Production schedule

21/02/17-Filming of establishing shots at the graveyard. No props needed. Ellie, Joby, Lucy and myself will need to be present for the filming to all take some shots.

09/03/17-Filming of Lucas at the graveyard. Props-Flowers for grave. Ellie, Joby, Lucy and myself will again all need to be present for the filming.

??/??/17-Filming of Lucy and crime board. Props-Crime board, documents and pictures for crime board. Ellie, Joby and myself will again all need to be present for the filming. Lucy will have to be present to act in the filming taking place.

Title and font research

The font used in thriller films in the title sequence normally relates to the film in some way. For example 'Seven' is a thriller film and the title for the film has been developed to 'Se7en' this is unique as although it does not spell the title of the film out clearly the audience is still able to read the title. The title is also overlapped which gives the effect of the text being shaken, this is accosted with fear. In relation to title sequences in thrillers, they often are just made clear as they are smaller on the screen that the title so have to be less confusing.

Taking into consideration the research that I have conducted, when looking into the font we are going to use for our film title I researched a range of fonts that convey different messages. The first is a basic font, being easy to read makes this font likely to be used in the credits. It is also very thin which is desirable as it will not take away from the shot it is playing over. The second, third and fourth fonts relate to the film's narrative (as I found many thriller fonts do) they are uneven and messy, the second appears to be splattered ink, the crazy layout relates to Lucas' illness and the third and forth appear to be scribbled down over and over again this again relates to his illness as he is irrational. The fifth in my opinion is my favourite as the idea we have as group is to have the title appear in the final shot of the opening, as the camera pans over to the crime board and zooms into a document with the title either typed or written, this also means that the sixth font would work. The fifth font is unique and stands out, whereas the sixth is very basic. In my opinion, the fifth font will stand out more on the document. 

Institutional research

Upon research into film distributors, I have found that both Universal Pictures and Lionsgate Entertainment have both co-operated with other film distributors and producers as well as each other to produce a variety of thriller films. The prezi linked bellow shows the full institutional research that I have carried out.

https://prezi.com/gncthvxl3n5v/institutional/

Location research

After planning our new opening we have decided on the setting being predominately at a graveyard and then in a room with a crime board wall for a small portion of the opening. The importance of the graveyard setting is that it provokes emotion in the audience as we associate a graveyard with death and dark thoughts, this may suggest to the audience when watching the opening that something dark and mysterious has happened, which the film (if continued) would then explain. The opening, however, is just to convey a small message to the audience that keeps them guessing throughout as to what is happening and why. The relevance of the crime board also relates to this as the audience has no idea why the crime board is being used and how important it is to Lucy the undercover detective, the investigation and the plot of the film itself. That is why it will be the last thing shown before the end of the opening. 

Changes to our opening and modified story board

As a group, we have sat down and reflected on how we feel filming and the opening, in general, is going. We have also received allot of feedback from teachers and media subject experts. We have now decided to keep some of the aspects of the original narrative as well as the addition of modified aspects. The new narrative follows Lucas and Lucy, Lucas' character remains the same, suffering from the mind crippling illness Schizophrenia, who's girlfriend has mysteriously died. Lucy is an undercover detective following Lucas as she believes that he is suspicious and perhaps even guilty.

The layout of the opening, order of shots and the camera angles and movements we are going to used are shown in the storyboard bellow (Lucy=Patricia in storyboard):

Props and costume list

Props:

Crime board-The crime board is an essential prop in our thriller opening as it is the indication at the end of the opening that all is not well. It also leaves the plot of the film open, as in our previously planned opening it appeared like a trailer due to too much of the narrative being given away in the first two minutes. 

Cup of coffee-This shows that Lucy needs caffeine to keep herself sharp and that she is a hard working a determined character. 

Black handbag-Although this could be considered a mundane prop to use, the relevance of this prop is that it shows how casual Lucy's character is when it comes to investigating. It also gives the audience an indication that she is undercover. The purpose of the prop is to keep her notepad safe as it is essential to the investigation and the information will be used on the crime board later in the film. 

Flowers-The flowers will be used to show the 'remorse' Lucas shows? They will be placed on the grave aggressively to show the mixed emotions he shows due to his disorder. 

Car-The car will be used to show that Lucy has travelled to the church. It also shows that she is undercover as it is not a police car. This shows she does not want to stand out. 

Notepad and pen-This are essential as what she observes Lucas doing she writes down onto the notepad, this is then added to the crime board at a later date. 

Camera-The camera is used to take pictures of Lucas when Lucy is observing him. This is also transferred onto the crime board at a later date to record his behaviour. 

Watch-This is used as Lucy exits the car and checks the time. This leaves the audience asking why she does this. As it could be considered a nervous act as opposed to a confident one.

Costumes:

Lucy Barnes (Lucy)-Business suit, smart coat, hair in a professional looking bun, smart shoes, glasses. -The importance of this costume is that it is intended to send the message of authoritative, confident, official, credible, persuasive, and stable. This also contrasts with how Lucas is portrayed. The key elements are a more formal, dark coloured, structured outfit that is smart and sends a clear message. The idea of Lucy's hair being pinned up also send a clear message as this is commonly worn by business women and people of higher authority, it shows she has made an effort. It’s generally assumed that glasses make people appear more intelligent, although this is a clear stenotype and obviously, a pair of glasses do not make someone more intelligent the impression is given off which is a desirable quality for this character. The character makeup will be natural to relate to the official and smart costume and hair. 

Lucas Smith (Lucas)-Black top and trousers, black shoes, black coat. Black is associated with power, death, evil, and mystery. It is a mysterious colour associated with fear and the unknown (black holes). It usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humour  'black death'). Black denotes strength and authority; it is a very formal, elegant, and prestigious colour (black tie, black Mercedes). In heraldry, black is the symbol of grief. Also, an obvious use of the colour black in relation to costume, of course, would be a funeral. Although Lucas is going to appear smart in all black an element will have to allow him to appear unstable, to contrast against Lucy and relate to his illness, this could be achieved through the addition of makeup to make him look tired and scruffy hair. 

Hush flashback scene analysis

The scene shows Maddie being beaten by 'The Man' who is not named through the whole film. After watching the film I can give the background knowledge that throughout the two characters have struggled for dominance as Maddie has struggled to survive and escape her attacker. The setting of the scene is Middies’ front room, with very low lighting as the power has been cut off; the only light comes in waves from the disconnected fire alarm she used to distract her attacker. What makes this scene unique in my opinion is the sound, because Maddie is deaf and mute the film has been adapted to her point of view through most shots, this means that most of the film is silent, putting the audience is Middies’ shoes, which provokes fear and suspense as Maddie is in allot of danger. As Maddie tries to escape the man grabs her by her hair and throws her to the ground, this is shown in two fast-paced shots the second showing the man’s face as he carry's this out. The man then starts to kick Maddie in the stomach; in this intense and violent shot sequence, we see a shot reverse shot between the man and Maddie on the floor. The man then lowers to Middies’ level and straddles and begins to strangle her. We are then shown a shot from the man’s point of view as Maddie bites his arm in defence. A canted high angle then quickly shows both characters on the floor, this is followed by a point of view shot from Middies’ point of view of the man hitting her, this then returns back to the canted high angle and then again to Middies’ point of view. This fast-paced editing and repetition of the same shot builds up suspense and fear as it shows the audience how quickly the situation has escalated. The camera then draws attention to where Maddie is reaching in her struggle, a corkscrew laying on the floor. In desperation Maddie reaches to a wound she inflicted on the man earlier in the film, this has no effect and he continues to strangle her and starts to aggressively bang her head against the floor. Non-diegetic sound of Middies’ heart beating is then reintroduced, as the heartbeat begins to slow pictures begin to appear for just a second on the screen, between these millisecond snapshots of pictures of Middies’ childhood (her life flashing before her eyes) we are also shown point of view shots of both Maddie and the man, looking both up and down at each other until finally, Middies’ heart beat slows. It is at this point that as Maddie is on the verge of losing consciousness, she manages to grab the corkscrew that we saw in the opening of the film and stab the man in the throat, finally killing him. We are then shown a bird's eye view shot of the two character collapsed on the floor in similar outstretched positions, ending the scene.