Make-up for Dead Girl

We need very realistic corpse make-up on the girl, in order to give clues that she is dead, however not to exaggerated to distract from the other elements in the scene.

For her face, we would like to use grey, blue, and green tones to give a dead-look to the girl.

We will also use small hints of red and purple to show signs of bruising and cuts.

On her limbs, fingers/ nails, I want to use deep blues and greens to show her cold body and also when a person dies blood leaves the limbs thus giving a blue tinge to the skin. We will also use make-up to give the impression of gangrenous fingers and nails. 

I really like this video tutorial because the make-up is very close to how I want it on the shoot. 

I think the make-up for the finger is perfect to use on the girls toenails:

Costume: Why we chose it

Why:

We chose the colour white because it is pure and it represents her innocence. We also decided this dress because it is realistic that she would be buried in this. This also gives the audience a feel of sympathy towards her because the dress shows her being very angelic.

We made the man wear ordinary clothing to show the audience that he is no different to you or the people that surround you. We made him wear gloves it tells the audience that he wants to leave no trace. 

We also decided for the man to wear a fedora hat because for at the end of the thriller there will be a silhouette of him with the hat showing, and by having the hat connotes that he is going out.  

Costume: Back-up

Back-up for Costumes

In case we cannot buy the items of clothing, we will ask the actor to bring their own clothes, e.g. gloves.

In case we do not get the dress, the actress playing the dead girl would bring a white dress which she would wear. Mia is aware that we will dirty and stain her dress if we use it.

Additionally the school’s theatre department would be useful to source costumes for the scene. 

Costume: Cost

Girls Costume:

Overall, the girls costume would cost £15 if we ordered online.

Man’s Costume:

For the man we would buy the gloves, hat, tie and coat, these main items of clothing would cost £90 altogether. Other items of clothing such as the black pants, white shirt, and black shoes would be brought in by the actors themselves because they are items of clothing most older males would have. Additionally it saves money of our budget.

Costume: What are they?

What:

The girl will be wearing a white gown that she is buried in. It is a white long sleeve chiffon  maxi dress that we will stain with mud. In order to give an aged effect and to make it appear that she has been dug up from her grave.

The man will be wearing a simple white shirt with a dark olive green tie with black trouser. His main item of clothing will be a black thick wool coat. He also will be wearing a hat called a fedora as he leaves and black leather gloves.

Inspirations of Girls costume

                                                                                             

Inspirations of Man’s costume

Picture of Actor (Mike)

This is a picture of Mike. He will be playing the older psychopath, he will be dressed in a black coat with black gloves and hat.

Picture of Actor (Mia)

This is a picture of Mia she will be playing the dead girl. She will be playing the 16 year old girl and will be dressed in a flowing white maxi dress.

Hair Brushes Research

I have researched various types of antique hair brushes that would inspire the design of the hairbrush in the opening sequence. I think that the use of an antique hairbrush, creates a classic romantic tone to the scene and also connotes a sense of femininity, purity and beauty; this juxtaposes with the idea that the girl is dead and the dark nature of the opening sequence. 

These are various antique hairbrushes

Casting

Casting:

Girl: Mia McCallum - We choose Mia because we believe she has the right look for the thriller opening.

Our backup actress would be Edwarda Agunita 

Man: Mike Timson - I feel that the contrast between older and younger characters create an uncomfortable juxtaposition. 

Our backup actor would be Mike Niland

How I would Market my Film

To garner a profit from the film, I would issue a wide cinema release, across large chain cinema’s such as Odeon in the United Kingdom, Cineplex in Canada and Regal Cinemas in the USA. After a wide cinema release the film would go to pay per view for viewers to purchase or rent at home. In addition, I would have the main cast go on tour in many countries to premier the film. In the case of merchandising, I felt that in Halloween we should release make-up set and a costume replica of that worn in the film’s opening sequence.

Paramount’s SVP of Marketing has stated that the company target audience are males and females aged between 21 to 29, because they represent a vast age group in the population and as well have a more varied interest of films to watch than the generation before them.

Overall I feel that due to Paramount Pictures history in producing ground-breaking films and their status in the film industry, they would be most suitable in producing my thriller.

Paramount's Ethos/Budget and Speciality

Paramount is known for its big budget films, such as Titanic (1997) which had a budget of 200 million. Their films are also known to be some of the highest grossing ever, for example Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) which grossed over 1 billion.

 Due to being one of the film industry’s biggest companies, Paramount, has worked with a long list of high profile actors, such as Leonardo Di Caprio and Angelina Jolie. Hence, I feel that Paramount would be a good company to produce and distribute the film, because we would have the possibility to cast big actors; additionally the companies notoriety in the film industry would help in marketing the film and increase profits.

 Paramount also produces a wide variety of films, of different genre’s, therefore I feel that our thriller would fit very well with the companies ethos, as it would open them to a larger market of young people and as well add to the companies varied portfolio.

Paramount try to grasp a large demographic from their films, therefore they release films of various genre’s in order to appease the varied consumer interest.

Here is a link to Paramount Pictures website: http://www.paramount.com/

Films that they have produced and are releasing this year

Which Institution would Produce my Film

The film company that I would choose would be Paramount Pictures. I decided this from researching the films they have produced and the critical reception of the audience.

One film that was produced by Paramount and is similar in its conventions to my thriller opening sequence is the movie Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock . In the ending of the film it is revealed that Norman Bates mother is dead, he keeps her skeleton dressed up in his basement. This is very similar to our thriller where a dead girl is being dressed up by a ‘Psycho’ . When the film Psycho was released it was ground-breaking in its conventions and themes and I feel that Paramount would be the right company to take on a project like ours and deliver a shocking and re-vitalised film of the thriller genre.

Our Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our Thriller Idea 'Dammia'

Storyboard drawn by Amr
Edited and Written by Natasha, Olly and Naomi

What is and How Are Storyboards Used in the Film Industry

Since the production of movies storyboards have become a fundamental process of the pre-production stage.

A storyboard shows shot to shot of what happens in the scene and shows what is inside the frame, it also allows to plan the timing/duration of a shot, location, Camera angle/movement, Sound and Lighting

Storyboards are visual aids for the crew and director of a film, they simplify the scenes into a simply and comprehendible structure. They help plan the ideas of a film and as well are easy to re-arrange and experiment with in case the director wants to try something differently. Additionally, it helps give a sense to how the scene will be filmed and what will be inside the frame. It also saves a lot of time and money in pre-production instead of doing complicated CGI storyboards; it allows more time for changes to the scene and is cost-efficient. It also is helpful for the editor in post-production because it gives them a sense of the directors perspective. Lastly, It helps everyone to be organised on the same page when filming.

Nowadays, films are becoming much more expensive and technical to film and storyboards help save time and money in pre-production. It gives a simple and clear of the directors views and intentions.

Here are some famous Storyboards:

The Bridge

Psycho

Harry Potter

Star Wars

'Dammia' Thriller Pitch: Outline, Casting and Location

Test Shoot: