Evaluation

Production: Casting

Our opening film sequence  features 3 characters played by 4 different people. This is because the scene with Jamie Thompson and Lily Butler is a flashback scene so the young girl represents a younger version of the girl seen at the start, (Jasmine Croft).

Jasmine Croft stars as the antagonist in this psychological horror. As shown above, she is portrayed to be 17 years of age and thus an older version of the girl in the flashback. We choose Jasmine Croft as her white pale skin makes her ideal for being a visual representation of false innocence whilst having connotations of cold which is seen n her behaviour and lack of facial expression/emotion. It is almost reflecting on what she has done in the past. Meanwhile her clothes are subtle, plain black and not detailed as this draws attention to the characters face and helps to blend in with the room she is in. Also, age was important to stay below adulthood as the intended target audience for our film is young teenagers at Sixth form/college age category who can relate to the antagonists current age. In particular, students who are interested in Psychological horror and those who enjoy the supernatural.

                            

A serious appearance was vital for the role of a psychologist so Matt Wills was dressed in dark colours,  (a burgundy jumper with Navy shirt). Wearing an Apple Watch and active body language all help to portray his high socio economic class and the actor was able to deliver this as his tone of voice was concerning and his face expressing deep interest into the pictures the girl drew at a far younger age. His stern facial expressions contrast to Jasmine Crofts and is presented to be a stern, knowledgeable person. Matt Wills is 17 years and capable of delivering his lines with authority- his stern build also indicated power.

Matching the two actors was a difficult task as they needed to resemble one another at varying ages of childhood but Lily Butler matched well with blonde hair and pale skin. We choose Lily Butler as she has experience in acting with PQA (Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts) so was confident on screen. The pale skin is also maintained and we choose grey to be consistent with a plaint outfit but added a red ribbon to her hair which forebodes danger as red stereotypically has connotations of danger/blood.

The actor Jamie Thompson is 17 years old and was the second choice to play the babysitter. We knew Jamie well prior to filming and had a greta rapport so this strong relationship off-screen meant he was flexible to filming dates as he lived near by and he was keen to undertake the role of male babysitter. At first the plan was to use a female actor for the babysitter but we decided to alter the synopsis and go against codes and conventions of horror where the victim is expected to often be a young female entering early stages of adulthood.

Production crews: Roles & Responsibilities

1.The role of our writer would be to conjure ideas on a screenplay for the film including dialogue for a script. They must have an understanding of what the films synopsis is and adapt the narrative. The writer would have to make a script suitable for each character with stage directions to follow. In preproduction, the writer could rely on storyboards as we have done depicting the layout of the films plot to know what the screenplay will be like.

2. A composer will provide the sound of the film in form of soundtracks which may be a personal piece or an orchestra assembled themselves.  They work with the director to see where in the film the music should be placed


3. The camera person is in charge of operating the camera and equipment with it such as tripod. They will be using a wide range of camera angles such as over the shoulder shot and close ups to create atmosphere within the film. As a result, they will be commanding actors to move making adjustments to make sure they are in shot and capturing footage.

4. Head of casting will search for cast members making sure the actor will be most suitable for the roles in accordance with the writer and the directors ideas. They willl be in charge of picking actors perhaps through auditions where actors audition for the role or interviews. In order to fulfil this, they must follow the directors vision and know the narrative whilst being able to pick out details which may help to perfect the film such as an actors accent or hair colour/appearance.


5. The producer of the film will organise all roles and making sure the filming takes place which can be done by using a production schedule. This will cover the dates of filming, what actors will be filmed, props as well as providing a risk assessment for any possible dangers whilst filming. A producer will also be in charge of acquiring locations and manoeuvring equipment to and from the location of filming.

6.

Film directors co ordinate the films narrative and manage actors to make sure they are right for the role; They may host auditions for roles within the film before eventually deciding on the most  appropiate person to fulfil the cast member. Directors will decide on the storyboard and create ideas on the personalities/ appearance of the actors such as their costume. In post production, they will ensure the film is still maintaining the plot created  in pre production or the direcotr has agreed on adjustments. To do this, they will work with the editing team/person, writer, and composer and give them guidance on how they want the film to be presented in final proudction (editing of the film).

Main Task - Final Film

The finished opening sequence for our film "My Friend Charlie".

13.Studio Logos: Similarities & Differences

As seen above, studio logos have unique characteristics which enable them to stand out. This may be an iconic figure resembling power or importance such as the summit of a mountain (the Ben Lomand mountain) as seen in "Paramount" or the woman holding a torch in "Colombia Pictures" which is shining a bright light at the top of the picture which could be a metaphor for a beacon of hope as torches are associated with brightness and can have connotations of a bright future when held by people; perhaps a figure to act as guidance. This type of icon is evident throughout a variety of studio logos.

In "Castle Rock entertainment", the image shows a lighthouse in the distance which shares similar visual metaphors to that of "Columbia Pictures"as both use light in different forms to create a visually attraction drawing the viewer in as well as displaying an image that resembles hope. Another studio logo that uses iconic figures is "Tristar" which displays a white horse with wings as this is eye catching and white is a colour associated with purity (Pelicans for opportunity, Swans for loyalty) so gives the studio a positive appearance. As Tristar is an American distribution studio, the white colours of the horse would be familiar with the symbol of the pelican and the eagle which are icon wic in American culture. Both Tristar and Columbia Pictures have clouds in their background which gives the impression of a figure bursting through dark times (clouds and rainfall) to a clearer future. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM is a studio which features an animal on their studio logo; Similar to "Tristar Studios", a powerful creature is used as the main feature of the logo. The tiger roaring in MGM shows fierceness and we recognise this animal to be courageous and near the top of the food chain so we can infer the studio means to be successful and be one of the best.

Frequently, a black background acts as a canvas for the studio logo which can be seen in MGM studio, Telescope Entertainment, United Artist, Hollywood Picture and perhaps most noticeably New Line cinema. The colours are then minimal often dark or metallic which si evident in "The Weinstein company" which is a metallic grey and New Line Cinema which is a black shape in front of a blue light. These are noticeably dark and mysterious.

However, some of the studio logos are bright from a white background such as Screen gems and Sony Pictures. These two are completely different background colours to other sstudiossuch as New Line Cinema. Also, Screen Gems contains a simple red shape whereas Columbia contains a portrait which shows how studios may create a logo that can be easily identified as it is visually easy to recall. By comparing Tristar and Sony Pictures, we can see the studios have opted for diffferent designs with the first opting to create a scene and the latter a shape.

14. Studio Logo

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Date of filming (two separate dates)	10th February & 13th February 2016
Who will be filmed	Matthew Wills (the psychologist) & Jasmine Croft (the current version of the girl who is seen in the flashback)- 10th February 2016. Jamie Thompson (17 years old) who plays the child-minder & Lily Grace Butler (9 years old) who plays the young female child – 13th February 2016
What will be filmed	We aim to film all of the shots on the storyboard and any extra we add in which will be the entire opening sequence. The first date will be the beginning of the film up until the flashback when the babysitter event is recalled; this scene will be filmed on the second date.
How will it be filmed	The opening scene will be filmed inside a room for the questioning using two camcorders and a tripod. On the second date, the first camera shot will be an establishing shot of the location (Alex’s house) followed by an Over the shoulder shot of Lily Grace Butler looking out the bedroom window from upstairs. The camera angles will continue as explained in the storyboard until the child and child-minder meet at the door when two cameras will be used for a shot reverse shot using both tripods.
Equipment necessary	Two HD cameras, two tripods, a small knife, butter/spread, a blank white paper book for the child’s drawings, pencil, cello tape,  red ribbon, crayons

RISK ASSESSMENT
Health & Safety issue/concern	Low risk		Medium risk		High risk
When using the knife prop, small cuts or injuries could occur if the knife isn't handled properly. The tripod will sometimes be on uneven ground such as the pavement by the house which may fall over if there is wind. To minimise this and damage to the camcorder, it will be mounted properly and stuck with cello tape if necessary as well as never leaving the tripod unattended when the camcorder is mounted on.	(Very) low risk	Medium risk

As this isn't filmed on private land, permission is not necessary to film. The only precaution is to ensure the house is free on the day to minimise unrelated background noise and disturbance when filming. 

15. Analysing BFI Data on Genre & Audiences (Genre & Clasffication)

Table 4.1

In 2013, 64 Thriller films were released which is 27 more than Horror which released 37. However, the latter produced more gross at the box office making £57.5 million compared to Thriller which only made £29.1 million from its 64 releases. This shows the horror genre was more successful and made more profit in this year. The most successful genre was Animation with the top performing title Despicable me 2 helping to make animation 21.4% of the total box office, (the most out of all genres). Its appeal was largely young children and adults which meant its target audience was wider so able to make more sales at the box office

Table 4.2

At the widest point of release, the average number of sites was highest in Horror with 145 compared to Thriller which had the less of the two with 89. Although Horror had a higher average number of sites at its widest point of release, the genre released 27 fewer films than Thriller which released 64 but from these releases made a gross of 57.5 million at the box office, more than Thriller which made a gross of £29.1 million. Horror made more money at the box office from its fewer releases than Thriller suggesting the releases were more popular and produced more ticket sales so had a higher profit. Also, the demand for the films in the higher genre was more as it had a higher average number of sites at its widest point of release. The figures show the most successful genres to be Animation and Action which had grosses of £246.6 million and £215.4 million respectively.


Table 4.3

The table shows box office revenues per site by genre which ranks Horror 6 places above Thriller out of all the genres for the "average box office per site". As well as this, the total gross at the box office was £57.5 million for Horror which is £28.4 million higher than Thrillers (£29.1 million). From this we can infer Horror performed better in terms of gross but was considerably less than the highest earning gross at the box office which was Animation which made £246.6 million. Interestingly, the total number of sites is very similar between the two genres; Horrors is only 300 less than Thriller which total number of sites is 5,667. These are higher than other genres such as War, Documentary and Music/Dance which shows the two genres were expected to produce a higher total gross and expected a wider audience range so more ticket sales per site.


Table 4.1.2 (Table 4.4) - Ranked by gross box office.

Out of all the releases, Action made the highest gross at the box office with £64.1 million which made up 25.1% total of the box office in the year.  Horror included 10 less releases with only 7 being released ( 5% of all genre releases) compared to Thriller which released 17 (making up 12.2% of all genre releases). However, in terms of profit Horror was far more successful making a total gross at the box office of £14.8 million where as Thriller made only £4.1 million.

Figure 4.1

This shows the proportion of box office by genre for all films, UK films and UK independent films. With 5% of all films from this genre, it outperformed Thriller which contributed half this amount as well as making less money in the  UK films with Horror making up 5.8% and Thriller 1.6%. However, it's UK Independent films was more at the box office with 2.7 compared to Horror which was only 0.3%. These are all significantly lower than the two best genres for the box office in all films which were Action and Animation. Overall, Horror made more profit at the box office than thriller in all films and UK films but was outperformed by Thriller in the UK independent films meaning  Thriller Independent UK films were more popular than Horror.

Figure 4.2

The proportion of releases by genre for all films, UK films and Independent films was higher in Thriller than Horror. In all films, Thriller released 9.2% where as Horror released 5.3% and in UK films 12.2% were Thriller compared to only 5% being Horror. More than double Horrors 4.9%, Thriller made up 11.4% of UK independent films released which is 6.5% more than Horror which shows a high interest in Thriller Independent UK films as well as the UK films. It also shows there are more films available to a wider range of audience which isn't as age restricted as Horror where teenage audiences/families may be able to watch some Thrillers instead of strictly adults.

Synopsis: "My Friend Charlie"

The film is based on a girl (played by Lily Grace Butler) whose parents go away for the night leaving her with a babysitter (played by Jamie Thompson). It begins by showing a psychiatric interview session in place with the girl as an adolescent. Here it allows us to see that there was evidence to show her prediction of events that happened later  concerning disastrous outcomes ( 9/11 attacks, Isis etc). As the story unfolds we see a flashback of her as a young girl with a babysitter, writing a storybook. However, this books appeared to be chillingly accurate, as the main character in this book is the babysitter. Going back to the interview after seeing this event we are able to understand that perhaps sit wasn't the girl that thought of these ideas, but someone or some form telling her. Someone called Charlie.

16. Scripting/Planning evidence

 To formulate the ideas on filming our opening sequence, we used storyboards. The first one is the flashback and the second shows the opening of the sequence.

 The sequence will be filmed in the evening towards night to establish an eerie tone and a singular pathway for the babysitter to walk on highlighting her isolation and that she will be alone with the child in the house. ( As our ideas on the plot developed, we decided to use a male as our babysitter to go agains the codes and convenions of stereotypical horrors). As shown in the storyboard, suitable camera angles will be used throughout with the opening an establishing shot of the house with the girl seen in the window. This is followed by an Over the shoulder shot of the girl peering out the window looking outside. A pan shot shows the babysitter knocking on the door which is followed up to the knocking on the door. 

Below, the storyboard shows the opening of our film set in a formal environment when the girl is being questioned by the Psychologist for. There is limited dialogue here to highlight what the psychologist saying and the poker face effect of the girl. 

We planned a script for our actors during this scene to give them ideas on what to say. However, the improvised scene was more realistic so we used this for the actual film.