Genre: Psychological Thrillers

(Click on image to expand)

Props: Mask

We are using a mask for the man who appears in our thriller. This is so that his identity is not revealed, as this is important for the rest of the plot so that it can unfold over time. Also, this allows for the audience to make their own decisions about the stranger - Who is he? What is he doing? Is he the kidnapper? ...Or not?

Choosing the mask is extremely important as we want to set the right tone for the character. Choosing a colourful would have a different effect to a plain white mask, or comical characterised face.

In The Strangers, the villains wear characterised faces with black eyes which are very eerie and because they are wearing  everyday outfits they seem like regular people but this is so creepy and mysterious because they are so murderous and evil. Furthermore, the fact that we never find out who these people are adds to the chilling atmosphere of the film, leaving the audience with uncertainty as they will never find out the true identities of the killers.

I think we would like to go for a more minimalistic approach, with white masks and dark clothing as black represents something negative and dark, whereas white connotes purity and innocence. The two colours justaposed together can send mixed messages, which relates directly to what we are trying to portray from this character. He is there two confuse the audience and raise questions, creating uncertainty and enigma which therefore makes them want to watch more/

Flow Chart for our Film Opening

Film Opening Flow Chart

Contextual Research and Analysis: Without A Trace

Without A Trace is an American TV drama focusing on a fictitious full time FBI missing persons unit. The programme follows the same theme of kidnap and missing people as our film does. Though we are not making a TV drama, and though we are focusing on the side of the victim and the kidnapper and not the law, we can nevertheless take technical inspiration from it.

• As we are shooting the opening of a film, we can afford to be more creative with our camera work, unlike Without A Trace, as it is a TV programme. However, the promo above which advertises the programme seems to be more creative in its effects and its use of music and titles that the programme itself would be. We can therefore take some inspiration from it.
• The different shots in the promo are merged and connected with one another using a fade effect. It was probably used most effectively ten seconds into the clip, where another scene is faded over the young boy, with the titles stating "one boy's secrets". The boy being half hidden under another shot further adds to his secretive nature and to the theme of missing persons. We could attempt to do this when editing our sequence to further emphasise the theme of our opening.
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  18 seconds into the promo, we see a picture of the child who is missing. We could possibly add a photo of the child who has been taken away in our opening so as to further engage the audience with the film, as they become emotionally connected.
  
  
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  The music in the promo is very dramatic, and is edited well in accordance to the changing shots. Though we will not use such dramatic music, this promo shows us how good editing can help contribute to the entire mood of the clip.
  
  

Other Popular Media: Men/Masks

A mask takes the ability of knowing who or what something away. It is impossible to tell if the attacker is someone known, or a complete stranger. It sets up for a mystery that drags the viewer deeper into the horror film to see if they are able to find out who, or what, is behind the mask. A mask hides identity, connoting mystery and ambiguity, leaving the identity of the killer up to the imaginations of the audience.

A mask can allow a character to become superhuman, and impervious to pain. A perfect example of this is how the hockey mask was part of what caused Jason Voorhees to come back to life in the cemetery scene in Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI.

Also, Tomas in The Orphanage seems so mysterious and as he is a child wearing a mask it seems really freaky as we cannot tell if he is a murderer. At first, he appears to be the villain or have something to do with the disappearing boy, but we realise later that he was not involved in the abduction and is actually a ghost.

Withholding information would work to our advantage because it keeps the audience guessing – even if they see the masked man and the other character doesn’t there is a mystery involved. The fear of the unknown is key to building the narrative of the opening sequence, but also for the movie as a whole. The mysterious man creates enigma, leaving the audience wanting to know more.

Teacher Feedback on Proposal

Feedback from Miss Blackborow on 27/01/10

Good Points:

• Audience know more than Zoe - they have power and are implicated. Sets up questions - who is the man? How will the man become part of twist?
• Visual referencing is great. Content - audience appeal e.g. phones, technology, red signifiers
• Familiarity and imagery
• House practical, thought about viability. Good angles etc.

What to think about:

• Use more media terms/language , e.g connotations, signifiers
• Use themes more, like contemporary films
• Name examples of consumerism, think of other films, TV shows
• Reference other films more explicitly, especially those similar to ours, e.g. the opening of Scream (we have already included this towards the beginning of our blog, but not on the handout.)
• Maybe the group is doing too much? Too much may be going on so the sequence may need to end sooner than anticipated.

PLAN B) We could end when Zoe hears the screams coming from upstairs. Maybe she screams? If we have too much, we can end sooner so we are able to focus more on detail - characters, build up, angles etc.

Group Proposal Presentation Handout

Furthur Analysis of Scream Opening

The opening of our film is very similar to the opening of Scream. We were very much inspired by several aspects of the opening and we adapted it to suit our own narrative and limitations:

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  Like Scream, the film starts with a young girl in a house. However, our protagonist is in someone else's house whilst the actress in Scream is in her own house. Our protagonist not being in her own house adds another level of mystery and tension to the opening of the film as the surrounding environment is not familiar to her.
  
  
• Though the use of a mobile phone will not be as significant to our opening as the house phone was to the opening of Scream, it is nevertheless important as it is a signifier of youth and technology. As well as this, our protagonist talking on the phone to the parents of the child she is babysitting helps us to introduce other characters without overcomplicating the opening.
 
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  Drew Barrymore dying at the end of the opening of Scream helped to set the tone for the rest of the film, as the audience were aware that the killer is still on the loose. The equilibrium first established was disrupted with her death. In our opening, though no one dies, the kidnap of the child represents the disruption of the initial equilibrium.
  
  The full opening of Scream can be found on an earlier post, published by Michael

Target Audience

• Our core target audience will be male and female young adults aged 15-28.
• If this film were to be produced in reality, we would hope for a UK 15 rating so as not to exclude 15-18 year olds if it were to be rated 18 instead.
• We would target thriller and horror fans, as well as general fans of film and cinema.
• The female protagonist would appeal to females whilst the genre of the film (psychological thriller) would appeal both genders.

TARGET AUDIENCE: TYPICAL PROFILE

• They would be young (aged 15-28) and are either still in education and living at home, or are employed and living independantly.
• They would be very in touch and familiar with new media technologies and would often to exposed to or use technological products (e.g. Blackberry, iPhone, internet).
• They would often watch TV channels such as Channel 4 and e4, and would go to the cinema regularly as a means of entertainment.
• They download music, TV programmes and films regularly off the internet, either legally (e.g. iTunes) or illegally.
• They like to socialise with their friends and enjoy going out on Friday and Saturday nights.
• Their lives are predictable and are somewhat set in a routine, therefore they like to escape their everyday life by watching films of a voyeuristic nature, such as ours, which is a psychological thriller.

SECONDARY AUDIENCE

Our secondary audience could be identified as a more mature audience, of both sexes aged 28-38. Our film being a psychological thriller could appeal to this group of people as the film itself sets up a lot of questions and could be seen as quite mature in its narrative. Another example of a psychological thriller which appealed to both young and mature audiences of both sexes is Se7en.

As Se7en was such a success it shows that a film can target a secondary group of people without excluding their primary target audience.

LOCATION:

When brainstorming possible locations for our shoot, we decided to shoot our opening sequence at my house. We have decided on the main rooms which we will film in and here are some photos from our location:

The sole location is in the house and we will be mainly filming in the living room, kitchen, by the stairs and in the child's bedroom. We will also have a shot from the garden looking in through the kitchen window to show someone looking into the house. This will add mystery and the feeling of being watched. To make the bedroom seem more childish, we will use the props of teddy bears and a rocking horse within the location to make it more believable that this is in fact a child's bedroom.

We decided to keep the number of rooms in which we will shoot to a minimal so there is not too much going on and so it is not hard for the audience to keep up with. We wanted to keep it simple.

The reason for this choice of location is mainly due to the practicality as it is easily accessible to us and obviously we will not have to pay any money to use this location. Also, as the location is my house, I have knowledge of the surroundings and can suggest where about to shoot and from what angles. We also have permission to shoot and the times needed. Another positive of using this location is the fact that it is close to all of the members in our group minimising the chance of being late to a shoot, which would reduce filming time.

Summary:

MAIN ADVANTAGES 

• Do not have to pay to rent location
• Access to all the rooms needed
• Will not be affected by the weather
• Can control lighting
• Local- none of us need to travel very far
• Have knowledge of the surroundings
• Have permission to use facilities.

Brief Outline of Film

PLOT:

Beginning:

A phone rings and we see an 18 year old girl (Zoe)is babysitting in a house. She then goes to the kitchen A man is standing at the window, wearing a mask, hood and dressed in dark clothes.

The audience see him but Zoe doesn't. She then hears a scream and strange noises coming from the child's room upstairs. She is startled and drops a cup of juice (which is red), smashing it on the floor. She runs upstairs to check on the child. She opens the door, glancing at drawings, a rocking horse, (and maybe a music box). The window has blown open and as she approaches the bed, slowly pulling open the covers to realise that the child is gone.

Rest of the film

5 years later and a newspaper article reads that the babysitter is now jail. Strangely, though, teenagers and children are being abducted from the town. It seems that Zoe is not the killer and somebody else is involved. Is Zoe the killer? Is she crazy? Or is someone else behind the mystery?

Visual References

Mask

We're going to have the man at the window wearing a mask so his the character seems mysterious and causes the audience to question who he is and weather he is related to the babysitter in any way, this creates a lot of enigma for the audience.  We haven't decided what mask to use yet but we want just a simple white mask, in the picture there are the masks from Scream and V for Vendetta which were our influences for this idea.

Technology

I think the mobile phone/blackberry is an important visual reference of our opening sequence as nearly all teenagers have mobile phones, so it's something they're familiar with and can easily relate to.

Red Signifiers

We're going to use a lot of red signifiers to make it clear to the audience there is danger and something bad is about to happen. When the babysitter drops the red drink, the audience will get a sense of blood and murder as this colour connotes danger.  We're going to have the red coat hanging over the banisters as she runs of the stairs again symbolising how there is present danger.

Child Signifiers

When the babysitter enters the child's bedroom, we will have a lot of signifiers eg. teddy bears, crayons and kids drawings there to make it very obvious to the audience that it is a child's bedroom.  We will also have a rocking horse and a musical box playing slow music which will both create a very eerie atmosphere in the room.

Other Popular Media

Women in thrillers often portray a vulnerable character:
Popular films such as Halloween, Scream, Babysitter Wanted, Hostel Part 2 etc all use women who are attacked in some way by powerful men.
Halloween is a good example where the babysitter is attacked, but survives. Endings of films usually leave room for sequels and horror Franchises like Friday The 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street have succeeded in achieving sult status, proving that the typical horror style can be successful (when they have a twist or surprise.)

Women tend to be vulnerable, crying and even though locations may be familar, they are not normal to the character. (ie a babysitter in somebody else's house.) The sense of familiarity can be important for an audience. Even though films such as Avatar are successful because they break the boundaries, using futuristic locations and effects, it's always a good idea to have films that viewers can relate to.

Group Meeting

26th January 2010

2nd Group Meeting

12:30-1.30pm

Location:

• House (Michael's)
• Kitchen with window looking out to garden
• Bedroom
• Childish features
• Teddies
• Rocking horse
• Drawings
• Musical box - eerie music

Actors:

• Teenage babysitter
• Young
• Pretty - average teen, girl next door
• Innocent, naive
• British accent - London
• Brunette, normal teen
• Caucasian, but tanned - looks nice
• Casually dressed - jeans, natural makeup

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  Man
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  Mysterious
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  Hidden Identity
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  Watches girl - psychotic
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  Mask - scary, creepy expression
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  Dark clothing - ambigious
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  Freakishly tall, ie Halloween
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  Don't see skin/hair colour - enigmatic
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  Cast in shadows, secretive

Opening Sequence Research 2

When A Stranger Calls (2006)

• Looking at the trailer of this film, there are quite similar elements to our idea however, there will also be obvious differences in both plot and location.
• The Babysitter in this trailer is quite young and looks like the average teenager (relating to the audience of the film) so the person watching will be able to relate to her.
• She seems very unsuspecting, innocent and terrified of the events unfolding. We should try and capture these feelings and concepts with the actor that we use.
• I particularly like the shot where the camera approaches the girl who has her back to us as it looks like something is creeping towards the babysitter while she is unaware.
• Also, the key words that the trailer highlights are: 'Alone', 'Isolated' and 'Trapped' and these are three themes which are effective and themes that I think we should try and capture.
• We could achieve this greatly through the editing as we could alter the pace with fades and cuts. With quick cuts during the fast-paced actions and slow fades when the girl is on her own.
• There is a big element of stalking and abduction within this film so we could analyse the way that the director presents this to influence us during our production stages.

Opening Sequence Research 1

There are current films which relate to our idea particularly with the innocent girl at home concept and sense of suspense created. After watching clips from these films, there are various techniques used that we can take as inspiration from for our final piece.





Scream (1996)

• The main focus is on the phone which is a key prop in the film, it begins with a simple shot so it is not too complicated and allows the audience to establish a sense of location etc..
• The main actor within the opening sequence is very young and looksvery innocent and vulnerable as we see her alone in this house.
• A very effective part is the tracking of the girl as the camera follows her movements throughout the kitchen. This involves the audience as we follow the path that she takes throughout the room. I think this would be a good camera technique to use in our openng.
• The darkness from outside connotes mystery as she is alone at night. Also, there is a slow build up until the actual event and this builds suspense of what will happen next- leaving the audience guessing.
• Also, later on in the actual film (not shown in the clip), the man taunting the girl is seen by the audience wearing the iconic scream mask. We could think about the possibility of having the man in our opening wearing a mask as I think mystery would be created in not knowing the face that lies behind this mask.

Genre: Psychological Thriller

The genre of our opening sequence will be Psychological Thriller, this sub-genre is very popular and there have been many successful films from this category. Psychological thrillers incorporate both mystery and drama with the focus being on the plot, with the aim of creating this enigma. Famous examples that inspire us are: Fatal Attraction, American Psycho, Se7en, The Changeling and Silence of the Lambs. These films are seen as some of the most successful Psychological Thrillers and the suspense that is build throughout them will definitely influence our final project.

Contextual Research

The opening of our film centres around the discovery of the disappearance and apparent abduction of a young child. Over the past couple of years, there have been a number of kidnapping cases all over the world, most notably the Madeline McCann Case, the Jaycee Lee Dugard Case and the Josef Fritzl Case.
The media hype generated over these crimes mean that knowledge of them is commonplace, and that the majority of people around the world would be able to understand the nature and gravity of the crimes committed.
These events being of such relevance to the 21st C mean that the film would appeal to many around the world, both to young adults and people of a more mature age.

THE MADELINE MCCANN CASE

The Madeline McCann Case is probably the most famous kidnapping case to date. She still has not been found. This case shows us how easily a child can be abducted and how vulnerable and helpless they are in the apparent safety of their room. Our film opening relates to this case as it depicts a child being taken whilst they were asleep, as Madeline was.

THE JAYCEE LEE DUGARD CASE

The Jaycee Lee Dugard Case demonstrates clearly how easy it is to adbuct a child. Jaycee was taken at a school bus stop nearby her house, in full view of her step-father and several school-mates. This case shows the audience how easy it is for someone to be kidnapped and how helpless those that should protect them (babysitter/ parents) become.

THE JOSEF FRITZL CASE

The Josef Fritzl Case is possibly the most widely reported case of abduction, rape and incest. The fact that these heinous crimes were committed by the girl's father shows us that no child is safe even from their parents. The audience, when watching the opening sequence will draw on this case when wondering about the identity of the kidnapper of the child.

Group Meeting 1

20th January 2010
1st Group Meeting
9:30-10.50am

Ideas for opening:

Winnie:
Follow a woman doing her daily routine - equilibrium established. Cup falls on floor + disrupts normality. She sees something scary. (Blood? Body?)

Michael:
Lone, vunlnerable woman at home. Dark - afternoon maybe? A man at the window- audience sees but she doesn't- enigmatic as she hasn't seen the man. Will she discover who he is?

Anisah
Babysitter arrives at house. The parents are going out and teenager is taking care of child. She goes to watch TV but there is a power cut. She runs to check on the child but he is gone-bedcovers are messed up, signifying someone was there and window is open. Tense, scary moment of realisation.

• All our ideas have a vulnerable woman at the centre of the plot
• We have decided to draw on themes from all 3 proposals:
• Babysitter is in house, on the phone to parents telling them that their child is in bed
• She goes to the fridge to get a drink
• There is a man at the window - the audience sees but teen doesn't, as her back is turned.
• She hears a scream and banging coming from the bedroom. This startles her and she drops the cup, the drink spilling on the floror
• She runs into the child's room to see if she is safe. The bed covers and window are open-has someone been here? 
• Enigma created- questions asked. Where is the child? Who was the man? Did he kidnap the her?

The part where the man is at the window is similar to that in The Box. The man looks scary and very strange. In the film, however, the character sees this man, which freaks her out. We thought it would be more chilling if the character was unaware of his presence, as it gives the audience something to think about - they may have the upper hand as they have seen him but they still do not know who he is.