The Sanctuary
Our idea is based around a new age cult who recruits the vulnerable with false promises of security, family and friendship. A door to door scheme, they seem like a genuinely friendly group of people but as the story goes on, they are revealed to have an ulterior motive. When two flatmates are greeted at the door by representatives of the Sanctuary , a group for the recently betrayed and traumatised, the promise of a place to feel safe sounds like a dream come true. Upon meeting the other members of the group and the leaders, it seems like a safe haven. Over time, the rules and guidelines of the group become more strict and more intense. missing meetings is punishable, if you do not meet the dress code you get punished and if you go against the leader's action will be taken. The Sanctuary show their recruits videos every week which they call "refreshers" which have a sole purpose of reminding the group what they are about. It turns out the footage is filled with secret subliminal messages depicting disturbing images and horrific crimes. The two flatmates begin to see that this is no longer a healthy environment to be in and are beginning to question their loyalty to the group. When the group is made to watch a video on the Sanctuary's "Master Plan", instructing the group to go out in the streets and brutally killing anyone they see, the two flatmates are horrified. They make a plan to leave the group and report their operation to the police until the group catch on to what they are up to and make it their priority to kill them before they talk. The film is then based around the two flatmates running from The Sanctuary. The film ends with a terrifying twist that one of the two flat mates was actually in on the plan the whole time and kills his friend. The ending shows the group preparing for their "Master Plan", equipping themselves with guns, knives, acid and bombs as the leader gives an emphatic speech and the recruits cheer and applaud. The last thing we see is the group leave the meeting hall in their masses and the sound of screams.
Inspiration
The Invitation is a film about a a dinner party attended by a man and his new girlfriend at his ex wife's house. The group is acting noticeably weird throughout the night and it is later revealed his ex wife and her new lover and joined a cult whose sole purpose is to kill all people on that night. The cults mentality and motive is something we wanted to embody.
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On November 18, 1978 cult leader Jim Jones, 909 members of the People’s Temple died, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in a “revolutionary suicide.” They included over 200 murdered children. The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others, including Congressman Leo Ryan, by Temple members at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. It was the largest mass suicide in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until September 11, 2001. Before the scenes of november 18, 1978, the peoples church was known as a fun going community which everyone wanted to be a part of. Jim Jones the leader of the peoples temple was described as a loving character with a warm heart. Their church services were said too have had an amazing atmosphere and one former member said "if you couldn't see them you could most certainly hear them". In relation to our trailer this scenario is similar because at first look the peoples temple seemed like an amazing new thing to be apart of but it ended in a massacre.
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Location
For the location we are going to film primarily in the school and in particular the hall. This is primarily due to accessibility and will enable easy recruitment for our scenes. We are also considering filming in an abandoned building for example like the warehouses around Gloucester Quays but that comes with problems such as accessibility. In one scene we would like to use a bath tub in which case we we will film in someones home. We have to take into consideration the time that we film because if we are trying to film an ominous scene in an abandoned building then we don't want it to be light outside.
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Characters
As people join the cult they are forced to change their name to a letter of the Greek alphabet as a way to show their dedication whilst also cleansing their body from their old life. The leader of the cult is called Alpha because he was the founder of the mysterious group. When a new member of the cult joins after completing the initiation they are giving their new name as they start their new life. There are only a finite amount of letters in the Greek alphabet and so when each letter is taken, The Sanctuary's plot can begin.
When the two main characters called Aaron and Ryan are recruited by the cult they are given the names Tau and Upsilon. However, most information is unknown about the cult as they are forced to give up everything when they join the group. We have thought about who amongst us will be playing the roles and although it is early days, our rough idea is for two of us to be victims and one of us to be one of the leaders of the group. We will have to recruit other members of the team in order to help us along the way. |
Ideas for Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9K8zpQQspA - Gone (interlude) Instrumental Free to Use
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpxJRxa2tYk - Jasmine Thompson Take Me To Church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-mp77SZ_0M - The Invitation Chime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCHIAVqVKyA - c12 Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb-XCaA2HZs - Evil Morty Trap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5ozF8HuT4k - For The Damaged
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpxJRxa2tYk - Jasmine Thompson Take Me To Church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-mp77SZ_0M - The Invitation Chime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCHIAVqVKyA - c12 Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb-XCaA2HZs - Evil Morty Trap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5ozF8HuT4k - For The Damaged
Audience
Our target audience for ' The Sanctuary' is going to be people aged 18+. This gives us the creative freedom to make the film more much more gory whilst also adding an extra level of fear which cant be reached in a 12 or 15.