The document summarizes the creative decisions made in producing a short thriller film. It describes the costumes used to establish characters and setting in the snowy opening scene. It also discusses the locations, characters, and how visual and audio elements like mise-en-scene, phone, bracelet, and music were used to tell the story without revealing too much about the plot.

1. Alice Childerhouse

4. » Because most of our opening is shot outside in the snow we
decided that the clothing needed to be warm otherwise the
costume and setting wouldn’t match. The girl is wearing a
bright orange coat to bring the attention of the audience
onto her, and stand out in the white of the snow.
» The second character, Blake, is wearing a dark hooded jacket
to connote mystery and evil, as he keeps his hood up
throughout the whole opening. It also shows that he doesn’t
want to be seen by anyone as he drags the girls body away,
and makes him appear more evil as he has clearly committed
a crime.
» The last character is wearing a buttoned black jacket, which
despite his harmless actions and appearance might suggest
that he too has something to hide.

5. » All the outdoor scenes were filmed on Eaton Golf Course when it snowed.
This setting was perfect as no one was around and there were lots of
trees which meant we could film shots out of view to make the
characters look even more suspicious. It was also snowy which meant we
could use inspiration from films like ‘Fargo’ and ‘Winters Bone’ and apply
it to our own work. However ours is different in the way that the
audience don’t actually see the murder, but instead a mysterious man
dragging a limp girls body through some snow. This allows the audience
to imagine their own version of the murder before seeing the rest of the
film which I think works quite well.
» Our second location was inside a bathroom, where the other male
character Robin is filmed having the realisation of the girls death. We
filmed this inside because we wanted a contrast of locations in our
opening. By having regular shots between outside with Jono and Robin
inside is creates contrast between the characters. However by also having
overlaying shots edited in we can show a slight connection between the
two characters too.

6. » I have three characters in my film, Robin, Jono and Lyndsey.
» Robin plays the boy who finds a bracelet in the snow that belongs to Lyndsey. He is a
quiet character who doesn’t say anything in the film, is very upset due to the loss of his
close peer Lyndsey. He shows a lot of emotion which seems to challenge the stereotypes
of male characters. He’s quite an odd character, as he is constantly haunted by voices in
his head. At the end of the film he find Lyndsey in his bath which suggests that he is quite
mentally disturbed.
» Jono is the man who is dragging Lyndsey through the snow throughout the film. Because
of his hooded self he comes across as quite an evil character and doesn’t really have
much of a personality other than his creepy persona. Not much about his personality is
suggested in the film by means of acting, but his actions however suggest that he has
done this before, in the way he drags Lyndsey so easily though the snow. Through his
expressions in low angle shots also suggest that he is very concerned about getting
caught and whants to get the job over and done with quite quickly.
» Lyndsey is the girl being dragged, so its difficult to know what kind of personality she has,
so we needed to rely on costumes and other characters perception of her. To do this we
dressed her is a bright coat to make her stand out, and show that she’s and important
character. We also used Robin’s emotions to represent her, as he is very distraught about
her loss. This also shows that she’s an important character as she clearly means a lot to
Robin.

7. » We didn’t want to use very much mise-en-scene in our
thriller because we wanted to rely on the characters and
action instead of the objects, but we did use a few for
storyline purposes.
» We used a mobile phone which belonged to Lyndsey so
Robin could try an contact her, this connotes a connection
between the two characters via and electronic device which
helps to appeal to our target audience as it’s commonly used
by young people at this current time.
» We also used a bracelet that belonged to Lyndsey to show
more about her character, as it may suggest that she is quite
a girly character who has an interest in fashion and
accessories. It’s found by Robin after it falls off Lyndsey’s
wrist while she’s being dragged.

8. » I didn’t want to use music in my thriller because I
felt it would be more effective if I used the sound of
Lyndsey being dragged through the snow, it makes
the scene feel more realistic and puts the audience
in the film.
» I did use some music at the very end of the film
when Robin draws back the curtain to reveal
Lyndsey dead in the bath, it slowly build up to
suggest to the audience that something bad is
about to happen. It then builds up to a slightly
synthesized clanging sound which increases the
shock value for the audience sees Lyndsey in the
bath.