Thriller Opening- Primary Research 

   For our primary research we decided to create a questionnaire to find out what different people of different ages and gender thought about thrillers. It gave us important information as it meant we could make our thriller fit a bigger target audience so therefore it would appeal to a wider range of people. It helped us to see who our biggest target audience was and which was the most popular thriller films so gave us an idea of whether people would enjoy watching our thriller opening or not. It will also help when choosing the type of font we decide to use for the credits and title as it gave us an idea of which is most effective. This questionnaire was very helpful as myslef and Amy now know what people like and dislike when it comes to a thriller film. We are planning on asking around 15 different people hopefully all of different age to fill in our questionnaire so then we will have a wide range of results which will then help when filming and editing as we can work ith our reults from the questionnaire. 

 This is the questionnaire Amy and I will be using:

 

Thriller- Narrative

When we came up with our original ideas myself and Amy both suggested similar things which worked out well as it meant we could but our ideas together so that they fit into a 2 minute film. It also meant that less time was spent on planning and creating the storyboard as we had already put our ideas together and they fit really well with eachother. We both wanted to create an uncomfortable but realistic thriller opening that would make people feel on edge. We decided that our thriller would be based on a Girl and Boy that have had a past relationship and now the male character(Cameron) is obsessed with the female character(Abi) and his her stalker.

The first scene in our film is Abi in the shower while Cameron films her off his phone without her knowing. The shower is steamed up and therefore he and the viewer can only see Abi's outline.The scene then fades out slowly to the girl sleeping in bed with once again the boy watching her however this time it is from the window. There is then a bright flash which comes from the phone and is from the boy taking a photo of the girl while she is sleeping so once again doesn't see the boy watching her. The film will then quickly zoom out on to a white wall which will be in the room that the boy keeps everything to do with the girl in. The wall will be covered in photos of the girl from the past, when they were together and also from since he has been stalking her. All the pictures are different and involve her doing things such as getting ready, going out, being in the shower and just generally doing day to day things which a normal girl would do. The shot continues to zoom out until the viewer is able to see the whole of the wall in which is covered by the photos and also the back of the boys head so the audience can see him starring at the wall. After this there is an important flash back which the boy is happening which helps give an insight intc there past relationship.The flashback is of the boy and girl on a walk but it shows the fact that they were very happy and in love. It then goes back on to the boy now and shows him getting very angry and smashing everything that he has of the girls and doing things such as cutting up her clothes, this helps to show his emotion and how upset he is. The last part to our thriller opening is very important as it will be the first time the viewer will actually get to see the male characters face as it is hidden throughout the rest. This is because it makes it seem more mysterious and interesting as no one knows exactly who the boy is.His face is shown through an extreme close up and this will exaggerate his piercing blue eyes as they will take up most of the screen. The thriller will then end with the title credits where the title will appear which is 'Dark Past' this will be written in a smokey font to keep the mysterious idea going.

Thriller- Planning the Shots 

While planning our thriller opening myself and Amy discussed the sort of shots we will be using. We thought the bigger the variety the better our video would be. So we decided we would use a number of shots to help make the film more interesting and also to help capture the viewers attention. We suggested a number of different shots we will be using within our extract these include things such as long shots, over the shoulder shots, mid shots etc. We both suggested different ideas and then decided together which camera angles and shots would fit best into our film and which would look most effective, for example, When Cameron is filming Abi on his phone an over the shoulder shot would look best so you can see things from his point of view.

Extreme Close Up Shots: 

The pictures of Abi on the wall and the video on the tv 

Cameron's eyes right at the end of the piece

Close Up Shots:

The photos of Abi on the wall and the video on the tv 

Abi and Cameron when walking in the flashback

Cameron breaking/ripping Abi's personal possessions

Mid Shots:

Abi in the shower

The photos of Abi on the wall

Abi and Cameron when walking in the flashback

Cameron breaking/ripping Abi's personal possessions

Long Shots: 

When Abi and Cameron are in the flashback

Abi in bed when Cameron is watching her

Cameron breaking/ripping Abi's personal possessions

Over The Shoulder Shots:

Cameron Filming Abi

Cameron taking photos of Abi

Cameron looking at the images he has taken of Abi

Thriller- Title of the Thriller Opening 

 Myself and Amy couldn't decide on a good title for our Thriller. We came up with alot of suggestions but not many of them fitted perfectly like we wanted. Things we suggested were:

• Stalk
• Walk and Stalk 
• The boy next door 
• Dark past
• The boy that stalked 
• The boy that walked and stalked 
• stalkers here stalkers there 
• The ex in your nightmare   

  We both decided that the best two were 'Dark Past' and 'The ex in your nightmare' however we couldnt pick between the two. So we decided that the best thing to do was to ask a group of people which they believed to be the most effective. We asked other media students, our friends and family so that there was a good age range between the people we had asked. After asking around we came to a conclusion that 'Dark Past' would be best as more people agreed on this one being better. We thought 'Dark Past' was a good name for our thriller as it matches the fact they had a past relationship.

Thriller opening- Props 

Because Amy and I wanted our thriller to be as realistic as possible we didn't want to use a lot of props as we thought it would make the scene look set up which would make the scenerio not believable. Also because the main location is within a house we thought there wouldn't need to be many props added to the rooms as things that you would usely see in a house would already be there. 

   One of the main props that will be most important in our film is the photos of Abi Cameron will have kept in his room. There will need to be loads of photos all showing different scenerios to help make it more believable that he has been stalking her for years. The photos will be pinned onto the walls in the room Cameron will spend alot of time in. 

   Another prop that will be important within the thriller opening is a bright red lipstick which Cameron will have took from Abi without her knowing. This will be important as you will see him write A in capitals in one of the scenes on a large piece of paper and this will then also be pinned to the wall. The TV which will be placed in Camerons room is also an important prop as he will be watching  something that he has filmed off Abi without her knowing. A phone (iphone 6) is also a very important prop as it will be used alot throughout when cameron is taking photos and filming Abi.

   Other props that will be used but will be less important are things like normal day to day props that the audience may not even notice. This is things such as body wash and shampoo in the shower, a bed, pillows and a wardrobe with Abi's clothes in, including the clothes she was wearing in the flash back in her bedroom.