Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we have been set a series of actions that we must film, along with several things we should demonstrate. We have to film this for a certain genre.

It must include:

• Character 1 opening a door
• Character 1 crossing a room
• Character 1 sitting in a chair opposite Character 2
• Exchanging several lines of dialogue

... and should demonstrate:

• Match on action
• Shot/reverse shot
• 180 degree rule
• Establishing shot
• 2 close ups of characters
• Tracking shot
• High angle shot

Ellie and I got the 'horror' genre. This means we must put in several horror genre conventions. These will include:

• Flickering lights
• Long, dark corridor
• Talking to an unknown spirit
• Creepy dead girl
• Murder

The props we will use are:

• Fake blood
• Rope
• Gag/cloth/duct tape (for mouth)
• Two chairs
• Table
• Teddy bear

These are the actions/script we will follow:

1. Character 1 (Ellie) as a creepy little girl (ghost?) walking down Link corridor. The camera will be at the other end of Link on a tripod - a long, static, level shot. It will be dark, as that is one of the conventions of the horror genre, yet the lights will flicker on and off. The camera will be cut to show Character 1 advancing towards the camera in time with the flickers.
2. Character 1 will then open the door to the drama studio (right) which will be dark with dim spotlights, including one on Character 2 (Jonathan) sitting bound and gagged in a chair behind a table. There will be another chair on the opposite side of the table, which Character 1 will sit down in.
3. Instead of both characters exchanging dialogue, we thought we'd do it a little bit differently. As Character 2 is gagged, the only sounds he could make would be muffled and indistinguishable. Instead Character 1 will talk - the audience won't know who she is talking to; herself? Someone that she can see but the audience (and Character 2) can not. Asking why she should be the one to do it. It will build into a scream before simply saying 'Fine'.
4. Blood (fake) will then begin to drip down Character 2's face. Several camera shot cuts will show different parts of Character 2's body (torso, legs etc), also covered in blood