Thriller planning

Planning

 

 

As we had decided as a group to completely change the opening sequence of our thriller, we sat down and discussed different possible scenarios of which we could use as the plot. We decided to stick to a similar location but not the same park as we didn't feel this was best to film on due to the camera positioning and the traffic noise pollution which caused interference.

 

We discussed possible ideas for the narrative and decided that it would work best as a thriller if we based it on something that could happen in reality as this makes it more thrilling for the audience. We decided to have the plot of a child being kidnapped by an older man as this could happen in reality unlike the previous idea in the draft which was unlikely. We then progressed the idea by deciding that the characters in the footage would consist of two younger boys on the park and an older man who is watching them and will at the end of the sequence eventually kidnap one of them.

 

As we shared ideas, we created a mind map of everybodys suggestions so that it was easier to combine ideas and come up with the other details to create the opening sequence.

 

 

We decided on the location to be a park as this would work best with the narrative that we had created, and chose a local park as we were then familiar with its layout and different areas of which we could film from.

 

The costumes will be casual wear so that it seems to be reality in the scene therefore creating a more eerie atmosphere for the audience as they believe it could happen.

 

The props that will be used from these suggestions are the football as this allows the boys to be doing something as the man watches, a phone which will provide an opportunity for the boy to leave his friend after a phone call asking him to come home. We will also use a bike for the boy to leave on as this will make it more dramatic when he is kidnapped and suggests that further on in the thriller that somebody will find the abandoned bike. The swings and bark will be used for the kidnapper's shots as they will have shots of them walking along the bark and sitting watching the boys on the swings.

 

The camera angles which we will use are mid shots to show general action such as the boys talking to each other playing football, zooms on the man watching them in the background, long shots of the park to show location, a variety of pans to show different points of views such as the park and the boy riding his bike from the kidnappers point of view. We will also use the tilt to slowly show the kidnapper from foot to head so that it builds tension as his identity is slowly revealed.

 

The most likely editing techniques which we will use from our suggestions are the fade or cross dissolve to stop scenes looking jumpy, the wipe across at the end from the action into the titles and possibly some fast editing depending on the pace of the sequence.

 

To improve on the draft, we have planned the sounds of which we will record separatley and edit in to ensure the audio is clear for the audience. I think we will use the breathing as the kidnappers foot steps are shown, dialogue between characters and as a phone will be used I suggest we use a ringtone and dialogue of a phone conversation.

 

Story Board

After we had shared ideas and decided on which things we would use from the mindmap, Nikki then created a storyboard of the opening sequence and wrote the script for any dialogue and the final plot of the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The overall plot of the first page of the storyboard is that it will begin with the two boys playing football in the caged section of the park. We will then see a shot of the mans footsteps walking along the bark towards the boys, however he does not approach them. We then jump to another shot of the boys playing football and this is followed by more footsteps. This time in the shot of the boys playing football, we are able to see the man in the background adding mystery to the scene. The man then walks towards the swings where he watches from a distance at the boys, at this point the audience may begin to notice that the man is watching the boys closely and this creates an eerie atmosphere.

The plot then continues on the second page of the storyboard with a point of view pan of the park from the man, which then zooms in on one boy in particular. This boy receives a phone call off his Mum telling him to come home and this gives him the opportunity to leave his friend and exit the caged area. As he does this, the man leaves the swing and walks across the bark again. Another point of view pan shows the boy approaching the man on his bike and as he gets closer, the man pulls the boy off his bike and kidnaps him. Then the shot will wipe into the titles.