Storyboard

This is our storyboard of shots for our thriller opening. 

Props

Here are some of the props we intend to use in our thriller opening.

 

Costume ideas

These are some examples of the costume ideas that we have for our thriller opening.

Locations

This was our origional location idea, Bourne public toilets. We chose this location because we thought that they would have a good effect due to the enclosed space and we thought that we could use the mirrors in the toilets to make effective titles and to introduce the flashbacks with the victim looking into the mirror. Unfortunately we found out that this location would be unavailable on the day of filming as the council had closed the toilets for maintenance. This meant that we were forced to change our idea slightly and move locations. We chose a different location with a river to give the same effect as the mirror would. 

 

 

 

This is the bridge that we are going to use to film the flashback shots. We chose this because it has good natural light (dark but visible) which helps to build tension and add a great effect. As well as this there is a lot of broken glass on the floor which helps to add to the effect as well as providing some great sounds.

 

 

 

 

This was the location that we changed to when we realised we couldn't gain access to the origional location. Although it was a redeveloped idea we feel that this perhaps will work better than our origional idea as the lighting is much better and the location seems to match the flashback location (bridge) much better than the toilets would.



 

Filming Day Timings

9am

Meet with Ryan and Callum at the bus station with all props and camera equipment.

9:30am

Assess filming locations to make sure that everything is ready for filming and the locations are suitable.

10am

Commence filming the first shots at the first location making sure that we take at least 2 or 3 takes of each shots so that we are very unrestricted when editing.

12:30pm

Stop for lunch.

1pm

Move to second filming location and take several takes of each shot to be sure that we have some good shots.

3pm

Pack all equipment away making sure that we do not damage anything or leave anything behind.

Lighting and Sounds

The location we have chosen to film our thriller already has a very good natural light therefore no additional lighting is neccesary. The lighting will be dark but not so dark that the camera won't be able to focus on the fine details. This style of lighting will help to conceal the face of the villain and will help to add to the mystery and tension of the thriller opening. We need to make sure that the victim is shown in a little more light than the villain because this will help to show vulnerability which is often present in thriller films.

The only sounds that we will want to keep from the actual filming (diagetic sound) will be the sound of the gun being loaded and possible the sound of footsteps, especially where the footsteps will be crunching on broken glass. We will therefore be adding non-diagetic sounds when editting the film opening. We will want to add a heatbeat sound throughout the opening as well as a music based soundtrack. These will have good effect and will help to add to the tension and build up of the film therefore increasing the climax.

The Idea

The idea that we have decided to take forward is the idea of the gangster based thriller. We have developed this idea into a flashback based opening where we will see the victim walking and stumbling across a river. As this happens the victim will be getting flashbacks of what has happened to him in the past. This will be filmed under an old bridge with graffiti and broken glass. Here there will be shots of the victim getting interrogated and props such as rope, a chair and a gun will be used here. The bridge will provide a good lighting as well as the light will be natural but still reasonably dark and gloomy. As the scene continues the flash backs will continue until the victim reaches the river where he will bend down and wash his face off. He will then stand up and turn around to face the camera where there will be a close up of his face and the shot will freeze and turn black and white to add effect. 

This opening should be an effective thriller opening as it will start to ask the audience questions such as who are these people and what has this victim done to the villain to make him treat him like this? The surprised expression on the victims face as he turns around to face the camera at the end will also help to build up the tension as the audience will be wondering what he has seen - is the interrogator back even though a few seconds earlier he is presumed dead? This is what helps to build up the tension and suspense as they will not know and there will be no clues without watching past the opening. 

Audience Research Findings

I have conducted multiple types of different audience research so that I can help my group to effectively plan our thriller opening and so that we will be able to get the best results possible. Each piece of feedback and answer I have got back from my research will help me to see what needs to be included or perhaps what doesn't need to be included in the opening to our thriller film.

Questionnaires

Findings: From the questionnaires that I sent out to a wide variety of different people I have managed to learn that action, psychological and gangster based thrillers are the most popular sub-genres. I have also learned that the majority of people think that romance should not be present in thriller films as it could spoilt the plot and ruin the effect of some of the tension and action creating elements.

Action: Through these findings I will try and make sure that there is no or very little romance in our thriller opening as well as trying to get some action, gangster and psychological parts into our thriller opening. A mixture of all three would work very well and adding with our pitch ideas that we presented to our peers I think that the gangster style will take the centre stage.

Pitch Presentations

Findings: Our pitch presentations helped me to realise that we need a lot more detail under the surface of our thriller opening to give it some purpose and give it some questions to ask the audience. I have learned that people think that the gangster or the spy based thriller would be the best idea and that they think they would be the most appealing of the three ideas. People think that the setting for these needs to be in a preferably confined location with darkish lighting. This will help to add to the effect as an open space with ‘pretty’ buildings or surrounding would take some of the tension building effect away.

Action: From what I have found here I will make sure that we choose a good location and setting for our thriller opening. Trying to find a location to film that suits what the film is about as well as the natural light being quite dark and gloomy will be a priority. I will try to find out some more about gangster films as this seems like the most appealing of the three ideas to most people. The spy based thriller would be the second choice should we not be able to advance with the gangster thriller.

Internet Research

Findings: I have researched on the internet into what a wide variety of different age groups as well as what different genders think makes a good thriller opening. From this I have discovered that people think some of most effective tension building techniques are to add music and sound effects as well as making sure that there are a wide variety of different shots. People also seem to want some confusion so that it makes them intrigued to watch the rest of the film and ask questions.

Action: From this I will make sure that we include a large variety of shots in our shot list so that we can really build the tension up during the filming that we do. During the editing stage of our thriller opening I will ensure that we use a range of different sound effects to emphasise points as well as the potential for some music to be added as long as it is suitable for the storyline. 

Questionaire Results

These are the results we got from our questionaires.


1. What is your Gender?

• Male - 15
• Female - 14

2. How old are you?

• 0-14 - 1
• 15-29 - 24
• 30-44 - 2
• 45-59 - 2
• 60-74 - 0
• 75-89 - 0
• 90-104 - 0
• 105+ - 0

3. Do you enjoy thriller movies?

• Yes - 25
• No - 4

4. Which of these is your preferred movie genre?

• Thriller - 9
• Horror - 4
• Action - 7
• Adventure - 4
• Romantic - 3
• Comedy - 8
• Other - 1

5. What is you preffered music type?

• Rock - 4
• Pop - 12
• Indie - 7
• R&B - 5
• Hip-Hop - 1
• Jazz - 0
• Metal - 0
• Techno - 2
• Other - 2

6. How often do you watch movies?

• 1-3 times a week - 16
• 4-6 times a week - 11
• 6+ times a week - 2

7. What is your favourite film sub-genre out of the following?

• Action-Thriller - 14
• Crime-Thriller - 8
• Psychological-Thriller - 5
• Religious-Thriller - 1
• Gangster-Thriller - 4
• Sci-fi-Thriller - 1

8. What is your favourite thriller film and why?

• Black Swan because there is a lot of tension build up
• Unknown because it has a good plot
• Orphan because the ending is so unexpected
• Die Hard because of all the suspense
• The Departed because the acting is amazing and the narrative is gripping
• Gangster Squad because it has action and builds up the story well
• Django: Unchained
• Shutter Island because it builds the tension well
• Shutter Island because it has a lot of suspense
• Shutter Island because of the psychological theme
• No Country For Old Men because of the interesting storyline
• No Country For Old Men
• No Country For Old Men
• Lawless
• Taken
• Leon: The Proffesional
• Bourne Identity
• Dejavu

9. Do you think romance is suitable in a thriller?

• Yes - 13
• No - 16

10. What is it that you think is essential to get right to make a good thriller?

• Soundtrack
• Setting
• Good actors
• A good atmosphere
• Order of events
• Editing
• Characters
• Storyline
• Good locations
• Good props
• A creepy atmosphere
• A good plot
• Twists
• Weather
• Explosions
• Mystery
• Intensity
• Suspense
• Music
• Lighting

Audience Questionaire

We sent out some questionaires to a wide variety of people in order to get a better idea of what we might be able to include in our thriller. Below is how our quesitonaire looked with all the questions.

Pitch Presentation

 

What Makes an Effective Thriller Opening?

There are a lot of different techniques and effects that can be added to a piece of film in order to make it into an effective thriller opening. First of all the basic contents needs to be correct, this includes the setting, lighting, sounds, characters, props and dialogue. Generally the less revealed the better. This means that the setting needs to be darkened down quite a lot as well as the costumes on the characters. Any important or significant props need to be concealed so that not all is revealed and the characters faces may need to be hidden also. This means that very little information is revealed to the viewer which can help to build up tension and make the viewer ask a lot of questions. The more questions that are left for the viewer to answer the better in regards to a thriller opening. This is because they will then want to continue to watch in order to unravel the story and find the answers to the questions that they have. As little dialogue as possible needs to be in a thriller opening. This helps to hide the personality of the characters giving a sense of mystery and really helps to build up the tension and suspense that will be carried on into the rest of the film.

A good order of events also helps to make an effective opening to a thriller, this includes flash backs and pass of time sequences. By doing this a thriller opening can really help to set the scene for the rest of the movie however without revealing too much for the present time. This is why flashbacks are very important. They can help to show what has gone on and what the film may be about without revealing what is still to come. This means that the mystery is still there and that the viewer still has something to gain by continuing and watching the remainder of the film. Not all thriller openings contain flashbacks and they are not necessary but they do add a great effect.

Pace of camera shots as well as a wide variety of different camera angles will have great effect on the opening of a thriller film. A slower pace and less speed when switching between different camera angles and shots may not work here as it doesn’t show any urgency or action. In a thriller opening people want a glimpse of what they are going to see throughout the rest of the film, this is why a faced paced method works much better here. It provides more action and makes the film seem much more exciting but also means that as much detail cannot be covered which stops the film accidently revealing too much information to its audience. This makes the audience more likely to continues and watch the rest of the film.

Suspense and the build-up of tension are a must in the opening of a thriller film and this tension and suspense must not be let go until into the actual film. Without this the thriller opening with not seem appealing to many people and so people may be less willing to continue and watch the rest of the film. Stairs and the use of mirrors are just another couple of things that can be used to build up tension within a thriller film as they allow the audience to look around corners where the characters cannot see. This makes the audience rather tense as they can only watch as the characters may not know what is going on.

How titles are incorporated into the opening of a thriller can be very effective in the film. There are thousands of different ways that titles can be made and included in the opening of a film. The more tension building and exciting they are the better. A lot of people think that titles just have to be written but this is incorrect as sound effects and music can also go a lot towards making effective titles in a thriller opening. The titles of a thriller could reveal some important information such as showing items or people of significance. A good example of where sound effects and items of significance have been used in the titles of a thriller a in the film ‘Se7en’.

Internet Research - Do You Watch Thriller Films?

Preliminary - 5 Analysed Shots

 

This shot is from the start of our video. We filmed this shot as a low angle mid-shot looking down upon Vince as he walks around the corner of the corridor. The idea of this shot was to make it look like the view from a CCTV camera and we have managed to enhance this effect by adding the grilled black and white effect on the Macs editing suite as well as adding the time and date in the bottom left hand corner which makes it look like the kind of information a security camera would have on it. We can see around both corners of the corridor with this shot which helps us to set the scene but we can also see his destination which helps to set up the next shot. I feel that the lighting in this shot could have been thought about more carefully as until we edited the shot we could see that shadow of me and the camera on the floor.

 

 

 



 

This is a close up shot of Vince's feet as he walks through the door that we can see in the CCTV shot. We can see him slowly opening the door but the idea is that we can see nothing else, nothing within the room. This helps to add a sense of mystery to the film as we do not know where he is going or what he might find within the room. The sound during this shot also gives a sense of mystery and makes us wonder what is going to happen next. I think that this shot should have been re-filmed as the positioning of Vince's feet compared to a previous shot is different and so it breaks the continuity rule.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a high angle shot looking up at Vince as he has just sat down. The way the camera is looking up at him makes it look as though he is in charge and is superior to anything else. The camera is still hiding what is in the room and even though we have seen Vince sit down we do not know what he is sitting down to and so it continues to add to the sense of mystery throughout the film. The lighting here shows Vince in a lot of light but I think this could have been more carefully thought out because a darker showing of Vince would have made him seem more dominant as I think the light makes him look a bit too vulnerable for the character is supposed to be playing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that we can see who Vince has sat down to within the room a new character is introduced. This is where the movie clip starts to take sides as this character is introduced by Vince and the shot here is showing the expression on the face of Callum as Ryan is introduced by Vince to come and shoot him. We have added to the effect of this surprise by making the colour of the shot black and white and freezing it for a second using iMovie on the Mac. This shot is also a close-up of Callums face which helps to focus the audience's attention and highlights a key point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shot is towards the end of our movie clip and is where Callum is getting shot by Ryan. The camera is at a slightly raised angle to show the vulnerability of Callum and the composition of this shot with Callum sitting down instead of standing also helps add to this. The shot is still black and white which is still adding to the effect of surprise. We have added some sound effects in the form of a gun which helps to emphasise what Ryan is doing. On iMovie we have also slowed down the shots to give a slow motion effect which helps to emphasise what Ryan is doing. We have managed to get the composition of the shot pretty perfect here as the objects in the background are the same composition as we saw the earlier. We have also managed to stick to the 180 degree rule throughout of movie clip.

 

Preliminary Task Video

This is our preliminary task video.

Preliminary Task Shot List

Scene #	Shot	Location	Shot Description	Framing	Action	Dialogue	Actors	Props	Notes
#1	A	F block tunnel	Long shot, straight on of Vince coming through fire doors with Ryan behind him	Vince in middle of shot showing both doors	Vince walking through doors	None	Vince, Ryan	None
#1	B	F block tunnel	Looking up at him from behind, low angle shot	Vince taking up about 1/3 of the shot	Vince walking down corridor	None	Vince	None
#1	C	F block tunnel	Mid-shot of Vince from right side at body level	Body and upwards, missing out legs	Vince walking down corridor	None	Vince	None
#1	D	F block tunnel	Security camera view from top corner of corridor	Showing whole section of corridor	Vince walking down corridor	None	Vince, Ryan	None
#1	E	F block tunnel	Long shot down corridor of Vince approaching C112 door	Whole of C block upper corridor show C110 and toilet doors	Vince walking down corridor	None	Vince	None
#1	F	F block tunnel	Close up of Vince grabbing the door handle	Door handle and hand taking up 90% of the shot space	Vince opening door of C112	None	Vince	None
#1	G	C112	Close up of other side of the door handle being pushed down	Full shot of the door handle, no background	Vince opening door of C112	None		None
#1	H	C112	Close up of walking legs	Legs, mainly lower taking up most of shot, background of floor	Vince walking through C112 to seat	None	Vince	None
#1	I	C112	High angle shot looking down upon scene	Showing whole room, including door	Vince walking through C112 to seat	None	Vince, Callum	None
#1	J	C112	Low angle shot of Vince sitting down	Chair taking up majority of shot and just lower body and legs of Vince	Vince beginning to sit down on seat	None	Vince	None
#1	K	C112	Over the shoulder shot to see Vince’s expression	1/3 of Cullum’s head and the rest of Vince	Vince looking surprised	You come to me on the day of your daughter’s wedding	Vince, Callum	None
#1	L	C112	Over the shoulder shot of Vince	1/3 of Vince’s head and the rest of Callum	Seeing Callum talking to Vince	Asking for help	Vince, Callum	None
#1	M	C112	Over the shoulder shot to see Vince speaking	1/3 of Cullum’s head and the rest of Vince	Vince speaking to Callum	Meet my little friend	Vince, Callum	None
#1	N	C112	Mid shot of door flying open, not being able to see character	Door in middle of frame, showing door frame and walls	Door opening	None		None
#1	O	C112	Close ups and extreme close ups of expressions of all characters faces	Full shots of faces and no background or any other objects	Showing surprised expressions on character’s faces	None	Vince, Callum, Ryan	Gun
#1	P	C112	Mid shot of whole scene seeing shooting panning right	Scene taking up approx. 1/3 of shot with surroundings taking the rest	Callum walking away unharmed	None	Vince, Callum, Ryan	Gun
#1	Q	C112 moving to F block tunnel	Side shot of victim on floor, moving backwards and zooming out	Victim originally taking up 1/3 of shot but being reduced further as shot zooms out	Victims laying on floor	None	Vince, Callum, Ryan	None