Group Narrative
The people in my group are Alfie and Danny, making three of us in total.
Group Member 1: Amy-Michaela Sowerby
A narrative for a new thriller could be about a girl who has a sister who was murdered a few years back. Ever since this incident the killer has not been discovered, yet the brother had also disappeared since it occurred. It turns out that what they believed that the sister is dead, but in fact the brother is killed by the sister and she is seeking to come back and kill the girl, to take revenge on the result of their childhood. I think this idea of a narrative is quite unique as the majority of killers tend to be male so this puts a slight twist on it. Additionally, not many thrillers have a conflict between siblings to the extent of murder so this also adds some originality.
The opening sequence would include point of view shots of the sister who is shown to be stalking the girl (her sister). This would give the audience the perspective of the sister but they would not know that. The audience would also not find out her identity at the end of the opening sequence as I would want to create that suspense and make them experience the feeling of wanting to see more. Furthermore, the setting would be isolated and there would be low-key lighting. These elements create enigma and tension and are also key conventions of a successful thriller. The setting being isolated will create more of an eerie atmosphere and complemented with low-key lighting will ensure that the audience feel worried for the victim. Low-key lighting will mean that not everything will be distinctively visible including intricate detail, so this will leave suspense and the audience pondering as to what is lurking in the darkness. The girl will be represented as innocent and just like a normal everyday person so the audience can feel more relatable towards the character. In contrast, the sister will be represented as the opposite however, not so much in the opening sequence as her identity would be hidden. There would be a tense, eery, non-diegetic soundtrack with uses of diegetic on and off screen sound such as car engine and mobile for example. Use of silence will also be present to create prolonged shots to create a build up on tension in order to create an effective climax. In addition, the target audience would be a 15+ and anyone who enjoys watching thriller films with a certified age of 15 as the criteria would be a appropriate for this particular age certificate. It would include some violence and discriminatory behaviour and language but not exceeding the criteria and the limits that would push it to an 18. Most thrillers are targeted at 15+ year olds and so mine would be very much influenced by these thrillers.
Advantages: Unique narrative that is unexpected and different to any that exist already. Furthermore, it challenges the conventions of the thriller genre by changing the antagonist's expected gender to be male - in this narrative, they are female.
Dsiadvantages: The narrative is confusing and slightly difficult to understand. Moreover, it would be difficult to show an effective opening sequence for the film as nothing in the beginning would be able to grip and engage the audience into carrying on watching.
Group Member 2: Alfie Harris
A narrative for a new thriller would be about a young couple arriving at a summer house on holiday. Upon arriving at the house, they realise they are in a isolated area and the summer house has very little electricity They go to sleep on their first night and begin to hear strange noises and shadows roaming around the bedroom. The man wakes up in the middle of the night and walks into the kitchen to get a glass of water, where he finds the television still on. He walks over to the tele and turns it off to find bloody handprints over the remote control and a table. He attempts to ring the police but he can't get a signal. Whilst he attempts to find out were the bloody handprints have come from, a shadowy figure appears on the wall by the stairs and the sound of footsteps creek on the floorboards. He then grabs a torch out of the cupboard and follows the bloody footsteps up towards his bedroom. Non-digetic music is playing in the background to add suspense and it matches the sound of his heartbeat. Suddenly, screams from his girlfriend come from the bedroom. He rushes into the bedroom to find her dead body lying across the bed. The camera closes in on his shocked face as he frantically tries to save himself, rushing down towards the front door. Panicking and panting, he can't find the key and the sound of the radio plays in the background. The killer is standing their, gazing at his next victim.
Advantages: The narrative is flowing and easy to follow/understand. As well as this, suspense is built throughout, which ensures that the film would be conventional to the thriller genre. The narrative is also quite realistic as similar stories are heard of in the real world where couples go away for a break in an isolated area and find themselves in some sort of trouble.
Disadvantages: It would be difficult for us to get access to this specific setting as well as getting actors old enough to act such parts.
Group Member 3: Danny Wheeler
For my story the narrative will be based in an isolated area, possibly a forest, about a crazed stalker who has been following the protagonist for years, one day he finally snaps, and decides to take action, she is running in the forest, and suddenly she feels a blunt object hit her over the head, instantly knocking her out, the screen goes black, he kidnaps her and takes her to his house, when she wakes up she is drowsy and disorientated, and doesn't realise what is happening, she gets up, trying to exit but finds the door is locked, she screams for help, but is trapped, she decides to look around the room and there are pictures of her scattered all over the walls, pictures that look like they have been taken from a distance, she was clearly unaware of the picture being taken, she is starting to become anxious, she frantically looks around the room, searching for an exit or a weapon to smash the door down with, as she is looking around the room the lights start to flicker, she hears the door creaking open, so she tries to find a hiding place in this small room, she gets into the wardrobe, attempting to evade the unknown man, she cannot close it fully, so she ends up peeking out, she sees the man walking around calling out her name (she doesn't recognise him and whimpers as he comes closer) he disappears out of her sight, she stays silent until she hears footsteps going up the stairs, then suddenly he appears in front of her, peeking round the door, she screams and jumps back into the wardrobe, he casually opens the wardrobe door and greets her, she kicks and punches him screaming at him asking who he is, he ignores her and closes the door, a sound of a key rattling in a lock can be heard, then a click, indicating it has been locked, she screams at him to let her out, he calmly replies, "i'll be back for you at six for dinner, make sure you're ready". A few hours later and she hears the creak of the door and then footsteps, he knocks her out with chloroform and she wakes up at the dinner table, the camera uses a panoramic shot across the table and we see the antagonist, he explains how the dinner will be ready soon and not to worry, she looks around the room for an escape (POV shot) (handheld camera), she jumps out her chair (speed of shots fast), running for an exit, the antagonist, annoyed, gets out his seat, "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this" it cuts back to her sprinting around the house she runs towards the door, its locked, she runs frantically towards the front door but as she runs down the corridor he jumps out of no where and stabs her (high pitch noise), gently lowering her onto the floor, the camera slowly zooms out as the lighting gets darker, a background noise of a heart beat slowing down can be heard in the background.
Advantages: There are conventional mise-en-scene elements such as the isolated setting and violent iconography and a detailed description of what would be included in the opening sequence specifically.
Disadvantages: Difficult to shoot from the lack of facilities we may be able to access and it may be difficult to narrow down enough engaging content for a opening sequence.
Final Group Narrative:
Our final narrative consists of influence from all 3 individual narratives, as we have found that combining all of our ideas is most likely the best and most efficient way in creating a thriller to be as successful as possible.
Our final group narrative is set in the forest and about a girl who is being stalked by an unknown identity. The girl hears many unclear voices and sounds that give her the feeling of being watched. When she tries to make an escape from the forest a masked man blocks her path so she turns and runs for her life. She finds herself lost as to where she is at this point and also realises that the man hasn't been chasing after her. Frantically, she looks around for a way of escape just as there is a camera shot to behind her where the man's presence is visible to the audience but not to the girl - she carries on walking. Once again the man appears directly in-front of her and she freezes in panic and as he goes to grab her, she runs in the opposite direction. He catches her arm with the blade of the knife causing it to bleed quite heavily causing her to faint because of the sight. When awoken she is unaware of her surroundings and is feeling drowsy. She glances at her arm, which has strangely been cleaned up and bandaged. The masked man is visible once again, however, he hasn't realised that she has woken up so she tries to make an escape. Gingerly and slowly she makes her way to the door but finds it locked, the noise of the attempt to open the door alerts the man who turns around. The girl attacks him and he fights back, stabbing her and leaving her to suffer. The lighting gradually fades as the sound effect of a heartbeat (representing her own) is heard, getting slower and slower.
Narrative Theory:
Our group narrative is going to be following Aristole's theory. This is because the themes in which his theory consists of matches our narrative perfectly. For example, having an inciting incident - the girl getting stabbed. This also creates the elements of shock, suspense and surprise through the build up to and when the event is occurring. The dramatic question is 'who is the killer?' which leaves the audience on a cliff hanger as even by the end of the opening sequence, they are unaware of who this 'masked man' is. All the rest of Aristotle's themes for his theory are included too, character goal, antagonist/protagonist, stakes, sympathy/empathy - apart from resolution. A resolution is not included in our opening sequence as this would give too much away so early on in the film and therefore not a satisfactory build of suspense will be created.
Our group narrative doesn't follow Propp's theory as this theory does not apply to every narrative anyway nor every type of film. His theory is that a set, listed amount of characters make the difference to the narrative. We are only creating an opening sequence so, having too many characters in the first few minutes is likely to spoil the rest of the film, not giving it the elements in which a thriller should have - suspense, surprise and shock. Only 2 characters are being shown in our opening and so this theory is quite the opposite to our narrative. Our narrative also does not follow the theory of Todorov. His theory consists of ideas of equilibrium and disequilibrium and the way the narrative has to undergo the interweaving of these 'briums' with a new equilibrium at the end of the narrative. This is not similar to our narrative and so makes it difficult to follow with a theory so different to it. Aristotle pretty much allows our narrative to be able to follow it easily and so this is why we are following this theory.
Our group narrative is conventional to the thriller genre as it has a build up of tension and suspense which eventually results in a climax. The audience are made to feel relieved in a way when the girl faints as someone may be able to help her but when the antagonist is seen once again, the audience loose hope for her. The way this relationship forms between the character and the audience makes the thriller a lot more relatable from the audiences point of view. Also, the fact that the audience are able to witness some things that the character cannot such as the man behind her, creates a sympathetic feel for the character and also a sense of foreboding as they know that something bad is going to happen. Furthermore, the victim will be female, making them seem more weak, vulnerable and also conventional because the victim needs to be weak in order for something bad to happen to them. Moreover, the antagonist/killer's identity will be hidden which was proved to be popular from what was expected in a thriller from the questionnaire results we retrieved.
This post demonstrates some good group planning and discussions, which is evident through the advantages and disadvantages that you have included. However, you need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each group idea in a lot more detail. It is clear to see that you and your group have considered the conventions of a thriller and the type of sequence that you would like to create.
ReplyDeleteThe points that you have included on Aristotle's theory, also helps to demonstrate your understanding of your sequence and the various themes that can be seen in the opening.