Foundation Production Planning

Whos in your group?

Olivia Groves, Alfie Rouch and Mollie Fowler.
What sub-genre of thriller are you planning to make? Why this subgenre? What ideas do you have?
A detective thriller, I think this we should produce a detective thriller
because I like that sub-genre. I also think we should produce a
detective thriller as the props and location will be easy to film and
get hold of. The plot of a detective thriller will also be relatively easy
to come up with as detective thrillers have strong typical
conventions.
My first idea for our title sequence is showing two different
perspectives from a detective and a serial killer, both getting ready
for work. It will consist of contrasting shots from each characters
perspective showing how the two characters do the same daily
tasks although they are very different people that do things in
different ways and both have different aims. For example, they may
be a shot of the detective opening his brief case to see all of his
detective paperwork, this shot will then cut to the perspective of the
serial killer opening the same brief case however itll contain
weapons for murder e.g. different types of knives etc. That is only
one example of how we could use the same actions of both
characters to show the contrast of each characters motives and
attitudes. Other shot ideas include the contrast of clothing of each
character, the cleanliness of each character, simply the contrast of
the characters actions and the contrast between family photos in
the detectives house and murder victim photos in the serial killers
house.
What location(s) will you use? Why?
The location I think we should use is a normal house for the
detective and possibly a more rough dirty house for the serial killer.
The normal house will reflect the detectives normality due to the
conventional family home location. The dirtier house will reflect the
serial killers mental issues through the mess and the lack of care in
the house. These two similar but also very diverse locations will also
help to show the audience how these two characters are very
different.

Who will be your Actors? Why? What roles will they play? What
costume/make up will be used?
In films serial killers and detectives are both usually male, this is
due to the stereotype of men being brave and strong and therefore
using a male for a detective is conventional. Due to the fact that
men are stereotypically stronger than women this strength is used
to make the serial killer seem scarier due to his intimidating
strength. An example of this is the movie Se7en that I have
analysed already where both the detectives are male and the serial
killer is also male. So therefore I think actors in our group should be
me and Alfie as we are the only males in the group. I will play the
role of the detective and Alfie will play the role of the serial killer. We
will both need costumes that will reflect the personality of each
character. Conventionally a detective wears a hat and a long trench
coat and informal shirt and tie.

So as a typical detective I will wear an informal shirt and tie and a

jacket with smart shoes. Alfie as a serial killer will have to wear a
white shirt over a t white shirt with jeans and smart shoes however
the shoes will be in bad condition. This costume will suit Alfie as a
serial killer as his relatively normal clothes will contrast with his
abnormal actions and personality, making him seem scarier to the
audience as hes more relatable when wearing somewhat normal
clothes.

What will the narrative be for the opening? Will you use
chronological narrative/ flashbacks/ dual narrative?
The narrative of this title sequence will be two characters getting
ready for work. The detective will be getting ready for actual work
whereas the serial killer gets ready to murder. The narrative will be
chronological with everything in order. The narrative will also be
dual narrative as it will be showing two different perspectives, the
serial killer and the detective.
What titles will you include?
We will include titles such as producers, actors, designers, costume
designers supervisors, Casting by, and the title of the film at the
end as its conventional for a title sequence.
What sound will you use?
We will include diegetic sound in this title sequence to create
realism for the character. The diegetic sounds will include music that
both characters are listening to in their homes. The detectives radio
will be playing normal music or possibly the news whereas the serial
killer will be listening to classical music to show his twisted
personality. We will also use non-diegetic sound of music at the end
of the title sequence when the title of the film is shown.
Which thriller openings have influenced you? How? How do you plan
to use these influences?
I have watched a lot of thriller openings before even thinking of any
title sequence ideas in order to see what is conventional and what
works well. This idea of getting ready for work came from Dexters
title sequence which shows the main character getting ready in the
morning. For the planning of the actors costumes I took influence
from the movie Se7en as when analysing the film I realised that
their costumes were effective in showing the characters personality
which we as a group would like to do also.

How will you attract your audience and make them want to watch
the rest of the film?
This title sequence idea will attract the audience and make them
watch the rest of the film due to the enigma the title sequence will
create. The sequence will leave the audience with questions such as
who are the characters? Are they linked in anyway? What has the
serial killer done? Will these two characters meet? All these question
created will lead to the audience wanting to watch the rest of the
film.
What problems do you anticipate with the planning/shoot? How will
you overcome them (e.g. practical problems, health and safety etc)
I think as a group we will come across problems when planning and
shooting our title sequence. These problems may include trying to
find an effective location for the serial killers house. It might also be
difficult to get hold of certain props such as weapons for the shots.
However we could use weapons like household knives although
there are some health and safety issues with that.
My second idea for our detective thriller opening sequence is the
idea of using props. This is commonly used for a lot of thriller
opening sequences, such as Se7en and Crimson Peak.

The props we will use is similar to the ones used in Se7en these
include weapons but mostly pieces of evidence foreshadowing the
narrative of the film.
Which location(s) will you use? Why?
We will use a room with a desk that can have all the props in it
including the weapons and the evidence. I think this will be a good
location as its simple but effective.

Who will be your actors? Why? What roles will they play? What
costume/make up will be used?
Although this idea for the title sequence is prop based we will still
need actors for photos for the evidence. We could use everyone in
the group for the evidence photos including Mollie and Olivia as
women are stereotypically victims of serial killers thriller films. When
taking the photos of the victims they will be wearing normal
clothes just with rips in and fake blood on to indicate that they have
been attacked to the audience.
What will the narrative be for the opening? Will you use
chronological narrative/ flashbacks/ dual narrative?
The narrative will be have some flash back elements as the photos
of the victims will show whats happened in the past to the
audience. However itll be in present day in chronological order.
What titles will you include?
We will include titles such as producers, actors, designers, costume
designers supervisors, Casting by, and the title of the film at the
end as its conventional for a title sequence.
What sound will you include?
We will include both non-diegetic and diegetic sound in this title
sequence. Non-diegetic sound of music over the whole title
sequence, this music will be tense to create an eerie atmosphere for
the audience and to also match the disturbing props we are going to
use. There will also be diegetic sound such as the flipping of the
evidence, the writing of the evidence. This will be effective as itll
make the audience feel more realism if they hear what the character
hears.
Which thriller openings have influenced you? How? How do you plan
to use these influences?
As mentioned earlier Se7en and Crimson Peak are both thriller
films that I have looked at and both their title sequences use props
rather than actors. I like this idea and thought if done well it could
be effective for my chosen sub-genre of thriller. I am going to take
these influences by using only props to make my title sequence.
How will you attract your audience and make them want to watch
the rest of the film?
I think the using only props in our title sequence will leave the
audience with a lot of questions as only using props limits what the

audience is made aware of. This will make them want to keep
watching as the props will create enigma for the audience, for
example the pictures may make the audience ask who murdered the
victims?
What problems do you anticipate with the planning/shoot? How will
you overcome them (e.g. practical problems, health and safety etc)
I think as a group we will come across problems when planning and
shooting our title sequence. For this prop title sequence idea we will
come across problems like the absence of animation, a lot of prop
based title sequences also rely on animation however our resources
as a group are limited so we cant use animation. This may be a
problem however I believe it could still be done effectively with
printed props and the use of editing such as a use of a variety of
cuts.
My third and final idea for our detective thriller title sequence was to
have someone running in the woods away from a murderer.
What location(s) will you use? Why?
I think the best location for this particular idea would be the woods.
This is due to the fact that the location for thriller films is often in an
area in which there are not a lot of people to add to the eerie
atmosphere for the audience. It makes the audience believe that
there is no way out for the victim or no one to help them. That is
therefore the reason I think the woods would be an effective location
for this title sequence. It is also typical to have chase scenes in the
woods as you can incorporate a lot of diegetic sounds such as
branches being stepped on and snapped, sounds like this will create
an even tenser atmosphere for the audience.

Who will be your actors? Why? What roles will they play? What
costume/make up will be used?
Alfie and Mollie will be the two actors in this title sequence. I chose
these two to be the actors for this sequence as Mollie being a
female, could act as the victim very effectively by adhering to the
stereotype of a damsel in distress. And Alfie being the male, he
could play the stereotypical strong, intimidating male antagonist
chasing the damsel in distress (Mollie). Alfie will wear all black
hiding himself from the audience whereas Mollie will wear normal
clothes making her relatable, creating more realism for the
audience.

What will the narrative be for the opening? Will you use
chronological narrative/ flashbacks/ dual narrative?
The narrative will be simple and chronological for this title sequence
as its a chase.
What titles will you include?
We will include titles such as producers, actors, designers, costume
designers supervisors, Casting by, and the title of the film at the
end as its conventional for a title sequence.
What sound will you include?
We will include both diegetic and non-diegetic sound to create an
effective atmosphere for the audience. Fast paced non-diegetic
music will be used for this title sequence as its a chase scene. This
will be effective as the fast paced music will match the running of
the victim as the shots will be from her perspective. We will also use
diegetic sound such as the sound of the victim stepping on
branches; this will be effective as it makes the audience and the
victim feel uneasy.
Which thriller openings have influenced you? How? How do you plan
to use these influences?
This idea wasnt influenced by any thriller film in particular just after
watch a few I came up with the idea to have a chase scene as the
title sequence as I thought it would be effective.
How will you attract your audience and make them want to watch
the rest of the film?
I think this idea for a title sequence will attract the audience and
make them want to watch more because itll create an enigma for
the audience and leave them asking questions. Who is chasing her?
Why is he chasing her? Does she get caught? All these questions will
make the audience want to watch the rest of the film to find out
what happens.
What problems do you anticipate with the planning/shoot? How will
you overcome them (e.g. practical problems, health and safety etc)
I think as a group we will come across problems when planning and
shooting our title sequence. These problems will include trying to
get a dark feel to the footage as we dont want to literally film in the
dark as itll lower the quality of our filming. However we could
overcome this problem by making the footage have a dark
atmosphere in post-production by possibly putting a dark filter over

it, this would allow us to create a dark atmosphere without having to

loose quality of the footage.