Planning - Final Idea

We decided on using our third idea.

It is based around 2 friends and their love for a very famous online game. They are stalked by a serial killer who hunts for victims through online games. "Tom" is his next victim and gets taken, With "Dan" confused and looking for answers, it leads him to an underworld of obsessed virtual gamers who play their online games in reality.

Our inspiration for this is from a horror "Stay Alive" and a non-thriller "Snatch" for the use of an underworld plot. I also took inspiration from the game-turned-film Final Fantasy which is a sci-fi, i liked the way the characters lived in a different world, and wanted to reflect that into a "gamers world." "The Beach" also gave me inspiration in the way that the characters lived far away from the "normal world" and i wanted to use this in my own plot. As the film is a thriller i wanted to keep the suspense, but i also wanted to show the killer at the start, as he is not the main antogonist.

Planning - Opening thriller script

Stage directions:

Dan is sitting on a bed in a barely-lit room playing a fist person shooter on an xbox.

(Talking on headset)

Dan: Awh Ike your shit man, oh hey you alright Tom?

Tom: Alright Dan, yeah im good how are you?

Dan: I'm doing good what you up to?

Tom: Just chillin' got a free house, no-ones in.

Dan: Awh sweet, can i come over later then?

Tom: (unenthusiastically) yeah sure if you want

Dan: Alright cool man, see you soon

(the chair Tom was previously sitting on is empty and  mysteriously moving

(Talking over headset)

Dan: Tom? Tom?! TOM?!?!

(Dan walks down the stairs in a house, his phone rings, he gets to the bottom of the stairs and answers it)

Dan: Hello?

(Heavy breathing is heard down the phone)

Dan: oh it must be the wrong number.

(Dan leaves the house, the camera switches to Toms room showing Tom being dragged out of his room, the camera fades and there's a mysterious man looking at the camera as he closes the door.)

                              End Scene

Thriller Film Title

This is a screenshot of the survey we used to see what various people liked best in a title for a thriller.

The most votes was "Killcan" closely followed by "Virtual Obsession"

We chose these initial names as we wanted the audience to know this film involved online gaming.

Thriller Conventions

.A crime at the core of the narrative (often murder, but not necessarily).
.A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolutions.
.A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved.
.A protagonist who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.
.Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations.
.Themes of identity.
.Themes of mirroring.
.Themes of voyeurism.
.Protagonist with a ‘flaw’ which is exploited by the antagonist.
.Titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist’s psychological state.
.There is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist is in peril.
.Mise en scene which echoes/ mirrors the protagonist’s plight.

Preparation for Thriller opening

Setting/ Location:

We are using two rooms located in different houses, we are using the bedrooms of the two actors appearing in the film, one is very small with limited lighting, and the other is a resonably sized loft conversion with lowered lighting.

Costumes and Props:

The actors are dressed casually in their "home clothes" throughout, apart from "Dan" who appears to change his clothes as he heads to "Tom's" house.

We placed a few bottles of Budweiser on the desk behind to show he is in a relaxed state of mind and shows he is at ease which in turn makes him seem vulnerable.

Editing and Camerawork:

The Eastbalishing shot is a shot of the TV screen where we see a war game being played, we then cut into "Dan" who is speaking over the headset to show he is speaking to a friend online. We then fade into a shot of "Tom" who we see is also playing online, after several cuts to show the conversation, there is a high angle of the chair "Tom" was previously sitting in which is slowly moving, it then cuts into a shot of the door way were we see "Toms" legs being dragged out of his room. It then cuts into opening credits

Story and how the opening sets up:

A Stalker has been tracking 2 friends online who had previously beat him in a game and is seeking to get revenge, with no help from the authorities Tom and Dan have to save themselves from murder.

How characters are introduced

The start is an over the shoulder shot of the 1st character Dan, who we see playing an online game in his room, it is very dasrk and messy.

Special Effects

There will be various fade cuts and a special effect at the end which cuts into a "se7en"

Research - Ideas for our thriller

After analyzing various thriller opening, we came together and discussed ideas we had.

First Idea

Michael 1st suggested a detective-like thriller.

It starts with a panning shot of the tower blocks over looking the Thames at dawn which then cuts into two detectives walking into a house and into the kitchen where a body is leaning against cupboards with a blood covered knife next to them.

It then cuts back using various flashes to a lead up of how the murder happened, much like CSI.

His inspiration for this idea was from a scene in the award winning american series, The Wire.

The credit roll for this would be a shot from inside a car, much like the police camera action shots, with the credits appearing on various buildings as it drives by.

Second Idea

Our second idea was a "se7en" style opening, but with the camera panning to show various newspaper headlines and photographs of murdered women, we would have several action shots of the psychopath but we would not see his face. it was supposed to be about a crazed psychopath that had escaped from an asylum, however we thought this was too unoriginal to do.

Third Idea

I thought about involving something more 21st century and using computer games as a story-line. Someone has been stalking 2 friends in an online game and seeks to murder them both, one of the friends gets murdered, and the other is out to seek revenge.

We went with this idea as it was the most original and would challenge us to create something new and fresh. Only one film is similar to this, Stay Alive, albeit a horror rather than a thriller.

What is a thriller?

We investigated into what a thriller actually is, to get a better understanding into what we have to do, so our film would fit into a thriller sub-genre.

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, television and gaming that often overlaps with other genres.

Thrillers are often overlapped with mysteries but are distinguished by the structure of their plots.

Thrillers are defined not by their subject matter but how the subject is perceived.

Thrillers can be defined by the primary mood they set: To thrill.

We thought are thriller best comes under a psychological thriller as there is killings in the film but the viewers do not see it, and one character is going through an emotional rollercoaster which the audience would sense.