Story Outline:
Two people who are clearly well acquainted (speaking casually to each other, feel comfortable making fun of
each other, etc.)Walk up to a house and start speaking of how there friend has not been at school or working recently, and they can’t contact her. When they arrive at the door the first friend knocks on the door and waits, however receives no reply. He knocks again and the two wait for a moment however there is still no reply. The second friend who is notably more impatient attempts to break in to find that the front door is open anyway.
The second person walks ahead through the girls house, whereas the first friend is slightly worried they are invading her privacy and stays further behind. The second person begins to walk up the stairs slowly, into the darkness. However before he gets up there person 1 calls
him back down to the lounge. In the lounge a giant sheet covered in blood is lying across the sofa, and pocking out from the bottom is a pale white hand covered in blood. Person 2 walks straight out whilst person 1 stays staring in shock. They begin to panic, suggesting that maybe its not her body under there, worrying if they would get the blame.
Whilst this is happening the dead body of the girl gets up and checks her watch. Though when the 2 people came it was clearly day time her watch says 9pm and its dark outside. The shot then shows her walking over to her desk and mirror (she is very shaky and nervous/paranoid) where she sorts out her hair very slowly. In the back of the shot you can still see the 2 friends fighting about what to do,
often pointing over to the sofa or looking over towards it to let the audience know that they still see her there.
The focus is then again drawn to the 2 people, and person one suggests that they check that it really is her. Person two makes a point that as it was person ones idea he should be the one to check, and so person one slowly approaches the dead body. Whilst approaching the dead body he walks past the ‘memory’ of the girl who is acting through what happened the night before, and the camera moves from him onto her. She is currently reading through her diary, which on the first few pages contain the credits of the piece. Once the credits have been run through it the pages then contain messages such as, “I am watching you” and “Look out the window”. She goes to her window and checks her curtains (unintentionally turning over a page in the diary before leaving) however there is no one there, and the camera turns and focuses back on the first friend who is drawing the blanket back over the girls face. At this point the person 2 is searching the room for anything that could be a clue, however person one says its pointless and to leave it to the experts. Friend 1 then walks over to see the diary which now states “Too late, im at the door”. At this point they both hear a loud slam of the front door and look over towards the hall that leads to the doorway. It the flashes to the girl who also looking to the direction of the front door, however instead of seeing nothing like the others, the murderer is stood there holding a knife. When it flashes back to the 2 people, they see a man about their age who they seem to know quite well, who also states he was worried about her.
Story outline in context with
theory:
Prop’s Narrative theory:
I believe that in my story line it would be very hard to tell who the protagonist of the story is/will be due to the fact that it is a 2 minute opening, and during this time the protagonist has yet to be established. The story could go in any direction, leaving any of the 4 characters that have been introduced to be the protagonist in some way. If I had to make a choice from viewing the 2 minute opening I would say it is most likely to be one of the 2 people who entered the house together, if not both of them. I believe this as they are the first to be see during the 2 minute opening and they are also the characters to get most film time. However it could be argued that because the reason that they are at the house is because of the girl, and the story seems as if it will be focused a lot around her the girl could be the protagonist. However I think it would be a bad choice to make the decision that she may be the protagonist by trying to interpret what may happen later on in
the film, as of course the idea that has been thought up may be completely wrong. I will however stick to assuming that the two characters that were initially introduced are the protagonists.
I also believe the girl to be the damsel in distress, however one that has been left too late to be saved. I think that she could fit into other roles as well, such as the quest giver (Due to the fact that by looking for the girl it seems as if the two people have been caught up in the storyline). From the 2 minute opening I would also assume that the character who is introduced last, towards the very end, could be either the antagonist or the false hero. Due to the way the film will have been shot the audience will immediately assume that the final character is in fact the murderer, as he has been seen standing in the place of the murderer. However this could in fact just be a trick to attempt to convince the audience that he is in fact the antagonist and to make the audience suspicious of him, although he may in fact be a genuinely good character.
Feminism:
A point about my story line is that I have decided to use the female character as the damsel in distress for my story. I have chosen to do this due to the fact that I believe that the two protagonists of the story would not have been so interested in going to the house if their friend was in fact a male, as they would not feel so much need to make sure that the character is alright and protect the character (as males typically give of a harder outer shell than females). This of course is an essential feature as the protagonists visiting the house is what we as the viewer’s anticipate will set of the rest of the story. I have also chosen to use a female as females are portrayed as the weaker sex and therefore it would fit in to the typical conventions of a thriller that the weaker characters do not last as long.
After doing research into target audience I have found that more males prefer watching thriller movies than females. Although I would like for females also to be interested in my piece making a movie of the thriller genre that is aimed towards males seems like a more sensible option. I have found that many males prefer for the protagonist to be a male. I believe this is because they can
connect better with having male characters as the protagonists, and in doing so they can project themselves into the character. I have chosen for my two male protagonists to have some notable personality differences (for example the second character is a lot more inpatient and more demanding and would be considered the more dominant of the two) so that male audience will have more chance of connecting with one of the characters and hopefully enjoying the movie to a greater extent.
Semiotic:
I have chosen for the murder weapon to be a knife which will be wielded by a character who, although the identity will remain unknown throughout the video the audience will assume to be a male due to the masculine features of the character, such as clothes, body language,
authority and also the camera angle. The masculine character will be using the knife on a character who is a feminine character which, when in context with semiotics suggests that the masculine character is using the knife as a way of expressing the characters masculinity, the knife representing a phallus. The forced action of the knife and penetration of the girls skin almost mimics that of rape towards the female character.
I have also chosen for a diary to have all the messages from the murderer to appear within the diary. I have chosen for them to appear within this form because many people associate a diary with protection and to be of the up most security, a place to unload the information and secrets that are hiding within your mind, and a place to store information you wish to remember. By putting the messages within the diary it gives a sense that the murderer can see into her head, her thoughts and memories, her most private moments revealed to him. It gives the sense to the viewer that her security has been breached, that nowhere is safe for her, she has nowhere to hide. Or to some it may even give the impression that the murderer is in fact in her head, that she is imagining the whole thing.
Two people who are clearly well acquainted (speaking casually to each other, feel comfortable making fun of
each other, etc.)Walk up to a house and start speaking of how there friend has not been at school or working recently, and they can’t contact her. When they arrive at the door the first friend knocks on the door and waits, however receives no reply. He knocks again and the two wait for a moment however there is still no reply. The second friend who is notably more impatient attempts to break in to find that the front door is open anyway.
The second person walks ahead through the girls house, whereas the first friend is slightly worried they are invading her privacy and stays further behind. The second person begins to walk up the stairs slowly, into the darkness. However before he gets up there person 1 calls
him back down to the lounge. In the lounge a giant sheet covered in blood is lying across the sofa, and pocking out from the bottom is a pale white hand covered in blood. Person 2 walks straight out whilst person 1 stays staring in shock. They begin to panic, suggesting that maybe its not her body under there, worrying if they would get the blame.
Whilst this is happening the dead body of the girl gets up and checks her watch. Though when the 2 people came it was clearly day time her watch says 9pm and its dark outside. The shot then shows her walking over to her desk and mirror (she is very shaky and nervous/paranoid) where she sorts out her hair very slowly. In the back of the shot you can still see the 2 friends fighting about what to do,
often pointing over to the sofa or looking over towards it to let the audience know that they still see her there.
The focus is then again drawn to the 2 people, and person one suggests that they check that it really is her. Person two makes a point that as it was person ones idea he should be the one to check, and so person one slowly approaches the dead body. Whilst approaching the dead body he walks past the ‘memory’ of the girl who is acting through what happened the night before, and the camera moves from him onto her. She is currently reading through her diary, which on the first few pages contain the credits of the piece. Once the credits have been run through it the pages then contain messages such as, “I am watching you” and “Look out the window”. She goes to her window and checks her curtains (unintentionally turning over a page in the diary before leaving) however there is no one there, and the camera turns and focuses back on the first friend who is drawing the blanket back over the girls face. At this point the person 2 is searching the room for anything that could be a clue, however person one says its pointless and to leave it to the experts. Friend 1 then walks over to see the diary which now states “Too late, im at the door”. At this point they both hear a loud slam of the front door and look over towards the hall that leads to the doorway. It the flashes to the girl who also looking to the direction of the front door, however instead of seeing nothing like the others, the murderer is stood there holding a knife. When it flashes back to the 2 people, they see a man about their age who they seem to know quite well, who also states he was worried about her.
Story outline in context with
theory:
Prop’s Narrative theory:
I believe that in my story line it would be very hard to tell who the protagonist of the story is/will be due to the fact that it is a 2 minute opening, and during this time the protagonist has yet to be established. The story could go in any direction, leaving any of the 4 characters that have been introduced to be the protagonist in some way. If I had to make a choice from viewing the 2 minute opening I would say it is most likely to be one of the 2 people who entered the house together, if not both of them. I believe this as they are the first to be see during the 2 minute opening and they are also the characters to get most film time. However it could be argued that because the reason that they are at the house is because of the girl, and the story seems as if it will be focused a lot around her the girl could be the protagonist. However I think it would be a bad choice to make the decision that she may be the protagonist by trying to interpret what may happen later on in
the film, as of course the idea that has been thought up may be completely wrong. I will however stick to assuming that the two characters that were initially introduced are the protagonists.
I also believe the girl to be the damsel in distress, however one that has been left too late to be saved. I think that she could fit into other roles as well, such as the quest giver (Due to the fact that by looking for the girl it seems as if the two people have been caught up in the storyline). From the 2 minute opening I would also assume that the character who is introduced last, towards the very end, could be either the antagonist or the false hero. Due to the way the film will have been shot the audience will immediately assume that the final character is in fact the murderer, as he has been seen standing in the place of the murderer. However this could in fact just be a trick to attempt to convince the audience that he is in fact the antagonist and to make the audience suspicious of him, although he may in fact be a genuinely good character.
Feminism:
A point about my story line is that I have decided to use the female character as the damsel in distress for my story. I have chosen to do this due to the fact that I believe that the two protagonists of the story would not have been so interested in going to the house if their friend was in fact a male, as they would not feel so much need to make sure that the character is alright and protect the character (as males typically give of a harder outer shell than females). This of course is an essential feature as the protagonists visiting the house is what we as the viewer’s anticipate will set of the rest of the story. I have also chosen to use a female as females are portrayed as the weaker sex and therefore it would fit in to the typical conventions of a thriller that the weaker characters do not last as long.
After doing research into target audience I have found that more males prefer watching thriller movies than females. Although I would like for females also to be interested in my piece making a movie of the thriller genre that is aimed towards males seems like a more sensible option. I have found that many males prefer for the protagonist to be a male. I believe this is because they can
connect better with having male characters as the protagonists, and in doing so they can project themselves into the character. I have chosen for my two male protagonists to have some notable personality differences (for example the second character is a lot more inpatient and more demanding and would be considered the more dominant of the two) so that male audience will have more chance of connecting with one of the characters and hopefully enjoying the movie to a greater extent.
Semiotic:
I have chosen for the murder weapon to be a knife which will be wielded by a character who, although the identity will remain unknown throughout the video the audience will assume to be a male due to the masculine features of the character, such as clothes, body language,
authority and also the camera angle. The masculine character will be using the knife on a character who is a feminine character which, when in context with semiotics suggests that the masculine character is using the knife as a way of expressing the characters masculinity, the knife representing a phallus. The forced action of the knife and penetration of the girls skin almost mimics that of rape towards the female character.
I have also chosen for a diary to have all the messages from the murderer to appear within the diary. I have chosen for them to appear within this form because many people associate a diary with protection and to be of the up most security, a place to unload the information and secrets that are hiding within your mind, and a place to store information you wish to remember. By putting the messages within the diary it gives a sense that the murderer can see into her head, her thoughts and memories, her most private moments revealed to him. It gives the sense to the viewer that her security has been breached, that nowhere is safe for her, she has nowhere to hide. Or to some it may even give the impression that the murderer is in fact in her head, that she is imagining the whole thing.