Thriller Opening Mood Board

SetWithin the opening 2 minutes of my film the main location will be that of a dark bedroom. I researched some possible ideas for the lighting and setting of this location and these were some of my favourite ones.

I really like the simplicity of these ones. To have the girl sitting in her wheelchair in an empty dark room could be really effective and would highlight her isolation and sadness. These two bedrooms show the atmosphere that I would want to capture in the opening. I like the light that is created through the closed windows. I think that it represents the girl’s state of depression and also because of the fact that we cannot see the details within the room, a sense of enigma is created.

These two are examples of another idea that I had for the location for when she is sitting in the wheelchair. By having a bit more clutter within the space could exaggerate how the girl is being objectified throughout the film and how she is always being treated like an animal. If she was amongst more objects, a sense that her past experiences are still haunting her could be created - almost as if this horrible basement has sparked the memories of her kidnapping and the morning that it happened.

The other main set that will appear in my thriller opening is a dance studio. I wanted this set to represent a form of normality so I am currently looking for spaces similar to these.

The classic mirror and ballet bars are something that I would love to feature in my opening. The mirrors will allow me to explore abstract camera angles to show tension and drama through her dancing.

The necklace is very prominent throughout my treatment. I originally wanted to have the girl wear a necklace with a ballerina on it but have now changed my mind to a necklace with ballerina shoes on it. I think that the ballerina shoes are both subtle and specific at the same time. It can’t draw to much attention to itself; however, it needs to have enough status in a frame that we can tell it belongs to our protagonist.

The props that will be shown in the opening play a big part in the entire film, therefore when researching my different options it was vital that I made sure that they had the right effect and that they worked in harmony with the rest of the visuals.

Props

This is what I imagine the girl’s converse to look like at the beginning when she is walking down the street.

Costume

This thriller is set in the present day so the costumes will be much easier to locate than some of the other visuals. I want the girl to be wearing dirty trainers, preferably converse, with jeans and a hoody. This quite ordinary outfit will resemble how she is just a normal teenage girl. Also, something like a red hoody will allow the audience to see that she is the same girl even in some of the more abstract shots.

When picturing the shot of the girl sitting in the wheelchair, I envisioned her sitting in a period wheelchair with the high backboard. However, these are very hard to find so I have decided to research into these more modern ones.

I am aware that this inspiration did not come from a thriller but the outfit in the opening of Juno I think resembles what I want the girl to wear in my thriller. The simplicity of the jeans, t-shirt, and converse will not act as a distraction to the plot or other major visuals such as her necklace.

Another costume that I need to think about is the girl’s dancing uniform. Again, I want the colours and style to be subtle as to not distract from the plot or other visuals and to show that the girl has a normal, middle class life style.

I want the girl to be wearing a dark coloured leotard (preferably black or dark blue) over some black or skin coloured tights. As for the dance shoes, I was considering hiring some on-pointe ballet shoes but seeing as I want to exhibit mainly contemporary dance it wouldn’t be practical. By having the girls wear soft ballet shoes means that she can do both ballet and contemporary.

I think that if the girl were wearing a dressing gown whilst sitting in the wheelchair, her state of having given up would be shown more clearly.

Camera Angles

These are some of the close-up shots that I will hopefully use in the opening. Short and disturbing close-ups of the girl brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, turning the shower on, along with other snap shots of her morning routine will be intercut over the continuous shot of her trapped in the basement/sitting in the wheelchair.

For the continuous shot of the girl sitting in the wheelchair, I decided that I want her to wear a plain dressing gown. The will show how depressed she is as well has the fact that she has completely given up now that she cannot dance.