Newspaper idea fro our male antagonist. (tom)



For our film we have come up with idea of Matt (our antagonist) will be reading a newspaper when Phoebe (female antagonist) walks into the room where I am taped up (female love interest) this is the reason Phoebe is there. This is to reinforce Matts character as a very sophisticated integrant person but at the same time to be very wrong in the head this is what we are trying to get across to our audience.

The article on the front will be about our filming location. This is to make an atmosphere to the area we will be filming in this may course a little worry for us as we don't want to freak ourselves. The other use of the newspaper is to tell some of the story without including it in our plot this will be to save time and to set up some of the film to follow after our film stops.     

Phoebe - List of Props

Whilst having a group discussion I wrote down a list of the props we plan to use in our short film.

Phoebe - List of Roles

(I'll update the post with pictures of the characters from the day of filming)

Matt - Male Antagonist.

This character has been hired by his leader to do all of his dirty work. He is very pedantic and this is portrayed through his routine when he sets up his weaponry for the torture scene. His costume also adds to his character; because he wears a suit it makes him look pristine and smart. This inspiration for this character is Patrick Bateman.

 

 

 

(dressed in a smart suite, ocd personality)

Phoebe - Female Victim/Protagonist.
A strong female character. Has been through a rough time since her boyfriend got murdered. Wears black, worn out clothes and heavy make up. Is also very stubborn and tough. The inspiration for this character is Lisbeth Salander.

 

 

(dark make up and grungy all black out fit)

Isaac - Man behind the monitor.
This character is the man who's in charge. He has employed Matt's character to take care of killing all his enemies. He'll be sitting behind the monitor and watching the torture scene take place from his hidden location. This character is inspired by The Godfather.

(mysterious character)

Isaac - Experimental Scene

Due to the fact that we are planning on having a torture scene in our thriller opening, we decided to do an experimental shoot to try and find out how we might achieve this. This is the result:

Notes on our film (tom)

I watched our note film and wrote down everything that we said so we can finalise everything before the big day!! 

Phoebe Isaac & Tom - Group discussion on the overall plot.

We had a group discussion about the over all plot and what we were going to involve in our opening 2 minutes. Here is a video of our conversation and what we agreed on for the final project. 

New location photo (tom)

As our other location is now unavailable I went on a little location hunt around the area of our old location a found something quite interesting. Another location came as quick as I found the other one here is the hall way.

Isaac - Narrative - Rough Bullet Points

• We are introduced to two characters at first, one male and one female
• The male is taking the female into an abandoned house
• When they finally arrive in the abandoned house the woman is strapped down and tortured
• We then find out that there is a man in a separate location watching them from a monitor.

Phoebe - Location trouble

The location we were planning to film in has caused some trouble. When we called to get permission to film in the building we had to call the council. They forwarded us to another women who would call us back with information about authorisation and supervision. We waited for her call but she never got back to us. This left us with no other option but to find another location.

Calling the Council - (Phoebe Filming and blog) (Tom on the phone)

(Tom)
   RINGING THE COUNCIL!!!!!
I have just rang the council about our location for filming I had mixed responses. I endured a long convocation in speaking to 3 different people about be able to get access to our location. eventually the very nice woman I was talking to said the actual person I need to speak to wasn't in so she has kindly taken time out of her to chase it up and get back to me within in the hour hopefully !!

Here is the video that shows me in my griping convocation. The location we wish to film at is a derelict building near the Haywards Heath hospital.


(Phoebe)

So me and Tom called up the local council to see if we could get permission film on site. Just in case we needed any supervision whilst filming or if there was any health and safety to go through.

Here is the first phone call of Tom calling the council:

And here is Tom calling the number we got redirected to:

Phoebe - Research for weapon props

For our thriller opening we have a character who is going to be threatening/torturing a victim. For this we need to decide what weapons he could use.

American Psycho (2000)

 Patrick Bateman uses a variety of weapons but in my opinion the two that stood out were the axe and the nail gun. Instead of him going for the obvious kill by using a gun or a knife, by using something odd it changed my view on the scene and made it more physiological as well as thrilling.

 

 

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

 

 

Also by using something completely ordinary as a weapon, such as a pen, makes the scene a lot more intense. It also gives the idea that something so simple could cause some damage and anyone could get access to it. It makes the spectator sit on the edge of their seat, which is what we're aiming for.

 

 

 



 

 

Phoebe - American Psycho (costume/characteristics)

American Psycho

Another film we discussed for inspiration for our thriller opening was 'American Psycho'. Released in 2000 and directed by Mary Harron, about a wealthy investment banker living in Manhattan in the late 1980's who also leads the secret life of a serial killer.

For our thriller we would like our protagonist to be a very strange man, who has odd daily routines and other weird characteristics which make the spectator question whether he's trustworthy or going mentally insane. The character 'Patrick Bateman' is a perfect example of what we are aiming for.

Idea's

 1) Patrick Bateman has a morning routine where he starts taking a shower and getting ready whilst there is a voice over of him explaining what he's doing. Once he peels off his facial mask he quotes: 'There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman. Some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there.'

The voice over works well because it has a psychological vibe to the spectator when watching it, as well as it makes you focus more on what he's saying and how it links to his actions. When he's taking off his facial mask it could symbolise his lose identity or humanity, I think this technique works well.


2) Patrick Batemans character also cares a lot about how looks/dresses. Costume designer, Isis Mussenden, intended on Bateman loving all things superficial. By having the latest clothes, such a Valentino suits; and the best looking business card. This came across as strange in it's self. Also in one of his murder scenes he wears a raincoat, which protects his suit. But it adds to his materialistic character. This scene is also a good example of contrapuntal sound.

Murder scene wearing the raincoat

 

Overall, Patrick Bateman is who we would initially like to base one of our characters on. But by putting our own ideas in as well, we hopefully should come up with an iconic thriller character.

Isaac- Thriller openings which could relate to our 2 minute thriller

We want our antagonist to be a very strange, psychologically damaged character who also has a very strange routine. This relates to the beginning of the film 'American Psycho'. Patrick Bateman [the main character] talks about having a "rigorous exercise routine
"I leave on [my face mask] for 10 minutes whilst I prepare the rest of my routine"

This is another sequence in which a routine is conveyed. It is a section from a TV series called 'Criminal Justice'. This routine starts at: 4:34

Another sequence from a film that relates to our thriller movie opening is from this film; 'Se7en'. The low key lighting in this film is similar to the effect we are hoping to achieve and the sense of a routine is also an idea close to ours.

Phoebe - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (costume)

 

 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

 Daniel Craig plays the character of Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who investigates the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch's niece which happened 40 years ago.

By having a clean cut suit and a long coat it shows he is in some sort of profession. Just by looking at his clothes, you can tell he has more of a contemporary lifestyle and doesn't look like he should be involving himself in any danger. 

 Rooney Mara plays the character of Lisbeth Salander: a pierced, punk, computer hacker with an iconic tattoo who helps Mikael with the investigation.

 

 

 

For this character all her clothing came across as very authentic. As if nothing appears to be brand new, it's all very worn in and torn up. The colour scheme is also very dark and there is a running theme of textures such as leather and cheap fabrics. Described as if she could 'disappear into the shadows'. I think this design works really well and portrays her character in the film.

 

 The wardrobe for the cast was designed by Trish Summerville who worked with an artist called Christopher Cordella. By sketching initial ideas and then creating outfits from the drafts. I have found some of the final sketches of 'Lisbeth' on this website: click

 

By digging a little deeper, I also found a YouTube clip of Trish Summerville talking about costume designing and the idea and emotion behind it.

 

 

 Over all, the contrast between these two characters costumes work really well and might be an idea for our opening thriller film.

Isaac - Lighting (research and planning)

There are lots of different ways in which we can use lighting in our 2 minute opening THRILLER sequence:

1) Identity

We can use low key lighting in our opening sequence to restrict the audience from knowing the identity of a certain character

2) Antagonist

We could also make someone look as if they are the antagonist by casting a type of low key lighting on them so the audience can see the characters face, but in a way that makes them seem untrustworthy



Here are some examples i have done:

research of my location (tom)

 

 

 

 THIS MAY SEEN LIKE SUPERNATURAL THINGS BUT THIS IS NOT VOLENTARY AND WILL BE MONITERED SO NOTHING WILL BE INCORPERRATED IN OUR FILM.

 

 

As you can't see the writing in this picture the actual text is here underneath

The Old Woman, all in black, in Room 28 Linden HouseRoom 28 of Linden House female nurses home was the site of many strange happenings. One nurse tells me she once woke up after a dream and there - at the end of the bed was an old woman, all in black! The nurse said the old woman leaned over, looked at her and the nurse could distinctly hear the sound of a ball bearing falling to the floor. Initially the nurse thought it was all just part of a dream.

Many years later that same nurse was in conversation with another senior member of staff and in the course of this, reference was made to room 28, the apparition of the old woman and the detail of the ball bearing falling. They had experienced the same phenomenon!

The nurse later learned that many staff who stayed in room 28 had experienced something strange. Many years later when the nurse moved away, became married and had a family, she heard from a domestic supervisor who worked there at the time that room 28 had eventually been locked up even though accomodation was scarce. The feather on the camel's back was when an Indonesian nurse had suffered a dark experience there.

They tell me that one thing is certain, that 28 Linden House had many bad experiences attached to it and that finally all the room numbers were switched around so as not to raise suspicions and bring unwelcome attention.

I see it's all boarded up now and ready for demolition. I wonder what the future will hold when the new houses go up?

Another little add on is the Elvis Presley article which interested us as well but this is in another part of the area of buildings.

Elvis Presley visits Rottingdean Ward ?

Rottingdean Ward was a favourite place for peculiar goings on of the ghostly variety. It is said that this was formerly a mortuary. One nursing sister is reported as always having had her Rosary beads with her whilst working in the ward office.

One incident recalled is when two night nurses were having a cup of tea in the office - on the same night as Elvis Presley died - only to hear footsteps approaching the office door. One of them, thinking it was the roundsnurse shouted out, - 'Hey! You must have smelt the tea brewing!' - only to find there was no one there.

The nurse checked all the patients but everyone was safe in bed. All of this was followed by the slamming of the door which led into the garden and which had already been locked that night at the start of the shift.

Had Elvis passed through Rottingdean that night on his way to the great beyond? - Up there, SO HIGH. I'm filled with SUSPICION, perhaps you heard him CRYING IN THE CHAPEl. We'll never know or will we?

Isaac - Interesting advert

Whilst watching TV, I saw a commercial which has some elements of some common traits shown in a lot of thrillers:

Isaac - weather

This weather could be perfect for a scene in our 2 minute thriller opening

This also happens to be the shot I used when shooting the CCTV Camera shot for our prelim film

Discussing initial ideas

Phoebe really pushing hard for her point.

Isaac - Thriller opening sequence research (all of my titles for each film such as 'Inception' etc. are hyperlinked so click on them to find out more about the films).

Inception

The film 'Inception' starts with a fade in from black. It starts to convey a feeling of enigma from the first shot, which is a slow-motion pan over waves crashing into rocks

this feeling of mystery is then carried on when we are introduced to a character, not knowing whether he is a protagonist or antagonist. This is achieved by casting low key lighting on the characters face. there is no music playing at this point, only the diegetic sound effect of the sea (this could either be a foley or synchronous sound).

What we hear next:

• Children playing and laughing - which is contrapuntal due to the fact that it juxtaposes the mood which portrays an eerie, uncomfortable mood.
• A slow, melancholic soundtrack made up of string instruments.
• Less of the waves.

These mysterious children, however, give us a preliminary sense of a goal in the movie for the character we have previously met.  

Then suddenly we know it is a thriller through iconography.

The gun puts forward a thriller stereotype.

The camera angle also shows that the man holding the gun is in control of the situation and it keeps the enigma going by not revealing the gun holder's identity straight away.

The contrasting images of the children making sandcastles and the guard holding a gun creates a binary opposition which happen continuously through any thriller narrative 

Also the camera shot types make it a thriller, for instance having an enigma filled shot such as this:

would only work with this kind of close up.

Pulp Fiction

In this opening sequence we are hinted at, through diegetic dialogue, that this film is a thriller

we hear words such as:

        "dangerous"                      "rob a bank"
                             "risk"

                                                                        "KILL HER"
"pistol"

These all connote the iconography and stereotype of a thriller movie.

however this opening sequence has been refreshed from copying thrillers to the exact specifications by designing these two characters. they are not archetypes. In fact, they contrast the conventional couple in a very humorous way. They start a part of the scene kissing

And end in robbing the restaurant they are in

The plot structure (narrative) of this film is also what makes it interesting as a thriller because the first scene is also the last scene. This means that it was not put in chronological order, by doing this the directer creates enigma because the whole film you are waiting to see what ends up happening in the end. The audience is then left on the edge of their seats for the duration of the film.

Bourne Supremacy

The opening title shot shows mysterious lights flashing from the words "Bourne Supremacy" which look like this:

This shows the audience that it may be a film to do with police/army due to the light, this causes enigma.

This film also relates to, and has the same elements as 'Inception' due to the scene taking place on a beach which shows that thrillers contain similar locations and aspects.

The first few shots of his flashback/dream/end of film (we don't know) also create enigma. We learn that he is or was a soldier through narration of his sergeant speaking. by doing this it creates an ellipses because we don't see him as a soldier, but hear it instead.

This film also relates to all the previous films i have talked about due to the close up shot of a gun

The music at the beginning allows us to know where he is, india, which we later find out through written text which shows up on the screen.

LIGHTING

1. Low key lighting the whole way throughout the duration of the clip
2. This creates enigma because we can only see a silhouette due to only having back lighting; there is only a small amount of key lighting and secondary lighting
3. this also means it contrasts with when the main charter switches on the bathroom light
4. this also relates to inception because the main character's identity is not shown until later on in the scene

SPECTATOR POSITIONING

• We know he's been traumatised by whatever has happened in his past whilst being a soldier
• because of this we feel sorry for him, although we may feel as if he did something wrong

Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy

Again, this film starts by giving us a sense of enigma. 

• We don't know either of the characters
• We don't know the situation
• We don't know why they've come together to talk and be so secretive about it.

This is also contributed towards by the low key lighting which seems to apply in almost all the films i have talked about previously.

We then learn about the storyline in which there is a mole. this storyline in itself is an enigma and sucks the audience in.

Although we don't know much about these characters we assume they are the protagonists and the people in Budapest are the antagonists which creates a binary opposition on which the film can base it's events on.

There is also a scene in this where what we see juxtaposes the narrative. This is when we see the silhouettes of the children laughing sand playing in the clock tower.

This also relates to inception because it is the same contrast, showing that it may be a regular occurrence in thriller films.

We also see an ellipses in this opening sequence as the character 'Jim' walks out of the train station. There is a sign which says "Budapest" on which shows the audience that the character is in Budapest without us having to see him fly over.

what is strange about this however, is that throughout the scene there is a sound bridge and a type of parallel editing but these two scenes in separate locations are not happening at the same time at all. Due to all the techniques they use however, we understand this.