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The official book companion of the film

SLENDER

Kyle Evans, journalist, is searching for his next big story when a
man he believes to be insane gifts him a sheet of paper with an
aura that isnt from this world. Not long after casting it aside as
insanity, he begins to question his own mind when the creature
that knows no earthly limits begins to hunt him down

Ben Kennedy-Day, Leigh Reilley, Connor Monaghan, Stuart


Partridge, Jon Dredge, Guy Brasher

MP4 12 minutes 26 seconds

Ben Kennedy-Day
07969594745
benkday@hotmail.co.uk
www.youtube.com/BenDayProductions

Scene analysis
Scene 1

The first scene of the film, green and sunny, happy and bright. Added purple tint for
cheerfulness, this changes to be greyer in the scene as Slender is more present in the film to
show his darkness. The aspect ratio throughout the entire film is for greater cinematic quality
and it also gives me the ability to adjust shots vertically to centre them just right into the
frame. Its all about letting the audience see only what needs to be seen.
The protagonist Kyle is dressed in black and white, the same as Slender to show the subtle
connection of Kyle to him in the film. This also represents the opposites of dark and light that
are both present in Slenderman and Kyle. When Slender appears I add a deep drum sound
everytime. Shortly into this scene the jump scare sound effect is present to break the calm
silence of the beginning of the film. I use short, quick shots of the characters faces etc to
keep the tension high. Close up of faces are used to show the importance of the emotions.
I filmed quick, short shots of the Contact rifling through his paper to show the anxiety he is
experiencing. When the Contact walks away he goes blurred, this is to represent how Kyle is
trying to focus on what has just happened. Slenderman appears in the top right corner of the
film in the very last shot I wanted it to look like a tree and not be too obvious. He
disappears when Kyle gets up this keeps the mystery and tension going to the next scene.
This scene was filmed in about an hour with the other actor, and then about 10 seconds of
facial expressions from myself were filmed the following day alone. We were the only crew
on set at the time. I worked the camera myself through this entire scene while acting. He
was very surprised at how fast and efficient I managed to get it all finished while it was just
the two of us. Titles are scratchy writing to relate to the glitchiness of Slenderman. The titles
zoom in to relate to Slenderman constantly in the distance. It draws Slenderman and adds
its full form. The digital damage sounds relate to the glitches that Slenderman brings too.

Scene 2

Another scene that was just filmed by myself. This scene has probably undergone the most
reshoots. Originally, Kyle is typing on a laptop, but was later changed to be paper. Kyle
writes on lined paper to relate it to the lined slender page that the Contact had given him.
The lighting is kept neutral to keep it feeling as real as possible.
I show Kyle writing without thinking which fits into the high anxiety that he is experiencing.
Camera focuses on what Kyle has written at the end of the scene to connect it to the
beginning of the scene and to add a tense ending with mystery of danger.
When the phone call is taken the camera zooms on the mouth as the words are the most
significant thing.

Scene 3 & 4

The first scene thats shot with a cameraman other than myself. Tunnel chosen for filming to
use the lower lighting to make it feel creepy and to frame Slenderman at the end of it. The
light and darkness contrasts with Slenderman.
The first attempt to shoot this film was completely cancelled after the first take because of
many issues with the location, equipment and members of the public. I even nearly got a
parking ticket. Going back the second time gave me time to change the scene slightly that it
now starts bright and when I return from the woods, its dark to imply Ive been there for a
while. Originally, the entire tunnel scene was at night.
The colours and lighting are kept simple so the audiences eyes dont wander from the
characters. I tried to obtain a strong contrast between light and dark, a kind of chiaroscuro.
Glitches are placed on the Slenderman drawings to relate to the glitches in Slenderman. A
metallic glean sound effect is used with the glitch to make it sound like it is broken. When
Kyle is overcome by the energy from the picture a white light surrounds him to relate to
death. Kyle then jumps into the woods scene to suggest the soul is jumping out of the body
into another world.
The camera angle slightly looks up to Kyle when he sits next to the tree to show the bigger
trees this is done to show how small Kyle is in the woods. This is also done in a later shot
at a more extreme angle. When Kyle gets up the filming of him walking is wobbly to
demonstrate the uneasiness of Kyle. Creepy music starts as soon as Kyle stands up. Kyle
gets distracted to look at the eclipse to signify the global effect of Slendermans presence.
The camera zooms towards eclipse then cuts to Slenderman to connect the two.
Glitch sounds are used here to get the audiences attention to look for Slenderman as he is
partially covered by the tree. Its so they know he is there somewhere. The page glows when
Kyles hand moves nearer to it to show it is activated by Kyles presence only signifies a
portal.

I leave Slenderman out of the picture for a while to let the audience search for him. When
Kyle runs the glitch sounds are present to show that Slenderman is chasing him. Each big
glitch sound and distortion makes Kyle fall over.
An up angle shot of Kyle standing in the woods shows the trees towering over him and
consuming him. The camera swings around in both directions to show confusion. The music
is chosen for tense action.
The white bow on the tree is shown to provide a clue that this world is real and not a
construct from Slenderman (as it is a symbol of the tree needing to be cut down). In this way
Slenderman is claiming the human world woods as his own domain.
The forest scene is a homage to the game as it follows the exact scenario that the player
experiences. I believe that this scene will be the most recognisable for Slenderman fans.
Once he is returned to the alley, it is now night and everything is distorted and hazy to
represent his confusion and dizziness of what just happened. As he exits the tunnel, the
contrasting shot of the football game in the distance is to represent Kyles loneliness in the
world as he staggers out alone.
The shot of the dead tree by the lamppost is to represent the difference from the first scene
where everything was so alive and colourful. The forest scene was filmed by another
cameraman and we were accompanied by another person who carried bags for us.

Scene 5

Cuts to Kyles room. The posters on the walls throughout this scene have been digitally
replaced over videogame posters to keep the realism of the character. I have also blurred
and drained the colour from the background to detract the audiences attention from
wandering from the central character. It starts with quick short shots of the alcoholic drink
with loud sounds of opening the bottle and cap thrown on the table to signify Kyles
desperation for it.
There are no sounds added while Kyle looks at the page to get ready for the jump scene.
When Kyle runs outside the camera angles change in different directions to show the
confusion and disorientation of Kyle. When Kyle realises he needs to hunt for Slenderman
the music sounds urgent and there are quick shots and fast movement to add to the
urgency. Slenderman appears in the mirror to add a tense ending and cliffhanger. The final
film of SLENDER doesnt include this jump scare at all.

Find me on Youtube to see the final


film this Halloween

Script for the first scene

Biography
Born and raised in Dorset before moving to Plymouth, I didnt get my
hands on my first video camera until I moved here at 11. All through my
childhood I would have killed to have a video camera to make films, but I
had to settle with a portable black and white CCTV system that was
wired to a big VCR the whole time and recorded directly onto big VHS
tapes. They had very little audio and extremely poor picture quality, but
from there on after, I used the editing software and camera on my first
video phone, which is where I created hundreds of vine like videos
before it was cool. I was experimenting with all kinds of editing at this
age, such as stop motion, pixilation and especially lightsaber effects,
which was my first taste of having to edit painfully frame by frame, but I
still loved every second of it knowing what the goal would be.
I was finally gifted my first proper 3-chip video camera at about 13. I
made many films on it that impressed my friends and teachers at school,
some of the less embarrassing ones can still be found on my Youtube.
At 15 I got my first HD widescreen video camera and then finally at 17 I
saved up and bought myself a professional DSLR which I didnt hesitate
to take out for a spin.
For a few years now, Ive had quite a fan following on Youtube with a
web series called Funny Dubs. I currently have nearly two thousand

subscribers and nearly one million views in total on my channel. I also


partake in regular amateur dramatics and am in the local newspaper a
good few times a year.
My current projects are to complete Slender, and another film Ive had in
the works for over a year that was obviously pushed to the backburner
because of finishing University. This film is called Versus and is a
successor to a film of the same title I made for my Final Major Project in
my ED course. I wanted to show how much further Ive progressed in
three years. Here are screenshots comparing the first film to the one Im
working on now.

VERSUS (2012)

VERSUS (2015)

Its difficult to compare something so visual by images alone,


but even so there is an advancement to be seen. No longer is a
still image used as a background, but a dynamic moving video
that interacts with the action with explosions and later on even
a building collapses.

Production for this will resume as soon


as SLENDER is complete

SLENDER
Coming this Halloween to Youtube

www.youtube.com/BenDayProductions

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