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On the 8th of June, I conducted a focus group with 5people who filled out the questionnaires I handed out in a nearby café to the college. I picked two boys and three girls, I asked them several questions about TV and Film, asking them about surreal horror in general, I wanted to find out where my FMP will be best distributed. Among the five people there were two teenagers, one boy and one girl, three adults aged between 30 and 40, one male and two female. I chose different age groups to make this analysis as open as possible. Before the discussion begun I handed everyone a copy of my proposal, so that they could understand my film before discussing it. What are you general thoughts on the film? Everybody liked the idea, however Claire, one of the oldest of the group said that she like the beginning of the story but she couldn’t see the progression in the film. Because this is a surreal film there is no progression, or dialogue, it just shows the story in a surreal manor. James, 18 years old, liked it the most out of the group, “This is the sort of thing I would see in the cinema, when it comes to the big screen I prefer horror, and this has everything it needs to be a great horror indeed.” After James’s comment, Roisin, 28, disagreed. “I love the concept of this idea, but personally I don’t think it will do well in cinema because it’s not the sort of film that everyone will like.” Claire and Noel both agreed with Roisin. Where do you think it should be distributed? Everyone now agreed that, the film would not be suitable for the cinema, so we then started discussing places it could be distributed, I had already analysed that it wouldn’t be a success so we begun to look at other means of distribution. Roisin, came up with a great idea, she suggested that I should contact local art galleries, and see if I can display it there for a certain amount of time. If I find the right gallery I will be able to find people that my FMP will appeal to. James suggested that the film be released on the internet. “If you release your film on the internet it will be free of charge, you will be able to see peoples feedback, and later this could even lead to contacting galleries and finding one suitable for the film.”

Address: 23 Westwood Gardens, Hadleigh, Essex, SS7 2SH Contact Person: Marie Hill Position: Land Superviser Phone Number: 07792346879 Email address: [email protected] Feasible shooting space: Yes Electricity Not needed Audio Most of the sound will be edited in the editing room, so I will not need a microphone on set as there is no dialogue on the film either. Lighting We will be filming in two different time intervals, first in the afternoon, then afterwards in the early evening. This will assure we can get both night and day shots. Set Trees, trees and maybe some plants, this is the perfect setting Logistics The woods are a 10 minute drive from my studio, I will be picking up the main actor and driving him there and back, luckily everything is in short distance.

In my FMP, I intend to make a 5 minute short surreal film, “Below Bird’s Ground”. In the story we see a man who is walking alone in the woods, suddenly the environment starts, the sky turns from day to night, the woods are alive, and Kawasaki is the only one there to feel the wrath of the bird. Starring Jordan James as Joe Kawasaki in his first film, Jordan will be studying birds for several days, so that he can empathise with them and act as one with the bird. The budget will be low so the effects won’t be incredible, but I have invested enough to pull off a good transformation. I have decided to film in the woods in Hadleigh, as it is close to me and has all the resources that I will need Locations – We will be filming in several different places but it will all be in Westwoods, Hadleigh I have assigned several; different spots inside the woods for the different scenes that I have planned out, I looked at several other woods and this one is definitely the right one for the setting I need. Plus it is close to where I live in case we need more footage of the location. The intended target audience for my film are 16-25, although it may appeal to some of those from the older generation I have mainly aimed it at young adults, because I believe they will be able to appreciate it more. The film has a really weird manor of displaying things, half way through it there is a colour change this is when we can clearly see that Joe is losing his mind. I want to make this film look as appealing as possible not just to my target audience but hopefully too others as well. I have made a soundtrack of backing music and bird sounds to accompany the film, along with “Requiem” by “Nao Hiiragi”. I decided to make the soundtrack myself, and use a non-commercial song, too keep my budget cost at a low The budget for my FMP is yet to be confirmed but I estimate a cost of £30.00 for travel expenses and props. I will be distributing it on the internet and in art galleries around London, if this goes well, I will be able to bring out a DVD release and make it available to purchase online.

Being a surreal film, "The Birdman" will most likely only appeal to a small group of people, originally i wanted to try and get it on TV even if just one screening. After working on my data analysis of all the questionnaires i had given out, I calculated it may be better solely for internet streaming. Considering its my first production, i don't want to go all out, i juat want to release this film and hopefully get some good feedback, with the power of the internet i have that capability. With further thought, i decided to not only distribute it online, but to give the film what it deserve. I've researched into some galleries around central london and have chosen a suitable selected few. I've put a little thought into the classification of the film, i personally think it will be a PG, maybe even a 12, considering the BBFC have given films a high classification for minor reasons before. "The Birdman" Does not contain any violence, but may make the viewer feel a bit uneasy, especially those of a younger age. I didnt want no blood or gore in the film because i wanted it to be open for all ages groups.

The copyright will all be my own, as I have also made the whole sound track, apart from the ending theme, "Requiem" by Nao Hiiragi I contacted the council several weeks before filming in the woods, so that there wouldn't be any problems during or after filming. They were rather enthusiastic about my project and quick to help. Originally the sound was going to be done proffesionaly, but i realized it was to much to put into the budget. I don't believe there are any moral issues in my film, who knows maybe others will beg to differ, however i believe, for a surreal film most people will be able to accept it. Usually with surreal film they only apeal to a niche group of people. With this i hope i can appeal to a large audience, not only online but in the galleries.

After several days of handing out 100 questionnaires and gathering information, I found out a lot that will benefit me in the production and distribution of my FMP. Here are a few statistics that I gathered: 80% of people that like surreal horror were aged 18-25 Only one in ten girls said that they liked surreal horror several people aged over 40, hadn’t heard of it, but thought it was terrible. The majority of people answered that they, had not seen a surreal horror on TV before, some even said, TV should not display such atrocities. Thanks to the results I have calculated that The Birdman will be more suited for teens than children and adults, also due to its genre and subject, it won’t be very well suited to be shown on TV or film, so I have started investigating at art galleries, for it to be displayed, as it is where it belongs. I have already made arrangements for streams on the internet after the release, but it would be great to get it into the great art galleries of the UK. Ideally I would like to get it shown in the Hoxton art gallery, as they have a video room, I feel like it would be popular as there is already a lot of surreal art there.

A list of films and reviews similar to mine, some have influenced me and others are just similar. “Condorman”, a 1981 comedy/adventure superhero film from Walt Disney Productions starring Michael Crawford and Oliver Reed. Crawford plays a cartoonist who becomes the hero that he draws. Most critics gave this film a terrible review, “Rotten Tomatoes” even gave it a percentage as low as 25%, however, John Corry of The New York Times wrote a favourable review of the film. “It is painless and chaste, and it has a lot of beautiful scenery and beautiful clothes. There are worse things to watch while you eat popcorn.” I didn’t watch this film until after I filmed my FMP, one of my teachers recommended it to me after hearing my idea, he saw similarity between the two of them. After watching it, I see there are a lot of similarities. When I came up with my idea I had this crazy idea of a man who acts completely like a bird, it’s almost like he wants to be a bird. My film and main charcter are similar to Crawford’s whacky personally, bird mentality and the films surrealism. Rotten Tomatoes. (2011). Condorman Review. Available: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/condorman/. Last accessed 23/05/2013. “Kwaidan”, Mentioned several times before so no need for the flashy introduction. “Visually beautiful and with some cool special effects, this is a quartet of Japenese horror ghost stories that have very few scares, although there is the odd frisson of eeriness in a couple of them.” Film4 Top Critic “Kwaidan's haunting poetry is conveyed not only in its beautiful color images, but also through the chilling soundtrack.” TV Guide's Movie Guide Rotten Tomatoes. (2010). Kwaidan Review. Available: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kwaidan/. Last accessed 23/05/2013. I first watched Kwaidan as a young boy and could not understand it very well but when I got older and watched it again, it wasn’t just a shocking chill of a film, each story had its own deep message. Although my FMP does not have as much of a message as Kwaidan it was still a big influence in my work. “The Birds” 1963 (Alfred Hitchcock)One of Hitchcock’s most famous films, Often reviewed as one of the first and best disaster movies of all times. Introducing Audrey Hepburn, this film was set in Bodega Bay, a place where savage birds begin to attack the people. “The Birds represents better than any other Hitchcock film the extreme polarities of his universe: vicious unpredictability and moral and emotional disorder on the one hand, and rigorous stylistic control and formal organization, on the other.” Leo Goldsmith Not Coming to a Theater Near You Rotten Tomatoes. (2009). The Birds Review. Available: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002448-birds/. Last accessed 23/05/2013. This film inspired me, because I love how terrifying the birds are even though the special effects are not the greatest, its gives you a sense of the horror of what it would be like for hundreds of birds to attack, and if they were in large quantities, they would over power us.

Inspirational People There are many people that have inspired me, not only for my FMP, but right to the basics of choosing to study media. I’ve always wanted to be part of the media industry, to make a film that can change peoples views, maybe even their lives. Akira Kurosowa (黒澤 明) - Director, Script-writer, editor and producer. Years active 1936–1993 In 1948, Kurosowa released his breakthrough film “Drunken angel”, In his early career, his work was mostly based on true stories, and other films being set in a real setting, in a previous period. Although widely known in japan in the late 40s early 50s, Kurosawa did not become known internationally until 1954, when he released “Seven Samurai”. This was Kurosawa’s first film based on samurai, He had originally wanted to direct a film about a single day in the life of a samurai but later discovered a story about samurai defending farmers in his research. In his later career his films begun to take a more surreal turn. A good example of this would be the 1964 film “Kwaidan”, containing, four classic, unique ghost tales. Shocking and making the viewer feel uneasy at sometimes, yet this horror delivers a message at the end of each tale. Kurosowa inspires me, because I have seen a lot of his films and there isn’t one that fails at keeping me entertained from start to end, even some that last for hours. He delivered a great amount of passion within his work, including his love for his culture and life. Kurosowa was not just a director he was an auteur.

Surreal Horror A darker more morbid horror, turning the real, surreal. These films can be anything from tales based on nightmares to primal fears and the supernatural. Surreal horror does not always make sense at first glance it either has a deeper meaning, or is just made to make the viewer shocked at what they see. Whatever the motive surreal horrors never cease to shock people the events are usually unexpected and leave the view guessing. I must say surreal horror is one of my favourite genres of film, I am passionate about it enough to make my FMP a surreal horror, it may not be up there with classic surreal films, as long as I make the viewer feel weird and uneasy I am satisfied.

Questionaire 1. How old are you? -16 16+ 18+ 20+ 30+ 2. Are you Movie Mad or a TV Timer? 3. Do you watch a bit a lot or all the time ? 4. Do you like Horrors? Y N If not leave now 5. Do you prefer the older or newer horror flics? 6. What is your favourite Horror movie? 7. Have you ever heard of Surreal horror? Y N 8. Name one if you can

• Surreal horror, a genre filled with twists, fantasy, fear and insanity • Inspired by surreal horrors like “The Birds” and “Kwai’dan”, not just film but the book “Metamorphosis” inspire me for my FMP • Why is surreal scary? Sometimes a surreal horror isn’t genuinely classed as a horror. How surreal horror’s always have a way of frightening people, maybe its the lost sense of reality or maybe the broken plots. • Transformation, when a human goes through physical changes and becomes something they shouldn’t be, can involve special effects, or can just show the person changing mentally. THE BIRDMAN A short surreal horror feature, A young man is walking through the woods, he is attention is caught by a bird. As he gazes into the birds eye, it begins to gain a hold over him. Going insane the man is frantic to leave the woods. He sees the eye everywhere he goes, he becomes possessed. This idea was generated from my influences above, I have choose this production because it is something I am passionate about, after watching surreal Japanese horrors like “Kawi’dan” and “Hausu” I wanted to capture a story of a man who goes through a supernatural trauma of his own. Hitchcock’s “The Birds” Influenced me with the fear of the birds. I wanted to portray that fear in the form of turning into a bird and losing sanity. The transformation will be more mental than physical, but the viewer will be able to see and understand, what is happening to the man as he travels through the morbid woodlands. He begins hallucinating as he hears the birds, and feathers surround him, they will soon become one. .

(Masaki Kobayashi) Japanese horror film released in 1964. Kwai'dan is based on three classic ghost stories. It was filmed with a small cast in an airport hangar, however delivers beautiful sets, with a surreal outlook on reality. Kwai'dan grossed over 350 million JPY (Japanese Yen), to this day it is considered one of the best japanese horror movies, even compared to more modern ones. Spoiler ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@ The first segment of the film, partly inspired me for my FMP, it involves a samurai who leaves his wife so that he can find a richer woman, not knowing that he would soon realise it was all a mistake, several years later when he is finally able to get back to her, he instead finds her ghost, and is possesed, her spirt never leaving him, as the black hair clings onto him. I want to create a film similar to this, however it will be alot shorter, yet i want to create the same surreal atmoshphere in my film.

The Beginning