Storyboard for Teaser Trailer First Draft

Below are the storyboards for the first draft of our teaser trailer.

Storyboards by Meg and Emily

Props

It was important to select the right kind of ouija board prop as it is integral to our story and the pivotal moment of the trailer is a shot of the board. This is the ouija board prop that we used in our teaser trailer and from which we used elements for the webpage. We found this on Ebay.co.uk. We selected this ouija board in particular because it looks old fashioned due to the font and golden brass colouring. We also really like the multiple symbols and images all over it, as they make it very clearly a supernatural and spiritual thing. They could also be linked to witchcraft, which will make the girls seem more corrupt. The board is also large enough to seem realistic but not so large that it became impractical to work with. The planchette that came with the board is metallic and pointed, which we like as it does not look very cheap so is believably an old artefact or real object of black magic.


Other props included were not as important as the ouija board, and most of the trailer did not focus on secondary props and instead followed what was happening to the girls themselves. We did this so that the trailer seemed more shocking and harsh while the girls suffered as opposed to seeing shots of objects. However some props were necessary, such as red lipstick and cigarettes in the first section of the trailer in order to emphasise the girls' corruption. We purposefully used a brand of lipstick that is like a pen instead of conventional lipstick in order to show the girls as materialistic and wealthy, as 'lip pens' such as this product are quite recent and advertised as fashionable. A vodka bottle is used in particular in the shot of a girl drinking from the bottle in order to show their lack of moderation and by extension the irresponsible nature of the girls.The lack of intelligent behaviour from the girls also makes it believable that they may be unable to protect themselves later, which could create fear or anticipation from the audience. Other than the vodka bottle, there are also many other alcoholic bottles and cans in the party scenes, again showing their irresponsibility.
Once disequilibrium has occurred, the prop of a knife is used. This physical weapon contrasts with the previously passive props and shows the shift in power in the film as the girls become victims. It also represents the more masculine characteristics of the girl holding the knife, and suggests that she may be able to protect herself and defeat the spirit. We have done this in accordance with the Final Girl theory, showing her to be more resourceful and courageous than the other girls who are only seen becoming victims. The other prop seen in the later shots of the trailer is red lipstick being used to write on a mirror. This is used to directly contrast with the lip pen used earlier, but instead of being used to make oneself appear more attractive, it is being used to repeatedly write "pay". This again represents the complete disequilibrium that has fallen, as the girls' materialistic lives have been taken over by the spirit and the power has shifted so that they now have no control. More traditional lipstick is used in the shot instead of the lip pen to reflect the old fashioned and gothic nature of the spirit and portray how unimportant the girls' materialism is.


-Emily

Initial sequence for the beginning of our trailer

                        

For the introduction of our characters we really wanted something that would highlight what type of personalities each girl had, as well as help the audience define who the 'Final girl' is through watching this initial sequence. You can see just from the first few shots why these girls will have to pay 'penance'; the main shots show one girl undoing her blouse so that her bra is on show, to indicate promiscuity, another girl applying makeup, suggesting the girls are focused on their appearence and therefore may be percieved as shallow, and finally another one of the characters smoking a cigarette, which shows they are rebellious and like to supposedly break the rules. The formation of the girls is also key to defining their characters. At the front we see the main girl, the one who is in charge of the others and clearly whose instructions they follow, as they follow her out of the shot after she looks at them. Next are the two more outgoing characters, who, although are confident and independent, do still walk slightly behind the more dominant character, showing they don't have the control of the group they wish to have. Lastly we have another girl whose character is similar to the other two in front, and of course the final girl. She is indicated by the wariness in her expression when she passes the camera, as well as her less promiscuous outfit.

- Rhiannon

Filming Review

In general, we felt that filming went well. Our actors were willing to follow our direction and were mostly able to provide us with the footage that we needed. We shared the responsibility of operating the camera between us.


On the first day of filming, when we were working at  Tonbridge Boys' School  in order to gain the boarding school shots we needed, we found that on the only day when all of our actors were available to film there was a Book Fair. This involved a sign on the main entrance which we had originally planned to use, and a larger number of people than we had expected. Due to the importance of having all of our actors present in the original shots, we needed to complete the shots on this day or reschedule for a few weeks later when everyone was once again free. In order to overcome this problem, we scouted a side entrance that would be just as effective in the shots. There was no sign and the number of people in the background was at a minimum, meaning that we could achieve the shots we had hoped for. Our actors were very good on this filming day especially, as their costumes involved sexualised school uniforms in public, and we received a large number of hoots from passing cars. This minor problem did not affect any of our shots as we would not be using diegetic sound. 


Our other days of filming were on location in houses , so it was much easier to organise filming. We created a table of dates and names so that the actors and filming team could co-ordinate dates in which we would be free to film. Some of our shots did need all five of our characters present again, so we had to carefully organise when all of our actors were free as well as the owner of the house locations. This caused minimal problems as we organised in advance when filming days would occur. Most of our shots in the home locations were achieved easily, although logistics proved that some of our ideas would not be possible. For example, we had hoped to create the impression of a character being sucked backwards through a door. We experimented with some different techniques included jumping out of the room (which would be reversed), or being pulled back by someone out of shot (which would be sped up), however it proved that all of these shots appeared unrealistic when we attempted editing. Therefore we had to abandon some of our ideas and come up with new and more easily achieved shots, such as the shot of a character looking from a window and a hand slamming against it. 


Due to the shots that we wanted to create, we had to use two different house locations. The first belonged to a friend of the team, and the second belonged to Meg from our team. This was useful in creating the appropriate shots and mise en scene, although it meant more organisation. The second location was much more difficult to get to, as the first was situated a few minutes from school and could be walked to easily, but through scheduled filming days it was again easy to overcome. We found that some extra shots were needed of close ups of hands or feet on days when actors were unavailable, so some shots were included of Emily (of the team) running or having an arm dragged through a door. This was effective as it produced good shots and did not require re-filming, so we could make the most of the time we had with our actors to create the more important shots in which their faces could be seen. 


-Emily

Filming Plan

Here is a brief filming plan we created in order to better organise which shots we would aim to create on which days.