The Unexpected Script

Scene - Poppy talking to her friend, about her worries that she is being followed 

Shot – Medium close up, over the shoulder

Location – Classroom, School

Poppy: I think someone is following me 

Emma: Why what makes you think that

Poppy: I've been getting random phones calls (.) I feel like someone's watching me through my window

Emma: Are you sure you're not just being paranoid

Poppy: No (.) I really think so

Scene – Stalker is one the phone to Poppy

Shot – Big close up, from the side 

Location – Stalker house, unknown location to the audience

Poppy (Voice-over): Hello Poppy (.) I've been watching you

Scene – The stalker has grabbed Poppy by the shoulder and she turns around 

Shot – Point-of-view, Big Close up 

Location – In the park, unknown location to the audience

Poppy (Voice-over): Screams

Difficulties in production

At the start of filming, there was some difficulties in using the equipment and creating the clips to the best standard possible. When using the camera, it was at first difficult to use the focus as it would often become unfocused when a character would walk on screen. To amend this, we practised multiple times for the same clip and made sure not to zoom in too much as well found that this would affect the quality in terms of the focus. As it could often still fall out of focus, I decided that when the focus wasn't moving it would be best to create one long clip and be able to edit it, rather than using lots of small clips where it would lose focus.

There was some difficulty in locations, in not all of them could be based in school or at home, as a variety of locations would make the trailer more professional. One of the main difficulties, was a clip which included a close-up of the character panicking whilst in a café. The main problem was that it was often too busy to film and meant that we wouldn't be able to use this location. To solve this we changed to a public park, this is because we would be still able to film in a public location but it wouldn't matter what time we filmed and would be able to find a more isolated area.

In choosing actors, it was important to make the film seem as realistic and professional as possible. Due to having the two main characters being teenage girls, it was important to include both genders as well as different ages. Therefore, when creating different potential stalkers to include, we decided to use a range of heights and ages to verify the range in characters. It helps the narrative in creating an isolating feeling for both the character and audience, in how no one can be trusted and there is potential threat everywhere.

Over the course, there was a lot of changes to the different shots that I wanted to use, as changes in locations and changes in lighting meant that different shot types were better suited. This meant that my original shot list may no longer match my final products or drafts, both audience feedback and general improvements and developments brought this change in order to create a more realistic and professional product.

Creating the evidence board

After deciding that the evidence board scene would be included in the trailer, I did research into what is normally included and how they are structured. I found that what viewers focus on most, is what is included in the middle as it is often the largest image and based around everything. Therefore, I chose a map of Sutton Coldfield, as it is were all of the filming has occurred, it shows the audience how far that stalker has gone in following the protagonist and the extreme panic that is being felt by the character. Furthermore, using a map meant that when putting pins in the different locations it made the board seem more busy and created a more realistic look.

 

 

To show how much the stalker is impacting on the characters life, it was decided to use screen shots of the different locations of filming. This gives the idea of the character going to these different locations to try and find the identity and how much detail has been put into the evidence board.



 

To cover the area around the map, as well as give different images to be able to connect pins to, I decided to include screenshots of different articles with relevance to stalkers. This symbolises the panic that has overtaken the character, and the paranoia which has led to her doing research into the topic and what could happen to her. This was an important part of the evidence board as it make sit seem more busy and chaotic, therefore, making it more realistic and showing the chaos and panic  that the character is feeling.



Planning for photo shoot

The use of inspiring products

Finding inspiring products was useful to my research as it helped to illustrate if any initial ideas which I had would fulfil conventions and therefore helped to develop my ideas. It also meant that I would be able to decide if certain features would work for my own products or could be changed to suit my own.
Similarly, I chose some products which were not in my own genre, this meant that I was able to find features that could be used for my own genre. This allowed me to create and develop ideas which stretched the boundaries and meant it was not limited to conventions that was already used in existing products.

Inspiring print products - Film magazines

This magazine front cover does not use direct address in the image, which is a convention of most front covers. This has given me the idea of changing the use of direct address as well as considering other conventions which my magazine could subvert from, making it more unique. Similarly, it has the effect of movement with background seeming to get smaller in the background and the use of italics for the texts. When considering my own product it is the use of making the main image stand out from the background through the use of different effects.

In the magazine, the image demonstrates how the main image does not always need to have the actors dressed as their characters, with the focus more being on what the actors have to say then what characters they portray. When considering my own products, it could be beneficial to create a mock-up which illustrates the actors out of character. Similarly, the use of dark colours and clothing draws the audiences attention to the images used and the text placed. This would be good to use for my own products as darker colours would draw attention as well as fit with the conventions of a psychological thriller.

When previously planning for my own products, I had only considered using one character as I believed that using multiple characters would make the front cover seem too busy and confusing when then surrounded by the text. However, this magazine illustrates how placing multiple character images into the middle third and one side third, prevents it from seeming too busy and leaves enough room for other pieces of information.

Inspiring print products - Billboards

Through overlapping the title over the image, it draws the attention of the audience to the name. When considering my own film, it has given me the idea of having the main image being an extreme close-up of the characters face, it would be more of a focus on the characters eyes rather than their whole face. Due to the image being more of a close up than seen above, it means that the title would need to be lower and may need to be a smaller size.

The use of the emojis is quite different from most film poster billboards, this makes it more memorable to the audience. This has given me the idea having a black screen, and rather than using a photo, putting one text message that the victim has received from the stalker across the billboard. To make it the most effective, there would need to be little other information to avoid attention being taken away from the text message.

The use of having the back to the audience gave me the idea of having the victim standing across from the stalker. It would be similar to this, in that the victim would have their back to the audience with only being able to seen from their hand down which would be closest to the audience. It would only take up about the first third of the billboard with the rest showing a smaller figure which I standing away from the protagonist. The stalker would be wearing dark clothes meaning that their identity would not be revealed.

When considering my own products, instead of using a white background, a plain black broad would fit more with a darker psychological thriller plot. Having quite a long title of The Unexpected means that I could use an image with a much larger close-up. Similar to one of the posters, I would use an extreme close up of a pair of eyes across the title.