Shot List

We will have an array of shot types in our opening thriller scene. Because we will be using a car, we will have to use close ups of the person driving the car (Jake), this will show his emotions and the main character in the scene. There will also be panning shots of the car on different roads this will show he is going somewhere and will be driving at a normal speed showing he is not anxious and running away from anything. He will also go to a McDonald's drive through where there will be a 180 degree conversation with the driver and McDonald's employee. After this he will drive to the graveyard this is where there will be long and mid shots of the graveyard. There will also be a 360 degree shot of the graveyard showing the size of the location. Other shots will include close ups of the person in the boot, close up of murder weapon and more.

Production Roles/Location/List of Equipment

Production roles

Michal Kolesnik will be operating the camera and directing it. Michal will be good at this because he enjoys working with the camera and finds it easy to use.

Jake Burroughs-Catton will be producer/editor and also acting in the thriller as the driver. Jake is good for this role because he firstly can drive, also he has good skills at editing on final cut and photo shop meaning he can make the film look professional.
Alex Johnston will be sound producer and acting in the thriller as the victim. Alex will be good at this role because

Location
We will be filming in 3 different locations, MC Donald's drive through, a graveyard and on roads.
Safety will be important in our filming due to most of it being on the road and in a car.

We have permission from McDonald's to film on their drive through as long as we do not film inside. We are in the process of asking to film on the graveyard which should be O.K. to do. Lastly, due to the roads being a public place we are allowed to film on these premises.

List of Equipment
Video Camera
Normal Camera
Tripod
Dolly

We will also be using our own equipment such as a car and an axe/spade to use as the murder weapon.

Our Ident

This our Ident which we made for our thriller opening:




We made our ident on photo shop by creating six different layers of images and text and merged them together. To make them move around we used final cut express and added the bass lines by making them on garage band.

Garage band:

We used garage band and made our bass lines using the bass tools on the program by clicking on the piano and making our required bass notes.

Here is a screen shot of our garage band program:

Props and Costumes

Props and costumes being used in our thriller opening scene are as follows:

The man driving the car:
He will be wearing teengers clothes such as jeans, hoody and a t-shirt throughout the scene, he will also have a prop which will be some Ray Ban glasses and an axe/spade. He will be driving in his car very normally like nothing has happened.

The person in the boot of the car:
He will be wearing normal clothes such as jeans and a t-shirt with perhaps a hat. He will be tied up round the legs and wrists with tape over his mouth. He will seem scared, confused and look very afraid of what is going to happen.

The setting will be around Cambridge with shots of the car going down roads and corners. He will also stop off at McDonald's drive-through making him look normal and he will not harm anyone. Some of the film will also be shot in the car to give close ups of the driver and the car he is driving.

Here is the costume Jake will be wearing:

Our Ideas

Our thriller

The main story line is that there will be a car driving normally on the road and the radio will be playing, he will be going about his business in a normal way, stopping at McDonalds etc. After a while the driver pulls over and stops in a secluded area such as a graveyard or a forest and opens the boot of the car. Inside there will be a man tied up, the driver will pull the man out and torture him. Then the driver will take an envelope from the man and drive off. It will be shot during the day to create a more normal atmosphere.

Analysis of Thriller Opening

I have decided to analyse the thriller opening of the film Catch me If You Can. Although it is not a conventional thriller, it shows someone running away (Leonardo Dicaprio, as Frank Abagnale) from danger ( The FBI and Police). The beginning of the film is animated throughout and shows Frank Abagnale going through different stages of running and different types of transport he uses. It also shows the types of lifestyle he lived and how he was living the high life until it all went wrong. The music in the opening scene could be classed as a type of jazz, however during the opening it changes to a different type of music which could interpret a change in the story and leaves questions even right at the beginning of the film. I have seen the film and the beginning is a very accurate short opening which tells the story in a faint but accurate way to leave lots of questions and make the viewer kep watching.

Thriller Contents

Thriller Contents

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres. Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains.

Thrillers often take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger: law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen or aviators. However, they may also be ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident.





The example Se7en is an external mind game from the person who is performing the seven deadly sins which are Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Wrath and Sloth. The reason it is an external mind game is because the person performing these deadly sins is playing mind games with the detectives and the investigators into the murders. He also leaves clues at the beginning of the film to show that he will try to do these seven deadly sins. Our group enjoyed the opening of Seven because it leaves a lot of clues and questions to make the viewer think into the story and try to work out what is going on.



Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. However, this genre often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre. Also, occasionally this genre will border into the also wide-ranging Horror genre.

An example of a psychological thriller is Memento because he has an internal mind game and he cannot remember what he has done and what he has not done. He also does not understand if what he is seeing/thinking is reality or not.



Personally, I think this film is a good representative of a psychological thriller because it shows an internal mind game in the film which is a key aspect of a psychological thriller. Also it does creep into the horror genre because his behavior leads to murder and he does not even know he has killed someone, which shows he is confused and in a very disruptive state of mind.









By Alex Johnston