Ewan plans to create a short film as his final project along with additional promotional materials like a poster and merchandise. The film is about a girl who notices something strange about her neighbor's house but can't figure out what. Ewan chose this project to further develop his filmmaking skills. He will share the film and additional materials on his website, YouTube, and at a small event with other students. The film is targeted towards young adults aged 16-24 and focuses on themes of drama, dark comedy, and light violence. Ewan has developed storyboards, a shotlist, and multiple drafts of the script based on feedback. He has also scouted several filming locations.

1. PLANNING
Ewan Wild

2. Reflection
■ What are you making?
– My final project is a short film that I will make myself. It will be the main area of a set
of items, each one linking back to that main piece. It will include a trailer for the film,
a poster, and a piece of merchandise. The film is about a girl who walks past a house
every day. She’s not sure why but she gets the sense that something is wrong with it.
The man in the house is friendly enough, but almost too friendly, like he’s hiding
something.The story will be told as it’s happening by the main character, so most of
the audio will be added in post. My poster will be animated a little bit, adding a
flickering light to it creating a creepy effect. This could also be a still poster, and I will
probably add both to give some variety.
■ Why?
– I’ve chosen to do this because I feel like it’s important to do what I’m most passionate
about as my final project, simply film.The reason I chose this course was to go on to
do film, so I want to get another film made, one better than anything I’ve ever done
before. There are also several reasons why I’ve chosen so many extra bits to go with
it. Firstly, I want to make this film feel real, more professional, so having posters, a
trailer and some merchandise gives it a more professional feeling. As well as this,
adding parts like posters can show off how I can work with still image too, not just
moving image. All these put together shows a variety of skill in different areas.

3. ■ Where will it appear?
– First and foremost, I have to add it onto the basic areas. This will be my
website andYouTube. As well as this, I want to put on a small event with
some other people, where we show our work together, almost like a little
film festival.
■ Who is it for?
– My film will focus on a drama genre with patches of dark comedy and
little violence. This makes it seem more tailored towards female
audiences. However there will be bad language and other serious adult
themes, and because of what I have planned, I believe that it would be
tailored more towards young adults aged between 16-24.. I don’t think
that there’s much of a specific social class, so I would argue that it would
be C1, which is lower middle class. This is due to the fact that it occupies
a large percentage of the population, and is a class that I think is likely to
go to the cinema for leisure, so they would be most likely to watch
something like this. My geodemographic is anywhere that speaks
English, so it would most likely be for England or the USA. I’d argue that
it’s more for English audiences because of the style of humour I want to
add, and also because of a specific psychographic.This would be
belongers. These people are brand loyal and more attracted to products
which are made where they’re from, in my case this would be the UK.

4. FILM

5. Styles
■ Silent Film
– Filmed with no synchronised sound. I would take parts of this style and
put it into my film, using no dialogue but still having other sounds,
similar to A Quiet Place.
■ Colour Film Noir
– Some areas of film noir are similar to those of which I want to include.
For example, frequent uses of flashbacks (in my case repeating the day
in a similar style, or a flash forward at the start) and an intricate plot, one
that doesn’t walk you along.
■ Experimental
– This involves a style of filmmaking that that re-evaluates conventions of
cinema. I don’t think that this style will be used as much, as I am in a
position where now I have to use still camera images. However it is
experimental to a certain degree. I want to use camera angles that I’ve
never used before

6. Name
To begin, I need to think of a name that works with my story. I’m having trouble
thinking of one so I’m making a moodboard with all my ideas and I will choose one
in the future
Name
Ideas
In Suberbia
Total NormalityThe Neighbour
Normality
An Uncommon
Routine
The Unremarkable
Place
Four days later, I have
chosen this name. It works
with the posters and it
doesn’t give away the story

9. Storyboard Summery
I’m sure it’s no secret that I’m not very good at drawing.The
storyboard doesn’t look good; however I understand it, ands that’s
what matters. It adds a visual element to my planning, and by
pairing it with a finished shotlist, I will know for sure what I’m
doing, shot by shot, and it will make my production better. I did
rush a little bit with my drawings, to make something good I’d have
to put a lot of time into it, time that I don’t have. I still have a lot of
other areas to complete and not too much time to do it, but I still
completed it to the best of my ability and I still have time to finish
the other areas

10. Shotlist
Scene Shot Description
1 1 Close up of violet staring right past the camera. The neighbour is standing behind her, only his body is
in shot.
2 1 Medium Shot, violet sitting up in bed, the neighbour photo behind her.
2 2 Another medium shot with the exact same framing, but she’s sipping tea.
2 3 Wide shot of Violet walking around the corner.
2 4 Extreme wide shot of violet stopping at the house, and turning towards it
2 5 Extreme close up of Violet’s eyes as she turns to see the neighbour
2 6 Wide shot of Neighbour waving. Repeat all shots in scene two so far three times
2 7 Wide shot of Violet walking around the corner, the neighbour is walking far behind her.
2 8 She stops at the house, turning to look at it.
2 9 Wide shot of an empty window
2 10 Medium shot, she shrugs it off and starts moving on
2 11 Medium shot of the neighbour from behind, he looks out the window to wave, only to lower his arm
once he sees she’s already moving on
2 12 Wide shot of her walking away. As she moves past the camera, the neighbour appears in the
background

11. Scene Shot Description
3 13 Medium shot behind of her walking through the forest
3 14 Close up of her stopping at a tree, she places her hand on it and looks into the distance
3 15 Over her shoulder, we can see the neighbour waving from the distance. The camera pans around the tree.
Once the area is visible again, the neighbour is gone, and Violet appears to be in different clothes. She
rubs her eyes and moves on towards the exit.
4 16 Extreme wide shot of the house. She’s walking towards it coming into frame from the right, rather than
the usual left. She stops and looks towards the house expecting to see the neighbour, but only sees the
open door.
4 17 Shot of the slightly open door. Focused more on the handle.
4 18 Wide shot from up the drive showing her slowly walking towards the door
4 19 Close up of her putting her hand on the door and slowly pushing it open
4 20 Shot goes back to her one more time
5 21 The neighbour walks past the camera with only his upper body visible, when he’s off camera, Violet peeks
her head through the door, and she slowly walks in.
5 22 Close up: The camera pans as she puts her hand on the wall, it follows her hand as she finds a series of
framed photos of her, each one with her scratched out more and more.
5 23 Extreme close up of her eyes, she looks visibly upset.
5 24 Close up of her hands as she takes the photo out of the frame, turning it over to reveal the words. One
tear drops onto the photo.
5 25 Close up of her face crying. The camera slowly moves away as she put the photo down and moves on,
walking through the doorway next to her.

12. Scene Shot Description
5 26 Wide shot from the other side of the room, she moves closer to where the camera, kneeling right in
front of it. As she does this the neighbour moves past the door frame, she looks behind her quickly
but sees nothing.
5 27 Medium shot from behind her as it shows her searching around for something. She quickly looks up
again but doesn’t turn around.
5 28 Camera returns to the same position as shot 26, the neighbour is standing
behind her. She quickly turns around
5 29 Shot from the door frame reveals nothing is there. But she stands up and
begins to walk out.
5 30 Camera follows her from behind
5 31 Camera is in front to reveal the neighbour behind her. He grabs her wrist and
quickly pulls her back, going to a black screen.
6 32 Extreme close up of her eyes crying, slowly panning out to reveal her sat up in
bed. All the photos are off the neighbour and darker than before.
Shooting schedule:
The first plan is to shoot everything on Saturday 22nd of march as well as the sunday as this is the
only date that everyone is free. If plans collapse, then I will have to find another weekend where
everyone can do it, as that is the only time people are able to film. I’m hoping to get filming out
of the way in one day so I can get straight to editing, however if I can’t do that, then I will have
to film more on the Sunday, when both actors will still be available.

13. Script – first draft

14. Script – Notes from others
and ways to improve it

16. Script – Improvements made

17. Script Review
In a very short time, my script was changed a lot. I knew there would be a
lot to change with my first draft, but I didn’t expect my story to change so
drastically. I like the changes though, the idea is better and the story is
more complex without being confusing, it was just unexpected.The idea
that I haven’t added into the script but was thinking of doing is making it a
silent film. Pretty much all of my script is voice over anyway, so if I record
all of that then I can make two versions and see which one I like. If I prefer
the silent one, then I can use the audio that may have gone unused to
create the trailer, so everything will still have a use. If it is silent, the genre
will have to change. Originally it was a horror/comedy. Dark, but with bits
of humour to ease the mood, however if it’s silent, I will have to go all out
with the horror element instead.

18. Location – All places
1
2
3
4

19. Location 1
The street where the first shots will be. A lot of them will be done here as it’s right
outside the house that features in the film.

20. Location 2
Only a few shots will be made here, but I like
the angle of this road and I could get some
good shots from it

21. Location 3
KnavesmireWoods:
use the trees to create different transitions. May be
muddy due to rain, but there’s some areas with
plenty of stone that wont get anyone too muddy.

22. Location 4 – Inside the house
Will be the location of the last scene.The frames will contain the scratched-out
photos and the door frame will be where the neighbour mostly hides. And
shows up in these scenes.

23. Equipment List
Equipment Reason
Camera To film everything.
Tripod I like still shots so a tripod will make my
image look still and keep everything
balanced.
Spare batteries and SD card I have a lot of shots planned so plenty of
charge would be really useful. Also an
SD card to store video.
RODE Microphone This will go on top of my camera to
capture better audio. Whether I decide
to have lines or not in my film, I still
need to capture noises.
Handheld audio recorder Recording the voice overs for the film
and trailer means I’ll need this. It will be
better quality than the camera as it just
focuses on audio.

24. Music
I need royalty free music as I want this to be available on as many platforms as
possible.There wont be much, if any, due to the changes I’ve made to the script,
however I could still use it for certain parts and also the trailer.The choices I choose
here will be my favourites, and then I will narrow it down to one.
I think I will go with “A day to remember”. It’s simple acoustic that can really bring
together the transitioning moments of my film. I also really like memories though,
it’s slow and simple, and can work with my film. It’s a good back up in case
something goes wrong with my first one. So I’m glad it’s there.

25. Colour Schemes
My film is quite a dark horror. Because of this, I want colour schemes involving not
just clothing, but also a filter. For clothing, the neighbour will be wearing the same
thing throughout. It will just be dark, basic clothing, such as a black or dark grey
jumper. I’m now edging more towards a proper jumper rather than just a hoodie as
it’s a style that many may consider “normal” in a suburb filled with older people. As
for the film, I want to add a lumetri look which makes everything creepier, as the
regular broad daylight wouldn’t look as good in a horror environment. The options I
have are:
Both are very different but put forward the same idea. I want some of the colour to be
drained from the screen, creating something with a bleaker aura. I think I will go for the
Saving Bryan preset as I prefer the look. It’s bleak, war-style colour gives the sense that
there’s no hope, something dark that I want to put forward in my film.

26. Camera Settings
Beginning with the frame rate/aspect ratio, I have chosen
1920x1080 at 24 frames per second. These settings create a
more cinematic and artistic look. As well as this, it’s the
highest quality footage these cameras can shoot in, and I
want it to be as good as it can be. Next is the ISO. From the
picture at the bottom, you can see several different settings.
The higher the ISO number, the grainier the footage. A high
number is used in darker areas to brighten it up a bit. I’ll keep
it on a low setting as most of what I’m doing is outdoors in the
middle of the day. Some of it is indoors however, so I may
have to use something slightly higher, but it won’t be more
than 400.The aperture will vary throughout. For the close ups
I will have a lower aperture.This means that less of the shot
will be in focus, the background will be blurry.Then for some
of the wider shots, I will want a higher number for my
aperture, making more of my shot will be in focus.

27. Other
■ Props
– There aren’t many props needed for my film.The only two props I will
need include a mug and some photos of my main character.
■ Costume
– Simple, everyday clothing.The Neighbour will wear a dark jumper with
black jeans, his shoes will never be visible, so it doesn’t matter.Violet will
wear different clothes each time she wakes up, gradually getting darker.
They will never be white; however they will range from a light grey to
black in the last scene.
■ Sound Effects
– I have no sound effects planned. If I need to, I will add some more heavy
breathing in areas that need it.This will come from BenSounds.

28. POSTER

29. Poster Concepts
I have ideas for two different posters, both of them can be still or
animated, so I could possibly come out with four different posters in
production.
The first idea (For future reference, poster 1) is inspired by old fashioned
horror posters. It’s cartoon-like and shows a slasher shadow in bay
windows, with the poster mostly a black background.The animated part in
this involves the light from the windows. I want it to flicker on and off and
when it does flicker on, that’s when the shadow shows.This one is inspired
by a Reddit post where someone showed something like this with a piece
of art they made. I really liked the idea that something could always be
hiding in the shadows, so I wanted to try something of a similar style
myself. (I’ve mentioned the art in research).
My second idea (Poster 2) involves actual photography.The main
character will pose facing the house, and I will photograph them from the
back. I will then keep the actor in colour and make the background black
and white, adding what feels like some layers to the poster.The animated
area in this is the hair blowing in the wind. It’s something subtle, but I feel
like if it’s done right, then it could work really well.

30. Colour Scheme
■ Poster 1
– Poster 1 will mostly be black. Colour psychology explains that this colour
is considered menacing. It’s an absence of light, no wavelengths can be
reflected in, which therefore is considered menacing. As well as this,
people are afraid of the dark, afraid of what they can see, so black is the
perfect colour to add to this horror-style poster. Although orange is
usually seen as a ‘fun’ colour, when paired with black it can suggest
deprivation. As well as this, the classic pairing of orange and black is seen
as a ‘spooky’ pairing due to the fact that it’s colours are symbolic to
Halloween, making my poster seem more horror like. My light will be
orange creating the orange and black pairing.
■ Pairing 2
– Poster 2 is less reliant on colour. By making the background black and
white however, it suggests a depression and a lack of energy surrounding
the area, possibly even surrounding the main character. In this poster my
character will be wearing predominantly black, which instead suggests a
coldness of her character.

31. Colour Scheme
Poster 2Poster 1

32. From http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours

33. Fonts – InitialThoughts
I know what style font I want, however I’m not sure of an exact one. I just need
something simple that stands out, so I will search DaFont for my favourites, and
pick which one I want.
This may be too thin for a title. It’s a
good font that I have used a lot in the
past, but never for a movie poster. I
like it, but it doesn’t stand out enough
Contrary to the first font,
this font may be too think,
drawing attention away
from the rest of the poster
The only thing I dislike about this one is that it’s too
rounded. It’s almost like this font isn’t bold enough,
and is too normal. However I do quite like it and
think it could make a good movie poster font.

34. I like this font, however it looks like it could
be suited to a different genre, something
more like sci-fi than a dark comedy/horror
style poster.
This is a very block-like font, I fear
that it would only take away from
the rest of the poster, and stand out
too much.
A simple font. If it’s not too thin, then it
could work well as a title font for a
movie

35. Font -Test
Beckman Bebas Neue The Bold Font
BuiltTitling
Azonix
Mont
With how my font test came out, I’ve narrowed it down to two, either Beckman or Mont. I just don’t think the
others work very well, for example, Azonix is too sci-fi like for my poster, two are too bold, and I’m just not a
fan of Bebas Neue.
After thinking it over, I’m going to go with Beckman. I can’t put my finger on exactly why I prefer it, it just has
that look that I like.The letters are spaced out nicely, and it’s a simple title that works with my poster.

36. Background and Foreground
colour matches
For my posters, I need different colours on top of one another. This chart allows me to pick which ones work. For a black background, I’m
going to go with white. It’s simple and it looks good. For a foreground with a black and white background however, it’s not so simple. The
colours that work might not really work with the colour schemes of my project, so I’m not sure what to go for. My grey will probably be
lighter, so I don’t know if white is going to cut it for this. If it doesn’t work, I could try a black and yellow gradient. Not only could this be seen
clearly with light grey, the colours together also signify danger, which adds a little extra something to my poster
Posterfromhttps://www.lifewire.com/contrasting-foreground-background-colors-4061363

37. Poster Layout
Poster 1 Poster 2
WhiteTitle
Actor
Names
Art (Orange)
Release Date
Poster Credits
Black
background
As I mentioned in colour schemes,This poster will
be predominantly black and orange.This gives it
almost a spookier feeling as these colours are
associated with Halloween.This will be paired with
white writing to allow the title to stand out.
Release Date
Poster Credits
Actress
looking
at house
(in colour)
Background is the house and it’s
surroundings (black and white)
Black andYellow
gradient title
This poster would really show my skills in photography
more than anything else. As I mentioned in the previous
slide, the black and yellow words signify danger, and
the actress will be wearing black clothes to symbolise a
common emotion with this character

38. Poster Layout - Photos
Poster 1 Poster 2
THE
TITLE
aCTOR1 aCTOR2
aCTOR2
THE
TITLE
aCTOR2aCTOR1

39. OTHER

40. Weekly Production Plan
■ Week 1
– I’m planning on getting the filming done at the beginning of week one. It
hopefully shouldn’t take more than a day but it could take a couple
depending on weather and how quickly I get the shots done. The rest of the
week will be beginning editing. I won’t be getting into anything too complex
yet, just sticking all the scenes together to get a basic timeline.
■ Week 2
– The second week will be for the more complex areas with my editing. I’m
hoping to get the main film finished by this week so I can move onto editing a
trailer.This shouldn’t take long as really it will be a cutdown version of the
film, leaving out all the important bits and with a bit more voiceover to
explain what type of film it is.
■ Week 3
– The third week of production will be spent making my posters. I have some
pretty solid ideas for what I want to do with these two, so hopefully they
shouldn’t take much time. If I have any time left over, I can look to improve
everything I’ve done so far, tweaking it all to make it better.

41. ■ Week 4
– Week four will be all about peer feedback. I will get people to see what
I’ve made so far, and ask them what they liked, and what I can do better.
This is a very important week as there’s only so much I think I’d be able to
improve upon so getting other people’s opinions will be very valuable.
■ Week 5
– I will begin improvements. I’d probably start with the posters, because as
soon when they’re as good as they can be, I need to stick one of the
designs on a t shirt and get it ordered, as it can take a week to come.
■ Week 6
– This is the final week of production. I will finish off all my improvements
and make sure everything is as good as it can be. I will have to upload
and make sure everything is on my website so it can be easily be seen by
anyone looking for it.
This schedule will hopefully allow me to balance my work load, allowing me to not
feel too overwhelmed with my work.This will hopefully allow me to take time to
make plenty of improvements, both in production and everything I’ve done before.

42. Contingency Planning
Problem How to overcome it
CoronaVirus:
College closing so I will be unable to work on the macs or
pick up equipment
This is one of the biggest problems that I could face. I
have older versions of Photoshop and Premiere Pro.The
biggest problem will be the equipment. If this happens
and there is no way I’ll be able to pick up the equipment
I’ve booked I will have to borrow someone’s. I could use
my mum’s which isn’t very good, but it would be better
than nothing.
Internet goes off This will make me unable to upload work at college, so I
will use my memory stick to take my work home where I
can upload it on my personal computer.
Camera battery runs out of charge Always keep a spare battery with you. If the second one
runs out too, get a battery charger and use that.They
take around three hours to charge so time will be lost, but
at least it allows work to be done.
Corrupt saves Save work in multiple places and create several backups. I
have my home PC as well as a memory stick to go along
with this mac I’m working on, so I can save versions in all
of these places.
Electricity goes off. Saving frequently means I wont lose much work, and it
should be fairly easy to write up what I lost again.

43. Health and Safety
Problem How to overcome it
Fatigue from staring at the screen Every now and again take a short break if you feel
like you need it to avoid this. Also keep eyes level
with the top of the monitor to avoid eye strain.
Back and neck pain When taking short breaks, stand up and move
around a bit, try not to be kept in a chair the
whole time.
Tripping in the woods when on location Watch where you step, make sure the areas in
the woods that are needed are cleared of any
large branches that could possibly a tripping
hazard.
CoronaVirus:
Catching possibility.
Because my film is outside a lot of the time, both
me and my actors will be exposed to things.
Luckily, my locations don’t usually have too many
people walking around so that shouldn’t be a
problem. It’s just a matter of remembering to
wash hands frequently and avoid touching your
face.

44. Finance
Item Cost
Equipment Free
Actors £10X2 £20
T shirt £14.99 + £2.99 Postage £17.98
Poster Printing £21.15 for two
Total: £59.13