The costume for the actor is a school uniform to portray him as young and vulnerable. Key props include a suicide note, family photograph, backpack packed with school books to weigh him down. The settings are a house where he wakes up and a swimming pool where he commits suicide, an unconventional method meant to impact viewers. Dark lighting and a link between dream/reality in the bath are important parts of the meticulously tidy mise-en-scene meant to be familiar to audiences.

1. Costume, Props, Setting, Mise-en-Scene

2. Costume Male Actor – There is only one actor in our final coursework thriller so it was essential to deliberate over a costume that would fit in and be appropriate to the storyline. After much consideration we felt that the most suitable costume would be for the boy to wear school uniform. The reason for this was because it shows him in a more vulnerable state because you see him as just a “school boy” who is young and naïve. As a result of this you will feel far more sorry for the character. It will also lead the audience to start asking more questions, for example, why is he in school uniform? Is he being bullied at school? These questions will stay in the mind of the viewers and will get them more involved in the opening sequence.

4. Props Note – He will write a note to his parents saying he is committing suicide. Family Photograph – This will be used when he is about to commit suicide and will be a key prop in the movie. Backpack – This prop will be used when he is packing his stuff to commit suicide. School Books – He will pack these into his backpack and they will weigh him down when he falls into the swimming pool. Watch – He will be wearing a watch and conscious of the time.We chose not to use lots of props to keep things simple and not overcomplicate things. Using too many props may confuse the audience and if you are confused early into the opening then you will lose concentration for the rest of it and are left uninterested and unsatisfied.

6. Setting There are going to be two main settings in the opening to our thriller. House – The house will be where he wakes up and gets ready. We chose to do it in a house because everyone can familiarise with this surrounding. A house is also the place where you are meant to feel most comfortable and safe which contrasts with the way the actor is feeling. Swimming Pool – We chose for the actor to commit suicide in a swimming pool because it is not conventional way for it to be done. This way of dying may also impact the audience more because it is many people fear to die by drowning.

8. Mise-en-Scene The type of lighting we will use for the mise-en-scene will be rather dark to fit in with the thriller genre. An important part of the mise-en-scene will be the bath in the bathroom. The bath is the link between dream and reality, when he is under the water he is in a dream and when he emerges it is reality. The mise-en-scene of the bedroom will be very tidy, unusually tidy for a teenage boy. We tried to make the mise-en-scene so that people can familiarise with it. We did not want to film outside of our comfort zone because we felt it would be easier for us to film at places we were accustomed to.