Production (Planning) Brief Jessica Holland

Project Name:

The Haunted (Unit G321)

Medium Format:

Opening sequence to a movie of your chosen genre, our chosen genre is Thriller.

Length:

A maximum duration of two minutes

Deadline:

December 2011

Group Members:

Jessica Holland, Raman Bahra, Tia Bihal

Brief Overview of Content (Approximately 50 words):

A teenage girl enters her school believing it to be an average evening. Shes suddenly greeted with the figure of a dead body at the bottom of the stairs. Shocked at her find she becomes haunted by a ghostly figure that appears to be following her around the deserted building.

Target Audience:

Were aiming our short film clip to be designed for teenagers initially, having given the film a classification of 15. However our overall audience is preferably anyone of this age and above. Theres no specific gender bias as we aim the clip to be desirable by all genders and also by people from various backgrounds.

Possible scheduling/Publishing suggestion:

Could be shown in movie theatres during the trailers and adverts before the movie. Specifically shown during the showing of Thriller movies or movies with a similar plotline. Could also be shown on TV, on channels such as Sky Thriller or Sky Showcase during periods between showing films. Could also be shown on other TV channels such as the Syfy channel because often aspects of Thriller movies can also be linked to the science fiction genre. These are also vectors that are very popular within the public and showcasing the video here would

ensure it reached out to a broad audience.

What comparable products have you researched?

Weve looked into popular Thriller movies such as The Shining, The Sixth Sense and Psycho.

What is the rationale behind this text?

We researched into these movies because they have proven to be very popular within the thriller genre. They also share a lot of similar aspects that we aspire our clip to have. Researching popular films in our chosen genre also ensures that we stay true to the genre and get to imprint a lot of the typical motifs the genre has into our own piece. Each of these films are from a different generation. Psycho (1960),The Shining (1980) and The Sixth Sense (1999). Looking at how the genre evolves over the decades will help to make our own piece current whilst staying true to the traditions of the genre.

What representations will be operating in your text?

Were having a protagonist and an antagonist. Our protagonist is a young, vulnerable female. This is a pretty common representation of a protagonist as they are usually females and theyre often either young or nave, or both. Our protagonist however, is a little different in the fact that shes also a female, whereas usually a male portrays this role. We decided to make her a female in order to differentiate our piece from others, to give it a freshness. They are justified because although the gender may be different both characters have the traditional characteristics of these roles.

How will you test whether the product is successful? How will you check that it accomplishes the intended effect?

We will create both a Pre-Questionnaire and a PostQuestionnaire in order to see how the public, our audience, responds to our piece. We will compare our finding from each survey to see whether we accomplished the aims we set out with. The codes and conventions we are planning to use in our text are going to be achieved by creating a traditional thriller atmosphere. Were going to use spooky, low, suspenseful music to heighten the mood. The area we are shooting in will be a deserted, quiet, derelict building to promote the idea of loneliness and isolation, also common in the thriller genre.

What generic codes and conventions will be operating in your texts?

Were going to use dim lighting, which also helps to set the scene, the mood, and the emotions the character will be feeling. The shots that we decide to use will also be those familiar to the thriller genre, such as close ups, extreme close ups and long shots to show the scene the character is in and how the character is responding to the events.

What are the overt (obvious) messages incorporated into the text?

Were basically promoting the universal idea used in a lot of films of this genre, that women are often the victims. Our protagonist is pretty relatable in that respect that her character is very much like those portrayed in other movies of the same type. The obvious message is that usually, women are often shown, when in vulnerable situations, to be in need of help and protection.

Are there any hidden messages incorporated into the text?

The fact that our antagonist is also a female proves that a character isnt always defined by their gender, that they have hidden depths and aspects to their character that are not always what they seem. The hidden message is then essentially that things are not always what they seem.

Identify any resource constraints (time, money, equipment, human resources) that might affect your production and your hopes for your product:

The fact that we have a very low budget could compromise the quality of our piece. We wont be able to afford expensive equipment, or costumes for example, neither will it be possible for us to pay any actors we need. This means well have to compromise, using friends and such as actors and using equipment that we already have. We hope, though, that our lack of resources will not effect the quality of our piece overall.