Group Narrative

Individual plot

Characters:

The victim - this character will be portrayed as a fragile young girl which will be achieved by natural make-up and white clothing.The colour white has a connotation of innocence and so enhances the essence of the character's purity. This will convey her to be a vulnerable character that will gain empathy from the audience who will experience her fear and anxiety when she is faced with a series of turbulent events.

The antagonist - this character will only be visible as a dark blurred shadow moving in sharp motions. A hidden identity means the audience will be unaware of who the antagonist is, his intentions unknown. This will create suspense which is conventional to the thriller genre.

Conventions:

- An establishing shot of the room will be shown to familiarise the audience with the current setting as well as set the scene.

- Low key lighting will be used as it is an effective convention that is able to create a tense atmosphere. This will create a dark setting as well as shadows which can be suggestive of the antagonist's presence without providing the audience of certainty. Although a dark setting will be used, the moon light seeping through the window will provide enough light for the character's facial expressions to be visible.

- Non-diegetic music i.e. the background music will be increasing in volume throughout the progression of the opening sequence in order to build up tension.

- Exaggerated diegetic sounds such as the door slam will also be used to emphasise the elements of the scene and simultaneously provide the audience with fear.

-Close up shots capturing facial expression will be used to convey the emotion felt by the character.

The Narrative:

A young girl being awoken by a gentle voice repeatedly whispering the same phrase which imitates a nightmare increasing in pace. The girl's eyes open and a tear runs down her cheek. Shivering, she reaches over to the bedside table where an alarm clock showing the time is seen. The sound of wind rushes through the room as a dark blurred shadow moves across it. The door slamming shut disturbs the stillness of the night. The girl gets up hurriedly and grabs her phone in which she dials the number 999 whilst struggling to open the door. Her breathing is rushed and uneven. The lighting is dim yet the moon light seeps through the window, creating suspense. As she forcefully opens the door, she sees nothing but a photo laying on the floor. She picks it up, her hands shaking. The photograph is revealed to be of her sleeping peacefully; dressed in the same white gown. The words 'RIP' written across it in big bold letters.

Themes:

-Psychological trauma : this theme will be emphasised by a rushed heartbeat and heavy breathing of the main character who will be emotionally disturbed by the events. This will also be conveyed by the tear running down her cheek when awoken and traumatised. Struggling to cope with the events will create empathy for the character that will be enable a connection to be established between the character and the audience.

- Horror : this theme will be portrayed by the antagonist's appearance that will cause fear and panic for the victim as well as the audience. The dark shadow means it will be a sudden and rushed appearance which would not have been anticipated.

Advantages: the characters are defined as conventional due to the victim being portrayed as innocent when in contrast with the stalker who is seen as threatening. The location used in this narrative is a bedroom, a relatable setting for viewers making the scene highly realistic so the audience's fear is increased. 

Disadvantages: the narrative lacks complexity

Harriet Gold

Characters:

-Stalker/Young Man - my idea for a thriller opening will consist of a young man who will be a stalker and also the boyfriend of the victim. He will be stalking her constantly which will be sticking to the conventions of a thriller.
-Young woman - I have decided to use a young vulnerable female as the victim that will also be sticking to the conventions of a thriller.

Themes:
The themes that will be presented in my thriller will be stalking/obsession. This will be shown by the boyfriend also known as the stalker constantly watching the victims every move. This can also be shown in the theme of psychological as of the mental instability of him stalking the victim.

Narrative:
In my idea there will be a young couple that have been together for 5 years and have lived with each other for only a year. The woman thinks everything is normal and that they are going to be a happy family with there own children. What she doesn't know is her boyfriend in fact has two identities and stalks her every move while she's out the house. Before they met he'd been stalking her for 3 years, taking photographs, taking pieces of her belongings whilst she was out the house, which was all part of the plan to get into her life. The woman starts to suspect things while she's at work or out for a coffee but doesn't think to mention anything. This then starts to panic her when she finds strange things happening in the house. The last thing she'd imagine it to be is a stalker when in fact she's living with one right under the same roof.

Advantages: the theme of the narrative is developed and effective within the thriller film, taking into account the results of the questionnaire. Relatable characters are used for the audience to build a relationship with so they become emotionally involved and therefore are affected by the victim's state through sympathy.
Disadvantages: The narrative lacks detail as to what 'strange things' happen.

Ella Sutherland 

Characters:
-Within our thriller opening, a young woman will be portrayed as the victim. By using a character such as a younger female to play the victim, this will stick to the conventions of the thriller genre as the female will suggest innocence through her gender alone.
-A male stalker will be used as the antagonist in out thriller opening. He will be shown as having an obsession with the victim and consequently stalks her every movement. Obsession is a conventional factor between antagonist and victim within the thriller genre.

Narrative:
The narrative will consist of a young woman being stalked by an older male as he is shown to have an obsession with her. She is entirely oblivious of the stalker however begins to have dreams of the same nature suggesting she has become a victim. She later becomes suspicious and sub-consciously aware that she is not alone when thought to be. It is later revealed that the stalker is someone very close to her.


Themes:
a main theme within the opening will be obsession. Obsession will be shown with the younger woman by the antagonist. This is conventional to a thriller to make the audience feel uncomfortable and plays on the venerability of the female/victim.

Advantages: The theme is effectively achieved through the narrative which consists of stalking and obsession seen by the stalker towards the victim. The stalker turning out to be 'someone very close' the the victim is an effective twist to the plot.

Disadvantages: The narrative lacks depth as to the location and the events; the plot being very brief and basic. 

 Group narrative 

In order for our group to make a successful opening for our thriller, we have all wrote our personal ideas and perceptions on what we think they should consist of and the advantages and disadvantages of each point. Then we combined ideas in order to make a group narrative

Characters:
-The victim : Grace Davies, a 17 year old girl
-The killer : a disguised man (hidden identity creates suspense)
-Extra : the girl's mum

Themes:
-Obsession : the stalker's state of mind dominated by persistent thoughts of the victim and his desire to hurt her
-Stalking : the man's unwanted attention towards the young girl

Conventions:
-low key lighting as dim lighting conveys fear
-non-diagetic sound building up tension
-diagetic soundtrack to give the audience a rush of adrenaline

Narrative:
A young girl on the phone to her boyfriend whilst on the laptop when the internet connection cuts out. As she walks to the bathroom, her phone coverage gets weaker and her conversation is disrupted. She then sees someone behind her in the mirror's reflection. Her hands shaking, she rushes to her bed where her uneven breathing slowly returns to normal as she falls asleep. While sleeping, the camera zooms onto her face as a hand covers the lens. Flashes of images of her are then shown revealing the stalker's obsession with the young girl.

CHANGES TO THE NARRATIVE: 

In order to improve the impact of the narrative, it was made more complex with a twist creating an enigma for the audience.

A young girl on the phone to her boyfriend whilst on the laptop when she hears a sound that disrupts her conversation. Thinking it's nothing, she re engages in the conversation. She is then interrupted once again when her laptop and light turns off simultaneously. Shaken up, she rushes to the bathroom where she attempts to call her mum yet the number is not recognised. After trying to reassure herself, she rushes back to the bedroom. Her shadow is seen as another shadow walks up to her from behind. She turns around and gasps creating the illusion of the shadow being the antagonist. This however turns out to be her mum which would make the audience think all of the events were exaggerated by the victim acting paranoid. However, a photograph of Grace hugging her mum is then shown. As the camera zooms out, a collection of similar photographs is seen. This proves the stalker's obsession with the victim. This leaves the viewers with unanswered questions regarding the stalker's identity and reasoning. The remain of the plot reveals the victim's stalker to be her dad; his obsession caused by jealousy and hurt due to his inability to deal with the divorce and sudden found happiness of his wife.

FURTHER CHANGES:

The opening credit sequence will end with the main character (the victim) turning around and screaming. This will suggest the antagonist's presence however it will not reveal his identity nor provide certainty. Therefore the previous ending has been disregarded due to hidden identities being conventional to the thriller genre and so it was decided that the opening sequence would not resolve this enigma. The identity of the antagonist would be revealed towards the climax of the film rather than in the first two minutes.  The opening sequence would only introduce the film and it's theme; most importantly featuring credits.