Thriller props

For props we need items and other things to make the inside of our setting look like there has been sort of apocalypse these may include:
- Big boxes of simple and cheap food like soup.
-Messy empty boxes.
-Messy toiletries.
-Clothes.
-Debri.

We also need props to develop the character of our character and things he does such as the trap, for this we need:
-Axe.
-White/Blue contact lense.
-Tent.
-Strings.
-Bell.
-Cans.

Trap inspiration

The idea that we wanted give off was that someone had been in the hall for a long time and waiting for something to attack. Something that would do this is a spider, and a spider web is its trap. We wanted the trap to look as if it had taken a long time to make and covers a wide space of the set, using lots of strings with cans on them. We liked the idea of a spider web just more human, so we could use strings instead.

Real life inspiration

On the way back into house a noticed that our hallway could be an effective set for our thriller, its big and wide which could easily fit a tent in and with a little help could be converted into a more creepy looking piece of space. There is also a very old looking door, which looks scary. I don know if we should use it for sure as we have not seen many other examples however i think it could work. 

Further Research

Too look into what we are interested in putting in our opening thriller, we looked at some of the most famous thrillers around. Even though the plot of the narratives were completely different some shots had interested me and i wanted to give off a similar effect with our thriller. For example i liked the idea of the character looking at himself in the mirror in a serious way, for example in the opening of American Physcho (below)

I liked the idea of the character looking and reflecting on himself, however in this sequence the mirror is way too neat and tidy. For our thriller, i think a smash and grubby idea would have a dramatic effect on the audience. I had watched other opening intros and something that also had stood out was the text used for titles and the cast, which could potentially add a big effect. In particular the titles that caught my eye was the ones in "Se7en" the reason for this was because the text was constantly moving in sudden bursts giving it an eerie effect. Also the actually font is very gritty having small but effective effect on the audience:

I think similar use of font and movement of the text would be effective, however in ours i think there should only be 3 or 4 titles rather than many as it may take the attention away from the narrative.

Inspiration

To gain some more inspiration and ideas for certain shots, items and scenarios for our thriller opening, we used the internet as a research point in which we could find new ideas. We started off by typing in words associated with our idea, for example "big scary hall" and "apocalypse" and we were able to find pictures to help us establish what we wanted the hall (setting) to look like:

We liked the idea of the hallway being rundown, messy and not looked after. Therefore giving it the effect that it had possibly not been treated for a long time portraying some sort of apocalypse. We also liked the idea of having a shot looking down the whole hallway (like above), on the other hand we thought it would be more effect if it would be wider in order to fit everything in the shot. 

We then found out some interesting things when we researched apocalypse:

Even though we were not filming anything outside, we found pictures to what we wanted to portray what was outside. For example we wanted to give off the feeling everything was run down e.g.. socialisation, buildings transport etc... To show this inside we could show lack of goods e.g. not shaving, lack of food and lack of hygiene which would connote to the audience the character had not been outside in a while and also he was not able to get hold of certain goods that normally are easy to get hold of. 

Shots

We then decided to develop each point and put a camera shot that suited it.
 
 

• The man is sleeping in the tent and a close up of his face
• A sound makes the man stir and wakes him up. From a close up shot fear is shown within his eyes
• Shot of the trap consisting of all the strings and one of them vibrating signalling there is something there
• Shot from outside the tent, his shadow being shown and we can see him picking up the axe
• He unzips the tent, close up of the tent zip
• As he stands up with the axe in his hand there will be a close up of his face showing facial scars and an odd eye (different colour) indicating he has been attacked by something
• He slowly approaches the door the bang from the door getting louder
• Close up of the mans face showing fear as he walks towards to the door
• Long shot of him walking towards the door
• Over the shoulder shot  of him standing by the door waititng
• Extreme close up of reaction face when the noise goes off.

Plot narrative and narrowing down

As our idea was a bit vague, we got together in a meeting and wanted to narrow down our ideas. We wanted the thriller to open filming the man in the tent, showing his facial features and his overall scruffines to indicate that he has been in the tent for a while, also to strengthen this idea we wanted to have many props such as empty food packets and plates. To indicate the man is hiding from something and trying to catch something we wanted to focus on the series of strings acting as the trap and have several shots of the trap with titles over the top, following the trap. We then want the man to suddenly wake up as he is hearing the trap going off, he will then get out of the tent and find an axe to use as a weapon. Slowly we want the character to walk towards where the sound is coming from, building up masses of tension until he reaches the door where the bell is going off where he will slowly reach for the door handle then there will be a loud noise followed by a black screen with the title of our film.

Character List

We decided someone to suit this role, would be adam grant, our media teacher. As he was able to grow a beard and would fit perfectly for other aspects. 

Other films

 28 days later:

One of the films that inspired us to use the idea of an a apocalypse was 28 days later. The theme that we liked in the film was that everything was run down indicating that everyone was dead and society run down. However we wanted to add our own twist to it, which is why we used the tent inside etc... however the picture above is nothing like what our set would look like so we would have to find alternatives to create the effect of an apocalypse. 

Again even though this shot is filmed outside with more space and a more recognizable area, the things that tell us that it is an apocalypse are achievable, such as the litter on the floor. This is exactly what we are planning on having around the the tent.

Character Development

As we have an idea we are happy with, we wanted to focus on smaller things to add extra effect when filmed. Firstly we wanted to develop the Character. We had some specefic ideas that included:
-Facial injury, such as scar with a different coloured eye.
-A weapon, eg. an axe.
-Boiler suit, scruffy run down.
-Beard.
-Very scared and scared personality.
-Clever.

We wanted these aspects of our character to give off the impression as if he is being hunted by something and he knows how to fight it off, however he has been injured once as we can see through the facial injuries. We are still yet to decide on what is hunting him, however we are thinking something along the lines of a viral outbreak that has killed off a large population of the world.

Group Ideas

Within my new group we have come up with one particular idea that we are happy with and want to develop. It opens with a man in a tent, we get the impression that he has been in there for a while as he is very scruffy. Outside his tent is a trap which has many detatched strings coming off, also on a wall near him is loads of photos of 'something' that is hunting him, so the audience gets the impression he is being hunted. The opening sequence will follow the man seeing the trap going off and goes to find out what it is, we are still yet to develop this idea.

Group Change

As one student from our class has left, our groups have been cheanged around. My group now consists of Owen, Frankie, Mima and myself. We work well together and develop our ideas using everyones inputs.