The Revelation Storyboard & Feedback

I asked three people their opinions of our storyboard:

"This has the potential to be a really good opening! You have thought about establishing a good storyline, without giving away the whole plot. There is variety of shot, which help to make it look a professional and the location if perfect for this type of thriller. As long as you can find the right music, a really good atmosphere will be created. My only concern is I don't think there is a big build up to shooting of the girl, it all flows to smoothly for a shooting. But, this is something you will be able to work on the filming day and editing. Well done."-Jamie, 19.

"I really like the looks of this; if it was a real film I would defiantly go and watch it. The storyline is perfect for a psychological thriller; it creepy with the doll, the dead images and it has a really good mystery with it-who is that girl? Who owns that room? Exactly what I would expect from a film opening. I also really like the fact you have thought about how you are going to do your titles, having dead looking images of each production team member is original-it makes them look like a part of the story! I would suggest that you don't show the girl entering the building-I don't think it needed and it will add another mystery of where this girl actually is"- Emma, 16

"You have really thought about everything in great detail, even down to the rubbish in the room! This will help a lot on the filming day! The plot twisted to this opening it brilliant. I was read the storyboard and think 'the girl is going to be the main character' and you killed her off! Your audience will not see it coming and will properly jump when the gun shot goes off! The bracelets also add to this storyline, it something to notices and is a really clever way of connecting the girl to the dead bodies and even foretell the future of the girl. I think you have made it hard for yourself by just having music and no dialogue, you should start thinking about what types of music you want playing in which part-it going to be key in bring your thriller opening together"-James, 17

Questionnaire Result Analysis

Questionnaire Result Analysis

We created a questionnaire to hand out in order to find out what different people find to be important in thriller openings. We included questions about how often people watch films, what sub-genre of thriller they prefer, what props they find to build tension, etc. The three of us each had ten of the questionnaires to hand out for a range of people to fill in. From looking at the results, we have learned what we think would be suitable to use in our thriller in order to create a suspenseful and professional opening.

 

We ensured that we gave the questionnaires to a range of ages and to both genders in order to understand what different target audiences expect from a thriller. Despite asking a range of people, we realised that each of us did end up giving questionnaires to mostly people from between 10-20. We took advantage of having more results for this age group by starting to consider using this as our target audience. We thought this was helpful because teenagers tend to be prime viewers of thriller films. We think that this may be because after being a child and watching childish movies, they want to mature and see those that are more shocking, and tense- the thriller genre is right for this. Even though we asked people who seldom watch films to people who watch them almost daily, they were mostly people that watched films often. This would give us more valuable results as they are more likely to be sure of what they believe works or does not work in thriller openings.

 

 

The first question we asked to do with thriller films was ‘What is your favourite thriller sub-genre?’. It was a closed ended question, and we gave the interviewees a large choice of thriller sub-genres to choose from, also giving an ‘Other’ box, in case we had not included their favourite. The most popular choice was ‘Psychological’, especially among teenagers, which is convenient for us as we now know what is appealing for our target audience. Because of this, we plan to create a psychological thriller opening. Other popular responses were ‘Crime’ and ‘Religion’, so we will therefore try to include aspects from these genres in our movie. This will work as these three sub-genres have similarities. For example, they are related with the mind and death/murder.

For the next two questions we asked them to give reasons why their chosen sub-genre was their favourite, and to name their favourite of this sub-genre. The reasons people liked psychological were: ‘I love the tension of a psychological’; ‘they have a lot of plot twists making it impossible to guess the ending’ ‘I find them exciting because they are eerie to watch’. From this, we learnt some aspects that would be important to include. For example, we could include a plot twist which in turn would create tension, like the death of who we think is the main character.  Eeriness is of obvious importance, and making the opening eerie will be one of our primary goals.  

 

The next question was about what techniques are best to create tension. We gave suggestions, and the individuals would tick which ones they think were most important. The three options to get the most ticks were: ‘Little/no dialogue’, ‘Tense music’ and ‘One/two main characters’. These options all work together very well; by having very little dialogue the tense music will be focused on more. Also, having fewer characters makes sense because if there are only one or two people, there won’t be much talking.

 

‘What gender do you expect the antagonist to be in a thriller film?’ and ‘What gender do you expect the protagonist to be in a thriller film?’  were our next two questions. We gave the option ‘Doesn’t concern me’ as well as ‘Male’ and ‘Female’. For both questions, the majority of people said that they weren’t concerned by the gender of these characters. After finding this we chose to use a female as the protagonist, because it is a popular convention of thrillers to have a female victim. We have also decided that the gender of the antagonist does not have to be revealed in the opening of the thriller, because this is something that would be revealed later on. It would build tension to keep the identity of the villain a secret. 

 

The last question in our survey was ‘Which props do you think will help to create tension in the opening of a thriller?’ The three most popular options were: ‘Gun’, ‘Victorian Doll’ and ‘Disturbing images’.The gun and disturbing images will work well together, because shooting someone can create a disturbing image; blood and/or a dead body. The Victorian doll was an idea that we thought would bring a strange atmosphere because it is an old-fashioned object. It is quite sinister, because it is supposed to be a pleasant toy for children to play with, but we plan to give it a darker undertone by implying that it could be responsible for the death of a character.

 

Written by Mia Shaw

Graphs by Beth Pattison

Pitch for our Thriller Opening

 

We have desided to call our production team 'JEM PRODUCTION' as it is the first letter of our names- Jessica, Elizabeth & Mia. Also we think it a sterotypical name for girls as 'jem' suggest jewelry, glitter and pretty thing, so we want to show a more daring and edgy side to it. We have a couple of ideas of how our title will apper in our opening. The first is have a different newspaper letters cut out to spell our title. The next is to have written on peice of paper which goes up in flames.  Or have the title typt out on a typewriter. Or have it apper on old film tape. To make sure our names are in it, there are going to be images of myself and Jessica looking dead (which relats to our storyline) and an image that looks like a stalker has taken it of Mia. All will have our names and candidate with it.

 

 

 

We decided that is was important for the setting of our thriller opening to be in one room or building, because it can give a claustrophobic and trapped atmosphere. Therefore the character will not be able to escape, and the audience will feel the suspense as they ask themselves whether or not the character will survive.

 



Analysis stills of ‘Strange Days’ opening

These are the first two shot shown in the film. Although extremely simple, it is very effective. The text really stands out from the black background, showing its importance and the colour used in these shots is interested as it suggests to the audience that the film has a serious storyline, which isn’t happy or funny. The date and time on the second shot is also important because allows the audience to go straight into the action without seeing a title sequence suggesting something is happening which instantly creates tension.

 

This shot is an extreme close up of someone’s eye. It isn’t a commonly used shot in films, unless something really significance is being shown, telling the audience that whoever this person is, they have a big impacted in the film.  Also this shot makes creates mystery and confusing for the audience since they don’t know why this eye important or who the eye it is

This is a point of view shot, showing someone waking up in the back of a car. It relates to the pervious shot as the audience realise that they are seeing what’s happening from the eyes of person from the previous shot.  What unique about this shot is it’s blurred. This creates confusion for the audience as it hard to work out were the scene is taking place and it is rarely used in films- making it extremely important. The blurriness of this shot suggest to the audience that the person who point of view its taking from has been asleep or knocked out and is just coming round. Making the audience ask even more question as they don’t know why the person has been asleep or knocked out. Despite the blurriness of the shot, the audience can assume that the scene is taking place in a back of car at night. Telling the audience that the setting is a normal location suggesting the action that is taking place could happen in real life.

 

This is a point of view shot showing a man with some type of marital over his face in the front of the car. This shot allows the audience to realise what is happening. The person who point of view the shot is from has been knocked out by these men and has woken up in the back of car with no idea where they are going.  The man in the shot is wearing dark clothing this suggest to the audience that he doesn’t want to be notices and that he is some kind of bad guy. The fact he is wearing some type of marital over his face suggest that he trying to keep his identity secret, however as the audience can still quite clearly see the man suggest he isn’t very experienced.  The setting for this shot is still in the back of a car, but it is clear now that its night time which it very commonly used in a thriller film as it help to create an atmosphere.  This shot is still taken from a person point of view which allows the audience to really be a part of the action and sympathize with the person who is going through this action.

This shot is a high angle point of view shot, showing a person being held at gun point. The person in this shot has been made to look weak and helpless. He looks distraught with what going on and with his hand held up shows he is begging not to be shot. This makes the audience feel sorry for the man and makes them question what the man has done to be held at gun point. The character that point of view the shot has been taken from has now been made to look less like the victim and more like the bad guy.  The gun used in this shot helps the audience understand how serious the situation is and suggest danger, fear and anger. This shot also make the sequence of events look more confusing (often done in thriller films) as the person who’s point of view the shot is from has gone from being in trouble to creating trouble- making the audience ask more question and help keep them interested in the storyline.   

Thriller conventions

Narrative

·         Usually not a lot of dialogue

·         Only tends to have the main character/characters in it

·         Often in chronological order

·         Often half way through an event happening- making the audience ask question

Camera work

·         Establishing shot- show location

·         Mid shots- so the character are introduced

·         Close ups- disorientation/ claustrophobia

·         Composition-Key props

·         Framing- creates suspense

·         High angle/low angle shots- to show power and statues

·         1^st person- empathy

Editing

·         Duel narrative-  shows complex narrative and creates tension- as story converges

·         Straight cut editing- pace and tension

·         Flashback-  key moments, connections

Thriller opening

·         Drama and tension

·         Use of music

·         Titles-  name of film, actors, director, company ideas

·         Something gripping but confusing

·         One significant event

·         Create atmosphere

Sound

·         Use ambient sounds- music/ noises fade in/out- creates atmosphere

·         Voice over to create background story

·         Avoid dialogue

Mise-en-scene

·         Setting- realistic/isolated

·         Costume- realism

·         Actors- males are often protagonists/ antagonists and women – victim?

·         Props- victims

·         Lighting- low key, shadows

Sub- genres

·         Action

·         Crime

·         Psychological

·         Conspiracy

·         Dystopian

·         Medical

·         Noir

·         Gangster

·         Religious

Analysis stills from the opening of ‘No Country For Old Men’

 

This is a long shot showing a police sheriff arresting a man and placing him in the back of his car.  It the first shot the audience see of any people, suggesting they must be important. This shot instantly has the audience asking question for example what crime has been committed? This has been done because it gets the audience interested in what going on and makes them want to watch the rest of this film to get the answers to their question. It is also very typical for thriller openings create mystery from the first couple of shots. The two characters in this shot have been made to clearly represent two different types of people. The sheriff is wearing a typical uniform for his job and it’s very smart and clean. This show the audience the sheriff takes his job seriously and he is a professional. Whereas, the other man in this shot is wearing very dark clothing. This suggests to the audience that he is bad and mysterious. Also what interesting about the man who has been arrested is that he doesn’t seem fazed and he isn’t even trying to struggle. Suggesting that he has been arrested before meaning he has committed crimes before. The setting of this shot is in the middle of desert and in the background there is a road which seems to lead nowhere.  Showing the audience that this place isn’t very well populated and makes them think, if something went wrong, who would sort it out (making as perfect place to commit a crime).

 

This close up showing what looks like some kind gas tank. This shot has be used to create more mystery and confusion for the audience. It does this because we don’t know exactly what it is, if it’s the reason why the man has been arrested or why someone would be in possession of it. Also this shot suggest to the audience that it is a key prop for the film which also suggest that person who owns it can’t be ‘normal’.

After being arrested, the man strangles the sheriff with his handcuffs, showing the audience a bird’s eye view shot of what happening.  This is the first shot the audience get to see the arrest man’s face properly, epimerising the mystery of him. The face he is pulling is looks like he is determined to kill that man. This tells the audience that he must be a psychopath to be able to commit this crime and suggest that this isn’t the first time he has killed someone. Also the face he is pulling looks creepy and haunting, making the audience fear him.  The sheriff who is being strangled looks distressed and struggling to fight back, this makes the audience have sympathy for him as they know he going to be brutally murdered.

This is another bird’s eye view shot showing the killers wrists after killing the sheriff.  It show the audience how much strength the killer had to have to strangle the sheriff and he doesn’t seem in any pain or distress by his injuries. Showing the audience wants again that he must be some kind of psychopath to go through that pain to kill someone. Also it makes the audience think about will anything stop him when killing someone?

This is another bird’s eye view shot showing the dead’s sheriffs legs with skid makes around him, showing the audience how much of a struggles his death was, making them sympathise with the sheriff. Also it again shows how much strength and determination the killer has to commit this crime.

 

Analysis stills from the opening of 'Shutter Island'

 

 

This is a extreme long shot showing a boat coming out of the fog. This instantly create a lot of mystery for the audience, as they  don't know where boat going, who is on the boat or why the boat is important. This is very common for an opening of a thriller as it makes the audience interested in what's going on straight away.  The lighting  for this shot if very dark, with no sun light just fog. This has been done to create the mood that not happy situation and suggest that where ever the boat is going it's a gloom, miserable place. the boat used in this shot is very important because is not a normal looking boat, it's not the type of boat that lots of people would get on nor does it look like a fishing boat.  This suggest that not a lot people use this boat and it is in fact used for a very spefice job, which the audience don't know yet- adding even more mystery to the shot.  Also the boat is gray in colour which again suggest that this is a happy place and it very dull and gloom.  There is some none-dieagetic sound playing the background of a very high pitched musical instrument, making the audience start to feel tension.

 

This is the next key shot in this scene, it is a long shot showing the main character coming out of the bathroom on the boat after being sick. This the first shot the audience see of the main character from head to toe. He is a very smartly dressed man and with the hat and rain jacket it suggest to the audience that he is some type of dective and the reason he is on the boat is to go to a crime scene.  Also he looks out  of place, he has just been sick and looks to formal to be on that boat. This tell the audience that this isn't what the man usually do, suggesting that there has to be a huge reason for him to be there. The composition for this shot is has been done so the audience can see the chains, not just the main character. This show the audience  that boat he is on is properly a prison ship making the man look even more out of place and  adding to the mystery and tension of this scene.  Also it suggest that the place the man is going to is a prison, which must be dangerous if you have to travel there by boat.  

This is a medium shot showing the two main character on the boat talking about being US Marshalls partners and going to the Island . There are a lot of two shots of the Marshalls throughout the opening sequences showing the audience that there relationship is important.  Both men are dressed very stereotypical for US Marshalls suggesting that they take the job seriously and that they have been doing  for a long time. The lighting for this shot, much like the rest of the sequence is very dark and gloomy. Suggesting once again that it's not a nice place they are going to (which makes sense as it is a mental hospital)  and it is a very serious situation. In fact the weather  pathetic fallacy. The conveshion  they have allows the audience to get a better understanding on what is going on, they learn that they are going to a metal hospital/prison and that the main character has be doing this for a lot long than the other man. This has been done so the audience can understand the story and character better, meaning that they will enjoy watching the film more.

This is an extreme long shot showing the Island that the two Marshalls are travelling to.  The island is very dark and gloom, like the other shots in the sense. It doesn't look very populated, in fact it almost looks desterdied suggesting that not a lot of people go to this island  and it not a normal place to live. This shot makes the audience  realise that only one way to get on the to the island and only one way to get off it- by boat. This adds to the tension because if something bad happened while at the Island it would be hard to escape. This short is a point of view shot, meaning the  character are seeing it as the audience does making the Island look over-powering and not inviting. While this shot is being shown there is some none-dieatige sound playing in the background of some low pitched musical instruments, this adds to the tension and suggest to the audience that bad is on that island.

 

This is a mid shot showing the Marshalls arriving on the island and being greeted by some guards. The fact that there are five guards, three who guns have guys with the Marshalls suggests that the island is a very dangerous place to be and that something serious is happening for the all to be there. The guards are all wearing a uniform and all look  very serious, showing the audience  that they are professionals in their job and  suggesting that this is the 'normal' on this island.  In the background of this shot we can see the boat that bought the Marshalls to the island  and a dock. There is no other boat on the dock which emprises the fact that there isn't a lot of people on this island and that there is only one way off the island which adds tension and creates creepy atmosphere.