The Filming Of Our Thriller

Over the weekend we shot the footage for our thriller. During class time we uploaded our footage and after looking over the film we have realized that one of our scenes did not shoot properly, and cuts out in the middle. We decided we would go back the following weekend and re-shoot the scenes. However, during class we cut out the scenes we didnt want and put them in the correct order. Although we hadnt properly cut them we looked throught them anyway to get an idea of how well it made sense. We decided that it made sense to us (because we knew the plot) however what we wanted to convey to the audience wasnt clear. Therefore, we decided to shoot a few more shots, that would break up some of our longer scenes and convey the idea that the main character (Lucy) was being followed (as this wasnt clear). So we took the cameras outside and filmed a few more scenes that we are going to upload next lesson.

Audience Research 1

What do you expect to see in a Thriller film?
Name:
Age:
Class:
Ethnicity:

1)What type of camera shots do you expect to see?
- Long Shot - Extreme close-up -Mid-shot
-Establishing Shot - Dutch angle

2)What type of lighting do you expect?
- Low key lighting - High Key lighting

3) What do you expect to see?

4)What type of sound do you expect?
- No sound -Normal level of sound - Hyperbolic sound

5)What type of characters do you expect?

6)What type of thrillers do you like?

- Action thriller (Race against the Clock and a lot of violence)
- Conspiracy thriller (In which the hero/heroine confronts a powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes)
- Crime thriller (this particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes.)
- Disaster thriller (In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes,)
- Drama thriller (In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film.)
- Legal thriller (In which the lawyer-heroes/heroines confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives)
- Medical thriller (In which the hero/heroine are medical doctors/personnel working to solve an expanding medical problem.)
- Political thriller (In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.)
- Psychological thriller (In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical.)
- Spy thriller (In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists.)
- Techno-thriller (In which (typically military) technology is described in detail and made essential to the reader's/viewer understands of the plot)
- Religious thriller (In which the plot is closely connected to religious objects, institutions and questions.)

Audience Research 2

From this research we can see that most people prefer legal or spy thrillers to any other type. Although our thriller is neither of these we will be using elements of a spy thriller that can be linked in to our plot of the stalker. This will, hopefully, then attract our target audience.

Character Descriptions And Casting

Lucy - Lucy has been chosen to play the part of the main character. This character is a female buisness women who is currently working in an office.Throughout the opening and the film, it is based on the idea that she is being stalked. However, throughout the film numerous suspects are unveiled and the audience is constantly asking questions and changing their opinions on who the stalker could be. Throughout the whole film, the character keeps having dreams, each time revealing some more information on the real identity of the stalker. The first dream is shown to us as the opening (the part that we will be filming). This character is always made recognisable by the bright pink heels that she wears.

Charley - I play the part of the stalker. In the opening sequence my identity is never revealed as this will slowly happen during the duration of the film. In the beginning, you are unable to tell if i am male or female, therefore, my character wears a mask (to conceal her face), a hood (to conceal her hair) and dark baggy clothing for ambiguity. This character is always made recognisable by the white plimsoles they always wear during the dreams.

Laura - Laura is shown in the opening as a friend and collegue of Lucys. During the rest of the film this character will become one of the many suspects, however, that has not yet been established during the opening. Instead, she has a conversation with Lucy in a lift, and scares her when Lucy is sure she is the only person in the building but aware that someone is following her. This character comes across as friendly and polite, and has no real means of recognition (like the other two characters).

These characters follow the convention of a thriller for many reasons. Firstly, we have the main character (Lucy) who is seen as weaker and vulnrable and make the audience fear for her safety. Because the story is told through her point of view, if Lucy feels fear then so does the audience. The character of the stalker is mysterious and the use of the hood and gloves hides their identity and makes them intimidating to Lucy and, in turn, the audience. This also makes the audience ask many questions, as they try to uncover the identity of the stalker.

Storyboards

Initial Ideas

Our initial plot idea was thought up by Laura, and it involved a women, who works in an office, who is being stalked. However, due to problems that might occur when trying to find a suitable location, we are having to re-think some of our ideas. We also found that our ideas didnt really .... lead anywhere. What would happen in the rest of the film after this opening? Therefore, we have tried to develop our ideas and decided that the opening sequence is actually a dream, on of many that she has during the duration of the whole film, and each dream gives us an extra clue and more information about who the stalker is, as throughout the film many suspects become clear. However, in the opening it is unclear that it is a dream until the very end.

However, ideas are still developing.

Location Research

In regards to our origional ideas, the ideal location for our thriller opening would be in an office. Although we know people that work in offices, it is going to rather difficult to obtain permission to film in offices, more so because they would have to be deserted when we did our filming. Because of this we are going to re think our origional location choice and see if, as a group, we can come up with a better idea for a location. This may mean changing some of our original plot ideas.

Upon further reflection, we have decided to change the location for our thriller. This is for many reasons; firstly, because it would have been difficult to obtain permission to use an office at night. Also, the office that we had imagined filming in was not based on any real offices that we knew of and it would have been difficult to find one that met our expectations. Also, we thought more effective ad creative ideas could be applied to a different setting, as apposed to an office. Therefore, we have decided to locate our set in a house, which would make more sense anyway, as there could be any number of explanations why someone else would be in an office building, but it makes it more eerie that there is someone, other than herself, in her own house.

This is a shot of the alleyway next to Laura's house. We thought this would be an effect location as the dark and dingy alleyway, which had negative connotations, then contrasted the warm and safe house which is the location she enters less. Therefore, when the Stalker is seen to somehow get into her house, this frightens the audience and have them fearing for the main character.

This is a shot of the kitchen in the house that we used. Joining the kitchen and another room was a window which, as you can see from this shot, was how decided to film this particular scene. This gives the impression that the main character is being watched and creates tension.

This is a shot of the stalker in the bathroom. One of the benefits of using a house, rather than our origional idea of the offices. It is a room that the stalker can hide in and is unlikely to be found. Also, it shows just how close the stalker and the main character are, athough the main character is unaware of this. This also creates tension for the audience.

Shooting Schedule

Title Sequence

- Name of the Film
- Titles
- Logos and Production companies
- Casting director
- The opening shows part of the film and then maybe the title sequence
- Film companies
- The names of a few of the main actors
- Production designer
- Exectutive producer
- Director of Photography
- Edited by
- Music by
- Costume design

Conventions Of An Opening Sequence

-Close up of objects (clues)
-Extreme close ups
-Slow pace music.
-Hyperbolic sounds
-Low key lighting
-Fades
-Cross- Dissolves
-Main character seen first
-Things are not as clear.
-Sometimes a face backs.
-See the crime first (sometimes)
-Black Screen
-Questions asked usually who? why?

Conventions Of A Thriller

- Flash backs.
- Questions asked by audience
- Night / Dark
- Low key lighting.
- Eerie music
- Revenge
- Tension
- Antagonist
- Protagonist