Archive for September 2015

What is the bbfc?
The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.

Age classification:

I feel my trailer will be classified as a 15 as,'At a 15 there can be strong threat and horror as long as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat.

Horror's normally have the age certificate which means;No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

15 films normally include any of the following:

• strong violence

• frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').

• portrayals of sexual activity

• strong verbal references to sex

• sexual nudity

• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

• discriminatory language or behaviour

Limits to a 15 rating:

There are limits to making a 15 film though. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of

uses of strong language (e.g. ‘f***’).

Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***'), depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.

Are racial terms accepted?

There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.
However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Sex and nudity?, Is allowed within this age classification however, as none of this will feature within my trailer (Film) i'm choosing not to focus of this part of limits within the classification.

To make sure that my trailer stays to the guide lines of a 15 I will print out and keep the document near at all times during the production so that my trailer doesn't drift into the wrong category and cause problems like lower than actual ratings that can get me as the creator in trouble.

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What are my legal responsibilities as a film creator, producer and distributor?

Actors/Actresses responsiblity's...
With regards to any actors or actresses that star in my trailer they will need to sign a contributor's release form, This gives me as the creator to market and distribute this film to an audience unknown to me.However, 'Release forms aren't necessary for anyone who appears as part of a crowd scene or fleetingly in the background of your film'.

This form however does have limits are states exactly how long they will be required to film the trailer and also how much money they are entitled to receive within the filming period.

The form also states the amount of credit they receive for preforming within the trailer.The form will 'state the position of the actor's credit(e.g. front or end credits) and whether it will appear on a single card in the on-screen credits. It should also state as to whether the actor will be credited on any advertising material'.

However it does also cover the creator as the actors/Actresses have to address any illnesses or current defects that can cause a problem when in the middle of production.

To combat this I will research templates for contributor's form and create one myself in order to hand to all of the actors/actresses that preform in my trailer,in order to abide by the BBFC's laws.

Child actor responsibility's
'Any child under the age of 16 needs a licence from their local authority to perform in any film'. This application will need to consent of parents, the Childs birth certificate and also a written statement justifying how many hours the child will work.

It is me as the creator of the trailer who will need to apply for the licence from the child's local authority and the parent of the child will have to supply me with the documents such as the child's birth certificate and a school letter authorising absence. This license to say the child can actor will need to be kept close to them while on set There are restrictions on how child actors can be used e.g. maximum time on set. Any child holding a licence is required to have a chaperone.

Within my trailer there will be no child actors/actresses proffering so I won't face any License troubles,the only thing I have to be careful about is that when I'm filming outside that no children are to be seen in the background,not even as an extra.

Location Agreements

'The UK Film Council website offers a range of information about filming locations in the UK. They offer links to the 12 Screen Agencies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Please note that there is separate information if you are making a Digital Short'.
However,recently been announced that the UKFC will cease operating in April 2012, when the BFI will assume the majority of its responsibilities.

When filming my trailer I will need to address locations fairly on because I know from previous knowledge that some locations such a parks belong to the council therefore may need there permission to film there.
This will involve looking around my local area, finding a location that suits the needs of my trailer and then finding out who owns it and whether they'll let me use it. 'You should always try to have a location agreement in place before you shoot on anyone's land'.

Some of my scenes will be shot outside and I have one certain location which is the boating lake that I feel will need permission in order for me to film there.In order to combat this I will write to the local council in order to get permission for me to film a small part of my trailer there.
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Insurance needed when filming

Insurance is an essential part of filmmaking. The basic insurance that I need will cover the health and safety me. If i loan a camera from my school the equipment, I will need to know what it is worth and get it insured accordingly. There are many other areas that I can look to have insured. For example, bad weather insurance covers you if you have to reshoot as a result of Mother Nature, but this is beyond most short film budgets.

Having insurance on your equipment is vital all risks of physical loss or damage to equipment including whilst in transit. 'Note that loss of equipment caused by theft from unattended vehicles or acts of fraud are usually excluded from your cover. Likewise damage to equipment caused by mechanical or electrical breakdown or general wear or tear is again not usually covered'.This can also help cover the footage from bing lost or any accidental deletes.

Employers Liability: To provide indemnity in respect of your legal liability to pay compensation for death, disease or bodily injury to employees arising out of and during the course of their employment.
Also this covers any accident thats occur on set.

Having insurance is vital as it can save us some serve payouts if something was to happen during production.

As I am not making an official trailer having insurance to cover potentially large payouts won't be required however, I now know the steps and precautions that will be needed when filming something more official.
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Payment

If this was an official trailer we would be looking a figures around £500-£1000 for cover for the UK and the rest of Western Europe. You will be looking in the region of £400 extra to extend to worldwide cover.

Credit to: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification
http://filmlondon.org.uk/legal
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/legal-guide-production-agreements

Name of the film:
'Ava', I have chosen this because i think it adds an enigma to who the actual killer is.

Plot Summary:

Our Pitch:

***A girl in her late teens comes across a mysterious box,that upon its opening releases a dark presence which makes an attempt to consume the girls life.***

The film's Time line:

First:A girl in her late teens is seen drinking with friends and eating food with her friends (Establishing characters by maybe a photo of them all together).When she's with her friends at her house she goes into a kitchen to get more drinks and finds their engraved memory box open in the middle of the kitchen floor.A flashback showing people round a grave followed by a picture of her and her boyfriend that has past. She opens the box however, queries why it’s been moved from the position on top of the cupboard.She finds a letter next to the box that she had written her love after he had passed.The bottom of the note read,’I love you’.She picks it up and places it back within the box however,a strong red light beams from the box once she has closed it and walks away (After effect).However the girl later starts feeling pain within her head as she keeps dipping her head and rubbing it with the palm of her hand.She does this a couple of times however, after 2 pain spotting moments she looks up and see's a dark figure in the shadows staring back at her after the group of girls are walking each other home.Swaying her head as though she's getting rid of her thoughts she carry's on walking with her friends.

Middle:Once she returns home the pain in her head becomes increasingly repetitive and the shadows grow nearer (In distance) to her.The suffocation of this sudden situation causes her to wonder what was significant in that box and is it causing her to have these pains in her head.The pain happens more often and she begins to isolate herself away.As seen as (She's sat at the door while her friends stand knocking at the other side).Strange occurrences like knocking and tapping start to happen around her however,she wonders if what she saw in the box has caused her to have these strange occurrences and decides to look through their memory box again as a comfort.Only to discover a note inside reading, ‘And I love you to’ she gasps and takes a step back.Rushing to shut the box she places it back on top of the cupboard and goes upstairs.She then returns down stairs in the morning and finds the box placed in the middle of her living room.She opens it once more and another note inside reads,’You know it’s me and I love you more with each day’.She places the box back into the kitchen and clutches her head as though she is going insane. She picks a note pad and writes a note placing it inside reading ,’Who's is this and why are you here?’.

Last:The pains in her head seem to happen every couple of minutes driving her slowly away from the world.The figures appear just a couple of feet away from her and look at her as though they need help however don't or can't say a thing.The girl opens the box fearing that whatever this figure is has written back to her.The girl decides to open the memory box.She's speechless about what she's seeing and questioning if was she has read was real she begins to question herself.Still with no contact with her friends she continues to suffer however, with a second look back in the box and a note has appeared reading,’Come and join me’.

Read out plot in lesson:
***A women is sat talking with her friends in her house when she comes across her memory box in the kitchen which was hers and her now deceased boyfriend with a letter beside it.The letter beside is one that she had written her boyfriend before he passed and is signed with 'i will always love you' as she puts the letter back in the box and places it back on top of the cupboard she walks out the room confused and we see the box has moved behind her with a red glow coming from the gaps in the side of the box. Upon the box opening it's released a dark presence that is at first unknown to her. As she comes back into the kitchen once her friends have left she notices the box has moved and has opened again however,a note has appeared in it saying 'and i love you to ava'.As this kind of communication with her thought to be lost lover, she grows wary and with the boxes opening strange occurrences start to happen like pains within her head and shadows appearing.The notes back soon become slightly aggressive,which makes an attempt to consume the girls life by pretending to be lost her boyfriend.***

Included within your trailer:Shots and scenes
1.Left pan shot: Pasting a photo of a man in army uniform on the side before crossing to view four friends in living room sitting along a sofa.
2.In a medium close up: See a friend holding an empty glass asking the main character to go and get more drinks from the kitchen.
*** Flashback***
2A.A shot shows the a empty room however is filled with muffled shouting of the couple arguing.
2B.She pulls down her jumper to cover bruises around her wrists.
2C .hand
***Flashback***
3.A long angle shot see's the girl enter the kitchen and views a box in the middle of the floor with a letter beside it.
4.Close up reveals confusion on her face and, a extreme close up reveals the words written at the bottom of the letter.
5.Reverting back the low angel shot:We see the girl put the box back on top of the cupboard however as she walks past the camera she brush it so the sense it covered (black) however once pasted we see the box back on the floor with a red glow coming from it.
6.With left track shot: We see the girl hand the drinks to her friends and sit back down however, holds her head as though she feels light headed.
7.Canted angle shot: we see her restless in bed which then in a graphic match goes to an ariel shot of the tossing and turning.
8.We see cut away shot from her getting up, to her hand on the stair rac ils,he feet as she walks into the kitchen.
7.From a cowboy shot we see the box at the side of the screen as a blurred vision of her standing in a door way.
8.A close up of her face as she's leaning looking into the box and and extreme close up of a mysterious note within the box.
9.She then gasps and jumps back we see this back in the over the shoulder/Cowboy shot.
10.In a pan we see her walking with her friends however, silent.She turns right and looks through a window in a house opposite her and see's red glass and a figure pressed up against it.
11.he returns home and in a medium shot she comes through the front door shuts it and leans against it.The pain in her head gets more painful,we see a series of quick shots of her shaking her head as though she's trying to get rid of thoughts in her head, the camera starts to track right,she throws her keys and walks through the kitchen door.
12.A zoom shot closes in on the box that has moved again with the lid open.Another note is written inside and extreme close up reveals the words,'You know its me ava',(something that makes her thinks or re assure her as though she is speaking the her dead boyfriend'.
13.Editing pass increases dramatically showing her passing around,seeing figures and one shot of her screaming to simulate insanity and confusion.
14.An extreme close up focuses on her grabbing a pad and pen and and over the should shot shows her writing a note. She puts the note inside the box and puts it back back on top of the cupboard.
15.In a shot reverse shot we see a figure standing opposite her.
16.We see her screaming and holding her head pulling her hair in a high angel.
17.A note returns in the boxes movement suggesting she should join him,but this implies suicide.
18.she researches through books ways to get rid of sprits,and finds being a momentum is they way to banish them.
19.We see a close up of her face and her holding a flame to the photo slowly burning it.
20.As she did the box behind glows red and fades in a birds eye view shot reveals nothing left in the box that was once full of memory's.

Within these results I have found many interesting things that people of my own target audience have said they like and wan to see in a horror.With the first question I ask 15 people,'What key parts do they look for in a horror?' and the most common answer that I received was the element of surprise.This implies that my target audience of late teens like to see a twist within the plot or watch a horror for the thrills and jump scares.The point of all of these results is to give me an indiction of how I can make my plot more appealing to target audience.From this question I have noted that jump scares will help my trailer become more appealing.

The next question I asked my audience to fill out was a rating question.The audience was asked to rate what kind of horror hybrids they prefer.The top results I received were a phycological horror and a supernatural horror.My vague plot implies that there is going to be something supernatural happening within the plot so that's already sorted however,in order to make my plot appeal even more to my audiences I can add I phycological twist to my Story.I could do this my maybe exploring weakness and fears of people.

items or situations scares people:

spiders
clowns
falling
ghosts and procession
snakes
guns
knifes
lost
Bloody mary
Breaking mirrors
Fire
Devil
Ouija boards
Zombies
Vampire
long corridors
Time
Darkness
Social situation
Stalked
Being Hated
Each other (people to people)

After going back and developing this list as to what scares people I spoke to my target audience verbally and asked them to they have picked out five main fears and situations.These were 'Ghosts and procession','Getting lost','Time','Each other',Stalked'.As these results of what my audience most feared.So through develop I could maybe incorporate some of these aspects into the my idea to help develop my story and make it more appealing.

Through the results of my next question I have found that 'Effective killings' were the most favoured results in the,'What makes a horror good?' question.The implies a complex death may make my target audience more intrigued with my idea if I wrote it into my plot.

As we don't have a full movie to take the best bits from we have to almost simulate that there is a full movie behind it which means a range of locations are needed.The top 3 locations that were picked were,'Woods' and a 'Quiet village' however, the same amount of results were taken for ,'Hotel','Haunted House' and 'School'.I can't really pick a specific location for my trailer as the decisions will come with further planning and story boarding.However,this will give me a good starting point.

The next question I asked was,'What villains do you want to see in a horror?'.The most common results i have found was,'Children' and 'Ghost/Figures'.The fact that my target audience said children were the scariest villains quiet surprises me because children are not threatening by nature however,Through realising that recent horror films like 'The Ring' and 'Mama' have put this stereotype on them I doesn't actually come to that much of a surprise.The Moral reasons i don't think children will be the best actor and actresses to preform in my horror trailer therefore I think I'm going to dismiss this idea and maybe develop the second answer of 'Ghost/Figures' more into my plot line, to make my plot more appealing.

After this I asked my audience,'What object there more terrified of?' and the most common answer I received was 'Black Magic'.This question Re-confirms the results found from question two.As the supernatural element is definitely what my audience want to see therefore i must find a way to include this within my trailer.

In order for you to understand the rest of target audiences answers i have copied in my vague plot:

'A girl in her late teens comes across a mysterious box,that upon its opening releases a dark presence which makes an attempt to consume the girls life.'

I asked, 'What they thought was good about my idea so far?' and the responses I received were pretty similar however, one common comment I got was that it remind them of pandora's box.I order to understand where my audience is coming from I did some research about the myth of the pandora's box and here is a brief look at what I have found?,

Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation in hesoid's Works and days.The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora ("all-gifted", "all-giving"),which contained all the Evils of the world.

Today the phrase "to open Pandora's box" means to perform an action that may seem small or innocent, but that turns out to have severely detrimental and far-reaching consequences.

Maybe incorporating some of this legend into my plot may help make my narrative more of a solid story.I also had many responses saying it's quiet a unique idea.

I then asked my audience,'What they thought was good about my idea?'.I answers I received told me that my audience are already picking out supernatural elements within my plot as someone has stated,'Sort of mythical'.Also my target audience are stated that 'It's very horror',which is exactly what I'm trying to convey therefore I think my vague plot was a good starting choice for me to choose.

I Later asked my artist audience what they,'Liked' and 'Disliked' about my idea.A-lot of the responses I received just said or implied that my plot was good however needed much more development with it.One answer that intrigued me is,'Maybe you could exploit the girls weaknesses'.This could fit into the results found about people's fears.Out of the five fed back to me,'Being stalked' and 'Each Other-Maybe a loved one' could be changed and adapted to become part of my horror.My target audience has also warned me not to be to cliche as it could ruin how unique it could be.From these results I can only adapt my idea from them to make my idea more appealing.In order to see exactly what ones work I will have to do some more research and development to make sure my trailer takes the right direction.

I later asked my audience to write down,'Any words that spring to mind when reading my vague plot?'.The purpose of this question was to help me come up with a title for my (trailer) film.Again there was references to pandora's box however, that is cliche therefore I was think about doing some further research to see what other culture perhaps call this myth and see if there is anyway that I can develop this idea in order to give me a name for my trailer.also death and procession have been a common reoccurrence throughout these answers therefore I was maybe thinking inspired by the 'Black Magic' answer i could look down the latin language look in order to create my title.

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