An upcoming filmmaker will make a short horror film called "Fiction?" Its target audience is at people aged 15 and over and is set to be 10 to 20 minutes long.
The idea came along from many inspirations from existing horror films on the stories, how they were made and what subtleties were used. Many examples include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Changeling and The Shining. Writing the script started back in the Christmas holidays and the maker thought the idea for this film could work for this particular module. So writing is still continued and is up to 4 or 5 scenes all together. The aim for the amount of scenes will 12 to 16 scenes all together.
Shooting should be starting around the 13th or the 15th of February. This should give enough time for script and shot list amendments.
Editing is starting around the 14th because the first scene can be edited then. This will mean that I
The pitch of the film is written and will be presented on power point if needed. Also a storyboard for the a particular scene is drawn. Here are the images of the written pitch and the storyboard for one scene:
Written Pitch
Storyboard of Scene 1
Week 2
The filmmaker has now created a PowerPoint Presentation which introduces of what the upcoming film is going to be about, what range of target auidence its aimed at and when the shooting is going to begin. Here are the images of the pitch:
Week 2
For this week, the writing of the script still continues. I have written 4 scenes overall and I'm planning on writing 4 or 5 more scenes left.
This will also make me think on what type of lighting I should use how subtle I would like to make the film. For this, I will test the lighting on the camera before the shoot date, so that I'll know exactly what I want the film to look like.
One of my other tasks is to do my location scout. I do already have locations in mind. I don't need permission from one of them because it's my own home. For the local brook area, again I don't need any permission because its local and its quite empty most of the time.
Week 3
The script is now complete. I have looked through it for any spelling errors or grammar. After these are corrected, it'll be sent to a script writing lecturer and he will send back the comments of constructive criticism and they will be taken care of as soon as I collect them.
Also, in the same week, I have done my short location scout and have taken photographs of the locations this film will be shot at. Here are the photographs:
This is for the boys walking scene
This is for Luke's friend, Sean's last scene. This is going to be his bedroom.
Although I am planning to tidy it up before shooting the scene.
This is for Luke's night scene where he's going to walk
across to the door on the right to call for his parents.
Week 4
Through out this week, I have been looking through the script and created a full detailed shot list. I'm still waiting for a reply from the lecturer I have sent my script. If I don't get a reply soon, I will give the script to other peer members and ask them to read it and see what they think and if there any amendments that are needed. Here are the images of my shot list:
Week 5
This week, the script of the film has been reviewed and he gave very constructive criticism. There is a scene where a murder is described by the main character's friend. In real life this wouldn't happen so it needs to be re- written. He also told me that the thoughts that with what the character's are thinking, I have to tell the actors how to express these feelings on screen. So now the next step is to look through the script and amendment these changes and book the equipment that is needed for the shoot.
Also the equipment is booked and the shooting starts on Friday. I have booked the Panasonic 151 camera which I think will give the best quality of the film. Also I have booked a LED light, just incase I need to light up the actor on camera and an appropriate shot gun boom mic for the sound quality.
As explained by the images, I will be filming in my little brother's room for the main characters room. This will show the how cut off the character is from his family and his friend and the room size helps with this. The director also wants to show how obsessed the character is into his book and will give 'his own little world' feeling. This is where most of the film is set.
Im planning on using alot of closeup angles with the chosen camera on the actor to show how focused he is on his book and to also show clearly on how he feels when he hears about the deaths, how confused he is when the mysterious messages appear on his computer, when the spirit is speaking to him and when the strange happenings are going on.
Week 6- The shoot
This week, the scene 1, 3 and angles of the final scene were shot. Since the second actor was around, the director thought that it would be best to get as much time with both actors filmed as possible just in case the second actor isn't available.
Also on this week, scene 2 in the brook was filmed and the angles with the second actor in the phone conversations were shot.
Overall, both were very successful shoots. Here are some images of the shoots:
The editing process is going well. The director has learned more on sound quality on the edit. When the sound comes through with a hiss at the background, he has leaned on turning up the treble, which gives more bass to the sound and also turn up the volume.
On the picture quality, the director has learned on how to color balance the image and has kept note on the numbers on the balances.
Through out the edit, the director found that the sound of the main character typing on his computer didn't come out as best he thought. So he watched back on the footage and looked at the speed on the character typing. So he used his dictaphone and recorded himself typing on the same computer, trying his best to type at the character's speed. It took some time to edit because the sound had to be modified with the treble and the volume and had to be placed at the correct times. The outcome came out successfully. Here is an image of this happening:
Week 7- The shooting continues
For this week, the director has shot the end scene with the main character being possessed by the spirit. The shooting was a success. But looking through the footage, the scene needed a re-shoot because of a large and noticeable continuity error. The error was the main character was on the floor in a particular position and the next cut was the character in a completely different position So the director took note on how to improve the scene when re-shooting.
Also, the rest of the second scene was fully shot as-well. Now scene 2 is fully complete. It just needs to be edited. Here are a few images of the shoots.
Here are 2 images of the shoot:
Week 8-The re-shoot and edits
The last scene was re-shot and this time, the flow feels alot better because the main character kept position. All that is needed is one more angle of the scene and then the last scene will be completed. Through out the shoot I had to use a LED light so the audience can see the expressions on the character.
The editing processes are going extremely well. For the main character typing on his computer, the director used the file he recorded on his Dictaphone and edited it to the pace of the main character typing. This was a long and very hard process because he wanted it the speed to be as precise as possible. But it is now looking good.
Here are 2 images of the reshoot:
Week 9- The shooting of scene 4
The director has been concentrating on shooting the first scare scene of the film. The shooting is going very well but this scene is still in progress.
Week 10- The last of the filming and editing + the extension
During this week, the shooting of the film was completed and the editing was also completed. During this time, the director once again, used his Dictaphone to record his own voice over for the evil spirit to give them film a tense, atmospheric feel. He also used a family member's voice for the main character's mother. This was for when she calls him. The Dictaphone was also used for the recording of the vibration of the main character's mobile phone ringing. This came out very effective. The vibration tone was picked because the director, didn't want to breach copyright infringement of mobile ring tones.
The director organised a private screening of the film and got very good feedback. They said the story really worked, it was tense and brilliantly acted.
During all this time of making this film, the director used Facebook to keep the viewers updated on the upcoming film. The original idea was to post the film on YouTube and post the link on Facebook to let the audience watch it. He will also ask the audience to post comments on it.
Also, a college of the director's asked if he could create a trailer for the film because that is one his special skills. The director agreed because he thought that would create the excitement for the audience and will make them want to see the film. So the director will pass a copy of the film to the college and he will create the trailer. The director will then post the made trailer to YouTube and on Facebook, where he will ask for feedback. The director will give a few days for the audience to watch the trailer and then will post the film itself.
Week 11-The making and releasing of the trailer
Unfortunately, the college of the filmmaker was unavailable to create the trailer for the film. So instead he decided to go ahead and make it himself. His idea was to create the trailer by using most of the characters expressions and none of the main detail of the scare scenes. He thought this would be effective because the audience will want to see what is scaring the main characters.
He made this by going back to the edit of the film and choose certain scenes to use for the edit. He then cut off parts of those scenes and put them together to make the edit.
The trailer is now completed and is posted on YouTube and Facebook. The comments back sofar are very positive. For example they saying its great and the main actor is very good.
The next step is to wait for more comments over the next couple of days and then will release the film itself. The filmmaker reckons this will work because it'll give the target audience time to watch the trailer and comment before watching the film. Here is the trailer for you're viewing pleasure:
Evaluation of whole project
This project has been quite stressful but also very enjoyable to make. This project also felt very personal to the filmmaker because horror is his personal favorite genre and felt that he made this for a purpose. It was to go out for his target audience and also to make it for himself.
Also, the filmmaker has learned more about time management skills of when to book equipment and sort out filming dates.
When writing the script, the filmmaker has learned on how to make a story very character driven and to make it work for the film. With alot of guidance from a lecturer, it worked out even more. Also, from pure inspiration, it really helped on exploring different effective camera angles. This also gave the experience of how it felt on filming in tight spaces. Also it helped the filmmaker on his lighting skills by making it look effective as possible.
Another thing from pure inspiration, the filmmaker also learned on how he could make the scare scenes more effective by showing less detail and by using voice effects. This also explore more editing techniques. By doing this, for the voice effects, the filmmaker used a Dictaphone to record the voices and put them onto the edit. He also used it for typing sound effects because the filmmaker thought that the sound of the main character typing came out too quite, so he recorded himself typing on the computer keys and this came out very effective. He also learned on how to fix the sound when it sounds rather hissy. So he fixed the treble of the sound, so it sounded like it had more bass to it and less of the hiss sound.
After the film was fully edited, the filmmaker showed a private screening to his family and his girlfriend. This really helped with getting some feedback on how the film looked and sounded. It was also good to hear them say if any amendments were needed. The great things is, they loved it and they didn't think that any changes were needed. They even felt nervous through out the scare scenes
Before releasing the film, the filmmaker wanted to have trailer made. A college offered to make it but unfortunately, he was unavailable. So the filmmaker thought he should make it. It was a hard process on to think how the trailer could look cause these days, trailers are made showing most of the detail of the film. While making it, the filmmaker thought he could make it by showing some detail of the film at the beginning but for the scare scenes, he just showed the facial expressions from the characters looking scared. He thought it could make the target audience think 'what are they scared of? I want to see this film to see what they're afraid of'. The filmmaker then sent off the trailer to YouTube and then posted it on Facebook, so people can see it and comment on it. People gave very positive feedback, saying that they liked it and it looked great.
I then sent the film itself on YouTube a few days later so that it gave the audience some time to watch the trailer, to get a taste of what the film is going to be. People then watched the film and again, got some very positive feedback, saying the main actor was fantastic and the film was great and spooky to watch.
For the filmmaker himself, he thought the film came out brilliantly cause of how much the actor did a fantastic job. He also liked how it was shot, edited and lit. And also how effective the music was. Here is the film itself for you to see, I hope you enjoy it.
