Creating a Protagonist

My characters name is going to be 'George Watts' and he is a successful businessman who lives and works in the heart of London during the 1970's. He is a very intelligent and successful gentleman who owns his own banking corporation. He has ambitions of expanding his empire of banks by any means necessary.

Mise-en-scene
Costumes and make-up: Mr Watts always wear an expensive grey tailor made suit, with a black bowler hat and a tanned leather suitcase to carry all his important documents in. He also has shiny black leather shoes that he has polished everyday. He wears make up to cover up a 4 inch scar from a brawl he got into whilst in London at night. The costume and make-up used show the character to be quite a menacing and important figure.   

Props: One of Watts's most significant props is his black leather bound walking stick containing a sword. Reasons for carrying this weapon is unknown. Inside his coat jacket contains a revolver that when questioned insists is only used for self defence, but real reason is also unknown. The props used by George Watts adds uncertainty and suspense to his character and makes the viewer asks questions as to why he has these certain weapons.

Proxemics: Due to Watts being quite an important person he stands away from most of the public as he see's himself to be of an upper class. The only people who stand close to him are two huge bodyguards either side of him. This shows him to be an important and careful character.

Location: The main location will be in the business district of London and on occasion the poor suburbs as crime is rife here and so Watts can get away with crime. This gives a dark and evil feel to the character.


Lighting
The lighting in the city will be dark from the overcast sky and the shadows created by the skyscrapers. Furthermore the suburbs of London will be dark as he will be here at night and the only lighting will be from artificial lighting from street lamps. This overall darkness presents Watts so be a malicious and unpleasant man.

Camera Work
Many of the shots used will be Point of View shots as this will clearly show the expression of the characters face. Furthermore there may be a few shots from a lower angle as this will make Watts seem higher and therefore more significant and powerful. An over the shoulder shot may also be used when having a conversation with another character. The visual hierarchy will also be used as Watts will be the main focus throughout the scene and also have the most screen time.

Sound
Accent: George Watts has a strong cockney accent as he was born and raised in Hackney, London and he uses a lot of cockney rhyming slang such as "Ann Boleyn" (Gin). His accent adds to the whole London setting. This is known as diegetic sound.

Volume: The character will be quite a quiet character when he is in a good mood but can turn very aggressive and loud if someone crosses his path.

Sound Effects: When Watts is walking with his bodyguards the music is quite fast paced and tense as if something bad is about to occur and this as an example of non-diegetic sound.

Acoustics
Where the character is at a certain time will depend on how much echo there is in the setting. For instance if he is in a big hall there will be a lot of echo as opposed to him being in the city where there will be very little.

Another example of diegetic sound is the background noise regarding the setting. For instance if he is in the busy city there will be people talking on phones and also traffic rushing past possibly beeping their horns.

Thriller Movies Survey

Here is a link to my survey that I created to investigate peoples opinions and preferences on Thriller Movies. 

http://connorbenns98.polldaddy.com/s/as-media-thriller-survey

Storyboard

These are the scans of the storyboard that I made. The film I choose to make a storyboard on was the 007 film, "Goldeneye".  

North By Northwest

North By Northwest is a thriller movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1959. The actors in the film include Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. 

Here we see a green background with blue lines appearing both horizontally and vertically. In addition these lines are 3D on the background.

Whilst the lines are on the screen, the actors and actresses names are appearing and they are positioned so that they are resting on the lines. The names appear on the screen by either flying in from the top or bottom of the screen.

In this screenshot we can see the directors name. Notice that he has his own slide to himself and the font is big implying that he is an important part in the making and production of this film.

We then see that the green background fades into a series of windows reflecting what appears to be a busy main road. Furthermore the large quantity of yellow taxis that pass suggest that the setting could be New York. The music here is also quite high pitched and orchestral which builds tension and uncertainty in the opening.

Here we can see people scurrying around and coming in and out of the building. The mad rush could suggest that its in rush hour and this is reinforced by the people in the scene being dressed smartly- possibly businessmen. A disclaimer is also shown in this scene. 

We can now see people rushing towards the underground, either to head home or to go to work. The camera angle used here is a high angle shot and this shows that there are many people in the scene and also makes them seem small and insignificant. 

We then again see people scurrying around which is a very common theme throughout the opening of the film.

In this scene we see two women fighting to get into a taxi. This shows again just how busy rush hour New York is and the extent people will go to, to get a ride home.

In the final part we see the appearance of Alfred Hitchcock himself as he likes to do in all of his movies. This is quite an iconic scene as the bus driver refuses to open the door for Hitchcock.

Creating Titles

The short video above shows a title for a potential Thriller title. I used the program Final Cut Pro to create the the title using a series of different effects to make the words appear more sinister. 

Successful Thriller Movies

1. Inception

 Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a professional thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He is offered a chance of redemption as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

Budget: $160 million

Worldwide Box Office: $825,532,764

2. The Dark Knight

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organisations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.

Budget: $185 million 

Worldwide Box Office: $1,004,558,444

3. The Bourne Ultimatum

Bourne is once again brought out of hiding, this time inadvertently by London-based reporter Simon Ross who is trying to unveil Operation Blackbriar--an upgrade to Project Treadstone--in a series of newspaper columns. Bourne sets up a meeting with Ross and realizes instantly they're being scanned. Information from the reporter stirs a new set of memories, and Bourne must finally, ultimately, uncover his dark past whilst dodging The Company's best efforts in trying to eradicate him.

Budget: $110 million

Worldwide Box Office: $442,824,138

4. Gravity

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

Budget: $100 million
Worldwide Box Office: $716,392,705

5. Valkyrie 

In Nazi Germany during World War II, as the tide turned in favor of The Allies, a cadre of senior German officers and politicians desperately plot to topple the Nazi regime before the nation is crushed in a near-inevitable defeat. To this end, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an Army officer convinced he must save Germany from Hitler, is recruited to mastermind a real plan. To do so, he arranges for the internal emergency measure, Operation: Valkyrie, to be changed to enable his fellows to seize control of Berlin after the assassination of the Fuhrer. However, even as the plan is put into action, a combination of bad luck and human failings conspire on their own to create a tragedy that would prolong the greater one gripping Europe.

Budget: $75 million

Worldwide Box Office: $200,276,784

6. The Sixth Sense

Malcolm Crowe is a child psychologist who receives an award on the same night that he is visited by a very unhappy ex-patient. After this encounter, Crowe takes on the task of curing a young boy with the same ills as the ex-patient. This boy "sees dead people". Crowe spends a lot of time with the boy (Cole) much to the dismay of his wife. Cole's mom is at her wit's end with what to do about her son's increasing problems. Crowe is the boy's only hope.

Budget: $40 million

Worldwide Box Office: $672,806,292

7. Godzilla (2014)

In 1999, the Janjira nuclear plant was mysteriously destroyed with most hands lost including supervisor Joe Brody's colleague and wife, Sandra. Years later, Joe's son, Ford, a US Navy ordnance disposal officer, must go to Japan to help his estranged father who obsessively searches for the truth of the incident. In doing so, father and son discover the disaster's secret cause on the wreck's very grounds. This enables them to witness the reawakening of a terrible threat to all of Humanity, which is made all the worse with a second secret revival elsewhere. Against this cataclysm, the only hope for the world may be Godzilla, but the challenge for the King of the Monsters will be great even as Humanity struggles to understand the destructive ally they have.

Budget: $160 million

Worldwide Box Office: $524,976,069

7. The Purge: Anarchy

A couple are driving home when their car breaks down just as the Purge commences. Meanwhile, a police sergeant goes out into the streets to get revenge on the man who killed his son, and a mother and daughter run from their home after assailants destroy it. The five people meet up as they attempt to survive the night in Los Angeles.
Budget: $9 million
Worldwide Box Office: $107,801,284

8. Non-Stop

Bill Marks, a former cop dealing with his daughter's death by drinking, is now a federal air marshal. While on a flight from New York to London, Marks gets a text telling him that unless 150 million dollars is transferred to an offshore account, someone will die every 20 minutes. Can he find the terrorist in time and save everyone?

Budget: $50 million

Worldwide Box Office: $220,642,160

9. Now You See Me

Four magicians each answer a mysterious summons to an obscure address with secrets inside. A year later, they are the Four Horsemen, big time stage illusionists who climax their sold out Las Vegas show with a bank apparently robbed for real. This puts agents Dylan Rhodes of the FBI and Alma Dray of Interpol on the case to find out how they did it. However, this mystery proves difficult to solve even with the insights of the professional illusion exposer, Thaddeus Bradley. What follows is a bizarre investigation where nothing is what it seems with illusions, dark secrets and hidden agendas galore as all involved are reminded of a great truth in this puzzle: the closer you look, the less you see.

Budget: $75 million

Worldwide Box Office: $351,723,989

10. Argo

Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1980.

Budget: $44.5 million

Worldwide Box Office: $232,325,503