Creating | Settings

When thinking about where we wanted our opening scene to be set we wanted the setting to be quite mysterious and we wanted to chose quite a stereotypical horror movie setting. We thought about setting it in a field, but we voted against it as we felt it would be hard to find an empty field to film in and also we didn't think it would suit our plot for the movie. 

We finally decided on setting our opening scene in an alleyway. We chose an alleyway as it's quite stereotypical and also it was a convienent setting that we could easily find near where we all live. When creating the storyboard we didn't really know how to draw our alleyway as we didn't actually know what alleyway we were going to film in. On the day of filming we decided to meet at someone's house and walk around to find some alleyways. We were successful in finding alleyway, but we just didn't know which one to film in. We all decided to filming in the alleyway in our opening scene because it was quiet and also it set out scene very well. 

Our setting helps set the scene well as it is easily identified as a small compact alleyway. It also helps tie in with the stereotypical dangerous alleyway as again it is compact which means that the murderer can either stab someone easily and capture someone.

Creating | Costumes

When thinking about the costumes for the characters in the opening scene we mainly focused on the main characters which are the victim and the murderer. We didn’t really focus on the costumes of the friends as they could just wear their own casual outfit. But we wanted to be a bit more careful and stereotypical with the main character costumes.

Main Character 1 – Becca – Victim

When thinking about what this character could wear, we thought that she should wear something white to show purity and innocence. So her costume is normal jeans, a white top and a jacket of some sort, with converses. We chose these clothing items to make up the costume because we wanted innocence and purity to be shown but also we wanted the stereotypical teenager look to be shown as well. This is why we chose jeans, a jacket and some converses. For the hair, we didn’t worry too much about it, so we decided to keep it plain, simple and basic and have the hair up in a bun. We also had make-up put on her because again we wanted to show a stereotypical teenage girl. We didn’t put a lot of make-up on the character as we wanted her to look natural and not like she is about to go to a party. We kept it natural so the audience wouldn’t think too much of it and they wouldn’t notice it.

Main Character 2 – Nadine – Murderer

When thinking about what this character could wear, we thought that she should wear something black to show danger and evilness. The costume we had for Nadine was black jeans, a black plain top, a black jacket and black converses. We had her wear all black because we thought it made her look mysterious and we also thought she could be identified as the villain easier and her character would be clearer. We kept the hair natural and had her wear it down so we could easily put the hood up on her jacket to add to the mystery. We had her wear a little bit of make-up. Villains don’t wear make-up but we kept to the idea that the character is a girl so we thought adding a touch of make-up would be a good idea. We didn’t put as much make-up on Nadine than we put on my character as we wanted it to be clear that she was the villain and that my character was the victim/damsel.

Extra Characters – Claire and Victoria – Friends

We didn’t really think in depth of what the friends should wear as we felt that they weren’t as important as the main characters and we wanted to put most of our focus on the main characters. However, we had the friends wear minimal make-up, like we did for Nadine, and we also had them wear casual everyday clothing. We didn’t want them to be to eye catching because we didn’t want the audience to be more attracted to the extra characters and not notice the main characters.

Creating | Characters

When thinking about the characters we knew we wanted a stereotypical female and a stereotypical villain. This is so the characters would be identified easily in our opening scene. We thought very carefully about our characters for the opening scene as they needed to be clear so the rest of the movie would be clear and easily understood. We first thought of the main characters which are the victim and the murderer.

Character 1 – Victim

When thinking about how we could portray the victim we thought that it should be played by a female. We thought this because we wanted the character to be shown as weak and unable to save themselves. By having a female play this role we felt it would show weaknesses and fear better than having a male play the role. We wanted this character to be a stereotypical female, as we wanted her to be shown as weak and useless. You could call this character a stereotypical damsel as they are shown as weak like our character. This character is played by me and she is the main character in our film. We wanted a female to be the main character as there are many things you can do with a female in films. If we were to make the entire film we could have experimented with friendship groups and relationships which could have linked in with the murder.

Character 2 – Murderer

When thinking about how we could portray the murderer we thought that it should be played by a male. We thought this because we wanted the character to be shown as powerful and strong. However, we didn’t have any access to a male for our film so we decided to use a female instead. But instead of having a stereotypical female, we decided to have a female that isn’t very stereotypical but she is still a stereotypical villain. When deciding to use a female instead of a male we actually thought it would be a good idea and work out well because they are contrasting characters. Also it could link in well with certain things that could have happened throughout the movie if we were to create the entire thing. This character is played by Nadine and she is another main character in our film.

Character 3 – Friends

When thinking about other characters we could involve in the opening scene, we thought about having friends of the victim shown somewhere in the opening scene. We thought long and hard about when to include them in the opening scene and how many friends we wanted. We went for two friends in the end so the total of the friends would be 3. We also chose a total of 3 friends (the two friends and the victim) because it is known as a stereotypical number of friends, like the “Three Amigos” or the “Three Musketeers”. We wanted the friends to be stereotypical females as well so they would link in well with the victim. We thought that the friends could be walking home from somewhere with Becca and they could leave just before Becca walks down the alleyway. We also thought about what they could talk about and what they could be doing. That’s when the idea of one of the friends having her phone out and the others talking about school work and gossip as that’s what teenage girls talk about. We had Victoria play the friend with her phone out and we had Claire play the friend who is talking to Becca. We had them play the friends because they are quite stereotypical teenage girls.