Original Idea For Use Of Props in Our Thriller

These were the original ideas for the thriller before shooting began, once shooting took place circumstances changed and some of these probs have not been used in the final cut.

Alterations to Thriller Planning

Due to the loss of a person in our thriller group alot of alterations to the planning have been made. This includes the following:

The character of 'Tag'
The character was originally going to be the third person in our group who we lost, we chose to use him because he would be reliable as he would be with the group at all times. But this had to change so we decided to cast a completely different character, Chris Nolan, my dad. We chose to cast him as he would be reliable since i would know what he was doing at all times and could easily arrange with him dates to film and give him updates to the storyline and how his character should be at any time. Because of this choice of casting the character was also changed completely. He was no longer a 16/17 year old boy but a 40 year old man. The entire outfit changed also, the new character had a black raincoat, a grey hat, dark jeans, dark brown gloves and white trainers. The dark outfit connotes evil, but the white trainers could connote that there is something about this character that is good... or that he believes he is doing good like that of the killer in Se7en.

We also decided our thriller wasn't very clear in showing the storyline and the action, so we added another key prop, the ribbon. This has become the main focus in our two minute film. It is the item Hope drops that is then used by Tag to kill her and is left on her body at the end. The red ribbon connotes danger. Although it is used to kill Hope it is not shown killing her, Tag just plays with it when he is towering over her which indicates that he is going to use it to strangle her. This technique has been used in an episode of Silent Witness with a rope.
Alot of the shots in the film now focus on close ups of the feet, this is used alot in thriller films i have studied such as in Se7en during the chase scene, also a close up of feet is used in Brick when a note is dropped out of Brendans locker and it falls to his feet, it is also used during the murder scene in Heavenly creatures when Juliet walks down the steps on the woodland path. The non-diagetic music chosen to be used over the top of the action is 'The Humming Chorus' from Madame Butterfly, this is an intertextual reference to the thriller Heavenly Creatures, which has heavily influenced our film, as the setting for the death scene is a similar forest-like setting, and the chase has its similarities.
Research into the reason for the Humming Chorus in the Madame Butterfly opera tells the story of Butterfly and her young child beginning 'the long wait' for Pinkerton (Butterflys lover and her childs father) to come home after returning from war. Night falls and Pinkerton still hasn't returned, the child falls asleep but Butterfly 'keeps her vigil'. This is a tragedy in itself as Pinkerton has not returned, this also fits in quite well with 'Tag' as 'the long wait' could connote the period of time where Hope is being stalked by Tag, and the part where the child falls asleep is the climax where Hope is murdered, this could be seen as her being sent 'to sleep'.

Hopes Costumes

Hopes daytime outfit has been chosen to flatter her and make her look sexy and confident to coincide with her personality. The long black jacket was chosen as it elongates the figure and mainly to keep the actor warm as the shooting will take place in winter, therefore we worked around that finding something that is sexy and suitable, the jacket fits this. The original idea was to have a pencil skirt, but this is slightly overdressed for working in WHSmith, also it wouldn't look very good with a long jacket, therefore we decided on smart jeans with high rich purple heels that add glamour and the deep purple connotes wealth and royalty, which fits in with Hopes personality where she is so vain she classes herself as royalty.



The jogging outfit has been chosen to be suitable for jogging, yet still look relatively sexy and smart, so a black and white outfit has been chosen so that Hope still looks quite smart, this just shows that she takes care in her appearance at all times. The white jumper will show up well on camera in the evening, along with white trainers, the black jogging bottoms will be bootlegged to add to the well presented look, they also are figure flattering and sexy.

Tags costume

The costume is simple, and not overcomplicated with accessories. I have decided to keep his outfit simple to reflect his character where he is described as a bit of an outcast, with this though I don’t want him to blend in. He must stand out on screen. Therefore, I have made his outfit a simple deep red hoodie with dark, simple jeans and dark shoes. This is a risky outfit to choose as the character could end up being portrayed as the ‘gangsta’ type with the hoodie which is definitely not what I am aiming for Tag to be, so when the outfit is on him it shall be tweaked somehow to avoid this. The hoodie is red as it represents danger and blood, it also stands out in a crowd, which isn’t usually something you would want for a shifty character but we are aiming at creating a very obvious irony that will make it clear to the viewer from the beginning who he is and what he does. The hoodie will have ‘TAG’ written on the back in big, clear white letters as this can be zoomed in on to use as the film title in the opening credits as the film is called ‘Tag’. This will also add to the ‘in your face’ style irony and make it crystal clear who he is from the beginning. Jeans were chosen to keep the outfit very casual in contrast to Hopes work outfit which will create an obvious contrast between the two characters. Dark shoes were chosen simply as to not draw attention to them.

Storyboards

Lighting is added in type as it was not present in the storyboard drawings.
The lighting in storyboard 1 and 2 will be ambient daylight.
The lighting in storyboard 3 will be ciaruscurro.

The lighting in storyboard 4 will be ambient daylight.

The lighting in storyboard 5 will be ciaruscurro.

The lighting in storyboard 6 will be non-ambient, there will be daylight along with the light of a bathroom light and added light to prevent darkness in the mirror if required.

The lighting in storyboard 7 and 8 will be non-ambient, light will be shone from above to make shadows visible below the eye.

The light in storyboard 9 will be ambient daylight.

The lighting in storyboard 10, 11 and 12 will be ambient daylight.

The lighting in storyboards 13 and 14 will be ambient daylight.

The lighting in storyboard 15 will be non-ambient, as it is in the evening there will be street lighting and added light shone from the same direction as street lights just to make sure the character is visible whilst looking like natural lighting.

The lighting in storyboards 16, 17 and 18 will be non-ambient as they will be aided by extra light to make up for lack of streetlights. In storyboards 17 and 18 the light will be directed towards Hope and away from Tag as it puts her in clear view and him in the shadows, emphasising Tag's shifty character.

The lighting in storyboards 19, 2o and 21 will be non-ambient due to added light makig up for lack of street lights, also in storyboard 20 a light will be shone from directly above to make the facial expression more emphasized and create a good contrast between light and dark on the characters face.

In storyboard 22 no light is required.

In storyboards 23 and 24 the lighting will be non-ambient as chirascurro lighting will be used to create vivid light angainst dark contrasts making the scene seem like a nightmare.

In storyboard 25 lighting will be non-ambient as a light will be shone above the eye to create dark shadows on the face.

In storyboards 26 and 27 lighting will be ambient daylight.

Brainstorming and development of ideas for my thriller plot

First Draft

Second Draft

Third Draft

Opening Shot

Planning For Thriller Opening

TAG

Plot Synopsis in under 100 words

Hopes fate is set when she rudely bumps into a stranger at the station one morning before work. Later that day during her evening run she is followed, killed and 'tagged'. (31 words)

Plot Synopsis in greater detail
An alarm goes off at 6am, a hand moves to turn off the alarm and Hope get out of bed, and she then goes to the bathroom to wash her face. During this, her fate is revealed, as shots of dead parts of her body are intertwined with her morning routine.
She goes to work at the train station where she bumps into a stranger (Tag); here is where her fate is decided. As she goes for an evening run, she is attacked and killed, a tag is placed on her dead wrist stating her fault that caused her death (insolence), and the screen fades to black. Cuts to an alarm going off at 6am and a hand moves to turn it off…

The plot has unravelled to become a psychological/crime thriller.

Characters
Hope Lost is the main character, she is around 16 years old, is overly confident, rude, vain, and selfish. The name ‘Hope Lost’ was decided as it reflects her fate. She works in WHSmith in the train station in Norwich, this has been decided as it is a good place for her to come into contact with the other character, and it is also a good location in contrast to the location for the death scene.

‘Tag’ is the second character, he is only known as ‘Tag’ as it adds to a sense of mystery and danger, it also reflects his character, as he leaves tags on each of his victims, the tag states what the victim did to him in order to cause him to get revenge (this is his signature way of killing) for instance, Hope was rude to him by bumping into him without apologizing so she was insolent therefore the word on her tag would be insolence. Tag is around 16/17, is quiet and introverted, a social reject, shifty, easily offended and slightly psychotic which when put together with Hopes character creates deadly consequences.

Casting
As only 2 characters are in the production we thought it would be sensible to cast actors within our Media group for convenience and reliability as it would be impossible to create a good film with somebody that was not reliable. Therefore we chose to cast Freya Lincoln as Hope Lost and Jonathan Lawson as Tag, these were a good and convenient choice as not only are they in my group, they are drama students which means there will be good quality acting.

Intertextual References
Only one intertextual reference is being used in the thriller, this will be a shot of Hopes dead eye which will be executed in the same way as that of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

Responsibilities

Filming/ Camera Woman: Amy Nolan
Acting: Tag = Jonathan Lawson Hope Lost = Freya Lincoln
Directing: Freya with input from Jonny and Amy
Responsible for ordering camcorder – Freya
Responsible for props – Amy
Responsible for costume – Amy, Freya, Jonathan
Extra lighting equipment – Freya

Shooting Schedule

Fri 21 – Sat 22

Shoot train station scene.
Shoot in Hope’s house morning scene inc. bathroom and bedroom.


Fri 28 – Sat 29

Phone box scene up to body falling to the ground


Fri 5 – Sat 6

Prep for close up scene inc. Fake blood etc.
All close ups of the dead body parts


Fri 12 – Sat 13

Optional – any extra filming required in the city
Optional – any extra filming required in Hempnall


Order a Camcorder for: 21st NOV
28th NOV
5th DEC
And depending on whether completed or not 12th DEC also


All shooting in own time not lesson time due to there not being enough time to get to and from required locations.