Storyboards

The next step in the pre-production process of creating an opening sequence of a Thriller was to start producing storyboards. A storyboard is a detailed breakdown of the specific technicalities that the production crew must follow whilst shooting.

It also provides a clear guide for the editor to construct the sequence as the creator intended it to look and sound. The storyboard therefore details camera, sound, lighting and mise en scene details as well as dictating timing, pace and editing style.

Initially our group finalised the specific shots in sequence order by carefully visualising the sequence and researching existing movies that used a similar filmic style.

Thriler/Horror Synopsis - "High Score"

Based on true events, at 12.00pm, on the 10th of October 2010, teacher, Mark and student, Sandra. Disguise themselves and stroll into the "happy" British boarding school, Jacksonville. They then blitz the school canteen and cause minor injuries to also appear as victims. We follow their "normal" lives leading up to the event, the main reason for their actions, the students need to learn the ultimate lesson and also how they eventually get found out, when a witness builds up the courage to tell the true events of that fatal day.

Account of first production group Meeting

In our first group meeting, we discussed our idea for our title sequence, we talked about the finalised storyline, and how we would film it and how practical it would be.



for most of our lesson together, we looked at videos on YouTube of Films that have done a similar sort of idea, i.e the columbine or school shootings. and we looked at some actual footage of the shootings.





We watched the end sequence of a film called Elephant. it is a revolutionary look at school shootings which focuses on the individual storys of a few students. the way its done highlight's the casual feel of the columbine shootings, it makes the audience see the coldness of the shooters and the mindlessness and pointlessness of the shootings.





this film really helped us understand the shootings and gave us insight into what we want our audience to feel and how we would consider filming it. we considered just fitting cctv cameras in the canteen and getting two students to walk in there with shotguns in full military gear and firing some blank shots, just so we could get a genuine reaction from the students. because as its quite a large scale shoot it will be difficult to make it look authentic and get the actors to take it seriously.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htlsOf3PnGY

Account of Giving Presentations for Possible Thriller Ideas

My idea was based around the conflict between heaven and hell, it has a "constantine" feel to it and focuses around one group of demons.

Synopsis: Satanic worshippers enter church and do a satanic ritual using a pentogram. someone finds the pentogram and tries to remove it but it wont move. they give up trying to remove the symbol and it stays there, after years and years it becomes faded and unnoticeable. one day a preist is holding a service at the church and only 6 people are there. as the church is now corrupted by the symbol, the people in the service become possesed and are turned into the 6 demons.

These demons kill the priest by ripping out his heart and replacing it with a demon heart. the story then unfolds with the demons trying to corrupt the whole world and turn it into a second hell. they are eventually defeated.

this is my opening sequence idea. the kind of film company i see making it is an independant british film company, or a smaller branch of a hollywood studio. aimed at audiences aged 20- over.

Account of Lesson: What is a Thriller

The problem with thrillers is that they are not easily defined or catergorized into a specific genre. this is because so many of the emotions and the reactions that come from thriller are part of the whole experience of film. it is a "meta-genre"



Some "types" of thrillers include: Psycological Thriller, conspiricy thriller, medical thriller, eco thriller.



The Thriller relies on a intricate plot to create suspense, apprehension and fear in audiences. it plays and stresses our most basic worries to extremes, and draws on our most infantile and therefore repressed thoughts. these thoughts are usually voyeuristic, sexual or violent.



The Thriller achieves this by raising questions or Enigma codes in the mind of the audience, yet most thrillers have universal themes at their centre, struggles over love, death or money that captivate the spectator. in thriller, there is usually a sense of delay, a build up of tension and when something does happen, there is a relief from that tension.



we go to watch thrillers because in many ways the audience is sadomasochistic - the audience enjoys watching pain and suffering inflicted on the characters in the film. our pleasure is derived from their discomfort. but the audience also experience's a sense of ambivalence, we can identify and sympathise with the main character or hero.