My idea was to make a surreal psychological horror film in which tackles the issues of drug

abuse specifically hallucinogens and how they affect the mind of someone suffering from
severe mental illness, how certain illnesses can become so hightened it can become too
much for the person and eventually drive them to suicide. The specific illness i decided to
focus on was schizophrenia and how many people who suffer from schizophrenia who take
drugs tend to end up having traumatising experiences, which in some cases may lead to
suicide to escape the horrors of the mind chasing them down, linking this idea in with an
overwhelming guilt and trauma the character had suffered which sue to the hightened
hallucinations comes back to haunt him and bring him to the same fate in which they have
Suffered.
Psychological horror often aims to create discomfort or dread by exposing common or
universal psychological and emotional vulnerabilities/fears and revealing the darker parts of
the human psyche that most people repress or deny. Thus, elements of psychological horror
focus on mental conflicts.

making a film heavily based off of hallucinations and schizophrenia, the idea was originally
inspired from this scene in connect, the things she sees when on the bus, such as the man
shooting the women or the people dancing, this idea of things happening visually that are not
real is something i have incorporated in my film. I chose to take this part as it is more of a
violent and dark hallucination which is what my film has, due to it being a psychological
horror film, rather than an upbeat film like connect.
In this specific POV shot i wanted to make the figure appear into reality and dart down the
stairs in order to show the first hallucination of the film
The overall tone of the pitch black heist and silence is something I wish to incorporate using
sounds only when necessary, and the constant usage of shadows and low-key or dark
lighting is another thing i would like to use to connote my characters further depth into
insanity. The chiaroscuro and harsh shadows and lighting is something which I feel would
affect my film greatly. I also picked this shot as i used many shots like to one to connote my
characters emotion, many shots of him sitting down like this connote how he is feeling based
off his posture, the way he sits and his expressions and movements.

Grandmother is a surreal film, its abstract visuals and feeling it gives off whilst watching it is
very strange. this surreal and abstract feeling is what keeps the audience intrigued.
Furthermore the constant usage of close ups to emphasise facial expressions and the
overall odd aesthetic and surrealism is easily conveyed throughout the close ups.
Another thing is via sound, Grandmother utilises heightened sounds to convey other pieces
of the story,and help drive out the narrative which is what i would like to use for my film, not
for the whole narrative to be driven by sound, but for part of the narrative to be driven into
motion via sounds.

 
Wasp is a film about social realism via the story of a single mother and her kids. The genre
of the film is social realism which has affected how ive made my film, despite making a
surreal kind of psychological horror film, I still wanted to keep a large aspect of realism on
how drug abuse can affect the mind of someone suffering from a mental illness, the one I
chose was schizophrenia. Furthermore the constant handheld camerawork is another thing
from wasp i would take as it can convey the chaos in a scene and grow more erratic as the
character has a further development into insanity.
Within these two shots I used the handheld camerawork to add a more realistic feel
I utilised strange surreal aspect of the short film swimmer to create my idea, I wanted an idea
that was surreal and strange like swimmer and the imagery used, the long shots to show off
areas and the slow pacing is something i wanted to use in the start to connote that strange
kind aspect linking in with my films realism aspect, the two clashing genres I feel come
together here well to portray the effects of drug abuse on the human psyche as well as
portraying a surreal odd story to keep audiences engaged. I did not directly use the films
imagery to effect my own imagery, but rather the narrative and how things play out, to create
a realistic portrayal of drug abuse, as well as an entertaining surreal factor.

Don't breathe is a film which utilises its aesthetic very well, the chiaroscuro used and dark
lighting influenced my film heavily, the constant shadow and overall dingy aesthetic is what i
visualise when i describe my setting, it conveys the characters emotion and problems very
well through the usage of shadows and low key lighting

Furthermore shots like this one used the side shot with a slight low angle convey how I want
my characters to interact, one of them being superior and conveying it in a subtle way which
overall creates a good feel for the film. Linking this i with the issues and confrontation my
character will have to endure shots like this is one i would love to utilise within my own
production.
Another shot which has inspired me from this film, is this close up of Rocky and the blind
veteran out of focus behind her. This shot conveys a number of emotions, it shows us the
hardships that rocky has gone through following up to this point, the bruising covering her
face and the split lip indicate to us she has been through a lot. And now she's outside in the
light finally escaped the torment she's endured she gets snuck up on by the veteran. It's a
clever shot which makes tricks you, the audience finally believe its over and rocky is free,
she has escaped, but yet. She has not as she gets snuck up on, and knocked unconscious. I
wish to incorporate, a false sense of joy within the audience and then its instantly taken
away, it would invoke a good response. In my characters case, his quick turn is when you
expect the figure to finally kill him as it stands over him screaming, but he instead grabs the
knife himself and slashes his throat

One film that has influenced how I portray my characters descent into insanity is via the
shining. Like my main character Jay, Jack is an addict, he suffers from hallucinations seeing
the “ghosts” of the hotel and getting drunk off the alcohol the barkeep provides him, this
scene is one that has influenced how I developed my character, rather than have him be a
bad guy who during his depth into insanity tries to murder his wife and son. Rather my
character suffers from hallucinations heightened by his drug problem rather than alcohol, I
wanted to take this idea of insanity and do it in a way where rather have a character
suffering from addiction and hallucinations turn into a bad guy, i have my character becomes
incredibly fearful and petrified by what he sees.
Within these two scenes, where jack confides in his alcohol and the ghost of the old
bartender, Jay my protagonist confides in his drugs and turns to them for comfort

The contrast in jack during the start and later on in the film is what i would like to do as well.
Like i said before rather than have my character delve into the psychotic side of insanity
delve into the side that just, breaks a person, the point that brings them to tears and makes
them scared, petrified of what they become. The shining is an amazing example of a man's
dive into insanity, the things jack does, and what he says shows this in an amazing light and
is something I wish to do in my film.

Showing the contrast between the two shots, how at the start he is afraid head in hands and
looking rough to after he is beaten and bludgeoned and pushed over the edge to the point of
where he wants to end it and does, showing a change into his personality and his shift into
insanity, further connoted by the more violent hallucinations. Attacking him and screaming in
his face

Lights out is a film which heavily inspired my film, the whole concept of my idea originated
from this one film, i used ideas and inspiration from many many other films, but the base
concept came from this one film. The film is about a family tormented by a demon which has
attached itself to the family mother, you later find out the demon is an old friend of the
mother who when she died began to torment her, and the family. The mother is prescribed
schizophrenia medication as it is seen merely as hallucinations but are way more real than
they seem. The whole ending of my film was also dragged from this idea, as the character
realises the only way to stop the torment of the demon created by their own minds. Is to
sacrifice themselves.
The contrast between these two shots shows how each character finally realises what they
must do in order to end the pain and they both go through with it.

Along with the final body being seen and the heavy chiaroscuro where there is very harsh
shadows surrounding the character, with some light still showing.

Requiem for a dream is another film which has inspired me, it is a film in which drugs and
drug abuse are a key theme and shown throughout the narrative, showing what they can do
to a person's psyche, how heavily they can affect them. The whole tone of the film is darker
connoted by the lighting which is heavily lowkey, which and has a large usage of shadows
making the film overall more dark.
 The two images here are also further inspired by the shining, the second shot is from up the
staircase upstairs is light and hallucinations have been mild, and not much rather than a
figure darting across the hallway, but whereas, as he is shoved down the stairs and reaches
the floor, the hallucinations grow more violent showing his further delve into insanity,
connoted by the sudden shift and contrast in lighting to the darkened downstairs, as he
literally descends down the stairs, and descends into madness

Blair witch project is another film which has heavily inspired me the handheld camerawork
and constant usage of povs shots makes for a great real atmosphere. And the whole idea
where you never really see the monster until the very end where the characters get attacked
in the cabin, is another inspiration or, the way you only ever see the monster for split
seconds and then at the end you see the full figure bearing down on Jay screaming at him
as he slits his own throat.