Thriller Planning - Soundtrack Ideas

For our Soundtrack, we must consider creating an atmosphere through the music that matches what is going on in our sequence. At the start of our sequence, the man will be walking through the street, and he will encounter a young girl, and so we would want an eerie, mysterious atmosphere to be created through our soundtrack. By contrast, at the introduction of the "Shade" characters, we would need to create a faster paced, more suspenseful atmosphere, and the music will be vital in creating this. This post discusses inspirations from other Thriller films, already released instrumental tracks and sound effects and when we could use similar sounds in our soundtrack.

Inspirations:
For the flashbacks that occur throughout the scene we like the noises from the opening tracks for Prometheus and Requiem for a Dream. In these, loud bangs are sampled, which we could use. These will create the sense that the flashbacks are important and also take the audience by surprise through heavy bass and little treble in the sound effect. This can be easily replicated using editing software such as Audacity that personally I am very familiar with after using it in ICT GCSE and outside of school in my own music projects. We also like the uncomfortable tone created in Insidious, which would create tension and uneasiness with the audience and therefore reflecting the characters emotions. An alternative to these is camera shutter sounds, however we wish for the sound to last longer during the flashbacks, making camera shutters hard to use due to their small length. A prolonged bass could be used here to effect, and could also be repeated every time a Shade appears on screen to build suspense.
 
For the middle of the scene, which incorporates the "Chase" scene or the Detective fleeing from the passive Shades, we are interested in music similar to the famous piece used in Jaws. The increase in tempo and pace draws parallels with our characters increase in anxiety and also shows progression and creates tension. The instrumentals, "Pyres of Varanasi" or "Depuis Le Debut" by rock band 30 Seconds To Mars are similar styles to this. The instrumental sections of the track both slowly progress to reach a crescendo. I could use editing software Audacity and sample certain aspects of these tracks but if I did so the track would have to be completed re-invented; I wouldn't simply copy and paste the track and perhaps shorten it as it would still be copyrighted material. By taking a single note and adapting it, perhaps using the technology of a more developed production software such as Fruity Loops Studio or Logic by myself I could edit the particular aspects of the track to our desired needs. Of course we would still have to partially acknowledge the use of copyright material. A less complex method could be to use tracks that are not copyrighted or from an unknown artist which would also be possible, our we could use copyright free tracks from the internet. However whichever method we decide the pace of the music will have to increase and progress to show the characters' fear and anxiety during this section.


Referring to the beginning and the end of the scene, our group liked the idea of using a slow piano piece to create an eerie atmosphere. As I missed a lesson I further researched music that we could use here at home during what would've been the lesson and concluded we could use this in conjunction with an acoustic guitar to create the effect of loneliness and enhance perhaps more psychological aspects of our thriller - played in a certain way , the guitar could have more of an effect than the piano we first decided on. Ideas for tracks here came from Clint Mansell's piano piece "Together We Will Live Forever" from the film "The Fountain", and from two unheard artists with very few people knowing of their work, the band Progress in Color for a piano piece and instrumental band This Will Destroy You. We could emulate the guitar effects discussed in simple software such as Garage Band or by the same editing method I detailed earlier.


These pieces would help create an atmopshere that could draw many parallels with thriller films that use similar music to match locations used in thriller films that have inspired us - for instance, the slow, eerie guitar will be used in the streets, similarly to in the "Dark Knight Rises" where the streets are deserted at the end, and the music will pick up in the forest, similar to the score in "Shutter Island" where DiCaprio is escaping the police in the forests. This results in a correlation in our scene and score meaning we can conform to genre conventions. We will signify a thriller film through the soundtrack by refraining from using exceesive sharp noises that could possibly indicate a horror and not a thriller - these pieces will focus more on creating the element of mystery and suspense within the scene and so we need to re-create something of a similar standard to make our piece successful.

Inspiration for creepy, slow paced pieces of music also include music from the films Scream, Dawn of The Dead, The Uninvited and The Ring. The links to all of these audios can be found through the links below. Thanks to Ellie for discovering these particular pieces and bringing their attention to the group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPf4xjabi_0 - Piano piece that could be used at the start of the sequence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ7RZzEG_7s
Scream, Dawn of the Dead, The Uninvited and The Ring music are featured in this compilation video of "top horror soundtracks". From watching this video we can see what our audience on YouTube thinks makes a good soundtrack for a film, although these films are horrors, not thrillers.

Camera shutter effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgBxQX-dQsc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMI6yys_yKo

 

Thriller Planning - Storyboards

 

Above are the storyboards for our thriller sequence. Thanks to Bethany for completing them. She constructed each of the storyboards as myself and the rest the group detailed the planning edit so we had a similar account of what we were going to do in both.

Thriller Planning - Equipment List, Props & Costumes

Equipment List

• Camera (Sony HDR-HCR Handy-cam)
• VT tape
• Tracking Dolly
• Tripod (Manfrotto)
• If using a more advanced camera, different lense types
• iMac and editing software (Final Cut)

Our group do not necessarily need much equipment apart from the standard equipment listed. The camera and VT tape are of course a huge necessity and highly needed, in comparison to the dolly which may face potential issues. As many of our scenes will be shot outside, a dolly may cause many problems. We need to be able to smoothly move the camera around for shots so a dolly would be useful, but as the surfaces may be bumpy or unsuitable for the dolly, it would not provide us with the desired effect of the smooth transition. This problem could be combated through the use of a tripod. A tripod is essential in the shooting of our thriller opening. We will need to use it in the majority of our scenes as a steady shot is needed to focus heavily on the action itself, shaky camera work would ruin our overall effect so a tripod is required. The tripod can also be used to hold the camera so we can manually move it to chase the action occurring.

Some scenes will be shot inside and therefore one direct image will be recorded which will base solely on the actual camera and a shortened height tripod. Our quieter scenes shot on paths can use a dolly if it is moved slowly as it will have a smooth transition, but definitely scenes shot in woodland areas and fields will need to be recorded via the camera on a tripod. This may take several attempts to completely succeed in our wanted effect, yet each time we try, it will hopefully provide an easier picture of what we are trying to achieve and from that we can re-do scenes or put forward new ideas.

The iMac is the final piece of equipment needed, but may be one of the most important. This is because it is where we will upload all of our footage to and use programmes like Final Cut to completely edit our film footage. One massive issue within our filming is that we want an eerie, evening setting. If we were to film these scenes straight off, it would be too dark and the camera is not sensitive enough to pick up all movements, facial expressions, smaller surroundings etc. Yet once we transfer our footage onto an editing programme, we will be able to edit these clips to appear as though the setting IS in the evening time and that the weather is gloomy. Here is where we will also add transitions, sounds and other important effects that will be vital in ultimately pulling our film completely together. Relatively our equipment list is short and simple as it is just the generic filming list. By contrast, we could attempt some scenes at night, such as those lit by streetlights, which would be conventional to the thriller genre, and see if the scene actually works that way.

 

Costumes:

For our opening thriller sequence, very few costumes are needed. Firstly, the main character of The Detective needs a very precise costume of a high collared long coat, typically seen in Detective characters. It would be a dark colour, such as dark brown or black such as in Seven and Shutter Island, to suggest a reclusive, mysterious character that we would expect of a detective in a thriller film. All other clothing will be black also to create this atmopshere, but the face will not be covered like they will be for the Shades, connoting that this man is not a villain. The Character Profile of the Detective further details the appearance of this man.

The young girl will have a detailed, mysterious costume. The aim is to have her firstly will a maroon red coloured ribbon in her hair, this will be constantly significant throughout the whole film and in the opening scene will be one of the most striking colours used. She will then have a slightly outdated dress on, this dress is difficult to get right as there is a fine line between it being too old fashioned but then slightly modern. The ideal dress would be mainly dark colours of reds and purples and have many frills and buttons over it. It would preferably be around knee length. She will have black closed toe shoes which are made from material that could be polished, and white frilled socks. However, all her clothes will be completely covered in mud and dirt to show that this girl has been through a potential struggle and has not been well looked after. The tattered, dirty clothing will give the impression that the girl is the villain, adding to the mystery surrounding her. As the girl will only ever been seen in this state, no other costumes will need to be thought of, just the unclean dress she is seen wearing at the beginning. The difficult task here will be acquiring or modifying the costume in the desired manner so it is suitable for our scene and meets our character profile. 

The Shades will only need simple costumes. As they must have the appearance of completely black, the perfect idea of a costume would be an all black morph type suit. This is a all in one thin layer costume that covers every part of the person's body. However, unfortunately we cannot provide these morph suits in such a short space of time, therefore other methods must be considered. The 'Shadows' all need to have relatively identical costumes, these should aim to be long black trousers and dark shoes, both with no embellishments and a complete black jumper. Using effects, we can slightly blur the shadows which means the audience cannot see for example where the jumper ends and the trousers start, otherwise our overall mysterious effect will be completely ruined. The hood on the jumper can be used to our advantage as well, all the Shades can put up their hoods in order to create shadows and shield their faces. The audience do not need to see their faces and so if they appear completely black this will make the audience question the finer details as to what is actually occurring. Here we must also consider the build of the characters, the costumes must be the same and therefore we don't want them to appear different on each character so as the audience realises they are different.

All the items which are needed within the costumes are possible to acclaim through our own personal clothing items or unwanted clothing, through charity shops/online sites or if we need any precise items, we can buy them ourselves. The costumes are one of the most important factors into the success of our film, therefore it is vital we put a lot of time and effort into getting them completely spot on to maximise the success of our sequence.

Props

Props play a very intrisic role in our opening sequence, with each prop there are hints at plots, connotations, hints at significance and so on. Below is a list of the key props will we need and their desired effect or the reasons why we decided on using them.

• Red ribbon - the ribbon that is originally in the girl's hair, which then falls out but also is vital later on when The Detective discovers himself holding it in his darkened room. Is important to the opening as it makes the audience question whether the first chase scene had just happened, and if it did not then just how did it end up in his grasp? Can hint at later plots and the colour (maroon red) connotes themes of blood and death, preparing the audience.
• Lamp post - the lamp post will be signature as it will be the original place where we see the girl. This will cause the audience to question even further, does this lamp post have relevance? Was this girl taken from here? It is important also as it will add the only parts of light to the darkened areas in which will be our main settings.
• Photographs and notes - these small photos and notes will be all around the room in which the man finds himself in and a constant prop within his flashbacks. There will be some slightly and completely screwed up, however some will just be cluttered around on the floor. They will not have any clear order and will be merely thrown around and placed randomly. This can reflect the true obsession The Detective had and also his mental state.
• A casebook plastered with the word 'Dismissed' - This will be a generic looking casebook; a brown folder full of papers. Half of a passport sized photo can be seen sticking out of the corner and it can be identified as a young girl. This is ignored however as a stamped word of 'DISMISSED' is covered largely across the case book.
• Connectors on walls joining up 'Ideas' written on pieces of paper - the walls of this dark room are completely covered by pieces of paper and maps, with certain areas circled. Many different photos of prisoners are also stuck around the walls with connectors joining them up to newspaper articles and other pieces of paper. Some gaps as it is clear certain areas have been attempted to be ripped down as giant black X's cover some photos. This is where The Detective has been desperately trying to work out the case but all the leads have been dead ends and no success has been reached.
• Police gear such as old badges - some old police gear and personal belongings found scattered around on the floor to show that he no longer cares about himself and his personal well-being. The small items of police gear eg. Badges and outfits show that he once previously worked closely with the police, but the audience can determine that this is no longer viable. The fact that his personal belongings have been abandoned for his obsession with this case hints to the bigger idea that this obsession has literally taken over his life. These could be acquired relatively easily as Beth's dad works in the police force.
• Direct photos of the young girl - photos of her playing and an iconic one of her in the clothing she was previously wearing in the opening scene. These photos will be of huge importance as it begs the major question, how and why does he have these photos? They will be haunting images that are obvious as to who they are of, but also show that previously she was a young happy child. These photos will be easy to acquire if we decide on casting my sister, as there will be many photos scattered around my home or in photobooks.

The Wall



Photographs and notes

These are the main, iconic props needed in order to add to the overall larger surroundings within our thriller opening. It is important that they are all cleverly thought through and placed exactly in the right places. If one thing is out of place, for example the casebook can be seen somewhere completely irrelevant like on the wall compared to right next to his bed, the general effect will not be as thrilling as the audience will think it looks stupid. On the other hand, if we can place every prop in the absolute correct place, it will be remarkably effective and really will draw in the audience, enhancing the overall effect of our piece.

 

Thanks to Beth for compiling these details after we discussed the ideas in class. I have added/removed details where appropriate, and inserted relevant images of props and costumes. The images of the costumes are the costumes we put together using the information from this post.

Thriller Planning - Casting

The casting for our thriller sequence is very important to the success of the piece and how effective and popular it is with our audience. As we have already finalised character profiles, casting the correct people for each character will be an easier task, but we must ensure we have the right people to play the roles, which will now be discussed. This post was originally typed up by Beth, but I have added my own details and gone into more depth where appropriate.

 

Casting for The Detective:

Preferably we need an older male to play the role of the detective as he is in the 30s age range. This may be difficult to find someone to play this role as the only older adults we know are our parents and due to working commitments, may not be able to participate. Other possible males we could cast would be around the age of late teens or early twenties as filming is done at night and makeup can be used in order to make the character appear older. One member of the group, Beth has an 18 year old brother who could be casted. This is because he is over 6ft 4'', therefore a good height but also looks a lot older than he is. He would be willing to take on the role but also would be easy to contact if there was any changes. Another possible casting choice is my older cousin. Only a year older than us, my cousin is approximately 6ft 3" and looks a lot older than he is. Furthermore, he studies Media at A2 and would therefore know what we require of him and would have some knowledge. However for both possiblities here we must acknowledge they may not be available due to University commitments or sixth form and must take this into consideration. We could proceed to ask these two men if they would be able to play the role, and if so, when, and then see if they fit the aspects detailed in our character profile for the Detective and can hence play the role effectively.

Casting for Charlotte Adams:

We have decided that we need a young girl around the age of 12 to play this part. However we can be slightly flexible with the actual age of the child casted as we can make her appear younger through costumes and makeup. The ideal girl would need to have longer, dark hair and can pull off acting in a very mysterious and creepy way. I put forward my sister as being able to play this role - currently 13, she would be able to play this role very well, both in her physical appearance and acting capability. She has little comittments outside of school besides a few dance classes, so I shall enquire about whether she would play the role and when she could, and see if she could also act in the desired manner.

 

Casting for the Shade:

The casting for the Shade is perhaps the easiest job as their bodies and faces will be completely covered, therefore specific mannerisms and appearances are not needed. The only difficulty we may face is we need the Shade's to all be the same build, height etc as they are representing the same character, just in a large quantity. We all have mutual friends who would be willing to play the roles of these Shade's as they are all relatively the same height and build. Although the characters will not all be completely the same build, camera effects can be used to make it appear as though they are ie. the angle of the shot. Most would be available to shoot after sixth form and so on but we would have to ask several potential "Shades" as to what days would be easier for them. The majority of them have no commitments such as a job at weekends.

How to make sure our casting choices are the right ones:

 

In order to make sure these are the correct casting choices, we will hold mini 'auditions' in which we will prepare small scripts and scenarios to see if our casting choices can successfully complete in our desired effect of each character. If for example the ideas we have for the Detective do not match up with what we personally pictured, we can either help to mould our ideals onto that member, or simply try to find someone better suited. This means that we will straight away get the casting dealt with and make it one of our main priorities. This is because if we leave it to the last minute, we may face issues with certain cast members not fitting into what we want them to come across as or issues with them not knowing and arranging other events when we need them to be filmed, which would cause confusion and hence lower the quality of the end product. Taking into consideration our planning, if we ask each of the potential cast if they could play the role i.e. they had the time and then make a short script or scene for them to act out in the style of their role, our casting decisions should be the correct ones.

Here is the full post on the Cast, that links to this post. It further explains why we chose our actors and contains pictures of their appearance and their comparison to other thriller characters (it is more of a Casting update than a stand-alone post):
http://joewestonmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/thriller-planning-cast.html

Thriller Planning - Character Profiles

This section builds three character profiles for the characters in our sequence. We will closely study the appearances, facial expressions and body language of the characters and compare them to counterparts from other thriller films. The profiles for the characters were typed up by myself and Beth with all of the groups ideas being included and incorporated.

Character Profile: The Detective

Age: 39

Gender: Male

Description and Character Background:

As a rookie, the detective was studying the disappearance of a young girl, but the case was closed as there were no leads to help solve the case. The detective got so involved with the case that he continued to investigate it after it was closed, and as a result he was slowly driven insane. He was subsequently dismissed, casting him into a disarray of guilt, with all his time , for twenty years, devoted to trying to figure out what happened to the girl, with his room converted into a makeshift detective lab. He was to reported to the mental asylum as being unstable and was hence put in their custody. Over time he convinced them and proved to them he was sane but as soon as he was released again he began to imagine seeing the girl everyone he went, as he did before, along with a strange, paranormal man that taunted him. He matches typical detective backgrounds i.e. operates alone, no relationship status, social exile, no close friends, but they prefer it that way- but this contributes to his insanity. A mild schizophrenic, paranoid, psychotic man who is very unstable, the asylum are attempting to track him down before he does something out of his control.

Character comparisons:

The detective could be based on several characters in his appearance, the way he acts, mentality and background.

The detective is based on a merge of the two detectives from “Seven”. Typically, detectives have quite long coats with high collars, like Morgan Freeman is wearing in this still. He won’t have a hat, however, and will appear more like Brad Pitt’s character. He will be quite tall, with quite an average build, perhaps more slim. On the whole the character is most comparable to Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island. His appearance is very similar to that in Seven, with similar clothing. Stereotypically the detectives are intelligent, perhaps overly-analytical, and different in some sense. In Sherlock Holmes, the character is very eccentric whereas our character would need to be slightly darker and misguided. From this physical description and description of his mindset we can make decisions as to who to cast as the detective.

Character Profile: The Girl (Charlotte Adams)

Age: 12
Gender: Female

Description and Character Background:

Through previously recorded group discussions, we have decided to settle with the name of 'Charlotte Adams'. This name, though seemingly simple, is memorable and the name 'Charlotte' can be deemed mysterious in comparison to other simple names such as 'Beth' which we also had discussed using. Names we also discussed were echoing other thriller films, such as 'Orphan' in which the main character is called 'Esther'. However effective this name would be, we were sure that we needed a unique name that had not been used in great detail within thriller films.

When this girl was captured, we have decided she was around the age of 12. This is because at this age, young girls are especially vulnerable, which fits perfectly to our plot as this girl was kidnapped. Also, 12 year old's are starting to find themselves and their personalities. Even though the girl in our film will have elements of vulnerability and a sense of weakness, we want her to be memorable and a strong character in the respect that she has her own eerie personality and easily shows this across to the audience. When researching other thriller films such as 'The Others', 'Orphan' and 'Panic Room', there is a constant theme - younger ages within the children. None of the children are relatively above the age of 13, nor younger than around 6. This gives us an age gap to work with in order to conform to thriller conventions, however a higher age would provide us with larger opportunities to manipulate the characters actions, hence why we also supported the age of 12. As our plot actually reveals that the viewing of the girl is merely a figment of The Detective's imagination, in reality this girl would now be around the age of 32. Because of our plot, the older current reflection of the girl will never be seen, therefore we do not need to decide her appearance now. Even though we will never see the adult transformation of the girl, we will have a mental idea in case we decide it would be important to feature her later on.

Appearance:

The images on the left are all from thrillers. The girls in these thriller films tend to have darker hair. This may be because it adds elements of mystery, fear and the darker colours are a huge conformation within thriller conventions. In many of the thriller films, the girl's hair is tied back with an almost Victorian bow. I believe this is because the hair is then away from the child's face and every part of the child's facial expression can be shown and evaluated by the audience. This fits in with our idea that in our thriller opening, the young girl will either lose a button or a bow and if she were to have a bow in her hair, this develops our ideas for our thriller opening. Therefore when casting for our young girl, we will aim to have a darker haired child who will have it tied up in a bow that eventually falls out. All of the girls featured in these thriller films also have old fashioned costumes, this is exactly what we aim to do with our thriller film as it the actual kidnapping of the girl was 20 years ago and naturally her clothes will be outdated, this means we can conform to thriller conventions and also add factors of horror as the costume we are aiming for may be deemed scary, which will add to the overall effect of the girl on the audience.

Through studying many different thriller films, the younger, eerier characters always have very cold facial expressions and a lack of affectionate body language. Because we want to deceive our audience into believing that the young girl is the villain within our film, this will be highly successful. In most thriller films, firstly the facial expressions are very blank, no genuine smiles, only sinister smiling/laughing. The younger characters also keep very direct eye contact in order to make the other character feel very intimidated and uncomfortable, which in effect makes the audience feel uncomfortable. This is constantly used throughout the film of 'Orphan'. This is incredibly effective and if we can complete similar feelings within our thriller, will be very successful. Another facial expression that is a common theme, ironically is the lack of facial expressions. The young female characters tend not to make many facial movements. eg. Not moving their eyebrows for expression, not blinking, lack of mouth movements etc. So our young female character should aim to be as expressionless as possible, except when she is hauntingly laughing, and the previous lack of expression will further emphasize the fear for the audience when they hear her laughter.

Her body language will also be very cold towards every other character. In many thriller films, the villain, no matter what age, tends to attempt to hide personal thoughts and emotions and therefore do not reveal anything about themselves through their body language. This will be portrayed by the girl always standing directly facing the main character but with no warmth displayed. She will also keep her arms hanging by her side in order to further show that no body language is apparent, this means that the main character will never understand how she is feeling. In 'The Ring', the vanished body language technique is used and this displays the idea that the girl is almost lifeless, and begs the question on whether she's really there or not. As our thriller movie plays heavily on psychological ideas, the audience questioning themselves would be dramatically effective as we want the audience to be both confused and shocked at the end.

In conclusion, the young girl within our thriller movie will be generically similar to young female characters in other thriller films as she will have darker hair tied up in a bow. Also, her clothing will be outdated but only recently. Most young thriller characters have costumes dated back to the Victorian era, whereas ours will be clothing that is noticeably different but only from around the 90s. She will have very minimal use of facial expressions and body language in order to reflect her emotions of being numb and full of anger. She will be cold towards every other character and the only piercing thing about her overall image will be her deep, dark eyes that will constantly stare directly at the other characters. Overall, this will give the girl a highly dark persona, yet eventually the audience will discover that she is the absolute victim and this image is purely his guilt transforming his ideas of her into a 'horror child' to convince himself that she is the guilty one, not him.
 

Character Profile: The Shade

Age: Unknown
Gender: Unknown, presumed Male
Description and Character Background:
The Shade is a mysterious man that torments the detective in his mind. A psychological villain, he represents the kidnapper of the girl; he has no identity, as he was never identified in the investigation. He appears as completely black to have connotations of evil, typical of thriller conventions. He is portrayed as hostile to the detective but pursues and taunts him more than attacks him to wear him down psychologically. There appears to be more than one of the Shade as the detective cannot escape his guilt. Sometimes the Detective will envision himself as the Shade as a symbol of his guilt, but this creates the enigma to his identity, as to whether there is actually a kidnapper or if the Shade is a figment of the Detective’s mind to prevent the truth. This red herring is similar to in“Shutter Island” where the Detective makes up several characters in order to cover up his own guilt.
Comparisons:

The Shade could be compared to a few characters. He would appear similar to that of the Dementors or Voldemort from Harry Potter, but slightly less spiritual, as we wouldn’t be able to replicate their ghostly appearance. Instead, he will be structured. They wouldn’t act in a similar way of the Dementors, i.e. not hostile, he is more of a presence. It is difficult to find a similar character in the film world that fits the way he acts, but he could be compared to the myth of the “Slenderman” or Jack the Ripper (you know he is there but he is completely anonymous). This character challenges thriller conventions as there aren't many characters that fit this description.

Lesson Discussion 4: Developing Ideas and Finalising Tasks

In our 4th lesson we were missing a different group member but with the return of the member who was ill last lesson we could start to fully assemble all of our planning. We began the lesson by summarising the location and planning edit as the returning member offered her contributions and ideas, so we will adapt the planning edit in accordance. I also raised the point I discovered whilst typing up the location details of having potential areas to film the ending scene.
We then set about finalising what we had already done: scanning the storyboards that Bethany drawn, compiling the character details that Beth and I had made and then proceeding to tackle the last remaining aspects that would allow us to have everything on our blogs and completed.

We still have the issue of the title of our film. We decided on the name of "Charlotte Adams" for the girl and wanted to integrate this in our title, despite having the original idea of a one-word, snappy title typical of thrillers, such as "dismissal", "trapped", and the first name of the girl, "Charlotte", but we instead thought a longer title in a style of "The.... of Charlotte Adams" or something along those lines. Beth brainstormed several ideas including:
"The Reticulation of Charlotte Adams", "The Dismissal of Charlotte Adams" "The Ceasing of --", "The Disorientated --", "Disappearance of.." and so on, but none of these seemed to strike us as very catching, so we are continuing to deliberate.

Thriller Planning - Planning Edit

As a group in lesson we came up with a rough Planning Edit (with the absence of one member due to illness). I typed the notes during the lesson as we discussed the ideas and went through each scene one by one. I said I would finish what was left of the Planning Edit and add more detail where appropriate. I've included some of the pictures from the locations post to give a visual aid to what is being described. Although it may be subject to change, this is what we came up with:

Planning Edit

Shot One: Establishing Shot of the street. Filming will be around dusk and so we can edit the brightness and make the scene darker. Soundtrack will commence with the start of the scene, a light piano will start playing. An establishing shot, brightness and music will help set the scene, emotion and tone for the scene to come.

 

Shot Two: The same shot as before, but the Detective will walk in from the right hand side due to the nature of the street. The weather will be overcast and dark to create an effect of pathetic fallacy and create a mood. The first text of titles will be displayed here, in white or grey, in a typewriter type font. (“…. Presents”)

 

Shot Three: The scene will cut to a long Shot of the next street, which is quite long, with the girl standing under a lamp-post at the other end where she will be playing and dancing about. This will create an eerie atmosphere. The man will then walk into the shot from the left hand side as this would make sense given the structure of the streets and show continuity. He will look at and focus on the girl, perhaps showing some sort of connection. The next title, “A … … Film” will appear during this section.

 

Shot Four: The shot will cut and flip to a mid shot, slightly low angle shot to show an alternate perspective of the man’s approach. This will help show the characters emotions and reactions to seeing the girl. This also helps create typical thriller conventions such as vulnerability in the little girl.

 

Shot Five: Shot re-focuses on the girl in a high-angle shot. She drops a ribbon whilst dancing. Shot cuts a close up of the ribbon falling/on the ground (*could experiment with slow-motion here.) The music here will start to fade to silence.

 

Shot Six: Shot from the ground of the ribbon. We will see the man’s hand pick up the ribbon, then the shot will cut back to the girl skipping around the corner, perhaps giggling. This will create a very eerie atmposhere. One or two notes could be used to effect in the soundtrack to aid this but we will make use of silence here to emphasise movement and breathing.

 

Shot Seven: The camera follows him as he goes around the same corner in pursuit of the girl, in a mid shot/tracking shot, finishing in an over the shoulder shot of the empty street. As the man turns back around, the camera turns back around to follow him. As this happens a crescendo in the music will build. He will turn to check one of the side roads off of the mini roundabout
 

Shot Eight: Cuts to the 1^st person as the man checks all the two roads connected to the roundabout, not smoothly, disjointedly. This will blur the shot but this could be effective to show the hastiness of his movement. Then he turns back around.

 

Shot Nine: Close-up of the Shade standing in the road he first came down. This will be met with a load crashing effect or sharp noise in the soundtrack to emphasise shock and fear.

 

Shot Ten: First Flashback. Transition to flashback will be a quick flash, about 0.2 seconds, to white before showing the scene. Briefly displayed, about half a second will be an extreme long shot of the Asylum in Thorpe St. Andrews that will be the asylum from the Detective’s past, presenting hints to the plot. Another very short flash to white to bring the scene back. Each flash could be accompanied with a sound effect, such as a camera shutter etc.

 

Shot Eleven: After the flashback it will be an over the shoulder shot of the detective or a long shot of him looking dazed , confused and frightened, to convey emotion. He will stumble/stutter, turn and run. The music will restart here to show the start of action and the titles will continue to be displayed from here, starting with the cast. There will be 5 actors names displayed between here and Shot #16

 

Shot Twelve: The man runs through a small alleyway, the camera follow the man’s point of view from over his shoulder and show another Shade at the end of the alleyway, triggering another flash to white and a flashback.

 

Shot Thirteen: Flashback two. Trashed makeshift bedroom. Focus on walls which will be covered with notes, photos and connectors. Flash to white to transition back to the action, with the same timings as the previous flashback - this will be a constant throughout the scene.

 

Shot Fourteen: Same as #12, but the man flees.

 

Shot Fifteen: Point of View shot of the man running through round a different alleyway, with emphasis on the breathing of the man.

 

Shot Sixteen: Man comes out on a different road, where he will proceed to run round a corner and dart through a set of rails onto the green. The camera will pan to show the man running around here.

 

Shot Seventeen: Extreme Long Shot of man running across the field. Shot won’t last very long at all, maybe a few strides. Title of “Casting” will be displayed.

 

Shot Eighteen: Man reaches Marriott’s Way where there are two visible paths on the left and the right. The camera will follow the man into the track and there will be a Shade on the right hand side of the track, forcing the man to go left, after another flashback. During this section will be the title of “Costume Designer”.

 

Shot Nineteen: Flashback Three. Photos in the room of the girl that disappeared and other notes.

 

Shot Twenty: Man running through a forested area. The music will be quite fast paced by now to convey suspense. Various Shades will be scattered across the forest, so the camera picks them up but they are not directly noticeable Title of “Music By” will be displayed. (Point of View Shot as he is running)

 

Shot Twenty one: Over the shoulder shot from the perspective of one of the Shades of the Detective running through the forest. Cut to a high angle shot of the Detective as he darts through the forest. Titles such as“Director of Photography, Production Desginer and Edited By” could be displayed in this area. (*REVISED*)

 

Shot Twenty two: Mid shot of the Detective running, looking behind him. He will turn and stop to see a Shade in his path, prompting a flashback. The Shade will look up and take a single step towards him before the Detective flees, and the camera will then track him as he does so. Titles such as“Director of Photography, Production Desginer and Edited By” could be displayed in this area. (*REVISED*)

 

Shot Twenty Three: Man stumbles out of forest onto open area of the field. Switches to 1^st person as he sees Shades all around him. Music picks up to reach a climax.

 

Shot Twenty Four: Brief shot of the man staggering and stumbling to the ground as the Shades move closer. “Executive Producers”

 

Shot Twenty Five: Point of view, low angle shot of the Shade looming over him. “Directed by” to be displayed here. Flashback of the mans own face, the transition could make it look like his face is the Shade's face. Transition fades to white then black. Title of film then displayed to give a sense of closure, music cuts.

 

Shot Twenty Six: Point of view shot as the man wakes up in the trashed room.

 

Shot Twenty Seven: Series of very brief shots focusing on key objects in the room, ignoring the character.

 

Shot Twenty Eight: Close-up of the man to show confusion. Moves to show him unclenching fist to show the ribbon he had picked up earlier. Shot fades to black to end.

Updated Planning Edit:
Shot #14 - #18 replaced by the Detective going straight into the forest after the flashback, at dusk, with him running in the first person to create a fast pace. Then it will cut, but matching the action, to an over the shoulder shot from behind a Shade as the Detective looks at him, *then the flashback will occur.




We used certain shots as they can be compared to similar shots in other thriller films that created an effect we wanted to match. For instance, the shot of the Detective waking up at the end of the sequence is similar to scenes in the Bourne films where Jason Bourne jerks out of bed in a cold sweat, and so on - close up angles used in shots like this and of the girl help to convey thought processes, and of the girl, nothing at all, with completely blank facial expressions, such as in "The Others" or "The Ring". The establishing shot at the start of the sequence is to create a somewhat mysterious atmosphere typical of the genre that would be similar to shots used in Batman or any other thriller in an urban environment. The low angle shot of the Shades at the end of the sequence is typical of thriller films where the villain or villainous entity is portrayed as superior to the protagonist to create a sense of concern and fear, for instance in Harry Potter (although not technically a thriller) where the Dementors loom over him.
 

Thriller Planning - Locations

I took the responsibility of travelling around the area in which our sequence was going to be set, Thorpe Marriott and Taverham. We all live in the area making it practical to film there, with no great distance between the two most distant locations. I then reported back to the group in lesson with around 50 photos for us to discuss, ruling out many and selecting which ones we would use, for what and why. This post should be related to the Planning Edit to come to give some context to the sequence and action in the scene.

 Here are locations for the first section of our sequence, where the man will first be introduced and where he will see the girl at the end of the street. There are both shots of the street during the day and at night. At night, the scene looks very mysterious with the street lights, but it would be difficult to see anything in areas that aren't lit, so we may need to film at dusk and then edit the brightness in the editing process. It may be a good idea to film this section both at night and at dusk and see which one works best. The man will reach the end of the street and then at the roundabout will lose sight of the girl, look down the different roads and then turn around to see the Shade character standing in the road. This location is similar to Gotham City in the Batman films, a dark urban area with eerily lit to create a dark atmosphere.

Here are two shots of an alleyway that the Detective will reach after fleeing from the Shade. This is where he will have his 2nd encounter, 2nd flashback, and then turn back around and run back the way he came from. This is a good location due to it's narrow path, high fences and long duration to create a very threatening area.

 

 After this urban escape section, the Detective will flee across a small field, shown here. If the weather is overcast and it is dark it will create a very eerie atmosphere.  Shown below are two shots of a track that is at the bottom of this field, Marriott's Way. This would be where we see the Shade standing (most likely the image on the right will be best) menacingly, but eerily. The man will then flee through the middle of here (it's like a crossroads of paths in this area) into a forested area. We decided this would be a good area for a point of view shot to show the Detective's fear. It would also create a claustrophobic effect and help build suspense, given the pace of the sequence by this stage.
The forested locations could be considered similar to those featured in the Bourne films, or the escape scene in Sherlock Holmes. The location creates an isolated effect and disorientates the audience.


 These shots are from a different forested area in Taverham, but it would look no different to the audience if lighting remained the same, they are very similar. The image on the left here of the junction of a forest path and an alleyway was a location as a group we really liked as the Shade could be standing so as to block one of the paths and force the man down the twisting alleyways that run alongside this forest. However, I pointed out that this would not fit the story, the man wouldn't reach an urban area again and then end up in a field in the middle of nowhere. Therefore it would be difficult to integrate this location into a plot where the man finishes with his confrontation with multiple Shades in a field. This alleyway comes out on a road that has a stretch of woods on either side though and could provide an alternate finishing location. However these locations are also not particualry conventional of thrillers and not many scenes have taken place in a similar style of location - It may be wise to film some footage here and use it should we need it, but to use it as a reserve location.

Otherwise, the man will eventually exit the forest at one of the locations shown by this large, overview shot. The stretch of trees in the background is Marriott's Way, so the man could exit from there, onto an open field that is accesible by the public (on the far left of the image, there is a gap in the trees), or onto a pathway that runs alongside the trees. The "Green" area, earlier pictured where the man will run across the field, could also be used here, just a different area, where the man could fall out of the trees, stumble down a small hill, and be cornered in the field, or on the far side where there is another large open space with a track leading out from the forest. These are all possibilities for filming sections of the sequence in and something we must consider, but the majority of locations detailed here will be used for the scenes detailed and for the reasons specified.

We ruled out locations such as Alleyways near Ghost Hill/Cypress Close, Taverham as they were simply not needed, we wouldn't have enough time to include every single location. We also ruled out a stretch on Mack's Lane as it was too far away from other locations and wouldn't allow for continuity in our sequence, despite it being a very eerie location that would be conventional, for instance it is similar to the open area used towards the end of "The Others". The map below shows vaguely the five areas in which filming will take place for our sequence. It also allows to see other areas we might have missed and can then address later such as the field in the top right hand corner at Longdale or south east of the locator at Nightingale Drive at Taverham Park, that could fit an urban area to field, which would allow for the previous alley scene to be filmed. This is something I will bring up with the group as I have only just noticed it whilst producing this map.

Locations that are not featured in this map are the locations for the flashback. We will require a room for the man to wake up in and feature in a flashback, and a shot of the abandoned Mental Asylum in Thorpe St. Andrews, shown here. This is not our image and one of the members of the group will visit this area to get a shot of it before filming, along with an image of the room we will use. This location could be linked to that of existing thrillers, such as the asylum in "Shutter Island", the main inspiration for our piece.

Thriller Planning - Lesson 3 Discussion and Developments

In our 3rd lesson, one member of the group was absent so we had to slightly change our original plan - we couldn't finalise character profiles as she had one of them, so to start with we went through the pictures I had taken for the possible Locations and selected which ones we would use and could use as a back up or could shoot a scene in should we need it. I will proceed to write up details of the locations with pictures and explanations as to why they were chosen along with a brief detail of what will happen at that location. In lesson, as a group we tackled the Planning Edit by discussing exactly what was going to happen in our sequence and how it would happen. I typed up the planning edit listening to the discussions we were having as a group and contributions being made by the others during the lesson and hence assumed the responsability to finish the remainder of it in my own time. Other members of the group said they would tackle Costumes & Props and finishing details on Soundtrack, leaving Casting and Shooting Schedule to be covered in the next double lesson. The only real focus of this lesson and progression was getting a more detailed account of what was actually going to happen rather than just speculating and leaving things undecided, we have a more actual account of how our sequence will occur.

Thriller Planning - Lesson 2 Discussions and Developments

In our 2nd lesson we discussed the different elements of the planning and came up with a plan for what tasks we would tackle when. As a group, we managed to complete the majority of the Storyboard, two of the three character profiles, and have some information on planning the soundtrack. We then set ourselves some homework for the weekend to complete and report back to the group with so we could finalise those aspects- subsequently I have completed the remaining character profile, as well as adding a bit more detail to the one I had previously started in lesson, and completed a search for suitable locations to film certain parts of the sequence and have taken several photos. The other members of the group were tasked with adding to the Soundtrack, detailing costumes & props and an equipment list. This means that we could report back in the next lesson, finalise those details and create a blog post on each of them, discussing the final decision and any changes we had made.

In lesson we also had a debate about the age of our character. Originally I had proposed a young detective as this would make casting slightly easier as we know we can find someone to play the role relatively easily, however other members of the group suggested that we should perhaps have an older detective. The reasoning for this was to do with the plot; they suggested that the detective should have been studying this case for over a decade, perhaps twenty years, allowing for a background to form within that time, such as his time at the mental asylum. The initial time period was 20 years but this may propose an issue in casting, as we'd need a 40-year-old man to play the part. We have settled on this change in the plot but the length of time after the initial incident occurred to when the scene will be set is yet to be decided. This change in age also allows us to conform more to the genre conventions- for instance, other thrillers that have "Detective" characters include "Shutter Island" and "Seven", and in both of these films we can tell the Detective is older as there are references to his family throughout those films. Also, this allows us to have a visual comparison for what our character should look like, and the way he should act. For instance, we know the Detective is going to be "psychologically tormented" and this is similar to DiCaprio in Shutter Island, who can be observed in the trailer embedded below. This gives a rough idea of how the Detective would need to act, such as body language and stance, rather than actual speech and tone, as this would not be used in the opening sequence.


This development also allowed us to complete a more accurate plot, which is:
"A young detective investigating the strange disappearance of a young girl is dismissed after the case is closed, driving him to the point of insanity as he continues to attempt to solve the case.  After being released by the asylum for proving his sanity, several years pass until the detective starts to see the little girl everywhere he turns. Blaming himself, tormented by his guilt, in order to escape his psychological demons the detective must first solve the mystery before he is re-discovered by the asylum and before his nightmares become his reality."

Although this plot is more detailed and has more sustenance to it, we still do not have a name for "the Detective". However we have agreed on a name for the girl, after a small debate - I suggested that when the detective is in his room at the end, the name of the girl should be written on the wall, and it should be a short, everyday name to make it connect with the audience more. Another member of the group subsequently put forward "Charlotte", which we liked, and so the girl's name is Charlotte Adams. We also thought that the title should be "The .... of Charlotte Adams" or something along those lines. We have produced a shortlist of names that will be put in a later post once the plot and characters are all finalised.