Pre-Production

The Woman in Blue

Script

Initial Concepts screen shot 2019-01-09 at 11.17.23

The Proposal

Title: The Woman in Blue

Running Time: 2-3 minutes

Genre: Supernatural Horror

Performer(s):

Conna – Will play the role as Evan (Is an experienced performer and can work with the filming schedule, would perform as the student)

Natalia – Will play the role of The Woman in Blue (Fits the profile of the entity, tall, thin and pale. Would be able to work with the filming schedule)

Mr Fletcher (Teacher monitoring detention)

Content

Chosen to pursue the 2nd idea, regarding the student waking up after a nap and realising they’re paralysed. Upon consideration, it could be more feasible to set it in a classroom as a student who fell asleep during lesson.

In the midst of a detention, a student struggles to stay awake and eventually falls asleep on the desk, head to the side. The scene seems to shift to focus on the student, students in the background almost fade away, the room becomes colder (possible smoke machine, blue lighting, paler student) and the student awakes, unable to move.

The sound of scraping can be heard outside the classroom. Vulnerable, the student tries to remain hidden behind their computer, however their eyes are visibly scanning the room as the scrapping gets closer. The scraping stops, seemingly outside the classroom. After moments of silence, the student sighs in relief and closes their eyes, tries to move fingers and wake up, but fails. The door slowly creaks open. POV shot from behind the door, as the unknown entity barely sees the elbow of the student from behind their macbook. It’s shot as if they are scanning the room, however in slow motion, slightly blurred with focal point on the character.

Purpose

Feature films are ultimately made for profit and entertainment, however short films aren’t often for that reason. Typically, they are used by new film makers as a way to secure funding for a feature film, or to sell an idea to a company.

Making a short film gives filmmakers a chance to demonstrate their skill and capacity which could mean that directors and producers are more likely to recruit them in other projects. Furthermore, short films can be showcased in portfolios in order to present their work.

Target Audience

My target audience would be aimed at teenagers, and thus the film must contain appropriate content to appeal. Since it’s a supernatural, gore would be kept to a minimum as opposed to the graphic nature of genres such as slasher and torture.

I want my short film to appeal to people in the 15-25 bracket. These tend to be people that have more disposable income (teenagers/students are able to rely on their parents for money to see films, have lots of spare time, however this makes the parents a secondary audience) and time to visit cinemas and see films. Furthermore, I will be targeting people that fall under the C-class socioeconomic group, and homes with combined income. I will do this because they make up the majority of the population, and are likely to have disposable income at hand.

Screening and Distribution, BBFC Rating

The intention of short films is to hopefully get a bigger budget for a feature film, which makes screening events useful as a ways to prove your competency as a director, or the significance of your film idea. The Wolverhampton DIGIs is a film festival used to screen short films from directors under 18, and awards are given out to directors. Furthermore, my short film could be distributed on YouTube, and would be classified as 12a by the BBFC. because there’s no bad language, however there is the occurrence of mild threat because of the genre, and may be perceived as unsettling or disturbing for younger audiences, under 12.

The mild themes of horror and threat would make it suitable for younger audiences. however not under 12. The short film could act as a springboard for a supernatural feature film, with my actor Evan, acting as the initial protagonist who, subverts expectations by dying at the start of the film.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

It’s important that actors sign a consent form giving their permission for the filming and the distribution of the short film. Without the actors written consent, they may delay the production of the film or bring it to a halt entirely if they change their minds.

Since my film could be screened at film festivals, my target audience is young people age 15-25, therefore it’s important to represent young people in the film so the audience has something to relate to. The film’s primary audience will likely be men due to it’s genre, however women can still be a secondary audience because it will not be degrading towards women in an offensive or explicit nature

Storyboards

Location Reece

Location 1: The classroom

Location 2: The stairs

The stairs are an ideal location for my horror movie because they offer a sense of uncertainty, risk and instability that you might not be able to achieve on safe, level ground. Walking down the stairs, for an actor, can be perceived as making a choice that will lead to danger or even death.

Because of the natural sunlight, I will only use a small singular light to act as a fill light for the actor. I won’t be using a microphone because I plan to dub the scene with tense music and post-production sound effects such as breathing, creaking and the squeaking of shoes on the floor.

The camera will be focused heavily on feet, hands, and with some low level POV shots meant to emulate the feeling of the villain watching the fearful student as he makes his way down the stairs. I will be sticking to sharp angles to add an element of entrapment, as well as some low angle shots from beneath the stairs to make the actor look small, and as if he is ascending into the depths.

Location 3: Outside the school

For the ending sequence for my short film, I’ve chosen the long track outside because of it’s resemblance to the never ending corridor trope that you sometimes see in haunted house films. This can be seen in horror films such as The Shining, where long corridors are used to isolate the victim, they’re very exposing and there’s nowhere to hide, and seem to stretch on forever.

I plan to use natural lighting for this sequence to create a more shadowy effect on the protagonists face, to give it an edgier and severe feel.