Blog Peer/Self Evaluation

        In class today, we did a worksheet that asked us to grade the blogs of other students in the class. This worksheet was split up into two parts" peer evaluation and self evaluation. I found this assignment really helpful, as it highlighted the strengths and weaknesses in my current blog posts. I also liked that the assignment called for us to reference evidence from one another's blog, this made it easier to see what I was doing right in my blog and what I could improve on.

        Overall, I was very pleased with the evaluation I received from my fellow classmate. She spoke to me about how she liked the research I did into the horror genre and that my shot by shot analysis were well done. I was very proud she noticed the extensive research I conducted at the beginning of this project, and I am happy I enhanced my knowledge on the horror comedy genre and the horror tropes used in film. This section of the rubric (AO4), is probably the most important part of the project to me; by obtaining knowledge on your film's genre, this helps the project become easier to complete and not as stressful. However, I was surprised I scored highly in the AO3 section since these posts weren't as thorough as I would like. As far as the AO2 section, I found out today while Josie and I were shooting the film that I could have planned the shots out much more. Our basic storyboard guided us along the way, although we did have to experiment and add in shots we did not think of when drawing up the storyboard and script. 

Ft. Josie's cut out of Lizzo

As mentioned above, Josie and I began filming today! It took us about an hour and a half to get all of the shots we needed for the "rough cut" of the film, but I am so excited to show you guys what the (almost) finished project looks like!

Preproduction: Sounds

          During production my group hopes to record some ambient sound since this is hard to recreate artificially. Luckily we will be recording outside, this will give us the opportunity to capture some noises such as the wind rustling the tree branches or the footsteps of our two characters. The footsteps may need to be recreated during post production depending on how loud we want the steps to be, and if we change our mind on the shots used to show the characters walking. I want the sound for this project to add authenticity to our opening, and I think that using real life ambient sound or background sound would be much easier than recording it in post production.

          As far as dialogue, I am sure we will have to record the majority of the conversations between the characters later on in the project. Even if the characters voices could be heard during the rough cut, the wind and other noises might take away from the characters discussions. While Josie and I are not planning on recording much dialogue for our opening sequence, we do have a few humorous lines that are important to the scenes. These lines pertain to our main character, Brittany, the Stalker in the film is not going to speak at all to add some mystery to this character and to make shooting easier overall. There are some on-screen sounds however that may need to be individually captured, like the sound of the locker smacking the Stalker in the head or the notification noises that originate from Brittany's phone. Basically, the way we have our film set up the most significant sounds will be recorded after shooting (typical for most films). Josie and I are so excited for the next step in our project, we start shooting "Look Who's Stalking?" tomorrow (let's hope we get it all done)!

Preproduction: Technology

          Josie and I are going to begin shooting in 2 days, we are almost halfway done with our project! We also decided that I would be playing the role of Brittany, and our good friend (Cody) will be playing the role of the Stalker. After searching for actors to play our role, we realized that we don't have enough time to wait for applicants. Personally, I have no acting experience however I have the best acting coach of all time: Josie. I'm hoping that we can get all of the filming done in one day, and I think that with our detailed storyboard and shot plan this will be easier to accomplish. For filming we will be using Josie's phone, which is an iPhone 11.

As far as technology, my group will be using an iPhone 11 for shooting. This phone has not one, but TWO cameras on the back! Further details about the camera are listed below:

• 12-megapixel "wide" camera with f/1.8 aperture with optical image stabilization (OIS)
• 12-megapixel "ultra wide" camera with f/2.4 aperture and 120-degree field of view
• Uses the same 12MP ultra-wide camera found in the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max

The iPhone 11 is also said to have "improved video stabilization, same video capture at 4K resolution at up to 60 frames per second on all cameras." With such great camera quality, filming with this device makes shooting much easier compared to a bulky camera.

Sources:
Wong, Raymond. “IPhone 11 Review: More 'pro' than It Looks.” Mashable, 17 Sept. 2019, mashable.com/feature/apple-iphone-11-review/. 

Preproduction: Storyboard

          In class, Josie and I started drawing up our storyboard. A tool very helpful for the pr production process, a storyboard is a visual outline of a film (be it a short film or feature film). The board is made up of a series of images that show everything that's going to happen in the film, and for our project my group decided to use a paper version.

         Obviously we will not be sing stick figures for this film, but we wanted to show the basic idea of what our film is going to look like and this was the easiest way to get the point across. The first box on the first row is going to be the introduction to our main character, Brittany. Josie thought of a really cool idea for the opening scene, and said that we could take different shots of Brittany walking around campus and create a montage that displays the film's setting. The second box in this depicts our stalker staring at Brittany as she walks through the halls to her locker, and the third shot is going to be a view of Brittany through a surveillance camera lens.

          The security camera point of view is meant to add a spooky effect to the film, similar to the camera style used in Paranormal Activity (2007). In the second row, the first shot is going to introduce the audience to the Stalker for the first time in the film. We want to shoot a close up of the Stalker's face to really emphasize his reactions to Brittany almost catching him staring. The next one is going to be the part of the film where our two characters meet and Brittany accidentally whacks him with her locker. We didn't have anymore spaces to draw up the end of our film, but we are planning on having the Stalker attack Brittany in her car as she goes to snap a selfie. Shooting begins in a couple days... wish us luck!

Preproduction: Mise-en-scene

Actors at the high school location in Scream (1996)

          Look Who's Stalking? is coming along great! Josie and I are going to begin filming very soon and are excited about this stage of our project. However, we have made some changes to our storyline and where the film is going to take place. We decided that because the length of our project is so limited, transitioning between two locations would really take up a lot of time in the opening that could be used better. Instead we have chosen to have our film located at the school and only the school, to ease the production process. This does change the film's storyline a bit since we were planning on shooting in the woods; this shot will still be included in the film, but in a different location.

On set of the film Booksmart (2019)

          The school's actual campus and the huge parking lot give us a couple options for filming locations, the steep set of stairs leading to the parking lot also allow us to capture some great shots!We want our film to make viewers feel like they are back in high school. To do this, we want to shoot some of the basic aspects of school campuses: courtyard, stairs, lockers, etc. By using these buildings and objects as backdrops or props for the scene, this can bring our viewers back to when they were in high school and create a sense of nostalgia. The school setting will then establish the age of our characters and also the time period (now) when the film takes place.

"Westburg High School", setting for Heathers (1989)

          The goal of the film is to make the audience feel like they are being humored and frightened. In order to make our audience find humor in the film, we plan on overplaying the stereotypes of horror films and making the Stalker's motives obvious to everyone except Brittany, who is too busy answering DM's on her phone. Using the reverse shot, we want to show the audience the character's conversations. By having on-screen sound this helps make the film seem more realistic since the audience can see where audio is originating from, most of the dialogue however will probably be recorded in post production. I have drawn inspiration from other teen films such as Heathers (1989), Book Smart (2019), and the horror film Scream (1996). In this post, there are some images and clips that reflect what I want our film to look like!

Preproduction: Production Design

          Production design is what makes up the visual concept of a film. Production designers are the people who are responsible for creating and managing aspects of the film's look such as sets, graphics, props, lighting, and costumes. For Look Who’s Stalking? Josie and I are going to start the film off in a school setting. This set is popular among teen slasher films, and we wanted to use our high school campus to connect with young viewers. We are actually really lucky to have this set available to us, it saves us a lot of time and money that would have to be spent if we filmed in an actual studio.

I thought that this image was really cool, as it shows how influential lighting is

          Currently, we do not have plans to include any graphics apart from the credits and title reveal (this is subject to change). Pasco High (PHS) also has everything we need prop wise to show the audience where the film takes place, although we might have to find a book bag and some textbooks for this scene’s characters. These items will be quite easy to obtain since Josie and I have these on hand during the week. As far as lighting my group wants to use the never ending Florida sunshine to our advantage by incorporating natural light during the shooting process. In the woods, we want to have the setting look darker to create a scarier tone. This way, it will be easier to form jump scares for the audience. Having a darker scenery pays homage to many horror films and represents a classic horror trope of fear of the dark.

This filming locations was used for "Edward Scissorhands", it's actually located in Lakeland!

Preproduction: Shooting Schedule

Before I start talking about the shooting schedule, I would just like to inform you guys that Josie and I are considering titling our film...

Look Who's Stalking? 

          We came up with this title while joking around in class, the other option was "Can We (S)Talk?". Although the title isn't very creative, we thought that this phrase could be incorporated into our script somehow as a joke for the audience. After laughing about our new name we started to discuss how we would go about the shooting process for our film.

          Since Josie and I both have such busy lives, the shooting schedule will help us set up time slots that tell us what we need to shoot and when we need to have each shot done. In order to not fall behind in the project timeline, Josie and I will need to follow this schedule as best as we can. As of now, Josie and I are planning to film our opening over the course of three days. Currently those three days are going to be February 18th, February 22nd, February 23rd. Josie and I still have to figure out what time we want to film, but I'm hoping we will be able to film some shots before the sun goes down (which has been around 7:30 lately).

          We both knew that filming at night would not be an option for us, as we want to utilize natural light to our advantage to help make editing easier. I am hoping that we have decent weather during shooting so we don't have to reschedule any shooting days, however living in Florida I know that this is not likely (fingers crossed!). While most horror films like to film during the night, my group figured that because we are doing a horror-comedy, filming during the day will make our opening stand out. Filming during the day for the school scene is also more realistic and helps us make these shots appear authentic.

Shooting Schedule

Day/Date	Summary	Location	Characters
2/18/20	Intro of characters, 1st encounter	PHS	Brittany and Stalker
2/22/20	Switch locations, Brittany’s being followed	Woods	Brittany and Stalker
2/23/20	Extra/Backup day	N/A	N/A

Preproduction: Location

From research to scriptwriting and funding, Josie and I are now moving into the preproduction phase! First, we are beginning this stage by talking about the film's location.

          For our film, the plan is to shoot in two locations: school campus and the woods. The locations are really going to impact the quality of the project and we wanted to use the setting of the film to explain parts of the story we would not have time to incorporate into the opening. The props of the school campus such as the lockers and the structure of the classroom buildings conveys the idea that our main character is a high school student. In contrast, filming a scene in the woods adds an eerie tone to the shot and plays homage to traditional horror settings (check the "Horror Tropes" post to learn more).

          We really liked the idea of shooting the most thrilling scene in the woods because it represents the feeling of isolation we want our audience to experience. Using the woods as a location for the movie also contrasted greatly from the first setting of the school campus, which can help us symbolize a change in the character’s actions and the time of day. Josie and I were planning on shooting around dusk for the woods scene, and dawn for the school ground shots.

          These two settings help Josie and I out a lot, since we don't have to create any backdrops or props to make the area look realistic because it already is! While this way of shooting is different than most major studio films that shoot in a studio, as independent filmmakers this gives my group a lot more freedom to try out different settings and test a variety of camera angles. We wanted our location to be easily accessible and to be a familiar place for everyone involved with the project. By doing so we hope to cut down on confusion during our shooting schedule and to shorten the amount of time spent on shooting itself.

Preproduction: Casting

          Casting is the process of finding actors, or entertainers, for a particular production. A crucial part of the preproduction process is finding the right people to tell the story of the film. Josie and I wanted to search for local actors who would be able to fulfill the roles of our main character, Brittany, and our stalker who remains unknown to the audience throughout the film. We have thought about posting a "casting call" on social media sites such as Snapchat in order to reach a wider variety of people who may be interested in auditioning. With so many students interested in theatre at PHS, it would be great to get some to audition for our film.

          For Brittany, we want to cast someone who can portray the same attitude that Karen does in “Mean Girls” (2004). This person would have to forget all instincts they would normally have in a stalker situation, and act like a complete airhead. The bad guy in this film is supposed to symbolize what everyone would deem the perfect stalker. Since this character isn’t going to have much dialogue throughout our opening, expression of emotions is going to play a huge part in who gets the role of the stalker. 

          Keeping our casting at the local level of our school would limit the age range of those who respond to our casting call, making the process of choosing an actor much easier. My group wants the cast for our film to be around our age group (late teens) so the story would seem more realistic. By casting those near the same age as Josie and I, we have a better chance at getting along with the actors because of our similarities and knowledge of one another from school. Having a good relationship with the actors for this film has become an important topic of discussion for my group. If we didn’t hire actors we trusted or could rely on to show up for shooting, our film would suffer!

Case Study: "Ready or Not"

          A film that would be similar to mine would be Ready or Not (2019), a movie that makes typical wedding disasters look like a blessing. The film was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet. Ready or Not stood out in the horror comedy genre due to its ability to make a child's game terrifying and its new take on the "final girl" horror trope. This game of hide and go seek quickly turns deadly for the film's protagonist Grace (Samara Weaving), who is the wife of Alex Le-Domas (Mark O'Brien). The hunters of the game are the filthy rich family members of the Le-Domas clan, that may or may not have an ode to the devil himself for their everlasting wealth.

          The target audience of this film is a wide age group of middle class adults, the film contains
some drug use, foul language, and gory images making it earn a R rating from the MPA. Ready or Not was produced by Mythology Entertainment/Vinson Films, and was shot for 26 days (October 2018-November 2018) in locations such as the Casa Loma, Claireville Conservation Area, and the Parkwood Estate in Toronto, Ontario and Oshawa, Ontario. The budget for this project was about $6 million USD, which the distribution company (Fox Searchlight Pictures) received as part of a $71.3 billion deal which involved Disney buying 20th Century Fox. Ready or Not had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 27, 2019, and was released in theaters on August 21, 2019. The film ended up grossing about $57 million USD off of its low budget.

          The marketing strategy for this film relied heavily on the visual of Grace being armed with shotgun as she wore a delicate white wedding dress. By arming Grace and showing her will to fight back throughout the film's campaigning, Grace becomes a representative of the final woman, a woman who fights back instead of being a helpless victim (the usual final girl). This type of character received much praise from audiences who wanted women to be more portrayed more in film than a damsel in distress. The film also becomes a politically symbolic tale of the poor vs. the rich, as the Le-Domas family strongly feels Grace doesn't belong with "their kind" because she grew up poor and was a foster child. Grace's rough upbringing and economic status makes her character appeal to the average American, as she is more relatable.

          Aside from the posters and the trailers, the cast of Ready or Not including Samara Weaver and co-star Andie MacDowell conducted multiple interviews and starred on a variety of talk shows to promote the film. The movie premiere was also a hit among its guests, as it mimicked the look of the movie through its creepy waitresses and props such as boxes from the games created by the Le-Domas family. The premiere established the brand of the film through its dark and detailed decorations.

Sources:
Wilkinson, Alissa. “Ready or Not Is a Dark Horror Comedy with the Obliviously Rich in Its Crosshairs.” Vox, Vox, 21 Aug. 2019, www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/21/20807664/ready-or-not-review.

Thompson, Simon. “Inside $6 Million Horror Comedy 'Ready Or Not': Bricks, Blumhouse And Box Office.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 24 Aug. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/simonthompson/2019/08/23/inside-6-million-horror-comedy-ready-or-not-bricks-blumhouse-and-box-office/#72bb0c993c94.

Story of the Film

         For my group's final project, our film is going to be a humorous yet thrilling experience for young audiences, as they watch what happens when a dumb blonde runs into her crazy stalker. The target group for this film is aimed at young adult viewers, who will find the stereotypical characters and dark humor enjoyable. I feel that this topic is culturally relevant, as the Netflix show "You" (2018-present) has proved that the topic of stalkers in the modern age is a great hit among viewers due to the series success. While our film is meant to showcase the horror comedy genre, I think the film could work as a way to bring more awareness to the issue of stalkers following young women (and men).

          The movie is going to acquire most of its comedic effect by playing off of traditional horror tropes (explained a couple blog posts back) and stereotypes of horror movie characters. However, in order for our film to be scary we want to have a set of thrilling jump scares and chilling dialogue such as the iconic line from “Scream” (1996). The dialogue in this film had a great balance between humor and terror, something my group strives to accomplish without the use of blood and gore. Honestly, I think films that have taken the psychological route to horror instead of blunt visuals are much scarier and interesting to watch.

"Dumb blonde" character,
 Karen (Mean Girls)

Our movie’s “brand” is going to resemble a lot of teen slasher films from the 2000’s, the costuming of the character’s is going to be a great way to communicate this idea to the audience. Other films from the teen comedy genre such as “Mean Girls” (2004) offer a great deal of costuming designs that can implicate the personality of our "dumb blonde" character. Combining opposing wardrobe would symbolize who our film’s protagonist and antagonist is, without the need to explain this vocally to the audience (preppy clothing v. all black ensemble).

Funding for the Film

          Since my partner and I do not have millions and millions to spend, we will be doing a low-budget film. A low-budget film is exactly what it sounds like, it is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. 

          For this project my partner and I would love to work with Blumhouse Productions. Blumhouse Productions is responsible for creating the model and trend of "micro-budget" horror films such as "Split" (2017) and "Get Out" (2017). According to Jason Blum, owner of Blumhouse Productions, his company has been able to put out a variety of low-budget horror films by keeping production cost low and casting "up and coming" actors. My partner Josie and I will be using similar tactics inspired by the Blumhouse model, this will be demonstrated through our casting of unknown actors and keeping the budget for this film under $4 million USD.

          After reading multiple articles on how Blumhouse Productions, I began to figure out how they maintain a low budget while killing in box office. I learned that the story is a key part to a film's success, and because Blumhouse has a history of giving directors creative freedom, my group would benefit from this greatly as first time filmmakers. For this project, my group is going to be using handheld devices to shoot this film. The use of handheld cameras was actually done for the film "Paranormal Activity" (2007), which ended up bringing in $193 million USD world wide. By not having to purchase camera equipment, this cuts out a huge portion of what our production spending would be. As far as location, the plan is for the film to take place at a local school campus and a wooded area on a friend’s property. While subject to change, these settings are free to use and again help keep our film’s production cost low.

Sources:
Bernhardsson, N. E. O. “Five Easy Pieces - Blumhouse Productions' Paranormal Returns from Minimal Budgets.” Medium, Five Easy Pieces, 17 Sept. 2018, medium.com/five-easy-pieces/five-easy-pieces-blumhouse-productions-paranormal-returns-from-minimal-budgets-ce029ed5dd49.

Guerrasio, Jason. “How the Company behind 2 of the Year's Biggest Movies Is Blowing up the Hollywood Playbook.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 1 Mar. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/blumhouse-productions-get-out-split-2017-2.

Scriptwriting Attempt 1

          Over the last two weeks, I have conducted research and analyzed multiple opening sequences for films in the horror comedy genre. After doing this, I have learned about what it takes to make a horror comedy film enjoyable and what the traditional characteristics of the horror genre are. My favorite part of the research was conducting the shot by shot analysis. This form of research gave me the chance to watch films apply horror tropes in action and gave me inspiration to use for my project. One of my favorite analyses I did was "Jennifer's Body" (2009). The wardrobe of the female characters in this film was quite stereotypical, and while I would usually criticize stereotyping in movies, this technique works differently for a horror comedy. By conforming to what society believes, the audience notices the satire in the film and this creates a comedic effect.

Me brainstorming script ideas      

          My partner and I have a broad idea on what we want our script to be about. The protagonist for our film is set to be a young woman, who will be acting in respect to the "dumb blonde" character horror movies love to use. We wanted to keep the main character for our project near our age group so that it would appeal to a younger audience, and would seem more relatable (we are aiming for a PG-13 rating). The idea was to have a “stalker” follow our character throughout the film, and to add some humor to the story we wanted the two characters to have dramatic encounters with each other. The plan is to have someone stalk our character, and then at the end, chase the character through the woods before the final shot leaves the audience on a cliffhanger. Josie and I did not want to include any violence or gore in our project; the reason we chose not to include a murder scene is because this technique did not match the vision we wanted. Also, fake blood is a pain to clean up.

Below is a draft of our script

(dialogue/specifics will be added in with the final script):

• Opening credits, "Blumhouse Productions" presents title of film (still debating on name)
• Introduction to main character, montage of her performing daily activities (stalker is hidden in the background)
• Main character is walking and runs into her stalker, stalker falls and main character asks him if he’s okay
• Reverse shots of the conversation show us she is oblivious to who she’s speaking to, close up of stalker and voiceover telling us his interior monologue
• Characters finish conversations, main character begins to walk home (shown through jump cut and match on action cuts)
• Main character walks unknowingly, turns around and we are faced with a 2 shot of the stalker right in front of the woman (shot ends, sound effect hints that the scene is over)

Horror Tropes (Continued)

          Continuing on my last post, the second horror tropes I mentioned were the abandoned place and the final girl. If you have ever watched a horror film, and have thought "Don't go into that house!", it most likely was an abandoned place. These settings create a sense of mystery and because what is inside or who is inside is unknown to the viewers, the audience grows more and more anxious as the character enters the building. Not to mention, if you imagine the end to horror films such as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974), there is always one person left who survives to tell the tale of what happened.

          Trying to find a horror scene that showed an abandoned building was surprisingly difficult, but any horror movie fan knows what I mean. When using an abandoned site as a setting, this creates a sense of isolation from the character and others in the real world. This causes audiences to assume that something is going to happen, since most abandoned buildings are far away from help services one might need if in danger. One setting that specifically scares me is when a movie is set in an abandoned hospital. I think the reason this location works so well for horror films is because hospitals are already scary when they're operating!

          The final girl in horror films is exactly what it sounds like. You may have noticed that in most horror films, there is always one girl who outlives the rest of her friends who were violently murdered. In the photo above, final girl Sally from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974), has barely escaped her killer after watching her friends die one by one. This technique causes the audience to root for that last character to survive, and this also allows one person to recount for what happened at the beginning or end of the film depending on the movie's narrative.

Sources:
Balcazar, Dahlia, et al. “Digging into Horror's ‘Final Girl’ Trope.” Bitch Media, www.bitchmedia.org/post/digging-into-horrors-final-girl-trope-feminism-hemlock-grove.

Horror Tropes

          A trope can be defined as a plot device or character type that is commonly known and familiar to the audience watching the movie. If you have not noticed, the horror genre heavily depends on tropes. By using and re-using a set of concepts, audiences assume that they know what is coming next in the movie. While this might usually be the case, there are some films that use this set "expectation" to their advantage to make the real scare more unexpected. A jump scare, having nowhere to hide, an abandoned building, and the final girl are some of the most well known and noticeable tropes of the horror genre.

          In "Scream" (1996), this scene demonstrates how a jump scare is used very well. In this clip, the character is trying to escape after Ghostface tells her he is going to kill her. This scene is important because it is the first time the audience and the character see what Ghostface looks like. The jump scare used for this shot is extremely effective in introducing the audience to the killer in the film, the reaction of Drew Barrymore's character also amplifies the feeling of terror the audience feels for her as she runs for her life.

          This scene from "The Purge" (2013), uses the second horror trope mentioned in a slightly different way. The surveillance cameras of the character's home from this scene show the audience that the house is completely surrounded. This clip takes a new approach on what "no place to hide" can mean in horror films. Personally, I think the use of modern technology (security cameras) actually makes this scene even creepier, as many of us have security cameras or "Ring" for our homes. The shots in this scene of the masked killers surrounding the house makes the audience feel trapped, since the characters don't have anyway to escape.

Sources:
Loggie, Matt, and Matt Loggie. “6 Common Horror Film Tropes.” Raindance, 15 Oct. 2019, www.raindance.org/6-common-horror-film-tropes/.

YouTube, youtu.be/PJ4ZyHu0-DQ.

YouTube, youtu.be/e3mwmwPhr08.