Casting

There are two characters involved in our opening of our thriller film. The opening involves the husband and wife and involves the wife murdering the husband.
We need one male and one female actor to play the husband and wife and someone to be the camera person.
The husband needs to be the male, a smart dresser (preferably a suit) and is the person that is murdered.
The wife needs to be female, also a smart dresser (power suit, smart skirt and blouse combination) and is the person that would be the murderer.

200 Word Synopsis of Film

We have decided to call our film, "'Til Death Do Us Part", as it ties in with the theme of marriage and death.
The two thriller genres that we want to include in our film are murderous passion and film noir. The film noir concept will give the film a sinister edge.
The main plot of the film involves a married couple, blissfully happy until the wife finds out that her husband has been having an affair with another woman.
The wife finds a message on her husband's phone that reads, 'Had fun tonight. T xx'
Naturally, she is crushed and seeks revenge on her husband. She plans to kill him with a murderous concoction of a poisoned glass of whisky.

Location Report

We have planned to film our thriller within college, as we need an office-type area, or a desk and chair, and stairs, as this will be a large part of the plot - we are planning to have the female character visiting her husband's place of work and murdering him, in a murderous passion sense, as he has been having an affair. This will also be easier, as we do not have to travel elsewhere, and we can film within lessons.
Below is a photograph of the front of New College, and a map of the location.

However, we had a change of location as we decided that the college did not meet the requirments of our film. Instead we filmed at Pippa's house at the weekend. This proved to be a better location, as we could film outside where it was sunny (so there was good lighting outdoors), and her house had a study which is what we needed for our film.

Analysis Of Thriller Openings

Inception (2010):

The eerie, stringed music at the beginning helps add to the forboding feel to the movie. It then cuts to a shot of the waves, in slow motion which adds apprehension. The scene then cuts to a shot of the main character, but does not give away what the movie is about, but makes the audience ask questions.
It is dark and atmospheric.
The camera angles are mainly close ups, which don't really show the location or the characters very much. There is a long shot of some children playing on the beach, and towards the end of the opening scene, there is a high-angled shot of a mercenary of the country who calls to someone else.
The video can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXkUzf1et4




Psycho (1960):

The low, fast stringed instrument music and the lines travelling rapidly across the screen help to create an uncertain and dangerous atmosphere. The lines then move to show the name of the movie, and members of the cast and crew. The titles then end with a black and white establishing shot of Phoenix.
The video can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tek8QmKRODw




Memento (2000):

The scene begins with the title of the movie in large blue letters across the screen. Then there is a close up shot of a hand holding a polaroid photograph. The names of the cast and crew appear over the top of the film. As the character shakes the photography, it becomes less and less developed - as though time is going backwards, which is the main plotline of the film. There is then fairly close up shots of the the character taking the photograph backwards. There is then a shot of his face, and it cuts to a close up shot of blood, trickling backwards, and a bullet, glasses, and then the man who had been shot, face down.
The lighting is quite dark and eerie, and with the slow, low violin music, it makes it quite atmospheric and forboding.
The video can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMTnXpL61N8&feature=fvst

Target Audience and Age Certificate

The audience that our film is aimed at is young adults, of either gender who enjoy film noir type mystery/thriller films. The film fits into the film noir genre due to the black and white filter, and the muderous passion atmosphere.
The age certificate for our movie is 15 because of the violence and gore, which is not suitable for a younger audience, but on the other hand, it does not contain enough gore/violence/etc, for it to be classed as an 18 certificate. 

Equipment List

 



The equipment we will need for our film is a video camera, with USB cables, to record the film, tripod, to make the shots steady and stable, digital stills camera, with USB cables, to take photographs during the filming, or as part of the film, Final Cut (on the Apple Macs), to upload and edit the film.

Group Meeting, 14th February 2011

Items discussed:

- Film noir,
- Murderous passion,
- Costumes; dresses/suits,
- Locations; office areas,
- No facial shots - conceals identity,
- Walking, film feet only, stilettos.


Actions to be taken:

- Storyboards,
- Camera shots/angles.
 

Our Preliminary Task

Our preliminary task. We chose to talk about Thriller films and the difference between Thrillers and Horrors. The script is in a previous post.
In this film we have used the 180 degree rule, which means, if two people are having a conversation, the camera must move between them, focusing on one person at a time, and when it switches to the other person, the camera must stay on the same side.