After long discussion and research we finally created an idea for our project which led to our final thriller opening. We came up with different ideas and genres for example, a psychological thriller, an action thriller and a horror. We chose a psychological thriller, the final outcome is called Delirium.
Title of our thriller: After looking through the codes and conventions of thriller titles we found that short, mysterious titles were the most effective and this is how we got the idea of 'Delirium'. It works with the conventions of the thriller because its in an odd font although we were limited of choice of font. It is also red which signifies blood and the black is darkness which is creepy. It is challenging to find the right font that looks professional and dangerous at the same time because we had a limited selection. When editing a lot of fonts were experimented with but this one seemed to look the most effective. Defined, Delirium means "a temporary state of mental confusion" which fits our idea perfectly.
Settling and location: Our location is an abandoned bomb site in the fields in Shenfield. We filmed in a house that had previously been bombed and abandoned. We made a few questionnaires and sent them around to see what locations would be best suited. Thanks to the questionnaires and looking at the codes and conventions we managed to find a suitable location which we completed a risk assessment on to make sure it was safe to film there. We wanted the location to be different/remote; somewhere quiet that we won't be disturbed. The idea of the thriller is that its a couple going on a walk, they don't expect to see anyone else which adds to the terror when the antagonist appears.
Costume and props: For costumes and props we decided to keep natural/casual clothing however we used a variety of props to make our thriller look better. To fit the conventions of our thriller we had to create the illusion that this could be possible, the more relatable to life and the target audience better. People seem to be more afraid of what could be perceived in reality/in their own lives; as these are our protagonists they are just everyday, normal people. Mentioned in one of our first blog posts of codes and conventions of a thriller that the protagonists have to be just like everyday normal people; most likely middle class people.
Props: We went to a fancy dress shop called Props and Frocks in South Woodham and bought some fake blood and latex. We also found face paints in The Factory Shop; Basildon and black paint from Asda; Basildon. These fit the conventions of a thriller as our antagonist is a villain and has to look mysterious and unusual; this is portrayed through the strange black areas on his face and the ripped skin (shown by the latex). It makes the audience ask the questions, "what is it?" and "why is it there?" and "where is the blood from?" making the situation more mysterious. The blood on Sarah's face adds to the terror of the situation; we then ask the question; "what happened?" and makes the audience feel sympathy for this innocent victim.
Editing and Camerawork: For this area of the thriller it needed to be edited to show the distance passing, if we had filmed the whole thing and not edited it, it would be a waste of time and wouldn't have shown any editing skills; the fades were added to make the change in distance clearer and not jumpy. The fades used within the thriller were effective because it made it more mysterious and added to the creepy tension we were trying to create. The font here is very clear here because in the credits we want people to be able to read it; its a plain font making it look more professional. We first introduce two characters, a male and female; a couple; all we know is they're having a walk, that's all we know so far, no personal information is revealed throughout the beginning except for a name. We had an over the shoulder shot of Sarah looking around the wall because it was a key moment, the first appearance of our antagonist adding to the tension we tried to create in this moment. I think you create the question "what is round the corner?" because the last time we saw out there (when Michael jumped off the side wall) was nothing so its almost as if to say, what is over her shoulder and round the corner? Why make this such a key shot?.
How the rest of the film is set up: This is a picture of the first sighting of the villain, where he is introduced to us, no one knows who he is or why he's there. The story is set up by the thriller because in the opening the audience is meant to ask the questions as to what's going on in the scene and who are the characters, why are they there, etc. In the opening all we know is what we see; there is a couple going for a walk, they go through the woods into an old bombed, abandoned building where they hear a strange noise and the male heroically goes off to find out what it is reinforcing the stereotype as men being the protector, the stronger gender; while the female waits scared for his return. As he doesn't come back she searches for him, see's the peculiar, unusual man in the woods and gets scared and ends up screaming with fright as he attacks her. This emphasises that within the thriller the female is the weaker, more vulnerable sex which fits the our thriller.
If we were to carry on making the rest of the film we would see that the opening would be a flashback moment and the twist would be revealed that actually Sarah wasn't thinking straight and it was a dreadful nightmare that she was having. After this scene where she wakes up and searches for Michael; when she can't find him she would run through the fields to escape and get to the main road yelling for help. It would then be shown that she is having a nightmare and she'd wake up. The rest of the film would be explaining to her that it never happened when she knows herself it did and she, trying to prove herself goes to the scene of the incident looking for evidence. One day she would see him again and she'd again try to prove this; a psychotherapist would give reasons for this until one day its all shown to be real and the villain was playing mind games.
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