Thriller Sequence Video Initial ideas

Ideas 1

 

Area	Your idea
Protagonist	The young student that is forced to play detective in order to try and protect herself and the other people who are trapped in the school with the killer but has trust issues as she does not know who amongst them she can trust with each person seeming to have their own agenda.
Antagonist	The mysterious killer that is locked in the school with them who remains in mystery as to who it the killer is or what their motives to committing this crime are and will they strike again.
Setting	It is placed within a school after hours with the entire area being almost abandoned leaving our characters in the situation that they are in by themselves with the state of the school not being within the best of conditions for them to be within.
Story & Key Themes	The story of bunch of kids that are trapped within the school with a murderer amongst them and only two teachers are there and only one of them is still alive leaving the protagonist to be the one to uncover the mystery. The themes being: mystery, serious crime and tension
Narrative	A group of six students are located within the school with an assistant teacher and all of them are at each others throats when it turns out the teacher that had them all in detention turns out dead leaving our protagonist the sole person to try and discover the cause of this death and what they are planning on doing next.
Enigmas	The identity of who the murder is out of the people that are their within the school facility and what the motives are for doing so and will they strike again or have they already done so???
Mise-en-scene	The normal structing of the school with tables and desks within each classroom, possible equipment that is left on the desk of the school, promotional images around the school building as well as within the classrooms and the weapon that was used to slay the teacher.
Technical	Loy key lighting to reflect the dark nature of the killer and the mistrust and unease that is amongst the students who are under suspicion. Camera angles we mainly be eye level in order to give the perspective of the people there and are in fear. Camera shots would be a mixture of close ups and medium shots due to the small environment that they are in other kind of shots may not be effective. Editing would be at a slow pace will the mystery is being broken down but with scenes with murderer and possible conflicts the editing would increase in speed.

Idea 2 

Area	Your idea
Protagonist	A young cadet that was forced into a secrete organisation since their birth is trying to get out and live a normal life and is them met with an offer. Complete one last mission then they can have the normal life that they want and not have to look over their shoulder for the rest of their lives. A simple mission they is told but they knows that no mission is ever simple.
Antagonist	A former agent of the same organisation as the protagonist the antagonist had escaped and had become the number one enemy to the organisation. It is said that he escaped as they deemed him as mentally unstable and that he could prove a threat if not handled correctly but only he knows the whole story.
Setting	A mainly urban setting would be used as the protagonist is trying to live a normal life and whilst doing so is forced back into the life that they once tried to escape and discovers what the antagonist has been doing that would leave them to become the main enemy of the organisation that they once served.
Story & Key Themes	The key themes within the story would be violence, suspense and tension. Violence is from the confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist and the other that have fallen to him as well as and suspense and tension will be created from the conflicts that the two are having and the mystery behind the antagonist and what their goal is to achieve.
Narrative	A young cadet within a secrete organisation does not want to serve any more and is trying to live a normal life. An offer they cannot refuse arrives complete one last mission and they can live free of the agency and stop looking over their shoulder. The antagonist is the mission objective if he is taken out then the protagonist can have their normal life but they feel as if there is something that they are with holding from them and that causes mistrust between them.
Enigmas	What is the true agenda behind the antagonist motives for causing such disruption within the narrative and what id the agency not telling the protagonist about which is causing a lack of trust with them and the agency.
Mise-en-scene	Unique clothing in order to accurately represent the characters, locations will be vary between the meet point of the protagonist and the agency agent as well as the current location of the antagonist which is to remain unknown to the audience, Background characters on screen for the rural area that the two are meeting in, for the protagonist a case file with the information about the antagonist the agency is willing to give and for the antagonist a electronic device and their preferred weapon of choice.
Technical	In terms of lighting high key lighting would be used in the area of the protagonist in order to reflect the desire to be normal and low key lighting to show their dark nature and role within the thriller, in the terms of editing it shall remain normal until the protagonist has opened up the case file on the antagonist and see what the agency want him to go up against, camera shots will vary from: long shots, close ups and medium shots and the angles will generally be eye level with the characters

Opening Sequence Sheet

Opening Sequence Conventions – Reservoir Dogs & Seven

Analysis

Reservoir Dogs

Seven

How does it engage the audience? (enigmas, clues, techniques)

It engages the audience by providing a cast of characters of which they would be able to identify as the main characters who are dressed and would appear to be partaking in crime also uses an enigma code with the person in the back of the car saying he is going to die as he is bleeding.

The opening title engages the audience by providing them with a montage of images of some of the plans that the killer is preparing to enact as well as the book of which the killer appears to be making leaving the audience curious as to what the book holds and what the killer is going to do.

How does it introduce the characters & setting?

It introduces the characters as some form of gang that take part in some criminal activities and the setting is shown as an urban area which might mean that they are local to the location they commit crimes in.

The introduction does not introduce us to the characters or the setting but rather showing us what appears to be a man who is preparing for some forms of torture and prepares some sort of book of which he appears to be creating himself with a hidden motivation at exactly 1:00 to 1:03 and 1:07 to 1:10

What technical language does it use and to what effect?   •Mise-en-scene •Camera language •Editing •Sound

The camera is used at a mid shot showing each of the gang members off indivually showing who the main characters are. I.E. at 0:25 to 0:30  Each member within the frame is shown to be wearing a suit of sorts and looking smart and formal apart from two characters within the group implying that they are somehow different or unique in some form or the other evident from 1:01 to 1:18 We do not hear any of the main characters speak until the scene when one of them is bleeding in the back of a car but instead have music in the background implying that they are off criminal nature implying that they are about to partake in crime. The sequence is edited with jump cuts between the main characters within the sequence to serve as a form of introduction to present the character to the audience as the film starts. 0:17 to 1:18

It uses a montage of events in order to show off what the killer is preparing to plan and what book they appear to be creating.  No words have been spoken keeping the killers identity a secret and instead we have music that is used to create tension from the images of the book they are making. A majority of the time on screen there are images of the book that the killer is working on or images that are showing the victims showing how much the killer cares for his book and how well he wants it to become. i.e. 0:31 to 0:35 show an example of this book. All of the shots that are close up shots of either the killers hands as they are crafting the book or of the contents of the book itself leaving people curious as to who wrote it.

What information about its production companies does it give?

The sequence provides us with the names of the actors and their characters as well as additional people that have worked on the production of the movie such as the editor and the co producer.

The sequence provides us with the name of the company and the director and multiple other names of the people who worked one the film such as Morgan Freeman and Brad Pit.

How does it introduce the themes & narrative?

It introduces the narrative as it  shows that the gang is heading  and prepare for whatever job that they are about to do.  The themes of crime and violence are shown when one of the gang members is in the back of a car and is bleeding large amounts of blood on the back seats of the car.

It introduces the narrative by identifying who the antagonist is within the case and the book that he is creating for it. It creates the theme of the violence through the collage of images of either dead victims or the means in which the killer goes about their business

Analysis of Thriller themes

 Chosen film taken

Violence 

1)The key them within taken is violence. With the other themes being fear and suspense.

Within the trailer for taken they are multiple scenes in where the main character is fighting against those who are likely to be the henchmen of the villain within the movie being evident from 1:06 to 1:17 . Each scene shows him either using an armed weapon to combat these henchmen or fighting them with his own Hands. His motive behind doing all these actions is an attempt in order to try and find the nesscary information of the location of his captured daughter. 

The theme effects the audience through making them ponder a question within their mind with the film "Will he be enough to save his daughter?" This question is pondered by the audience as they see him go against many of different individuals some of which are able to combat back against his attacks making people wonder if he will be enough in order to save his daughter.

The theme of violence may be explored in my film by making it the only means of which the protagonist will have in order to stop the antagonist from causing havoc within the world which could have irriverable consequences making the viewers ponder the question "Will one man be enough to save the world"...

Fear

2)Another key theme within the film is fear as his daughter is shown to be scared of the events that are occurring in 0:47 with her being taken. This fear can also be seen within her father he is scared when his daughter is staring to panic about what is going on over there. This fear is being used as motivation the father uses his fear in order to try and save his daughter from her capture and motivated to try and stop his daughter fear and bring her home safe.

The theme of fear affects the audience as it allows them to see the human side of the characters showing how the average person would be reacting in the situation of the daughter. This interests the audience as the human nature is contrsting to that of the dark and violent nature of the daughters father who is willing to use whatever means to save his daughter from and shows little to know fear.

I may explaore the theme of fear within my film by creating a dangerous situation for which the main character will have to go through and use it to show their human nature and how it will effect them in the end.

Suspense

3) A third key theme within the film is that of suspense. 

Suspense is created with a lack of information and only having brief bits of information to set the tone for the movie. This can be seen with the montage from 1:06 to 1:
36 where multiple action sequences are taking place and large amounts of fighting are occurring. This is showing the suspense as the trailer is only giving us small parts of information about what is going on and showing the things the protagonist is willing to do making the audience question what will happen next.

This effects the audience by keeping them on the edge of the seat and desiring more of what they are being shown. Curiosity is what is driving the audience to know more meaning with the lack of information that they are giving us within the trailer it is showing the audience enough to keep them interested and desire more of the film.

This theme can be explored within my film through giving them only enough information that they can understand what is going on and leave them with questions about the film making them eager to watch the rest of the film.