Concept Declaration
I have decided that I will be making a film called 'The Bargainer' it will be a horror film with elements of experimental film and be centred around an enigma which is who exactly is the Bargainer? The focus of the narrative will be a man being coaxed by the Bargainer as he distorts the poor man's mind and manipulates him into an animalistic cannibal, only for the Bargainer to, in essence consume the man, making them one.
The film will be a silent film as I believe that dialogue may come across as too sloppy or cheesy unless handled perfectly and as I don't have such confidence in myself with the dialogue I will refrain from using it. Not only this but I think that it may be more powerful to see what I can do using visual expression instead of relying on lyrics to convey a narrative. If I think that any dialogue is necessary, I will use sub-titles.
The Location will be all indoors as I don't think that an elaborate set is needed. The majority of horror films take place in houses and therefore this will be no different. Also I am taking quite a lot of inspiration from 'The Grandmother' which also is predominantly located in a house, more specifically one room as mine will most likely be. This not only uses repetition of the same set, giving more of a documentary/ neo-realist atmosphere which is common in experimental cinema but the use of a dream sequence may also allow for the other side of experimental cinema that I will take from 'Night Fishing' which is the video style very similar to that of a music video. I think that this part of experimental cinema would work best in a dream there is a lot to play around with and experiment to give my own visual style that both fits the disturbing mood of the film but also doesn't feel out of place or thrown in out of necessity.
I have decided on an enigma for the narrative as the idea was that having an enigma would be most impactful for a horror. I eventually decided on the character of the 'Bargainer', a hooded figure who gives when he gets what he wants. I got this idea originally from a tale from the children's show 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' which uses a similar concept with a voice in the dark that gives a boy trivial rewards in return for humans to eat. I thought that while this show makes quite a childish approach of this, as it is a show targeted at a younger audience, I could perhaps take more of an adult, graphic and experimental outlook on the same sort of concept. I didn't like the use of the character being just a voice either, I felt that the enigma would seem so much more prevalent and intriguing if spectators know what the character is but the rest is unknown, crafting in itself a lot of mysteries such as: who is the Bargainer? Where does it come from? Is it human? Why does it want others to murder for it instead of doing it itself? What is it's motives? The list goes on.
I also got a lot of inspiration from a film that is one of my favourites and very artistically bold- 'Spirited Away'. This film too includes a black figure that is a spirit called Kaonashi or 'No Face'. This character represents lust and greed and to all extents and purposes the Bargainer fits a very similar role just being a lot more of an active character as he openly engages character immediately and causes the conflict in the film. He represents greed as he is essentially giving reward for people committing acts in his favour, be these minuscule tasks like giving him an apple or heinous crimes like killing innocents. To a similar extent he also represents lust in the fact that he manipulates people into a bloodlust mindset in doing so satiates his own lust.
I think that having such an ambiguous message may confuse spectators however to a more active spectator, they may be able to realise that the film is about greed and lust and understand that the moral is to not be overcome by poor decisions and often not only do the ends not justify the means but you never know if your acts will come to such merit. This is evident by the man being consumed by the Bargainer, in the end he gets nothing for his reward, he was used.
I think that what also makes an impact is making the characters anonymous. Many horror films use vague characters that fit so many common similarities with as wide an audience as possible that they are able to better reflect themselves onto the characters. They even often resort to cliches such as 'The Nerd' or 'The Jock' characters which allow for a whole demographic to be targeted and allow for stronger verisimilitude as the spectator can better relate to the character they share similarities with and empathise with them and their dangerous situation. By giving my characters no character, it makes film have a sense of anonymity which means that literally just about anyone can reflect themselves onto the man and imagine themselves being manipulated by an unknown presence which evokes more fear in them and makes the experience more disturbing and creepy as they believe it could happen to them.
The film will be a silent film as I believe that dialogue may come across as too sloppy or cheesy unless handled perfectly and as I don't have such confidence in myself with the dialogue I will refrain from using it. Not only this but I think that it may be more powerful to see what I can do using visual expression instead of relying on lyrics to convey a narrative. If I think that any dialogue is necessary, I will use sub-titles.
The Location will be all indoors as I don't think that an elaborate set is needed. The majority of horror films take place in houses and therefore this will be no different. Also I am taking quite a lot of inspiration from 'The Grandmother' which also is predominantly located in a house, more specifically one room as mine will most likely be. This not only uses repetition of the same set, giving more of a documentary/ neo-realist atmosphere which is common in experimental cinema but the use of a dream sequence may also allow for the other side of experimental cinema that I will take from 'Night Fishing' which is the video style very similar to that of a music video. I think that this part of experimental cinema would work best in a dream there is a lot to play around with and experiment to give my own visual style that both fits the disturbing mood of the film but also doesn't feel out of place or thrown in out of necessity.
I have decided on an enigma for the narrative as the idea was that having an enigma would be most impactful for a horror. I eventually decided on the character of the 'Bargainer', a hooded figure who gives when he gets what he wants. I got this idea originally from a tale from the children's show 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' which uses a similar concept with a voice in the dark that gives a boy trivial rewards in return for humans to eat. I thought that while this show makes quite a childish approach of this, as it is a show targeted at a younger audience, I could perhaps take more of an adult, graphic and experimental outlook on the same sort of concept. I didn't like the use of the character being just a voice either, I felt that the enigma would seem so much more prevalent and intriguing if spectators know what the character is but the rest is unknown, crafting in itself a lot of mysteries such as: who is the Bargainer? Where does it come from? Is it human? Why does it want others to murder for it instead of doing it itself? What is it's motives? The list goes on.
I also got a lot of inspiration from a film that is one of my favourites and very artistically bold- 'Spirited Away'. This film too includes a black figure that is a spirit called Kaonashi or 'No Face'. This character represents lust and greed and to all extents and purposes the Bargainer fits a very similar role just being a lot more of an active character as he openly engages character immediately and causes the conflict in the film. He represents greed as he is essentially giving reward for people committing acts in his favour, be these minuscule tasks like giving him an apple or heinous crimes like killing innocents. To a similar extent he also represents lust in the fact that he manipulates people into a bloodlust mindset in doing so satiates his own lust.
I think that having such an ambiguous message may confuse spectators however to a more active spectator, they may be able to realise that the film is about greed and lust and understand that the moral is to not be overcome by poor decisions and often not only do the ends not justify the means but you never know if your acts will come to such merit. This is evident by the man being consumed by the Bargainer, in the end he gets nothing for his reward, he was used.
I think that what also makes an impact is making the characters anonymous. Many horror films use vague characters that fit so many common similarities with as wide an audience as possible that they are able to better reflect themselves onto the characters. They even often resort to cliches such as 'The Nerd' or 'The Jock' characters which allow for a whole demographic to be targeted and allow for stronger verisimilitude as the spectator can better relate to the character they share similarities with and empathise with them and their dangerous situation. By giving my characters no character, it makes film have a sense of anonymity which means that literally just about anyone can reflect themselves onto the man and imagine themselves being manipulated by an unknown presence which evokes more fear in them and makes the experience more disturbing and creepy as they believe it could happen to them.
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