The document outlines Luke Headland's initial plans and reactions for his FMP project, which will be a short paranormal horror film. He discusses his confidence in his skills and experience with Photoshop and filmmaking. Luke also shares his ideas for the project, including creating posters, utilizing his camera equipment, and experimenting with film techniques like cinematography, color correction, and lighting.

1. Initial Plans
Luke Headland

2. Initial Reaction
• I'm feeling very confident with my ideas and my overall project. I view my FMP as more of a passion
project than obligatory work. I think I will be able to make a highly detailed final product due to years of
experience with Photoshop as well as my previous work on my Level 2 Media course. I think this will be a
good opportunity to look back at my previous FMP from last year and investigate what worked and what
didn’t work so I can apply that knowledge to my current project and try to make a better, more detailed
project than last years. I am excited to utilise my knowledge and skills onto Photoshop, as it will play a big
part in my project for when I create my Posters. I am also looking forwards to some behind the camera
work. I have all the equipment necessary to film my project, and I look forward to experimenting and
trying out different film making techniques, such as production design, cinematography and directing. I
think given the amount of time I have to make this project and with the skills I have gained over the years,
I will be able to make a much better project than last years, and will be able to improve upon my
filmmaking techniques and try to produce an overall good looking product. I have already planned out
what I want to do for my project. I plan on making a short paranormal horror film that involves myself and
another classmate. I will be pre-planning all the filming, creating shot lists and story boards etc. I plan on
making my film anywhere from around 8 – 15 minutes long. During this runtime I plan on setting up some
backstory and subtle exposition from my characters to make sure the film doesn’t come across as
confusing, as I don’t have a lot of runtime to work with so I have to find a way to compile all of these
elements such as story & scares into my film. One thing I am looking forward to working with is colour
correction and making my product look good and professional. This is something I thought I could've
improved upon with my project from last year, so I plan on trying to make my new project look as good
and professional as possible. I am also looking forward to working with my own camera and filming in
outdoor locations at night to try and capture the horror aesthetic. I recently bought a new camera that has
some very impressive low light filming capabilities, and I plan to utilise them with my project.

3. Mind Map
Idea # 1 – Comedy
Horror Film
Idea # 2 – Survival
Video Game
Light-hearted comedy &
horror aesthetic.
Multiple characters
& actors
Main antagonist
and protagonist.
Comedic
inuendoes /
minor adult
jokes.
Films to research:
Scary Movie
(2000)
A Haunted House
(2013)
The Cabin In The
Woods (2011)
Zombieland
(2009)
Dead Snow (2009)
Physical
comedy
Horror
aesthetic:
Dark
locations,
setting &
lighting.
Satire
Humour
Shocking and
funny Visuals
Dark
& subtle
humour
Idea #1Idea #2
Game
created with
Unreal
Engine 4
with custom
materials
and textures.
Basic game
mechanics, combat
and enemies.
Story aspect to the
game with voice
actors and
narration. Old
abandoned
locations for
survival aesthetic.
Multiple
characters &
character
selection
One on one combat –
player vs player.
Dark
lighting /
outdoor
night
setting
and NPC
enemies.
Free
roam –
players
make
choices
Possible
enemies:
Zombie
Aliens
Humans
Player has challenges
they can complete to
earn weapons to help
them in the game.
Idea # 3 – Thriller
Movie Trailer
Idea #3
Thriller
trailer and
three movie
posters along
with it.
Genre: Drama
/ Thriller
Suspenseful and
dark trailer –
mysterious theme.
Murder /
crime myst-
ery theme.
3 gritty and dark
movie posters.

4. Mind Map
Final Idea –
Paranormal
Short Film
Two main characters and
one main antagonist.
Genre: Horror, Thriller,
Mystery, Paranormal
Horror, Drama
Cinematography: Dark
lighting, unpleasant
colours: dark orange &
green. Low lighting
indoors and outdoors –
night-time setting.
Suspenseful scenes: tension build
up & the feeling of dread with
disturbing music.
Locations: Outdoor night-
time settings, parks, fields,
underpasses and desolate
streets.
Story synopsis: A young man is followed by
an evil spirit that ceases to take over him.
Three very detailed movie posters, dark and
grungy textures and colours. Actors / main
characters featured on the posters.
Camera settings for low light:
ISO: 400 – 800
Aperture: F1.8 - 3.6
Continuous Auto Focus
Write a very detailed script for
the film and make changes if
needed when filming.
Make-up and costume, very
disturbing and creepy looking
antagonist – less is more
technique.
A lot of scenes are left ambiguous
and left up to the audience's
imagination
Different / unique scene transitions and
basic horror movie techniques such as
jumpscares and the feeling of dread.

5. FMP Pre Proposal

6. Influences & Genre Conventions
• The main reason I chose to focus on the horror genre for my FMP project is because I am a big fan of horror
films and horror media in general. For my project, I will specifically be focusing on the paranormal sub-genre.
My level 2 FMP work focused more in the gore / violence sub-genre, so I wanted to change it up this year
while still being able to make something that fit into the horror genre as a whole.
• One reason why I chose to specifically create a paranormal horror project is because I have always been
fascinated with what goes into making these kinds of films. I enjoy films such as Insidious (2010)
and The Conjuring (2013) mainly due the simplicity of the plot and basic scare techniques. The paranormal
sub-genre allows me to use all kinds of different filmmaking elements such as jump scares; tension build up
and pushing the boundaries of reality. These are all things that typically appear in paranormal horror films,
such as the two films I listed above which have given me the inspiration to create a similar product, and I
thought my FMP would be the perfect opportunity to utilise this and to try and create a quality product that
fits right into the paranormal sub-genre.
• I plan to stay true to the paranormal sub-genre, featuring things that my target audience would expect to see
such as strong characters, non-rushed plot development, well executed scares and tension building scenes. I
plan to put many twists and techniques onto it that I have learned from different existing horror films. Many
existing critically acclaimed paranormal horror films, for example, The Babadook (2014), have taught me
many filmmaking techniques such as how I should approach suspenseful, high tension scenes in order to truly
scare and unnerve my audience, and what the best colour pallets are to establish emotion for a scene etc.

7. Mood Board – Movie Posters

8. Mood Board – Aesthetic / Locations

9. Movie Poster Mood Board Analysis
Is there any repetition in the images you have collected?
Repeated colours/images styles/fonts/tone/mood
I specifically chose very grungy and dirty looking posters for my movie poster mood board. All of these posters follow a lot of similar styles and tones. A lot
of the colours in these posters are very dry and desaturated, giving them a grungy and old look, specifically those with an orange and brown colour tone.
The overall unpleasant colours make them easily identifiable as horror thriller films that are able to catch the public's eye, due to the overall unpleasant and
mysterious tone they have to them. A lot, if not all of these posters use the minimalistic technique. The posters don’t have a lot of information on what the
film could be about and are left rather ambiguous. Most of these posters feature around one or two main images that are the key factors to highlight the
genre and style of the film. These images are portrayed in very disturbing ways, even the poster for Se7en (1995), directed by David Fincher, is able to look
disturbing with dirty, scratchy and grungy textures overlayed onto the two main actors faces. Without these features, the poster would look nowhere near
as disturbing and would probably be hard to recognise what genre it belongs in. There are other posters in my mood board collection that only stick to a
strict colour pallet, such as the poster for Saw (2004) and Henry (1986) that stick with three main colour connotations, black, white and red. These colours
are often used to highlight the violence and gore the film has to offer, as the colour red usually symbolises blood and suffering, whereas the black and white
colours add a sense of mystery, adding the thriller aspects to the film. Other posters, such as the Hostel (2005) and Hostel Part III (2011) posters use very
disturbing visuals that would make the audience look twice at what is actually going on in the poster. These posters both once again use a similar orange
and brown colour connotation to highlight the films torturous and sadistic nature which makes them both easily recognisable as to be a part of the horror
genre, and it's easy to determine just how disturbing and violent both of these films are just by looking at the visuals on the poster.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
I plan on creating three movie posters for my final short film product. I will be using a lot of the same styles that the posters from
my mood board use such as desaturated and unpleasant colours, violent and grungy textures, dark / dim lit lighting and so on. I
will also be taking in other elements such as composition and execution, for example, what would be the right camera angle to
use when I take the photos for my posters and should my subject be looking at the camera or slightly away from it. I will be
looking back at my mood board for reference to see which style would work best for me and what colours and all kinds of
different elements I should use, as well as if I should have my images brighter or darker or maybe at a different camera angle. I will
also look back on how text is used such as the titles and credit blocks, and where I should be positioning the text on my work to
make the whole poster blend very well so nothing looks out of place.

10. Aesthetic / Locations Mood Board Analysis
Is there any repetition in the images you have collected?
Repeated colours/images styles/fonts/tone/mood
Most of the images I have collected are still shots from existing films. I chose these specific shots mainly to highlight the colour pallets used for different
styled scenes. One colour that appears a lot is the same desaturated, grungy orange colour seen a lot on my poster mood board. This colour is popular
amongst horror / thriller movies, and is often used in outdoor scenes, usually during dusk. The use of this colour often highlights that darkness is coming. In
two of the specific shots from my mood board that use this colour from Se7en (1995) and The Conjuring (2013), during both of these scenes something bad
happens and results in metaphorical and actual darkness. The use of this colour is a good way to subtly foreshadow what is to come later on in the film, and
gives the audience a sense of dread, knowing that something bad is going to happen. Some of the shots on my mood board also use colour in similar ways,
for example I chose a shot from The Shining (1980) with the main character wandering around outdoors during a snowstorm. This shot has a deep blue tone
to it, highlighting the horror of the scene whilst mixing it into the very cold and chilling atmosphere and environment. Colour is often used to highlight
temperature, with blue usually being associated with the cold, and orange & red usually being associated with warmth. One particular thing that all of these
shots have in common is that no matter the location, or time of day, they all remain relatively dark. All of the shots in my mood board are very dark and use
a lot of low lighting techniques. This is once again to highlight the genre of the film, as well as the scene, as a lot of these shots were taken from very
suspenseful and scary moments in the films. The colours along with the dark lighting really mix well and give off the perfect horror look, and make the scene
feel all the more unpleasant and hard to watch, adding to the overall suspense of the scene. I also added a shot from Saw III (2006), one reason I chose this
shot is because the series is notorious for having unpleasant green lighting. This is used to highlight the gory aspects of the film, and the green colour often
highlights that someone is going to die, and is also used to highlight location. The shot I chose shows a dungeon like area, with this location mixed with the
green lighting, it gives off the perfect horror look, and also shows just how violent the scene is.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
I am going to be using a lot of different colour techniques in my final product. I want to make sure that my short film doesn’t stick
with the same colour pallet throughout, and that I use different colours for different scenes that are appropriate for where I am
filming. For example I plan on using a very dark and desaturated orange colour for all of the outdoor scenes in my film. I also plan
on filming some scenes in a bathroom with a dimly lit light, where I will be using a dark green colour to add to the suspense and
overall horror look to the film. I will also be colour correcting the scenes appropriate to the locations and trying to make the
colours feel dark, but at the same time making sure they feel natural for the scene and not random.