Preliminary Task Feedback

Costumes (UPDATED)

In terms of costume, we have placed a great quantity of thought into what is being worn by our characters and the characterisation in which costume allows, and how it influences the piece in its entirety.

Josh Masterson-  Wears a hooded coat along with grey jeans and grey shoes. The thought process behind the hooded coat is to reveal the identity of his character slowly, and present him as a character of mystery and shadiness. Despite the audience feeling sympathy for Joshua, there is also an air of wondering what is happening etc. Masterson's face is always made clear, plus, his colours are blue and grey, which are quite neutral in comparison to dark, bland colours worn by Rush. In terms of the meaning behind the denim jeans, Jean designer Yves Saint Laurent spoke in an interview about the meaning behind jeans  “They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity,” sighed the owlish Frenchman. “All I hope for in my clothes.” This was certainly applicable to our thriller, as the use of jeans add simplicity and modesty behind our character, Masterson is a much warmer character in comparison to Rush.The intimacy and commonness of Masterson's costume presents ideas of normality and commonness, as a production team, we wanted Masterson to be quite mysterious but also relatable.


This is the coat worn by Josh Masterson.




Tom Rush- Wears a tracksuit supported with a green coat with a large hood as we don't want his face to be seen throughout the opening as faces aren't ever seen in dreams. It is used to make him seem a tough and hardened character. This is represented through his stereotypical characterisation. The hood also connotes ideas of mystery and illusion around Rush as a character, in many ways, the use of a hood is much like the use of a mask, but more intimate with the audience. Also, in a dream, wearing a coat is to wear the coat of your father, mother, royalty or a beggar is to take on an aspect of that role. All this research concluded our decision to use large coats in different forms, but for these reasons, Rush's coat is used with different intentions than Josh's coat is used to create this idea of mystery and distance between the audience, which is also shown through proxsemics as Rush is also further away from the screen than Masterson is, which helps creates distance literally between this character and the audience.



This is the coat worn by Tom Rush.



Written by Connor Southwell

Fonts in Thriller films

Firstly, the typography is presented in a serif typeface, this is clear as the letters have a slight projection off the stroke of letters, like, for example, Times New Roman. This provides enormous clarity and the use of lowercase letters provides a neat square in which the text has been presented to add simplicity and a nice aesthetic to the typography. This font also has a fixed pitch and as the screenshot shows, it contains a mix of both uppercase and lowercase letters, however, in the words 'Need' and 'Speed', contain uppercase letters which are the same in terms in sizing. The font fades in via a good flutter of specs similar to that of a wielding machine during use, this is a symbolic way to show the mechanics behind how a car is made and give the film a feel and channel the theme of the film in the typography.

The font is a grey colour presented to the audience on a black background which has a gold shining on certain letters. Grey is a neutral colour which often presents connotations and feelings of depression and loss, according to key psychological studies. However, it is also regarded as a sophistication and formality. So the production team is trying to balance this neutrality and sophistication  with the shining of gold which connotes wealth and beauty of the cars used in this action thriller. So the typography of this allows a neutral atmosphere that doesn't give to many hints and surprises regarding the rest of the film. Also, the grey matches the wheels of the cars, so at this stage, it's about reflecting the main theme and focus point of the film, and that's cars, which is also reflected with in this typography.

The placement of the text is interesting in respect that its placed in the centre of the screen on a black background, it is almost an example of reserve type, but the letting of the typeface is placed in a way that makes it stand out and easy to read for the audience. There is a slight rotation as the font is presented and this reflects when grey smoke comes out of the exhaust and this is reflected with in this movement of the font.

In summary, I think this is a cleverly constructed and thought out piece of Typeface, and with all the connotations and atmosphere it creates presents a nice piece of contrast to the film which is a fast paced action thriller involving cars, guns and fights. The typography is simple but effective but also provides connotations which are clever and relevant. It's a wonderful piece of typography.


In the opening sequence to Mission Impossible 4, the audience are shown to two sparks following a piece of rope, which is what is responsible for the orange tinge to this piece of typeface. The typeface itself is in block capitals which are all the same point size. In terms of what type this typeface is, its a Sans Serif font, which is different to the example seen previous as it has no serifs and is easier to read as it has no finishing projection.

Already from the opening title sequence the director, Brad Bird, is already connoting danger through the introduction of two fuse wires complimented with the iconic soundtrack of the Mission Impossible series, so there is a sense of danger from the start as well as a familiar piece of sound to play alongside the fizzing of the fuse wires. These two fuse wires cross each other to reveal the typeface and the orange provides connotations of fire and danger, could this foreshadow an explosive entrance for main character Ethan Hunt? Orange also connotes a fiery atmosphere or a lustful feeling so could Hunt be in lust of something? A psychological study into the colour orange says that orange is relating to danger and adventure, so in that respect, the colour of the typeface matches the intentions and sub genre of the film.

The connotations of the typeface is one that mirrors the sub genre of the film, the fuse wires match the danger and action that is going to be experienced by Ethan Hunt, and the colouring is used to match this. The typography is only presented on screen for a short period of time, as the fast paced title sequence is used to match the fast pace at which the film is going to be set. The involvement of a fuse wire suggests to the audience that there is dynamite somewhere waiting to be blown up, so it's important for introduction but maybe a starter to the narrative of the film.

In summary, this font helps set up the film and lets everybody aware that this is an action film that, although part of a series, stands away as an individual film, and the fast pace matches the sub genre it is being placed in. 

Plot Synopsis

The plot of our film is aimed to raise a simple question; what in our lives is dream and what is reality. This is the story of Josh Masterson, who is subject of this intensive reality. Josh struggles to differentiate between the two. Stuck in between two worlds, Josh encounters Tom Rush, who plays the villain of the film, and as Josh gets in trouble financially, Javier is there to assigned with catching a struggling Josh, is this real? Or is Josh stuck in a dream?

Written by Connor Southwell

Film Pitch (Updated)

Ever felt that your dream is so real it must be true? You're not alone, in our film, Torpidity, we question the difference between dream and reality, and is there one?

Location and Mise En Scene

LOCATIONS & MISE EN SCENE:

Throughout our thriller there will be several possible locations where we'll be filming, such as a bus stop, Ketts Hill and a dark, dead end street or alley.
The opening sequence of our thriller takes place in a location looking over Norwich with an establishing shot. The primary candidate
for where this scene will be filmed is Ketts hill, this is because you can see the whole of Norwich from here and in the winter it looks particularly dark,gloomy and isolated. The atmosphere created in this opening scene would be mysterious and chilling, these are both general conventions of a typical thriller.

The second potential location we have chosen to film in is a bus stop, this is because it gives general conventions of city life and an every day setting. Furthermore, we have a scene in our thriller in which a character is sleeping at a bus stop and the bus stop could be interpreted as the entrapment of his mind. This bus stop could essentially be anywhere, however a preferred location for it would be on a quite desolate road to show he's isolated and alone. When filming in this area we would have to pay careful attention to the lighting as it could be an issue because it is outside and very open. But, to combat this as we are filming in winter and at night there is going to be very little to no diegetic light, except from possibly the moon, allowing us to create our own non diegetic lighting with equipment.

For the chase scene in our thriller we are looking to film down an alleyway. This alley needs to be empty,rough and relatively long. This alley must connote how trapped the character is feeling and how vulnerable he is. As our thriller is a psychological thriller all of our locations, especially for this scene must connote this constant sense of isolation and paranoia. Also, our thriller is about a teenager fighting the concept of reality within his own mind, so the settings are vital in depicting this plot.

Written by Thor Forster

Initial Ideas