props and Costume of our actor Isabella Hurren

Updated Story Board

Explanation of planing

We worked in a group of three, Izzy, Lucy and I, we wanted to make the tasks at hand as fair as possible therefore when it came to completing the group tasks we would all take it in turns to complete a section of the work, it would be divided in three as there is three of us, to make it fair. Whilst the others were working it was not un-common for them to either ask for help or for us to make contributions. At the end we have made sure that everyone is happy with the group tasks or would like to add anything else, this way everyone gets a say and does the same equal amount of work.

Gone:explained

The title of our thriller opening is 'gone', the simple effectiveness of a short word creates a sense of mystery as it does not give away too much to the audience. We wanted something that would leave the audience wanting more, all the best thriller films have short titles, for example; Psycho, seven and Inception. Based on the great success of these films we opted for something short. 'Gone' connotes that something has disappeared which is what we wanted as the plot of our film is a kidnapping, however, the short but effective one-word title does not suggest to what may have gone missing. To keep the audience guessing but interested is key.

Personally, I think the audience will respond positively towards our title because it is suggested to what genre of film is it as it is not a positive title and it is easy to remember, other than the incredibly popular 'Gone Girl' it has only been used by a couple of films, neither of which have done very well.

Actors: updated

In our film, we have four characters. Our protagonist is a male character, and a female character features at the end of our opening. Our male characters are played is played by Thomas Keeble and Laurie Taylor. Although both young so they do not have much experience our target audience will engage with young actors more than say someone who is in their thirties. Physically both of our actors fit their role requirements very well. For the protagonist, played by Laurie, some may say he stands out. This is because of his red hair and punk style. Our other actor, Thomas Keeble, is tall with a broad build, therefore in dark lighting he appears to be quite menacing and threatening.

One of our characters, although not featuring a lot in our opening, was important when considering physical aspects such as height. We decided on Caitlin Mapes, a college student who was formerly a drama student and has had experience with playing other female flirtatious characters such as Audrey in a Little Shop of Horrors stage production. We have decided to put a modern twist on the classic femme fatal, red is commonly used in Film Noir to connote danger, love, and passion to the audience, this is either done through a classic red lipstick, lighting or clothing. Red clothing can also convey a sense of seductiveness about the femme fatal. Catlin, one of our actors, has red hair. We are taking the usual film noir conventions and applying it to a modern day situation.
 Isabella Hurren and Lucy Hiscox feature in the very first scenes our our opening, neither have had acting experience however physically they fit the part of our characters. 

Updated:Shooting Schedule

Costume

When planning the opening of our film, we found that costume helps to build the image of the audience of a character by subtly showing them their attitude and purpose. 

For our main character, we have chosen simplistic every-day style clothes. These ordinary clothes show that this character is an ordinary man with a simple lifestyle. Doing this makes the audience assume he is a character who is out of place in a cruel and brutal world, as he is a typical and average man.  

In our last scene of our opening, our protagonist is shown after being beaten up by his kidnappers. This has not been explicitly said, however, the audience can insinuate this due to the make-up we will use on our actor to show a black eye and several cuts and bruises. The purpose of this is to show that he is vulnerable in this moment, further emphasizing the idea that he is an amiable man who is caught up in this cruel world. 

However, the beginning scene shows a character who is later revealed to be the twin brother of our main character (same actor as a protagonist), so will wear a different style of clothes. This character is dark and intriguing, so to reflect this we have decided to make this character wear dark clothing to portray his cynical and thick-skinned but ultimately cowardly demeanor. 

For our female character, we haven chosen a tight fitting dress. All we see of this character in our opening is their silhouette, so having her in a dress establishes to the audience that she is female. We have also taken inspiration from the classic femme fatale convention of film noir, this character meant to immediately appear seductive and feminine. Doing this makes the audience immediately question whether she is to be trusted, as her cryptic entrance could make her appear as an antagonist, further assumed by her femininity and seductiveness.

Thriller synopsis

A man stands on a train platform, walking further towards an incoming train. Forwards to a month later. A man walks home, but gets knocked out, and kidnapped by a mystery antagonist. He wakes up alone, bloody and tied up, but gets released by a mystery woman. She tells him her boss kidnapped him, and mistook him for his twin brother, a drug dealer who stole something from him, but supposedly committed suicide 6 months earlier. The woman helps him escape the city, while our protagonist tries to figure out what his brother stole, and why his body was never found. 

UPDATED: Thriller Mise en scene and location

The opening scene of our thriller takes place at a children's play park. We wanted the park to be empty to give the shots a very eerie and unsettling feel. This is because parks are usually full of excitement and energy so shooting in an empty park would give our thriller an uneasy and desolate atmosphere. A possible location we could use is a small park next to Eaton Primary School. Although this park is popular with the local school children after school and on the weekends, it is usually quiet at around 6:00pm. If we filmed at this time the park would be empty and the sun would have set, leading to darker, more hopeless shots that would suit the tone of our thriller. Lighting could become an issue as we won't be able to take our own equipment. To try and avoid lighting issues we could pick a clear day, this means it would stay lighter for longer, giving us brighter shots as well as more time to film.

one part of our thriller occurs at a train station, for these shots we wanted to use a train station that wouldn't be too crowded which would provide us with enough privacy to film as well as giving us more control over the area. A possible location we could use is Brundall Station, we would have filmed in Norwich Train Station, however, taking our safety into account and the public this did not seem like a good idea, we would need to gain permission and disturbances for filming were very likely. This station is on the smaller size which means that it won't get as busy as other stations, therefore preventing our filming being disturbed by members of the public, in terms of our safety as it is obviously quite risky to film in a train station, it would be safer to film in a less busy and smaller station, we will be careful not to film to close to the train line. It also looks quite rundown which conforms to the gritty visuals of the thriller genre, for example the industrial site on the other site looks rundown and are, by recreating these visuals it will remind the audience of other thrillers they have seen and built the anticipation as they discover the genre and anticipate the action that is sure to follow. When filming these shots the lighting could be an issue as we won't have any control over what lights are on or off and it will also be difficult to bring our own lighting equipment. However, we could change the time of day that we film. For example, instead of filming at night we could film in the morning. Although it wouldn't carry the same connotations, a cold but bright winter morning suggests isolation and bleakness which would work well with our thriller.

We could also use Norwich Railway Station, although this station does get very busy that could work in our favour. Being lost in a crowd could connote isolation as although the character is surrounded by people he is still alone and has no one to rely on. The hustle of a crowd could also be used to build tension. The ornate and antique look of the station could be used to make the film reminiscent of film noir, this would reinforce the dark and mysterious themes of our opening which were common aspects of film noirs. The contrast of modern and old features in the station could be used to emphasise the conflict in our film. Both the inner conflict of the character as he decides how to escape and the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist. The problem of lighting would also be an issue whilst film here as we wouldn't have any control over it. Although the crowd could add to the atmosphere of our opening it would be an issue as we would also have no control or influence over the people and it would make it difficult to film successfully.

For the abduction section of our opening we want to use a dark alley way that connotes isolation as well as vulnerability. We could use the alleyway beside one of our group member’s house. This would provide us with privacy while we film, it would also allow us to adapt the location to suit our preferences and to set up our own lighting equipment. Alleyways are used in thrillers to connote poverty and crime as they are where homeless people can take shelter and where crimes are committed because they are hidden from the eyes of the public as they provide protection. By conforming to the genre we are reinforcing the connotations of crime and establishing the characters need to escape from a world this dark and twisted. Being near a suburb could also suggest a common aspect of film noirs that this could happen to anyone and that no one is safe. Filming in an alleyway will be difficult because we'll have limited space to move in, this will make film from different angles a challenge. However, the small space could be used to introduce the theme of claustrophobia and to reinforce the idea that the character is trapped and vulnerable.

For the final part of our opening sequence our main character wakes up tied to a chair in a garage, this reinforces the theme of vulnerability and crime. The garage we will be using also belongs to one of our group members. This, again, provides us with control and privacy because there won't be any members of the public and we can change the mise-en-scene to suit our requirements. The objects in the area could be moved to provide a space for the main character, alternatively by leaving some but covering them with dust sheets it could create a sense of mystery as neither the character nor the audience know what's underneath them and it could be anything. A garage also conforms to the convention of using suburbs to suggest that tragedy can strike anyone, it could also unsettle the audience as this is an everyday location turned into a cage.

updated Thriller Opening: Script

Thriller opening:initial ideas mind map

Introduction

Hi, I'm Hannah Wicks and this is my media blog for AS level media at CNS.