Chosen Actors

In the original plan we were planning on using three brutes to beat up poor Edward. However, through the process of elimination and due to inconveniences of actors not being able to make it, or being ill, we decided on only using one. This at first seemed as a hinder however by the end of the shooting, it worked better with the use of only one character as it made the character of Edward seem more feeble and helpless. For the people that we chose to act out our movie, fitted the brief perfectly.

Edward

This is Sam Todd. 17 years of age, current A level drama student, with out of school acting lessons and an aspiring actor. Although not our original choice, he fared a lot better than our previous engagement. Incredibly reliable, Sam was there on set on time and as a starting actor was very professional  The brief for the character of Edward was: feeble, timid, quite young looking (teenager), lanky etc. As you can see from the photo above he has a feeble look about him, his features in his face are quite small and almost delicate. When we made the character of Edward we weren't looking for specific facial features and structure however when we came across Sam we started to see all the different aspects that could make this character. Along with the structure of him, he's: very small in height and shape, his acting is quite dramatic however instead of looking tacky, he emphasised small movements to enhance the feeble and needy look that we were looking for when we first came up with the movie. Not only this, but the controlled but loose hairstyle also gives off the image that this boy may be some sort of ''clean teen'' that doesn't do anything like this and probably won't again.

In content to the movie, Sam was perfect for the role. On set he brought great energy and worked quickly and effectively, he listened to everything we had to say and worked well with directions. In accordance to our directions he also brought something of his own and gave his own personal twist to the movie with his acting style which accompanied the movie thoroughly. Not only this, but in accordance to working with the other actor, the acting styles gelled completely and through acting we believed that Edward really was threatened by the thug.

This is Danny Morley. 17 Years old, A Level Student and current Rugby Player. Although we had the image of having three thugs, the use of one turned out to be effective as well as less time consuming and more efficient. The character of Steve had the brief of: big built, threatening, thug and intimidating. Danny is a very lovely guy however in appearance (when pulling the right facial expression) holds all of these aspiring qualities. Being a rugby player, we knew that he would be well built and so was at first an obvious choice for one of the original three characters we were looking to use. As well as being well built he was obviously very athletic which fared well when a lot of running came into the movie. With no acting before this movie he was brilliant. Subtle acting techniques with not an over 'Phil Mitchell' vision of a character, Danny was perfect for the role! On set he listened to our direction, doing everything we asked at an excellent standard. He was quiet when needed and didn't shy away from pulling an intimidating face or two, or running in public to more than observant passers by. The reliability of Danny was amazing! Although we did stress if it was an issue with his training that we would try find someone else, but he worked round his training to be there for our filming and didn't complain once.
In relation to a thug, or intimidating character, I would cast Danny every time!

Possible Production Names

Animatic

This animatic is to show a rough version through drawings of what the thriller opening will look like. The transitions aren't exact, and the timing will need to be adjusted to fit the movements of the actors. By putting all the different pictures together we can evaluate whether there is enough shot types, whether the shot will compliment the movements that will go with the scene and whether we need to adjust the shots.
From making the animatic we decided that maybe we needed a few more varied shots. We saw that we had a lot of straight mid shots with the characters, therefore maybe turn it into a wide shot or into a extreme close up. We also got a feel for the timing that it will take for each scene and how we might edit the time to suit the concept. This meant longer shots on the running and quite quick sharp shots when the character of Edward is looking nervously around for the character Steve.
Also, from the animatic we have seen that the setting/location we have chosen for the opening is perfect for the concept and the shot types, everything that we need. The animatic is suited around the chosen location and this strengthens our thriller as when it comes to shooting the film we know whereabouts each shot is going to take place.

Problems within shooting

Shooting schedule

Possible Location Photos

Chosen Location

Chosen Location

The location that we have decided to shoot our thriller is in Anglia Square. Not only is this location very accessible it also offers a lot to work with. Due to the storyboard of our thriller, a gate and passing vehicles was essential. Not only this but due to a chase scene leading to a dead end, the specifics the location needed to fill were: large runways, small claustrophobic spaces, lots of room to shoot running, a dead end, maybe a tunnel and lots of stairs. Due to Anglia Square holding a multi-story car park, the stairs were easy enough to find as was the dead end. Below is a collection of pictures, experimenting not only with whereabouts in the location we might use but also different shot types. 

In the storyboard we have a shot of this fragile teenager (Edward) standing in front of a crossed gate with cars passing by. This is the shot that is probably the most specific vision that we had. This long road, with a gate running down, and cars passing by to hide away Edward so that we could vary our shots with his posture. Successfully Anglia Square offers an excellent location for this. 

These three pictures show the gate location with a long shot, close up and extreme close up. This is echoing the shots that will be used for Edward. This is positioned right next to a car park and so quite conveniently, a constant flow of cars will be at our service to fill our shots need. The population surrounding this location is very few so the risk of unwanted guests entering the video is at a very minimum as well. All in all this is a perfect fit to the image that we had in mind for the first shot. To compliment the setting even more, the road that follows this gate is quite a long one and is welcomed by corners at both ends. This could be used in great effect with the starting of the chase scene as Edward first notices the brutes coming round the corner from his right side as he turns to run to his left. The accessibility to lots of different small roads, and tight corners aids the chase scene immensely as we can manipulate the shots to confuse the audience and make the film a lot more interesting to watch.

On the left we see the view that will be used for Steve, Barry and Dave enter into the thriller, and on the right side we see the exit to which Edward will flee when he catches a glimpse of the men.

The next crucial element that needed to come into context and what really decided for us what place to choose is the shots for the chase sequence. In Anglia Square we gathered a collection of shots from alleyways, to stair cases, to small winding streets that, with the beauty of editing will slot together quite nicely and create a complex and diverse chase scene with what seems like lots of twisting turning corners. The collection of images for these ideas are shown below. What's great about these is that you get the contrast in difference as in some we have quite wide open spaces which shows the vulnerability that Edward seems to be in, three against one and all. But as we look at the reverse we see tight claustrophobic spaces which show the trapped feeling of the situation and the concept of no escape for our poor Edward. 

The different angles used in these pictures can be used in the chase scene to create disorientation, make the setting look a lot more exposed or contrastingly claustrophobic.

Being a multi story car park a factor that will most obviously be there is stairs, and with stairs comes a possible dead end to which we have used to much advantage. With the account of the many many stairs that the car park holds, comes the top floor of the car park and effectively our dead end. We will quite literally leave him on a cliff hanger. Nevertheless, the stairs offer a great build up as we can manipulate the shots to seem like the three 'gangsters' are catching Edward, and then we lead Edward on to a tall car park, deeming his fate as not so bright for the rest of the movie. Using a birds eye view shot from the top we can use this to show Edwards point of view, and then switching to a worms eye view we can intensify the situation by making the building a lot bigger and menacing than it so seems in your average long shot/mid shot. However the usage of the top roof is not as open to pedestrians as we would have hoped, but for obvious reasons of course. However, with a quick chat to the security guards we can gain access and the show can go on!

The different shots for the stairs (mostly tilted, with a straight long shot and  the end shot where the focus is on the stairs and the sub focus on the rails) are there to make the chase scene more exciting and confusing to keep up with. With the use of the technique of disorientation, it will be easier to edit the stair scene so that it all looks fluid.

Consider the dirty alleys of Lock Stock or the staircases of noir.

Finally we have the building shots. These are serving the purpose for the dead end and to make a jump from the top seem very unlikely unless Edward wants to be serving the rest of the film in a coffin. The top right picture shows the view point from Edward as he reaches his dead end and looks over the top of the building. This is where the camera becomes his view point and the mood is intensified by the realisation he has to face these three men.

Links to other thrillers

TV drama openings - How are genre conventions used?

TV drama offers a wide range of genres to work from. The definition of a TV drama is: 'Television content that is scripted and (normally) fictional. This excludes, for example; news, reality, sport etc.' There are many sub genres within TV drama, some of these are: soap operas, reality -real life and constructed, medical and crime. These are just some of the sub genres that TV dramas are subdivided into. The general knowledge about TV dramas is that they focus on the stereotypes of people and play on them to create a programme. For example, in Eastenders they really pull across the cockney accents, the costume on say a teenage mum. The genre that I am going to be focusing on is reality drama, real life in specific. 
The definition of a reality TV show is: 'A genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents etc.' I have chosen three openings to focus my attention on: The only way is Essex, Geordie Shore and The Real Housewives of New York City. What these all have in common is a great feature that reality TV shows hold, they all focus their time on a number of people all interconnected with each other. The fact they all know and see each other all the time is the factor that may have been scripted. The first programme that I'm going to analyse is 'The Only Way is Essex' 

Below, is a video of the opening to The Only Way is Essex:



The first thing we see is a statement. 
'This programme contains flash cars, big watches and extreme posing. the tans you see might be fake, but the people are all real though some of what they do has been set up purely for your entertainment.' This is complimented with a voice over and is the only part of speech we here through the whole opening. It offers humour, enlightenment into what the programme may contain and also warns us that all the people are real and what they say isn't scripted, however some of what they have been told to do has been set up, but only to make sure that the programme isn't boring and that it keeps us entertained. The whole reason for this statement, although putting across a vital point at the end is to keep the film light hearted and entertain us.
Behind the moving images we have a very catchy soundtrack. As soon as we hear this track, we will now associate it with The Only Way is Essex. This is a vital part of a TV drama as the soundtrack is what helps the audience to recognise the programme.
We are then introduced to all of the characters that will be featured in the programme. As you can see most of them are very stereotypical. All of the women and men have bright fake tans, heavy make up, all well dressed and hair perfect. They are trying to sell the image of Essex as being constantly well dressed and done up for an average day. Later on do we find out that the Essex accent is pulled through nice and strong to compliment the image. 

The last image we are graced with is the final title and the whole cast together. The title itself is also staged in a way that will make us associate the font and colours with the programme.

Next we have Geordie Shore. Unlike The Only Way is Essex, it doesn't have a statement at the start of the show as it's a little different. In this show, we have a number of 'geordies' put in a house together to work together for a period of time. However, they get up to a lot more than work. Nevertheless, quite similar to TOWIE we have an introduction to each character. This time, the voice over from the characters are telling us something about them. From this, we get a stereotypical geordie, up for a laugh, quite boisterous, not afraid to say what they feel and ready for a party.

From the introduction of people we can see that they are very superficial. This is the director playing on the stereotypes and making sure all the boys are with fake tans, eyebrows perfect, hair perfect, and all with good physique. The ladies: hair done up, full face of make up, fake tan. All of this is drawing a specific type of audience in. Mostly teenagers, fascinated how people can look, well, fake all the time. However this sort of entertainment is the best sort of entertainment as it's just so humerous to watch.

There isn't much of a soundtrack, just music to fill the silence as they want us to focus more on what the characters are saying as they are building these people in the video for us to be interested and want to know what these people get up to in their day to day lives.

Lastly we have The Real Housewives of New York. This already in the title tells us it's a reality TV show as we have the word 'real' in the title. We can tell that this may be aimed at an older audience as mums want to watch and either envy over the simple lives that these women have or hate that these women have the life and they don't. 
Just like the other two programmes we are introduced to all the different characters one by one. This programme combines the two above in the sense that it uses the music and the characters voices to introduce the programme. The voice overs however are giving across the image of sophistication, snobbery and 'look at us we have it all'. The women are fake in looks, as plastic surgery has undoubtedly been used, however they are fake in a rather classy way. Everything about the opening is very prim and proper unlike the other two which are more down and gritty. 
The last image we are left with is a spin off the Desperate Housewives image with all the ladies holding a golden apple and all dressed in black. This gives us a sense that these are real women living the real life of the fictional characters in the soap Desperate Housewives. This is using the fan base from that programme to transfer to this reality TV drama.

Characters, costumes, props

There will be three more characters within the story, these are:

Dave

Barry

Steve

These are three 'thugs' as such, that will be on the prowl for poor, poor Edward. The very names of these characters were chosen because they have a common twang about them. The very association of the names with the image that pops into your head (being critically stereotypical in your thoughts) the image of three bulky men, maybe hard up come to mind. With the inspiration of a teenage phil mitchell, we have forth three very sturdy characters. Their costume will nearly be identical to that of Edwards however, a lot more loos fitting, and maybe with a tad more colour as we see more confidence come from these three than we do from Edward. By having looser clothes, we see a lot more movement from the three, it shows they are not constrained in the situation and have a lot more freedom in their actions. From this, without words or a narrative we can take from the outfits and appearance that they have the power within the situation and not that of Edward.

Analysis of Psychological thriller - What is the lasting impression created on the viewer?

Psychological films in general are there to make an impression. They're the films that focus on the in depth details that get your thought process in a muddle, and really impact the way that you look at things. The thriller genre in general isn't really one to make you stop and think, it's primary purpose is more to entertain and, well, thrill. However as we delve into the sub genres of thrillers we can start to decifer the inter-textual outline of the secondary purpose. Looking into the sub genre of psychology  in thrillers we tread across films such as: Silence of the Lambs (1991), Fatal Attraction (1987), Memento (2000) and Taxi Driver (1976). Having seen psychological thrillers before, I wasn't that much affected by them, however after seeing a few (mostly made in the 20th century) I could conclude it's because I couldn't relate to them. I'm not sure that many people could relate to such thrills that were conjured up in these movies, however with a new century comes along new, fresh ideas that will cause more of an impact than before. The fact that people can now relate and understand the aspects of psychological thrillers make them seem a lot more real. The cross between fiction and non-fiction is misty through the eyes of a psychological movie as everything seems to be a lot more possible than before. Although always respecting the early made thrillers I have chosen to focus my time on  more recent psychological thriller. Chatroom.

Chatroom
Made in 2010, this british movie was distributed. This movie holds a rather gripping context and one in which a lot of people can relate. To give a bit of insight in what the movie is about, I have taken the synopsis from IMDB and the trailer to accompany it:
'When jaded teens Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online, they're seduced by his charisma. But William isn't what he seems. He's calculating and manipulative and doesn't have time for people in the real world. Jim is vulnerable and he has no idea how dangerous his new friendship with William will be. When Jim confesses he's on anti-depressants, William knows he's found a victim. he vows to help Jim off his drugs, and the rest of the group fall in line. What begins as friendly advice to help Jim becomes twisted and Eva and Mo realise the deadly game William's playing, but the wheels are in motion. Jim is set on a path of self-destruction, and is going to do the unthinkable. As Eva, Emily and Mo try to save Jim, William begins a terrifying game of cat and mouse chasing them across the internet, shutting down their systems, and cutting them off from his victim. Fantasy meets reality when William and Jim are face to face in rush hour on the underground. Without the faceless security of the online world, everything becomes real. It's now a race against time to save Jim, but the clock is ticking...and we fear someone must die.'

This movie's target audience seems to be for teenagers and young adults, in accordance to this it's for the people that can relate to it the most. For thirty, fourty years ago we didn't have the vast amount of technology that we do now, and chatrooms were that of a myth. However, in modern day society the amount of online chatrooms that almost anyone can get their way into, they've become dangerous. This film exploits the idea that, when in a chatroom, you can be whoever you want to be, and no one will ever find out because your identity can be as hidden as you want to be. To explore this further we must first look at the characters. 

Mise en scene

The mise en scene of this film is very clever. It takes the virtual world and then represents it with real life rooms and corridors. This enables every change they make into the blog change the room itself. The first images we are shown as the movie starts is this sequence where William is walking through a corridor of doors, looking for an empty room that he can make his death trap. This shot is repeatedly switched with a shot of him searching the web as we see this connection between the two representing each other. 

For example within this movie, William allows the girls to virtually decorate the chatroom and we are shown in real life as they make the room pink, with fluffy bunnies and balloons and confetti etc. This realisiation that the virtual world can cross into real life is a huge message being put across to the audience and really the representation of this is extroadinary as by watching the film we are being pulled into this view of the virtual world happening in real life. By seeing it so literal it really makes you think what we are saying online may not be so acceptable as if it were in real life.

Throughout the film, we are introduced to different rooms that offer different things to people. One room is a sex line where the character goes in to experience an older woman so that he can get his mind off of someone a bit younger. This sort of action clearly would not happen in real life, well, not in a respectable area anyway. The movie is objectifying what acceptable behaviour on the internet, clearly in real life is signified as anything less than wrong. However, the most disturbing and sick room that is shown within this movie is the one that will undoubtedly have the most affect upon any viewer. This room is the room that William takes Jim to. It's a room where someone convinces people to commit suicide by telling them that their life isn't worth living anymore and that instead of going on they should just end it whilst they're ahead. In a film, this is probably normal in the fact that weird and dangerous things happen, however when we step away from the fact that this is a film production and start to realise that this is echoing real life events, as rooms like this do exist virtually and do convince poor souls that they're worthless and they should take their lives. This, above everything else throughout the movie, personally affected me the most as I couldnt bare to think that a person could sit on an online chatroom and convince people to kill themselves. However, the shocking reality of this is that it does happen. By the use of a white room and quite empty room, the mise en scene decieves the audience by projecting this room as pure and angelic, however deeds that take place are far from this.