Research and Planning: Individual Ideas.

Synopsis

A serial killer arises in and around a small community of towns and villages. The killer leaves his victims (mostly teenage girls)with fifth/sixth degree burns in fairly open locations, along with a photo of the next victim. The victims are usually reported missing before their bodies have been found, so there’s next to nothing anyone can do to prevent the next victim from being killed. Police suspect the killer is using equipment that was fairly recently stolen from a near-by steel mill. A group of teenagers go camping in the woods in this area, unaware of the killer’s handiwork. One of the teens, Toni Allen, is the daughter of a news reporter, Norman Allen, who has been reporting on the various sites of the found bodies. He urges his daughter not to go on the trip, but she goes anyway while he is on the way to the next crime scene. The others in the group know nothing of the killer, but one of them, Eric Browning, hears about him in passing, so he decides to bail out without the others knowing. Norman discovers at the crime scene that the next victim will be his daughter, so he returns home, and finds she is not there, but unlike the parents of the past victims, Toni is not missing, and Norman knows where she has gone. The group continue in their endeavours, blissfully unaware of the dire consequences. They go looking for Eric who they believe has disappeared, and they get picked off, one-by-one, by the killer. Eventually Toni is the only one left, finding herself taking refuge in an abandoned caravan in the woods. The killer is already there, however, and as she fights back, she discovers the killer is actually her father. Norman reveals he kidnaps and kills girls to add spice to his life which is otherwise dull and meaningless. Norman murders, and in turn makes his job and the lives of everyone in the community more exciting. He believes he is somehow performing a kind of community service to the people. Norman somehow thinks the sacrifice of his daughter will bring closure to his deceased wife’s unsatisfactory life. He of course fails, and is sent to a mental institute where he obsessively scrawls pictures of his ex-wife on the walls.

Characters

·         Serial Killer. Leaves horribly burned victims in open locations with a photo of the next victim. Remains unidentified throughout the entirety of the film (only see shots through victim’s eyes, and of his body parts, like in Friday the 13^th), but is revealed at the end to be Norman Allen, father of the Final Girl. His weapon of choice is a modified blow-torch which produces a much more potent flame. He kills because his wife Pam used to mention how she was unhappy with her life, so he avenges her, taking her final wishes very literally, making the murders symbolic of her life and death.

Norman is seen to be a good father figure, concerned for his daughter’s safety. He is also passionate for his job as a local news reporter.

·         Pam Allen. Deceased wife and mother, and co-anchor of Norman. She died unhappy with her life; bored of the location, and loathsome of the reckless and annoying teenagers. She was killed by accident whilst on a camping holiday with her friends: she was locked inside a caravan as it burned down. Norman’s murders are a reflection of how Pam lived and died.

·         Toni Allen. The Final Girl. Only daughter of Norman, who is concerned for her safety, and doesn’t allow her to go on the camping trip, but she sneaks out while Norman is reporting at the latest crime scene.

Toni is smart, and willing to fend for herself. She is concerned for Eric when he disappears, and she is the one to decide that the group should go and look for him. Toni is independent and a loyal friend.

·         Eric. Cowardly, and hears of the killer whilst on the way to the camping site. Supposedly goes missing half-way through the film, but the audience knows he returned home. At the end of the film, Eric is seen walking Toni out of the institute that Norman has been sent to.

Setting

The main characters’ home is in a fictional community of small towns and villages. The village that they live in is the only one shown, but others are mentioned in the news reports. The majority of the film set in a wood around this area, during the day (present-day), in winter, with lots of fog. The fog represents the blurred relationship between Toni, Norman and Pam, and the cold of winter is a contrast of the means in which Norman kills.

Locations

·         The Allen Household

·         Some of the crime scenes, shown as news stories on the television.

·         The wood that the group camp in

·         The Caravan in the woods

Props/Costumes

Norman Allen (killer):

·         Modified blowtorch (Flamethrower, possibly?)

·         Gas mask/Welding mask

·         Black duck overalls/Black or grey boiler suit

·         Dark grey flannel shirt (with the overalls)

·         Black steel toe-capped work shoes

·         Black fireproof gloves

Norman Allen (reporter):

·         Shirt and tie

·         Peacoat

·         Wing-framed glasses

Toni Allen

·         T-Shirts

·         Cardigans

·         Jeans

·         Parka Coat

·         Boots

Others on Camping trip:

·         Coats

·         Shirts and T-Shirts

·         Jumpers and cardigans

·         Trainers and Boots

Main Props:

·         News Reporting equipment (cameras, vans, microphones etc)

·         Crime scene equipment (police tape, body bags, traffic cones (?) etc)

·         Tents and sleeping bags

·         Killer’s tools and utensils (chains, blowtorches, welding masks/gas masks)

·         The caravan

 Family photos around the caravan