Week 3 (1/2): Research for our Movie Opening

 

   Character Research

     After Clare and I decided on the film we wanted to make, we began doing proper research in order to gain an understanding of Christianity and find aspects that we wanted to include in our film. 

    Since I was raised interfaith, I have learned about the Old Testament and New Testament throughout my life, and know how the two correlate with one another. I remembered learning in Hebrew school that there are five books in the old testament; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. I did research on each of the books, searching for a summary that I could base our characters personalities on. I wanted our characters to be a subtle hint to the old testament, which the new testament derives from, and my partner agreed that this would be a great Easter egg. 

    Bible Verse Research

    We also believed that it would be good to do research on bible verses that we could use at the beginning of our film to correlate to the story line. I was looking through ESV Bible in order to find a fitting verse, and found Luke 16:28 which reads:

    "for I have five brothers-- in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this

     place of torment".

    My partner and I agreed that this verse would be fitting for our film, as the five brothers are in reference to the five characters in our movie, and the word "torment" Is a perfect introduction to the genre that we chose-- thriller horror. 

“Luke 16.” ESV Bible, www.esv.org/Luke+16/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

    Plot Twist Research

    For our plot twist, we wanted the 'shark attack' to be something unexpected. We decided to have the 'bite mark' to be something religiously related. Originally, we were thinking of doing an upside down cross. But, I did extensive research on other markings and we found an alternative that we believed would be best fit for our film. 

    The pentagram, most popularly related to witchcraft, has a more innocent origin than many know. The western symbolism for the pentagram in ancient times was the five senses in Christianity. The pentagrams five points represented the five senses in relation to the five wounds of Christ. My partner and I believed that this was a more unique symbol to use. People with general knowledge of the pentagram will relate it to witchcraft and evil, however it has a deeper meaning relating to the characters religions.     

    Not only does the pentagram symbol have a connection to our characters religion, it also is a symbol of the five books of genesis, or the five characters in our film. The number five will be a common Easter egg in our film.

“Dark Oxfordshire.” A Pentagram at Adderbury Church, www.darkoxfordshire.co.uk/explore/a-pentagram-at-adderbury-church/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.