Media A2 Trailer- Pitches

Charlotte Croucher & Charley Porter

Sacrilege

These Are Ungodly Times

Synopsis

▪ In a world of dehumanization and complete control under the dictatorship of radicalised religion, there will be no salvation. No prayers can save you. Political leaders are a recollection, freedom is imaginary. Any oposers will be objected to the inhumane experiments committed by the Secret Services, vaporising their minds so they're unable to rebel against authorities. There are no divides as everyone is ruled under the close surveillances of one cult. Except from one…Explore the dark secret of Hellingly institute and Annabelle’s attempt to reveal the sinister teachings the church presents. Its not the patients who are insane…these are ungodly times, hell is empty and the demons walk among us.

Characterization

▪ Annabelle- Opposer to the dominant cult-like religion

▪ Hans Grattis- Priest

▪ Ernst Stedmunn- Doctor

▪ Mental Patient #1

Three Part Treatment•Act 1- Non diegetic narration of how the world became in this state, along with montages of disturbing imagery, featuring the religiously controlled state of society. Montage shots of society before hand, including iconoclasm, rebellion and sickness.•Act 2- Further montage visuals of the overall dystopian, religion controlled world. Radicalized religious chanting in churches, deluded hierarchy. The cult-like side of the religious domination, montage scenes reveal the darker side (Mental patients being experimented on. Adults who rebel against, being tortured.)•Act 3- Annabelle’s views upon the totalitarian society become known and she has been registered in Hellingly due to knowing too much of the truth. Scenes of the sadistic punishment methods committed by the doctors.

The whole trailer will be portrayed in a non-chronological montage style, this depicts the overall Postmodern theme. As the anticipation kicks in, the montage imagery will accelerate, creating an uncomfortable artistic effect.

Unique Selling Point

▪ Unusual concept of the dictatorship being a more extreme and cult-like Christianity.

▪ Set in a time of tragic dystopia, the churches and abandoned mental asylums provide the audience with an authentic feel.

▪ Artistic/theatrical feel intended throughout entire film. Within Mise-en-scene, cinematography and montage style editing.

Storyboard- Ideas about visual and soundtrack

Music-Diegetic old fashioned record player playing contrasting music/old film crackling.Non-diegetic southern-American man, narrating the brief synopsis over montages of Priests and religious contexts Non- diegetic sound effects- refrigerator humming, scratching sounds, heartbeats. Scratchy, muffled whisperings.

Soundtrack Music will kick in as the anticipation speeds up about a quarter of the way through the trailer. We’ve had permission to use a friends bands material. He will also help us out with the overall sound effects and film soundtrack which will be self recorded/created.

Recce, props and costume

• Locations:Hellingly asylum- East Sussex, closed since 1994.

• St Andrews church- Ferring, West sussex.

• Holland Road Baptist church-East Sussex.

• Stamner Woods• Sussex Downs• Balcony/Flat rooftops for

Aerial of Brighton. • Back streets of London Road

Costumes/FX.

The attire for the mentally deranged victims will include straight jackets, medical gowns or Victorian style, rugged dresses. As well as special FX makeup to enhance their derangement and abuse inflicted upon them. We will also provide FX contact lenses for the full impact. Our inspiration for this look comes from films that depict the traditional horror themed ‘mental patient’ e.g. (Boo, AHS-Asylum) in comparison to ordinary people who suffer with mental illnesses. (Shutter Island, Ted Bundy, American Psycho, Psycho.)

The villains will resemble clergy members; specifically clerical clothing for the priests. As a result of occult versions of catholic priest robes being unavailable to purchase, we will be making the villains garments ourselves. Since the 1550’s, priests have worn ‘roman collars’ as it provides a distinction in authority and was thought that if a cleric were to not wear suitable clerical clothing, it would manifest a weakness in himself. Therefore we have decided to include this idea in our film to reinforce the authority that the priests have, especially when in uniform.However, there will be a significant change in Hans’s clerical costume in comparison to the traditional RC priest- due to the satanic mode of address the colouring of the robes will be dark red to connote blood, danger and war yet also strength and power; all qualities a dictator share.The clothing will also feature sewn on patches of reverse crucifix’s in the style of a vestment, this fits in well with the ‘sinister priest’ stereotype.

Additional Costumes/ PropsTo reinforce the time period of the film, Doctors/Nurses in the Mise en scene will be dressed in the traditional attire. Accompanied with ageing hair, lack of Make-Up and harsh lighting, the Nurses will break the usual ‘friendly’ Nurse convention and appear hostile.

Some scenes will include the aid of Special FX Make-Up to blank out some of the facial features; the purpose is for the audience to question whether this is reinforcing the state of delirium on the patients behalf, or whether these Doctors/Nurses are actually inhuman. Contrary to the aforementioned, a potential idea is to have the Doctor wearing a gas mask, thus creating a dystopian affect. To fit in with the postmodern aspects of the film, our surgical Doctors will be entirely out of the ordinary. He will wear a gas mask, not only to add elements of horror to the audience but to the patients within the film also, as his true appearance is never unveiled. Therefore creating a non-human aura about his presence and mannerisms. Props will vary as it depends on the reliability of what myself and Charlotte are able to get hold of, overall hospital equipment will be a necessity, predominantly hospital beds and utensil's.

CinematographyAltered state- Psychedelic gateway to new internal realities. Perfect for a dystopian setting.Flattening of affect- Leads to detached emotionless unauthentic lives. In this case it would be due to religion controlling the world, instead of technology.Challenging meta narratives- Questioning whether modern process is for the good of society, a critique on society/mass production.Hyper reality- two contrasting scenes to emphasize the mental stability of the characters. The audience will be aware that some of the scenes are just a misconception of the characters mind, as one of the editing features consist of slow-fast motion enabling the audience to see that it is a constructed scene. High Art Styles – Our trailer will be an artistic portrayal of a critique upon society within storyline, visual, camera editing, and overall editing afterward. For example the Montage effects which our trailer will involve.Anti-Narrative – The beginning of the trailer will be descriptive of past events, before continuing with the storyline. Mixing/Blurring (Hybrid Genre)- A mixture between the Dystopian Genre, Horror, Occult, Psychological Thriller.

Inspirations:The Lords of Salem (2013)Silent Hill (2006)American Horror Story- Asylum (2011)

Film Distributor & RatingWe have decided that the appropriate age certificate for Sacrilege is an 18. This Is a result of the clear discrimination issues regarding racist and homophobic language/themes (attributable to the radicalised religion), presented within the film/film trailer. Additionally there will be strong portrayals of sexual activity, sexual violence and general strong violence/gore/horror along with implied drug use. Much of these will be toned down and only implied within the trailer, due to the audience appropriation.

Our film distributor will be Lionsgate, this is due to the previous films they have distributed being similar genre hybrids to Sacrilege therefore will have more potential viewers, and overall Is more appropriate.

Font ideas- inspiration from previous films with a similar genreNoticeably, three of these occult films feature

connotations of the Anti -Christ with iconic symbolism such as the reverted crucifix. Often, horror titles feature the colour red as it denotes threat and an evil mode of address. For this reason, we will include red throughout Sacrilege's colour scheme.

The font for Sacrilege will be simplistic biblical font, accompanied with a artistic imagery, similar to both The Omen and The Exorcist.