Enrolling Actors for Left Behind

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r01gVSLnHsU&feature=youtu.be

This link is of Zoe and I discussing who we could enrol to play characters within our Left Behind trailer. Jenna Waterfield was considered to play Sophie, but unfortunately she has no free time. So, luckily we can have Millie Todd to play the character Sophie. Overall, this works well for us as Estelle (Millie's mum) suits being the mother character as she obviously is a mother.
 


Zoe and I texted each other about who we could enrol as actors for our Left Behind trailer. In conclusion, we decided to cast Millie Todd as Sophie and Bryony Whittingham as Jenny. Millie's mum Estelle Todd will act as Sophie's mum within the trailer because she is obviously Millie's mother as they look similar.

Risk Assessment -Zoe Firth

This is the risk assessment table for our film. It identifies problems we may have when filming and includes how we will overcome said problems. We have ranked how high the risks are, as you can see none are highly likely to happen, but it's useful to know what could happen so we are prepared for any possibility. When we film scenes that include dangerous substances, like alcohol, we will ensure that it is water or juice. Also, we will make sure that the pills are not actually consumed. 

Script for Left Behind -Zoe Firth

This is the complete script for our Left Behind trailer. It is in chronological order, typed out in notes on Zoe's iPhone as this is a different way of presenting a piece of text. Sophie does not have any dialogue as she goes missing within seconds of the trailer so we felt that it wasn't necessary for her to talk at all. At the top of this script it lists whole plays which role within our trailer.

Filming Schedule Planning

 https://youtu.be/wd05Qa12234

We recording ourselves discussing the possible schedule for filming our different actors. Also, we mentioned non continuity editing and what parts of the synopsis to film in daylight. In addition, we think that one day will be enough to film the character Sophie (friend who goes missing) and her mother, another single day will be enough to film the shots that include the character Jenny (friend who goes psycho). The montage clips which will include establishing shots of settings and props, we are able to film these in our own time as long as we edit them into all of the footage appropriately. These montage clips won't be clear to the audience which adds an element of mystery so the trailer will be enticing as the audience will want to understand the context. We plan for these clips to be fitting to the psychological thriller genre; linking back to our research on The Snowman and The Girl on the Train.

Furthermore, Zoe and I believe that  filming in the dark will enhance the thrilling atmosphere that the audience will be apart of when watching our trailer. However, we may face some technical issues as the DSLR camera requires light to capture good quality footage. So, to overcome these issues we will film inside scenes when it is beginning to get dark outside, allowing the camera to record in good quality. To ensure that our trailer isn't categorised as a horror we will include psychological thriller conventions throughout and film in dim light. When editing we will add a filter to create an eerie mood.

Props used in Left Behind

Zoe and I texted each other when deciding what props to use within our trailer. This collage of photos displays what props we will be using for our film. The bed can also be categorised as a setting because it is in a bedroom, which is where the key psychologically thrilling events take place in our trailer. Alcohol and pills will be fake to ensure that our trailer is filmed safely and no one is harmed. The candle will be used to bring a mysterious element to the trailer. Also, the iPhone will be used for when the mum character rings the police, and when the main girl is looking through photos with her friends that have gone missing. When the girl drinks the (fake) alcohol it connotes that she is under distress, similarly to when she takes the (fake) drugs. A stereotypical psychological thriller convention is to show the leading role, who is usually female, under a lot of distress through using props with negative connotations.    

Storyboard of Left Behind Trailer -Zoe Firth

This is our storyboard for our Left Behind trailer. It clearly shows the synopsis for our film, with drawings that display the settings within the scenes.

Planning of Characters in Left Behind

From our research we found that psychological thrillers include a vulnerable female role as the main character. For example, in 'The Girl on the Train' and 'The Snowman'. Due to this research we chose to make our main character a female. We decided to keep our character list quite small so we don't confuse our audience, especially as we plan on using non continuity editing. The police and the news reporter will be featured in our trailer to include a sense of verisimilitude and to make the film feel more real for the audience.

Props for Left Behind

We discussed what props we would want to use in our trailer. Some of the props, likes beds, we chose as they are important to our narrative. Also, we chose to use phones and alcohol in our trailer as these props were quite common within the psychological thriller trailers we looked at in our research. For Example, 'The Circle' and 'The Girl on the Train'.

Key Settings with Explanations

Settings in Left Behind

 

These are the settings we will be using for our psychological thriller trailer because they all are recognisable locations. This means that our audience will be concerned that events in our trailer could take place in their local areas/own houses. The locations we have chosen link back to our research on 'The Snowman' trailer as in this trailer the audience sees a lot of scenes that are in the characters houses. Also, from our research we found that the horror genre is known for using rural areas so, to ensure our trailer is categorised as a psychological thriller, we used urban areas.

Left Behind Pitch with Feedback

 

When we presented our pitch to our teachers and our peers they gave us some feedback on areas to improve:

• Include specific locations we plan to use and why
• Mention and explain our USP
• Talk about potential props
• Link everything back to our research
• Don't include screams in our film as it is a cliché convention from the horror genre

To take on this feedback we thought that making extra slides would show clear improvement. If we were given more time to create a PowerPoint then we would have included these slide to add more specific detail to our pitch:

 

We have planned to use empty and abandoned locations as in our research we found this element was frequently used. For example, in 'The Abandoned (2015)', the featured setting is an abandoned apartment block which is creepy as it makes the audience wonder how it was abandoned to begin with. Thrillers usually use locations that the audience can relate to as they seem familiar to daily life. This is effective as the audience will be concerned that a chilling event could happen to them. An example of this is 'The Girl on the Train (2016)' because commuters will be concerned about events from the psychological thriller becoming reality.

Left Behind PowerPoint for Pitch

Script for Left Behind Pitch -Zoe Firth

These pictures display mine and Zoe's script which we will read off during our pitch for our psychological thriller trailer 'Left Behind'.