Initial Movie ideas:



Option 1:  The first movie idea I had was about a detective who appeared a normal, hard working man, however was a serial killer in the night. The detective would kill youths on the block. His motive being that he views them as the main reason for crime in society. Each night another young person on the block is killed by the detective and he disposes of the body. The next day he carries on his detective duties as usual whilst everyone around him have no clue he is the killer.


Option 2: My second proposal is essentially a sci-fi thriller. The movie idea is based around a family who venture out to the woods on a holiday and one by one go missing. The reason for their disappearance is due to alien abduction. The family is the none the wiser as one by one they go missing. The idea provided the element of mystery and tension. Who would go missing next? whilst family members disappear, those yet to be abducted are on a mission to discover where their loved ones have gone.


Option 3: My third movie idea consists of a blind homeless man who can predict the future up to within 24 hours. People discover his talents and are keen to know what their future will hold. he warns them that sometimes not knowing is better however everybody ignores him. When he tells one man his future he is shocked to find out that his wife will be dying in a car crash tomorrow. When he tries to tell his wife about the tragedy soon to occur, she laughs and does not believe him. Together the homeless man and wife's husband  must do anything they can to prevent what appears to be fate.

Thriller Questionnaire

Female/male aged 17-18

what qualities do you like about thrillers? 

my passion for thriller films stem from the sheer tension and suspense they contain. thrillers always provide the unexpected which leaves you wondering, what will happen next? The element of mystery creates a feeling of adrenaline like no other genre.

What thriller film do you remember most and why? 

The thriller film I remember most and consider the best of all time is Shutter Island. The element of suspense in the film is incredible and always leaves you asking questions in the attempt to work out what is really going on.

where do you generally watch thrillers? 

when I watch thrillers i tend to watch them in the cinema. this is because the pitch black environment in the cinema makes you embrace the atmosphere of the thriller film. Also the speakers in the cinema are incredibly loud and truly makes you feel as if you are there in the film.

Do you prefer watching thrillers alone or with people?

personally I prefer to watch thrillers with a group of friends or family. This is because thrillers provide the ability for everyone to have a different interpretation of a situation so it is interesting to see what other people will think during the film.

what are your top three thriller films of all time? 

my top three favorite thriller films of all time have to be shutter Island, Se7en and memento.

Lighting Analysis:


Lighting is generally used in films to create a focus or highlight a character. The use of lighting is important as it shows the audience where the main focus is. However lighting can also be used to create an atmosphere.





This example of lighting comes from the film never look back. The director has used a flashlight to highlight Will Smiths expression. This tells the audience that he is shocked by something and therefore creates an atmosphere of suspense for the audience. This is an example of using lighting to create an atmosphere.







In this picture we see lighting being used to highlight a prop. Directors often use this technique to show the relevance of something or highlight to the audience that the prop is important, or has some form of meaning. It also creates an atmosphere around what is being highlighted and causes a feel of suspense.

Treatment:

An eerie sound track plays in the back as the title appears from the dark in a bold font. As the opening scene commences the main character is narrated in first person by his own voice as he walks down a dark street “I’m a man of the law, my job is to keep people safe at any extent, so that is what I’ll do.”. While he says this camera is focused on his black polished shoes as we hear them clap against the pavement. It then quickly cuts to the officer dragging a youth in a hoodie by his arms along the floor who is perceived as dead.

In this opening sequence there are several techniques used to create an effect on the audience. The scene is set by the tense music which goes from low to high. the music gets louder as they discover the gory looking body which appears dead. As the eerie and tense music heightens the camera focuses on zoomed shots of the mangled body to highlight to the audience what the focus of the tension is. there are also several pans shots to show the whole setting and environment. This makes the audience feel more like they are part of the scene.

The lighting in the opening scene also creates a sense of tension and suspense as it is essentially pitch black dark. The only light present is the flashlights being used by those investigating. This means the lighting in minimal and therefore keeps the audience wondering what else could be lurking in the dark. The use of the flashlight allows the characters to highlight certain points and create a focus for the audience rather than them analysing the whole scene.

Barthes codes:

Hermenutic/Enigma - Any element in a story that is not explained and leaves the audience wondering/ raising questions.

Proairetic/Action code - contains sequential elements of action which creates suspense.

Semantic code - The semantic code refers to hidden meanings, elements of this code are called semes which express their is an additional meaning to the literal meaning .

Symbolic code - This code shows contrast and creates greater meaning, as well as tension and drama. This code also shows character development.

Referential code - Anything that refers to external knowledge is known as the referential code. The external knowledge could be scientific, historical, cultural knowledge etc.