Costume

As our scene will be in low key lighting then costume is not a vital issue with our protagonist. However, he will be dressed in a dark jacket and all round dark clothing. In the flashbacks when the detective is remembering his assignment we see the Gang that he worked with all own similar jackets (Harrington) to make it obvious that they are all part of a gang. These will also be darkly coloured to go with the whole theme of the opening titles. Below is an example of the costume for the gangsters. These jackets were also used by skin head gangsters in real life so this will add context to the scene.

List of thing to do.

Costume
props
lighting
make-up
list of equipment
times and dates you want to film including back up plan
locations
actors
production roles-camera, actors, directors, producer, production, coordinator etc.
Test photos/footage

Watching Thriller Openings

Heat:
In Heat the opening scene is of a train moving away from the camera, this could represent that the narrative has started, playing to a thriller convention of entering the narrative straight away. This is reinforced by the majority of the shots of Robert Deniro walking away from the camera. Also, whilst Robert Deniro is walking through the hospital the environmental sounds are heightened so that they are unrealistically loud. These sounds add contextual intensity as the noises are relevant to the scene. Making diegetic sounds louder than they actually are could be useful when making our thriller opening as it helps create atmosphere.



No Country For Old Men:
Initially there are several long shot contrasting with the expected convention of jumpy shots used to create tension. The one diagetic sound during the shot is of a strong wind representing the antagonist, as the one wind reflects how one character can ruin a tranquil community - which is created by the long shots of the barren landscape. The protagonist is introduced trough the medium of sound, another contrast to convention.During the scene in which the antagonist strangles the police offer we are presented with several different camera angles throughout. These, when quickly cut portray the police offers struggle and imminent death. We will use quick editing in our production to portray our protagonists state of mind in a similar way.

Feedback

We told the rest of our class our pitch. We told them about the narrative, and the mise-en-scene, then the class gave us feedback. The pitch went well as we recieved minimal negative feedback. One point that was raised was that the narrative after the initial opening scene was not initially apparent and the opening scene gives no clue to the resolution. We explained the resolution of the film nd how it wasn't necessary to include a clue to the resolution in our credits. This would ruin the mysterious feel to the film.

In all feedback was primarily positive and our peers seemed to enjoy the narrative and looked forward to seeing the final product.

Aphex Twin - Rubber Johnny

This video has provided inspiration in several aspects, in terms of the; mise-en-scene, camera work and special effects used. It's especially relevance as maximum affects are achieved with minimum funding. Chris Cunningham uses and transforms certain aspects of his body to create the creature. He uses his scrotum to create his abnormally large head. Shock tactics are used to create the initial tense and edgy atmosphere.

Planning For Our Thriller!

These are the following ideas we have for our thriller project.

Characters:
Mad man
Detective
Gangsters

Narrative:
He was an undercover detective part of a gang. However, the man became too involved and was cut from the case but decided to continue his investigation through his own methods. Furthermore the man is internally torn between his allegiance to the gang and their lifestyle, and his integral morals and detective background.

Atmosphere:
Inside the room: Dark and dingy. Flickering lights. Minimalistic. Mysterious.
Flashbacks: Desperation. Reminiscent. Quick.

Micro-elements:
Camerawork - A selection of extreme close-ups - close ups - medium shots and long shots to create a feeling of disorientation.
Mise-en-scene - Minimal amount of props in room, only simple items; pen, paper, light, desk, chair. low key lighting.
Editing - Quick and edgy. Unpredictable. Sporadic. creating viewer disorientation.
Sound - dark and dingy sound effects. (dropping of water, wind sound efects, high pitched noises over a low base sound)
Special Effects - Minimal amounts as this may destroy realism. May use 'night-vision' or an archaic effect on flashbacks.

Our Prouction Logo/Video

This is the final version of our production company logo; Blunt Productions.