Pretty Girls Make Graves

Directors commentary

Audience Research.

Before we started any part of the procduction process we did alot of audience research, we conducted questionaires into what our target audience liked in a film and we watched films that had the same target audience as our production.

We gave questionaries to 100 people aged 15-25 both male and female and we found that social realist and dramatic films were favorites in our target audience.

Through the questionaires we found the five most popular films in our target audience from each sex. The top five films for the females were :

1)Moulin Rouge

2)Mean Girls

3)Kiduluthood

4)Twilight

5)Slumdog Millionaire

The top five films for the males were:

1)Kidulthood

2)Transformers

3)Bullet Boy

4)Fast and Furious

5)Taken

From this information and after watching these films we found out that females preferred more romantic films and males preferred more action and dramtic films, so we decided to make a dramatic thriller with romance and action so it had appeal to both sexes. The idea of gun crime is protrayed in our opening this was because guns were a consistant wepon throughout the male films and some of the female films, which is why guncrime was a issue we wanted to address.

Audience comments

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout our project we used a digital camera. During production we learnt a lot about camera techniques for example high angles give a sense of weakness while low angles give a sense of empowerment, which helped us show our protagonists emotions. During the construction of our product we learnt a lot about different technologies’ especially the editing software (Final Cut Pro) and the music software (Garage Band). During the editing we used the basic knowledge of Final Cut Pro that we learnt from the Preliminary task alongside the techniques we learnt during throughout the main task. As we got more confident with the editing software we used more adventurous effects and more daring cuts to give our opening a more dramatic feel. One of our main difficulties was making the flashbacks look more like flashbacks than present events. To do this we wanted to make the shots look drained of their colour but had great difficulty finding the right effect, we soon learnt that the “Old Film” effect drained the colour and a blurred border gave the flashbacks a more surreal look. We also learnt about simplistic editing techniques like cutting different clips and adding fades to make it continuous. We also learnt how to make music smoothly fade in. We also learnt how to effectively make a full timeline and how to use each level of the timeline. At one point we had trouble with the sound on our timeline, as there was only one level with music causing the sound to only come from one speaker so we had to learn how to replicate the sound and put it onto another line in order to make sound more effective. We used non liniar digital editing which meant we were able to repeatedly edit different aspects of our film at different times as it was needed.

The soundtrack to our opening had to be uncopyrighted so we had to create our own in Garage Band, with none of the group having used garage band before we had to ask for help from the Studio Skills teacher who explained how to use Garage Band and helped us convert our finished soundtrack to a Mp4 file and on to Final Cut Pro so we could edit it on to our time line. We found using garage band quite difficult because we couldn't manage to create our own sound despite the fact we tried so we decided to use a garage band pre made tune. Finding the pre made sound that would be effective was challenging because there were so many and we wanted to find the perfect sound.
After we learnt to use Garage Band we started to experiment with the ambient sound effects that we already on Garage Band to give our opening a more filling sound as the voice over and the soundtrack together did not sound very good. The ambient sounds were also difficult to find because they were in abstract places, but we worked on it and eventually found effective sounds..

We also learnt different way in which to record our voice over, we started by just recording on the camera and talking right into the microphone which worked well but the voice sounded quite crackly. We then tried using the radio microphone which worked a lot better.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The genre of the opening sequence is a dramatic thriller and we used many different ways to show the genre and grab our audience’s attention. Our target audience was young adults both male and female mainly ages at 15-25. We chose the name Pretty Girls Make Graves as the main protagonist is female and we want the audience to be in suspense to weather she will kill someone or not. We could not target our film to anyone under the age of 15 as it had elements of violence and two of the main themes are the drug trade and gun crime as these are both big issues in todays society. Our opening location is on a plane showing the main protagonist alone suggesting that her family and friends have abandoned her. It also suggests that she is independent. That’s when the over voice narration kicks in and explains why she is alone on a plane and reveling that she has been sent to live her dad, which most teenagers can relate to as most families are split nowadays. The next time the audience sees the girl she on a bridge smoking looking upset, making the audience wonder what has happened, as the voice over explains we see flash backs of what seems like a chase scene grabbing the audience’s attention, making them wonder why she is being chased and why she needs to hide. We then see her again looking happier with a boy this is clearly shown as a memory. The idea of teenage shows that the girl has had a normal life (something every teenager can relate to) at some point before her “love” was killed. Our film is also a social realist film as it comfrounts issues that is happing in everyday society today. We also know that social realist films appeal to our audience group, films like Kiduluthood and Bulletboy proved popular with our audience.





Audience Profile.

Age : 18

Gender : Female

Profile: Our main audience would be girls from the ages 15-20 as they are learning independence and we also found out from our audience research that girls prefer romance films and given idea of teenage love, we feel it would appeal to them mostly.We wanted to target it at teenage girls who want to be rebelious which is why our main protagonist smokes because it is one of the main forms of rebellion.

Intrests: Music, films, socializing and love are keen intrests of many teenage girls, also the idea of rebelion is consent throughout our product so our audience would be intrested in law breaking.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt from the progression from it to the full task?

During the Preliminary task we learnt how to thoroughly plan our shot lists and storyboards which help is with our pre-production work. It also helped us to easily choose the genre for our thriller, which was a dramatic thriller.

The story line was then discussed. During the preliminary task we learnt what needed to be conveyed through each shot to show that dramatic thriller therefore we used a variation of light and dark locations to show conflicting futures. The locations then needed to be discussed and what we learnt from our preliminary task helped us because we were able to see how effective locations would be and how the mese-en-scene would be portrayed.

We learnt how to fit the character to our films genre comparing to our preliminary task. In our preliminary task we learnt that costume could be an effective instrument to give the product a sense of realism. We had to research our films genre before starting filming in order to know what the conventions are. We found that thrillers are a sub genre for horror.

Learning from our shot list we had to change some scenes that were impractical and didn’t fit with the themes. This was a repetition of what we did in the preliminary task. An example of this is we were going to have the main character meeting during a flash back but we did not find it very effective and it also went more towards a romantic genre rather than a thriller. The majority of our product was filmed outside which is a contrast to the preliminary task since it was only done inside. We took our lighting into great consideration we chose to have our final task predominantly does with natural lighting because it would create a great contrast to the flashbacks because there is very little lighting which gives it a creepy look. We did this because in our preliminary task we used unnatural lighting, which didn’t work very well. During our final task we only used non-diegetic sound and all the sound is post-production, whereas during our preliminary task the sound was all diegetic. During our final product we learnt how to use garage band to make the soundtrack to give our film atmosphere.

During our preliminary task we learnt how to use final cut which we were again able to use during our final task. From our preliminary task we learnt how to use the 180° rule which was useful to make our film look realistic and effective. If we had not used this rule our footage would not run smoothly.

Overall a lot of the skills we learnt from our preliminary task were useful. We learnt how to use a variety of camera angles and learnt how to effectively represent genres.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our audience would be teens and adults interested in romance, adventure and mystery since these would be the main themes throughout the film. It would contain dark and haunting scenes, which would be inappropriate for those under the age of 15 years of age. Similarly to Gaslight, which is rated 15 for similar reasons, as both Gaslight and our product contain elements of drama and horror. Our target audience in terms of gender would be predominantly female. This is because the protagonist is female, with the film being based around her life. However the most common target audience of thrillers is a male audience and so through the genre it would attract a male audience as well. We would aim at a mass audience as it has quite common themes of a popular film.

What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

Gaslight is a film that to some extent is similar to ours. Gaslights main distribution company is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which is a big distribution company. This distribution company is big and being realistic, they wouldn’t distribute our media product because they closed down years ago. We did some research about what kind of low budget independent film companies would distribute our product. One company we found that distributed both mainstream and independent films was Icon Film Distribution. This company has a wide range of film genres and quite a few horrors and thriller. As our media product is a dramatic thriller we thought it could be possible that they could distribute our media product. Another option could be metrodome group, which is an independent horror distributer. They distribute a lot of films made in the UK and all of them are low budget. We then looked at optimum releasing, which would be the most likely to distribute our film since they specialize in horrors and thrillers for example. The last exorcism and splice, neither of these films were particularly popular but were still distributed which is why we think they would be the most likely to help as Optium Releasing is a digital distribution company meaning our media product could be shown in lots of different cinemas at the same time costing less than it would if we made individual prints of the film. Also we had the idea of putting our film in film festivals as they are good advertising and festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival are mainly for independent films, and has helped films such as Hurt Locker and Winters Bone which are both independent films.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film opening introduces our female protagonist. The opening of our film revolves around her life and the trouble she has been facing. To approach this matter, we used a character around the ace of 16 and a female to create a seemingly vulnerable character who will develop psychological trauma throughout the film which leads her away from appearing vulnerable. We did this because gaslight was about the audience feeling sympathy for a vulnerable character. We made our character appear vulnerable by using non-diegetic voiceovers. the flashbacks are the most important part because it contradicts her depression. It also gives the audience something to find out about. we made her a smoker in order to stay with the stereotype of a teenager today. The main groups our film represents are females getting revenge on those who hurt their loved ones when the government doesn’t want to know. It also represents the drug system in society today and how ruthless people can be to get their fix. All around it represents the underside of the legal system in today’s world. It shows the fact that people who are involved with drugs are ignored or frowned upon instantly, they are not helped and are left to survive on their own.

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We have created a dramatic thriller; we got the idea to do a dramatic thriller from films like gaslight. This is a real media product that bases its story on a girl who lost someone close to her and went a bit mad because of it. In comparison to stereotypical dramatic thrillers it is lacking the action scenes like most other film beginning’s, in most dramatic thrillers there is no non-diegetic dialogue unless being used in a sound bridge, we used non-diegetic dialogue the entire time to let viewers understand her story, the mise-en-scene was basic, bridge boots big coat and a classic cigarette to show signs of stress in her life and the coat shows mourning which isn’t a normal thing at the beginning of dramatic thrillers, they may wear black but there isn’t usually mourning unless from a chase scene. The style of her clothes is a stereotypical teenage outfit. So is the cigarette when adults think of teenagers they tend to think of them smoking and acting out for example by moping like our protagonist is. We decided to manipulate this stereotype to work for us it would make teenagers warm to her quickly because they could relate the instant they saw her. The structure of our media product is different to the conventions of our genre because we decided to keep quite aloof which is an uncommon this for a dramatic thriller opening.

In gaslight the opening shows the main character surrounded by people to show her involvement in her community. We decided to isolate our character because she only knew one person in England and also the isolation reiterates the genre. The camerawork we used made her look even more isolated despite the fact there were others walking past her. For our flashback scenes we used the gladiator film for research and used that theme of him thinking of the flashback then when it stops showing his eyes straight away to get their reaction. We used flashbacks repeatedly to show how important these times of her life are to her. The flashbacks are an important part of our media product because it produces emotion in the audience and intensifies the genre of our media product.

At the end of our film opening, we have the protagonist alone on a set of swings, which again makes the audience feel sympathy, which is a rare emotion for the audience of a dramatic thriller. The only prop in our media product was a cigarette, which is seen through out the opening. It restates the stereotype that teenagers are rebellious. The mese-en-scene is very simple and works with the stereotype of a teenager, we did this because we wanted the audience to feel conflicted emotions of whether they wanted to sympathise with our protagonist or feel threatened by her.

Film Poster.

We made film posters because we wanted to advertise and to intrigue our audience. We thought it added to our project because it shows we planned our project thoroughly and had thought further that the opening sequence.
Poster Two.

We took inspiration from the poster for the film "Scream" as it was simple but effective. We chose to use the poster scream because in scream the female protagonist is the victim while in ours we are challenging the ideas that the female is always the 'damsel in distress' so we made the male a victim and used the scream poster as a kind f ironic representation. We used the idea of putting the image in black and white and using a single image of the protagonist's face. We included the title "Pretty Girls Make Graves" and the tag line "Nothing is sweeter than needed revenge" on the poster, giving the viewer little information as not to give away any story lines. We made two posters overall as the first was to plain and did not fit in with the theme of the film.

This was our first poster but after some consideration we decided it was to simple and plain.


Poster One.

Scream Poster.

DVD Cover

We likes the style of the Gladiator DVD cover and so that was our insperation for our own.

Costume List

In the first shot on the airplane we used a simple outfit, consisting of a hoodie, jeans, vest top and green earphones to give a stereotypical passenger look preparing for a long flight look.

Costume One.

In the second shot she shown stood thinging about how someone close to her has died, her outfit closely represents a funeral styled outfit. The outfit was made up from a denim mini skirt, black jumper, black military coat, black tights and black military boots.

Costume Two.

In the third shot she is wearing a black coat which is less dramatic than the funeral styled coat she is wearing in shot two, but it still shows mourning from moving to away from America to England. Her hood is pulled up implying she wants to be alone and the cigerette shows that she may be stressed and upset.

Costume Three.

In the Fourth shot she is wearing a dress, and is with Jake who plays Danny and even though you can not tell what he is wearing you can faintly see it is a more formal outfit than normal teen dress. This gives the impression they were on a date and were caught of gaurd and not able to change.

Costume Four.

In the final shot she is wearing comfortable clothing because she is used to her lifestyle in England in this shot, also the outfit doesn't change when Danny dissapears because she is trying to relive her memories.

Costume Five.

We used dull coloured t-shirts for our main male character in this scene as to rember a dull time before she knew him, to also give the impression that he was slightly depressed in this time period we used a band tee to furthur the idea thet the main characters are teenagers

Male costume 1

Dialogue

Two years in new york all for nothing, Mum ended up sending me home anyway

Apparently she was fed up of my attitude, so she sent me packing to Dad.

Adjusting to life in england was difficult but he made it easy.

Danny,*pause and brethe out* his long brown hair and his soft blue eyes always made me smile.

On the 23rd of march he changed, he was anxious, jumpy and constantly looking over his shoulder.

Then they found him.

(stressed and panicy tone) We ran, and all I could think of was that I needed to hide.

I didnt understand

They were looking for me it made no sense

(Whisper) My Danny

I really miss him.

So now i could either report him or get revenge for my beloved Danny.

All the areas in red we decided to get rid of for the actual film opening because we decided it gave too much a feeling of a trailer.

we were inspired to use a voice over in our product by a range of films and tv shows to let you see what the character is thinking, and we didn't want our character to be talking to herself throughout our product so we decided to let the voiceover be her thoughts, to let the viewer understand what she is going through, the flashbacks also help the viewer feel like they are hearing and seeing her thoughts. it gives the character another personality to what other characters may see. we did some research on voice overs and found; 'In film, the film-maker places the sound of a human voice (or voices) over images shown on the screen that may or may not be related to the images being shown. Consequently, voice-overs are sometimes used to create ironic counterpoint. Also, sometimes they can be random voices not directly connected to the people seen on the screen. In works of fiction, the voice-over is often by a character reflecting back on his or her past, or by a person external to the story who usually has a more complete knowledge of the events in the film than the other characters.'

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice-over

Location List.

Location 1

In our first scene we used a plane to film one of the shots. We used the plane in the school and made it look realistic, as we had problems filming in a real plane because of turbulence. we used the plane to add the feeling that the viewer is traveling with the main character as she moves back to England.

Location 2

This is where we filmed our main shots. We used this bridge as it has only two exits and in our film opening we have to have her making a choice from two options so it matches perfectly.

Location 3

This is where we filmed the flashbacks. It was all in the same room but filmed from different angles. We used this room because, when the lights are off it looked like an old abandoned boiler room. We wanted somewhere that gave a lot of room for hiding opportunities, so you never really know where she is hiding even though you watch her move.

These were the two main sections of the room we shot in:

Location 4
We used this park to film the swing scene to show past and future, it gives the impression of the main character trying to relive the time she spent with her boyfriend.

We also used some areas around college for filming parts of the memories, for example we used the college's smoking area to shoot the memory of Kate and Danny meeting as it was a last minuet addition to our opening and college was the most convienient place.

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' film analysis

In the opening scenes of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind we see Joel and Clementine meet for what looks like the first time. The scene starts with a close-up of Joel waking up. A depressing score plays and we hear Joel’s voiceover narration. This gives the spectator the feeling that Joel is talking to them. He tells us about the beach and how it is always freezing, which gives us the impression that Joel mainly focuses on the negative things in life. The tone of the score also gives us that impression of Joel as it is very low beat and the lighting is also very dark around Joel which again gives the impression of depression.

Joel’s world suddenly lights up when he first sees Clementine which implies that she is quite a happy person, the complete opposite of Joel. Also the score changes dramatically when Clementine talks to Joel on the train: it becomes more upbeat and a lot happier.

Joel dresses in a way that enables him to blend into the background, which gives the spectator the impression that Joel is not an outgoing person, nor very confident; whereas Clementine’s clothes are bright and colourful, making her stand out from everyone else, giving the impression that she is very confident. We also see confidence in Clementine when she immediately starts talking to Joel on the train as if she has known him her whole life. Even though Joel and Clementine are complete opposites and they have nothing in common, there seems to be an instant connection between them both, which as we find out later in the film is because they have met each other before but they do not remember it.

A very significant part of the opening scenes is the ‘ice picnic’ scene, in this scene the score is almost a mix of both of their own scores from the start which creates a romantic atmosphere. This is because when two people are very close we start to see them almost as one person. So when the scores mix, it could be a metaphor for them becoming one person.

We see Joel drop Clementine off at home, and while he waits for her we see Patrick knock on the window. He is obviously confused by Joel’s presence, because Patrick helped to clear Clementine's memory of all memories of Joel. The spectators do not know this yet, but because of this, he does not understand why Joel is with Clementine.

It then fades to black and we see Joel in his car crying, the score turns very frantic as Joel drives home. These is when we see the opening credits which are unlike the usual centre-based opening credits and are on the right-hand side. Also unlike usual opening credits, the opening credits in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind do not begin until at least twenty minutes into the film and after much of the action and plot. In addition, the text in the opening credits appears quickly and then slowly withers away, like a memory. This is very significant as the film is about Joel and Clementine losing their memories of each other.

We then enter Joel’s apartment, which is very dark and depressing. The score changes yet again as we see him change into the pyjamas the memory clinic have sent him and we see him taking a pill. We then realise that the pyjamas that Joel just newly opened are the same pyjamas that he woke up in. This makes us think that perhaps this is the real start of the film and we realise that the first scene is really the end of the film. We chose to analyse this opening as it uses a voiceover which is an element we want to use and also the start of the film is really the end of the plot which is how our film starts.

'American Beauty' film analysis

American Beauty is a dramatic comedy as opposed to a dramatic thriller but that is not the reason we chose to analyse this film opening. We chose to analyse it because it has a voiceover. We decided we needed to research voiceovers to find the most effective way of using them. We used American Beauty because it establishes what the film will be about and why, which is what we plan to use voiceovers for.

The extract begins with a non-diegetic score that makes the scene seem happy. This is playing while we see a long establishing shot zooming into a stereotypical suburban neighborhood. The score then ends and the voiceover begins. It establishes the scene and then allows the audience to be introduced to the main character. It then cuts to a bird's-eye shot of a man lying face down in bed. The room is clean and the audience would expect the man to be happy and placid like the location he is in, but the voiceover challenges this assumption. It then cuts to a mid-shot of him turning over which allows the audience to see the emotion that reaffirms what the voiceover is telling them. While the voice over continues, the extract cuts to a close-up of him putting his feet into slippers, which is a stereotypical shot for someone with a happy domestic life. Thus, the voiceover is a constant contradiction to what the audience are used to thinking. It then cuts to a close-up of the same man in the shower with water pouring onto his face. We hear sounds of realism as well as the voiceover which makes the opening extract more realistic. The extract then cuts to a medium-shot pan across a clean bathroom of the man in the shower while the voiceover continues. It then cuts to a close-up of a red rose and tilts down to hands trimming it. We then cut to a medium-shot of a woman with a rose while the voiceover introduces her. The opening then cuts to a wide tracking shot of a dog running and we can hear it barking which again adds sounds of realism. We then cut to a medium-shot of the dog through a white picket fence, which is again stereotypical of this setting of the domestic neighbourhood. It then cuts to a wide shot of a man in a suit, once again stereotypical for this location, leaving a clean house. The voice over continues throughout. There is then a medium-shot of the main character looking out from a window. He is the only part of this opening that is not clean and wholesome and the voiceover reiterates this idealism. It then cuts to a two-shot of the wholesome neighbour in a suit talking to the main character's wife with the main character looking out the window in the background. This shows that he does not fit in the location since he is separated from the others members of the community.

'Gladiator' film analysis

Gladiator is a dramatic thriller, the same as our film, and this is why we chose to analyse this film opening. The other reason is that the atmosphere that is developed in gladiators opening is the kind of atmosphere we wanted to create in our film opening. We chose this film beginning because the main character doesn’t speak, diegetically or non-diegetically, until he needs to. This gives a feeling of suspense, which is what we want our film to do. We want to make the viewer wonder what will happen next. The opening of gladiator gives the impression of what is to follow but does not allow the audience to have enough information to know, it also gives the audience enough information to know what point the story is starting from. This is what our film does, the non-diegetic dialogue gives away the past and gives the impression of the future.

The film opens with the ‘Universal’ clip and the ‘DreamWorks’ clip, but instead of it being bright and colourful it was turned sepia to give it an old-looking effect. This also sets the viewers mind into an old time-frame for the film before it even starts. The scene stays in this colour-scheme as text comes onto the screen explaining the exact year in which the film is set. This also explains why they are at war and gives a brief history of Roman leaders. It explains all this at the beginning of the film; if it didn’t the film would be very confusing. Behind all this writing is the constant movement of golden dust reminding you of the golden sand found in the Roman Coliseum.

Following these opening shots, it goes from a match-cut to a shot of a field with a close-up on a gladiator's hand. The camera follows his hand using a handheld camera going up and over the plants. This technique is used for 22 seconds giving an illusion of peace and almost not wanting to disturb the grain and wheat. The golden colour of the field gives a sense of warmth and happiness to the viewer, yet the hand is dirty and looks rough, his ring shows that he is not poor, but a working man of some sort. When the vambrace comes into view it gives the audience an idea of a fighting man or a hero but then another match-cut puts you in the dark, dreary war zone in ‘Germania’ at a medium-shot with the main character who seems to be daydreaming. This gives the viewer the idea that it was his imagination showing them the field. When he comes to his senses (after blinking multiple times) the viewer follows his eye-line (shot) to a robin, which may have sparked his daydream.

The non-diegetic music which has been playing since the first second suddenly increases in tempo and everything seems to suddenly get faster, busier and more intense. The cameras do wide shots on cantering horses and on people moving into larger groups and setting up for war. All of these shots were filmed in low-angle shots giving the viewer the feeling that these men are important. This idea is reinforced when the next cut shows the men kneeling for the main character, thus showing that he is in high power. The love shown by him to his men shows that they are important too. The next scene shows the opposite; it is a wide shot of two men with a blurred background of working men. The man says that the expense of some men’s lives is acceptable. The non-diegetic music lowers in volume as the camera zooms into the distance and focuses on the blue horsemen (who in history would protect Caesar), past the horsemen, and into a close-up of an old mans face (Caesar’s face). The non-diegetic music continues. I chose this film beginning because he doesn’t speak in the film or non-diegetically until he needs to. This gives a feeling of suspense, which is what we want our film to do. We want to make the viewer wonder what will happen next.

'Gaslight' film analysis

Gaslight is a 1944 mysterious dramatic thriller. We decided to analyse this film as it is the same genre and has similar features that we plan to use in ours. The film is about a man ruthlessly manipulating his wife, for nefarious reasons, into believing something other than the truth. Her husband, the person to whom she is closest, turns out to be the murderer; in our film it is her closest friend who is the murderer so we thought the themes of the two films were similar.

When Paula was younger, a strangler roaming the streets murdered her aunt, who lived at Thornton Square in London. Paula goes to stay in Italy and some time later meets Gregory. She and Gregory marry and afterwards they move to London, back to the exact house Paula lived in, which again links to our opening since the character is returning to where she once lived. One of the opening lines of Gaslight is: ‘The ghost of a man out of my past...’ This links into our movie since it is the story of a girl deciding whether to run from the ghost of her past or to confront it.

Throughout the opening of Gaslight, the scene is set. It is black and white, the costume and props show the period in which it is set. The lighting and atmosphere is very dull to add to the mystery of murder. The sound continues throughout the extract it adds tension and shows the mystery. The extract begins with a fade into a wide shot of the main street where the film is to be located. There are a few more establishing shots with period props and costumes that show the location. We are then introduced to the storyline with a close-up of a newspaper article, the non-diegetic score becomes more dramatic. It then cuts to a low angle shot looking to characters coming out of door, introducing the main character. They are in higher class period costumes. Cuts to a mid-shot of the main character, showing her emotion and connecting her to the newspaper article. The reporters and onlookers set the storyline with their facial expressions, while looking at the main character they connect the main character to the newspaper with looks of sadness and pity. The scene then cuts to a mid-shot inside the house, to prepare the audience for later in the film and to show the class status of the characters. Cuts to a mid-shot of the main character with onlookers showing sympathy, which allows the audience to understand the atmosphere. Cuts to a wide-shot of a carriage driving away which adds to the period theme. It then cuts to a two-shot inside the carriage. This is the point at which the diegetic dialogue begins. The extract then ends with a zoom into a close-up of the main character's face showing a reaction-shot from the secondary character's dialogue.

Production Treatment For Main Task

opening of a short film:

Genre: Dramatic Thriller

Title: Pretty Girls Make Graves

Tagline: Nothing is sweeter than needed revenge.
Duration:
2 Minutes
Audience:

Young adults between 15-26, both male and female
Resume:
The film begins with a shot of the main character standing on a bridge smoking. There is a female first person voice-over introducing her story. There is a flashback to this person in a corner screaming as we hear gunshots. She drops the cigarette and walks away, with focus on the cigarette. The voice over continues until the title is shown.
Suggested Elements:

• A girl stood on a bridge smoking


• Simple everyday clothes


• Cigarette


• Bridge

• Title and opening credits

Recording days: ".........."

Estimated budget: "............."

Storyboard