Treatment For My Film

Phoebe is home alone one evening. Someone is out to get her and after a minute or so of a tense 'when will it happen' moment, the killer eventually stabs Phoebe in the stomach letting her fall to the ground and die. The killer is then revealed to look the exact same as Phoebe.
A couple of days have past and no one knows where Phoebe is. Then one evening on the news they announce that there has been a murder. A CCTV camera reveals that the killer is 'Phoebe'. Everyone then assumes Phoebe is a murderer and that is the reason why she hasn't been home for the past couple of days. When the killer returns to Phoebes home the family act as if nothing has happened but eventually when their next door neighbour is found dead in his conservatory Phoebes mum confronts her about the murders. The killer then lashes out and kills Phoebes mum. The killer then leaves that night leaving a note saying that no one is safe and that they should watch their backs.
Phoebes best friend Naomi confronts her and asks her why she is killing everyone. The killer replys by saying she isn't Phoebe and that she killed Phoebe 2 weeks ago and dumped her body at the old mine. Naomi realises the danger and gets her friends and Phoebes brother and sister to all go to a hide out knowing none of them are safe.
Typically the killer finds them and goes about killing them all. Many of Phoebes friends are killed and eventually it is just Phoebes brother, Tom and Naomi left alive.
After a very long night of horror Naomi stabs the killer but not before the killer stabs Tom. As both Tom and the killer lay dying at the old mine Naomi asks where Phoebes body was dumped. The killer points a black bag. Inside it Naomi finds a couple of teddys which belonged to Phoebe. She realises what has happened and runs over to the killer. Minutes from death, Phoebe realises she has killed all of her family and friends. We see a flashback of Phoebe in bed having a nightmare. She awakes screaming but then turns to look at a photo of her boyfriend who we discover was the first person she killed and that the day before she had discovered he cheated. We find out that Phoebe is schizophrenic and the dream she was having was of her 'double' killing her (the opening sequence). We discover she wasn't really killed it was just her bad side killing her good side and that is the reason she was killing people.
Phoebe then apologises to Naomi and Tom and dies in Naomi's arms.

Originally I didn't really know what was going to happen after the opening. I had it planned that the killer would be identical to Phoebe but I didn't know the reason why she was killing the people. This is the feedback I got from telling the class my idea for the opening:

Why is the main character killing people? The answer to this is that the girl has gone pyschotic.

Is it reincarnation gone wrong? No as in the end you find out it is the same girl and her murder was all in her head.

Random clues and pictures to suggest insanity? Yes there could be some very subtle but hard to notice clues that only the most observant people would notice first time round.

Questionnaire Results

I handed out questionnaires to 17 people aged 17-25 and here are the results.

For questions 4 and 5 some people gave multiple answers.

Q1. When watching a horror, do you like to see an introduction to the characters or do you like to see a killing scene?

5 people said they would like to see a killing scene.

8 people said they would like to see an introduction to the characters.

4 people said they would like to see an introduction to the characters that includes a killing scene.

The majority would prefer to see an introduction to the characters.

Q2. What's your favourite horror film?

7 people said Saw.

1 person said Paranormal activity.

1 person said Shaun of the Dead.

1 person said One Missed Call.

1 person said Shutter.

1 person said Let Me In.

1 person said Triangle.

1 person said Haunting in Connecticut.

1 person said Silent Hill.

1 person said Predator.

1 person said Cabin Fever.

This shows that Saw is a very popular film.

Q3. Who is your favourite horror bad guy?

5 people said Jigsaw (John Kramer).

1 person said Zombies.

1 person said Mike Myers.

3 people said they don't have one.

3 people said Billy the Puppet.

1 person said Chad Michael Murray.

1 person said Dracula.

1 person said Jason Voorhees.

1 person said the guy from 'My Bloody Valentine'.

The majority of people like Jigsaw AKA John Kramer from Saw.

Q4. What's your favourite horror sub genre?

6 people said Mystery.

5 people said Romance.

4 people said Gore.

4 people said Thriller.

1 person said Crime.

3 people said Comedy.

This shows the majority of people like a mysterious horror.

Q5. Where would you like to see a horror set?

2 people said a warehouse.

6 people said an old house.

2 people said somewhere abandoned.

1 person said a small town.

1 person said Earth.

1 person said Transylvania.

1 person said Miami.

1 person said LA.

1 person said Bristol.

1 person said not sure.

1 person said a spaceship.

1 person said in a city.

1 person said a strip club.

These results show that the majority of people would like to see a horror set in an old house.

Q6. Do you prefer it when the main character is killed, the killed is killed or both killed?

5 people said the main character.

1 person said no one killed.

5 people said both killed.

4 people said killer killed.

1 person said any killed.

1 person said kill whichever one is ugly.

This shows that the majority of people want either the main character killed or the killer killed aswell as the main character.

These results have helped me see what people like to see in a horror film.

Institutions

I think that a studio that is likely to work with me is Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures as they worked with the Saw franchise. Twisted Pictures works with horror films and the average budget is around $8,000,000.Twisted Pictures is a production company which helps with the production and the budget of the film. Lionsgate is a distributor which releases the films. The films are distributed through the cinema and on DVD.

Film Certificate

My film is going to be an 18 as most horrors are. This is because of the violence, gore and strong language that will be in my film. This will target my audience as my target audience is anyone aged 18-25. The film being an 18 will show anyone that age that it must be very gory and violent and therefore they will be drawn into watching it as many people enjoy horrors.

Audience

My audience will be aged from 18-25. There will not be any particular gender as it is just a general horror film. Although, as it is about a girl who is a Madonna she is quite strong and more girls may be interested in watching it. Many people enjoy watching horror films so there will be a wide audience and there isn't really a 'typical' horror genre audience. People who are into programmes like 'The Vampire Diaries' may like the film as it is similar with the doppelganger storyline.

Titles

In some horror films the titles are mostly shown after different clips. For example, you will see a small clip of film then a title, then film, then title and so on. Horror films with a killing sequence at the beginning tend to show the name of the film after the victim has died. The font normally looks quite sharp and given a scary look. Mostly in horrors the titles fade in on the screen as it comes across as quite tense. The titles tell you the producers, the director and the name of the film.

For my film I am either going to add the titles as subtitles over the film which will slowly fade in and out or I am going to do the same as the Saw films where I will show a clip of film then go onto some titles, then more film then more titles.

Music

The music in horror is very tense and scary. In some films the music is quite screechy and echoey. At times the music can be very fast when the action is happening but other times it is quite slow and tense. The music is mainly used to compliment the visuals to make the scene scarier rather than the music being obvious.

Sometimes the music is obvious like in Saw where at the end of every film they play the same music 'Hello Zepp' which is played when the events of the movie are all coming together and being explained.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deAkIoEe16w - Ending of Saw

Tobin Bell - Saw

Tobin Bell is most known for his role in Saw as the killer Jigsaw (John Kramer). Most of his roles in films are of the villian or serial killer. He has the typical old man serial killer look. Tobin really gets into his role therefore making him seem like a real serial killer who is quite sick in the mind. Whilst catching his victims he wears a long black and red coat (as seen in picture) and a pig mask. This is typical of horror films as it hides his identity and makes it mysterious to whoever he is catching.

Mood Board

This is a mood board of a selection of images that relate to my film and it's horror genre.