Premise: The Babadook and Character Mind-Map

Before I wanted to continue going forward with the story and the character for my project, I decided I wanted to re-watch and get some inspiration from the Babadook (2014). One reason for this was because I felt the film had a lot of similar themes and elements I wanted to explore within the film, mainly the ones regarding mental health and the usage of the home environment to compliment the horror elements.

The film itself I enjoyed the set up and the characters and the way the film balances the horror factor with the child character, Samuel as it allows you to deiced for the majority of the film whether you believe in the Babadook, or think Samuel is lying by having the camera trained more strongly on the mother Amelia, and her mental health as the story progresses.

I also liked the usage of shadows and how the environment complimented this, with the film seemingly not using a lot of CGI and effects to display the creature, and more relying on atmosphere and the dark to give a more tense and scary feel. This also played into the house, as I also liked how barren and dull the house appeared, especially in the kitchen and the bedroom, with the film relying on awkward wide shots to show how barren and empty the spaces appeared with the characters in them. This also ties into the creature itself, as I also liked how the film incorporated basic shapes on the character design of the Babadook, making it more recognisable from a distance, which the film then played with later on using hanging coats and hats to make it seem like the creature was in the room.

Lastly, I also liked the way the film handled mental health and centred around the protagonists mental health as well as the creature invading her home and her life. The film shows the audience that Amelia is grieving her husband, and the mental effects that would have on a single parent, and balances the emotions and effects this has on her, while also incorporating traditional horror themes, such as by having the creatures effects be more prevalent and the tone of the film get more tense as her mental health begins to spiral, allowing the audience to theories if the creature could also be apart or a project of her psyche. This also ties into the end (which I won't spoil) but I very much enjoyed and feel that it fitted in with themes the film carried and had a more realistic ending rather than a traditional one.

For my Premise, some of the themes I wanted to carry into my project from this film include the way the Babadook managed to create a tense and eerie effect on a low budged, and feel that I could incorporate its usage of shadows and light into my own story, as well as the way the film balanced the horror element with mental health, and allows both those elements to be considered within the overall story.

I also wanted to finish one more mind-map for my character, as I was struggling to come up with a story because I felt the character was to weak, so after some exploration I'm happy with how it's coming together and feel that I have more of an idea of where I want the story to end up. I want to stick with the idea of the character having an issue sleeping due to environment changes, with the past of the character and the environment told visually, as I also want the environment to have some character elements as well to make it more visually interesting. Like the Babadook, I want the dark element to toe the line of supernatural horror and a display of the characters mental health, maybe having the dark project elements of the characters own past to help show her story more. I think next I will start doing some concept and character art to start exploring visually what tone and design I want to go with, while also laying out the overall story.