THRILLER SCOOP IT

23/10/14 | RESEARCH | SCOOP-IT

Today we created a new Scoop-It account to develop our research and ideas for our thriller movies. Scoop-it is a useful, interactive online tool; you can frequently revisit it and make changes to the page. As it is online, this allows us to have a digital copy which is useful as it is easily accessible, simple and quick to edit. We can ‘scoop’ up some information from a variety of websites that allows us to develop our knowledge of the thriller/ horror genre.

My Scoop-It Account for the 'Thriller Codes and Conventions'. 

OUR PLAN FROM TODAY

9/10/14 | PLANNING | BRAINSTORMING

Today, we discussed the following

• We are going to create a psychological thriller, with a young teen (approximately 12) as the murderer. 
• The girl has a mental illness, we are thinking she will have multiple personality disorder, however we are going to research into this further to find a disorder that fits closest.
• Eleanor’s character hangs around her hometown after an early release from a psychiatric ward in hospital. Her parents believe she has become stable again and it shows her being innocent and behaved in front of her parents. Opening shows Eleanor sitting upright on basic (hospital) bed with someone signing an early release against doctors’ advice.
• Murderer was bullied and now seeks revenge; she walks along the streets of her hometown looking for new victims.
• She only targets girls for victims (Harriet and I will play the victims) we are the type of girls that used to bully Eleanor’s character. Eleanor sees Harriet and me bullying a young girl (played by our friend Niamh) and gets angry.
• We could film in: tunnel; lockers; girls changing rooms; streets; alleys. We are using rooms in each other’s houses for certain scenes.
• Harriet is letting us use her GoPro for action scene, ex. Escaping and running. We researched into abandoned buildings near by which we could go to and possibly use for filming. We also looked at them in order to get an idea of what we can use to look creepy. I know a few places in which we could film some scenes that are scary.
• We will show 5-10 second opening shot before titles which show Eleanor’s release. Then it goes to the opening title sequence which contains medical reports and papers which inform the audience of Eleanor’s mental history.
• Font – basic, clear, on top of mental health reports? Dimly lit room with papers scattered across large wooden desk. The forms on the desk will tell the audience about Eleanor’s background.
• Screen goes harsh artificial white with the name of the movie beats in time with a loud, thumping heart sound. Heart thumping sound goes on during titles and increases rate and volume.

PLANNING OUR PRODUCTION

09/09/14 | PLANNING | THE BRIEF

I am working in a group of three pupils including myself along with Harriet Carey and Eleanor McChesney. We have chosen Brief 7 (video), the opening sequence of a new film including titles, in any genre or mix of genres such as a comedy or thriller together with a storyboard. Maximum length is 3 minutes.

As I was absent during the lesson I was informed by my group of the ideas they had discussed. They had considered a psychological thriller/ horror genre which I strongly agreed with. Thriller/ horrors have lots of potential roots to go down along the lines of props, makeup and costumes, let alone the story…

I am no stranger to the horror genre and enjoy watching “scary” films regularly. I admire a few directors of successful horror films as it is a very difficult thing to create. Many people refute that they are scared by horror films, which may very well be the case, yet it can show a lack of acknowledgement to the work involved in the production. I do not scare easily, but when I allow myself to be completely immersed in a film I am more vulnerable and can feel the tension and emotions that hundreds of production people took time to create. I think it is a difficult task to tackle but I hope we can achieve a product that my group is proud of.

Zombie and paranormal horrors are difficult as they generally require more special effects, props, makeup and editing than psychological thrillers. This makes them both harder and easier to make. It would be harder because you have more to hire a larger amount of people with a wider range of skills. However, you can argue that psychological thrillers are harder as you have to rely more purely on the acting. 

'ZEN' OPENING ANALYSIS

During class we watched the opening sequence to a series called Zen. There were many obvious indicators that this programme is a crime drama. The programme ‘Zen’ is a BBC drama series that has an opening title sequence which clarifies the genre.

One example is a shot of a stone building where “Questura” which translates as Police Headquarters, which establishes a clear link to the crime/ detective genre.
Police connote action and criminal offences. 

We can identify the location almost immediately as there are a few shots of old Italian buildings and landmarks. This, alongside the colours of the Italian flag used, allows the audience to recognise that the programme is set in Italy.

Another indicator is the images of guns all over the screen in a deep red colour. This connotes violence and action, allowing the audience to envisage what the show consists of. The red is a deep, red which symbolises blood and therefore intense, dangerous situations.