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.