Research into Typical Crime Thriller Narrative's

Crime Thriller Narrative's

I decided that I needed to look into the story lines of a number of crime thriller films to see if there are any recurring styles of stories. I needed to see if the plot we have decided on fits into the criteria of a crime thriller so that we can officially label it as this. 

Seven

Seven is the story of two detectives who hunt down a deranged serial killer. The criminal justifies his crimes due to the lack of respect of the human race against the seven deadly sins. The two detectives move from murder to murder and the audience see how the serial killer has incorporated the seven sins into his drastic and horrifying slaughters of innocent beings.

The Machinist

The Machinist is about a man who hasn't slept in a year because he suffers with insomnia. Day by day he starts to doubt his sanity and strange happenings start occurring at home and at work. He is having hallucinations about a co-worker who no one else seems to know exists. The film is the story of how he unravels a path of mystery that he can't seem to understand.

The Silence of the Lambs

The Psychopath Buffalo Bill is on the run in America. He's kidnapping and murdering women in his path and to find clues of his whereabouts and how to stop him Agent Clarice Starling has to interview the infamous prisoner Dr Hannibal Lector but for him to give her any clues about Buffalo Bill he wants to know the ins and outs and her mind. The Silence of the Lambs is a story of psychological minds and courage.

The Sixth Sense

A child psychologist is confronted in the night with a former patient who he had failed to help and is very psychologically unwell. The patient shoots his former doctor in the stomach before killing himself. A few months later the doctor is admitted a patient whom he thinks he can help as he has many of the same problems as the other patient. He has his work cut out and doubts he can actually help the boy as he see's ghosts before they even know they are dead.

Shutter Island

Shutter Island tells the tale of a detective, Teddy, and his partner who travel to an unfamiliar island to find a missing patient, who murdered her three children, escaped in a storm. The island workers and managerial team seem to resent Teddy for a reason unknown to him and as he finds clues  to the whereabouts of the missing patient he unravels a path he didn't want to walk on and things turn out to be not what they seem.

Psycho

A woman, Marion Crane, steals 40,000 dollars from her boss to start a new life with her boyfriend, Sam, in California but because of the long journey she has to stop for two nights. The first night she stops in her car but on the second she stays the night in a Motel and meets a man called Norman Bates who seems a little too interested in her. He advises her that she should give the money back and she does agree to do this but a week later Marion's sister arrives in California to tell Sam that Marion hasn't been seen for a week or so.

Prisoners

On the Thanksgiving, Keller Dover, his wife Grace, their teenage son Ralph and their little daughter Anna go to the home of their neighbors and friends Franklin Birch, his wife Nancy, their teenage daughter Eliza and their little daughter Joy to celebrate together in a lunch party. Later the families realize that the girls have vanished and they call the police department. Detective Loki is assigned to the case and he arrests the teenager Alex Jones. Soon they learn that Alex has the IQ of a ten year-old boy and he is discharged. Keller decides to abduct Alex to torture him and find where his beloved daughter and her friend are, crossing the thin line between right and wrong.


The Usual Suspects

Police investigating an exploded boat on a San Pedro pier discover 27 bodies and $91 million worth of drug money. The only survivors are a severely burned and very scared Hungarian terrorist and Verbal Kint, a crippled con-man. Reluctantly, Kint is pressured into explaining exactly what happened on the boat. His story begins six weeks earlier with five criminals being dragged in by New York police desperate for suspects on a hijacked truck and ends with the possible identification of a criminal mastermind.

Side Effects

Martin Taylor is released after four years in prison and his mother and his wife Emily Taylor welcome him. Unexpectedly Emily is depressed and tries to commit suicide, hitting her car against the wall in the garage. Emily goes to the hospital and the psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Banks treats her and she decides to be her client. Emily tries to commit suicide again, but she returns to a normal life with Martin and occasionally has sleepwalking episodes. One day, Emily stabs her husband to death while sleepwalking and she is sent to trial. She is declared non-guilty but is forced to go to a psychiatric facility and Dr. Banks is responsible to periodically evaluate her mental condition. He decides to investigate the case to clear his name and discovers that Emily faked her suicide attempts. 


Inception

Dominic Cobb is an industrial spy who instead of breaking into a person's home, office, or even computer, gets the information he needs by getting into the person's mind through their dreams. Cobb is also a fugitive who misses his children. Someone approaches Cobb and wants to hire him but instead of getting information out, the man wants Cobb to implant something, a process called 'inception', which is not easy to do. Cobb is hesitant to do it but when the man offers to help Cobb go back to his children, Cobb agrees. 




Memento

Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.

After conducting this research it is clear that our film needs to include some form of psychological element and it does because we get an insight into Kyle's past and how his actions lead to the film finale. It is clear to me now that our film can be put into the crime thriller genre as we have created a plot line that has elements of several of the above film narrative's.

Individual Research into Genre

Conventions of a Thriller

Popular films within the Thriller genre include the well known, 'Batman The Dark Knight', 'Kill Bill', 'Se7en' and the 'Terminator' sequel amongst many others. The conventions that make these films a 'Thriller' boil down into six simple categories.

Camera Movement

Camera movement is important in thriller films especially due to their well known stereotypical fast paced close-ups and frequent zooming in and out to create a action packed shot. Tracking and Pan shots are also very common in this genre of film.

Character positioning

Within most thriller films the characters will often be placed in a medium close up to extreme close up of the frame so that an audience can make out any background that may effect the narrative storyline, and any facial expressions that explain characters emotion.

Camera Angles

The framing of each shot within a film is what suggests the genre of the film. For example characters with high power shall be placed within a low angle shot (looking up) making the character intimidating to the audience. Whereas a character with low lower within a film will be filmed in a high angle shot (looking down) to make the subject look fragile and vulnerable.

Mise en Sen

When studying classic thriller movies, it is more than noticeable that the locations and props used on set project the films genre and storyline. An atmosphere is able to be built upon with the Mise En Sen that an audience can recognise, and therefore relate to.

Editing

In my personal opinion, editing is the most essential skill when creating any genre of film, not just a thriller. Editing allows an audience to either be held in suspense, by perhaps a long filmed shot. Or to be shocked by a scene of fast cut shots.

Sound

The audio of a film is also vital to the films genre. The use of silence can be used to build up tension, whereas as diagetic audio can have the opposite effect. Non diagetic audio can be used to highlight little realism in the film, for example a scifi film may use spaceship audio for this effect

I feel as our film is a mix of genres, we shall have to research further into these six categories that help to make a film, and research into actual films that have this knowledge applied in production.

Research into the Sub-Genre's of Thriller

I have decided to look into the sub-genre's of thriller because then i can get a clear understanding of which category my film will be entered into.

Psychological thriller
There is an element of this sub-genre in every thriller film because it is the part that plays with the audience's minds in order to slightly confuse or scare them in some way. It also creates a sense of suspense. The audience will get an understanding of the main character as the psychological part is usually there to create a slightly un-welcomed characteristic about them. They're usually emotionally or mentally unstable in some way. Psychological thriller's usually involve the thought processes and terrible happening's the main character have gone through in the past throughout the film and that's why it makes it so edgy because it gives you a chance to be emotionally involved with the main character. Well known psychological thriller films are Strangers On A Train and Psycho.

Crime thriller
Crime thrillers tend to focus more on the criminal than the actual crime and show their story as to why they're committing the crime and how it effects them as a person. Again it's a more suspenseful account to what a normal crime film is. There is a psychological element to this genre as well because obviously we get an account of what happened to the criminal in order for him/her to commit crime and possibly the events leading up to the crime. This progression can involve flashbacks to something bad in the past which is a psychological element. The crime can be anything illegal such as knife or gun violence, illegal substances or gang crime. Well known crime thriller films are Pulp Fiction and Drive.

Disaster thriller
These films include huge natural disasters and usually follow a group of people, usually all survivors, that travel through the natural disaster to reach some sort of destination. These films have a sense of foreboding in them and tend to try and play on the fact that the world may 'end' at some point. Well known disaster thrillers are 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow.

Mystery thriller
A mystery thriller is usually the story of an investigator trying to find a criminal by looking at the clues at the crime etc. The mystery are the clues and leads circled around the crime. The audience follow the path of the protagonist and this creates a dramatic effect that allows the audience to watch the suspenseful account of the investigation. A well known mystery thriller is Shutter Island.

Supernatural thriller
These films bring something not ordinary to the screen. The supernatural is there to frighten the audience and create a unnatural circumstance surrounding the protagonist. These films usually have a religious element and involve demons, aliens and possession. Well known supernatural thriller films are The Others and Insidious.

Research into Relevant Poster Design - Pulp Fiction

Relevant Poster Research

I found a post from the crime thriller Pulp Fiction.

I decided to look into this film and it's poster because there are elements of this film such as the characters and the violence that we are considering to put into our film. The film may not be in the same sub-genre (psychological thriller) but it still creates the same thrilling feeling in an audience member that we would like to evoke from a viewer when they see our film.

Overall, in conclusion the poster has some great elements in it that we can consider when creating our poster. The fact that many parts of the poster adds mystery to the characters and the story lines would be particularly effective to our story line as there is a hidden secret to our protagonist and you wouldn't want to give too much away in a film poster to the plot line. This is because the entire idea of creating a thrilling film to fit in with the genre wouldn't be as effective if anything was given away. 
Although the poster doesn't contain the correct description of all other members of the production team, just the director and the cast.

Research into Viral Adverts - Limitless

Research into Viral Adverts - Limitless

This viral advert for the thriller Limitless was shown on both television and went viral on social networking sites. 

The advert is particularly effective as it has a set up that could be a legitimate product that is generally advertised, yet because the advert has the famous actor Bradley Cooper starring in it it seems that it could catch the suspicion of an audience member.

The advert consists of footage from the film which reveals bits things for the audience to look forward to.

The turning point in the advert that definitely catches the attention and is used effectively as a shock tactic is when the second voice over from a separate female voice is heard talking about the side effects of the drug and mentions words such as 'psychosis' and 'homicide' which lead you to realise that the advert is actually fake.

The advert is particularly effective as I feel that the fact that the advert has an artificial legitimacy that can convince and audience makes the film eagerly anticipated and builds the excitement for the film itself. 

Research into Viral Adverts - Carrie

Research into Viral Adverts - Carrie (Remake)

This is the viral advertisement for the remake of the horror film Carrie.

The advert is relevant to the story as the story surrounds a young struggling girl who has the talent of telekinesis.

The advert is particularly effective as it is a stunt to catch peoples reaction to a fictional occurrence of telekinesis. To see the reaction of the people they record, can be related to the film as it is an incite into human behaviour and how everyday people would react to telekinesis just like the characters react to Carrie's telekinesis. 

This is effective to an audience as it has quite the shock tactic to it that would make people have more of an interest in the film and would be more likely to go and see it.

This video was only shared online which is particularly effective as this would mean that the video would spread a lot quicker as there are many different social networking sites and different sharing formats for the video to be shown on as opposed to television when there would only be a select audience that could watch it depending on what channel they would show it on and also what time they would show it too.

What is 'Viral Marketing'?

What is Viral Marketing?

According to the Cambridge Online Dictionary viral marketing is:

           "A marketing activity in which information about a product spreads between                                 people, especially on the internet."

The point of viral marketing is the fact that it gives individuals involved with your project and gives them chance to spread your project around to their friends which is as well beneficial to you as this is completely free. This is often known as social cascading. 

As the internet has become such a powerful media device it is probably the most successful way that you could promote a project because of the easy access each person has not just to friends but those across the world, aiding the development of the project's popularity and success. 

Viral marketing can be many different formats, such as images, documents, videos and even news articles and news or radio broadcasts. 

The key to successful viral marketing are 2 things.

1. TRUST

The audience that you are putting your marketing to must trust the person that they are hearing their information from. For example if a person hears information, that information probably comes from a person that they don't know and to be able to spread that information to another source then they must trust the information is, if you will, trustworthy and legitimate (or believable), to make for that instant buzz of excitement to cause that person to pass on what they have seen or heard.

    2.   HOW BELIEVABLE IS YOUR INFORMATION?

There is a fine line between wowing an audience and then going over the top to the unbelievable! You want to make a project that promotes something almost shocking enough to entice an audience and keep them captivated enough to spread the word, but not too dramatic or outrageously far fetched to deter them.

Successful VS Failed

FAILED - RESIDENT EVIL: OUTBREAK

In 2004, Sony's Resident Evil: Outbreak game released a marketing strategy to promote its release  that backfired, majorly. 

Users received an SMS message to their phone telling them that they were infected with T-Virus, a virus from the game which quickly prompted calls to the company Sophos, a developer and vendor of security software. 

A typical message used in this scheme was:

'Outbreak: I'm infecting you with the T-Virus, my code is -------. Forward this to 60022 to get your own code and chance to win prizes. More at t-virus.co.uk'

The message was largely misconceived as the messages were sent to any numbers without their given consent. So as most of these people would be unaware of the Resident Evil franchise and their infamous fictional 'T-Virus', the customers thought it was an actual technological virus sent to infect their phone.

SUCCESSFUL - THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

The Blair Witch Project has gone down as the most successfully viral marketed film of all time and the first effective found-footage film of all time. 

The film was released in 1999 filmed all on hand held cameras and the dialog from all 3 main characters was all entirely improvised. The film cost around $25,000 to make.

A year before the film was released a website www.blairwitch.com was released by the films 2 directors. The website gave the story behind the legend of the 'Blair Witch'. Following the film being sold to Artistan Entertainment, both Artistan and the directors worked on the 'Blair Witch' website using many low budget tactics to promote the film. Prior to its release, $1m was spent on the films promotion. 

The website is still up now and consists of information about the Blair Witch, stretching back to as early as 1785 up to 1997 when the 'rediscovered' footage was released and 'asked' to be pieced together by the 'families' of the 'victims' in the film.

The website also includes photo's from the 'victims' preparing for the journey they made in the documentary, their abandoned car and tapes, police search and there are also a number of interviews of the 'victims' family members and people who worked on the case and news reports on the case of the 'victims'.

Trailers were also shot for the film before its release, both extremely disturbing, shown below.

The trailers were shown more on college campuses because not showing it to the big screen saved a lot of money and also made the individuals it was shown to feel like they had stumbled across something they had discovered for themselves.

On the IMDB page the 3 actors were listed as 'missing, presumed dead' and even missing persons leaflets were released and put up around Cannes film festival. 

The website received over 22,000,000 hits and the film took in close to $250,000,000 at the box office. 

Due to appropriate attention to detail, this film was one of the most ingeniously marketed films of all time.  

Research into Viral Adverts - Prometheus



Research into Viral Adverts - Prometheus

 

 

 

The realisticness of the video as an advert, yet paired with how completely artificial the advert itself is and the concept.

The advert is extremely futuristic and aimed at an audience that has technology many years ore developed than ours. Therefore if this advert would have been shown on television, it would have entised an audience through confusing them with an advert that is advertising something completely before its time.

 

This would have another shock factor on the audience and since the advertisement has the films website at the end, this would create popularity for the film and more people would anticipate to see it.

 

 

Research into Viral Adverts - Wanted

Research into Viral Adverts - Wanted





This is the viral advert for the action thriller Wanted.

The viral advert is an adapted scene from the actual film Wanted. The viral avdert is based on the same concept as what the main character goes through in the film. The advert is effective as it spread online as just another viral video of something slightly out of the ordinary that created a spark on the internet world.

Because the video looks so realistic and so believable, any implication that it is a side association with the film that would have been found out at a later date would again create a stir and draw people who would have seen the video to see its relevance to the film and draw people in to watching it.

Research into Viral Adverts - Dead Man Down

 

Research into Viral Adverts - Dead Man Down



 

 

 

This is a viral advert for the thriller Dead Man Down in which 2 actors fake an attack in a lift to see how onlookers react to their struggle.

 

Some of the reactions of the members of the public are shocking and quite immoral. To have an event like this that is in a real life setting, just like in the Carrie viral advert, really hits home to an audience and to see how the general public react to this situation can also make the audience question their own morals and again by creating a shock tactic can bring forth the attention of an audience.



This is effective in regards to the films marketing as if the issues in the advert create a stir with the audiences more people may want to see its relevance to the film.

Conventional Editing and Lighting in a Psychological Thriller

Conventional Editing and Lighting in a Psycholoigcal Thriller

Editing
The editing in a psychological thriller typically tends to be quite rapid and fast paced when cutting from shot to shot. This is to implicate the hightened emotion and normally the thoughts of the characters in the film. The rapid editing creates the illusion that things are going a lot quicker than what they actually are and thus creating the 'on edge' feeling to the audience.
To create an unstable state of the mind to display to the audience, scenes might be repeated and layered over other ones. The audio might also be used in this manner. It could create the sense that a person has a repressed memory and/or a secret to hide. This could result in creating a mysterious feeling and suspenseful film. 


An example of fast paced editing that creates a thrilling effect is in Kill Bill Vol. 2, an action thriller by director Quentin Tarentino. The fight between The Bride and Bill up to 0:25 seconds shows how fast paced editing can make the scene seem a lot more fast paced and create the illusion that there is a lot more going on than there actually is. Another trick is to show certain movements shown from different angles. To swap the angle of the camera again would make the scene look a lot more rapid.





The editing can be that rapid that there can even be 3 different shots in the space of 1 second.

This is exampled in this scene when at 0:17 seconds all of the following shots occur. 

It is particularly effective to alternate between a middle shot in the first shot, a long shot in the second and then a medium close up in the last. To have two shots that can signify the most important element of the scenes, the samurai swords, impliment danger. To add the middle long shot as an establishing shot is useful as it puts into perspective the close proximity between the two characters in the scene. It implies inpending danger and the severity of what is occuring in the scene.

An example of sharp, fast paced editing yet mixed with slow elongated shots is in the psychological thriller Shutter Island.


In this scene there are elongated scene where there isn't much dialog and no action and then quick paced shots with a lot of action occurring corresponding. This effect that this has on the audience is that it adds a lack of consistency and also a lack of safety. It gives the idea that the audience cannot rely on what they are seeing on screen to know how the result of the characters will turn out. This is because the mix in pace and lack of consistency takes away and fluency that the story has and creates tension.



Lighting

An example of how editing and lighting effect a genre is a scene from The Sixth Sense. This is another psychological thriller that has been dubbed as having one of the greatest and unexpected cinematic twists of all time.



In this scene, the lack of light is used to a great and atmospheric advantage but without implications of impracticality. This means that the light, or lack of it, isn't used in an obvious way such as 'the dark should scare you'. Instead it is used in a way that suggests that the dark is a normal thing especially in this particular environment, but because of the lack of emergency is should cause, it causes more.

At 0:16 - 0:18, the emphasis is on those 2 characters in the centre, but then because of the way that the room is lit a shadow is created and passes the 2 characters. The way that the shadow is just a shadow makes it completely anonymous, thus creating more tension and is a more thrilling atmosphere, leaving unanswered questions as to the other person in the room with them.

Both the editing and the lighting credit the genre of psychological thriller as the lack of consistency, clarity, simplicity and impracticality show the mixed up and almost deluded mentality of the characters and clearly shows the holes in the plot lines that conventionally exist in this genre, which leaves it the audience to piece together for them self.

Conventional Characters in a Psychological Thriller - Identity

Conventional characters in a psychological thriller identity from Jodie-Leigh Barnham

Conventional Characters in a Psychological Thriller - Teddy Daniels

Conventional Characters in a Psychological Thriller from Jodie-Leigh Barnham

Conventional Music and Sound in a Psychological Thriller

Conventional Music and Sounds

In psychological thrillers, a scene can be changed and adapted by the sound effects or the diagetic/non-diagetic sounds. In the 2003 psychological thriller Identity, when a pivotal scene occurs the sound behind the shot that can be heard is intense rain and thunder. The weather is pathetic fallacy. The rain paired with the situation that the characters are in the rain can be portrayed as quite a negative element which creates an overall negative tone to the scene and film in general. In the scene, we have a big reveal. After the dialog of the big reveal is spoken, if the news wasn't a big deal enough, they add the element of thunder. Thunder especially, like rain, in the scene can be depicted as a negative feature. Especially since 15% of the world's population have astraphobia. 

On the other hand, the music can vary from subtle to intense. This can depend on the scene and what the story is trying to show to the character and to the audience at a certain time. If a character was the have a sudden epiphany but in a more positive way, then the music may be intense but soft maybe using light percussion with stretched out and elongated notes. This would give a feel of realisation but not as serious. If the epiphany is a more pessimistic discovery then the music might be sharp, loud and quite high pitched. Violins may be used in such circumstances.

Here we have an example of the music in a generic thriller film, Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adapted novel The Shining. Although this film is a psychological thriller much like ours, the music is stereotypical for a thriller film. The music is very subtial and the diaglog is a lot louder than the music, intentially so that you focus on what is being said as this is a pivotal moment in the film itself. The fact that the music is behind the scene is to almost force the feeling of aprehension and nervousness to what is to become of the characters. The music is high pitched, almost sharp to the ears and if focused on quite unbareable. The effect that this has on an audience member forces the feelings that something isn't quite right and the fragmented volume is to show the instability of the characters, therefore practically implimenting the way you should feel.

Conventional Camera Angles in Psychological Thrillers

As opposed to just making a thriller film itself we decided to make our film into the sub genre of a psychological thriller as there are many conventions that we feel we could add to our film.

Psychological Thriller

A film in the psychological thriller genre has a tendency to have a heavy focus on the character through out the film. This is done by usually keeping initial focus on a main character, usually a protagonist, so that the audience can create an initial connection with said character. When some of the plot is unravelled through out the film this causes the audience to feel as though they are going through the same process as the character. Other supporting characters are introduced although the main focal point would be on the main protagonist. This is to endorse audience's focus into the plot and the role that the character plays in the plot. 

Also opposed to other sub genre's of thriller such as action thriller who would rely on physical strength, characters in psychological thrillers tend to rely on mental strength and the focus would be on their stability.

Camera Angles To achieve the focus on the protagonist, examples of camera angles that are used to do so are:

• close ups - giving close detail to a character and creating a personal connection
• extreme close ups - to create an intimate established connection with a character and to see every detail of that characters expression to empathise with their current feelings
• long shots - to establish the character in a whole, eg: their body language, costume
• medium shots - to establish other aspects of the character such as arm movements as body language and often gesticulation can indicate the personality of a character

For example:

Shutter Island has simliar elements to ours, regarding flashbacks and the slow reveal of something that happened in the past that the protagonist has repressed. The above shots mentioned are in this film.

This is a close up shot of the lead character from Shutter Island. We can see a close up on his face at this given moment to clearly show you that this character is under distress. Although, his entire face isn't in the focal point in the centre of the shot as some of the character's clothing is still in shot. This is to establish his persona and the suit and tie says a lot about the character, that he is professional yet the fact we see that his tie is loosened and his top button is unfastened shows that this character is undergoing stress that is effecting his professional front.

Symbols, Signs and Iconography of a Psychological Thriller

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Individual analysis of similar short film + screen shots

The film is established through a establishing shot
displaying a street in a rural area, on a dark and wet night.
This shot allows an audience to observe the setting the film
is going to take place in. The setting also establishes the
genre. 

Similar short horror film 1

This shot also follows the dark lighting setting from the
previous shot. The forest in the background suggests a
sinister and horrific set of events are to come. I also like
the way this shot is lined up on screen with the character
framed towards the left hand side of the shot. This tracking
shot shows him to be alone and their-fore fragile and
vulnerable.

This is one of my personal favourite shots form this short
horror film. The medium shot of character A on a 'merry go
round' in a local park cleverly suggests his psychological
state of mind. The cyclical action of the merry go round
implies he is confused and psychologically unstable,  in
terms of plot this shot is essential; being right before the
action. 

This action shot is cleverly made. Character B is carefully
placed behind character A to make the attacking move
more dramatic so an audience have a more frightening
experience when viewing the film. The entire shot last for
under a second. 

This close up shot of character A clearly is an emotionally
distressed shown by the make-up on his face. I would like
to imitate the way material is used in order to emphasize
distress in my film. Props such as guns, necklaces, and box's
are all planned to be used.

This has inspired me to include some similar tricky shots in
out film. This is a clever shot as as an audience we can read
the psychological and physical state character is in by
observing his feet's movement. 

The use of props is made apparent yet again in this shot.
This particular shot excludes character B's face, making
his character profile more sinister. Note also the clothing
worn. Black has strong connotations of evil and death,
which are clearly used to symbolise characters A and B's
character welfare.  

This is the final shot in this short horror film. A medium
long shot is filmed in a high angle frame making character
A look more intimidating to an audience. The way that
character A is facing away from the audience is also no
coincidence; media studies show due to not seeing a
character fully, he/she is immediately more aggressive
and frightening. It was worked well in this particular film
and I wish to use this technique when producing our film. 

The lighting continues that of the previous shots in this
scene.The purple lighting is clearly an edit done on the
softwear. I also like the way that the hammer is placed on the
left of the picture. The black font the credits are written in
also contrast the purple colour of the sky.

Film Story Line 2

Trick or Treat

A couple are sharing a night in together on the night of Halloween. A nock on the door reveals a Middle ages women covered in white face power. Her face remains emotionless. after refusing to accept any candy she leaves her purse at the door and walks away. The man reopens the door to give treats to other children and discovers her purse.

After consulting his partner/wife he decided to go in search of the women to return her purse. After not being successful be buys a coffee on the way home.

He does not return for two hours and so his wife goes to look for him. She finds his watch on the floor of the cafe, and follows a trail of blood to discover he has being crucified in the basement of the coffee shop. The lights go black and we as an audience hear the door shut. We then hear a scream. The film ends.

Decided Plotline

A homeless and desperate man, Kyle, moves from his southern town up to Sheffield. An anonymous man observes him exit the train and slips a note in his pocket with an address to visit about a job offer. Later that day after finding the note Kyle visits the address and receives a parcel to deliver within an hour and he will receive a reward.

On his journey Kyle starts to have very vague flashbacks of his past. After delivering the first parcel he is rewarded and given another parcel with another address to deliver to.

Upon approaching the final location, the flashbacks become more vivid and more uncontrollable and he finally reaches the room where the client is waiting. Seeing the client makes Kyle realise that this is person who he always sees in his flashbacks. It is revealed through more detailed flashbacks that Kyle beat the client in a mugging and left him for dead. The client reveals that the last parcel he is delivering isn't for himself, but for Kyle.

Upon opening the box it is revealed that the parcel is the ring Kyle left behind in the beating. The client pulls out a gun and walks towards Kyle. The client then explains that he has been waiting for this moment for 5 years and now it's his turn to suffer. As Kyle tries to get out he finds that the door has locked behind him. We see the client hold the behind Kyle's head at point blanc, cocks the gun and smiles. The screen cuts to black and a gun shot is heard.

Plotline Idea: Two

This is a psychological thriller film idea.

Beginning: A sad lonely woman in her late twenties is having trouble sleeping and when she is prescribed a new kind of medication things start looking up. During her sleep she starts to have bad dreams that start getting progressively worse. The dreams will consist of recurring visions of a man walking around pointlessly.

Middle: The dreams become much more vivid and and the man starts to become more realistic to her. She speaks about him to her doctor, like he's someone she knows, and he believes she is getting better by making friends. The man begins to appear whilst she's walking to the shop and walking her dog.

End: It will end when she's taking the final dose of medication in bed and she will turn off her bedroom light and the man will be in the room. This is how it will end. It will leave the audience confused but scared because the future of the woman is left to their imaginations.

Film Story Line 1

3 main characters - Mother (Manda?) , Step Father (Michael?)  and Son (Simon? (Main Character)).

Simon has inherited a rare form of OCD/Anxiety from his mother allowing his mind to interpret different situations differently from how they are in reality. This disability is central to the plot. The un chronological under of time in the plot fits smoothly and cleverly together in the ultimate scene. The Story starts (In the film) On new years evening, and finishes around Christmas the next year. The subtle use of props here is also extremely important to the structure of the narrative. (For example a letter Simon was supposed to be given was made clear in a shot, but not focused upon, so when viewer re-looks over the film they can see it and think to them selves 'ohhhh cleverrrrrr'). Also note all the speech in "marks" is not spoke aloud, but in his head.

Plot Summary.

New years evening (2013). Simon in nervously in the company of his family and friends as they all count down to 12am to celebrate the start of the new year and a 'fresh start'.  Due to the overriding monologue of Simons thought (remember the OCD) an audience are able to observe his constant commentary over the night events. The clock starts to count down from ten to zero with quick flashes to the man on telly who is also counting down (That guy that has that show with live music idk if you guys have ever watched it) ,His father approaches him with an envelope with a red stamp. He stats to panic and become dizzy with heavy breathing. The clock reaches 12am. 'Fresh start' is echoing and fading.
Cuts quickly to black.

Cuts in immediately to next scene.

(February 2012)
The alarm clock is loudly going off, he quickly leaps out of bed to switch it off. "Doctors appointment". "1 hour 3 minutes until the bus, that gives me 2 minutes to brush my teeth 3 minutes to shave my face 13 minutes to shower plus or minus an extra 1 minutes 24 seconds each for shampoo or body wash. 2 minutes to get try 15 minutes for my breakfast 7 minutes to get dressed 4 minutes to pack my bag 1 minute to put my coat on 30 seconds to put my shoes on 20 seconds to tie the laces 15 seconds to say good by to mum 5 seconds to vaguely smile at Simon 30 seconds to say good by to my dog and a solid 5 minutes ti walk to the bus stop giving me 1 minute until the bus arrives. Unless of course the bus is late. Fades out.

(May 2012)
"Tablets. Two four times a day. That's eight tablets. seven days a week is fifty six tablets and all year is 2912 tablets, that's a lot of tablets. Mum says it's okay tho, she used to take them as well. Michael doesn't though. Michael just sits at the table reading his paper that paper probably has any many words as i have tablets. I bet he isn't even reading it, he just doesn't want to talk to me, he just eats his breakfast and goes to work. If that's where he does go, how do i know where he's going? he could be going anywhere. He comes home really late anyway. (shot of him sipping coffee in his car late at night reading other papers.)

(September 2012)
Simon begins to become more and more obsessed with his step father Michael, with lots of views that his step father is a bad person, in sneaks downstairs and observes his step father showing his mother a bunch of papers that are obviously to do with him his Michael sees him looking, throws the papers facing downwards on the table and slams the door in front of simon. (he stops to take the tablets)

(November 2012)
A few other things happen to make simon more sure that his step father is keeping secrets from him. He decides to confront him about it. He walks in on a (saturday?) morning to find him having a huge row with his mother with checks and papers scattered all over the table. Simon stands freakishly still, unsure what to do, his father exits the rooms and drives off.

(December)
This scene takes place on the doctors office, Simon is outside the office whilst his mother and Michael are inside talking to the doctor. He observes them talking and they all turn by turn look at Simon and Smile. "what are they smiling for"... The doctor gives them a sealed envelope with a red stamp. Simon becomes more and more curious and nervous about the letter, thinking it may be some sort of secret that they have all kept from him.

(2013 New-years eve)
Rewinds to the beginning when Michael gave Simon the letter. He freezes and faints. Camera work all the footage filmed all quickly rewinds within 5 seconds and cuts to black.

We here a voice, it's Simons mother's Barbara. She explains how he is wrong. the film flashes back to February, "you were diagnosed on the 23 of February with a rare form of OCD/Anxiety." She explains how in May, at the table was when she broke the news to Michael, devastated, he felt he could speak to you properly, (Different shots used to the ones in Simons opinion of what happened). She explains how him coming home late, was because he was working more hours to pay the fees for Simons treatment. He wasn't having an affair. "In September the papers we were hiding from you were your treatment papers" and how they were discussing weather or not he should have surgery. The argument Simon observed was a row about how little money they had left in the bank, and although the row was correctly interpreted the financial stresses of a standard family show how it is relatively normal. In December The doctor shakes his parents hands as he will have completed his course in the next week, they smile and his for the same reason. She explains, we were saving the letter to give it you tonight, to celebrate your beating of the disease.

The film and unsure if Simon came back to reality.  

Plotline Idea: One

This is a psychological thriller idea.

Beginning: The first part of the film will feature a man who is some form of retired police man now working behind the desk. He's looking through some papers and notices a case that takes his interest. I'm not sure what the story will be but he takes some time to think. This case stood out to him due to something that happened in his past. As he hazily reads the details there are frequent flashbacks to this traumatic time and it becomes highly uncomfortable for him so he goes to collect some water from the water dispenser.

Middle: I am not certain about the middle part of the film but i want it to consist of more flashbacks of family or more weird snaps that will confuse the audience.

End: The end is the main part because it will be the twist that brings the confusion throughout the film together. A different man will be let into the first mans office and is introduced as someone who 'has a great case for you'. The second man approaches his desk and looks him in the eye and simply says 'you died 37 days ago (insert name). I think it's time to let go now. I've been watching you for a while now and i can see you haven't accepted your death. I'm here to help you with that.' So in conclusion, the flashbacks were of his death and he is a ghost/soul that has not accepted that his life tragically ending.

Plotline 1

Idea 1:

Beginning: Character X moves from their Southern home town (near London?) after trouble at home (with their mother’s new husband/being a trouble causer at homewhich ties in with the ending?) and gets an offer from an estranged relative who lives in Manchester who offers to take them in; only if they offer to work for them and do a few odd jobs in exchange.

Middle: Character X travels to the relative’s house (i.e. Manchester, Sheffield) they are welcomed. After the relative being vague about their job, character X suspects that they may not be telling them everything about their life. Character X overhears them on the first phone to someone telling them that a ‘client’ needs to be ‘taken care of quickly and neatly’. After confrontation the relative tells character X that he’s a drug dealer, that he can make them filthy rich and that they have no other family that wants them (‘Are you in or are you out?’) So character X agrees and the relative tells them that tomorrow morning they want a package delivering to a certain address and gives character X a gun ‘just in case’. Along the way character X is kidnapped by a masked mob.

End: Whilst character X is tied up we find out that the person who actually ordered the guys to find them is his relative because they ‘know too much’. Whilst the kidnappers take a phone call they are unaware that character X has wriggled their hands free and manage to get the gun out that their relative left for them and shoot 2 of the kidnappers. Whilst holding one hostage at gun point character X negotiates with the kidnappers to let them leave at the expense of being allowed to be freed. Now pent up with rage towards their relative, character X goes back to the relative’s house to confront them. Upon confrontation the relative tells them that it was all a test to make sure that they were ready for the life they are offering them.