Narrative Plot Walkthrough

This is the video we made when we were walking through our plot of narrative action. This is just a rough plan which we made with a Flip Camera. As you can see this is set in a classroom because that was the closest space available to us when we decided to film this. On the real day we will be using the Studio to film and set two sets one of Johny's office and one of the front of the office where the secretary sits. As we did not have the real actors we are going to use when we were filming this we used the people who were easily at our disposal so one of the actors in this is our teacher Simon. Overall on the shoot day this will look much more chic and organised.

Narrative Action

1. Women typing at a desk on a typewriter a mid shot from the from showing her breasts and lips but not her eyes having the stereotypical image of a secretary

2. Close up of her fingers typing on a typewriter she has cleanly cut nails with red nail polish

3. The Titles will appear as she is typing on the paper coming out of the typewriter

4. Camera tracks into office

5. See a desk with an ashtray, some cigars, papers…

6. Close up on what’s on the desk papers saying top secret

7. Silhouette of Man In the corner smoking billowing puffs of smoke

8. Man walks to the desk and picks up a fountain pen and a paper pad

9. Man writes on piece of paper with a fountain pen

10. Close up on the message he writes “let the sleeping dogs lie”

11. It cuts back to reception

12. See lady who say “I need to see Mr carter”

13. She bursts into the office

14. She’s says “I know what happened to Freddie you will pay”

15. She pulls a gun out

16. He gets shot in the head

17. Secretary runs in “what happened to Johnny”

18. Close up on bullet wound with blood pooling out his head then there is a blackout and another bang of a gun

Props

Our thriller theme is very old fashioned so we will need to use a variety of props to represent our time frame. In the first room, of the scene where the sectary is working will be very simplistic, with a large wooden desk, an old fashioned lamp and a typewriter. The lamps should also be in the office of the detective.

In his room, there shall be a large wooden desk with a leather chair behind as well as one or two in front depending on their size. There should be wooden shutters giving the light effect into the room. A old fashioned coat hanger should be in the corner of the room with his jacket and hat hanging on it. The room should be full with papers, in a messy sort of order. Somewhere in the room there should be an old fashioned radio as well.


The smaller props within our scene will involve a fountain pen, a small gun, cigars and an ash try. Everything must have an old fashioned look to represent the time frame we are trying to pull off.

Hopefully most of these things we will be able to find around the school or in the costume cupboard, we already know that the school has a radio like this one. Hopefully we will be able to find our props easily otherwise we will have to look around our houses or search within charity shops which could have some thing of use for us for our thriller.

Cast list

Dayanna
We wanted someone who firstly looked older then us but with a sultry look to her as well as having someone who gives of the feel that you wouldnt want to mess with her. Most importantly we think that she fits the idea of a femme fatale.

Anna Subbotina We were not sure if we wanted a blond or dark haired actress so we decided to look at two leads who are completely different. We think that Ana has a matureness about here and is more innocent than Dyanna but would also make a great femme fatale because she does have a sort of strongness about her.

 Stephen Paxton

We needed a male lead who looked like a stereotypical 1940's looking private detective who was also older than the female lead so that he could be easily charmed by her in our scene. We have this shot of Stephen looking exactly the part we want him to play in our film. This is one of the looks we are considering for him.

 

Alexandra Warner
We want Alexandra to play the secretary in our thriller opening sequence. Alex is American and therefor has the perfect accent. In my opinion she looks very innocent which is perfect for the role of the secretary in our short sequence. As well i know that she is a good actor so she should be able to do a great job for us.

 

 

 

 

 

Photographic Storyboard

In order to make our ideas clearer we took pictures to look at so that it was easier to visualize opposed to looking at our drawn up storyboard which was more complicated to understand. 

Tracking shot walking into his office

 Continued tracking shot of him walking into the office

Tracking shot showing the office, following detective 

 Mid shot of dectective hanging up jacked and hat

 Mid shot of detective looking at detective board, not showing his whole face, keeping a slight secret identity.

  Slowly camera focuses and zooms in on what detective is writing, still not showing his whole face.

 Continues to zoom into what is being writing

 Fully zooms into paper to see what he has written

 Medium close up still slightly concealing detectives face of him typing on typewriter

 Femme Fatal enters the room, mid shot of her

  Low angle shot looking up at her

 Wide Angle shot showing both the actors

 Low angle, over the shoulder shot of femme fatal

 Over the shoulder, high angle looking down at detective

 Mid Shot as she slowly starts taking out the gun

 Mid Shot and we see full gun has been taking out, pointing at detective

 Mid Shot of detective looking scared, with corner of gun within the shot

 

 High angle of dead detective

 Mid shot of secretary coming in behind femme fatal to see what happened

 Over the should shot looking at secretary

 Over the shoulder shot of secretary as she backs away afraid of femme fatal.

 Femme fatal pushes her ways and hurries out the door

 Mid shot of femme fatal walking out the door

 Medium close up of secretary checking the dead detective



Shooting Schedule

Our day for filming is Tuesday the 15th of January in order to stay productive during this day of filming we have come up with this schedule.

9:00 - 9:45- Brief our detective Steve on first couple scenes of opening sequence and do a run through of all of the shots.

9:45 - 10:45- Shoot the tracking shots within the first hour but only the scenes with Steven walking into and around his office.

10:45 - 11:30 -The next 45 minutes we will do the mid-shots of steven looking at the board, we don't need much time to do this because there are not many mid shots at this point in the sequence.

11-30 - 12:30-The next hour will be the close-ups and zooming shots of when he is sitting at the desk and writing.

12:30 - 12:50- Lunch

12:50 - 1:30- Briefing Dyanna, Alex and Steve on the next part of their sequence, doing a run through of the scene

1:45- 2:45- Take the mid shots of when Dyanna enters the room and the low angles and high angles of her and steven, also including the over the should shots.

2:45- 3:45- Film mid shots of when gun is being taken out and pointed at detective, as well as shots of him looking scared.

3:45 - 5:00- Shot scene where secretary enters, checks on detective, All shots are either mid shots or medium close ups

Hopefully we can get all of our scenes done in this time, the plan should definitely help us stay on task and keep track of time.

Shooting & Location & Set

For our thriller we have decided to shoot in the studio. Originally we wanted to have two sets, a secretary office and the detectives office but instead we decided to only have one, and place all energy and money into that one set to try and make it realistically close to a detectives office of the 1940's. We found this picture online of what we think is the ideal look of our office. Firstly we want our office to have big wooden furniture, a massive desk with many drawers, we think this will give the old fashioned look. The office should definitely have shutters because through this we can create an amazing light effect. We would really like our office to be quite big but look full of odd bits and pieces so therefor we want to fill it with many old books, newspapers, bit of paper, documents. The walls should have framed qualifications that the detective has gained as well as one of those suspect charts. The room should have a dark but smoky atmosphere. The picture is definitely the image we are aiming for.

change in plot narrative

1. 1. Tracking shot of the detective walking into his office
2. A mid shot of the detective hanging up his hat and his jacket
3. See a desk with an ashtray, some cigars, papers…
4. Close up on what’s on the desk papers saying top secret
5. Silhouette of Man In the corner smoking billowing puffs of smoke
6. Man walks to the desk and picks up a fountain pen and a paper pad
7. Man writes on piece of paper with a fountain pen
8. Close up on the message he writes, “let the sleeping dogs lie”
9. Hear a voice saying, “I need to see Mr carter”
10. We see the detective’s reaction to the femme fatales voice
11. Femme fatale bursts into the office
12. She’s says “I know what happened to Freddie you will pay” she is frame with a low angle shot
13. Over the shoulder high angle shot showing the detective
14. She pulls a gun out
15. He gets shot in the head
16. High angle shot of the dead detective
17. Secretary runs in “what happened to Johnny”
18. Over the shoulder shot looking at the secretary
19. Femme fatale goes out the office
20. A medium close up of the secretary taking the pulse of the detective 

change to our thriller plot

Welcome to suddenly

The thriller opens with a tracking shot of a 1940s looking private detective going into his office, which is a very stereotypical PIs office. Then there are many close ups of the props that are in his office. We see the detective cast in a dark light placing his hat and jacket on the coat stand. We then see him observing his crime board which links to everything that happens in the crime involving the femme fatale. The detective then writes on a piece of paper “let the sleeping dogs lie” after this we see him typing on his typewriter just doing business. At this point we hear the diegetic voice of the femme fatale saying I need to see Mr Carter to the secretary. Then it cuts to the femme fatale bursting through the door of the detective’s office then there is a shot reverse shot and eyeline match of the detective and the femme fatale.  The women elegantly turned out with a (Eastern)European accent says “I know what you did to Freddie you will pay for this” and before john carter has a chance to defend him self she whips out a gun and shoots him. As she does this the secretary rushes in and says “Oh my god what happened to Johnny” then we see the interaction between the femme fatale and the secretary and the last shot is of the secretary checking the detectives pulse.

new thriller idea

In a Lonely place

The thriller opens with a tracking shot of a 1950s looking women typing outside the front of the office from this we can clearly see she is a secretary. The camera tracks into the office to show a desk lamp, typewriter, shutters of a window and the shadow of a man with plumes of smoke billowing out into the air. The man is writing a message on a piece of paper saying, “I know where the abductor is” at this point a women storms in says to the secretary I have a message for john carter. She bursts through the door swinging dramatically as she go’s through quick shot reverse shot and eyeline match as a conversation proceeds. 

The women elegantly turned out with a European accent says “I know what you did to Freddie you will pay for this” and before john carter has a chance to defend him self she whips out a gun and shoots him. As she does this the secretary rushes in and says “Oh my god what have you done you killed Johnny”, as the non diegetic voiceover kicks in “I was in a lonely place when I met Diana I never knew the trouble she would cause I never knew she would lead me to my impending doom and gloom”. 

More updates to our thriller opening sequence

We liked the way this clip from Out of the Past has been filmed, this is the genre of film we are interested and it definately has the style we want to use in our thriller. Black and white 50's film. The man sat writing at his desk, the 'femme fatale' enters the room, he gets up and approaches her (ciggarette in mouth). Lots of shot reverse shot between the two characters. We would however film this using a much darker light and some erie non-diegetic music would also be played - (Or even non-diegetic moves to diegetic as we see vinal turned off and music stops).. A weapon would be involved and also another character- the secetary on type writer. We've used this as an early influence on the aesthetic of our film.

our thriller ideas

The only part we are looking at with in this short noir Suspense Nights is from 0.00-0.36 seconds, the opening titles. We like the font of the titles its very art deco which is an influential visual arts design styles which first appeared in France during the 1920s and flurished internationally during the 30s and 40s which ties in perfectly with our idea to create a noir film which is typical of the early 40s.

We were also interested in the use of silhouettes, a man in a hat and a cigar in his mouth and a woman who appears to be wearing a fur coat and hodlding a gun. This would give the audience an idea of what the opening sequence contains and help set the mood of the thriller.

review of our shots

i think our shooting is going well so far, we are happy with some of the first shots we are seeing whilst taking pictures. we have changed some our shots because we want to get different angles and views that we think are going ot be more effective. also the whole group is working well as a team to get our storyboard, props list, etc. all done.

Kyle Cooper scene analysis

Se7en  is a 1995 American thriller film, with horror and neo-noir elements, written by Andrew Kevin Walker, directed by David Fincher, and distributed by New Line Cinema. It stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, with Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey in supporting roles.

The sequence for Se7en did very important non-narrative things; in the original script there was a title sequence that had Morgan Freeman buying a house out in the middle of nowhere and then travelling back on a train. He was making his way back to the unnamed city from the unnamed suburban sprawl, and that's where the title was supposed to be—"insert title sequence here"—but we didn't have the money to do that. We also lacked the feeling of John Doe, the villain, who just appeared 90 minutes into the movie. It was oddly problematic, you just needed a sense of what these guys were up against. Kyle Cooper, the designer of the title sequence, came to me and said, "You know, you have these amazing books that you spent tens of thousands of dollars to make for the John Doe interior props. I'd like to see them featured." And I said, "Well, that would be neat, but that's kind of a 2D glimpse. Figure out a way for it to involve John Doe, to show that somewhere across town somebody is working on some really evil shit. I don't want it to be just flipping through pages, as beautiful as they are." So Kyle came up with a great storyboard, and then we got Angus Wall and Harris Savides—Harris to shoot it and Angus to cut it—and the rest, as they say, is internet history.

Kyle Cooper background

Cooper studied graphic design under Paul Rand at Yale University. Early in his professional career, Cooper worked as a creative director at R/GA - an advertising agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles.In 1996, he and Garson Yu co-founded Imaginary Forces - a creative agency that came out of the West Coast division of R/GA.

Different films h has worked on:

Immortal Beloved (1994)

Braveheart (1995)

Seven (1995)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

Flubber (1997)

Mimic (1997)

Arlington Road (1999)

The Mummy (1999)

Zoolander (2001)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)

Spider-Man (2002)

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)

The New World (2005)

Superman Returns (2006)

Across the Universe (2007)

Iron Man (2008)

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Tropic Thunder (2008)

The Orphan (2009)

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Tron: Legacy (2010)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

The Walking Dead (2010)

Arthur (2011)

Rango (2011)

American Horror Story (2011)

shining opening

From the opening credits we can easily tell that this film will be a thriller. The scary and eerie non-diegetic music that starts at the beginning creates tension and suspense, and keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, like some new terror is just around the corner. Next, the very long shots and high angle shots of the car, alone, driving through he mountain roads, makes them look very small and vulnerable, makes them look like they are being watched, and also enhances the feeling of uneasyness. From these things, we can very easily tell that this is a thriller.
1.07 - A Stanley Kubrick Film - Director
1.12 - Jack Nicholson - Lead Actor
1.18 - Shelley Duvall - Lead Actor
1.23 - The Shining - Title
1.29 - Featuring Danny Lloyd - Supporting Actor
2.05 -Executive Producer Jan Harlan - Exectuvie Producer
2.10 - Based Upon the Novel by Stephen King - Wirter of the book
2.16 - Produced in association with the Producer Circle Company - Producers
2.21 - Screen Play by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson
2.26 - Produced and Directed by Stanley Kubrick
 

300 title sequence

From this credit sequence, we can tell very quickly that is will be some action-packed, brutal and gory action film. The fact that the colours and all black and red, red symbolising blood, black symbolosing darkness, evil, danger possibly. Also the pictures in the back are all of spears and swords, chopping through people, from this we can connote that this muct be a gory action film.

0.02 - Directed by Zack Snyder - Director

0.07 - Screenplayby Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon - Writers

0.12 - Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley - Book writers

0.17 - Produced by Gianni Nunnari - Producer

0.21 - Produced by Mark Canton - Producer

0.25 - Produced by Bernie Goldmann Jeffrey Silver - Producers

0.32 - Executive Producers Deborah Snyder Frank Miller Craig J. Flores - Executive Producers

0.38 - Executive Producers Thomas Tull William Fay Scott Mednick Benjamin Waisbren - Executive Produers

0.44 - Director of Photography Larry Fong - Director of Photography

0.49 - Production Designer James Bissell - Production Designer

0.53 - Edited by William Hoy - Editor

0.57 - Gerard Butler - Lead Actor

1.00 - 300 - Main title

1.05 - Lena Headey - Actor

1.10 - David Wenham - Actor

1.15 - And Dominic West - Actor

1.21 - Vincent Regan Michael Fassbender - Actors

1.27 - Tom Wisdom Andrew Pleavin - Actors

1.34 - Andrew Tiernan Rodrigo Santoro

1.38 - Peter Mensah Steaphen McHattie

1.41 - Casting by Carrie Hilton - Caster

1.45 - Co-Producers Steve Barnett Josette Perrotta - Co-producers

1.48 - Costumes Designed by Michael Wilkinson - Costume Designer

1.51 - Music by Tyler Bates - Musical Composer

1.56 - Visual Effects Supervisor Chris Watts - Visual Effects Supervisor

2.00 - Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation - Production Company

2.05 - In Association with Legendary Pictures

2.09 - And Virtual Studios

2.14 - A Mark Canton / Gianni Nunnari Production - Producers

2.19 - A Zack Snyders film - Director

2.22 - Unit production managers Jack Lavoie Jeffrey Silver - Unit production managers

2.25 - First Assistant Director Martin Walters Second Assistant Diector Francine Langlois

2.29 - Visual Effects Art Director Grant Freckelton - Visual Effects Art Director

2.32 - Make up and Creature Effects Shaun Smith Mark Pappaport

2.36 - Associate Producers Wesley Coller Silenn Thomas Nathalie Peter-Contesse - Associate Producers

 

 

 

 

The Pitch

Thriller Idea

In a Lonely place

The thriller opens with a tracking shot of a 1950s looking women typing outside the front of the office from this we can clearly see she is a secretary. The camera tracks into the office to show a desk lamp, typewriter, shutters of a window and the shadow of a man with plumes of smoke billowing out into the air. The man is writing a message on a piece of paper saying, “I know where the abductor is” at this point a women storms in says to the secretary I have a message for john carter. She bursts through the door swinging dramatically as she go’s through quick shot reverse shot and eyeline match as a conversation proceeds. 

The women elegantly turned out with a European accent says “I know what you did to Freddie you will pay for this” and before john carter has a chance to defend him self she whips out a gun and shoots him. As she does this the secretary rushes in and says “Oh my god what have you done you killed Johnny”, as the non diegetic voiceover kicks in “I was in a lonely place when I met Diana I never knew the trouble she would cause I never knew she would lead me to my impending doom and gloom”.
Here is a rough idea of how the room is going to be like, this is the closest picture we could find for the room.

 

Thriller Actors and Costumes

At this point in our development of our thriller idea we will have three characters. Firstly there will be the secretary of who will have a strong american accent so we are thinking of using Alexandra Werner from lower sixth. She should be dressed in a light colored blouse suggesting innocence with a bow coming out of the collar and a long pencil skirt with short stumpy heels. We are looking to create something similar to this image. Her hair should be done up something like in the picture. Knowing Alexandra probably has clothes which would be suitable for her character, otherwise we can see if we can borrow anything from the dramas costume closet or perhaps try looking in some charity shops to see if we can see if we find anything similar.

The second actress we are hoping to use will be an A2 girl Russian girl called Dyanna of whom we think has a time-less look which we think will go well with our theme. We would like to give her a similar look to an old actress called Veronica Lake with wavy full volume hair as well as bright red lips. We want our actress to show that she is wealthy, so therefor in my opinion should be something of which is in fashion. Perhaps a fur coat or a fashionable dress. Our group thinks that our actress will have these clothes otherwise we can look in the costume closet.

Lastly the man who will play the detective will be wearing a suite although bits of his clothing will be around the room hanging on a rack such as a trench coast and a hat. The picture is the exact look we are going for. His hair should also be stuck back.