Production Schedule

Shooting Script

Location Report

We have decided to film our opening in two different locations as we felt we needed a divider in our opening scene.

We decided that our first location should be an alley way that leads to the back of our school in Palmers Green. This location would be used to film the footsteps of our two characters. This is a convenient area to film as it doesn't get overcrowded with people meaning our filming procedure will be easier. Likewise, this location isn't far away from our second location meaning we can move equipment from each area quickly and easily.

Our second location is in school, the hallway and empty classroom. We felt the long winding corridors of our school would give a dark hunting affect which would lead the audience to the counselling session. Likewise, an empty hallway will create a scene of mystery as well as suspense. We chose a empty classroom to act as the counselling room, although the room wont be revealed too much it is perfect for the use of tables as well as pin boards. Furthermore, as some of the rooms are run down and dull it will create a more dramatic feel.

Location Report Form

 Location Name: St Anne's Catholic High School for Girls and the Access Road 

Address: St Anne's Catholic High School for Girls

               6 Oakthorpe Road               London N13 5TY

Contact Name:  Mr Foster

Phone: 02088862165

First Impression: As areas of our school are dull and old it would be appropriate to create a thrilling effect.

Existing Lighting: Indoor lighting

Ambient Lighting: N/A

Parking: N/A

• Close Police 
• Close Hospital
• Toilets
• Heating
• Air Conditioning

Sound Problems: Near a road (outdoor filming only)

House Power: Yes

Style: Standard

• Safe Neighbourhood

Immovable Objects: N/A

Casting Notes

Name: Ronan
Roll: Main Character/ Criminal
Age: 16 years old.

We chos e Ronan because he'll be reliable when filming, therefore, it'll make our filming process easier. Furthermore, Ronan is an A-Level Drama student meaning he'll be able to perform the role we have set effectively. Ronan is very familiar with acting and is comfortable taking on new roles and will complete the directed tasks. Casting Ronan as our main character also links with our target audience as he will be of the same age group as those we are pitching our thriller opening to.

Name: Molly
Roll: Victim
Age: 16 years old.

We chose Molly to play the role of the victim as she is also reliable meaning our filming process will be productive. Likewise, Molly completed Drama GCSE meaning she has experience with how to perform successfully. She has a lot of background experience and knows how to perform well while pursuing a believable character. Like Ronan, she is withing the age of our target audience, making our opening more appealing.








-Aimee

Story Board

This is an image of our story board which shows the different shots, sound, editing, titles and mise en scene which would be used in each scene in our thriller opening.

-Ellen

Annotations of Mood Board

Analysis Of Results From Questionnaire

After collecting answers from 20 people about their thoughts on thriller films, I was then able to look at each individuals answers and investigate any trends and apply this to our film treatment.

1.

Firstly, the majority of our answers came from females rather than males.

Females - 11

Males - 9

This doesn't directly affect the rest of our results or our plans for a thriller opening.

2.

The second set of results show the age group to which the respondent belongs to. It is clear that most of our answers have come from teenagers. This gives us useful results as the target audience for our film opening is teenagers. However, the answers from the other age groups will still be useful to perfect our idea and give us a wide scope to what the public like to see.

3.

From these results I can conclude that the most popular type of thriller film would be a Psychological thriller. As it is highly requested, we will improve out idea by basing it around the codes and conventions of a Psychological Thriller. 

4.

This question allowed respondents to write what they thought made a good plot to a thriller film. There was a range of answers but many of them included the same ideas such as the one above. As our idea is already based around suspense and isn't 'cliche', this is indicating that we are along the right lines to producing a successful opening.

5.

The next set of results show that most people prefer thrillers that are set in the 21st century, therefore, we will base our opening scene in the 21st century.

6. 

Our next question asked what age group the actors or characters in a thriller film would be preferred. There were no votes at all for child actors therefore we won't include this in our thriller opening. The most popular age for a male actor was 26 years + and female was 20 - 25 years. In response to this, we will try to use actors who look around these ages.

7.

This question, also linking to characters and actors, asked what famous actress would they most preferably like to see staring in a thriller film. From the results I can conclude that Natalie Portman was the most preferred and Sandra Bullock was the least.

8.

Similarly, this question asked the same as the above, however, in relation to male actors. From the results it is clear to say that the most popular actor to star in a thriller film was Leonardo DiCaprio and the least being Andrew Lincoln.

9.

This question asked the respondent what they thought was the most important technique in creating suspense out of: camera angles, music, lighting, sound and pace. All these codes and conventions are important in creating a successful thriller opening, however, we wanted to know what stands out most to the viewer. In conclusion, most voted that camera angles and music were the most important and most voted pace as the least important. Although we will include all these techniques in our thriller opening, we will keep in mind what will effect the audience the most.

10.

The last question allowed the respondent to write their own opinion about how much should be revealed in the beginning of a thriller film. Many of the answers we received said the same, that not a lot should be revealed as it should create suspense, an example being the one above. Our thriller opening may reveal too much, therefore, we will make sure to keep it as simple as possible, to keep the viewer gripped.

-Aimee

Thriller Movie Idea Summary

The plot of our opening scene for the thriller movie starts with a young male adult who becomes obsessed with a teenage girl he meets one day as he's roaming the street. The beginning scene shows the young male having a conversation with a councillor at a counselling session. The councillor asks the man lots of questions linking to the teenage girl that he met. As he's having the conversation with the councillor, flashbacks of the girl occur to him, a flashback of him murdering the girl and a flashback of a board with pictures of girls are pinned to it. To the councillor he reveals that he had in fact stalked and murdered the girl that he became so obsessed with. Throughout the opening the face of the councillor is not revealed, and at the end of the opening the camera zooms out of the shot of him and reveals that there is no councillor in the room, and it is the killer speaking to himself about the crime he's done.

-Ellen

Thriller Research Questionnaire

This is a survey which I have created as form of research into what appeals most to our target audience and the public, regarding thriller films.
-Aimee

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LP9SMDW

Title Sequences

To investigate what makes an effective title sequence, we watched the opening to the thriller films The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Se7en. Throughout the title sequence there are a series of connotations which link to events which take place during the films. To explore we made timelines for the opening titles of the film and took note of what sort of information was included about the production of the film and at what time it occured.  

-Aimee & Ellen

Psycho Codes and Conventions

Preliminary Task

This is our Preliminary Task which includes shot reverse shot and match on action.
We edited our video on Adobe Premiere Pro.
We used a series of techniques such as match on action to show the character walking through the door. Likewise, we applied the 180 degree rule in our task meaning the camera would follow the character when walking to the chair, but wouldn't turn more that 180 degrees. A range of mid shots were used to show the character's body language as well as shot reverse shot to show different sides to the conversation.
-Aimee & Ellen

Thriller Genres

Film Genres