Our finished Thriller opening

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Filming

Filming wasn't as difficult as we'd expected. We thought that it'd be extremely long winded and challenging, but we only encountered a few problems. The main issue we had was continuity. Between takes we would go into different rooms to move equipment or plug in extension leads for lights, and we kept leaving doors open and wires in shots. We didn't realise this until we'd done our first night of filming and watched the footage back, which gave us more to do the following filming session.

We also experienced difficulty with lighting. Originally we were going to film the girl getting ready in her bedroom. However, when we set up the camera the lighting was really dark and you couldn't see very clearly at all. We moved the scene to the bathroom, which was a lot brighter lit, and the picture improved a bit, but was still dark. We tried holding lamps up and changing camera settings but it was still dark. In the end I flipped a switch on the inside of camera, and the lighting suddenly went extremely bright and clearer. We had to re-film a few sections with the new lighting properties but after that we were a lot happier with the picture.

Even though we experienced problems, we also thought filming went more successfully than we expected. The second day of filming was easier than we expected, mainly down to our actor Ollie who was very professional and easy to direct. This meant we made or good time and could re-do any shots we weren't completely happy with. We also found using the camera and framing up a shot easier than expected. I think the prelim task was a definite help for this, because we both felt quite confident using the camera and tripod.

Our thriller location

By Joseph Cocklin

This is the image of the doorway to our location. This is a very important part of our thriller opening as this is the place where we first see our stalker, we needed to know what this part of the location looked like for camera set-up reasons.

Doorway width: 2ft 6.

Doorway Height: 6ft 4.

This is the hall way space where both characters in the opening interact.

width: 4ft 9.

Lenght: 10ft 6.

This is shot of our locations kitchen. This is important as it is where we first start to establish the character of the stalker. The lighting is really good in this as it is really bright, and also has outer lighting when in pitch black from the garden.

Lenght: 15ft 6.

Width: 4ft 4.

This is the staircase, This will be shown twice in our film for entrances and exits.

Width: 2ft 4.

This is the bedroom of thriller opening, this is where we will film the majority of our opening, where both characters will intertwine. However there is bad lighting in this room so some shots may have to be compramised because of lighting.

Width: 9ft 6.

Lenght: 10ft 4.

This is the bathroom of our location will show the young girl getting ready for her night out and will also have the last shot of the opening. This room is very bright so will be easy for close ups and other shots on the young girl.

Width: 6ft 7.

Lenght: 7ft 2.

Our Thriller Target Audience

By Joseph Cocklin

Our thriller opening is a psychological thriller, this type of movie would attract a certain type of audience. From researching other psychological thrillers such as:

Seven

This thriller portrays the exploits of a deranged serial-killer. His twisted agenda involves choosing seven victims who represent egregious examples of transgressions of each of the Seven Deadly Sins. He then views himself as akin to the Sword of God, handing out horrific punishment to these sinners. Two cops, an experienced veteran of the streets who is about to retire and the ambitious young homicide detective hired to replace him, team up to capture the perpetrator of these gruesome killings. Unfortunately, they too become ensnared in his diabolical plan.

Memento

Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line movies forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.

Silence of the lambs

Clarice Starling, a young intelligent FBI trainee, has been sent to the Batlimore state hospital for the Criminally insane to interview an inmate Dr. Hannibal – the cannibal – Lecter. A brilliant and renowned psychiatrist turned serial killer. She must match wits with Lecter to gain clues in the search for “Buffalo Bill” – an unknown psychopathic serial killer.

All of these following three films have certificates of fifteen to eighteen. Seeing as our thriller movie has content of a young girl being stalked by a older man, and content which is not suitable for young children, I would say our certificate would be round about the same as the other movies fifteen to eighteen. I would see adults watching this type of movie as it has mature themes and will be testing the audience's intelligence with the plot and they will have to have a open mind watching the movie.

Props List

Written by Holly

Below is a list of the props that we need to film our opening sequence-

GIRL'S BEDROOM
-radio
-hair dryer
-makeup bag (lipstick, mascara, eyeliner etc)
-wine glass
-photo frame
-hairbrush
-purse

KITCHEN
-clock~ preferably an analogue clock
-white latex gloves
-large kitchen knife
-grapefruit (several, to allow for practice and retakes)

Production Schedule

Production Schedule: Written by Laura

Filming: We will be filming on Wednesday the 2nd of December from 6-10 pm, and on Sunday 6th December from 5 - 11. We've chosen to film then because we need it to be dark and the people acting in our opening are only available on those days.

Actors: We will be using Joe's sister Lauren for the girl in our piece, and our friend Ollie to play the stalker.

Transport: We will be going from Selhurst station to East Croydon, to London Bridge, then to Welling.

Location: 44 Kenmere Road (Joe's House)

Phone Numbers: Holly - 07751822111

Joe - 07859103083

Laura - 07847552897

Character Profiles

Character Profiles:
Written by Laura.

The Stalker: We wanted the stalker to be really creepy. Someone which would raise the hairs on the back of your neck. We also didn't want him to be stereotypically creepy though, we decided that he'd have a job, dress well and always be neat. But perhaps, a little too neat. We knew straight away that we wanted him to be very OCD. This would become obvious within our thriller opening as you see him straighten and clean things. We wanted him to always be calm and collected. When you hear the girl re-enter her home, his face stays the same. He doesn't panic, or rush, or run. He always has a plan in his head and can think extremely quickly. This would add to the creepy feeling that he was always one step ahead of you. We wanted him to be tall and in his thirties.

The Girl: We wanted her to be/look about twenty. We imagined her to be pretty, slim and completely normal. This is so that the beginning of our opening with just her would put the audience at ease, and create more tension when we introduced the stalker. We wanted her to be quite the opposite of him; messy, bubbly and cheerful. We definitely wanted her to seem sweet and nice so that the audience would like her character, and therefore feel threatened and worried for her safety when she came back into the house and nearly found the stalker.