Our gradual decision on our final thriller Idea.

Our orignal idea was that a group of friends were out walking the dog, but got out too late. They are walking around the forest when you see little bursts of light shining through the leaves and branches of the trees. The footage would be filmed handheld with elements of normal filming too. We thought that using handheld footage would be better because it makes the opening seem more realistic and believeable. Next, after the group of friends have recovered from the weird light display, they see one huge light shining onto the group with the person holding/shining the light unidentifyed to create suspense. The light would progressivly become closer and you just see the feet of the unknown person, a scream and a dog whine/howl, the camera is then dropped on the floor and you see someone being dragged away.


We soon realised that this was extremely difficult to conduct as you would need expensive filming equiptment to be able to film in the dark, and we would need to find lighting bright enough to be able to see it. So, Sam, a boy in my group came up with an idea of a laboratory experiment, where there would be two scientists creating a chemical that would cure some sort of illness or virus. Then, scientist 1 would walk off to get some other chemicals, then scientist 2 was left by herself. A soundtrack would play then someone would suffocate scientist 2, and the enigmatic character would steal the cure and we would then see them travelling to a secret/unknown location. At this location the thief would empty the cure into the river where scientist 1 had followed them and pushes the theif into the river so she drowns. I thought this idea was very complicated and difficult to do. For example it would be very difficult to create a drowning scene with-out special equiptment and create it to look realistic. Sam came up with the idea of hovering a plastic container with water over the top of the theif to give the illusion of drowning but I decided that it defintatly not work because the water in the plastic container would be clear whereas the water in the river would be dull and murky. Also, the idea of a plastic container wouldn't work because I don't think it would give an effect of drowning in water as she wouldn't actually be in the water. This idea is also too long for two minutes so we all agreed that we needed to come up with a simple but menacing idea to create tension and suspense for the audience that would look realistic and have time to use more cinematography.


Next, I came up with a new idea, I suggested that there was a girl/woman going to visit her mentally ill sister. However when she approaches the house, there is one light on in her house and the door is wide open. We would then see this woman searching the house for her sister- she is no-where to be found. She hears a radio sound, which is on upstairs. As she approaches the radio in the bathroom to turn it off, she gets brutally forced and locked into the bathroom, where no lights were on, and you don't see the person who did this. A dramatic soundtrack is played in the backround whilst the girl/woman tries to escape the claustrophobic space.You then see a shadow appear under the door frame and the film stops, leaving you in suspense as you don't know what will happen to the girl/woman, who the attacker is, or where the womans sister is. I really liked this idea because it uses thriller conventions such as small claustrophobic rooms, bathrooms, dark, menacing atmosphere, and the shadow. But, however I was told that the idea was too complicated eventhough I had only explained the first few seconds, It was then I knew we had to come up with another idea. I struggled to see this, but I agreed to come up with, yet, another idea. I do also think that my idea does have too much of a feel of a horror element because of the way it is a dark housewhich was then meaning we were going to be doing the task completely incorrectly.


We were then advised to back to Sams idea, but I suggested a few things to improve upon. For example I suggested that there should be no physical killing as it if difficult for people of our age and knowledge to conduct a murder scene that would be realistic. Billie then came up with the idea of a poisening murder. A teen would be making a harmful chemical due to research and poisen their friend out of jealousy. This time we were going to have the production of the chemical in a garage, as this is a confined, claustrophobic, ominous location in which something evil is being created - you can then easily discover that this is thriller genre. We got the idea off of 'Essex Boys' because we thought that it really built up tension and suspense so easily.Then, we would go to a shot of some friends hanging out at a home. The killer would then stare blankly at the character of which they are jealous of, and offer to make them a drink. You see the killer pour the poisonous chemical into the drink(s) and the film closes on hands taking the drinks. We all really like this idea as it is simple, and we decided on camera angles such as panning and tracking of the feet for example, straight away because this was such a good idea and easy to mould. We also thought it was quite an original idea because not many thrillers include a poisoning from a teen.


*STORY BOARD COMING SOON*

The murder scene of 'Witness'.

Director: Peter Weir

Writers:  William Kelley (story), Pamela Wallace (story),

Stars: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis and Lukas Haas

This film starts off with an eight year old character named Samuel Lap. He is Amish because he is wearing an Amish costume which involves simple black trousers with braces, a blue shirt, a black jacket and a black bowler/derby hat. The Amish community all wear the same clothing because they believe that clothing for men and women tends to serve utilitarian purposes and is not designed to accentuate physical features.

Unlike outside communities, the Amish do not believe that clothing is meant to distinguish the individual from the group by making that person more "attractive" over others. The Amish identity is important in the film because the representation of  Philadelphia in America  where the Amish  mother and child travel to, and the fact that  Amish church groups usually seek to maintain a degree of separation from the non-Amish world. Philadelphia is a stereotypical place where murders and crimes constantly take place, whereas the Amish community from which the mother and child come from, is very religious so everyone follows certain rules and guide lines. The followers of this religion are under pressure to behave and function in a completely different  to Americans, for example they choose not to use power-line electricity, telephones, and automobiles and anyone who chooses not to abide by the rules, will instantly be excommunicated and then shunned. The fact that this film uses this culture to reinforce stereotypes is very interesting. The use of a culture that would never usually mix with the out-side community is very strange itself.

Firstly, the scene starts of with the young boy, Sam, looking up at an extremely revealing statue in a dim lit train station that is beyond his cultural reference. The dim lighting creates a murky and sinister atmosphere. The camera angle is from Sam's point of view, looking up, (a low angle shot), showing that the statue shows significance and power over the boy revealing his vulnerability. Then, there is another low angle, close-up shot of Sam looking up at the statue which shows his expression where you see his confusion and curiosity. Then, the camera shows Sam as a comparison to the outside world by using a high angle shot from the statue's point of view. This shows how insignificant Sam is and suggests he is a person who is reserved. You then see the mother pull Sam away from the statue, suggesting that she thought it was inappropriate for him to be looking at. You then see the two characters sitting alone in a very isolated area, where you see a vanishing point into the corner. This allows the audience to experience enigma and it also establishes the location of where they are.

Sam then asks his mother if he could to the toilet. His mother carelessly allows him to go independently. This reflects her naivety and the culture of the Amish society, because she assumes he will be safe from experience at home. You see Sam walking off into the vanishing point leaving us with suspense. It then cuts to a medium close up of a man washing his face into a wash basin.

The toilets are a generic location for thrillers because they are claustrophobic which indicates that something is going to happen, creating tension. You hear menacing non-diegetic soundtrack playing as you hear a diegetic sound of the door opening- creating anxiety for the audience. This scene is ambient lit, making it more realistic and believable for the audience. The sound stops and you see a close-up of the villian washing his face- revealing his importance with-in the film. Soundtrack and diegetic sounds stop. You see Sam walking into a particularly dark cubicle with the man watching him, through the mirror. Whilst this is happening, you hear footsteps of someone in the background- there is a low angle shot of a man in a suit reflecting authority or high class. Because we don't see his face, this leaves the audience with enigma and keeps the mystery going. The crime happens and you see the man's face who walked in for the first time. Shot reverse shot shows us the expressions on the victim, attacker and Sam's face, this is a good technique because it allows you to see the reactions of the characters at different times when you are not seeing the actual crime happening. The idea of Sam secretly hiding in the toilets and watching through the crack of the cubicle, creates tension and enigma because you don't know if anything will happen to him.

It then cuts to a close up on the weapon which is a knife. A point of view shot from Sam watching allows us to see the horrific murder as if you were actually there. This also reinforces the immediate danger he is now in. The murder finishes and you see Sam backing away from the door, and the attacker hears him, you feel his fear and suspense climbs through your body at this stage. There is silence and all you can hear and see is the threatening sounds and shots of the attackers footsteps, with this he is violently opening the doors of the other cubicles-rapidly increasing anticipation for Sam. Cutting suddenly to a close up of Sam trying to lock the door, with difficulty, builds up enormous amounts of panic and tension. You then get the close up of the villains feet as his progressively gets closer and closer. As the attacker struggles to get in to Sams cubicle, Sam shows his intelligence as he quickly slides onto the next cubicle. He then symbolises his religion as he stands like Jesus on top of the toilet seat. He stands with his arms stretched out- like Jesus and the cross which could represent that Jesus saved him.

Prelim Task - Evaluation

Firstly, my group and I spent a few minutes, listening to each others idea's. We started off talking about what our main topic of our task was going to be. I remember one of my group members coming up with an idea where one of us would be walking to a room to be then surprised for her birthday. We planned on using camera angles such as; tracking, close ups, and long shots, but we then felt that this wasn't enough. We then mind-mapped  some other shot ideas like - bird's eye view and over the shoulder. Bird's-eye view allows the audience to see that the character is vulnerable and naive because of how small the shot makes the character looks. We used these shots because we thought that it would give more of an interesting insight into what the actor was doing- rather than just watching someone walk with one, simple camera shot, as this lacks excitement. We then decided that we could make the shots even more interesting by tilting the camera angle slightly to disorientate the audience, it gives an illusion sort of affect. Before deciding this, we noted down on a story board, where, roughly we were going to walk and what angles at the different stages. 


This is helped us a lot because we actually had an idea and outline to base our task on so we didn't get lost in what we were doing. We then decided that a 'surprise' birthday conversation would be too complex for this task as it only was supposed to be a couple of minutes long so I came up with the idea of talking about what was in the news at the time - the man who drew the 9/11 picture- before it actually happened. I thought this would be appropriate to talk about as it's interesting and a very ambiguous subject. At first my group and I had difficulties on agreeing with each others ideas. but eventually after working together as a team, we decided to use my idea because of the complexity and relation to media.


When I first tried out using the camera, I felt that my accuracy was poor, as I couldn't figure out why the camera wouldn't focus when I took close ups, but this may have something to do with the camera that I used. However, I did turn the lens onto 'macro' but this only made the pictures a little more focused, not by a lot at all. I also thought I lacked accuracy as I'd never really taken photos seriously before, and I was new to these newly learnt camera shots. After taking photos in lesson, then practising at home, I began to feel more comfortable and understandable of the camera shots. I feel I do need to carry on practising as I feel my camera handling isn't as good as it should be because I think it lacks high skill. I feel I need to learn what is a brilliant shot as a comparison to a good one, so I thought maybe studying filming work in movies would be a good idea for me. After looking closer at shots in films I did notice that tilted extreme close-ups and close ups built up lots of suspense, as you can only assume what is happening by the expression on the characters face, leaving you to only imagine what was happening around them. I hope to use this shot in my thriller!


When editing, I must admit that I really did not get along with the software at all! After it failing to work over a 4 lesson period, I lost trust, and gave up. However, after watching someone use theirs that actually did work on their computer, I feel that I would be able to edit, but with guidance along the way, as I've never used editing software before. I gave idea's on what I felt some of the task should look like, although we all had the same rough idea when we were filming the task anyway. I feel I really do need to learn how the software works so I can gain skill in editing for the future.