Planning camera shots

Planning the camera shots for our opening to a thriller film.



1. Louisa and Hammad walk down the road back home from supermarket.

For this event we could have Hammad and Louisa walk into the scene and then use a tracking shot from the front and from behind.

2. Tilly walks through front door, hangs up coat, and turns on shower.

For this we could use a very low angle shot looking up at Tilly from below the steps as she walks up them to front door. Psychologically, the effect of a low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful however I think by using a very low angle in this way we will create the effect of someone watching her and construct a sense of danger to Tilly. Once Tilly is inside we could use close-ups of her hand turning on the shower and hanging her coat up.

3. Tilly sits on her bed, pulls back covers to find me dead and covered in blood.

Tilly goes back to her bedroom, so we could have close ups of her hand opening the door. We also need close ups of her face. As she pulls back the covers we could have a high angle shot where we can see Tilly pull back the covers to reveal me lying there soaked in blood. Similar to when Eve pulls back the covers in Once Upon a Time in America.

4. Louisa and Hammad approach steps to front door.
I've not decided which shot to use for this action but if we shoot various different shots we can pick which one fits best in the edit.

5. Tilly screams as Louisa and Hammad open front door.
It could be a good idea to have a close up of Tilly's reaction to the dead body, like a gasp for example, as close ups emphasise her emotional state.

6. The 3 characters look at each other in horror.
A shot-reverse-shot is good camera shot type at this point because the characters exchange looks of horror, and the shot-reverse-shot makes viewer assume they are looking at each other because they are facing opposite each other.




Extra considerations:
-We will take multiple shots of the same action so we can choose the most effective shots.
-Make good use of lighting to try and achieve chiaroscuro lighting, a convention of the thriller genre. To do this we will make rooms dark and use lamps and torches to focus on action to create hard shadows. This will add an uneasiness to the composition.

Thriller Opening - Concept

Order of events:

1. Louisa and Hammad walk down the road back home from supermarket.
2. Tilly walks through front door, hangs up coat, and turns on shower.
3. Louisa and Hammad approach steps to front door.
4. Tilly sits on her bed, pulls back covers to find Fin dead and covered in blood.
5. Tilly screams as Louisa and Hammad open front door.
6. The 3 characters look at each other in horror.


Intertextual References:

The opening to Heavenly Creatures is an intertextual reference from the way the two characters scream for help, in the same way, so does Tilly.

Another possible intertextual reference we will use is from Once Upon a Time in America, where Eve pulls back the covers from a bed.








Edit - 26/02/2016


Order of events:

1. Louisa and Hammad walk down the road back home from supermarket.
2. Tilly walks through front door, hangs up coat, and turns on shower.
3. Tilly sits on her bed, pulls back covers to find Fin dead and covered in blood.
4. Louisa and Hammad approach steps to front door.
5. Tilly screams as Louisa and Hammad open front door.
6. The 3 characters look at each other in horror.

Possible soundtrack

Here is a soundtrack idea that I made myself. I wanted it to sound dramatic to reflect what is happening in our opening thriller film. Once the film is edited, I can see whether it fits.
One reason I think this could work as soundtrack is from how it starts off with a simple melody to create an idea of 'the calm before the storm'. Until things begin to unfold in our thriller opening and the music begins to build texture until it reaches a climax- and at this point the music stops very abruptly to create a cliff-hanger.