Script

We needed to make sure our script was right for our actors to know exactly what they were doing. I wrote up a script at home on my own with the initial ideas we had for our film ‘Enigma’ so that if anything needed to be changed later on it could be. We chose the title Enigma because it doesn’t give a lot of information away, lke our movie doesn’t. Here is a copy of my script.

1.  EXT PARK

We see a break in the wall. Eerie music plays. The camera is still. There is no sound except the background music. Josh runs through the break in the wall and round the first tree on the path. He continues running until the path on the ground reaches a big tree. Josh runs into the tree and falls onto the ground. He rolls over onto his back, sits up, touches his head, then looks at his hand and collapses onto the floor.

                                                              (CUT TO)

2.  INT BEDROOM

Josh is asleep in the bed. The room is silence and the only sound heard is the continuous eerie music. He wakes up and studies the room before getting out of bed. Josh puts his hands on the bed sheets and bushes himself up. Quickly turning the handle he opens the bedroom door and enters onto the landing. Josh walks across the landing looking upwards to see if anything is there. When reaching the top of the stairs his right hand is placed on the banister knob. When Josh reaches the middle step on the staircase he places his left hand on the ceiling. Josh is confused and wary of his surroundings. He is unaware of what is happening or where he is. When the bottom of the stairs is reached Josh quickly pens the kitchen door to step inside.

3.  INT KITCHEN

Josh enters the Kitchen where Thelma is sat in a rotating chair waiting for him. She has her back to him. There is no background noise except the eerie music.

JOSH

Who are you?

Thelma turns around in her chair.

THELMA

All will be revealed Mr. Ward.

JOSH

Where am I?

Thelma opens the filing cabinet and pulls out an a4 white envelope. She walks over to Josh, hands him the envelope and then goes and sits back down in the rotating chair. Josh walks out of the kitchen, quickly and confidently opening the door. He walks down the hallway holding the white envelope. Josh is looking around, still inspecting his surroundings carefully. When he reaches the front door he opens it slowly.

4.  EXT HOUSE

We see the house from across the street. Josh exits the house, walking quickly down the outside steps. He wonders down the street, and then stops to open the envelope. A mysterious car starts to turn onto the street but Josh stays still and waits.

Evaluation

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP, OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

IN OUR PRODUCTION WE TRIED TO BUILD TENSION FROM THE VERY BEGGINNING OF THE FILM. WE DID THIS BY USING CONVENTIONAL EERIE MUSIC TO SET THE SCENE. WE ALSO USED CUTS AND DIFFERENT SHOTS FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES. THESE ARE ALL CONVENTIONAL WAYS OF FILMING THRILLER AND MYSTERY FILMS. WE TRIED TO ACHIEVE A DARK GLOOMY ATMOSPHERE FOR THE FINAL PRODUCT. THIS WAS BECAUSE THE GENRE HAS DONE WELL IN THE PAST IN THIS WAY, AND YOU SHOULDN’T CHANGE SOMETHING UNLESS THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT. WE THINK BY STICKING TO THE BACKBONES OF WHAT A THRILLER AND MYSTERY FILM USES WE ACHIEVED A WELL THOUGHT OUT AND EFFECTIVE FILM OPEINNG. THINGS LOOK MORE THREATENING IN A DARK ENVIRONMENT SO WE TRIED TO USE AS MUCH OF A GLOOMY AND DARK ENVIRONMENT AS POSSIBLE. WE SAW THAT THE FEATURES ALREADY USED IN MYSTERY THRILLERS WERE EFFECTIVE, SO NOT TO CHALLENGE THEM BECAUSE IT COULD RUIN THE IMPACT WE WERE TRYING TO ACHIEVE.

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

OUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENTS THE AVERAGE TEENAGE BOY. BY HAVING A YOUNG, AVERAGE LOOKING BOY IN THE FILM SHOWS THAT ANYBODY CAN BE THREATENED BY OUT OF THE BLUE ASPECTS. IT SHOWS ASPECTS OF ISOLATION AND BEING OUTSIDE THE DEFINED SOCIAL GROUPS, BUT BEING A ‘NORMAL’ PERSON IN THE SITUATION HE IS IN. OUR FILM ALSO SHOWS AN OLDER WOMAN. IT PRESENTS WOMEN IN A GOOD LIGHT AND HAVING A LOT OF POWER, PUTTING MEN IN A VUNERABLE SITUATION RATHER THAN THEM BEING OPRESSED. THIS IS VERY DIFFERENT TO BIG U.S PRODUCTIONS BECAUSE THE ROLES HAVE BEEN REVERSED FROM STEREOTYPICAL MYSTERY THRILLERS.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

WE THINK SMALL SCALE MEDIA INDUSTIES WOULD DISTRIBUTE OUR MEDIA PRODUCT. WE THINK COMPANIES SUCH AS FILM 4 WOULD BE INTERESTED. IN THE PAST FILM 4 HAVE BACKED SMALL BUDGETED BRITISH FILMS. WE THINK THIS BECAUSE OUR FIM IS SHOT IN BRITTISH SURROUNDINGS, WITH BRITISH ACTORS, WITH BRITTISH ACCENTS IN A CLAUSTROPHOBIC ENVIRONMENT. FILMING IN WIDESCREEN MEANS THAT OUR PRODUCT COULD BE VIEWED ON THE TELEVISION OR AT A CINEMA. WE COULD HAVE A SMALL SCALE RELEASE AT A CINEMA ITH HELP FROM A LOCAL CINEMA NEAR TO WHERE OR PRODUCT WAS SHOT.

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

WE HAVE DIRETED OUR PRODUCT TOWARDS TENAGERS. WE DIRECTED IT TOWARDS TEENAGERS BECAUSE IT WAS MADE BY TEENAGERS, AND SOMETHING WE WERE BOTH INTERESTED IN. PEOPLE IN THE TEENAGER AGE GROUP AN RELATE TO THE FILM AND BE ABLE TO THINK OF WHAT THEY DO IF THEY WERE IN THAT SITUATION. WE THINK BECAUSE IT STARRED A TEENAGER AS THE MAIN CHARACTER A LOT OF YOUNGER TEENAGERS WOULD WANT TO SEE IT

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT / ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

WE ATTRACTED OUR AUDIENCE BY MAKING OUR PRODUCT MYSTERIOUS FROM THE VERY BEINNING AND CARRYING THAT OUT THROUGHOUT THE PIECE. STARTING WITHA A CHASE SCENE WHERE THE AUDIENCE WAS UNAWARE WHAT HAPPENED PREVIOUSLY GRIPS THE AUDIENCE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT CAUSED IT AND WHAT COULD HAPEN NEXT.  THE 2 MINUTES ENDS ON A CLIFFHANGER WHERE ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN NEXT. BY NOT GIVING A LOT OF INFORMATION AWAY THE FILM CAN ATTRACT VIEWERS BY THEM HAVING TO ASK QUESTIONS AND GUESS WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT. WE ADDRESS THE AUDIENCE BY HAVING A TEENAGER AS THE MAIN CHARACTER. THE AUDIENCE THEN CAN IMAGINE THEMSELVES IN THE SITUATION AND THINK WHAT THEY WOULD DO NEXT.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

Filming

Although Jess did the filming I would always like to ask her what she was doing or where she was shooting and we both equally inputed on figuring out the script together. It was nice to give possible ideas to Jess that she then would maybe use or not and keep a good understanding of what she was doing over each week. Although we both had our seperate jobs, we always kept a keen eye on what the other was doing and so looked out for each other and helped each other when needed.