Planning

My idea is all based around the idea of chain mail. So i will be naming it, Chain Mail. As if that wasn’t obvious 😉

I have chosen this because it is something that everybody most likely experiences at some point, be it threatening mail or friendly, by using this I feel I will be able to connect with a greater range of audience having much greater effect. I myself have forgotten how many times I have received such mail in my inbox.

So the idea is that a young girl was once tortured and murdered by her mother and friend. This is all incorporated in the email that will be sent in some way. The story of the young girl and how she was murdered for no reason will be passed on through email, just like any other piece of chain mail. This is one unique point of my product; it seems to be like an ordinary thing, when in fact, it is quite the opposite.

As the email is sent out, the ‘initial’ girl in my film will actually believe the threat that is to pass it on or be tortured and murdered by the little girl featured. From this she will then pass the email on to three of her friends.

They will all receive the message but take quite a different approach to the threat. They take it as just another piece of chain mail and simply delete the message. This is where things go wrong, the turning point in the story.

The threat becomes real, the little girl featured starts to terrorise and mentally torture the girls who took it as a joke. Taking some form of revenge and getting her own back on those who take her life and experience as a joke.

Following the conventions of normal teaser trailers, I will not be able to put much of the story in the actual piece. The objective after all is to tease. This may work as an advantage to me, a full story is not really necessary as it would never be used. I need to try and be as secretive as possible with that I put in my trailer. Giving some clue about what is happening and the basic story line but not enough to give the whole story away.

Heres the poem and initial threat for my coursework. For this i researched a few creepy messages etc from films such as Friday 13th. From this i then got a group together from my target audience, all writers or with some media experience. In a conference call we then discussed a few ideas i already had and we brainstormed a few ideas of what they would like to see in such a piece. From this i then produced the final piece.

Unfortunately, as my product is a teaser trailer, i will not be able to include all of the poem.

Planning:

Please use the links below to see the named documents:
Time Sheet
Filming Days + Shooting Script

So i just realised, I havent shown you my storyboard! Uh-ohhh!
So here he is. Very low quality im afraid, had to use my phone camera. Hopefully you can atleast make out the different scenes and shots 🙂

UH-OHHHH!
So after re-thinking and going through all of my planning. I have realised that the piece is going to be WAY too long. Its a teaser trailer after all!
So i have made a few changes to my piece.
Scenes to be cut:
8, 20, 22, 23.
Scenes to be changed:
3; Instead of one shot, two or three short, sharp images. This is to have a much better effect and enduces the paranormal feel.
5; ‘Lucy’ will not be seen, instead I will have a handheld tracking of the girl running, from behind.
11; There will be no match on action of her running out the door and through the garden. Just running through one room and out of the door.
16/17; I will not include the car, instead I will more than likely have two shots, one being of the male victim walking, the next of him spinning and being attacked. I will use a zoom from a higher angle for increased effectiveness.
New Shots:
I am going to introduce some text. As my idea for the voicing over of the poem will not be possible, I will incorporate it into the piece instead.
Between scenes 12 and 13, I will have a plain black screen with “Break the chain…” written
Followed by the same set up between scenes 13 and 14, this time reading “go through the pain” (A line from the poem, already said in the initial warning)
I will also include the titles just after shot 18 (would be 20 before the cut) I will have “They burn the rest.” “So Daddy doesn’t see” Which will then be perfectly matched with a following shot of the burning doll (scene 24) Note: I have switched the title screen (Scene 21) and Scene 24.
Also, in the new shots category. Between 15 and 16, I will have one or two short, sharp shots of ‘Lucy’. I realised that I am simply not enflicting or showing too much horror in my piece. I aim to creep the audience out. Play mind games with them. I need the girls face to become memorable, so the odd short shot of her, paired with additional non-digetic sound will provide this.