Research

Ideas -
My first idea was a fantasy that I was writing with some friends and it was very structured and would have worked well as a short film. But I decided that I didn't want to rely on busy people for this film. So I came up with my new idea after hearing a song. The song is about something messing with your mind. I wanted to make a film about something tormenting someone. It became a teddy bear.

Plot summary -
A young girl owns a teddy bear that she cherishes. But when her back is turned it sets out to torment her. Still oblivious that the bear is causing strange goings on she tries to figure out what's going on and is determined to stop it.

Why is this your best idea?
I think this is my best idea because it won't require a large amount of time to film. It will be easy to organise because there is only 1 actress. The props will be made in a short amount of time. I think this idea is very much my style, quite dark.

Visuals (camera, lighting, production design etc) - When it comes to the visual style of this film I would like to make the colouring very stylised and focus on making a vintage theme. The camera work will focus on the costume design, she will wear vintage dresses and have her blonde hair in interesting up-dos. The lighting will be done to make it look like lamps are producing most of the light. And there will be some stylised shots using spotlight to outline important visuals. When structuring this film I thought it best to not include a parent as a proper character. I will only include the arms, legs and voice of the parent.

Sound design - The sound in my film will not be highly layered. I intend to have the music all composed for the film so that it fits the moods and visuals to the best it can. There is only a small amount of dialogue because there is basically one character. The story will be told using visuals, music and small amounts of atmospheric sounds. I will record the sound on location and will make the music using an analogue tape set up.

Logistics (pre-production, scheduling, budgeting) - Scheduling of the filming has to be thought out well. There will only be one day filming in a village hall and a lot will need to be done. Some of the house scenes will have to be done after the village hall shoot because of a photo needed for some scenes. Most house scene will have to be shot before visiting the village hall because the original teddy bear will be ruined after filming there. Planning this film has been quite simple because I made sure that it is all fairly easy to film. There will be some elements added in post production using after effects, such as drawings on a wall. Budgeting is something that will be quite easy to plan for this film. I have supplied all of the equipment I need. I have ordered £600 worth of equipment that should help get this production looking the best I can make it. I will need to book out the village hall for one days filming which could cost around £70. The costumes for this film will be made and supplied by a family member who will make custom dresses for my character using the fabric we already own. When it comes to props I will be spending a very small amount. I do have to buy a large glass bowl which shouldn't cost much. 2 teddy bears will be custom made to my design by the same person making the costumes, also using fabric we already own. I bought a goblet prop for only 50p; I want to spend this amount on most props and not too much money.

Similar products - There was a game released a while ago called Naughty bear. It's about a very violent teddy bear, that kills other teddy bears. The idea of your cuddly teddy bear coming alive is an idea I've always found interesting. There are films like Chucky where a toy comes to life with the mind of a serial killer. Mine is only like this in the sense of the toys coming alive. When people think about toys coming to life most automatically think of Toy Story. Although this isn't quite the same. In the first Toy Story film the toys rise up against the bully to scare him. This is the most similar product that I've found. Toys coming alive to scare their owner.

Audience research - When I compare my potential audience to similar product's audience I have a varied range that I have to narrow down. The game audience are likely into the messed up but non-gory violence. I won't have any physical violence in my film, only mental. An evil teddy bear sounds like a horror film aspect, but I intend to make this film a dark drama. I didn't want to make a horror, but I wanted to make something dark and interesting. I may attract horror audiences with this film even though there are no real jumpy moments or gore etc. I think it may attract those who like other dark fantasy films, like the works of Tim Burton or Terry Gilliam. I don't think this film would be too dark for a young audience. It may not be good for very young children in case they become frightened of their own toys. But older children who are at the age where they want to watch horrors but are not old enough to may enjoy dark stories like this. Although because there isn't any real action in it, it'll appeal to mature audiences who are interested in the storyline and cinematography.

Codes and conventions of chosen genre - Fantasy/dark drama - Fantasies are about the unordinary. And there are also dark fantasies, which is what Tim Burton is known for. Terry Gilliam is known for fantasies but some of his are dark. For this film to be of the fantasy genre there had to be something unreal about it. Mine is the teddy bear coming alive and the girl turning into a bear. That is enough to make it a fantasy. The dark drama part of it includes the girl dealing with the strange things happening. My film will be quite dark and be lit with spotlights to create a lot of shadows. The sound in my film will be fully music and I will use piano, guitar and strings to create a dark feeling and also hopefully portray fantasy.

Issues? - copyright, moral, legal, ethical - I am to have no copyright problems. I'm using my own music and imagery. The props in my film are mostly hand made and none will be affected by product placement. The costumes in the film are also handmade and won't cause any problems.