“Dead Ringer”
A Psychological Short
By Ollie Cainey
Narrative.
• My story follows a young male actor called “Tyler” who looses his
girlfriend and finds himself traumatised by her passing.
• He gets a job acting in a film in which he plays a killer, he finds the
director detestable and, due to the trauma he is suffering, he
develops a split personality of the character he playing.
• Too add to his suffering, the PA assigned to him is a dead ringer of
his late girlfriend.
• As the short progresses the protagonist becomes more aggressive
and fractured.
• It builds up to him lashing out on the director who is hassling the
lookalike.
• Both of his identities then fight over whether to hurt the director or
let him go, with the dead ringer trying to convince him out off
hurting the director.
Inspiration 1
“TELL”
TELL is a 30 minute short that follows Taylor, a man who has
killed his girlfriend in a burst of rage. He begins cleaning up
his crime but is plagued but visions of her corpse coming back
to life as well as her friends and police intervening.
• What I got from it:
Characterisation: Specifically the calm demeanour in which he
carries out the clean up. Also the main character and the
girlfriends friend (antagonising towards the main character)
are similar to how I want my characters to be
Plot: The fact we see how one character deals with the
situation is something I translated to my plot.
Tone: The overall tone of the film.
Inspiration 2
“Cinemaphobia”
• Cinemaphobia is 10 minute short film about an
actor who is believes that a camera is stalking
him.
• What I got from it:
Character/Plot: This is the true inspiration for my
main character, an individual who confuses
reality with a false one.
Concept: This is the film I got my original
concept from.
Inspiration 3
“Sin City”
• The visual style of Sin City is similar to how I
wish my final product to look like.
• 10 out of 13 of the people who completed my
questionnaire agreed it was a good
combination. Saying it complimented the dark
tone of my film.
• I believe it is a good combination, as it suits
the sombre mood and subject.
Genre & C&C
• My short can be classed as a “Psychological
Thriller”.
• “Psychological” because of the in the mind
portrayal of the character.
• “Thriller” because of the suspense/tension during
the main sequences.
• My Target audience thought they should include:
“Close-ups”, “mysterious and scary music” i.e.
“violin music”, “Slow shots” and “quick cuts”.
Target Audience & Audience
Classification
• From the Mosaic UK demographic chart my audience come under:
Section D: (Small Town Diversity) 16 (Side Street singles) + 17 (Jacks of all trades).
Section H: (New Homemakers) 36 (Foot on the Ladder) + 37 (First to move in).
Section O: (Liberal Opinions) 63 -67 (Urban Cool, Bright Young Things, Anti –
Materialists, University Fringe and Study Buddies).
•
Although I don’t believe my audience can be categorised, if I were to describe them
as:
From the lower and middle class.
Open minded to new ideas and concepts, they would also appreciate indie productions/
low budget films.
They would probably have an interest in films in general and the creative process
behind them.
They would also have a more serious approach to films and almost certainly wouldn’t
be a general consumer of films, but look to more serious films (i.e. Children of Men).
Audience Response
• Results from the questionnaire:
What Should It Be?
Convention to be included.
8
In The Mind
6
4
Both
Convention
to be
included.
2
0
Physically
Shocking
What should be focused
on?
15
10
5
0
What
should be
focused on?
Should it be Black and
White?
Should the Main character be
relatable or distant?
Yes
No
Mixed/Both
Should colour come into
frame when something of
interest is on screen?
Colourised Trans
Colourised Select
Relatable
Distant
Both/Undesided
Do you think a monolog
would help character
development?
Yes
No
No
Dependant
Resources
• Equipment:
Nikon D3100/ 18-55mm Lens - £0
Batteries - £0
Tripod - £0
SD Card - £0/£13.66
Zoom H1 Audio Recorder - £0
Rode Video Microphone - £0
Mac/Final Cut Pro - £0
• Funding/Costs:
As of 11/03/13 I have access to an estimated £100+.
As most if not all of the cast and crew will consist of friends or people from
college, it will be for favours or a small one off payments.
Idealistic Resources
• Equipment:
I would get all equipment from Maniac Films (found at
http://www.camerarentalsomerset.co.uk/) as they are a Somerset based company
so I would be easy to get said equipment.
Canon 5D MkIII: £36 p/d
Tokina 16-50mm Lens: £9p/d
Arri 750w Redheads: £24 p/d
Manfrotto 545 Tripod/ video head: £16.80 p/d
Azden SGM2X Shotgun Mic: £4.80 p/d
Total for 11 days(estimated) filming: £1029.60
• Crew:
Camera Operator: 10h day £309
Lighting Tech: 10h day £230
Sound: 10h day £321/£286
Total: £9460
Total:
£10,489.60
Project Timetable
Meeting Submission Dates
Locations
• Due to the “film noir-esc” style of the film, it would make sense to have it
in urban style settings.
• The “home” scenes will be done in an actual living room. Allowing for full
control of lighting, the scenes (beginning and second from last) are key to
understanding the character thus having full control of the lighting will
allow me to display the characters mood visually, as well as through dialog.
• Interview scene likewise will be inside, for the same reasons.
• The last location is the “on set” location, this I am undecided on it will be
either; a woodland setting, which will create naturally dark lighting, or an
outside urban setting. This will depend on availability and discussions with
peers and tutors to which is best.
Social & Legal Issues
• The film itself does not tackle any “social issues”, nor
does it try to portray any one individual social group,
age group or race in a negative way.
• It doesn't have a direct message, it is mealy for
entertainment purposes and for the audience to take
what they wish from it.
• Due to the young cast, it could be said it portrays young
people. I would argue that the scenario is so unlikely
that it doesn’t.
• All music will be copyright free, from Icomptech.
The beginning song is also 70 years old so falls out of
copyright.
Quality Control
• Keeping on top of the project will ensure a
quality product is created.
• Rushing it will lead to bad sequences and final
product.
• To ensure quality I have planned out the
schedule to allow for re-shoots as well as
plenty of time for editing.
Destination
• My intention is for it to be primarily a web
based short, as this will allow me to reach as
wide a range of audience as possible.
• If the finished product is to a high quality I
intend to send it off to film festivals, where it
will reach my primary audience.
The End
Any questions?