Revised Location

Our original location was an abandoned house, yet due to us being denied permission to film, we had to change location. After much research, we decided to film at Shenfield Cricket Club. We chose this location for several reasons. The club was located within easy reach of the school, and we also had permission to film there. The location also included suitable rooms for us to base our opening scene, and a long corridor provided a good way of using a mid shot. We were disappointed that we couldn’t use our intended location, yet were pleased with the cricket club as a secondary location as we could still create a good mise-en-scene for our particular opening.

Laurence Ruthven

Shooting Schedule

Saturday 13th March
Location: House in Hutton Mount
Cast: Charli, Matt, Elliott, Laurence
Crew: Jade and Elliott
Time: 10am - 1pm
Scenes Shot: All bar car scene
Who's bringing equipment:
Jade - Storyboard
Jade - Camera and charger
Jade - Tissue
Jade - Rope
Charli - Dress and make up
Laurence - Tripod
Laurence - Blood
Laurence - Knife
Laurence - Note pad
Laurence - Towel
Elliott - Chair

Iconography of our Thriller

During our opening for our thriller, we decided to include as many elements of iconography to create many enigmas for our audience. In our opening we decided to include the following props which create strong enigmas of a thriller –

Blood in sink - This has connatations of a someone washing blood off their hands because they dont want any evidence/trail of their crime they either committed or witnessed.

Blood on Knife - Strong connotations of someone being murdered/injured.

Rope - Connotations of someone being tied up/unable to move

Chair - This creates images of an old house/abandoned area

Drops of Blood - Connotations of blood dripping off a wound/hand

Bottle of Petrol - Strong enigmas of fire/destruction and arson















Laurence Ruthven

Actors, Setting, Props and Iconograpy

Actors, Setting, Props and Iconograpy

When it came to choosing actors for our film we were, although fussy, spoilt for choice. Our group is made up of three top drama students which made it alot easier for us to gather most of our crew. We used one other actor who although isnt in our group, is also very talented.

We will be using a series of props and iconigraphy throughout our thriller. One of our main props is a sink covered in fake blood. This is very important to the film because it sets the scene and tells the viewer what sought of film this is going to be. We will also be using icongraphy throughout our film to make it seem more realistic and believable. The iconography will be in the form of framed pictures to make the house seem more normal.

The Location where we are filming our thriller is very suitable for the type of thriller we are creating. It is an abandoned house that has taken alot of damage from fire and vandilism. It is the perfect setting for our crime thriller because it is just the sought of house that a murder could be committed.

By Elliott Joyner

Practice Shot - Point of View

One of the shots in our final thriller is a point of view shot. We decided that in our thriller the camera will be behind bushes and leaves, to create the effect that someone is hiding themselves from sight but viewing the action. We decided that we would practice this shot in and around our school before filming to help us create the perfect point of view shot. After inital trials, we decided to make the camera more shakier, creating the effect that someone is moving/breathing behind the bushes. Here is the video if our preffered point of view shot.



Laurence Ruthven

Costume Ideas

The Detectives...
We drew inspiration from other thrillers for ideas about characters and the costumes they should wear। After watching the film 'Se7en' 1995, directed by David Fincher in which Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman play detectives, we felt that the incorporating detectives into our storyline could prove to be effective by adding a sense of mystery and crime to our thriller and ultimately creating inigmas for the audience। Therefore it was necessary for us to research the stereotypical costume of a detective because, due to the fact that we are avoiding the use of dialogue for our film opening, we needed to make it instantly visibly clear for the audience to establish the occupation of the two men.
In order to gain this information we used the search engine Google Images and found the pictures below:

However we felt that these images were stereotypical, but weren't realistic and were more of a old fashioned representation. Therefore we drew our detectives' costume inspiration from 'Se7en' as we felt that they were far more representitive and suited to the modern day, which is what we want to come across in our thriller.

As can be seen in the image above, these costumes are more smart and sophisticated with ties, shirts and waistcoats and this is the type of modern take on the traditional detective outfit that we want to achieve ourselves. We have also gained an idea of the colours our characters should wear which are neutral: beige, black, grey, brown, white and we hope to successfully incorporate all of this in putting the costumes together. The fact that these costumes are so professional in appearance shows that the characters pay attention to detail.

Jade Smith

Possible Filming Locations

As a group, we have been the most inspired by the setting used for the opening sequence of 'The Strangers' as we felt it was very effective, mainly by provoking interest from the audience but also by creating a fearful atmosphere. As a result, we have considered a damaged/broken house as one of our possible locations. We also thought that this would work for our thriller as we have decided, in terms of narrative, to shoot our opening in the new equalibrium therefore the damage would have already been caused.
We have also decided to use a sub-genre of horror-thriller to provoke fear/suspense in the audience and therefore require an eerie setting which would create enigmas successfully.
With this in mind we all agreed that this house in Shenfield which had previously suffered a fire and is now abandonned would be ideal, so we visited the location in the hope that it would offer a suitably effective setting and iconography for our shot ideas.
Jade Smith



This photograph shows a detailed look at the outside of the house, making it a contender for our films establishing shot.





This photograph focuses on the back of the house showing the back door and upper window.











The overgrown trees beyond the window immediately tell us that this house has been abandoned for some time.
















This picture was a favourite amongst the group. The lampshade that is still intact tells the viewer that this house was once rich and full of prosperity. This leads the viewer to believe that there is a storyline behind it.



















The broken glass and metal frames of the door make this picture a great point of view shot.













The chandelier hanging from the ceiling insinuates that there were once people living in this house.



















The holes in the door lead the viewer to make assumptions about the previous owners of the house and there may have been a history of violence in this room.



















This photograph shows the back garden to the house. From the picture we learn that the garden has been left to grow over which insinuates that something is hidden beneath the soil.
































Elliott Joyner