Script

We did not have a complete and in depth script before we shot the thriller but of course we had a good idea of how we wanted it to go. Looking back, there were some changes we had to make after having been to the location and noticing there were things we could not do that were planned. For example, the pool wasn't clean or prepared for use so Emily could not get in.

Delivery boy bikes down the driveway
Sees the girl laying in the pool looking as though she is dead
Boy runs over but when he gets there the body is gone
The boy then makes his way to the house, on the way, he sees a girl in the top window
Knocks on the door and mentions to the man who answers the door that his daughter is awake and thought perhaps she should be in bed
The father then says that his daughter has been dead for 9 years
The camera then shows the girl behind her father

As you can see in the rough edit and the final edit there were a few differences but it still has the same outline and has the same and hopefully successful effect

Thriller Opening Shot List

The first shot was planned to be a low angle shot of the driveway which would then show me from behind as I cycle towards the house. We successfully incorporated this into our rough edit and final edit. I think it does well in establishing the location and it's size. Also, the camera is slightly faced towards the fence, this shows that as I cycle past, I am trapped in the location.

We then planned to do a point of view shot as I see the pool and the girl, this was done but not with Emily in the pool, instead, she was standing beside it and could be seen through the window. I don't think this alters the quality of the choice of shot. Then, differing with the plan, we done a wide shot showing me as I get off the bike and see something in the pool house. The transition then brings us to a wide shot showing me walk past and seeing the girl in the pool house. It then pans back and forth showing the window empty with the girl mysteriously gone.

Along with quite a few others, these are examples of how we differed our filming to the original storyboard. But we knew that this would be likely to happen, as shown at the top of the storyboard 'All shots subject to change.' Although, we have also used many shots that we planned to, for example, the over-the-shoulder shot  we planned to used during the conversation at the end, which we then reversed to use over both the characters shoulders to show the opposite view.

Shotlist
* D&F Productions
Home-video (many varying shots that quickly change, using shots that are difficult to recognise)
* In association with Warp Films
Very Wide Shot
Wide Shot-
Wide Shot
Wide Shot
Panning Shot
Panning Shot
Wide Shot
Panning Shot
Cutaway
Wide Shot
Wide Shot
Cutaway
Sideways Track
Close Up with Tracking Shot
Sideways Track
Wide Shot
Point-of-View Shot
Wide Shot
Tilt Shot
Close Up
Zoom In
Mid-Shot
Point-of-View Shot
Close Up with Tracking Shot
Over-the-Shoulder Shot
(Reverse Shot) Over-the-Shoulder
Medium Close Up

Thriller Opening- Location

Click here to see the location post on Jack's blog..

I think this location will be very good in creating suspense via many factors. For example, the long drive helps to give time for audience to imagine what may happen to this vulnerable character as they see the overwhelming building at the end of it. Also, there are many trees surrounding the house, many of them without leaves. This makes the place quite unapproachable with the sharp and ragged shapes of the trees with no friendly green covering them. Also, the fence that runs along the drive gives a feeling of confinement once somebody has entered. Also, the building has pillars at the front, these connote power and strength, suggesting the superiority of the character(s) living there over the boy.

An example of a similar location is in the film 'The Others', amongst other thrillers. Within this film the family the audience follows is trapped inside this building. The ventures they take outside into the misty gardens, that have similar features to ours, end up unsuccessful and there seems to be no way out. With stories like this surrounding locations such as this, some of the audience will expect something to be lurking inside the building in our thriller. This is helped with the sighting and flashes of the girl. So, with the story not surrounding the characters inside, instead following the pizza delivery boy, they are in suspense as they hope he does not go near or inside the house due to threats that they suspect.

Thriller Opening Effect Pt. 2

This is a picture showing how we added the effect 'Dream' on to the beginning clips of our opening. Click on to the clip then click on clip adjustments.

Then, using the video effect tool, choose 'Dream.

This screen-shot shows one of the clips but without the effect. As you can see there is quite a big difference. Although, there are other colour edits we done to make the red come out a bit more as it works well with 'Dream' and the red holds connotations of danger and blood.

Having the 'Dream' effect I think is useful in giving a sense of age to this part of the film, this is also why we chose to do it in a home video style.

Thriller Opening- Editing

Have made some changes to the thriller opening after having looked at the audience feedback. For example, many people answered that they would like to see a certain part sped up which we had made quite slow. Because of this I made it slightly quicker.

Thriller Opening Effect

During planning, we had thought about using the old fashioned footage effect with flickering lines and dots on the screen. But we changed our mind thinking that it was too common and we would rather be more original with our film. So, we have found an effect called 'Dream', which gives the feel of just that. It suggests that although it was quite a long time ago, it is still in someones mind. And because it is filmed in a home video style, it suggests that it is playing over and over in the persons head.

Our complete thriller plot

Click here to see our complete thriller plot

What is a thriller?

The thriller genre has many aspects contributing to it''s overall individual identity, they come in the forms of iconography, themes, narratives and characters.

Characters
The types of characters include psychos, they may be genuinely mentally unstable or just have many erratic and unusual qualities. Another is detective, again they may be an official detective working for some form of investigative agency or just a character that is in some way linked in to an event that has happened and is determined to figure out what has happened and catch the culprit. Also, there are usually criminals involved, this links in to the common thriller character of victim. In summary, the majority if not all thriller films involve some form of unusual or illegal act involving a culprit and a victim of the event and is then followed by someone trying to put a stop to it and save the victim(s) from harm.

This character is an example of a detective, and in some ways a victim but  there is not as much emphasis on the victimised side of him in the film as the film follows him as he tracks down the kidnapper of his daughter. The film is 'Taken'.



Narratives
The 5 most common narratives are death, red herrings, being watched or followed and deception. With further reference to 'Taken' there is a lot of death involved in the film as he kills all opposing characters who get in his way. Suspense and tension are very common in films, this is usually due to a character being unknowingly watched or followed, the audience have a view of what is happening and they build questions on what is going to happen to this person  being watched/followed. This links in to the common thriller characters as the person may become a victim of murder if the follower has such intentions. The narrative of deception also links into the character of victim for obvious reasons, and possibly criminal.

Themes
The narrative of deception intertwines with the themes of revenge and gain, although not in all cases. It has been known in thriller films for characters to be deceptive and for the victim of it to seek revenge, these things link in to death in that violence is usually incurred causing some characters to die. We can now see an emerging running pattern through all of these aspects, there always seem to be opposing characters and events are seen because of the nature of their relationship. For example, in 'Law Abiding Citizen', the main character played by Gerard Butler feels a victim of deception and is out for revenge for the majority of the film, he causes death and destruction on his way whilst opposing the police and the general idea of authority after having seen the criminal (another previously mentioned thriller character) slip away from justice with ease.

Iconography
Commonly used items, now seen as icons of the thriller genre include, bars, running water and confined spaces. To begin, bars may not necessarily mean actual metal bars, they may be symbolised by other objects on bigger or smaller scales, for example, in 'Panic Room', during the opening many tall buildings are shown and we occasionally end up nearing the bottom with a poor view of something other than the buildings, feeling trapped. And of course being trapped is a connotation of bars. This links into confined spaces, these may be shown in places such as jails or a victim/criminal being surrounded by people.

Thriller- Character

We came up with the idea of the little girl character as we were all familiar with it, after having seen it in other horror/thrillers. An example is the little girl in the horror/thriller 'REC'.

We thought this character would be effective in creating tension and suspense. The age-stage of the character provides a sense of innocence about her but, in our thriller, the altered, after-life version of the girl raises questions for the audience, such as what is she capable of? does she have sinister intentions?

Thriller Opening- Costumes, Props and Objects

Click here to see the costumes, props and objects post.

Thriller Schedule

We have been discussing a schedule and I have made this post to give an overview of our group's intentions with regards to filming times. We have agreed that Emily, Ed and I will use one lesson on monday 14^th to film the prologue clip showing the girl alive and playing. For this we will just need a camera as we will be filming it handheld. We may also use Ed's phone to help it give a more homemade effect. Then we are using a Media double lesson on thursday 17^th to film the rest of the thriller opening. Ed is collecting the equipment at the end of the day on wednesday. We are meeting at the school at 8:30 and then biking to the house we are filming at. We should be able to get the filming done in the just over 2 hours that we have.

Thriller Opening- Conventions

I have made this post for our group regarding the typical thriller conventions which we have tried to incorporate in our thriller. In our opening we aim to incorporate many of the conventions of the thriller genre. With only the opening to go by, the girl could be a choice of characters, she could be a victim, in that she could have been killed and merely wants people to understand her and help her. But also she could be evil, a criminal in that in the opening she seems quite vicious and it looks like she aims to harm the other characters, so she may be a killer.

We also aim to make sure the narrative conforms to the conventions of a thriller, we are going to attempt to get across to the audience that someone is being watched i.e. the pizza delivery boy, also death is shown in the opening, both by the dead body in the swimming pool in the implication of death when the girl is standing behind the father, with her body language showing sinister intent.

In addition, we aim to include the usual themes of the thriller genre, one of which being revenge, at least that is what could be suggested to the audience in that we see the girls body and then she seems to be out to make someone suffer when she is suspiciously standing behind her father in the shadows. Linking in to that, shadows is part of the thriller iconography we want to use, this helps to create suspense and tension, it also adds to the malice of whatever is in the shadows, in this case the girl. To help with the darkness we plan to edit our filming on a computer so that it has a night time effect. This is easier, and leaves the film with better quality, than filming in quite dark conditions.

Following on from the shadows iconography, we also plan to use water in the film, both by the swimming pool and rain, which, unless raining anyway, we plan to use a hose to create.

All these things we have decided to include I think will help us greatly in creating an effective thriller.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Thriller Opening- Soundtrack

Click here to see the soundtrack post

I think the soundtrack is very good in that it suits the purpose of the thriller genre, helping to create tension, also parts of the soundtrack will be useful in emphasising particular parts of the opening, for example the short sharp sound after a period of quite quiet sound could be used when the pizza delivery boy sees the dead body to put emphasis on the shock and suspicion of the sight of her. Moreover, the music is effective in building emotion in the audience, for example, simply a boy cycling up someone's drive is not particularly tense or scary, but when the music is added to it, although we have not actually made this mixture yet, it should be very effective in adding tension/suspense to the opening, and therefore help it fit into the thriller genre.

Jack made the soundtrack on GarageBand.

Addition after teacher's comment:
I think one of the main aspects of this soundtrack is much alike many other thriller music. For example, in the Se7en opening, the sound that is heard from the start gives the feeling of eery emptiness, with sharp sounds in the background. The sound heard from the beginning of the soundtrack created by Jack is quite similar, with the eeryness accompanied by sharp sounds coming in as it progresses, suggesting pain/danger is lurking in an isolated area.

Thriller Opening- Characters

Click here to see the Thriller Characters Post

I think the casting of the characters helps the thriller effect and the realism of it. I am cast as the pizza delivery boy because the height difference between me and the father of the supposedly dead daughter is quite big, emphasising the youth of the pizza delivery boy, and with youth could come vulnerability, so any danger shown in the film holds special presence when the boy is involved.

Profile
Male
16 Years Old
Friendly
Innocent, just trying to get his job done



Emily is cast as the daughter of the owner of the house, we chose to use a young girl character as it is a common character in thrillers, as it is can be scary. So we chose Emily as of course she is a girl and she is quite small, helping to show how young the character is. This character is seen near the beginning of the film, seemingly floating dead in the swimming pool. She is then spotted in an upstairs window, and again behind her father looking as though as is about to harm or shock the other characters. This character is very significant in the film in helping to create tension and suspense.

Profile
Female
Very young, about 7 years old
This is a ghost of the dead girl, haunting her house and seems intent on harming somebody, possibly in revenge for her death


Ed is the father of the girl, we are using him for this character as his large build is best suited to an older, father figure and the contrast in height with the boy adds to the boys vulnerability. He is wearing a shirt and tie to make him seem older and more sophisticated; somebody living in such a nice and large property would take pride in their appearance, this is shown in the well-kept gardens. Also the formal dressing makes him seem more intelligent, which the character would be in order to afford such a large property.

Profile
Male
About 45 years old
Living alone after his daughter died, quite vulnerable
Intelligent, polite and friendly

Thriller Opening- Synopsis

I have made a synopsis for our group's project to get across the main story of our thriller opening. It begins with the girl playing in the garden with her father, with an old fashioned footage effect showing that it was in the past. Then it skips to the present time with a pizza delivery boy cycling up the drive of the father's house, as he approaches the house he notices a girl's body floating on the swimming pool, but when he runs closer to investigate there is no body in the pool. He then notices the same girl standing in a top window of the house with a teddy bear, wearing a night gown. He knocks on the door and whilst making the delivery to the man who lives there he mentions that he saw his daughter in the window. The man's response then shows the audience that the girl has in fact been dead for a long time. The girl is then seen behind her father, the film then ends leaving it open to many possible storylines.

Analysis:
The old footage effect not only shows that it was in the past, but also implies many other things. Maybe for the father, the happy and carefree times such as that are sorely missed by him and they are playing over and over in his mind. It also suggests to the audience that something has happened since then, to completely change the lives of the people involved, urging them to keep watching and find out.

By there being a body in the pool, it shows that this place may be dangerous and something is going to happen, but also because the body is then gone, many questions are asked by the audience, and the thing behind all of this is completely unknown, possibly supernatural, this creates suspense and tension.

By having the girl standing behind her father and out of sight of the pizza delivery boy, she is under the radar and is, in a sense, in control of the situation, with the ability to cause harm to these characters, well that is what is implied by the recent events. Also with the experience of media exposure the audience will have, this type of character features quite a lot in films and can be quite vicious. And, as we assume she is dead, she seems even more powerful in that how could she be harmed by anybody??


In the making of the plot, we tried to involve conventions of a thriller, for example, death, victims, criminals, being watched, running water and shadows, For greater detail, see the conventions post.

Thriller Opening- Storyboard

This is a preliminary storyboard outlining the key events and basic camera shots we intend to involve. We will create an updated one to show more in depth information with regards to camera shots, transitions and timings.

Camera Movement

Tracking Shot
Otherwise known as the dolly shot, this is when the camera is mounted and moves backwards or forwards. This shot draws the audience in to the action, or when the camera is moving backwards, shows that the action in the scene is over. It may be a good way of moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.



The tracking shot in this clip is used at 45 seconds. The characters are moving towards the camera as it moves backwards, this camera movement helps to show the audience the characters' emotions. The main character here is very unhappy with their situation. The effect of him chasing the camera portrays his anger and determination to get home.

Sideways Track
This shot follows the movement of an object or a character. It allows the audience to keep pace with the action. Objects or characters closer to the camera appear to move faster across the frame than those further away from the camera, this effect is known as parallax. This form of camera movement could be used to follow a race or characters walking along a street.



The sideways track is used at 6.07. This choice of shot allows the audience to keep up with the action.

Tilt Shot
The camera moves up or down on an axis. When it moves up it creates a sense of power or significance. It is often used in conjunction with a point of view shot to show an object of significance. It can simulate a tracking shot. This shot can be done hand held or with a tripod. An example of this shot, is having the camera at the foot of a building and tilting the camera up vertically to capture the whole building and show the audience it's significance.



The tilt shot is used at 47 seconds. This shot helps to emphasize the huge size of the tripod, and how small the humans are in comparison.

Arc Shot
The camera can move a full or semi-circle around an object/character(s). This shot enables the audience to see reactions of a character(s). It increases the intensity of the narrative. The arc shot could be used for an interview, to capture the reactions and emotions of the characters.



At 5.57, the arc shot is used to circle the two characters and show the audience the intensity of their situation. In addition, as the camera moves round the characters, it gives the effect of keeping them tightly next to each other. This shows the audience that the situation around them is pushing them back together; prior to this their relationship was under heavy strain.

Crane Shot
This shot follows the actor in a vertical direction. The camera can swoop in on action or move diagonally out of it. This could be used to view a character from their feet and raise the camera up to their head, usually indicating they are of some significance.



This clip contains a crane shot at 26 seconds, allowing the audience to view the battle from an aerial viewpoint. By showing the battle in this way, the audience can see the intent and erraticness of the Mordor army as they run towards their enemy.

Panning Shot
The camera is mounted, it is moved to the side to follow a moving object. This shot is commonly used in conjunction with a point of view shot e.g. when a character is searching a room. A panning shot could be used when a character see's a landscape evoking emotion, the camera could then pan round to allow the audience to see the landscape.



A panning shot is used at 54 seconds. It is used in conjunction with a point of view shot.