Full House Script.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-TWndOsTchfNWFpc29hZzJ6cE0/view?usp=sharing

Two Minute Storyline.

The film begins “2 months earlier”, a young women is in the library just reading a book when she gets a phone call from her mother. Her mother tells her she needs to get home quickly because something is wrong, at first she just shrugs it off but as her mother sounds more panicked she asks what’s happening, then it cuts to 2 months later.

There is then a news broadcast that explains that there is a rising number of missing people, the broadcast has a very weak connection and keeps cutting off until it eventually cuts off completely.

The young woman is then seen lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere, the surroundings are bare, no one is in sight and she is completely alone. She's lying by a tree with a lake in the background to emphasise her isolation. After a few seconds of the camera being on her, she wakes up, she doesn't have any memory of who she is, her life and how she got there, she then gets up, she is still slightly disorientated from waking up and takes a while to come fully round. At first, she can barely stand up, she’s still in the process of waking up and obviously hasn't eaten for a while, when she pulls herself together, she begins to walk down the long, endless path to try and find help and figure out what happened. After a long walk, she comes into an empty wooded area. She walks around the area looking for clues and an explanation, she keeps walking, as she wonders more around the area, she then comes across a group of people, who are the other survivors. The group appears quite strange, they're dressed looking a little scruffy and are quite hostile to new people. She doesn't know what’s going on and needs help to find out where she is so she decides to go towards them. She over hears them talking and discovers that they have no idea what happening either, she finds out that everyone’s missing and they're potentially the only survivors. They all have their own individual theory of what happened. They believe that there is a conspiracy theory that has caused all the devastation, the conspiracy theories of the group vary from aliens to the government. The group discusses these theories while playing a game of poker and betting who they think is right. As the girl comes in contact with the group and they notice her, they immediately become hostile and cautious of her. The group searches her to see if she's hiding anything, they find a small knife which they then become angry and suspicious about. The group then tries to find out what the girl is doing there and then discovers she's one of them and allow her into their group.

Character Outlines

In our film we have decided that all of the main characters will be aged around 17 or 18. We have also decided that none of them will have proper names, just nicknames as they either want to keep anonymous or do not know their real name. All of the nicknames are gambling related.

Main character
Nickname: Tilt
Gender: Female
Personality: Confused, strong willed, sarcastic, easily frustrated, short fused.

Second in command 
Nickname: Kicker
Gender: Female
Personality: Authoritative, hopeful, focused, short fused, doesn't have a conspiracy theory (too serious).

Other group member
Nickname: Wild Card
Gender: Male
Personality: Loose cannon, a bit out there, joker, not serious, thinks the conspiracy is aliens.

Other group member
Nickname: Twist
Gender: Female
Personality: Quiet, dark horse, intelligent, overlooked, random outbursts, thinks the conspiracy is the government.

Narratives we plan to use

Our film will have a restricted narrative as the audience will learn about the goings on at the same time that the lead charcter does. We have decided to use a restricted narrative as it will help to build suspense and further the mystery within the film. This will further the link with the thriller genre and keep audiences engaged with the film.

The film will also use an episodic narrative as when the main character starts to remember her past she has flashbacks about before the incedent and the actual incident itself. We decided to use flashbacks to help the audience understand more about the character and also to show how suddenly these memories are coming back to her.

It'll be an open ended film as we have decided to end the film after they find out who caused the dissaperences and why but before they do anything about it. This will highlight the futility of the situation and the hoplessness they feel after discovering that the government is to blame.

Mise-en-scene in the mystery-thriller genre

Mise-en-scene in the mystery-thriller genre from MelissaMinshull

Target audience

Subverting Gender Stereotype.

Subverting Gender Stereotype 

After coming across the following article on the normalization of male dominance in 2012 films and  reading Buzzfeed posts on age gaps in current films (which usually see older men paired with much younger women), I decided to write a post on the subversion of gender stereotype and how we were going to include it in our film.

http://griid.org/2013/02/12/normalizing-male-dominance-gender-representation-in-2012-films/

According to Google, a stereotype is 'a thought that can be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things. These thoughts or beliefs may not accurately reflect reality.' There really should be an emphasis on that 'not', considering the fact that for decades women have been delegated to the roles of 'damsel in distress' or 'love interest', when in actuality they're successful business women, hard working mothers, courageous soldiers and powerful advocates for equality.  Just like men can be over masculinised as brawny heroes or emotionless villains, women can suffer from a complete lack of physical and emotional strength with their only 'positive' attribute being their beauty.

Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley (Alien)

The film industry has attempted numerous times to correct their past mistakes, replacing Snow White and Bella Swan-esque characters for more independent, ruthless, heroic types. Buffy Summers, Princess Leia, Black Widow and Lara Croft are all examples of women subverting gender stereotypes in favour of proving that women are just as capable at saving the world as their male counterparts. However, their sexualisation (let's not forget Carrie Fisher's trademark gold bikini) can sometimes cause rifts amongst audiences who believe that just handing an attractive woman a gun, isn't enough to earn them the title of 'strong female character.' Instead, people are looking to more flawed personalities such as Ripley from Alien, Sarah Connor from The Terminator and Erin Brockovich from Erin Brockovich as more appropriate poster girls for this new craze. 

John Scalzi (2011):

"She's not a sidekick, arm candy or damsel to be rescued. Starting with Alien, Ripley was a fully competent member of a crew or ensemble - not always liked and sometimes disrespected, but doing her job all the same. As each film progresses, she comes to the fore and faces challenges head-on - she's the hero of the piece, in other words (...) Ripley isn't a fantasy woman. Science fiction with hot kick ass women doing impossible things with guns and melee weapons while they spin about like a gymnast in a dryer. As fun as that is to watch, at the end of the day it's still giving women short shrift, since what they are then are idealised killer fembots rather than actual human beings. Ripley, on the other hand, is pushy, aggressive, rude, injured, suffering from post-traumatic syndrome, not wearing makeup, tired, smart, maternal, angry, empathetic and determined to save others, even at great cost of herself. All without being a skinny killbot.'

It seems that as much as physical prowess impresses, so does being relatable. If a character, male or female, can show that they're human and showcase a character arc of discovering oneself and forfeiting their own needs for others, then you have a formula that should prove satisfactory to critics and equality advocates alike. 

How This Impacted Our Film:

Researching into this topic helped us make key decisions about what our characters were going to be like. Of course, anyone who had to wake up to a world full of unknowns would experience panic and terror but how they handle coping with these feelings would be integral to determine whether our characters were weak or strong. Instead, we focused on making our characters as human as possible, giving them all flaws and strengths, which would both benefit and shape them. We decided that we would not give the characters genders until we had stretched out their personalities, preferring to randomly pinpoint their sex after we'd created them, thus giving us a unique and equally intriguing group of individuals to work with. 

Narratives used within Mystery-Thriller films

The narrative is the order in which the characters find out about the events of the film.

A narrative commonly used within Mystery-Thriller films is the restricted narrative. A restricted narrative is when the audience and the protagonist learn what’s going on at the same time. This helps to build suspense in the film as the audience doesn’t have any more information than the characters in the film do and therefore do not know what is going to happen next. An example of a Mystery-Thriller film that uses a restricted narrative is The Maze Runner.

However some Mystery-Thriller films use an omniscient narrative. This means that the film allows the audience to know more about the characters and their situations than the characters do themselves. This narrative may be used to further the story and explain their goals. Another reason it may be used is when a character has memory loss. An example of this is The Bourne Identity.

Another narrative that is often used is a linear narrative. This is when the film follows the story from start to finish. This is the most common narrative used in films. This is because it is the natural way to experience a series of events. One film that uses this is National Treasure.

Some Mystery-Thriller films have circular narratives. When a film has a circular narrative it starts at the end of the film and then goes back to the beginning to explain how they got to the end. This helps build suspense as it makes the audience wonder how they got to that point and how it’ll actually all work out. Contagion is one Mystery-Thriller film that has a circular narrative.

Films narratives don’t always cover the entire film, some narratives are just about the ending.

Open ended films are films that do not have a clear ending. This strengthens the mystery element of the film as the mystery never gets resolved. One example of this in the Mystery-Thriller genre is Inception.

Closed ended films are films where the narrative ends and the story has a clear ending. This allows all of the loose ends to be tied and all problems are resolved. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is an example of a closed ended film within the Mystery-Thriller Genre.

Research into title sequences

Since we are doing a mystery thriller for our film, I have decided to look into title sequences which are similar to our genre. Through my research I have concluded that good title sequences for our genre is ones that gives the audience ideas of what is going to happen but it doesn’t give too much away. This will allow the audience to ask questions and be intrigued into what will happen in the film. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a good example of a title sequence for a thriller film, it has fast cuts to show the audience what the film is about but then it cuts before they know too much toi spoil the film for them.



I have also found out in my research that music and mise en scene is very important in an opening sequence. The music sets the tone for the film and gives the audience an idea on whether or not the film will be fast paced and exciting or slow paced and calm. For example, in mystery thrillers, there is normally some tense music to set the atmosphere as a film that is exciting but also has a lot of tense and questionable moments. The mise en scene is important because it is what the audience expects to see because it’s related to the specific genre, if there was something in the opening sequence that was related to the film or genre then the audience would be very confused.

This research has allowed me to see the importance of the opening sequence of a film and that the mise en scene, sound and how it is overall put together (through editing) is key to set the right atmosphere for the genre of the film.

Research into a possible distributor

Research into similar films

I have decided to research into similar films to help make sure we use the right genre conventions so our film will be as good as many others similar to ours are. The films I have decided to research are Close Encounters of the Third King, The Bourne Trilogy, and Conspiracy Theory. 

The film, Close Encounters of the Third King is very similar to our idea because it involves a missing person (in ours there are many missing people) which is due to an alien encounter. The film is overall about a man who became obsessed with finding aliens, so much that he ended up losing his job, and then he comes across someone who went missing after an alien encounter. The alien contact is similar to ours because our film idea is about conspiracy theories and each person making their own to figure out what happened and an aliens is one of the conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are hard to make realistic so researching into this and how other films portrayed similar subjects will really help us in the making of our film.

I looked at the reviews for Close Encounters of the Third King, it was mostly rated 4 or 5 stars which indicates it was produced well. The review describes the ending as “sensational” a long with complementing the director, Steven Spielberg with his use of special effects and high angle shot which showed a shadow and reflected his work on Jaws as well. This is the second version of the film as Spielberg did make a first one so in this one, he made some changes. The reviews described the first one as “an astonishing achievement” and the second was described as “simply a better film” (compared to the first version). The reviews also say that this film did “better at capturing the characters” and it has got rid of “dead ends and pointless scenes” which has helped tighten the whole film together to make it even better than the first.

The film The Bourne Trilogy is also similar to our film idea, it’s a trilogy of films about a man trying to discover who he is and find out his identity. He literally forgot everything that happened in his past which is similar to the main character in our film idea; she wakes up in the middle of nowhere, not knowing who she is or any memories of her past. In our film idea, the girl has flashbacks of her past revealing things that have happened to her. The Bourne Trilogy is more of a spy movie though, but it also has some concepts of our film idea which could influence how ours is used. It creates excitement for the audience in scenes which is exactly what our film will include.

The reviews for The Bourne Trilogy also mostly gave the film 4 or 5 stars. The reviews complement the actors acting and how well they played their roles; they also say that the car chases were “sensational” and “full of excitement”. It is also said that the director’s use of long takes was done so well that you didn't even notice them because they was all filled with “mind-blowing action” that took attention away from it all.

Conspiracy Theory (which is a thriller) is another film I looked into, this is about a man who posted a blog about conspiracy theories he had and to his surprise, one of them was actually true. He then gets a visit from the CIA because they’re mad that he is actually telling his readers the truth which the CIA doesn't want people to know, there is also his love interest in the film which they are both put in danger due to his blog. Similarly, our film has many conspiracy theories which any of them could be true, our film is actually revolved around conspiracy theories and solving the mystery of which (if any) is true which will answer the questions of what happened and why everyone went missing.

Conspiracy Theory was given mostly 3 star reviews, some being 4 stars as well. It is described as being an "uneasy mix of laughs and thrills; suspense and soap", it also says how well the script was written in reminding the audience key points of the film. However, there were some negative reviews too, the love story was called "unconvincing" and it was said that it could of been really good and shown a lot of humour but the "parts of the movie that are truly good" were buried underneath the "deadening layers of thriller cliches". 

These reviews of similar films are going to help is go in the direction we need to go in to make this film good. The reviews for conspiracy theory are a good example of what we don't want to do so this research is really going to help our ideas, for when we write our script and film, go well.

Websites where my research came from:
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2002/06/14/review-of-the-bourne-identity
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-bourne-ultimatum-2007
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/conspiracy-theory/review/
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/conspiracy-theory-1997
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1980

Iconography in mystery thriller films

This is one of the main things that all films use, however it is more used in mystery thrillers to create excitement and mystery. There is usually a conflict between two characters (the protagonist and the antagonist), this will help create excitement in the film and the protagonist will be the main character. There is also usually a victim of which the protagonist will save, this is one of the main story lines of the film which is the cause of most of the action, creating suspense. It will also have a mystery revolving around the whole storyline, this is what the protagonist tries to solve and most likely, by the end, the whole mystery will be revealed. Also, the protagonist usually has a sidekick which will help to solve the mystery and save the victim, they usually have a weapon or item that is only for them, this is clearly shown to the audience.

The mystery is created mostly through lighting. The lighting is usually normal however, when the antagonist is around it is usually low key lighting to hid their face. This creates a mystery of that character, the audience wont know for sure who they are so they will begin questioning other characters, wondering if it is one of them, this helps create tension and suspense in the film. There identity is usually revealed at the end of the film along with the mystery. Silhouettes are created using lighting and these are very commonly used in mystery thrillers to create the whole mystery aspect of the film, it also makes it more thrilling because it could be a silhouette of someone holding a weapon (such as a knife) or just generally someone sneaking up on the protagonist.  Silhouettes are used to create fear in the audience, therefore keeping them engaged.

Weapons are also used a lot in mystery thrillers, this is to show the audience that violence has occurred or that violence is about to take place. It could also be to symbolise that someone has just been murdered, brutality and pain, this creates tension and suspense in the scene. Also, if a weapon (such as a knife) has been used then it will have blood on it, this is a typical mystery thriller convention. Weapons are used to engage the audience into a scene because it clearly shows them that something has either just happened or is about to happen which is usually a murder or someone being injured.

Scary locations, such as woods (especially at night), are also a typical iconography features in mystery thrillers. Woods creates tension and suspense because it's as if the characters are lost, they usually aren't familiar with the area and so when something happens (maybe running away from the antagonist), the character(s) must try and escape. This can create a sense of vulnerability for the character(s) and suspense for the audience.

Street lamps are also common in mystery thrillers, the protagonist will usually be stood underneath it which empathises that they are good but are surrounded by darkness. It also connotes that they are alone in the darkness and illustrates isolation which creates a sense of fear and tension for the audience.

The movie, Psycho, is a good example of how silhouettes can be used to create suspense and tension, it also has a knife in the silhouette which creates fear for the audience. 

Shots and editing in mystery thrillers

Sound in mystery thriller films

Like any other film, there is the use of sound. It is common in mystery films to have some mellow, eerie, orchestral music to add suspense to the mystery, however, the genre I am researching is the mystery thriller genre, Mystery films tend to be more old fashioned so mystery thrillers do have a bit of that element but are more modern. Non-diegetic sounds are still used to add suspense to the mystery but they are more modern, sometimes there will be old fashioned sounds to keep the old mystery element but it isn't as common now a days in mystery thrillers.

Like thriller films, mystery thrillers also use extreme silence to add to the suspense. The silence emphasises the loud sounds that suddenly happen which builds suspension and tension in the scene. Mystery thrillers also have music starting quietly and then it gradually gets louder, building to something which also builds suspense in scene. These techniques help make the film more exciting and gripping for the audience to watch, rather than it just being diegetic sounds which could make it boring and the audience may lose interest.

Along with non-diegetic sounds, mystery thrillers also use diegetic sounds such as dialog and background noise going on in the scene. This is to make it seem realistic because it’s unnatural for everything to be non-diegetic sounds.

The film, Pyscho, is a thriller and although it's not a mystery thriller, it has good non diegetic sounds that can be used in mystery thrillers. For example, the shower scene music is very eerie and helps to build suspense and tension for the audience.
 

Mise en scene in mystery-thriller films

A mystery thriller can be set in many locations. For example, some can be set in a isolated rural area, usually in an old house that is completely separated from the rest of the world. It can also be set in an urban area, to give it a natural setting and because urban areas have a high crime rate which adds to the suspense of the film. Urban areas are also much bigger and populated areas which can add to the chaos in some scenes, and making the protagonist appear more powerful for fighting/defeating evil in a big city.

Typical colours used in mystery thriller films are usually dull colours such as, grey. This is to add to the suspense and mystery, dark lighting is also used to add to the suspense, it's usually used in scenes with the antagonist to hide their identity or in scenes where the director purposely wants to keep something hidden from the audience (which is quite common in this genre). Colours such as red can be used to illustrate danger and because the rest of the colours are mostly dull, when red appears, it really stands out to make it clear to the audience. This builds up tension and suspense for the audience and creates mystery of the character, also because the director is keeping things hidden from the audience, it makes the film more gripping to watch because they don't know what's going to happen next which builds up the suspense.

It is typical to see weapons in mystery thriller films as that is most likely a clue and what was used  by the antagonist. Weapons connote violence and so create tension and suspense, weapons create even more tension and suspense when they have blood on them, this indicates violence and that someone has been injured because it's quite clearly been used before. Weapons can also be a lead for the protagonist to find the antagonist and reveal more of the mystery, they can also be used to connote danger, for instance, if the weapon looks as if it's not been used before, its a clear indicator to the audience that it is going to be used on someone to cause harm to them.

Distribution.

 

When researching into film ideas for our final project, it was key that we took into account the budget of our film, before we decided whether it would be a mainstream movie or an independent one. Our budget is going to be relatively low with a sensative storyline, so it became inevitable that it would be an independent film within seconds of writing the plot. As we looked further into the marketing of these two different types of film, we learnt that mainstream films are usually given a-lot more scope with media platforms, wheras independent films have to rely on critic's reviews and the internet to generate awarness. For example, Four Lion's writer Chris Morris used the internet as a way to get funding for his film. He offered people the chance to appear as extras in return of anything between £25 to £200 to be put towards it's production. He had to resort to this because both the BBC and Channel 4 turned down the film as they believed it was too controversial to be shown to wider audiences. However, his decision to get help from the public through appealing to them from social media platforms was incredibly successful and ended up securing him a distributor for his film.

The Hunger Games (2012)

Mainstream films like The Hunger Games don't usually have to create their own funding because they are being backed by popular conglomerate companies and their subsideries such as TimeWarner with Warner Brothers and The Walt Disney Company with Marvel Entertainment. This allows them to not only have a significantly larger budget but also a Wide and Saturated release which sees their films being given out to a larger demographic.This contrasts against Four Lions which was given a Limited release in America.

We started to look at Independent Film companies within the UK that would be appropriate for our film:

Four Lions (2010)

                                                                                 http://www.televisual.com/blog-detail/The-UKs-top-40-film-production-companies_bid-356.html                                                                   

Mystery Thriller - Typical storylines

Mystery Thriller is the subgenre we have decided for our film, these types of films are often thrilling, exciting and gives the element of mystery in the film to encourage the audience to think about what’s happening and figure it out.

A typical storyline for mystery films is that there is a problem, crime or something that is unresolved, the whole point of the film is to discover what has happened. The plot usually centres on the main person who is trying to figure out what is happening and that is normally the protagonist. This is usually done by the protagonist piecing together clues that they find which leads them to the truth and tracking down the person responsible.

We have combined this typical storyline with a typical thriller storyline which has made our genre a mystery-thriller. A Mystery-Thriller film is usually based on a mystery that the aim is to solve it by following clues (much like a mystery storyline), it then has many thrilling moments in it. There will be a protagonist in the film and antagonist in the film, however, in some thrillers this isn't always the case. In thriller mysteries there will also be action scenes which grips the audience into the scene, this combination makes a film both thrilling and interesting to watch, constantly drawing the audience in. Typically, the antagonist creates problems for the protagonist which the protagonist will then have to solve or defeat the antagonist with the use of action scenes.

Mystery-Thriller Genre Overview

Thriller is a genre that centres on creating feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety within the audience. They often try and keep the audience on the “edge of their seats” as the film builds towards a climax. Common elements of thriller films are; the cover up of important information from the audience, fight/chase scenes, red herrings, plot twists, and cliff-hangers. 

Mystery films focus on the efforts of a detective, private investigator, or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime or situation through the use of clues, investigation, and deduction. Mystery is a subgenre of both the categories of crime films and thriller and horror genres. An important plot element of mystery is suspense. This is often done through the use of soundtrack, camera angles, heavy shadows, and plot twists.

The Mystery-Thriller genre mixes elements of both thriller and mystery to create a film the centres on the investigation of odd goings on but also keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.

Examples of Mystery-Thrillers include:

• Crimson Peak
• Sicario
• Gone Girl
• The Maze Runner
• Inception
• The Bourne Trilogy

Mystery-Thrillers often have villain-driven plots, where the antagonist creates problems that the protagonist must overcome to either defeat the villain or find the truth.