Film Ratings

UniversalFilms which are rated as being Universal are suitable for everyone to watch and enjoy. However, it is advised that only children aged over the age of four watch Universal rated films, due to children being quite unpredictable as to what upsets them. Universal films are typically films like 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Beauty and the Beast'.

   
PG (Parental Guidance)

Parental Guidance is for general viewing of films. Children of any age can watch a PG film without an adult's accompanment, although guidance is to be adviced if the child is young or sensitive. PG films are generally for children aimed eight years of age or older.

12

No-one under the age of 12 years of age may rent or buy a '12' rated video work.

    

12AThis certificate is given when the work at hand is only suitable for those aged twelve years and over. 12A applies for films in the cinema: no-one under twelve years of age may see a 12A film unless accomplied by an adult in the cinema.

 

 15

No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.


18

No-one younger than 18 may see a ‘18’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy a ‘18’ rated video work.


We have decided that our film will be rated as '18', as it will contain alot of gore, violence and tension throughout. This will mean that this film will only be suitable to adults, due to it's gritty and atmospheric effect. This type of film will appeal to certain people, above the age of 18.

Character Information: David Laverick

Laverick is the main character of our film, and below is some background information about him.

Name: David Joseph Laverick
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Personality: Laverick was also considered quite a reclusive person, occasionally being an outcast from the rest of society. However, he also did try to make the effort to socialize and be an iconic social icon. With the death of his wife Emma and his children, Laverick's personality changed dramatically, making him a complete outcast from society, never going out, unless it is to murder. Instead he resides within his workhouse, plotting murders.
Background: Laverick started off as an average working class person but he soon became a successful entrepreneur. He worked his way up to gain everything that he owned, including his mansion. Laverick first met his future wife, Emma, when he was doing his door-to-door sales. Emma stuck with Laverick as he worked his way up to be a successful business-man, both of them madly in love with each other. For quite a while, Laverick was at a good point in his life. He had lots of money, a large house and a loving family. This is all changed by once single event: the arson attack on Laverick Manor. The fire kills Emma and their two children, leaving Laverick beside himself with both guilt and mourning. Laverick then decides to find and take revenge upon the arsonists, in a brutal way, first by slicing their necks, and then by branding them with a symbol of fire.
Inspiration: Bruce Wayne (Batman). The character of Bruce Wayne is inspiration to us as he is a character who's life is changed dramatically through one dramatic event (the murder of his parents). This murder convinces Bruce to take revenge upon the low-life thugs of Gotham City. The motives of Bruce Wayne and Laverick are similar, as Laverick is also trying to take revenge on the thugs that turned his life upside down and killed his loved ones.

The image above is similar to that of our Branded film. This is because in the opening sequence, and, indeed, most of the film, you do not actually get to see who Laverick it or what he looks like. This creates a sense of mystery and enigma. This technique will particularly be used in the opening sequence of our film. We will show some aspects of David, like his fingernails, or the back of his head, but only certain areas of his body. This will add enigma and mystery to the character and will keep audience's interested, which is something which our audience research suggested that we should do.

Branded Script- FIRST IDEA

Branded Script
The first shot is a shot of rain pouring down a barred window, with lightning flashing.
The rain creates a gloomy effect by using pathetic fallacy.
The camera then pans across to depict newspaper cuttings on the wall.
One reads; "Laverick's wife and children die in horrific mansion fire." and another; "David Cameron lets Laverick arsonists walk free." These newspaper cuttings provide an insight into the background of the character of Laverick, and gives a clue as to his motives later in the film.
After showing different newspaper cuttings the camera then shows the audience pictures of people looking happy, some with a red cross through. Images then flash up on the screen showing bloody, dead bodies, which then cut back to the crossed out images. This intercutting makes the audience feel nervous, by using a dramatic effect of both editing and sound. All of the images of these photos will be in a close-up.
The next shot is one of a mirror, covered in blood and dirt. This shows that the workhouse that Laverick resides in is quite dirty and run down, yet he still chooses to remain here, isolated from society.
he door opens, with dull light pouring in from behind him. You only get to see his boots. A high angle shot then follows, the camera on the floor, following Laverick as he walks across the workshop. You only get to see Laverick's boots and legs as he walks, which again does not reveal much about the character.
In the next shot, Laverick stands to the right of the frame and picks up a long, sharp knife that glistens in the light.
The camera pans over to his workshop in a high angle, showing Laverick rearranging his tools on the desk. You do not get to see Laverick's face as he has his hood up, this gives a sense of mystery to the scene as you cannot see his facial expression or emotions.
The next shot is a close of Laverick holding the knife, twisting and turning it in the light before eventually wiping the blood off it. This shot strikes fear into the viewer as it shows the lengths he will go to to get revenge. The next shot shows Laverick taking a pen out of his pocket, slowly walking over to the pictures of people on the wall and crossing two lines through it, showing that he has killed them. Then, under this image, the title of the film 'Branded' appears.

Film Company Logo Ideas

We used a medieval font to create a spooky effect, using the eye instead of an 'O' because it fits the style of film we are making. The word 'Unearthly' suggests something which is unnatural. This allows the audience to know what kind of films we will be making.

We have decided to use the second logo idea as we all feel that this is the most effective and most professional looking logo out of the three, which is the impression we want our logo to give off.

Update: Upon editing our footage together, we realised that the logos above did not particularly work well and looked tacky. Therefore, we decided to use this logo:

We decided to use this as it fit in with our housestyle of our titles, which also use the same font and colours. The font we feel is very typical of the horror genre, using sharp edges to convey violent themes within the film.

Location.

We have decided to film our film in a workshop in Whistable. This setting will create the appropriate atmophere for our film, as the pictures below show. The mixture of different work tools shows us that the killer is brutal. The fact that the windows are barred creates a sense of isolation, as it makes us feel like the killer is trapped within the workshop and that he is an outcast from the outside world and the rest of society.
We chose to film here as it will make the film sequence seem authentic and realistic. Also, the workshop is fairly large, giving us alot of room to film in.

       

Story/Plot for 'Branded'

The back story to our film 'Branded' is as follows:
The main character of our film is called Joseph David Laverick. He was once a millionaire and lived a happy life with his family. One day, for reasons unknown, his mansion is burnt down in an arson attack, killing his family and scarring himself. From the day of their deaths he vowed to take vengance on those that killed his loved ones, and sets to take their lives. He kills his victims by slitting their throats and branding them with a symbol of fire, leaving the bodies out for the public to see.

Our film sequence will mainly be focusing on the use of props. We will use props to create meaning and effect throughout.
The first shot of our scene will be one of rain running down a window, immediately setting the tone of the sequence and, indeed, the whole film. The camera then begins to pan across the room, titling slightly, showing numerous object of importance; newspaper cuttings about killer's past, photographs of victims dead bodies, scissors, knives, branding tool, mirrors, chimes ect. These all portray meaning to the audience, showing objects of significance.

Moodboard

This is the moodboard which we have made. We collected a range of images from the internet and arranged them into different sections; Inspiration, Setting, Ideas and Genre Research. All of these show what we want to include in our own film, and how we came to think of these ideas.
The top right collection of images are pictures taken from famous films that of the same genre to ours, The Haunting In Conneticut, Scream, Donnie Darko, Saw. These films are the type of style we want to achieve in our film.
The top right collection of images paint the scene of what we want our film to look like. The lighting and rain create pathetic fallacy, whilst the shadow, moon and trees create an eerie effect.
The bottom right images show our genre research, The Dark Knight (the case of sanity/insanity), Scream (the mysterious killer not being known who he is) and Inception (with the case of dreams/surrealness).