Story Boards

In order to be able to film effectively, we chose to draw up a storyboard which planned the shots, the shot lengths and effects we would use. This helped us greatly with our filming process as it helped us film efficiently.

Conventions of Thriller

During the Media course so far, I have learnt about the thriller genre and key conventions of this genre. I have learnt about these conventions by watching different thriller films and have used them to help create an effective opening of a thriller for my coursework.

One key signifier of a thriller is to have a narrative based on crime. One example of this is in the film noir thriller, "Third Man". This has crime as the basis of the narrative as we discover that Lime, who leads the authorities to believe he is dead, has been effectively murdering children as he has been diluting the penicillin which they have been prescribed. We have encorporated this convention of the genre into our thriller, as our plot is based around a drugs scam.

Another convention of thrillers is that the resolutions to the crime are often ambiguous. There is a clear example of this at the end of 'Chinatown' as Gittes, the detective is arrested, whilst we see Katherine being taken away by Cross, meaning we never know if Cross gets away with his crimes. In our thriller plot synopsis we intend the film in a similar way, with the main protagonist being shot, and the audience never knowing if anyone ends up paying for their crimes.

Thrillers also include the aspect of the protagonist being disempowered and drawn into a web of intrigue by the antagonist. This is key in "Third Man" as Holly Martens, the protagonist, is obviously drawn into the intrigue and is completely out of his depth. If we were to make our entire thriller, this would be vital in our plot as we see the protagonist getting caught up in a downwards spiral of drugs and gangs.

In thrillers, ther protagonist is often flawed, for example in "Pulp Fiction" Jules, a hitman with a brutal past, redeems himself by turning to the fundamentalist church. The flawed protagonist is often presented in thrillers as a male with an obvious drinking and/or smoking habit. The protagonist within our thriller will be flawed as he works in the underworld of the city - in the drugs trade.

Extraordinary events in ordinary situations often occur in thrillers, with an example of this being in "No Country for Old Men" when Moss, who is out hunting, stumbles upon several cars full of dead bodies and $2 million. Our thriller synopsis doesn't really include this convention, although the fact that small-time drug dealers get lucky and end up in control of a big drugs deal could be classed as this.

Themes of voyeurism are also very common within thrillers, as the majority include several scenes of focusing souly on a scene or character, giving the impression that we are watching the action. A good example of this is in the opening of "Psycho". Our opening aims to include this theme within it.

Another convention of thrillers is the fact that elements of mise-en-scene reflect the protagonist’s emotional state. This is clear in a scene from "Vertigo" as the spiralling staircase represents Scottie's state of mind. The dark rainy stylised streets shown within "Sin City" connotes corruption in the characters, aswell as reflecting their emotions. We hope that our thriller opening we create can show examples of this, by using staircases and dark settings to show the characters' emotional states.

Thrillers often begin and / or end with the protagonist in peril. This is clear within the television series "Spooks" where the characters are often endangered and agents are often killed. In our thriller, we begin with a chase scene involving the protagonist, and end with a gun pointed to the protagonists' head.

Another feature of thrillers which we have chosen to encorporate is the presence of femme fatales, glamorous, seductive and dangerous women. "Double Indemnity" is a good example of this, as is "The Black Dahlia".

We also hope to embrace the convention of blur between good and evil in making our thriller, and think that our narrative will easily be able to show this. A good example of this is "Pulp Fiction" with the protagonists killing multiple people, even an innocent bystander, yet saving and stopping a shooting at the end of the narrative.

Twisting and convoluted narratives are also a convention of thriller genre films. The narrative within "Chinatown" reflects this, as does the majority of thrillers, including the good example "Double Indemnity" in which the narrative loops round, and features a lot of flash backs, which reflect the the character's state of mind and the twisted morality the protagonist has.

Thriller Filming

Over the past few weeks, our group have been filming scenes for our thriller opening. However, once we started, problems with our cast and getting all the actors together to be able to film became too hard, as all had different days/times that they were able to film.

We were unhappy with the footage we had produced, even when we began to edit, and so decided to refilm our thriller. Rather than using a large cast, we have altered it to have only two characters, a girl and a boy, and have focused more on the style of our thriller. We have also made the decision to use the feature of voice over, which is often apparent in thrillers, so we can depend less upon the acting skills of our chosen actors. Aswell as this, we plan to still use a chase scene, but will change the location to a block of flats rather than in a park.

Casting:

In order to cast our new actors, we asked around at 6th form to discover any young people wanting to star in our film with acting experience. We discovered two people - Guy and Mary who had both studied drama for GCSE and went to out-of-school drama classes, meaning they would be able to cooperate and perform better than our previous cast. Luckily, they fitted the kind of people we were hoping to get looks-wise aswell.

Props and Costumes:
White Van - connotations of crime etc are linked with the image of a white van, which makes it perfect for our thriller.
Gun - needed for the ending of our opening to make it more effective and drammatic. Guns and violence are also typical within the thriller genre, and I hope that this aspect of our production reflects this.

Navy blue pea coat (for narrator) - This coat has been chosen because it doesn't give any thing away about the character, and also creates a nice shady silhouette.

Black shoes ( for narrator) - These go well with the narrator's costume.

Jumper and jeans (for male) - This is a very typical outfit for a young male, which makes the character more believable. Provided by actor.
Plain top and skirt (for female) - This instantly creates a typical female's casual outfit, making the drama more realistic. Provided by actress.

Setting:
We have chosen to base our thriller in a block of flats in Aspley Court, Norwich. We have chosen to do this because we think it fits our urban, underworld of the city theme, and also think that it will be easy for audiences to relate to. This location was also chosen because we have discussed some nice, effective shots that we think will be possible to do here. The location also isn't very busy, which makes it easier to film there.

My Thriller

Together in my group, we have decided on some of the key themes that we aim to explore within our thriller, which include corruption, crime, sexuality, betrayal, mystery, moral ambiguity and duality of character. We felt that these themes were interesting to explore, especially duality of character and moral ambiguity, and would also reflect the thriller genre well. We have also decided to create an action thriller, and hope that this genre and subgenre are put across to the audience well in our opening sequence. We also hope that our opening shows the British and modern styles that we are aiming for. After discussion, we decided that we have been influenced heavily by two films - 'Layer Cake', and 'Essex Boys'. We have been influenced by these regarding the plot and have also been influenced by a chase scene we both found highly effective from 'Layer Cake'.

Location Scouting

Eaton Park :For the meeting between the two gangs in the deserted park, this will be filmed at night time. We chose this location because not only can we film at night time, but it has the circular building (shown on photo) which can be used to create a claustrophobic atmosphere, despite being a spacious area. The columns and trees surrounding the building will help to create shadows and darkness, which will make a sense of mystery and convey a signifier of a thriller film.

Lucy's House (Living Room):For the flash back scenes of Rex's wife talking to him on the phone. We chose this location because it is a good homely setting, perfect for the phone call scene. Also we do not need permission to film there, and it is easy to get to.

St. Benedict's Street:For the chase scene between the two gangs at the end and beginning of thriller film. We chose this location because it is an urban setting, but not as busy as the city centre so there wont be people walking into and ruining the shots. The buildings on the street, such as the pub photographed, appear seedy and therefore create a feeling of the underbelly of the city. Because there are alleyways leading off from the street, we can get shots using vanishing points, and can use the alleys during the chase to create feelings of claustrophobia.

Script

For Park Scene:
Ricky: (To Charlie) What's gone wrong eh? We need to sort this out.
Charlie: I don't know, it's not my problem, I thought you were the one in charge of this.
Matt: Look, there's no use fighting, we just want the money.
Lil' Bob: Just let Rex sort this one out.
(Car pulls up, Rex arrives)
Rex: What the bleedin' hell have you done?
(Rex uses violence) I'm going to make you all pay for this; you've blown the whole deal.
(Phone rings, Rex leaves)

Possible scene, phone call.
Kate: Where the hell are you Jimmy? You were meant to be home hours ago, I thought you were at a business meeting.
Rex: Sorry babe, things look to have gone wrong.
Kate: Well, you'd better hurry up, I don't like waiting.(Kate hangs up)

We intend the actors to improvise around the script, in the style of Shane Meadows, to make it alot more natural and realistic. We also hope the actors use slang, like we have put into the script to make it more believable.

Meeting schedule

Week 1 –
Monday – Period 2
Wednesday – Period 2
Thursday – Period 3
Friday – Period 3
Week 2 –
Monday – Period 5
Thursday – Period 3
Thursday - Period 5

During these meetings I hope to discuss ideas for our thriller, including writing the script, deciding on props and choosing a shooting schedule. I also hope to go out location scouting and also hold some auditions for casting. The meetings will also be used to discuss how we think shooting is going and think about improvements to make, and also for editing.

Synopsis of Thriller

Our overall synopsis of our beginning to a thriller production is that we are going to start of with a long shot of a street which looks as if you’re looking through binoculars. The shot won’t last very long, around 3 seconds. Then they’ll be jazzy music to start of with which at first will be quiet, then as it grows louder all of a sudden you see about five guys sprint across the screen as there being chased by guns. You will also hear sound effects of guns and will be shot in the early hours of the mornings. Finally, the scene will suddenly cut out and flash back in time to a gathering of men deserted in a park. However, the jazzy music will continue on.
The next shot will start of with a Pan, moving from a high angle to a low angle. As a thriller Signifier, you see a man stubbing out a cigarette at his feet as the camera zooms up and then out to view all the men in the “meeting,” which will be around 5 altogether. The music will continue on playing, but will be quietened down in parts so you can hear the dialogue. The whole scene in the park will include plenty of mystery being created. For instance, the storyline is that the men are discussing a drug deal which is illegal which is why there meeting in a park at nigh time. They’ll be plenty of conflict between the men as they get angry and frustrated at each other. For example, they’ll use threats and violence toward everyone. Different men will also be shown arriving and driving away at the scene in cars, which is another thriller signifier. Also, within the meeting, mystery will be created as one of the guys will receive a phone call from who we learn is his wife. His wife doesn’t know what he’s involved in and thinks he’s at work at a normal business meeting, so it’s clear that he’s lying. The wife also calls him a different name from what everyone else calls him. During this shot the music will stop, then re-start again. They’ll be flash back shots of the wife sitting alone at home. The scene will then suddenly flash back to the beginning shot of the same street and the audience get to witness the chase between the men which will be filmed in the city. Overall, the film will include plenty of action and create mystery as we’re left with a lot of un-answered questions.
The actual film synopsis is that there are actually two gangs with three men in each. One is called “Speed,” and one is called “Ecstasy.” (Purposely named after drugs.) The two gangs join together though to arrange a major drug deal involving heroine, but the gang “Speed” goes behind “Ecstasy’s” back and gets the drugs without them, which is why there’s a chase scene between the two gangs, in which one of members of “Speed,” gets shot. The main leader of Speed is called Rex and is the husband of the wife who calls him during the meeting in the park. However, she calls him a different name “Jimmy” because it turns out that Rex is leading a double life and told his wife a fake name and identity, so she can’t find out who he really is. The film also involves Rex having another girlfriend. So overall there are two different storylines going on. The film ends with Speed actually killing all the members of Ecstasy in order to keep the drugs for themselves so they can sell them for money, but the film also ends in a cliff hanger with Rex being shown at gunpoint by a person who isn’t identified. Perhaps it was his wife? Or a member of Ecstasy who they thought they killed, but actually turned out to be alive?

Props needed for our Thriller

· Blinds for the house scene when wife calls Rex up while he’s at the meeting, as slatted blinds are key thriller signifiers.

· Suits for the men to wear; mainly black, to connote feelings of mystery and to fit in with the night scene. Suits are also typical of the thriller genre.

· Cigarettes to be used as a thriller signifier. This is mainly for Rex during the panning shot of his feet stubbing out a cigarette. The fact that he smokes adds to the flaws of the protagonist.

· Guns (fake) to be used in the chase scene, to suggest danger, and how powerful these men really are.

· Fan for in the house scene, as this is very typical of thrillers.

· Wife to be wearing stylish clothes. Red to connote danger and passion

Character Profiles

The male protagonist in our group’s thriller is more of an anti-hero, like in film noirs. He has a double identity; leading two lives- one as a regular business man for IBM with a wife and a good successful life ahead of him, the other with a slutty promiscuous girlfriend, and as a leader of a corrupt drug gang known as ‘Speed’. To his wife, he is Jimmy Brown, but in his other life he is known as Rex Reynolds. The actor playing this role will need to be able to act as two different characters easily, making an obvious contrast between the two. He will need to be dressed smartly in a suit and shirt.
Kate Brown is Jimmy Brown’s wife. She is 25, has blonde curly hair, and suspects nothing of her husband’s 2nd identity. Although Kate appears to be fairly boring as she is just a housewife, she is quite glamorous, and the actress playing her should reflect this, whilst making sure the audience know that she has no idea of her husband’s two identities.
Ricky and Bob (sometimes called ‘Lil Bob’) are Rex Reynolds’ sidekicks who stand by him no matter what. They also dress up smartly like Rex, and are just below Rex in the hierarchy of the ‘Speed Gang’. They need to appear tough and unafraid, as well as following what ever Rex tells them. They are between the ages of 18 and 25, and don’t seem to be particularly clever or intelligent.
The Speed gang’s rivals are Ecstasy. The three key members of this gang are Charlie, who is 26, and Matt and Simon, who are both 22. The gang are meant to seem like the “bad guys” and are a lot less smart and well dressed as the Speed gang, and are also made to seem less clever, more into violence and even more corrupt, which the actors playing these characters will have to emphasise.

ideas for my thriller

From looking at numerous thriller films over the past couple of months, most recently Layer Cake, I am beginning to get some ideas for my own thriller opening.

Many of the thrillers I have seen start with something drammatic, for example an explosion in Layer Cake, someone being shot in Sin City etc, and so think this would be a good aspect to include in my own thriller, as it creates mystery and intrigue, whilst also sticking to the theme of crime and corruption. When discussing this, we suggested to start with a chase. I feel very influenced by the chase in Layer Cake, and so we aim to create a chase scene similar to that. We want to mix both handheld point of view camera shots with panning shots, with fast paced editing, to increase the excitement in the scene. We have also considered adding some postproduction editing to create the effect of someone looking through binoculars/a gun by only showing the middle circle of the shot. This would add to the mystery, and also make the sequence more interesting.

We have also had the idea of introducing the male protagonist in our opening, but have not yet decided on whether it should be in the traditional setting - a brown office with wooden furniture and pictures, books and a fan around the room, or whether we should have a more modern clinical theme, with a very clean setting, full of white and bright lighting.

As alot of thrillers, including Vertigo, Chinatown and Essex Boys, use shots inside a car- either looking through the windscreen at the driver and passenger, or positioned in the back seats, it would be good to use a scene in a car. However a shot through the front window would obviously be very hard and dangerous, so we would need to use a shot from the back of the car.

We also discussed our camera skills, emphasising that we need to remember the rule of thirds when filming, abd should use a range of shots. We will also hopefully take some clever shots using things such as reflections to make our film more interesting.

My group and I talked briefly about possible locations and found that we all think that settings such as a hospital (if we get permission) would be excellent if we were to follow the clinical idea, a park early in the morning or at night would make a good deserted setiing, and Norwich city centre would be good if we needed a busy urban setting. I also thought that old cobbled streets like elm hill, especially at night or in the rain would be an effective thriller location.

Over the next couple of days we are hoping to achieve some more definate ideas for our opening, and also to create a detailed story board.