Location Planning

We thought about using many places for our filming location, we went to Lloyd Park which is relatively near to where we live and explored the woods in the park to try to find a good location. We found several patches of woods which would think would be good to film in.

As this is a public place we do not need to gain any permission to film here. We went towards sun set and this is the time we are thinking of filming to give it that eerie but not quite dark look. We had a go at filming some little segments just on our phones to see how the location would look on moving camera and were happy with the results.

The only other setting we will be using is my bedroom, for the scenes where Pandora is attacked by the assassin. As this space is within my property, there will be no issues with filming here. 

Costumes and Props

PROPS

- Probably the MOST important prop we will be needing in order to create our opening sequence is the chest or box we will be using for Pandora's physical box. We have looked online as well as in shops and found this one on Amazon. The measurements meet our requirements and the box is a unique and interesting design as well as looking fairly old, as the box was created by Zeus it would be very old. We may add extra destressing to the box once we have purchased it depending on what we think will look best within the trailer. 

COSTUMES

PANDORA 

- The character of Pandora will be dress in a "hunter-like" costume which she wears when surviving in the woods. Using the internet I have managed to decide what this will look like. It will consist of trousers, for a legging like material, which will enable her character to move around but be paired with a top which is made of a flowing elegant material to connote her kind and soft nature and the idea that the violence which is often reflected in the trailer is not who she truly is. 
- She may often be also wearing a black cloak, the black cloak will probably be within scenes where she is being violent or darker scenes. The black is meant to connote the evil which surrounds her, quite literally. I believe on the poster we will use her cloak, the combination of the soft top and the dark cloak is meant to represent she is a very confused and conflicted character who contains elements of both evil and good. 

- Although these connotations are very subliminal, I have chosen to encode them so that hopefully they create a preferred reading about the character when the audience watches the trailer and they understand her character slightly more than they would without these hints.

SIDE KICK
- Pandora's sidekick will be dressed in a fairly plain outfit, I am thinking of trousers with either a plain black T-shirt or white t-shirt. The idea behind this is we have no idea about his character, and this therefore reveals nothing about his character and leaves the audience wondering if he is really good or bad or what his intentions are.

ASSASSIN
- The assassin which attacks Pandora and tries to steal the box will be dressed in black leather trousers and a black flowing top along which lots of straps tied around her arms to make her look rough. I am thinking of the actress having red hair, the red will connote danger. The black which covers her, especially if it is leather connotes that she is bad as black connotes evil.

OTHER CHARACTERS
- The only other charters within the trailer will be background characters which are involved in fight scenes. I will dress them in very plain costumes often with cloaks which will add to the effect of the fight scene with the material flying everywhere. The plain nature of their costume will make sure that during fight scenes they do not stand out against Pandora as she should always stand out as the centre of attention. 

Theories of Narrative

I have researched two popular theories of narrative. These are theories concerning the structure of the narratives. I wish to use these to create an interesting narrative for the film which I can reflect within my trailer as the aim of a trailer is to make it apparent where the narrative is and to help set up the narrative for the full length movie.

TZVETAN TODOROV’S THEORY – he notices a repeating pattern in narrative and so came up with the following ideas:

EQUILIBRIUM – An existing state of harmony.

DISEQUILIBRIUM – The equilibrium is disturbed by an event or “evil” character which leads to a chain of events.

NEW EQUILIBRIUM – The evil is overcome and harmony exists once more.

The theory is basically stating that narrative is just a repeating pattern of harmony, disruption and harmony. This theory is true for most films and therefore we would most probably accept the idea that our film would follow this situation. The narrative in the trailer will therefore have to set up at least the first two parts of this theory to show how a disturbance was caused and the audience wish to see how it will be overcome which will make them want to watch the rest of the film.

VLADIMIR PROPP’S THEORY – After studying Russian fairy tales, well known for their narratives dependent on characters to move the narrative along, he came up with the following ideas:

THE SEVEN SPHERES OF ACTION – What the character does in the narrative to help it move along.

The villain – creates the narrative complication

The donor – gives the hero something which helps the resolution of the narrative

The helper – gives the hero help to resolve the narrative

The princess – has to be saved by the hero, often a romantic interest

The dispatcher – sends the hero on his task or journey

The hero – saves the day and resolves the narrative, sometimes he has been on a quest or similar

The false hero – appears to be good but has actually been a “bad guy” the whole time

This theory is stating that characters are crucial to move the plot along and therefore these stock characters are vital to create a successful movie. In our trailer we will only be introducing a few of the characters, we will however, introduce the ones we think are most crucial for setting up the narrative and plot. 

Character and Actor Profile

MAIN CHARACTER: Pandora

We will be following the description of Pandora from the original story and artworks which have been created of her. She is normally dark haired and fairly young meaning that our actress will have to fulfil these requirements. She is also known for being pretty and inquisitive as well as fairly wise and physically capable. We have decided to have a young adult/ older teen play her character as this is our target audience which also helps to create a bond between character and audience. 

CHOSEN ACRESS: Katie Sexton

GENDER: Female

AGE: 18

HAIR COLOUR: Brown

EYE COLOUR: Light Brown

HEIGHT: 5ft 2

RACE: White British

We have chosen our friend Katie to fulfil the role of Pandora because she fits the requirements of the character. She also lives fairly near to us and has worked with us on media projects in the past which makes her a reliable and easy assessable actress. 

CHARACTER: Side kick

Although in the film Pandora's character is alone within the situation she has someone who helps her along the way from time to time. We have decided to have a character who was of a different race so that our film could not be accused of being racist and it also invites a wider range of audience members to view the film as they can connect with the character. The character must be kind looking and acting so that the audience can trust them and know that they are on the side of the hero within our film. We have also decided to have this character as a male so that there is an element of romantic interest and also so that one gender ground is not excluded. 

CHOSEN ACRESS: Mufaro 

GENDER: Male

AGE: 18

HAIR COLOUR: Dark brown

EYE COLOUR: Dark brown

HEIGHT: 5ft8

RACE: Black

We have chosen Mufaro because he does drama a level and he is a good and reliable friend so filming with him will be calm and relaxed, furthermore he gets long with all of the cast so there shouldn't be any problems. He has also been involved in previous recordings we have done which means he know how we work and how to act when filming professionally.

CHARACTER: Assassin 

The assassin character will only appear in a small scene in which she attacks Pandora in order to attempt to steal her box. We have chosen for the character to be a female to challenge the stereotype that the bad characters in films are male.

CHOSEN ACRESS: Becky Ward
GENDER: Female
AGE: 17
HAIR COLOUR: Red
EYE COLOUR: Hazel
HEIGHT: 5ft7
RACE: White

I will be playing the character of the assassin, this makes it easy as I will be present on all of the days we will be filming. I also know the script the best so therefore I will be able to act out the part. I also know the other actors very well and therefore be able to cooperate with them when acting. 

Storyboard

Shot List

Script

As our video does not contain any full scenes; there are only clips of audio taken from different scenes. We have however written out all of the audience we want in our trailer. We have scripted this out as when we are filming we will have the actors mouth out these words and then later go back and re-record so that there was no background noise. This will not only help the actors but also when we are editing the video it will help us line up the audience and video.

PANDORA VOICE OVER: I’m sure you are familiar with your Greek mythology; there was a girl, named Pandora, created by the gods from water and earth.  

Zeus entrusted her with a box with the instructions of never to open it as it contained an evil that could destroy the world.

So if I were you I wouldn’t be traveling these parts with such greed in your hearts, hunting for something you cannot possibly understand. You might end up dead.

ASSASSIN: Where is it?

PANDORA: I don’t know what you’re talking about

PANDORA:  This burden it’s too heavy

MALE: You’re strong, a lot stronger than your realise

Detailed Plot - Pandora's Box