Possible logo

We have now decided that the video below (Intense Dark Beat) will be used at the beginning of the thriller and at the end of our opening. We are doing this for the beginning because this is when the credits come up, and we think it will a good build up to the thriller. We are also using at the end scene. The music will start exactly when Kate's face close up appears in the camera, and will carry on throughout the rest of the credits at the end. We would like the beat of the music to match the credits, so when the music beats, the credits will change to something else. This music will also be the theme tune to our film, which is why it is played quite a lot throughout, and we would like this because the music is very intense and builds up well to a good thrill.

Opening Credits

We were looking at some more thriller music, and we found this, which we really liked. We were thinking that for the end of the film we would use something a lot like this for the credits at the end on a black screen. This will not be shown in our opening to our thriller though as it would be for the very end when the film finishes. We like this because the music is thrilling and it seems as though something would be happening which would make the audience still thrilled at the end of the film.

Sound Plan

When the Thriller starts there is going to be a base sound, which will play on and off up to the forest. When it gets to Kate running through the forest we will play Hard scary hip-hop beat. Once the camera has appeared on her face when the antagonist captures her we are going to her Kate screaming up to the end titles.

We have got permission to use the music we are using, I (Jamie) contacted the members on youtube and they were happy to let us use this music.

I watched the film the Unborn and i thought it had really good story line to it. A girl has strange things happen to her and soon finds out that she was supposed to be a twin, but when they were still in the womb, her umbilical chord got wrapped around his neck and strangled him. The story line is that he now wants to be born, and something is haunting her, killing everyone that tries to help her in its path. She has to find a way to get rid of this demon, so she tries exorcism, which only makes it more angry and starts to take over other people's body to kill her. This film is very thrilling and jumpy and i did not it was too predictive as i did not know what was going to happen next which makes it more thrilling as it makes the audience anxious to watch more.

Group Meetings

- 10/12/09

In this meeting, we decided we would watch and analyse clips of some thriller films. We thought that by doing this it would give us some ideas about what to use in our film.

- 16/12/09

In this meeting, we decided that we had to make sure everyone was going to complete the practical coursework elements. We also exchanged contact details.

- 07/01/10

In this meeting, we looked at each persons plot summaries and decided on the one we would use. We took all summaries into consideration and used bits from each persons to put it together. 

- 14/01/10

In this meeting we made sure that all of the storyboarding was completed and we also edited some music that we are going to use in our film.

- 21/01/10

We decided on a date to film our thriller and made sure the props we needed were available for our use.

Wednesday 27th January 2010 lesson

Today we edited some of the music ideas and started to put our music together so it links well in the film.
We also started to put the beginning of the film together on final cut express and we also put our group meetings on the blog.

Music we can use for beginning of the Thriller

Risk Assessment

-Bumpy ground- possible sprain of the ankle- be careful when walking
-Dark outside- torch needed to be able to see
-Cables- be careful not to trip over them- look where you are going
-Torch running out of battery- make sure someone has charged the torch
-Transport- to make sure we get home safely
-Phone- in the case of any danger and support
-Make sure the camera does not get wet- place a coat over the camera when filming and make sure it is covered when it is required
-Make sure the camera is charged- make sure someone has charged the battery before we film.
-Make sure that everyone sticks together so that no-one gets lost, as it will be dark in the forest.

Credits

In our thriller opening, we decided that we would have the credits at the end of the film, just after the last shot. This will start after the last shot in the forest where the camera is a close up on Kate's eyes, then the screen will go black and the credits will start to fade in. We decided that the most sensible credits would be:

Directed by,

Produced by,

Based on character by,

Edited by,

Music by,

Casting by,

(list of characters)

We will be including all of our names in these credits as we will all be participating in everything.

This is a clip from a students film. I think this clip is good in showing what is capable with just a camera. I would be happy if our final production looked like this.

Story Boards (Still could change)

Existing Related Thrillers:

We thought that the film 'Phone Booth' thriller has quite a similar plot to ours as it also has a mysterious stalker in the film. Except this stalker is threatening the man and blackmails him to do whatever he asks otherwise he would kill him, his wife or his mistress and he proves this by aiming a gun at his wife, where the little red dot comes up. This film is like ours as it is thrilling and makes the audience want to know who the mysterious man is, and what is going to happen next. However the setting is completely different to our forest setting.

Target Audience:

We think that the target audience for our thriller movie would be people who enjoy not knowing what is going to happen and who like mysteries, as this is basically what happens in our film (never know who the stalker is). Also, we think that a suitable audience for our thriller would people who prefer a tense atmosphere and some scary aspects. We decided that the appropriate certificate for our thriller would be a 15, because it contains strong language and some disturbing scenes. We think that the target audience group for this would be for friends who would get together and watch films. This film would not be suitable for watching as a family or alone.

Plot summary

Kate has just got back from a long night out on the town with her boyfriend, she has fallen asleep only to wake up alone. The plot of this film is that Kate is young girl who hasn't experienced the dangers of life and is just about experience just how dangerous it can get with her mysterious stalker. Throughout this film strange things happen, a man is obsessed with kate and does all he can to get her love, whether that means hurting everyone around her.

Lighting Plan:

For our opening to a thriller, we need to sort out the lighting and what times would be appropriate for us to film. We decided that we should aim to film between 4 and 6 o'clock when it is lighter at the beginning and gets darker. We thought this because we wanted it to be dark as in the film it happens in the middle of the night, so it would have to be dark. Also, we thought about 4 o'clock because in the forest it would be darker than it is in the open, and we need to able to see a little bit. We will be using a strong torch light in the forest to help us see. In the house that we film in at the beginning of the thriller, we will be using the hall light for most of the lighting in the house, leaving the door of the room we are filming in open so some of the hall light gets in, but the room is still dark, and Kate only just gets out of bed at the beginning, so there would be no lighting in the room she is sleeping in.

Prop List

• Pencil
• Paper
• Cigarette
• Ash Tray
• Powerful Torch
• Hoodie and PJ's
• Camera
• Tripod
• Gloves
• Photo's
• Pillow's
• Duvet
• Lighter 
• Coats

End music of Thriller

We are going to use something like this for the ending and then the name of the film will appear

Today, we were looking at the story board of our thriller, and we decided that it needed to be longer and that we weren't thinking properly about every move that would occur, so we decided to leave the first but change the second. The original one was where Kate gets out of bed, then you see her walking down the stairs. We changed this to when she gets out bed, it goes to a point of view shot as she walking towards the door, and then as she starts to open the door, and then the view she sees when the door is fully open. Kate then walks out of the point of view shot with the camera staying still, and she starts to walk down the stairs, and the camera sees this through the banisters. The next shot is at the bottom of the stairs when she is walking down. Then, when Kate reaches the bottom of the stairs, the camera is at the back of her and she walks into the kitchen. Th camera then pans around her and ends up as a close up shot. She then walks away and back up the stairs, but in the middle, she stops and looks out the window, which then is a point of view shot. She then turns around and walks down the stairs and out the front door, still in a point of view shot to give it more of a wobbly effect. The scene then cuts, and opens again with a long shot view of the forest with the light from the forest blaring out. You see Kate slowly starting to walk towards the forest, and she gets further away from the camera until it is a long shot and the camera can hardly see her. The camera then appears in the forest as a point of view shot, and Kate is looking around for the light that she saw and calling for her boyfriend. The scene then changes back to the room at the beginning of the thriller, and the hand is gone, left the pencil rolling, and the cigarette that was in the ashtray has gone down to the bottom to show that the man that was there was not anymore. It then goes back into the forest where Kate is walking in front of the camera, then she stops and the camera goes up close behind her. Kate quickly turns around, then the camera circles her a couple of times then stops very closely to her eyes, which open very wide. At this point, the music stops sharply as she opens her eyes, and then there would be a black out  for the ending.

Questionnaire Results

14 People were asked

1. How Old are you?

The average which we found was 16, so most of the answers for these questions came from 16 year olds.

2. Do you like Thriller Films

13 People said yes, 1 person said no

3.Which film is your Favourite Thriller?

Jaws was the most popular thriller film

4. What do you think makes a good thriller?

scary music, background story element, suspense, tension, music and mystery

5. What would you like to see in a thriller?

good plot, mystery, death, blood, suspense, scary moments, good story,

6. Do you prefer thrillers over any other film genre?

5 people said yes
9 people said no


7. Do you like it when a thriller has a cliff hanger ending?


5 people said no, 9 people said yes


8.What chracter personality would you like to see in a Thriller?

Criminals, dangerous, people you dont suspect, normal person, psycho, scary, dark,sly, good and bad, nasty and odd

9. Do you like it when a thriller has a tense atmosphere?

2 people said no, 12 people said yes

UPDATE 06 March (Jamie)-- From doing this Questionnaire we decided that we were going to keep a tense atmosphere throughout the thriller, have a cliff hanger ending, keep the suspense growing, scary moments (But we made sure its not horror) and try to have a mystery plot

Final Questionnaire

1. How old are you?

2.Do you like Thriller films?

3.Which film is your favorite Thriller?

4.What do you think makes a Thriller good?

5.What would you like to see in a thriller?

6. Do you prefer thrillers over any other film genre ( Horror, Action etc) ?

7. Do you like it when a thriller has a Cliffhanger ending?

8.What character personality do you like to see in a thriller?

9.Do you like it when a thriller has a tense atmosphere?

We have decided that this will be our final Questionnaire, it will be handed out this week

Questionnaire

1. How old are you?

2.Do you like Thriller films?

3.Which film is your favorite Thriller?

4.What do you think makes a Thriller good?

5.What would you like to see in a thriller?

6. Do you prefer thrillers over any other film genre ( Horror, Action etc) ?

7. Do you like it when a thriller has a Cliffhanger ending?

8.What character personality do you like to see in a thriller?

9.Do you like it when a thriller has a tense atmosphere?

We need to do a  questionnaire on how people feel about Thrillers, ive made one here so please can people say if there is anything else which can be added to it or altered to it in anyway.

Story Boards (not final yet)

Music Ideas

We have decided to use the bottom music video, 'Hard Scary Hip-Hop Beat' for out thriller. At the beginning of the song, it is very creepy, and it is going to start when it is the second shot in the small room when the man has left the pencil rolling, and when the music starts playing and building up the bridge, the camera will zoom out on the desk, and when the beat comes in, the scene will change to Kate in the forest when she is running around looking for Elliot, her boyfriend. We also thought to use the first music video we found for the first scene, 'MOOD:  HORROR THRILLER' and we thought only to use the first 7 seconds of it, where the beat has not come in and its a plain music note. It could then fade as the scene changes to Kate in bed.

Story Boarding

Last lesson, we started story boarding our opening to a thriller. The ideas that we came up with were a girl who was staying at her boyfriends house, and she wakes up in the middle of the night and her boyfriend is gone. The house is next a forest, and as she looking round the house for him, she looks through the window and sees a light coming from the forest, and goes to search for him there. Right at the beginning of the thriller, it is filmed in a small dark room, with a small desk in the middle, and a small lamp on the desk as the only lighting. On the desk, you see a piece of paper with the girl's name, Kate, written all over the paper, saying 'I Love Kate' and things like that, and just the hand writing it, wearing a black glove, and a cigarette just lit in the ashtray. When Kate is in the forest searching for her boyfriend, it goes back to the small room, but this time, the cigarette in the ashtray is right down near the bottom, and the hand is gone, and the pencil is just left rolling across the paper. It then goes back to the forest where Kate is hearing noises, such as crows and thrilling sounds whispering her name. In the background to the forest, there would be thrilling music which we will post on the blog and then choose after. For the ending of the scene, we thought it would be effective if the camera circled Kate, getting faster and her eyes are closed tightly, then it stops close to her face and her eyes opens wide and she screams and thats when we would cut.

More Music Idea

Edit- We have decided that we are going to use this Music

Narrative Structure

Narrative structure is about two things: the content of a story and the form used to
tell the story. Two common ways to describe these two parts of narrative structure are
story and plot.
Story refers to the raw materials of dramatic action as they might be described in
chronological order. Plot refers to how the story is told — the form of storytelling, or
the structure, that the story follows.
If we want to analyze narrative structure, we can use “who,” “what,” and “where”
questions to look at the story or content of a movie. “How” and “when” questions are
used to examine plot structure.
Conventionally, both story and plot are described in terms of how a character’s life is
disrupted by an event or change in his/her situation; this causes a series of conflicts
that the character(s) must face, including the major conflict that is eventually resolved
at the end of the film. “Conflict” in this model can take many forms, be it emotional,
interpersonal, or even between the character and his/her physical environment.

More  

Characteristics of a Thriller

Thrillers often take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger: law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen or aviators. However, they may also be ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident. While such heroes have traditionally been men, women lead characters have become increasingly common; for an early example see Segourney Weavers's character Ripley, in the movie Alien, 1979.

Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. In a thriller, the hero must thwart the plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened; while a murder mystery would be spoiled by a premature disclosure of the murderer's identity, in a thriller the identity of a murderer or other villain is typically known all along. Thrillers also occur on a much grander scale: the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements. While a mystery climaxes when the mystery is solved, a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others. In thrillers influenced by 'film noir' and tragedy , the compromised hero is often killed in the process.

In recent years, when thrillers have been increasingly influenced by horror or psychological-horror exposure in pop culture, an ominous or monstrous element has become common to heighten tension. The monster could be anything, even an inferior physical force made superior only by their intellect, a supernatural entity, aliens, serial killers, or even microbes or chemical agents. Some authors have made their mark by incorporating all of these elements  throughout their bodies of work.

Location Scouting

As i live in quite a rural area the only way i can travel anywhere is via car, with parents. So when planning a date to go filming i need to make sure that every turns up and i am able to get there.

My local area has a big forest near in which we could base our thriller, the forest is quite dark and scary and would make a perfect place to base a thriller film. Although lighting would be an issue, we would have to find a day with suitable weather for the camera and for the camera shots we want. I have a quite powerful torch which could be used for the lighting side of things.

Thriller films- Top Thriller films-imdb.com

1.	9.2	The Godfather (1972)
2.	9.0	The Godfather: Part II (1974)
3.	8.9	Pulp Fiction (1994)
4.	8.8	The Dark Knight (2008)
5.	8.7	Rear Window (1954)
6.	8.7	Fight Club (1999)
7.	8.7	Psycho (1960)
8.	8.7	The Usual Suspects (1995)
9.	8.7	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
10.	8.6	The Matrix (1999)
11.	8.6	North by Northwest (1959)
12.	8.6	Memento (2000)
13.	8.6	Se7en (1995)
14.	8.6	Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
15.	8.6	Avatar (2009)
16.	8.6	Léon (1994)
17.	8.6	Taxi Driver (1976)
18.	8.6	Vertigo (1958)
19.	8.6	Double Indemnity (1944)
20.	8.5	M (1931)
21.	8.5	El secreto de sus ojos (2009)
22.	8.5	The Third Man (1949)
23.	8.5	Alien (1979)
24.	8.5	Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
25.	8.5	Das Leben der Anderen (2006)
26.	8.5	A Clockwork Orange (1971)
27.	8.5	The Shining (1980)
28.	8.5	Chinatown (1974)
29.	8.5	Aliens (1986)
30.	8.4	L.A. Confidential (1997)
31.	8.4	Reservoir Dogs (1992)
32.	8.4	Rebecca (1940)
33.	8.4	El laberinto del fauno (2006)
34.	8.4	Metropolis (1927)
35.	8.4	Some Like It Hot (1959)
36.	8.4	Touch of Evil (1958)
37.	8.4	The Prestige (2006)
38.	8.3	Safety Last! (1923)
39.	8.3	The Great Escape (1963)
40.	8.3	Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
41.	8.3	Les diaboliques (1955)
42.	8.3	Le salaire de la peur (1953)
43.	8.3	Strangers on a Train (1951)
44.	8.3	Sin City (2005)
45.	8.3	Notorious (1946)
46.	8.3	District 9 (2009)
47.	8.3	Hotel Rwanda (2004)
48.	8.3	Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
49.	8.3	Jaws (1975)
50.	8.3	The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Ridley Scotts - Alien

Alien is a sci-fi thriller and is set in space, where you see variety of different camera techniques, sound and mise en scene the way these are shown makes the spic sci-fi thriller a great film.

At the start of the film, the camera pans through space, and there is no music other than the odd small tremor of bass which creates the tense atmosphere. Even watching the credits at the start you get a feeling of tension. From this small scene at the start i have realised that i find, the less music there is the more tense it is. I think this is because in most films, you get certain music that sets the mood and atmosphere and you kind of know what is likely to happen through the music. But if there is no sound at all you don't know what to expect thus making it tense. I think as a group when making our film we should consider using less music making it more tense. "less means more".

The mise en scene is also really well done, as you can see that its in the future just by the clothes that they are wearing, they seem quite futuristic and yet beleiveable. What makes Alien so great is the constant feel of uneasiness. Right from the beginning you have a feeling that something is wrong. The crew is not particularly friendly towards each other, and you truly feel all the in-group tension.

For its time the visual effects are great, and the camera shots around the ship are really good as they look like the ship is real and makes you think you are in it, with lots of POV shots. There's lots of close ups of people faces which shows emotion. But most impressively is when it zooms out showing the planets and the land scape.

The film is really professionally done and i would happily watch it again. And through watching it, i have learnt about how to make a film tense through the sound and camera shots. And i think that Tension is a ket part in making thriller films what they are.

Location Scouting:
Transport - I live about a 3 minute walk away from a train station, so i would be able to get to and from places by the train. There is also a bus station a few meters away from the train station so i would also be able to travel by bus to places. Also, depending on the times and days, i may be able to get a lift with my dad.

Home - My house would be available to film in, but it is quite small and is in a very enclosed area, with no open spaces nearby.

Local Area - In my area, there are no open spaces as i live right next to the town centre, so there are no forests or fields nearby that would be suitable to film a thriller in.

Lighting - The sources of lighting would be plug sockets or battery power only. Plug sockets are available in my house, but i do not know of anyone that has powerful torches, and i do not have one myself, so that would need to asked around and sorted between the group.

Sheet we need to get done

Evaluate your preliminary coursework assignment:
In my preliminary coursework, I learnt how to use the camera, and developed the skill of cross cutting scenes and panning the camera. In our team, we experienced how to give everybody a job and take turns by changing the jobs around, like at one point, have actors, a camera person and a stage director, and change them around every so often. This gave everybody the chance to learn how to do the different things needed in a filming set. In our preliminary coursework, we communicated the message of work placement and the problems people encounter. We did this by filming a scene of a boss having to fire one of her employees for drinking at work and not doing the tasks she is given.

Self Evaluation of Skills:
My organization skills are quite good but i sometimes tend to hand my work in after deadline. I can easily improve this by giving myself more time to work and focusing properly on what i am supposed to be doing instead of getting distracted. I am reliable because when i am given a job i take responsibility and will complete the task given. Out of 5 I would rank myself as 4.

My technical skills at the moment are not quite up to standards but i can easily improve this by dedicating more time to practice with the cameras and other equipment. I also need to take more time to learn the terminology and try to understand more about sound editing and lighting. I could do this by watching more thriller films and paying attention to the camerawork more.

Evaluation of the preliminary coursework assignment.

Through working with my group mates on the preliminary task i learnt that i knew all the functions of the camera, but i was not very productive with the camera, as i was shaky and my panning was not up to scratch. As a team we worked quite well though, i found it easy to produce some sort of media to quite a high standard. But as a group we experienced that when filming the characters playing the parts would be more camera shy and laugh and it was a struggle to get the right scene we wanted.

The preliminary task was simple film as short scene and practice with the cameras. But as a group we wanted to challenge ourselves so we tried to make the film more interesting so we did close ups on the door handle opening and some nice panning shots. But there was no story behind our task it was merely practice.

Thriller Music

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Self evaluation of skills

Personally i think i am quite organised and am good at handing work in on time. I find myself to be quite reliable and able to help when i am needed. overall i would rate myself 4 out of 5. To improve i think i need to cooperate more with my group mates on what i should be doing.

Technically i think i am alright i understand well how the camera works but i think i need to improve on actually using the camera, as i am not that steady. To improve this i should practice my camera work in my free periods by getting the cameras and working with the tripod. I think i have a good understanding on the effects of lighting and the sound.

Lesson 7th January

• Max is doing Pratical coursework elements

Homework- Each Person to devise 3x 50 word plot summaries for a film which you could potentially make