Mise en Scene of Killer's Den

In Hayley's shed, we placed candles on some of the shelves to add a romantic ambience which is ironic because he is going to kill her. cut her open and take her foetus. Also, the candles add additional lighting, but it was not a lot so we used other lighting to aid the filming process. We used a lamp because it had an orange undertone, adding to the ambience of the scene. 

 We placed plastic on the floor because, firstly it would help keep the floor clean from any fake blood, and secondly because our group is trying to emphasize the killer's obsession with death and gore. He is a doctor and likes everything to be neat and orderly. As well, we did this because we were inspired by Dexter's Room from a previous post. When we film the rest of the opening, we are going to put plastic on the garage door and along the walls, as seen in Dexter's room.

Also, we put black bin bags on the windows to block out any natural lighting, but some still came through which was beneficial so we could film and see what we were doing. However, these bags will not be shown in the film opening.

 In the room, the shelves still had all the garden tools and bags on them because we did not put any books or chairs by it as this section will not be shown in the flashbacks. However, when we film the second part of the opening, we will take off these items and put on health and pregnancy books and the foetus jars.

This is where the killer will sit and we are going to put a chair there. We are going to change the stickers on this small cabinet so it says things such as:

• "nails"
• "hair"
• "teeth"
• "fingers"

However, we will not make the killer open these drawers, it is only suggestive to make the audience squirm and to stress his obsession with human bodies.

Collection of props

During our Christmas holidays, we needed to collect and/or buy all of the necessary props that we need for our film opening, as well as film the chase scene. As a group, we got together and wrote a list of all of the props we had, and the ones that we needed to get. Below shows the list of items that were assigned to me to collect, all of which are mostly for the killers den, used for the death scene.

Props to get:

books on bookshelf 

"torture table" 

bowl for excess body material 

foetus in jar

Tools

Actors costume material to get:

Victim

• necklace - cross (to be ironic because she is a prostitute, contrasting with the Christian religion)

Killer

• trench coat
• flat cap 

Books on bookshelf

This is the collection of books that I have selected to be used for our film opening, residing on the bookshelf within the killers den. The topics of books range from those on the human boy, medical books and books with titles that link to "killers".

Torture table

The table in the photograph to the left is what we will use for the "torture table" placing plastic sheeting on top of it, allowing us to smother it in blood from the wounds that will be applied to the victim.

Bowl for excess body material

To the left and right shows the bowel that will be used for the excess body materials that the killer takes out of the victims stomach when he is cutting into her.

I chose this type of bowl as I feel that it has a plain metallic look, such that a surgeon might use- linking to the back story of our killer being an ex-surgeon.

Foetus in jar

For the foetus' in jars, I bought six separate jars at the pound store, filling them with water and colouring the water to look discoloured, taking inspiration from my research into foetus' in jars. I then attempted creating the foetus' themselves, however, this was much harder than I first thought.

In the end, I was resolved to simply make the liquid less opaque and use oranges of which I manipulated to look more like the shape of foetus'.

This didn't really turn out how I would have liked, but I didn't really know what to do. Putting the foetus jars into our killers den, however, along with candles illuminating the shelf, I feel that they look better than they could have. Photos of this can be shown above to the left and right.

Cross necklace

To the left you can see the cross necklace that I already had in my possession.

Trench coat

In regards to the trench coat, I had to borrow one of my Granddads coats, of which looks like the one shown to the right, that we could use. This, being quite large, will be slightly too big for our actor playing the killer, however, it will also make him look bigger and more disguised- adding to the killers intimidating appearance, emphasised with the scars on his forehead.

Flat cap 

To the right is a photo of the flat cap that will be used for our film opening. This will add to the killers appearance along with the trench coat.

Tools

Finally, the tools that we will use are shown to the right. They include all of the weirdest looking utensils that I could find, including a pizza cutter. The objects that I have collected also contain tools that I have found in my garage.

As seen in the photo to the right, we will cover all of the tools and the bowl for excess body material in blood- adding to the gore, enhancing the conventions of the slasher genre.

Practical Investigation of Content in Killer's Diary

I was trying to find some pictures of foetuses, especially ones from folklore such as devil or animal foetuses. Unfortunately, I was not able to find much however I came across sketchings from Leonardo Da Vinci of foetuses and pregnancy women.









 Looking at Da Vinci's work, it would be interesting if our killer was to draw pictures of pregnant women and their foetuses because this would emphasize his obsession and fascination with foetuses and pregnancies. The audience will see him as mysterious and obsessive but also memorable.
Here, I have taken pictures of what the killer's diary might look like with the pictures in and words circled in red pen - red = blood, danger, lust, and (ironically for this) love.

 Here, there is a sketch of a dead woman with a small devil on top of her, looking at us smugly. This devil could represent the killer and his love of killing innocent women. The words "no more moaning, no more crying" have been circled which could be interpreted as the woman after being killed.

 Here, one of Da Vinci's foetus sketches have been scrunched up so to represent the killer's carelessness of state; he is only focused on killing, not making things look neat. "Assaulted", "damaged" and "fractured" have been circled which could indirectly tell the audience about what happened and of the victim's injuries.

 The words "That man's a killer", "killing" and "unemotional" are circled which are words very appropriate to the killer; he loves killing, knows he is a killer and is unemotional, and almost seems proud of it.

 Here, there is a painting of a baby cannibal, looking possessed and scary, and this would be like the killer's 'idol'/role model. The killer does not eat the foetuses as in the picture, but he does still kill them (and enjoy it). "Pain", "murderer" and "kill" have been circled and, as mentioned, it tells the audience that he acknowledges what he is and what he does, and deems it acceptable.

 There is a picture of a devil foetus with horns, a spiked tail and spiked wings. The picture being in black and white makes it seem older and more traditional - like folklore. "Sick with fear", "Crazy mad" and "trembling" have been circled, "sick with fear" and "trembling" are circled to describe the victim and "crazy mad" the killer. This gives the audience hints of what both the victim and killer are like when he murders them.

 Here, the words "bent my head and sniffed", "had been shot when sleeping in bed", "killed" and "dead" have been circled. "Killed" "dead" "had been shot when sleeping in bed" describe the victim, but they will not be shot, they will either strangled, hit over the head, or bled to death. I circled those words just to ndicate to the audience of his obsession with death. We thought the killer could have a habit of sniffing his victims, this is a common feature to horror films - Don't Let Him In, the killer drools and in Batman, the Joker licks his lips.

 Here, there is a picture of a radiating pregnant woman and her stomach and foetus are hard to make out. This picture represents how the killer is engrossed by pregnant women and their unborn babies. "Struggle", "violence", "death" and the words above ^ are circled and if we used a close up shot, this is what the diary will look like.

 Da Vinci's sketches have been placed inside the book and "afraid", "evil men", "power", "darkness", "scream" and "limp" have been circled. These are all words used to descibe the killer (evil men, power, darkness) and the victim(scream, afraid, limp). These are horror and slasher conventions and stereotypes of what a killer and victim are like.

 Here, there is a drawing of fairies around a cot and a baby who has a devil face. The fairy picture represents how many care for babies, however, for our project is it the opposite - the killer is killing them before they are even born. The devil baby ties in with the fairy picture - he believes foetuses should be killed because they are devilish.

This is what the book will look like, there will be pictures and sketches coming out to, again, emphasizes his carelessness - he has thrown them into the book as accounts and self-reflections to keep record of.

 Overall, for our final project, we will make the killer's diary look messy with random words circled describing the killer, victims, and the murders. For the opening, these words can be focused on to show the audience of the killer's obsession; obsessive killer's being a slasher convention in order to frighten the audience more. 

Practical Investigation of Mise En Scene of Killer's Den

I attempted to make my garage look like the killer's den. and worked in sections as that made it easier for me. Whilst working I realized just how small my garage is, thus making it harder for me to do the mise en scene. This may be advantageous because the smaller it is, the more intense, however, in terms of recording with lighting, props and the crew, the size would be a disadvantage.

I mostly focused on the desk and the area near the shutter as this is where the killer will be during most of the opening. We have not worked out what our desk will look like yet, and as this is a rough plan, I improvised and used old sheets of paper and placed them on top of an old TV stand (the desk). Next to the desk is where the killer's weapons will be. Having a closed box for where the weapons will be kept is intriguing because the audience will start to think about what is in the box. During the opening, we will have a few flashbacks to when he is operating on his victims and this may be when we see what is in the box, if we are to incorporate a weapons box.

 Behind the desk there will be a black bin bag, which again the audience will question, and my group and I were thinking of having a bloody hand coming out so the audience know what is in there. This will also make the killer look ruthless and cold-hearted because he sees his victims as objects, not people.

This is what the garage may look like in the final project if we are to use this garage. There will be paper scattered on the floor to show his carelessness. As an addition idea, there could be some blood splattered on the shutter, and because it is white, the blood would be more prominent. Also, we could put some bloody hand prints along the walls from where victims have tried to escape.

 The mattress was placed in the middle of the garage and it is very old and is ripped so we can see the springs. This would be a good prop to use because it is already dismantled and dirty, again emphasizing his negligence of where and what he uses to kill his victims, he just wants them (and their fetuses) dead. Next to mattress, however, he could have some plastic around it so that no blood gets on the floor. This obviously clashes with the careless attribute associated with him, but it could also make it look even more disturbing - that he allows bloody handprints on the walls but wants a clean floor. Often, killers have strange habits and this helps add to their mysterious character.

This is the mattress and around it, it's dirty and there is a saw on it. This was an improvisation as we have yet to plan which tools he will use to cut open his victims. Saws are less medical and safe ways of cutting open victims, if a saw was used it would be very painful for the victim and more blood and pain is a very common slasher convention.

The problem with my garage, as mentioned before is that it is very small. Especially with the shelves in the corner and mattress in the middle, it limits the space further. It would be impractical to use this garage, however, if we plan the space properly so the crew, props and tools could fit, we could use this garage and would work well as a killer's den.

Practical Investigation: Ageing the Diary

'Ageing the diary':

~ For my practical investigation, I decided to look at how we could make the book, that Annie and Raman bought at Shoreditch, look old and more like a diary.

~ I took inspiration from this YouTube video, which was helpful as it explained properly how to use coffee to stain paper and make it look old and more authentic.

~ Firstly I tried the technique on a piece of paper, to see how it would come out and to practise before I did it on the actual book. I thought it worked quite well as I used a combination of 'stroking' and 'dabbing' to create the effect.

Trial run of coffee staining

~ I then tried it on the inside cover of the book and again I thought it was successful.

Inside cover of book.

~ Next, I tried it on a few of the double pages to see if it would work with the ink from the story.

Example of coffee-stained page.

~ On the title page of one of the stories, 'Fear Is The Key', I decided to try and make it look a bit bloody. I used slightly diluted red food colouring and stained both of the corners, I accidentally dripped a bit onto the other page but this gave me the idea to drop a bit onto the word 'fear' and let it run down, creating the dripping blood effect.
~ Unfortunately, when it was drying, the red colour faded slightly, so in future, if I'm going to use this technique, I know not to dilute it as much and also to not put any more coffee/water mixture over the top. Apart from this, if we added more food colouring, I thought it worked quite well and looked quite effective.

Title page, with blood on the corners.

Beginning of story.

~ I also used the coffee technique to stain the rest of the 'outside pages' that would be visible without opening it. I thought it definitely looked a lot older than it did originally and if we do decide to use it for our coursework, then we can work on it a bit more, improving the 'blood' food colouring and coffee-staining more of the pages.

Side of book, showing coffee stains.