Characters

On our storyboard we have portrayed our victim as a typical blind man, however now I have had the idea of making it clear our victim has suffered from a recent injury, causing him to have problems with his sight. To show this we will have to wrap a bandage around his head and eyes so the audience realise what has happened, and that he hasn't always had problems with his sight. This would make him more vulnerable as he wouldn't be use to living without his sight and more at risk to danger. This will be shown when he doesn't lock his front door properly, giving the antagonist an easier way to strike.

Antagonists are usually extremely intelligent, and have experienced a tragedy themselves which has caused he or she to become the antagonist. This means they don't always start out as killers, or evil people, telling us they will have the same everyday look everybody else has. To give our antagonist an eerie look, we are only going to film from his perspective or him from behind. By not showing his face the audience will fear him more. We want the antagonist to be portrayed in that way to create more of an atmosphere for the audience. We want to bulk out our character so he appears bigger than he actually is, and dress him in dark clothing, so he isn't distracting and is seen to be creeping about.

Props list

We have discussed a few props we would like to use, these are :

• Joe's car
• Newspaper cuttings
• Four canes (blind peoples sticks)
• A tea towel
• Scissors and glue

We have no major concerns when it comes to hazards with these particular props. However, we have decided to use a carving knife. With this, we realise it could be a risk to us and others around us if we are not extremely careful. Plus, people around us may not realise we are using it as a prop and cause them psychological harm. On various costume websites we have found butcher and mechete knives at a reasonable price. We will be looking further into this to see if we can find a suitable replacement.

Sound Plan

Diagetic sounds we are planning to use: Breathing, train pulling in, sound of the train doors opening/closing, train pulling away, a knife being sharpened, sound of a road (the blind man will be outside a doctors surgery during the day), slamming his front door, and walking towards his car.

Non-diagetic sounds we are planning to use: Tense music/minor keys - We have found a suitable track on youtube called 'Tension music", there is no copyright on it. We have also found "Three blind mice" on youtube, this also have no copyright and lasts 29 seconds.

Editing Script

The majority of cuts we have planned to do will be matched cuts. We have chosen shot number 16 to use a fade, to show the antagonists car disappearing. We are now considering credits, and have added five black screens to our storyboard, these will have titles on them.

Props List

Here is a list of props we intend to use for our opening of our thriller

• Our fellow group member joe cam drive so we will use his car for the scenes with the antagonist in. We must make sure that the car remains in the same condition with the same items in the car and also to ensure the time of day and the lighting is the same so the scenes flow correctly

• Our main weapon for this thriller opening is going to be a butchers type calving knife as its quite a brutal weapon which could indicate that violence is to come. It also links with the non diagetic music we plan to use "Three Blind Mice"

• We intend to use newspaper cuttings of blind people to show the antagonists obsession with killing blind victims, this draws the audience in as they wonder what hes planning on doing with these cut outs.

• We are using scissors to cut out the newspaper cuttings and gives a good diagetic sound.

Music idea

this is some ideal tense music for the beginning if our thriller.

Group idea

We want to incorporate the nursery rhyme 'Three Blind Mice'. So the story line is that there is a killer who is after blind people. In his house he has pictures of blind people in his house, It then switches to his victim getting off a train then back to he then fetches a carving knife from his drawer, he also has collected previous blind peoples sticks and keeps them in the corner also shows him sharpening his knife. Then it switches to another blind person getting driven home, again it switches to the killer putting his black gloves on. Finally it sees a blind person walking out of newport surgery. Lastly it shows the killer putting his shoes on getting in the car, then the song Three Blind Mice comes on his radio and the clips end...

Storyboard plans

One scene which is typical for a thriller film is a woodland area, after analyzing previous A level videos a lot have used this location, I believe this is a bit dull as it has been done many times before and will not engage with the audience to well. So we are intending to create something a bit different which disrupts the stereotype and use features that will interact with the audience. I liked Joe's idea of the coloured contact lenses as this creates a stronger aspect of fear and makes characters more thrilling, these lenses can also be used to make a character look blind so this could link in well with Graces idea of the nursery rhyme three blind mice.

Three Blind Mice

I am unsure how I would incorporate this into a storyline but I've thought more about this particular nursery rhyme and thought it would also make a good film title - 'See how they run'

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

The main character could be victimised, and either captured or put into a situtation alone with the antagonist who then blinds him/her - 'Three blind mice' and then trying to escape connects well to 'see how they run'. When the credits are shown, this tune could be played in the background.

Researching thriller plots

The constant unease throughout the storyline is what makes a thriller so effective, yet in some thrillers it seems the characters are emphasised more than the plot itself. Suspense is usually created by two or more characters preying upon one anothers minds. This is done by demolishing their mental state and playing deceptive mind games. However, sometimes it is the character itself battling a conflict within their own mind - this is normally because they do not understand something that has happened to them.

As Joe has mentioned, I also think a train station would be a good location to film some of our thriller, however it may be difficult to obtain permission. Country lanes, and deserted fields at night often create a scary atmosphere. I do think a young girl being preyed upon in a rural area can be typical however I think we could create a plot which would change this stereotype. A group idea we had, was to incorporate a childs nursery rhyme e.g. Londons burning or Three blind mice. This would connect well to someone being attacked and blinded by some type of spray canister.

Equipment

For our thriller we will use a wide range of equipment ranging from the obvious, such as a camcorder, and right down to the software we will use to edit the footage and create a soundtrack to accompany the thriller. Below is a list of the equipment we will use to create our thriller opening sequence:

Camcorder- the camcorder will be used to shoot our footage and is possibly the most vital part of our whole thriller project.

Tripod- the tripod will be used whilst filming to help gain a steady shot and to maintain a professional style manner for our thriller.

Apple iMac: we will use the apple iMac to upload all of our footage to and it contains the programme's we need to edit the footage properly and professionally and also to create a soundtrack which is a very vital part in every thriller opening.

Garage band: this is the software we will use to create the soundtrack for our thriller practice. This software enables us to place minor keys over a soundtrack to create more suspence and tension for our thriller.

Final cut- this is the programme we will be using to create the transitions and to edit overall our thriller to help put it into a chronological order and to add various effects titles and so on.

Costume ideas

If we go with one of the two plots of the characters in rags and wearing the contact lenses previously posted i feel the character should look slightly battered, maybe using makeup to show bruises and/or blood. Whether it is male or female is undecided yet, but the costume being worn needs to match there face. A mask could also do the job i have attached one which i find would suit the character and then we wouldnt need to use contact lenses.

Plot location ideas

My idea would be to look across from the other platform near the station sign, in this case beacon. I feel it would be best if it was at a small countryside station thats why i am thinking Newport Essex station, the station also has an eery feel to it. If we want to do this we will have to contact national rail or essex county council and ask permission to film at the location.

Analysis

I found this short video on youtube when searching for thrillers, it is not a professional film, but i think it is very well done. I especially like how atthe very beginning is repeated at the end with a different character like you know what his fate will be. Also around 0:36 seconds in when it shows very short cuts of different crazy things, along with the non-diagetic music used has a very good effect. The camera steadiness and quality also shows drastically in this piece. All in all i think it is a VERY good short film.

Plot Summaries

1) My first plot summary was to see a train rushing past at a station set at night. Then the character that was visible on the other side disappears out of view. The train would woosh past using the trains diagetic sound. The character will be wearing the contact lenses previously blogged about, and will be wearing rags as clothes with bare feet. On the drive home, a pack of the characters will run out across the road from the fields in front of the car. The characters will all look similar with different rags but all with bare feet and contact lenses in. One character will stop running and look into the car then run off with the rest.

This is just one plot beggining i have come up with obviously it needs a lot of tweaking and fine tuning.

2) Another plot idea would be to concentrate on one male character and follow him around his day in london. He will be dressed smart and can start of slow and then his heartbeat will increase he may start to sweat, this will give viewers the feeling something is about to happen, he then will board some sort of public transport and the camera will start to focus on his bag which viewers will then realise he had with him all day. The clip will end with the character sweating and sitting with his bag held tightly on a london train.

Although i really like this plot in reality it might be quite a hard plot to actually film as you would need permission from the transport agencies, especially when filming about such a touchy topic.

3) Another plot idea would be using my favourite first idea of the train whooshing past, again the character will not be seen after the train has gone past, but on the drive home, the character will flicker in the seat next to him and be present for a second or two. When the driver gets home, he may sit to watch some tv and again the character will flicker next to him.

The viewers wont know whether this character is real and if he wants to cause harm or not, this will leave the viewer thinking about it a lot. This is my favourite idea because i feel with the equipment we have this could work quite well without trying anything to spectacular.

Practical Coursework, Questions 1-3

1) Contact details and weekly timetable.

• Joe, Tom and I have swapped mobile numbers, facebook accounts and email addresses so we can keep in constant contact.

2) Self evaluation of skills.

a) Organization/Deadlines/Reliability.

• Organization: Grace- 3 Tom- 3 Joe- 2
• Deadlines: Grace- 3 Tom- 3 Joe- 3
• Reliability: Grace-3 Tom-3 Joe- 3

b) Technical.

• Camerawork and steadiness: Grace- 2 Tom-3 Joe-3
• Editing- Grace-3 Tom-3 Joe-3
• Sound and light- Grace-2 Tom-2 Joe-2

3) Evaluation of preliminary coursework.

• Skills: I learnt how to use the video camera and equipment (tripods), and how to upload the footage onto the computer. Then edit the footage using Final Cut Express. My group and I practiced cutting unwanted footage out, attempting to make the piece flow.
• Teamwork experiences: We worked well as a group, sharing out duties, and making sure we all had a go at camerawork and editing the footage. We discussed how to film, then watch it back, making sure we didn't miss anything vital out.
• The story and messages communicated: We asked members outside of the classroom to act in our short clip, they were wearing smart/casual clothing representing people at school. The message we tried to put out was a nervous girl, opening the door, crossing the room, and bumping into a boy in her class. By dropping her papers all over the floor we managed to use the shot/reverse shot technique.

Plot Ideas

• We are considering setting our opening at a train station at night because it creates a sense of insecurity, other places we have thought of are rural country lanes and deserted buildings.
• The majority of our film will most probably be filmed in darkness because it creates suspense, and an eery atmosphere.
• We are going to limit our number of characters as it is easier to organize.

Target Audience

"The age group of the target audience is around 16-25 years, as 75% of the thriller-viewers sample were students."

This is a quote we found on another blog, we think it is a very good point, and it has influenced us to rate our thriller film 15 or 18 certificate as it has been proven successful.

Ideas: Creating the aspect of danger

A thriller needs to have a central main character (protagonist) who finds themselves in danger. Some places which I thought of that are often related to danger that we could have access to film were, train stations, dark woods and rural roads at night Quite often, they’ll also be at risk of death at the hands of their main opponent (antagonist), although not necessarily in all thrillers. However, the important thing is to get the viewer to actually feel that the problems the protagonist encounters could actually happen to them and to be able to instill a sense of fear, dread and worry into the audience.

Ideas: Using twists and turns

I think we should use alot of twists and turns in our thriller as most thrillers try to lure the audience in to a false sense of security. They should be written from the point of view of taking the audience on a journey where they’re not sure where they are going. Scenes which build to a point where the audience thinks they know what to expect but then the scene dramatically switches to an unexpected outcome will maintain the suspense and tension and keep the audience fully focused throughout. If the thriller was too predictable and the audience always know what the outcome is going to be the thriller would start to become a bit boring and the audience would not be as focused and engaged.

Differences between thriller and horror films

People often mistake thrillers for horror films, however the storyline in a thriller is much bigger, with a more complex plot. Fear is usually much more psychologically based in thrillers whereas horror films use greusome images to scare the audience. There are many plots in a thriller involving both the protagonist and antagonist, close ups are used to show the characters reactions, creating mystery and suspense. Minimal editing is used as the fast cutting rate creates an eery atmosphere. However, in horrors the main plot is the characters fighting to survive, this is portrayed by point of view camera angles, making the audience feel involved in the action, editing is key in doing this, with special effects being playing a major part.

Further Ideas

After seeing coloured contact lenses I feel the character being focused on could be wearing these harmless contact lenses, it adds another dimension that would look more professional than normal. The camera could also zoom in on the eyes so it looks scary the character wearing them should also stare right into the camera so it looks as though they have seen the viewer.

Ideas

For our piece, I have been thinking about using a train station as an open scene, I think it would work well as it is an open environment were we could have both diagetic and non-diagetic sounds. I feel a fast train whistling past the character on the other side of the platform then when the train is gone the character has disappeared and using the camera some sort of panic situation could be put in place. So it almost looks as if the camera is looking for the character.

Analysis of previous A level work

For our thriller we watched some previous a level trailers and were inspired by them, we really liked the hidden identity of the main character as you don't know whether it is the antagonist or protagonist. Also the suspense created by a silence then a loud noise influenced us. The nursery rhyme embedded in the trailer also has a very clever affect as it was sung in a school so leaves the audience questioning who he may have killed.

Strangers clip and analysis

This is a thriller film trailer of the 2008 release "The Strangers". We especially liked the use of diagetic sounds when the swing is creaking, and the broken record player has a good effect as it comes on automatically.The background music has also inspired us and showed us the importance of minor keys.

The definition of a thriller genre

According to International Thriller Writers, a thriller is "the sudden rush of emotions, the excitement, sense of suspense, apprehension, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace." Usually in thrillers heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. The heroes are the protagonist, and the villians the antaganist. Twists in the plot, and the intense pace is what makes a thriller so exciting, cross-cutting is used to add suspense and close ups are to hide the identity of characters, creating mystery. Alfred Hitchcock is regarded as one of Britains most famous film directors, he is known as the 'Master of Suspense' as he created films in the crime and suspense genre that he made his own.