.........

3. Starts with a Boy waving goodbye to his parents, who are about to set off in
the car, one of his parents points upwards, referring to the upstairs window
being open. The parents then leave in the car, the boy then goes and sits
down, putting in his earphones whilst going on his laptop. Then the camera
shows what time it is on the clock. It then shows the boy on his laptop again,
this time he takes out his earphones, and stretches. Then all of a sudden there
is a knock at the door, the boy looks at the clock, looking confused as if who
could it be at this time. Then a few moments later when he's about to put his
earphones back in, there's a loud bang upstairs. The sound of the boys heart
begins to beat rapidly. As he is walking upstairs to investigate the sound, then
you can hear the sound of the floorboards creaking like someone is walking
about. At this moment the sound of the heartbeat will be louder, making the
scene tenser. There will also be some creepy sound building up the tension
even more. As the boy reaches the room where the sound is coming from its
empty but the window is wide open. The boy then realises that he was
supposed to have shut the window earlier (you will be able to recognise this by
the boys facial expression). Then he shuts the window quickly, as the tension
has died down due to him shutting the window and the room being empty.
There is then breathing coming from behind him. This adds lots of tension,
heart beating starts again rapidly. He slowly turns around, there is a big figure
standing there in dark clothing covering his face, holding either a hammer or a
crowbar, looking as if he's about to hit the boy with the tool he’s holding. Then
all of a sudden the dark figure says "This wasn't supposed to happen”, then the
screen goes black and it ends with the credits.

6. Scene No. Approx timing What happens Visual notes Audio notes
Scene one 21:30/09:30 Starts with Boy waving goodbye to his parents, who
are about to set off in the car, one of his parents
points upwards, referring to the upstairs window
being open. The parents then leave in the car, the
boy then goes into another room sitting down and
putting in his earphones whilst going on his laptop.
Then the camera shows what time it is on the clock.
It then shows the boy on his laptop again, this time
he takes out his earphones, and stretches. Then all
of a sudden there is a knock at the door, the boy
looks at the clock, looking confused as if who could
it be at this time. Then a few moments later when
he's about to put his earphones back in, there's a
loud bang upstairs.
It’s going to be a
dark winters night.
There is going to be
enough light to see
the scene, but it’s
not going to be very
bright. Close-up
shot, medium, and
long shot, I will be
using. I will also be
using locked down
shots, and may use
a POV shot.
Sound of a car
running, and setting
off. Ambient house
noises. Clock
ticking. Knock at the
door. Someone
sitting down and
getting up. Big bang
sound.
Scene two 23:45/11:45 At this point you are going to be able to hear the
boys heart beating rapidly. As he is walking upstairs
to investigate the sound, you can hear the sound of
the floorboards creaking like someone is walking
about. At this moment the sound of the heartbeat
will be louder, making the scene tenser. There will
also be some creepy sound building up the tension
even more.
Going to be dark
with a single lamp on
giving off enough
light for the scene.
Close-up shot,
medium, and long
shot, I will be using. I
will also be using
locked down shots,
and may use a POV
shot.
Heartbeat sound.
Walking sound
effect. Floorboard
creeking sound.
Ambient house
noises. Creepy
music, or sound
effects.
Scene three 23:50/11:50 As the boy reaches the room where the sound is
coming from its empty but the window is wide open.
The boy then realises that he was supposed to have
shut the window earlier (you will be able to
recognise this by the boys facial expression). Then
he shuts the window quickly, as the tension has
died down due to him shutting the window and the
room being empty. There is breathing coming from
Upstairs is going to
be very dark, parts
being pitch black.
Close-up shot,
medium, and long
shot, I will be using. I
will also be using
locked down shots,
Walking sound,
wind noises, sound
of window being
shut. Breathing
sound, and shocked
sound. Heart beat
sound, and then the
dark figure says the

7. Visual Planning

9. Throughout my short film, it is going to be dark, this is because of the time I have chosen to
film my short film. Therefore, in some of the shots, and or scenes, I may need to use extra
lighting to brighten up the shot. However, I could always do this when editing the film
afterwards, but I think that I would still have problems with lighting even after I have turned
the saturation or hue up. Then there is the problem of it looking to unrealistic, and viewers
being able to tell that the lighting has been edited. Even though my short film will be dark,
because of the time I am going to be filming it, and what time it is set at, I think that I can
make it look good, without it being too dark, or too light. In my film I will be using colour, I am
not going to make it black and white. However, when it comes to editing the footage for my
film, I will be making the atmosphere of the film darker. Therefore, meaning I am going to be
using lots of dark colours such as, dark blues, and different shades of greys. But, if the
colours that I use don’t contrast very well with my brightness, then I will have to change them
to a different tone. I will do most of this using Adobe Premiere Pro CC, and or Adobe After
Effects. One of the ways that I can tackle the problem of the scenes being too dark is to use
extra lighting such as, torches. This should help brighten the areas that are too dark up.
However, I don’t want to make the scenes to bright as it is a Horror short film, and I want to
keep the horror vibe throughout the film. So, throughout filming I will have to have a balance
of light and darkness making sure one of the two doesn’t ruin the shot. One of the reasons for
my short film being dark is because, darkness often signals trouble. Another reason for this is
when it becomes dark we often are more wary, listening for noises. Which is the concept of
my film.

10. Filming
When I am ready to begin filming I will first start by checking that all of the equipment and
props are there, and make sure that they work. I will also make sure that my actors are
ready for filming, making sure they know what they are doing, also making sure they look
the part, having their costumes on. I will then go ahead, and make sure that the locations
where I will be filming are all set up and ready. When everything is ready to go, I will
begin filming. I will start by running through a practice run, rehearsal. This will be to make
sure the actors know what they are doing, and to see if there are any areas to improve on.
This will help me determine if I need to make any changes to their positions and or
performances. It will also help when it comes to where to place the camera for each shot.
However, I will probably film a scene from lots of different angles, so that when it comes to
editing, putting the shots together, I will have a wide variation to pick from. Which ever
ones look the best. When rehearsing, I will do this a couple of times before filming.
However, I may use the rehearsal footage in the film as, it may be better than the other
footage I filmed.
When filming I will make sure that the camera is set up carefully so that each shot is of
good quality. I will move the camera to a different position to get the framing, the light, and
the background right. When in the middle of filming I will ensure that I don’t cut anything
out and, that I don’t include anything that isn’t supposed to be in the shot and scene.
When filming I will check the lighting, I will look at the shot on my camera screen, making
sure that it looks right, and how I imagined and planned it too. If its too bright or dark, I will
change the exposure, or find another way to dim the scene down or brighten it up. I will
also check the focus, making sure it looks of good quality, and is sharp. If it is a shallow
focus shot then I will need to change the focus, use a tripod if I am not already, angle it
differently. When filming, I will make sure that the scene is completely silent, apart from
the Diegetic sounds. Making sure that they are of good sounding quality. I will also check
the sound using headphones, this should help determine if there is any other sound that I
didn’t want in there. Just before I finish filming I will ensure that I have got all of the
footage needed for my short film.

11. The key moment of my short film is the shot when my character finds out that he left the
window open upstairs, in which he was supposed to shut. Then followed by finding out
that there is someone behind him. One of the reasons I would say this is the key
moment is because, this is when he realizes what he has done, and the rest of the film
has been building up towards this final scene. He realizes his mistake, which was leaving
the window open.
The Mise-en-scene of my short film, will vary as there will be three locations in which I
am filming in. The living room, the hallway, and the bedroom. Therefore the props, and
the layout of the film will be very simple. The only props that will be included in the short
film, and that are being used will be the crowbar or hammer, the laptop, and the
earphones. They will generally be in the same place throughout the short film and, will
not really be moved.

13. When it comes to filming the short film, I may make last
minute changes, meaning that I may change a shot, or add a
shot into the short film.
Production Title: The knock at the door Production Team: Ben
Harris (Director, producer, camera operator, and actor) Pete Harris
(Actor)

14. Organisational Planning

15. Cast names Contact
number
Role Act 1 Role Act 2 Role act 3
Ben Harris 07745 357928 Actor,
Director, and
camera
operator
Actor and
Director
Actor, and
director.
Pete Harris 07734 824229 Actor - Actor
Suzanne
Harris
07764 838215 Actress, and
camera
operator
Camera
operator
Camera
operator

16. My short film is going to contain three actors, I am going to be playing the
main role as well as director as, I am the only one available to play the
part. My mum and dad will also be playing parts in my short film. This is
because I though they would fit the role of playing parents since they are.
My dad will be playing two characters in my short film. He will be playing
the dad, and the home intruder. Currently I don’t have any back up choices
for actors as, on the days I am filming people are generally busy. However,
because I am only using family for my cast and crew, that will mean there
won’t be any absences. One of the reasons I have chosen to have my
mum and dad play characters in my short film is because they best suit the
roles. If I were to have someone in my class to be one of the roles, it
wouldn’t look right, and I would end up not being happy with the film in
general.

17. Location List
The location/set of my short film will be at my
house. I will be filming in 3 to 4 locations in my
house. The living room, the hallway, and a
bedroom. I will also be filming on my driveway.
I will have different camera angles/shots so
the layout of the camera equipment will be
quite basic, as when it comes to filming I may
move the position of the camera around, and
it may not be in the original location, that was
planned.

20. Location List
Cast List
Contacts
Kit Movement

21. Soundtrack Planning

22. I am going to need lots of Diegetic sounds for my short film. I will probably record most
upon location as it will be easier that way. For my short film I will need the following
sounds: General ambient house noises, the sound of a car pulling away from a driveway,
the sound of a clock ticking, a knock at the door sound effect, a loud bang, floorboards
creaking, sound of footsteps above, heavy breathing sound, walking sound effect, sitting
down/up sound effect, window being shut sound effect, sound of wind, and someone
saying “This wasn’t supposed to happen”. I also may need a shocked sound effect, which
I will get when filming. For Diegetic sounds I don’t think I will be using any royalty free
sounds, as it is possible for me to record all of these on set, or after filming when I can
add them in whilst editing.

23. Some of the sounds that I will be using, I will gather myself, using either an audio recorder, or
just filming the scene with the sound effect(s) in it. I may also film the sound, and then
when it comes to editing, I will unlink the audio from the video, and then delete the video,
therefore being left only with the sound. I will do this for both Non-Diegetic and Diegetic
sounds if needed be. The Non-Diegetic sounds that I will be using are: a heart beat, and
some kind of creepy soundtrack. These will only be heard by the audience though, and not
the characters in my short film. The website that I will use to gather these sound effects,
are from Zapsplat. The following links are from Zapsplat, and are free sound effects that I
am allowed to use.
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/horror-hit-dark-and-creepy-3/
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/horror-hit-dark-and-creepy-4/
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/horror-hit-piano-low-dark-and-airy/
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/human-heart-beating-close-up/
https://www.zapsplat.com/
I will either use Zapsplat or use Keepvid, to download YouTube videos, then edit the video
out of them in Premiere Pro CC. I will have to make sure that the videos/sound effects are
copyright free.
https://keepvid.com/sites/download-youtube-video.html