Technology: In order to shoot and record our film, we will need to decide whether we want to use a camera or record on iPhone. Hannah and I decided that using my iPhone 11’s camera will be the best fit for our needs. The quality of the iPhone 11 camera is as good as it gets for iPhones, so I’m pretty confident that the shots will turn out great. There are two separate lenses on the phone, so we can switch between the wide and ultra wide cameras, and it shoots sharp 4k video at 60 fps. The ultra wide camera will allow us to capture four times more scene which will be perfect for moving / action shots.
Recording & Sound: Since we’re using my phone to film, we will more than likely keep most of the audio from the original clips. We will use my MacBook to record voiceovers on either iMovie or another editing platform. Since we don’t have individual microphones to give to our actors, we’re banking on the iPhone to pick up the dialogue and other sounds we need. We are going to record the excess knocking noises to takeover during the final scenes, and any additional ambient sounds that are unwanted will be edited out during our postproduction stage.
Above is our storyboard which represents the main shots that will compose our opening sequence. We waited to do this until after we had our script finished. We will more than likely have a few shots in between each of these to ensure that they flow well together, but these are the main ones that develop the plot. The first shot is an establishing shot of Evelyn leaving the cult meeting, which is held in an abandoned building. The second shot shows Evelyn getting in her car, starting her engine, and begins to drive off. The third shows when she sees movement out of the corner of her eye, she looks in her rearview mirror and sees a dark figure in her backseat. The fourth shot shows Evelyn turning around and realizing that nothing is in her backseat, and she continues to drive home. The fifth shot shows when sees the figure in the street on her way home, and she has to swerve off the road to avoid hitting it. She finally arrives home in the sixth shot, and she runs into her apartment and locks all entrances. In the seventh shot she starts to hear knocking from her door. Lastly in the eighth shot the knocking sound grows louder and more intense as the screen goes black.
After endless research and thought, Hannah and I decided that we would like to side with New Line Cinema to produce our movie. New Line has filmed great movies that are similar to ours including The Nun, The Conjuring, and the recent It films. Based on their reputable brand and award-winning films they’ve produced, we feel as though our movie will do great things with New Line on our side. Choosing a large production company will overall extend our audience by a greater percentage, and having the reputable name that New Line Cinema portrays connected to our film will entice more people to watch it.
As for the distribution stage, we would like to work with Warner Bros. They have a very reputable name, and have produced / distributed many popular horror films such as Friday the 13th and The Conjuring. Warner Bros. is one of the major film companies, so it would be extremely beneficial to partner with them and have their title attached to our name. Since streaming movies and TV shows is a big part of our society nowadays, it would be silly of us not to broaden our movie out to those horizon lines. We would like to stream our film on platforms such as Netflix after our initial theatrical release. Our movie will reach a bigger audience and create more profit by pairing with these major companies and allowing our film to be streamed off of several different platforms.
Like stated, Hannah and I want to have a wide spread theatrical release. We want as many people to watch our movie as possible. We plan to promote our film through trailers / posters and other propaganda that will get people excited about the movie. Typically, merchandise and apparel aren’t very common with horror movies so we will more than likely have to rely on brand partnerships, advertisements and promotions to carry it through the exhibition stage.
Acting: Our opening sequence will only have two main characters. Evelyn will either be played by me or our friend Julie. The second main character is the demon that Evelyn conjured. My sister Emily will play as the demon since she has a very slender build and will be able to portray the character well. There will also be two minor characters who will have a brief appearance in the opening sequence. They are fellow cult members who pass by in their robes after the cult meeting ends. Hannah’s sister will play as one and whoever doesn’t play Evelyn will be the other. Hannah will take on the director role as well as the cameraman, however I will aid with filming when I am not on screen. Hannah had the original vision for the film plot, so her taking on the role as the director will allow for the scenes to play out how she envisioned them to be.
Shooting: As for scheduling our shooting times, we will have to coordinate with each other’s schedules in order to find days that will work for everyone. Most weekdays will be kind of hard to film since we each have our own after school activities and responsibilities to tend to, but we are going to find the times that best fit. Weekends will probably end up being when we shoot the most. The abandoned house on my property is being torn down within the next week or so, meaning we are on a time crunch to film the cult scenes within a couple days from now. We also will have to coordinate with Hannah’s family member to figure out a day we can go to the motel and shoot as well. Our current goal right now is to do majority of our filming this coming week and only do reshoots if needed.
After brainstorming for a while, Hannah and I decided to film at the abandoned house in front of mine for the setting of the cult meeting. The house looks super spooky at the moment because it has half a roof and the wood paneling has been dismantled everywhere for salvaging. The house is coming down in a week or two, so our filming timeframe is pretty tight. We plan on filming the cult scenes this coming week just to be safe. We decided that it was a great location because it’s right on my property so we don’t have to worry about traveling somewhere to film, and it has the perfect ‘creepy abandoned building’ feel to it that we don’t think we could find anywhere else nearby.
As for Evelyn’s apartment scenes, we decided we’re going to film at an out of service motel owned by one of Hannah’s family members. All of the rooms there are vacant, so it looks run down and gives off a creepy vibe. Evelyn is an 18 year old who doesn’t really have her life together, she feels lost and trapped in her own mind. She feels as though she doesn’t belong, so she thinks by being part of a cult she can fill that void in her life. We want to portray her personality and state of mind through the design and appearance of her room. Her room will be messy and completely disorganized, and we will only have select lighting sources to provide an eerie light appearance.
Above is our script that my film partner Hannah and I wrote. There isn’t a ton of dialogue in the opening sequence, so the script is mainly focusing on the appearance of the demonic character and the emotions of the protagonist that can be detected on screen.
My group member Hannah and I want our brand to portray the feelings of fear and thriller through our movies. Since horror films appeal to only a select group of people who enjoy being scared, our brand will most likely attract a younger / rebellious audience who seek a certain thrill while watching movies. Our films will be nothing short of what these audiences are seeking out to find, since we plan to have each movie reach beyond boundaries that no other horror films have done before. We want to create a brand for our movies that people will recognize and associate with having a reputation of producing ‘good horror films’, ones that are unique to their own.
History/Intended Audience:The Nun is a big inspiration for our movie since it revolves around a demonic entity that haunts the main character, exactly what we’re hoping to create with Hear No Evil. The Nun was actually inspired by true events which makes it just that much more creepy! The movie was based on real case files of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who came in contact with a phantom nun while visiting a haunted English church in the 70’s. The nun had apparently been buried alive in the church walls as punishment for having an affair with a monk. The producer of the film James Wan stated that The Nun was inspired by a demon that haunted Lorraine Warren’s home, which she had once described as a “swirling tornado vortex with this hooded figure”. The producer built off of the description and created the nun character. The Nun is rated R mainly for violence and disturbing/bloody images, therefore it is intended for those eligible to view rated R films and gravitates towards an audience that enjoys watching scary/horror films.
Production:The Nun‘s production budget was $22 million, and the production companies for the film include New Line Cinema, The Safran Company, and Atomic Monster Productions. The principal photography for the film began on May 3, 2017 at Castel Film Studios in Romania and wrapped up on June 24, 2017. All of the filming locations were in Romania, including Corvin Castle as the ‘Romanian Abbey’ and Palace of the Parliament. There isn’t too much information regarding the production process, however according to IMDb the film was shot using an Arri Alexa as well as Leica Summilux-C lenses.
Distribution:The Nun was distributed in theaters and IMAX by Warner Bros. Productions. Tom Molter, Head of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, stated, “‘The Nun’ continues to scare up audiences around the world, and records are being broken in every region—particularly in Latin America and Mexico, where the popularity of star Demian Bichir has drawn fans to the cinema in big numbers. We applaud the whole cast, as well as all of the filmmakers behind ‘The Nun,’ on this tremendous success.” The Nun crossed $200 million at the global box office in its second weekend of release, and has currently reached $365.5 million USD.
Marketing: The main marketing strategy used was the official trailer released during summer of 2018. YouTube had banned a six-second ad for the movie that played before select videos because it violated YouTube’s “shocking-content policy” which made headlines, however the film’s full length trailer was appealing enough on its own to promote the movie.
Cross-Media Convergence & Synergy:The Nun doesn’t appear to have any specific cross-media convergence or synergy, although it’s a smart tactic that most films should invest in. The filmmakers would collaborate with other brands or businesses to promote their film, which would expand the audience it reaches as well as create additional profit.
A few films in the horror genre that are similar to what we are wanting to create include The Conjuring, The Nun, The Exorcist, and The Possession.The Conjuring‘s budget was $20 million, The Nun‘s was $22 million, The Exorcist‘s budget was $12 million, and The Possession was $14 million. The Possession is rated PG-13 so the intended audience reaches a broader age range than a rated R movie would. Both The Nun, The Conjuring and The Exorcist are all rated R, so the intended audience would appeal to people who are eligible to see R films in theaters. All of the films however would be geared towards people who enjoy thrillers and demonic horror since they all include some kind of possession or entity.
The main character in our film is an 18 year old girl named Evelyn. She is secretly an active cult member, and after she leaves one of the rituals she unknowingly conjured an evil entity. The opening scene starts off as Evelyn heads back to her car and uncovers her identity from her robe. As she turns on her car she briefly saw a figure in her backseat, but disregards it and starts to drive home. While driving, she sees the same demonic figure standing in the road. She gets as close as she can but has to swerve off the road to avoid it. She panics and speeds home to lock herself in her house. All of a sudden, the lights stop working and she hears loud noises and knocking coming from all directions of her house. The opening scene will end when the knocking becomes so deafening and will abruptly end with a black screen.
Hear No Evil 