Two teenage girls go for a walk and take a photo together. They notice a shadowy figure in the background which spooks them. As one girl drops her phone, they begin running away. The antagonist chases the girls through fields and woods, splitting the girls up. One girl gets lost alone in the woods and is approached from behind by the antagonist. Her phone then rings, leaving the story on a cliffhanger. The film aims to include mystery, challenges to genre conventions, and suspense.
2. SHORT LIST AND IDEAS
In coming to our final decision on what our
film should contain and what we should
reconsider, we thought about the
practicality of our ideas. In trying to find a
story that is also reasonable, in terms of
resources and accessibility, we had to
compromise to reach our final narrative….
3. NARRATIVE
In our opening, we have two teenage girls who have decided to go on a walk together.
When walking they go to take a photo together on the front camera and whilst doing so realise
a shadow like figure in the background which spooks them, as a result of this Catherine drops
her phone and they start to pick up the pace.
The antagonist starts to chase after them through fields, over a bridge and into a woods.
In the woods the two girls split up and get lost and whilst one is alone calling for the other, the
antagonist comes up behind the girl and then the phone suddenly rings which is the final
scene; by leaving on a cliff hanger this adds to the suspense and thrill which ultimately
conforms to thriller generic conventions.
•
The enigma
•
Sense of mystery
•
Challenges, conforms and develops the genre conventions
6. LOCATIONS
We have decided as a team that our filming location will be in the village of
Crick. This is because two of our team members live here where we can
base ourselves, and the other two team members live a 5 minuet car/bus
journey away in West Haddon. Crick is therefore extremely accessible and
familiar to all of us, and therefore we know exactly which locations within the
village will be necessary to us.
The location of our film is meant
to look like a wood, and therefore
we have decided to do some
filming at the back of Cracks
Hill, in order to gain an
atmosphere in which large trees
and bushes are present. For this
reason also, we decided the Crick
Millennium Woods would be a
useful filming location for our
Thriller.
An worn out wooden gate is located at
the entrance of the millennium
woods, and therefore would create an
unsettling atmosphere as the
antagonists enter danger.
In order to create rising suspense to the main thrill of our opening, we felt the lead up
to the woods should be in a quiet, isolated path. Therefore we agreed that the
countryside paths that run parallel to the fields in Crick would be perfect for this
tension to be made.
In order to conform to the thriller
genre, we wanted to incorporate water
into our filming to show isolation and
vulnerability. Therefore the canal in
Crick and the old fashioned looking
bridge that leads over it, would be
symbolic to prove the obstacles the
protagonists will have to face within our
film, incorporating the water convention
at the same time.
11. PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
PRE-PRODUCTION
POST-PRODUCTION
Date
Action
Date
Action
10th November
Buy a Balaclava off eBay to ensure it has arrived
in time for shooting date. Keep the balaclava in
Crick, ready for shooting on 18th November.
20th November
Media lesson
Camera already booked, upload all video shots
onto the Macs.
10th November
Buy a plain baby pink and yellow t-shirt from
Tesco ready for shooting.
20th November 1
hour after school
Go through all media clips and decide which
ones are necessary and which ones are useless.
Rid of any clips that will be un-useful.
11th November
Book camera and tripod from media department
for Monday the 18th November and Wednesday
20th November.
21st November
Media lesson
Place media clips in order of sequence, no
clipping or editing.
11th November
Media lesson
Search and save non-copy right music in order
to suit the needs of our film.
22nd November
Media lesson
Cut and trim clips in order to make them flow and
match action.
15th November
Ensure all outfits ready for shooting are at
Catherine’s house in Crick where we will meet
before filming. (Yellow/Pink t-shirt, girls jeans,
denim skirt, tights, converse x2, balaclava, black
hoodie, black jeans and boots.)
22nd November 1
hour after school
Cut and trim clips in order to make them flow and
match action.
25th November
Media lesson
Add any transitions and all titles and subtitles to
the clips.
17th November
Charge Effie’s iPhone 5 In order to ensure it is at
full working capability for phone scene. Bring it
with Effie from West Haddon to Crick for phone
scenes.
26th November
Media Lesson
Re-watch thriller opening and seek for any
improvements that need to be made.
18th November
All team members meet in Crick at Catherine’s
house at 3.45pm in order to begin filming at 4pm.
27th November
Media Lesson
Upload thriller opening to YouTube and apply to
all blogs.
13. COSTUMES
Antagonist (Oliver Caswell)
The antagonists face will be concealed in a balaclava.
This is so no facial expression is exposed, in order to
add enigma and mystery to the fearful character. This
means nothing can be distinguished of his face, which
is very common within the thriller genre in order to
keep the audience in suspense. The colour will be
black to represent darkness and evil, yet the eye and
mouth holes symbolise he is watching and his human
capabilities.
He will be dressed in a black hoody, with black jeans
and shoes to conform to the stereotypical thriller
genre, of the antagonist being in dark clothing to
symbolise evil and mystery. This will allow the
audience to feel included and have acknowledgement
of the good and bad characters within the film.
14. COSTUMES
Protagonist (Kate)
Protagonist (Catherine)
The victim protagonist Kate, will be dressed in a
baby pink t-shirt, in order to reflect her feminine
and innocent personality and to forewarn the
audience that this could cause her to fall into unhelpable danger.
The other victim protagonist Catherine, will be
dressed in a yellow t-shirt, to produce a contrast
between the dark and evil figure and the two
victims. The colour yellow will symbolise to the
audience her happiness, innocence and naivety
to the day, allowing them to understand that she
will be an extremely easy target to the antagonist.
She will be wearing jeans to represent her laid
back approach to the day, as she is unaware that
danger is headed her way. It will put the audience
into suspense, as the jeans symbolise the
normality of the day she is enduring, and that this
could happen to anyone adding thrill to the film.
Kate will be wearing Converse to also reinforce
this, and to imply she is a stereotypical teenage
girl.
She will be wearing a denim skirt and tights, to
represent her femininity and her vulnerability to
the situation. It is also regular clothing for a
teenage girl to be wearing, and therefore will
make the audience feel it is more realistic and
believable. She will be wearing Converse to also
reinforce this, and to imply she is a stereotypical
teenage girl.
15. PROPS
Mobile phone (iPhone)
Gloves (for the antagonist)
We are basing a mobile phone in our thriller film
in order to bring the modern day common use
of technology into it, to make it a more relatable
and realistic experience to the audience. This
will add thrill to the film, as it will make the
audience feel unsafe, and force them fear of it
happening to them. A mobile phone is also in a
derelict area the only option of help and
escape, and therefore the use of this will create
a path way to lead the victims to hope of
escape.
As hands throughout the thriller genre
represent dominance, controlling
personalities and power, the use of black
gloves on the antagonist will add a twist of
enigma to the powerful figure, and make him
appear a more concealed and sly character.
This is highly important to conform to the
thriller genre, as the antagonist is normally a
character of extreme mystery and not much
information is ever given away about them.
16. CAST LIST & CREW
Cast List
We have chosen to include people within our group to be in
the filming as we can then make sure that everyone can
then ensure everyone present knows exactly what the story
is and exactly how we want it filmed.
Ollie Caswell – Antagonist
Kate Hoyle – Protagonist ‘Kate’
Catherine May – Protagonist ‘Catherine’
With Catherine being a part of a drama group outside of
school, this also influenced the groups decision and her
volunteering to play a role within our story.
Crew List
Catherine May –
Character / Cameraman
Effie Price –
Director / Cameraman
Kate Hoyle –
Character / Cameraman
Ollie Caswell –
Character / Cameraman
We also know that as we all want to succeed and want to
deliver the best possible film, that Ollie, Kate and Catherine
will all be reliable in committing; whereas if we asked
somebody else to help film they might not be as dedicated
as someone outside of our group.
Another factor in our decision is that filming in Crick, means
that both Catherine and Ollie are able to easily film any other
shots that might not necessarily need Effie or Kate to be
present for.
