand will reach out and turn the camera off which effectively eneds the film with a final voice over of Ben from office scene repeating what he said earlier revealing that he is the one circulating this killer DVD, which will be the films plot twist and explain the powerful postion camera angles and slightly shadowed face.

The actual hanging scene will have its own sounds effects taken from samples of hanging sounds i.e. wood creeking and the snap of the the wood & rope after the initial drop.

Character Profiles

Alexander Martin - Derek Smith

Derek is the lead role of the film taking up approximately 75% of the entire film and whose personality just drive home the point of the film, given that I have taken part in the research and planning of the film to begin with and it was my idea to do a film based after the short story "Snuff" it was decided I would take the part since it was understood I know the story and the character best.

Derek must be protraid as morose and depressed with very little genuinely likable characteristics and almost no life in his voice also his dress sense with a cheap mis-matched suit being the primary costume to show his disinterest with work and general lack of caring about life in general with regular evening wear being the secondary. Certain props will be added to heighten his characteristics or to add to the genuinely of the scene i.e. name tag for work and video camera to show his media interest.

Ben Baranski - Benedict Arnold

Ben is supporting role taking up the final 25% of the film encompassing the office where he will act as Derek's only connection to the outside world and hence will be made completely different from him i.e. talkative, engaging and ultimately portraid as a lot more powerful that Derek whom will seem smaller by comparison. The comparison theme is essential since before this the audience will already have a negative view of Derek and this will serve to enhance that feeling of uselessness, furthermore Ben will also be a catalyst for the story's progression i.e. turns the radio to show suicides have been happening a lot lately and handing the cursed DVD to Derek which enables then last scene. Only a final note it will be Ben who adds the ultimate twist at the end.

In terms of appearance Ben will appear a lot more confident, taller and better coordinated than Derek again as a comparison so his outfit will be a lot more complimenting and matching however the name tag will remain to show some semblance of equality which enabled their familiarity in the first place.

Character/Crew Profile

Props List

Here is a photographic list of all the hardware used throughout filming from the different cameras used to the props seen in certain scenes, due to the great number of props that were used i.e. remotes, keys, coats etc. it was decided to stick to the main elements that if weren't present would have seriously affected filming.

HD + Regular Recording Camera
Various DVD's
Snuff DVD
Notebook = Pens
DVD Player
TV
Rope

Heres a list of the props not mentioned:

Car
Car Keys
House Keys
TV Remote
Secondary DVD PlayerDoor FOB
Wool Coat
Work/Student ID
Glasses
Scaffold
Laptop (Broken)
Portable Radio (Broken)

1st Draft of Short Film

Here is the 1st draft of our film Snuff, this will be the film we use in our final audience feedback to establish how the film can be altered to reach our target audinece more effectively. Must be noted that this is only a 1st draft and has not been edited to the fullest extant yet so sound effects and volume maybe out of synch.

Example of Effects to be used in Short Film

Here's an example of the different effects at hand that can be used to create a disturbing horror atmosphere, this will also be the Snuff Film featured in the final scene of our Short Film.

Target Audience Research

It became clear after the initial questionning that there is a definate market for the psychological genre as a whole since people will always be willing to see it out of curiosity even if its only the one viewing, hwoever the data itself was mostly targetted at males which provided info that gave the group and myself confidence in proceeding as we were and to take some of the comments of these people onboard.

E.g. one perticular viewer takes the music used ina film perticulary seriously and so we must take great care to find, edit and implement a music score that not only fits in with the mood of the film but can also flow with the camera movements and effects toi add an even greater atmosphere.

Needless to say the information while valuable was somewhat biased meaning a more thourghough investigation into the female opinion maybe necesary later on but for now these details appear very diverse and seem to be the general concensus dealing with most aspects of the film i.e. music and effects, however we ithought ahead and decided to implement film representation that we assumed to provoke interest from a female audience. For example the use of a male protagonist in which he is seen as a victim, a place normally occupied by a female lead.

Inspiration = Acid House by Irvine Welsh - Snuff -

Irvine Welsh's collection of short stories proved to be the main source of inspiration of the film providing the basis of the story which could then be manipulated into an original piece of modern day media.

The short story in question was one that provided the title for the film Snuff which deals with a reclusive office employee who watches and reviews films to himself only to record his own suicide with supernatural implications. The characters were changed slightly whereas the book character is very content with his lot and doesn't make any excuses whereas the films character in his voice overs will sound very ashamed of his life which makes it more believable he would kill himself.

The supernatural elements will happen a lot earlier in the film so that it can be clear that its a horror and it will only contain 2-3 characters with the only memorable and recurring character being Derek himself with the others being there simply to add atmosphere or move the plot on.

None the less the film will remain mostly loyal to the book in terms of locations and settings however characters names will be changed and some will not feature in the film that were in the book, furthermore the dialogue, both diagetic and non-diagetic, will be completely original.

Draft Poster

Here is the 1st example of our film poster, the main theme will be photo-manipulation this will help capture some of the gritty realism that can be lost of the poster is drawn or painted.

The main theme will be simplicity using very few images to create an atmospheric image that best translates our film main themes, blurbs and assumed ratings will be added to make the poster appear more professional along with our age rating and preferred distribution channel in the appropriate locations.

The actual poster will follow a very similar layout and colour scheme with a central image surrounded by all the necessary labels and identifications, however the main image will be made more complex through it creation but appear more simple to the viewer however I aim to make it less obvious i.e. the movie Se7en just had the title with the main characters in the background with almost no images to suggest a crime-horror genre, rather that is achieved through colour and atmosphere manipulation.

radio trailer script- first draft

Film-Sound bite from the film of the DVD tray opening and a DVD dropping in the tray

Derek - My name is Derek and I'm a film reviewer (Voice from the movie)

Narrator- based on a short story by Irvine Welsh

Film- sound bite from the radio report

Narrator- Directed by and starring Alexander Martin

Derek- sky's the limit i guess

Narrator- and Ben Baranski

Ben- you dropped on of your DVDs

Narrator- An Inverted Pictures Production

Derek- NO!

Narrator- Snuff, coming soon to film 4

Location Photos (Gateway Plaza Apartment)

This is the ending scene of the film and also where a lot more paranormal activities occur to the main character, its also where the climactic hanging scene takes place that involved the use of a scaffolding in order to film correctly. The scene will incorporate over-the-shoulder, POV, and close up shots along with the panning in order to be filmed effectively in such a small space but none the less I feel proved effective and necessary to keep the atmosphere of the film.

It's also here where then short 1st act was filmed which introduced the character and the premise for the film and so the idea of a full cycle is created which in turn creates the effect of monotony that the character seems too live.

Location Photos (Gateway Plaza)

This is the 2nd car park scene that transitions into the apartment block I really wanted to take a couple of traditional horror scenes into the film and a majority of these take place in a car park i.e. Candyman and Drag Me To Hell it is in those instances that the horror element truly begins to surface and it is no different in this short film.

Location Photos (Car Park)

This was a very last minute idea because we needed a transition scene that provided alittle more dialogue and showed the character going from the office to the house also it provided a valuable bridge into the 2nd car park scene where alot of the horror elements begin to become apparent. also this scene was very quick and provided we filmed before the neighboring office works finished then there would be no problems.

Location Shots (Oldmill Lane Main Office)

We needed a professional office environment to film the 2nd scene and while we could have re-created the atmosphere in a class room with some computers it was decided that this way would save time and look a lot more genuine and after receiving permission to film there after working hours it made creating certain environments and effects a lot easier since there were no workers who would be effected.