Brainstorming Ideas

This is the brainstorm I completed listing some ideas that could be used for the Thriller Opening. I wrote brief notes which could help us when deciding what we are going to do and what we want to include in the film.

Production Meeting - 1

We are currently in the process of creating our opening of a thriller. Listed below is the step by step that we are going to follow to create the outline of our thriller.


Task 1 - Creating a spider diagram (on paper or in word) of potential Thriller ideas.


Task 2 - Take one idea and develop it through a second spider diagram. Consider locations, props, camera work, cast etc.

Task 3 - Write a 'proposal' outlining your idea for a thriller opening and the locations/props etc. - that you require.

Task 4 - Storyboard it.

Narrative

Structure, Formulas and Devices
E.g. Automatic use of 'continuity editing'.
The clear establishment of 'cause and effect' plotting which establishes character motivations and helps tell an interesting story which proceeds logically and steadily.

Enigma's
This refers to a puzzle, something mysterious or inexplicable, or a riddle or difficult problem.
In thrillers this is commonly something which the protagonist has to try to find out or solve before the narrative is resolved and the film finishes.

The 'Psychological' Thriller

The mind, conflict and the past
The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the others mental state.

Sometimes suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them.

Hitchcock's 'Maguffin'

A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story.
"We have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin', it is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is always the necklace and in spy stories it is always the papers."

Suspense and Shock

The suspense 'Thriller' - Hitchcock model
'Under the strong influence of Alfred Hitchcock, thrillers often begin with a crime and the accusation of an innocent bystander. Were the accused to contact the authorities, no doubt the case could be promptly solved, but instead the poor bystander runs from the law thus further jeopardising life and limb.' - Rick Altman.
Some examples:
'The 39 steps' - 1935
'North by Northwest' - 1959
"In...the Thirty-Nine steps...suspense films abandon both thrills and suspense when the falsely accused character finally reaches safety" - Rick Altman.


Suspense
Imagine a scene in a film similar to this (classroom, students, teacher). The camera reveals that there is a bomb under the table to the audience but we (the students, teacher) are unaware of it.
Will we be saved ?
Will the bomb go off ?
This is Suspense !
Rope - Example of suspense
Tells the story of two young, wealthy men, Brandon and Phillip, who strangle and murder a friend of theirs just to see if they can get away with it. They then invite other close friends (including the murdered man's parents) to their apartment for a dinner party, whilst hiding the body in a chest/box in their sitting room, just to see if they can get away with it.
The suspense is created through the body in the chest/box.
What will happen?
Will the body and two men be discovered and brought to justice ?
Do we as the audience, even want this to happen ?


Shock
Now imagine the same scene except that instead of the camera revealing the bomb under the table, without any warning, it explodes and kills all present.
This is Shock !
Children of Men - Example of shock.
A man walks into a coffee shop full of people watching the news as the youngest boy in the world who was 18 had just died. The man purchases a cup of coffee and leaves. However less than two minutes after he left the shop a bomb exploded and many people were killed and severely injured. This is an example of shock.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. He fashioned himself a distinctive and recognisable directorial style and also pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze.

Alfred Hitchcock was the 'Master of suspense where films came to be the benchmark for 'psychological' thrillers'.

Listed below are a few quotes from Alfred Hitchcock:

"The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them."
"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
"If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."
"Always make the audience suffer as much as possible."
"I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach."