1 minute short

Short film coursework - current progress

Idea:

I want to do a psychological horror short film, based on someone becoming trapped in a small room/store room.

Genre - Horror, this will mostly be driven by sound effects and maybe some other elements of horror like blood. I'll use sudden cuts in the editing to increase tension and the actor will need to be appear scared to terrified throughout a lot of the film.

Representation - I want to just have one character in my film and at the moment I'm thinking of it being a girl who's 17-20. The setting represented will just be a corridor and then the room, however I want them to give a slightly creepy feel even before other elements come in.

Audience - The audience for my film will be slightly older as it's a horror and I think it would be received best by people 16 and over.

Narrative - I want it to be a linear narrative, which follows Todorov's theory to an extent, however the twist at the end will go against the theory. What I want to happen is the character will go into the room, get trapped, attempt to escape, being experiencing hallucinations/more horror elements, escape, but then they will discover that they're still trapped in the same room and that's how the film will end. Therefore the equilibrium will be them outside the room, the disruption will be them becoming trapped, the realisation will be them panicking, trying to escape, the climax will be the character experiencing hallucinations etc before then escaping, creating a new equilibrium. However, this will turn out to be a false new equilibrium as they will be brought back to the adjustment and the film will end unresolved.

Mise en scene - The character will appear normal, potentially dressed for work/school depending on the location I find, with no extreme hair/makeup or costume. However, in one part I might use fake blood for special effects makeup. I want the setting to be ideally a store room as I think it gives a creepier feel and I can experiment with depth and different camera angles more as I want there to be an amount of clutter but not so much it's too difficult to film. The lighting I want to be quite harsh and I want to have the lights turn off at one point and a torch used ideally for a sequence. Neon lighting is also something I really like the aesthetic of in films so if possible I would like to include it as it could also allow me to use colour symbolism. For character expression/movement I want them to be visibly scared, moving erratically and looking frightened and apprehensive.

Cinematography - For the cinematography, as most of the film is in one setting I need to use as many camera angles and shots as possible to add interest. A sequence of shots that I have decided on is the end few. I want to close shot of them walking out the door, pausing, and turning around looking shocked before a long shot from the corner of the room (like a CCTV camera shot) to demonstrate they're still trapped. I also want some low shots and tilting POV shots from the character's perspective, for example if they're using a torch. Symmetry is something I find very visually appealing in films as well so I'd like to include it.

Sound - As I want to take a slightly subtler approach to horror, I don't think I'll have a non-diegetic soundtrack, although this might be something I change my mind on in the editing process, depending on how far I take the horror elements. Instead I want the focus to be on ambience and diegetic sound effects to increase tension. I am planning on using foley to add to this in order to manipulate the sound as much as possible. I want a sequence which is in complete darkness, meaning the only element I can rely on is the sound and therefore I want to use the character's voice and foley sounds to build up what's happening and allow the audience to infer what is going on. There'll be little dialogue in the film due to there only being one character, however I'll have them screaming for help etc.

Editing - I think that the editing is very important to move the film along as, due to there only being one setting, it could be easy for the audience to get bored. Therefore, I want to use shots that last quite a long time for effect but also short ones for building tension and the pace of what's going on as well. As the film is linear, there will need to be a sense of continuity between shots, however there will be time skips too so I may need to incorporate fading transitions for example to illustrate this. For the last shot, I want to use editing to make it appear to be a CCTV shot, lowering the quality and potentially making it black and white. For the credits sequence I then may have that shot continuing to run on screen until eventually cutting out when the credits do, revealing the title.

- Walking along corridor into room, door slams shut
-Searching around in boxes? looking for something (shot from behind a box, depth of focus)
-Find what they're looking for, wide shot walking towards door, try it and it rattles.
-Shot from behind, they keep trying the door, close up of their hand on the handle and then close up from the floor showing the door rattling.
-Medium shot, they start pacing looking stressed, reverse zoom shot where it seems like the room is closing in on them
-Hear them beginning to breathe heavily, panic and then start pounding on the door, shouting for help, again some different close up shots etc, maybe one of their eyes, tilt shot from below?
-Time skip, it suddenly cuts out from them pounding on the door and reveals them slouched against it, sitting on the floor.
-Suddenly there's a sound (like rats moving? maybe squeaking building up) and they look alarmed, maybe go and investigate what it is, quick sequence of shots from different angles of the room, various depths etc, builds up to a climax, they're terrified, zoom of them backed up against the door and they suddenly turn trying it again.
-The lights then cut out, sounds continue and they find a torch from somewhere and turn it on. Pan shots following the torches beam and they move it upwards to then see something shocking, I'd like to film them on the floor maybe with blood on them and then turn it upside down to make it look like they're on the ceiling and have a sudden shot with the torch on them if possible. (If needed to fill the time there could be quite a long sequence of things happening, falling etc building up to this, maybe a shot of them looking at their hand covered in blood before looking up) I may include a dripping sound of blood as well.
-The character screams and then the lights flicker on again, (I'd quite like neon lights at this point if possible or if the lights were already neon the colour of them changes) everything appears normal again, but they're freaked out.
-However, they scramble along the floor to the door and this time when they throw themselves against it, it bursts open.
-They're seen from behind, very out of focus, the door slams shut and as they turn they come into focus (medium shot/close up) looking shocked. I'll have to use a transition which allows me to film them going through the door but then reappearing potentially near the back of the room.
-There's then a shot of them looking at an empty wall where the door just was from behind before it cuts to a CCTV shot of them still trapped in the same room, a glitch effect potentially and then the end credits come on. Could have a juxtaposition of very abrupt, cheerful music at the end (maybe alluding to being trapped or something repeating) To further push the twist ending as the credits end there could be a shot of someone watching them on a laptop and somehow controlling what's going on?

Applying ‘Where have I been all your life’ to micro/macro elements of short film

In ‘Where have I been all your life’ the narrative is driven through the dialogue between the characters, with what they’re saying to each other leading to an almost chain reaction of events as different secrets about the couple are revealed. In a sense the film does follow the classic three act structure; there is a beginning with the young couple arriving at the house and Liam knocking on the door, a middle as the characters all talk to each other with secrets being revealed and then the twist ending with Liam discovering who his dad actually is. This is all guided by the dialogue, the sound, as the most prominent micro element in terms of moving along the story. The mise en scene, for example, mainly just sets the scene for events to unfold showing the setting of a street in England and a fairly typical married couple but doesn’t contribute a whole lot to the developing narrative or move on the plot of the film. The sound in general within the film is very naturalistic - it’s all diegetic other than a few short sequences with non-diegetic music at the start and end of the film when the couple are in the car, or heading back and forth from it to the door, however it cuts out as soon as the front doors of both houses are opened. This contributes to the importance of the conversations held by the characters as the audience is encouraged to listen to what is being said as there’s no non-diegetic music as a distraction. As well, the film has a point of view structure, shown by the camera ‘following’ Liam and the audience finding out about information, like him having got the wrong house, at the same time he does through his conversations; the dialogue between him and the other characters.

The short film is of the comedy genre and can be seen as a social commentary comedy due to the setting of a home and the characters being shown through costume and hair/makeup as being ordinary people. In terms of cinematography the film does follow genre conventions through the medium shots to see character reactions and natural camera angles which give the impression of the spectator being in the room with them, making it very realistic. Also, the use of only diegetic sound conforms to the genre as the dialogue needs to be heard clearly for the audience to understand any jokes being made. Henry Jenkins’ theory about genre constantly breaking rules can be applied to this film, due to the additional social message which can be interpreted about the modern-day idea of family and the lack of a happy ending. In comedy, typically there’s a representation of everyday life which is normally concerned with the middle and lower orders of society and creating a happy ending is important. However, in this film the ending is left inconclusive as Liam fails to do what he set out to, and it can’t really be described as a happy one because he leaves behind a broken marriage and a man who wrongfully believes he is his parent. Therefore, this is a diversion from a typical comedy and shows how the genre isn’t necessarily a fixed format and that there can be hybridisations of different genres.

Representation in the film can be viewed as supporting Richard Dyer’s theory about stereotypes often being negative and reinforcing ideas of differences between people, however it doesn’t necessarily fully support it. One of the main plot points in the film, is both husband and wife having cheated on each other and the way this is revealed and the consequent reactions to it can be seen as forming representations of the characters. John, the husband, is the first to have been revealed as unfaithful and although it’s surprising, shown by the character expressions of Angela and Liam, as the film continues he appears to be confident and uncaring, the character movement being him slouching in his seat and looking quite relaxed. Contrasting this, his wife Angela appears tense, the character movement being her sitting rigidly and taking up the stereotypical housewife role of washing up at the sink as well as bringing drinks and biscuits out for everyone. However, later on in the film this quiet housewife stereotype is broken through the dialogue between the characters when she reveals that she’s actually been having an affair with another man and is leaving to go be with him. This is an abrupt change in character expression, which breaks the previously potentially negative stereotype reinforcing the idea of a typical housewife and instead, although it isn’t necessarily a positive representation, shows the similarities between the two characters and doesn’t reinforce ideas of differences like Richard Dyer suggests.

Stuart Hall’s reception theory can be applied to how the audience responds to the film. Some may follow the dominant reading set out by the creator of the short, however with the topic of the narrative and hybridisation between a social commentary and comedy, it’s more likely that the audience will have a negotiated reading. Different spectators may find the film funny or sad depending on their viewpoint of the situation, how much they connect to the characters and their sense of humour. This means that various viewers can have their own opinion of the film and the message it’s trying to convey through the character expressions of the characters and not necessarily the one set out by the film’s creator. For example, the editing of cross-cutting between shots of Angela indirectly telling things to her husband, to Liam recounting it to John does contribute to the humorous sense of the film probably intended by the director, could instead be interpreted as sad when thinking about the dialogue that the characters have said to each other, depending on the spectator.