MY EVALUATION

The setting took place in my house as it was simple and ideal for the story. To show the prologue of the court case at the start of the story I shot a close up of my hand writing a document for release for John Turk so in a film the audience could read it for a short while to get the idea of the plot and its character John Turk and Johnson.

A lot of my shots were based on close ups with little lighting to emphasize the focus of that object in the scene which I applied with the court document (but with stronger lighting). In order to embrace a larger view of what Horror in a story can show I showed my next shot (shot two) of a creepy house at night which fits in with the old hammer horror films and codes and conventions of a haunted house at night in a thunderstorm. I used a picture off the net to aquire the desired effect.

(shot three) Is with Johnson being inside his house and lighting a candle in a dark room at night which holds the codes and conventions of horror as night is a main element in scaring and audience. The close up of lighting a candle was a homage to Steven Spielberg’s ‘’Schindlers list’’ although the meaning behind it is different in the film but the shot itself in my opinion was effective.

The next shot (shot four and five) window with a storm outside which is mentioned in the novel as it was difficult to know when a storm comes round I sprinkled water on the window as rain droplets and I turned the flash on my camera to indicate lightening when if reflected off the window.

I knew from reading the story that the staircase was important to my storyboard so I did (shot 6 and 7) of a close up of Johnsons (my) legs going upstairs and John Turks (my) legs going upstairs which was another idea and homage to Guy Ritchie’s ‘’ Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’’ Which shows a close up shot of the two Liverpudlian robbers going up the stairs followed unsuspectingly by the Butler which is shown by his feet going up the stairs which I rather liked and applied it to my story. I had Johnsons feet going up the dark candlelit stairs in his pinstriped suit trousers and polished shoes followed a few seconds later by the Ghost of John Turk in his are feet indicating his madness. This is followed up by (shot 8) another medium shot of the empty dark staircase showing that no-one is there. This is what happens in the novel.

The next shot (shot 9) is taken directly from the illustration from the novel as we see the dark outline of the ghost appear on the stairs which is shot with very little lighting to give it a look from the protagonist’s viewpoint or perspective which was powerful in showing the Horror element. Immediately in the next shot (shot 10) tension rises as we receive a close up of Johnson’s horrified face as he thinks that something is there but he may have imagined it and is yet again taken directly from the illustration from the novel.

A sigh is heard from inside the bag and it starts moving on the inside and when Johnsons back is turned the bag appears and reappears at different places inside the bedroom (shots 11 to 13). To make it scary I shot a medium close up of my hand protruding from the kitbag (shot 14) emphasising its movement and creepiness with more shots showing its different positions in the bedroom which is unnerving for Johnson and the audience.

This was followed up by a medium close up of me (my viewpoint characters perspective) opening the kit bag (shot 15 ) to see inside which in the novel is a foreboding moment and I mixed up some dark red crimson or claret paint to make it look authentic and creepy and poured it inside the bag onto of some old white clothing making it easy to see and sinister. Showing that this is the bag in which John Turk committed the murder and the blood is a part of this haunting process.

Then the ghost of John Turk appears (shot 16 and 17) to take his kit bag away in the way he looked the night he committed the murder in order to enhance his mad schizophrenic appearance I wanted to give him a joker from the ‘’dark knight’ look so I took a close up shot of me with my head tilted forwards to make my eyes narrow and have dark shades under them implying that this man is mad enough not to be seen in public as he keeps out of sunlight which I intensified by using a faint black felt tip pen to brush under my eyes. I next used a gel pens red ink and placed a few droplets of blood on my face to show that blood was sprayed onto Johns face when he committed the murder.

Finally the novel shows Johnson waking up next morning after falling unconscious and believes it to be a dream but notices the kit bag is missing and learns from his housekeeper that John Turk committed suicide after the trial hence the reason why his spirit appears. Which I decided to end with a medium shot of John’s gravestone (shot 18).

Shot 1: The opening shot of a close up of barrister Wilfred Johnson's hand writing a summation document for the release of John Turk his client who had been charged with murder but he is free of prison due to a plea of insanity thanks to Johnson . But he had been diagnosed with scitzophrenia in the past. Johnson picks up a forgotten kit bag which he suspects belongs to John Turk who does'nt come back to retrieve it. So rather than throw it away he keeps it to help him with his packing.

Shot 2: A long shot of the sky after sunset and the thunderstorm is starting to kick in and Johnson has recently inherited this old house and has recently for the past few days been living there till the trial has ended and he can stay the night and pack and be ready to go to the himalayas on holiday in the morning.

Shot 3: A medium shot of Johnson being inside and the candle being lit in a dark room. As there is no proper lighting due to the storm.

Shot 4: A close up shot of the window as inside a storm is brewing and a lightening flash is seen through the window.

Shot 5: close up of the same window with a storm outside which is the harbinger of the tension that is to follow.

Shot 6: A medium shot of Johnsons feet going up the dark candlelit stairs in his pinstriped suit trousers and polished shoes.