Once we had exported our thriller we had a class evaluation in which we received both positive feedback and some constructive criticism about our project. The positive comments were that the graphics we used e.g. the typewriter style title and credits looked good and suited the type of thriller we had made. We used a blue screen to film our news report and replaced the background with a cityscape this was also given a positive review. The cinematography of our sequence and match on action were positively received, especially in the shot where Simon exits his car.
One piece of constructive criticism that we received for our project was that our sequence should have been longer because some members of our audience were not sure when it was the end of the sequence. Our response to this was that we did not think that the opening had to have a conclusion as it is supposed to continue into the rest of the film. However, it is understandable with the sequence ending so abruptly. Another negative comment was that we should have used an adult to play the news reporter as it would have seemed more realistic. However, we filmed the news report in college using the blue screen and so it was only really possible for us to use a student at that time.
Friday, 16 January 2009
Thursday, 15 January 2009
SECTION 12: EVALUATION
Evaluation - IN SUSPENSE
In our thriller sequence we have attempted to develop the conventions of a real media thriller sequence. In this way we decided, for the opening, to take inspiration from the modern thriller, American Psycho. We attempted to show our knowledge of the typical codes and conventions of the thriller genre in our sequence. For example, John Cawelti believed that the hero of a thriller should be an ordinary person; Simon Spencer, our hero, in his opening monologue, tells the audience about traits of his personality: “I’m a mild insomniac, I watch far too much television…” – This shows the viewer that he is a normal person; he too has problems and is not perfect in every way like the unrealistic heroes of many action films.
However, we have also challenged a convention of our inspiration, American Psyco, because (unlike American Psycho) our main character is not the villain; Simon is the hero. This is why we chose to film closer to him and with more involvement in his movements in contrast with the more observatory, distant way Christian Bale was filmed as Patrick Bateman For example, in our sequence we placed the camera just behind the steering wheel. This is also shown when Simon looks directly into the camera or “mirror” rather than us filming his reflection.
The music we used for the title and credits was chosen because like the music in other thrillers it contains no comforting tones. The strength of the drum beat and with it being so loud and prominent in the piece of music it is apparent that the music is intended to make the audience feel uncomfortable and to build tension. We did not use tension building music with an eerie quality or to put the audience in anticipation of horror because our thriller, in some ways, is not typical and follows a different kind of story.
When considering if our sequence fulfils the specifications of a film in the thriller genre I think that we feel that the introduction we have created must be defended as from the first couple of minutes our film may not seem, to some people, like a typical thriller as there is no violence, gore or eeriness. However, our opening provides gradually building tension. We decided to use this small amount of time to build up, in enough detail for it to make sense, a complicated story that has a one of the most important conventions of a thriller, this being the labyrinth of twists and turns. Rather than frighten our audience we chose to use the introduction to set the audience off on the puzzling journey that is our thriller’s plot.
In a typical thriller film there is generally a female victim, a male hero and a male villain. An example of this is the film Se7en: the female and “most important to the plot” victim being Tracey Mills, Male heroes being Mills and Somerset and male villain being John Doe. However, in our film Scarlett, the only female main character is, in a way, one of the heroes because throughout the film the audience is willing her and Simon to escape. They are the heroic figures even though the audience is made to believe until the very end of the film that Simon and Scarlett are the victims with the news report at the beginning announcing their deaths.
Also, because our thriller is based around a mafia style gang the cast is prominently male we chose to do this because as we wanted the gang to seem as realistic and threatening as possible. Scarlett, although outnumbered by the men has a strong presence in the group and is brave enough to defy the leader and main source of danger, Mike. We also chose to show that not all of the men are violent and threatening. Pidge has a conscience and is loyal to his best friend.
The type of media institution that might choose to distribute our film would be British independent film distribution companies such as the UK Screen Association and the UK Film Council. Also, distributors that focus specifically on low budget British films like Momentum Pictures who were responsible for the distribution of Happy-Go-Lucky and Working Title 2 Films (a branch of Working Title Films) who produced Billy Elliot and Shaun of the Dead. It would have to be a British based company as our film is set in a localized area and there are no big name celebrites in the cast who would automatically bring people to see the film. If there was a definate audience for the film there would be more of a selling point for bigger companies.
The target audience for our thriller would be teenagers and young adults. This is because of our choice in having quite young main characters and cast. However, I think that the film might also be appealing to adults because the film has a detailed story which challenges the audience who enjoy trying to figure out the twists and turns rather than a basic plotline with a predictable ending.
In order to create the audience experience of a successful thriller, we took the results of our questionnaires from the audience research section of the project. The conclusions we came to, from our results about what the audience wants in a thriller were that tension, suspense and curiosity were three of the main components. Also in our research we found out that in regards to what kind of characters people said they like 30% said they like heroes, 25% choose gangsters, 17.5% said detectives, 10% went for spies, 5% said dug dealers, and the remaining 12.5 said other. The 25% that said gangsters confirmed to us that a mob style gang would be a good choice to base our thriller around and also there are not many films being made with that theme right now. We also asked what was the plot of the last thriller film they saw and what would they have done to improve the plot? For this question we had responses such as: making it less obvious, put more twists in and more mysterious. Three aspects which we attempted to include in the editing and plotline our film using partial vision.
To attract an audience for our film we have chosen to use a young cast so that other young people are able to relate to the characters more easily. Also we have looked at all the expectations that our potential audience have and have attempted to include them in our film sequence. Therefore, in giving the people what they want we will gain an audience. When we showed our sequence to the audience in the class evaluation they gave us feed back such as: The way we had edited the news report was impressive and the graphics – putting the text in typewriter style - showed that we had put a lot of work into it.
For this project I have learned a lot about the technologies involved in the process of constructing a thriller sequence. Firstly, learning how to use the camera and understanding the importance of using a tripod correctly was definitely to our advantage. We also researched before filming how to make the camera pull focus, as shown in the last shot, it is not totally perfect but I believe that it does not look bad for a first attempt. We learned how to capture our footage from a digital source which was really helpful because in the past I have had a camera that uses a USB connector for a hard disc drive. Learning how to use Adobe Premiere properly has been of real importance in the construction of our project. The use of effects like ‘Dip to White’ to represent the flashback, which was crucial to our film, was a simple but very good idea. Also, I realised that we would need to use additional software such as Adobe After Effects and I allowed time in pre-production to learn how to use this programme. This gave my group the beneficial option of using After Effects compositions in our sequence. I put together the news opening and the news report using the programme which includes making it look like a television turning on and removing a blue screen and adding a different background I also learned how to use shape layers which are very difficult to keep in order but are important to know. Also, everyone that we have shown our sequence to so far has been impressed by the work that has gone into them. Jade and Sara learned how to use Adobe Flash to animate the text in order for the credits to appear as if on a typewriter, teamwork like this and dividing tasks like these helped with our time management.
Digital technology helped us greatly in creating our project as we were able to do non linear editing; at any stage in the production we could have gone back and changed things if we had doubts. This was helpful because during our construction we did go back and change factors in our sequence quite often, adding extra shots to make the piece longer and putting in the title and credits. Also using After Effects gave our sequence a more realistic quality and meant we were able to create an alternative setting because we did not have access to a news studio.
However, digital technology did hinder us from time to time in some ways. For example, when capturing our shots the very last one of them would not capture unless we recorded extra footage on the tape because the programme “did not like” the blank tape. However, if we had not had this explained to us we might have gone back and tried to shoot it again wasting our time unnecessarily. We also had trouble with compositions with pieces of footage going “offline” but they were fixed for the final time we exported our project.
Looking back at the preliminary task I feel that in the progression from it to the full project I have learned that yes, it is important to work together, but delegating responsibilities helps. In the preliminary task we all worked together doing one thing at a time in editing, this made us slower and meant that we were rushing towards the end leading us to render too quickly when exporting which gave the project an overall look of bad quality. In our final project we used two computers and that way we were able to get more done and finish without rushing. I know that it is sensible to take time with something so important but doing the project in this way actually helped us to learn how to work well and quickly. In the preliminary task the dialogue was unclear and was over too quickly so I made sure that in the final project we paid special attention to the aural aspects of the project as well as the visual. Also at 0:42 seconds, of the preliminary task, when Mike is about to walk up the stairs, in our audience feedback some people said that the match-on-action was not very good and I can see this. So I made sure that in our final sequence there was a successful example of match-on-action. This is shown in our sequence from 1:31 – 1:37 when Simon gets out of his car.
In conclusion, I think that our thriller, although not completely typical, has been successful and original. We met the codes and conventions of thrillers that we had learned about prior to creating our own and are able to relate the theories concerning what makes a successful thriller to our project. Our project directly used the audience research in showing the type of characters our research suggested the target audience preferred. Also, we have learned valuable experience in pre-production and putting our plans into practice.
In our thriller sequence we have attempted to develop the conventions of a real media thriller sequence. In this way we decided, for the opening, to take inspiration from the modern thriller, American Psycho. We attempted to show our knowledge of the typical codes and conventions of the thriller genre in our sequence. For example, John Cawelti believed that the hero of a thriller should be an ordinary person; Simon Spencer, our hero, in his opening monologue, tells the audience about traits of his personality: “I’m a mild insomniac, I watch far too much television…” – This shows the viewer that he is a normal person; he too has problems and is not perfect in every way like the unrealistic heroes of many action films.
However, we have also challenged a convention of our inspiration, American Psyco, because (unlike American Psycho) our main character is not the villain; Simon is the hero. This is why we chose to film closer to him and with more involvement in his movements in contrast with the more observatory, distant way Christian Bale was filmed as Patrick Bateman For example, in our sequence we placed the camera just behind the steering wheel. This is also shown when Simon looks directly into the camera or “mirror” rather than us filming his reflection.
The music we used for the title and credits was chosen because like the music in other thrillers it contains no comforting tones. The strength of the drum beat and with it being so loud and prominent in the piece of music it is apparent that the music is intended to make the audience feel uncomfortable and to build tension. We did not use tension building music with an eerie quality or to put the audience in anticipation of horror because our thriller, in some ways, is not typical and follows a different kind of story.
When considering if our sequence fulfils the specifications of a film in the thriller genre I think that we feel that the introduction we have created must be defended as from the first couple of minutes our film may not seem, to some people, like a typical thriller as there is no violence, gore or eeriness. However, our opening provides gradually building tension. We decided to use this small amount of time to build up, in enough detail for it to make sense, a complicated story that has a one of the most important conventions of a thriller, this being the labyrinth of twists and turns. Rather than frighten our audience we chose to use the introduction to set the audience off on the puzzling journey that is our thriller’s plot.
In a typical thriller film there is generally a female victim, a male hero and a male villain. An example of this is the film Se7en: the female and “most important to the plot” victim being Tracey Mills, Male heroes being Mills and Somerset and male villain being John Doe. However, in our film Scarlett, the only female main character is, in a way, one of the heroes because throughout the film the audience is willing her and Simon to escape. They are the heroic figures even though the audience is made to believe until the very end of the film that Simon and Scarlett are the victims with the news report at the beginning announcing their deaths.
Also, because our thriller is based around a mafia style gang the cast is prominently male we chose to do this because as we wanted the gang to seem as realistic and threatening as possible. Scarlett, although outnumbered by the men has a strong presence in the group and is brave enough to defy the leader and main source of danger, Mike. We also chose to show that not all of the men are violent and threatening. Pidge has a conscience and is loyal to his best friend.
The type of media institution that might choose to distribute our film would be British independent film distribution companies such as the UK Screen Association and the UK Film Council. Also, distributors that focus specifically on low budget British films like Momentum Pictures who were responsible for the distribution of Happy-Go-Lucky and Working Title 2 Films (a branch of Working Title Films) who produced Billy Elliot and Shaun of the Dead. It would have to be a British based company as our film is set in a localized area and there are no big name celebrites in the cast who would automatically bring people to see the film. If there was a definate audience for the film there would be more of a selling point for bigger companies.
The target audience for our thriller would be teenagers and young adults. This is because of our choice in having quite young main characters and cast. However, I think that the film might also be appealing to adults because the film has a detailed story which challenges the audience who enjoy trying to figure out the twists and turns rather than a basic plotline with a predictable ending.
In order to create the audience experience of a successful thriller, we took the results of our questionnaires from the audience research section of the project. The conclusions we came to, from our results about what the audience wants in a thriller were that tension, suspense and curiosity were three of the main components. Also in our research we found out that in regards to what kind of characters people said they like 30% said they like heroes, 25% choose gangsters, 17.5% said detectives, 10% went for spies, 5% said dug dealers, and the remaining 12.5 said other. The 25% that said gangsters confirmed to us that a mob style gang would be a good choice to base our thriller around and also there are not many films being made with that theme right now. We also asked what was the plot of the last thriller film they saw and what would they have done to improve the plot? For this question we had responses such as: making it less obvious, put more twists in and more mysterious. Three aspects which we attempted to include in the editing and plotline our film using partial vision.
To attract an audience for our film we have chosen to use a young cast so that other young people are able to relate to the characters more easily. Also we have looked at all the expectations that our potential audience have and have attempted to include them in our film sequence. Therefore, in giving the people what they want we will gain an audience. When we showed our sequence to the audience in the class evaluation they gave us feed back such as: The way we had edited the news report was impressive and the graphics – putting the text in typewriter style - showed that we had put a lot of work into it.
For this project I have learned a lot about the technologies involved in the process of constructing a thriller sequence. Firstly, learning how to use the camera and understanding the importance of using a tripod correctly was definitely to our advantage. We also researched before filming how to make the camera pull focus, as shown in the last shot, it is not totally perfect but I believe that it does not look bad for a first attempt. We learned how to capture our footage from a digital source which was really helpful because in the past I have had a camera that uses a USB connector for a hard disc drive. Learning how to use Adobe Premiere properly has been of real importance in the construction of our project. The use of effects like ‘Dip to White’ to represent the flashback, which was crucial to our film, was a simple but very good idea. Also, I realised that we would need to use additional software such as Adobe After Effects and I allowed time in pre-production to learn how to use this programme. This gave my group the beneficial option of using After Effects compositions in our sequence. I put together the news opening and the news report using the programme which includes making it look like a television turning on and removing a blue screen and adding a different background I also learned how to use shape layers which are very difficult to keep in order but are important to know. Also, everyone that we have shown our sequence to so far has been impressed by the work that has gone into them. Jade and Sara learned how to use Adobe Flash to animate the text in order for the credits to appear as if on a typewriter, teamwork like this and dividing tasks like these helped with our time management.
Digital technology helped us greatly in creating our project as we were able to do non linear editing; at any stage in the production we could have gone back and changed things if we had doubts. This was helpful because during our construction we did go back and change factors in our sequence quite often, adding extra shots to make the piece longer and putting in the title and credits. Also using After Effects gave our sequence a more realistic quality and meant we were able to create an alternative setting because we did not have access to a news studio.
However, digital technology did hinder us from time to time in some ways. For example, when capturing our shots the very last one of them would not capture unless we recorded extra footage on the tape because the programme “did not like” the blank tape. However, if we had not had this explained to us we might have gone back and tried to shoot it again wasting our time unnecessarily. We also had trouble with compositions with pieces of footage going “offline” but they were fixed for the final time we exported our project.
Looking back at the preliminary task I feel that in the progression from it to the full project I have learned that yes, it is important to work together, but delegating responsibilities helps. In the preliminary task we all worked together doing one thing at a time in editing, this made us slower and meant that we were rushing towards the end leading us to render too quickly when exporting which gave the project an overall look of bad quality. In our final project we used two computers and that way we were able to get more done and finish without rushing. I know that it is sensible to take time with something so important but doing the project in this way actually helped us to learn how to work well and quickly. In the preliminary task the dialogue was unclear and was over too quickly so I made sure that in the final project we paid special attention to the aural aspects of the project as well as the visual. Also at 0:42 seconds, of the preliminary task, when Mike is about to walk up the stairs, in our audience feedback some people said that the match-on-action was not very good and I can see this. So I made sure that in our final sequence there was a successful example of match-on-action. This is shown in our sequence from 1:31 – 1:37 when Simon gets out of his car.
In conclusion, I think that our thriller, although not completely typical, has been successful and original. We met the codes and conventions of thrillers that we had learned about prior to creating our own and are able to relate the theories concerning what makes a successful thriller to our project. Our project directly used the audience research in showing the type of characters our research suggested the target audience preferred. Also, we have learned valuable experience in pre-production and putting our plans into practice.
Sunday, 14 December 2008
SECTION 10: VIDEO LOG SHEETS
Video production paperwork: Logging sheet
Production group: CJNS
Production title: In suspense
Production group: CJNS
Production title: In suspense
SECTION 9: PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Film title: 'In Suspense'
Directors and producers: Sara, Jade, Chrissy and Coley
Date production started: 15/11/08
Treatment started: 22/11/08
Storyboard started: 24/11/08
Shooting started: 2/12/08
Post-production started: 8/12/08
Rough cut submitted: 19/12/08
Final show tape completed: 9/1/09
Location equipment required:
Camera
Tapes
No transport requirements
Crewing requirements:
Camera people
Actors:
News reporter - Joe
Simon - Rory
Pidge - Alex
Scarlett - Delaney
Audrey - Chester
Props:
Sink
Clearasil
Tie
Car
Jacket
Directors and producers: Sara, Jade, Chrissy and Coley
Date production started: 15/11/08
Treatment started: 22/11/08
Storyboard started: 24/11/08
Shooting started: 2/12/08
Post-production started: 8/12/08
Rough cut submitted: 19/12/08
Final show tape completed: 9/1/09
Location equipment required:
Camera
Tapes
No transport requirements
Crewing requirements:
Camera people
Actors:
News reporter - Joe
Simon - Rory
Pidge - Alex
Scarlett - Delaney
Audrey - Chester
Props:
Sink
Clearasil
Tie
Car
Jacket
Friday, 5 December 2008
SECTION 4: AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Questionnaire
How old are you? 16-17 18-19 19 and over
Do you enjoy films? Yes No
Do you enjoy thrillers? Yes No
How often do you go the cinema? Often Sometimes Rarely Never
What was the plot of the last thriller you watched?...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What would you do to improve it?...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe makes a film certificated 15 differnt from an 18?...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What type of charecters do you enjoy watching in a thriller?
Heroes Drug dealers Gangsters Detectives Spies Other?
Please state .................................................
Do you like thrillers to be set in a...?
School City Farm Police station Prison Other?
Please state .................................................
Do you think music makes more tension in a film? Yes No
Questionnaire results
82.5% of the people who were asked to take our questionnaire were 16-17.
10% were 18-19, and just 7.5 % were 19 and over.
So the people who took our survey were all quite young, and so this quiz has a young persons perspective.
92.5% of them liked films in general, and 80% said they liked the thriller genre.
When asked how often the went the cinema 20% said they went often, 52.5% said they went sometimes, 15% said the rarely went, and only 12.5% said the never went.
In regards to what kind of characters people said they like to see in thriller films, 30% said they like heroes, 25% choose gangsters, 17.5% said detectives, 10% went for spies, 5% said dug dealers, and the remaining 12.5 said other.
The most popular setting choice was a city with 47.5 %, 12.5% said farms, 12.5 said prison. 7.5 % said school, 5% said police station, and 15% said other.
When asked if they think eerie music makes something more suspenseful, 87.5% said yes, and only 12.5% said no.
We asked what the plot of the last film they watched was, some general characteristics of these plotlines are:Murders, victims, crime type investigations. Modern films with modern settings.
Twists and turns - these were written by many people, showing this tends to be the thing people remember.Puzzles, and how they solve the. Generally a hero involved in the solving. Gangsters and drug dealers/criminals. Mystery and complications.
We also asked how they would improve these plotlines. A lot of people tended to say the same things, and 50% said they wouldn’t change the film at all. Other things people said are making it less obvious, making it shorter, scarier, put more twists in, less cheesy, easier to follow, and more mysterious.
We asked them what they thought would make an 18, the criteria our participants said was as follows :
Strong and offensive language
Nudity
Sex scenes
Drug use
Gory scenes
Extreme violence
Disturbing scenes
How old are you? 16-17 18-19 19 and over
Do you enjoy films? Yes No
Do you enjoy thrillers? Yes No
How often do you go the cinema? Often Sometimes Rarely Never
What was the plot of the last thriller you watched?...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What would you do to improve it?...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe makes a film certificated 15 differnt from an 18?...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What type of charecters do you enjoy watching in a thriller?
Heroes Drug dealers Gangsters Detectives Spies Other?
Please state .................................................
Do you like thrillers to be set in a...?
School City Farm Police station Prison Other?
Please state .................................................
Do you think music makes more tension in a film? Yes No
Questionnaire results
82.5% of the people who were asked to take our questionnaire were 16-17.
10% were 18-19, and just 7.5 % were 19 and over.
So the people who took our survey were all quite young, and so this quiz has a young persons perspective.
92.5% of them liked films in general, and 80% said they liked the thriller genre.
When asked how often the went the cinema 20% said they went often, 52.5% said they went sometimes, 15% said the rarely went, and only 12.5% said the never went.
In regards to what kind of characters people said they like to see in thriller films, 30% said they like heroes, 25% choose gangsters, 17.5% said detectives, 10% went for spies, 5% said dug dealers, and the remaining 12.5 said other.
The most popular setting choice was a city with 47.5 %, 12.5% said farms, 12.5 said prison. 7.5 % said school, 5% said police station, and 15% said other.
When asked if they think eerie music makes something more suspenseful, 87.5% said yes, and only 12.5% said no.
We asked what the plot of the last film they watched was, some general characteristics of these plotlines are:Murders, victims, crime type investigations. Modern films with modern settings.
Twists and turns - these were written by many people, showing this tends to be the thing people remember.Puzzles, and how they solve the. Generally a hero involved in the solving. Gangsters and drug dealers/criminals. Mystery and complications.
We also asked how they would improve these plotlines. A lot of people tended to say the same things, and 50% said they wouldn’t change the film at all. Other things people said are making it less obvious, making it shorter, scarier, put more twists in, less cheesy, easier to follow, and more mysterious.
We asked them what they thought would make an 18, the criteria our participants said was as follows :
Strong and offensive language
Nudity
Sex scenes
Drug use
Gory scenes
Extreme violence
Disturbing scenes
SECTION 5: TREATMENT
Treatment for film.
Title: In Suspense
NEWS REPORT
News reporter talks about deaths of SIMON SPENCER and SCARLETT HART shows picture of incident
FLASH OF WHITE – to show flashback
“TWO WEEKS EARLIER” - on screen text
BATHROOM
Simon Spencer looking in bathroom mirror wearing shirt and suit trousers.
Ties tie. Internal diegetic NARRATION post synchronisation – talks about life – Scarlett – being in the gang and hating it.
Puts on leather jacket. Walks out of room.
BIG HOUSE + DRIVEWAY
Simon gets out of car.
Walks to front door and is about to knock
DAVID “Pidge” PIGEON opens door before he can knock “You’re late.” Mock seriousness.
Joking they walk down hallway – shows them being best friends.
LIVING ROOM
Big dog barks at Simon “Calm down Audrey.” – MIKE STEEL
Tense atmosphere.
The gang has a meeting – we introduced to Scarlett and the other members here.
They talk about a deal that they have got going down.
Mike gives Simon the responsibility of running the “operation”
Scarlett stands behind Mike Steel has her hand on his shoulder – shows they are supposed to be “together”
KITCHEN
Simon and Scarlett are in the kitchen making coffee – flirtatious – sexual tension. Walks towards her. Hand on wall leaning over her. KEVIN interrupts – He is suspicious.
LIVING ROOM
We see Kevin whisper something to Mike. There is a montage of moments showing all the times he has seen Scarlett and Simon flirting – pieces it together that they were obviously having an affair, right under his nose and he has only just seen this.
LATER ON
LIVING ROOM
It is darker showing it is later in the day.
Mike says he wants Kevin to take over the lead in the deal.
Everyone is leaving. Mike asks Simon to stay behind for a moment.
Threatens him about Scarlett. Makes the offer of £10,000 to leave and never come back or he’ll kill him.
Simon takes the money.
STAIRWAY
Scarlett is watching this happen. Runs upstairs visibly upset.
DRIVEWAY
Simon leaving looks up at windows seemingly guilty. He is actually looking for a place to sneak in and find her.
LATER
Simon climbs up the side of the house and knocks on the bathroom window. He climbs in and asks her to run away with him. She agrees after some convincing.
Throws some clothes and money into a bag. They sneak out.
DRIVEWAY
Both get in car and drive away at high speed.
FRONT DOOR
Mike opens the door angrily and sees them turning the corner.
IN THE CAR
Scarlett and Simon driving away exhilarated.
IN THE HOUSE
Mike shouting hysterically down the phone. Calls up the rest of the gang.
HOTEL
Scarlett and Simon book a room under different names. At first it is exciting. After a while Scarlett begins to panic that they won’t be able to get away from Mike and if he finds them she knows he will kill them. Simon calms her down - assured that everything is going to be alright.
HOUSE
DINING ROOM
Mike and the gang members are planning a man hunt to capture Simon and Scarlett. Some are up for it. Others are not so comfortable with the idea e.g. Pidge – being Simon’s best friend.
Talk about hotels where they could be – what names could they be under.
Stumble across the idea when Johnny “Jobster” O’Brian makes a joke about them being like Bonnie and Clyde.
Gang calls up local hotels they have in fact booked a room under the names Bonnie Hart and Clyde Spencer.
Mike sends Johnny and Kevin to the hotel.
HOTEL
They are talking and packing up at a leisurely pace – audience suspense. Want them to hurry.
LOBBY
The lift doors open Simon and Scarlett are there. Simons face shows panic.
Kevin and Johnny are at the desk arguing with a receptionist.
Simon presses the “close doors” button frantically.
IN THE LIFT
Simon and Scarlett are panicking about how to escape. Decide to use the stairs and find a back door.
LOBBY
Kevin and Johnny are arguing with the receptionist – they want to know what room Scarlett and Simon are in. Receptionist refuses to tell them. Goes to get manager.
Johnny jumps over the front desk and uses the computer to search and finds the room number. Kevin checks the car is still outside, it is. They run upstairs.
OTHER STAIRS
Scarlett and Simon are running down and out round the back of the hotel.
HOTEL CORRIDOR AND ROOM
Kevin and Johnny run down the corridor and burst into room number 55. A woman is doing turndown service. They shout at her, she tells them the people in the room have just left.
They run frantically back down the corridor and Kevin is about to take the stairs but Johnny says the lift will be quicker. – fast paced actions and music. They get in the lift. Doors close. It moves slowly. Stereotypical cheesy music plays. They are impatient. Kevin looks annoyed at Johnny. As soon as the door opens they spring out and run again frantically outside. The car is gone.
IN THE CAR
Scarlett is looking at a map. They are trying to decide where to go. Can’t agree on where. Simon tells her to close her eyes and point at the map and where ever she points to that’s the path they will follow. She points to Portsmouth. They decide to go there.
OUTSIDE THE HOTEL
Johnny on the phone to Mike. Apologising.
HOUSE
Mike is furious with the both of them. Tells them to drive around looking for Simon’s car but if they cannot find them they have to come back but Mike says “Trust me. You don’t want to come back here if you don’t find them.”
MOTORWAY
DARKER early evening.
Kevin and Johnny are driving along the motorway talking. Kevin sees Simon’s car parked on a grass verge. They pull over and run at the car - opening both doors. “ABANDONED!” they are furious. Call Mike again, tell him the bad news.
The audience are left out of the loop in the abandonment of the car
– a sign of things to come. Also creates suspense.
HOUSE
LIVING ROOM
Mike tells Pidge to go and help them in the search as he is the best at piecing the puzzles together and he knows Simon the best – he will know what Simon would do in a situation like this.
SERVICE STATION CAR PARK
We see Pidge pull up. He is trying to figure out what he should do, should he drive away? This shows his struggle. We sympathise with Pidge.
SERVICE STATION CAFÉ
Kevin and Johnny are eating - Pidge walks in.
They tell him what happened.
Pidge suggests that Simon would know not to stay anywhere near here because he knows how “conntected” the gang are in the area.
Also says that they have to be in the UK because Scarlett did not have time to get her passport when they ran away.
He asks a man where the nearest train station is.
AT THE STATION
Pidge looking at the departures. The long distance trains have not left yet. He sends Kevin to Platform 4, Johnny to Platform 1 and he runs to Platform 9.
RUNNING
Following Pidge to Platform 9
He sees Simon helping Scarlett onto the train.
Pidge is stopped in his tracks.
Background noise muffles and fades away.
All we hear Pidge breathing.
Pidge thinks for a moment then springs into action running and jumping onto the train.
IN THE CARRIAGE
Pidge sees Scarlett and Simon finding a seat.
He slides into one trying to stay hidden.
BACK AT THE STATION
Kevin and Johnny meet up again. Both are annoyed and ring Pidge.
IN THE CARRIAGE
Pidge’s phone rings. A recognisable ring tone that was a private joke between Simon and himself.
Pidge panics and hits the answer button quickly.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
Simon’s face shows that he has heard this song. Listens, concerned at first but then smiles at the memory.
PIDGE
On the phone to Kevin. QUIETLY Tells them he’s on the train to Portsmouth. They argue. He wants them to go home and tell Mike they say they don’t want to have to face Mike. The will call him, keep him up to speed and then get the next train. Kevin hangs up.
Pidge leans his head back. Annoyed and reluctant to let it go but he does.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
See them talking, laughing, planning. Time passes. Simon gets up to go to use the toilet. Pidge grabs a newspaper and hides his face. He is successful.
IN PORTSMOUTH
Simon and Scarlett get off the train. Pidge follows them to a little hotel on the seafront. They book a room. As soon as they have their key and leave reception he runs in, hastily books a room and follows them silently.
HOTEL ROOM
Simon and Scarlett think they are safely away.
CORRIDOR
Pidge leans against the wall. We again see him struggle trying to decide what to do.
He turns to walk away.
Then stops and puts his head in his hands.
HOTEL ROOM
There is a knock at the door.
Scarlett is about to open it. Simon grabs her wrist before she can open the door. Suspense builds. He looks through the peep hole. Nothing can be seen.
CUTTING BETWEEN HOTEL ROOM AND CORRIDOR
Pidge has covered peep hole with his hand.
Simon asks who is there?
No reply.
Pidge knocks again.
Silence.
“Spence, it’s me.”
Simon realises that it is Pidge but is suspicious that he is not alone. They argue through the door. Pidge eventually convinces him that he is alone and lets him in.
HOTEL ROOM
They talk about how long their affair has been going on. Begin to argue. Pidge is hurt that Simon did not tell him. Simon explains. Pidge understands but tells them they will never be able to get away from Mike. Simon rhetorically asks what other options they have? Pidge accepts this, says goodbye to his best friend and then suggests that the least Simon could do would be to walk him to the train station.
NIGHT TIME
WALKING DOWN MAIN STREET OUTSIDE THE TRAIN STATION
Simon, Scarlett and Pidge walking, talking, laughing.
Simon sees Kevin and Johnny further down the road.
He misunderstands and becomes angry with Pidge thinking he has tricked them.
Pidge has forgotten that Kevin and Johnny were coming, he did not mean for this to happen. Tries to convince Simon – he won’t listen to him. Pidge looks frustrated and begins walking towards Kevin and Johnny. Audience wonder he is going to do.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
Hide peering around the corner of the train station.
PIDGE
Walks up to Kevin and Johnny
“I lost them.”
Kevin and Johnny are annoyed with Pidge but understand how easy it is to lose them.
He suggests they walk around and check hotels looking for them before they have to tell Mike.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
Simon sees what Pidge has done for them.
PIDGE
When Kevin and Johnny are not looking Pidge turns around to look in the direction of where Simon is hiding. Simon mouths “Thank you.” to Pidge. He is truly grateful.
A TRAIN PLATFORM
Simon and Scarlett get on a train again quickly.
MONTAGE
Shows the passage of time.
The gangs useless searches.
Almost catching them once - losing them again.
Scarlett and Simon travelling around the UK - hotel after hotel - Renting cars.
We see them getting tired of running away.
We see the gang getting tired of the search apart from Mike who is adamant he will find them.
THE LAST DAY
Their two weeks is up.
The audience has known the tragic end from the beginning.
It begins with Scarlett and Simon in the car.
No map.
They know their way around where they are.
HOUSE
Mike and the gang are reassessing the search – going over the last week. Where Simon and Scarlett were last seen. Some want to end the search as it is not making them money like their usual work. Mike refuses to end it. The television is on in the background – volume turned down – the news report announcing Scarlett and Simon’s deaths comes on. Johnny tells one of the other gang members to turn the volume up. They all watch in stunned silence. Pidge’s face shows he is devastated.
NEWS REPORT
Takes over the screen.
The television is turned off.
Camera pans around to Scarlett and Simon sitting in an arm chair watching.
We see they have faked their own deaths so that they could start a new life together.
THE END.
Title: In Suspense
NEWS REPORT
News reporter talks about deaths of SIMON SPENCER and SCARLETT HART shows picture of incident
FLASH OF WHITE – to show flashback
“TWO WEEKS EARLIER” - on screen text
BATHROOM
Simon Spencer looking in bathroom mirror wearing shirt and suit trousers.
Ties tie. Internal diegetic NARRATION post synchronisation – talks about life – Scarlett – being in the gang and hating it.
Puts on leather jacket. Walks out of room.
BIG HOUSE + DRIVEWAY
Simon gets out of car.
Walks to front door and is about to knock
DAVID “Pidge” PIGEON opens door before he can knock “You’re late.” Mock seriousness.
Joking they walk down hallway – shows them being best friends.
LIVING ROOM
Big dog barks at Simon “Calm down Audrey.” – MIKE STEEL
Tense atmosphere.
The gang has a meeting – we introduced to Scarlett and the other members here.
They talk about a deal that they have got going down.
Mike gives Simon the responsibility of running the “operation”
Scarlett stands behind Mike Steel has her hand on his shoulder – shows they are supposed to be “together”
KITCHEN
Simon and Scarlett are in the kitchen making coffee – flirtatious – sexual tension. Walks towards her. Hand on wall leaning over her. KEVIN interrupts – He is suspicious.
LIVING ROOM
We see Kevin whisper something to Mike. There is a montage of moments showing all the times he has seen Scarlett and Simon flirting – pieces it together that they were obviously having an affair, right under his nose and he has only just seen this.
LATER ON
LIVING ROOM
It is darker showing it is later in the day.
Mike says he wants Kevin to take over the lead in the deal.
Everyone is leaving. Mike asks Simon to stay behind for a moment.
Threatens him about Scarlett. Makes the offer of £10,000 to leave and never come back or he’ll kill him.
Simon takes the money.
STAIRWAY
Scarlett is watching this happen. Runs upstairs visibly upset.
DRIVEWAY
Simon leaving looks up at windows seemingly guilty. He is actually looking for a place to sneak in and find her.
LATER
Simon climbs up the side of the house and knocks on the bathroom window. He climbs in and asks her to run away with him. She agrees after some convincing.
Throws some clothes and money into a bag. They sneak out.
DRIVEWAY
Both get in car and drive away at high speed.
FRONT DOOR
Mike opens the door angrily and sees them turning the corner.
IN THE CAR
Scarlett and Simon driving away exhilarated.
IN THE HOUSE
Mike shouting hysterically down the phone. Calls up the rest of the gang.
HOTEL
Scarlett and Simon book a room under different names. At first it is exciting. After a while Scarlett begins to panic that they won’t be able to get away from Mike and if he finds them she knows he will kill them. Simon calms her down - assured that everything is going to be alright.
HOUSE
DINING ROOM
Mike and the gang members are planning a man hunt to capture Simon and Scarlett. Some are up for it. Others are not so comfortable with the idea e.g. Pidge – being Simon’s best friend.
Talk about hotels where they could be – what names could they be under.
Stumble across the idea when Johnny “Jobster” O’Brian makes a joke about them being like Bonnie and Clyde.
Gang calls up local hotels they have in fact booked a room under the names Bonnie Hart and Clyde Spencer.
Mike sends Johnny and Kevin to the hotel.
HOTEL
They are talking and packing up at a leisurely pace – audience suspense. Want them to hurry.
LOBBY
The lift doors open Simon and Scarlett are there. Simons face shows panic.
Kevin and Johnny are at the desk arguing with a receptionist.
Simon presses the “close doors” button frantically.
IN THE LIFT
Simon and Scarlett are panicking about how to escape. Decide to use the stairs and find a back door.
LOBBY
Kevin and Johnny are arguing with the receptionist – they want to know what room Scarlett and Simon are in. Receptionist refuses to tell them. Goes to get manager.
Johnny jumps over the front desk and uses the computer to search and finds the room number. Kevin checks the car is still outside, it is. They run upstairs.
OTHER STAIRS
Scarlett and Simon are running down and out round the back of the hotel.
HOTEL CORRIDOR AND ROOM
Kevin and Johnny run down the corridor and burst into room number 55. A woman is doing turndown service. They shout at her, she tells them the people in the room have just left.
They run frantically back down the corridor and Kevin is about to take the stairs but Johnny says the lift will be quicker. – fast paced actions and music. They get in the lift. Doors close. It moves slowly. Stereotypical cheesy music plays. They are impatient. Kevin looks annoyed at Johnny. As soon as the door opens they spring out and run again frantically outside. The car is gone.
IN THE CAR
Scarlett is looking at a map. They are trying to decide where to go. Can’t agree on where. Simon tells her to close her eyes and point at the map and where ever she points to that’s the path they will follow. She points to Portsmouth. They decide to go there.
OUTSIDE THE HOTEL
Johnny on the phone to Mike. Apologising.
HOUSE
Mike is furious with the both of them. Tells them to drive around looking for Simon’s car but if they cannot find them they have to come back but Mike says “Trust me. You don’t want to come back here if you don’t find them.”
MOTORWAY
DARKER early evening.
Kevin and Johnny are driving along the motorway talking. Kevin sees Simon’s car parked on a grass verge. They pull over and run at the car - opening both doors. “ABANDONED!” they are furious. Call Mike again, tell him the bad news.
The audience are left out of the loop in the abandonment of the car
– a sign of things to come. Also creates suspense.
HOUSE
LIVING ROOM
Mike tells Pidge to go and help them in the search as he is the best at piecing the puzzles together and he knows Simon the best – he will know what Simon would do in a situation like this.
SERVICE STATION CAR PARK
We see Pidge pull up. He is trying to figure out what he should do, should he drive away? This shows his struggle. We sympathise with Pidge.
SERVICE STATION CAFÉ
Kevin and Johnny are eating - Pidge walks in.
They tell him what happened.
Pidge suggests that Simon would know not to stay anywhere near here because he knows how “conntected” the gang are in the area.
Also says that they have to be in the UK because Scarlett did not have time to get her passport when they ran away.
He asks a man where the nearest train station is.
AT THE STATION
Pidge looking at the departures. The long distance trains have not left yet. He sends Kevin to Platform 4, Johnny to Platform 1 and he runs to Platform 9.
RUNNING
Following Pidge to Platform 9
He sees Simon helping Scarlett onto the train.
Pidge is stopped in his tracks.
Background noise muffles and fades away.
All we hear Pidge breathing.
Pidge thinks for a moment then springs into action running and jumping onto the train.
IN THE CARRIAGE
Pidge sees Scarlett and Simon finding a seat.
He slides into one trying to stay hidden.
BACK AT THE STATION
Kevin and Johnny meet up again. Both are annoyed and ring Pidge.
IN THE CARRIAGE
Pidge’s phone rings. A recognisable ring tone that was a private joke between Simon and himself.
Pidge panics and hits the answer button quickly.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
Simon’s face shows that he has heard this song. Listens, concerned at first but then smiles at the memory.
PIDGE
On the phone to Kevin. QUIETLY Tells them he’s on the train to Portsmouth. They argue. He wants them to go home and tell Mike they say they don’t want to have to face Mike. The will call him, keep him up to speed and then get the next train. Kevin hangs up.
Pidge leans his head back. Annoyed and reluctant to let it go but he does.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
See them talking, laughing, planning. Time passes. Simon gets up to go to use the toilet. Pidge grabs a newspaper and hides his face. He is successful.
IN PORTSMOUTH
Simon and Scarlett get off the train. Pidge follows them to a little hotel on the seafront. They book a room. As soon as they have their key and leave reception he runs in, hastily books a room and follows them silently.
HOTEL ROOM
Simon and Scarlett think they are safely away.
CORRIDOR
Pidge leans against the wall. We again see him struggle trying to decide what to do.
He turns to walk away.
Then stops and puts his head in his hands.
HOTEL ROOM
There is a knock at the door.
Scarlett is about to open it. Simon grabs her wrist before she can open the door. Suspense builds. He looks through the peep hole. Nothing can be seen.
CUTTING BETWEEN HOTEL ROOM AND CORRIDOR
Pidge has covered peep hole with his hand.
Simon asks who is there?
No reply.
Pidge knocks again.
Silence.
“Spence, it’s me.”
Simon realises that it is Pidge but is suspicious that he is not alone. They argue through the door. Pidge eventually convinces him that he is alone and lets him in.
HOTEL ROOM
They talk about how long their affair has been going on. Begin to argue. Pidge is hurt that Simon did not tell him. Simon explains. Pidge understands but tells them they will never be able to get away from Mike. Simon rhetorically asks what other options they have? Pidge accepts this, says goodbye to his best friend and then suggests that the least Simon could do would be to walk him to the train station.
NIGHT TIME
WALKING DOWN MAIN STREET OUTSIDE THE TRAIN STATION
Simon, Scarlett and Pidge walking, talking, laughing.
Simon sees Kevin and Johnny further down the road.
He misunderstands and becomes angry with Pidge thinking he has tricked them.
Pidge has forgotten that Kevin and Johnny were coming, he did not mean for this to happen. Tries to convince Simon – he won’t listen to him. Pidge looks frustrated and begins walking towards Kevin and Johnny. Audience wonder he is going to do.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
Hide peering around the corner of the train station.
PIDGE
Walks up to Kevin and Johnny
“I lost them.”
Kevin and Johnny are annoyed with Pidge but understand how easy it is to lose them.
He suggests they walk around and check hotels looking for them before they have to tell Mike.
SIMON AND SCARLETT
Simon sees what Pidge has done for them.
PIDGE
When Kevin and Johnny are not looking Pidge turns around to look in the direction of where Simon is hiding. Simon mouths “Thank you.” to Pidge. He is truly grateful.
A TRAIN PLATFORM
Simon and Scarlett get on a train again quickly.
MONTAGE
Shows the passage of time.
The gangs useless searches.
Almost catching them once - losing them again.
Scarlett and Simon travelling around the UK - hotel after hotel - Renting cars.
We see them getting tired of running away.
We see the gang getting tired of the search apart from Mike who is adamant he will find them.
THE LAST DAY
Their two weeks is up.
The audience has known the tragic end from the beginning.
It begins with Scarlett and Simon in the car.
No map.
They know their way around where they are.
HOUSE
Mike and the gang are reassessing the search – going over the last week. Where Simon and Scarlett were last seen. Some want to end the search as it is not making them money like their usual work. Mike refuses to end it. The television is on in the background – volume turned down – the news report announcing Scarlett and Simon’s deaths comes on. Johnny tells one of the other gang members to turn the volume up. They all watch in stunned silence. Pidge’s face shows he is devastated.
NEWS REPORT
Takes over the screen.
The television is turned off.
Camera pans around to Scarlett and Simon sitting in an arm chair watching.
We see they have faked their own deaths so that they could start a new life together.
THE END.
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