Project Treatment:

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Name:

Intruder 

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Genre:

Short film

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Target Audience:

Men and women aged between 15 and 30 years old I know this from my secondary which highlighted a typical horror audience and my primary research which entailed a survey ''I created, both types of research lead me to conclude that this was my target audience. 

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Outline:

My short starts with my protagonist Kate suddenly waking up because of a loud noise from outside. As Kate is home alone she goes down stairs and attempts to locate where the sound has come from after she goes outside in order to investigate further. Whilst she is outside without her knowledge a masked intruder enters the house, after not finding anything outside Kate goes back in her house and attempts to calm herself down. Kate then decides to go back to bed because she's convinced herself there's no one out there. However as she's making her way back to her bed she hears a creak in the floor boards behind her this is when the intruder jumps out and attacks Kate knocking her unconscious. However as Kate awakes she realises there's a blunt object within her reach she is able to get the object and hit the intruder with it giving her time to escape. Kate runs out the front of her house and starts to shout for help however just before she can get her neighbours attention the intruder grabs her from behind and this is where the film ends. 

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Character Breakdown:

Kate- My protagonist is an 18 year old female student I want her to be portrayed as a very normal person. For me this character is very much a representative of an average teenager because the story is less about her and more about what happens.

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Visuals effects:

As I have discussed thoroughly throughout my research I intend to have my opening scene to include blue lighting for this I will need a blue gel. Although I haven't planned it out yet I intend use a variety of different angles and shots to keep the visual aspect interesting. My costume for both characters are very simple my protagonist Kate will dressed in very casual pyjamas not only does it reflect that she was sleeping but also it implies again that she is a very normal person. 

 

Audio Elements:

I'm defiantly going to use foley in my film because in past project's I've learnt that the mic on the camera it's enough to capture good quality sound. Also I feel it would create suspense and tension if noise like foot steps and creaky floor boards were empathised.  

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Rational:

I choose this idea for my project because this theme of was something I find interesting and enjoy watching myself. However I also feel that this was the perfect way to represent and express what I had learnt. In my research I have explored the use of lighting excessively but also from my previous project I'm going to use sound equipment to enhance my audio quality. 

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Primary and Secondary:

For my research I thought it was really important to analyse scenes to help me to understand how they progressed. This led me to the idea of using blue lights in my own project I then held a focus group which helped to support and rationalise my idea. However I also observed that I should have considered my focus group more thoroughly before holding it. I also found it incredibly helpful to research the horror genre such as the codes and conventions as well as the tropes. This helped because I hadn't considered a lot of the stuff I had found out about also horror isn't a genre have a good knowledge of. 

 

Requirements and resources:

I will need two cast members in order to play my protagonist and my antagonist. I will also require another crew member to help me mainly just with setting up my equipment. I believe my house will work for the location not only do I have unlimited access to it but also I feel it works well for my set. The equipment I intend to use for my project are as followed; Camera, Lights, Blue gels, Zoom recorder and Tripod. 

 

Constraints and contingency:

This is definitely my most ambitious project I have done so far not only do I require skilled actors but also there is slight violence in this short which will require planning for choreography in order for it to be safe and successful.  

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Legal and ethical considerations:

I intend to use music without copy right and also as i stated previously that I will film in my own house. However I have also kept the violence to a minimum not only because it would become a lot more difficult for me to include it but also because it's seems unnecessary to have a massive amount within my film.   

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Storyboard:

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Before making my storyboard I decided to write up a draft to be able to plan out my narrative ensuring I know exactly how my story pans out. Whilst writing up my draft I kept in mind the Save the cats 15 beats which I researched previously. 

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This really helped me properly plan out how my story would flow I wanted to do this before my storyboard so I knew how each beat connected to the next. Which in turn would help me to create a detailed storyboard so I could then move onto planning my shoot.

 

Although my narrative flows well and I feel as if I ironed out most of the details still one thing I still haven't worked out is how I will execute my fake jump scare. I want it to make sense in my narrative but still be able to release the tension effectively. I looked into some fake jump scares in films most included non threatening characters however that wouldn't work in my story because the whole premise is that she's home alone. Another alternative is having a pet appear it couldn't be in dog because they are very protective of their owners and would either attempt to attack the intruder or would make lot's of noise. Whereas having a cat in this scene would be the perfect fit ensuring the loss of tension without ruining the plot. 

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Next I moved onto actually creating my storyboard I took picture instead of drawing just because it's so much clearer. 

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I found my first attempt wasn't in depth enough and didn't show the range of shots I intended to use. Also I found being in the photos a disadvantage as I couldn't properly see what shot looked better and instead attempted to guide a third party who took them. So for my second attempt I used a model and asked them to appear blank as this exercise is intended to show how I will use cinematography in my piece. However I also used a dog in my story board instead of a cat this is just because I currently do not have access to a cat but I still intend to use a cat in my short. 

Second attempt:

 

 

 

 

 

Screen play:

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Location Recce:

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Risk Assessment:

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Equipment:

Camera, legs, zoom recorder, lights and blue gel. 

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Crew:

Reese Drew, Liam Drew and Rachel Farrow 

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Foley sounds:

Sound is a very important microelement when it comes to making a successful media piece. In order for my project to have great sound I will need to record some foley for example the most important are the crash at the beginning and the creak the step makes. In my previous projects I have looked into foley and have a basic understanding of how different sounds are created which will greatly help me for this part of my project. 

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I began by trying to create my crashing sound which wakes Kate up in the story. This noise is suppose to be a bin getting knocked over. For this sound there would be two noises 1) the bin hitting the ground 2) the contents of the bin. 

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I initially I thought that glass would make the best crashing sound to experiment I used glass bottles in a plastic crate and then dropped them. 

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I thought this sounded final whereas if a bin had been knocked over the noise would continue a little longer. 

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How I'm adapting my production due to Corona Virus:

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My crew is from one house hold which makes the filming easier as we don't have to social distance within the crew. However my biggest issue is the close contact between my actors that is needed to follow my original story. I have two options either use two actors from my household which would involve me acting. Or changing my story to allow my actors to social distance. The biggest issue with myself acting is that it will stop me from using the equipment which will effect how the overall piece will look. Furthermore I was hoping to use a skilled actor to be able to properly convey the emotion of the character. However this will mean my original idea that I worked on and tried to perfect I will now have to adjust. 

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My second option is to change my story to remove the close contact between actors however I think this will damage the story and won't make sense. However this would allow me to film exactly how I want to. 

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After much consideration I have decided that I will act along side a member from my house hold to ensure I can successfully create my short while still obeying government guidelines. 

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Cast:

Reese Drew and Wesley Drew.

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Release Forms:

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How my planning helped me:

From my previous projects I learnt that planning is essential to making a successful production and something I really tried to apply in this project. I felt I have successfully done this and as I begin to move to production I feel very prepared because I explored every part of my story through a storyboard, writing down my beats and a screenplay. I also made my production documents early so I could adjust them as and when I need to. 

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