Costumes & Props

I chose the male character to wear a black hoodie and throughout the thriller opening he kept his hood up to keep his identity hidden. I made the male character wear all black to connote darkness and the colour black does represent a 'bad' character. The shoes for the male character were just the actor's ordinary shoes because I wanted the audience to relate to the character and identify with someone the character was wearing. So the character had qualities of just being any other ordinary person and maybe not a stalker like the girl character thinks he is.


For the girl character I made her wear a white blouse, black skirt with tights, high heels and a coat over the top to show that she is coming home from work so the audience can relate to this character because she is wearing clothes that the audience would wear or the audience would see someone else in their daily lives wearing something similar.

I chose the skirt to emphasize the girl's feminity, and maybe her vulnerability.

The coat is important because I wanted this to signify that she was coming home from work, by putting on the jacket she is covering up her work outfit and showing she is no longer working but also the coat can be used to cover herself up as well.

I chose the heels for the scene where the girl begins to runaway because the heels will slow her down, and the heels again emphasize her feminity.

'Curtis land'

Richard Curtis is an English director and has directed British films such as Notting Hill, Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral which he made for Working Title films. The term 'Curtis land' comes from Richard Curtis's view on Britain and how he portrays it in his movies. Richard Curtis normally repeats certain themes like actors, weather, work and love in his movies. Curtis has used Hugh Grant in a lot of his movies and the main theme of his movies is usually love. The Americans view Britain through a lot of Richard Curtis' movie's. The character's in Curtis' movies usually have low paid jobs or no jobs at all but live in huge houses which is unrealistic. Curtis reuses several swear words which are traditionally English like 'git' and 'bugger'. In Love Actually and Bridget Jones the holiday Christmas is used because it is essentially very British.

Location Stills

For my thriller opening I decided on the location to be at Eaton Park because it has several interesting buildings, and other things within the park. The trees which line the paths at Eaton look mysterious and eery at night-time, and the pillars around the buildings look interesting. The street lamps in Eaton Park look good againist the blackness of the sky because they create an orangey glow. The park looks interesting within the shots because there is a lot in it like the buildings, and the water in the pond.

shooting schedule

All filming was completed on Saturday 30th January.

audience profile

Age: 16-25 year old's because the lead actors in my thriller opening are 16-17 and the younger audiences will be able to relate to these characters.
Gender: either.
The audience prefer psychological thrillers according to my questionaire and I think most audiences prefer thrillers to be mainstream because a lot of audiences go to the movies because their favourite actor is starring in the movie which I discovered through quotes from people's thoughts about movies.
Expectations from a thriller: From the questionaire audiences are looking for a psychological genre, located somewhere totally unknown to them, and they want the thriller character to remain a mystery until the end. The audiences want the soundtrack to be instrumental, and most of them agreed that the plot was the main aspect of a thriller. The audiences also didn't mind which time period it was set in as long as all the aspects of a thriller were within the film. From the quotes I looked at from different movies some audiences are attracted to the movies because of the actor in the movie, or because of the high quality advert which could always be misleading the audience.
From the questionnaire I did people wanted the killer to be a mystery until the end and a movie which this audience might particularly like would be The Uninvited where the audience think they have guessed who the murderer or wrong doer is but when they reach the end of the movie it is revealed that the audience is wrong and they are left in shock when they leave the cinema. In The Uninvited the main character Anna returns home from a mental institution after trying to commit suicide after her mother's death and when she returns home she sees that her mother's nurse is now her stepmother. Anna and her sister believe that the stepmother killed their own mother and the sisters try to find clues about their mother's death which leads to the truth of what really happened the night of her mother's death. The movie starts to be quite predictable, but then the ending shocks the audience and everything the audience had worked out is wrong and the real truth is revealed. The movie is a psychological thriller which is what the audience wanted from the questionaire, and the killer is also revealed right at the end which is another thing the audience said they liked.
The audience said in the questionaire that they wanted the killer to remain a secret until the end of the film/opening and I will apply this to my own thriller opening. The audience believe they know what is going to happen, and who the killer is but then at the end it is revealed that the victim is in fact the murderer. The plot of opening is the main aspect, even though the girl in the opening is an important factor because she looks small, innocent and you wouldn't think she would kill anybody but it turns out she is the killer. I will provide stereotypical costumes for each of my characters so the girl will be wearing everyday clothes which the audience will relate to, and the boy/"stalker" will wear all black with his hood up so his identity remains hidden.

storyboard for thriller

In the first shot we have a vanishing point shot of a girl walking down the road. A view from the back of her, walking on the left hand side of the pavement. In the second shot we have a tracking shot up the body to reveal her costume, and to finish a close up of her face. In the third shot there is a long shot of the girl from the front, after the tracking shot. In the fourth shot there is a close up of the man's feet. In the fifth shot there is an over the shoulder shot of the girl walking into the park. In the sixth shot there is a mid-shot of the girl walking and looking over her shoulder kind of panicked. In the seventh shot there is a mid-shot of the guy walking and the shot is off his side his face still remains hidden. In the eighth shot there is a long shot from behind of the girl walking around the side of the building. In the ninth shot there is a shot through the bandstand railings which creates the feeling of being watched. In the tenth shot there is a side shot of the girl walking past the pond. In the eleventh shot there is a reversal shot between the boy's feet and the girl's feet, and their feet speed up throughout the shot. In the twelth shot there is a close up of her face looking over her shoulder. In the thirteenth shot there is a mid-shot of the girl looking confused, like she is searching for the guy who was following her. For the fourteenth shot there is a long shot of the guy walking away through the trees. For the fifteenth shot there is a close up of the girl taking her shoes off. For the sixteenth shot there is a tilt shot of the girl running away.

Collecting quotes from audiences about relevant thriller films

I have been researching audiences reviews on films which I have linked to my own thriller opening.

SIN CITY:
'think my favorite character is Deadly Little Miho..the only thing more terrifying than someone threatening you till you collapse is someone who doesn't say a word. then, you have no idea what they're thinking and knowing nothing is always scarier than knowing at least something...even if it is a lie...frank miller just kills me' - this reviewer is focusing more on the character aspect of the movie, but also how the actor portrays this certain character.
'Brittany Murphy (1977-2009) R.I.P' – audiences focus on the actors in the mainstream movies, and when something happens in their personal lives the audiences get involved.
'the actor line up is freakin all-star haha, i mean really? come on. insaane' - shows that they are viewing the movie for the actors line up.
Focusing on the song in the movie, a lot of quotes about the trailer's song so they are attracted to the movie because of the song on the trailer heightening it's suspense not what the trailer is showing you.
'best movie! great cast, superior dialogs, excellent camera work, brilliant story' 'Sin City is unique and will be remembered for a long time. It is so atmospheric and beautiful at the same time.' 'This movie was amazing. The plot, the character development, the gore and the brilliant use of colour.' - this quote shows that the reviewers enjoyed different aspects to the mainstream movie.
PSYCHO:
'‘Psycho’ is the original great horror movie. It’s the ultimate spine-tingler, the definitive creep-show, the perfect chiller.' - this reviewer is telling readers that it is the ultimate thriller, but doesn't go into detail about why it is a great thriller but the readers want to see it because they want to see if this review is correct.
'From master of mystery Alfred Hitchcock, ‘Psycho’ is the sort of film that’s simply impossible to forget about.' - this reviewer is focusing on the director of the movie, and the status this director has which is really high in the movie world.
'This isn’t a gory film, and what few instances of violence take place with relatively little actual on-screen violence. In fact, it contains just three big shocks, with the rest of the 110-minute running time devoted to setting scenes, building suspense and playing with our minds. But those three shocks comfortably better practically anything from the modern day canon of horror fair – Hitchcock sees to that nicely.' - this reviewer reveals what sort of movie Psycho is, and the reviewer doesn't like horror movies which Psycho isn't, and Psycho builds up suspense well and sets the scene well too.
HEAT:
'Heat is a masterful cops and robbers tale that shows both sides of the law in exquisite detail. Strong performances by Pacino and DeNiro (the scene of them sitting across the table from each other is possibly 5 of the most memorable minutes in film history). Excellent cinematography and perhaps the best gunfight (if not, one of the most intense) since Hard Boiled. More than worth the 3 or so hours.' - this reviewer points out two extremely famous actors who always bring a strong performance to a movie, so they are attracted to the movie because of the cast but then goes on to say that the movie has good cinematography, and one of the best gunfight scenes which indicates this movie is high budget.
'The human side of the characters is perfectly explored, especially concerning De Niro's character (Neil). His personal conflicts are as strong as his determination and skills as a gangster. This is the magic of this film and only two fantastic actors like Pacino and De Niro could represent it so totally. Congratulations to Val Kilmer that shined and performed exceptionally well under the huge shadow of Pacino and De Niro. A must see !' - this reviewer is also attracted to the two actors in the movie, Pacino and De Niro, and doesn't really discuss conventions of a thriller but does discuss the ways in which the actors portray the characters.
''Heat,' a film of epic proportions on a common placed scale, provides all the essentials of a great crime drama and then some. With a fascinating storyline, involving characters, and Mann's sometimes poetic, sometimes gritty directing, 'Heat' is arguably one of the best crime dramas.' - this reviewer doesn't mention the actors De Niro and Pacino but does mention the characters, but also says that the storyline is appealing which shows that this reviewer thinks that the storyline is the biggest aspect of a movie.