Production: Storyboards

The storyboards in which I drew gave a slightly detailed overview of what to expect within our film. This storyboard I tried to explain underneath what occurs in the film and what happens around the shot as context. As the drawings aren't the best, I tried to explain it a a lot better and in detail underneath.  We have indeed changed the last scene of the film. Instead of going to the lagoon as we planned in the initial idea. We decided to stay in the location of the first scene of the prank call. The rest of the film is explained in the storyboard. However, a quick overview should be included. The stalker approaches the house at the desired time of 02:04am. This time is when the doorbell rings, they both wake up and go to find out the cause of it. However by the time they get the courage to go downstairs to check, the stalker then tries the back door, to be unlocked still from when Danny came in earlier. they both see and here the stalker come round the side to the back. The same voice from the call says the quote "you should't have made that call Danny, or you Tom". The same quote from the prank call so the audience knows its the stalker. By the time they turn around, the hand of the stalker covers the mouth of Danny and the screen goes black, a sort of cliff hanging ending, as well as a jump scare.

This is the ending in which we changed, due to timing reasons and also because it follows the story a lot better.

Planning: Media Consent

For us to gain full permission to have our actors filmed on camera, we have used a media consent form that we need to get our actors parents to sign. As 2 of our actors are under the age of 18, we will need signature permission from both of their parents in order to film them and post the trailer on the internet for our media coursework. Jack Addis, playing the stalker is over 18 therefore needs no permission consent forms as he is an adult.

The consent form will include the date that we plan to film on and locations of filming so that they will easily be able to find us incase of emergency. As well as this, we will give the numbers of each of us, therefore can put the parents at ease incase of an emergency. If for any reason we aren't able to collect a permission signature from either of our actors parents then we would need to postpone our filming days until we have found a replacement actor. We have been provided with a consent form by the school which our actor Nicole will need to sign as she goes to the same school that we do; this consent is required by the school. This is because we plan to edit the trailer during school time so we will need to have permission from her parents to do this on the premises.

One of our actors, Christian, is Diabetic. Therefore we have left the equipment he needs to keep his blood sugars at the correct level in a suitable yet easy to get to place in the house. Therefore incase of an emergency, the help is there when in need. We have given this information to his parents, so they are informed that Christian will be safe when performing in our short film. Even though Jack Addis (stalker actor) is 18, we have still informed them that Jack will be filming on the Film day in need of him. This is so incase of any emergency with Jack, we have his parents to call us as they have our phone numbers too. Jack still lives with his parents, therefore we thought this was important information for them to put them at ease as well as the actors under 18.

For myself, the location of the filming will be mostly done where I am living currently. Therefore I am close to my parents incase of any emergency with me. However I am over 18 so therefore not a requirement as well. But the slight problem, one of the other actors can quickly and easy retrieve the help within seconds.

Planning: New Title For Film

For our title, after many discussions with peers and the chat between both of us, we have decided from the original initial idea, that we will change the title of the film to "Phone Alone". This is a good title we felt, as it was easy to say and also catchy, instead of "The Phone Stalker" or originally at the start "The Prank Caller".

Planning (Titles): Text Messages

The video in which we will use to gain the knowledge to produce a professional text message pop up on our film. (Using After Effects) Source: Youtube.

In our film, we will be involving the phone of Danny receiving a text off of the stalker in which they jokingly prank called, not thinking anything of it. For this, we will be gaining knowledge from the source of Youtube, in which we can use After Effects (Adobe) to create a effect on our film to a text message being alerted on his phone, in which the text pops out of the screen for all the audience to see it.

Planning: Equipment and Software

For the equipment within our media we have chosen to use the best and most available equipment we can at the time of filming, trying our best to make the most professional and effective short film we can. This is the reason behind the equipment we have chosen.

For our first piece of equipment, we have chosen to use a Nikon DSLR D3300. Providing us with the best 1080 HD recording options for our film. Adding the impact of focus to our short film and the variety of options to use while filming e.g zoom.

We have chosen to film with the Magnus PC-7451. This tripod will provide the best stability on our film when we need it. We provide us the ability to use a variety of different shots with its high and low angle change, and can easily pan with it as well. The grip on the tripod will make sure the shots we film will have steadiness and create a professional outlook.

The lighting in which we will use for our film  will be the LED380 Barndoor Video Lights. These lights are mostly used for interviews therefore extremely professional. This gives us the light if we need to make those exact shots that we want. 

This SD card will give us the opportunity of filming a vareity of different shots without the worry of running out of storage. As it was provided by the school it was a easy option for us to choose.

To edit everything on we have chosen to use the Apple iMac 21.5inch. It has a 4k retina display which allows us the best ability to edit and watch back footage on. It is a reliable piece of technology so we will know that we will be able to save everything on the machine we are using.

For editing on we will be using Adobe Premier Pro CC 2015. This piece of editing software is a very professional piece, providing us with the best possible outcomes on our film. It has many various examples of making your footage and other aspects to you film very professional.

For out titles and text bubble effect, we will be using Adobe After Effects CC 2015, as this will provide us the ability to create realistic animations within our footbage and create professional titles to use.

Planning: Costume For Danny

Danny (Jimmy Upstone) costume:

Jimmy is the also main character in the short film, portraying one of the 2 teenagers in trouble with prank calling a psychopath. This we feel in an easy choice as we are teenagers ourselves so found it reasonably simple to dress him with everyday clothes. Heres some of the ideas:

Costume: The pictures on the right portray the sort of costume that our character Danny will have while in the short film. As Danny will be travelling on his bike from his house to Thomas's, we will need a coat to be added for a style for him to wear due to the cold temperatures on English winter months. We feel the simple styles and colours such as a navy t shirt, black jeans and new balance shoes for a scene with him taking his shoes off will be a sufficient style of Danny to wear. Without taking away his role in the character, the simple colours will portray him as a simple teenager without any care in the world. As certain types of clothes can portray certain things, we felt that this style of clothing will show him to be a 'normal' teenager and a stereotypical 'boy'.

Hair: We wanted this character to have the suitable 'normal' teenage hair. This was easy due to the fact of Jimmy already have the suitable blonde hair for a teenager to have and portray to the audience. However, due to the different filming days, we will have to schedule the filming so all haircuts look the same, as this will confuse the audience and not make much sense just like with Christian.

Planning: Communication

In order to communicate details about the schedule for our filming days such as; time, date, we have decided to create a Facebook messenger group chat so that we will be able to tell our actors about the filming stages that they will take part in as they develop. 

We have decided to use this method of communication as we think that it is the most readily available method of communication for myself and my filming partner and our actors. Although we have made sure that the chat is set onto a private setting so that no one else other than the people in the chat can see any messages put in. We have done this for the safety of ourselves and our actors because no one will be able to know private details such as filming days and locations. 

Also the group messenger chat will allow for us to communicate information of any last minute changes on filming days if there are issues for filming such as weather. This will allow for our actors to come to filming fully prepared and informed about the day. Just incase we arent able to communicate any messages through the group, we will make sure that we have each of the actors personal phone numbers so that we can contact them individually with any changes. 

An example of the group messenger that we have created: 

Planning: Costume For Thomas

As part of the mise en scene, costume is a huge factor in our trailer as it convey's certain characters characteristics through their appearance. Here with these blog spots I will be showing you the costumes of what we are deciding to use on the characters too create a figure and appearance for them to show their age, which can be relatable for the audience of 15+.

Thomas (Christian Hunt) costume:

Thomas is the main character in the short film, portraying one of the 2 teenagers in trouble with prank calling a psychopath. This we feel in an easy choice as we are teenagers ourselves so found it reasonably simple to dress him with everyday clothes. Heres some of the ideas:

Costume: The pictures on the right portray the sort of costume that our character Thomas will have while in the short film. We feel the simple styles and colours such as white t shirt, sand hoodie and a pair of black jeans will be a sufficient style of Thomas to wear. Without taking away his role in the character, the simple colours will portray him as a simple teenager without any care in the world. As certain types of clothes can portray certain things, we felt that this style of clothing will show him to be a 'normal' teenager, who is always 'up for a laugh'.

Hair: We wanted this character to have the suitable 'normal' teenage hair. This was easy due to the fact of Christian already have the suitable blonde hair for a teenager to have and portray to the audience. However, due to the different filming days, we will have to schedule the filming so all haircuts look the same, as this will confuse the audience and not make much sense. 

Planning: The Member Roles

For our short film and what we will be doing to contribution to our short film I will list below as we have decided our individual roles we will undertake in the creation of our short film:

Jonathan Randall

I will be filming the scenes of the film. This is a big role to undertake as it's important to get every scene correct and in focus for the best possible outcome and for the short film to look professional. However, I feel my ability to film and sustain a cosistent filming style can be succeeded through the filming days. As well as this, joint with Jimmy I will be editing as well as all the after effects and titles, as we both will be creating this to get the best result from both our contributions.

Jimmy Upstone

Jimmy will be acting as well as directing in the short film, as he knows what the best way to portray scenes and the storyline through his A* experience in Drama GCSE and AS Level. Aside me, Jimmy will be also contributing to editing as well as the after effects and titles with me. 

Planning: Call Sheet 1

Here is my call sheet for my first filming day, where we film the first several scenes of our film. This is where Danny cycles to the house of Thomas for the sleepover. Main section of this scene being forgetting the lock the back door.

Planning: Lighting In Our Short Film

Concerning the lighting use within our short film itself, we are featuring scenes both outside and inside, one with the character cycling to the house of the sleepover, and inside the house of the sleepover. Therefore we will be accessing both sources of light including artificial and natural. We will use numerous sources of artificial lighting when shooting interior shot's depending on the scene itself, if we are filming in a dark room. The shot's we will be filming in broad daylight will use light in our environment so it is natural.

Due to the problems I faced in my AS media project, we avoided filming after sunset because of the risk of our footage appearing underexposed, and the footage was very poor lowing my grade because of it. However, with the new knowledge of Premiere Pro, we can film in the day and adapt the footage with colour corrections to match the time of day. The footage that we capture inside use both artificial and ambient source of lighting depending on the time of day we film. The light will be filtered from windows during the day and near to the evening we will use artificial lighting of lamps, bulbs, candles etc.

Lighting is also very important in our trailer as we will use it as a key source of creating atmosphere and tension through the scenes, such as when the stalker will go into the house to attack the teenagers. This will be effective as light can be utilised to represent different emotions therefore linking well with what we want to achieve in individual scenes, relating to the use of pathetic fallacy. In addition, we will be including both high and key lighting to represent mood's of characters and the atmosphere being developed in a scene. However, due to the lack of budgeting we have we don't have expensive studio lighting. This may create some challenges when we want to capture of evening scenes due to the risk of underexposing which I mentioned previously. 

Planning: Lighting Research

We have learnt that there are three different types of lights in film. These are; the main key light, the fill light and the back light. These are all needed in order to fully light up a subject. 

The Main Key light is the most important light as it provides the most amount of light to a character or subject. It is placed slightly towards the right of a character. Even though there is normally another light towards the left, if there is only the main key light on the right it creates "low key lighting", this is normally used in thrillers to make tension. 

The second light, positioned slightly towards the left is the Fill light. This light adds to the Main Key Light as to fully light up someones face. It mainly gives the character a more bright and important look. Having these two light s on above gives the effect of "high key lighting". 

The final light is called The Back light and it is obviously positioned towards the back of an actor. This light almost gives a halo like effect on the character and is sometimes used to highlight the characters hair. This light is sometimes used to make a character seem more intelligent or angelic, normally used with an protagonist to make them seem more important. 

We will make sure we use all of this lighting in order to give our film the best and most professional look possible. 

Planning: Chosen Initial Idea

Here is our chosen initial idea that we will be filming as we found it to be the most popular to film and the most successful idea that we think will portray all the aspects for a horror/thriller film to obtain

Planning: Risk Assessment

Before filming, I needed to consider the risks and how to avoid them when it comes to producing my short film. To avoid these hazards I decided to list them, rate their danger out of ten and create a solution around them:

Planning: Props

Props are used throughout short films to attract the target audience. Because of this, the props that I decide to use will have to appeal to a teenage - adult consumer base. For example, within my short film I may need to use props that represent the most up to date technology as this is what appeals to a young audience. Firstly for my film, I will use:

1. DVD Set

This DVD set will be used within our film as a prop for the two boys to watch while they are enjoying each others company. As before the prank call actually happens, the two boys will be compromising with other things such as watching films before they get bored and start to prank call.

2. A Knife

The knife will be used within our film to add fear for the audience, because the stalker will be wielding a knife while approaching the boys in the home alone sleep over. The use of the knife will put a thought process in the audience to show that he is attempting to kill the two boys and this will add fear and suspense to the audience.

3. Home Phone

The home phone will be used without our film to signify that the two boys are reasonably young, as they don't have a mobile phone for them selves and therefore only know to use the home phone. As well as this, the idea of the home phone has a creepier view surrounding it then the mobile phone, therefore adding to the suspense of the audience.

4. Popcorn

The popcorn in our film will be used as an extra prop to be on the table when they are watching films. The idea of having popcorn will create a more realistic feel to the film and it doesn't feel too artificial, as this would create a less scary feel to the music, so therefore having this will hopefully create a more scary feel.

5. Screwdriver

The screwdriver in our film will be used as a prop in the film from the child to defend themselves against the stalker. This is the main prop which will cause the most effect as the young boy will use this to defend his friend from the grasp of the stalker.

6. Tool Box - Holding The Screwdriver

The tool box in our film will be used as a prop to hold the screwdriver that the boy grasps to defend his friend from the stalker. The tool box will add reality to the film as the boy would have to gather and choose which weapon he can use to temporarily injure the stalker to get away from the stalker.

7. Xbox One & Controller

The Xbox One will be used in our film as an extra prop for the two boys to play before they get bored enough to prank call, adding realism to the film therefore gaining the audience's attention more as they feel more intrigued and engaged in the film.

Planning: Casting

Casting The Characters:

Within the narrative that I have created, there will be three actor roles to fill. Both of these 
roles will need a male actor between the ages of 13-17, which is a good age to cast, as the students within our school year studying drama can portray this role well, being two teenage boys that are home alone and decide to prank call.  

As well as the two teenage boys, there needs to be a actor for the stalker, which can also be portrayed through the use of our drama students in school, showing their skills through the acting. Being a film of a horror/thriller genre, the actors that I choose will need to maintain a serious role. As well as this, I will also need to choose actors that are available when I need them to be as I will be working to a deadline and filming - an element that has risks of being pushed back due to many factors. A final specification that I decided for my two actors was that in order to appeal to 15+ audience - they will need to portray roles of teenage boys that show great fear, to portray that to the audience. This can be achieved through the use of, costume and props however it would be useful if their natural look fulfilled the same purpose.

Jack (17, Chenderit School Drama Student) - The Stalker

I chose Jack Addis, 17, to fulfil this role as the distinct feature of his beard connotes with the fact that he is rough and older, showing the audience that the stalker is older. Doing so, allows him to create a character that looks like they are an older male compared to the younger characters - which, in fact, appeals to the audience as it gives them suspense towards the character

As well as this, the actor is also an advantage to me because he has a lot of free time that I can spend filming him in short notice. Whilst the actor has done a lot of film work before, so allowing Jack to perform will provide a lot of experience within our film. In addition,Jack also has the confidence to allow me to use him to perform various scenes and shots in our film which is great in an actor.

Jimmy (17, Chenderit School Drama Student) - Danny

I chose Jimmy Upstone, 17, to fulfill this role as he is my fellow partner in creating this film, and as well as this he studies Drama and therefore carries the features your need to become an actor. He will fit the boy Danny well, as this requires a young outlook on the character (being 15-16) and therefore he fits well.

As well as this, the actor is also an advantage to me because he has a lot of free time that I can spend filming him in short notice. Whilst the actor has done a lot of film work before, will provide a lot of experience within our film. In addition,Jimmy also has the confidence to allow me to use him to perform various scenes and shots in our film which is great in an actor, as this is his film as well.

Christian Hunt (17. Chenderit School Media Student) - Thomas

I chose Christian Hunt, 17, to fulfill this role as he studied theater studies in Year 11 and achieved an A grade, therefore carries the features your need to become an actor. He will fit the boy Danny well, as this requires a mischievous and daring character which I think Christian holds well as a persona on his acting.

As well as this, Christian is also an advantage to me because he has a lot of free time that I can spend filming him in short notice. In addition, Christian also has the confidence to allow me to use him to perform various scenes and shots in our film which is great in an actor, as this is his film as well.

Planning: Location 2

Location 2: Location Of Where Stalker Runs After The Two Boys

- The small lake that we are filming around.

This is the location in which we will be filming. The small lake/pond will be the location to be filming our second sequences of shots, as this will provide a creepy eerie location, as well as giving areas to be filmed because its easily accessible and also no permission is needed because there is no ownership on the land we are being filmed on.

This is where the boys would run too as the stalker tries to track them down. However, the problem here is lighting, we will film this part in the early evening as there is still possible light and also lighting available to film with will be available. These are also test shots to see what the quality is like in darkness and as shown it isn't very professional. Therefore the choice of time and day will be early evening so there is still light, however there is still a hint of darkness.

This is where the boys who are escaping from the stalker would run down. This can be done through either medium shot or a POV shot. We have taken some shots of the area in the light as well as this is so we can get the best of both worlds in deciding which one looks best and provides the most fear in the light provided. As you can see, despite it being 4:30pm as we took the photos of the location, it still looks dark and mysterious through the tree cover, and this is something we can take advantage on through our test shots we will take.

This is where the boys then run through to get to the lake where their Grandparents live near. They were told to go there if they had any problems as it was near. But they have to go through the woods to get there, which seems to then be a bad plan...

This is where the boys run round to get to their Grandparents house. They will have to venture around this lake to get to the house, however despite their struggle, the stalker catches up with them, causing them to be forced to hide.

Planning: Location 1 - House of Sleep Over

Location 1: House Of Sleep Over/Stalker Entry:

- The area in which will be filmed for our first shots of our scene.

This is the location of where the first shots of the short film will be set and filmed. As we are inside for most of these shots, we will be okay with the weather. However, when filming the shot of the stalker approaching the house and at the house at in the evening, it mustn't be completely pitch black as that would be hard to film, so it must be early evening as it will make the shot ultimately better and easier to watch the film. These shots may take between 3-4 days, as we want to get the perfect shots out of this, and this is possible as we have access to the house easily as I currently live here, so we can access this house to film whenever we want. 

- Sleep over location (living room)

For our idea, we have decided that the sleep over would be in two locations. However our main decision would be that it to be filmed here in the living room, as two of the boys can be watching movie and sleeping on the sofas. However, despite this picture, we will be filming the scenes of the sleep over in the evening, with the use of the living room lights and some filming lights as well. This will be shown in test shots that we will film in the future. However, this is the main location of where the boys in the film will be based for the first bit.
                                                                           

 - Shot of where the boy sees the stalker (door step)

This is a shot from the scene where the boy looks out to see who is at the door while just being asleep. This is the key jump scare in the film and is the main twist in the story where they both realise they are in trouble. Just like the first picture, this will be also filmed at night. However, despite there bing no obvious light outside, we will use the front light above the door, this will give an eerie look to the character provide some lighting. If it is still hard to see the character, we will then be using artificial light through the use of film lights. We can then later on decide what is needed through when we test shot and decide whats best for the character.

- where the stalker will walk round the side of the house (side door)

This shot will be another POV shot of where the boy sees the stalker entering the house from the side door. At this point the boy will wake up his friend to ask if he locked the side door. As the storyline gets worse for the two boys quickly, they forget to lock the side door after both entering it coming back from the day. From when the stalker enters the side door, this is where the boys realised they've made a mistake from prank calling to not locking the side door, to later realising not to lock the back door...

- where the stalker tries to break into the back door (back patio)

This is where the stalker comes round to back to enter the back door.