This document outlines the visual and organizational planning for a found footage horror film created from archived footage shot two years prior. It details how the shots will be ordered and transitioned to tell a coherent story through the use of visual effects and timestamps. The original footage features the filmmaker and two friends exploring woodland areas. While the friends aided in filming, they will not be involved in post-production. If reshoots were necessary, the same locations could be used. A production schedule was created to ensure timely completion. The film will contain only a non-diegetic soundtrack composed in GarageBand to add an eerie, sinister feel without diegetic sound.

1. YOUR NAME HERE

5. Scene No. Approx timing
(seconds)
What happens Visual notes Audio notes
1 3 Shot of campers walking
through countryside
2 3 Campers cooking food on
fire
Medium shot. Stirring food
in tin
3 3 Close up of food being
cooked
Use shot of flames licking
the sides of container
4 3 Close up of feet walking
through different terrain
Cut to different day. Use
visual effect to show this.
5 5 Following shot of person
through wooded area

6. Scene No. Approx timing
(seconds)
What happens Visual notes Audio notes
6 4 Person enters new area of
woodland
Use clip following down
hillside and into trees
7 2 Shot of person running
through flooded area
Still not showing any
sinister intentions in
storytelling
8 5 Shot of container falling
into water and reaction to
the noise
Cut away as camera turns
to leave
9 4 Shot of floor as camera is
left idle as more walking
continues
10 4 Shot of person running out
of frame for no apparent
reason
New location with sun
lower in sky

7. Scene No. Approx timing
(seconds)
What happens Visual notes Audio notes
11 2 Follow shot of person
running through the forest
Keep cut short to dramatize
moment – complete
change
Music will be building up at
this stage
12 5 Side shot of person running
through the forest
Keep shot long –
juxtaposition of other shot –
cut to black

8. Visual Planning

9. As all of my footage comes from the archives of old files that I have recently discovered, there is no direction or
storyboarding that can be done. This said, the order in which the shots must be determined and constructed into
a coherent story, an equally difficult task.
The shots that have been recovered show a set of shots filmed almost two years ago that cover a trip out into
the local woodland. The shots are in a relatively chronological order, some even stretching into the early evening.
The film will open with a shot of people with camping gear clearly shown walking up an incline in the countryside.
I will use a shot of an open fire and some food being cooked. Throughout all of this an artificial timestamp will be
displayed in the corner of the screen to show the element of time that has been implemented. Another shot of
the food will steer the film away from the direction of horror, hopefully leading the audience into believing there
will be a good outcome.
Using a visual effect, I will transition the shot to show the time difference, the breaking of next day. Maintaining
the ‘found-footage’ theme, this will be some sort of glitch within the cameras recording. The shot will show a
venture through new terrain. The people will explore new territory which is completely new to the audience. The
timestamps will change drastically to justify the time of day that the climax is reached in.
The tempo will change as both people will become increasingly worried and paranoid, up until the point where
they break into a run. The music will be at its most powerful, raising the tension as the characters ‘flee’.

10. Organisational Planning

11. The cast will be made from those who were with me on the day when the footage was recorded. They will remain
in the film as they provide an excellent job. The footage was never intended to be used in this way and so all
movement and direction is authentic. The film could be re-shot using new ‘actors’ but it would lose all value in my
eyes. The film is showing how the use of music and editing can turn something innocent into something sinister.
I will state that both people that helped me, Patrick Colman and Myles Sierevogel aided me enormously through
the filming process but will not be needed in the post-production part of the development. This will be left for me
to organise and produce a genuine horror film.
They were picked as they are close friends, both at the time and even now. They were willing to spend their time
filming these shots and so that is why they star in it. I did not have any backup choices at the time as then we
were not filming for a such a project. The plan was not to use the clips in such a way.

12. In the unlikely event that all the footage would have to be reshot, the immediate plan would be to film in the location that I
had filmed in before. The wooded area is big, discreet and most importantly, public land. There will be no issues filming
here if I ever needed to. However, if for some reason that this was not possible there would be other locations that I
could explore.
Near the college building is a similar sort of woodland that would be perfect for filming. Multiple areas around my house
have similar aspects to the place the original was filmed and so these could be used. The event in which this would
happen is very unlikely however, as all the necessary steps to avoid a reshoot have been taken.

15. To ensure that I was going to complete the project on time I created a timetable like the one shown in the top
right. This kept me on track and ensure that I was going to get the work completed on time.
I spent a large amount of time on creating music, many tracks were created in the process as I tried to design
the correct sound. Had I been more experienced with making music this would have been completed faster.
The editing portions of the timetable were used to string together many concepts of the overall film. As the
scenes were not going to be reshot they had to be inserted in the right order. Similar to the music, many designs
were created. Some used longer takes, some had very quick cuts, but they all influenced the final film.
The editing gave me a lot of experience with things such as pacing, which I had lacked before. It was very useful
to be able to construct drafts in order to prepare for the final cut.
This was done outside of school, in my own time, using my own equipment. I used a different software package
to cut together the film as I personally preferred it and was more experienced with it. With all the practise and
experience from the drafts the final cut was efficient and well thought out.

16. As I have stated before this does not necessarily apply. However, if I needed to reshoot any of the scenes I
would have to consider many resources and the logistics of transporting them around.
Costumes and props would be very minimal, normal clothing that would be worn by the average person.
Obviously they would have to be recorded so if shooting was done over different days there wouldn’t be any
issues with continuity.

17. Soundtrack Planning

18. The film will contain no diegetic sound, only non-diegetic throughout the entire product. This is due to the
soundtrack I have created and the lack of intelligible sound that can be heard on the video. The film sounds
much better without any audio and if anything, adds to the horror factor. The muted video makes it more
unnatural and gives it a sinister feel as once sense is completely removed. The audience feels vulnerable as
they cannot hear the thing coming for the characters.
The music was created in the program Garage Band and uses multiple instruments and synthetic sounds. The
software enabled me to plug in a USB keyboard and input music this way, instead of having to use keys on the
computer, this was much more effective as it allowed me much more freedom in my work. I used trumpets,
violins and a number of other instruments to create the eerie sounding theme to the film. It was completely made
by myself and so it does not need to be licensed for this product. Another plus side of this is that it fits the film
how I want it to, something that would be rarely achieved with music made by others.
I did consider leaving some elements of the original audio but in the end I decided against it. The way that the
music fits the film and the fact that it is the only thing the audience can hear greatly improves the experience.
Some noises seem to be part of the film, as in made by the characters, but in fact they are all part of the
soundtrack.