Planning- Cast List

     After completing the script, we decided the next best step would be to create our cast list. Because we plan on beginning filming soon, having set in stone actors will make the transition process into production easier, giving them time to familiarize themselves with their character, and their overall role in the film.

    We agreed that we needed the people playing Derek and Lisa to have a good dynamic to ensure the film doesn't feel dull. Derek needs to be played by a fit actor, which led us to the decision of the current person we have chosen to fit this roll. Both the actors chosen have met the needs required for this film, and are both easy to work with.

Lisa's actress:

Dereks actor:

Next steps:

    Now that we have our actors picked out, we can start planning costume design. We needed to wait to make any costuming purchases to ensure they would fit the actor's body's. Our next steps will be for me and my co-star to familiarize ourselves with the script, and grasp a deep understanding of how these characters should be perceived.

    For the costumes, we think the characters will be dressed pretty basic, with styles being from the 2010's. Because our character Derek is older, he will be dressed more maturely compared to Lisa, with will be dressed in a 2018 styled outfit.

Planning- Script

Our script:

     Now that we have submitted a project proposal, a rough storyboard, and our title ideas, we decided that making a rough draft of the script would be our next option. Revisions may need to be made as we go, but as of right now it works and follows majority of our storyboard.

  In the writing process, we had to consider the max amount of time each scene could be due to our two minute time limit. In our original storyboard, we planned on having a male character walk to his car and turn on the radio, which would play the case out loud. We think this would've led us to go over our time limit, therefore we scrapped it.

    In compensation, we included Derek having a daughter being falsely accused of a crime. By making Lisa the main protagonist of the film, it makes it feel like more of a movie opening, rather than a short film, which executes our given goal well.

    Although this is a rough draft and may have some minor changes throughout the filming process, it checks off all the boxes of what we envisioned while planning our story.

Next Steps:

    The next step in our planning process will be for us to revise and edit the prop list to fit the changes we've made for our film opening. Once we finish that, we will begin to gather the set pieces, and think about places to film in. We have a rough idea of where we should film, but we need to ensure these places fit the vibe we are going towards.

 

 

 

Planning- Production Timeline

Our timeline:

     Due to the fact that we are about a month away from the end date of our production, we've broke down a production timeline to get an idea of how much we should be working on every week, and to keep ourselves organized.

    We aim to start February 22nd, and end by March 14th. This timeline gives us plenty of time because our project is due by March 16th. This timeline is also beneficial because filming and editing may only take about a week and a half, but we have given ourselves more time to ensure we execute this film opening to Cambridges expectations.

    Our group plans to secure all of our prop supplies by February 22nd, giving us around a week to gather everything. After we have acquired all of our materials, we can begin filming. In order to film, we need it to be dark out to match the color grading. We will film for three days, February 27th-28th, then we will finish on March 1st. Because all these dates land on weekends, it makes it easier for the cast to show up without needing to move around plans. If needed, we will move around the dates to accommodate to the cast and crew.

    Right after filming we will go straight into editing. The first week of March we will focus solely to editing and aligning the audios of the clips together. The following week will be used for special effects, color correction, and any other elements to display slasher horror.

    Creating a production timeline has allowed us to create a good idea of when we need to work, how hard, and how fast we must work in order to successfully create our film opening.

Next steps:

    Our next steps will be to write out our scripts, so we can get a head start and send them over to our actors, so they will be able to understand the mannerisms of the characters, and get familiar with their lines. This will also give us enough time to adjust the script if needed. 

Planning- Title

Titles:

     After completing our storyboards, we thought the next step of action should be planning our title fonts and colors. These titles will be shown throughout our film opening.

    We began by brainstorming the theme of our movie and the meaning behind it. This started by looking at how the court system plays a role in the killer and the main protagonists motivations. We thought that because the reasoning for the killers actions are to "serve justice" and kill murderers, we should reflect it in the title. That is how the title "A Brutal Sentencing" came about. 

    To grasp an idea of what our title would look like, Adam created a poster. We made sure the title was red to insinuate blood, because blood is a significant factor in slasher films. The font used is "DM Serif Display" which creates a sharp look, which fits the title perfectly.

    We decided the title of the film would pop up between the scene of the murder of the serial killer and the following scene of the daughter being arrested. The listing of the cast and any other titles will be at the beginning of the opening when the killer is sketching up blueprints. We may have him listening to a song in the background, which will transition him from a montage of him planning with the names of the cast popping up through the song in the background.

Next steps:

   The next part in our planning process will be writing out a full rough draft of the script for our film opening, which will be helpful in planning future ideas. Planning our title has helped because it gives us a broad idea of where we can implement the title into the film.

Planning- Props and Settings

 Scene 1: The garage:

    We start by showing a "throwaway" character who looks like the villain. He is surrounded by victim photos and a moving body bag to establish him as a serial killer. As he leaves to get water, we will catch a glimpse of our true killer hiding in the shadows.

Scene 2: The house:

    The character enters the kitchen, where large windows show the dark backyard. We will use a sudden noise to build tension. As he looks away from the window, the audience will see the killer’s reflection, signaling that the character is being hunted.

Scene 3: Cut to the main character:

    As the character returns to the garage, our masked killer emerges from the dark. Wearing a black suit, he uses a gavel to take down the serial killer. He then opens a briefcase and writes "Guilty" on a file, establishing his signature.

Scene 4: The protagonist:

    We cut to our main character in his car. Through close-ups of an ankle monitor and court papers, we show he is out on bail for a crime. A radio news report about the killer plays, letting the audience know he is the next target.

https://share.google/PP7kPJsIbN8XYSl5B

Planning- Storyboarding

 The Concept:

    This slasher explores what happens when a vigilante takes the law too far. Our killer doesn’t care about actual guilt or innocence; if you were ever involved in a murder trial, you are on the list. This includes people who were wrongly convicted or even those found not guilty. By targeting everyone regardless of the truth, our film shows the audience that his version of "justice" is actually broken and dangerous.

Killer Design:

    The killer’s look is inspired by the courtroom. He wears a sharp black suit like a lawyer and a creepy mask. We are considering adding a "peruke" (a traditional judge’s wig) to the mask to make him look more intimidating. His weapons are objects found in a court, like a heavy gavel, a rope from a jury box, and sharpened scales of justice. He also carries a briefcase where he marks his victims as "Guilty" after each kill.

Opening Scene:   

• The Garage: We start with a "serial killer" character in a dark garage surrounded by body bags and news clippings. Suddenly, our main antagonist, the Justice Killer, appears from the shadows. The victim is caught off guard, showing that even a killer is no match for this new threat.
• The Main Character: We then cut to our protagonist in a car. He is listening to a news report about the garage murder. We will see an ankle monitor or legal papers in his car, instantly letting the audience know that he is also a target, even though he might be innocent.

Production Details:

• Lighting: We want the garage to be very dark with heavy shadows to make the killer’s entrance more dramatic.
• Effects: We want the kills to look realistic but not overly gory. We will use high-quality fake blood and practical props to keep the audience immersed.
• Sound: The scene will start with eerie silence, followed by intense music during the struggle, ending with a loud, sharp cut to our title card.

The Full Story:

    If we turned this into a full movie, it would follow the protagonist and his defense attorney. The attorney has a personal connection to the theme because her father died in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The story would follow various victims, some truly guilty and some innocent, forcing the audience to question if the killer is a hero or a monster.

What I Learned:

    

    Planning this opening taught our team that every shot needs a purpose. By starting with a "throwaway" kill that subverts expectations, we can hook the audience immediately. Our goal is to create a scary slasher that also makes people think about the flaws in the justice system.

Project Plan

Introduction:

    For our media studies coursework, my team and I are developing an original opening sequence for a slasher film. We are approaching this as a collaborative environment where we can lean into each other’s technical strengths. We plan to utilize our collective skills in cinematography and post production to ensure we cover each other’s weaknesses and deliver a high caliber final product.

Why We Chose Slasher:

    We gravitated toward the slasher sub-genre because of its mastery of the "opening hook." Iconic franchises like "Scream" and "Halloween" have set a high bar for cold opens that are fast-paced, visceral, and immediately engaging. For us, the challenge lies in capturing that same intensity while using the genre’s tropes to explore more complex social themes.

Target Audience:

    Our target demographic is the 16–30 age bracket. This group historically shows the highest engagement with horror and is increasingly invested in true-crime narratives. By weaving themes of judicial failure and systemic flaws into the plot, we hope to resonate with an audience that is already critical of the modern justice system.

Representation:

    The narrative centers on a protagonist who is a victim of "wrong place, wrong time" circumstances, exacerbated by racial profiling. By casting our lead as a minority, we can visually and narratively highlight how bias influences the scales of justice.

Software:

    To achieve a professional "look" on a low budget, we are focusing heavily on lighting and post-production.

• Production: We’re prioritizing high-dynamic-range cameras to manage the low-light demands of night shoots.
• Post-Production: Adobe Premiere Pro will be our hub for editing and color grading. I plan to use After Effects for title design and to polish any practical blood effects.
• Sound: We’ll be cleaning and layering our audio in post to ensure the "stings" and ambient noise are as unsettling as the visuals.

Production Workflow:

    The sequence consists of several key beats filmed in chronological order to maintain consistency. First, we will film in a kitchen to capture a throwaway kill. This location allows us to use windows to create a sense of being watched while the victim is distracted by mundane tasks. Next, we will move to a garage to film the transition of the door opening. Finally, we will utilize a car where our main character enters and turns on the radio. This serves as a diegetic sound bridge to transition the mood or provide exposition via news reports.

Storyboard #1:

Research- Editing Software

 Slasher horror intro:

• Slow pacing, restrained movement, little dialogue
• Empty areas, night scenes, shadows
• Danger is implied, not shown
• View should know within the first 30 seconds that it is a horror movie

     We will be using both "Premiere Pro" and "After Effects" to create our film opening. While Premier Pro creates rhythm and tension, After Effects will make our intro cinematic.

Premiere Pro:

• Where we will import clips, music, and sound effects
• We can arrange clips in order on the timeline
• Premiere Pro allows us to use hard cuts rather than transitions
• It keeps clips dark
• We are able to add background sounds or even silence
• We can control the pacing to be slow, creating uneasiness 

After Effects:

• After Effects will let us create the title, and credits if needed
• We can animate opacity, scale, or blur to help signal to the audience something is wrong
• It also allows us to add overlays like film grain, flicker, or light distortion
• We can add effects to the text such as a small jitter or a fade in/out to make the text imperfect

Why they work well together:

     These two software editing apps work well together because they are built for different jobs. Premiere Pro is used to cut clips, build structure, and creates the overall story telling. On the other hand, After Effects allows us to change how things look without worrying about the overall edit. You are also able to send a title or clip from Premiere to After Effects, which saves time and keeps everything synced. The big picture is, Premiere controls when things happen, while After Effects creates the tone.

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/video/premiere-pro-vs-after-effects.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/ph_fil/premiere-pro/how-to/trim-video-clips.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/dynamic-link-effects.html

Research- Color Theory in Slasher Horror

 Core pallete of slasher horror:

- Red: Dual-edged sword (serves two distinct purposes)

   ~ The killer: commonly represented through the color red (red lighting/clothes). This signals danger and aggression.

   ~ Life force: Red represents the blood of the victim. When red floods a scene, it signifies a "point of no return) has been reached.

- Blue/Cyan: Cold isolation (makes environment feel inhospitable)

    ~Night scenes: Film makers use deep blue's rather than black to create a "clinical" feeling

    ~Moonlight: Moonlight being blue compared to naturally being white provides enough visibility for the viewers to see the killer in the shadows and it keeps the "temperature" of the scene.

- Yellow and green: sickness of the setting (commonly used in "grammy" slashers)

    ~ "Uncanny" feeling: yellow and green mimic the look of mold, decay, and infection.

    ~ Anxiety: Psychologically, yellow is associated with caution and anxiety. When a room flickers with yellow lights, it signals that something is wrong before anythings actually happened

Color contrast strategies:

Contrast Pair	Psychological Effect	Example
Blue vs. Orange	Highlights the vulnerability of the human body against a supernatural or alien environment.	Prey: The orange firelight of the Comanche camp provides a desperate contrast to the cold, blue-tinted forest where the Predator hunts.
Green vs. Red	Creates a sense of biological wrongness or extreme visceral violence.	Pearl: The hyper-saturated green of the farm fields clashes with the bright red of Pearl’s dress and the ensuing gore.
Black vs. White	Uses "negative space" to create to emphasize a ghostly, unnatural presence.	Barbarian: The white flashlights of the protagonists struggle to cut through the pitch-black "void" of the hidden basement tunnels.

Lighting as color ("Giallo" influence):

- Used for a more retro look in slasher films

    ~ Uses "unnatural" colors (bright purples, vivid reds, deep greens) to create a dreamlike quality