Casting

I have asked around college and people I know outside of college to play the roles in my thriller. I also have backups if people can't make it on the day or feeling unwell.

Male: Daniel Thorpe (Me)
Backup: Phil Creasey

Female: Jessica Gaunt
Backup: Addie Hart

Male's Work Friend: Bobby Gosling
Backup: Daniel Lettington 

The reasons I have picked each one of these actors to play the part of the roles as they fit the roles perfectly with looks and personality.  

Planning the thriller - Costume

I started to begin planning my thriller task by first starting to think about the characters that will be involved including the name, characteristics/personality. As I said in the research task, the main character is heavily influenced by Patrick Bateman and Hannibal Lecter. These two are extremely interesting character in their films which they can easily be combined together to form the male character in my thriller.

The background story behind the main character isn't final yet. The main character role will be between either a businessmen for a company who is possessed by an entity that only appears when the entity is hungry and will only feast on females to while the story will go on about his day to day life dealing with this possession. The other role is of a college student taking full advantage of the entity and using this as a gift taking lives of females  but will tell the audience the story on how he came across the entity with a narrative over the story in particular parts. The final decision will be made on the Feb 15th.

For costume design for the male role, it would be more appropriate for the male to be dressed smart as this presents a twist to the thriller as he may seem innocent but is actually a psycho. American psycho also pulls this off with Patrick Bateman. This costume will be for the first idea I had for my thriller with the male character being a businessman.

The image to the left could possible suit the male role in my thriller with the sleeves rolled up and blood splattered all over.



For the other possible role for the male character, after watching The Amazing Spiderman and many other high school American films, Peter Parkers costumes design seems to pop up now and again with a basic tee, hoodie and a dull green jacket on top. This would suit the male role well as it makes him look like he's disguising something such as in Spiderman, he's hiding his superhero counterpart. It also gives the character the "unexpected" look as the audience would have never guessed the male role to be the killer by the clothes he wears.

The image to the right is from The Amazing Spiderman, the character being Peter Parkers. This is a perfect image for what my male role could wear for my thriller.

Thriller Storyboard

For the storyboard I had planned and drew a previous draft version to get a basic idea on what camera angles I would be using in my thriller piece. After drawing up the draft version I then started to draw the final version of my Thriller storyboard. I did not stick to the storyboard when I was filming my piece as a key character wasn't present to be filmed so I had to change the whole idea during that day but I did still manage to keep a few shots which are shown in the final piece.

1. This shot is a black screen which will then fade into the white wallpaper showing the contrast within the colors I have chosen. During the first few opening credits will appear before fading in to the white wallpaper.

 2. This shot will be more of the opening credit while the camera then strafes across the wallpaper. This then shows the coming storm which will then appear within the next shot. The reason which inspired me to use this shot is the music I had originally chosen for the opening scene. 'Prelude' by Chopin is a piece the was written that was meant to represent the storm which was to originally start calm as every storm does, then started getting deeper and lower in tone as it represents the storm building up.

 3. Relating back to the previous shot, the soundtrack starts to build up as plus is reveled in this shot. Using the soundtrack I utilised that darkness of the storm creating serious tension within the audience.

 3. The shot then cuts to a pan of the floor which would be smothered in blood with blooded hand prints.

 4. The shot then flashes to a black and white pan of the floor but with no blood to be seen. This leads the audience to believe that this is a flash back of the floor before the blood was spilled.

 5. The shot then cuts back into color and will then zoom out of a medium shot of the door, revealing more and more of the chaos that had taken place in the house. During this the music has risen and is at its peak of the storm.

 6. Like before, this shot is of a flash back of the shot that had just taken place but will now zoom back in at the door instead of it zooming out.

 7. This shot is of the stair's handle frame. This shot shows the blood on the banister in the shape of a hand print which builds more and more tension in the piece.

 8. A shadowy figure then walks past with extreme speed. At this point the camera then cuts to the next shot.

9. After the shadowy figure has gone by the last shot. This shot is an extreme close up of the gaps in the banister with blood droplet falling down the shot. 

10. The next shot then cuts into a strafe of the bedroom floor revealing clothes scattered around the bedroom floor. This could suggest struggle between two characters and leaves the audience questioning the shot as to why are clothes around the floor.

11. The shot then cuts to a black and white shot with a faded face to the right of the shot with their eyes closed. A female the appears in the shot in the open door way with nothing but a shirt on. The camera then focuses on the faded face in the foreground to reveal that it's a male which then opens his eyes to reveal the red possession in the male.

12. The shot then cuts straight to a black screen with the music rising so loud then cuts off as the black screen appears.

13. The shot then fade back into a quick shot of what appears to be the bedroom door, then quickly fades back into black. During this point no music is playing.

14. Like the last shot, it quickly shows the bedroom door but this time the door then opens a little as though it welcomes the audience inside the room.

 15. This shot is of the camera moving into the room as though it will be from the eyes of the audience. The shot then reveals a body on the bed with blood everywhere showing that the body on the bed has been murdered by someone or something.

 16. This is a medium shot of the dead body lying on the bed with her eyes still and not breathing. The female is covered in blood implying that she had been murdered.

 17. This shot is of an extreme close up of a wound on the female's body showing the position of the wound on the lower half of the rib cage. The camera then focuses on what appears to be the male role that was showed a few shots ago with his back to the camera.

 18. The camera then cuts to a black screen creating more and more tension in the scene.

 19. We then have a pan of the male roles body moving the body revealing more and more of his costume showing blood everywhere. In the next few scene the audience will be able to hear somewhat if a crunching sound of meat being chewed upon.

 20. The camera then fades into a black screen for 1 second and then fades back into the next shot.

 21. The camera then reveals the males face. The audience is shown that the male is eating what appears to be flesh from the female. We then see that the male has deep dark red eyes implying that he is not human but a daemon of sort. The male then looks into the camera then smiles. The shot is then cut straight into a black screen.

22. The final shot is a black screen with the title fading into the shot. The title of the movie is then revealed as "The Devil's Night". This then reveals to the audience that the male role is somewhat of a daemon for sure.

Hannibal Rising

Within the opening scene there is only one title sequence that appears in the scene is the title of the film. This is rather unique as most films even if they're not thrillers they will usually have an opening credit but Hannibal Rising doesn't. Although this is very unique and different I won't use that technique as I will need the opening credits in my scene.

The opening scene starts with a black screen and a soft female singing held notes which could represent peace and harmony, then fade into a shot of a mid-shot of a spider web. This could contrast with the soft harmony voice as spiders are seen as scary and horrible. The shot then fades straight into the next shot which is of trees in a forest area. Already the audience is getting to know the location and area of where the scene is being shot which is of a forest. The shot also shows the sun rays coming from the sky and shining through the gaps within the tree which is a very generic shot to open with in films. We then get the same type of shot where the sun's rays are shining through the gaps within the trees but this time it will be a close up of a tree which starts outside the shot, then the camera pans to the right bringing the sun's rays and tree into the shot. We also get another generic shot of petals flowing through a stream with the camera only focusing on the petals and leaving objects out of focus in the foreground. Again the camera fades into the next shot, this time the shot is a long shot of a possible wild pig ruffling around which then again fade in the next shot. The next shot seems to be a repeat of the same type of the sun's rays shining through the trees but this time in a different location except this time however, the title appears fading in. The text style seems to be thick, bold lettering, all in capitals colored gold. The title also appears to be moving closer to the camera while the background shot changed back to a close up of the lake.

Now the opening scene starts with an extreme long shot of a castle in the background with the lake and forest in front. The camera then pans to the left focusing on two children. From this shot we get to see what clothes the children are wearing and guess what time period the film is taken place. The camera takes various shots of the two children to what appears to be them drawing in the dirt.

From analysing 1:30 in the movie, I can already tell that the film is set during the Victorian times by the dress wear and that the film will mainly focus around these two characters. 

American Psycho Research

American Psycho Title Sequence/ Opening Credits

1. Lions gate Films presents

2. An Edwards R. pressman Production

3. In association with Muse Productions and Christian Halsey Solomon

4. A Mary Harron Film

5. American Psycho 

6. Christian Bale

7. Willem Dafoe

8. Jared Leto

9/ Josh Lucas

10. Samantha Mathis 

11/ Matt Ross

12. Bill Sage  

13. Chloe Sevigny

14. Cara Seymour 

15. Justin Theroux

16. Guinevere Turner

17. Reese Witherspoon

18. Casting by Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith and Keerry Barden

19.Costume Designer Isis Mussenden

20. Production designer Gideon Ponte
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21. Music Supervisor Barry Cole and Christopher Covert

22.Music by John Cale

23.Editor Andrew Marcus

24.Director of photography Andrzej Sekula

25.Co – Producers Ernie Barbarash, Clifford Streit, Rob Weiss

26.Executive Producers Michael Paseornek, Jeff Sackman,  Joseph drake 

27.Produced by Edward R. Pressman, Chris Hanley, Christian Halsey Solomon

28.Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis

29.Screenplay by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner

30.Directed by Mary Harron

In the opening sequence we have a variety of close up shots of what appears to be blood right from the start, but as the opening scene progresses we see that it is only red sauce for food which automatically makes the audience presume the setting for the opening scene is in a restaurant. When we see the red sauce it makes the audience think that it is blood by the thickness and the tone of the red. Also, with the camera being on an extreme close up, we see the sauce is being pours as droplets, which we usually relate to a wound dripping with blood, which each of the droplets are falling in slow motion but only by an estimate 25%. By doing so, we get to see a closer detail and be able to make out what is falling which fools the audience to thinking it’s blood.  Along with the droplets of blood, we hear a stringed instrument playing one sharp, short note each time a droplet falls. While the blood falls, we get the selection of the opening credits, also after the 4^th opening credits, the title of the movie appears (American Psycho).

 The title fades into the shot after the second droplet falls and hits the white background, which is also slowed to see the effects of the blood splatter across the background.  The title is aimed exactly in the middle of the shot, leaving two white boarders to the right and left of the shot. At this point the music is playing normally without it being in sync with the droplets. The next shot we the “blood” like substance being poured straight down with opening credits which then jumps to the next shot which now the audience knows the substance isn't blood but a red sauce. They know this by how the blood is being squirted in a “squiggly” line, implying that it is being squirted on a plate for food. This also creates a foreshadow as later in the film, the main character (Patrick Bateman) bites the victim which implies that he is a cannibal. This is done by making the audience see the sauce as blood which to Patrick is food.

 The next shot is of a knife coming in from out the shot at the bottom, and moving in and out the shot and it moves up. This could imply the knife being the main murder weapon, also during this shot we see the actor name “Christian Bale” which is the main character and murder in the movie. This implies the character that is played by Christian Bale is the murder as the knife is shown in this shot while could foreshadow him using the knife to kill someone. The shot then fades out and into a meal of meat which is then cut with one slice of the knife and then fades out into the next shot, then quickly fades out and into the next shot which then the opening credit “Willem Dafoe” is the faded in while strawberries fall onto the plate which is then shown in the next shot. We now see that the opening credit scene for the movie is places in a restaurant and someone preparing the meal for a customer. We then see the plate ready to be served and is taken away to which “Jared Leto” is open for the opening credits. The music then changes from the mysterious sounding string instruments to a restaurant sounding song which is more suitable for the scene as the next show is of the food being placed onto a table to which then the camera then pans around the table and jumps to different tables. We now get a shot of the menu for the restaurant to which pans up to a couple having lunch. As we see, the couple are dressed reasonable smart and “well-dressed” for a meal meaning that the restaurant seems to be highly rated. The camera then pans around tables again looking at the different food and meals which are being served. As we can see, the meals seem to be small but well-presented which also indicates that the restaurant is high end range. We then start to hear a waiter speaking to the customers in a well-spoken accent, and with the names being read out, we hear that the food in the restaurant seems to be top class food. We then get another pan but of the whole room and restaurant which we can see the types of people who come to the restaurant. By doing so we see that the majority of the people who go there seems to be upper class by the way they are dresses. Males dressed in suits while females dress in “fancy” dresses.
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We then cut to a shot of a group of males sat round a table, which appear to be moaning about how much they hate this restaurant. This gives the audience the impression that these males seem to be “stuck up” that they seem they can do better. As the conversation progresses we see one male coming back from the scene which he then says “they don’t have a good bathroom to do coke in” implying that these seem to be drug dealer but by the way they are dressed we know that they’re not. At this point we see the males to be stuck up business partners as they seem to be talking and “bitching” about other employees. Continuing on from the cocaine part, we get the impression that these males are well paid enough to actually buy and take cocaine as they don’t need to take place in a criminal act to get the drugs from what we see in the opening scene. We then got more back to back shots of dialogue then cuts to the next scene.  

There are not many scene and shots that create tension in this opening clip, although through-out the first minute, the opening scene tricks the audience to thinking that the red sauce is blood which makes the audience believe that someone has murdered someone. Also with the knife coming into the scene, this builds tension as we presume the knife has been used to murder someone.

Throughout the scene, they keep the same font and font colouring. The font which they have used all seems to be in capitals and blunt, making the opening credits stand out more.  All the lettering appears to be in a capitals apart from “by” which seems to be a different font. The font used seems to be “fancy” looking which stand out if it was the same size as the other font but it appears to be smaller to blend in with the rest of the fonts around it. The sizes of the fonts are the same throughout the whole scene and don’t change unless something needs to be shown in the film. The colour does change to a white if it seems to collide with the background. The title seems to be using the same font as the rest of the opening credits but much larger and “Psycho” appears bold. 

The video above is the opening scene to American Psycho. By analysing this opening clip i will have a general idea on how to open a psycho thriller as this is one of the best psycho thrillers ever created which has a massive influence on thriller task.

The Thriller Task

The Thriller genre I have chosen to research for my opening sequence is psycho thriller. The movies have chosen to research are, American Psycho, Hannibal Rising and Shutter Island. The reason I have chosen these is that American Psycho and Hannibal Rising have a same connection that the main villain (Patrick Bateman, Hannibal Lector) have a form of cannibalism and both are serial killers. The reason I have chosen Shutter Island is the main character for my thriller task is a psychopath, with all three of the films have the connection too, but as I analyse Shutter Island, the films is taken place in a prison made for psychopaths. This comes very useful as I will be able to look at what a psychopath would look like and may be able to mimic that image for my main character.

American Psycho plays a big role in my research as the main character in the film (Patrick Bateman) is a main influence to the male role in my thriller task as Patrick plays a unique role as being a investment banker as well as a psychopath. This being said, Patrick is very organised when it comes to hygiene and health. He takes extra care of himself, trying to make himself the "perfect" man. But there is a dark side to him as he plays a psychopath role to which he kills anyone in his path from being perfect... or just for the fun of it. This unique role is perfect for my male character as it fits in with the story of my opening scene perfectly.