For this idea we created a moodboard that consists of inspirations for our thriller.
On this we thought about costume, makeup, props and set design that we have in mind. We considered makeup designs such as shallow cuts and scrapes on the face to show that he's been slightly beaten up beforehand. We also looked at inspirations for how we will scatter the keys on the floor or the wall and considered using modern yale keys to keep the sequence modern. We also looked at set designs such as the room and the door. We looked at fridge doors as they are heavy duty and almost impossible to break. In addition to this, we looked at using a bulky padlock so that it is something the protagonist cannot break. Furthermore we looked at costumes, we looked at a smart and mature suit as that is the stereotypical connotions of what a spy would wear.

We took the feedback we received from our pitch into consideration and started rebuilding our idea.
We thought about conventions we might see in a Thriller instead of a horror, which is what we previously were accidentally creating.

We looked at a more "hero" figure, where the audience will support the protagonist. We came up with an espionage thriller where the character is similar to a James Bond style figure. We thought of a man who is an ex-police man. He retired from duty due to the murder of his wife under his police-watch. He now lives with his terminally ill daughter

The opening sequence consists of the protagonist waking up in a blank room with a big metal door. As he looks around he notices that the door is bolted with a big padlock and scattered around the floor are hundreds of keys. There is a note on the door that orders him to find the correct key before time runs out. The protagonist begins to panic and fumble for the correct key, unsuccessfully finding the correct one. There is some diegetic sound that increases in volume to which the protagonist can hear and starts to panic as the noise gets closer. The sequence ends with the protagonist finding a key and putting it into the padlock, however we don't see whether the key worked or not. 

We then pitched this idea and the feedback that we received was positive. However there are some things that we need to think about, such as what is going to make the protagonist more franctic. We thought about some sort of disturbing diegetic sound that's advancing closer to the room.

We will continue developing this idea and move into pre-production discussions.

We then pitched our idea to the school's filmmakers, Matt and Luke, who will be helping us in creating our final sequences. We presented them with this powerpoint, which consisted of the movie plot, the opening sequence, details such as locations, props, costumes, the moodboard, the test shoot, and a brief but potential back up idea.

In preparation for this, we also began to make some phone calls to potential filming locations. We contacted Hampton Court Palace, which is conveniently only around 30 minutes away; however their requirements include £350 an hour to film, and we must film outside of opening hours (10:00-15:45). We tried Hever Castle in Kent, which is double the distance from us than Hampton. They said that there will be a filming fee, however it will be significantly smaller than Hampton's, they also confirmed that the maze is closed in January anyway, so if we filmed there we would have no problems in terms of the general public. They informed us that to apply for filming, we must officially request to film it with what equipment we will have, number of crew etc.
As a backup, we also called a local vineyard called Denbies. They agreed to this with no fee and an availability at any time. We're glad to have a certain back up plan if we fail to recieve a filming agreement in any of the mazes.

The feedback we got was generally to rebuild our idea and develop it even further. One of them thought that the location of a maze and the whole 'chased by a man' idea is too overused and cliched, and has too many conventions towards a horror film, rather than a thriller. I think as our group was developing this idea, we perhaps lost sight of the conventions of a thriller and instead accidentally created a horror - as a thriller is meant to excite and anticipate an audience, rather than frighten them.

We were also told to perhaps look at a character who is more of a hero figure, rather than someone who is scared and frightened. The audience do not really want to watch someone lose. In addition to this, we were also told to consider whether our idea applies to anything that's happening in the real world right now. Perhaps we will look at BBC News and other articles on what is happening to obtain some themes for our thriller.

In preparation for our Thriller Sequence, we created a test shoot, to get a glimpse of what the developed final product may look like. In this shoot, we only included the vital shots that really convey the story; therefore we excluded any complex or establishing shots that we discussed using for the final product. We filmed on an Iphone 6S, around the campus in locations that looked similar to a maze. We also shot inside a bathroom to use the mirror, as we couldn't bring a mirror outside. I believe we successfully and clearly conveyed our idea of a girl being lost/trapped and someone is chasing after her.

I believe our idea has translated well to film, as it includes the conventions of a thriller. Despite being the basic foundation of our desired final sequence, it is already formed of discomforting shots and jump-scares. In particular, the slow pace of the shots are very effective as it creates the tension that we wanted the audience to feel. The slow pace of the extreme long shot creates the jump-scare of the feet appearing in shot, as it is unexpected. The total length of the opening sequence is fairly good, however, obviously the final sequence will be longer as we will include more shots.

The camera angles and movements we used were fairly good. They represented the type of shots that we would like to use. For example, the camera angled perpendicularly, to make a profile shot of the girl in the mirror is what we were considering using in the final product. Camera movement was a bit shaky, however this will not be an issue in the final sequence, as we will be equipped with tripods etc. Perhaps we could develop some shots, such as the first shot which is a close up - instead we could perhaps zoom in and create an extreme close up to add more discomfort and tension.

If we had more time to edit the shoot to perfection, I would completely remove some sound in the shot that we do not wish to have. I tried to reduce the sound, however it can still subtly be heard. In addition to this, we could perhaps have included more shots that we would like to try. This includes an establishing shot and perhaps one where she finds the mirror.

I believe that overall, the relationship between some of the shots and the tension created worked really successfully. Particularly the extreme long shot where the feet walk into shot. I believe this to have worked well as the sudden boom sound made the audience jump. I also believe that editing audio worked really well; we had many layers of different sounds, such as ambient sounds like the wind and the crickets, as well as pleonastic sound of the feet stamping on the ground. Together, these came together nicely to really establish the setting and themes of the film, whilst subtly underlaying the non-diegetic music.

Our moodboard consists of images of locations, props, costumes and cinematography that we would like to replicate. We mainly added images of a maze and a vineyard - which links to our idea, as ideally, this the location we desire to film in. We also added the idea of using a lantern to create an eerie glow upon the girl's face and to make the sequence more surreal.  In addition to this, we added the image of the pyjamas to show what type of costume we had in mind and what it would look like.