After much deliberation, we decided on the candidate below. This is because his delivery was the most impressive and clear- he seemed to understand the character of Alec, and be able to get into character. This is important- unless they understand how Alec thinks, acts, and talks, then they cannot figure out the more minor details we will use in our main performance- his facial expressions, the way he carries himself, etc. As mentioned, the most impressive demonstration of this was in the audition below, and we will be moving forward using this man as our lead actor.
Planning: Casting
After much deliberation, we decided on the candidate below. This is because his delivery was the most impressive and clear- he seemed to understand the character of Alec, and be able to get into character. This is important- unless they understand how Alec thinks, acts, and talks, then they cannot figure out the more minor details we will use in our main performance- his facial expressions, the way he carries himself, etc. As mentioned, the most impressive demonstration of this was in the audition below, and we will be moving forward using this man as our lead actor.
Planning: Considering Mise-en-Scene For Your Opening - costume and props
Written by Ashley.
After writing the synopsis for our film "Alec" and considering the location of the movie opening, we had to style our location to match our preference. The abandoned hallway at Grafton Underwood needed to represent Alec's sanctuary. The hallway is bare with broken bricks and pipes along the walls with old slabs of concrete resting on the floor. We need to add several props to the location for it to give of the effect of an abandoned yet lived in place, in which Alec will come to pray to god. The props we are adding to the location are rusted chains along the concrete slabs which we can zoom into to create tension. Church pillar candles as they remind people of a religious place, a place in which people feel safe or uncomfortable depending on the scenery around it. We'll also add a large cross at the end of the hallway chipped and a bit withered to enhance the tension in then scene. We'll make this from two one meter length bit of wood. The candles will create an atmospheric mood lighting for the hallway which will give an easy feel.
In the room next to the hallway there will be an alter Alec will prey to, communicating with god his intentions and why he is doing it. This is in a hall within Grafton underwood next to our first location of the abandoned hall. The location comes with a giant concrete slab table which we will use for the alter. On the alter we will put a worn out bible to show it has been there for a while, a bowl of an unknown red liquid which is probably blood. The blood will be made out of water mixed with a teaspoon of flower and red food colouring. The alter will also have a worn our table cloth over it with tears in it. Some small but relevant items on the table will be rosary beads and a crucifix all lit up with some candles. There will also be a cloth for Alec to kneel on. The bible will be worn out but look in a newer state to the rest of the props which shows how Alec takes care of his religious totems.
Last of all we were thinking of the clothing of Alec and the dead body. The dead body will be wearing a worn and torn grey shirt to show struggle and simple jeans with some trainers with a little blood and bruising. Alec on the other hand will be wearing a very smart trench coat with a black shirt and a vicars collar. Round his right hand and shoulder there will be a wrapped chain with comes out of his coat sleeve without seeing his hand. The pockets of the trench coat will have rosary beads in which he will take out and hold in his left hand. He will wear some black loose jeans with a brown belt around his waist. The shoes he wears will be black booted shoes with no laces. This outfit makes Alec seem very intellectually but with the chain and rosary beads, psychotically religious as well.
Pictured is the cross we had produced by the woodwork department in school. We gave them the dimensions we desired and it was produced by the end of the week.
After writing the synopsis for our film "Alec" and considering the location of the movie opening, we had to style our location to match our preference. The abandoned hallway at Grafton Underwood needed to represent Alec's sanctuary. The hallway is bare with broken bricks and pipes along the walls with old slabs of concrete resting on the floor. We need to add several props to the location for it to give of the effect of an abandoned yet lived in place, in which Alec will come to pray to god. The props we are adding to the location are rusted chains along the concrete slabs which we can zoom into to create tension. Church pillar candles as they remind people of a religious place, a place in which people feel safe or uncomfortable depending on the scenery around it. We'll also add a large cross at the end of the hallway chipped and a bit withered to enhance the tension in then scene. We'll make this from two one meter length bit of wood. The candles will create an atmospheric mood lighting for the hallway which will give an easy feel.
Pictured is the cross we had produced by the woodwork department in school. We gave them the dimensions we desired and it was produced by the end of the week.
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| The completed cross, with a black background. |
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| The cross, with Ashley for scale. |
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| Ashley posing with the cross. |
Planning: Location planning
Keystone - No hallway for us to do it in
Abandoned Hospital - Impractical to film, hard to reach, hard to design props and get permission.
Mental Hospital- Same as above.
K.S.A- Hard to decorate, too modern, hallways bend too much.
KBA Pavillion- Too many windows/class rooms, carpeted floor, hard to decorate (and probably won't get permission).
Grafton Underwood- We have decided to choose Grafton underwood as it is an easy location to reach and has a variety of bunkers to choose from. It is run down but not to the point where we can't decorate it to look like a sanctuary for a religious icon. We have chose the big mess hall and the hallway next to it in the biggest abandoned building. Having the biggest abandoned building will give us freedom to manipulate the environment to suit us. The hallway has preset features that will help with the atmosphere of the scene which is one aspect of Mise-en-Secne. It has rusted pipes and broken concrete slabs which will add the opening. We are also using a giant mess hall for the planning/ alter scene. This is useful as it comes with a giant concrete table for the alter so that we don't have to build it. These locations are accessible by the public and therefore are easy to use. None of our props create a permanent effect on the location so therefore it is easy to set up.
Abandoned Hospital - Impractical to film, hard to reach, hard to design props and get permission.
Mental Hospital- Same as above.
K.S.A- Hard to decorate, too modern, hallways bend too much.
KBA Pavillion- Too many windows/class rooms, carpeted floor, hard to decorate (and probably won't get permission).
Grafton Underwood- We have decided to choose Grafton underwood as it is an easy location to reach and has a variety of bunkers to choose from. It is run down but not to the point where we can't decorate it to look like a sanctuary for a religious icon. We have chose the big mess hall and the hallway next to it in the biggest abandoned building. Having the biggest abandoned building will give us freedom to manipulate the environment to suit us. The hallway has preset features that will help with the atmosphere of the scene which is one aspect of Mise-en-Secne. It has rusted pipes and broken concrete slabs which will add the opening. We are also using a giant mess hall for the planning/ alter scene. This is useful as it comes with a giant concrete table for the alter so that we don't have to build it. These locations are accessible by the public and therefore are easy to use. None of our props create a permanent effect on the location so therefore it is easy to set up.
Planning: Producing a Storyboard
We went through several stages of storyboarding. Initially, I drew up the shots in a rough, time-efficient manner. We did this to get a general concept of how the film will pan out, so we can draw up the storyboards in a more detailed, skilful way. Pictured is the original storyboard.
Both sides of the storyboard.
Both sides of the storyboard.
From this, we constructed a full set of storyboard panels. Ashley drew these, using the original storyboard as reference; Ashley did this as he is a much more talented artist than I am.
Planning: Screenplay
[The camera fades from black and reveals a man from behind. He is kneeling, praying at a makeshift altar.]
[The camera shows the altar from a low angle at the side, focused on a crucifix in the middle].
[The camera cuts back to behind Alec. It tracks around him over a few seconds, revealing that he is holding a small cross/rosary in his hands. After a while, he rises, and crosses himself. He pockets his cross/rosary and turns away from the altar]
[The camera follows him as he exits the room, feet splashing off of the damp floor. He enters a hallway and begins to walk down it, determination in his eyes.]
[The camera pans around the corridor, focusing on several of the props/decorations in the hallway. There is a corpse, chained to a wall. Several verses from the Bible are graffiti'd onto the wall. Candles litter the hallway, and there is a large cross hanging down.]
[Alec enters the a room, to the side of the corridor. The walls are covered in paper, graffiti and pictures- yet they are out of focus.]
[The camera focuses on Alec, yet is aimed over his shoulder.]
[It slowly pans out, and the wall comes into focus. As it continues to zoom out, the pure expanse of the room is revealed, and the viewer can see what the things say. There are pictures of people, locations, dates, etc. They are connected by lines.]
[The camera focuses on a large, black, spray-painted phrase in the middle of the room. The camera cuts to Alec, close up on his eyes, staring at the room. The camera tracks into the phrase, 'GRAND RAPTURE', and slowly fades to black.]
-Written by Sean
We will construct the storyboard from this screenplay, and from that, develop the whole opening.
[The camera shows the altar from a low angle at the side, focused on a crucifix in the middle].
[The camera cuts back to behind Alec. It tracks around him over a few seconds, revealing that he is holding a small cross/rosary in his hands. After a while, he rises, and crosses himself. He pockets his cross/rosary and turns away from the altar]
[The camera follows him as he exits the room, feet splashing off of the damp floor. He enters a hallway and begins to walk down it, determination in his eyes.]
[The camera pans around the corridor, focusing on several of the props/decorations in the hallway. There is a corpse, chained to a wall. Several verses from the Bible are graffiti'd onto the wall. Candles litter the hallway, and there is a large cross hanging down.]
[Alec enters the a room, to the side of the corridor. The walls are covered in paper, graffiti and pictures- yet they are out of focus.]
[The camera focuses on Alec, yet is aimed over his shoulder.]
[It slowly pans out, and the wall comes into focus. As it continues to zoom out, the pure expanse of the room is revealed, and the viewer can see what the things say. There are pictures of people, locations, dates, etc. They are connected by lines.]
[The camera focuses on a large, black, spray-painted phrase in the middle of the room. The camera cuts to Alec, close up on his eyes, staring at the room. The camera tracks into the phrase, 'GRAND RAPTURE', and slowly fades to black.]
-Written by Sean
We will construct the storyboard from this screenplay, and from that, develop the whole opening.
Target audience and Potential Openings
Our opening 2 minutes have gone through several phases and concepts. Our original idea was to have the filming be done inside an underground bunker. He would be in the process of torturing a victim, whilst monologuing about his motives (setting up the rest of the film). We decided against this; the torture scene would be both impractical (due to the need of props/makeup, and the difficulty involved with managing sound for the monologue), and ineffective (we would be unable to show most of the torture, due to the film being aimed at a 15 age rating. This would make the scene seem cheap and diminish it's effect). As such, we decided to adapt this idea.
Our current, and most likely final idea, is to be less focused on the victims. It will show the antagonist, Alec, making his way around the location. We will develop his character and his motives through the props and mies-en-scene. He will be praying at a makeshift altar, and then slowly rise as the camera follows him. He will slowly make his way through the bunker, and arrive at a room. The camera slowly pans out to reveal a wall, covered in paper/graffiti, detailing his plan to incite the grand rapture- victims, locations, timings, etc.
Our current, and most likely final idea, is to be less focused on the victims. It will show the antagonist, Alec, making his way around the location. We will develop his character and his motives through the props and mies-en-scene. He will be praying at a makeshift altar, and then slowly rise as the camera follows him. He will slowly make his way through the bunker, and arrive at a room. The camera slowly pans out to reveal a wall, covered in paper/graffiti, detailing his plan to incite the grand rapture- victims, locations, timings, etc.
Planning: From Production Company Name to 60 Second Pitch
Task 1: Our company name is 'Dimension Productions'. We chose this name after many previous ideas; the reason we chose it was, in the end, it's professional-sounding and catchy name. Here is a brainstorm of the production company names.
Task 3: For our working title, we decided on Alec. This is the name of the main character/antagonist; We chose it because it is easy to remember, and would highlight the fact that the villain is the main character. As a name, we decided on Alec because it is an uncommon name, with meaning that relates to the main plot; It means 'Defender of man'. This connects to the main story in a subtle, indirect way- Alec's murders are religiously motivated, and he sees himself as defending humanity.
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