Updated

1. R O B E R T - R Y A N
Y O U S H O U L D U S E T H I S T O S T R U C T U R E Y O U R S T A G 1
R E S P O N S E . A D D S L I D E S W H E R E N E C E S S A R Y A N D
I L L U S T R A T I O N S . A L L Y O U H A V E T O D O I S C L I C K O N
T H E B O X U N D E R T H E Q U E S T I O N / I N F O !
PRODUCTION
MANAGEMENT
stage 1
idea generation &
research

2. The Front Door

3. Initial ideas
 Add your mind map(s) and any documents about your initial ideas here (this
could include sketches, sources of inspiration, etc

4. My final idea.
 The plot centres around a lone recluse man walking back from his daily shopping only to
be stunned by the sight of the front for of his house to be wide open. Even more so at the
sound of a stranger inside potentially stealing his possessions. The rest of the film is
about this man compensating of what should he do to handle this situation that he has
never been in before. Told through theses sequences that turn out to be imagination
sequences of the man thinking of how should he handle the situation, such as the man
walking into his house to either tackle the criminal or calling the police.

5. Where the idea came from.
 The idea came to my head a few months ago when I was walking home from doing shopping because I was home alone
at the time and thought I would prove myself useful. As soon as I got home I noticed that the front door of my house
was open. Initially this had me worried and paranoid that maybe there might be someone in my house trying to steal
our possessions. I walked cautiously and slowly in to my house only to find out that I simply left the front door open
because of my own incompetence. Which then lead me to ask myself “what would happen if there was a burglar in my
house and if so how would I respond to the situation?” This is what inspired me to use this idea as my short film. I am
usually a big fan of thrillers and what a lot of great ones do is put the audience in the characters shoes and asks them
“what would you do if you where in a situation similar to them”

6. Primary Target audience
research
 After constructing a survey on my Survey monkey asking people who they think the thriller genre appeals
to most as well as one asking about their favourite thrillers and what was their demographic and age range
I have come to a conclusion that the thriller genre is very big with people with a age range from their 30s to
their early 50s. I have also done further research on YOU-GOV.org researching a lot of popular classical
films within that genre and the target audience those films appeal to most and the age range is almost
exactly the same. The closest you get to the audience being younger is when a film has action elements in
it. Those films will include a man holding a gun in the poster. With that I am probably going to aim my
film towards that audience seeing how its most popular with them compared to any other age group and it
does not have any action elements in it.

7. Secondary Target audience
research
 When ever you are making a film for a specific audience sometimes having a protagonist be the exact
audience and age group you are appealing to is the best way for your film to gain attention from that
audience because they find it easier to put themselves in the character’s shoes and they can see themselves
as that person In the case of my film the main actor is going to be played by a young adult and because of
this I feel that young adults roughly between the ages between 25-30 will most likely be my secondary
target audience simply because in my choice of who's starring in the film. Films aimed at a teen/young
adult such as Scream have a lot of appeal towards that audience because of the actors and the characters
they are playing while also maintaining the same elements within that genre in terms of the filmmaking
and how the directors choose to build tension.

8. Identify target audience
 After doing further research on the thriller genre and looking at some well known classic
thrillers that contain real world situations. I have noticed that this particular genre is very
popular with middle aged people aged between 40 and 54 years old. The gender is
sometimes different depending on star appeal and the gender of the main actor or actress
but the age range is mostly the same. Thrillers containing action and espionage elements
are often aimed towards to audiences a little younger mainly because the action genre is
usually oriented towards teenagers and young adults as well as people in their 30s but mine
doesn't have any action or loud noises. So it looks as though it will appeal to someone on
the lines of people in their 40s because younger viewers will find it hard to relate the
situation and the film might be too boring for them because they are often dialogue driven
or too disturbing for them because of the dark themes and content. However because my
protagonist is likely to be played by someone younger than people in their 40s there maybe
appeal in young adults and teenagers aged between 19 and 30 because seeing someone the
same age as them makes it easier for them to relate to a character who is exactly the same
age as them.

9. Social grades
 Social Grades can vary between the ages of the people who are watching them. People who are younger
are likely to have a social grade of C2DE meaning they are not upper middle class and are in the
working class and probably have to work to gain a living whereas people who are 10 years older are
likely to have a social grade of ABC1 these people are better educated and have better paid jobs.
According to You Gov.Org films like Scream and Zodiac are likely to appeal to people with a social
grade of C2DE mainly because of the actors present in both are more popular with a younger crowd
and are presented in a way that’s fast enough for them to enjoy it. Whereas a film like The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo (2011) is way more slower paced and takes its time. People with a social grade of ABC1
are more likely to enjoy that film because they are slightly older then people with a C2DE social grade
and are more likely to have a longer attention span. I feel my film is more likely to gain more of a
audience to people with a social grade of C2DE because of my protagonist being a young adult.
Because different demographics are drawn to a film because they see a person of their culture as a lead
of a film, it is more likely to gain their attention. Young adults are mainly working and don’t have a
strong social grade so it makes sense for my film to be more appealing to those people and nobody
older.

10. Audience appropriate content
 Given your idea generation and your audience research, what sort of content would you define as the appropriate.
Consider issues of taste, certification [BBFC might be a good starting point for this], etc. Look at what you’d like to
include and what you are allowed to include.
 Normally a film with a genre I have chosen would often have a 15 certificate (occasionally 18)
because they are usually very violent and have a lot of dark themes. But given my idea generation
and audience research I have decided that my short is going to be a 12a which means that any
ounce of sexual and violent content needs to be brief, discreet and not exploitive like it would be if
it was a 15 or 18. The reason I have chosen this as my certificate is because there is hardly anything
in my film that would be deemed too inappropriate for the BBFC to bump it up to a higher rating.
There is no dialogue in my short meaning there is no opportunity to include any crude language
that you would see in a 15 rated film and the only violent moments in the film will be short, sweet
and not include any blood. For example a stabbing scene in my film will include a hard cut to the
next scene just as the person with the knife stabs its victim. This is mainly an artistic choice then
anything. Another reason why I have gone with the rating is not only because of the lack of the
explicit content but I feel it will grab more of an teenage audience as well as appealing to older
audiences.

11. Production techniques research
 Research potential production techniques you might
want to use or feel would be most appropriate.
 You should watch films/tv shows/music videos that are
of a similar genre/style/audience as what you want to
make.
 You should collect clips/still images/how to guides/etc
that might help you. When watching scenes from films,
etc you could also ask potential target audience what they
think.
 You will need to add extra slides!
 With each technique you should assess whether you can
use it or how you might employ or why you may want to
disregard it completely

12. Production Techniques
Research
 Hollywood director David Fincher has a subtle but distinct directing style that often goes
overlooked in his films. When ever there is a character that the camera is focusing on,
Fincher and his cinematographer attempt to use camera pan’s, tilts and tracking shots to
mimic the movement and mannerisms of the characters. So for example when ever there is
a close up of a character, when the character moves his/her head the camera tilts along side
with it. Or when ever there is a tracking shot of a character walking the camera will
instantly stop as soon as the character has stopped moving and will automatically move
again if a character starts walking again. Fincher utilizes the use of the certain camera
movement as a way for the audience to get somewhat intimate with a protagonist and
putting you in their shoes by having the camera be in line with the actors movements. Not
only does this can draw you into a character but after a while of following a character with
this directing style you begin to pick up certain details in the behavior of a characters that
you might not have noticed before and those subtle details of behavior can say so much
about the mood of the characters instead of the script telling you how to feel about the
people you are following. I feel that this is a style that I may want to use in my film because
Fincher uses this style to help create a mood that’s unsettling and intimate.

13. Production techniques
research.
 I have decided that I am going to shoot the film in black and white. Not only because lighting becomes less
of an issue and you get no pixels when ever the footage gets too dark but it can be used to set up an tone
and atmosphere that’s both eerie and effective. Black and white cinematography is something that isn’t
utilized very much with modern filmmaking and at best is used by independent filmmakers to cut back on
lighting or if their film is calling back to a film made in the mid 20th century. The most recent example of
this is the 2013 indie psychological horror called Escape From Tomorrow. The reason the footage was shot
in Black and white was not only an artistic choice but it was to cover up the lack of lighting because the
film was shot in Disney land Florida without Disney’s permission. So they shot the film with DSLR
cameras with no led light panels just to avoid suspicion. The use of black and white in this film I feel
manipulates the vibrant colours of Disney world in to something that’s creepy and unsettling. By removing
the colours it creates a juxtaposition from magical to borderline scary. With a look such as black and white
I feel you are more likely to create a look and feel that is both filmic and visually appealing but it opens a
wide range of the amount of unsealing shots you can create without having to rely on lighting.

14. Available resource and
materials (audit)
Item needed. Where to get it from Back up plan
Prop spade. From my garage Buy another one
from a hard where
shop
Prop knife From my kitchen. Wash up a back up
knife before the
shoot.
Shoulder rig Rent one from
college.
Order one for a
cheaper price of
Amazon
Prop hammer From my house Get one from town.
Actor to play the
burglar.
The crew member
will play the burglar
I will take his place.
Balaclava for
criminal to wear
Order of Amazon Use the actor’s shirt
to cover up his face.
Tripod Book one from college. I will use the one I
have at home

15. Constraints on production
 List all the potential constraints that might affect or limit your production, you
should consider issues from each of these categories:
 Time/Personnel/Cost/Technical/Location/Organisational/etc
 Time is a constraint that is usually very common in any film production regardless
how big or small. So it is something that I am going to have to plan before starting
the shoot. I have to come up with a schedule that’s appropriate for me as well for the
people involved with production. I have to consider the time where they are able to
show up and will still be able to help me throughout the shoot because they don’t
have personal things to deal with. I must also figure out a back up plan in case
something happens and they have to do their own thing. Because I am one man who
is writing/directing etc personnel is limited. While I am only going to be having only
2 actors in the film I may have an issue in finding a qualified actor so I may end up
hiring my brother to play the protagonist because he is studying in acting. I have
someone who is going to help me with the shoot who has some experience with
camera work but there is a good chance that I may need more then one crew member
in order to gain the best shots possible. Its possible that we may overcome this issue
but it will likely make things harder when it comes to the shoot. As for location, It
looks like I may end up shooting in my house which may become a problem for other
family members who have personal stuff to deal with and me filming will become a
obstruction for them. I can overcome this issue by arranging a date where the house
will be most quiet. to film. There is also a construction site on the end of the street
and the noise may be a problem If I want to film everything in silence.

16. Production management considerations
 Think about how you intend to manage your project, considering all that you have
assembled in this file. Are there areas that will need more work than others? How do you
intend to go about getting your production made?
 I may end up shooting the film in my house. The issues there is that there is a
construction site that may interfere with the audio because the film should mostly take
place in silence. I may over come this issue in post by removing the audio track for the
recorded footage thus removing the noise of the construction work in the background and
replace it with some recorded audio of the sections of my street where there is no noise
what so ever. I may even have the music take up a good chunk of the audio drowning out
any noise that may come across as a distraction. As for the location I have also brought
up the issue of getting in the way of family members during the shoot. I have decided that
I am going to shoot the video on a weekend as it’s the only time where the construction
site is at a halt and there will be hardly anyone in my house to deal with. Another thing I
am going to do in order to manage my project is that I may end up playing the criminal in
the house. Because the part requires you to have your face covered and you don’t get to
say any lines, I feel that It will be possible to play that role while also giving directions to
the camera man and to my main actor at the same time. It saves up trying to find an actor
to play that part or giving it to the camera man and having to give instructions on how to
preform the mannerisms of a thug and it will be much easier if I preformed them myself.

17. Modifications and revised final idea
 Have you had to alter your idea based on the research you have performed? Have you had
to modify your idea due to your pitch/proposal? Or any other reasons? Track it here and
justify what you have decided to alter