Planning: Final ideas- Mr Smith

 

Final ideas

Introduction:

After reviewing each idea as a group we finally come up with a final idea which we decided was the most unique and would create suspense and tension from the audience as well as being conventional to the thriller genre. We identified the similarities that were present in all the ideas and decided to use them in the final idea ensuring that everybody was able to participate and have their ideas reflected in the thriller opening.

 

Final idea:

 

Title: Insanity, Pregmented

 

Narrative: A pregnant demented woman is in a mental institution and being watched by a professor who is observing her behaviour and trying to find out details about her mental state. The pregnant woman acts demented by crying, laughing screaming and moving around eratically. The woman begins to see flashbacks, she sees three flashbacks which consist of her and a man supposedly her lover acting intimately then getting caught by the mans wife. The second flashback is of her discovering she is pregnant after her pregnancy test is positive, after seeing this flashback she holds her stomach tightly and feels happy about her pregnancy. The final flashback is of the pregnant woman killing her lovers wife in order to prevent her from coming between the couple and ruining their relationship. After seeing these flashbacks the pregnant woman continues to act demented until the door opens. The wife of her lover enters the room in a white dress with her hair in her face returning from the dead, however the professor is unable to see this happening suggesting that it occurs in the pregnant woman's mind and instead is concerned as he can only see the pregnant woman crawling into a corner scared and venerable. The dead woman approaches the pregnant woman who is frightened and in shock, and when she confronts her she reaches her hand out touching the pregnant woman's stomach where the baby is seen to respond by kicking. This opening is conventional to a thriller opening as the audience are likely to be in suspense and for tension to build, and my thriller opening is likely to have the same impact on the audience due to the cliff-hanger and unexpected events creating suspense for the audience and even the characters.

 

Narrative structure: Aristotle (theme)- There is a clear beginning, middle and end to the narrative however the end is left with a cliff-hanger. The audience are able to arouse emotion as they will be able to sympathise with the victim as they will feel sorry for her while they fear the antagonist and feel threatened by her actions. The themes of violence and mental health evoke emotion as they create fear and sympathy.

Films influencing my idea: 'The devil inside' and 'Dead Again 'have influenced my idea as these films both consist of victims who are mentally unstable and are both psychological thrillers, they also have an impact on the audience as they create suspense. I also want the audience to be in suspense and tension therefore, these films are influential.

Characters

 

• Protagonist: The protagonist is a professor and he is seen to be observing the anti hero's behaviour and he tries to understand why and how she got into her current state. Therefore, he is the protagonist as he is the hero of the film and has good intensions.

• Anti- Hero: The anti hero is a pregnant, demented victim who is being observed in a mental institution. The audience will sympathise with the victim when they see her acting demented and understand that she is mentally unstable, however, the audience will also envy the anti hero after she kills the antagonist. She will then be seen as hopeless and subordinate when she is overpowered by the antagonist which will evoke further sympathy from the audience. The mixture of feelings towards the anti hero suggests that although she is a victim of her mental state she is an anti hero after killing the antagonist.

• Antagonist: The wife of the anti-hero's lover is the antagonist as she is seen to approach the anti hero and get revenge from her after she was killed by the anti hero.

 

 

Mise En Scene:

 

• Lighting: Low lighting will be used creating anticipation and foreshadowing the negative events to occur. Top and under lighting will also be used to promote the emotions of the characters. 
• Cinematography: I will use close ups of the victims facial expressions demonstrating her emotions and fragmented mind-set. I will also use a long shot when the antagonist enters the room allowing the audience to see both perspectives and allowing tension to build.

• Sound: I will use off screen sound of slow threatening music to build suspense for the audience. I will also use diegetic sound when the characters speak.
• Costume, hair and makeup:
• The antagonist will wear white to symbolise her previous innocence and her dark hair will suggest that she has dark intensions and wants revenge from the pregnant woman, she will also have long dark hair covering her face creating more fear for the audience and partially hiding her identity. She will have contact lenses symbolising her as fearful and ghostly.
• The anti-hero will wear a neutral colour that will suggest that she is innocent however has been guilty of a crime in the past. She will also wear minimal makeup with mascara running down her face to demonstrate that she is not herself and is demented.
• The protagonist will wear formal clothing including a shirt and a tie followed by a lab coat with glasses to symbolise his intelligence in his job. He will have messy short hair making him conventional to a professor.

• Setting: When the anti hero is acting demented she will be in a small white room which reflects a mental institution and the anti-hero's demented mind. The professor will also be I'm a white room symbolising his innocence. During the flashbacks the setting will be on a road when the couple are caught by the antagonist and when the anti hero shoots the antagonist. Using common locations to set my thriller In will help the audience to relate to particular situations. 

• Iconography: The iconography I will include in my thriller will consist of the professors laptop that he will use to watch the anti hero on, he will also have stationary to write notes on and photographs of the anti-hero surrounding him. In the anti- hero's room there will a chair for her to sit on while she is being observed. There will also be a rose used during the first flashback when the anti- hero's lover presents a rose to her outlining their relationship clearly. In the second flashback there will a pregnancy test used when the anti hero discovers her pregnancy. Finally, there will also be a gun used by the anti- hero to shoot the antagonist to ensure that she does ruin the anti hero and here lover's relationship.

• Body language and Facial expression: 
• The protagonists body language will consist of a straight posture showing his formality and serious attitude towards the situation, he will also have a serious and confused facial expression demonstrating how he is trying to solve the situation. 
• The anti-hero's body language on the other hand, will be unstable and she will be consistently moving around suggesting that she has an unstable mind, her facial expression will also be changing consistently from laughing to crying highlighting her demented mind. However, during the flashbacks which is when the anti hero is not demented her body language will be upright and her facial expression will consist of happiness when she is with her lover. She also reacts with shock when she discovers her pregnancy and her facial expression will highlight confidence and fear when she shoots the antagonist. 
• The antagonist will have an upright and straight posture when she enters the anti hero's room highlighting her serious attitude. She will also have a straight facial expression with her eyes wide creating fear for the audience and the anti-hero. However, during the flashbacks the antagonist will have relaxed body language until she witnesses her husband acting intimately with the anti hero, she will then freeze with a shocked facial expression to symbolise that what she has witnessed is unexpected.

 Conclusion:

 

 I want the audience to evoke emotion while watching my thriller film, I want the audience to respond with fear, fright, suspense, adrenaline and anxiousness through the themes of violence, revenge and mental health. I also want the audience to respond to the anti hero with sympathy and respond to the antagonist with threat and fear from her appearance. I want the audience to understand the professors intelligence and have faith in him to solve the woman's fragmented mental state. After watching the thriller I want the audience to react with curiosity and shock with the urge to watch more after being left with a cliff-hanger.