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.