Thriller Questionnaire

   1.   What is your favourite movie genre?
2.  What do you look for in the opening of a movie?
3.  If you had to choose a Thriller sub-genre what would it be? i.e. Crime-Thriller, Psychological-Thriller
4. If you had to choose, what would be your favourite Thriller movie?
5. What do you like about that movie? i.e. the tension it creates.
6. Where do you personally think is the best place to shoot a Thriller Opening?
7. Have you ever turned a movie after 5 minutes? If ‘Yes’ why?
8. What would you want to happen in the opening to a Thriller movie, in order to keep your attention and to keep you asking questions?
Narrative Script

I knew you … Ha … Well I did know you before the accident. You only killed for the state, now you just kill for revenge? You’re an animal. I remember that mission, we knew what we had to do it was easy, easier than 1, 2, 3, but it was just after your daughter had been brutally murdered. You thought they were responsible, you took it to heart, and you went after Belakov on your own personal mission,
(Stands up) you jeopardised the whole mission! (Sits back down)
You, I and McNeal were taken, tortured. But they took you away … We thought you were dead … Well you were dead, you came back looking for answers. And here they are. (Pushes pictures of Belakov across table) That’s him, you were right he did take your daughter, but he didn’t kill her, our sources stay she’s still alive … being held, but we don’t know where, if you wish to find her … You must take Belakov alive. That wont be easy … He’s heavily guarded 24/7. He knows we’ll be coming, that’s why we need you cause after all you … are … dead …
This post also taken from John Hughes Blog

Costume ideas for our main task.
Costume for the narrator - He will be wearing a black and white suit so that the audience when they see him will be able to get the idea that he is in some sort of business, The representation of a black and white means that he could be seen as being the Hero or the Villain because the white would resemble the purity in his heart and the black could resemble his dark heart.

Costume for the Villain - For the villain we have a full black suit so that we could resemble the fact that darkness is everywhere around him and that his intentions are purely evil. Also to go with the suit we have the leather gloves showing that this guy is a professional and that he is aware that leaving any tracks would be a horrible mistake for him.

 

Roles for our final Idea
Acting Roles
Main Role (Person being dragged) - Zander Parkin
Bad guy - Morris James
Narrator - John Hughes (Me)
Directing and camera roles
Main Directing Role - John Hughes
Assistant director - Morris James
Main Camera man - Zander Parkin
Sound and editing - Zander Parkin and John Hughes
Prop organisation - Morris James, Zander Parkin and John Hughes

Transportation
Zander Parkin - none needed, lives in Baston
John Hughes - Bus or possible getting a lift from relative
Morris James - Getting a lift off of a relative

Shootin Script

Shot	Shot Description	Audio/Dialogue
1	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
2	POV shot of legs being dragged along, travelling backwards.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
3	POV shot of empty room, mainly focused on the door (sideward)	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
4	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
5	POV shot of legs being dragged along, travelling backwards.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
6	POV shot of empty room, still focused on door but camera starts to rotate (getting up)	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
7	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
8	POV as dragging stops and character (camera) falls backwards onto the floor.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
9	POV shot as man opens the door and enters the empty room	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
10	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
11	POV shot of character getting picked up to kneel.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
12	POV shot as man walks towards the camera (door shuts)	Heartbeat, Heavy Breathing and amplified door shutting, Narration
13	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
14	POV shot as character gets shot (falls over)	Heartbeat, Heavy Breathing and Gun shot, Narration
15	POV shot of man grabbing character and shaking him	Heartbeat, Heavy Breathing, “WHY DID YOU DO IT! WHY WHY? (Echos, Discombobulated)” Narration
16	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
17	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
18	POV shot of man walking away, eyes slowly closes	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
19	POV of man leaving as character falls back down, eyes slowly close	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
20	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining

taken from group member John's blog at johnhughesfoundationproduction.blogspot.com

this is a powerpoint summary of the pitch for our ideas in the end we chose idea 1 as it makes the most sense in terms of what we have to work with.

                                     

Plannig the Thriller

having finished the preliminary task I have started on the main task with Zander Parkin and John Hughes. our three ideas are as follows...

1. a man is kidnapped and shot in the head-Zander
2. a man held in prison is killed by an assasin that snuck in in the night-Me
3. a detective with near superhman deductive abilities-John

More detail can be given in our pitch that we will be finishing on thursday and showing on friday to help us decide which idea to follow through on.

the BBFC

The BBFC and the ratings system

The BBFC are responsible for film classification in the united kingdom, deciding whether or not a film is suitable for release in the united kingdom and who it’s suitable for. The bbfc was set up in 1912 to rate the films coming into the country. Though there have been some controversies regarding films like “the human centipede” and “clockwork orange”.

Ratings

U-universal suitable for all.

PG-parental guidance recommended, meaning that the film is generally suitable but may require parental viewing before showing it to younger children. The film may contain mild fantasy violence.

12-suitable for people age 12 and over only this means the film is not allowed to contain extreme violence or easily imitable behaviour. A 12A is slightly more extreme in that it may only be seen by people 12 and over but adult guidance is recommended.

15-suitable only for those over 15 due to either explicit language, partially graphic violence or un explicit sexual scenes.

18-it is illegal for anyone below 18 years of age to see or buy film even with parental accompaniment. This is because it is allowed to contain explicit violence and scenes of a sexual nature.

I believe that the best certificate for our developing thriller is the 15 certificate as it allows us the moderate violence to make the opening exciting and the dark themes that would allow intrigue. Also I believe it would work best with our in development scripts.

Warner Bros production studios

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. (though the name was occasionally given in full form as Warner Brothers during the company's early years) is an American producer of film and television entertainment.
One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California and New York, New York. Warner Bros. has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Comics. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network.
Warner bros make a suitable production studio for our thriller because of the obvious advantages to using a station that owns it’s own TV network as this allows for easy distribution of advertising.

The opening scene of memento

One of the first things you will notice when you begin to watch memento is the way it is presented. In the opening credits a very plain and not very interesting font combined with blue colour is used for the type. This plain straightforward font makes the audience realise the serious nature of the film this combines well with all the things the blue makes one think of, sadness, anguish and loss. The very next scene is the end of the film shown as the beginning to start the audience thinking of the chain of events that set this event into action. The first scene is played entirely in reverse up until the killing when the actual scene begins. This reversal is meant to shake up the audience and set the tone of the entire film. It is also a joke somewhat on the context of the film being in reverse. In the next scene leading up to the murder there is a small slip up when Leonard claims he told teddy he didn’t like the nickname Lennie, but he would have been unable to remember it and did not write down any notes pertaining to it.

The next scene running through the murder of teddy is used as a way of introducing the premise of the film being in reverse. The idea of the reversal is that it allows the film to focus on plot and draws the audience’s attention to the way the film is strung together rather than the occasional flashy fight scene, joke or killing.