character information

the boy

the boy is the main character in our film, aged 16 and with dark hair. he is an odd character and has an obsession with lighting matches. he is the only character that we see properly but we never actually see his face. this adds suspence as we never discover his true identity.

the boy: played by jake

the girl

the girl plays a very small but vital role, she is the boys friend and she speaks on the voice over throughout the film. she is also aged 16 and with long blonde hair.

the girl: played by ellen

location information

we are using a few different locations in our film, this is to enhance impact so the audience can take in the surroundings and see how it blends in with the mood of the shot.

boy on the hill.

the location for this is going to be in croydon, in the middle of a wooded area just next to coombe lane tram stop, called "the lookout point." this place has a large concrete-wall which can be sat on. in front of it is a layout of the whole of London, and surrounding it is wooded areas on either side. We chose this place as it is easy to get to, has a very god view and is quite quiet, so we can film without any interruptions.

flash backs

for the flash backs we are using two locations. the first will starbucks in croydon high street. we picked this location for the exact opposite reason that we did the woods. there will be lots of people walking around and traffic, this shows that they are in a busy area with lots of people, and it makes it seem like the audience are just a person watching them from the other side of a road. the only problem we may have with this is filming in public, meaning we will need special permission from the coffee shop owner. if this doesn't work we are going to have to film somewhere else or film our few seconds and then move on.

our next flash back will be at jakes Nan's house, we chose this because it is easy to get to and the house it is quite small, making it easier to film. also we know the owner, meaning we can actually use their house.

the interview room

the interview room we are going to use isn't actually going to be a police room, as we aren't allowed to film inside of one. instead what we are going to do is black out windows in a room with black walls and set up two chairs and a desk in a corner, we are then not going to film anything outside of the corner. this is going to be filmed in one of our teachers offices as it is easy to access.

shot list

Shot 1: black screen, cassette started.

Shot 2: cu of cassette playing. On a table

Shot 3: ms of cassette playing and a coffee cup on a table, with two empty chairs in a interview room.

Shot 4: ms of the back of a boy, hood up, with the whole of London in front of him, woods surrounding him.

Shot 5:cu plan shot of London, then panning across to the side of the boys face his hood up.

Shot 5:ls of boy and girl sitting in a coffee shop.

Shot 6:two shot of the boy and girl chatting in the coffee shop.

Shot 7: cu side of the boy’s head, takes a pull of a cigarette then breaths it out.

Shot 8: bcu high angle of coffee trickling around a table to the edge.

Shot 9: bcu coffee dripping off the side of the table.

Shot 10: ls of boy and girl walking down a street, they then pause in front of a house and the girl walks in first followed by the boy, the door then slams.

Shot 11: cu of fan blowing and turning, with the paper attached.

Shot 12: ots shot with no people !!!

Shot 13: bcu of boy getting a box of matches out of his pocket

Shot 14: long shot of girl in café on her own in same stance as last time and same time of day.

Shot 15: ms of girl looking worried from outside.

Shot 16:cu of boy lighting a match, match is then followed up and you can see the bottom of the boys mouth. The boy the smiles and puts the match out with his fingers.

momento

Memento is the story of a man called Leonard, searching for a man who he believes raped and murdered his wife during a burglary. He also suffers from severe amnesia so he can’t store any new memories, so carries around pictures, note and draws tattoos on himself to remember vitale pieces of information.

The opening sequence consists of many things that grab your interest. For the start there is a man shaking a photo, we can’t see what the photo is of, where he is or know why he has taken the photo. But over time we can see that the photo fades into view and we can see it is of a dead body.

The next scene is showing a man being killed, which we can now make an assumption that the man taking the photo is also the murderer.

In the next scene the man is sitting in a bed in a motel. This has nothing to do with anything that has gone before, but we assume this is after the event that just occurred. This tells us that there is going to be a lot missing and jumpy bits in the film.

We understand this further in the next scene, when he says to a mechanic “I’m sure I’ve told you of my illness” and shows him pictures. From this I understand that the man has a memory loss problem, so he wasn’t taking a picture of the dead man for the fun of it, he was doing it to remember all of the horrible deeds he had done.

momento

The opening sequence of this film consists of a number of scenes which sets the plot for the audience. As well as setting the plot, it also helps build mystery and curiosity amongst the audience who are watching. It does this by the use of cinematography, sound effects, lighting, mise-en-scene and the use of certain special effects such as monochrome.In the first scene the audience are shown a close up of a photo in which at first the audience believe it to be just a normal photo that shows blood which starts to question the audience's mind. Then the photo, bit by bit, starts to gradually fade, while the camera is still on close up, and the audience realize the photo is going back in time and a reversing timeline effect comes into play. This signifies to the audience that there will be a time element within the film and helps keep the audience wanting to carry on watching as they want to know why it is going back in time and what will happen next.This is just the first scene of the opening sequence and as any viewer could say, it certainly grabs the audience's attention.

samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Jackson is an all time legend in the movie industry, and particularly famous for his appearances in thriller films. Born on the 10th December 1948 he wanted to be an actor, but was going nowhere until he met his mentor, the legendary Morgan Freeman. He then went on to be cast in his first major film “Pulp fiction”. He then went on to be in over 100 films, from “kill Bill” and “snakes on a plane” to getting one of the leading roles in one of the all time best ever films “star wars, the trilogy” and “Jurassic park”

steven spielburg

Born December 18, 1946 Steven Spielberg is one o0f the all time greatest directors, with a legend spanding from romance to horror, but his best films are thrillers. Steven has done classics like raiders of the lost ark, jaws and Jurassic park, which Samuel L. Jackson was in. He also went on to write films and produce them, and recently has been put in the list of the top 100 most important people of the century.

target audiences

The target audience for thriller films is usually younger people, although what type of thriller it is depends how young they are

Spy thrillers are usually aimed at people slightly older, as there are more sub-stories to understand and can contain a lot of historical references, which younger audiences may not be aware of.

Action thrillers are for younger people as the plots are more straight forward than most genre’s, and the explosions and fast cars are a lot more appealing to younger audiences. However sometimes these movies are rated 15 and 18 year olds and above only, making it very difficult for the younger generation to watch.

Eco-thrillers are for everyone as they have complex and educated plot lines, and also contain action and loud noises for younger people to enjoy.

thriller sub-genres

There are a few sub-genres in thriller films

Eco-thriller
This is a thriller in which the hero or heroine must change the corse of a major envirometal disaster. An example of this is “the day after tomorrow”

Mental – thrillers
In which the main character, good or evil, faces a battle within himself, whether fighting a second person inside his or her own body or trying to overcome a mental illness. An example of this is “donny Darko”

Spy – thriller
In which the main character is usually a govermant agent, and has to overpower a huge foreign plot. A classic example of this is “James Bond”

Action – thriller
These films usually consist of a race against the clock, for the main character to defy a plan, these films also contain alot of guns, fast cars and explosions. An example of this is “The transporter”

thriller music

Music in thrillers is used for a variety of reasons

Suspense
Suspense plays a big role in thrillers, and music is often used to climax the suspense. This is done usually on string instrument. This because strings give off a vary ghostly sound, and the high pitched noise that they can give off adds to the spooky feel, because they are incredibly unsettling sounds.

Action
Action needs sounds and music along with it to add to the engaging feel. For example it is usually faced paced music during a car chase, to show how fast the cars are going, where as in a fight scene the music wouldn’t be as fast but there would be very aggressive music played, e.g. metal.

Key moments
Key moments are also marked by different sounds. If the hero has triumphed then happy, uplifting 7music will be played to show his mood. On the other hand if someone dies then sadder music would be played, sometimes with very few instruments in them.