Opening scene script for next draft of my media product

As I mentioned in a previous post, I wish to add a scene to the beginning of my film which chronologically happens after the main events in the film. I believe that this will make the audience more interested, as it leaves the audience questioning what will happen later in my media product right from the beginning. It also gives me a chance to introduce my main character in more depth, which I believe will benefit my media product as the audience will empathise with this character more, leading to a more frightening experience overall (and creating a scary product is my main aim with this film).

Props/costume/setting I will require for this scene include:

A room to act as a therapy room.
Some examples of Rorschach ink blots, most likely ones that I will have to make myself so that they accurately represent what I want them to resemble.
Plain clothing for Poppy's character (most likely white or black), and a semi-formal outfit for Benjy's character (smart shirt, black trousers).
A notepad and a pen.
________________________________________

SCRIPT OPENING SCENE:

[Black screen with the words 'October 27th, 2012' which fades into a shot of a Rorschach ink blot]

Poppy (Off-screen): A bat.

[Therapist holds up another one]

Poppy (pauses for a second): A tree.

[Therapist holds up another one, and as Poppy gazes at it a short clip of the creature appears in her mind]

Poppy (turns away, visibly shaken): ...

Therapist's voice (off-screen): (Sighs)...Poppy...Now I know it's hard, but...I need you to try and recall what happened on October 12th. That night. It might...it might give the police a lead to where we can find your friend Callum. Please, you're the only hope they have of finding him.

Poppy: You're not going to find him. He's dead. He's not coming back.

Therapist: The police only said that he was missing. What makes you think he's dead?

Poppy: I don't think it. He's dead, I know it.

Therapist: And if you don't mind me asking...how do you know it?

Poppy: ...

[Fade out to title screen]

[Fades into black screen that says 'October 12th, 2012']

Filming dates for next draft of media product

I will film my final media product from 10am on both Monday 22nd October and Wednesday 24th October and I will edit and add sound to it subsequently. I have checked that the location I wish to use is available and have arranged that Callum, who acts in my media product, and Benjy, who films shots that I am unable to, are both free and willing to shoot at these times.

Feedback

I need to analyse at least two other films and expand upon my analysis - how did I learn from them?
Also:

• I need to create a complete storyboard

Location Shots

The above images are of the location used within my media product. Because it is my friend's basement, and aesthetically already dilapidated-looking and eerie, it adds to the desired effect of my film without the need of much dressing. Another positive point about the set requiring little dressing is that the old, haunted appearance of the basement is authentic rather than artificial, which means that, aesthetically, my set is more believable as an derelict building than it would have been had I used a modern building and dressed it myself.
        Because of the lack of light within the location, I can bring in external light sources to illuminate the scene as I wish. Because my media product also focuses on the horror/paranormal genre, the lack of light can be used to my advantage as far as creating a dark, scary atmosphere within my film.
        Because of the layout of the room (there are a few shadowy alcoves in the corners), I may also be able to create the illusion that the room is actually much larger than it is if I focus on the camera angles used and which parts of the room to film each scene. This could pique the interest of the audience because they are identifying with a sense of adventure within the film as the characters in my media product explore the darkened, unexplored areas.

Revised Film Titles

After some suggestions from my teacher, I have decided that the film title screen I originally planned to use (shown below) did not represent my film's content to the standard which I wanted it to.

Whilst the red colour is certainly reflective of the horror genre, it connotes blood and gore, which my film does not contain. Instead, I have chosen the colour white for my title, which is more suggestive of the supernatural sub-genre of horror, which is more representative of my media product.

< This title is mysterious-looking but still legible and it appears to have been created with a typewriter which connotes more of an old-fashioned, eerie feel. I asked someone who fits within my potential audience and he said that this is the font that he preferred because it was subtly scary, which is what I intend my media project to be.

^ While this font is certainly reflective of the horror genre, the 'splattered' look of the font makes it appear as if there will be excessive violence or gore within my media project, neither of which I plan to put into my final product. When I asked someone who fell into the expected audience of my media product he said that this font looked like more of a 'stereotypically cheesy, gory horror rather than one that uses supernatural elements and jumpscares'.

                                                                 ^ I have decided that this font best reflects what I wish to portray within my media product and I believe it is the best choice for a title font.

Script For Next Draft Of My Media Product

[Two teenagers stand in front of a dilapidated-looking house with a ‘Keep Out’ sign taped haphazardly to it. One teenager is holding a video camera and the other has a turned-off torch]

Poppy: (Raises camera) Let’s go.

Callum: (Nods)

[Cut to inside of house; A decrepit-looking basement room. The two teenagers slowly move down the stairs and to the centre of the room]

Poppy: (Turns on camera and begins filming self) Hello, this is Poppy May and Callum Hurley (camera pans to Callum who nods in acknowledgement). We’re here at the abandoned house at the edge of town investigating the disappearance of ten teenagers over the past month and a half. The police have no leads so far, but there’s a rumour that there’s some sort of creature that takes them, a creature which has come to be known only as…The Entity. Does this creature exist? We plan on finding out.

[Cuts to various short shots of Poppy and Callum filming the area, then to a shot from Poppy’s POV walking over to Callum]

Poppy: Hey Callum, can I borrow the torch? I’m gonna check out that shadowy area over there.

Callum: Yeah, be careful.

[Poppy turns on the torch and walks into the shadowy area, revealing that it is, in fact, a dead end]

Poppy: (Sighs). Callum, it’s a no-go. It leads straight to a dead-(POV camera pans around to reveal The Entity behind Poppy; Poppy screams)

[Callum runs in to show Poppy alone in the dark area with nothing else, looking visibly shaken]

Callum: What? What is it?!

Poppy: (Indistinct) We’ve gotta-it’s here-help-out of here (runs towards the stairs hysterically)

Callum: (Following) Poppy? Poppy! There’s nothing there, what happened? Poppy!

Poppy: (Hands Callum the camera and torch) I saw it, it was-(banging on door, trying to open) It’s stuck help! Help!

[The door opens and Poppy rushes out, slamming the door behind her and leaving Callum trapped]

Callum: Poppy?!

[Cuts to Poppy running through the woods screaming hysterically, trying to get away, then back to Callum]

Callum: Poppy come on! This isn’t funny open the door! Poppy! (A noise from downstairs makes him jump)

Callum: (Turning towards the noise) W-who’s there? Poppy I swear to god if this is a joke-(screams)

[Callum, holding the handheld camera, captures footage of The Entity crawling disjointedly up the stairs and towards him, until all that is in shot is the face of it. The camera cuts out]

Rough First (Experimental) Cut Of Film

Link To Media Rough Cut Video

Above is the link to the first experimental draft of my media project. It focuses mainly on lighting and camera angles and so has no dialogue as of yet, but I may add this later so I can get a better idea of what I want to achieve with my finished product.
I managed to incorporate a mixture of handheld and still camera shots as I originally intended, but the actual video ended up with a lot more still shots than I had originally anticipated. All in all I think that this rough cut of my final idea has given me a lot of insight into aspects that I might wish to change when filming the final draft of my media product, such as incorporating more handheld camera shots and perhaps providing an introduction so that the audience can form more of an emotional attachment to the actors, which I feel would make my movie more memorable.