Storyboard

Todorov narrative theory

1. Equilibrium 
Polly moves from the countryside into the suburbs into a new house. She quickly settles in.

2. Disruption of the Equilibrium
She begins to have violent and aggressive nightmares that seem to depict an attack in her very bedroom and house.

3. Recognition of the disruption
She soon discovers the objects from her nightmares in her house and makes a connection between the nightmares and something that must have previously happened in the house. She goes to her local library and conducts some research which leads her to discovering that a girl named Anna who used to inhabit her house went missing in the 1970's and the case was never resolved.

4. An attempt to repair the damage
Polly goes to the police believing that John Ward, Anna's father killed Anna. She tells the police that she believes Anna was buried on a beach.

5. New equilibrium 
The police reopen the investigation and discover that Polly was right and Anna's father who is currently in a mental home did in fact murder Anna and consequently the nightmares come to an abrupt end.

Character List

Protagonist -
Name: Polly Dixon  (Played by Louisa Robinson)
Age: 17
Where they live: An English Countryside
Role in the film: Polly moves in to a new house with her parents and nightmares begin to happen, therefore she is sent on a quest to find out the scary truth behind these realistic nightmares.
Costume: Polly dresses in modern day clothing as she is living in 2012.

Here is a photograph of Louisa Robinson who is playing Polly...

Antagonist -
Name: Anna Ward (Played by Lucy Cullingworth)
Age: 16 (She died at the age of 16 in 1974)
Where they live: Anna previously lived in the house that Polly now inhabits in the Countryside.
Role in the film: Anna went missing when she was murdered by her father in 1974 and her case has never been resolved. When a family move into her house for the first time since her death she makes a connection with their teenage daughter and starts to haunt her dreams in hope of justice being served.
Costume: A 70's dress to show her era

Here is a photograph of Lucy Cullingworth who is playing Anna...

Antagonist -
Name: John Ward
Age: 46 (In the 70's when he killed his daughter)
Where they live: He now lives in a mental hospital in Southern England but he previously lived in Polly's current house.
Role in the film: He is the antagonist as he killed his daughter and claimed she went missing therefore justice wasn't served and Polly began having horrible nightmares.
Costume: A suit and tie as he's stern.

Costume list w/ Photos

Costume:

Anna Ward -1970's bell bottom sleeve dress
1970's Brogues
This will depict and establish the era in which Anna lived in as the bell bottom sleeves are a symbolic of the 60s/70s era


Polly Dixon -
Jeans
Plain T-shirt
This helps the audience to identify that Polly is living in today's era (2012)

John Ward - 
Shirt
Trousers
Tie
The suit and tie gives strong connotations of being a strong and perhaps stern character.

Locations

Location 1:Polly's bedroom. This is where Polly sleeps and therefore the setting for her nightmares to begin. Polly lives in 2012 and therefore her bedroom is modern, featuring a television and modern surroundings, this is in stark contrast to her nightmares which depict the same room but in the 70's. When Polly moved in there was a record player in her bedroom which she has kept and becomes a motif for her nightmares to commence.

Here is a photograph of the location I am using for the bedroom scene...

Location 2:
In Polly's nightmare there is a tracking shot/point of view shot going down the street she lives down, this establishes the connection between her house and her nightmares. It is a suburban setting with lots of houses.

Here is a photograph of the location I am using for this shot...

Location 3:
Outside of Polly's front door that's opening, this indicates that something happened in Polly's house.

Here is a photograph of the door I am using for this shot...

Location 4:A kitchen with a wooden floor showing a sprawled out bloody arm, from earlier on in the film when Polly is moving in we know that this kitchen is hers.

Here is a photograph of the kitchen I am using for this shot...

Location 5:
A desolate beach, we find out later in the film that this is where Anna's body was disposed of.

Here is a photograph of the beach I am using for this shot...

Location 6:
A wooded forest with a leafy floor where the weapons used to kill Anna were disposed of.

Here is a photograph of the forest I am using for this shot...

Location 7:
The same bedroom door that Polly walked through in the first shot, however it now has 1970's posters on the door.

Here is a photograph of the door I am using for this shot...








Location 8:
A green 1970's bathroom sink, this strengthens the link further that something sinister happened in Polly's house previous to her living there.

Here is a photograph of the bathroom I am using for this shot...

Location 9:
A garden with Anna sat in it.

Here is a photograph of the garden I am using for this shot...

Location 10:
Polly and Anna's house

Here is a photograph showing the house and angle I am using for this shot...

Location 11:

Anna's living room

Here is a photograph of the living room I am using...

Story type

The Quest:
The character is set a task to find someone or something. He accepts the challenge, searches for and finds the someone or something. He is then rewarded, or not, for his success in the question (e.g. Star Wars, George Lucas, US 1977)

My film fits this story type because Polly goes on a quest to discover why she is having these bizarre nightmares and why the objects in the nightmares are in her loft. Her quest is to gain answers, she does this by conducting research at her local library and as a result finds out about Anna the girl who used to live in her house who went missing in the 70's. Consequently Anna's missing persons case is closed as her father is discovered to be the killer and justice is served. Therefore Polly is rewarded with the discontinuation of the nightmares.

Film brief specification

The creative project is worth 60 marks, the small scale research unit is worth 40 marks.

Aims and context - required for assessment
Creative product - 45 marks
Evaluation - 15 marks

The film/video production option of FM3 gives you the opportunity to:

Develop an extended sequence from an imagined feature

OR

Develop a complete short film of between 3 and 5 minutes

Film Animatic

Here is my Film Animatic, I created it by drawing a story board and taking photos of them, I then uploaded them onto Windows Movie Maker and made them into a sequence..

Maltese Falcon Remake

Yasmin Burhan (Cast & Editor)
Lucy Cullingworth (Cast & Camera)
Stevie-Lee Ingham (Cast & Camera)
Chantelle Norman-Golding (Cast & Camera)


Filming Schedule:
Monday 8th October - 5th Period (Everyone)
Tuesday 9th October - Lunch time (Everyone)
Wednesday 10th October - 3rd Period (Everyone)
Thursday 11th October - 1st Period (Everyone)
Friday 12th October - 3rd Period (Everyone)

 Editing Schedule:
Monday 15th October - Periods 2,3, Lunch and 4th (Lucy and Yasmin)


Final Product:




Bloopers:




Evaluation:We were set the task of remaking the opening scene from 'Maltese Falcon' in groups of four, this was so that we could gain a vital insight into what goes into the making of a film. It was very useful in learning about the importance of lighting, cinematography and performance.
Unfortunately due to an English Literature trip and a illness from a key member of the group we started off the task two lessons later than originally planned and this had a great impact on our work meaning we were very behind with our planning. Once we started our planning we cast the characters, fortunately there are four characters and four members. therefore we each had a role to play. None of our group are actresses and I feel this made our final product look a lot less professional than we initially planned. Our group had difficulty learning scripts, this shows in the final piece. My hand can be seen holding a script as Lucy reads from it. Both the errors of time keeping and bad acting has encouraged me to be a lot better prepared in my own film. I know that time management is key and making sure that all cast are available at the same time. Lucy and I had the main acting parts, as a result Stevie and Chantelle took it in turns to film. This was decided in the planning as both of them said they wanted to get use to using the cameras in preparation for their own films.
In the planning process we planned to use one location in our college's media department, however due unforeseen circumstances including lessons and revision classes we were unable to always use this room. We changed locations 3 times and this is clearly seen in the final product. Another disadvantage of changing locations was the lighting, the windows were placed in different places in each room, meaning that lighting was terrible. We really struggled to keep the lighting consistent with opening and closing blinds, however we weren't successful. From this I have learnt that good and consistent lighting is really key to the making of a film.
Stevie made a storyboard in the planning stages which was a huge help in the making of the video, we referred to it for angles, duration and props/costume. This has urged me to make a good and understandable storyboard for my own film.
We tried to be true to the costumes in the original Maltese Falcon, therefore Lucy wore a large coat with a faux fur collar and Stevie and I wore suit jackets so we would be easily identifiable as men.
In conclusion I think the remake was somewhat of a success however I found that planning was essential and we should of spent more time with regards to locations and learning of scripts. I think we put in a lot of effort as we dedicated a few lunch times to trying to finish off the reconstruction.