Inspirations

We took inspirations from other films, of similar genres, such as The Woman In Black, with the idea of the faceless ghost in mourning clothes. Insidious as it also involves children at the heart of its plot and features a lot of children's drawings. And The Girl on a Train, as we liked that it was set in an ordinary neighbourhood, especially the railway bridge which we really liked as a setting.

Prelim Task

I did a prelim task to practice using camera equipment and film techniques, the ones used here are shot reverse shot, match on action, and the 180 degree rule. And to get used to the idea of the idea of establishing intrigue, and tension in a short space of time.

Research Interviews

We did a series of interviews, asking people about thrillers and the concept for our film, to expand on the ideas we found in our survey research.

Research















We made a survey on Survey Monkey to gather information on what people are interested in, in a thriller. We found that our age range is interested in thriller/horror films. This survey also showed that the most popular ones when asked to pick an additional thriller in this survey were Shutter Island and Silence of the Lambs. And that many people were happy to do extra interviews.

Official Film Opening Proposal

We decided our original idea was too fast paced and complex for an opening and felt more like a trailer in the end. So we decided to slow down the sequence so that it felt more like the start of something, focusing on building plot ideas and an ominous atmosphere.

Therefore the opening will start with the main character waking up and going about an ordinary morning, but with repressed memories coming to the surface, giving the idea of the past coming back and foreshadowing something terrible soon to come.

This will feature the girl getting ready and walking to school, with the memories resurfacing when she sees an odd drawing that has been delivered to her, passes a swing set she remembers, and touches a small toy. These prompt flashbacks from her childhood, but lurking in the background of all of them is a nameless, faceless figure dressed all in black.

Film Pitch 2

The film is a crime thriller, and typical to the genre it differs to a crime film, as it follows the story of the perpetrators not the police, focusing on the protagonist who committed the unknown crime for unknown reasons and his distress as he is unwilling pulled deeper and deeper into this bad situation and the criminal underworld of London.

The opening focuses on two very different characters and cuts between the two as travel to a meeting point. The opening starts with a of shot of a corridor outside the door to a flat, run down, dirty setting. Crashing sounds and then a loud scream are heard from inside, then a man/teenage boy runs out of the flat, slams the door and then runs down the corridor. He is visibly distressed, shaking and frantic. His pace is rapid as he leaves the apartment building, paces down the street, goes into the tube station, onto a train, out of the new station, onto the street, then arrives at the meeting point. There are frequent close ups on him, throughout his journey; his face as he looks at the people around him as if concerned they will know somehow what he has just done, his hands.

This is interspersed with the journey of a contrasting character to the same meeting point. A woman/girl picking clothes out her wardrobe, then leaving her house calmly, walking down streets in bright sunlight, petting a cat on the street, picking a flower that she then carries with her.

Interspersing the two character' journeys builds a sense of fear for the girl as it seems clear they will meet. And there is a strong sense of peace and happiness surrounding her and a more menacing feeling to the guy as he has clearly just done something bad and is in constant frantic motion, making him appear unstable

When the two meet the girl is holding the flower waiting for him, she looks up when he approaches. He stops walking but does not cease his frantic motions, he appears distraught, finally he chokes out "I did what you wanted", a pause while he looks around, becoming even more distressed, close to tears, then "she's dead". Close up of the girls mouth as she smiles. Then says good and walks away. 

My certificate would be 15, aimed at adults and/or teenagers depending on the age of the characters. As it would feature violence, and extreme emotional/ psychological distress. 

The characters would be established and built up throughout the sequence to be the opposite of each other. And in fact opposite to their true characters. The guy would be wearing dark jeans and a hoody He would be in darkness, and the shadows, with a lot of shots of him descending downwards, into the tube and stairs out of the building, mirroring his moral situation. Whereas the girl would be wearing bright colours, smiling a lot, walking outside in the sunshine, showing her as a positive kind person. 

The sound would also add to the atmosphere of fear as it would be ominous chords, that would create an odd juxtaposition with the girls actions and slowly create fear for her, but fit in perfectly with the guy's narrative.  

They would both start out in quite normal neighbourhoods, but his could be a lot less pleasant and more run down than hers, creating the suggestion of possible economic reasons for him doing this for her. Their journey would take them more into the centre of London so that the meeting point could be suitably dramatic and aesthetically pleasing.

Film Pitch

Genre of the film is a psychological or horror thriller based on the concept of an imaginary friend gone wrong, set in a normal neighbourhood in London with an ordinary family. I would start the opening sequence with narration of a girls voice and an eerily slow children's lullaby playing. The narration and shots would explain the story line of a little girl who had an imaginary friend no one else could see, like many children do, but something went wrong with hers. She started doing alarming things endangering her life and possibly injuring a family pet. Her mother decided to seek help and got her a therapist who taught her to "lock" her friend away in a box, so that she couldn't talk to her anymore, as an attempt to help her develop more normally and keep her safe. This worked and she has grown up living a normal life; until today. A disturbing children's drawing of the two of them has arrived in the post, her younger sibling and/or her mother is missing, she is back.

My age certificate would be a 15, as it would become increasingly disturbing as the film went on and would feature violence. My target audience would be teenagers and adults who enjoy horror films.

The imaginary friend returns seeking vengence for being locked away for over ten years, and wrecks havoc on this girl's life, tormenting her, making her think she is insane and hurting those around her. She is eventually beaten when confronted with a young child, who has done nothing wrong and confronted with this feels the urge to protect instead of destroy. She leaves, so in a way the protagonist wins, but she takes the child with her.

I would create an atmosphere of fear and suspense, by having the imaginary friend just out of sight right up until the end of the film. I would make the film atmospheric by using dulled colours, giving it an almost black and white feeling, to reflect the protagonist's feelings of hopelessness and contrast the bright colours usually associated with childhood. I would also make it creepy by featuring typical images of childhood made disturbing, such as drawings, toys, and by playing children's lullabies, slowed down and ominous. I'm interested in films that inverted childhood imagery to create a sense of fear within the story, such as the Woman In Black.

The characters that would feature in the opening would be the girl as a small child, her as a teenager, her mother, and the imaginary friend. The girl as a young child would appear to exude happiness, in a way that many children do, but here I would use this as a bad omen as she would be happy and laughing in disconcerting circumstances, such as while endangering her life or in suspicious circumstances. She would be dressed in bright colours and look like a typical child.
For the older version of the girl, she would wear only monochrome colours, possibly have dark hair and pale skin, so her character would visually lack colour, as a representation of her emotional state. This paleness could become exaggerated throughout the film as she goes slowly mad not knowing if what is happening to her is real or not, so she looks visibly sickly.
The mother would not feature heavily in the opening, but should look ordinary, pleasant, and appear caring.
I picture the imaginary friend as dressed head to toe in black with trailing skirts and a veil, like traditional victorian mourning dress. She would be a dark, mysterious figure, reserved and slow moving due to her attire, and a constant omen of death, with her actions and the mourning clothes. This old fashioned looks would create a creepy, ghostly vibe, and would also hide her face from the audience to add to the fear and strangeness of her.