Group Narrative - miss Georgia

In my group of three we have me (Danny), Alfie and Amy

Group member one (Danny): For my story the narrative will be based in an isolated area, possibly a forest, about a crazed stalker who has been following the protagonist for years, one day he finally snaps, and decides to take action, she is running in the forest, and suddenly she feels a blunt object hit her over the head, instantly knocking her out, the screen goes black, he kidnaps her and takes her to his house, when she wakes up she is drowsy and disorientated, and doesn't realise what is happening, she gets up, trying to exit but finds the door is locked, she screams for help, but is trapped, she decides to look around the room and there are pictures of her scattered all over the walls, pictures that look like they have been taken from a distance, she was clearly unaware of the picture being taken, she is starting to become anxious, she frantically looks around the room, searching for an exit or a weapon to smash the door down with, as she is looking around the room the lights start to flicker, she hears the door creaking open, so she tries to find a hiding place in this small room, she gets into the wardrobe, attempting to evade the unknown man, she cannot close it fully, so she ends up peeking out, she sees the man walking around calling out her name (she doesn't recognise him and whimpers as he comes closer) he disappears out of her sight, she stays silent until she hears footsteps going up the stairs, then suddenly he appears in front of her, peeking round the door, she screams and jumps back into the wardrobe, he casually opens the wardrobe door and greets her, she kicks and punches him screaming at him asking who he is, he ignores her and closes the door, a sound of a key rattling in a lock can be heard, then a click, indicating it has been locked, she screams at him to let her out, he calmly replies, "i'll be back for you at six for dinner, make sure you're ready"

A few hours later and she hears the creak of the door and then footsteps, he knocks her out with chloroform and she wakes up at the dinner table, the camera uses a panoramic shot across the table and we see the antagonist, he explains how the dinner will be ready soon and not to worry, she looks around the room for an escape (POV shot) (handheld camera), she jumps out her chair (speed of shots fast), running for an exit, the antagonist, annoyed, gets out his seat, "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this" it cuts back to her sprinting around the house she runs towards the door, its locked, she runs frantically towards the front door but as she runs down the corridor he jumps out of no where and stabs her (high pitch noise), gently lowering  her onto the floor, the camera slowly zooms out as the lighting gets darker, a background noise of a heart beat slowing down can be heard in the background.

Advantage: Conventional to thriller due to the iconography which is an isolated are, used in the majority of successful thrillers, this helps create suspense as the audience know she is unlikely to find help and has little chance of escapinng, also the fact that its in a forest makes it seems more realistic and engaging, also surprising due to the forest being an everyday place and shots used, to create suspense, shock, surprise and enigma, shots such as POV, panning and long shot help create these effects.

Disadvantage: Hard to shoot due to the different settings used, as we are on a tight schedule we need to film scenes in one place to speed up the process, this may also make the narrative difficult to understand for the audience if we change the setting as it may not make sense to the narrative

Group member two(Amy): A narrative for a new thriller could be about a girl who has a sister who was murdered a few years back. Ever since this incident the killer has not been discovered, yet the brother had also disappeared since it occurred. It turns out that what they believed that the sister is dead, but in fact the brother is killed by the sister and she is seeking to come back and kill the girl, to take revenge on the result of their childhood. I think this idea of a narrative is quite unique as the majority of killers tend to be male so this puts a slight twist on it. Additionally, not many thrillers have a conflict between siblings to the extent of murder so this also adds some originality. 

The opening sequence would include point of view shots of the sister who is shown to be stalking the girl (her sister). This would give the audience the perspective of the sister but they would not know that.  The audience would also not find out her identity at the end of the opening sequence as I would want to create that suspense and make them experience the feeling of wanting to see more. Furthermore, the setting would be isolated and there would be low-key lighting. These elements create enigma and tension and are also key conventions of a successful thriller. The setting being isolated will create more of an eery atmosphere and complemented with low-key lighting will ensure that the audience feel worried for the victim. Low-key lighting will mean that not everything will be distinctively visible including intricate detail, so this will leave suspense and the audience pondering as to what is lurking in the darkness. The girl will be represented as innocent and just like a normal everyday person so the audience can feel more relatable towards the character. In contrast, the sister will be represented as the opposite however, not so much in the opening sequence as her identity would be hidden. There would be a tense, eery, non-diegetic soundtrack with uses of diegetic on and off screen sound such as car engine and mobile for example. Use of silence will also be present to create prolonged shots to create a build up on tension in order to create an effective climax. In addition, the target audience would be a 15+ and anyone who enjoys watching thriller films with a certified age of 15 as the criteria would be a appropriate for this particular age certificate. It would include some violence and discriminatory behaviour and language but not exceeding the criteria and the limits that would push it to an 18. Most thrillers are targeted at 15+ year olds and so mine would be very much influenced by these thrillers. 

Advantage: Uses unique ideas and goes against the conventions of a thriller this creates shock, surprise and suspense as the audience are not used to the narrative, this engages the audience into watching the film, there is also an enigma as to how the sister was killed, shock, when we find out who the killer was, surprise, that a family member has killed a sibling, these factors together will grip the audience into watching the film as it is not a stereotypical movie.

Disadvantage: Bit of a risk as it is not stereotypical to thriller genre conventions so we have little inspiration to follow which makes it extremely difficult to tell whether audiences would enjoy the narrative and whether it would engage them, also hard to produce due to complicated storyline as well as difficult setting to get hold of whenever needed

Group member three(Alfie): A narrative for a new thriller would be about a young couple arriving at a summer house on holiday. Upon arriving at the house, they realise they are in a isolated area and the summer house has very little electricity  They go to sleep on their first night and begin to hear strange noises and shadows roaming around the bedroom. The man wakes up in the middle of the night and walks into the kitchen to get a glass of water, where he finds the television still on. He walks over to the tele and turns it off to find bloody handprints over the remote control and a table. He attempts to ring the police but he can't get a signal. Whilst he attempts to find out were the bloody handprints have come from, a shadowy figure appears on the wall by the stairs and the sound of footsteps creek on the floorboards. He then grabs a torch out of the cupboard and follows the bloody footsteps up towards his bedroom. Non-digetic music is playing in the background to add suspense and it matches the sound of his heartbeat. Suddenly, screams from his girlfriend come from the bedroom. He rushes into the bedroom to find her dead body lying across the bed. The camera closes in on his shocked face as he frantically tries to save himself, rushing down towards the front door. Panicking and panting, he can't find the key and the sound of the radio plays in the background. The killer is standing their, gazing at his next victim. His name is Richard Keys. 

Advantage: Easy/interesting to follow due to stereotypical thriller narrative as it has the classic storyline as well as conventional camera shots, these camera shots build suspense as well as create shock and surprise, due to the slow moving narrative and build up to finding out who the killer is suspense is created throughout and is a main feature in this narrative.

Disadvantages: Hard to find correct setting as we need to find a setting plus film in certain hours within a tine limit, we need it to be an area that will always be available as we need to film whenever possible, so a public area like a forest is the best option

Final group narrative:

The narrative will be set in a forest, it will be about a crazed stalker who is following a girl, his face is always hidden, she keeps hearing weird noises/voices, leaves cracking as if someone is behind her, she also feels a presence around her, she gets that feeling you get when you feel like someone is watching you, she tries to leave but sees a masked man step in front of her path, around fifteen yards away, she turns and sprints, trying to get away from the masked man, eventually she realises he has not been chasing her and she doesn't know where she is, she searches around for a way out/somewhere she recognises, the camera cuts to behind her, you can make out the man again, she doesn't see him and carries on walking, as she is walking toward a path the man steps directly infront of her, she freezes out of panic, he goes t grab her but she turns and runs, he swipes the knife aimlessly catching her arm, causing a wound and blood, she carries on through it, eventually she faints due to the blood, when she wakes up she is drowsy and disorientated , she looks and her arm has been cleaned up and bandaged, she sees the masked man again, he hasn't realised she's awoken, she tries to escape, she slowly walks to the door and tries to open the door, it's locked, he turns around and she has nowhere to go , she attacks him, in a panic he pushes her off and stabs her, the lighting fades as the sound of a heartbeat gets slower in the background.


My narrative follows Aristotle as it uses nearly every part of it, it has a dramatic question as to who the antagonist is and why he wants to harm her as she is portrayed as a harmless, innocent you g girl and the audience struggle to understand why this is happening and feel sympathetic toward her, a character goal, this was to capture the victim and kill her, the victim didn't have one at first but it quickly became to escape from the antagonist and get to safety, due to the antagonist having complete superiority it is easier for him to complete his goal in comparison to the victim. The opening sequence has an antagonist and protagonist, the antagonist being the killer/stalker constantly watching the victim in preparation of him murdering her, making sure she doesn't escape from the isolated forest before he can attack her, and the protagonist being the woman victim, her goal is difficult in these circumstances as the forest is large and isolated, should you go off track it is difficult to get back on track/out of the forest, also the audience feel empathy/sympathy for the victim as she is vulnerable and has no one to help her, also the fact that she is murdered for no apparent reason and that she gets lost in the forest and doesn't know where to go to escape, also they feel sorry for her as the antagonist clearly has the upper hand.

My narrative is conventional to a thriller as it has the typical iconography (knife), a masked antagonist, protagonist and antagonist, female victim, suspense, surprise, shock and enigma, an isolated setting, a male antagonist, I am also planning to use eerie music in the background this will appeal to my target audience as it has all the key conventions that previous successful thrillers have had, I feel that the opening sequence is interesting and would draw in the audience, making them want to watch the rest of the film