Pre - Production: Budgeting and Funding Research

To create a short film that looks professional and realistic, we are going to need money to provide a budget for;

-Actor pay

-Travel expenses

-Costume

-Props

-Locations

-Set design

-Website publishing

-Food

Many of these can be negotiated, and some may end up being over or under estimated. But it is crucial that we make sure we know how much we are willing to pay out so we don't end up owing more than we can.

Elliot Grove posted budgeting tips on http://www.raindance.org/10-zero-budget-filmmaking-tips/

He says ''Moving a cast and crew from location to location is time consuming, and expensive, regardless of your budget.

If you can reduce the amount of location moves, or eliminate them altogether, then you are a huge step closer to reducing your budget.''

This is a very interesting point, as in my idea I know there is various locations and right now, I haven't yet thought about when I will be filming each scene.

To cut down any travel expenses and time wasting, when creating a production schedule, I will try to arrange so that we have longer days, with more production time on one set. This way, although the days will be longer, we will have to pay less to actors for travel expenses and locations as we won't need them for as many days. It will also be a more productive day as instead of doing some scenes that only need a few actors on different days. We can make sure that scenes in the same location with an actor who is only needed once or twice, can be filmed on the same day. This means that it will also waste less time of actors waiting around.

The Cast.

''It is far better to advertise for actor/collaborators at local theatre and acting schools, hold rigourous auditions until you find a stellar cast of talented unknowns than use your friends.

If you have a suitable script and some money, you can approach a casting agent who will then pimp your script and your project out to established actors who might be willing to do it for nothing if they like the script, their role, and have been offered a suitable cut of the profits.''

I have found that approaching CastingCall is a very, very helpful site to find actors. Not only does it always bring actors to the table, but it also has a variety of new actors that are looking for experience for their show reel. Although not all new actors are the best, there are some who are experienced but still don't have a good show reel. Finding actors who negotiate or are just new and passionate that want film experience is always helpful when casting. This may reduce the budget size remarkably and negotiating prices with actors is something I will definitely do. I could offer them a show reel edit or anything else film like which they may need. Therefore it's a win - win.

Another way to fund and find budget for our film, is to reach out to actors, composers and any local connections we have or have worked with before.

In our case, the director Vic has worked with a very impressive producer in the past, Declan Gillgallon. Knowing that he created a very in-depth piece for Vic's film in one draft in a short amount of time, gives me great confidence that with months, he will be able to create amazing pieces of work for the film. Last time, he did it free of charge as he wanted the experience, if we can get him for free again or even at a low price that would be great. 

I also found this video below of tips and tricks to create a low budget film.

http://nofilmschool.com/2015/09/4-tips-low-budget-tips-no-budget-film-festival

One of the filmmakers re created a forrest scene in the back garden as they couldn't film in the same location. They used with left over christmas tree's and made the actors stand lower so they looked like they was in a film, he said when they edited together it fit seamlessly. 

Looking into budgeting, I found a short film budget summary page, which entails all the things needed from pre production, production and post production that may need paying for. It's very excessive but luckily for us, a lot of these things don't apply to our film such as the editor, director and producer etc as we are the ones doing it for free.

http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/97802408115812e/pdf/short_film_budget.pdf

This is quite helpful as some things on the list I didn't consider, but when creating the script and seeing what props and costume is needed etc, I can refer back to this list to make sure I've not missed anything out.

Funding.

Although Vic and I are putting most money in ourself, we still need support from backers as we definitely do need extra money.

I have been looking into funding found www.indiegogo.com which is a global site that helps people find contributors and fundraisers to fund there projects. You can offer perks and opportunities to contributors so that they are more interested in funding your project.

To entice viewers to fund the project, you should add an interesting picture - but better a video - of the team or a short teaser so the funders know what your project is about, why they should fund it and what they will get out of it. 

You can also add perks to the side of the project so that the funders can either straight forward donate money, or choose a perk along with donating money. For example, someone could donate £5 and you can say they will be put in the film credits. Or if they donate a large sum, you could offer them credits + a copy of the film etc. This is a really good site to get extra funding and hopefully it will work for us. 

Another way to raise money for funding is an idea I had to approach small companies or family companies that are looking to expand their business'. For example, if we need food or a place to film, we could approach a small restaurant or cafe and offer to make them a professional promotional video and advertising in exchange for small food meals for our actors (which would also help with the budgeting) Or if this didn't work, we could approach them and ask for funding in exchange for promotional videos etc. I think this would work best with either new companies that have money behind them or for companies that are actively looking for a promotional video etc. 

I also found the BFI Film Fund that supports films and short films every year.

I looked into the different categories and found 'iShorts'

iShorts is open to filmmakers outside of London who have some experience in self-funded short films and student films, whose work has not yet attracted financial support from within the industry. 

http://www.bfi.org.uk/supporting-uk-film/funding-filmmakers

It is something we can consider applying to once they open the next category early next year.

Pre - Production: FILM MARKETING STRATEGIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA

To ensure our film gets publicity and will reach out to our audience, I want to research into Film

marketing and see the techniques that go into making sure the audience are fully involved and up to

date with the film through social media and other marketing techniques.

Already, I know I want to create a website with a paid domain name (.com) , Facebook page and Twitter page as they are the most popular and key aspects that people visit to keep up to date with everything.

''Instead of simply uploading a movie trailer to Youtube, you can tweet about it, post movie stills onto Facebook, Instagram behind-the-scenes moments and more.''
I need to make sure that I am always promoting any videos by posting links to every page with hash tags and interesting words that will entice the audience. I definitely want to create some behind the scenes footage so will definitely consider 'behind the scenes moments' going onto the social media websites too.

The Hunger Games did a very interesting thing to promote their film. The film released the song ''The Hanging Tree'' onto Vimeo and an acoustic version debuted at number 12 on the Billboard charts. The original song had gotten over 20 million views on the Youtube page and they was played on radio stations across the United States. The reason behind releasing the songs like this was because the filmmakers new that the songs were catchy and people who had no idea of what The Hunger Games was might be interested in learning more about the film and books, therefore drawing in a new number of audiences through just one song. This is something to definitely consider, as it may not only help our composers name get around, it will help draw attention to our film.
Source: http://www.tintup.com/blog/movies-and-social-media-marketing-films-with-new-media/

Another marketing technique I found online was one that is very interested and is a hands on one.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film focuses on the disappearance/murder of a girl named Harriet. 42

Entertainment composed an interactive game (ARG) for the film called ''Mouth Taped Shut''.  They used a Tumblr

account (another social media which I can consider) to begin the game. The players can solve clues

and go on scavenger hunts for real life evidence and memorabilia including 'characters' diaries books

and clothing. This is such an interesting way to entice an audience and find new audiences' such as

Gamers. They may only be interested in just the game, but it does

reach out to new people and they may end up loving it so much that they look into the film, a great

marketing strategy. I need to remember that creativity is key : audiences want to be entertained.


Other social media I can reach out to will help entice my demographic audience and it will begin to get our film across a variety of platforms.

Instagram and Pinterest are great for sharing pictures and short videos which I can use to my advantage as I can create short videos that will give little snippets of what's to come.
Vine is another I can look into in regards for creating short videos. Vine has become increasingly popular and will definitely be a platform that our demographic audience will reach out to. I need to think creatively and think about what sort of videos would entice our audience, I could think of mystery style videos that lead onto one another, leaving the audience wanting more.
Youtube is the obvious choice to share videos on, it is becoming more and more used around the world for not just music and films but for Vlogs too.

Engagement

I may have all these platforms to share onto but I need to remember to always be engaging with them, a variety of sites that are empty won't entice an audience they will push them away if the sites and boring and have no content.

Looking on http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/resources/marketing/socialmedia
I have found some very helpful tips on marketing.

People tend to get fixated on reach and neglect engagement - here are some tips for improving yours: 

• Get the tone right and gear it to your demographic for each social media platform
• Keep it short - seriously, there is a lot of digital noise out there so make your posts on all social media economical with limited characters.
• Post regularly but not too much. Obviously social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter have more tolerance for more posts per hour than Facebook or YouTube (if you are live tweeting or running a campaign this will change so remember to warn your audience). 
• Ask questions - one question could be “what do you want to see more or less of?”
• Be discoverable. All social media platforms use hashtags as a way of finding topics. Research the ones relevant to film and use them (sparingly) in your posts.
• Use pictures. Photos have no language barriers. Research has shown that photo posts get more engagement on Twitter and Facebook. Experiment by using engaging photographs that are relevant to your audience.

Asking questions (written above) is a very interesting thing i've not thought of. On the website I want a contact us page but i've never considered to have a poll or anything that the audience can really get involved in. Asking questions will make the content fit directly to what the audience want, it will be much more relatable and based on their views that they will always be excited to see what is coming next. 

Hashtags is also something I should ALWAYS be using on every post. Hashtags are used as ways to search for certain things. I could use unique hashtags that are still relatable to our film but ones that are also Trending on Twitter, therefor when people search for the hashtag to see what's being talked about; our film will come up.

I need to remember to always be using photographs as they always stand out and catch the audiences eye. There has been many times when I've been researching things, seen a photo and got distracted, looking into that one particular thing for hours, so I know pictures that are enticing will definitely work!

Universal created a very interesting and popular marketing scheme that practically meant the audience where doing the marketing for them! 

To further promote 'Despicable Me 2' they publicly placed an interactive advert in popular places such as malls as had the audience send a text and command to the screen and their name came up on the screen along with the minions acting our their command. This was very popular, especially with young children and peoples reactions meant that more people saw what was happening and came over to get involved. This is such a clever technique and something really unique that easily spreads the word and involvement in the film.

http://blog.hootsuite.com/film-industry-social-media/

Advertising

I looked further into advertising and ways we can spread the word of our film. I found https://www.tubemogul.com a very interesting sort of 'Pre Roll' advert website. It helps brand advertisers place their adverts on platforms that allow advertising. Such as YouTube, you can have your trailer or adverts placed on a Youtube video so that the audience, wherever they may be in the world will see your advert. It carefully uses demographics to make sure the adverts only reach people who would be interested in your film.

Although it's only for brands, I'm sure there is a way I can find to advertise our teaser/trailer onto a platform somehow, no matter how small it is, I will be reaching out to an audience of some sort who may spread the word.

The post below explains how using IMDB advertising can encourage viewers to see your teaser and film through looking for new and upcoming film. It also encourages us to get viewers to rate the film.

IMDB Listings & Advertising

They say that the hardest place to sell a book is in a bookstore, but with millions of people visiting IMDB on a daily basis in search of new films and TV shows to watch, it’d be ridiculous to ignore this site in your film or TV show’s digital marketing strategy.

There are some great posts explaining how to get your film listed on IMDB. My advice is to be as comprehensive as you possibly can when filling out the information required in the listing, and do whatever it takes to drive people to review the film. IMDB is a search engine, and much like Google or YouTube, their algorithm is driven largely by relevance and popularity, so you’ll want to make sure that your film page contains as much information as possible, and is well linked throughout the site.

IMDB also have an excellent range of advertising packages, which are worth looking into. Another tip is to leverage film lists. Try creating ‘top 10’ or ‘top 50’ lists for films of your genre, featuring your film or TV show somewhere in the list. It’s a bit sneaky, but providing your film is relevant and a valuable edition, no one’s getting hurt!

I think this is a great idea as IMDB is so popular around the world and it will allow us to further spread the word about our short film. I will definitely be looking further into this and hopefully will be able to get our film on there!

Source: https://www.ventureharbour.com/ultimate-guide-marketing-films-tv-shows-online/

Involve Your Audience:

In the months leading up to the launch of The Dark Knight , Warner Brothers launched the award-winning “Why so Serious?” campaign, an interactive campaign which allowed the audience to follow and receive an intense amount of messages from 'The Joker' in an exciting and viral campaign, which brought Gotham City to life. The video below shows how the campaign encouraged over 10 million fans around the World to visit landmarks around the World in full Joker make-up, creating a huge amount of buzz for the film.

it was said to be,

''One of the most interactive movie-marketing campaigns ever hatched by hollywood'' - The Los Angeles Times, March 2008.

The campaign looked so realistic that i'm sure people who didn't know about The Dark Knight was very confused, and by the end of it the whole world would know about the film. It is such a good idea to get people involved and create a viral campaign. Although our film is very low budget and obviously doesn't have fans right now, we could still try somehow get people involved that would at least spread the word around Facebook. 

Overall, looking at all these extensive marketing strategies really has made so many ideas begin to emerge in my head. I started out with thinking about a website and the basics: Twitter and Facebook. But now i'm thinking much more creatively, I know our film is small right now, but with all the creative marketing strategies it may get further out there.

Pre - Production: FURTHER GENRE RESEARCH

I decided to look further into the mystery drama so I can develop my skills and knowledge on how to write and produce a great mystery drama film. I want to learn what other elements go into it which I may have not considered along with any sub genres of mystery drama.

Looking on http://hunterswritings.com/2012/10/12/elements-of-the-psychological-thriller-mystery-suspense-andor-crime-fiction-genres/ I wanted to research deeper into psychological thrillers as our film does have elements of this in it at the end. I wouldn't consider every single scene to be psychological due to the natural of the film, however, towards the end it definitely begins to spiral into this genre.

Common Elements to the Suspense, Mystery and/or Thriller Genres.

• Suspense, tension, raising of stakes for the protagonist. Typically the pace of this tension is faster in a thriller against a mystery.
• The protagonist must be proactive rather than reactive. He must make things happen, go into action, not sit around with events happening around him.
• As with most good fiction, the hero needs to have grown and learnt and ultimately changed by the end of the novel. This character growth is what leads to the main character’s ability to get through his darkest hour, and win during the climatic ending.

This is very interesting to read and I must make sure to always be raising the stakes of the film, what needs to happen to develop the story to make it interesting? I must consider the 'so what's?' of the film: what will happen if something doesn't happen? I do struggle a lot with this as I do forget to raise the stakes throughout and it is a very important part as not only does it make everything more intense, it pushes and changes the story in positive ways. I should also be developing my protagonists character in order to make sure that towards the end she is completely different and has grown as a character. 

• Typical structural elements to the plot – an inciting incident or turning point that makes the main character move from their everyday and go on their journey to solve the issue, conflict, pace, complications, a darkest hour where everything seems lost, a climatic battle and denouement.
• The ending should resolve all loose ends, but provide a satisfactory twist if possible. Good should prevail over bad. And the hero should have learnt something about himself or the human condition.

This article was very helpful in reminding me the crucial elements in mystery drama and definitely will help me when writing.

''Like any thriller the main character is put into a situation that threatens ‘normality’ so  they can be  trapped in their own head , haunted by memories, have a ‘different’ way of seeing the world or thinking about the world or are driven by an uncontrollable compulsion or need. So it can be more internal than the classic crime thriller.'' - https://wordznerd.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/writing-a-psychological-thriller/ 

This quote online is very helpful when looking into psychological thrillers. I need to remember to leave my protagonist in a situation where she can be sat to think to herself, therefor this will allow her to overthink and be trapped in her head and let all the bad thoughts in, making her go into an uncontrollable state. This should be after something crucial in the film has happened so it will have more of a believable effect. 

Looking at http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/mystery-suspense I found some sub genres of mystery drama.

An example of a great and twisted psychological thriller is 'Shutter Island' directed by Martin Scorsese. It follows Leonardo DiCaprio playing Teddy Daniels, a U.S Marshal investigating a disappearance at an institution for the criminally insane. As we follow the story on it developed and is unfolded that Teddy himself is actually a criminal and killed his wife after she d
rowned their children. He has built this life and identity for himself to cover his guilt and make him cope with what he has done. The story is so thoughtfully written and constructed that when you watch it for a second time it can often be much better than the first. The film is an example of the protagonist having such a cover and disguise over themselves that even they have gone completely insane to believe their own lies. The character has been developed so much that the audience wouldn't consider Teddy as the bad guy. I want to make sure in our film that our protagonist does end up insane but we wouldn't consider it throughout the film, I want her to develop and change and be so vulnerable that what the stalker tells her and her passion for acting has made her believe one thing and pushed her to do certain things.

Sub-genres of Mystery/Suspense Film:

Closed-Mystery

A Closed-Mystery is a sub-genre of Mystery/Suspense Film that conceals the identity of the main perpetrator until the very end of the film. This kind of storyline adds an extra element of suspense to the plot, as the audience is not sure who has committed the crime. Often, there are a variety of characters that are possible suspects.

Examples: Clue, Murder of the Orient Express, Twelve Little Indians.

Open-Mystery

The Open-Mystery Film is the opposite of a Closed Mystery. In these movies, the main perpetrator is revealed at the beginning of the story. These films showcase “the prefect crime” scenarios. Suspense in these films come less from the “whodunit” aspect, and more from how the crime was committed.

Examples: Oceans 11, Thomas Crown Affair, The Italian Job.

At first, I did consider creating an open mystery film as I think it's interesting when the audience know who the perpetrator is and it can make them interested to see if the characters will eventually find out. However, on the other hand, it can also be boring as the audience do already know and you're basically just waiting for the others to find out. To create a suspenseful and twisted mystery drama, I don't want the identity to be revealed as I think it would work better for this particular story. Also, it is a psychological drama therefore there is going to be many twists and confusion in the end, and if the perpetrator is shown at the beginning it might make everything not make sense and fit into place.

Our film definitely fits into the Closed Mystery sub genre due to the identity of the stalker being concealed until the very end. Thus, making the film even more dramatic due the audience and characters not even knowing who it is.

Pre - Production: LOCATION RESEARCH

Locations are a huge part of the film as they make the scene come alive. I need to make sure they fit perfectly for each scene, if not it could ruin the film. For example, in the Pretty Little Liars mid season finale, the character A, has set up a room to imitate a dollhouse. They have carefully place every single detail and as an audience we know that there is always a double meaning behind everything in the scene. The room has a 'chilling' feeling about it as 'A' has imitated a children's playroom with all the toys and games that are in the room, which also reflects the whole series as 'A' is constantly playing a mind game with the girls, but now literally wants to sit and play games together.

For example, if I had a scene which was meant to be in a sophisticated dinning room, and I filmed it in a student flat, it would completely go against the films tone and style.

The locations I am looking for include:

-A theatre
-An apartment
-A street

I am contacting Medway Little Theatre as the size of the theatre is small but perfect for what we need, if not I am also looking into The Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone.

I have been looking into agencies that I can ring up and enquire about but I aren't sure on prices so I am going to be enquiring first of all and mentioning it's a student project incase they can direct me to other places.

I am first going to be contacting The Kent Film Office as I have been looking at their website locations database.

kentfilmoffice.co.uk

I also was looking at UK Film Location as they have a wide range of film locations including apartments and houses that people rent out. I am going to be enquiring about prices but I first need to figure out how long I will need the location for so I can get an accurate quote.

ukfilmlocation.com

Another location agency I found is JJ Locations, however I believe this will be at the higher end of our budget but everything is worth a try so I will also be contacting these as well.

jjlocations.com

The main location I am worried about is the apartment, as when thinking about our characters we have put a lot of thought into the lifestyle they lead, which means the house has to fit their personalities and style.

Hopefully I will receive some helpful information from Medway Little Theatre as it's a great size for what we need and begin location scouting quickly!

The next step is to visit locations and securing them, then I can begin creating risk assessments and securing dates to create a filming schedule.

Pre - Production: CASTING CALL

I have begun posting out adverts on Casting Call for our main characters; Bethany Hutson, George Young, Lucy Tailor, Francis Delagarza and Daniel McCarther.

Using my Character Profiles, I further elaborated on these and posted each character on the site, along with a description of what happens in the film along with motives. I made sure to include all relevant information including pay, who is involved, audition dates + filming dates. I am very happy as after just a few days I have received a lot of applicants.

I went through each individual profile and looked at their pictures, showreel and experience. Although there was a lot who didn't fit the criteria, there was also a high majority that seemed to fit the character profile and description of the character Bethany Hutson and George Young. A lot of the applicants asked to see the script, so throughout the rest of the week I began finishing off the first draft of the script. After sorting out the applicants, I began emailing them to invite them for an interview on the week commencing the 26th October and also the next 2 weeks after that. I sent them a specific scene of the film that would fit their character and so far I have secured a lot of auditions which I am excited for.

Throughout the audition I am planning for it to last around 15 - 20 minutes or longer depending on the applicant. I am going to discuss the whole film with them, any questions they have, also make sure they are definitely available for the filming dates and mention the pay we are planning to give them, along with asking them to act out the scene we will have given them. To see the full spectrum of what the actor can do, we are going to also ask them to perform another scene that involves them showing/performing a different side to them or another emotion. I am really eager to start the auditions as I think the process will be exciting to begin to see the film come to life.

Pre - Production: CHARACTER PROFILES

I have created some more in detail character profiles that have had more work on them since the green light presentation. I wanted to elaborate on the characters and have more personality behind them all with individual traits and not only for the story, but for when I post on CastingCall to look for actors. I want them to know as much as possible about the characters so they can come prepared to the auditions. I also wrote a little more about what happens in 

Bethany Hutson
Character profile: 
Bethany is a young actress who spends most her time practicing performing and spending time with her long term boyfriend George who she absolutely adores. She is very well mannered and see's the best in everyone. Bethany is shy but when on stage or with people she loves, her confidence comes out. She feels like she has to prove herself to her very successful sister, Lucy. Throughout the film we see her turn from a polite, shy girl, to a paranoid, on edge women who can't go back to how she was before.

OCCUPATION: Performer and actress
AGE RANGE - 23 - 28
GENDER - Female
HAIR - Long & Brunette
HEIGHT - 5 ft 5 - 5ft 8
BODY TYPE - Slim
DRESS STYLE - Smart / casual
PERSONALITY:
-Polite
-Shy with strangers
-Confidence blossoms in her career
-Passionate about her career
SIBLINGS - Lucy Tailor
SPOUSE - Boyfriend George Young

Francis Delagarza
Character profile:
Francis is a mid 30's highly successful business man who owns the theatre company. Francis is extremely charming and charismatic which makes him a very intimidating person. Francis see's Bethany as his 'finest' performer and is very proud of her. He is the one who has been stalking Bethany.
MOTIVE: He used to baby sit Bethany when she was around 9-10 years old (he was around 20) he always enjoyed how she would perform small dance routines for him. He began giving her roses (which we see throughout the film) and Bethany's mother became suspicious of him - dismissing him saying Bethany 'doesn't need him anymore'. As Francis is an alpha male, he took this very personally and every since, wanted to make sure Bethany was 'his' and knew that her working at his theatre would be the perfect place to 'pull her strings' as she performs the plays he says. Obviously Bethany doesn't remember Francis (he also has changed his name). 

Francis admires her and is very possessive of her so much so that when she is offered a job from a performance scout, Francis secretly tells the scout that she's not interested as he is her 'manager'. Francis is a psychopath (unknown to the other characters) and the audience will put the pieces together at the end of the film as we see his true self come out. During Bethany's final performance, she think's she's performing with her acting partner, Josh, however she soon realises that the man behind the mask is someone else. Francis drags Bethany down a trap door, Bethany is screaming for help, but the audience just think it's part of the play. We see Francis take control of her and demand she perform for him like she used to. Bethany begins to flash back to when she was younger and puts the pieces together. He begins dancing with Bethany and spins her around. When Bethany stops spinning, Francis is 'gone', George eventually finds Bethany, all that is left is Bethany left in a dark room crying to her boyfriend George.

OCCUPATION: Theatre owner / director
AGE RANGE - 30 - 40
GENDER - Female
HAIR - Dark
HEIGHT - 6ft - 6 ft 2/3
BODY TYPE - Slim / Stocky
DRESS STYLE - Smart - always wearing a suit.
PERSONALITY:
-Charming
-Charismatic
-Well spoken
-Alpha male
SIBLINGS - Only child.
SPOUSE - Single.

Lucy Tailor
Lucy is a business women who looks down on her sisters ''career'' in her eyes. She believes it's just her bobbie and is quite patronising to her. Lucy is very self absorbed and whenever Bethany actually talks about herself, Lucy quickly dismisses it and very forcibly pretends to smile and get excited for her sisters career. Although she acts towards Bethany in this way, we do see her softer sides, as she is very excited and enthusiastic when George announces he 'bought the ring' for Bethany - he is planning to take her out after the big performance. Lucy works as an Editor in London and was promoted earlier on in the year, Lucy didn't tell Bethany as it shows how they never see each other. Lucy came to visit Bethany but throughout the visit only focused on herself and boasting about her career.
AGE: 30 -35
OCCUPATION: Editor
SIBLINGS: Bethany, not close
SPOUSE: Husband, James
HEIGHT: 5ft 7 - 5ft 10
BODY TYPE: Slim
HAIR: Blonde / Light brown.
DRESS STYLE: Smart, office attire
PERSONALITY:
-Mature
-Self absorbed
-Confident
-Smart

George Young
George Young is Beth's long term boyfriend, he is an at home writer and strives to become a successful author. He dresses very casual and has scruffy dark hair with thick glasses. George absolutely adores Bethany and is extremely overly caring about her, which sometimes is a downfall in the eyes of other people. George does have a short fuse and can't take criticism very well. He is a workaholic and when he's in the middle of writing or planning, he is very involved in it and it makes his temper really come out as he becomes very stressed and tired.
Lately George has been very distracted in his work, which is effecting his relationship with Bethany. He hates it when people mess his office up, or look through his work that's incomplete, so when he finds Bethany looking through it, he looses his temper completely. Bethany can be quite intimidated by George especially when he is in 'work mode', so for Bethany to go through his things is very out of the ordinary. He desperately wants to marry Bethany as he believes she is his true love. So with his already distracted life, and even more secrecy about the ring, George is not looking so good in Bethany's eyes when she finds a book in his room with pictures and numbers of her family, which turns out to be a wedding book that he's been putting together with all the contact details of the guest list. 

AGE: Late 20's, early 30's
OCCUPATION: Self employed writer
SIBLINGS: Only child
SPOUSE: Girlfriend, Bethany Hutson
HEIGHT: 5ft 10 - 5ft 11
BODY TYPE: Slim
HAIR: Dark
DRESS STYLE: Casual
PERSONALITY:
-Clever
-Overly caring
-Workaholic
-Short fuse
-Can't take criticism

Daniel McCarther
Daniel is a performance scout who is looking for the next big thing to perform in London. He is very excited by Bethany and believes she could be it. He is a 'keep to himself' kind of guy and is very enthusiastic in what he does, so when Bethany catches him taking photos of her and writing notes, he is shocked when she confronts him about it. Daniel eventually offers Bethany job in London.
AGE: 39-50
OCCUPATION: Scout for a performing company in London
SIBLINGS: 1 brother, 1 sister
SPOUSE: Married
HEIGHT: 5 ft 10
BODY TYPE: Slim
HAIR: Dark
DRESS STYLE: Smart casual suits
PERSONALITY:
-Keeps to himself
-Kind
-Quiet
-Enthusiastic

Pre - Production: PSYCHOPATH RESEARCH

When creating the character of Francis, I always wanted him to be twisted and have a certain charm to him, so, began looking into psychopaths due to there charming nature yet twisted personalities.

Looking at Psychology Today (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201401/how-tell-sociopath-psychopath) Scott Bonn explains traits of a psychopath compared to sociopaths and how they can be distinguished.

''Psychopaths, are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others, although they often have disarming or even charming personalities. Psychopaths are very manipulative and can easily gain people’s trust. They learn to mimic emotions, despite their inability to actually feel them, and will appear normal to unsuspecting people. Psychopaths are often well educated and hold steady jobs. Some are so good at manipulation and mimicry that they have families and other long-term relationships without those around them ever suspecting their true nature.

When committing crimes, psychopaths carefully plan out every detail in advance and often have contingency plans in place. Unlike their sociopathic counterparts, psychopathic criminals are cool, calm, and meticulous. Their crimes, whether violent or non-violent, will be highly organized and generally offer few clues for authorities to pursue. Intelligent psychopaths make excellent white-collar criminals and "con artists" due to their calm and charismatic natures.''

I want Francis to have stereotypical traits of a psychopath, to be charming, manipulating, and have very good social skills. This will allow him to have power as a theatre Director and CEO of the company, along with being able to charm people with his people skills and able to mimicking real emotions to make him look like a normal guy.
In the quote above they state that psychopaths often have a steady job, which is why Francis is going to be a CEO and theatre director, that way he has a normal job along with power in his hands as the director, literally 'pulling the strings' as he tells everyone how to act and what to do. Opposite to sociopaths, psychopaths are very chilled out and calm, they think rationally and don't just lash out until the crime itself happens.

I think it's very interesting how there is so many sides and traits to a psychopath as when writing a mystery film it's crucial to make sure the characters all have different sides to them. Francis being a psychopath fits perfectly with his character and who he is.

I watched the video above to give me an idea of different film psychopaths that are already out there. There is so much variety of the types of people they are however, they do all have some similar traits such as;

-Intelectual

They all have a certain way of speaking and are very thoughtful with their words.

-Emotional

Most seem to have an emotional reason behind doing what they do. In my characters case, Francis has an emotional tie to Bethany and has been attached to it to years due to his power being taken away from him.

'Patrick Bateman' in the 2000, 'American Psycho' has similar traits to Francis. He enjoys the finer things in life and portrays himself as a charming man. Although he murders, not

all psychopaths do and some often just enjoy the control and power which is why his traits relate very much to Francis. He is a successful businessman and everyone around him is delighted and charmed by him.

Pre - Production: SCREENWRITERS / PRODUCERS

As I am taking on the role of a screenwriter and producer, I wanted to research into successful producers and screen writers to look at techniques they use to help them write and produce. I want to also specifically look at screen writers who write mysteries and see how they drip feed hints and clues into the stories without giving everything away, and more importantly, how they write without SAYING everything - more descriptively.

Researching into producers will help me further understand all the elements that go into producing and I will be able to ensure I am managing my time wisely. I will look at managing the team, myself, creating time schedules, call sheets and ensuring all the cast and locations are thought about thoroughly before choosing a location.



CHRISTOPHER NOLAN.

''Do it for the love of telling the story''

Christopher Nolan is a director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for producing 'non Following' in 1998.
linear' films which are often very dramatic, phsychological and mysterious. He began making short movies when he was younger on his fathers camera, gradually creating independent low budget films and going on to directing and writing his first film '

Christopher is a huge influence in my producing and writing as he has produced and screen wrote a lot of his films such as 'Memento', 'The Prestige', 'Inception' and 'The Dark Knight'.
His films are also very enticing as he builds suspense and excitement for the audience without giving anything away. He puts a lot of thought especially into his psychological thrillers and the mysteries he writes especially in 'Inception' as the audience are left hanging and wanting to know what happens even when the film is over.

I read some articles about Christopher's writing process, which was very interesting to read. He mentions that to avoid writers block he walks around a lot, visiting new places and writing his new ideas in the morning, then returning to the draft in the evening. Christopher also states that when writing for 'The Interseller' he would write out the main 'heart' of the story, build the characters relationships and used that as the 'seed' for the rest of the story to grow. I think doing this technique is very helpful as you will have everything you initially want written down, the main plot and then the actual dialogue can come from there.

As 'Inception' is such a science fiction thriller, Nolan says that when writing he tried to write from the inside out. Which means that he would imagine himself AS the character, not the audience, he found that when doing this he would discover things along with how the audience would. Nolan mentions that he was working on the screenplay for so long because he wanted to find the 'emotional' connection to the main character, he felt it needed to have emotional stakes as it was a story that was dealing with the human mind and the 'world of dreams'. Nolan made the main character follow a journey home to his wife and children and felt like the emotional connection could allow him to finish the script.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

2) Make Your Audience Suffer
One of Hitchcock's most famous quotes, he always makes sure that the audience are always on their seats and wanting to find out what happens next. Examples of this are in his films 'Vertigo' and 'Rope'.

2) Be The Best Salesman of Your Film.
Hitchcock has often featured in his owns trailers and teasers, for example in his trailer 'North' he is walking us through the film, this works as he uses his dry humour to plan out our summer vacation in a humorous way.

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Steven Spielberg is a director, producer and screenwriter. Unlike Christopher Nolan, Spielbergs films are all very different in style and genre. He's created films such as 'Schindler's List', 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'War Horse'.

The Right Kind of Collaboration is Key

Steven says that filmmaking is different from being young and being an adult. When you're young you can mess about bossing your friends around, but as an adult filmmaker it's a'll about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with, and you always need to remember that you could never have made any of these films by yourself. I definitely agree with this and when producing the film I need to make sure that all the cast and crew and chosen specifically for the film, to make sure that everything is right and to how the director and I envisioned it. As a producer I need to make sure that everyone feels involved and is appreciated.

I also found some tips from screenwriter Brian Koppelman.

1) Instead of reading screenwriting books, read about your subject. The subject that fascinates compels and interests you.

2) I can't tell you how to write dialogue and build a character. No expert can either. You have to love writing enough to figure it out for yourself.

3) Always write for yourself but don't be self-indulgent. Define your audience and write for them too.

4) When I say write what fascinates you, that's because it's easier to show up every day and do the work when you're truly passionate.

Looking at producers and screenwriters has helped me think more creatively about my writing and producing, especially researching into Christopher Nolan who does both and does a great job of his. I really like his creative thought that goes into the films he makes. Christopher also turned down writing Inception when he was asked to, as he felt the script wasn't written to its full potential and he wanted to develop it further by himself.

Brian Koppelman made me think more about actuallyy researching into my characters more for writing the script; although i've researched what I want them to act like and look like - I need to look into people who actually have the same attributes as them; such as one of the main characters who I want to be a psychopath. I am going to research into the attributes of a psychopath and how I can show it through the film without giving off the wrong impression. I am also going to read some books such as 'Scriptwriting - A Practical Manual' by Dwight V Swain and 'FilmCraft: Screenwriting' by Tim Grierson to help me begin writing my first draft script.

http://comfortpit.com/top-101-writing-tips-hollywood-screenwriter-brian-koppelman/