Depict: initial planning

In this task we were asked to make a short film for the competition DepicT!, a website which collects 90 second short films and the winner receives a cash prize of up to £2500 along with much needed industry exposure in order for their film to be seen by critics and wider audiences.

Initially we were asked to write synopses for short films that we could possibly make, each person in our group had their own ideas. These are the synopses I wrote:

1. A parody of psycho in which the victims of 'Borman Nates' begin to laugh hysterically at his outfit, causing him to run off in a ridiculously over the top tantrum

2. A comedy horror which begins as a stereotypical horror film utilizing lighting and shadows to make the killer look menacing. The killer follows his victim into an isolated location, the victim sees the killer pull out a first knife, a second and then a third which causes the killer and the victim to both freeze to stare at the extra limb, both characters scream.

3.  A dark comedy following two brothers who are visiting their uncles grave, one brother gives a rousing speech about how much he loved his uncle and how much he misses him. the second then points out that they are in fact at the wrong grave they both look awkwardly at the grave and walk away.

The idea we eventually settled on came from another member of the group. The film focuses around a father and a daughter, the daughter tells the father that during the night she hears scratching noises coming from the room next door, the father comforts her assuring her there is nothing to be frightened of. The father leaves his daughters room to move to the room next door, when it is revealed as a small cramped room in which the father has been keeping a torture victim.

We came to the conclusion to make this short because it was generally favored amongst the group and we believed it had a better chance at being chosen for the shortlist on DepicT! We also agreed that this film had the right balance of difficulty and payoff.