Foundation Portfolio Planning- Concept

 Concept

Title:

We wanted the Title for our foundation portfolio to be 'chilling,' hinting toward the cold storyline of the film and its thrilling nature without giving away what the movie is actually about. Our inspiration behind this idea was the movie "Scream." The title indicates that something suspenseful and scary (worth screaming over) is going to happen and therefore the audience is intrigued as they are curious as to what is causing them to scream...

With all this in mind we decided to call our film opening, 'One by One'

This title, 'One by One' encompasses the whole concept of the film as the killer picks the people off one-by-one with an exact time interval of 15m between each one. This cruel, slow method is what makes the film so grueling and therefore this is the part of the film that we wanted the audience to focus on most. It implies that something bad is happening without giving away what it will be, however it all makes sense once the nature and method of the killer becomes clear. 

Target Audience:

Our target audience for, "One by One" will be an older audience who will be able to handle the killings and the sight of blood. On average this age limit would include 16 years of age and older as,. from this age onward, they should be well aware of the concept of a murderer and what they are capable of. Furthermore, no inappropriate themes, bad language or bad themes (such as drugs or smoking) will be used, allowing us to lower to age from 18+ -in our previous films- to 16+.

genre conventions:

What genre conventions will we be using in our film?

1) A crime- We will be including multiple crimes- as is the nature of our film- which will enable us to grip the attention of the audience as they linger in suspense wondering when the next crime will occur, and who the next victim will be.

2) A master antagonist- While the audience sees that people are murdered, the crime, they did not actually see who murders them, leaving them to assume and come to their own conclusion of who in the group is the killer.. this leaves them on constant high alert as they are always looking for potential clues as to who the killer is.

3) Victims- The film will include multiple victims, at least two who are killed, and multiple potential victims who we assume will also be killed. This adds stakes to the film as the audience does not want innocent people to die and are therefore constantly nervous for their sake, wondering who will be the murderers next target.

4) Clues- As the murderer is unidentified at the beginning of the film opening clues will be an essential component for the audience as it will fuel their curiosity over who the killer is. Some of these clues will lead them closer to identifying the killer whereas others will lead to false conclusions or "dead ends."

5) A ticking clock- One of our MAIN CONVENTIONS will be the use of a clock/ time. The killings will take place in 15 minute intervals as the killer picks them off one-by-one with an exact time frame between each one.

Plot:

The film will open with a shot of the friends all walking together up the driveway of the house they are going to hang at. The friends are all laughing and chatting all seemingly innocent. They enter inside to play cards and gather around a coffee table, all bunched of the couches and still chatting. In this moment the camera will pan around the table area showing all of them interacting with one another, and therefore introducing them to the audience more personally as they see each person closer. From this moment one of the girls leaves to go to the bathroom and the camera (and audience) follows her- in this moment the suspense begins to build as she is alone and vulnerable. In the bathroom she is later attacked, however the audience does not see the attacker and is left to curiously wonder who is responsible. We then return to the table where the card game is being played, however, the girl is now missing and everyone else is still accounted for. The camera then does a close up on each remaining persons face, allowing the audience to examine them closely, seeing all their emotions and expressions, and identify who they think the murderer is. Similarly another person leaves as their phone rings. The audience is now on edge as they stress on behalf of the person leaving, knowing there is a killer among them that they are completely unaware of. The next killing occurs on the deck outside and this time the audience sees the gloved hand of the killer holding a knife. Both times the killings are not shown, but rather implied... allowing the audience to create their own scenario of how they were killed and also why. When returning the next time another person is again missing, leaving only the killer and two friends.. finally the audience can narrow down the killer to one of three. The killer is then revealed through an over the shoulder shot of his "hand" where, on his three middle cards, the words "ONE" "BY" "ONE" are written. This ends the opening on a cliff hanger as the audience still does not know why they are being killed, but does assume that two more innocent people will die. This is effective toward the audience as they are captivated by the film knowing they have the answers and knowledge of danger and coming death, while the characters who are actually at risk are completely unaware!!

Characters:

When choosing which characters we wanted we decided to use a variation of ethnicity to add different taste in the film. All characters needed to be of similar age to add verisimilitude, as the audience assumes that they know each other from school, or maybe even sports teams. When deciding on the amount of people needed we were weighing up between either having 5 or 6 people. This is because there needed to be enough people for the audience to notice that people are going missing without everyone being killed off in the opening alone. We finally decided to film with 6 people meaning three will go missing and three more are left. If only two were left it would be easier for the audience to discover who the killer is before they are actually revealed- ruining the effectiveness of the reveal at the end of the opening.

In terms of clothing and style we will be asking all of our actors to wear comfortable clothes, portraying the laid back and relaxed tone that is usually conveyed with a casual "hang" between friends. This will include loose jeans and a t-shirt or hoodie. The card game itself will be very casual as well with indistinctive chatter and laughter every now and again. Our aim is to establish this group as being good friends as this will make the betrayal of the killer all the more effective.

Our killer will be a boy as, stereotypically, boys have more strength and power- making it realistic that he would be able to kill another boy quickly and quietly without making a scene. To symbolise their dark intentions, we would want the killer to wear mostly black. This way, their dark intentions are symbolised through what they are wearing, despite the audience being ignorant of this.  

Practicalities of our film:

The film is set at a house, which will be the director, Christian Percy's, house, allowing us to have easy access and quick planning around when we can film as we are not dependent on any external factors. Furthermore, we will have access to power plugs- to charge the camera if need be, bathrooms, food and any equipment such as extra house props if we were to need them. Another pro of filming here is that it means we can film irrelevant of the weather and time- as these will not really be noticed. This will allow us to find a date that fits everyone more quickly as we will not have to worry about rescheduling if the weather takes an unexpected turn. All of our actors are also of schooling age like us, meaning we can film over the weekend as weekdays are not preferable and desirable after school. The day would most likely fall on a Sunday as many of us also work at part-time jobs on Saturday, which suits us all well. In the bathroom we will wish to take advantage of the mirrors and their reflections to film from different perspectives and make the shot more interesting and make the room seem more tight and closed in.