Story board and shot list

Shooting schedule

Creating a shooting schedule means that we can organize our time and use it effectively. It will ensure that each member of the crew or cast will know where to be at what time and how long it will last. It means that we will know what equipment is needed which should help to avoid any forgotten components that are vital to the scene. It means we will know what costume and props are needed for the character to ensure continuity throughout our thriller opening. 

Soundtrack

We decided on using two tracks for our thriller opening and overlapping them. The main repetitive, guitar music is quite hypnotic but also gradually builds tension and suspense. It has no obvious inclination of whether Ted or Ruby are good or bad people, this way the audience is still left questioning who they are and their intentions. It does however create quite a melancholy atmosphere which suggests neither of the characters are particularly happy, it is also quite dark and enigmatic which are key connotations of a film noir thriller. 

The second track adds extra sounds at key point in the thriller e.g. at 0:13 when Ted goes to get something out of this desk, this plants a seed of doubt in the audiences mind and makes them begin to wonder what he is doing as the sound implies he is doing something he shouldn't. This happens again at 0:49 when we see a close up of a photo graph of Ruby which then cuts to her walking. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable and slightly anxious, Who is he, who is she? and why does he have these pictures? Questions further planted by the eery suspense of the soundtrack. The most effective use of this is at 1:59 when Ruby is attacked, it adds an element of surprise and will make the audience jump. This adds to the fear and shock that Ruby would of been feeling which makes the audience begin to feel her fear and empathise with her. It makes the attack much more dramatic and exciting for the audience. 
When Ruby is left lying on the floor the second track fades away and we are left with just the hypnotic guitar music, this adds emotion and empathy for Ruby's character and suggests her vulnerability and how alone she is. The music then fades out without answering any questions, this will make the audience want to watch more and find out what happens next!

Actors

Actors by lizzieadcock

Fonts

We decided on this very elegant 1920s style font called 'Nite club' as it captures our film noir theme perfectly. The thinness of the letters makes it appear very stylish and reflects the world of glamour that was popular in the 20s. This relates to the characters, costumes and props used in our thriller opening. The detective style clothing and office as well as a sophisticated woman reflects the glamour of the 20s. The font appears very upmarket, this links to the plot line of our well established, higher class detective and sophisticated lady. It is also very fragile, this links with the vulnerability of Ruby and her role within the film, as well as Ted who has either been driven to commit a crime or has been cruelly framed. Either way, both characters are very fragile within the film.







The font is fairly similar to that used in The Great Gatsby and The Artist. Both very sophisticated, 20s style films. Both include well dressed, upper market sophisticated characters who ooze glamour and class.


The letters have a similair shape to those used in L.A. Noire however they are much more elegant and thin. Nethertheless they share that film noir style, detective, enigmatic and glamorous feel. All connotations that are included in our thriller, Corruption.

Rough Cut

I really like the lighting when Ted is sat at his desk, i think the way it casts shadows and creates silhouettes is effective and works well with our film noir style. It also helps to create tension and enigma.  The mise en scene works really well, the costumes and props look good with the lighting and settings and fit with the story line. (0.02 - 0.14)

Our choice of music is effective in gradually picking up the tension, it wasn't too obvious that something was going to happen which added more of a surprise to the attack. The overlay of the second track adding extra sounds in specific places added tension and worked really well. e.g. 0:33

I think the lighting is too dark in places and the titles look too random and out of place. Some of the cuts are not as smooth as they could be but we could fix this by re editing parts. The font at the beginning is different to the font of the rest of the titles, this makes it looks unorganised and not well thought out. Also we have not included the title of our film.

At 1:48 when Ruby is attacked it appears the first little bit of her dialogue has been cut off, we shall have to edit this to make it fit to maintain the pace and fluidity of the piece. 

The ending of our opening is too abrupt  we should add a fade to black to make her death linger in the minds of the audience. This will add emotion, suspense and anxiety, giving the audience something to think about. 

The shot of the address written on the paper at 0:12 is not left on for long enough, this makes it difficult to read and causes confusion. The address needs more focus as it is a fairly important part of the scene. Similarly we are first introduced to Ruby by the image on the desk at 0:36. this is an important shot as it begins to suggest that Ted is not quite right and installs suspicion into the audience, we should re edit so that there is more focus on the image by leaving it on longer. 

Location 2

The House

Originally we intended to use a multi storey car park for our second location but this proved difficult so we decided to change to this house, which would in the story be the house of Ruby's current lover. We will film in the evening so the lighting will make the location feel more claustrophobic and enigmatic, typical traits of film noir movies. 

The big wooden door and single source of light (porch light) will give the scene an eery feeling which teamed with music will increase the tension giving the audience the feeling that something bad is going to happen. The bars on the porch give a sense of entrapment, which suggests Ruby has no escape from her inevitable fate. 

We will use an extreme close up of Ruby's hand trying to open the door. This will add some confusion and the audience will wonder who's house she is trying to get into. This adds to the mystery and tension of the plot line as there are a lot of loose ends that will be explained later on in the film. The close up will give a sense of claustrophobia, which will highlight that Ruby is alone, making her seem more vulnerable. 

The open space of the drive up to the house is bleak and empty which suggests the loneliness of Ruby, it again will make her seem vulnerable and look small against the grand scheme of things. As we will film at night the space will look more suspicious - as in, it will heighten the feeling that something bad is going to follow.

This is where the attack will take place. This location is similar to large empty spaces used in films such as Essex Boys. 

Location 1

The Office;

We are going to use this business office located in Watton for the first part of the opening of our thriller. We will use props and lighting to make the office appear a film noir style detectives office. The big wooden desk covered in in various documents works really well to make it appear a police office. The office we have created is similair to locations seen in films such as Casino Royale and The Third Man. It is claustrophobic and enigmatic which compliments our story line and theme perfectly. The mounds of work suggest to the audience that our main character (Ted Lived) is a busy man, devoted to his job who has little time to do anything but work, it also hints at a dark side of him as his work is not neat in his office, it is sort of like an area of mess and destruction which pre-empts the role he will play in the film. 

We have made a folder to imitate a confidential police folder with images of a young girl attached to the top. The images of her are those that she doesn't know have been taken. This will make the audience wonder if his intentions are to protect her like a detective should or whether they are darker than that. Also placed on the desk is a passport and a map, this suggests that Ted travels, whether that's strictly business or for darker deeds, the audience will not know. This adds to the enigma of the storyline and our main character. 

Within the office is a filing cabinet which Ted will walk over to and get out the document. This is a typical piece of furniture featured in a police style office which make the location more realistic and believable in our thriller opening. Again the office appears similar to those featured in Casino Royale. It also suggests to the audience a feeling of secrecy, as within the filing cabinets are confidential documents. This highlights that Ted has an important, high class role in society as he is trusted with such secret documents. 

Location planning

Treatment

A desk in a detective’s office (props around the room to indicate it’s a detectives office such as lots of paperwork, police badge etc.) with a silhouette of a man dressed in full black, with a long black coat, and black hat shadowing his face, tapping his nail on the desk. His phone and hand is lit up by a lamp on the table. He receives a message causing his phone to light up. He takes a deep breath and looks at the phone, cuts to over the shoulder shot of the phone. Message from an unknown number, the message reads “Hollywood car park, 42 Angel Street, Norwich, 9^th floor J” He has one leather glove on as he opens a draw, you see him tugging on something but never get to see what. He then puts the item in his pocket and as he walks out of the room he puts on the other leather glove. During all of this, you never get to see the man’s face.

Cuts to a woman with a suitcase walking towards the car park, the shot comes from the neck down so we never see her face. Following the 180 degree rule.  She is dressed in a bright red dress, with black heels. All you can hear is her footsteps as she walks along the pathement. You then see that the lift is out of order, and she makes her way up the staircase, using a low angled shot, level with the staircase. It then cuts to shot of a sign that says “9^th floor”, with a graffiti “J” on it, and the camera slowly moves down, and as it sinks you see the women go up the final step, and the camera then reaches the bottom step and you then hear a scream, followed by a choking sound.

Our opening to our thriller takes inspiration from such thrillers as, “The Third Man”. The way you never clearly see our character has been taken from this film, in the way that it hides one of the main characters, “Harry Lime”. We have decided to take this idea, and use it as our own as it creates tension and enigma in the plot. As for the way our characters look, again this is taken from “The Third Man”, but not only that, also “LA Confidential”. Both films use classic film noir costumes for male and female, and that is approach we would like to take. 

Characters, Costumes and Props

Characters Costumes and Props 2

Mood board

Mood Board on Prezi