Planning opening to thriller

Planning opening to thriller

Initial concepts/ideas/influences

PlotThe plot revolves around Billy who is running in a forest with headphones in. However he is being stalked by Holly who is watching and following him from behind trees. Holly came from her house where she was preparing to kill him by cleaning her gun or knife (havent decided which one yet) and concealing her identity. Billy is running in the forest and starts to notice that he may be being followed, so takes his headphones out and starts to look around. Holly comes out from hiding within the trees and points a gun at Billy/holds knife up. Holly then murders Billy and conceals his body. In the opening we dont find out why he is murdered, so its left on a cliff-hanger.

Planning edit (rough/initial ideas)Fade to black, we will use it more than once, so the audience know that there are two different scenes in different settings. Also it can mark the end of our opening, the darkness will make it mysterious as we dont get to see the rest of the story.Cross dissolves, these will help the audience know that the two separate scenes within our opening are linked and accompanying each other.fast cuts, we will use these a lot and at a fast rate so the audience is conventionally disorientated and cant fully see what is going. We will also use it to reflect how the character Billy is feeling.Sound bridge in the beginning, to inter textually reference Kill Bill, and so it immediately draws the audience in, as the screen will be black with loud noise drawing them in, they will want to find out what its for.Shot reverse shot, to make the audience have a sense of what the character Billy is feeling when he finally sees Holly staling him. And to establish a sense of binary opposition between the two characters.Parallel editing, we will use this mostly throughout our opening, for when Billy is running through the forest and Holly is preparing to kill him.Match on action, for continuity and so the audience doesnt get bored of seeing the same shots and angles of when Billy is running.

LocationsA forest:- the forest we are using looks isolated and remote because it will make the character Billy look more trapped in this remote and secluded location, however it also to looks tranquil as well because it implies Billy is unsuspecting and just wanted to go for a run in a peaceful place. Additionally the natural setting will create a sense of predators hunting prey. Also a muddy floor will intertextually link to Heavenly creatures, and reinforce the idea of being trapped and hunted, as its like Billy will be stuck in mud, stopping him from running away. Furthermore the forest looks repetitive and similar, therefor the feeling that this place is an labyrinth will construct suspense as it suggests no matter how far Billy runs he will not be able to escape Holly coming for him, that his death is inevitable. Additionally the trees are in a way that create many vanishing points, which emphasises the labyrinth idea, and inter textually references The Third Man. Moreover we chose to film it in winter because it meant there would be n leaves on the trees and the whole mise en scene and colour pallet would look colder and more dismal.The house (where Holly is preparing):- we chose the house because it gives no indications of where it is, or how far it is from the forest. This adds more mystery to the opening leaving the audience asking questions like how and why? Therefore draws the audience in to want to find out more. Furthermore the colour pallet of the house is dark therefore constructs connotations danger and mystery creating suspense and anxiety for the audience.

Costumes BillysHe will be wearing running gear, that is suitable for the weather (winter), so a jumper and tracksuit bottoms, not a t-shirt and shorts. This is so it looks more realistic, instead of a fake and deliberately made up costume that will just simply suit its purpose. The colour pallet of his costume will be dark, however not as dark as Hollys to reflect the characters personalities and intentions. Furthermore the costume will be simplistic and unsophisticated to reference Essex Boys and the character Billy. This is to represent him to be naive and unsuspecting, that he is an everyday person caught up in a dangerous and not everyday event/situation, which is generic of thrillers.

CostumeHollysHollys costume will be dark and concealing to coincide with the narrative of our opening. At the end of the opening the audience find out that Hollys intentions throughout the opening have been dark and murderous, so therefore we chose to have the colour palette of this character as mainly all black. This is because black creates connotations of danger, darkness, fear and mystery which suits this character and is conventional of thrillers. Additionally we decided to make her have a big concealing coat that hid her identity, the colour of this coat is brown so camouflages her in the forest, and there is a big hood that covers her face so her identity is hidden. Moreover she will be wearing black gloves which suggests she has planned this murder and doesnt want to leave any finger prints or evidence behind, therefore adding mystery as the audience want to find out more to the story.

Props and ObjectsKnife: this is one of the possible murder weapons we have decided to maybe use because its small so easily concealable. It also intertextually references the thriller film Psycho, so the audience will make the reference, especially because if we use it we will mimic how the knife is held up.Hand gun: this is the other possible murder weapon we have decided to maybe use because its small and concealable. It is also a more modern method of murder, and our thriller is modern, challenging many outdated patriarchal thriller conventions, so could help emphasise this. Additionally we could incorporate some good conventionally thriller camera angles and shots, such as looking down the barrel of a gun. Similarly in the thriller film The Bourne identity, hand guns are used for killing people.Headphones: these will be used to make Billy look even more unsuspecting of Holly.The lamp: create chiaroscuro lighting, which is a convention of thrillers.

Characters

Billy Billy is a fit and healthy runner, he is what you could a normal everyday person, who is generally not conventional of thrillers. However he is being placed in a dangerous and not everyday situation is conventional so that is what we will do. This is because he has a dark past that has caught up with him, the audience doesnt know that dark past to add mystery and suspense of the opening.Characters

HollyHolly is named after Holly out of the thriller The Third Man, this is because Holly is also a concealing character stalking another character. However there is the difference of gender between these two characters, in our opening Holly is female, and in The Third Man Holly is a male. We chose to have our murderer in our opening as a female to challenge traditional but turning outdated patriarchal archetypes within thrillers. Where its mostly males who are presented to be capable of being powerful and murderers, and if women are capable they're still undermined by men. For example Kill Bill, where the main character is powerful and capable however the male antagonists is still one step ahead and more powerful, or Essex Boys where in the opening women are not even recognised or seen to be able to be a dangerous criminal. Holly will be presented to be a slightly psychotic and dangerous murder therefore challenging gender roles within thrillers. She is a smart and deadly character who is a force to be reckoned with.Casting of characters Billy: we chose to use Louis as this character because he looks everyday; he looks fit and healthy so suits the runner character that is Billy; he looks young so this reinforces the sense that he is nave and unsuspecting of the events that will occur in the opening. As he is part of our group he will also be easily available and deeply understand the role he needs to play in order to make this a thriller opening.Holly: our group have decided to cast Ella (me) as Holly, this is because I am easily available for filming and understand what is expected of me for this role in order to make it into a thriller. Soundtrack ideas We want to use a simple and orchestral soundtrack that creates suspense and tension, we dont want it to be too loud or have many components to it in order so it doesnt distract the audience from the story. However we would like it to have possible layers to it so it adds tension because it would go along side the narrative, the audience would be finding out more information, and the more this happened the more layers to the music there would be. Furthermore we would find a soundtrack that we would be able to synchronise with Holly, we want to do this to make her look more powerful and in controlShooting schedule and equipmentWe will film in winter during the morning and midday so there is enough natural sunlight for the audience to see all the forest. We will film in the forest first and then inside the house so we dont waste the time we have for when the sun is out, as when were inside we are using artificial chiaroscuro lighting, so daylight doesnt matter.Casting characters from within our group means its easier to schedule when we are filming.Video camera, with hand held capabilities and the ability to be attached to a tripod. And a built in microphone.TripodGorilla pod

Typeface ideas

Intertextual referencesKill Bill: sound bridge in the introduction of heavy breathing and starting with a black screen. We used this because it establishes mystery as the audience dont know why there's heavy breathing, furthermore heavy breathing is associated with alarming situations such as being chased, or hurt.The Third Man: vanishing points in the forest and that its isolated with no one else there. This is to give the sense of a labyrinth and mystery, which is its effect in The Third Man. And the characters name of Holly.Nosferatu the Vampyre: The pale face created through lighting for Holly, making her look slightly psychotic, sinister and deadly because of this link the audience should recognise.Heavenly creatures: The muddy and forestry setting, linking to the predatory hunting/hunted theme within a certain scene in Heavenly Creatures. Also that this film portrays women to be capable killers like ours, not presenting them to be damsel in distress.Essex Boys: the characters name Billy, to make the character look nave and juvenile constructing them to be victimised in some way.Once Upon a Time in America: switching on the lamp in the dark room to create chiaroscuro lighting, which is very conventional of thrillers as it creates more shadows around the focal point, therefore suggesting that something or someone is hiding in them and preying on something. In the case of our opening, Holly is in the shadows.Psycho: if we choose to use a knife as the murder weapon then it links to the iconic shower scene. We would mimic the way Norman Bates holds up the knife before he murders Janet. The audience would recognise this and it creates ultra-heightened expectations which is conventional of thrillers.The Bourne identity: if we choose to use a handgun as the murder weapon then it links to many scenes within this film of when handguns are used as a means of killing someone. The gun will establish the theme of murder so the audience straight away recognise this with the first shot of it.