Costume

Jessica and I spoke about the costume our actors would need.We would then take pictures of them in these costumes.
We decided that the villian would be wearing a trench coat, so we went to the costume cupboard in the drama department to see what they had avalible.

Dialogue

Our thriller opening will not have speech in it. The only exception is at the very beginning when the mother and daughter characters are singing. This shows them having a good time, however the soundtrack the will be singing to will be 'One way or another'. We have decided to use this song due to the lyrics implying someone is trying to find and then take someone away. Therefore the soundtrack foreshadows the storyline. We did not believe we needed any dialogue because this would keep the identity's of the characters unknown and this is a common convention of a thriller.

 

Title

Commandeer

Planning for lighting

We will be filming in the early morning at about 7am, this will give us a feeling of darkness and danger. Although the darkness is a common convention in a thriller, and so will make our thriller opening moer conventional, this will also be a problem. The problem with morning darkness is finding a way to lighten up the shots so they are easy to see. This can be resolved in our thriller in other ways such as:

• Useing lights which are already installed inside the car, but also adding extra lighting through adding smaller lights to the roof of the car.
• Using a torch to highlight the most important features.
• Using lights that can stand next to the camera.

Preparing to film

Minutes

• Child in scene, Nayana Thompson – White clothes, curly hair
• Mother in scene, Shelley Fowler – Knee length dress,
• Kidnapper in scene, Danny Fowler – Light suit with dark shirt underneath
• Car- Mazda CX-5 White

Shots

Tracking shot: A tracking shot will be used to follow the car and show its surroundings.

POV shot: A POV shot will show perspective.

Close-up: A close up will show emotion or a main feature.

Long shot: A long shot will show landscape, surrondings and in our film abandonment.

Extreme long shot: An ECU will show surroundings and abandonment.

Mid shot: A mid shot will show both emotions and reactions.

Cut away: A cut away will be used to show abandonment.

Two shot: A two shot will show relationships between characters.

Props

Location pictures

 

 

We have chosen to film down Wood Lane in Northorpe. We have chose this location to film at because the road we will be filming on has no houses only fields and this will emphasise abandonment. Also early in the morning (we will be filming at around 7am) the lane will be dark due to the lack of street lamps. The darkness will help to create an eerie atmosphere which is a common convention in thriller openings as it creates a sense of fear and tension.

 

 

 

Location wordle

What is a good thriller soundtrack?

 

Good thriller soundtrack

Minor key (sad)

Strings

Percussive heart beat sound

Increasing in speed and volume

Nursery rhyme themes, for the creepy factor (pop goes the weasel)

No lyrics

Chromatic (up a tone at a time)

Whistling?

Repetition

IMPORTANT MAN – BERNARD HERRMAN



Thriller questionnaire

Film Noir moodboard

 

Soundtrack

20/11/13

• We looked for locations that we could film in.
• We decided on the bypass A151 near Elsea Park.
• We also descussed that Jessica had to go to work on the Saturday that we were planning to film on.
• To resolve this problem we decided that we could film in the early morning instead of at night.
• We also made sure I would only be needed at Drama rehearsals on the Sunday and not the Saturday.

Analysis of ‘Psycho’ shower scene, exploring how film techniques are used to create effects.

Analysis of ‘Psycho’ shower scene, exploring how film techniques are used to create effects.

 

 

Extreme close ups are used throughout the scene, for example an ECU of the plug hole is used to after the victim pulls the curtain off and died. The plug hole matches the victims eye and thus creates tension by comparing the draining away and her life. This ECU creates tension as it can be compared to the victim’s life draining away. Also the plug is full of blood which shows a comparison of the once white bathroom changing to a dangerous red place and the safe heaven turning into a ferocious hell. The blood mixing with the water shows a purity being washed away with evil, symbolising the victim’s life. This particular shot is also a well composed shot because the drain follows both the golden mean and also the rule of thirds this makes sure the viewer’s eyes are defiantly on the plug and draws them to the point of tension.

 

Editing is used effectively during the last part of the scene. For example after her blood has drained away the camera fades onto the victims eye and does 2 or 3 full turns just on her eye. This reminds the viewer that the events have happened to an innocent woman and makes them feel sympathy for her. The turns give the illusion of being in a trance or fading away, this then symbolises the life of the victim slowly fading away and the way she has been killed is almost unbelievable. The shot is also an extreme close up which makes the viewer uncomfortably close to the victim and so they feel sympathy and almost fell they should have helped her in her moment of need, this is a good technique because the audience realise there is nothing they could have done and the reality of how bad the killing was then sinks in. The fast paced killing has now turned into a slow painful death.



The sounds in this scene are mainly non-diegetic. One of the most effective sounds is the soundtrack which changes pace and pitches as the scene goes on. At the beginning of the scene there is no soundtrack just the noise of the shower water, but as the killer opens the curtain and the victim gets stabbed the music is very high pitch and fast paced but when the victim is left to die the soundtrack is lower in pitch and a lot slower. The soundtrack is high when the stabbing happens because killing scenes are associated with high pitched, fast paced soundtracks. Another effective sound is the shower, this is effective because it is a sound bridge which passes from the entering of the shower, through the killing and then onto the next scene. This is so effective because the noise of the shower reminds you, even after the scene has moved to the next room, what terrible events have just happened.

 

The use of a translucent shower curtain was a very effective part of the mise-en-scene as this hides the killer without completely putting the viewer in an unknowing state. The shower curtain was effective as this was a way of creating tension; it hides the face of the killer from view. The face shows facial expression and not knowing what facial expression the killer has is scary to the viewer. This shower curtain also allows us to see both the killer and the victim as a two shot, this only lasts until the shower curtain is opened but it shows how vulnerable the victim is and that the only barrier between the two is a flimsy shower curtain, this makes the curtain a symbol of vulnerability.



Subgenres

Costume ideas

Pitch

Actors for my thriller

Shot ideas

Basic plot

Our basic plot idea:
1. Mother and daughter (young teenager) are driving along a deserted road.
2.The mother spots something in the road (which seems to be a dead body).
3. Mother gets out of the car.
4. Rustling in the bushes, footsteps and a figure running past.
5. The car starts up and the mother turns round.
6. The car drives off with the child inside.
7. The mother falls to the floor in disbelief.

14/11/13

14/11/13
Jess and I spoke about our main ideas.
We then met up and we wrote up the basic plot.
We then finished off the questionnaires.
We also decided on a date when we would film and asked our actors if they were avalible on that day.