Blog #22 – Mise-en-Scène

 This is one of my favorite parts because mise-en-scène is literally everything the audience sees and just the smallest details can say a lot about characters without them speaking.

Props:

• journals, bags, snacks, etc. all items that feel realistic for teens.

• Phones and notebooks laid out in a way that shows who is organized vs. who’s chaotic.

Costumes:

We’re wearing normal school outfits, but each character’s style matches their personality.

• Amara: simple, calm colors.

• Jenna: louder, more confident pieces.

• Kayla (me): matches Jenna but slightly toned down → follower energy.

• Maya: more neutral and observant-looking.

Composition & blocking:

• Characters placed in positions that show their role or dynamic  (leader in front, followers behind, hesitant characters at the edge).

• Small changes in distance to show when tension is rising.

Settings/locations:

We picked spaces that look like real planning/hang out spots; classrooms, hallways, open areas, nothing forced.

Together, these choices make the scenes feel believable and help guide the viewer’s emotions without obvious dialogue.

Blog #21 – Color & Lighting

Color and lighting are key parts of making tone, so I’m using them to show the shift in the story. At the beginning, everything feels bright and simple. As the tension builds, the lighting becomes slightly harsh or colder.

Indoor lighting approach:

• Starting with soft, warm lighting to make the characters look comfortable.

• As scenes get more serious, shadows increase, especially around the corners of the frame.

• Using the ring light only when necessary.

Outdoor lighting:

• Filming earlier in the day so the sun is steady and beaming.

• Lowering exposure a little during tense scenes so colors look muted.

• Using shade strategically for moments where the vibe shifts.

Color palette:

Begins warm/neutral and slowly transitions into cooler tones.

Blog #20 – Soundscape

 Even though we’re just students, I want the sound in this film to feel intentional. It’s supposed to start off normal and then slowly shift into something uneasy, like the audience can tell something’s “off” even before the characters do.

What I’m using:

• Ambient school sounds: footsteps, lockers, hallway voices (to make it more realistic).

• Travel-related sounds: paper maps, pages flipping, wheels from a suitcase, writing with markers.

• Transition sounds: low rumbling, hums, slight static, nothing jump-scare-ish, just tension.

• Foley recording: zippers, door handles, bags dropping, footsteps changing depending on floors.

• Dialogue: I want it to sound natural, so we’re not over-rehearsing lines.

Editing plan:

Our teams editor is mixing everything in CapCut because it’s easy to layer audio without it sounding messy. The goal is to make the sound slowly turn darker without the audience realizing when it’s being changed.

Blog #19 – Equipment

 Because we’re doing a school production, our equipment isn’t super professional, but we’re working with what we have and honestly, good planning matters more than the gear.

Our setup:

• Main Camera: iPhone 15, the quality is actually really sharp, and it handles low light better than expected.

• Backup Camera: another iPhone, just in case something goes wrong.

• Tripod: One tall tripod for stable shots and a mini tripod for close-ups or low angles.

• Lighting: A ring light for indoor scenes + natural sunlight for outdoor scenes.

• Microphone: We’re using the built-in phone mic but recording extra audio on Voice Memos so we can layer it if the dialogue isn’t clear.

• Stabilizer: A small handheld gimbal for walking shots so it doesn’t look shaky.

• Props: backpacks, books, maps, travel supplies ; anything that makes the scene feel realistic.

Before filming, we tested everything out together. That saved us a lot of time because now we know exactly which angles look the best and what lighting we need for each of the takes or shots.

Blog #18 – Shot List

Making the shot list honestly helped with majority of my project. When I was first writing the script, I kept imagining all these cool angles, but when it came time to actually plan them out, I realized I needed to be super organized or I’d forget half of them. So I sat down and listed every important shot, scene by scene, and it made the whole film feel way more put together.

I focused mainly on the shots that would build tension, since Karma High is psychological horror. Every angle has to make the audience feel like something is watching Amara, even when nothing is on screen.

Here are some of the main shots from my list:

• Wide shot of Amara standing at the school gate so she looks small and isolated.

• Close-up of her hand touching the bleeding ink in the notebook.

• Tracking shot following behind the bullies walking down the hall (so it feels like they’re being followed ).

• Over-the-shoulder shot in the bathroom, especially during the reflection scene.

• Low angle of the flickering lights to make the school feel bigger and more intimidating.

• POV shot from what looks like someone watching Amara from down the hallway.

• Medium shot of Jenna talking to Kayla (me) to show our “mean girl” dynamic clearly.

• Insert shots of the cracked mirror, notebook pages, and locker slams to build up intensity.

The shot list made me realize that horror isn’t just about what’s happening, it’s about how you show it. The camera literally becomes part of the story. Some shots that felt simple on paper ended up being the creepiest once I imagined them through the lens.

It also helped me stay realistic with what we can actually film in our school. Instead of overcomplicating things, I chose shots that we could actually pull off but would still look intense.

Blog #17 – Film Scheduling

 Scheduling was honestly annoying but definitely necessary. Everyone has different availability, and the school isn’t always empty, so I had to plan around that.

I broke filming into sections:

Day 1: Hallway scenes

Day 2: Classroom + notebook scene

Day 3: Bathroom scene (the hardest)

Day 4: Close-ups, filler shots, and any scenes we had to re-do

Day 5: Title font + studio logo shots

I purposely put the bathroom scene on the schedule last because it’s the hardest to do with both the lighting and timing. I also made some backup days just in case someone couldn’t show up or something didn’t come out right. 

Blog #16 – Location Scouting

 Finding the right places to film inside the school was a whole other story. I didn’t want to just film in random spots, everything had to match the mood for the scenes of Karma High.

The hallway was easy to choose. It’s usually quiet, the lighting may dim or flicker sometimes, and it already feels kind of strange or a bit eerie when it’s empty. For the bathroom, I needed one with big mirrors and good echo so the scene feels unsettling. I found one where the lights are the most dim, literally perfect. That tiny detail made it way creepier. The classroom was chosen mainly because of the desk layout. I needed Amara’s desk to feel far and isolated from everyone else’s . The locker area was the another key spot, perfect for those close-ups and shady scenes.

Location searching made me realize how much the actual place or area you’re in affects the tone. Half of the horror in the film is literally the school alone.

Blog #15 – Casting

 Casting was actually fun once we stopped really overthinking it. We realized the easiest and most realistic option was to just use our own group as the actors. We already know and get the story, the mood, and it’ll be better than trying to get random people to act serious in a horror scene.

Roles:

For Amara, we picked the person in our group who can act quietly but still show emotion through facial expressions. Since Amara isn’t super talkative, we needed someone who can communicate a lot without having to say much.

For Jenna, this role automatically went to the person with the stronger personality, someone loud, pretty confident, and fits that “leader of the group” mentality.

For Kayla (me), I’m playing Kayla. She’s basically the follower. The one who hypes Jenna but doesn’t fully think for herself. I fit the role because I can play that “mean girl sidekick” attitude. Plus, I already get the dynamic with Jenna and Kayla, so it’s easier for me to act it out.

For Maya, we chose the person who’s more observant and kind of calm compared to the rest of us. She’s not aggressive like Jenna or Kayla, so we needed someone who can play more of a low-key shady without doing too much for the scenes.

Blog #14 – Representation

 Representation was something I didn’t think too deeply about, but once I looked at my characters, I realized the story actually says a lot about certain.. social issues..

 especially in high school.

Amara is quiet, pretty isolated, and basically invisible in the beginning of the film. That’s a representation a lot of students who might connect with the character who gets overlooked. I didn’t want her to be a typical“creepy girl” though, more as if someone pushed past their limit.

The bullies (Jenna, Kayla, and Maya) represent three different “types” of mean girls:

• the leader (Jenna)

• the follower trying to fit in (Kayla)

• the quiet one who goes along with it even though she knows it’s wrong (Maya)

I didn’t want them to be cartoonish villains, just the realistic high school girls who use their popularity as power. Their representation is about social pressure and image than evil. Also, since our film is psychological horror, I wanted the fear to come from the environment such as the lights, hallways, reflections instead of jump scares. The “school” itself becomes a character in a way.

Blog #13 – Storyboard

 So at first I thought making the storyboard was gonna be quick like, i would just be able to sketch the scenes and be done. Nope. Instead It took much longer than I expected because I kept changing how I wanted certain shots to look, especially the hallway scenes. It’s difficult because how you might image an image shows up much different on paper.

I started with the opening with our main character Amara at the school gate. At first, I drew it too close-up and it didn’t feel intense enough. So I ended up changed it to a more wide shot because I wanted her to look small compared to the school somewhat isolated, like she’s already anxious and out of place before anything even happens.

The bathroom scene was the hardest to do the storyboard on. I knew I wanted the reflections to remain there after the girls disappeared or moved, but drawing that in a way that didn’t look silly and was actually understandable to the director… Let’s just say I erased it like 6 times. Butttt.. eventually I decided to keep it simple with just one frame showing the flickering light and the next showing the reflections without the girls in it, less details help out more.

I also had noticed how important it is to plan out exactly where the camera is “standing.” In my head every shot felt cinematic cause I was able to slow them down zoom them in and just perfectly image them, but on paper I kept forgetting to mark the angle, like over-the-shoulder, wide shot, close-up. So I went back and labeled everything because if I don’t, I’m just forget what is what during filming.

Overall the storyboard helped me see how the tension builds in throughout the whole film, even without the sound or acting in place. It forced me to actually slow down a bit and think “what’s actually happening in this frame? What should the audience be able to feel or infer here?” It made everything feel closer to real.

Post #12 – Character Development Worksheet & How We Used It

 

Characters:

• Amara: quiet, creepy, out for revenge.

• Jenna: main bully, mean, manipulative.

• Kayla: follower, wants to be popular.

• Maya: quieter, follows Jenna, kinda sympathetic sometimes.

How I Used the Worksheet:

Honestly, the worksheet helped by writing all their traits down helping me actually plan out the story. Amara being quiet? That meant close-ups on her face, calm walking in the halls, and neutral colors for her clothing. She’s almost invisible, but   when things start going wrong for the bullies. The bullies being loud and mean? That meant I could showcase them in a way that shows they’re in control at first, and then slowly the weird stuff starts happening, the camera may shake a little, lights flicker. You see them lose control.

the Props and costumes were influenced by the worksheet too. Amara’s notebook shows her planning, mirrors show the bullies’ fear, lockers and phones show how the gossip and karma spreads. It helped me make sure every scene matched the characters’ personalities and made the story make sense visually. Without it, I would’ve just guessed and probably made some weird inconsistencies.

Script & Why I Wrote It That Way

 Script: Karma High

Karma High Script #1

 

Fade in ...

Scene: Karma High School (Piper High school)

Wind whispers throughout the flagpoles. The bell rings in the distance.

Students scatter across campus, talking, laughing.

Then the laugher muffles.

Amara stands at the front gate, frozen. She blinks back into reality.

 

Scene: Hallway: morning

Lockers slam, the camera tracks Amara as she walks down the hall, the world slightly out of sync, every sound echoing too long.

Then she spots them.

Kayla. Mya. and Jenna

The bullies, same snares, same tone

 

Kayla: “Didn’t think you’d come here”

Mya: “Guess she likes being a victim.”

They laugh.

Amara doesn’t speak, just stares. Her eyes flicker with something colder than anger.

As she walks away, the lights above her buzz and dim, one by one.

 

Scene: Classroom: day

Amara’s desk is apart from everyone else’s. She draws in silence, the three girls sketched In her notebook, but each face is marked with a different symbol: a flame, a tear, and an eye crossed out.

The page bleeds with ink, literally. It drips down the edge, she touches it.

Scene dims and close up on Amara head down, a faint voice.

Distorted, whispers from nowhere.

“They owe you”

Her eyes snap up. (teacher’s voice sounds far away, underwater)

…End of day.

 

Scene: Montage next day...

Jenna’s phone alarm goes off to wake her, but she first hears her name whispered in her dream which jumps her awake to just her alarm going off.

Maya opens her locker to find a photo of herself sleeping, no one knows who took them.

Kayla mirror cracks when she tries to fic her hair: her reflection doesn’t move with her.

 

Each shot is colder, quieter. The air feels heavy.

Amara passes them in the hall, calm.

When she blinks, the hallway flickers dark for half a second, as if they react to her.

 

Scene: Girls bathroom after school

Kayla mya, and Jenna huddle around the sink whispering.

The room hums faintly, like something electrical is in the walls

 

Jenna: “I think she cursed us.”

Mya: “Curses aren’t real, she just--”

The lights flicker out before she finishes. The mirror catches one flash, 3 distorted faces.

Then silence.

Drip

Drip

Drip

The lights flicker back on, empty.

Only the sound of running water. The camera pans to mirror: all 3 girls reflections remain, but the room is empty. Just the sound of running water remains.

 

Scene: Hallway – Next morning

Police tape seals off the bathroom, students whisper, and phones record.

Amara walks through the halls calmly, close up on ear buds in and music blasting through headphones

Music fades in completely and a voice is heard through the song the voice screeching says “ they never learn”

Her reflection in the glass smiles faintly

 

She opens her locker to find inside a note.

It reads: “Do you feel better now?”

 

She stares at it. For a moment, guilt flickers. Then it’s gone.

 

Amara (softly) “Karma always does its job.”

 

She closes her locker. The camera holds on her face (unreadable expression)

 

The lights above flicker, then go out completely.

 

BLACK SCREEN.

 

Whisper: “Your turn.”

 

TITLE: KARMA HIGH

 

FADE OUT.

 

 

Why I Wrote the Script This Way:

Okay, so when I was writing Karma High, I really wanted it to feel creepy and tense without being over the top. Like, I didn’t want it to just be “oh scary girl appears, goes on a killing spree etc.” stuff. I wanted the suspense to build slowly, so the audience is kind of on edge the whole time.

The opening at the front gate, was meant to help make you feel like Amara is frozen in her own little world. Everyone else is moving, laughing, socializing but she’s not there yet. as if you get stuck in her head for a second.

The hallway scene with Kayla, Maya, and Jenna, I kept the dialogue super short because I wanted the actual scenes to carry the tension. The flickering lights, the echoing footsteps… all that which makes it scary without saying “boo.” In the classroom, the notebook with the ink “bleeding” is just a visual way to show that Amara’s thinking about revenge. I didn’t want to have her go on a monologue about it, I just wanted it to be obvious, but a bit subtle.

The montage was my favorite to write. Each girl experiencing her own creepy little thing throughout different times of the day (alarm whispering names, mirrors cracking, photos appearing) as if karma is hitting them one by one. It’s supposed to feel like the school itself is turning against them.

in the bathroom scene is the scary peak, I guess. Flickering lights, the distorted reflections, and the dripping of water, all that was put together to make you feel like something is off, even though nothing actually appears touching them or even interacting with. The horror is implied, personally finding way creepier.

Although, the ending was a bit tricky. I wanted the audience to feel uneasy, so I left it open with the note and whisper. Amara is calm, almost smug, but you’re left thinking, “wait… what might happen next?” , never knowing her next move.

Honestly, I wrote the script more so with visuals first, then the dialogue. Every scene, sound, and prop is there for a reason. I kept asking myself, how can I make this tense without showing anything graphic? and that’s how the script came together.