How does my selected sequence fit into my synopsis?

The sequence I have selected to film for my project will be located near the resolution of my film. The scene is when Ryan Taylor has reached the forest where his old family house was situated. I will be filming as Ryan is walking to his old home, where he will start seeing apparitions from is old life as a child and eventually reaches the house and discovers why he left in the first place.

Story Type for my short film

The Quest
The character is set a task to find someone or something. He accepts the challenge, searches for and finds someone or something. He is then rewarded, or not, for his success in the quest

Ideas for locations and actors

I am thinking of filming at either the old train track route between Willerby Square and Haltemprice or Little Carr Lane, the reason for this is because I have decided to film one of the last or last scene of my film and I need to use a heavily wooded area for the forest. I am planning to use George Taylor as the main protagonist, Ryan Taylor and Hanna Moore as one of the apparitions that is in his head. I have also decided to set my film in the present day, which means the choice of costumes should not be difficult to present.

Genre Conventions-The Thriller Genre

One of the key main conventions of the Thriller genre is the use of atmosphere, for my film, I will want to try and create a dark and creepy atmosphere and I want to try and present the world the film is set in as dark and dangerous for the main protagonist. The thriller genre often portrays the protagonist as criminals, assassins, and people with psychotic tendencies or characters with a dark past. Thrillers often take place in suburban cities however recently some have taken place away from normal society such as remote towns or in the middle of nowhere (Shutter Island, 2010, dir. Martin Scorsese) which is completely separate to the rest of society; this is to convey to the audience that my protagonist is all alone in this world. The thriller genre often uses males as the protagonists in films, but recently female protagonists have become more popular, for my film, I will be using a male protagonist like the classic thrillers such as films Alfred Hitchcock has done such as ‘Vertigo’ (1958, dir. Alfred Hitchcock).

The psychological thriller, often has their own conventions such as the quality of reality, the character will be in a world that is based on real life and not made up. The protagonist however will misperceive the world around him and will have his own interpretation of what is happening, also the psychological thriller often uses death as a plot device through or at the end of the film, and this is a technique that I will use in my own film. Thrillers of 21^st century were mainly psychological ones that dealt with obsession, domestic violence, revenge, mentally ill characters and the protagonist's goal of escape. Good examples of the psychological thriller, which I will be using as reference points include; Shutter Island (2010), Secret Window (2004) and Psycho (1960).

The Thriller genre often includes elements of the mystery genre but there are often major plot differences compared to just the genres in themselves. In the thriller genre, the protagonist usually has the goal of stopping the plans of the antagonist, however in the mystery thriller genre the protagonist goal is to discover and solve a crime that has already happened (usually in front of the audience at the beginning of the film, but usually in the mystery genre (probably the murder mystery) the story would be spoiled by a premature disclosure of the murderer's identity, in the thriller genre the identity of the killer is known all along. In the thriller genre, the story is often more elaborated than the films of a different genre; the crimes are often serial killings (Se7en, 1995) terrorism and assassination (often political thrillers such as Vantage Point, 2008). Violence is regularly a standard plot element plot elements in the genre. While the mystery genre concludes when the mystery is solved, the thriller genre concludes when the protagonist defeats the antagonist and in the process either saving his own life or the lives of others (a good example of the combination of the thriller and mystery genre is David Fincher’s ‘Se7en’).  Thriller films are regularly influenced by film noir, and often the protagonist is killed in the process.

The main goal of the thriller genre is to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features. The thriller genre often crosses over with other genres, usually the horror genre. This is to increase suspense in the films that are using this genre, for example the Scream films often use conventions of both genres in the films, another genre that often crosses over with the thriller genre is the crime genre, the protagonist is often a Detective and his goal is try and stop a criminal who seems to be on the loose, often a serial killer. The crossover of these two genres is to try and keep the audience on the edge of their seat and regularly there involves a twist to do with the main protagonist (the end of “Se7en” is a good example of this.)

If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that pursues a single goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the protagonist is placed in a difficult situation or an escape/dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible (Shutter Island, 2010). Life itself is threatened, usually because the protagonist is unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially life threatening situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces.

Synopsis

Ryan Taylor is writer who has decided to return to the town Brightfalls for inspiration for he’s new book. Ryan use to live in Brightfalls with his family but one day they left the town, but he is unable to remember why they left. The main reason he has come back to Brightfalls is to find out why he left in the first place and to see if he can be inspired to write another book. The day Ryan returns to the town, he immediately realises that nothing in the town is the same; the town is almost empty of residents, the buildings and streets are run down. Ryan meets one resident of the town who tells him that the reason his family left was because of a haunting in the house they use to live in. Ryan finds out that his old family house is located in the forest at the edge of town. Ryan soon comes to realise that the forest, which none of the remaining citizens dare talk about or venture into, Ryan realises that the answer to his question about why he left and why the town is not at its former glory is inside this forest.

What and Who is my Story About?

My Story for the creative project is about a man who has returned to a town which he left many years ago, but he can not remember why he left in the first place and the main reason he has come back to the town is to find out why he left in the first place. As the man returns to the town, he immediately realises that nothing in the town is the same; the town is almost empty of residents, the buildings and streets are run down. However, the man soon comes to realise that the forest which leads out of the town, which none of the remaining citizens dare talk about or venture into, the man realises that the answer to his question about why he left and why the town is not at its former glory is inside this forest.

The Brief

The brief is to create a short story or sequence for a film, and it must be between 3-5 minutes. The idea for the film must be completely original and my own work. In my creative project, I must identify my genre and the conventions that go with it, the storytype, the audience that I am aiming at and to do this I must produce a synopsis, a script and a storyboard. All this must be done before I start filming.