THRILLER PLANNING | Inter-Textual References

Our film makes - in my view - multiple inter-textual references to other films and TV series through costume, camerawork, acting and soundscape: using metaphoric references to other forms of media.

The overall idea of the film, from when I was coming up with ideas for the mind map was to construct a relatable yet intense story that the audience can identify with, as well as this I wanted to create characters that are convincing and allow the audience to interpret for themselves. Films that inspired me were West Sid Story and Kingsman - both films focusing on feuds between groups of whom are both trying to make their way through life (more so West Side Story through its circulation around gangs and the introduction of how that can effect families). But also due to how these films are honest through the characters and stories even though they may seem slightly make believe - the audience can still relate.

The casual clothing worn by Ben and Joe was inspired by West Side Story also as it exaggerates that the characters are teens and not anything else. This is a clever way to also create diversity as casual clothes are an easy thing to alter in order to demonstrate different emotions/moods. The character played by me (Harry Ames) will wear a broken down suit, in order to maintain the aspect of me being teenager but also to divide me from the other characters - as well as this, the blacks and whites that I will be wearing will eliminate a lot of freedom for the audiences interpretation - therefore implying that I am fearless and I have no emotion, yet small hints of colour could cause curiosity.

We have noticed that films such as 'Cloverfield' and 'as Above so Below' there is a significant camerawork style of which is hand held in a sense. We wanted to hopefully reflect this but not have it filmed by hand yet maintain the idea that the camera follows the actions of characters to connote their dominance. In the clip we hope to have a moment where the camera falls as does the character of Joe, giving the film the edge we hope for and also giving other - more dominant - characters authority.

The character played by myself (Harry Ames) will be character who the audience can hate and love at the same time - this links to the walking dead's character 'Negan' of whom is so brutal and evil that the audience find him as an incredibly good character. This contradiction could hopefully pursue throughout the rest of the characters in the film. As well as this, the motif of a black mask would hopefully allow us to make the film more dynamic. Although this can be linked to numerous other thrillers such as The Dark Knight and Alien, it can create a memorable character - developing the relation between him and the viewer.

This is an individual task written by Harry Ames