Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Question 6 – What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

All of the different types of technology we have used to create our media product so far have been completely new to me and so I started out as a beginner and had to learn along the way. This was the same for the other members in my group and so, in a way, this was good because it meant we could all work together and get to grips with the task ahead as a team, all at the same level. We started our blogs first and, instead of throwing ourselves straight into it, we each spent about an hour in class just becoming familiar with the website and the tools in which we used to achieve good blog posts. for further help in using blogger I used:


http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/blogger/ 

We worked out how to position images, change styles of fonts and the basic formatting skills for blog posts, this didn't take very long to master however and we felt like naturals already. After a few weeks of uploading posts and all of our research, we thought that including videos in our actual blog would help make it more interesting and set it out from some of the others. None of us knew how to do this however and so I researched for online tutorials and step by step instructions on how to upload videos onto Blogger. It was fairly simple in the end and we managed to include YouTube clips of existing thriller films which helped to aid our research and emphasis the points we were making.

As well as learning about the blogging world we also had to embark on a seemingly tricky journey to film our opening sequence, even though there were a few problems at the start we accomplished it fairly successfully. The equipment we were using was, once again, new to all of us and but this was exciting because it meant we were able to do something new and learn new skills. We had a DV camera and a tripod. The camera wasn't anything special as it didn't have high quality resolution of image and it also picked up all background sound but we worked it to our advantage. We ensured that we only had sound we needed in each scene by filming in quiet locations and if we couldn't do this then we decided to just mute the sound in the particularly noisy scenes during editing anyway. In terms of clear image and lighting, this was an obstacle. In our shooting schedule I made sure to plan it very carefully with all the timings and filming periods so that we could have as much or as little light as we needed. For example, for the graveyard scene, it needed to be a summers evening but because we were filming during winter we had to shoot in the afternoon otherwise it would get too dark for us to carry on. Apart from this the camera worked wonders and we were able to edit some of the lighting in some scenes, for it to look darker, after filming as well. The other piece of equipment we used was the tripod. It was not in good condition because it had been used a lot by previous students and so was quite worn out. The screw which enabled it to become taller or shorter was stiff and so at times we had to balance the tripod on a chair or try to hold it steady. The top of the tripod which allows the camera to pan across a shot was also loose or even at times quite stiff. This took up quite a lot of filming time because one of our shots was a pan across, following the husband, who arrives home and walks through the hall way. In the end we managed to get it to work but only with a clicking sound going with it and so we were a bit disappointed with it. We decided to cut that shot out of our opening sequence and just show the husband taking his coat off. This means that the initial plan from the story board had been altered.

Our media product wouldn't be anything without sound. We needed a musical score to play in the background for tension to be built up. We used the website “Free Play” to source some copyright free music and sound effects. It took a long time to find the right kind of music we were looking for because there were just hundreds of tracks to choose from. We had to type in key words such as “murder”, “tension” and “eerie”, into the search box to find the music and yet sometimes the tracks didn't have much relation to those key words so it could get frustrating. We spent a week listening to music and eventually downloaded six different tracks to mix and match throughout the opening, title sequence. Then was the next challenge, adding all the music we had gathered together to the footage we had edited.

During the time of editing the footage we had tried to use a variety of different cuts for example a quick cut montage for the murder scene. This meant that the music had to be synchronised with the timing of the film and this was quite hard. I had to cut a lot of the music and then re-position the introductions of certain sound effects and fade certain parts in and out. I spent a lot of time doing this because it needed to be just right in order for tension to be built up, for there to be audience expectation and for the general flow of the opening sequence, depending on whether it was a fast or slow scene. Once I had worked out how to use I-movie and how to use the tools to achieve certain affects then it was easy to use. I managed to make different shots seem faded or darker, an example of this in our work is, during the flash back, a special effect transition has been used to exit and enter a different scene. I did this with the music as well by turning up the volume in some areas or by overlapping two different tracks. 

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

From the research leading into the filming and opening sequence of our film we researched and felt that the perfect audience for psychological thrillers was between the ages of 18 and 29. Whilst researching we found that the number of male viewers is much higher than female viewers. During the planning of our opening sequence we tried to make sure that we kept to the codes and conventions of thriller to be able to fully engage our thriller audience as they have been successful in achieving this target audience. Being only 16, 17 year olds, my group and I thought that it would be a bit complicated reaching this target audience. Although our original target audience was for those 15 and older, meaning films under the BBFC guidelines, hard narrative of the film. As our film does not fulfil all the criteria for 15+ film drugs, frequent use of strong language, violence, adult themes strong sexual references and nudity without graphic details can be used in our film and could be seen by the target audience. As our aim was an opening sequence and not the full film, our timeframe was 2-3 minutes which enabled us to introduce the film which would then lead up to bigger things as we are setting up the main narrative. The rating would be lowered as if it was being advertised to the general public. 

The main protagonists of our opening sequence are all middle aged characters as they are placed in situations which 15+ year olds would not understand or be able to relate to because they would often occur later on in their adult lives such as affairs (which is part of the narrative). Unfortunately this might be a downfall when it comes to achieving our primary target audience which we initially aimed for. However, those who will watch our final product will be of a different type of audience compared to the young adults set out to try and appeal during our planning and research. With our new secondary target audience we aim for middle aged men and women to view it, making it an equal target profile. Our editor Lydia pointed out that one of our main reasons for changing the target audience would be that “middle aged adults are less likely to seek out films that scare them and that are disturbing which are what the younger generation tend to go for". We plan on still having elements of thrillers which create suspense through the use of our score. For example when the lead male protagonist (played by Simon Duncan) wakes to his wife, yielding a knife, about to kill him, the score leading up to that part becomes jumpy and tense which sets the mood. The use of the knife has an inter-textual reference to Hitchcock, in the 1960 well known thriller, 'Psycho', shower scene where the knife is the key prop used in a brutal murder. The use of intertextual reference to such an iconic film our older audience members would know the film quite will making them want to watch our title sequence thus attraction them. As it was a popular film many are able to make the connection to the knife and Psycho also giving it a shack factor but ask it is familiar to them.  Our slightly older characters and target audience members are of the same age will be able to relate with the characters on screen, relating and sympathising with them, depending on the situations they are placed in.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Final Opening Sequence

Final Product

Practice Shot

Practice Shots/Appearing and Disappearing

To make our final scene tense and shocking we will make the wife appear and disappear in the room behind the husband. To have an accurate shot when filming for the opening sequence we had to practice it at Lydia's house before we officially filmed anything. We had to do it twice so that we could learn the skills we needed to perform this camera  trick. Whilst editing we also made sure that the shots did not appear to jump from one to another because otherwise it would be very noticeable to the audience that both parts were filmed separately. We ensured to include lag time on either side of filming the scene so that during editing we could cut the footage to the length we needed and made sure there was a smooth transition between both shots. 

Filming this practice shot took place in Lydia's house. This helped us a lot because the room was in fact the room we are using to film the actual scene. We got used to the spacing and camera positions that we were able and unable to use. 

Casting: The Girlfriend

Casting: The Girlfriend

The Girlfriend:

The girlfriend is young and attractive and very appealing to the husband. She is flirty and has a bouncy personality which excites the husband and adds a bit of colour to his life. She is a student in his university lectures and so that is how they came across each other and met. The girlfriend doesn’t know about the wife and so doesn’t think anything is wrong and is on the outside of the main story line of the film. She wears quite normal clothes, for example jeans and fashionable scarf and so she isn’t very provocative and so is your average student. 

Rachel Knox - 24 years old and so the right age for playing the role of a student. She looks quite innocent and so therefore she suits the part for almost being on the outside of the main plot. The fact that she already has quite a normal fashion sense means that she doesn't need a costume and can almost play the part as herself because she herself is in a relationship. 

Kathleen Johnston - Kathleen is a student at university at the moment and so won't have to act younger or older than she really is which means that she can relate to the role she would be playing. she is also very attractive which meets the requirements of the role. A negative aspect is that she isn't very keen on taking part and acting. 

Christina McDermott - Christina was was also considered to play the role of the wife but we also thought that she could fit the part of the girlfriend as well. This is because she looks similar to Amanda Duncan, who has been cast for the wife, and so this can add to the story line. It is believable that the husband would feel attracted to her because she fits into his certain "type". 

We have decided to cast Christina McDermott for the role of The Girlfriend. This is because Kathleen might not be available for the filming dates as she is at university and she is also reluctant to act. Rachel we felt maybe a bit too young to play the role and she said she will only take part if she is our final option. Christina is willing to act, is available for the filming dates and also won't need much costume work or props, because she looks similar to Amanda Duncan. Christina Mcdermott is playing The Girlfriend. 

Casting: The Wife

Casting: The Wife

The Wife:

The wife is a middle aged woman between the ages of 45 and 50. She has no career and so no motivation and that is why she is at home for the majority of her time. She loves her husband very much and so goes out of her way to show this. She dresses in a dressing gown and doesn't look after her appearances much because she has messy hair, tired make up and dirty fingernails. This doesn’t make her character very appealing or likable and so the audience will find it hard to connect to her and have empathy. 

Amanda Duncan - 45 years old and so the perfect age for our main character. she is available for the filming times and the days that we would need her to be there. Amanda doesn't have messy hair but we can change her appearance and use hairspray for filming. Amanda is also willing to act in our film and is prepared to play the part well and so this is a positive aspect. 

Mandy Sheridan - 60+ age and almost retired. This factor may help with this role because the wife always seems very tired and worn out. Mandy also has acting experience and so could play this part very well. However, she does have light hair this may not be suitable for an antagonist role. Mandy is also not as willing as the other casting options to play the part. 

Christina McDermott - middle aged which is perfect for the part and she does have curly, dark hair which would means that she wouldn't need much costume work because this is the look we are needing. Christina doesn't live locally though and so might not be available for all the filming dates. 

I think out of all these casting candidates for the role of The Wife, Amanda Duncan is the best. This is because Christina is unable to film even though she looks best for the part and Mandy doesn't want to play the part. Amanda Duncan is the right age and is available and willing to act. Amanda Duncan is playing the role of The Wife. 

Casting: The Husband

Casting: The Husband

Overall we have a total of 3 characters throughout the film and all 3 of them do make an appearance in the opening sequence. The different characters are: the husband, the wife and the husband’s girlfriend. Below is an evaluation of each character and the different casting options for each one.

The Husband:

The husband is a middle aged man between the ages of 45- 50, he is average height. He is a professor and runs lectures at a university and because he works with young people they help to keep him young. This means that even though he is graying at the sides he can keep up with the world and knows that converse are the shoes to wear. Apart from that aspect however his dress sense is very basic and all he wears is jeans, a shirt and a jumper that don’t have very bright colours or patterns, he also needs to wear glasses. The husband at this point in his life seems as though he is going through a mid-life crisis. He is tired most of the time which indicates that he has restless nights and so throughout the film he is worn out and appears to be lazy. He doesn’t shave often and so has a lot of stubble, he also walks rather slowly with his head down and so he shows signs of depression as he sighs at regular intervals also. Within the opening sequence the husband appears to be very paranoid and nervous of his wife and so wears stern and worried expressions on his face for the majority of the time. 

Below are some pictures of the people that could be cast for the role as the Husband:

Simon Duncan - 45 years old and so the perfect age for our main character. He is available for the filming times and the days that we would need him to be there. Simon doesn't have grey hair but i think this is good because it shows that he isn't really that old even though the characters actions and body language emphasis it. We will ask Simon not to shave for the days of filming so that he can have stubble when filming. He is already wearing the type of clothes that the Husband would wear also. 

Joseph McDermott - 24 years old, a graduate. He i very young and this may work against him when filming. We can use costume and make up to disguise this fact and make him look older but this is a lot of work when we do have other candidates that would not need this work. A positive however is that he is available on all the filming days we would need him and he has had acting experience. 

Darrell Monk - 60+ age and almost retired. This factor may help with this role because the husband always seems very tired and worn out and he wants to retire soon. Darrell does look the part because he has grey hair and so we would not need to use make up or costume on him. However he has said that he is not available on the second date for filming and therefore cannot take up the role of the Husband. 

I think out of all these casting candidates for the role of The Husband, Simon Duncan is the best. This is because Darrell is unable to film even though he looks best for the part and Joseph is simply too young. Simon Duncan is the right age, has the right dress sense already and is available and willing to act. Simon Duncan is playing the role of The Husband. 

Location research

For our opening sequence we will film in two locations; South Ealing cemetery and one of our group member's house. We have chosen these locations because they are accessible, practical and they will look good for our opening sequence.
We will film the first two shots in the cemetery and the rest will be in different rooms of the house (hallway, stairs, bedroom and study).

South Ealing cemetery entrance

South Ealing cemetery.
We needed a cemetery to film in for the first two shots because there is no way we could make a fake one ourselves. We decided on South Ealing cemetery because it is local so we can get there easily. The entrance has this nice arch which we will have as a background in shot 2 because it looks nice but it could also be quite creepy in a thriller film.
We will be filming on a weekend and it will have to be dark because our sequence is set in the evening. However it will need to be light enough for the characters to be seen. The cemetery is open 9 - 4:30 so if we start filming at  around 4 o'clock it should start getting dark. Although this only leaves us half an hour before the cemetery closes we only need two shots so it shouldn't take long once we are set up.

Grave stones at South Ealing cemetery

We are setting this scene in a cemetery because of the connotations that come from it, especially when it's dark cemeteries are creepy, ominous and eerie. This is ideal for a thriller film as it will build suspense and tension because due to the nature of the genre the audience will have expectations for something scary to happen. This scene will also create an enigma for the film because if we were to carry on producing the whole film we would reveal at the end that the grave where he places flowers at the beginning is in fact his wife's.

One of the problems we were worried about was if we would be able to film in the cemetery, as they usually close when it gets dark but we need to film in the evening. However as I have already mentioned this was not a problem as it closes at 4:30pm so we will start filming when it gets dark at 4pm. After checking on the website it did not say anything about whether we are allowed to film there or not so we will go along and start filming unless we get told to stop. In order to respect the dead we will be careful not to get any shots with people's names on the graves as we do not have the permission of the families of the people buried. If there are people at the cemetery visiting graves or having a funeral we will have to be careful not to interrupt them. As we are filming outside weather conditions could be a problem. Rain wouldn't really matter, it could in fact make the scene even better, but we wouldn't want the equipment to get water damage. Also if there happened to be a storm we would have to stop filming and take cover. Cold weather could be off putting to our actors and crew so we will have to wear warm clothes.The only health and safety issues would be if there are any open graves we will have to watch out because that would be quite a drop.

Our back-up location in case we couldn't film here was the graves by Saint Mary's church on South Ealing road but as there is no problem with accessing our first choice filming here shan't be necessary.

This is the outside of Lydia's house.

Our other location is at one of our group member's (Lydia Duncan's) house. The scenes will be filmed in different areas around the house but it is all under the same roof. These include the hallway with the stairs for shots 3 and 4, the dining room/conservatory for shot 4, the bedroom for shots 5-15 and  shot 17, and the study for shot 16. We have unlimited access to film at Lydia's house so it is ideal because we can take our time and we have permission to rearrange stuff so we can make the setting perfect for our opening sequence. Her house is suitable for our characters because it is quite fancy so it will look like a couple's house. There aren't many photographs around so there won't be any evidence of the real house owners and there is plenty of space to set up the camera on the tripod and get the right angles we want.
Possible problems we could face with filming at Lydia's house are interruptions from family members. We will have to make sure we film the morning scene when it is light and the night scene when it is dark but other than that there is no issues with filming at the house.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule

Date: 30/11/13

Time: 12:30pm – 3pm

Location: Bedroom in house

Shots: 9 – 15, 17

Actors: Simon and Amanda

Crew: Lydia, Maya and Moises (camera and director)

Costumes and props: PJs for Simon, Dressing gown for Amanda, Jug and breakfast tray with a knife for Amanda, Card with number for Simon, suit for Simon. 

Equipment: Camera and tripod.

Potential Issues: Lighting – it will start to fade in the late afternoon which is when we aim to finish filming and so we have to ensure our timing is on point. Space – we need to make sure that we have enough space to film in for each shot. 

Risk Assessment: Low – there are no vital risks with the shots we are filming. 

Date: 7/12/13

Time: 10am – 12pm

Location: Office in house

Shots: 16

Actors: Christina

Crew: Lydia, Maya and Moises

Costumes and Props: Card with number on for Christina and everyday clothes for Christina.

Equipment: Camera and Tripod

Potential Issues: Spacing – ensure we can achieve the different shots with the environment we have. 

Risk assessment: Low – There are no hazards and the location is safe. 

Date: 7/12/13

Time: 3pm-4pm

Location: South Ealing graveyard

Shots: 1 – 2

Actors: Simon

Crew: Lydia, Maya and Moises

Costumes and props: Jeans, shirt and coat for Simon, bunch of flowers for Simon.

Equipment: Camera and Tripod

Potential issues: Lighting – we need it to be the evening and so we have to ensure it isn’t too dark or too light. Noise – we need it to be a fairly quite environment and so we will have to be aware of background noise. Weather - we are filming outside and so changes to the weather could causes continuity issues. 

Risk assessment: Low – we are outside but in a safe environment. 

Date: 7/12/13

Time: 5pm – 8pm 

Location: House

Shots: 3 – 8

Actors: Simon and Amanda

Crew: Lydia, Maya and Moises

Costumes and props: coat, shirt and jeans for Simon, Dressing gown for Amanda, Pjs for Simon, Knife for Amanda, and Red food colouring for Simon. 

Equipment: Camera and Tripod.

Potential issues: Lighting – it is set during the night and we are filming in the evening and so it will have to be dark enough. Timing – we will need to be efficient when filming and acting these scenes. 

Risk assessment: Low – we are inside a house and so there is nothing dangerous about that. 

The Story Board

The Story Board

As a group we created a story board for the opening sequence of our film. We planned out what shots we wanted to use where and tried to include various different types. We did this in order to display the different skills we have learn't throughout the course so far but also to help enhance our opening sequence. Different camera angles and shots keeps it interesting and so therefore keeps the target audience engaged. We have also ensured that we use certain conventions of thriller cinematography to help identify the tension and suspense, for example a high camera angle can create an inferior/superior relationship between characters and audience. The story board also allowed us to estimate how long our opening sequence will be because we were able to give the shots and scenes timings. We wrote, along the side, the sound we needed to have with each shot also. It is a very basic plan of what the sound is expected to be like at this point but this will be developed during the editing. 

2nd Script Draft

My Group has been going over our drafts for our scrip which will finalise our thriller idea. We have a first draft, which was good but to make it even better we had to make changes leading to a second draft of the scrip. Overall all we have two drafts of our scrip and we are planning on using the second which is better. 

2nd and Final Script Draft

VOICE MAIL RECORDING 

HUSBAND

Hi...look I don't 

know what to do. I have started

seeing her again and I can't stop it.

EXT.GRAVEYARD.EVENING 

HUSBAND,lays flowers on the grave and walks off with dog sorrowfully.

INT.HOME.EVENING

HUSBAND,arrives home, takes lead off dog and takes coat off. He looks over at his wife watching TV. No interaction.

INT.STAIRWAY.EVENING

HUSBAND.walks slowly upstairs

INT.BEDROOM.EVENING

HUSBAND,in bed sighs and turns lights off.
WIFE. standing over husband with a knife. WIFE stabs HUSBAND.

INT.BEDROOM.DAY

HUSBAND, wakes up shaken. WIFE, stands over HUSBAND in the same position, holding a breakfast tray, smiling.

WIFE

Morning honey.

Did you sleep well?

OH, I forgot the coffee!

WIFE EXITS

HUSBAND, leans over into bedside draw and picks up a card with a phone number on it.

INT.OFFICE.DAY

HUSBAND, holding the card, looks up to see a young attractive girl.

GIRLFRIEND

(Wink)

Give me a call.

GIRLFRIEND, walks away.

INT.HALLWAY.DAY

HUSBAND. Looking in the mirror, sorting out his tie whilst looking nervous. He sees his wife in the mirrors reflection.

Our second script creates more tension rather than out first making sure it was clear to the audience whilst still mainting the Psychological thriller convention of confusion, but not so confusing they would not be able to understand the opening sequence whilst making it suspenseful.

Whilst editing the script we decided on making these minor changes to make it flow better. We didn't want to give lots of details away so keep it intersecting so making minor changes helped improve what we incision for this sequence.

1st Draft of script

This is our original script which we then improved by changing a few scenes to make sure it fitted the thriller genre and it had enough tension and suspense in it. As our film is a psychological thriller we want the audience to question what they believe and they are not supposed to understand the wife is dead until the very end. For this reason we didn't want to give too much away in the opening sequence however the audience must be able to follow what it happening and it needs to make sense.
 This first draft was just to get a clearer picture of what we will do in our opening sequence because before this all we had was an idea. By drafting a script it was easier to plan the scenes more specifically and we can see how to improve the sequence.


EXT. GRAVEYARD. EVENING.

HUSBAND lays flowers on grave and walks off with dog sorrowfully.



INT. HOME (HALLWAY). EVENING.

HUSBAND closes the front door, taking his coat off. He takes the dog off its lead and gives it a pat.



INT. HOME (DINING ROOM). EVENING.

WIFE AND HUSBAND eating dinner at the table. No dialogue is exchanged and they don't even look at each other, creating a tense and awkward atmosphere.



INT. HOME (BEDROOM). NIGHT.

HUSBAND and WIFE  reading in bed. They lean over and turn their bedside lamps off without exchanging dialogue or kissing goodnight. The HUSBAND turns away from the WIFE to sleep.


WIFE is standing over the HUSBAND menacingly holding a knife. She stabs him repetitively in the chest and stomach, laughing sinisterly.



INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

WIFE enters with a tray of breakfast in bed. HUSBAND wakes up.

WIFE

Morning honey, sleep well?

Oh, I forgot the coffee!

WIFE exits

HUSBAND leans over into the drawer and picks up a card with a phone number on it.

(Graphic match of card)


INT. OFFICE. DAY
GIRLFRIEND hands HUSBAND the card

GIRLFRIEND

Give me a call sir

(winks seductively)

GIRLFRIEND exits.

INT. HOME (BEDROOM). MORNING.

HUSBAND corrects tie in the mirror, he looks worried.

The beginning scenes, up until the wife stabbing the husband, would all have been part of a montage linked with a sound bridge of an eerie score which would create a tense mood. We decided this was a waste of time as it is a bit boring and there are more effective ways of showing that there is something odd about their relationship. Although we thought including normal everyday activities such as eating dinner would show that something is not right in the household we don't think this is clear enough for the audience as we have to remember they don't know the rest of the story. 

The scene of the husband getting killed by the wife is just his dream, and the reality is when he wakes up and sees her with breakfast in bed for him.

From the graphic match it would be a flashback of the husband receiving the phone number of one of his students (he is a university professor), before returning back to the present time.

Our synopsis and opening sequence

Before we planned our opening sequence we thought of ideas for a synopsis, so our opening sequence can be part of a bigger storyline. We knew it had to follow the conventions of a thriller film and create tension, suspense, excitement and anticipation and we wanted it to be a psychological/horror thriller. It was also important we had a synopsis so our opening sequence can create enigmas that would lead on to the rest of the film. We knew we had to be realistic when planning our opening sequence because we have to film it ourselves so we can't include ideas such as falling off a cliff because we wouldn't be able to film that. Also locations such as a remote Mexican village or on a ship would not be possible for us so we tried to make our ideas as practical as we could.

Our main idea for the synopsis is as follows:

A university professor is having disturbing nightmares and visions of his estranged wife plotting to killing him. He begins to become suspicious that she knows about his affair with one of his students but is unsure what to do as she hasn't mentioned it to him. Meanwhile as he becomes more and more paranoid the nightmares become more common and increasingly disturbing until he fears his life and the life of his secret lover are in danger. The line between reality and his imagination becomes distorted and in a desperate attempt to escape his raging wife he runs out of the house, where he eventually ends up in a graveyard.  He sees a tombstone with his wife's name on it and looks back to see his wife is no longer chasing him. He then  realises his wife is actually a projection of the guilt he feels for moving on as he was widowed several months ago after his wife died from a terminal illness.

I think this idea is suitable because it uses the technique of having many scenes as hallucinations of the protagonist, which is used in many psychological thrillers such as Black Swan and Shutter Island. It is effective in creating suspense and tension because it confuses the audience and leaves them unsure what to believe. Our idea also includes the theme of a mentally unstable character which is typical of psychological thrillers. There are many opportunities to build tension, suspense and anticipation during the film in the man's visions and through his paranoia. The plot twist at the end will shock the audience as it is very unexpected, this is also the typical ending to a thriller because the audience thinks they have an idea of what is going on and then it is revealed they are wrong and it was something else the whole time. This idea includes the theme of being trapped or confined, which is a common theme in thrillers. Although he is not physically trapped his marriage is restricting him because morally he should not be having a relationship with his student. Also the loss of his wife traps him in a psychological state where he cannot move on or forget his wife.

The opening sequence to this film would go like this:

It would begin with a man walking his dog through a graveyard at night. He places some flowers down on a relatively new headstone and goes home to his wife. There is a classical score playing which acts as a sound bridge connecting the scenes and forming a montage. When he returns home there are a few shots of him having dinner and going to bed as part of the montage. During these scenes it is clear that there is something wrong with the marriage. The couple are not very affectionate to one another and they don't even speak much. It seems the wife is making more effort than the husband, he doesn't look her in the eye. After the montage showing the daily routine of going to bed the score changes, becoming slower and more high pitched. The wife leaps on her husband and draws a knife. She tries to stab him but he gets the knife off her so she puts her hands around his neck and strangles him. The scores becomes more upbeat, building tension and making the scene more dramatic. Just as he takes his last breaths he wakes up and realises it was just a dream and his wife is in bed asleep beside him. He reaches into his drawers and gets out a piece of paper with a phone number on it. Cross cutting is used to show he is careful not to wake her. The piece of paper acts as a graphic match and leads to a flashback of one of his students, an attractive, young blonde, giving him the piece of paper. She winks at him seductively and says "Call me". It ends with a shot of the sleeping wife next to the man who looks rather shifty. Low key lighting is used to make the husband appear more shadowy, making the mood more tense.

This opening sequence would only require three actors, so it will be easy to film. Also we know someone who has a dog we could borrow for our beginning scene. The grave stone creates an enigma because the film would end with a shot of the grave stone, revealing it belongs to the dead wife. We have a local graveyard we could use to film in and we also have house we can use to film the home scenes in. The opening sequence will have lots of suspense and tension during the montage because the audience will be anticipating something bad to happen. Also when the wife tries to kill him it will be very unexpected so the audience will be shocked and disturbed. The sequence ends with a lot of tension because the audience are still in shock and worrying in case the wife wakes up.

The other ideas we had were as follows:

• A woman suffers from a miscarriage and is left devastated. Years later she falls pregnant again and gives birth to a perfect baby boy. He is her world and she adores him. When he is a few weeks old she meets a young girl who doesn't have any family. She welcomes her into her life and just when the woman becomes quite fond of the girl she realises the baby son has bruises and signs of violence. The woman becomes paranoid it is the little girl abusing her baby and she believes her baby is in danger. Later it is revealed the little girl is not real, just a hallucination of how the woman imagines her baby would have grown up to be if it had no been miscarried. She thinks the little girl would be jealous that she didn't get to be born and the boy did so she wants to kill him. This idea is similar to our final idea of revealing at the end the antagonist isn't real just a projection of guilt from the protagonist. This is because during our planning process we merged together some ideas as we wanted to keep the same themes. Also it took a while to develop and refine our ideas because originally they weren't very clear or specific. We thought this idea had flaws because it would be difficult to find a young girl to play the antagonist and we don't know anyone who would be willing to let us film their baby. Also miscarriage is quite a touchy subject and we didn't want to mess around with it as some people can get quite upset.
• Another idea we had was a university drop out who turns to drugs and alcohol to drown his sorrows. As his life spirals out of control he starts having graphic visions and hallucinations of a boy similar to his age haunting him. As these visions become more common the boy realises they are memories and towards the end of the film he finds out the dead boy he is seeing is actually his brother who he killed. His brother was a good role model and he couldn't live up to his standards so one night jealousy overtook him and he killed him. Then as an act of denial he pretended it didn't happen but eventually the guilt got too much for him. This idea wasn't very practical because it would be difficult to film the graphic hallucinations of the dead boy. Also we thought compared to our other ideas there aren't as many opportunities to build tension and suspense.
• A young man goes off to university, leaving his mother missing him like crazy. She feels like she has lost her purpose as a mother and finds herself struggling to fill the gap in her life without her son. In her spare time she begins babysitting a young boy and this helps her cope with the loss of her son. Soon she becomes overly attached to the boy and she wants to babysit him more and more. She encourages his parents to go out so she can look after him and eventually she believes he is her son. She refuses to part with him and ends up being removed by the police and put in a mental asylum. This idea would also be impractical as we would have to find a young boy to play the part of the boy getting babysat. Also this idea is a bit slow to develop and a thriller should grip  the audience from the beginning.