Initial planning Ideas

For our initial ideas, we started brain storming some aspects such as characters, settings and narrative ideas. We decided on something that is very common in the present day, which is meeting up with someone you met online and you think is nice and friendly. We came up with the idea of two people meeting online and eventually the male convinces the female to meet him in real life, only to turn out that he isn't who he said he was. This idea stemmed from the TV series and film "Catfish" and the recent thriller film "Unfriended". However we decided against this because we thought it would either get too complicated to make or it would be unclear as to how our film would be different from the two stated previously.
In the end our initial ideas for our trailer were similar to this but we made it so the characters knew each other and already have relationships with each other. There would then be a male character who changes and tries to stop a girl interfering with his relationship with his girlfriend.

This first image is the initial brainstorming that we did for a thriller trailer.

The second image is once we had come up with a more defined narrative and started linking the characters's stories together.

Storyboard

Music Research

We were planning on using one track throughout that has a fast tempo but also has a "screechy" sound to it which will create tension and suspense as well as making it more uncomfortable for the audience. This is a convention of the thriller genre as it makes the audience want to watch more and find out what happens to the characters.
However we have now decided to use two tracks to match the two different feelings in the trailer. Many thriller trailers, include ours, start off gently and are easy to watch as it is setting the narrative up and putting the film into context for the audience. The music at this point is gentle and often includes music that is similar to that associated with children's music boxes. This is evident in the "Panic Room" trailer. We want to try and include a music track similar to that at the start of the trailer. As the trailer progresses, the atmosphere gets more tension and serious and so the music would also change more tense and have more of a beat than the slows, classical music at the beginning of the trailer.

Scripts

In our trailer we aren't planning on using any diegetic speech apart from when Owen is talking to his parents and get's aggravated, storming out shouting "Whatever" at them. We have decided to not use much diegetic speech as we think it increases the suspension. There will be non diegetic, tense music that will enable the audience to watch the film and still understand what mood and atmosphere the film will be throughout. Also no speech allows the audience to develop their own feelings towards the characters more. It doesn't set a definite opinion of the characters which adds to the mystery of the film.

Characters, Costumes, Props

The 3 main characters in the film trailer will be;
-Owen, who is an 17 year old male who come from a privileged, upper class background and is constantly under pressure from his parents to do well. He is very controlling in his relationships
-Chloe, who is a 17 year old girl who is dating Owen. She is being controlled by him and doesn't like it, but feels she can't tell anyone, and is quite favourable over the amount of money Owen and his family have. She does eventually tell her best friend Katie about Owen being controlling
-Katie, who is 17 and Chloe's best friend and also used to date Owen so knows about how controlling he can be, although this isn't revealed in the trailer.

The costumes we will be using will be fashionable clothes that teenagers are likely to wear as this keeps the film realistic but we will also make the majority of the clothes dark coloured such as black or red. This is because black symbolises darkness and evil and red connotes danger and violence which will foreshadow what will happen at the end of the trailer and film. We won't use many props in the film as this is a psychological thriller trailer so most of the effect the film has is through the suspense and logic the narrative creates. We will include a phone in the trailer to show messages between the characters.

Settings

For the trailer we decided that it would be most effective to film in the evening as it is getting dark because this is a convention of the thriller genre since the darkness connotes the unknown which is a very common fear. However, filming at night can cause problems due to the low lighting, so we are going to test this out first and see how the footage turns out.
The setting we have decided on are;
-A bedroom/lounge, which is where a conversation happens between the two characters Owen and his girlfriend, Chloe, to show that the boyfriend is controlling
-A dining room, where we include some parental involvement showing that the Owen is under pressure due to his parents want him to get good grades. This is a conversation between him and his parents where he storms off.
- A bedroom/lounge, this is where Chloe and Katie have a conversation and Katie comforts Chloe about Owen being so controlling
- In town/Street, we see Katie walk past and Owen steps forward out of an alley way, this is when Owen starts to threaten Katie
- Front Door, Owen confronts Katie who tried to slam the door on him, but he puts his foot in the door preventing this
-Train Station, this is where the trailer ends as Katie thinks she has escaped Owen, only to see he has managed to get on the train with her

The town centre where we are planning to film 

Panic Room- Trailer Research 2

Panic Room is a 2002 American thriller film, in which a woman (Meg) and her diabetic daughter (Sarah) purchase a new house. They are shown that this house has a secret room that is impossible to get in once closed. The room has supplies in order to survive, cameras to see around the house and a phone in order to contact the police. 3 men break into the house, one an employee of the residence security company and one a grandson of the previous owner and try to steal millions worth of bearer bonds which are locked inside a safe in the panic room floor. Eventually they are all either killed or captured by a SWAT team.
The music at the start is slow and soft, like it should be played from a childrens music box. This is typically used in thriller movies as it creates and effect of innocence, juxtaposing what is going to happen in the rest of the movie. The editing at the beginning is slow, with many long fades to black, as it supports many of the establishing shots seen in setting up the narrative and putting the rest of the trailer/film into context. The mise en scene at the start is typical of the thriller genre as there aren't many colours with blacks and greys most common in the trailer. However the lighting at the beginning is high key showing again that the beginning isn't supposed to be tense.
When the estate agent reveals the safe room, the atmosphere changes with the music stopping and being replaced with more speech from the film and deep rumbling sounds and screechy sounds which increase the tension. There is also pauses in the audio which gives the time for the audience to take in what they have seen so far and builds suspension which is supported by diegetic sounds such as footsteps approaching. As the trailer progresses, there are more close ups and tracking shots which show the panic the characters are in and that they are trying to escape danger. The editing also increases with quicker cuts speeding up the trailer, and when there are fades to black diegetic speech can be heard with no other distraction, focussing on the woman's feelings and the audience empathise with her. The mise en scene is similar all the way through, excluding the lighting which progressively gets more low key throughout, reflecting the dark feelings, situations and atmosphere. The trailer ends with the little girl saying "What is he doing", which represents the audience's feelings and the mother replying with, "They're locking us in". That last sentence creates suspense and panic for the audience as they only hear her say that with no visual clues to what is happening. It will make them want to go and see the film.