Planning Brief

By Jaspreet Hanspal

Planning Brief
Project name:	The Three Wheels of Horror
Medium Format/and length:	Horror opening sequence- 2 minutes
Deadline:	9th December 2011
Group Members:	Jaspreet Hanspal- Director & co-sound manager, Ahmed Khan- Editor, Sahir Ahmed- Cameraman & co-sound manager
Brief Overview of content:	Ahmed Khan is a fairly rude and ill mannered boy. He does not adhere to the rules of school, let alone the expectations of society. He is an unsociable rebel, who not only disrespects his surroundings, but others around him. Ahmed needs to realise he is going on the wrong path, and must be punished in order for him to realise he is going astray. Ahmed is staying after school for a detention his teacher had set up for him. When his detention is over, Ahmed is told he may leave; and leaves in frustration and anger. He makes his way into the corridor, and sees a little girl sat in the corner opposite him. He can hear crying. Concerned and curious, Ahmed walks closer to the little girl and reaches his hand out to her to check if she is ok. However he is quite confused why a little girl would be sat there after school. As soon as his hand nears her shoulder, she turns her face to reveal a distorted horrific clown face, and swiftly gets up and disappears into the darkness. Ahmed steps back in alarm and shock and then shakes his head, in disbelief and continues walking. Although when he starts walking, on the other side of the corridor, he sees the same girl however this time she is on a tricycle cycling. Ahmed runs to her and finds when he gets there, no-one is there, but notices the tricycle is tilted on the floor. He stands there in horror and all of a sudden, the little girl approaches from behind him, and glares at him dangerously. Ahmed is shocked, and in an instant, the little girl grabs his face and drags him away, and they both disappear.
Target audience – Age Group, Gender, Biases (if any), Socio-Economic status and lifestyle profiling:	Our target audience is mainly 12-25 year old males and females, who are most likely to be in full time education. The reason why we are aiming it at 12-25 year olds is because they are more likely to identify and relate the school setting, and able to comprehend the many characteristics of a young rebel, and a school atmosphere. Males and females have been addressed as we feel they are both equally able to understand the motive of the little girl- to punish Ahmed so he gets on the right path; therefore hinting on self-realisation. Also, both males and females will be able to relate to the themes of feeling like an outsider, or not being good enough therefore wanting to subdue your lack of satisfaction by behaving rudely towards others. The socio-economic groups we want to target are primarily groups: C1, C2, D & E, as we believe their lifestyle corresponds with the lifestyle we are trying to portray in our product. Being- able to identify a working area, a public environment, and highlighting education (which most of our audience will currently be in)
Possible Scheduling/Publishing Suggestions:	We first aimed to film on the 19th of October, but due to actors and props being currently unavailable, we plan to film on the 2nd of November. We plan to finish editing by the 15th of November. We will then publish the final production on our blog, youtube, facebook, and twitter, so we can gain feedback. We will also have a pre-questionnaire and post questionnaire on our blog, as well as actively handing out questionnaires to others, to gain as much feedback as possible.
What comparable products have you researched? :	We have firstly begun researching into the filming genre of Horror films, and identified their codes and conventions, and also glanced at thriller films to identify what makes a thriller different from a horror film. We have also textually analysed 6 horror/mixed genre films some of which are: SAW, insidious, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have eyes etc. We have examined the codes and conventions we would ultimately need to include to make sure our production reflects the representations we aim to portray to the audience. For makeup, we took inspiration from ‘The Joker’s character in batman, as that is a clear example of a slightly distorted clown face.
What is the rationale behind this text? :	We aim to grip the audience by adding a lot of intense scenes, and having a USP to draw in viewers. Our USP is that we include the ideas of the norm and social expectations being broken, and the consequences of doing so. We do not stereotypically involve authority handling this, however we involve a secret person, who delivers punishment to those who deserve it, to therefore get on the right track and reconstruct them to do the right things. Ultimately teaching the audience a lesson, and giving them something to walk away with after watching the production. We will also try to make it as realistic as possible, to draw in the audience, and make them believe it, and make it as intense as possible. Editing will help us achieve this, as we will apply the continuity rule to our production to make it as believable as we can.
What representations will be operating in your text, are these justified? :	We will use stereotypical representations in order to get our audience to understand and comprehend the themes, for example: Ahmed will be dressed in uniform, however will not be wearing complete uniform. His costume will include a sporty, laid back jacket, no tie and trousers that are quite low, to represent him to be a gang member, and an outlaw. His hair will be spiked to represent trends, and he will be wearing a chain to show he is tough. The teacher, Mr Cole, will be wearing a suit as costume, and glasses to clearly represent him to be a teacher, as he will be sat behind a computer and sitting on his chair. The little girl, will be dressed in stereotypical pyjamas, a girly colour we would associate to be pink and purple, with her hair in two pigtails. However, her face is supposed to represent a distorted scary clown, which is why she will have a painted smile drawn with blood, a white face and black demon eyes. She will resemble ‘The Joker’ from Batman, which is where we got our inspiration.
How will you test If the product is successful? : How will you check that it accomplishes the intended effect? :	To test if our product is successful, we will chose an audience to watch our production in groups, then after watching we will request them to fill out the post questionnaire of the product, to gain feedback. We will also ask them to watch the production and then film them talking about the feedback they want to give, so that we have evidence of it. We will use the feedback to then improve areas which have been said to need improvement, and try and make the product the best it can possibly be.
What general codes and conventions will be operating in your text? :	The codes and conventions we will be following are mainly through location- a school, and costumes, replicating uniform for a teacher and a student, and also pyjamas that you would normally expect a little girl to wear, and hair and makeup to suit every character. The props also enhance the location and plot, to give a sense of realism and make the location look real and believable. The lighting in our film will usually be kept quite neutral and normal, however become quite dark to capture the mysteriousness and highlight Ahmed’s curiosity.
Are there any hidden messages incorporated within the text? :	The one dominant hidden message we aim to present to the audience, is ‘not to rebel, cause terror or harm, it is to serve a righteous purpose to others, and be a good human being.’ And if we were to cause terror or harm, we must suffer the consequences. Giving almost a warning to the audience to do the right things instead of following the wrong path; and showing them an example of what could happen to you if you don’t adhere to rules set by school and society.
Identify and recourse constraints – (time, money, equipment, human resources) that may affect your production and hopes for your product.	We are dependent on our actors showing up, because without them, our production cannot be filmed, we are also relying on location, being of a good standard and capturing what we want to represent. We are also counting on the equipment to help us depict a clear image and capture the scenes we need to put it all together. Another vital element is time, and having enough of it to comfortably film what we need to. Money is also important, so we can buy costume and props to therefore create a feel of realism, because without them, the product would feel incomplete, and confuse the viewer.