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: