Planning: Final Idea (Miss Begum)

Group Choices
My Group all came together and created 3 separate idea's of what the narrative of the film trailer should be. We decided to choose the best idea which was most creative but also conventional to a thriller film.

Firstly, Yasmin's Idea

This is Narrative idea was called 'Psycho Obsession'. This was about a father who is very ill was throw out of his home after the birth of his first child. As the child had gotten older, the father's overly obsessive behaviour had also started to increase.

Advantage - Although the plot is hard to follow, once all the pieces of plot is put together by the audience when watching the film, the audience will then have a better understanding of his the fathers past.
Disadvantage - The narrative is a plot of a Psychological which can be very hard to follow which means the audience will get confused.

Secondly, Relande's Idea

• The title of this Narrative idea was called 'The Descendant'. The idea came from the films Batman and Looper due to the powers people possess. This is basically about a child who lost his father before he was born, slowly growing up with special powers, as the child gets older the better he is of controlling his powers and he then walks in his fathers footstep as a crime fighter.

Advantage - This is a very conventional thriller, which see's the young boy growing up and becoming a hero like his father.

Disadvantage - The narrative of this is way too long, and if we try and shorten it, will confuse the audience as a lot of the important part of this young boys life will have to be cut.

Lastly, My Narrative idea

• The Title for my Narrative idea was 'The Awakening'. It was influenced from the films Orphan and Paranormal activity. This is basically about a  young girl who starts to see shadows and figures in her home, her parents fail to listen to their daughters complaints until one night they are forced to believe here as the shadows & figures become all too real.

Advantage - Conventional to a paranormal film such as Paranormal activity due to the location and the theme.

Disadvantage - The narrative is a bit too predictable, meaning there wont be unexpected suprises for the audience as they can already tell whats going to happen.

Our Chosen Narrative/Plot

The Awakening and it is about a young girl called am who lives with her mum Sarah and her father Frank. Within this film we start of by seeing four pictures on top of a fireplace showing family pictures within different seasons. The audience will not see the person holding the camera which will create tension and suspense amongst them. As we move through the opening scene, we will start to understand what is happening within the household and how the sightings of this mystery figure has escalated and starts to threaten the family. These clips will be accompanied by slow paced music as the audience will start to see Amy becoming more and more disturbed by what she she see's standing outside the house looking in on her. She screams and her dad comes running in, as he reassures Amy that there was nothing outside he guides her back to the living room, until he goes back to look outside and sees the figure for himself before it disappears, he then becomes disturbed about he was seen however, as his wife asks him whats going on, he fails to tell her as he doesn't want to scare her, instead he just comforts her and says it was nothing.

The next day the storm causes a black out and the parents call in an electrician who arrives to fix the power. Unfortunately for the family and the electrician the doors will not open which means someone has locked them. They start to hear noises around the house and see what looks like shadows moving around the house. 

All the sounds and images build up the tension and suspense in the audience when the family is looking down a corridor they see a shadow walking slowly around the corner, just as it's about to turn around the corner the opening then ends and goes onto a black screen where he hear screaming and the title screen comes up saying "The Awakening".

There is then a scene showing the news saying that there is a storm that is about to hit, due to this her parents lock all the doors and windows etc.

Characters

• Amy - Young Girl , Age 9
• Sarah - Amy's Mother, Age 35
• Frank - Amy's Father, Age 37
• Mystery Character

Mise En Scene

Natural Lighting will be used in the stages of the trailer showing Amy's Family life however, the lighting then changes to low key lighting as the mood of the actual trailer then escalates and changes to something more dark and sinister. 
We will use camera shots such as close up, and reaction shots to capture the emotions on the characters face to allow the audience to have an idea of have that person may be feeling. This also allows the audience to put themselves in their situation.
We will use editing techniques such as a montage, fade to black and  straight cuts to try and preserve the continuity of the thriller mood.

Film Influences

• Orphan - Orphan is similar to my narrative as the main focus is about a innocent young girl who is misread and ignored by all the adults until the situation escalates into something with disastrous consequences.
• Paranormal Activity - This film has had a big influence on the location i chose, as my location for our thriller will be in a house where paranormal things start to happen to the family, which is similar to Paranormal Activity. This will have a chilling impact on the audience as it invades their sense of safety as everyone see's their home as a safe haven.

Why is this opening conventional to a thriller?

This is conventional as it allows the audience to guess what is going to happen next as the trailer will have them having different expectations of the outcomes e.g, film ending.

Firstly, this is conventional as one of the main elements i used was low key lighting as this expected to be seen in a thriller film at some point and also it helps set the mood.

Secondly, body is used accurately in my thriller as this tells you a lot about the type of person the character is in the film, This is because of the way they present themselves.

Lastly, another thriller conventional element used in my film was facial expression as they portray the characters emotions to the audience and allows them to get a sense of what there feeling.
 

What Themes does your thriller represent?

The Themes my thriller represent is mystery as throughout the trailer, there is a mystery figure seen however, no one is yet to identify him and even see a clear enough image of him.

The theme of revenge will also be explored in this trailer as we come to see that this mystery figure is seeking revenge on everyone who lives in his house which was once burned down.

What response will i get from my audience?

• The response i will get from my audience will be a lot of tension and suspense pumping through there body as the trailer will leave them wanting to watch more as I plan to reveal a lot but not too much. This way the audience will be forced to watch the film to have their questions answered.

Conclusion

Looking at everyone else's idea, i was able to pick out the advantages of disadvantages of their ideas then using the information i had gotten from that, use it to mend my own narrative and make it conventional.