Treatment

            My film is about two teenage girls who go to school through a park with a forest within the park. Then one night they are walking home from school and they get kidnapped. My film is within the mystery genre as it is about trying to find these girls and also finding out who it is that has kidnapped them. As kidnapping is a crime, this film would be thought of as also a crime thriller. With my first scene my aim is to engage the audience and make them want to form their own opinion of what they think is going to happen making this also a psychological thriller. We leave them thinking what is going to happen but not giving too much away so the following scenes are not predictable.

            For our first shot we will use a full long shot of the two girls walking through the park to school. We thought if we used a black and white filter effect it would build a more focused environment on the two girls as if we didn't use this effect it could lose what we are actually trying to focus the audience on. after this we will use an over shoulder focusing on the back of the kidnappers head. This shot will show us a view from as if someone was behind the kidnapper allowing us to see what the kidnapper is looking at. As we see the two girls walk past conversing and looking at each-other we use a medium long shot. We change to a mid shot angle, as this happens the kidnapper shuffles in the bush so it is followed by a medium long shot of the bush. We change back to a mid shot as the focus is on the two girls conversing then the camera zooms out to a medium long shot and the bush that the kidnapper is in is in the foreground. After this, we do a close up of the shoes and a close up of a mobile phone ringing. Now as the mobile is ringing the filtered black and white theme is taken away so we see things how they really are. 

            After brainstorming we came to a conclusion that our storyline was good because it was relevant and the audience would be able to relate directly as they would’ve walked home from school at one point in there life.

            For our opening sequence we decided to locate in south Norwood, south London. We used this for our location because all the cast live in south London and so would be easy access for everyone to attend. The specific setting for our opening sequence is south Norwood lakes, a park located in south Norwood. This park is adjacent to a local high school called Harris crystal palace and so we realised this would make our plot more realistic as it is based on the kidnapping of two schoolgirls who attend it. We chose this park as our setting because it is quiet, which means it is unlikely that we will have any disturbances while filming. By locating here this creates meaning for the audience because not only does it make it more realistic but it also gives information on the characters as even if we did not say they were school girls it would be fairly obvious and so gives the audience background knowledge for when the story continues. 

            My teams have come to the conclusion that our idea is innovative, creative and also our audience would be able to relate to. It also uses the thriller conventions i have described in my last post. It is fast paced and should keep you at the end of your seat as tension is built. The black and white theme supports our movie plot. Fast change between shots also creates a nervous and anxious environment which is what a thriller film should do.

conventions of a thriller film

in thriller films it is meant to have certain effects on the audience. It is meant to shock, heighten expectations, cause anxiety and terror but also has high tension building. Thriller films are normally fast paced and are supposed to have the audience at the end of their seats. things like cliffhangers and other techniques are used to keep the audience engaged.

subgenres are phsycological, crime and mystery thrillers and sometimes derived from a past historic moment so that the audience can relate to directly.

In thriller films they use editing and location to build effect or tension so it engages the audience whilst a key point in the film is taking place.

Psychological thriller is a sub-genre of the widely ranged thriller genre with a large focus on the characters. It often includes factors from the mystery and drama genre, along with the qualities of the thriller genre. Along with drama and mystery, many psychological thrillers have factors and integrate with the horror genre, especially the psychological horror.

Crime thrillers are the type of film that include illegal doings, fast paced chases, drugs, money, gangs all incorporated in this genre. It shows the stories of real life criminals and their conflict between either higher authorities or rival beings. Criminals are normally glamourized in this genre.

Lastly with a mystery thriller it is a broader category than phsycological and crime. It normally consists of detective work and for the whole film trying to establish something, either trying to prove someone innocent or guilty or even finding a culprit. It is about someone trying to put together the different pieces of information they have been given. These films normally shock you but also make you have to use your brain because it makes you want to predict what happens.