Prop List

This is the initial plan of the items we needed to use to create the desired effect, due to the fact that we do not have all the professional equipment, we have devised a few ways to get the same effect.

Trenchcoat - Smith is going to wear this as they are stereotypical of the thriller genre (Robert De Niro in 'Ronin') as they are very large and the collar can be turned up to cover the characters face to add mystery.
Black t-shirt - Smith is going to wear this underneath the trench coat, because black shows the darkness of his character and makes the audience view him as dangerous. Also if our thriller is to be in Black and White which we are contemplating this will show him as being extremely dark.
Trilby hat - Smith's hat as they are also stereotypical of a thriller and we are trying to capture the essence of the typicak thriller. Wearing a hat also gives the opportunity to partially hide his face from the audience adding myatery and intriguee.
Fake gun - Smith uses this to kill Vanik, adding to the sense of danger and dark.
Black trousers - Smith and Vanik are wearing for the same reasons as above; black is a dark, dangerous colour, also it shows a professionalism.
Black shoes- For Smith and Vanik to wear also to show professionalism and style to reflect the camera work.
Suit jacket - For Vanik to wear for the same reasons as above.
White shirt - For Vanik to wear, white shows more purity than black and is not so dangerous.
Briefcase - For Smith and Vanik to hold, you never find out what is inside so it adds myatery and intrigue.
Tripod - For holding the camera steady - essential if we are going for a stylish look and feel.
Video camera - For recording
Mini DV tape - For recording
Skateboard - For holding the camera during the tracking shot of the feet.

Update: We did not use the skateboard, as we did not film the tracking shot of the feet for the opening credits. This shot would have been really nice but we just didn't have the time. After our first filming session we had filmed about 50 minutes of footage so to cut this down to 2 minutes we just did not have to time to add in an extra scene as we were happy with what we already had filmed.

Storyboards for our Thriller

These were the very first drafts of the storyboards, we never made any very neat ones because we filmed using these and it was no longer important to the task as we had finished filming.

Thriller Script

INT. CAR PARK STAIRS - NIGHT

JOHN: These days you see too many people complaining about their situation. The way I see it everyone has their chance. Too many people just don’t see it. Now I’ve got my chance. Start when you’re young, and when life moves on, you’ll have no reason to complain.

INT. CAR PARK - NIGHT

JOHN: Smith is it? (SMITH nods slightly) Thought so. (Silence) Well? (Silence) Ok. (Laughs) I’ve brought your stuff, well your bosses stuff. (SMITH Looks away) Hey, you listening to me. Do you speak English mate. You fucking idiot. What’s the matter, are you pissed off cause I’m a bit late. You do know who I am don’t you? (Silence)I’m John Vanik, you know, the son of fucking Harvey Vanik. I’m sure he sounds familiar (SMITH looks up) Yeah that’s right, you know who he is don’t you, one of the most powerful men in this business. You didn't think he’d send his own son to do shitty jobs like this did you? No they normally send little pricks like you to do this kind of shit. As you can see though, I’m still pretty young, this is just practice really, I’m just building my way up, you know. It’s not easy being the boss’s son; no one dares to mess with me though; but at the same time have a lot to live up to. But hey, I’m sure I’ll do fine; one day I’ll be taking my fathers place. Are you not interested in what I’m saying? Look, I could have you fucking killed; dickhead! I’m talking to you; you’re not very polite are you. You’d be better off showing someone like me a bit of respect. (Silence) Fine, fuck you. You’ll regret this. (JOHN throws the briefcase at SMITHS feet then turns around)

SMITH: The money has been wired into your account. (JOHN turns to face him)

JOHN: What?! I know the money’s been wired into our account. That’s beside the point. Why bother opening your mouth now? (Laughing) You’re a cheeky bastard you are.

SMITH: Sorry.

JOHN: It’s a bit late for an apology mate. I’ll have to seen about you. You’d better watch it. (Turns and begins to walk away)

SMITH: (Smirking, he puts his right hand into his pocket and slowly pulls out a pistol, it hangs by his side for a few seconds and then he carefully aims it at JOHN who continues to walk, unaware of the danger he is in. SMITH smiles. Blackout. Bang!)

The Original Script (above) was too long, so that we could not fit it all into the space of 2 minutes. Also we decided that our thriller opening should not be long winded and over loaded with information. Here is the revised script that we used after editing it thoroughly:

INT. CAR PARK STAIRS - NIGHT - INTERNAL MONOLOGUE
JOHN: These days you see too many people complaining about their situation. The way I see it everyone has their chance. Too many people just don’t see it. Now I’ve got my chance. Start when you’re young, and when life moves on, you’ll have no reason to complain.

INT. CAR PARK - NIGHT

JOHN: Smith is it? (SMITH nods slightly) Thought so. (Silence) Well? (Silence) Ok. (Laughs) I’ve brought your stuff, well your boss's stuff. (SMITH Looks away) Hey, you listening to me. Do you speak English mate. You fucking idiot. What’s the matter, are you pissed off cause I’m a bit late. You do know who I am don’t you? (Silence)I’m John Vanik, you know, the son of fucking Harvey Vanik. I’m sure he sounds familiar (SMITH looks up) Yeah that’s right, you know who he is don’t you, one of the most powerful men in this business. You didn’t think he’d send his own son to do shity jobs like this did you? No they normally send little pricks like you to do this kind of shit. Are you not interested in what I’m saying? Look, I could have you fucking killed; dickhead! You’d be better off showing someone like me a bit of respect. (Silence) Fine, fuck you. You’ll regret this. (JOHN throws the briefcase at SMITHS feet then turns around)

SMITH: (Puts his right hand into his pocket and slowly pulls out a pistol, it hangs by his side for a few seconds and then he carefully aims it at JOHN who continues to walk, unaware of the danger he is in. SMITH smiles. Blackout. Bang!)

Update: During editing some pieces of the script have been cut out to deal with the issue of time and also to prevent the conversation from becoming to tedious. On top of this we wanted Tanwyn's character to seem cocky, but whilst the script was quite long he just seemed nervous and rambling.

All Initial Ideas for Thriller Location

When told that we were going to make a thriller opening I immediately pictured the scene in Millers crossing in which Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) takes Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) out into the woods and is told to shoot him one to take him down and 'once in the head' to make it final. This is because i really loved the way in a forest vanishing points can be utilised and also by using a filter (brown) like has been done in this film it makes the whole world seem bleak and dirty which is a common signifier of the thriller genre.

On top of this i really liked the mystery and intrigue that could be gleaned from a variety of shots not actually showing someones face but just the person begging (example below) with this idea you would need a very convincing actor.


Moving away from 'Miller's Crossing' by the Coen brothers i also really like the tension built in the ending sequence in the forest to 'Assault on Precinct 13' directed by Jean-Francois Richet in 2005 (and also starring Gabriel Byrne), in this ending sequence Sgt Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke) is hunting Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) who is hunting Jake in the forest, not knowing which way to turn, the audience do not know who's feet are who's and the mystery and suspense is built upon which character will win the fight and find the other one sooner! this effect would be great for our thriller but would have to be done using some difficult editing and camera shots which may be to much for the technology available to us.

This is why i think filming would be great in a forest. During our first large group meeting at Tanwyn's house both Tanwyn and I thought that filming in a wood/forest would be a great idea, however we were a bit dubious as to how steady and flat the camera could be kept whilst filming. On top of this filming out in the open would create a lot of background noise, run the risk of other people being around and we would also be relying on the weather. Despite this i still took a camera to the University of East Anglia (UEA) grounds in which they have a lot of woodland just to see what effects could be gleaned from working with a forest view. (apologies for the humming!)

From this film you can see that walking in a forest without tracks is extremely uneven and shaky, this type of hand held camera look works well for films like 'Cloverfield' directed by Matt Reeves, however all the thrillers that i have seen use stylish, smooth camera work unless trying to make a point in a particular section of film. On the other hand the rows of trees has the nice effect of shadows on the ground and can also be used for vanishing points into the distance.

On my way round the UEA grounds i did find a nice clearing and a bench over looking a lake that could be used for scenes like in Layer Cake when looking from behind Daniel Craig at his back when talking to the Dragon and with the cityscape in front of him. the bench and clearing i found are shown in the footage below:

Update: Due to all the problems with filming in a forest we have decided to film in a car park that is also more accessible in the city. Tom went and took some footage of the car park here it is:

Music for our Thriller

Music is used in films to add emotional tension and in thriller films it is especially used to build tension and mystery to get the audience on the edge of their seat. Without music films would be extremely boring and tedious. For example, watch this emotion scene from ... including the music.

Now watch this video on mute. This makes the scene feel empty and boring, and evokes no emotion in the audience.

This is why we have to carefully select the music for our thriller making sure that it suits the theme and adds something to the film, otherwise the film will not work and will be lost on the audience.After a long time looking for some music that is copyright free, long enough to fit over the entire (approx) 2 minutes of our film, and also a track that will fit the mood, Tom Kail finally managed to find a track that fitted. "The Four Of Us Are Dying" by "Nine Inch Nails" (shown below) was almost perfect for our thriller opening, however it had one major flaw because it was made by a popular band and we concluded that it was not copyright free. Despite this we still read the copyright laws surrounding the album 'The Four of us are Dying' was released on ('The Slip). we found out that it was released under a creative commons license which means that this song is suitable for use on our thriller opening.

This music is so perfect for our thriller due to the beat being at a walking pace to fit in with the opening sequence and the staircase. Also I love the way at the beginning the main beat sounds like a heart beat and after 20 seconds the beat builds with a 'psycho' like sound building in the background which adds tension to the plot of our opening. The music builds at the beginning which shows the audience that the film is leading into something and so keeps them on their feet. Obviously we will not be able to use the entirety of the track which is useful as I do not like the track as it starts to whine and has a ringing noise in the background. However throughout the track it sounds very dark, which is great for our thriller as it climatises the audience to the theme of the film at the very beginning. This song has no lyrics, as we purposely looked for one without, this is because during our very first group meeting we had a look at some amateur videos on 'youtube' and the ones that we disliked the most were those who had picked a song merely for the sake that they liked it and those what had lyrics just did not fit because it distracts from the film and does not seem like back ground music but music that has to be listened to word for word.

Plus the music has many different beats all put together along with the unusual (almost whiny) guitar sound make this song very mixed up and confusing which adds to our films sense of mystery and twists. All these reasons are why we have chosen to use this song for our background music.

Actor choices for our Thriller

Choosing actors for our thriller film was relatively easy surprisingly, for we had decided that we only wanted two characters so as to keep things simple and due to the fact that we are only making the initial opening sequence to a possible thriller film we decided that we didn't need to introduce lots of characters and over complicate things!

Finding two actors was really painless as we knew what we were looking for and that was: acting ability and whether they had any past experience also looks to fit the part and their availability to shoot.
The first two people we looked at fitted the bill exactly, these were Lukman Hussain and Tanwyn Smith-Meek.

Lukman Hussain

At 25 years of age Lukman was especially good for the part of a gangster as he obviously looks older and more mature making our film look more authentic, than if we had picked both actors from our year (16 - 17 year old's).
Lukman's experience in amateur film making and acting was one of the main points we picked him as our sinister actor, as we needed quite a bit of emotions and thoughts communicated without using words and all through his actions and expressions.

On top of this Lukman's brother Ibrahim is good friends with Tom Kail and goes to our school so messages could be relayed through him to Lukman making him very easy to contact and make arrangements with.

Tanwyn Smith-Meek

Tanwyn is a member of the group already which has many advantages such as: We can rehearse with him, he knows the plot and script thoroughly, it is easy to organise filming times with him, he would put more effort in respect with his acting, he is up to date with all the changes made, and including him in the acting gives us the chance to hear comments on shots that we would not otherwise have thought of because he was the one in the shot being filmed.
In addition to this Tanwyn would like to persue a career in acting and this gives him a great insight into the world of film (even though we are amateurs) as he has only acted on stage in plays with his acting and he would also put a lot more effort in, and because of his ambition to be on the big screen one day he is also taking A-level Drama and gained an A for Drama GCSE.

Shooting locations

For the main part of our film we are planning to shoot in a car park this car park is located in Norwich, East Anglia in the city centre:

In Norwich we will be filming in a car park at the top of St Steven Street here is an arial view from google maps; the red arrow signifies the car park.

This location is close to the school so is very accessible and also has the dingy, urban sleeze factor that is a popular thriller signifier.

Our Thriller

Themes

To follow with the Thriller genre our themes that we are trying to achieve include; Corruption, deception and betrayal shown in the opening scene with the double cross performed by Smith on John Vanik by shooting him after the drop, crime is conveyed by the covert operation they are carrying out in the car park, and the entire urban city being grimy and corrupt is also shown throughout by the car park and also the city scape we are going to shoot.

Style

We are going to try and convey the style of Crime in a slick and professional manner to reflect the character of Smith and the circles he travels in, this is going to be quite hard as the equipment we have is not very good quality, so we have to use the tripod as often as possible because it keeps the camera steady, still and focused. We do not want to use much handheld camera as it becomes very shaky and unslick.

Sub-genre

seeing as how we are making a thriller the usual subgenres for thrillers are: crime, betrayal, murder, and gangster all of these appear during one stage or another of our thriller opening

Our Thriller Synopsis

The opening of the film that we have been planning and will perform begins with a very professional experienced gangster, ‘Smith’ carrying out an illegal deal with a man, John Doe, who just so happens to be the son of the boss (who we never see till the end) from a large criminal organisation. They attempt to swap briefcases whilst John Doe is rambling arrogantly to Smith, receiving only a passive face in return, this builds the tension along with the flashing images of a gun being loaded, by an anonymous gloved hand. At the beginning of this opening we follow John Doe through the building of the car park listening to his thoughts through an internal monologue, by listening to this we get an insight into his character as an arrogant, over confident idiot, this is why Smith shoots him. However the audience watching the first scene will not know who shoots who as in the end of the opening the screen will go black and you will hear a gun shot to show it is the end of this scene, this adds the mystery and intrigue needed in a thriller film.
The act of murdering John Doe in the first scene ignites a war between Smith who works alone and the gang of the dead mans father. Smith who evades all The Boss’s attempts to kill him but gets seriously wounded by a rogue bullet takes himself to the only person he trusts and the only person who knows his name an old friend from his childhood called Myles Price who removes the bullet and patches him up (like in Ronin by John Frankenheimer). However it appears the Boss has had him followed as many of his cronies turn up at Myles’s house and during the fight that ensues Myles is shot leaving the impression on the audience and Smith that he is dead Smith flees.
After this Smith is out for revenge and becomes even more ruthless and efficient at killing. On torturing many of The Boss’s men which leads him on a path leaving behind a trail of corpses (like in Man on Fire by Tony Scott) he discovers what building and the room in a high rise wealthy building in London where only the best of The Boss’s men are allowed as many of the men The Boss employs have no idea who he is. Smith sets up a sniper rifle on the roof of the building next to the Boss’s lair. (This is an excellent opportunity to get some nice footage through the sniper target finder). Through the shot finder we see a man's (The Boss’s) back, he turns round but we never see his face and it switches to a shot of surprise on Smith’s face. He expertly and quickly packs away his gun and we watch him from above run down the internal staircase of the high rise building. Smith enters the Boss’s Lair quickly killing the security guards and we see him walk (fast) down a long corridor (vanishing points – signifies the long road he has taken to get to this point) he bursts into the room he has just been looking at through the rifle. We see an over the shoulder shot of Smith holding a gun at the man in the chair who we can only see the back of and we then hear a little chuckle coming from the man in the chair (wearing really expensive suit) we hear the man talking to smith about that’s the way the world works and how elusive Smith has proven to be, whilst saying this he gets up and walks around the room to a bottle and pours two drinks whilst all the time smith is pointing the gun at his head. The man finishes talking and the audience see that The Boss is actually Myles!
Sitting back down smith starts to talk saying that he never really did know who Myles was and on hearing this Myles reveals that he found out who Smith was after years of digging and that the whole deal (from the beginning was a set up and that John Doe was not actually his son but that the storyline gave him an excellent chance to kill Smith and he is about to explain who Smith is and why he wants him dead when Smith Shoots him in the head and we see him walk back down the corridor and we hear an internal monologue talking directly to the audience saying that he could not have us knowing who he really was (like in Layer Cake by Matthew Vaughn), then on come the credits after a shot of him looking directly at the camera, like it is a person, this involves the audience and makes it clear that he is talking to us.