Title ideas

The title for our thriller will be 'Red Snow' this references to the location of the thriller, and shows that chilling and eerie things may have happened there. This is due to the fact that snow is supposed to be white so as our thriller is called 'Red Snow' could that signify murderous events happened there, as the colour red symbolizes blood and violence. The font for our title will be a simple looking font that doesn't take over the shot, so as it is subtle it creeps into the shot creating an eerie feel. The bright orangey red colour stands out and contrasts to the white snow, this colour is also the same as the victims coat which is a significant part of the shots in the snow, due to how brightly it shows up in the snow.

However, when editing and adding titles to our thriller this particular colour was too shocking and drew too much attention away from the actual thriller. So, therefore I decided to incorporate a more subtle colour of font that is still effective and due to it's subtlety it adds more tension and isn't too obvious.

  For ideas on how to use our title and production company name in our thriller I watched the title sequences from other thrillers, an example of one is Animal Kingdom. This particular title sequence introduces the actors names and production company subtly throughout the opening so it doesn't take over the scene. That is the effect I would like to incorporate in our thriller as it gives an authentic feel and builds up suspense.

Another film that has a font for it's title sequence which is subtle yet effective is Essex Boys. I like this particular font due to the fact that it is a basic font that isn't over the top and would look nicely in the opening to our thriller as it wouldn't take over the scene.

Locations

Once Upon a Time in America - Intertextual references

When recently watching a clip of the crime thriller Once Upon a Time in America, I noticed particular shots that are used which connote suspense and tension perfectly. This is a powerful film where the characters hide behind their tough exteriors and only show repressed emotions. Sergio Leone establishes the genre of the film with brute force, due to powerful close up shots and tilt shots.For example this worm's eye tilt shot of Noodles taken from point of view of Joe enables the audience to be positioned with the character, leading them to feel vulnerable. As it includes the audience into what's happening they would feel more afraid of the dominant character as they are beneath him. This gives the male character in the shot more power as not only is he highest and biggest part of the shot, you also see him holding a gun towards another direction meaning he is dominating the whole scene. We could incorporate a shot like this one in our thriller as during it there is a victim who is being dragged across the ground, so therefore the camera could be at the position of the victim looking up at it's assailant. This would entice fear as the audience would be put in the position of the victim leaving them feeling as vulnerable as the victim is. The worms eye point of view shot could also be used to show a identifiable object on the victim's assailant so the audience can identify with that character. As, in this shot you notice the character wearing a black trilby hat which is also shown in the classic thriller The Third Man This shows that the character of Noodles is trying to disguise himself, this is because the crime of deviant act that they committed should be kept secret. This connotes mystery and could make them the enigma because they  do not want their real identity to be found out.

The use of close ups in this film are very important as in this particular shot they engage the audience to the horror of what's happening.Also, this close up shot enables the audience to notice the characters emotions, and also allows them to clearly see how awfully hurt he is meaning that who done it to him must be menacing violent people. So therefore a representation of violence is shown here. Close ups like this would be good to use in our thriller because there is a shot where the victim is laying either unconscious or dead on the ground, so a close up shot of her face could be shown to engage the audience into what's happening.

Costume ideas for characters

Soundtrack ideas

http://www.freesound.org/people/DJ%20Chronos/sounds/33413/  -  This background sound is a recording of someone breathing into a microphone, this gives authencity to the thriller as in the thriller a man is dragging a girl around in the snow and he would be breathless. It is also quite a sinister sound which would create suspence as it isnt too loud but

http://www.freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/sounds/123807/ - This soundtrack signifys a scary atmosphere and sounds as if it is in a distant eerie environment, which links to the place the girl is being dragged to.

http://www.freesound.org/people/cunningGnome/sounds/4908/ This was originally going to be our soundtrack for our thriller due to it's simplicity and authenticy which add more tension to the thriller as the simple sounding soundtrack makes what's happening in the mise-en-scene more eerie and chilling. We were going to use this above the other two as they were more like what you may hear in a horror film and didn't work as well with our thriller.However, when incorporating it into our thriller it was too quiet in contrast to the diegetic sound and couldn't be heard very clearly, it also wasn't long enough to keep playing throughout our thriller.

        Therefore, I researched particular soundtracks on thrillers to give me an idea on the sort of thing that would work well to entice fear and suspense without out going to over the top. First of all, I would like to have diegetic sound heard as well as the soundtrack to adds an authentic feel to the thriller, especially the dragging sound of the victim being dragged across the snow.This sound bridge effect is shown in the famous thriller Psycho, as during the shower scene you can still hear the sound of the water gushing down over the non-diegetic sound.
       
 The opening to the thriller Witness has a melancholic sound to it at the beginning, which inspired me to have that kind of non-diegetic sound in our thriller due to its repetitiveness and the fact it slowly builds up tension with an eerie feel to it. It's not too loud or over the top so therefore it is subtly frightening as it leaves you waiting for something frightful to happen. Up to 33 seconds you can hear the non-diegetic sound which builds suspense and is a mellow dream like sound.




I found this acoustic guitar sound which when playing it with my thriller it worked well to create a tense atmosphere which would be fearful.  http://www.freesound.org/people/nicStage/sounds/1178/ It is loop formatted meaning that it can be looped throughout our thriller which could give a sense of a dream like situation. Also it gives the feeling that this murderer is replaying the events over and over again in his head, hence why there is quit cuts from two different scenes.

NEW FINAL SHOT LIST

Shot one- Begins with an over the shoulder shot of the male character Blake dragging the female character Tiffany under her arms through a field covered in snow, cut to
Shot two- Low angle tilt shot of a significant looking bracelet or headband falling off the dragged girls hand, cut to
Shot three-  A tilt shot of the other male character Peter entering a bathroom and sitting down, cut to
Shot four- A worms eye view of Tiffany looking at her assailant.
Shot five- Cut back to the bathroom scene where there is a close up shot of Peter looking distressed, cut to
Shot six- A low angle shot where you can see Peter's feet approaching the bracelet which has been dropped and then a quick close up shot of the bracelet when he is picking it up, cut to
Shot seven-  A worms eye shot of Peter looking at the bracelet in confusion., cut to
Shot eight- A low angle tilt shot of Peter clutching the bracelet whilst looking distressed, cut to
Shot nine- A point of view shot from Tiffany showing her feet being dragged along, cut to
Shot ten- A high angle shot of Peter getting out his phone and ringing someone, cut to
Shot eleven-A close up shot of Tiffany laying on the undergrowth with her phone ringing beside her, cut to
Shot twelve- A close up shot of the bracelet on the floor and the phone crashing to the floor.
Shot thirteen- Cuts back the close up shot of Tiffany laying on the undergrowth whilst her phone rings, cut to
Shot fourteen- Tilt shot of Peter opening the shower curtains in the bathroom but you don't see what's behind them, cut to
Shot fifteen- A close up shot of Tiffany laying on the undergrowth without the phone ringing, cut to
Shot sixteen- A point of view shot from Peter of Tiffany laying in the bath with the same costume on as when she was laying in the snow.
Shot seventeen-  Cuts back to a tilt shot of Tiffany laying in the undergrowth in the same position as in the bath, cut to
Shot eighteen- A high angle tilt of Peter kneeling down and stroking her head in a loving manor, cut to
Shot nineteen- A close up shot of Tiffany's bracelet on her wrist.

Sound
Throughout our thriller diegetic sound of being dragged in the snow will be heard to intensify the fear and reality of what's happening. Also diegetic sound of the phone ringing will be heard in shot 13 and 11. There will also be non-diegetic sound played in the background which has an authentic feel to it which creates tension and suspense.

Extra ideas
-The victim's assailant remains an enigma character due to the fact you can never really properly see him,so therefore you never really know who he is and why he's committing the crime.

- Alternative cliffhanger- the enigma character Blake could open the door to Peter's bathroom and it would be either a close up shot of his face to finally reveal him, or a low angle of him symbolising his importance and dominance. This would also leave the audience and the other character feeling vulnerable. However we decided to go with the cliffhanger of Tiffany being in the bath as it creates a dream like illusion to what's happening and it makes you question who was the murderer? Also, it shows that all along Peter committed the crime who you wouldn't have expected this shows that he is a psychotic character.

- When editing our thriller, I will put in a cross dissolve effect when cutting back from the bathroom shots to the snow shots to give a dream like illusion and that it is cutting from different time frames.