Production Day- Storyboard Layouts

Hello everyone. On the day of production, we redrew our storyboard so it could better match the scenes we actually wanted to film. The storyboard gives a simple visual outline of the film opening, showing the protagonist being picked up, the car driving through the creepy neighborhood, the discovery of the garage, and the tense moments inside. It also helped us map out the more dramatic scenes, such as the box reveal, the attack, and the final trunk shot. This made our filming more organized and helped us maintain the suspenseful flow we wanted for the opening. We wanted to have a general outline so we could see whether the camera shots and media techniques were well aligned with the way the scenes were being portrayed.

For now, having the visuals of the storyboard layout gives us a clearer idea of what we will film today and what camera shots we will utilize. We plan to use tilt angles to show the sign, “Welcome Dhost,” wide-angle and long shots to display the car driving through the neighborhood, and tracking or trucking shots to follow the movement of the characters and build tension. We also want to use close-ups and extreme close-ups to show important details and the character’s emotions, POV shots to place the audience in the protagonist’s perspective, and over-the-shoulder shots to make certain moments feel more suspenseful. In some scenes, we may also use low-angle shots to make the antagonist appear more threatening, high-angle shots to make the protagonist seem more vulnerable, and medium shots to clearly show the action between both characters. Here is the storyboard layout we have to implement while utilizing these camera shots.

First Day of Production

Hello everyone. Today we will be discussing a general overview of the first day of production for our film opening, “DHOST.” My friend and I began by creating a draft in which we combined our initial clips to evaluate whether our ideas worked effectively. Below is an outline of what we practiced during the filming of the opening sequence. We will discuss more towards on if our introduction of the film opening will accomplish the setting and lighting of creating horror films. Here is our result on how the first day went: 

Setting and Location Result: 

The introduction scene was filmed near my cousin’s neighborhood, Towngate, where the film’s journey begins. The opening introduces the protagonist waiting for a ride home when his friend arrives and offers him a lift. As the car drives off, the camera pans to a sign we designed that reads “Welcome Dhost.” This scene gradually transitions from an ordinary conversation to an unsettling tone, with subtle clues such as the oddly placed sign at the community gate.  

We also filmed a practice version of the interaction between the protagonist and antagonist, focusing on how we plan to represent their dialogue and emotional tension in the final version.  We utilized a two shot angle as it shows the two character's interactive conversation. Throughout the filming process, we felt accomplished that the first two scenes successfully created the unsettling and dark atmosphere we wanted. I especially liked the idea of recording the film opening at night, as it enhanced the eerie mood of the scenes filmed inside the neighborhood and during the garage sequence.

We shot several scenes in the garage to ensure the setting clearly demonstrates mise-en-scène elements. The garage setting helped create an isolated and confined atmosphere, making the environment appear darker and narrower. We also incorporated the color red next to a box that had a sign labeled “Do Not Touch.” As the protagonist moves closer to the box, the camera focuses more intensely on it. We used an over-the-shoulder shot to guide the audience’s attention toward the box, emphasizing its importance and building suspense.

Throughout the filming process, my team and I felt accomplished in achieving our goal regarding the antagonist, who is portrayed as the “driver.” In the garage scene, he quickly fades out of view, which helped us practice how to represent the character arc of the antagonist. From our research, we learned that when a setting or location appears unsettling and isolated, it often suggests that danger or a threat may be present. In this case, we intentionally showed the antagonist less frequently in order to build suspense around his character arc and create a sense of mystery for the audience.

Garage Lighting Scenes: 

For now, this is what we have accomplished so far. We were not able to finish the last scenes, as it was getting late for us. For the most part, we were able to finish the first half to utilize this as a draft to assess our flaws and what scenes stood out the best.

Overall, everything indicated to smoothly, we were well prepared and on time with filming. We rarely had a hard time and are excited to practice more concepts throughout the film opening. 

But, I will be signing off and will conclude the rest of the scenes in our second day of the film production. 

Production- Preparing Props

 Hello everyone, today we finally started our production. In today's production we wanted to accomplish to design our props for our film opening. My team and I not only prepare the props but to make a full set up where to place these props in its appropriate scene.

Designing the Sign Board:

For the signboard design, the first thing we did was create a board that would be placed in the right corner next to the neighborhood gate. We wanted to include this because it would help introduce what the film opening was going to portray. We designed the board with the words “Welcome DHost” in bold red letters to emphasize a threatening and unsettling neighborhood. My cousin came up with the idea of turning the letter “O” into an evil face to further highlight fear and horror. To create the board, we used a tripod and cut pieces from the right and left corners, using the middle section as the main display for the sign. Even though the board had a hard surface and was difficult to write on, we were still able to design it in a way that matched the horror theme and suggested that something disturbing was present. Here is pictures of me cutting out the board and designing

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Next, we placed the bear inside a large box and attached a sign with big letters that said “Do Not Touch.” This was positioned in the left corner of the garage, where we also used a red flashlight to shine on the box. This helped emphasize our use of color theory, as the red lighting suggested danger and made the box appear to be the main threat within the garage scene. 

Next me and Issac designed the costume for our antagonist. The way we designed it is by using a doctor costume with a hidden mask, where we filled the mask with fake “blood” to create a more atmospheric, haunting, and fearful atmosphere for the antagonist. We wanted to build the elements of an antagonist that will provide us portrayer character of hiding its identity and helps make our scene sound more suspenseful. As we were able to tackle down a scene dedicated to the antagonist with its mysterious costume coming down slowly to kill the protagonist with the chainsaw. 

The last thing we used was the black garbage bag, where we made the antagonist wrap the protagonist’s body so it could be placed upon the trunk. 

Reflection: 

Overall, we did a successful job of utilizing these props for our film opening and everything worked out well. For now, we used these props as a practice or “ draft film opening”, where my team and I were able to review and see if the props are successful enough to develop a horror thriller opening. Although this may not be the perfect way we represented these props, but it’s a great understanding of how we will structure our film opening. For now, we will most likely keep 100% of the props but refilm some shots so these aspects can be utilized preferably towards the conventions of what makes a horror thriller. 

I am so excited to show you guys my final product, we are almost there towards perfection, as me and our team felt that some of the props were not visible or recorded properly to the standards we were expecting to receive. We want to make sure these props are properly corresponded with the genre conventions of a horror thriller opening when it comes to things like mise en scene and  representation of the characters looks or costume. 

See ya guys in da next post! 

Official Planning Progress

Hey guys, it’s me Sherjil. Now that we’ve basically wrapped up our planning, we’ll be shifting toward preparing for our production set.

Before we do that, my team and I will be working based on this schedule:

February 28–March 1: Set up our props and start filming at least half of the film (7:30 P.M.–9:00 P.M.)
March 6: Day 2 of filming (7:30 P.M.–9:30 P.M.)
March 7–12: Editing phase

As of our current progress, I have now brought the props needed for filming and we are ready to begin production next week. In addition, I decided to add another prop to my list based on my cousin’s suggestion. Instead of using a knife to imply violence, he recommended using a glass filled with pebbles that could be dropped onto the ground near me. This idea was particularly effective because it creates a more unique and unexpected jump scare for the audience without revealing too many details too early. It also links well to our original concept of having the body dragged to another location, specifically the backyard, which was our initial setting. Overall, this new prop helps elevate the thriller elements of the opening by increasing suspense and making the conflict feel more unsettling and unpredictable. Instead of the knife being in the hands of the antagonist, we decided to leave it off inside the box with the bear holding it, since we thought this would be a better way to provide hinting clues of a leading threat. 

If we follow this projected schedule, I think we’ll be ready and on time for our upcoming CCRs.

But for now, I will sign off and see ya guys in our next post where it is time to produce!

Updated Script

Hey guys, its me Sherjil. We updated a lot of our script. Since during our planning period, we changed so many ideas with character details to make it feel more like a horror thriller. From going over and revising the script, it is safe to confirm that this script will align best for our film opening. After some brief advice, we decided to scrap the last scene and replace it into a scene that will leave off as suspense for the audience. We minimized our dialogue to focus more on silence since, we felt that horror thrillers are more common to have a film opening that is more silent, so our characters in this scenario are represented as isolated and fearful of this regarded scenario.  On top of that, I think it's best for us to just end it with the antagonist putting the body in a plastic bag to the trunk and driving off with a title card "Dhost". 

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The Script (DHOST) 

PROTAGONIST: (passenger)
ANTAGONIST: (driver / Protagonist’s friend)
(THE DOCTOR (MASKED) is later revealed to be the ANTAGONIST)

FADE IN:

(Empty suburban grid. No lights. No movement. Cold blue, low-key lighting.)

(A handmade sign sways.)

CAMERA: ECU — THE SIGN
“I AM GLAD YOU ARE BACK, DHOST.”

(Wind. A faint CREAK. Headlights sweep over the words.)

CUT TO:

(A car enters the neighborhood to explore what this dark, mysterious neighborhood is about.)

(The PROTAGONIST scans the empty streets. The neighborhood has dark, narrow roads with no disturbance—full of silence. No dogs or people. The ANTAGONIST drives, relaxed.)

ANTAGONIST
Hey, buddy.

PROTAGONIST

(When the driver drives midway through the neighborhood, a random garage opens ahead.)

PROTAGONIST (low)
Stop. Look.

ANTAGONIST
What?

PROTAGONIST
That garage. It’s open.

(The ANTAGONIST smiles—quiet, unsettling laugh.)

ANTAGONIST
Yeah… we should.

(The music fades lower.)

CUT TO:

(Headlights stretch shadows. The house looks darker than the rest. Garage half-open.)

(The PROTAGONIST walks in first. The ANTAGONIST follows.)

(No dialogue. Footsteps. Wind.,)

CUT TO:

(Clutter. Broken frames. Shattered lamps. Rusted tools. Almost total darkness.)

PROTAGONIST: (FEARS and is confused why things are on the floor.)
ANTAGONIST: (Silently observes.)

(Faint red lamp glow. Quick flashes of objects—each cut hits with a single piano note.)

(A box sits placed on a table.)

The box reads: “DO NOT TOUCH MY DHOST.”

(The protagonist closely focuses and stares at the box) 

(The PROTAGONIST  slowly walks towards the direction to the box and opens it.)

("BOX OPENS") 

(A gigantic Bear with a knife pulls out.)

ANTAGONIST: Comes behind and quickly hits his friend from the back of the head.

(Chaos. A sudden impact. A body drops.)

CUT TO BLACK.
(THUD.)

(Scene transitions inside of a backyard) 

(The PROTAGONIST wakes tied to a chair. Shadows swallow the space. Light flickers.)

(A figure stands in a doctor suit and mask.)

PROTAGONIST (panicked)
Where am I…? (Moves the chair around aggressively to escape) 

(The figure turns.)

THE DOCTOR (MASKED)
Dhost.

(The ANTAGONIST turns to prepare. A chainsaw rises off-screen. Quick cuts: rope, breathing, mask, closer steps.)

(Chainsaw Sound effect, "Rooooooooooom",) 

(Camera shifts up to a mango tree—leaves moving.)

PROTAGONIST: Screams for help.

CUT TO BLACK.
(Chainsaw spikes, then stops.)

(Silence returns.)

ANTAGONIST: Places the body in a black plastic bag and ties it up, then puts it in his trunk.

(Trunk shuts down slowly)

(The car drives off rapidly out of the neighborhood) 

SMASH CUT TO TITLE CARD: “DHOST.”

FADE OUT.

Studying/ Analyzing Locations

Hello everyone, today, we worked on planning and finalizing on what the setting and location will look like for each scene. Our imitative is to have a setting where we can portray the concept of a darker area that feels haunted and scary that will properly match our horror concept. When deciding, we plan to accomplish these goals in our horror film opening:

• Create a dark, isolated neighborhood where we establish immediate tension and mystery where it would lead to the climax.
• Apply our Mise En Scene, where we use low-key lighting such as the whole area will be very dark with only some streetlights being applied and limited visibility to elevate fear for our audience. We want to achieve the goal of bringing vulnerability and scenes that are very dark where we making the thrilling aspects feel more tense and unease to visualize. 
• Choose a neighborhood that will feel abandoned or empty residential area to emphasize the area is empty, where there will be no outside
• Incorporate color theories such as applying red to emphasize that there will be threat involved, and lamp light that will have a desaturated colors to reflect unease
• Design the garage as the central eerie location to build suspense of why it prevails mystery, tension, and suspense. 
• Add subtle environmental details such things in the floor with broken glasses to bring suspense for the audience that this garage is an unease setting.
• Analyze these locations that will strongly make an understanding of what mood should be utilized for each scene.

So, to achieve these goals, I decided to go to my cousin's house, honestly, it checks off everything we need for  our setting and location 

I will discuss each location and their purpose they will be utilized. 

• First Location: The neighborhood we chose is called "Towngate". This will be the first scene that will be displayed. In this Scene, we will do a zoom in of the community having a sign that will display "Welcome My Dhost (Friend),"to display that there will be something eerie and thrilling  coming in their way. The use of the word "dhost" will built up repetition  and the film's purpose of unease and suspense.  The sign will most likely have a vision where it would be as if a child wrote this, where we will make the sign look unprofessional and childish drawing surrounding the background of the sign, to help build up a mystery for the audience of how this neighborhood is leading towards a plan and has other potential victims. 

• Second Location: This will be used to transition to the dark neighborhood of the protagonist and the Antagonist( Protagonist's friend) will explore the neighborhood since they came across something mysterious and why the neighborhood is isolated and dark. The camera will just display what the neighborhood looks like and its narrow dark roads that will bring the audience's tension of what will happen next.  

• Third Location: This the house where the half majority of the film opening will take place because it is the house we chose since this is where the garage randomly opens. I felt like this the best house to portray a house being mysteriously opened with nobody there and brings an odd vibe of how the other houses, its invisible, and this is the only being visible. The house matches the description of being horror and mysterious considering the facts, that the roof tops are black, and can prevail that it is known to be isolated and a leading danger of what's inside the house. 

• Fourth Location:Right now, we have not designed our props yet, but we have a general idea of what the scene will look like when we film inside the garage. We are planning to include a bright red lamp light to make the garage feel darker and more eerie. This will help us emphasize the objects that will be displayed. We are still planning how we will arrange the props inside the garage. For now, it is important to have a bigger picture of how the garage can create a wide, dark setting while applying mise-en-scène to represent colors that properly match the atmosphere. We have designed a plan where we will utilize a red flashlight that will present a mood where there is a threat that will be prepared which the protagonist would lead towards. 
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• Fifth Location:This is the backyard/patio area we are using to film the scene of the antagonist preparing to kill the protagonist with a chainsaw. The backyard setting works very well because it creates a haunted, unsettling atmosphere that heightens the scene's intensity. The mango tree's presence led us to make the setting darker and less visible, heightening suspense and leaving the audience uneasy during the chainsaw moment. 

•    Sixth Location: This is the final scene where we will show the character placing the body inside a black bag and putting it into the trunk of a car.
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Reflection:
Going to my cousin’s house to take pictures of the settings and locations for our film opening helped my team and me better design how each location will portray what happens next in the story. I am glad that we were able to apply my knowledge of true horror-thriller conventions and choose locations that are dark and eerie, which will build suspense for our audience. We are able to match and describe where we will develop the mood of the characters such as fear, uncomfortable, and frightened.  We have identified specific scenes where we can showcase the most thrilling moments and match them with the appropriate actions, such as using the chainsaw and burning the body.
For now, we have a general idea of which settings and locations we will use and how each scene will serve a specific purpose. This planning process will help Isaac and me better understand the layout of the film. There is still more to plan, but we are getting closer to entering the production stage, where we will fully display what the final results will look like. At this stage, this is simply the layout and visual concept of the atmosphere so we can build a clear understanding. Honestly, we are still developing our script and storyboard, but we are almost ready to begin filming our film opening.

But for today, we will be signing off!

See ya guys in da next blog! 

Planning Props

 Hello guys, today we are back with another one, this time I will discuss what props will be used for our horror film opening.  The purpose of having props in a horror thriller is to have certain things, such as deadly weapons like "knives and chainsaws," that bring an atmosphere of fear for the audience. Our plan is to utilize props that will bring the film opening to match the description of the horror thriller.

Here are the base items we will utilize: 

PROPS FOR OUR HORROR FILM OPENING:

• Chainsaws- This is known to be one of the most common props that is utilized in a horror film. This was based upon my research when we conducted a study to see what Mise en scene elements are applied for a horror film. It was stated from my research that adds the audience's feeling of fear and not only results in the protagonist being killed but mainly, it is an element that will provide the audience with more thrilling and unsettling of the protagonist's killing is being approached in this way. We want the protagonist to feel unsettled and uncomfortable as there is no help but a chainsaw that comes slowly towards your direction. 
  
  
  
• Red Food Coloring that will represent the blood that will come out from the protagonist to make the film feel more that the haunted garage involved a deadly infraction. Having blood involved in a horror thriller is most common since it will symbolize  a connection to the color symbolism. We will make our audience be targeted to be scared and sense the killer is lurking to kill with a horror atmosphere. 
  
  
  

• Scary Mask- We will utilize a mask that will cover the antagonist so as not to have a full identity. From my research, I did notice how certain villains do not really reveal an identity so they can make the protagonist feel the killer is unnoticed and mysterious. We want our audience to have a feeling that the villain will be someone who is trying to hide his identity, so no one will figure out who is behind the whole horrifying garage. 
  
  
  

• Evil Doctor Costume- The evil doctor costume helps represent the antagonist as threatening, mysterious, and psychologically disturbing. Since doctors are usually associated with trust and safety, turning this figure into a violent character subverts audience expectations and strengthens the horror-thriller genre. The fake blood on the costume immediately suggests danger, while hiding his identity creates an enigma and makes the audience question who he really is. Overall, this prop is an important part of the mise-en-scène because it visually establishes the antagonist as a dangerous and unsettling character
  
  
  

• Red Light (Lamp)- We will most likely utilize this color where it will be placed inside the garage to apply the color theory where red is represented as bloody or a threat. We want the color to emphasize that there will be a threat going on within the setting. This will help make our scene lead in to a more terrifying experience. 

• Black Garbage Bag- This will be used for the antagonist to be placed inside the garbage bag that will be tied up and put inside the trunk to dispose of, to show the audience the horror movie will have a key concept, where whenever there is a victim in the haunted garage, this is the process layout of how they handle the bodies. I took inspiration from FNAF where the dead bodies were placed inside the isolated area, making them invisible. 
  
  
  

• Garage Room- I will make the garage have a setting where it is a messy room. We will have random things being placed in the room such as flickering lamps, and broken glass to make the audience feel more suspense and mysterious of what the room is about and its horror purpose . We have not fully decided on what the garage will look like. As we progress with our production, we will mention the setting and location that will be used. 
  
  
  

• Box that will have a message saying "Do not touch this my ghost" The use of this prop will be utilized to add a box that will be a specific reason of the main horror purpose of the garage. If the protagonist opens the box, this will lead tension for the audience this box is there where it is hiding something or adds suspense what the protagonist will prevail.
  
  
  

• Car-We will use my cousin’s car as an important prop for the two characters as they drive through the neighborhood. The car helps show how the antagonist lures his friend deeper into this dangerous setting, making his behavior seem more suspicious to the audience. It also reinforces his familiarity with the dark and isolated environment, which suggests that he is more connected to the neighborhood than he first appears. This is the car where the antagonist will place his friend's dead body inside of the trunk. 
  
  
  

Reflection: Overall, these are the props we have came up with to use and most likely to stick with it. For our next blog, I am planning to lean towards of how we will prepare for our horror film. Since, we are at the time to almost bring in production.

For now, I will be signing off!

See ya in da next one!

Character Types/ Roles and Costumes

Hello everyone, today I will be introducing the characters and their specific roles in our horror film opening. So, considering it is a two-minute portfolio, we decided to have a minimum of two characters. Costumes are a pretty big aspect in horror thrillers. Me and Isaac want to make sure that the costumes will match our characters. Based off my research, an antagonist will most likely wear dark colors or mysterious clothing that consists of scary masks, and a protagonist will wear what an everyday person will wear. So, after consideration, we came up with choosing the different types of roles based on our best abilities. Unfortunately, Isaac will not partake a role since he will. So I decided to include just only me and my cousin, Nabeel Asif, who will be partaking the role. We chose to only have just two characters because it could help create more of an isolated vibe that will show more focus on the two characters regarding dynamics and bond. We want the audience to feel that it is about two people in the film that are driving around a dark neighborhood that is eerie and suspenseful feelings for the audience.

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Protagonist—Me (Sherjil)

I chose to be the protagonist for our film opening, and my name is Sherjil. My purpose for this film is to be represented as a character that will be the main part of the movie. The protagonist’s job in a horror-thriller is where I will drive the film’s story and uncover the mysteries of what is going on. I feel like I can represent these elements of being a protagonist, considering I had an experience of doing a similar film concept in different school project where I was the protagonist who was clueless and felled for the mysterious trap. . I will be an actor that will be the person who will be looking around the garage on what is going on and where to escape when danger is involved. Here is the costume I will most likely wear:

The way I designed my protagonist, I just stick with me just wearing an average “teen outfit.” In the film, it shows the character hanging out with friends before entering the garage, which was randomly opened.

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Antagonist—Nabeel Asif

I ended up choosing my cousin to participate in the antagonist role because I feel that he matches a description of a person that will give you a mysterious or evil vibe. He also has experience of being an antagonist, which he helped me create my AP Psychology, which I assigned him to be a role of an evil scientist who did an experiment that negatively impacted a student’s brain. Considering his representation of his role, I was intrigued the way he fulfilled his role with a charismatic role that he was able to fit the description of the evil scientist, from the voice, body movements, and laughs that are defined as an evil doctor. So, I decided to give him a similar role where, instead of doing evil experiments, he was behind all of the deadly, isolated things in the haunted garage. Here is what he will wear in the film:

Here is an  example of his role in my AP Psych Video: 

At first, I will make him wear simple clothing to make the audience feel that he was just a regular character that was playing along with the protagonist. Then later, I will make him wear an evil doctor suit with a mask to give him more of that creepy evil look. We will make the protagonist more clueless of who is behind all of this.

Cameraman—Issac Gonzalez — 

Based on Issac’s great knowledge of AICE Media Studies, I feel that he will fit more into being a cameraman. He will help capture the right camera angles or shots that will represent the film’s opening and mise-en-scène. He will provide a great technique of the filming process since he has experience making videos with a camera and knows how to take certain shots in a certain way. He will have a say in directing how we should be positioned for the film opening when conducting certain camera shots and angles, and he will also assist us by suggesting stronger shot choices that enhance suspense and make our opening look more professional.  Considering, he is my partner for AICE travel & Tourism, I feel like me and him will have a great understanding of how to work together for our film process.

 

Reflection: 

Well, finally, we came with a decision of what role each member will contribute. Assigning these roles was a hard task, and I looked upon who will match the character's description. To be an actor of a certain role, you should prevail the personality traits that will correspond the proper traits. After making our decisions as a committee, I am glad that we are getting the gears in to make this transformed into our film opening. For now, I will be signing off. We will meet next time, where I will discuss the planning of what props will be utilized to make our opening more successful.

Planning Phase

 Hello everyone, it is me Sherjil, back with another blog, today I will go through what my team and I have planned for our film opening. So, over the long weekend, we were brainstorming ideas and had a baseline of how we should structure the storyboard. We already created a draft, a storyboard, and a script. All we need is to combine those elements into the story. As I sat down with my partner, Issac Gonzalez. I came across for these ideas of what to have in a horror thriller movie. 

• Set a dark, eerie location to establish mood and a isolated setting.
• Use low-key lighting  and color of theory concept such as the color "blue" to represent mystery and emotions. 
• Film with suspenseful angles (POV wide shots for isolation) 
• Add realistic sounds of things moving around and creaks/distant noises being applied. 
• Create an enigma why the garage is open and  what is inside
• Build a quick square of antagonist threat that is incoming that will transition to a quick scare or a cliffhanger

THE FILM OPENING'S STORY:

• The film will start off with a close up shot that will show a sign that will say, “I am glad you are back, Dhost” (a word in Urdu/Hindi that translates to “friend”). 
• Then, it will transition to the next camera shot by utilizing a whip pan to a car with two kids entering the neighborhood without noticing the sign. 
• There will be an over-the-shoulder shot showing the two characters driving around the neighborhood and enjoying the bond they have with each other. 
• The two boys were just there to explore the neighborhood as they never heard about this place before, and found it unique that it is a bunch of houses and there is no residence living there. 
• The driver/friend, which will be our antagonist, insisted to drive around the neighborhood since it looks cool, and he says, “Let’s go check out my house.”
•  The friend weirdly agrees with him to join him for this adventure. 
• As they drove around the neighborhood, the setting’s atmosphere showcased the neighborhood being dark and isolated with nobody being involved.
•  After multiple cuts of the boys driving around the neighborhood, the protagonist looked out the window and saw a random garage door open. 
• He insists to check it out, and the driver states, “Oh yeah, this is my house.” When the two boys parked in the driveway of the house, the house was noticed to be haunted, considering the roofs were dark and there was barely any light visible inside the garage. When the protagonist enters the garage, he noticed things moving. 
• He explored many dangerous things that were scattered all over the place, such as broken pictures and broken lamps. This led for the protagonist to question what is going on, and when he does so, he came across a random box with a warning not to touch. 
• Even so, he still opened the box and a random doll popped out. When the protagonist asks for help, his friend hits him in the head, and he faints to the ground. Then, after that, he takes the body to the patio and ties him up in the chair.
• The driver goes inside and changes to his evil doctor suit and wears a mask this time so his friend does not notice. After the protagonist wakes up, he was surrounded in a setting location where everything was not visible and dark, which made the character feel more clueless. He consistently asks where he is, and when he saw the masked person standing in front of him, he keeps asking, “Where are you?” The doctor’s response was the same word in the beginning: “Come over here, dhost.” The only word he would say is dhost, and after the screams, the protagonist gets killed with the doctor, who violently killing him with a chainsaw where physical blood was shown. After that, the antagonist wraps the body around and puts it inside his car trunk, Then, smashes to the title card, "Dhost". The reason of this title comes with a story: 

The title Dhost was inspired by a personal childhood memory. When I first met my cousin after moving to a new city, one of the first words I said to him was, “Hey, dhost,” which means “friend” in Urdu/Hindi. However, because dhost sounds similar to the word ghost, he misheard me and began to cry, thinking I had called him something frightening.  This moment stayed in my mind, and it later became the inspiration behind the title of my film. I found the misunderstanding meaningful because it reflects one of the central ideas in my opening: appearances can be deceptive. Just as my cousin misinterpreted the word dhost, the protagonist in my film misinterprets what a true friend is, as the antagonist hides his dark intentions behind the image of friendship. Since the spelling of dhost is actually "dost, I decided to add an H in the middle to represent what my cousin misunderstood and how it applies through the representation of my film regarding betrayal. 

Reflection: Considering, we already discussed our story layouts, thanks to me and Issacs's effort we affectingly came up with a concept that will be compelling enough to be represented the horror film opening. As this may be a confirmation of our film opening's layout, we still need to discuss more on how we can actually apply certain camera angles or shots that will build the movie's suspense up. But for now, I am going to stick with this plan, considering, it will be good to have a layout so we can have a clear mindset to make our breif.

For now, that will be a wrap! We will catch up in the next post where we will shift gears on discussing of what type of characters or roles will be involved withing our film opening. 

Storyboard Planning (Practice)

Hello guys, today we will be briefly discussing the storyboard draft, the process where my friend and I made our script converted into a storyboard visual. This will allow our group to have a better understanding of how to plan and structure our scenes out. Honestly, we just need a general idea of how we will process each scene, and what objectives based on media studies will be applied. This is not our confirmed storyboard draft, but it is a general method that will lay out the fundamentals for our media studies portfolio.

In this storyboard, the film opening was structured with a beginning scene with an establishing shot where there are two protagonists at the beginning driving around the neighborhood, enjoying teenage life, with the surrounding area being dark and the neighborhood feeling more isolated. As if this place feels abandoned, where nobody is there, to provide more of that isolation and tension that prevails in a horror movie setting. To capture this scene, we will utilize the over-the-shoulder shot from the back seat of the car, where it displays the emptiness of the road. This was an inspirational idea I took when I analyzed the film openings when assessing The Conjuring and Insidious. From my observations, I utilized their idea of an isolated dark scene where they made the audience feel more clueless and unaware of what will happen next for a certain jump scare or when the antagonist/villain will be exposed. From this inspiration, I will greatly apply this as my first scene for my film opening.

After the opening drive that establishes isolation, the characters stop their car and come across a random garage/storage room that is open. Then the characters enter the garage room to see what this house is about. This is where the atmosphere becomes more claustrophobic. The garage is represented as darker, cluttered, and filled with boxes and old items, and the protagonists have to rely on a flashlight that only provides partial light in the room. This forces the characters to move slowly and cautiously. In this moment, the camera begins with a close-up shot of the character’s face as he steps inside, so we can immediately show emotion and tension. The audience will feel more intrigued about where the characters are tracking down the shadows that are within the room.

After this scene, the storyboard will show more exploration and deeper analysis of what is going on in the room by utilizing over-the-shoulder shots and POV shots to keep the audience scanning the room to identify clues. We plan to build fear through using ambient noises and silence, with small sounds of creaks or shuffling to indicate something is there before it is visualized.

Then the storyboard shifts to a villain POV, which makes it feel as if the protagonists are being watched. An overhead shot will occur where the protagonists look small and vulnerable while they hesitate and search through the objects, increasing the sense of danger.

Finally, the suspense peaks when the protagonist opens the box. The sound drops out to show focus on breathing and silence, then we use a tight reaction shot to show fear. A creepy doll pops out and drags them to the ground. After the protagonists try their best to escape, they fall to the ground. We show them fainting with a high-angle shot where we provide a description for the audience of the protagonists being taken away by the antagonist who pops up to collect them. The final scene will show the protagonists waking up and realizing they are locked to a chair where they cannot move or talk. The whole scene will have an effect that will utilize the color theory concept we learned, such as blue, that will represent the wide range of emotions such as fear being indicated. It shows the antagonist getting ready to kill the body with a weapon known as a chainsaw. The protagonists keep moving as he is terrified of what is going on. We lean into a close-up shot of the antagonist coming right in to kill the protagonist. This will then conclude the horror film storyboard film opening.

For now, that is a wrap of our storyboard planning. I am glad that I am able to apply the media concepts I learned throughout the research to come to light. There is much more to plan and to do better. The storyboard helped us get a general idea of how to store and make a purpose for each shot. This allows the whole film opening to have more of a structured layout of what is going to happen and what camera techniques will apply to influence our filming.

As this is the storyboard planning, my team and I might alter some aspects.

But for now, this will hold as an example of what we need for a horror thriller to be successful.

Now, it is getting late for me, and we will discuss more in our next blog. This is where we will get into the stage of what resources such as characters and props we will use.

Until then, see you guys next time! 

                                     Storyboard Layout: 

Script Planning (Practice)

Hello everyone, it is me Sherjil back with another blog. Today I will briefly discuss what me and my team would like to draft for our script.

To start off, the purpose of drafting a script is to allow us to build more practice for my film opening. The script is known to be the foundation of how the character's emotions will react on the big screen. The script will allow me and Isaac, as writers to come up with a structured layout of what will happen throughout the movie. This will help us emphasize certain key moments to focus on better and help portray what an overall horror thriller is supposed to feel like.

While drafting, we will focus on horror-thriller conventions such as suspense, tension, a slow reveal, and a strong hook. Our goal is to keep the audience questioning what is happening and feeling unsettled as the opening develops. In our draft, we plan to map out the main beats by introducing the characters and setting, then showing the first sign that something is wrong to build tension through reactions and clues. One of the most common things I noticed in my horror research is the use of a cliffhanger, which helps invest viewers and makes them want to see what happens next. This also strengthens the atmosphere by ending the opening in a way that makes the next scene feel more mysterious and thrilling.

We will include characters who are clueless and constantly wondering what is going on based on our scenario. In my research, I noticed a similar technique in Five Nights at Freddy's, where a random character shows up out of nowhere to act like a tour guide. He quickly feels suspicious and comes across as an obvious antagonist because he is the only person there to “welcome” the guests into a haunted environment. My script will use a similar antagonist approach to create unease and make the audience question the character’s true intentions. 

We want our script to align with the film techniques we researched. For example, we plan to use point-of-view shots to point out the direction of what the protagonist is facing for the next jump scare. Close-up shots will help show fear and emotions. Wide shots can correlate with isolation. Low-key lighting and shadows, with the application of color theory, will create an uneasy atmosphere. We will use certain editing styles such as fade-outs, fade-ins, and multiple cuts that can lead the scene to have a more anthemic and darker approach. Sound will play a major role, since we are planning to have ambient noise, silence, and sudden sound changes when a horror scenario occurs to help build up the suspense.

To move forward, we will just show a first draft. This is just the ideas we are implementing. Nothing is finished, as we need more time to develop. We only have the ideas of how to make our film opening successful. We will practice by creating a draft for our script.

After that, we will move on to creating a storyboard to visualize our shot list, prop list, and filming schedule so we will be fully prepared for production and film efficiently.

Here is our draft: 

Project Proposal

PROJECT PROPOSAL BLOG ENTRY

Hello everyone, it is me Sherjil, back with another blog! Now that I have finished most of my research, I am excited to begin planning my project. The production planning may be a hard element for a big undertaking. I will, of course, receive assistance with a partner I will be working with to process this production planning. Today we will present my AICE Media Studies project proposal where I will discuss how the planning process will look throughout the whole journey documentation of production blog planning.

Genre Choice / Inspiration

To start off, the decision me and Isaac came up with was to do a horror-thriller film opening for our brief. We chose to do horror-thriller because it is more flexible to manage since all it takes is to build suspense through atmosphere, not just action. This genre gives us advanced opportunities to show our skills with lighting, sound, pacing, editing, and camera work. These elements are all I have seen from analyzing two horror film openings such as The Conjuring and Insidious. These two film openings gave me inspiration on how I can utilize certain props, such as including a “creepy doll” like the movie The Conjuring, where they included a doll that was placed in a dark hallway to bring the characters to feel more scared and afraid of what will happen next. This can be all proposed by building our character development by creating mystery, fear, and tension in many different settings and still make it realistic to help engage the audience with building horror suspense. I can also add my inspiration would lead towards FNAF considering how the movie has more thriller props with animal electronics and chainsaws that kills people. The antagonist for the movie will be a great inspiration considering of how mysterious and evil he was. 

Target Audience / Setting

For our story, we want the film opening to appeal to a wide range of viewers, but our main target is to appeal to an audience that are teenagers and young adults (15–25). This age group was based upon my research, which stated that this age group is likely to watch horror-thriller content through streaming services and social media. This can generally allow our audience to enjoy suspense, mystery, and intense emotional reactions. Our audience will attract all genders, since we are trying to make our horror-thriller opening accessible across different groups and to bring a story that is relatable rather than targeted to only one type of viewer. The film will take place at the same time as The Conjuring during the 2010s, where we will present an establishing shot in a creepy house where everything feels mysterious and quiet, dark, and cluttered to build suspense that something is there and to build up that thriller momentum for our film opening. The location will most likely be in the United States, since the dialogue will consist of English; because of this, we will target English-speaking viewers.

Character Types / Mise-en-Scène

In terms of character types, our opening will include clear horror-thriller roles such as a protagonist who the audience will follow through and empathize with, and an antagonist who will bring a threat source of fear and danger. We will make the protagonist a regular person who is clueless in a certain area and trying to figure out a place, and there will be a threat involved where he will try to find where it is coming from. The way we will apply this is by utilizing mise-en-scène elements I have researched such as non-diegetic sounds like creepy laughs and disoriented sounds, and sounds of things shaking; this will bring atmosphere for the audience to see what will happen next for the jump scare.

Social Issues / Representation

For social issues and representation, we want to avoid stereotypes that are very common in horror films, for example characters acting unrealistic just to make the plot work. Instead, we will aim to represent characters who have agency and make decisions based on their current threat to make our film opening feel more natural. We do not want to make a film opening that is very typical in our genre where there is a protagonist who wanders and a threat comes to get them with jump scares. We want to build more into a creative aspect where we apply more visuals and tactics that we will express for my film opening. We will utilize props and characters that will match more in depth of a horrifying thriller movie. Depending on our final concept, we may explore themes that involve more fear, personal safety, trust vs. isolation, or paranoia. These elements are all common in designing a horror-thriller film. We want our opening to raise questions for the audience rather than giving everything away, so our suspense feels more impactful.

Hardware / Software / Skills to Improve

For hardware, we will plan to either use a phone camera or a school camera. This will depend on what we will have access to, along with a tripod to keep the camera stable. We will use the color schemes we learned from color theory, emphasizing more into LED lights to create a color that matches analogous lighting and shadows, since horror-thrillers are known to rely on darkness and limited visibility. For sound, we may use a phone microphone if needed, but if possible, For software, we plan to edit using IMOVIE  because it allows more advanced editing techniques such as layering audio, controlling pacing of scenes, adding effects, and doing basic color correction. I am going to watch more YouTube videos on how to navigate the tools for adjusting sound and adding certain effects or text in the editing software. This is due to the lack of our team’s knowledge for film editing on Imovie.  We will progress through watching and improving our skills for the project to design horror.

Planning / Next Steps

Although we have conducted an intensive amount of research, we still have several steps to prepare before production. Over the next couple of weeks, we plan to write a script, finalize our characters, plan our locations, and create a storyboard/shot list, as well as a schedule to stay organized to meet certain deadlines. As we develop the script, we will build our characters more clearly through behaviors, personalities, and reactions under fear, which will help us make a decision on how to use camera angles, sound, lighting, and pacing to communicate the horror-thriller genre quickly in the opening, while also adding subtle visual clues such as props, lighting shifts, or color accents to suggest danger without revealing the threat too early. Before filming the final version, we will complete practice exercises of low-key lighting at different brightness levels we learned from the color theory concept, recording sound effects such as footsteps, breathing, doors, and ambient noise to make the scene feel realistic, editing the same sequence with slow vs. fast pacing to see what builds tension best, and deciding what color would fit the best for certain scenes.  Overall, I am excited to begin planning and production with my partner. Although this project may be challenging, this will help us apply our research and the whole concept purpose of Media Studies to start a strong film technique to hook the audience from the start.

For now we will be signing off!

See you guys in the next blog when we plan out our scipt!

Research- Production and Distributions in a Horror Thriller?

Hello everyone, we are back with another blog! In this blog, we will discuss how horror thriller is produced in the real screen to bring the scares for our audience. We will assess on who produces these films, how many companies distribute them to audiences, and what is the structure of an opening script is planned. Understanding this will help me build my own opening like a real industry project where the production style, and release plan all connect. This corresponds to a portion of my Creative Critical Reflection where I have to discuss how I will distribute the film and what production is utilized.

Production Studios (Horror-Thriller)

A big part of creating any horror thriller is having production companies attached to help fund and shape the film. Horror thrillers are often made through partnerships such as multiple companies working together, then a separate distributor release the film to audiences. Below are production companies that strongly connected to modern horror thrillers with real film examples.

Hammer Films

A British production company founded in 1934, best known for its gothic horror films. The studio has a rich history of creating iconic horror, including Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein, and The Mummy. Recently, Hammer has continued to create new content while preserving its extensive catalogue of classic films, under the ownership of John Gore.

Blumhouse Productions

This production is known to target the audience by defining force in the horror genre's recent boom. Founded by Jason Blum, the company is pioneered a lean budget model that often financing films for under 5 million dollars that can gross tens or even hundreds of millions worldwide. Paranormal Activity is a great example of setting a milestone for a budget of $15k dollar budget into nearly $200 million globally. Following that, franchises like The Purge and Insidious reinforced Blumhouse's reputation, including socially conscious hits like Get Out (with Monkey Paw Productions).

Atomic Monster

This studio is known for horror that targets a more “serious” audience with people who prefer psychological dread, atmosphere, and symbolic storytelling corresponding with constant jump scares. Examples from the production includes movies like Hereditary, Midsommar, and Pearl which connects to the audience's best appeal of horror.

Ghost House Pictures

Created by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, this company is tied to tense, suspense towards horror/thrillers that is often grounded and nerve racking. Examples that apply are movies like Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead Rise.

The Safran Company

Founded by Peter Safran, it is closely associated with studio-backed supernatural horror production. Examples include The Conjuring and Annabelle.

Spyglass Media Group + Project X Entertainment

These companies show how horror franchises are rebooted and relaunched for modern audiences with major studio partners. Examples include Scream and Scream 4.

New Line Cinema

This started by Robert Shaye that has a long history of studio-backed genre releases and franchise horror. A modern example of the company is strongly associated with their popular franchise, IT.

Distributions

As we assess the different production companies that are involved to help make the film, we will now look at distributions that helps build a system to target a fanbase. Distributions are generally through multiple windows such as movies being distributed through:

• Movie Theaters

• Rental/buy

• Streaming Services

• TV Cables

Film industry guides and explain that distributors/sale companies help connect films to different national markets and platform.

Common release options (with horror thriller platform examples)

Theatrical (cinemas) – that brings people with their friends to reunite for building hype for a special event movies.

TVOD (rent/buy) – The most common on cable/app storefronts are Xfinity on Demand where people can purchase and view various horror films on their TV demand provider.

SVOD (subscription streaming) – Streaming services has been to be popularized as of recently. Since there are more access to films that can be reached for a wider audience. Most popular services include Netflix. This streaming service has popular movies like Scary Movie and a popular Netflix series known as Hubie Halloween and Hulu where there are variety of movies such as IT, The Conjuring, and Halloween that overall curate the horror genre and collections for a wider audience. Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Videos, and free streaming services such as Peacock are additional examples that emphasizes a strong audience with well known horror films such as IT and The Quiet Place series.

DVDs/Blu-ray: Horror thrillers are often released on DVD/Blu-ray after theaters or streaming because the genre has strong rewatch value and a collector audience that wants to own the film and revisit clues, foreshadowing, and twists. The Motion Picture Association still counts DVD and Blu-ray sales/rentals as part of the home entertainment market, even alongside digital distribution. Physical spending has declined overall, but discs remain useful for horror fans because they offer stable ownership and bonus features such as director commentaries, deleted scenes, and behind-the-scenes content that deepen the viewing experience.

Reflection:

Researching the production and distribution of horror-thriller films has helped me had a better understanding of how the industry works and how different companies shape the genre. By exploring studios such as Hammer Films, Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Ghost House Pictures, and New Line Cinema, I learned how each one brings its own identity, budget style, and creative approach to horror. Seeing these differences helped me understand how horror films are developed and how production partnerships influence the final tone and style of a movie.

Studying distribution has allowed me to get a clear picture of how horror films can reach audiences through theatrical releases, rental platforms, and streaming services. The platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and Amazon Prime show how important accessibility and audience reach are in modern film distribution. This research will enhance my Creative Critical Reflection because it helps me justify how my own film opening could realistically be positioned in the industry. Understanding how real horror films are produced and distributed allows me to connect my creative decisions to actual industry practices and explain how my project fits within the wider horror-thriller landscape.

Well that was a wrap of my research! Now it is time to get the pot ready because we are transitioning into production. We will now go through a journey of how I will apply what I research so far in to my own creative production.

For now, We will be signing off!

See you guys in the next blog!

Sources:

lightninli. (2023, November 11). Horror Movie Studios: A dead list ranking. The Scariest Things. https://scariesthings.com/2023/11/11/ranking-the-greatest-horror-production-studios/

Bautista, C. (2025, June 10). 6 production studios making a killing in the horror genre. *Tatler Asia*. https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/entertainment/horror-production-studios

IMDb.com, Inc. (n.d.). *Release information for films and television titles*. IMDb. Retrieved February 6, 2026, from https://www.imdb.com/