Final Film Opening

This is our final film opening 'Hostage'

Costuming

Costuming of the Psychopath

For our psychopath, we thought it would be suitable if he was wearing fairly ordinary clothes, as this shows that he seems like an ordinary man, who is only insane on the inside. We decided that he should also wear fairly plain clothing so he doesn't look like he cares a lot about how he looks. Plus, he is wearing dark shades of clothing, as this gives connotations of evil and fear, opposed to him wearing yellow, which has connotations of happiness and sunshine. However, some psychopaths in films do wear white, which contradicts the connotation of purity, so makes the audience feel uneasy, as well as adding to the use of plain clothing.

When looking at other thrillers, the psychopaths similarly match this costuming:

Shutter Island



Henry: Portrait of a serial Killer

Se7en




Fatal Attraction



Basic Narrative Outline

After researching what is included in a thriller, we found out that some of the key themes are perception, isolation and violence. We based our narrative around these themes.

• Our film opening will start with an extreme close-up of our protagonist's face, with no sound. (Black and white)
• The film will cut to the production title, after a blackout.
• We will have our child actor sitting on the stairs with violent commotion in the background. "You're a cancer to this family"
• He runs to his room, shuts the door and turns off the light. This action leads to a sudden black screen.
• Then we cut to a close-up of a woman's face, in a canted view, of her screaming and crying. (Black and white)
• Then we cut to a close-up of the woman's hands tied behind a tree. This then cuts to black again. (Black and White)
• We then have a sudden close-up of our young adult actor's face. The light in this shot is only from him struggling to, then switching on a lighter.
• We then have a close-up of our main character's hands imaginarily trying to flick the lighter with the same action as the previous shot. (Black and White)
• Cuts to a close-up of a woman's neck, muddy and clearly struggling. (Black and White)
• Close up of the woman's face again. "I've got a..." and "You're a cancer to this..." (Black and White)
• Extreme close up of main characters eyes opening suddenly. (Black and White). Heavy breathing and sobbing is the only sounds you can hear with a few birds also. "...Family"
• Longshot with main character in the foreground out of focus, and woman in the background in focus distressing. (Black and White)
• The main character is then rummaging in a tool box, and pulling out a hammer. (Black and White)
• The woman is in the background, in focus, screaming. You can then see his hand in the shot, but it's out of focus. He then becomes in focus, and she goes out of focus, as a focus pull. Then as he walks closer to the woman, you can see he's holding the hammer and eventually the majority of his body can be seen. (Black and White)
• Cuts to a extreme close-up of his mouth and he just smiles with no guilt, very much like a psychopath. (Black and white)

There is a build up of sound as the opening progresses that stops at the point of the main character opening his eyes.

Below is our rough storyboard plan.

Thriller Character Costuming

We researched into successful thriller films such as the ones listed below, in order to gain an insight into the types of costuming and types of character most commonly used; gender, age, physical appearance.With the exception of a few female psychological thriller actresses, such as black swan, the majority was clearly middle aged, physically able men usually with facial hair. 

This is definitely something to keep in mind when creating our narrative and casting as we need to develop a mature and relevant feel about our film opening so that will include choosing an actor(s) suitable to fit the typical character requirements.

Iconic Directors

Psychological thrillers cover a wide variety of problems and issues and different directors and screenwriters specialise in individual aspects. 

Perhaps one of the most iconic and well known directors of psychological thrillers is Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock was among the most successful directors of his time and remains as one of the most popular and well known of all time. Some of his most famous films are 'Psycho', 'Rear Window', 'Vertigo'.

Dario Argento is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. 'Four Flies on Grey Velvet' and 'The Cat o'Nine Tails' are two of his most successful thriller films both released in the 1970's. Argento is often referred to the Italian Hitchcock. 

Christopher Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer who received a considerable amount of attention from his earlier on thriller films such as 'Momento' and 'Insomnia'. He then went on to become even more well know by directing 'Inception' and 'The Dark Knight Trilogy.'