Permission Letters

A Permission Letter is a written document seeking for approval that may or may not have been asked verbally. Often it is just further approval than spoken consent.

• Should be written much before the event for which you are seeking permission of 
• Often typed up to give a more professional look 
• Should be very brief and clear Simple and to the point language 
• There should always be a purpose of the letter 
• Whether the permission has been given or no should be indicated in clear words without leaving any room for ambiguity 
• It should be written by a person with authority for example the producer/director 
• A phone number or email address should be mentioned in the letter for the reader to make a contact if necessary 
• If there are any terms and conditions to the permission, they should be clearly specified in the letter

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

Making a storyboard is imperative as it allows a way of sharing your ideas and creation as clearly as possible.  Having the storyboard as a visual aid allows the director to map out exactly how the film will look etc. Thus making it easier for everyone to understand your vision, by planning out the shots needed the order in which they’re needed ensuring no shots are forgotten and also makes it easier when editing as the editor is aware of the order therefore making the film much easier to create. 

Call Sheets

Call Sheet 3.12.14

Call Sheet 30.11.14

Risk Assessment and Location Recce

Hair and make-up

Having an image in mind of how I wanted Layla to look I started out with the base- her skin. I wanted Layla to have ghostly white skin, however this wasn't achievable with the make up I had so we decided to use flour as Layla had non sensitive skin this wouldn't be a problem, using a pale foundation as a base the flour stuck on nicely to her face, making her appear not only older but much more threatening.

The grudge- dark eyes

I wanted the emphasis to be mainly on her eyes so using a mascara and eye shadow I covered the whole of her lid in a pitch black shade that made her dark eyes almost blend into the lids this created an almost 'soulless' and dead effect as common in many horror films. Hiding the eyes beneath the dark colours is extremely unsettling and the look I intended. The grudge's look had a huge influence on how we wanted Layla to look and the scraggly hair looks worn and decrepit, something we later transferred to Layla.
                                                                                             
                                                                                                  
Next we wanted to create a wrinkle effect on her face using a slanted brush to create a precise line I shaded in the creases of her mouths to intensify the look of wrinkles, using the a dark grey made it seem more horrifying than realistic which is what I intended. We replicated this effect on her collar bones and even legs to make Layla appear bruised and delipitated.


Separating, wetting and then hairspraying individual strands of Layla's hair in hope of achieving a look of no maintenance and neglect this creates an abnormal effect and is rather haunting. the fact it covered her face also made her appear extremely unnerving. Hiding her main feature- her eyes connotes mystery as you never know what she may be hiding.

Me styling Layla's hair

Props and costume

Props are absolutely imperative in order to employ the drama within a film. They can often be symbolic for example the teddy used in Rosie as a child's scene was important to connote innocence which helped to make it all the more menacing for when the ghostly lady haunts her.

Props needed
knife
chair
bed
whiteboard
pen
teddy

Costumes are often a method of expression not only in real life but also in film. The way a character dresses is often a reflection of their personality. It is very easy to assume a persons characteristics through their clothes for example through stereotyping you may assume someone with long dark hair and skinny jeans is a fan of rock music. We used the idea of these non verbal codes to establish a character for Rosie in which she was reliant, vulnerable, kind and scared. We wanted our play to look as realistic and true to life as possible this meant regular outfit changes for Rosie.

                                             

Costumes needed
checked shirt
leather jacket
black jeans
plain top
collared shirt
night gown
girls nightie

Script Final Draft

SOMNIUM Final Draft

Further audience research

We wanted to have a more in depth understanding of our audience and in order to do so we looked at a survey carried out by the BFI, in which states 32% of the British public aged 16+  enjoy the horror genre with an males and females both having a fairly equal preference for the genre. This further research coincides with our ideal audience as it seems that the majority enjoying this genre are below the age of 35, this especially apparent with females where the preference for horror halves from 44% at below the age of 35 to a mere 22% above the age of 35. The BFI survey encouraged us as a group to target the younger audience and this encouragement was further backed up by our questionnaire.

We believe by choosing a popular genre we are able to reach out to a much wider target audience, when conducting our questionnaire we found the majority preferred horror to other genres (we were also made sure we surveyed a range of people of different ages, social classes, gender etc.) 

VALs (values attitudes and lifestyles) is a research method used for market segmentation. It is a way of tailoring your product in order to advertise to the consumers who are most likely to buy your product, this is especially helpful when looking at genre films as take horror for example, those interested in the genre may expect to see dark colours, with red blood splatters advertised to gain their interest. 

Advertising agency Young & Rubican developed another method of classification knows as the 4C model (Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation model) it categorises consumers into categories such as the resigned, who are rigid, strict, authoritarian typically the older generation who’s brand decisions reflect that of safety and familiarity. The struggler, who’s often disorganised and impulsive their brand choices tend to be sensation orientated e.g.  alchohol and lottery tickets. The mainstreamer; domestic, conventional, part of the mass and favour well known ‘family’ brands. The aspirer, who is materialistic and oriented to the packaging rather than quality. The succeder who’s brand choice is based on ‘caring’ brands e.g. fair-trade. The explorer, who exudes energy and strives for challenge, they’re often the first to try new brands. And finally the reformer, who’s focused on personal growth who opts for high quality brands.

I believe our production will target the explorer, often eager to try new brands and often students. They have a willingness to experience new things I think this is particularly applicable in terms of films they will want to see a brand new film out on the marker whereas the resigned category are more rigid and there is a certain stubbornness when it comes to changing their consuming habits, therefore are most likely to watch our brand new film as they have an eagerness to differentiate and explore. 

Script 2nd Draft

SOMNIUM 2nd Draft