Script for Opening

Final Idea

As a group we bought our individual ideas together and came up with an overall idea for a Psychological Thriller opening. We came up with the idea of a teen boy called Christian (the protagonist) kills his girlfriend Alice so the opening opens up with a black screen and non-diegetic gunshot and female scream, then we are introduced to Christian walking through a field carrying a dead body (Alice) he then jolts awake in bed and then looks at the picture frame next to his bed which has a picture of him and Alice connoting their relationship (girlfriend,boyfriend) they look happy but Alice's eyes are crossed out connoting that there is some sort of anger coming from Christian towards Alice but we do not know why, we find out later on. We are then shown a 'Missing' poster with Alice on it connoting that no one knows that she is dead. Christian is walking down a street to his therapists office (we find out from a voice over and flash back of him when he was much younger walking through a room, opening a door and seeing his brother dead on the floor, this is why he is seeking therapy) When he gets to his therapists office, we are shown and introduced to the therapist and also see Alice as a ghost, the screen then fades to black.

There is no real equilibrium because the psychological thriller starts in a bad way where there is only just disruption and ends bad because it results in the protagonist killing himself, there is no real happiness or equilibrium because there is nothing to really disrupt at the start and nothing is restored at the end. This table above, helps to put the stages into context and how things are going to work, for example, Christian and the therapist are going to recognise that something bad has happened (the disruption) It also shows what roles the characters are, for example, the helper/donor is the therapist. It also shows how the characters are going to be represented in the film and opening.

This codes and conventions table shows how enigma is going to be created, how the plot is going to be set up, how the characters are going to be introduced and what the pace, rhythm, mood and tone are going to be like in the opening. It helps us to see if we are actually going to be creating enigma, introducing our characters and setting up the plot.

Preliminary Task

We had to do a preliminary task in order to give us a chance to use the cameras and get used to them, in order for our filming to be good when it comes to the real thing. We were given the scenario of a girl walking through the door and walking across the room and then two characters having a conversation, we had to include a shot-reverse shot and had to make sure we acknowledged the 180 degree rule.

We included elements and shots like: close ups; we used a close up on the door handle to add emphasis to the fact that someone was entering a room, zoom ins and outs; the zoom in at the start helps to show that the girl is doing work and that she isn't in the room for no reason at all and sets up the plot and conversation, also the zoom out at the beginning shows the character actually walking through the door and helps us to see her journey from then on into the room, the shot reverse-shot helps to show that these characters are looking and listening to one another and in a way we get to see the other character from the other characters perspective, a pan was used when the characters were talking, making us able to see that these two characters are talking to each other and we get to see them both together and where they are, this also allows for a two shot when the characters were sitting across from one another at the table which once again shows that these characters know each other and are having a conversation which also shows that no one else is involved in this conversation, only these 2 characters.

I feel after doing this task, I am much more confident with the camera and how to produce certain shots etc. 

Brainstorm of First Idea For a Psychological Thriller and Opening

It was important that as a group we both came up with an individual idea, this meaning that our opening is the most effective and best it can be. If only one of us came up with an idea, it wouldn't be that great and would be quite bland, so we both came up with individual ideas and then next time in class we will bring the ideas together and come up with one big idea.

Most of my ideas have helped been produced via the research we collected earlier on, this means that it will be much more effective and will be what our target audience expect. I involved certain elements like an out cast teen because that is what is common in this genre and one of the stock characters our target audience expect. To show that he isn't 'normal' and has some mental issues, I have incorporated a therapist (another stock character expected to see) Fields wasn't something our target audience fully expected, but I feel it could give a twist and would fit very well in where the plot is heading and would be something very different. 
Here is my idea for a possible psychological thriller and opening...

Documentary

Documentary for Research On The Psychological Thriller Genre

This is all our research summed up into one documentary. We talk about the history of the genre, codes and conventions, target audience and then discuss our overall findings and how all this information is going to help with our opening scene. 

There are some things that could have been done to this documentary to make it better, for instance ate the beginning, there could have been more clips and voice overs when talking about the history of the genre. Also we could have incorporated more clips into this documentary. Apart from a few things, there are many things that worked well in this documentary because there was a range of techniques used like voice overs etc.. and managed to put the information and research across well, also because of this documentary we now know roughly what we shall and shall not do in the opening of our film for this genre. 

Target Audience

Mood board For The Target Audience

Demographics

These pictures were chosen because they suited our target audience and what their interests are, what they do in their free time etc.. the best. The Facebook and Twitter logos were chosen due to our target audience using the internet a lot in their free time. There are also instruments like a guitar and music notes around the mood board due to our target audience taking an interest in music and musical instruments. Books are there because are target audience like to read and are still taking part in an education. All of the images on the mood board are representative of what our target audience are like and gives us more of an overview of what kind of people we are aiming our film opening at. To help gather these images we used a focus group and an interview to allow us to know more about the demographics. 

'What do you like to do in your free time?' We asked our focus group this question and found that the most popular activities were; reading, watching films, watching TV, socializing, going online and exercising. The most popular out of these 6 were socializing and going online. 

'What are your hobbies?' We asked our focus group this question and found that the most popular activities were; making videos, playing a musical instrument, doing arty things like drawing, make up etc.. exercising and reading. The most popular out of these 5 were exercising and reading.

Findings 

These were the questions and answers to the questionnaire on surveymonkey

These were the basic questions:

 Majority of the people whom took this survey were female and the main age range was 16-17 years old and the most watched psychological thriller was 'Silence of the Lambs' at 50%. 

What Do You Expect?

We asked the question of 'What do you expect from a typical psychological thriller opening' and these were the answers we received. 

                       







What do you not expect?

We also asked them what they 'Do not expect to see in a psychological thriller' these were our responses. 

What stock characters?

We asked them 'What stock characters do you expect to see in a psychological thriller?' The most popular response was an outcasted teen/child and then Policeman/investigator and councillor/therapist coming in close also. These were the top 3 responses.

What Roles do you expect them to play?

We then also asked them what roles they expect these stock characters to play, these were the responses:

 
 
               

What Stock Settings Do You Expect?

We asked them also what stock settings they expect to see in a psychological thriller and the most popular response was a mental hospital and then home/bedroom and fields/outside/deserted coming in close. These were the top 3 responses.

Do They Require Supernatural Element? 

We asked them if psychological thrillers require the use of a supernatural element and the most popular response was 60-70% saying no they do not require the use of a supernatural element.

Scary and Something Out of The Ordinary?

We also asked them if psychological thrillers need to be scary and something out of the ordinary and 90% said yes they do. 

History of the Genre

Psychological Thriller: a brief history

Alfred Hitchcock

Psychological thrillers mainly started in the 1920's where technology was very limited so the movies that were produced weren't very clear or realistic compared to today, 'The Lodger' was a British psychological thriller produced in 1926 by Alfred Hitchcock, a very well known British producer and director and mainly worked with psychological thrillers. This film was black and white and was silent meaning that the full effect could not be created due to music and sound playing major part in the psychological thriller genre. Hitchcock started adding colour to his films in 1950's with his first one being 'Strangers on a train' in 1951.

  

 Over time, psychological thrillers have become much more
gory, violent, bad language and involved sexual scenes like rape, in the 1980's 'Brimstone and treacle' was released (1982) with an age 18 rating and contained these elements. 

Over the years the film ratings have gone up meaning that this genre has gotten scarier and gorier. In the present day different types of technology has been used and the use of camera shots, angles and how the scene cuts and edits and 
music is what makes these films scarier. Psychological thrillers have come a long way since the 1920's.

Older psychological thrillers:

                         

Interview with the man himself Alfred Hitchcock: