Further planning

This is an example of further planning of our thriller opening. We considered options such as a non-digetic voice over to begin our piece and set the scene. It will provide a short description of the town and expand to talk about the forest (the setting for our scene) and supply any other details the audience may find relevant. Also on this sheet we planned out the costumes for the characters, and a list of props and equipment we will need on the day of filming. This list comprised of

• white powder to make the victim look dead
• red lipliner and blusher to create a strangulation mark
• hiking poles
• crime scene tape *
• white sheet *
• camera and tripod
• holly's camera
• voice recording device *

* revised, and not needed. We were thinking about adding a third scene to our piece where a detective investigating the case is taking photos and examining the body and utilising the crime scene tape, white sheet to cover the body and a voice recorder. We later deemed this scene unnecessary as we felt that the two scenes we already had were enough to create an effective opening to a thriller.

Relocation

Here are some stills of our new location. We came across a steep hill which will provide a striking image and hopefully make for a dramatic chase sequence. The dense trees eliminate any suggestion of a time period and create an air of mystery. It seems our setting change could possibly work out for the better?

PROBLEM!

We have encountered a setback in our planning - the cornfield we were going to use has been completely ploughed and reduced to a field of what is effectively - soil. This does not have quite the same effect as the corn did, so we have chosen to relocate our thriller opening to Cannock Chase, a woodland area nearby. As some areas of Cannock Chase are closely packed trees, it can be made to seem a very dark and eerie enviroment, which we think will work just as effectively as the cornfield would have done.

The plot of our scene has had to be altered slightly to allow for the location change.

• Our victim will now be running through a forest amongst the trees before she falls over and presents the opportunity for her persuer to catch up and strangle her.
• The body will now be found by two hikers, as this fits with the setting.

This is the plan of our adjusted film.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard I have drawn up; it is a more specific plan of our scene. It has helped us to map out and time the camera shots, and also means we have a definite plan to stick to when we come to shoot our film.

Location scouting / walk-through

This is a sequence of stills from our 'location scouting' which, as you can see, turned into an informal run through of our opening scene. Maybe with just one look we realised that empty cornfields = dramatic murder, who knows, but the fact of that matter was that we decided straight away we wanted to use the field. A flaw in our plan was that on one side of the field is a very modern looking housing estate - a slight departure from the timeless, neutral feel we were hoping to acheive - so this run through also served the purpose of working out how best to avoid the estate sneaking into shot. We hope to film at dusk as this will create more tension than this unusually bright, sunny day did.

This is the alley way that leads into the field. We thought that it would look especially menacing at night, and that the main character could walk down it into the field oblivious to the murderer lurking in the shadows behind her.

Our victim would then proceed to walk accross the field. A panning shot would be used.

The victim, having become unnerved and suspicious she is being followed turns and looks over her shoulder. The camera would follow her head as it turns around and the killer would be then seen in the background silhouetted against a tree. (The details of this shot are not finalised as of yet.)

Quick cuts will then be used between the victim approaching the tree...




...and the murderer, here preparing an invisible piece of rope to use as a weapon.




The cuts quicken as the victim gets closer.




The murderer appears silhouetted/half in shadow. This is when the murder will then be committed, drawing inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' whereby no explicit violence is shown but fast cuts are utilised to give an impression of panic.


We will then cut to a long shot of the field. The next scene will start with the same long shot, only at a different time of day to show the time lapse and differentiation between the scenes. Originally, we contemplated a shot where the sky is filmed overnight and then sped up so the shot lasts a few seconds to show the time passing, but the technical and logistical issues with this meant that it was an unrealistic idea.

'Psycho' analysis

The 'shower scene' in 'Psycho' is one of the most iconic moments in cinematic history. Whilst viewing it I found it especially interesting how despite portraying a brutal attack, Hitchcock does it without actually showing any explicit violence. Quick cuts are utilised to their best effect and this combined with close ups and shadows delivers a realistic and scary murder scene. We are planning on including a murder scene in our thriller opening,so we will be taking notice of this technique; I think that if we try and explicitly show a murder taking place our film may end up looking too amateur.

Initial ideas

This is our first mind map of ideas for our thriller opening. To produce this we remembered the conventions of a thriller that we had researched (violence, suspense, action sequences, an unusual setting, ordinary characters in extraordinary situations) and brainstormed for some potential plots. Some were developed more than others, and through discussion we arrived at the idea of a chase sequence.

We especially drew inspiration from 'No Country For Old Men'. The idea of a countryside setting proved both appealing and accessable, and the neutral background, costume and props was especially interesting to us as a group.

Scene 1 - Our main character would be stalked through a cornfield - possibly at dusk for a more dramatic feel. The killer would be shown subtly, either silhouetted or in shadow. The main character would then be strangled.

Scene 2 - The next day. The main character would be found by a girl merrily roaming through the field.