Audio Elements

For audio, we were thinking for the family dinner table; the audience will hear the family talking, the places and silverware, and gulps of food and drinks. These n oises will be diegetic and will be coming directly from the actors voices and foley sounds.

There is an ominous musical buildup until it goes silent and the family dissapears, leaving the kid alone. Then the killer appears, and we were thinking of adding a sting of a knife sharpening before we see the man about to kill the father, adding a lot of anxiety and buildup to the moment when he drops the knife and we hear the main character yell.

Then the killer leaves and the family appears, confused on why the kid yelled. The kid then runs out of the house, and you can hear the door slam. We are going to use Foley for the footsteps as well as the door closing. We want to make them sound loud and fast to add how frantic the character is moving. And maybe make him topple over some furniture to make it seem more realistic. We could implement the foley noise by using a shoe hitting the ground or using heavy shoes to make it louder than it should be.

We got that from this video: Foley Footsteps with Susan Fitz-Simon

After he runs out, he goes to the car and slams the door. He also starts the car, and he steps on the gas, so we can add that with Foley or use a database on the internet. We also hear the phone ringing when he calls the therapist and the conversation he has with her. This will all be diegetic noise, and we will most likely add a low, scary song in the back to keep the audience on their feet throughout the film opening.

That is it for today. Thank you for reading. Next blog will be about our filming location. We will most likely film the first part of it on Wednesday, the 5th. So be ready!

Mise En Scene: Set

 The set for our film openings will begin with the main character and his family sitting at their dinner table, with the son sitting at the end of the table, and the rest of the family sitting at other parts of the table, with no particular order. We will film this inside of a house (obviously) and then we will move to the outside as the story progresses.

The set then changes when he goes outside, and we will probably just use the front yard of the house we shot the first scene at. We can see he lives at a nice house, and we see the porch, and we see him slam the door. 

He then runs to his car (we will probably use Sebas’ car), and he will call the therapist, and have a conversation with her on the way to see her. Talking about the demon that is haunting him. He would be calling her at the time he is on the way there to show his desperation and sense of urgency because he truly feels that he is in danger after the demon looked like it was going to kill his father.

That’s it for today, i hope you enjoyed reading once again, and next blog will be about the audio elements that we are planning to use in our opening.

Mise En Scene: Costuming

 

For costuming, we have decided to do like a regular teenage look for the boy, just with more plain colors, to show how he is empty inside, but still a regular kid. Especially since he is only having dinner with his family, and they will also wear casual clothes. Something like this picture will be what he wears.

The most important and influential part of our costuming will be the villain/demon, and he will be wearing all black, and a black suit, with his face being covered either by light, or a mask because his name represents the god of darkness, and because black represents mystery/evil/grief in film color theory. To fulfill this, he will also not show his face, with either a mask, or backlight that wont let the viewer see his face, like in Psycho (1960)

If we have enough time in the film opening, we could also introduce the therapist. She will be wearing light clothes, and in a clean room. She will be very put together, since we want to create a realistic portrayal of a therapist.

Thank you guys for reading again, next time I will delve deeper into mise en scene, most likely about setting, and how we will do all the shots of the story.

Main Characters!

Main Characters & Character Development 

 The name we chose for our main character was Leo, we chose Leo because it means Lion, which is a symbol of strength and courage, this is shown through Leos character development throughout the main story. This name stuck with us because he is battling against a demon. It is also a short but still memorable name.

As for the Villain, the man in the suit without a face, we named him Erebus. We found this name and we thought it was perfect. Erebus is the name of the Greek mythological god of darkness. This name fits our character like a glove. Erebus is a dark, haunting demon, that stays hidden in the shadows throughout most of the full story. Sort of like the Smile demon in that creepy, never knowing when he will show up, kinda way.

We want leo to have character development throughout the story, we emphasized that Leo starts off as a normal boy, but he seems empty inside. He is a boy with no feelings and weird things happening to him, he is not very close to his family, and is a low maintenance person. But by the end of the story, we want Leo to show weakness and empathy, but also stand up to adversity. 

We created this mood board to show his personality and his problems.

We also made the therapist another main character, as she is the one that helps Leo throughout the main story. She plays an important role, but we decided to keep her unnamed in the intro. She is a person that Leo goes to at the end of the intro for help on what is happening to him throughout the story. The therapist tries to help him, but she realizes that she cannot help with something that is paranormal, instead she helps leo keep a mental state where he is strong enough to beat the demon haunting him in the story. She is good at her Job, and her and Leo have a great connection which makes her attempt to help him succeed in the end.

The villain is creepy, and his intention is to terrorize others because he himself is miserably stuck in a paranormal state. He always appears lurking, and he always likes to scare people before he hurts them or ruins their life. He doesn’t kill, but he makes people end their own lives from the misery. He doesn’t give up, and is very powerful, making people see anything he wants them to see, like the Smile demon. He can also see peoples thoughts, and visions, giving him even more power.

That’s it for today, Next blog will be about the mise en scene elements that we wish to implement into our film opening. Thank you again for reading!

Media Theory

Media Theory

Hey guys! Today i will be discussing the media theory that we will try to incorporate into our film opening, Erebus.

The media theory we want to use in our film opening is character type theory, focusing on the roles of the hero, villain, and helper. Our protagonist, Leo, is the hero of the story, but his journey isn’t about defeating a monster or the villain, but instead, his battle is psychological—against his fear, trauma, or a supernatural force that only he can see. Unlike action heroes who fight with strength, Leo’s struggle is internal. His goal is not really to destroy the villain, but it is to survive and resist the terror taking over his mind.

The villain of the story is the faceless man, a figure in a black suit who appears without warning. He never moves on camera, but each cut brings him closer to Leo, creating a sense of dread. He doesn’t chase or attack, but his power comes from how he distorts reality, kind of like the monster/demon from            Smile (2022)/Smile 2 (2024)

When he takes the father’s place at the dinner table and a vision shows a knife hovering above Leo’s father’s neck, it suggests something much deeper like a actual supernatural entity haunting him. His presence alone breaks Leo down, making him the definite antagonist of the story.

Leo’s moment as a hero comes when he yells, “STOP!” Just as the knife is about to fall in his vision, his scream snaps everything back to normal. This moment shows his resistance, how he refuses to let the faceless man take full control of him and his reality. Instead of freezing in fear, he reacts, forcing himself out of the nightmare. But instead of celebrating victory, he runs. He bolts from the dinner table, desperate to escape, because he knows the horror isn’t over just yet. Leo isn’t a conventional hero, sometimes heroes don’t always win by conquering evil; sometimes, surviving and resisting is enough.

At the end of the film opening, Leo makes a desperate phone call. The person on the other end, a therapist, serves as the helper in the story. In character type theory, the helper is someone who provides guidance or support to the hero. By calling them, Leo is reaching out for help, proving that he hasn’t completely given in to fear. His final words, “It’s back,” shows that he has already beaten this monster, but it’s back for more. That’s what makes him a hero—not because he destroys the villain, but because he refuses to let the fear consume him completely.

That was all for this blog, I hoped you enjoyed as always, I am currently writing this from North Carolina, where I have gone on a 4 day snowboarding trip. I am having lots of fun both writing these blogs as well as on the slopes. Next blog, I will write about how we wish to develop our characters.

Our First Script

FIRST SCRIPT, YAY!

I have made our first official script for our film opening. I worked hard on it, so I hope it will meet whoever's reading this' standards. But remember, this is just a draft for what we will truly be doing when the time has come. I used the website Celtx to create it, as it is a good starter website for creating any scripts for a film

Some stuff we changed was that instead of having it set in a restaurant, which we couldn't find one to accommodate us, we made it set in a family dinner, in a home. We also named it Erebus because we thought it reflected the dark suit character. Erebus is the god of darkness in Greek mythology, so yeah, makes sense, right? 

Well, that's all for today, guys. I had a blast writing this script, and I cant wait to do more with this idea. I hope you enjoyed it. The next blog will be about one media theory that we want to incorporate into our film opening. 

Project Summary

 Hey guys! This is the first post where I will give a detailed summary for our project.

The story begins with a boy, about 16, sitting at the dining table with his family. He doesn’t speak, his expression blank. The room is filled with the usual sounds of clinking silverware, quiet conversation, chewing. Slowly, the noises grow louder. Every scrape, gulp, and tap against the table intensifies. His grip on his fork tightens. The pressure builds, getting louder, until silence. He looks up. His family is gone. The room remains untouched, steaming plates, pulled-out chairs but he is alone. A door creaks open down the hall. A faceless man in a black suit stands in the doorway. We never see him move, but each cut brings him closer by the table, beside the boy’s chair. Then, an extreme close-up of his blank face, jump-scaring him. The boy trembles, sweat going down his face. The faceless man is now behind where the father was sitting. In a flash, his father is back, laughing, a knife hovering above his neck, held by the faceless figure. It drops. The boy jolts up, screaming, “STOP!” Reality snaps back. His family stares, confused. Without hesitation, he bolts from the table. Outside, he fumbles with his keys, gasping for breath. He jumps into his car, speeds off down an empty road. The camera, positioned in the back seat, captures him from behind, while the credits and title play on the windshield. In the rearview mirror, we see a small part of the faceless man as he sits motionless. The boy grips the wheel, hands shaking, and dials a number. Ring. Click. he whispers. His breathing quickens. “It’s back.” “It’s back.”  ITS BACK!” The screen cuts to black. Silence.

That’s about it for now, I will be writing a script soon so that will be the next blog post. I hope you enjoyed as always, and thank you for reading!