Casting

Kidnapper (Luke Nolan) - we chose Luke to be the Kidnapper because he can play the role of a secretive and mysterious character well. His use of body language and facial expression helps to portray that he is a mysterious person and that his mind is set on his one objective.

Scott (Daniel Decruz) - we chose Daniel to be Scott because he can become the character of a sociable and happy person easily. He uses his facial expression and his body language well to show how he feels and what sort of person he is.

Lauren (TBD) - we chose (....) because her voice is appropriate for the voice of Lauren (Scotts daughter). She can inform the audience of struggle by manipulating her voice to portray this scene.

Camera Operator (Me) - we chose me to be the camera operator because I have a steady hand and my use of varied shots will help with the atmosphere of the scene. Also I can set up quickly and I can change between shots quickly so that the shots can be filmed with ease.

Storyboard

We decided to create and use a storyboard because with this made we are able to use it to help us show what shots we will be doing and what we need to do next. The storyboard helps us to see what shots we need to do and where we need to be filming them. It also shows us the timing for the camera shots. Without this sotryboard our shots will be unorganised and we will have no idea on what we will need to be doing. We changed our ideas for this many times due to the fact of improvements or new material that we will be adding in.

Possible Film Titles

Below are our possible film title idea fonts that we may decide to use. I chose these because they are relevant to our chosen genre and they fit well within our opening title sequence. We have decided to use the first choice because it fits extremely well with our shots and the style of the font is appropriate for our thriller genre. They all suit the thriller genre but our chosen title font is the most appropriate because it is bold, it stands out when it is used and has quite an eerie presence.

Thriller Genre 2 - 'Casino Royale'

'Casino Royale' is known as a successful thriller due to the fact that it holds all of the basic yet vital ingredients for a thriller. It uses mainly black and white, this portrays the fact that the film is a dark thriller which may be suspicious and mysterious.

Its mixture of low angle and high angle shots shows the change of status within the characters. This will get the audience/viewers thinking and getting them to ask questions of what may happen throughout the rest of the film, and why the characters are there now.

Also the sounds in this opening sequence vary depending on the mood of the scene. For example; during the conversation there is only vocal noise whereas during the fight scene the noises are louder and harsher as they emphasis the point that the fight scene is an upbeat and fast tempo moment.

Audience Research 2

Conventions Of A Thriller

A thriller is one of the most common genres of media around today. It's conventions help this because they are unique and they are a recipe for brilliant entertainment. A thriller contains a variety of different conventions. For example; it contains many fight scenes and chases to draw the viewer into the world of the film. But its main common elements are suspension, excitement and tension.

Because of it's effective use of suspense, tension and excitement; this grabs the viewer and keeps them hooked into the world and atmosphere of the film they are watching. It creates questions, it gets the audience thinking about what is and what may happen.
The use of a cliffhanger is also very common after all of the suspense and tension. For example; the cliffhanger at the end of 'Inception' after all the suspense really gets the viewer/audience thinking and asking questions.

Location Research

Thriller Genre 1 - 'Inception'

'Inception' is another brilliant example of a thriller because of its fluent and subtle use of conventions. It uses a lot of the colour blue and yellow/orange. By doing this it creates and sets the atmosphere that the audience will be drawn into as the film goes on.


Also the use of tension, suspension and excitement portrayed through the mise en scene which helps to pull the reader into the world of the film. This then influences the feeling onto the audience as they feel apart of the film and they feel what the characters are feeling.


After being drawn into the film the audience begin to ask questions. For example; they may start asking them self 'Why is this person there?' 'How did they get there?' 'What will happen?'. They then begin to think about what may happen later on in the film, also they will start picking up on and looking out for clues that are given away in certain scenes.

Analysis Of ' The Sixth Sense'

'The Sixth Sense' is a successful thriller as it uses a variety of techniques to draw the audience into the film. For example; its constant use of the colour blue and red representing sorrow and death. The mise en scene is also important as it helps to create the atmosphere of the film. Also the use of the mysterious and eerie sounds. This helps to merge all of the techniques and variety of conventions to create the thrillers atmosphere.


By using the dark colours such as blue, black and red the whole film has a dull and sorrow atmosphere which is felt throughout the film because these colours are continuous within the duration of the movie. If the colours were bright and bold colours then the atmosphere would not be set well therefore it will not draw in the audience.


The mise en scene is important as it sets the scene for the film. The use of a dark house with only two people in portrays the fact that anything could happen and that they may not be safe. Because this scene is set at night it helps to expand the use of the dark colours, because these merge together well the use of natural and artificial colours and lighting is disguised.

Analysis Of ' Memento' 2

'Memento' fits the thriller genre well because of its varied use of the conventions of a thriller. For example the use of its colours are exaggerated to portray the fact that the film is a thriller. These colours also set the atmosphere because they draw the audience into the world of the film and they makes them feel what the characters are feeling because of the atmosphere set.

Another convention used in this film is editing. The use of the fluent editing makes the film clear and keeps the flow of the film going. Because of the flow of the film the flashbacks are easy to relate to and the film can be understood a lot easier due to the fact that one scene links to another fluently.

The strong use of sound also portrays the fact that this film is of the thriller genre. The sounds are bold and they are used well and in sensible places to help exaggerate the genre of the film. By merging all of these contentions together the film becomes a successful thriller as the audience is drawn into the film and they feel the same as the characters are feeling as they relate to the film.

Analysis Of ' Memento' 1

'Memento' is an example of a successful thriller because of its use of sounds, cinematography, mise en scene and editing. All of these are merged together to create the brilliance of a thriller. The continuous use if the colour blue represents this in a way that the viewer is drawn into the atmosphere of the film and therefore feels the feeling of the characters involved.

The editing and sound also help to portray the eeriness and the thriller and mystery of the film. The creepy and suspicious sound effects are used to create tension and suspension, this creates the atmosphere and keeps the audience intrigued and interested in the film.

The constant use of the colours blue, black and grey draw the audience into a dull and eerie atmosphere. By doing this it sets the atmosphere for the rest of the film which is continuous throughout the entire film. By merging this and the sounds this then shows the audience that the film is a thriller and portrays the fact that an eerie and mysterious atmosphere will be constant throughout the entire film.

Script for '24 Hours'

(phone rings)

Scott: "Hello..... Hello..... Who is this?"

Lauren: (noise of struggle or pain)

Scott: "Lauren is that you?"

Kidnapper: "If you want to see your daughter alive then bring me one million pounds at (location) in exactly 24 hours"

(phone call ends)

Character Descriptions

Scott - he is a wealthy businessman who owns a large computer business. He is well educated, down to earth, observent, strong minded and generous. His occupation is strong and his strong mind keeps his business running. He has a very close relationship with his daughter who is at studying at University.

Lauren - she is daughter of Scott. She is at Universtiy studying Computer Technology and Business Management. Lauren is also a strong minded and observent person. She is a very sensitive and emotionally run being. She relies a lot on emotion and gut instinct to get her through complicated situations.

Kidnapper - he is a shallow and mysterious man; also rather observent he likes to use his surroundings to his advantage. He cares for no one but him and uses arrogance to make it through situations in which may trouble him. If he has his mind on something he will go to any extent to achieve his aim.

Audience Research 1

Props, Costume and Location

The props that we will be using in our opening sequence will be a mobile phone, a bag and a watch. The mobile phone will be used so that the main character can be contacted by the kidnappers. This prop is of high importance because if it was not included then we would not have been able to get the kidnappers to be able to contact our main character. Another of our most important props is the watch that the character will be wearing. This is important because it relates to the title '24 Hours'. It helps keep the viewer aware of the fictional time in which the character is within. Our last prop is a bag of some sort. We have not decided which bag to use yet but this prop is also very important as it is a weapon used to kidnap the main character.

Our costumes are going by stereotypes. For example; our main character is a wealthy persona therefore he will be wearing a suit with a long coat to show his wealthyness. By using this stereotype it is easy to see that our character is wealthy. On the other hand; the kidnapper will be wearing very dark clothing, most probably black so that he blends into the dark mise en scene in which he kidnaps the main character.

Out chosen location is based around the area of Morden and Wimbledon. We will be using outside of Morden station because it is easy to create an eerie atmosphere and set the scene for the opening sequence. The station scene will be used for the kidnap and chase at the very beginning. Wimbledon high street will be used for the recieved phone call and showing the main character walking down the street on the phone. We chose this location because it may be where a wealthy businessmen would be as it is a very industrial and business run area of London. Both of these will help to set the atmosphere and give the audience an idea of what may happen in the movie involving these areas.

Shot List

The shots that we will be using in our film vary depending on what is happening within the scene. For example; we are going to use a establishing/long shot to show our main character running away from something/someone. Thisis effective as it gets the audience thinking about what he could be running from and why he is running.

Also other effective shots include an extreme close up of the males eyes when he is down the alleyway. During this shot his eyes will be slowly moving from left to right portraying that he is weary of his surrounding and that he is being paranoid. This shot is also extended as the camera begins to tack out into a close up of his face showing his facial expression and telling the audience how he is feeling throughemotion. When the camera finishes tracking a bag is quickly placed over the males head and the shot then cuts to a black screen with out film title slowly being revealed.

Potential Soundtracks For Our Thriller Film

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=58960
This sound is an effective and an appropriate sound because it sets the atmosphere for the thriller movie. This sound clip would be used at the beginning of the film during the chase scene and the opening credits in which the distributors and producers and film name are introduced. This clip is suitable as it is chilling and has quite a mysterious sound.


http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=33796
This sound is also appropriate because it is a mysterious sound in which creates a chilling and eerie atmosphere. Because it has this effect this sound will be good when our main male character will is in the alleyway and then when the film name '24 Hours' is shown. The music could start from when he runs into the alley until the film name fades out into the next scene.

Film Synopsis - '24 Hours'

Our group film is called '24 Hours'. Our film is about a wealthy businessmen who has had his daughter kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers are demanding a substantial amount of money to set her free, but he has other ideas and decides to take matters into his own hands. Using skill, witt, knowledge, instinct and facts he does all he can to track down and rescue his daughter in 24 hours. Before he can reach his daughter he runs out of time and is kidnapped himself. Torchured, beaten and ripped of dignity he uses his last inches of life to save himself and his daughter. By eliminating the kidnappers they walk to freedom, but for how long?

As a group we decided that we are going to do a thriller based on a kidnapping instead of a murder. We will be using a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups to reveal minimal mise en scene information. We will also be using a lot of over the shoulder, panning and tracking.

The costumes in this are very stereotypical. For example; the wealthy businessmen is wearing a taliored suit with a long jacket, his daughter is wearing causual everyday clothing and the kidnappers are wearing black or very dark clothes.

Initial Idea

A thriller involving a murder. One suspect, one victim, one crime. A inocent businesmen life changes after the kidnap of his only daughter, he puts his life on the line to catch her kidnapper. Using clues, technology, instinct and facts he does all he can to avenged his loss.

We as the group decided to choose a thriller involving a murder because the thought of the murder sets the atmosphere immediately and send chills down peoples spines as they know what the film is about. The camera angles would be close-up and extreme close-up as minimal enviromental information is given out yet fine detail to specific objects and subjects are portrayed. The location of our opening sequence would have been on a high street where we would have filmed the bussinesman walking down the street on the phone and another location would have been where the murder took place in dull, dark room.

The businessman would have been wearing smart suit, long coat/jacket, holding a briefcase and would be wearing a gold watch on his left arm.
The daughter would be wearing casual attire, blouse, skirt, hair tied back, bracelets on right arm.
Murderer would be wearing mainly black clothing with some kind of face mask and a knife as a weapon.

Title Sequences

Title sequences vary from one genre to another, and even in specific genres all title sequences are different from each film. For example the opening of an action movie may be very fast paced and quick camera shot changes; on the other hand, the opening title sequence of a thriller will be slower paced and the camera shots will be longer and more specific on detail and clues.

The title sequence sets the atmosphere for the whole film, it attracts the viewer and subdues their emotions in the emotional world of the film. For example, a thriller will draw the audience in and make them feel weary, sad and very consious of the surrounding environment.

In all genres the title sequence will include a fair amount of close ups to show high detail on a specific object but give little detail to other surrounding objects therefore revealing less of the scene and surroundings so that no big and instant clues are given away to spoil the film. By doing this the audience is forced to create the mise en scene and question the film about what may be happening.

Assignment Brief

For my Media assignment I have been put into a group of three including me and we have to create a two minute opening film sequence. I have been put into a group with Daniel Decruz and Luke Nolan and we have decided to do an opening sequence for a thriller movie.

We have decided that we will be filming on the underground or on a train station platform somewhere. We chose this because we think that it relates to thriller and it is a location that is easily accessible.