Synopsis

Jason is a 24 year old devoted father to 3 year old Anabelle. Having lost his fiance during childbirth he devised all his love and energy into Annabelle. The only thing Jason has to reminisce his wife was their daughter and a chain passed through generation.

On a standard night after Jason had tucked his little girl into bed, when rechecking his daughter she had disappeared, there hadn't been any clues of burglary or abduction, she had simply just disappeared whilst at the park on a day out with her father.

The ongoing mystery of her disappearance continued eventually causing degradation of his mental ability, for the past 15 years he has been trying to track his daughter at the disbelief that she could be dead. Having a mental disorder has drove him to desperation, he noticed a young female who had similar features of his daughter. Tracking her everyday and every movement,  he soon discovered that the young female wore a pendant matching the one his wife had given Anabelle, on a mission to get his daughter back he plans an abduction.

The abduction considered of luring her in through a baby trap, this is where he disguised his daughters carrier to give the impression that a child had been abandoned on the road, in hope that she'd stop so he could kidnap her. As he tracked her movements he knew of the day that she would pass through a certain road, the aim was to complete this on an empty route so that he wouldn't be caught in action. Once the girl noticed the carrier she immediately stopped and  is tricked, immediately stopped and looked within the blanket which was mysteriously emptied, she was then grabbed and hauled through the woods and into a white van. As the film progresses the girl that Jason has captured becomes depressed, her identity deteriorates and eventually she looses all of her characteristics that she use to have. The film centres on the girl trying to escape the abduction that she was part of, but struggles because of Jason's obsession.
Until the closing of the film the audience are given the indication that the reason for why Annabelle  had gone missing was simply because her mother had took her whilst Annabelle's father took his eyes off of her at the park. This makes an audience question why she had done this, and why it was such a secret from the man that she was supposedly meant to be happily married to.

Film title ideas

Fern and I have considered several film titles which we can potentially use for our film. We have listed those which we feel will be appropriate for what we are trying to achieve, and the reasons for why we feel these may work. It is significant that we select a film title which meets our target audience and narrative, as otherwise it wouldn't be conventional.
Fern and I had created a 'prezzi' which presented all of our ideas and the reasons for why these would be possibilities, nevertheless this website is currently not working, therefore we will return to the website once we are able to access it again.
Fern and I was particularly enticed by four title names out of the selection, these consist of;

• Caged
• Imprisoned
• Confined
• Captured

It is evident that there is a huge link between all five of these titles, and mirror a similar narrative, nevertheless it is crucial that Fern and I choose the title which is most engaging to our target audience, because of this we will carry out a survey, to then gather our results to make a final decision.
Caged-  The title 'Caged' reflects our narrative, which is based around a girl who is unable to escape from the man that had captured her. It shows that she is trapped in an enclosed area. It shows that Jason has taken the girl and considers her as his 'possession'. I would consider this film title as it extremely effective simply because it is short yet engaging, it makes our target audience question who is caged and the reasons for why they are caged. Nevertheless, some may interpret this as someone literally being put in a cage, therefore it may confuse an audience once the narrative has been exposed, therefore I am unsure if this will be fully appropriate.
Imprisoned- I was rather keen on this film title as I felt it looked extremely professional for a thriller genre film. It gives the indication that the film will centre on the struggle of someone being captured and unable to escape( evidently what I am trying to achieve) nevertheless, I felt it was too cliche. It may also give the audience the impression that the film could be action/adventure simply because the word imprisoned could suggest a narrative about prisoners or even a prison itself, because of this I don't think this will be one of my main possibilities.
Confined- Again, this film title represents a similar definition to caged and imprisoned. I wasn't very fond of this film title simply because I feel it doesn't provide the audience with a sense of mystery and excitement- which evidently are conventions that thriller films should be expected. Due to my target audience beginning at the age of 15 I had questioned whether if Fern and I had decided to call our film ' Confined' would this specific age group know the real definition of this adjective. I was also not enthused by this film title as it was adjective, due to being an adjective it isn't as powerful as opposed to a verb or a noun as it is just describing another word.
Captured- Originally, I was set on the idea of Fern and I calling our film this title. Nevertheless, once Fern and I had discussed the reasons for why we was fond of it we couldn't think of many reasons as expected. I had realised once I explored this film title that it doesn't provide an audience with the sense of suspense, as it is extremely self explanatory. I had also felt that the noun 'Captured' is too conventional for a thriller film, I was eager to create a film title which is engaging but also complex and mysterious, and I felt if I had chosen this film title it would be very uninviting and dull.

Thriller film poster collage

This wasn’t a significant part of the making of our film trailer, however I felt it would be interesting to create a collage on those posters which drew my attention the most. This collage features all different narratives of thrillers, varying from time periods, characters, settings etc. Creating this collage gave us inspirational ideas for our own posters. It heightened our knowledge on the conventions that thriller posters present. Studying this collage made me realise the importance of the model in the posters it is evident that in each poster that is being published, the model is the most vital and engaging element. For instance, all of these posters apart from ‘Red Riding Hood’ represent the models eyes being a focus point; this has purposely been done in order to make an audience interact with the feelings that the actors may be feeling- for example, the poster –Phone Both’ the model looks slightly scared, suggesting that the narrative involves something which may cause an audience as well as a character to be anxious about. The biggest similarity that all of

Production Schedule

In order for Fern and I to be organised in the making of this production, it was crucial that we had arranged when we were going to do things, where we were going to do them and what was needed to proceed. For this reason we had created a production schedule, doing this we had noted down the dates of when we would film specific footage, the location of where this would be, the props that would be needed and the characters that we needed. This would enable us to ensure that on these allocated dates, we are fully prepared, and do not have to prospone anything because of our lack of organisation.

We are aware that certain circumstances may prevent us from filming on paritcular days that we have stated, for instance; bad weather conditions, which may make it extremely difficult for when we are filming outside. Nevertheless, once we become aware of this we will then make the adaptions to our production schedule.

mood board

THRILLER CONVENTION MOOD BOARD

I had decided to produce a mood board with all the conventions that a thriller film is likely to contain. There conventions supplement the film, giving the audience a feel of what they should expect to see.

I had incorporated elements which usually feature in films, as well as the editing that may be applied to the footage of a thriller film in order to create a better production.  Creating this mood board had simply given Fern and I a guide to work from, it was a constant reminder of what prospects are needed to meet an audience’s needs. The duration of a trailer is extremely limited; therefore it may seem difficult to include all of these conventions, for this reason Fern and I have to ensure that through the process of making this trailer we are fully committed in using the correct footage, applying accurate and winning editing and using as many elements of a thriller genre as possible.

I feel that depending on the narrative of the film some thriller films will express these conventions more so than others, purely because of how different all story lines are, nevertheless, there often is a basic link which is able to be made between all of the listed elements.

 Additionally, as well as plotting my own knowledge onto this mood board I had also retrieved different information from theorists via the internet.

The information that I had gained whilst using the internet allowed me to see what others judge as typical conventions of a thriller film. This enabled me to understand what is vital for Fern and I to include in our film. This exploration that I had done was not only helpful but was also intriguing, it had fascinated me extremely, as not all theorists that I had looked at had the same assumptions.

not finished

Thriller poster collage

This wasn’t a significant part of the making of our film trailer, however I felt it would be interesting to create a collage on those posters which drew my attention the most. This collage features all different narratives of thrillers, varying from time periods, characters, settings etc. Creating this collage gave us inspirational ideas for our own posters. It heightened our knowledge on the conventions that thriller posters present. Studying this collage made me realise the importance of the model in the posters it is evident that in each poster that is being published, the model is the most vital and engaging element. For instance, all of these posters apart from ‘Red Riding Hood’ represent the models eyes being a focus point; this has purposely been done in order to make an audience interact with the feelings that the actors may be feeling- for example, the poster –Phone Both’ the model looks slightly scared, suggesting that the narrative involves something which may cause an audience as well as a character to be anxious about. The biggest similarity that all of these posters represent is the dark colours and lack of lighting; this follows the thriller conventions, as if the colours that were used were very calming and light then it wouldn’t be proposed as a thriller film. 

Film poster research

FILM POSTER RESEARCH

In addition to creating a film trailer, my partner and I are also producing a film poster in order to build upon the advertisement. Again, Fern and I will proceed in studying the conventions of a thriller genre, yet in this case we will look at how it is presented in a poster form as opposed to in a trailer. Initial research will illustrate a deep analysis and evaluation of different film posters which cater for specifically our chosen genre; thriller. The studying we will carry out will be extremely beneficial, and will be guidance for both my partner and I to work from. From doing this research Fern and I will be able to highlight those which are more successful than others; it will become evident what aspects are effective, and the importance of particular conventions that need to be included. 

After browsing upon several different posters that promote films, Fern and I had retrieved useful information. It is visible what is likely to engage an audience, and what is likely to put off an audience. Many film posters that I have observed extremely compliment the film, giving them a positive and luring representation. Nevertheless, there has been few that aren’t as appealing, and would be suggested as ‘unsuccessful’ because of the amount of excitement that they had lacked. When studying the film posters I had constant questions flowing through my mind, essentially these questions will again come up when Fern and I are making the film poster, as they are important factors that need to be taken into account. For instance, how is the image composed? What colour is the text? Does the light match the narrative? Etc.

This film poster is extremely enticing for several reasons. Firstly, I had realized after carrying out research that this was the teaser poster, meaning that it caters for a more wider audience rather than a specific target audience. 

The model that has been used is composed in the centre of the poster, this would seem very conventional and significant, as constructing the model in the centre means it is the vocal point- meaning it is the most important subject, and the rest of the image isn't considered as, as necessary. If the model on this poster was placed off centre, then it would be suggested that she wouldn't seek as much attention, as the audience’s eyes would be drawn to another subject that the image includes The young girl is attractive, which would be seen as a typical convention, however, the use of mise- en- scene such as costumes and props suggests that although she may be attractive, she isn't as innocent as suspected? 

The colours that are included in this film poster all reflect upon the genre, varying from greys, blacks and red, ultimately suggesting thriller conventions; darkness, danger and fear. The red is only used slightly, yet is used effectively- The most visible feature that has been made red is the cape on the model, this would imply that perhaps she resembles danger, therefore reinforcing the idea that it is a ‘thriller’ genre film containing ‘antagonists’. Several letters of the text is also put in red, this makes the text look more intriguing, and the fact that it is placed next to white text suggests the contrast between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ (white being good, red evidently being bad) These colours accompany the thriller genre that is being featured, and have intentionally been done to make an audience aware of what genre film they will be watching. 

The text at the top of the poster is rather small this would be seen as conventional as it isn’t likely for all the font to be in a large scale, nevertheless, I struggle to read what the text is saying, which could be justified as a disadvantage as if I struggle then I’m sure those who have bad eye sight or are old will struggle even more. The title of the film however, is placed near the bottom of the poster and has been presented in a large font; this enables an audience to focus specifically on the title of the film, allowing them to get an understanding of what the narrative will entail. ‘Red Riding Hood’ has been wrote in a ‘spooky’ type font which again emphasises upon the thriller narrative, this would be considered as a significant convention as if it was presented in an extremely girly, happy way the audience would feel puzzled by what is trying to be achieved, and therefore will dismiss watching the film. 

The setting of this film poster is in woods which signify darkness, which then leads to fear and suspense, which are elements that would be expected for an audience to react whilst watching a thriller film. Essentially, the lighting is a significant feature of this poster. The lack of lighting and high amount of darkness increases the mysterious effect that this poster gives off, ultimately adding to the anxiety. 

A billing block is displayed at the bottom of the poster which is white; this contrasts from the black background, allowing it to stand out. ' MARCH 11' is enlarged in comparison to the rest of the information on the billing block, which gives an indication of when this film will be released, it is evident as of why this has been done- purely to promote the film to an audience in advance, to advertise and draw in an instant market of individuals, and allowing them to be aware of when to expect to see this film. Overall, I feel this is a successful film poster; it incorporates elements which command a mass audience’s attention instantly, and follows the conventions of a thriller genre.

This is another film poster that I had found whilst carrying out basic research. Already, this film poster would be considered as very different in comparison to 'Red Riding Hood' this could be because of many reasons; nevertheless the most evident reason is that two characters are being displayed. The balance of these two characters is interesting as neither of them are placed in the centre of the construction nor are looking directly to the camera, one might argue that the fact that both of the characters aren't looking at the camera is unconventional, as it is difficult for an audience to establish the emotions that they are expressing. The composition of both these characters is effective, as it allows an audience to focus on them both the same amount. The expressions of both the characters face are engaging, the man that is on the left has a more frightful and rough looking identification, whereas the one on the right looks more clean cut perhaps more significant and powerful. This again, would reinforce the thriller conventions as there is always a character that is able to rule others. 

The background of this poster is essential, it has been displayed in a maze effect, creating a huge resemblance between the narrative of 'prisoners' (trapped) and then a maze which is form of closure, and difficulty. This maze background emphasises upon the story line, giving the audience a further pre-caution of what the film may involve. The two characters being placed either side of the poster suggests that they are both caught in this trap, therefore giving the indication of confusion within the film (which may need to be unravelled) 

The characters names are displayed at the top of the poster in white narrow text, this has essentially be done as an audience are more likely to watch a film knowing those who will be staring in it, this would be seen as a typical convention to include on a thriller poster, as well as all different genre film posters. I feel that one of the most intriguing aspects of this poster is the centre where a 'tag line' has been added- ' A hidden truth. A desperate search' this is extremely effective, as it not only allows an audience to get a deeper understanding of the narrative but it makes an audience react, almost leaving them in a 'scratchy situation' with the sense of uncertainty, the anticipation of wanting to know what is really going to happen. The fact that it has been placed in the centre of the maze is also effective, reinforcing the thriller convention of everything being observed in a sharp way (the tag line is viewed automatically because it is in the centre)