Selecting Actors

After a significant amount of research on character influence, it was now time to decide on an actor that would fit within such requirements. As a week rolled by neither the group nor I could decide on an actor to play the lead antagonist role, until a memory sparked of a friend both Dave and I knew from secondary school.

Initially it all seemed like a fine idea, as he was moderately tall, robust, charismatic, yet could fit within the general public effortlessly. It seemed however after weeks of preparation for props, sound, location etc, that the shooting schedule was almost impossible to fit around the mediocre day at his college. Worried about the deadline for both shooting and editing, we had to swiftly drop the actor, and started frantically searching for someone around Shenfield Sixth that encapsulated the necessary requirements to be in our Thriller.

Literally days before our scheduled first shoot, Tom Vale, from our media class confronted us stating that he wouldn’t mind acting within our two minute Thriller as the main antagonist. Initially, we weren’t exactly sure whether Tom could pull off an image of formality/impulsive madman. However, in hindsight, Tom Vales proposition was a Godsend.

It fundamentally appears from the footage we have managed to preserve so far that he can pull of the formal image really well, which is anchored through the props of the briefcase, glasses, and watch. I have seen him frequently at school with his shirt tucked out, with a skewed tie, so I’m hoping that the subsequent day of shooting will be just as successful as the first.

As well as the leading antagonist, we needed to find someone who could play the torture victim. Our choice was primarily influenced by a fellow group’s finished Thriller product, whereby Taylor Gladwin plays a frenetic, disjointed, down-and-out male, who appears to be psychologically ruined. Influenced greatly by their thriller, we confronted Taylor, requesting similar acting skills within our own thriller. Taylor appeared more than happy to comply, meaning that we shall hopefully utilize this factor within the second torture stint, the following week.

Influence’s for our Torture scene

Within our first two minutes of our film we have an intense torture scene, in an abandoned warehouse. The inspiration behind the scene is from the well-known Franchise film James Bond, Casino Royale (director Martin Campbell 2006).





The scene above is of Bond tied to a chair naked, with a hole cut in the bottom of the chair. As sarcastic chatter takes place between Bond and the antagonist, Bond gets wiped repeatedly on his bottom; this is to not only create sheer violence but adds humour to the scene. Although our torture scene is going to be very different from this and will not contain any dialogue, the idea of infusing vigorous violence on our protagonist will be portrayed. However we shall be implanting the idea of violence into our audience rather than actually showing any violence taking place. We decided to do our scene this way as we believe the power of the imagination is a much more effective way to create an intense atmosphere.

Thriller Name- Disposition

On the cusp of shooting our two minute psychological/thriller, the group contemplated as to what the hybrid should be called. We collectively weighed up two names, deciding which one suited the film most appropriately. We needed a name, which single-handedly provoked audience response through enigmas and mystique. I also feel it had to illustrate the antagonist’s psychological state within film, as he is most definitely the focal point. However, I feel the concrete name we concluded on has an even deeper relevance to the plotline, as it mirrors the antagonist’s views upon the world.

Desolation

Initially, we toyed with the name Desolation; nevertheless, it generally appeared that such a name wouldn’t provoke the audience’s response to such an extent. It did however mirror the antagonist’s degeneration in mind and social status as the thriller progresses, which is an idea I still like. Despite this, it feels too black and white, cliché or even one dimensional.

When you analyse a typical mainstream thriller name, such as Se7en, Marathon Man etc, you notice a growing correlation of ambiguity. Desolation almost seems to answer itself before the audience even watch the film, as images will conjure up in their mind of grim trepidation. As we are trying to deceive our audience through the themes of distrust and normality, a blatant title didn’t mirror these ideas, so after some careful deliberation, we settled on the name Disposition.

Disposition

Initially, I had a sparse understanding of how to define Disposition. I primarily understood it as a balance between two things. However, after some light research, it was to my surprise that it had more than one definition, which one the whole, related back to our psychological/thriller.

Fundamentally, many define disposition as a state of mind- “he has a happy disposition”. Relating back to our thriller, the audience will endeavour to seek out his authentic mood, only to find out the monster he truly is. In this case, the name could be regarded as extremely ambiguous, and possibly generalised to the point where the audience are given a brief insight to the film, but nothing concrete enough to reveal the storyline.

Secondly, one could analyse this polysyllabic word as dispose. The act of getting rid of something is a notion that could effectively provoke audience response, just due to the generalisation- who, where, and why?

Finally, and most prominently, is the final definition I researched. A disposition is a habit, a preparation, a state of readiness, or a tendency to act in a specified way. I found this somewhat profound, and an interesting theory that works alongside our thriller, as when all the elements above are entwined together, they almost create an embodiment of our antagonist. For example, he feels the natural affliction to commute from London (habit, a preparation, a state of readiness), which is evidently a monotonous task; however, it is this mundane lifestyle that may influence him into committing the heinous crimes he does (to act in a specified way). Obviously, this is only one way of evaluating the antagonist’s actions. However, this proves how a mere name can help encourage mystique and suspense within a psychological/thriller, and enveloped around ambiguity and uncertainty, should mirror the chosen genre.

Focus Group

As part of our research, we decided to conduct a focus group, which we filmed. Since we were limited with time, we decided that the best thing to do would be to conduct the focus group with part of our Film Studies class, as well as asking the same questions to people of different age groups outside of school.

Here is the focus group we filmed:

Focus Group Research

Focus groups

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about there perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea or packaging.

Henderson, Naomi R.(2009) Managing moderator stress: ‘take a deep breath. You can do this!’ Marketing research, vol.21 issue 1, P28-P29

Disadvantages

If in the group you use friends are being interviewed then there answer may just be what you want to hear.
In the group one person may dominate given really only one opinion.
You may not here what you want.
There could be to many people talking over each other which could make things unclear.

Strengths
There are a variety of responses directly from your target audience.
The type of research is a lot more in depth making it qualitative rather than quantative

Initial idea’s for sound

We are still looking in to our sound for our two minute Thriller, however we do have some ideas generating. Our original idea was to start off with just diegetic sound of the Station, for the first couple of shots. Then when the first credit appears a non-diegetic soundtrack will start quietly in the background. However when we thought about it we realised the non-diegetic soundtrack just coming in would be very un-realistic and would ruin the tone of the scene. We then decided that just a very brief diegetic sound of a train at the beginning would be enough to establish the surroundings. The non-diegetic soundtrack would then start straight after and would carry on throughout, until the last title credit.

Within our last torture scene we shall have diegetic sound throughout as we believe this will have a greater impact on creating the mood as we will leave it up to the audience to do that themselves. This fits in with the not actually seeing any violence, leaving it up to the viewer concept. However within the torture scene we are going to use pleonastic sound to enhance the antagonist’s foot steps and the clanging sound of the knives, we believe this will create a creepy feeling of realism.

Our ideas for the non-diegetic soundtrack are that it should be contrapuntal sound i.e. soft, calm music; this will create an eerie feeling and create a sense of mystery.

Thriller Idea

Disposition

The first shot will be an establishing shot from out side London Liverpool Street. It will establish the location and where the events will first take place. We then have a long shot of the antagonist walking through the station, in a high angle shot. Mid shots and close ups establish that he is the main character but also show that he is moving. We see his character walk through his daily routine on his journey home from work. We use cross cutting to show him checking between the time on his watch and the time boards. The idea is to give the impression that he is a normal guy going through his normal routine. We then follow him onto the train and off of the train into a more isolated and run down station.

There is a significant difference between the two locations. Things start to become weirder when we follow him down an empty street into the warehouse. Between each couple of shots the take will fade to black and have a credit. The point of this is to make give feelings of loneliness and horror.

As he enters the warehouse his victim is already tied up, unable to speak from a gag. His clothes are ripped and covered in blood, inferring that the protagonist has been in this situation for a while. This creates enigmas in the audiences head as to why this man is here. He then opens up his brief case and takes out tools and appliances, this hopefully would have shocked the audience who would have seen him as just a normal man. We do not see any torture or violence but we end of a shot of the antagonist going towards the protagonist with the intention of torture. This then fades to the main title of the Film. Disposition.

Hybrid 2 Minute Horror/Thriller Storyboard

To Be Continued...

Costume

Now the group had devised a concrete idea for the hybrid psychological/thriller, we needed to carefully deliberate what type of costume would mirror our antagonist, as well as the resounding themes and messages we are trying to convey.

Now that the group have discarded the female antagonist notion, I have begun to contemplate as to what form of attire the character would suit. Considering the storyline, it appears that deceiving normality is one of the most prominent themes. Therefore, the predictable white shirt, black tie and formal trousers seem the best proposal. This would universally create the illusion that this man is just another face within a sea of commuters, eagerly awaiting to reunite with his ‘superposed nuclear family’. He will be wearing fairly presentable glasses, with a watch to suggest that he is a typical mediocre man, with natural blemishes and insecurities in life, despite the fact he inflicts severe pain upon victims, with supposedly no reasoning.

Fundamentally, our influence draws towards Michael Douglas’ fictional character in Falling Down. Evaluating both our character and his, you can draw together assumptions merely through their form of attire. Pre-conceived notions connote that they are both middle-class office employees who seem rundown from the stranglehold of their business. The shirt and trouser combination almost suggests that they are not a full package; opposed to the conventional ‘bigwig’ you would see in a full piece suit. This could suggest they are not essentially fulfilled in life, and therefore take it out on the world around them.

An important factor to note in terms of clothing is the degeneration during his journey. This is a key micro feature that entwines with Mise en Scene, as the stripping of clothing e.g. glasses, rolled sleeves etc should anchor the growing correlation of isolation. This should fundamentally convey the true man behind the supposedly pristine white shirt and tie that the audience initially see.

Another influence I personally took from devising such character is once again Jack Torrance from the Shining. Initially he is perceived as a perfectly normal man, which is essentially highlighted through his janitor/everyday attire. However, as the hotel begins to indoctrinate him (life knocks our protagonist down) he snaps, and progressively breaks down. This results in the frenetic man we see towards the end of the film, however, he is still shot in perfectly standard clothing (red jumper and jeans). However, behind the jacket lies evil, making the scene even more profound and breaking conventional stereotypes.

When finally analysing the social grades (target audience), I also feel our antagonists attire would be something they could relate to. Going to school myself, I know being confined behind a stuffy shirt, tie and trousers isn’t something I exactly admire. Therefore, somebody placed in a lower middle class status, who may not exactly revel in the idea of working at an office all day, may be able to relate to an embodiment who breaks away from the conventions and the stereotypes that naturally come with such a profession.

Title sequence ideas

The title sequence within a film sets the whole tone and genre of the movie. This is why we have researched different title sequences of Thriller films to see what connotations our target audience expect. The first title sequence we analysed was from the film “Seven” by Director, David Fincher, 1995. We learnt the importance of colour and the use of enigmas within the titles. They have to attract the audience and keep them guessing whilst maintaining all the connotations of a psychological/thriller. At first we decided to have our titles appear above what was going on in the scene, as we thought this would be an effective technique in creating enigmas, however as we researched and brainstormed our ideas further we decided the use of the fade to black between shots, revealing the titles, would be a more successful way of creating tension.




Although we are still discussing the final font of our titles we are certain on the idea of having a strong, sharp font as this is what is expected of a typical title sequence for a Thriller. The sharp font represents the sharp tone of the movie. However a children’s film would use a fun, quirky font as this is what would appeal to the target audience better and would represent the light, fun tone of the movie reinforcing the genre of a family film. Whereas if we were focusing on a horror we would be looking more at a font that would represent blood dripping, as this would instantly inform the audience of the dark genre.

Within our title sequence we want to create a sense of relation with our antagonist and place him as an everyday normal guy. However as our titles develop we shall have shots of the antagonist travelling, showing him get more and more isolated, creating suspicion. He then reaches an abandoned warehouse indicating to the audience that he is not what he seems. The title of our Thriller will appear just after an establishing shot of the warehouse, bringing forward questions within the viewers mind.

We then have to focus on the sound within our title sequence. We have decided on a non-diegetic soundtrack however we have not yet chosen the song. We will be looking for contrapuntal music, as we do not want it to be loud and dramatic but calm yet haunting.