proposal

1. Proposal
Title of Film: REDRUM
Film Synopsis
For my film, I have decided to create a film based around the crime/drama genre. Furthermore,
as expected, I have also completed a thorough pre-production for the film by completing all
necessary paperwork i.e risk assessments, location scouting, personnel lists etc to ensure
safety and professionalism. My aim of this short film is to use a variety of single camera
techniques to improve my cinematography skills. The main character will be the person who
discovers her old camera as she is a victim in the film and is murdered towards the end. The
other character in the film is the villain who can be described as some sort of bad spirit / killer as
the victim says redrum in the mirror multiple times which is known to attract the supernatural.
The title of my film is REDRUM as it spells murder backwards. I liked this name as I thought that
it was short, simple and quite fitting to the storyline which would attract young audiences. The
film will be around 5 minutes with different shots, angles and twists to keep the audience
interested. Furthermore, there will also be very little dialogue in the film to create suspense as
the audience will want to know what the characters are feeling and tone the horror music down
which will be cut to beat.
The Logline
My script is about a teenager finding their old camera in a box of items. They turn it on and take
a photo and see something in the background of the image - this is the enigma. Over the next
few days, the character is in college and thinks she sees a masked / hooded character standing
in the room she is about to walk in, facing the door. However she starts to hear a crowd of
people walking up the corridor and turns around to face them as they walk into the room where
the hooded figure was no longer there. This confused the character alot to the point where she
thought that she was hallucinating. After this strange occurrence, at the characters home, there
were loud banging sounds - as though someone was banging on the door or walls. The
character drops her phone from jumping from the shock and runs to turn the lights on. The
banging continues. The character picks their phone up and tries to call 999 for emergency
services but there was no signal on their phone. They were stuck. The character runs to their
mirror and starts the redrum ritual (they believe in spirits etc). They look away and turn back and
REDRUM is written on the mirror with a large figure behind, holding a sharp object. In the next
scene the character is sitting on a bench with their friend having a conversation but then the
character dissolves so that it is only the friend sitting on the bench (signifying the death of the
character).
ScreenplayStructure
Act 1: Introduction to the main character and enigma. The audience can gather that the main
character can see the enigma now and again, almost as though she is hallucinating.
Act 2 : The enigma starts to follow the main character around and finds its way to their home.

2. Act 3: The main character performs a ritual and the enigma appears behind and kills her. We
don’t know this until the ending scene where the other character is introduced and the main
character fades away to signify their death.
Characters
Character 1: The main character who keeps seeing a hooded figure and is murdered at the end.
Character 2 (Enigma): The killer of the film and follows character 1 around to haunt them. They
are also an unwanted spirit as it brings negative energy to people and places.
Character 3: A friend of character 1, who is introduced at the end of the film when character 1
fades away and character 3 seems heartbroken and upset.
Background characters: Classmates
All characters are teenagers and college students.
Film Treatment
Character 1 opens up a box full of memories and pulls out a camera. They take a good look at
the camera as they haven’t seen it in a long time. They turn the camera on and take a quick
photo to see if it still works. As they look at the picture, they notice a figure in the image sitting
on the chair in front. Character 1 quickly looks around the room for someone but no one is there
so they place the camera back in the box and leave the room.
Over the course of a few days, character 1 walks down the corridor towards their class and
goes to walk in but stops. The figure is there again but she can see it this time. A group of
people walk down the corridor and into the room talking normally as she watches every step
they make and then returns their view to the room where the figure had disappeared. Character
1 carries on and walks into the room.
A few days later, character 1 is sitting in their room (in darkness) on their phone. Suddenly there
are loud bangs on the door and walls which causes character 1 to drop their phone. They get up
to turn the light on and the banging continues, character 1 rushes back to their phone and picks
it up to call 999 but there was no signal. Strangely, they had a weird feeling that it was some
spirit as they believed in ghosts, spirits, witches etc.
As a result of this, they thought that the best thing to do was perform a ritual - Redrum. They run
to turn the lights off and start the ritual until the lights turn back on as they look up to see
REDRUM written on the mirror and a hooded figure behind. Character 1 freezes for a moment
as the hooded figure starts to slowly pull out a sharp object. The scene all of a sudden goes
dark to limit what the audience can see as it transitions onto the next day.

3. The next day, character 1 is sat on a bench with their friend having a conversation but then they
fade away - leaving their friend sitting alone. This is done to signify that the hooded figure
murdered character 1 and the audience can see the hurt in friends and family of losing a loved
one.
After being told that character 1 had been killed, the next scene is a title scene saying “NO ONE
IS SAFE - R” to seem as though it is a message / threat from the hooded figure which could
scare the audience and hope for more of the story to be revealed.
Target Audience
My ideal target audience is people of a similar age group to those presented in the film, being
young adults (17-19 year olds). The members may relate to the storyline of the short film in
terms of Bulmer & Katz Gratification Theory, as they might watch thriller/horror films as a way of
escapism - allowing themselves to escape their real life and enter the world of imagination and
imagine themselves in the situation, creating plots and ideas. In addition to this, they may also
watch films like this for entertainment and integration and social interaction. By doing this, they
are able to join groups etc online and have conversations about what happened and each
other's views etc. As a result of this, they will attract a mainstream audience due to social media
and the world of technology having such a big impact on the world and how it works today -
influencing the society.