JessiMediaAS

Main Task: Continuing research into Production Company

Hammer Film Productions

Hammer Film Productions is a film production company which is based in the United Kingdom. The Film Company was founded in 1934, when the company was best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films from the mid-1950s to 1970s.

The Company has Produced;
- Science Fiction
- Thrillers
- Film Noir
- and in later years, Television Series.

Due to Hammer Productions success of films, they have partnerships with United States studios, Warner Brothers.

Apart from running alongside production of the Gothic Horror FIlms, Hammer Film Productions also made a series of "Mini-Hitchcocks", which were very low-budget suspense thrillers also known as Psychological Thrillers. And they are also in association with Talisman Films, who have produced The Women in Black, showing February 10th this year.

Theses' Psychological Thrillers included;

Taste The Fear in 1961

Hysteria in 1965

Fear In The Night 1972

And they are also in association with Talisman Films, who have produced The Women in Black, showing February 10th this year.

Main Task: Research into a Production Company

From my research into Film Companies I have decided that Hammer Film Productions would be suitable for our Opening 2 Minutes.

Main Task: Research into props

Our 2 minute opening is focusing on a mother and her child. In order to communicate the child across to the audience, without them actually being present in the two minute opening we are going to use toys and kids stuff to symbolise this whole idea of 'family.'

From our storyboard one of our shots is that of the mother reaching into her pocket and putting her keys back.

Below are some images of props which we are thinking about using for our film.

Main Task: Continuing actor research

As our Actor is a Mother in this Opening 2 Minutes, her outfit has to be very telling, particularly as her age isn't. Therefore we've done some research into outfits and below are some images of our ideas.

We were thinking of definitely wearing jeans and pairing them with a baggy jumper. For make-up we were thinking dark circles under the eyes, possibly make up, we do want her to look a bit dull and really tired.

Main Task: Research into Actors

Due to the fact that we needed an Actor who was old enough to be a mother, we were having difficulties in finding anybody. However, after looking through our Initial Ideas and Storyboard we saw that we never actually see the Actor until her face right at the end, we see shots of her hands and legs and arms.

Therefore, one of us (Hazel) will be playing the Actor, we are going to look at youtube tutorials on how to make someone look older. We understand that we are talking a risk, and if it doesn’t work our film will not succeed. However, we are certain that it will work.

Main Task: Synopsis of entire film

In order to fully understand our Opening 2 Minutes, and make syre the idea is established in our minds. We decided to make a full synopsis of a film.

The whole film is based on a schizophrenic woman who has a child. Social services is continually checking up on her and making sure she is declared fit. This woman whose name is Kate, has two split personalities. One of which is good and pleasant. The other is bad and conniving. One day, Kate wakes up and finds her child not breathing, she panics and doesn’t know what to do and starts crying, she eventually goes and take the body to the lake and covers it in blankets and puts in the lake.. Our two minute opening begins with Kate walking back from the lake and coming in to the house and sorting out her child’s things. Our two minute opening then ends when she hears a knock at the door.

The film then continues to reveal two police men and social services at the door, who take her in to custody because her neighbor said she saw Kate putting her child covered in blankets in the boot. The film then continues to Kate being in custody and having flash backs to her bad episodes and what she did to the child and believes her son is better of away from her. The policemen all believe that she killed her child, however at the end, she reveals what happened and the coroners examine the body and say it died of natural causes.