Letters seeking permission for use of copyrighted music in our production

Comparing other thriller characters

Jessica Alba is a character in ‘The eye’, who is blinded at a young age but restores sight through an eye transplant. Through these eyes she is able to see visions which indicate the future and is similar to our character played by Michelle Murray as the future she sees through her dream also comes true.

Daveigh Chase plays a psychotic girl called Samara in ‘The ring’ who is forced down a well by her father. Out of spite she creates a video which contains supernatural elements and kills those who watch it. One of our key characters is played by Natalie Keeney who plays a mental girl whom appears in her dreams and reappears in reality. These two characters are similar as they are both psychotic and mental.

In the new film series Twilight, Anna Kendrick plays Bella’s best friend who is the main character who is a very bubbly and lively girl. Another aspect which adds to her character is that she tends to gossip quite frequently which is stereotypical behaviour for a teenage girl. Anna Kendrick’s character is very similar to Nadia Lalji’s as her character is bubbly, annoying and happy.

Props

White T-shirt- for the mental institute character

We used this particular type of T-shirt to make it look like a straight jacket as the character wearing it is escaping from a mental institute.
Soy Sauce (as the blood) We used this as the blood, even though it is not red it gave the effect that it is blood especially as the blood scene is on the ground in the dark, not showing its colour anyway.

Sketch Book

This prop was very important, as it is were the main character draws the setting she see's in her dream showing that this dream has am impact on her right now. The sketch book also tells the viewer what exactly she saw in the dream, when her friend asks her "Why are you drawing the Mental Asylum?"

Bag

This is a simple prop, to make the whole story seem realistic and that the main character is like any other girl with a big bag to school.

Large Folder

This is used to indicate to the the viewers that she is a creative girl, as it is a large folder that looks more like a art folder. This prob allows the viewer to have an idea of the characters personality.

Head Phones


These are used to allow the audience to know what sort of music the main character listens to showing what sort of a girl she is, as the audience listens to this as diegetic sound and then cuts as the friend enters the scene giving a great affect.

Equipment Used

Sony Digital Camcorder:

Camera Tripod;

Mac Computer;
(For uploading and editing via USB cable)

Role Of Group Members

Natalie: Mental Institute Character, music and Main Editor.

Paula: Location Scouting, casting, music, props, directing and camera.

Abi: Assisting Director and assisting camera work.

Sherry: Time management, Director and Camera.

Film Schedule

Tuesday 5th January;
9:55 am -12:15 pm – Costume Purchasing (Paula & Abi)
1:15- 6pm- Filming at Locations (Paula house, scrubs, bus and road) (all four of us)

Wednesday 6th January;
9:55- 10:55 am- Reviewing & Uploading (all four of us)

Thursday 7th January;
11:15- 12:15 are- Catch up Filming (all four of us)

4 Hours a fortnight of editing from 11th January

Music

Music played a large part in our production, we used it to create certain moods (especially enigma)in our opening sequence. We used two main pieces in our opening sequence:

Wake- Linkin Park: An instrumental from their album Minutes to Midnight. We decided to use this piece right at the very beginning of the opening sequence as the film fades in. It is played quietly behind the dream sequence; the piece gradually gets louder and more intense, building up the suspense of the dream. When the piece reaches its peak we can see that someone has been murdered.
The main reason we used this piece was to create suspense and a sense of enigma as the music builds up.


(Linkin Park- Wake)

Something in the Way- Nirvana: This piece is a melancholy song, played whilst the main character wakes up, leaves the house and makes her journey to and from school. The reason we chose to use this song in this position was to make the journey more interesting. The song also reflects the state of mind the character is in making the scenes seem more haunting. This piece again creates a strong sense of enigma as the droning singing and guitars fade in and out of the scenes. We cleverly placed this song so it appears as Michelle turns of her alarm clock and fades out when her friend pulls out her headphones. This makes the music appear diegetic to the main character.


(Nirvana- Something In the Way)

Script

Michelle has weird dream, wakes from weird dream, goes to bus stop, and starts sketching.

Nadia: BOO! ....why are you drawing the mental asylum?
Michelle:...what?
Nadia: Y’know the mental asylum down Du Cane Road?
Michelle: huh?
Nadia: well, anyways, I have some really good news to tell you-
Michelle: *interrupts* erm, I really have to go, my bus is here...
Nadia: oh, okay, well I’ll see you later

Michelle gets on bus.