One To One Interview

 
This in an one to one interview I conducted at home. In this interview I asked various questions about the thriller genre to see how people are aware of it and to see whether it is a popular genre as a whole.

Questionnaires

Screen Shots of the blank copies of the general and specific genre questionnaires.
These questionnaires contain questions about watching movie in general and also specifically about the thriller genre. I have conducted this piece of research in order to get a clear idea pf what people expect and enjoy to watch ad well as to help me potentially with my thriller opening. 
I have found out that thriller movies are quite popular especially with the younger generation, although comedy and romantic are more preferred genres in general. Most people are also aware of the difference between horror and thriller however can sometimes mix the up. The initial reaction to thriller for lot of people is the Michael Jackson's thriller as it is an iconic representation of the thriller genre hence the it's title. I have also found out that most people prefer watching movies in the cinemas rather then at home and they visit the cinemas quite often. They know about a movie through word of mouth as well as promotional posters on billboards, buses etc.  Also people prefer to see women as protagonist rather then 'damsels in distress' as the society have accepted them to be equal to men.
This will help me with certain aspects of my thriller opening.

Treatment

The overview of our storyline is quite simple. It is a girl being stalked by this stranger. She first receives a text from the stalker and the opening sequence is basically a point of view shot of the stalker following the girl. Our opening sequence shows the journey of the vulnerable girl from South Norwood high street to Stanley Hall. The main concept of our thriller film is a serial killer going around first stalking certain people and then eventually killing them. The opening sequence shows an example of this situation; the first two minutes or so shows an actual girl, which would be me, being stalked by this ‘stranger’ and then eventually murdered at the end. The opening sequence is going to entice the audience by showing ever move of the stalker and keeping the atmosphere very tensed. It is almost like you will be able to put yourself in the characters shoes and experience the situation. Most of the camera work will basically be the cameraman following the girl from behind which adds to the tension and we have thought of keeping no dialogues at all because sometimes dialogue can ruin the feeling and interfere with the suspense although we are thinking of keeping a scream towards the ending.

The opening sequence will start off at South Norwood High Street where the girl (actor) will receive a text from the stalker asking her to come to Stanley Hall, this will be a mid-shot so that we are able to see the character and establish the setting at the same time. Then most of sequence will be a point of view shot of the stalker (camera man) following the girl. There will occasionally be some mid-shots and close ups to actually see the actor’s expression and to really get a sense of how she is feeling. Firstly the girl will walk down the high street and then they will be a fading out shot to a fading in shot of the actor walking towards Stanley hall, which is practically around the corner. This will decrease the duration of the shot and will also make it more effective. After that the POV shot will continue into the building and up the stairs. There will be jump cuts in between the shots to again reduce the duration it takes to get from one side to the other. Towards the ending of the sequence the stalker will gradually walk little faster and eventually hit the victim from the back with a pole. The scene then cuts to the ceiling and then the camera will slowly pan down to a crime scene where the body of the victim will be lying. The sequence will end with a zooming in shot. 

Both Kayleigh I came up with the concept and storyline. We looked at previous years’ work, which influenced us. We decided in using no dialogues because we have noticed that in many of thriller films the title sequence usually consist of only tension music and visuals. And also no dialogues will make the audience think more and be able to find out the storyline rather than exposing the plot through dialogues. We chose to have a simple storyline as we don’t have many people in our group, so the victim will be me and the stalker will be Kayleigh who will also be holding the camera itself. We thought that the POV shot really builds up tension and makes the girl look vulnerable. At the end of the sequence we decided to us the universal scream that is typically heard in thriller/horror genre. This will be the only piece of dialogue used in the sequence. The concept of someone being stalked is quite engaging as it is relatable and quite verisimilitude. The questionnaires and other researches helped us come to a conclusion. For example we are going to use white text in the title sequence and use no dialogue because those were some of the conventions we have noticed whilst conducting our research. We are also going to be using background score to compliment with the imagery and add to the suspense.

We chose to shoot within South Norwood, as it is convenient for us. The whole sequence is shot in South Norwood high street and Stanley Hall, which are right next to each other and also next door to our college. The location goes with our storyline and Stanley Hall has a very spooky atmosphere as it was part of the old school; Stanley Tech. This is perfect for a thriller atmosphere, and there will be less distraction as well during shooting because the hall is not in use and will be open for us to do our shooting. The locations are also quite realistic because murders and incidents happen in sinister and quite places such as an old monument or building .The contrast between the busy high street and Stanley is quite drastic and effective as there is a clear comparison between the two environments. The locations are suitable for the plot and will create a sense of realism.

My opening sequence conforms the conventions of a thriller genre in various ways. For example we chose to use the colour white for the text that will appear on the screen as we found out that was a convention and we are also going to be using background music in order to build tension and create a mood. We have decided not to use any dialogues as this may ruin the tension and is also typically found in title sequences within the thriller genre. We have also chosen to do the shooting in a normal environment to make it more realistic and believable. Towards the ending of the clip we are going to be using the iconic scream that is typically used in thriller films especially during the older days. After seeing many examples of previous year’s works as well as sequences from real films we thought of using the POV shot for most of our sequence as it is commonly used to create more empathy for the character that is being watched or followed.