Production

We set a date to start recording on February 23. Since we wanted to complete it all in one day, we planned ahead of time so it would go as smoothly as possible. This production post will focus on the planning and setting up.

We decided to film at Isa's house as it was available that day and her dad was willing to be an actor for our film. Together we thought about a place that could resemble a basement and that was the garage. It's a dark place where we could manipulate the light, that would add effects to the film.

We came across the problem that the tripod we were using was too short for the height of the counter. However, we quickly managed to fix this by using a box that we placed below the tripod for an extra foot.

We set up the props as soon as we got there and it took us a few tries to arrange everything in a way that we could agree upon but we ended up getting it perfect at the end.

That is the stuff we used (Not arranged)

Audio

In the beginning, there will be a black screen and you will just hear a marble rolling. When it clinks with a glass.  Throughout our two-minute opening, there will be eerie music. It will most likely be just instrumentals but we don't know what music exactly. One of my team members found a website where you can take out instrumentals in music and I think that will be extremely useful for our audio. Lastly, the music will fade out and you will hear a muffled phone ring when he takes it out of his pocket it will clear up he will answer, say hello, and the person on the phone will say "There has been an emergency we need you" and he will say "I'm on my way".

Research

Overall to make a scary or suspenseful movie audio is crucial. Therefore I have done research on the matter. Audio can be used to create a sense of tension and fear through elements like 

• Dissonant music: Music that uses harsh-sounding notes that clash with each other. Create a feeling of unease and discomfort.
• Low-pitched sounds: Deep sounds that can create an unsettling feel
• Sudden loud noises: Sudden bursts of sounds can cause a jump-scare
• Silence: Has to be used sparingly and can cause anticipation

    ex. Jaws theme, The exorcist theme, Psycho

One example of where we would put this in our project is the silence in the beginning with the sudden "clink" of the marble hitting the glass.

Works Cited

“Terror through Lighting - the American Society of Cinematographers (En-US).” Theasc.com, theasc.com/articles/terror-through-lighting.

Willis, Tammie. “Dissonance and Consonance in Music.” Study.com, 2022, study.com/academy/lesson/dissonance-in-music-definition-examples.html.

Set and Lighting

Setting and Lighting

There will be two main places throughout the duration of our film. The house, mainly the basement, is where he prepares the drugs and plans his crimes to cover up his tracks. His place of work is a hospital. During the opening, the only setting that will be shown is the house, inside and out, but I will talk about the hospital since it will be a big part of the movie itself.

His House

On the outside, his house would look like just any other, an average-sized suburban home in a gated community. Walking inside it will look innocent everything is placed perfectly in the right spot. However, walking into the basement it will be very dark so there won't be any big lights used in our production in the basement. There will be a singular desk placed in the middle of this room. Since there are no basements near where we live we will film in our garage and cover any light that comes in with a blanket. Since it will be so dark none of these blankets will be seen.  When a light is needed it will preferably use a minimal light to create shadows and a sense of danger. Using a spotlight on the things we want the audience to focus on. We will make most of our shots singular objects. We will use other techniques like uplighting which will make the object look more menacing. Backlighting creates a silhouette of Hank and adds the mystery of who this man is in the introduction. The contrast between his basement and the bright outside will show how he is different when around others. This video helped me learn what shots to use to add to the horror and mystery.

Hospital

The hospital won't be shown in the opening scene but I feel it is still important to discuss it as it will be a big part of the movie. It will be a very big hospital called Jackson Turner Memorial. The lighting in there will be very bright and will have a blue tint like how many hospitals are portrayed in the media. 

“Terror through Lighting - the American Society of Cinematographers (En-US).” Theasc.com, theasc.com/articles/terror-through-lighting.

Props

 What are Props?

Props are a vital part of story telling, they can help create a believable character and a more immersive scene. There are many different types of props, for example, personal props, set props, trim props and symbolic props. Kyle Deguzman stated

"[Props] can move a story forward, define a character, or become a symbol in and of itself."

That is what we are trying to achieve, using props to make a character. 

Key Props

As me and my partners were planning our film we knew that props would be a big deal for our project. So we started making a list of props to buy and ones that we could find at home.

Marble and Jars: Arguably our most important prop, the marbles and jars are going to represent something bigger than just what you see. They are going to develop the characters OCD and its going to represent the amount of drugs he is giving each patient, however you wont learn this until later on in the movie.

Pill Making Kit: Since at first you wont know that this man is a doctor, when the audience sees the pills and drugs they are just going to think this is just any crazy guy. However, once it is revealed that he is in fact a doctor that will make the audience question his actions.

Composition Notebook and pen: Now you might not think there's anything special with a notebook and a pen but that notebook is where he hides all his secrets and takes notes of every single thing he does so if someone finds that... well that's the end of his long line of secrets.

Files: He will have a cabinet full of files. Each file represents one of his patients.

Desk: The desk will serve as a set prop along with other things we will have in the background of the set. But the desk is more important since that is where most of the shots will be taken.

Desk lamp: The desk lamp is also just a set prop but we hope that choosing this style of lamp will add more mystery and eerie mood than another style would.

Picture of him as a kid and money: This will be shown in two very quick shots as easter eggs and they will represent his past and his motivation on why he is doing what he is doing.

Doctor coat: The doctor coat is simply to imply to the audience that he is a normal doctor without having to say it. 

Using all these props will help us develop our character and a mysterious mood that will make the audience question every step taken. In Nightmare Toys they explain that

 "When it comes to creating spine-chilling, hair-raising films, horror props play a crucial role in setting the eerie ambiance and heightening the fear factor." 

By choosing the props we chose I believe that they will add a feeling of uncomfortableness to the audience. 

Works Cited

Deguzman, Kyle. “Types of Movie Props Explained — and How They Work.” StudioBinder, 14 Nov. 2021, www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-movie-prop-definition/.

Rentals, Movie Prop. “What Are the Four Types of Props?” Movie Prop Rentals, 15 June 2022, movieproprentals.net/what-are-the-four-types-of-props/.

Wilks, Alex. “Which Horror Props Are Used Most Often during Filming?” Nightmare Toys, 13 Oct. 2023, www.nightmaretoys.com/blogs/news/which-horror-props-are-used-most-often-during-filming.

Character Development

 Introducing Dr. Hank Shabata

In the film, Hank Shabata is a 48-year-old white male.

Dr. Hank Growing Up

As a little kid, he was anti-social and weird at school. He was very dedicated to his education even though he was naturally smart. He grew up low middle class so his parents were always busy trying to keep up. This led him to do bad things to get attention from his parents but over time became a habit for him later on. One example of things he did is torture little animals he found in his backyard and since his parents didn't have much time for him that led them to dismiss his psychotic behavior as normal kid activities.  Considering that he grew up low middle class and seeing his parents always working he knew he wanted to do something that would make him lots of money and became obsessed with the idea of becoming rich.  

As he became older he started working on developing his social skills to cover for his odd behaviors. he went to an all-boys private school where the teachers were rigorous and involved in the kid's life to keep up with their work. Since he still had an obsession with torturing animals but had an adult watching him at school most of the time he started making detailed plans so no one would catch him and he could keep his record clean. All this combined led him to be the mastermind he is. On the outside, he is just an average guy but in reality, it's quite the opposite.

Outside of high school all Hank desired was freedom. he wanted to leave his house which he eventually did. Went to a prestigious medical school earning the highest grade and graduating to become an official doctor. He saw there was a small clinic near where he lived and started working there. Since it was such a small clinic and needed lots of help, he saw it as an opportunity to take over it and become the highest rank. Since many patients were getting better and didn't need any more treatment the clinic started losing money. This led to him wanting more money than ever and finding that he could just use his patients to make money.

 

Creating Hank

Coming up with how to develop Hank in the introduction was not an easy process as there were so many connections we wanted to make to his character. Since it is a mystery genre we want to leave easter eggs that the audience can go back to after watching the movie and realize the answers were in front of them all along.

In the movie, Hank is first presented as a psychopath. This will be done by using mise-en-scene elements like low lighting, props, and editing to make the audience feel eerie and uncomfortable when in his physical or mental space. We will also show him having MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) since he will act like a different person when with people and alone. This will be shown by the contrast of the dark space when he is inside and the bright outside showing that he is not a dark person on the outside. Not only that but Hank will also show signs of OCD throughout the movie having certain meanings for things, like the marbles, and keeping them organized.

So excited for you guys to meet Dr. Hank!

Storyboard

 I did this storyboard to help me organize my ideas and visualize how I wanted it to look. Even though I'm not the best at drawing I know putting it on paper and drawing it out helps me understand what to do. Especially while filming I find this so useful since I can check shots off and film more than I need to if I want.