Planning: Shot List

Horror Opening Planning : Shot List


Number of Shot
Storyboard Number
Shot description 
Time allowance ( seconds) 
Shot 
1
1
Fades from black. Alec kneeling in front of altar. Shot from behind. Slowly zooms in.
    
5
Long shot
2
2
From side; shows both Alec holding rosary/cross, and altar.

4
Mid shot
3
3
From front, follows Alec as he rises and crosses himself. Mid shot.
8
Mid shot
4
4
Camera stays stationary, initially match-on-action  Alec pockets cross/rosary,
2
Close up
5
5
From behind, shows him walking out of room
5
Long shot
6
6
Extreme close up on his eyes? can be removed if we need to/it doesn’t work.
2
Extreme close up
7
7
Establishing shot of corridor; shows off all the props/stuff in corridor. Alec can be slightly seen walking out (if the area allows it).
6
Establishing shot
8
8
Camera on floor, pointed at corpse
4
Mid shot
9
9
Camera slowly follows Alec down hall as he walks
6
Long shot
10
10
Camera shows Bible verses on wall
About 3-5s on each. Brief. Keep film moving.
Mid shot
11
11
Camera tracks sideways, past cross on wall
4
Mid shot
12
12
However many shots we need of the credits? if they’re on the wall?
2-3s on each.
Mid shot
13
13
Alec entering planning room. Over the shoulder as he enters the door
4
Over the shoulder 
14
14
Wide shot of room, shows papers on wall
6
Wide shot
15
15
Pan across wall, show pictures of people/detailed paper
10
Mid shot
16
16
Extreme close up on Alec’s eyes, look determined/angry
4
Extreme close up
17
17
Focus on ‘Grand Rapture’ text. Fade to black
7
Mid shot

Planning: Considering Mise-en-Scene For Your Opening - costume and props


Written by Me.

After writing the synopsis for our film "Alec" and considering the location of the movie opening, we had to style our location to match our preference. The abandoned hallway at Grafton Underwood needed to represent Alec's sanctuary. The hallway is bare with broken bricks and pipes along the walls with old slabs of concrete resting on the floor. We need to add several props to the location for it to give of the effect of an abandoned yet lived in place, in which Alec will come to pray to god. The props we are adding to the location are rusted chains along the concrete slabs which we can zoom into to create tension. Church pillar candles as they remind people of a religious place, a place in which people feel safe or uncomfortable depending on the scenery around it. We'll also add a large cross at the end of the hallway chipped and a bit withered to enhance the tension in then scene. We'll make this from two one meter length bit of wood. The candles will create an atmospheric mood lighting for the hallway which will give an easy feel.

In the room next to the hallway there will be an alter Alec will prey to, communicating with god his intentions and why he is doing it. This is in a hall within Grafton underwood next to our first location of the abandoned hall. The location comes with a giant concrete slab table which we will use for the alter. On the alter we will put a worn out bible to show it has been there for a while, a bowl of an unknown red liquid which is probably blood. The blood will be made out of water mixed with a teaspoon of flower and red food colouring. The alter will also have a worn our table cloth over it with tears in it. Some small but relevant items on the table will be rosary beads and a crucifix all lit up with some candles. There will also be a cloth for Alec to kneel on. The bible will be worn out but look in a newer state to the rest of the props which shows how Alec takes care of his religious totems.

Last of all we were thinking of the clothing of Alec and the dead body. The dead body will be wearing a worn and torn grey shirt to show struggle and simple jeans with some trainers with a little blood and bruising. Alec on the other hand will be wearing a very smart trench coat with a black shirt and a vicars collar. Round his right hand and shoulder there will be a wrapped chain with comes out of his coat sleeve without seeing his hand. The pockets of the trench coat will have rosary beads in which he will take out and hold in his left hand. He will wear some black loose jeans with a brown belt around his waist. The shoes he wears will be black booted shoes with no laces. This outfit makes Alec seem very intellectually but with the chain and rosary beads, psychotically religious as well.
Alec will wear standard black jeans to match his overall dark outfit.
He will wear a heavy duty style boot like a doc martin.
Alec will wear a standard vicar shirt with a collar, although very young he is very driven by his religion.


Alec will wear a brown belt which looks worn. This will hint towards his character by showing he doesn't care too much about his appearance/clothing.
The chain will be wrapped around Alec's arm and dragged along the floor behind him. In addition, we will sand down/scratch parts of the chain, and possible dent it; the implication will be that it is old and used as a weapon. As opposed to showing him use the chain as a weapon, we will simply hint towards it.

Candles will be distributed throughout the scene and used to decorate and light the set. According to leading candle reviewers on the Sainsbury's website, the candles melt incredibly quickly- however, this is more of a boon to our group than a hinderance. This is because the short life of the candles will make them look older than they are, giving the set a more lived-in feel.


We're going to make a cross and put it in the set. We'll make it look old and worn, and prop it up against the wall-
Pictured is the cross we had produced by the woodwork department in school. We gave them the dimensions we desired and it was produced by the end of the week.

The completed cross, with a black background.
The cross, with Ashley for scale.
Ashley posing with the cross.

Planning: Casting

We originally had two auditions. We tasked the actors with reading a monologue we had prepared that matches the character of Alec- his demeanour, outlook, perception, etc. We judged them based on the delivery of their lines, and how well they seemed to get into character- if they understand the character well in the monologue, we hope they will be able to translate this to a successful performance in our actual project.

After much deliberation, we decided on the candidate below. This is because his delivery was the most impressive and clear- he seemed to understand the character of Alec, and be able to get into character. This is important- unless they understand how Alec thinks, acts, and talks, then they cannot figure out the more minor details we will use in our main performance- his facial expressions, the way he carries himself, etc. As mentioned, the most impressive demonstration of this was in the audition below, and we will be moving forward using this man as our lead act.

Planning: Location Planning


Keystone - No hallway for us to create a good environment or the killer to walk down. Too light so it would inhibit the amount of tension we could create.

Abandoned Hospital - Impractical to film, hard to reach, hard to design props and get permission.
Mental Hospital- Same as above.


K.S.A- Hard to decorate, too modern, hallways bend too much.


KBA Pavillion- Too many windows/class rooms, carpeted floor, hard to decorate (and probably won't get permission).


Exterior of the main bunker we are going to film in.
Grafton Underwood- We have decided to choose Grafton underwood as it is an easy location to reach and has a variety of bunkers to choose from. It is run down but not to the point where we can't decorate it to look like a sanctuary for a religious icon. We have chose the big mess hall and the hallway next to it in the biggest abandoned building. Having the biggest abandoned building will give us freedom to manipulate the environment to suit us. The hallway has preset features that will help with the atmosphere of the scene which is one aspect of Mise-en-Secne. It has rusted pipes and broken concrete slabs which will add the opening. We are also using a giant mess hall for the planning/ alter scene. This is useful as it comes with a giant concrete table for the alter so that we don't have to build it. These locations are accessible by the public and therefore are easy to use. None of our props create a permanent effect on the location so therefore it is easy to set up.
The inside of the bunker where we will set up the alter.
possible door Alec could use as a transition to
another hallway
The main hallway we will use for Alec to walk down
it is dark enough for us to create tension but can be easily lit
up with candles and dressed effectively.
The room in which we will set up Alec's
murder collage in order to build up to a climax.

Planning: Producing a Storyboard

We went through several stages of storyboarding. Initially, I drew up the shots in a rough, time-efficient manner. We did this to get a general concept of how the film will pan out, so we can draw up the storyboards in a more detailed, skilful way. Pictured is the original storyboard.Both sides of the storyboard.

From this, we constructed a full set of storyboard panels. I was responsible for drawing these, using the original storyboard as reference; I drew these as I do art as a subject and therefore would be more suited for drawing them.
Pictured below is the finished storyboard panels.

















Planning : From Production Company Name to 60 Second Pitch.

Task 1

Planning : Production Company Name

To decide on the logo we created a mind map and wrote down all the ideas that came to our head and finally decided on 'Dimension Productions'.




 From this we decided to create a logo in which we decided on a vertical line of planets in our solar system with a white line going through them. Whilst playing the words Dimension Productions will slowly slide inwards to the white central line. We chose this logo and name because it is quite catchy and can be remembered easily. Our company is an ultra low budget company which specialises in teen horror films.

Task 2

Planning: Brainstorming Initial Ideas
Our next task was to then create a brainstorm of ideas or themes that could going into our horror film. Here are our initial ideas separated into who thought of them. We wrote down as many different themes and conventions in films as our group wanted to do a non-Clique film. 
Task 3

Planning: Decision Making

Once we got all of our ideas wrote down we went over them to see which themes could fit together to create a unique horror film. In which we finally decide in the film "Alec".

We chose the idea that the film wouldn't follow the story of a bunch of teens that would inevitable get butchered but we wanted to do a film based off of the killers perspective and he would only kill people that had wronged him. We though this would be a fresh take on a horror film and that is hasn't been done before. The scare factor would come from suspense and short jump scares although we will not overdo the jump scares. Alec is also a name that is mysterious as it translates from greek language to "Defender of man" which in Alec's mind, he believes he is saving humanity by "purging" sinners. 

Task 4

Planning: 60 Second Pitch

For our final task we had to come up with a 60 second pitch were we have to explain the whole plot of the film in under a minute. If our movie pitch gets given a "Green Light" We can proceed and develop the idea of our movie. We got inspiration from how a pitch is given from the video's below.








Research: The British Board Of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, self-governing body that classifies films and DVD's. It was set up in 1912 by the film industry and can now classify DVD's when the video recordings act was passed in 1984. Which means video's that can be brought or rented have to be classified

Classification is making the decision of which age group can watch a particular piece of film. The footage is judged based on how much sex, sexual violence, nudity, imitable behaviour, horror language, drugs and discrimination. Examiners will look at the film and also take into account some of the themes it portrays and may be classified as a higher age if it goes into content. They will also look into how it will make an audience member feel. A team of examiners look at the video or film and judge it on all of the previous content but if not ratified by a senior examiner will be passed up the ranks and can even get to the chief examiner.

Specific guidelines for a film rated a 15

Nobody under the age of 15 is aloud to view a film rated 15 and/or rent or buy a film or DVD from a shop.

The certain guidelines that apply to a 15 rated films are as shown below:


  • Discrimination - The film as a whole should not endorse or support discriminatory language or behaviour but can still mention themes of homophobia and racism.
  • Drugs - Drugs may be shown in the film but they must not be promoted or encouraged and show in as little detail possible. High ranking drugs are unlikely to be shown.
  • Imitable Behaviour - Imitable Behaviour means dangerous behaviour like suicide or abuse. The movie shouldn't focus on the subject and bother factors like the weapon depend on the realism of the movie.
  • Language - Strong language is acceptable and very strong language is okay depending on which character is saying it and what context it is in.
  • Nudity - Nudity is aloud if it is educational or in normal circumstances. Nudity is aloud in sexual context but not much detail. 
  • Sex - Sexual activity is allowed as long as there isn't much detail. Strong verbal sexual references are aloud as long as they have a purpose.
  • Threat - Threat is allowed and to a strong content. Prolonged threat that is sexual or sadistic may be not allowed .
  • Violence - Violence is allowed but not to focus on the injury or infliction for too long. Strong gory violence is unlikely to be allowed. Strong verbal violence is allowed and it can be sexual but not to dwell on the subject