Thriller Planning

Basic plot:

When me and Alice sat down to plan the thriller we first had to first decide upon the basic format for our thriller. We decided that we would not use dialogue due to the fact that it would sound rough if we plan to use the school camera equipment. It would be much smarter for us to use non-diegetic sound throughout the scene. Secondly we decided on what we thought would make our thriller stand out, gender and social status were our first ideas, but after much consideration we decided that it would be much better to have a middle aged woman as the centre of attention. The image I had in my head was a far more deviant version of 'Jackie Brown'.
We then had to start work on the shot list. Without dialogue there would be very little point in using the 180 degree rule, however, to contrast victim and killer we may have used some form of the rule with extreme close ups.
The shot list is as follows:

1) The camera is facing from some distance away at the second story front windows of a house. The camera does not need to be parallel, it can be a high or low angle... The shot will be taken at night time and the lighting will come entirely from the room that the camera is focused on. There will be a woman in this room and she will be walking around in a hurry, picking items up etc. The camera will slowly zoom into the top left hand corner of the window, where the production company's name will appear. I took actually spent a lot of time deciding which corner of the window to zoom into, I decided on the top left corner mainly because we right from left to right, so if we were to zoom into any corner we would feel more comfortable with the right hand side.... I decided that if we are already reversing gender roles then why not build up to this by reversing the shots as well.
2) The previous shot has faded to white and now a new shot fades in. This shot is of a car park, the camera is facing down a hill looking into the car park. The shot is an over the shoulder shot, we see the hair of a woman so we know that this is the character from before. She is looking down at two men in the car park. I want to trick the audience by reversing the shot so that we see the men looking up at the woman but It would be hard to do this without breaking the 180 degree rule, however, I shall try my best to succeed.
3) we shoot from the floor for the next shot, it is an extremely low angle, we see one of the men from the car park walking towards the camera, as he comes closer and closer he covers more and more of the shot, finally he walks through the shot, revealing the woman from before to be walking behind him at some distance.

4) the final shot shows an elevator, the man presses the button and waits for the lift to reach him, when it does the woman is there, the camera moves slowly to the left to show a blank wall. We hear the diegetic sound of fighting and the film title suddenly appears on the wall along. The title will be in the classic Quentin Tarantino font and colour (yellow).
The idea of the first 3 scenes is to quickly show that there are two characters, both equally deviant, one a man one a woman, in the fourth scene we know that they have a fight but we do not know who started or won the fight. After the forth scene fades out the words '4 Weeks earlier will appear upon a black screen'. This shows the audience that this is in fact the end of the film, and to understand the history behind the characters and what happened at the lift they must watch the events of the previous weeks. The idea that this film is non linear not only helps create suspense straight away but it also insures that the audience stay to watch the rest of the film.

Essex Boys

Essex Boys is a film directed by Terry Winsor, the film was made in the year 2000 and it is based around the Murders of three drug dealers in 1995. Below are the opening scenes.

The first scene we see shows a garage door being opened, the garage is very small creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. The character of Billy, who has just opened the door turns on several lights, this illuminates the room showing cobwebs and dirt. The way in which the shot comes from within the room and not from the character is what takes this scene away from looking like a horror and more like a thriller. The character moves around in a cheap black suit and starts to narrate in an essex accent. The character speaks about a man called Jason, who has just been released from jail. The shot moves to show the view from the passenger seat, the shot shows the windscreen wipers cleaning mud from the glass. A man is standing under a lamp infront of the car. This character is obviously Jason, his stance shows dominance and the dirty glass symbolises the difference between Jason and Billy. Jason is dressed in a leather coat and a very unflattering yellow patterned shirt. This links to the character of Bill from Kill Bill, because both men are dressed in a cheap and shoddy way, this shows that the characters are trying to give of the image of power, even though they do not have as much power as they'd like. 

The second scene shows a car driving slowly down into a tunnel, this once again creates a very claustrophobic atmosphere whilst also implying that being with Jason alone is dangerous. The car slowly gets further and further away from the camera as it drives into the tunnel, showing that Billy is digging himself a hole in his situation with Jason. The tunnel itself looks a lot like the barrel of a gun, this scene may be used again with an actual gun to show that Billy made the wrong choice by driving in the tunnel.

The third shot shows Jason sitting in the back of Billy's car with his arms behind his head, this shows that he is very calm and relaxed, we then see through the windscreen that Billy is far from relaxed. The comparison between the two characters shows that Billy is not the kind of person that would act like Jason and that Billy is the more favourable character.
As we watch Billy drive the lights from the tunnel roof shine down, creating jail bars on the windscreen, this shows us that the characters actions are going to be quite deviant and also that Billy knows the possible consequences of his actions. As the characters leave the scene the camera pans to the right to show a 'Welcome to Essex' sign. This is another cultural signifier, it helps show that the film is following some element of truth, for example that it is based on a true story.
The next shot is a point of vue shot from Billy as he watches Jason, the narration talks about how Jason wanted to meet a friend, that he knew from before he went to jail. The shot contrasts well with the calm narration because from the chair leg in his hand and the look on Jasons face we see that the meeting is not with that of a friend. we see from to views as Jason attacks, firstly from the crowd overlooking the fight, and secondly from Billy as he looks through the windscreen. The first shot shows that this kind of behavior is not uncommon, because the crowd are cheering on the fight. The second shot shows that the character of Billy is incredibly scared and is starting to truly understand the situation he has placed himself in.

Witness

Witness

The film 'Witness, which was directed by Peter Wier in 1985 is about an Amish boy who witnesses a murder at a train station in Philadelphia. The first shot within the murder scene shows the small boy looking up at a large statue, The statue seems to be some form of war memorial and this is an important symbol because the Amish boy does not understand war and modern society. We also see his innocence when the camera angle is from the statue looking down at the boy, The way in which he looks up (with his large hat creating a Halo) shows that he is bewildered by the norms of this new society. The next scene shows the young boy and his mother sitting alone in the vast empty station. The small boy asks to go to the toilet and forgets his hat, his mother reminds him and puts it on his head. This to me sums up the Amish community and the child's personality, not only does it show that they are keeping themselves innocent so that they do not become part of the apparent evil of our communities. The boy is so innocent that when he enters the toilets not only does he smile at a strange man but also leaves the toilet door unlocked and slightly askew. This shows that he does not understand danger or in fact any for of evil. We see the small gap in the toilet door throughout the following scene as two men enter the toilets after him. The two men brutally attack the man and kill him.

This is a very sudden turn of events, this shows the boys sudden change of emotion, from being safe to in danger. One of the murderers is washing his hands when the small boy lets out a small noise (something between a grunt and a squeal). The imagery of a murderer casually washing his hands usually shows guilt, but in this situation the casual way in which he washes shows no guilt within the character. The Murderer (who has heard the noise) starts to kick in the doors. The boy changes his heart and locks the door, This shows that he now understands danger. when the man gets to the final door (in which the boy is situated) he cannot open it, as the man kicks the door the small boy climbs under the side of the cubicle and into the next basin. As he does this he drops his hat on the floor, when he picks it back up he does not place it on his head, this is because the halo which used to show is innocence no longer has an relevance to him. 

Possible case Studies

1) Reservoir Dogs (1992)
A thriller about several criminals who after a failed jewelery heist return to a warehouse only to begin suspecting each other of being a police informant. After watching this thriller I instantly went through all of the other Quinten Tarantino (The films director) films which had managed to navigate around my search for every film in existence. This film would make a good case study because within the 99 minutes that we are glued to the screen and seat, there is a perfect build of suspense and tension between the characters. The camera angles are also highly effective and I have already thought of 5 camera angles to include within my own thriller, they are not recreated shots from within the films because that lacks originality, instead they are shots which have entered the vast emptiness of my mind whilst I intake the film.

2) The second Film I could use as a possible case study is Memento (2000)
The film stars Guy Pearce as a young man hunting for his wife's killer, He suffers from short term memory loss and must use photos and tattoos to remember important facts about the man he is searching for.
The film is non linear and every scene we see is the memory of the scene before, this overlapping system leads to several different interpretations of the same situation. This would make a good case study because it slowly builds not only suspense but also because it keeps the audience thinking and would help teach me the techniques used to make a film more entertaining and gripping when watched.
3) I spent a long time thinking about what my third potential case study would be, at first I thought that 'The day of the Jackal' would make an interesting study. This idea was quickly removed due to several reasons, one reason is because of definitions. Language is always changing and therefore has changed a lot since 'The day of the Jackal' was aired in 1973. This therefore means that the film itself may not fit the modern definition of a Thriller. Another reason is because the film itself is hard to acquire and having watched it quite long ago I doubt that with just memory it would make a sufficient case study. Finally I narrowed my choices down until I decided that my third case study would be 'Inglorious Basterds'. The reason behind choosing another Quentin Tarantino film was because with my cravings for more of his films the only logical answer was to involve his most recent work. I believe that 'Inglorious Basterds' stuck out was not just because it was his most recent work, it was most likely because it was so far from his usual work. 'Inglorious Basterds' is set within an alternative history in which the Americans succeed in an attempt to kill Hitler. The film would make a good case study due to the situation of the Jew's hiding in Nazi occupied france, this creates excellent tension on stage, whilst also creating a surreal evil within the strong Nazi characters within the Film.

Preliminary Evaluation

Preliminary Task

When I first started work upon the preliminary task I instantly wanted the dialogue to be the key feature, in my minds eye I imagined capturing the perfect scene between our teenage actors. After several seconds I realised that I was going about this entirely the wrong way, when filming for the first time, we are not trying to create a cult classic, instead we are merely supposed to show that we can hold a camera without spontaneously combusting or falling out of a window. 

With this new, slightly improved mindset, I wrote a script and set about to the important business of finding the best shots. The end product is what I can only describe as being a 'colourful checklist', where each shot that was listed is shown one after the other. I know that this was not exactly the most imaginative system but with a preliminary task I personally believe that the best way to flourish is to merely successfully do everything that was asked of us.

From the preliminary task I have gathered one thing, dialogue will not work without a boom. The sound is so clunky and irritating that either we add a warning at the beginning of our video, or we find some non-diegetic sound and use it to replace the diegetic sound. 

The second thing I have learnt is that we need to think outside of the very small box that is commonly referred to as 'logic'. For this outburst I would of course need to be very ambitious and somewhat over prepared. Seeing as I currently have no idea how I will manage this I must make haste to the drawing board and work on either the use of shadows or darkness, for they would be the hardest shots to capture.

My original ideas behind my Thriller

From my persepective, there are three ways to make a great thriller, these three things are not what makes a thriller but personally what should be included to make a thriller successful.

1) Dialogue:

Dialogue is by far one of the best features of any extraordinary film due to its effect on the audience and ability to create tension and suspense between characters. For example, Pulp Fiction is a long stream of perfectly written dialogue. The script is written in such a way that throughout the film that the dialogue does not give the effect of being informative, instead the film is portrayed to the audience as being a sequence of events. The very idea that watching a film should be like watching extracts from potentially real events, is what most films miss out on having, I believe that most modern thrillers are instead seen more as being a story which leads from A to B. This simple story technique does not allow the audience to truly emerse themselves within the plot-line and therefore does not allow the audience to see any form of tension of suspense.

2) The Camera Angles:

A film of course work with a well written script, but without a visual aspect, I doubt many people would watch or appreciate the film. And so came about the unintentional invention of camera angles and shots. The visual side to films sadly dominates the audio side, and therefore films like Avatar can entertain an audience with beautiful scenes whilst having a script and storyline equal to the conversations shared between children and toys at a lonely teddy bare tea party.

Certain shots are what create amazing films, within Animal Kingdom, there is one scene were the Josh (the main character) is standing in a hallway, he has a blank emotionless look on his face and slowly looks behind him to see the police run from one side to the other of the hallway. This shot stuck with me because it not only uses an amazing angle but it also utilised the characters facial expressions to adapt the imagery of the shot.

Another amazing shot is in fact Quinten Tarantino's commonly used 'Car boot shot' which is used in 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Pulp Fiction', 'Jackie Brown', 'Kill Bill' and 'Death Proof'. The angle of the camera is placed in a car boot and looks up towards one or more other characters, the camera symbolises somebody within the car and it portrays the characters above not only as being dominant but also as being deviant. This shot is also used in 'Inglorious Basterds' but from the forest floor instead of a car boot.

3) The Actors:

The largest effect on how people perceive a film is the actors playing each part. The way an actor looks and acts can change the script entirely, for example if Bill Murray was born with a less glum looking face but the same acting abilities, then groundhog say would of been seen in a less humorous way. 

All great films have had great actors flourish from them, this is because these certain actors are good at the role they played, for example Hugh Grant is not inept because he knows that his best suiting role is as a british romantic. If he were to try and star in another awful Hulk film, yes it would be funny, but he would not pull off the role successfully.

I have decided that I shall base my thriller upon some of if not all of these three rules... I shall also jazz up the name of the rules so that I may add another small glimpse of hope to the world of potential media success. The Three Filming Forms, seems like a fitting name and now I shall decide how to utilise each 'Form' within my 2 minutes of thriller filming.

1) Dialogue normally slowly builds over time, and if there is one thing we are not given it is time. To have a two minute scene of dialogue would show that we understood about the 180 degree rule, but it would show no real talent with a camera, merely scripting.

2) If we have already ruled out the idea of complex and well written dialogue then we shall add more effect upon the actors and camera angles.

3) If we are to use camera angles then we must show skill without danger, I will most likely wrack my brains for several days before concluding that in fact my mind is a barrel of hope and that I understand millions of never before shot scenes.

4) With good scenes a plot must be amazing, or at least as amazing as a plot can be within 2 minutes.

5) Actors, if we are intending on using actors that fit the roles then we would most likely need a stern looking man with a strong jawbone etc... I personally believe that this is to mainstream and that if anything we should have someone who doesn't fit the role and then adapt them so that the stereotype we are fighting is what makes this character not only fit the role well but also work better than the stern man.

6) The stereotype shall be that of a young female doing what a male character would usually do within thriller films.

7) Finally we need to link both the character and camera with the idea of suspense and tension, this is because the Three Filming Forms (I really wanted to say it again) are created to fit any film, not just thrillers, in order to create a thriller we must add in thriller features as well.

8) With the previous 7 steps followed to some level of success we should have the basic structure to our Three Filming Forms Thriller... 

Kill Bill Vol 1 Intro

 Bill Vol 1

This is the introduction to a thriller by Quinten Tarantino, from these few minutes we, as an audience, are instantly gripped. The film starts with a black screen, over the diegetic sound of pained breathing. We are left for only 2 seconds with this, before an extreme close up of a blood covered woman hits the screen in black and white. These 3 seconds have already been used wonderfully to not only add suspense but to also create an image of classic thrillers. This close up is left for another 8 seconds before any other sense of action is added, this if anything is to add suspense within scene. The only time we see the camera move in the entire introduction, this shot is very low and only covers the feet, this not only means that we cannot see the face of the actor but also that the man is the dominance within the room. The best feature within any of Quinten Tarantino's films is dialogue, and Kill Bill is no exception, the first 5 words are an instant hit. "Do you find me sadistic?" are the first words of the film, and in a way should be the last. The entire film is just the story of how people are sadistic and how they are. I believe that this is one of the best structural devices used within the entire film. The second best feature of any Tarantino film is the camera angles and shots used. In this scene we see the dominant man leaning over the deviant woman and wiping blood from her face with a handkerchief labeled Bill. These two devices work hand in hand to create an entire plot within 20 seconds, The Title is Kill Bill, and the man within the shot is named Bill, this means that we already know the that this woman plans to kill this man and that he has greatly pained her in a somewhat sickening manner. To end this short introduction we see the woman crying as bill shoots her in the head. This is very sudden and adds tension upon our tower of suspense, we are left wondering whether or not this is a flash back or whether or not the end is in fact the beginning as "do you find me sadistic?" once implied.