Makeup and Prosthetics

The Makeup for our film

For our thriller we decided to research into makeup. I know a friend who studies makeup and special effects. She specialises in prosthetics and is amazing at doing fake cuts, and bruises which is exactly what we wanted. We wanted to use makeup on my face as we thought it would heighten the drama in our film, and make it easier to understand the situation of the opening sequence. Having stressed out makeup creates a more realistic atmosphere for the viewer. Making someone feel uncomfortable is a big part of a thriller genre, so to achieve that level of uncomfort we wanted to show signs of abuse. You can use makeup in so many ways, it can be used to create a large variety different looks. Makeup can be make a scene more traumatic, and scary for the audience.

We used:

• Mascara - In our opening sequence, Love has been kidnapped, so, wanted to show her fear and vulnerability through tears, or in this case dried out tears. Conventionally in thriller movies, or any form of a sad movie, when a girl is crying, it is shown to viewers through wet black mascara under her eyes, implying that she cried. We decided to put mascara on my eyes, and rub them a tiny bit so it gave the effect of me being upset. We tried this multiple times until it looked realistic and perfect, because a couple times it turned out a bit to dramatic. 
• Eye shadow, Fake Blood, and Sponge - to make it look like Love struggled a bit while being kidnapped we added some fake blood and a bruise to her forehead. We asked my friend and she showed me how to create a fake bruise/cut, in a very simple way. What I did was I got a purple and brown eye shadow pallet, and used the sponge to dab a bit onto my head, this created a bruise and looked like I had been hit. However we didn't stop there, as we thought if we left it as is, then it wouldn't look dramatic enough. We went a step further and decided to add (fake) blood, to make the wound look fresh and extra gory. 

I think makeup is an essetial part of a movie, especially in horror films, because it allows for visual effects to be added to a person, without having to actually hurt/do what the special effect is meant look like to them. 

The psychology to why young people like horrors

A lot of young people go to horror films because they want excitement. They want to be frightened and go through a thrilling experience. A lot of young people choose thrilling activities because they want to experience the adrenaline rush. Horror films provide a lot of different emotions throughout the film. They are really engaging due to the content within them, being unusual and not things you would see on a day to day basis. They have disturbing images and make sway people from one emotion to the other, Horrors need to be payed attention to when watching them, as they aim to control the viewers

through an emotional experience. 

Thrillers are used for social integration, and personal values, and therefore is a very popular genre. A lot of people also watch thrillers as it helps them escape the real world, they use the emotions and story to emerge themselves in the experience of the fictional world.

People may watch thrillers to gain insight to other circumstances and to identify with others, as someone they know is going through an experience/issue, so they might use the movie as a way to understand and relate. 

A lot of people watch films when they are together for an occasion or to come together, this can be a special moment for younger teens because this is the culture they were brought up in. Movies are used in social gatherings, whether day or night, and can bring people with similar interests together.

The psychological aspect of thriller films aids conversation because people like to boast about working out the ending before their friends. Thrillers are shown a lot in schools, to show a clear difference in behaviour, and help teach what is good from bad. most thrillers have a clear good character and a clear bad character. This could encourage people’s behaviour, as they can relate and identify with the characters. A person may be able to gain insight into themselves by seeing similarities between them and a character. 

I asked people what their main reasons for watching thrillers were and these were the main answers. 

3 of the most popular answers were:

1. Being able to experience danger without actually being in danger. - A lot of people said this because it gives them an adrenaline rush without there being any harm, the adrenaline releases endorphins in the brain causing a good feeling.
2. Action, suspense, anxiety, drama all of these things are hard to turn away from- Thrillers create a lot of different emotions, for the viewer. The viewers get to experience a fluctuation of emotions in under 2 hours, which is very exciting because of the constant spikes in endorphins. 
3.  The unknown aspect of most thrillers is quite exciting - I think this related to a lot of people, as the exciting thing about thrillers is that you don't know what’s going to happen next, humans have a natural tendency to be curious, so when plot points are released in a pace rather than all at ones, the viewer gets to experience and learn new points as the movie plays on. a great thriller has a complex story line and can be challenging in a good way to follow, so as a viewer you are always guessing what is going to happen next.

Feedback on idea from class

Our target audience is between the ages of 17-30, therefore I asked students in my Media studies class who are within this age range, what their opinions are on this film and how they would improve on it to make it more appealing to them. 

We (Me and Libby) presented to them the idea, the plot and showed them the storyboard, then had a Q&A. 

Below is a transcription of the questions they asked us and our answers to them.

Question 1

I don't understand how the story board relates to the dual personality disorder of the main character, how this disorder shown in the film, and in the story board?

Throughout the whole film, there will be 2 different voices, a very deep angered one and a slightly normal higher pitched one, each representing different emotions. The higher voice, will represent happiness/kindness, and the lower deeper voice will be shown to represent anger/sadness. Throughout the scene, you don't actually see the main character, which will also give off a mysterious vibe about him and draw a lot of curiosity from the audience. It is done to make the audience question who he is, and if they think it is more than one character, or how long has he been here, etc. However, you will see glimpses of his eyes, and maybe shoes, depending on how long our film is, they glimpses will be used to give hints as to hat he might look like, ultimately to be used as a way to make viewers develop their own imagination while watching it.

Question 2

Where would you film this?

We have found a place an abandoned police station in Chelsea, it belongs to my [Yehuda’s] friend, he is currently renovating it for something, I don’t know, and we have been granted permission to use it.

Question 3

Who are your actors going to be? 

The girl actor is going to be Libby, project partner, as she does drama A-Level and she understands what the film is about, therefore we thought it would be appropriate for her to be in it. The male character is going to be another friend of mine [Yehuda’s]. Our character needs to be tall and threatening, his body needs to contrast with the girl’s. My [Yehuda’s] friend is 6 ft. 7 inch and willing to act.

Question 4

What are the roses used for, and how are they used to create meaning in the film?

The roses tie in with a back story that was created for the evil character. They are integrated into the film. The roses are representing the girl’s emotions, and her current state of mind. When the vase breaks, it’s to show the power of the fear and shock that took over her mind.

Question 5

How are you going to show a cut hand, with glass, without hurting yourself, as that is a very big risk?

For the glass, we looked up ways to make sugar glass. We found a few recipes and we are going to make it and use it for when the girl cuts her hand by accident. To make it even more realistic we are going to buy fake blood to make it look more believable, rather than using red paint or ketchup. 

Question 6

So far, the ending and general story sounds like it is missing something, the ending sound too plain, how are you going to make the ending more interesting and intense?

For now, the ending is her eye and some panicking voice. But I will definitely take this feedback and use it to develop my story further and clearer.

Question 7

What are the characters’ names?

We actually haven’t thought of that yet, we will decide very soon.

Research into different font types and the effect of an opening title

Updated story of film

The film is about a girl who gets kidnapped by an anonymous man. She is trapped in a prison cell not knowing how or when she got there. You don’t see the villain throughout the film. She doesn't talk much. But he talks a lot and is very smart with his words, his aim is to mentaly torture her

The aesthetics are inspired by Suicide Squad, MANIA by The Weekend, and Doctor Strange. 

The story was inspired by my, my friends and my family member’s ideas. I had my base idea of what it should be like, they suggested ideas and I added what I liked. Some friends even helped me adjust my base idea too. This will be used to write the script. 

She wakes up and finds herself laying on the floor in a medium sized room dark room surrounded by broken glass. It is dead silent and all she can hear is water drops and her heart beating. She looks around propped on her elbow, investigating the dimensions of the room, as she looks around her eyes lock onto a broken vase with beautiful red roses laying on a stool in the corner where she is. She gets up and accidentally presses her hand into glass and cuts her hand. She disregards it and in some way, ignores it, showing no explicit sign of pain. As she gets up, using the wall as a support, she leaves a smear of blood across the wall. She looks at the aesthetics of the room and investigates where she is. She eventual fixes her eyes on the only door and starts to creep slowly towards it in hesitation. As she gets close, suddenly a pair of eyes jump out from the deep dark and shout at her. She flinches back. With a deep voice, he threatens her and lunges in the room. However, an additional lighter voice in the background lashes back at the deeper voice for being so aggressive towards her. They start to argue. They stop and the eyes focus on her, giving a stare that can hear her soul. He talks to her in a smooth manipulative way and pushes himself further in the room, the girl starts to feel very threatened. As he walks forward, he casts a larger shadow across the room, hinting to how big he is. She creeps backwards and steps on more broken glass with her feet, again disregarding it. He says his final words before he leaves, comments on her stupidity for stepping on the glass, and informs her why she is in a prison cell. He then walks out slowly and slams the door behind him. She is left lying on the floor with bleeding feet and a bleeding hand. The roses begin to fall on the floor. She is Completely in aw, as to what just happened. 

She experiences some anxiety attack, recollects herself and gets up. Looking at the door she hesitantly walks towards it. She knocks on the door fiercely, and the door clicks open.  The door lets in an eerie flow of air in. She walks out. She sees the corridor, looking right and left, noticing how the right side is pitch black and threatening, she walks left, towards the coloured lights, passing countless amounts of doors through the curved corridors, leading herself to a room. The room is filled with classical music and decorated with an assortment of faces, each labelled with an assigned emotion. However, Happiness, Anger, and Love are missing. They have no face assigned to them. 

Extra story:

Curious, she walks in, and suddenly hears a large roar coming from down stairs, so powerful, it stops the music and shakes the room. But nothing is falling. She runs out for her life, drowned in fear she runs right, getting lost in the labyrinth of the ward. It was designed to be unescapable by patients, therefore it has a complex architecture. A quiet build-up of ground crushing footsteps echo in the halls, slamming closer and closer towards her. She runs, starts to tear up, waving blood all over the walls. She finds a place to hide. Breathing heavily, drowned in fear, she stuffs herself in her hiding spot praying for him to not find her. Suddenly a quiet set of footsteps gently walk across the floor, he breathes heavily, she breathes quieter, tension builds up causing pain to her chest. A foot emerges from the corner of her eye, and a gold crusted axe drops near them. He walks away and she stuffs herself smaller. She waits a few minutes and walks out looking at her surroundings in paranoia.  

Updated Brainstorm idea sheet

Updated Brainstorm idea sheet

Storyboard V2.0

Mood board

This mood board contains images that show what and how the props, setting, and characters should look like. The prison images to the right are pictures of the actual set we are going to use for filming, we chose this place because it perfectly gives of a creepy/eerie feel, and is the perfect size and shape. The broken glass shown above them is a picture of broken sugar glass, it’s there to help visualise what the broken glass in the movie will look like. 

The illustration drawings are there to show my development of how the costumes should look like. When I was thinking of what each character should wear I thought ‘what would a person find laying around psych prison ward floors’. So, I assumed you would find a patient’s gown. I drew the first costume for the girl, then I thought I should add sweatpants because they might have used those in the winter for the prisoners. I drew the second costume, then I thought it doesn’t look right so I drew a sweatshirt too. The last drawing at the bottom of the page is what the girl’s costume will look like in the film. 

Even though you don’t see autem in the film, I still wanted to create him a costume because you do see some aspects of him. Autem is crazy therefore I thought he should wear the same thing as the girl to make it seem creepy, but then I thought he wants to look more dominant so I added ‘the wardens’ shoes too. then I thought that looked too unorganised, sticking with the ‘same as the girl’ them I drew him wearing a patient gown but with ‘the wardens’ blazer for an extra touch of dominance. Then I thought why not combine the two costumes and see what that yields. The end result is my favourite of them, so the last image on the bottom of the page will be what autem will wear in the film. 

The roses are there to show the types of roses I will probably use in the film. While looking at images of red roses I stumbled upon a black rose image which really drew in my attention. I loved the colours it had and drew a few sketches to see how to position the gold on it. I will use 3-4 roses and each one will have gold plating on the petals lips and they might have gold glitter on the under petal too.

Why we chose our Title

The Title ‘Faceless’ and why I chose it?

I chose the title Faceless because it ties in very well with the main characters of the movie. The movie is filmed from the girl’s perspective of the whole situation. The character you never see the face of is the villain (Autem), which would make the title very simple and obvious, but, although the movie is shot from her perspective the whole film is actually about him. Now, because of time restraints I am not able to create a whole 10 min short film which allows character development and questions to be answered. Therefore, I had to work with what I was allowed. I wanted to make the two-and-a-half-minute opening sequence to be as phycological attractive and engaging as possible to the viewers. So, I wrote the story in a way which makes the viewers believe the film is from her perspective and ends with showing he is obsessed with her, which is why he has a whole plaque waiting for her, which might suggest he wants her face because he is crazy or morbid. However, that’s not the case, the reason he wants her face is because he wants the emotions she gives him, she is a representation of love (hence her name), which gets explained and elaborated in my (Potential) 10 min short film. He is faceless without her and therefore you never actually get to see him. 

I chose the name ‘Autem’ because it is Latin for the world ‘will’ meaning ‘willpower’. The reason for the Latin choice is because it is regarded as an intellectual language, I want the main character to be intellectual, and therefore the name ‘will’ was chosen, we wanted him to be independently strong. 

Updated Shot by shot guide

0-6 seconds- Close-up of eye, rapid panicking movement, Movie title (Faceless) shines on as torch light fades across her eyes. 

6-8 seconds- Medium shot of her feet being dragged like a prey.

8-11 seconds- Close-up of eye, laying down and closed, sudden open.

11-20 seconds- Wide shot of room with girl on floor, shot of surroundings.

20-22 seconds- Wide shot of her surroundings from her perspective. 

22-24 seconds- Wide shot of her on floor propping herself up with arm.

24-26 seconds- She is sitting up and turns to look at roses.

26-30 seconds- Close-up of roses dripping water.

30-34 seconds- Close-up of water dripping into puddle. 

34-38 seconds- Wide shot of her trying to get up.

38- 40 seconds- Side Close-up of her pressing hands into glass shards causing cuts.

40-42 seconds- Medium shot of her getting up leaving smear of blood on wall.

42-44 seconds- Tracking shot of her standing up and locking her eyes on the door.

44-48 seconds- Shots of the prison surroundings.

48-51 seconds- Panning shot of corridor entrance, contra zoom into black figure of man in shadow standing out of door, staring inwards through the window.

51-52 seconds- Medium shot of man in front of door, staring inwards through window of door.

52-53 seconds- Tracking shot of her walking towards door, about to open it.

53-56 seconds- The man says (dialogue), close-up of his eyes through the window. 

56-65 seconds- Wide shot of her walking backwards as his shadow engulfs the room as he says (dialogue).

65-70 seconds- Medium shot of her as she walks up until her back hits the wall, he is saying (dialogue).

70-72 seconds- Medium low-angle shot of her as she begins to slide down the wall, the shot ends with her decent from an over the foot shot.

72-74 seconds- Wide shot of her as he walks out and left her on the floor traumatised.

74-76 seconds- Medium Close-up shot of roses jumping as he slams the door behind him allowing a petal to fall slowly.

76-77 seconds- Medium Close-up of water puddle, petal falls into shot and lands next to water puddle.

77-79 seconds- A close-up of her face still and shocked after the petal is heard creating a strange sound. She says (dialogue).

79-81 seconds- Wide shot shows her getting up in anger to confront him.

81-84 seconds- Tracking shot of her walking to door and slamming on it hard. 

81-82 seconds- Low-angle close-up of door creaking open. 

82-83 seconds- Medium shot of her looking down at door knob and opening it. 

83-84 seconds- Medium shot of her stepping into door frame.

84-85 seconds- Medium side shot of her looking right.

85-86 seconds- Medium side shot of her looking left. Finding the coloured lights in the distance. 

86-90 seconds- Tracking shot from behind of her walking towards the light. 

90-91 seconds- Medium shot of doors as she passes by. 

91-92 seconds- Tracking shot from behind of her walking towards the light.

92-93 seconds- Medium close-up of her bloodied foot walking past. 

93-95 seconds- Tracking shot from behind of her approaching the brightly colour lighted room.

95-97 seconds- Medium shot of her walking into frame standing in front of door way. 

97-99 seconds- Panning shot of the room. 

99-102 seconds- Close-up shot of Vinyl disc rotating 

102-108 seconds- Panning shot of faces on the wall. Pan continues across the wall and ends with the name Love in a frame.

END

Script analysis

The script was a great help in developing our idea further and enabled me to visualise my character’s feelings and emotions. The thought process needed to create this script really helped visualise how the movie will play out. It aided me in editing the story and adjust a few details about the characters. Based on this script we refined the story and drew a new storyboard, adding new scenes and removing unneeded ones. The new scenes were used to add tension, mystery and aesthetics. All these aspects are used to create a deeper atmosphere to the story and make it more visually appealing to the viewers.

The script also helped build a refined sense of who the characters are and what forms of emotions and feelings they are going through in the film. The dialogue written was based on this emotional development. I discovered Love’s emotions are: confusion, curiosity, terror, and frustration (in respective order). Autem’s emotions are: Kindness and Anger. In the dialogue threatening/kind lines are used to project Autem’s anger and kindness because you never get to see him visually. With Love, she will represent her emotions through facial expressions and actions, she only has one, very short line. 

I added detail in the script which cannot be found in the new storyboard, I use the storyboard as an aid for visuals so any readers understand what the visuals need to look like. And the script is used to give the inner details of the visuals such as sound, dialogue and atmosphere of scene.

Final decision of Target Audience and what our film genre is

Based on the previous results shown, and our group input, the target audience we are aiming for is Any gender of person within the ages of 17-30. We have decided this because the results show that majority of people with interest in Thriller films are between the ages of 18-44, however that spectrum is too large so we cut it down to the figure stated above in bold.

To officially decide our genre, we needed to ask 30 members of our target audience as to what type of thriller they want to see, we explained to them what the story is about and showed them the Storyboard V2.0, here are the results:

Then to reassure our target audience choice we decided to research into the target audience for Phycological Thriller films too:

Again, I went to a list found on IMDB, of the top 20 best Phycological Thriller films (at time of writing):

Here is a link to the article I used:   

 http://www.imdb.com/list/ls057336010/   

Making of the Masks and Styrofoam heads

Masks.

The plain white masks I bought on amazon had no expressions on them and where genderless, so they could stay as simple as possible. I originally thought of just leaving them as that, but then I thought “why not experiment a bit”, since I had 2 spare masks. The first one I just cut in half through the nose because the mouth area is where most emotions are mainly expressed, and having that covered can dramatically reduce the visual expressions of emotions to any of Autem’s victims. The second design I chose was to dent and dirty the mask to make it look immensely used and worn down, with cracks, tears, and all. Ultimately, I chose the first idea as it was the simplest, and I personally think had the stronger fear factor. 

Styrofoam heads. 

To begin my design, I purchased 8 male figure Styrofoam heads from eBay:

Then I carried out deep research into what design I can give the heads, the first choice I thought of was to paint around the eyes something related to the emotions that will be linked to the head, for example, the emotion of sadness I might paint tears dripping down the eyes, or even black tears to make it creepier. But then I realised some emotions don’t have very obvious associations with them, for example how will I show happy or frustration through the figures eyes, if the mask will cover up the mouth. As I was trying to think of a new idea I noticed how big the head of the figure is and thought how big the figures brain might be inside if it had one, which then lead to the thought of brain activity and CT scans. I theorised that maybe each emotion is linked to a separate area of the brain, so I carried out research and eventually found this website:

https://www.fastcompany.com/3027699/how-our-brains-decide-what-we-share-online

which informed me and showed me this map of what area of the brain each emotion is linked to: