Individual Narrative

My Own Idea For a Narrative 

My film would be the beginning sequence of the thriller film. 

It would start in a dark, dirty room, with nothing in it but a chair, which a young female would be tied to. The windows would be boarded up and there would be one dim lamp near her, so the audience could see the character, but not too clearly. The floorboards would be dark, stained wood.  It would be instantly apparent to the audience that the character is in danger as she would be crying and her mouth would be tied up. She'd also have a trickle of blood running down her cheek from her forehead. 

A man would then walk in, but his identity would be kept hidden and he's be carrying a knife. She would keep quiet and look away from him as she doesn't want to know what he's about to do.  I picked an empty, seemingly abandoned room because it is conventional to a thriller film, because it created an enigma, suspense and tension and these are all things that would be good to include in my own thriller because it is all things the target audience would expect to see. This idea is conventional to thriller films because it instantly includes a weak, vulnerable female victim who has been captured which is another feature that will build suspense. 

Another convention that my own thriller includes is the villain being a man, as men are usually the antagonists in thriller films because they are usually stronger and more powerful than women. His identity is also hidden in the film, which again is another convention as it builds fear, anxiety and suspense. Another convention of a thriller film is weapons and blood and I chose to incorporate both these elements into my thriller because, again, they build fear and suspense which engages and captures the interest of the audience. 

The character's will be represented in a very conventional and obvious way; weak, overpowered female victim under the control of a powerful male villain. The target audience will be able to develop a relationship  with the characters because the victim will be young, like the target audience, so they will instantly feel a connection with her. Then when they realise that she is being help captive, against her will, they will start to sympathise with her and fear for what would happen to her. Also, the hidden identity of the villain will evoke fear from the audience, which is another thing that will build the suspense of the film. 

The rest of the feature film would include this character's life in this house, she'd never be allowed to leave. The man would be convinced that she is his wife, and she would be forced to act as such and would be locked in the empty room and punished when she disobeyed him. She'd also be put locked in the room when he leaves the house, to prevent her from escaping. The film would end with a fight between the male and female, and the audience would knot know whether he killed her or not. 

My inspiration for the setting came from Saw 1, because in the beginning of that film, they were in an abandoned, dirty room and people were chained up. I thought of this, then decided to adapt it slightly. Every thriller film I have watched has a lot of low-key lighting, so that's where I got the inspiration to use only one light in the room in the opening sequence. The lack of lighting in the opening of this film creates an enigma and suspense, which would be a good element to use in my own thriller. 

Another inspiration was from the thriller 'The Strangers'. From this, I got the idea of the woman being tied up and the killers holding a knife, then using it to kill both the victims. The knife was threatening and builds suspense as the audience doesn't know if the killer will use it or not. This element of suspense would be a good thing to incorporate into my own film. 
This film also inspired me to use diegetic sound in the opening sequence because the only thing the audience would be able to hear would be the ones hat belong in the film world. This would create suspense because the scene would be almost silent. The use of only natural sound would help the audience to feel more engaged in the film.