Final idea

The opening sequence has CCTV footage throughout it, taken from an old building. This will become clear by the use of editing, which will create the effect of old footage which will also be in black and white which will make that footage seem more like an old CCTV camera.

Within the CCTV footage images of people and objects within the narrative of the film will appear in-between the different CCTV footage, this will create confusion because at this point the audience do not know what the images mean or relate to. Throughout the sequence quotations will appear on the screen, which will relate to the narrative, these will be edited to look like they could be in Hitchcock’s work, the words being thrown around on the screen.

The change between the CCTV and the images will be done by the use of TV noise (distortion) this is because we won’t it to look like someone is looking at this footage. This will also suggest that both the CCTV footage and the others are somehow related weather that is in the past or the present. The quotes will be used throughout our sequence.

We have found that to get the greatest effect from the sound in our sequence, we are not going to use much at all. The sound used in the sequence will be mostly diegetic sound but there will be a non-diegetic sound track playing in the background towards the end of the sequence finally fading out to the end of the opening. White noise will also be used in the beginning of the sequence where the CCTV footage will be shown. The noise will hopefully break up periods of silence, shocking the audience, causing them to focus on the sequence.

Risk Assessment

Main task storyboard

Shot list

Shot	Shot type	Audio/dialogue
1	Establishing shot, this will be of the woods to set the location of the scene you will see the antagonist from behind walking along the path.	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background creating tension straight away.
2	This a mid-shot of the antagonist you will see him from behind, not revealing his identity	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background creating tension.
3	Close up of the antagonist’s boots as he is walking through the woods	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background creating tension. You will also hear loud footsteps as the shot is concentrated on the boots
4	This is be a distortion of the boots turning into a black screen this will be a short edit	You will hear a distortion noise.
5	Long shot this will be the same shot as the first one	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
6	Medium close up, this will the same shot as shot two	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
7	Long shot, this will again be the same as shot one	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
8	This will be a black screen	There will be no sound here
9	Medium close up of wall of the hidden location	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
10	Distortion	There will be a distortion noise.
11	Medium close up of the stone walls but we will see photographs and litter	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
12	Close up on a photograph	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
13	Distortion with the name tom woods	A loud distortion noise
14	Medium close up of a wall with a photo and rope on it	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
15	Distortion and the name Chloe Wain	A loud distortion noise
16	Medium close up where you will see the location	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
17	Distortion and the name Danielle Preece	A loud distortion sound
18	Long shot of the door	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
19	Distortion and the name Lis Wylie	A loud distortion sound
20	Medium long shot of the antagonist and the victim from a side view	There will be a high pitched slow music in the background
21	Title screen	-
22	A close up of the man burning a photo that he has taken of his victim,	You hear the photo being burnt

Mise-en-scene

The chair and rope will simply be used to hold down the victim, representing different methods of keeping the chosen victim in place throughout experimentation.

The photographs and photo frame will be used to create a sense of distrust, and also link the antagonist to the narrative to come. Some of the photographs we will have lining the walls will be of the antagonist's family and the families of victims we would later meet.

The camera will be used simply as a lighting device. When the antagonist takes a photograph of his victim (to place with the others lining the walls), this will light up the room for a split second, and the audience will catch a glimpse of the characters.

Setting and Location:

We have decided upon using two locations for our opening sequence. These will be the Westwood College Old Hall cellars, and the woodland area also surrounding the college.

We feel both these locations would provide the required atmosphere because they are both dark and claustrophobic, something we felt key to creating the tension conventionally found within the thriller genre.

Actors and Characters:

Only two characters will be shown in our opening sequence, though the audience will not see them in full light, par for a split second nearing the end of the sequence. These characters will be Eric Matheson, our antagonist and "Female Victim".

Eric Matheson will be played by Tom Woods.

We have chosen Tom for this role because he is broad shouldered and quite large in stature, which means he is most likely to produce an intimidating figure on camera. His shaved head will also take away from any possible attributes to the actor, and allow the audience to simply see the character he is portraying. He will have a pale foundation on, to lighten his skin tone and so create a grotesque, nightmarish appearance in the split second his face will be viable to the audience.

Female Victim will be played by Chloe Wain.

We have chosen to have Chloe in the role of the victim because of her height. She is fairly short, with a feminine build and long hair. Even in silhouette, this will allow the audience to denote this is a weaker, female character who is in a helpless position compared to the antagonist. Her make-up will consist of pale foundation and dark eye shadow, which will be smudged to create the impression of tears, and with that fear. The pale foundation will create a sickly, fear-ridden appearance and give the insinuation that the character is scared, and not well, mentally and physically.

Final idea with changes

Eric will first be seen walking through some woods, where the location is unknown. He will continue walking for a short amount of time, before he will appears in a new location which appears to be a small room with stone walls. The camera will travel through the room, focussing on a number of objects that will link to the whole narrative before showing our antagonist alongside one of his many victims. He will then take a picture of the victim, and the sequence will end on the diegetic sound of a scream before cutting to the title screen, reading 'Neurosis'. After this we will see the photo taken of the victim being burnt for symbolic reasons which would have been revealed later on in the narrative.


We have decided not to change our original plot for the entire narrative, because the feedback we received praised the ideas we had first hand and gave us no recommendations for improvements, as the audience don’t not think that there needs to any changes or improvements, we as a group are entirely happy with our ideas and believe they will be fairly simple to recreate while still achieving the strong effects we desire. This would make for a good opening sequence that will both effective and simple.

We will set our opening sequence in three places in total. The first will be a community centre, the second a cellar and the third will be a section of woodland. We will be using these areas for their aesthetic value, as both the cellar and community centre have stone walls and floors similar to our original plans for this sequence. The woodland area will be useful for the beginning of our sequence due to the naturally dark shadowing it will produce, and the inevitable claustrophobic feeling the inbound trees and greenery will cause for the viewer, through the use of different camera angles and fast paced editing we hope to create this effect.

Filming Days

Our group has decided that we will have three different days to film the opening sequence. The days that we have chosen are Monday 19th December, Thursday 22nd December and Friday 23rd December.

In our group each member will have a responsibility 

Chloe Wain - Actor

Danielle Preece - Filming

Elizabeth Wylie - Directing 

This will ensure that the filming process will run as smoothly as possible and will also ensure that each member has an equal amount of responsibility with in the group.