Thriller Locations

First Location: CNS girls toilets

For the very first scene in our opening, we'll will be using the students toilets at CNS as makeshift public toilets. Orignally we were going to use the public topilets in long stratton but came to the conclusion that the combination of the geographical location and the fact that filming in public toilets is difficult because of legal and spatial reasons means that we decided to film the scene in the toilets at school. We decided to use the girls toilets as the majority of our group were female and so it made sense for us to use the girls toilet. There are three female toilets at CNS and having visited all three we decided to use the largest one. In addition to having the largest space possible to work with it also had plain white walls which would be perfect for adding a bleak, grimy look to the scene. However whilst the space and look of the toilet's walls were positives there were also negatives to consider and problems to overcome. The taps for example were not ordinary twist taps and instead needed to be pushed down to work. Whilst this initially seemed a problem as we were intending to have a close up of the main character turning the tap on, in time we decided that with careful hand positioning this detail could be overcome. As well as this many modern day toilets use these kind of taps and so if it couldn't be overcome it would add to the reality of our product. Another problem with the toilets was the fact that it would be busy at times. However it was a lot more accessible and easy to vacate than genuine public toilets and did possess any of the legal problems filming in public toilets had and so we were happy to use this location.

Second Location: Chapelfield Gardens Bandstand

Originally we were hoping to film
somewhere like here: The Old Bakery Cafe

Chosen location: Band Stand 

The scene of meeting between the two characters changed drastically overtime. Initially the plan was to use a cafe or small bar for the meeting and have the two characters sit across a table from one another. We began by contacting cafe's and bars we knew of asking whether it would be possible to film there. While we contacted around 8 places only 3 replied and they all refused us. It quickly became apparent that it would be incredibly difficult to film in a cafe or bar and so we had to alter our location. After discussion we decided that the transaction scene could happen outside on a picnic bench or park bench. We decided that scoring in Norwich would be our best option and so we did so. Having scouted many locations we finally settled on the band stand in Norwich's Castle Meadow. While it was completely different from our original idea, the space was ideal and it was not likely to busy. The positives of this new location was that there was ample space for filming, it was in a central location and so could be got to quickly and  that it was not likely to be busy or full of people. However the disadvantages were that it was outside and so noise could be an issue; there was a possibility people could be in there when we wanted to film and it would not fit the theme of our thriller as well as average cafe. However as we knew that cafes and bars were not an option we decided that the band stand was our next best option and decided t use it for the transaction scene. The space of the band stand was excellent and allowed for a variety of interesting shots and this , we decided, would lend itself to our film.

Third Location: Underpass

Chosen location: underpass

Finally the final chosen location of the death scene also changed a lot from our initial ideas. Our original plan was to have the death scene happen either in a cobbled alley way in the old part of the city or near a church where there was intense ground lighting that we could use. Having scouted these locations out we decided that neither of these would fit our thriller and would instead give the death scene more of a film noir style. This is because the alleyways we found were very stylistic and did not fit with the other gritty locations and the church was again too stylistic and did not fit with the our other chosen locations. As well as this, because of their central locations, these places were nearly always busy and getting an isolated death scene would be difficult. Instead we chose to use an underpass near the outskirts of the city. The underpass had many great positives: it was lit with very bright, intense lights which we could utilise when filing, allowing us to experiment with shadows, it was rarely busy as a result of its locations on the outskirts of the city and it was heavily grafted adding to the realistic, gritty locations we had already chosen. While it was difficult logistically for us to get to, this was the only negative and we conclude that it was the perfect location for our death scene.

Rough Cut

Fonts

Storyboard

Treatment

The film begins with the sound of a public toilet: Dripping taps, the muffled sound of traffic and the sound of heels on a damp floor. The first shot is of a small hand wearing damaged rings turning a grimy tap off. The camera then cuts to a shot showing the reflection of a rundown looking woman in a mirror. She proceeds to wash and apply make up in the public toilet. Following this there is a close up of her taking out a clean, well looked after pocket watch and checking the time. Shots then show her walking through urban areas such as in front of high rise flats and also the fast undeveloped locations. Ambient sound in the background (traffic, general public). She walks in to a café and a shot shows her sit down opposite a suited figure. After pro-longed eye contact the Woman slides the envelope across the table towards the protagonist. She stares at it for a moment, glancing back at the detective, snatching the envelope and leaving the café. Over the shoulder shot shows a figure who had been watching the transaction at a separate table, get up and follows the Protagonist. The Young woman is shown walking down a quiet alley, and opening up the envelope. Close up of the contents shows a name followed by an address. The camera then cuts to show the woman growing emotional. Suddenly, the man who had been watching the transaction takes the pocket watch from her pocket and strangles her with the chain. He drops her body on the ground, takes the envelope, drops the pocket watch and walks away. Final shot- Pocket watch on the ground.

The character is established by taking influence from sin city. This is done by using the costume idea of glamour/ the colour red. Ideally, this establishes that our character is trying to be classy. Additionally, the colour red signifies the theme of danger/ a femme fatal. Dialogue is adapted from a film called Alice Creed, in this film, there is no dialogue, and communication is created via the concept of facial expressions and hand gestures. We took this as an inspiration as it adds an edge to the film, making it more enigmatic. Our chosen locations are very bleak and will be very de-saturated, which comes from the film Essex boys. Bleak locations also adds to the enigma and tension of the opening which is clearly developed in Essex boys.

Potential locations

Characters, costumes and props

Jessica Harvey

Below is a rough plan for how the main character of our Thriller, Jessica Harvey, should be dressed along with what props she should use during the opening of our Thriller. These will help establish her character to the audience.

Jessica Harvey is broken young adult. Having been badly affected by the sudden death of her father in her childhood her life is now at a dead end. She has come to learn not to trust or rely on anyone and as a result is lonely, defensive and vunerable. Despite this she is resilient and strong willed .Throughout the entire opening she doesnt say a word (influence from this comes from the opening of Alice Creed) and this trait optimises her stand-offish, naturally defensive attitude. The costume the she will wear will reflect her broken personality. She'll wear a dark red, casual dress with laddered old tights, and dark hoodie over the top of this. This will reflect her slightly dysfunctional personality as she is still trying to be glamorous and dress nicely as shown through the red dress but the dark hoodie show's the audience that her life is far from perfect. Literally it is keeping her warm from the cold but metaphorically it is a kind of darkness that is overshadowing her life. The ripped tights help to emphasise this as while the clothing on their own may seem glamorous as if she is trying to impress someone, the rips and ladders in them show that they are perhaps over worn and broken, representing her personality. On her feet she'll wear worn, slightly damaged red shoes with a slight heel as this helps to show the derelict glamour that resides within her. The makeup she applies in the opening scene is not applied well and is not of a good quality helping to reinforce her resilient but broken persona. Prop-wise the jewellery she wears reflects her broken further. On her ears she will wear small, dirty, cracked pearl earrings and on her finger an oxidised silver ring. These little details will show that she is trying her best to stay looking nice but her dark past is still disrupting her life to the point that new luxuries such as jewellery aren't affordable. The phone she owns is an old Nokia or flip phone to show that her life is difficult to the point where she cannot afford to replace unfashionable things. One item that helps establish the plot of the opening is her low quality name badge which she removes in the opening scene. This implies that she may have a very low paid job which helps portray her as someone who has reached a dead end in her life. The only item she owns that is in a good, almost pristine condition is a gold pocket watch she uses to check the time. It is shiny and immaculately kept. This helps provide a sense of enigma as it contrasts heavily with the rest of her personal items leading the audience to question why she has it and why it is such a good condition; it adds a depth to her character.

Detective

The policeman/detective character who provides Jessica Harvey with the envelope is not as significant as her and so not quite as much detail will go in to their costume or props.  They will wear a dark suit or dark trousers and a shirt with a long dark over coat over the top. They will wear a hat which could be pulled down to cover the majority of their face. This would add a sense of enigma to his character. Importantly, to help explain to the audience who this character is, he would own a police badge which could either be on his overcoat or suit jacket or in a wallet which he produces when paying for a coffee at the café. This will allow the audience to understand who this character is which will allow the plot to become clearer. Apart from these details, the detective character will stay fairly enigmatic.

Assassin

The character that eventually kills Jessica Harvey is the least important of the three characters. He will be dressed in all black; black trousers with either a black shirt or a black sweatshirt. His hair will be neat to portray to the audience his careful and deadly accuracy whilst killing. He will wear black gloves to symbolise his dark natured work. He will have no props as the item with which he kills Jessica will be her pocket watch. 

Thriller opening Mood Board

Introduction

I'm Ben Rodwell and this is my media blog.