Film Rating

Having researched into the BBFC guidelines, we have chosen to give our production a 15 rating. This means that nobody under this age is allowed to watch the film at the cinema or buy/rent it. If we were to make the whole film it would include the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language
• strong threat

All of these features are ones that would be expected in a 15 rated film or video. According to the BBFC, 'moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted at 12A or 12A as long as horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained and the overall tone is not disturbing'. For this reason we decided no to rate it as 12 due to the fact our film would expect to see frequent horror sequences intended to disturb viewers in some way. We have chosen to include violence and threat in order to make the film appear a horror. Without these element the film would be less intense and want our audience to be fully engaged.

We also considered the hypodermic needle theory when making this decision which suggests that audiences are 'injected' by the media and therefore influenced. It is said that children are more passive users of media and so it is important that they do not watch films that include adult themes and are not suitable for them, as they may become influenced by the horror events that take place throughout. For example in the case of James Bulger, it was said that two boys had watched 'Childs Play 3' (a film rated 18) and were heavily influenced by it, leading them to murder the young boy, James.

Fonts

We had to think carefully about the fonts that we would use throughout our trailer and ancillary tasks as we wanted to clearly represent the genre through style of writing. We used a website called www.dafont.com where thousands of different fonts are available. For the main title of the film, 'Somnium' we decided to look for something quite jagged as the sharp edges can connote danger and violence. Films such as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' use such fonts which are thin and sharp.

The font we decided on is like this but has a more scratchy effect. This was perfect as the background for our titles is similar. We too inspiration for this idea from the titles from 'Se7en' which has an extremely effective title sequence at the start of the film. It involves the use of scratches and dark colours to connote horror.

The final title for the film was something we are very pleased with, and we will use the same one for out poster and magazine cover. By doing this we can link all of the products together. Here is the final title which will appear at the end of the trailer.

For the intertitles we decided to use a different font which was more bold and formal as this would make quick reading easier for the audience. The boldness of these titles also makes them stand out more on the grey background, making them seem more intense when accompanied by the sound effects. We found this font on www.dafont.com also as it was a simple way to look through and select from a wide number of different fonts. We used this font on the poster too in order to keep our trailer strongly linked with our ancillary task.

Intertitles

We did some research on trailers and noticed that many of them used intertitles. They use them help tell the story and often it replaces a voice over. An example is in the 'Jessabelle' trailer where they use intertitles to break it up and communicate the story. Intertitles or voice overs are conventional of theatrical trailers and are extremely effective as one of the purposes of a trailer is to tell the basic narrative of the film. This needs to be done in a very short space of time and so titles or voice overs make it easier.

We decided to use this convention in our own production as we felt it would benefit our audience by helping them to understand the story. We chose the words 'what would you do if your childhood nightmare came to life?' and made them appear in three parts. This breaks up the trailer slightly creating a more interesting watch for people, and also hints at the fact that the film is about a nightmare appearing in reality. We used a colour scheme of black and grey which connotes danger and darkness, to keep to conventions of horror trailers. These colours also link to our ancillary task.

Chosen Music

We selected two main pieces of music for our production, both of which we are extremely happy with. It took a while to find them as we needed them to be as fitting as possible. The first piece, 'Possession' by Purple Planet Royalty Free Music, is a quiet and fairly chime like sound. This music opens the trailer as we thought a softer but mysterious sound would be more appropriate than intensity music at this point. By doing this it makes the more intense parts of the trailer stand out. This music also plays when Rosie is a child, and so creates an idea of childhood but in a more strange and eerie way. We used a section of this music to end the production too as we felt it linked the whole product together effectively.

www.purple-planet.com

The second piece we used was a lower and more eerie sound. We saw it was appropriate to bring it in at the point we did as it is just after Evylyn Crick has been introduced and therefore when the story begins to pick up intensity and horror.

Over this music we added our own sound effects such as loud bangs and strange high pitched sounds. This just created a little more volume and power to the production as the highlighted certain significant areas of the trailer, for example when we see Evylyn walk up the stairs in the reflection of the mirror. The sound we used then was 'apprehensive sound' by Mike Koeing which we found on www.soundbible.com. Without this sound this scene would just be quite average and not draw the viewer in as much.

Rough Cut

Somnium - Rough Cut from Rosie Chatterjea on Vimeo.

Here is a rough cut of the production so far. From this point we have a number of things to do in order to improve the trailer and make it as professional as we can. At the moment, we just have all of the clips placed in order according to the script. After doing this however, we have realised that it comes across more like a short film, rather than a trailer. In order to resolve this problem we have decided that we will move the scenes around to make flow in a more trailer-like way.

Also, we have no music in the trailer as of yet. We need to select the music that we will use throughout the trailer so that we can add it to the production, positioning it where necessary. We will find sound effects to add to the production too which will help to emphasize significant parts of the trailer. We will change the pitch of Evylyn's voice too, using a software called audacity. This will make her line ('get the girl!') sound more bold and frightening.

A common convention of trailers is to have intertitles which help to tell the narrative. We have decided to use the words 'What would you do... if your childhood nightmare.... came to life?' which we will make appear at 3 different  places at the beginning of the trailer. We also need to create the main title of 'Somnium' which will appear right at the end of the trailer just before the billing block.

Changes to Shotlist

When it came to filming we decided that some of our planning needed altering as we were perhaps too ambitious in what we wanted to achieve. 

3-12-14 Production Diary

Today was our final day of filming, and our aim was to complete everything we needed to which we were successful in doing. We had some scenes of Evylyn Crick to film and also the scenes of young Rosie.

Filming with Layla (Enylyn) was quick and efficient as she was focused and stayed in character. This helped us a lot as as we were able to just get everything done without any distractions. This allowed us as a team to stay focused also and work well.

When we moved location to work with Eleni (young Rosie) she felt slightly embarrassed to start with however we we able to achieve the shots we desired once she began to feel more comfortable. At such a young age I and the rest of the group was extremely pleased with how her shoot went. She put her best efforts into the performance and thoroughly satisfied us.

Eleni and her mother on set

The production day was successful, we managed to film all the scenes we planned. Working with a child, I felt was quite challenging as because she was quite embarrassed and not used to the attention on a film shoot, she was quite difficult to direct. We did however get a better than expected performance out of her. For our last shoot I feel it was successful.

30-11-14 Production Diary

We organised to film scenes 3 and 9 on this day due to a last minute cancellation of one of our actors (Rosie) leaving us with just Layla, to play Evylyn Crick. We decided to still go ahead and film and just get her main scenes done.

Before filming we got her into costume, which was a white gown, and did her hair and make up. We started by dabbing flour onto her face to make her look pale and using black eye make up to darken her eyes and mouth area. We then wet some strands of hair and put them in front in order to hide her face slightly.

During hair and make up, we realised that Layla was wearing some bracelets that could not be removed and so improvised by tying a bandage around her wrist to cover them up. It turned out that we all found this addition highly effective in making her look scary and dangerous. In this last minute decision we also put some tomato ketchup (as we had nothing else to use at the time) onto the bandage to act as blood which we also thought worked well for the character.

12-11-14 Production Diary

On this day we set out to film scenes 8, 13, 14 and 15.  We successfully managed to complete most of the filming we intended to do throughout the day, recording some in school and some at other locations.  As we needed to film in a classroom full of young school children, we previously organised this with the teacher who happily allowed us to use her classroom.  To avoid having to get permission from each child, we didn't allow any of their faces to be seen when filming.

We then travelled to Gabby's house to continue filming. When filming scenes 13 and 15 of Rosie crying on the bed and shouting "leave me alone", we were extremely pleased.  I personally thought Rosie performed excellently whist we managed to get the right shots that our film trailer requires.

As a group we were all particularly proud of our shooting for scene 8 - the alleyway.  We recorded a number of shots from different angles and directions which will allow for an interesting scene within the trailer.  We also recorded a spontaneous handheld moving shot of Rosie running down the alleyway which turned out to be extremely effective.

Unfortunately one scene that we had arranged to shoot that day did not go to plan.  We found scene 14 - dog barking - difficult to shoot due to the lighting and location.  We had originally arranged to shoot in the kitchen where we could show Evylyn Crick through a glass window, however we felt the bright orange walls in the kitchen combined with the daylight did not fit well enough into the thriller/horror genre.  We will try again to record this scene at a later date and a late time when it is darker to see if we can make it better as we are not prepared to settle for something less than the best we could achieve.  We intend to use the most perfect conditions possible to create the right atmosphere for our production.

5-11-14 Production Diary

On this day we planned to film scene 12.  This had to be filmed in school time due to the location so we found our when our actors were available and organised this time.  This shoot went well as the both Rosie Goddard and George Bury got straight into character and performed just how we intended.  The lighting was right in the scene as we wanted it to be daytime however slightly dull to create an eerie atmosphere.  We positioned them near a tree in order to achieve this.

Initially when we were recording there were unwanted objects in the shot so at the time we improved on this by moving them out of the view of the camera.  We had no major difficulties during the course of filming on this day.

Permission

It is essential to gain permission from our actors to be involved in the production as they have to give consent for their performances to be seen by many people. We gave each of our cast members a letter we created so that we could have their agreeance in writing.

Shot List

SCENE 1 – Eleni asleep in her bed

1. Long shot of Eleni lying in bed, her mum walks into the shot
2. Medium-close-up of her mother kissing her forehead
3. Close-up of the mum leaving and turning off the light in her room
4. A upward panning shot from Eleni asleep in bed up to a picture on her wall saying ‘sweet dreams’

SCENE 2 – Eleni tossing and turning in bed

5. Long-shot from the side of the bed of Eleni tossing a turning in bed – suggesting she’s having a nightmare

SCENE 3 – The nightmare

6. Cut to a different scene – where Layla is rocking back and forth on a chair laughing. This is a sustained long-shot where the audience presumes it’s the nightmare that Eleni is having

SCENE 4 – Rosie wakes up from her nightmare

7. Long-shot of Eleni in bed – her mum runs in after hearing her cry
8. Close-up of the two having the conversation to see if she is okay
9. Cut back to the longshot as Eleni expresses that Layla is ‘behind’ her mum
10. From the longshot we pan across the room to see that the scary woman is behind her

SCENE 5 – Photograph of mum and daughter

11. Close-up of someone holding a framed photo of the mother and her daughter
12. Cut to long-shot exposing that it is Rosie holding the photo – but many years later. This creates the link between the change in time

SCENE 6 – Rosie teaching in a classroom

13. Longshot of Rosie teaching in a classroom telling her students to be quiet
14. Cut to medium-close-up of her speech
15. Match on action with her turning around to write something on the board, from a closer angle

SCENE 7 – Rosie hears strange noises behind the door

16. Longshot of Rosie going about her day to day activities
17. Sustained shot as she hears a strange noise
18. Tracking shot as she walks towards the door from where she hears the sounds
19. Close-up of her looking through the keyhole
20. Long-shot of what we expect that she sees through the keyhole
21. Cut back to close-up of her eye through the keyhole as she begins to walk back. Sustained shot as we see Layla behind her

SCENE 8 –Alleyway

22. Hand-held tracking shot of Rosie running down an alleyway - sustained shot to show she’s scared and running away from something

SCENE 9 – Balcony

23. Low angled shot of Layla walking on the balcony – to suggest her power and authority.
24. Sustained shot as she stops walking and faces the direction of the camera

SCENE 10 – Balcony

25. Cut to shot of Layla from behind – we are aware it’s her as it’s the same location. Sustained shot as Rosie walks in front of her without being aware she is being watched

SCENE 11 – Rosie and her boyfriend

26. Longshot of Rosie and her boyfriend stood there with dialogue.
27. Cut to behind shot of Rosie as she reaches out to hug her boyfriend

SCENE 12 – Rosie in bed

28. Rosie is lay in bed crying, angle shot from above
29. Cut to match on action as she turns round crying and hits the pillow

SCENE 13 – Dog begins to bark

30. Long shot of the dog barking at the window leading to the conservatory
31. Cut to longshot of Rosie questioning this
32. Longshot from a different angle as a tracking shot of her walking towards to dogs
33. Cut to angle of behind Rosie as she approaches the window
34. Close-up of her face as she sees Layla – so we see the emotion she is feelings

SCENE 14 – ‘Leave me alone’

35. Medium-close up of Rosie from behind as she runs down the stairs
36. Match on action as we carry on the movement from a different angle
37. Long-shot as she runs across the landing towards a set of double doors – presumably her room
38. Close-up of her face as she slams the doors and suggests ‘Leave me alone’

SCENE 15 – Car Scene

39. Tracking shot following a car down a lane – Rosie and her boyfriend
40. Cut to shot of them inside the car, medium long shot of them being happy and singing along to the music 41. Close-up on Rosie as she tilts her head from looking down to upwards and of her screaming
42. Cut to shot of her boyfriend slamming on his breaks asking what is up
43. Cut back to close-up of Rosie crying as she can’t get her words out
44. Cut to outside the car, longshot of Layla stood in front of the car
45. Close-up of Layla’s hand – holding a knife.

Storyboard

We have created a storyboard for our film trailer production as part of our planning. It involved drawing each shot into boxes with a short sentence explaining what is happening in each. It allows the director a better visual perspective of what each shot will look like before filming. It also allows us to develop a better understanding of how the shots will flow from one to another and what types of shots will be used throughout. We will use it as a visual aid during filming sessions.

3-12-14 Call Sheet

Call Sheet 3.12.14

30-11-14 Call Sheet

Call Sheet 30.11.14

12-11-14 Call Sheet

5-11-14 Call Sheet

A call sheet is a document that combines all the relevant information needed for the crew to get through a shoot. We created call sheets before each day of filming including information about dates, times, breaks, nearest hospitals (in case anything were to go wrong), scenes to shoot, cast on set, locations and more.

Risk Assessments and Location Recce

Hair and Make Up

• EVYLYN CRICK

As the main evil character in our production is supposed to scare the audience, we researched into how we could effectively achieve this. When looking at techniques to make a woman appear we found a common method was to use a white face with dark eyes.

We adapted these ideas into our own creation producing a look that we were thoroughly pleased with. We use plain flour to make her face look pale and a simple black eye shadow over her eyes. We also used the eye shadow on other areas of the face to give her a dirty appearance. For her hair we separated her fringe into stands and use hairspray to put them into place, then letting hem dangle over her face. Here is the final look:

• ROSIE

For Rosie's character look we decided to just keep her hair and make up as she has it normally. We chose her in the beginning die to her natural looking appearance so felt it was suitable to keep her the way she was when she came to film.

• YOUNG ROSIE

Like with the older version of Rosie, we didn't use make up as she was playing a small child at bed time. Also when she turned up to film her hair was just as it would look before going to sleep and so we didn't do a lot to change her appearance.

Costumes

EVYLYN CRICK

From the beginning of planning we wanted her to be portrayed as a scary and dangerous old women. We achieved this by dressing her in a traditional white night gown which belonged to my grandma. She wore no shoes to make her appear unclean and strange. This scruffiness creates suggestions that she has come back from the dead to haunt.

ROSIE (YOUNG)

We chose to have her wearing a pink children's night dress as during her scenes she was supposed to be sleeping in bed. Her outfit isn't really on show in any of the shots so this was quite a simple decision for us to make. The pink connotes innocence and emphasised the fact that she is a young girl so it is clear to the audience.

ROSIE (OLDER)

Due to the fact this character was a teacher, we decided to have her wearing a smart outfit consisting of a smart shirt and trousers in the classroom scene as this made her look older and more professional. In another scene where she is lying on the sofa, she wears a jumper to show that she is relaxing at home. Similarly in the shots where she is running down the stairs in fear we had her wear a baggy shirt with leggings as she is just supposed to be at home and not working.

Props

• Bed with pink covers to represent the innocence of a young child as she wakes up from a terrifying nightmare.
  

• 'Sweet Dreams' wording over the top of the child's bed was used to subtly hint at the main story which is strongly influences by her nightmares.

• We used a whiteboard and marker pen in order to highlight the idea that Rosie was a teacher. We chose to show her at work to represent that she is just a normal woman who experiences a normal everyday lifestyle. This gives the audience a sense of security.
  
• In the scene where Rosie is woken up by a loud bang she is lay on a sofa with a table and wine glass in front of her. The glass shows that she is at home relaxing and again connotes the idea that she has a very normal life.
  
• We lit a candle in the foreground of a shot with Evylyn walking behind. This added a sense of mystery and eeriness to the scene. The mirror next to the candle shows Evylyn walking slowly in the background. When researching, we found the use of reflections to be extremely effective in the horror genre to make the viewers feel on edge and scared.
  
• One of the most useful and effective props we used in the trailer was the sharp knife that Evylyn carried. The sharp objects connotes violence and fear throughout in order to create an unsettling experience fore viewers.
  

Scrip FINAL DRAFT

SOMNIUM Final Draft

Script 2nd Draft

SOMNIUM 2nd Draft

Script 1st Draft

SOMNIUM 1st Draft

Choosing a Title

When beginning to come up with a title for the film, we decided that it should be one word. This is because during research we found this to be a common and powerful thing for many famous and well-known horror films. Examples of this include 'Psycho', 'Insidious' and 'Sinister'. We were initially persistent on the title having a significant underlying meaning that would not be obvious to the viewer to begin with but would be uncovered throughout the production. We first did some research into different words relating to female demon's, as the main antagonist in our production is similar to this type of character. We found a website suggesting many different possible words however felt that none were completely suitable for the title of our film.

After doing this we chose to look at different language translations for significant words relating to our storyline.  We started off with the word 'nightmare' due to the basis of our production being a young girl's recurring dream, but unfortunately we felt that the translations we found didn't suit our production and so moved onto the word 'dream' instead.

 We discovered that this word in Latin is 'somnium' which has an eerie and creepy vibe which is relevant for the title of the film.  We have therefore chosen to name our production 'Somnium' as it has an extremely strong link to the storyline of the film.

Character Profile - Rosie's Mother

Name: (Rosie's mother)

Age: late 30s

Rosie's mother is a strong woman who has always been by Rosie's side. She is a single mum who has always tried her best to provide for her daughter by working long hours. Always care for her as a child since the nightmares began and has done ever since.

Props: none

Traits: She is a strong and independent woman who is polite and funny. She has a large group of friends that support her in the struggles with Rosie. She will always put others before herself.