Inter-textual References of Our Thriller

Inter-textual References

When planning our film, we decided to do a lot of research on other previous psychological thrillers that have been very successful. It was very important that we captured what the techniques the film used in order to be effective. It was important that our film was original and separate from past movies but thought it was very important to research into why these films were so successful.

Our first inter-textual reference is the main plot of the film. We aimed to replicate the idea of not knowing whether you are dreaming or if what you are experiencing is reality. This idea is very popular within the psychological thriller genre so we decided that we would make our own take on it. From this idea, we felt that the film ‘Inception’ could be a key film to inspire us. After reading the plot and watching the film we established that ‘Inception’ was exactly the type of film we would like to make. The key idea being that the audience are un-aware of whether the character is dreaming or in reality. This creates a link between characters and audience and breaks down the wall that we often see with other films that make the character less relatable.  In the film ‘Inception’ we one of the main characters Leonardo Di Caprio wake up. The director decided to use a close-up which we felt was successful in demonstrating whether the character is asleep or if he is dreaming. After seeing this we decided to include this in our thriller opening. It is key when establishing whether our main character is awake or not, yet shows his discomfort with the experience as he is being tormented within the dreams.

Leonardo Di Caprio in 'Inception'

Another key inter-textual reference is shown with our other main character Tom Rush. Within the first minute and a half of the piece, Rush’s face is often out of the frame or not visible. This was purposeful as when we conducted our research into dreaming we came across a fact which stated that when we dream we do not depict faces. We then decided to include this idea in our film. In doing this it furthered the difference between dreaming and reality. We only see the Tom Rush’s face towards the end of the piece when he blows the candle out. This was done to show that the last scene in which Josh Matterson (our other character) is being tormented by Rush is real and he is no longer dreaming. This links to the film ‘Harvey’ which only allows the films make character and the audience to see 6ft3 Rabbit that features in the film as well. This idea is shared between the two films as we see it’s only the audience and Josh Matterson that can see our antagonist Rush. This idea became very complex and we had to consider every detail to portray this inter-textual reference.

 To conclude the inter-textual reference that I have discussed allows us to show what knowledge we have on film but also allowed us to show how much research we did to display this sort of complex idea. Also this layer of inter-textual knowledge meant that we could provide more understanding for our audience who could enjoy and benefit further from the films plot.

Title Sequence of our Thriller

Our Thriller Title Sequence

For our title sequence, would looked at a variety of fonts to make sure we captured the dark feel we wanted our thriller to have. We went online and onto different font websites and tested what the films name, ‘Torpidity’, would look like in the many different fonts. We managed to cut it down to a list of two before picking the font we felt best fitted out film. We felt that both fonts could have worked for the film but there was one that stood out as more effective.

Text is very important in films and can even become a famous and familiar text, like in films such as ‘Fast and Furious’ series or ………. This meant that we needed to make our font simple but effective allowing the text to be remembered and become well known. The font needs to show the intentions and feel of the film as it is the first thing that the audience will see so it needs to make an impression. We went to a website called www.dafont.com to come up with our choices for our opening sequence.

The first typeface that we looked at was called ‘Infinite Stroke’. At first viewing we thought the text could be successful due to its sinister look but after further analysis we concluded that the font wouldn’t fit the type of feel we were looking for. Though it does give a sinister feel it was too fragile and delicate for our film. The film we looked to create is violent and very dark so we didn’t feel that this type of font did it any justice. Every aspect of our film is dark, even our protagonist and our antagonist. This meant that the font didn’t suit what image we were trying to create. Also, the font would’ve been used for the credits at the start of the feel so we felt that it didn’t match the character’s personalities and their actions.

The second font we looked at was 'Typographica'. This was a good candidate as it matched our intentions that we wished to portray in the opening sequence. The font creates a feel of intimidation and power which best suited our sub-genre of psychological thriller. It is a simple font compared to the first one we looked at and all the letters are largely spaced out between each other creating the sense of individuality. This was key to our film as the two characters we see at the start of the piece are both very much different in personalities. Therefore, the text being so spaced out furthered these connotations of an intimidating nature. This font was a very strong candidate that could’ve worked successfully with our film.

Finally, the font that we did chose was …. We felt that this font was the most successful out of the three as it combined all the aspects that we were looking for. All the characters in the typeface were spaced out largely. This again created the connotations of individuality and with the added line on the bottom made it more intimidating to the audience. The font came across as very sinister which is the feel that we were targeting. To conclude we felt that this text would make our opening sequence successful and in the final piece matched the tone that was present throughout the piece.

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Shooting Schedule

Locations and Mise-En-Scene

Locations and Mise En Scene:

Throughout our thriller there will be several possible locations where we'll be filming, such as a bus stop, Ketts Hill and a dark, dead end street or alley.
The opening sequence of our thriller takes place in a location looking over Norwich with an establishing shot. The primary candidate
for where this scene will be filmed is Ketts hill, this is because you can see the whole of Norwich from here and in the winter it looks particularly dark,gloomy and isolated. The atmosphere created in this opening scene would be mysterious and chilling, these are both general conventions of a typical thriller.

The second potential location we have chosen to film in is a bus stop, this is because it gives general conventions of city life and an every day setting. Furthermore, we have a scene in our thriller in which a character is sleeping at a bus stop and the bus stop could be interpreted as the entrapment of his mind. This bus stop could essentially be anywhere, however a preferred location for it would be on a quite desolate road to show he's isolated and alone. When filming in this area we would have to pay careful attention to the lighting as it could be an issue because it is outside and very open. But, to combat this as we are filming in winter and at night there is going to be very little to no diegetic light, except from possibly the moon, allowing us to create our own non diegetic lighting with equipment.

For the chase scene in our thriller we are looking to film down an alleyway. This alley needs to be empty,rough and relatively long. This alley must connote how trapped the character is feeling and how vulnerable he is. As our thriller is a psychological thriller all of our locations, especially for this scene must connote this constant sense of isolation and paranoia. Also, our thriller is about a teenager fighting the concept of reality within his own mind, so the settings are vital in depicting this plot.

Written by Thor Forster

Costumes

In terms of costume, we have placed a great quantity of thought into what is being worn by our characters and the characterisation in which costume allows, and how it influences the piece in its entirety.

Josh Masterson-  Wears a hooded coat along with grey jeans and grey shoes. The thought process behind the hooded coat is to reveal the identity of his character slowly, and present him as a character of mystery and shadiness. Despite the audience feeling sympathy for Joshua, there is also an air of wondering what is happening etc. Masterson's face is always made clear, plus, his colours are blue and grey, which are quite neutral in comparison to dark, bland colours worn by Martinelli. In terms of the meaning behind the denim jeans, Jean designer Yves Saint Laurent spoke in an interview about the meaning behind jeans  “They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity,” sighed the owlish Frenchman. “All I hope for in my clothes.” This was certainly applicable to our thriller, as the use of jeans add simplicity and modesty behind our character, Masterson is a much warmer character in comparison to Martinelli.The intimacy and commonness of Masterson's costume presents ideas of normality and commonness, as a production team, we wanted Masterson to be quite mysterious but also relatable.



This is the coat worn by Josh Masterson.




Xavier Martinelli- Wears a tracksuit supported with a green coat with a large hood as we don't want his face to be seen throughout the opening as faces aren't ever seen in dreams. It is used to make him seem a tough and hardened character. This is represented through his stereotypical characterisation. The hood also connotes ideas of mystery and illusion around Xavier as a character, in many ways, the use of a hood is much like the use of a mask, but more intimate with the audience. Also, in a dream, wearing a coat is to wear the coat of your father, mother, royalty or a beggar is to take on an aspect of that role. All this research concluded our decision to use large coats in different forms, but for these reasons, Martinelli's coat is used with different intentions than Josh's coat is used to create this idea of mystery and distance between the audience, which is also shown through proxsemics as Martinelli is also further away from the screen than Masterson is, which helps creates distance literally between this character and the audience.



This is the coat worn by Xavier Martinelli.



Written by Connor Southwell

What actors we chose and why?

What Actors we Chose and Why? Robert Groom, Thor Forster and Connor Southwell

Connor (Lead male actor):

We featured Connor in our preliminary task and felt that he made the piece more believable. So for this reason we decided it would be wise to cast him again as our main male character. Since he studies A-level drama and achieved a B in drama in his GCSE’s we came to the conclusion that Connor could make our piece more realistic and avoid our acting becoming wooden. The theme of our last task is fairly similar in tone for our coursework so we decided that the use of Connor as our main character would boost the plausibility.

Thor (Second lead actor):

Thor, being a part of our group, volunteered to act in our film and we came to a quick conclusion that this would be successful due to the lack of dialogue. He matched the tone of our film and allowed us to feature a suspicious character who would be wrapped in all sorts of questions.

Character Profiles:

Lead male character – This person in the centre piece of our production. We delve into the confused and mysterious mind of this individual to get an in depth look into what is occurring and with use of certain effects we can produce a confusing experience that shocks the audience. The character himself has many mental and psychological issues that we explore throughout the film. The reason he suffers from these sorts of experiences remain a mystery as we only have two minutes to portray our character. That is why it’s important we emphasise the sort of trauma that he undergoes.

Second lead character - This second character remains a big mystery in our film since we don’t feature him enough for the audience to gain an image or opinion of him. This was purposeful as we wanted the characters identity to remain anonymous. The man’s soul purpose is to bring torment to our main character throughout the first two minutes. The link between the two characters is ambiguous meaning the audience is left confused into how the two know each other. This relationship between the two characters creates a tense atmosphere and boosts the sense of unpredictability.

Written By Robert Groom