Thriller Planning: Meeting times

Unlike other groups, we decided not to set-out a 'meeting schedule' because we knew that people would be busy and things would come-up so we wouldn't stick by it for over a week or two. Instead, we decided when to meet during the week at the beginning of each week, that way we have flexibility and we can agree on dates and times that are definitely good for everyone. We intend to make sure that we stick by this policy and ensure that we do meet for atleast two or three hours each week to discuss ideas, progress, or to do editing.

We didn't follow this policy for our shooting schedule though, as for that we only needed to agree on a few days for filming. This, however, is such an ongoing process that we felt that this method would be much more effective.

Thriller Planning: Shooting maps

Thriller Planning: The themes & inspirations for our thriller

Themes
Our thriller includes several key conventions of thriller themes, particularly themes of the noir period. For example, one of the key elements of the full narrative (see synopsis) is the attempted vengeance of Susie Callaghan to kill her uncle as she had always blamed him for her father’s death. In just this piece of the narrative, at least three important conventional themes are present from the noir genre: the haunted past, betrayal and vengeance. A femme fatale is also present in this section, who is an essential figure of the noir period. Revenge is a key theme in our narrative, as elements of it occur throughout, as does greed for power. Both of these things, however, lead to the death of all but one of the characters: the experienced crime lord Patrick Callaghan (Phil Buttinger). Death and downfall, then, are further important themes of our narrative. This, therefore, leads us to the presence of another key noir theme: the fatalistic nightmare. There are, however, many aspects of similarity from films with a sub-genre of ‘mafia’ also, such as The Godfather (1972) and Goodfellas (1990). There will be, then, several aspects of themes such as organized crime and the underworld in our narrative.

Style
As our thriller includes several noir themes in the narrative and characterisation (see character profiles), the style and mise-en-scene will also reflect that of a noir. For example, the opening shots of the road include several tilted angles, immediately connoting edginess, uncertainty and slight discomfort (all of which are themes of thrillers and the noir period). We also included several low angle shots, most notably that of the building from the outside, which was a technique also favoured in the noir period. Our shots of Patrick Callaghan also intend to be low angled shots (similar to those of Sydney Greenstreet’s Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon (1941)), however due to a lack of experienced camera work and resources we don’t expect to be able to make this as obvious as we would ideally like. There are also several examples of chiaroscuro lighting in our opening, such as that of the bright light from streetlights shining down onto the road. We also would like the road to be wet and shiny, as this would add another distinctive noir signifier which also connotes the theme of the fatalistic nightmare. However, this is beyond our control. The shots of the road, incidentally, are also moving camera shots, which is another popular technique in noirs (e.g. in the opening sequence of Touch of Evil (1958)) and also in neo-noirs (e.g. in sections of Taxi Driver (1976)). In conclusion, we are very much aiming for our film to stylistically resemble a film noir.

Sub-genre
Our thriller would take-on both the sub-genres of film noir and also of ‘mafia/ gangster’. This is because it uses conventions from both of these sub-genres.

Key influences
Stylistically and regarding the mise-en-scene, our key influences have been from films from the noir period. For us, the most influential ones have been The Maltese Falcon (in particular the representation of Sydney Greenstreet’s Kasper Gutman) and The Third Man (1949) (especially the use of tilted angles and lighting). Regarding the narrative, though, Chinatown (1974) has been largely influential, as we appreciated its method of story telling and the amount of twists in the narrative. The Godfather, however, has probably been the most influential film to us in this respect. This is because we appreciated its narrative feature of the switch from one main protagonist to another, and, again, the number of twists in its narrative. In our film, however, we are taking this further to have several changes of the main protagonist, with a change each time the previous one dies. The purpose of this, as explained in our synopsis, is to demonstrate to the viewer the immorality and unattractiveness of the life of our characters to the point where the viewer realises that they cannot relate to any of the protagonists that were present. This theme of immorality and sleaze has been taken directly from the films of the noir period. However, going back to the bare bones of our narrative, it has been based (very loosely) upon the story of Romeo and Juliet. This theme is present in shape of the brief (and sham) relationship between David Glover and Susie Callaghan. This influence exists predominantly because of our initial intention to use a track from Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet of Romeo and Juliet as our opening soundtrack. Judging purely on opening sequences though, the opening of Goodfellas has also been influential, as it consists of similar events, and bares a similar context to the rest of the film as ours (regarding the fact that, in a chronological order, it takes place quite a way into the film).

Thriller Planning: The shooting schedule

Below is our shooting schedule:

Thriller Planning: The Cast

We need four actors to play in our thriller opening, and they would be playing the roles of Patrick Callaghan, Aidan Quinlan, Sean McLennan and Connor Malone. In order to gain members of cast, we used a conveniance sampling technique, as we felt it best to use people we know and this way we could quickly and easily hand pick the four actors we wanted. As the characters in our thriller opening are threatening men, we thought it best to pick actors that fit this appearance and also age group. The latter applies especially to the character of Patrick Callaghan, as he is an aged crime leader, so we have to have an actor that appears believable under that description (see character profiles for more details). These are the four actors that we acquired:

Philip Buttinger as Patrick Callaghan

We feel that this actor matches the age group and also the appearance of the character we were looking for, as he as quite prominant eye brows which make for a threatening stare, this will be effective in our ECU shot of his eyes (see storyboard).

Leon Hogarth as Aidan Quinlan

Again, we feel that this actor matches, in particular the age group of the character. He also fits the appearance as he is very tall (which you can't tell from this picture) and also quite-well built which makes for a threatening figure.

Patrick Bloomfield as Sean McLennan

Ralf Kendall as Connor Malone

For the actors of the characters of Sean McLennan and Connor Malone, the facial appearances weren't crucial as these are quite marginal characters and their faces aren't focused on in any shot, so for these actors it was more important that they fitted the age group, which we feel that these two do so well.

However, unfortunately certain rules and regulations which we were not aware of meant that Patrick Bloomfield and Ralf Kendall were forced to pull out as our actors. We tried our best to replace them with actors of a similar quality and age group, however due to time running out we couldn't allow ourselves to be too picky. These are the two actors we replaced them with:

Josh Rowe as Sean McLennan

Louis Martin

We picked these two as our replacements because, although students, they are both fairly tall (Josh Rowe in particular) and also have quite mature faces compared to other options.

Thriller planning: Props

The car: preferably black, dark blue or any shade of colour that doesn’t draw attention to itself. As it is a car of an organised crime group it can’t be too flashy or too big but has to be reasonably fast, in case of any car chases from police or other gangs. Something in the way of a slightly aging luxury car (although probably with a modern and much larger engine) would be the ideal option, such as this 1990 Bentley Turbo R:


Or this 1990 Mercedes 350SDL:

In reality, however, we know that these cars would be unattainable, so more realistic targets would be just a dark coloured sedan car that is preferably quite a sought after brand, and not too modern either because the car isn't a fashion gimmick, but is probably a few years old by now. Realistic targets would be something like a 1999 Saab 93 sedan or a 1999 BMW 528i as shown below:

In the end we managed to secure the use of a very dark blue Saab 93 sedan, as a group member's father owns one. We are very pleased with this as it was one of our original 'realistic targets'.

The dead body: This could be many things: pillows/ rolled-up duvet/ sand/ punch bag. Probably the punch bag would be the best option, as it is heavy enough to make a sound and for the actors to have some difficulty carrying it. Also, it is easily attainable, as a group member has one in his garage.

In the end, we decided on using the punch bag, filled out with various pillows/ duvet and then wrapped in black bin-liners and sealed with brown tape:

Cigarettes and Zippo lighters: you can’t have criminals that don’t smoke. Zippo lighters would be used to give the characters in the opening a more sophisticated look and impression of higher status (working for one of the biggest gangs).

Unfortunately however, we were not able to get hold of a zippo lighter, so we will use a regular lighter instead. This is a shame but the difference probably won't be huge to the viewer as it will be dark and the hand of the smoking person would cover up most of the lighter anyway.

The desk: Ideally this could be a mahogany desk that’s quite wide, something that’s grand and sophisticated in order to reflect the characteristics of the crime-lord behind it. It may also be quite old-fashioned rather than modern as the boss is fairly old, so maybe a darker rather than lighter shade of brown.

However, we will have to take what we are given, especially as we are filming in a classroom. But, it will be very dark so the desk itself and its colour and size would barely be visible (if at all).

The big chair: Again, it would ideally be something grand, and possibly out of leather.

But, again, we will use what is in the classroom already as we do not have such a huge choice, and due to the darkness in the room the chair itself won't be hugely visible either.

Costumes: The gangsters in the car would be wearing dark clothes and a large dark coat, as they are the 'muscle' guys doing the dirty work, so they would hardly be wearing flashy white suits.

The boss, on the other hand, would be wearing a dark suit with a shirt and tie. Although not white either, the suit would be quite smart and very very expensive.

Although all of our 'ideals' for the props sound very grand, expensive and glamourous (which also makes them unavailable to us), they would not be presented in a glamourous way (should they have been available), as our opening will be dark, shadowy and rather unglamourous. They would have been used, though, to show that the business of the characters does pay and they have success in it, but then they also end up dead as a result, and although they have money they certainly meet unglamourous engings.

Thriller planning: Soundtrack

One of our initial ideas for the soundtrack of our thriller is from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet 'Romeo and Juliet', the specific track being 'Montagues and Capulets'. We like this piece because its very powerful and sinister, and would fit in well with a theme of betrayal and deception. This soundtrack, being a classical piece, would give our thriller a more classic style.

Another idea for our soundtrack was to have something more modern, that isn't a classical piece, and that is dark and industrial. Something similar perhaps to the soundtrack from the opening sequence of Sin City, or perhaps something like an instrumental version of something by Marylin Manson. Should we choose to go with a piece like this, our thriller would definitely have a more modern style.

Thriller planning: Storyboards

Thriller planning: Location Scouting

Thriller planning: Location Scouting

For our thriller opening we need three locations. One of these is a narrow, winding road, preferably with street lights and with a ditch next to it or nearby. The second location that we need is a tall building, with its windows lit-up and preferably with external lighting from the ground, shining up it. The third and final location is a room with a desk and a big chair.


The road

For the road and ditch, we decided to look at the roads around Mousehold Heath, as we’d found out that some of them have streetlights. We found that Gurney Rd. would have been perfect, as it was very winding and had streetlights on both sides. However, unfortunately it was so busy that we were unable to take pictures of it let alone be able to film on it. But, we found a very good, narrow little road coming off it which had streetlights on one side and had no traffic. We also found a Gilman Rd. - which is now a footpath and cycle path. Because of this it would have been ideal to film on as there wouldn't be the issue of traffic at all, however it did not have streetlights, and we wouldn’t have been able to use car lights either so we’d have no lighting.

This is a map of the area we looked at:

These are the pictures we took of this road:

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I think that this would be a good location to film as it has all the qualities that we initially wanted for the road sequence, and it has streetlights which is a huge bonus. Another great bonus is that this road has very little traffic, so we would be able to film quite comfortably on it.

These following pictures are of Gilman Rd, also coming off Gurney Rd:

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In some ways this Gilman Rd would be better than the other small road above. For example, it is much longer and more meandering. Also, the problem of traffic would be completely eliminated as cars are not allowed on here, as it is a footpath and cyclepath. However, there are no streetlights, which is a large disadvantage when compared to the other road. Also, as we couldn't get a car on it, there is no alternative lighting option.

After considering both roads, we decided on using the little road that we looked at first as the location for this sequence. The main reason for this was the issue of lighting, as we'd have to make separate arrangements inorder to have decent lighting, which would create needless hassle as the lighting is already there on the other road.

The ditch

We found a good ditch by the side of Gurney Rd. This is good for us as it would be easy to link it with the road sequence. These are the pictures that we took of the ditch:

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The Building

We needed a tall, and preferably, office building. Inorder to find this, we looked around at the Norwich Union buildings in the city centre, near the bus station, and at the new flats at Riverside, near the football ground. Ideally, we would also have liked the building to have external lighting on the ground, shining up it. However, we knew that this would be unlikely in Norwich.

These are the pictures we took of the buildings:

The Norwich Union building:

1. I am really pleased with this image, the building looks great and the low angle that we planned to film it with makes it appear all the more domineering and threatening.

2.I also like this picture, although the low angle effect is perhaps not so successful as in the previous image.

3. This image is maybe the best of the three, as I think that the low angle shot is achieved with great success here.

The Riverside Buildings:

1. I am quite pleased with this photo, as the low angle shot works well. On the other hand, the windows aren't quite we were looking for as they are a bit too small and reveal the fact that this is a flat where normal people live.

2. I think that this image is much better than the previous one, due to the railing that cuts across the foreground of the picture diagonally. I think that this really makes the building appear much more sinister, especially when it will be in the dark, when we are filming.

3.I think that this photo is better yet, as the side angle hides the small windows that were initially a concern, and the railing is skewed even more. Again, the railing works to great effect.

4. This one is better yet, as the further use of the side angle reveals more if the glass corner which looksreally good. Also, the railing is at even more of an angle which adds extra effect.

4. I quite like the angle of this photo but on the other hand I don't think that it is the right building for the sequence, as these balconies do seem too private and homey.

5. I really like the angles in this image, the skewed low angle effect works really well, especially with the metal railing.

6. I think that the symmetry in this image looks quite good, however again the buildings look slightly too private and therefore unrealistic.

The Office

For our third anf inal location we need a room that can be disguised as an office with a desk in and has blinds. We thought that a classroom would be perfect for this, as it has plenty of space for it to be rearranged just the way we want it, and most of them have blinds infront of the windows. These are the pictures of a classroom that we like for this location:

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