Our Evaluation

Final Opening

Character Profiles

Name: Samantha Black

Age: 25

Costume:

Scene 1- Red top, jeans, bare feet

Scene 2- Black jumper, jeans, dark pumps, gloves

Scene 3- black suit, white shirt

Characteristics

Scene 1- vulnerable

Scene 2- mysterious, dangerous, isolated

Scene 3- strong work ethic

Gesture/ movement

Scene 1 - stationary

Scene 2- cutting, harsh movements

Scene 3 – forceful

Name: Kelly Edwards

Age: 22

Costume:

Scene 1 – white top, jeans

Characteristics

Scene 1 – inferior to Samantha, vulnerable

Gesture/ movement

Scene 1 – stationary, sudden movement 

preliminary task jadeleahjazamy

Casting and Shooting Schedule

Casting

Samantha Black- Leah O’Hare

We felt that she suited the role because; she has an easily changeable personality and look, which is a key aspect for her character.

Kelly Edwards- Jade Senior

We feel that Jade could fulfil her role as Samantha’s best friend, because, she has a certain aspect of innocence in her personality. But, she also needs to have a darker side to her, which reflects her killing Samantha.

Shooting Schedule

Day/Date	Location	Actors	Props	Technical kit	Notes
Monday 21st Feb	Amy’s house	Jade Leah	Lamp Bed linen Telephone Scissors Glass vase Flowers Artificial blood	Camera, tripod	Scene 1
Wednesday 23rd Feb	Jazmin’s loft	Leah Jade	Photos Drawing pins Lamps Chunky books Scissors Cellotape Pencil shavings Work pass Newspapers Red wool Knife Sheets Blood	Camera, tripod	Scene 2
Saturday 26th Feb	Ali’s work place	Leah	Briefcase	Camera, tripod	Scene 3

The Storyboard

The Script

Proposed script for the opening scene

Media script for opening scene

At the beginning silence as the audience witness the death and then a sharp low key thud when the hand reaches towards the phone and screen.

When the scene changes to the psychotic chamber where the murderer hides their plans a soundtrack begins to play that is:

-       Long and drawn out and slow with frequent diegetic sound interruptions

-       Opposes the tense atmosphere i.e. is eerily happy and cheerful however distorted shows the sick mind of the individual.

Chamber scene  

1)    Over the shoulder clips of the murderer cutting out pictures of colleagues with some faces blurred out and others highlighted and circled. Slow methodical pace of the scissors cutting and the turning of pages override the soundtrack.

2)    You hear the sharpening of a pencil with a knife and see the shavings drop to the floor the camera follows (background is blurred and the shavings fall in slow motion) and drops of blood are also seen on the floor and words in books are highlighted in pencil and blood.

3)    Book is slammed shut and murderer seems frustrated she storms to the collage with a group of photos.  

4)    We see the murderer pinning up pictures and newspaper cuttings on the board and the camera focuses on one individual (Samantha)

Work scene

Samantha walks into work confidently with the sun shining.

Samantha: Hey Bob

Bob (Security guard): Hey Samantha

(Clip clopping of shoes)

Kelly: Hey babes how was your weekend

Samantha: Good thanks, yours?

Kelly: Busy, reports don’t write themselves.

(Both laugh)

They approach a door and the camera follows but gets shut out and then zooms onto the door plaque saying ‘Dr. Samantha Black – Assistant Manager of the Creative Sector’

END.

Synopsis

At the beginning of the film there is a scene with a dead woman shown and a hand reaching towards a phone after this there are clips of a psycho with a collage of images cutting and editing pictures of unknown people. The killers work pass is on the wall to give the illusion to the audience that she is victim. We are then shown the ‘victim/killer’ walking into work looking smart and sophisticated.

There is a killer on the loose that is mysteriously killing people at Samantha’s work place; people are made to believe that their work colleagues are off sick or on a holiday although in reality they are being savagely murdered. The killer turns out to be Samantha however she is unaware of this due to her suffering of Dissociative identity disorder which causes her to lead two parallel personalities that never coexist, hence her memory is severly damaged and she is unaware of the sins she commits.
She convinces herslef she is normal although throughout the film signs of her unusual personality are revealed. As more work colleagues go missing she becomes more wary of what is happening. Samantha’s friend Kelly, who has known her for 5 years (since they started working together), becomes suspicous of Samantha and is convinced that she has something to do with the missing colleagues.
Kelly sneaks into Samantha’s house and finds a locked room which she finally opens and discovers Samantha’s dark secret (collage is exposed) simultaneously Samantha is on her way home, the scene becomes intense, Smantha finds Kelly in her home and after a few harsh words it results in a large aggressive fight resulting in the death of Samantha.

Our chosen institution

Warner Bros. is our chosen company, with dark castle entertainment as an associating institution. Our chosen genre is psychological thriller therefore we feel that this company will be beneficial to the production of our film. As Warner Bros. Is a largely successful company we feel confident in the fact that our film will be suitably funded. Since Warner Bros. is an established company that supports Dark Castle entertainment the company has the ability to be more specific in it’s chosen genre, horror/thriller. Due to it’s experience in producing horror/thriller films, we are positive that the film will be of a high standard in regards to production. 

Dark Castle has produced a variety of successful horror/thriller films, such as Gothika, Orphan, The Reaping and Splice. The success of these films assures us that the company has a lot of knowledge on what the audience like or expect to see in a horror/thriller film.

For the production, distribution and funding of our film we have chosen two integrated companies, Dark Castle Entertainment is a branching company of Warner Bros. The significance of this association is beneficial in terms of funding and we think there can be too many companies in one film and therefore having one main institution in charge will be cheaper and there will be less conflict.

Warner Bros. have distributed a wide variety of films from different genres including; Terminator 3: rise of the machines, Spartan, Exorcist: the beginning, and Dominion: prequel to the exorcist. This shows that they are able to dispense lots of films from different backgrounds and have had experience in distributing successful thrillers.

Presentation of Findings

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1)     What is your sex?

Male                      Female

2)     How old are you?

15-17                 18-21                 22-29                 30+

3)     What is your main hobby?

Sport                  Reading                  Dancing                 Singing                  Art                  

Shopping                 Other _____________________________________________________

4)     How often do you watch films?

Never                 Rarely                 Occasionally                 Often                 Always

5)     How do you access films?

Internet                 DVD                 Cinema                 Television                 Other

6)     How often do you watch thrillers?

Never                 Rarely                 Occasionally                 Often                 Always

7)     What type of thriller do you prefer?

Horror (e.g. Halloween)        

Drama (e.g. Fatal Attraction)      

 Psychological (e.g. sixth sense)                 

Vampire (e.g. blade)                   

Crime (e.g. silence of the lambs)      

Other ___________________________________________________________________

8) Using the answer to question 7, why do you prefer that type of thriller?

9)     What colours would you expect to see in a thriller?

____________________________________________________________________________________

10) What setting do you most expect to see in a thriller?

Forrest          Abandoned house       Prison         Hospitals            Other ____________________

11) What character is most essential to a thriller?

Victim          Killer         Policeman          Parents           Supernatural creatures

12) Which prop does you associate most with a thriller?

Handcuffs       Weapons       Fast cars           Phone           Technology          

13) What type of sound do you think creates the most effect in a thriller?

Music (with lyrics)         Instrumental music (no lyrics)          

Sounds within the scene (e.g. gun shots, creaking doors, screams)

14) What type of lighting do you think is most effective in a thriller?

Daylight           Sepia (old fashioned looking)          Shadows        

Rain (bad weather conditions)

15) What is it that you like about thrillers?

Suspense/tension        Story lines          Element of mystery          Being scared

Other _____________________________________________________

16) What type of costumes do you expect to see in a thriller?

Normal everyday clothes          Outfit specific to character         Black leather        Capes          

Other________________________________

17) Why have you ended up watching thrillers?

There was nothing else on         You have seen advertisements            

They are one of your favourite types of films          You like the thrill

Other____________________________________________________

18) How much death do you think that a thriller should include throughout the film?

None          1 or 2            3 – 5              Over 5

19) What do you prefer in an opening of a thriller?

Death             Building of suspense             Normality              Other________________________

20) Who do you tend to watch thrillers with?

With family           With friends          Partners           Other_____________________

Questionnaire Summary

    

1) What is your sex?


The majority of the people who we asked were females, which in some ways was quite surprising, because Thrillers are usually aimed at males. Knowing this, we expected the results for the questions from the females to be quite light-hearted compared to the results from the males.

2) How old are you?

The ages of the people who we asked were mainly 15-17. This shows that before, when Thrillers were first shown, the target age was 18+ because of the nature of the Thrillers. But now, because there are so many subgenres of Thriller, the genre now appeals to more age brackets.

3) What is your main hobby?
  

The most popular hobby was reading. This could show that the “technology generation” do actually do others thing in their spare time; not just using social networking sites. Also, nowadays, more books are being turned into films, therefore, this could be a way that people find out about the films because the books usually include a bit of information about an upcoming film if there is one.


4) How often do you watch films?

The majority of the people who we asked watched films in general often. This is very useful, because we now know that films are something that our audience enjoy, so it is quite likely that they may watch ours. Also, film is a good way of advertising other films. E.g. a trailer before a film starts at the cinema or on DVD.

 5) How do you access films?

DVD seemed to be a popular way to access films. This could be for number of reasons: 1. it is easy to access e.g. buy it from a shop. 2. It is cheaper than paying to go and see it at the cinema- once you have brought it, it is yours.  The internet was the second most popular source, which could show that illegal downloads of film and YouTube have made it even easier to watch films at home; whereas years ago, you had to go to the cinema or watch them on the television.

 6) How often do you watch thrillers?

The most popular answer was occasionally. This shows that many people like to watch a variety of genres and films and not just stick to one type. Furthermore it may indicate that the audience like the genre of thriller since they do actually watch it. This is further shown by the fact that the next popular answer is always. However rarely is the next option which could represent the fact that not everybody like thrillers therefore we are targeting a specific audience who like the genre. The least popular answer was often which may be accurate due to people not having time to watch lots of films or it could show that the genre isn’t something that people want to watch all of the time.

                    
7) What type of thriller do you prefer?

The most popular answer to this was drama, which could represent the fact that many audiences like more of a realistic storyline behind the thrillers and not just a ton of blood and gore. Following this was psychological which shows that people like the element of the unknown and the idea of mind games intrigues people. Also the fact that they mess with your head could create an enigma and therefore capture the audience’s interest. The least popular was crime and before this was horror. This shows that the majority of the people that took the questionnaire don’t necessarily like the idea of blood and gore or crime where you follow the investigation of a murder.

8) Using the answer to question 7 why do you prefer that type of thriller?

Most people said that they preferred their specific genre chosen because it was interesting and exciting; others said they liked the storyline. These are both common features that attract the target audience as they drag the audience into the realms of the film world and involve them. People that choose psychological thrillers in question 7 said that they liked the confusing element of testing your mind the most this is due to the complexity of the plot and shows that audience participation is key to a successful film.

9) What colours would you expect to see in a thriller?

Typically most people choose the colour black, which has connotations of danger, mystery and unknowing these are all fundamentals explored in the genre thriller. As well as this the colour blue is mentioned creating a cold atmosphere that makes the audience feel uninvited. A number of people also choose the colour red this is due to the predictable association it has with blood and danger it also links in with the idea of murder or killing.

10) What setting do you most expect to see in a thriller?

Abandoned house was the top answer for this question, which shows that the audience must automatically associate this setting with a thriller. Furthermore it is an isolated place that must be considered dangerous and be something that means that the audience would recognize the film as a thriller. The least popular choice was hospitals. This could indicate that the audiences don’t want the thriller set in a hospital because the hospital scenes are a place of safety or recovery therefore the main action will take place in a much more dangerous and less secure environment.

11) What character is most essential to a thriller? 

The main character associated with a thriller is the killer, this is predictable as the killer generally encompasses the villain of the film, who is the character that carries the most suspicion and mystery. Next conventionally comes the victim who is pursued by the killer this may be due to the enigma ceated between the two characters.

12) What prop do you most associate to a thriller?

Weapons were the most popular with over 75% of the people choosing this answer. This shows that weapons link in with the audience expecting to see death in a thriller therefore there logically must be weapons etc… in order to add an element of danger. Weapons are a broad spectrum so it can be anything from a gun to a futuristic style weapon e.g. a lightsaber. The lest popular prop associated with a thriller was technology which shows that the audience don’t think everyday technologies such as television play that big of a part – unless the film is about it.

13) What type of sound creates the most effect in a thriller?

Instrumental was the most popular with music with lyrics being least popular. This indicates that more affect is caused by having music without lyrics because the audience won’t be distracted by the lyrics of the song - especially if they recognise it. Plus the mood of instrumental music tends to have much more effect on people if there are no lyrics. A lot can be said without lyrics in music. The middle answer was also popular; this was sounds within the scene. For example screaming or creaking doors therefore showing that these realistic and more obvious sound effects are also popular with the audience. 

14) What type of lighting do you think is most effective in a thriller?

The data shows that shadows create the most effect in a thriller these can be formed through back and under lighting they make characters appear suspicious and produce an element of the unknown surrounding the setting. Secondly is rain this is a common feature of a thriller and is a stereotypical weather condition as it can cause many hazardous situations in which crime/murder scenes are set. 

15) What is it that you like about thrillers?

Most people answered that the suspense and tension are the key factors that are liked in a thriller these can be created through a variety of things: lighting, colour and props etc… therefore our group will attempt to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Secondly was the storylines that attracted viewers this may be due to the complexity (psychological thrillers) or realistic tones (drama thrillers) of the plot.

16)  What type of costumes do you expect to see in a thriller?

The most common answer to this question was normal everyday clothes; this is common for an audience to choose because it creates a feeling of realism, whereas if the characters were dressed in capes, which were found to be the least common answer, the way the film is portrayed would appear more traditional and less realistic. Outfits specific to character was the second most popular, showing how audiences expect to see regular everyday people in thriller films, whereas black leather etc appears to be less expected of a thriller film.

17) Why have you ended up watching thrillers?

The most common answer to this question was that they like the thrill of watching a thriller. This is obviously expected from watching thriller movies due to that is what makes them different from other sub-genres of the horror genre. The thrill that is given from watching these films is what attracts the audience and gains their attention into watching them. The least common answer was that it was their favourite genre; this is a less desirable answer to reveal through a questionnaire due to our opening being in the genre of thriller, although the thrill appears to be the most desirable element in watching thriller movies.

18) How much death do you think a thriller should include through out the film?

The most common answer to this question was 1 or 2 deaths, this was possibly the most popular answer because in a thriller film, a lot of deaths may appear slightly dramatic to the audience, and therefore having only 1 or 2 deaths appears more realistic and maintains that thrill which is desired in thrillers. The least common answer was none, showing that if there were no deaths at all in a thriller film, the audience would not find it very satisfying and thrilling.

19) What do you prefer in an opening of a thriller?

  

The most common answer was suspense, meaning that an audience enjoys seeing suspense in the beginning of a thriller film, possibly due to the excitement that it brings, being unaware of what is happening, and creating a bit of mystery. A less common answer was normality, this was possibly less common due to the audience enjoying excitement rather than a normal day scene, creating suspense builds up the tension, meaning a more interactive audience.

20) Who do you tend to watch thrillers with?

  

The most common answer to this question was family, this shows how an audience enjoys watching thriller movies with their family, also another common answer was friends, and thriller movies can be exciting and interesting when watched with friends. Therefore our target audience would be more family orientated.