Planning: Initial ideas- Miss Begum

 

  Initial ideas

 

Introduction:

After our group was formed each group member began to introduce individual ideas that we came up with. We each had a unique idea with different narratives and sub genres. Once we shared our ideas we were able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the idea and form an overall decision about which idea was the most distinctive and more demanding making the process exciting. 

Initial ideas: 

Idea 1: Fatma

Narrative: 

A pregnant woman is placed in a mental institution due to her having deteriorating mental health. At the institution she is being watched by a professor who observes her behaviour and tries to understand how and why she got into her current state. The pregnant woman is then seen to be acting demented where she begins seeing flashbacks of her life. The first flashback consists of the woman receiving her pregnancy news after the pregnancy test is positive, then she seen to react to this by holding her stomach and smiling and crying. The next flashback is of herself getting intimate with a man and getting caught by another woman (the mans wife), this is followed by the final flashback of the pregnant woman killing of the mans wife ensuring she lives happily with her lover without his wife interfering and ruining their happiness. After seeing these flashbacks the pregnant woman again begins to act demented making the professor concerned. Finally, the door is seen to open and a dead woman dressed in white (the woman the pregnant woman killed) enters the room and begins to walk towards the pregnant woman who is seen to crawl into a corner frightened and in shock, the dead woman reaches out her hand and the baby kicks reacting to the dead woman.  The professor is unable to see the dead woman and instead finds the pregnant woman's behaviour as extremely unexpected. This insinuates that it is the pregnant woman's mind.

 

Title:

• Insanity- Allows the audience to understand that the pregnant woman is demented. 
• Pregmented- Portmanteau was used from the words pregnant and demented to make pregmented which highlights what the thriller will be about giving the audience an insight into the storyline. 

Sub-genres: 

• Psychological- The pregnant woman has an fragmented mind-set and is psychologically unstable.
• Crime- The pregnant woman kills her lovers wife. 

Characters:

• Anti-hero- Psychotic, disturbed woman
• Antagonist- Dead woman
• Protagonist- Professor

Mise En Scene:

• Lighting: Low lighting will be used to symbolise the victims fragmented mind-set.
• Cinematography: Close ups will be used on the disturbed victim to show her deteriorating contestant.
• Costume and makeup:                                                                                        Victim- neutral colour and a minor amount of makeup to show her mental state has overtaken her personality and life.                                                                Antagonist- a white dress to demonstrate that she died innocently however now lacks purity and innocence as she wants revenge. Makeup will not be clear as her hair will cover her face however it will be dark with red eyes creating fear.               Protagonist- Will look smart and will wear glasses to demonstrate his intelligence.

Narrative structure:

The structure of the narrative will be Aristotle's themes as the themes of violence, revenge and mental illness will evoke emotions including fear, sympathy and adrenaline from the audience.
 

Film Influences

The use of the demented character has been influenced by the thriller film 'Psycho' and the horror film 'The Devil Inside' as both the main characters in the films are Psychologically unstable which make the audience respond to them with fear and adrenaline is created when the character is on screen

After the idea was presented we discussed the advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

• The idea is distinctive and unique.
• Allows the audience to sympathise with the victim
• create suspense and fear
• The flashbacks will reveal questions the audience may have about the victims condition.

Disadvantages:

• My be difficult to edit the film effectively with the flashbacks.
• May find it hard to make the baby kick and respond to the antagonist.
• The actor used may be unable to act demented and the audience may not understand her behaviour.

Idea 2: Lara

Narrative:

There are originally two best friends and one dies after being brutally murdered. The dead friend comes back as an angel and the clocks move back to the night of the murder where the angel forces her remaining friend to kill the murderer before her murder takes place. If she fails to kill the murderer in the correct amount of time the friend will be haunted by reliving her friends death everyday for the rest of her life. The friend does murder the murderer however is unable to come to terms with the event and is left to relive the murder she committed through nightmares causing her to become paranoid and unstable.

Title:

• Fateology- Portmanteau was used from the words fate and psychology as the victims fate was limited and psychological as the friends mind was harshly effected after committing the murder.
• Resurrection- The dead friend comes back from the dead to give her friend an ultimatum.

Subgenres:

• Supernatural- The friend is dead and comes back as an angel
• Psychological- The friend who commits the murder is left traumatised and has nightmares

Characters:

• Victims- The dead friend
• Anti- Hero- The friend who murders the antagonist   
• Antagonist- The murderer who killed the friend.

Mise En Scene:

• Lighting and colour: Low key lighting when the murders are being committed, backlighting and a white light surrounding the dead friend demonstrating that she is dead
• Cinematography: Long shot allowing the audience to see all the characters involved.
• Costume and makeup:                                                                                         Victim- The victim wears white to symbolise her innocence                                     Anti-hero - A neutral colour at the beginning and after committing the murder a darker colour to represent her guilt and responsibility. Plain makeup to show guilt and regret.
The antagonist- Dark clothing to show evilness and power.

Narrative structure:

• Todorov- Structure and narrative
• Aristotle- Evokes emotions through themes

Film Influences

The idea of using two best friends was influenced by the thriller film 'Afflicted' which is also about two best friends who have a dark experience when one of them is struck by a mysterious affliction. This idea similarly reflects this films ideas.

Advantages:

• Unique idea
• Draws on the negative effects of murder having an effect on the audiences opinions.

Disadvantages:

• It may be difficult to portray the victim as a person who is dead.
• Lighting may not give off the correct interpretation of the victim.

Idea 3: Mohydin

Narrative:

A vampire follows a pregnant girl and after catching her bites her on the neck, he does not turn her into a vampire however the unborn child is effected and after an early birth the child develops vampire features and the same behaviour as it begins killing people.

Title:

• Vampiller: The portmanteau of the words vampire and killer create Vampiller suggesting that the child is a vampire and kills people.

Sub-genres:

• Supernatural- The child is a vampire and kills people which is inhuman.
• Crime- The child murders innocent people.

Characters:

• Antagonist: Vampire who bites the woman
• Victim: The child who is born a vampire.

Mise En Scene:

Lighting: Low lighting when the antagonist follows the pregnant woman.
Cinematography: Close ups on the vampire child so the audience are aware of what has happened to him.
Costume and makeup:                                                                                                       The antagonist- Will have vampire teeth and red eyes with a cloak so it is clear that he is a vampire.
Victim-Will have vampire fangs to demonstrate his vampire persona.

Narrative structure:

• Barthes theory of semiology
• Todorov-structure and narrative.

Film Influences

The idea of using the child as a killer was influenced by the film 'Orphan' which revolves around a young female child who kills people around her. This creates adrenaline for the audience and tension as they do not know what to expect from a younger character. This is also unconventional as children are perceived as naïve and innocent however if they play the role of an antagonist this is intriguing for the audience.

Advantages:

• unique idea
• The victim being a child allows the audience to see things from different perspective and they sympathise with the victim as they are aware that he has no control over the situation he is in.

Disadvantages:

• To much is happening in the opening as the victim will have to change from being a baby to being a grown child.
• Making the child a killer may not be appropriate for a 15 audience as they may find the murders inappropriate and disturbing.

Idea 4: Suweda

Narrative:

A child has been cursed with a secret that that makes him find out why he has been cursed. After he is cursed he finds himself down a dangerous street full of supernatural people where he experiences weird things happening.

Title:

• Secret- the child has been cursed with a secret.

Subgenres:

• Supernatural- child meets supernatural people.
• Mystery- the child is confused by what has happened and does not know how to resolve it.

Characters:

• Victim: The child is innocent
• Antagonist: The supernatural people

Mise En Scene:

Lighting: Low lighting used when the child walks down the street.
Cinematography: Long shot used down the street to show the supernatural people the child comes across.
Costume and makeup:
 Victim- Neutral clothes to support his innocence.
Antagonists- Ripped and baggy clothes to show their inhuman. Dark eye makeup making them look fearful.


Narrative structure:

• Propp's-Characters
• Aristotle-Themes 

Film Influences

This idea was influenced by the horror film that has elements of the thriller genre '28 Days Later' which is about a protagonist who is surrounded by zombies. This film consists of unexpected events taking place creating a fearful response from the audience.

Advantages:

• Unique
• Using a child as the victim is perceptive and unexpected by the audience.

Disadvantages:

• The curse may be difficult to present to the audience.
• May not be understood if not clearly presented in detail as it is a perceptive storyline.

Conclusion

Overall, mapping the various ideas from each group member has been beneficial for the group as we can now look into a particular idea that we all like and add to it making it our final idea. This task has also been beneficial as it has allowed each group member to participate and share their initial idea with the group. Sharing different ideas encourages better storylines and conventional themes to be presented in the final production.