Possible Locations

Type of location needed	Possible places	Advantages	Disadvantages	Who will get scouting photos of this location?
Woodland area	Near Jai’s home, Mulbarton	- Away from the public, won’t be interrupted - Nice lighting - Quiet - Not much background noise	- Mulbarton is far away, not easily accessible	Jai
	UEA woods	- Safe - Easy to get to - Nice lighting	- Possibly interrupted by the public - We may need permission to film there - Background noise (traffic/people)	Anya
	Near Ash’s house, Costessey	- Away from public, won’t be interrupted - Quiet - Very little background noise - Grungy - Safe	- Costessey is far away, not easily accessible	Ash
Small, dark room	Back of tech block	- Easily accessible - Safe - Works aesthetically	- Noises from students - Limited time to film - Strict permission needed

Character, costume and props

Treatment/Pitch

Plot

The scene starts off with several landscape shots, with the sounds of nature and a phone calling someone. As the phone goes to voicemail, we see the first shot of the protagonist. She sighs and leans against the tree that has been marked, playing with the phone in her hands. A shot from the perspective of the antagonist is seen, watching the antagonist from a distance, behind a tree. Back to the protagonist, she begins to pace in irritation, checking her watch in the process, indicating the person she was to be meeting is late. The first glimpse of the antagonist is seen with an over the shoulder shot, with a focus switch from the antagonist to the protagonist. Another phone rings from the protagonist, which she pulls out to reveal is from her mother. It is quickly declined and returned to her pocket, the original phone still present. Back to the antagonist, we see them inch closer towards the protagonist, with a pause at the end to see them soak an old rag in what appears to be chloroform, shown in an extreme close up. This is followed by a close up of the protagonist’s face and shoulders- she moves to the left to reveal the antagonist has now moved to behind her, still slightly at distance, though the next shot is once from the perspective of the antagonist as they move up closer behind the protagonist. Tension is maximised with a close up of the protagonist, still, glancing around slightly (expressing paranoia) and finally looking into the camera, moments before a hand holding the rag is wrapped around her mouth and nose. A struggle between the two ensues, using a hand-held camera for a panicked effect. Within this, the locket is pulled off. This continues until the shot changes to the same as behind the tree from where the antagonist once was, which shows the last of the struggle before the protagonist passes out. She falls back against the antagonist and they begin to drag her. Connecting the shots, we then see the legs of the protagonist being dragged out of shot, leaving only the locket on the ground, dirtied.

Proceeding a cut to black, there is a master shot of the new location, a basement of similar confiding room. The protagonist is seen in one corner of the shot, hunched over. There is then a close up of the protagonist regaining consciousness, panicking, and rising, followed by a shot of her hands which have grabbed around the bars that are confining her, Back to the face, we hear the sound of heavy footsteps and we see the protagonist look down and retreat backwards. The camera follows her eye line to reveal a crack beneath a door, showing the silhouette of a person’s feet. A switch is then made to the other side of the door where you see the protagonists' feet, and a bag being dropped on the floor (the same one as is seen in the first scene). They call someone, and 'It's done' or something similar is heard, and then a shot of them walking away follows, with the sounds of their boots. Back to the protagonist, we see a shot of her which is followed by the darkness being replaced with an extremely bright, sterile light. Finally, an extreme close up of the protagonist is seen, showing her confusion, then her panic. The shot ends with an abrupt cut to black, like a switch.

Influences

One of our main influences for our psychological thriller came from ‘The Disappearance of Alice Creed’, where the idea of some form of kidnapping originated from. From there, our choice of locations were inspired by the projects of previous students both from in school and other schools, due to the atmosphere that was provided from more secluded locations such as forests and grungy rooms. A minor influence that we have used to make the filming smoother is from the BBC version of 'Sherlock', as although it is not a thriller, the idea of on-screen texting as a way of showing calls and messages could be used a more interesting idea than using the cliché of showing the phone. The idea for the locket came from the film 'Se7en', as within that film the wallpaper cutting is suggestive of the protagonist's past, and we felt a similar concept would be effective in our piece. Films such as 'Tower Block' and 'Saw' were the influence for our second scene, as both films involved a character trying to escape a room after been trapped, which we felt would fit the tone of what we were trying to create. Lastly, the idea for having scenes viewed through the antagonist's perspective came from the film, 'Ratter' as we felt it would be effective in showing a different side of things and introducing more shot variety. 

Mood Board

For our Thriller opening, we chose a psychological thriller as the sub-genre which will take influences from other psychological thrillers such as Stephen King adaptations. We will use shots that help portray the mentality of the characters and help create an enigma surrounding both the antagonist of the piece and the protagonist, hopefully portraying them as morally ambiguous. Little hints will be placed in the shots such as the props and costume ideas shown on the third slide of the mood board to create suspicion such as the multiple phones as well as the idea we had about the protagonist's clothes being overly clean.

Our locations, forest and small room, were chosen to reflect the themes of paranoia and feelings of being lost or being watched, which are mostly conveyed through the forest location. This will be reinforced by the different types of shots we will use, for example, close ups to create claustrophobia in the frame and uncomfort, and shots behind trees and vegetation in the forest. We may also use long shadows in shots, inspired by traditional film noir, to create a distorted look, while adding to the mystery.

We came up with a few ideas about editing, such as the ghosting effect which we may use to add to the sense of disorientation, mixed with possibly a handwritten, messy font which would also reinforce the disorientation and chaos which we will be attempting to portray in the opening scene.

What do directors seek to establish in the openings of thrillers?

Thriller openings aim to establish important elements in the film such as tone or mood, the location and the characters. 

Tone/Mood

The disappearance of Alice Creed establishes the tone with the intense music in the first scene. The music makes fairly normal things, such as shopping, suspicious and establishes a dark tone for the film and creates a sense of foreboding. The music builds up the audience with anticipation which is reinforced by the constantly moving camera. The panning camera is used to reveal important items or actions in the shot, such as the part where the camera pans over a row of parked cars to reveal the two characters breaking into a van, or the part where the camera pans over a set of items being packed and reveals each item as worse than the other items already revealed. The camera is slow and smooth which adds to the anticipation the audience is already feeling from the music, which slowly gets more intense as the scene moves forward and things are revealed such as the intent of the two characters in the scene.

Shallow focus is used in different parts of the opening scene of The disappearance of Alice Creed especially when the characters are doing seemingly normal things, the shallow focus makes whatever the characters are doing seem sinister and suspicious. This is reinforced by the music in the scene which also makes the characters and their actions seem suspicious.

Characters

The film Se7en successfully establishes the character of detective Somerset in the first scene. I uses light, space and props to make the character seem isolated and brings up questions about his past. Metaphorical space is used to imply that the character used to have someone in his life and misses them, which is reinforced by a prop in a different shot. This shot is successful in establishing his character through the different props and their meanings to the character and implications to the audience. For example, the badge tells us that the character works for the law which is shown in the scene again as the director establishes him as a detective through the use of a classic costume, which is a convention of film noir. The gun could connote violence and could foreshadow events later in the film, which is reinforced by the knife which also shows that he is paranoid or wishes for control which is reinforced by the precision and neatness of the placement of the items in the shot. The pen show preparedness and reinforces the implication that the character wants more control in his life.

Similarly, the film Double Indemnity uses costume to establish the character in the opening scene, but for a different effect, the character wears a classic costume but it is used in a way to obscure most of his face and body to make him look suspicious and to imply that he has a dark side. This is reinforced by the director's use of long shadows and darkness, a convention of film nior, especially in this shot. This shot could be breaking the rule of thirds as well as the character has been pushed very far to the left, and left is sometimes associated with evil or badness, which could reinforce the idea that the character has a dark side. Later in the opening scene, another character is well established as a femme fatale, which is another convention of film noir.

Location

The Third Man establishes the location of Vienna in the opening scene with shots of grand interiors with banisters that create long shadows, disorienting leading lines and geometric shapes. The disorientation links to the chaos of the war and the effects of the war in the post-war period in Vienna. This shot reflects Vienna at this time as the lines lead out of the frame, creating a disorienting shot which is reinforced by the dutch angle used here and the long shadows create unusual shapes, which all create connotations of chaos and help establish the location and the mood of the location at the time.

Se7en opening

The opening of the film 'Se7en' successfully establishes tone and character through use of lighting, props, sound and space.

This part of the scene uses sound to help establish the location and contrast with the character of detective Somerset. The diegetic sound of the busy city sounds such as police sirens and people etc. create a sense of chaos which could be a reason why the character wants more control in his life. Also it contrasts with the character and his actions in this part of the scene as we see him doing up his sleeves and making his clothes neat for work, which imply order, it contrasts in another way too, it compares his fairly empty and lonely apartment to the busy city outside and reinforces the character's loneliness.

This shot successfully establishes the character of detective Somerset, each item in the shot is spread out evenly apart and straightened, this could suggest that the character wants to have more control in his life so he takes control of the most minor things, which suggests that his life is slightly chaotic. It could also imply that he likes order which is reinforced by the badge in the middle, which also shows that the character is important in his work in the force.The knife could suggest that he feels paranoid or insecure. The paper flower suggest sentimentality and creates an enigma surrounding the character from the first scene which is added to by his precision with the items that also suggest something about the character's past.

The lighting in the first part of the opening scene, when the character is getting ready for work, is cold and quite dark, this could reflect or draw influences from the dimly lit scenes in some film noirs. Also the main character is a detective and wears quite a classic costume which are main elements of film noir. The lighting creates feelings of loneliness and isolation as well in the scene which is reinforced in other shots. The character's neatness or precision with his coat and his bed reinforce the idea that he wants more control or order.

Space or framing, and lighting are used interestingly in this shot. Firstly, the framing of the shot means the character is off centre and not following the rule of thirds, it implies loneliness and isolation, the space next to him suggests that there was another person in his life but there isn't anymore, reinforced by his placement in this part of the scene, which leaves a space next to him on the bed. This reinforces the mystery surrounding the character. Also, the light comes from natural light sources which are the two lamps seen in this shot, this adds to the sense of isolation and loneliness in the scene, also, the light on the left could also represent the other person and suggests he misses them, while adding to the mystery of the character.

How does the director of The Third Man use mise en scene convey different connotations?

The Third Man uses lighting and location to reflect the hopelessness of the post war period in the sewer scene which is set in the sewers of Vienna. Vienna was the location of the film, it was chosen because of its division at the time and the city symbolises mistrust, failed communication and separation, because of the events of the war, which were perfect for The Third Man. 

This shot is dark and the only light source comes from the exit, which isn't in the frame. On one hand it could convey hope as the only light comes from the exit or escape, implying that the character will make it out of the sewer and escape capture. On the other hand it could suggest entrapment as the darkness is surrounding or trapping the light, which could imply that the character won't make it out. Also, these could be representative of the time it was filmed and the time it is set as it could represent the trapped but hopeful feelings of the people during the post-war period. Secondly, the lines of the shot lead out of the frame, which create distorted shapes in the frame, which could represent chaos or disorientation, this links with what is happening in the scene. The messy and cluttered feel the shot is giving through the shapes and leading lines could be representative of the feelings of the character trying to escape.



Space is used in this shot to convey isolation and helplessness, as the character is surrounded by a huge empty darkness through a long shot. The darkness surrounding him could represent his morality and his vulnerability in this part of the film and could also be representing the helplessness of the people recovering from the war. Additionally, the lines lead out of the frame to convey entrapment which is reinforced by the placing of the shot, which is close to the edge of the sewer wall, creating a claustrophobic feeling. In this shot there is also a single light source which could also represent hope or reinforce entrapment or isolation. In each shot the light could be seen to be guiding the character through the maze of the sewers, reinforcing hope in the shot. 

This shot shows the character standing in front of the only source of light in the shot, this could suggest that the character has a dark side and is untrustworthy, which is reinforced by previous shots showing large shadows and by the events. This could link to the symbolism of Vienna and the sewers, as Vienna represents mistrust and division and the sewers symbolise the darkness or evil under the city of Vienna or Europe. Alternatively, the character blocking out the light could symbolise that there is no hope left, reinforced by the darkness swallowing the light at the edges, creating a slightly claustrophobic feeling as well. 

Varying shapes and diagonal lines of the spiral staircase trap the character in the frame and the high angle of the shot create a sense of hopelessness and symbolise the characters loss of power in the scene, reinforced by his central position in the frame, which also reinforces the feelings of entrapment. The lack of contrast and light in the shot emphasises the character's defeat and vulnerability, it represents that all hope is lost. Once again linking to the post war period and the time it was set, conveying the general feelings of vulnerability and hopelessness.