Props & Costume Prep

Before we can begin filming, we need to establish what our characters will wear and any other props we may need.

Costumes

Our Protagonist

In films of all genres, colour is an important factor in portraying the message you want. Because of this, we looked into different colour meanings and then decided what colour would best fit our protagonist. I went onto this website and researched different colours. Upon research, I found that white symbolises "purity and innocence". The colour white is personified by our protagonist as she is exactly that - innocent. Further reading informed me that the colour white also offers "a sense of peace and calm". This will create a sense of irony and leave the audience paranoid of their own security.

To fit the image of our protagonist being innocent and feminine, we have decided that Ellie will wear a white dress in our film. This will subtly infer her naivety to the audience and make it apparent that she is the victim.

Our Antagonist

We decided to carry through the theme of symbollic colours into our antagonist. When researching horror films, I found that black is a colour that is typical of the horror genre. I then searched the meaning of the colour black and found that it symbolises "the hidden, the secretive and the unknown". This suits our film opening very well as we don't ever see the antagonist very clearly, creating an air of mystery. The antagonist's motives also remain unknown which further emphasises the secretive nature of the colour black. I also found that, in colour psychology, black represents "power and control". This is very similar to our antagonist as she holds a lot of power over our protagonist during the attack. We will also be using an upwards angle to emphasise the power our antagonist has.

To emphasise the characteristics we want present in our antagonist, we have decided to dress Kayleigh in all black. The dark colour will reflect the character's dark nature.

Props

Our Protagonist

To strengthen the idea of our protagonist being vulnerable, she will wear earphones. This shows her obliviousness to her surroundings and makes it apparent that she is an easy victim. The audience may feel sympathetic towards her as she does not have any idea there is somebody watching her until it's too late. The obliviousness caused by earphones is relatable to our target audience, young people, as they stereotypically wear earphones a lot while in public. This may strike a chord with our target audience and create paranoia as they worry what may happen to them. Creating paranoia by using everyday situations is very effective and is also typical of the horror genre. It ensures that the film sticks with the audience so that it is not easily forgettable.

We will also need to use fake blood and make-up to create the impression that she has been attacked. We will buy a small bottle of fake blood and we will use the make up that Nicole already has.

 

Our Antagonist

Our antagonist will need a weapon of some kind during the attack. We brain stormed and, again, agreed that we should use something that is typical of everyday life. This meant that we did not want anything too extreme, like a gun. Instead, we decided on a large pair of scissors as this was much safer than something like a knife but still looks threatening.