Risk Assessment

Planning - Another change to cast

After several conversations we came to the conclusion that using Trinity would not be a practical idea, as finding a time to film that we were all free was nearly impossible, and due to her age she would require her Father present at all times - another barrier. Our main actress Alissa has a younger sister named Bluebell who agreed to being the daughter in our trailer. Bluebell is a 4 year old, extremely cute child, fitting in with how she will be a stereotypical victim. We felt this would be a beneficial decision as she would be comfortable acting with her sister, and the chemistry between them would be stronger. Alissa would also be able to be there as her guardian, and protect her from all risks.

Costume for Actors

Our main Mother character will be wearing a long pink trench-style coat throughout the trailer and film. The colour pink is connotative of innocence, gracefulness and femininity, reinforcing that she is an unusually young mother, whilst also displaying to the audience that she is likely to be a victim. The colour is also suggestive of fun, showing how she is still young and energetic, adding to the idea that she may still be irresponsible. The style of coat however shows maturity and dignity, counteracting the initial idea as it suggests she is mature and serious. The outfit is very typical, therefore meaning that varying ages of female audiences could relate and believe a similar thing could happen to them. We have decided that the actress will wear the coat in all shots, showing how her dedication to finding her daughter has led to a lack of self-care. It will also be a recognisable motif that audiences will connect with through advertising, the trailer, and the film.


Our little daughter character will be wearing a long green coat and a red bow in her hair. Red bows are connotative of childlike innocence and will make the daughter appear more adorable, therefore meaning our audiences will be deeply impacted when she is taken. Green can be associated with the natural world, and safety, juxtaposing with the dreadful situation occurring, destabilising audiences.

Planning - Sound Effects

Using several different websites such as 'Freesound.ord' and Freeplaymusic.com' we have found many royalty free sound effects that we thought could be incorporated into our trailer, adding multiple layers of sound, therefore making the trailer more professional and interesting. Above is a sound effect of a police cars sirens - a noise which immediately connotes danger and risk. This means that audiences will be impacted emotionally. The noise of sirens is also conventionally found in crime films, as the police are the ones who deal with crimes and offences, such as that of our film.


When researching previous trailers I found that quiet, intimidating music was often used in thriller/horror trailers in order to leave the audience in suspense, however whether this would be suitable for our crime-thriller trailer is something in which we would have to experiment with. I believe the sound above could be of possible usage, as it builds in pace towards the end of the track, which is typical of thriller trailers.



I think that other sound effects such as children laughing and playing could be a unique element of our trailer, which would be used the emphasise the Mothers delusional and desperate thinking. Over time, children have become a main subject in horror films, as they have a larger emotional impact on audiences, therefore I feel like our plot, along with these theme of sound effects could help us achieve this same effect in our thriller trailer.


We are planning to film an high angle, close-up shot of an alcohol bottle smashing, but I am worried about our camera not being able to pick up the noise of the smash. Therefore we could use this sound effect of a glass bottle smashing to dramatise this action, and shock audiences.

News Report Voiceover

We decided to ask teachers in our schools English department to read out our script of the news report to record as a voiceover, because we felt they would be confident and clear speakers - matching that of real news reporters. After recording several different teachers, in attempt to find the most suitable, we chose this one as we felt her voice was formal and understandable. The news report would be edited in to the end of our trailer, as this will reinforce the verisimilitude of the trailer, intriguing and frightening our young adult/mother target audience.

Planning - Props

Online we ordered Police style type, which will typically be found at the scene of a crime. We are planning to film footage of tape around the park on a different day to the initial scene involving Sarah (Alissa) and Rosie (daughter), in order to show the lengthy time scale involved in the search for the child. This prop adds to the verisimilitude of the trailer, exciting audiences because it feels like reality. In my research I found that similar style tape is used in 'Gone Girl', therefore felt it would be important to include in our trailer, as it signifies danger and establishes the genre.

We are going to include close up shots of the Mother character flicking through other posters of missing children, showing the audience how she is investigating similar cases, and seeing if they have any possible link to her own daughters disappearance. This will show her intelligence, contrasting to the fact people will be questioning her irresponsibility, creating a deeper meaning to the film/trailer. It also suggests that she is taking matters into her own hands, which a detective will tell her not to - creating anxiety and suspense within the audience. 

In our trailer we are also planning to film an extreme close up, or an aerial shot a bottle of alcohol smashing, like the bottle below. This will emphasise the Mothers desperation, but again presents her as an irresponsible teenager who is relying on alcohol/drugs to fix her problems. The shot of the bottle smashing could be used as a subtle plot twist, suggesting that she is choosing to discard the alcohol, and persistently continue on her hunt. This will create an ambiguous character in which many audiences will be unsure of their opinion towards. However we felt this could be a unique selling point to our film, which would create conversation between audiences and friends/family, therefore promoting our film. Alcoholism is a common theme I found which occurred in my research into crime-thriller films, with Nick from 'Gone Girl' relying on alcohol, and in 'Before I go to Sleep'. It is also a stereotype that young adults are alcoholics, therefore could be an interesting theme in the film and trailer.





We felt that time was an important factor the include in our trailer, emphasising the long and seemingly never-ending wait for her daughter. We decided to use a clock prop, using shots both before and after when it was broken, as a symbol for the Mothers impatience and irritation. It could also be representative of her loosing track of time, again displaying her paranoia. Sound effects of clocks ticking are commonly used in crime, thriller and horror films, and is recognised by audiences as a symbol of nervousness and frustration.

Planning - Script for Detective Scene

In many crime/thriller films detectives are involved, especially in films where missing people are involved. We felt that this would be an intriguing element we could incorporate into our trailer, particularly to show the Mothers severity and longing to find her daughter. We are planning to film this in a dark room, with spotlight lighting - a typical detective office setting, meaning that audiences can identify with the setting immediately. We felt this would be another opportunity for us to subtly convey the doubt people, including the detective, were feeling due to the Mothers young age. We wanted the detective to act as a composed character who believed in the power of the police, and reinforces how the Mother should not attempt to get involved. Therefore, when shots are used to allude to the fact the Mother is taking the situation into her own hands, audiences will become more excited at the thought of rules being broken.

We wanted the scene to start in the middle of the conversation, creating another enigma because audiences are unaware of the conversation prior to the footage.

Script

Alissa (Desperate and angry)  -  Detective moor you HAVE to help me, I will do anything to find her, I mean anything

Detective (Calm, cool and collected)– No Sarah, you will do nothing. As much as I hate to say it, this is not your business now.

Alissa – Not my business, how dare you! This is my daughter. My everything.

Detective – If you want to find Rosie, you must leave it to the police. They know what they are doing.

Alissa- What exactly do I do then detective? Sit here and wait?

Detective – No you can help us. So how old was Rosie?

Alissa – She IS 4 years old.

Detective – and you are 18 I believe yes?

Alissa- Yes, is that a problem?

(Silence)

Detective – No, of course not…

Planning - Possible Locations

As one of the main events of the trailer, and whole film in general will be a game of hide and seek, choosing a location to set this game was important to us. Our trailer is going to be set in an ordinary British town - St Neots, where this type of situation would not be commonly expected, making it more discomforting and sinister.

As well as considering general field settings, we decided that a park would be the best place to set this part of the trailer. This is because parks have happy and positive connotations and are considered a safe place for children, therefore when the child disappears audiences will be more shocked and distressed. It will also be a good place to play hide and seek, and opens up opportunities for various shot types and movements. As there are many parks in our area we felt it would be beneficial to visit them all to see how we could use various elements in our filming. We eventually decided to use the park closest to our school (the top picture) for many reasons, such as for convenience, but also because there is a large forest and field surrounding the park which we felt we could use to our advantage during filming.

We will also be filming various scenes around our area to use as establishing shots - as these are commonly used in film trailers. Large fields could be symbolic of the isolation the Mother in our trailer is feeling, and we will also be filming train tracks which are strongly connected with danger.

Planning - Creating a Detective Suspect Board

One of our props for our trailer is going to be a display/evidence board of suspects, locations, victims and witnesses, as these are often seen in crime and thriller films. This will enforce the seriousness of the case, causing the audience to increasingly fear the outcome. 

In order to create the board we first had to take close up shots of people who could be considered as suspects. We decided to use the style of prisoner mug shots, using both a frontal and a side view of the subject. After taking the photos we then had the edit them using Adobe Photoshop, adding in the height chart for the background, changing the photos to black and white, and adding in the 'plague board' with their name, as these are all conventional of the police photos. We decided to use 2 males and 1 female, all of differing ages, adding to how a clear path of who took the child has not been established. All age people are involved in crime, and any aged person could devise a criminal offence/kidnapping, causing the audience to be frightened and question the safety of their own family and friends etc.

Planning - Change to Characters/Cast

As a group we have decided to change one of our character ideas. We were initially planning to have a role for Sarah's (Alissa) Mother, and Rosie's (Trinity) Grandmother, to act as a figure placing responsibility on her daughter having a baby at such a young age. However, we have decided to change this idea, and decided to use several voiceovers, which will repeat phrases such as "I told you not to have a baby this young", "You are so irresponsible" and "This is your fault Sarah". We changed to this as we felt that, through editing, we would be able to make it appear as though these were thoughts circulating inside Sarah's mind, which would escalate her breakdown and deterioration.

Planning - Script for News Report Voiceover

"Rosie Jones, aged 4, was reported missing on Thursday the 13^th of October. She was last seen at Priory Park, St Neots in Cambridgeshire, where she was with her Mother – Sarah Jones. The police have been looking for five days, and are still appealing for witnesses to come forward with any information."

Towards the end of our trailer we plan to include a voiceover of a news-style report, nationally announcing the disappearance of the young girl. This presents the sincerity of the vanishing of the child, causing the audience to become distressed and anxious, therefore desiring to see the full film and the outcome of the situation. To create the script we carried out research into other reports of missing children.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/oct/01/girl-aged-five-missing-mid-wales

http://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/syracuse-police-looking-for-missing-child

Planning - Make-up

A close friend, Jemma, is currently as college studying 'media make-up'. As cuts and blood are conventional to the crime/thriller genre, we contacted Jemma to see if she would be able to create some for us to film. It would involve us filming close-up shots of the cuts, leaving it ambiguous as to where the cuts are and who they are on, intensifying the uncertainty of the situation. Below are some previous examples of work Jemma has created.

Planning - Finding a day to film

Deciding a day to film with our two cast members was quite a problematic process, as we wanted all of our group members to be present, but obviously needed both of the actors too. As various members of our group and our main actress have part-time jobs, we needed to fit in filming around this, as well as around school time. Arrangements of travel to our park destination were also needed to be put in place.

Communicating with the cast:

Communicating with the group:

Planning - Choosing the Cast

As a group we felt that casting was an important planning process that we needed to consider, as good acting would be needed to create verisimilitude and create a realistic attempt of a film trailer. The main roles we needed to cast would be the young and irresponsible mother, and the victim- her daughter. We found that casting was actually an extremely difficult process, as not only did we need people who were willing the feature, but were also available on the dates that we planned to film.

Young Mother Role:

Raffan was a potential cast member for the role of the Mother who looses her daughter. She is a drama student and has been in many plays and shows, demonstrating how her acting skills would be beneficial for us. However, as Raffan is only 16 we felt she may be too young to act as a Mother figure, and our trailer may not seem as genuine as it could be. We considered using both make-up and costume to create the idea that she was older than her actual age, however we thought this could incur higher costs.






We decided to cast Alissa as our Mother actor. Alissa is an A-Level drama student looking to pursue acting as a career, therefore we felt it would beneficial for both us and for her. Alissa will soon be 19, and we felt this would be the perfect age for our role, as there are many people who would have young children at this age. Alissa is also blonde and attractive, which in research I found were two main stereotypes for a victim, such as in the trailers for 'Before I go to Sleep' and 'Gone Girl'. However Alissa is committed therefore would be able to act as the determined, but vulnerable, Mother on the hunt for her missing daughter.

Daughter Role:

We immediately knew that finding a cast member for the daughter would be much harder, as they would parental permission and we would be likely to need to have their parent present on the filming day. Another important aspect would be finding someone who could be a convincing daughter of Alissa, looking like her as much as possible. We knew that filming with children would be difficult, so we decided that the less filming they needed to be in the better, and as the character is supposed to be missing this was appropriate! We wanted to find a endearing and likeable character, as during research I found that the victim in thriller films is normally a charming character, because a greater impact is created when they are hurt/missing etc. In my research I didn't come across many thriller films that involved children, as audiences may think the storyline would be simplified. However we believe that the use of a child as a victim could be a unique selling point of our film and would be something that could entice a wider range of audiences.

Amelia, a 5 year old girl was our initial idea. She is confident and being my family member, would be comfortable working with us. However, an issue was location as she does not live locally, therefore finding a time and location we could all access would have been extremely difficult. 

Trinity, a 5 year old sister of one of our group members was our final decision, as we felt with blonde hair she would match perfectly with our Mother actor - Alissa. She is a cute and likeable character, meaning that audiences are pitiful when she disappears, and therefore are desperate for her to be found - increasing anticipation and suspense.







We are also going to have a role for Alissa's mother/Trinity's Grandmother. She will be the figure who blames the disappearance on Alissa's young age and believes that she is responsible for loosing the child. This represents the view of many individuals in society who disagree with women having children at very young ages, but this will be contrasted with Alissa's severe desperation and dedication to finding her daughter. This will be a controversial topic, which could possibly bring increased public attention to our film/trailer.