This presentation details what is going to happen throughout our thriller movie, when it is going to happen and why it happens. I also slightly explain what effect it will have on the audience and on the narrative as a whole.

1. What is going to happen throughout
the sequence, and why?
After much discussion, we eventually came up with an idea of
what we wanted to happen and when, as well as a few other
potential ideas for the sequence. This is a first draft of our plot.

2. Running:
To begin the sequence, the victim is going to be
running from the murderer in a field. They look
over their should to see the murderer chasing
them, then look over again to see that the
murderer is no longer there. They stop and
survey the area; the murderer is not in sight. All
that can be heard is the sound of the victim’s
breathing. Suddenly, the screen goes black,
accompanied by the thump of the victim being
knocked unconscious.
To do this, we agreed that this would need to be done from a point of view shot of the victim,
allowing the emotions of the victim to be better conveyed by putting the audience in the
position of the victim. We could also potentially add in some shots of the legs of the victim as
they run, further increasing the rapid pace.
We wanted to have the victim’s breathing very audible when the stop to emphasise how
isolated they are in this field, introducing the conventional thriller theme of isolation. There’s no
one in the area that could help them; it’s just them and the murderer, making this feel like a noescape type of situation.
This will most likely be the shortest section of the sequence to be able to keep the sequence to
a maximum of two minutes, allowing time for other details to be added. This is setup, after all.

3. Title:
While the screen is black, the title fades in. We
haven’t yet decided on a font style for the title, so
the image to the right is just an example. This
should be within the first 30 seconds of the
sequence, as this my title research indicated that
this is a conventional place for the title of thriller
titles to appear within the opening sequence.
TITLE

4. Dragging + title:
The title screen then fades out, showing the
passage of time between the field section and
this next section. The victim begins to come to
with blurred vision, but keep closing their eyes.
As they close their eyes, the screen fades to
black and shows the title again. Eventually, the
victim focuses their vision, allowing the audience
to see that they are being dragged backwards.
We discussed the possible idea that the victim
vomits on themselves at this point, exaggerating
their shock at the position they are in.
TITLE
This section, much like the running section, would have to be a first person shot to be able to
show the victim’s current position fully without giving away too much detail about the position
they are in or what is happening to them.

5. Dragging:
It then becomes clear that it was the murderer dragging
the victim backwards. The victim looks around the room,
dazed, trying to work out where they are. From this
shot, the audience sees the murderer place the victim
into a chair, and tie them up. We discussed that the
victim could possibly be tied up with rope, as it is
somewhat easy to escape from and makes the
audience hopeful that the victim could escape. This
would create a red herring within the plot as the victim
won’t be able to escape.
This form of red herring, where the victim’s escape
seems hopeful but is then dashed, is conventional to
the thriller genre. It is evident in movies such as
American Psycho, where the female victim has almost
escaped from the psychotic murderer but is then killed
at the last second. It ultimately makes the victim’s death
more dramatic and thrilling, and the audience is willing
the to live but they ultimately don’t.
Furthermore, this is the point at which the audience
would see that the victim is female due to the two-shot
used; a conventional victim within the thriller genre. It is
also evident in American Psycho, as well as Black Swan
and Panic Room. Due to female characters often
connoting vulnerability, this would further the
threatening tone of the murderer.

6. The murderer’s desk
In this shot, the murderer walks towards their desk which is
positioned in front of the chair that the victim sits in. They pick up
the iPod on the desk, and turn on Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life.”
We wanted to have some kind of upbeat, diegetic music at this
point to show the mindset of the murderer – they are completely
relaxed, and okay with the idea of killing this victim. There are a
series of knives lined up on their desk in height order, showing
their OCD. Also on the desk is pile of jack the ripper books,
neatly piled and aligned with the side of the desk. The board in
front of the desk is shown to hold. many images and texts relating
to Jack the Ripper and the murderer’s past victims, all connected
with pieces of string.
The order on the desk and the cluttered board could represent the contrasting mindset of the murderer at this point. The order
of the knives indicate that they need order and routine, whereas the board represents them as being confused and obsessive
with planning out killings. Both of these factors add to the representation that the murderer is psychotic due to the spilt
personality; a conventional thriller villain, much like Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs” or Patrick Bateman in “American
Psycho.”
The board of images aids the development of the plot. The audience might be able to make out some of the images on there,
and therefore get an ideas of what to expect further on in the movie. It also develops the murderer’s character, as it would be
assumed that it was created by him.
We discussed at this point also flashing shots of the images on the board, and superimposing the text onto the actions of the
murderer. These shots could create suspense within the scene, as it foreshadows that those images depict the fate of the
victim. As well as this, the superimposition of the texts about various Jack the Ripper killing would indicate that the murderer
has an obsession with the killer. In doing so, the audience have a method of gauging how crazy the murderer is, using their
knowledge of Jack the Ripper murders and how gruesome they were.

7. Cleaning of the weapon:
In an over-the-shoulder shot, the murderer
hovers their hand over the numerous knives,
picking up one on the end. They then proceed to
pick the knife up and clear it, furthering the
psychotic aspect of the murderer as it would
seem as thought they have an obsession with the
murder tool.
The example shot about, taken in front of the murderer, would allow us to contrast the actions
of the murderer and the victim. The murderer would slowly clean their knife, as the victim
frantically tries to escape from the chair that they are in. This contrast in movements would
make the victim’s actions more frantic and scared relative to the murderer’s actions, due to the
sharp contrast between the two.
We discussed the possibility of adding in close ups of two actions – the victim struggling in their
chair and the murderer’s cleaning of the blade, emphasising this contrast

8. Escaping
The next shot shows the victim escaping from the
ropes that bound her arms and body, and she
falls to the ground to begin her escape. However,
her legs are still bound, so a quick escape is
impossible. Instead, she begins to drag herself
across the floor. This could be done using
numerous shots. We could use a long shot to
show her within her environment – the isolated,
dark room (we discussed the possibility of setting
this in a warehouse, so this shot would allow us
to show this setting effectively) which would
emphasise how impossible her escape is in the
vastness of the room.
Alternatively, we could do this from a point of view shot, which would put the audience in the
position of the victim and therefore make them feel the magnitude of the situation more
effectively, once again making them will the victim to escape.

9. Crawling
Following this, the murderer slowly walks towards
the victim who frantically crawls across the
warehouse floor. The contrast of pace at which
they move also indicates that the escape of the
victim is almost impossible, giving the audience a
false sense of hope once again. We discussed
that this should be shot from behind the murderer
as they walk, with their knife lined
up with the victim’s body, foreshadowing that they are definitely going to die. This would reestablish the themes of death and murder within the narrative.

10. Reaching for the escape
From a point-of-view shot from the victim, the victim
reaches for the exit that they are so close to. They hold
their arm there for a few seconds, before the murderer
grabs them and turns them round. They take their knife
and move it round the face of the victim, toying with
their life. This toying with life is, again, something that
can be seen in American Psycho, when Bateman spins
his chainsaw before killing the victim – he could have
just killed them. This creates suspense and makes the
audience question whether or not the victim is going to
be killed, toying with their emotions and consequently
making the eventual death more thrilling. During this
time, the victim could cry or whimper slightly.
To show the significance of this death, we discussed
the possibility of the victim stating her importance by
saying something like: “Don’t you know who I am? I am
____. You can’t kill me!” This would allow for this event
to be developed later on in the narrative, giving this
sequence relevance within the overall movie.

11. Killing
The murderer then takes the victim in their arms
and kills them by slashing their throat, much in
the style of Jack the Ripper. As the murderer
nonchalantly walks back to their desk, the victim
slumps to the floor.
We discussed that, to make the murder thrilling,
we had to show it. It has more of an impact if the
audience can actually see the victim being killed, as it is a definite event; there’s no doubt that
they just died. However, we didn’t want to make it a horror or slasher movie by making this
event overly-gory. Instead, we decided that we should shoot this from behind the murderer –
the act of killing the victim can be seen, but the in a way that doesn’t actually show the killing.

12. Back at the desk
At the desk, an over-the-shoulder shot shows the
murderer placing an image of the recently-killed
victim on the board with a red cross through it.
During this time, the camera slowly zooms
towards the image in the centre of the board,
also of a woman. This develops the narrative,
and suggest to the audience that the murderer is
going to strike again, giving the scene relevance
again within the overall narrative.
As the murderer walks away from the board of images, the murderer could stick a knife into the
picture in the middle of the board, clearly indicating their intentions later on in the film and
therefore developing the narrative. We discussed that the picture in the middle should be of
someone of great significance with an important role, showing how crazed the murderer is to
try and pull something off of this size.

13. Final shot
In this final shot, we wanted to show the victim
dead on the floor, possibly with a pool of blood
forming round them. The murderer walks out of
the warehouse, closing the door behind them as
they walk. When the door closes, the music stops
playing, leaving the audience alone with the dead
body of the victim. If we were to maintain this
shot for a few seconds, it would give the
audience no escape from the enormity and reality
of the situation. It would almost simulate the
experience of finding a dead body.
We discussed the possibility of tilting the camera downwards to show a small note on the body
of the victim; some kind of message to whoever finds the body. I suggested writing “Ripper” on
a small card, as if the murderer has left a note to signify his presence within society. This
presents chaos within the narrative – the murderer has escaped into society, and clearly
intends to strike again, but does not fear people knowing who they are.
It should also be noted that we don’t intend to show the face of the murderer in any of these
shots, much in the same way that the opening sequence of Se7en and the entirety of Zodiac
don’t show the face of the murderer. This introduces the theme of mystery within the narrative
as the murderer could be absolutely anyone. In doing so, the audience will be more engaged
trying to work out who the murderer is, and therefore the thrilling moments will be more thrilling
as they are invested into every character in some way.