Research and Planning - Style and Tone

The opening scene should start very unsuspecting; the mood should be very normal. This is to make the climax more surprising. To achieve this we will make the colours quite warm, make the scene homely, and wont add any scary music at the beginning. For the first shot, we want to zoom in on the woman while she is having the phone conversation, this will create tension. Camera shots will remain static or just a slow zoom to intensify the verisimilitude of the scene. When the lights come on in the bedroom, it might be effective to have the shadow of the body cast on to the wall behind the woman, and on her. This would emphasize a sense of mystery and want you to know what she is looking at. To achieve this without making it seem unrealistic the light behind the body would be a bedside lamp. The light in this room will also be quite blue/green to emphasize the change in mood.

The genre of our film is thriller/horror. There are quite graphic images and unexpected and perhaps shocking moments. No guns, or drugs like most thrillers entail. Perhaps the genre is slightly leaning to a psychological thriller also, for example, you do not know what is going on at times, and don’t know who is guilty or innocent.

The titles will be very simple, white on black. As a door opens, and the light enters the room, you realize that the black background was in fact the darkness of the room. The first shot will be a long one; it will start as a long-shot and pan round as the woman walks past. (The titles will continue to show at the bottom-right of the screen.) Then slowly ease in toward a mid-shot during the phone conversation. The easing in will also add a little tension to the scene. The very beginning will start in a quite regular way, it is meant to be like any other day, so no scary sound effects as of yet. As the opening progresses however, small incidents that aren’t every day, instead perhaps once in a while, start to happen to the protagonist, for example the phone cutting out. Very subtle eerie sound effects and also the increasing kettle can accompany these. The shots will also become more unconventional, close-ups on her lips, the clock, etc. The next shot will be in a dark room with a door open, showing the woman at her desk. Perhaps here to create suspense, the accompany of some ghostly droning music will be good, it should be very quiet though, almost subliminal. When the woman turns the light on and sees a dead body the music should have a great impact here and be frightening, showing her fear.