final cut, preliminary task

question 7 - looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full project

At the start of my AS year at cns sixth form, i knew nothing about media, or editing or any technical skills on how to produce a short production. I feel like with the help of students and teachers i have accomplished a lot in a very short space of time.

My prelimary task helped me work out how to edit, and practise new skills such as effects and digetic sound, which i could then apply to my thriller. Which i have done, hopefully effectively.

for example, i learnt more about the 180 degree rule, which now makes sense to me, and i can see why it is used in all films, as well as this, when watching films, i find myself realising the camera movements and angles, and truly understanding the effect they have on the audience. This shows that learning  media at AS has had a large effect on my life outside of sixth form, i find myself watching more and more films, and aspiring to be as talanted as these directors one day. I'd always had an interest in film, but after learning whats behind what you see on the screen when you go to the cinema, it has striked interest into my mind, and set me with aspirations to do something in the future based around filming, which is a very broad catagory. i have enjoyed studying this thoroughly, and i believe i have made progressn not only in editing and filming, but also developing skills and making new friends with common interests.

From the set deadlines of my thriller coursework, although i fell behind on a few of these, which im disapointed with, i tried my best to organise my time and work effectively through the drawbacks i caused on myself. With this in mind, i hope to improve my effieciency with all other subjects. Media has taught me how to be more organised, and how technology has really changed education, from someting as fantastic as having coursework on blogs electronically.

i have had an indepth involvement with all genre's of thriller films, from gritty to noir, and i have enjoyed learning about the conventions of each, which now to me are easy to identify and enjoy to their full potential.

question 4 - who would be the audience for your media product?

Age
our main age range target is 16-24 year olds. The characters in our opening are in this age range also, which means the audience may relate to the characters in the opening. For example, Sophie Butler is a usual 18 year old female, other 18 year old females in the audience will find something in common with the character and understand the character more than a 40 male would.

Contrary to this, i believe older audiences will enjoy this film due to the noir thriller aspects of it.  For example, our sophisticated use of shadows will attract older audiences and remind them of films from their youth, whilst the younger audiences will relate to their youth with the younger characters.
As film noir is considered to be 'classic' the demographic would be 45+ for this age range suiting younger but also older audiences. 

target audience film noir mindmap created with inspiration from IMDB

Soundtrack 

the classic aucoustic soundtrack will attract older audiences, as it is not heavily reliant on electronic sounds it will be a tribute to older music from the 45+ ranges youth. Also, the acoustic sound of the music adds tension to our thriller opening, as it peaks when the action does and fits smoothly around the events as they unfold. 

question 6, evaluation - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

•By having to upload film clips onto my blog for a more in depth analysis, I used computer techniques I could then apply to my other subjects which has helped me a lot through my A-levels, for example embedding a specific video onto my blog.

•Through uploading screenshots I also widened my knowledge of using a computer. The style of our coursework, and the fact we keep it all on a blog has been a lot easier and more efficient for my work. Having a fast and easy platform to store my work has made media an interesting subject.

•The internet has been incredibly helpful when trying to complete in depth analysis of aspects of thriller films. Research using the internet has made the experience of AS level media fun and motivational, the fact that vital information is only a few clicks away. For example, after viewing the film ‘The Third Man’, internet sites such as IMDB has made it possible for me to learn more about this film, and the contextual factors which had an effect on how it was filmed and made. In turn, leading to a greater understanding of the film industry.

question 3 - what kind of media instiution might distribute your media product and why?

Distribution

From looking at Film4's previous films which they have distributed, i believe my film (Cold Case) would fit in well with the criteria.

Submarine (film4)

The imposter (film4)

This is England (film4)

Trance (film4)

my film being a psychological thriller, similar to film4's film 'Trance', i think it would be well distributed by film4, as using this companies facilities of loyal audiences and at times niche, i think it would be selling the film to the correct market segment. This film would not be sucesful in larger cinemas sch as Vue or Odeon, it simply does not appeal to that larger audience, films known as 'blockbusters' differ greatly from the opening i have made. This is why they belong in seperate instituions. By screening it at places such as Cinema City (Norwich), i believe it would fufil its potential as a film, as that branch of cinemas is popular amongst the target audience we set before we created the film.

Due to the fact Film4 is a british distributor, i believe this is an advantage, i dont think my film would be sucesful in places other than the uk, due to the nature, and the cold-hearted britishness of the film. Such as the old looking streets of Norwich, and the common english stereotype of boys in hoodies (for further details on hoodies click here to view question 2).

An example i believe would be a good comparison due to the nature of our both the films would be Danny Boyle's 'Trance' . Both 'Trance' and my film 'Cold Case' are psychological thrillers, with british actors. This film did well by being distributed by film4, the cold and unique genre of this film fits the mood of film4's distribution well. Also, the main character, James McCavoy, is british, similar to the characters in my opening. Having the characters british helps the sucess of our film in the british market, audiences will find it easier to relate with accents, lifestyles and current affairs which take place. As well as feeling connected with the film when references are made to livng in the UK.

 

'Trance' trailer 

Cinema most likely to exhibit my film

I believe Cinema City would be more likely to show my film, due to the close reference to 1930's UK lifestyles and unsolved crimes, as well as psychological elements. All of these aspects combined make my thriller opening unique and sophisticated, not necesarily something which would be sucesful in a cinema such as 'Vue' or 'Odeon'. Due to the nature of these mainstream film exhibitors, i dont think my film 'Cold Case' would appeal to the type of audiences which view films at these places. There is a high contrast between the audience which view films at cinema city and those who view films at mainstream cinemas such as 'vue' and 'odeon'.

As well as the tributes to film noir through my opening, i believe my film would fit well into an arthouse cinema, the distinctive use of shadows and mise en scene connote a sense of 1930's noir thriller, which would not be appreciated as well in mainstream cinemas as it would in independant cinemas such as 'Cinema City'.  Cinema City have shown psychological thrillers on their screens before, such as the critically acclaimed 'A Clockwork Orange'. The psychological aspects in this film mirror the ones in my own, as well as the sense of living in a dystopian world.

Cinema City (Norwich) 

 How could digital technologies offer new distribution opportunities? 

The use of certain websites as a distributor would work effectively and to our advantage, due to Youtube's intelligent characteristics is can be moved around, and advertised to audiences who have viewed similar productions. This way, the production is being automatically aimed at our target audience, simply by them watching something which may have a small link to film they wish to advertise. Also, youtube is one of the largest, most popular websites on the internet, with millions of people using it each day. This popularity linked with the intelligence of the site to stream a trailer to the correct audience will create an ultimate sucess plan for a new film.

after discovering the trailer, interview or snippet from the production users of youtube may then go onto sharing it with friends across other social websites such as twitter, and facebook.
As for twitter, and sharing a production, the use of a hashtag can maximise the success of a product. This hashtag is a global trend which anyone can see, if you wanted to trend a film named 'cold case', the hashtag would be #coldcase , this would soon become popular, eventually leading to large amounts of popularity. The wonders of social network sites can help new films out incredible amounts by finding the right audience and feeding them videos they will be interested in. This works as advertisement for your film, making it popular across the internet.

question 2 - how does your media production represent certain social groups? ( Question 2)

Stereotypes in the media :

Stereotypes are very popular in terms of media productions, it sets up and comfortable expectation shared between the viewer and director. We had to decide whether we wanted to conform to popular stereotypes or challenge them.

By conforming to social stereotypes we would make the audience feel at ease with the characters, and help them associate themselves more with the social group they are involved in. Also, they may be able to identify aspects of the character and compare them to people they know, or even themselves. In turn, subconciously building a relationship between the viewers and the characters on the screen.

Reinforcing stereotypes in thrillers :

'beach-bum' Melanie in Tarantinos 'Jackie Brown' (chicks with guns)

Reinforce stereotype of a blonde female, clumsy, pretty, vulnerable (later on gets shot by dominant male)

 Close up on feet at begining of establishing shot makes Melanie seem less important when comparing to low angle shot of  Jackie Brown showing power and importance.

By challenging it would add an enigmatic aspect to my opening, the audience may feel on-edge as they have to focus on the characters more, as we significantly created them to be different to what the audience expected from them after first seeing them.

Challenging stereotypes in thrillers : 
The bride (played by Uma Thurman), in Tarantinos 'Kill Bill'. Challenging the female stereotype, as the main character in this incredibly violent film is a blonde, woman. Who seeks revenge on enigmatic character 'Bill'.

Representation of gender  and age in my thriller opening : 


Sophie Butler:
female

The representation of female characters when looking at our character Sophie butler appears slightly flawed, she is neither stereotypical nor challenging stereotypes.  With females in society, there is no set stereotype which is correct, as each woman is an individual and consistently proving the labels of a stereotype wrong, in turn making the stereotype ineffective. Saying this, Sophie Butler is a female, and a successful criminology student. Making the representation of gender for a female appears intellectual, curious and ambitious. Also, she appears brave and willing to involve herself so much within the case due to her goal ambition to solve it, in turn, this leads to paranoia and a turn of events for the worst for this character. As she begins to challenge the stereotype of women in thrillers (clumsy, object to men, dresses in minimal clothing), she then turns and falls into the trap of generic conventions. As she begins to become paranoid that someone is following her, Sophie’s body language, and the shots which follow her begin to connote a sense of vulnerability whilst the opening progresses. Sophie’s attitude towards work and ambition is not stereotypical, as our other female character (eve Walcott) was from an era when women were not equal to men, and would usually play a minor role in society, and simply be seen as men’s objects or workers. when making comparisons between the two female characters it shows differences in attitudes towards society, although we focus more on Sophie than we do on eve, we can clearly see that as times have progressed from eve's period to modern day, the stereotype that women are not capable of doing an academic job such as criminology has slowly faded away, we showed this through the use of Sophie’s vocation. We hoped to show society, and how attitudes towards women in the workplace have changed. I believe the character of Sophie is contemporary and realistic, through the use of our character not being overly attractive, or vice versa (not overly bad looking) we set up a realistic character for our audience, although this could affect the type of audience we would receive, I believe it makes the sequence more tense as there is nothing more to focus on than the emotions of the characters and the scenery. The clothes she is wearing are not minimal; she is wearing clothing which covers her body. The use of jeans and a casual t-shirt makes the character of Sophie appear as realistic and practical.  Copy Cat Killer  male

The representation of female characters when looking at our character Sophie butler appears slightly flawed, she is neither stereotypical nor challenging stereotypes.  With females in society, there is no set stereotype which is correct, as each woman is an individual and consistently proving the labels of a stereotype wrong, in turn making the stereotype ineffective.

Saying this, Sophie Butler is a female, and a successful criminology student. Making the representation of gender for a female appears intellectual, curious and ambitious. Also, she appears brave and willing to involve herself so much within the case due to her goal ambition to solve it, in turn, this leads to paranoia and a turn of events for the worst for this character. As she begins to challenge the stereotype of women in thrillers (clumsy, object to men, dresses in minimal clothing), she then turns and falls into the trap of generic conventions. As she begins to become paranoid that someone is following her, Sophie’s body language, and the shots which follow her begin to connote a sense of vulnerability whilst the opening progresses.

Sophie’s attitude towards work and ambition is not stereotypical, as our other female character (eve Walcott) was from an era when women were not equal to men, and would usually play a minor role in society, and simply be seen as men’s objects or workers. when making comparisons between the two female characters it shows differences in attitudes towards society, although we focus more on Sophie than we do on eve, we can clearly see that as times have progressed from eve's period to modern day, the stereotype that women are not capable of doing an academic job such as criminology has slowly faded away, we showed this through the use of Sophie’s vocation. We hoped to show society, and how attitudes towards women in the workplace have changed.

I believe the character of Sophie is contemporary and realistic, through the use of our character not being overly attractive, or vice versa (not overly bad looking) we set up a realistic character for our audience, although this could affect the type of audience we would receive, I believe it makes the sequence more tense as there is nothing more to focus on than the emotions of the characters and the scenery. The clothes she is wearing are not minimal; she is wearing clothing which covers her body. The use of jeans and a casual t-shirt makes the character of Sophie appear as realistic and practical. 

Copy Cat Killer 

male  

Following popular stereotypes which link males to violence and dominance, we crafted our copy cat killer around the younger teenage generation, and took inspiration for this character from films such as Menhaj Huda's 'Kidulthood' (2000, thriller, following lives of a group of troubled 15 year olds in west london), and Ben Drew's 'Ill Manors' (20012, Crime/ Thriller/ Drama, The lives of four drug dealers, one user and two prostitutes.) As well as taking inspiration from these urban films, i also observed closely news articles about the London Riots which took place in 2011. The main offenders were of the younger generation, and all looked similar to the copy cat killer we created in the opening, through costume and body language. The use of the hood adds an enigmatic sense to the character, making it difficult to identify his features, this adds tension whilst watching the opening.

i believe we crafted this character realistically, as this dress style is incredibly common amongst teenagers of this age in many cities across the UK and other parts of the world. This adds a sense of realism to the opening.

By having our character dressed in this specific hoodie, and outfit, we are reinforcing the stereotype that people in hoods are 'out to cause trouble', or enjoy causing problems. This may not be the case for all people who choose to wear these outfits, but the media, along with pictures from the london riots and other violent episodes which have happened in other cities across the world, show that these are the type of people who are causing the trouble, and coincedently, the majority of the pictures are of men, being violent, and causing anarchy in large groups.

Jay from 'kidulthood', wearing a hoodie, similar to our character,  In the media (film) associated with violence, due to his social class and status.

Youth, through the news of the riots, now the common hoodie is associated with violence, and danger.

Hooded Youth in London Riots (2011) photograph by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

 'Feared, derided, misunderstood and still resolutely un-hugged, the utilitarian, hugely popular sportswear garment, the hoodie, has staged a comeback against a backdrop of pyromania and rioting. Worn by millions every day: a generation's default wardrobe choice was transformed into an instant criminal cloak for London's looting youth' - Quote from Kevin Braddocks news artcile 'The power of the hoodie'. 

(click 'The Power Of The Hoodie' for a direct link to news article)

final cut, thriller (cold case)

Evaluation of the thriller opening, ColdCase Question 1

Evaluation: how did you attract / adress your audience? question 5

Our potential audience, being art (film, photography) students and fans of noir thrillers will engage with the aspects of our opening which mirror key conventions of noir thrillers. For example, our consistent use of black and white footage, combined with the use of shadows and our attempt at starring a femme fatale in the opening. The audience will indentify the use of cobbled streets, these strongly links to thrillers such as The Third Man, shot in post war Vienna, and heavily based around cobbled streets which turn into labyrinths for the characters. 

The down-to-earth practical costume of Sophie will lead to the audience of that age group engaging closely with her as a character, as we have purposefully used this costume to connect with the audience as they have things in common, for example, the way they both dress. After this connection is made, the audience will become more engaged with the opening, in turn getting the potential enjoyment out of it.  

The long shots of characters walking across the cobbled streets mirror that of those in the third man, if members of the audience have previously seen this film and recognised the connection between the two, it will become easier for them to engage in the opening as they have now identified the genre and what we were trying to achieve.

 The tracking long tracking shots used are a tribute to Taraninto's Thriller 'Jackie Brown', keeping the camera on the characters faces when introducing them to the audience. If this is seen by the audience, they will feel flattered, and feel as if they are a minority of people who recognise intertextual references. 

Another intertextual reference is that of our antagonist’s name, In 'Cold Case' he is named 'Henry Lime’; clearly we took inspiration from The Third Man, where the main antagonist is named 'Harry Lime'. If members of the audience have previously seen The Third Man, they will engage with the thriller as they have realised the connection between the two.

Furthermore, after this connection has been made they will begin to notice the more subtle similarities, and conventions of a noir thriller. For example, our consistent use of shadows, and the casting of an old fashioned femme fetale (Eve Walcott). 

Narrative structure:

 Our narrative structure was heavily based on flashbacks to tell the story. We differed between coloured and black and white shots when showing the flashbacks in comparison to 'real time'. The use of flashbacks, to the olden day crime, helped unfold the events of the opening in a more unique way, as well as making them interesting, which would attract the audience, and make them more engaged with the opening of our noir thriller. 

We also used flash forwards, in the first 30 seconds of my opening, I used two flash forwards. One consisting of our main character Sophie Banks running down into a claustrophobic space near a river (dead end), another of her vigorously shaking bars to a gate which is trapping her in. the claustrophobic space connotes a convention of a thriller, as many use enclosed spaces, by using these I am giving off a sense of entrapment and tension to the audience, after these fast cuts to events which have not yet happened, the audience will feel more engaged. Wanting to know why, and how these events are going to happen, and who is responsible for them.

  In terms of editing, I used the correct effects and transitions where I thought they would have the best effect on the audience. For example, when attempting to show the similarities between Eve and Sophie, I merged the two tracking shots of each character together, so the first was slowly followed by the second. With this in the opening, it appears clear to the audience that we are attempting to show them the resemblance between the two characters. My use of fade to black, and at times white, gave off a sense of continuity, as the cuts were not jumpy and unclear.

Each scene had either a transition or a slow moving fade to black, I was attempting to create a unique understanding style to my thriller, with fade to black/white edited in, and I believe I achieved this.

 Generic thriller conventions 

As far as generic thriller conventions go, I think the audience would be expecting claustrophobic spaces (the bride gets trapped in a coffin and she has to fight her way out in Tarantino's Kill Bill), derelict buildings, (Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Majority of film was shot in an empty warehouse) enigmatic vehicles (Trunk where Beaumont shoots Livingstone in the parking lot in Tarantino's Jackie Brown OR Jason’s van in Terry Winsor's Essex Boys), Dark Cobbled Streets (specific to noir thrillers, For example, The Third Man, shot in post war Vienna). 

The audience may relate with some of the conventions we tried to use in our opening, such as the tracking shots of our characters on the cobbled streets. This clearly shows the genre of the opening, as the scenery mirrors that of generic noir thrillers. They may also relate to the claustrophobic space of Sophie being trapped in a corner near the river, she is being slowly enclosed in the corner by our two antagonists (one from modern day the other from 1950's).

 I think the fact our thriller is heavily based around 2 main female characters is unexpected to the audience, most thrillers are based on men, and large groups of them (Godfather, Reservoir Dogs, Donnie Brasco, The Third man). The fact the male character is actually the minority here, makes a difference to the style of our thriller. For a change, our opening is focused on our femme fetals instead of the violent male characters. I believe this is challenging generic conventions of thrillers, but works well.

Cliff-hanger

 the cliff-hanger in cold case consists of Sophie's paranoia taking over, she begins to lose control of what is reality and what is her imagination playing tricks on her due to lack of sleep as she has involved herself so much in this cold case. It ends with her running down into an enclosed space near a river, being entrapped by a metal gate on one side, and on the other the male antagonist. There are two killers, one being in black and white, which is the original killer from the original case; this is her imagination playing tricks on her. The original killer is not killing her; it is the copy cat killer who is dressed in a hoodie, which is the reality. It ends with Sophie dropping the necklace, has she been killed?  If so, who by? What happens next? These are the questions we hoped the audience will be asking themselves as they view our opening. 

The use of the copy cat killer added mystery and confusion to the end of the opening, as this killer is not used earlier on in the opening. He is seen as an enigmatic character, hopefully this will make the audience want to view the rest of the film, to find out exactly what happened to Sophie, and why? Was it her fate? Or her paranoia? Did these events really take place? 

Edit Planning

After only really having little experience in editing I am only able to plan certain shots, in hope to learn new things as I edit, and then gain experience for other tasks I am going to do.

For example, I wanted to create a clear link between the two main female characters (Sophie and Eve), by doing this, between shots of each character I would use a cross dissolve technique. With this intact, the two shots of each charater would softly merge as one, making the first shot dissapear and leave behind the second. This means that it is easier for the audience to see the clear links and similarities between Eve and Sophie, in turn, helping them follow the story line of our opening.

Another example of an editing skill I hope to use is dip to black, in my opinion, I believe this makes the edit run smoother, instead of each cut jumping straight to another. The fast cuts may cause confusion, which is not what I want to achieve. In my thriller, I want to achieve an opening which the audience can follow, with that, they can understand the events as they unfold, which would engage them more with the storyline, this would lead to a sense of involvment from whoever is viewing the opening.

locations

we wanted to craft our film to resemble a noir thriller, so our choice of location for our shoot was very important. We wanted to look for surroundings which would mirror films such as once upon a time in america and the third man.

The third man is shot in post war Vienna, well known for its famous picturesc streets and buldings. We wanted to mirror things such as the cobbled streets, to create a noir look as well as an old fashioned 1950's look. We achieved this by shooting on Elm Hill in Norwich, the streets were cobbled and the surroundings looked old fashioned. We wanted to keep away from busy roads so our thriller was not polluted by cars and artificial lighting.



The Third Man filming location:
Harry Lime’s mysterious entrance in the doorway:
 Schreyvogelgasse, Vienna, Austria

Elm Hill - shooting location for our thriller
Norwich

costume (Sophie Butler)

Sophie (played by Sorrel) -

• Jeans (Black), Shirt (Light Blue), Jacket (Black or Brown (Leather), High heel boots, rucksack.

Rucksack
to emphasise the fact Sophie is a student, we added a stereotypical rucksack to her costume. In ways to show that she ways a student, but also, as the majority of the time the rucksack is very full, it added a weight onto her back, and made her seem crowded. Obviously, getting out of dangerous situations with a heavy rucksack on your back is difficult, as it is an extra weight. We wanted the character to seem  crowded, and almost claustrophobic, which then mirrors the location she gets trapped in at the end of the opening.




Clothes
To emphasise the contrast between Sophie and eve's costumes, we aimed for Sophie's to be practical and quite casual, to give off a student vibe to the audience. I believe we achieved that, with the common look of jeans and just a plain shirt. This adds a sense of normality and realism to the thriller, in a way making it more realistic, and shocking, as it shows that this could happen to anyone, just an ordinary person. we kept the slightly heeled boots to keep a 'femme fatale' look about her, this way we could relate back to our inspiration films such as the third man and once upon a time in America, both films which we looked closely at when planning the thriller.

Inspired by noir thrillers (plus costume)

After always admiring the look of noir thrillers, when money and equipment was scarse just after the war, i wanted to relfect this in my thriller opening, and pay tribute to films such as The Third Man and Once Upon In America.  It is believed by some that the best noir thrillers were made around this time period, when there was lack of money but definitely not lack of expeirience, ambition or originality. 

 Shadows

The use of shadows were very common in noir thrillers, we wanted to achieve this look in our thriller opening as we believed that if the shadows were used and shot effectively, it could add originality and a nice cinemagraphic look to our film, not only would it be interesting to watch, but also aesthetically pleasing. 

use of shadows in my thriller opening to create noir thriller look

Use of shadows in the third man to create a noir thriller look

Costume
when attempting to mirror the style of a noir thriller film, the costume of the characters is very important. The style in the 1950's was very unique, men would fashionably wear suits and trilby hats, that was the common trend in the 1950's.  Women would commonly wear galmourous dresses, hats and stereotypical jewelery such as pearls and diamonds. 

womens fashion in the 1950's

mens fashion in the 1950's

We wanted to re-create this style through the characters of Henry Lime and Eve Walcott, which we did sucesfully in our thriller opening. We believe that the costume of our characters connotes a noir thriller theme throughout the opening.

The use of the fur coat, necklace and galmourous earings give off a femme fatale look. Fur was very popular in the 50's, along with expensive jewlery. This along with the flower printed dress gives off a very female look, which shows signs of beauty and glamour, which was very significant in the 50's, amongst all classes of ladies. 

Eve Walcotts costume.

For Henry's costume, we stuck with a noir thriller stereotypical convention of a smart suit and trilby hat. I believe that this connotes a sense of noir thriller, as it resembles what the fashion was in the 1950's. Not only does the suit resemble fashion, but also that of harry lime from the third man. As a character in a noir thriller, we took a lot of inspiration from him when choosing Henrys outfit.

far left, Henry Limes costume.

Thriller Synposis

Our thriller is based on a cold case, and a young girl who researches into it and finds herself being victim to a copy cat murderer who took inspiration from the original case.

Sophie, a young aspiring criminologist is researching into a cold case of a 1950's murder. As she journeys deeper into discovering what really happened to victim Eve Walcott she beings to notice similarities between herself and Eve, through appearances. As she discovers more, she becomes paranoid, and starts to believe that the original murderer, Henry Lime has found her, and is following her, ready to commit another murder on another vulnerable innocent women. Her paranoia leads her to an emotional breakdown, where the new-modern day copy-cat murderer takes advantage of her vulnerable position and murders her to forfill his sick obsession with the original crime.

Characters in thriller opening

                           Characters in my thriller opening

Our thriller opening consists of three main characters, which together help the events in our opening unfold into a noir/psychologically thrilling production. These three characters are...

Sophie Butler
Sophie Butler is one of two main female characters in our thriller opening, she is the victim of the 2nd murder by the Henry lime copy cat killer. The murder took place in the modern day. Sophie Butler is an aspiring crimonlogist, which ties her in with the murder of Eve Walcott. As her first crime she decides to do independant research into the case of the murder of eve, due to the fact the killer was never caught. The case also strikes an interest from a modern day man, who turns into a copy cat killer and kills sophie. Whilst researching Sophie discovers that herself and eve have a lot in common with the way they look, as she becomes more involved with the case she becomes paranoid. Leading her to become mentally unstable, and eventually being murdered by the copy cat killer. When creating the character sophie butler, we took inspiration from the two main female characters in tarantinos 'Jackie Brown'. She has the independance and intelligence of Jackie, but then again shares the vulnerability of melanie. Also, she is murdered by a man who dominates her emotionally and through her characteristics. In turn, we though sophie was a mix between Jackie and Melanie.

Sophie Butler (Thriller opening character)

Jackie Brown (Jackie Brown)

Melanie (Jackie Brown)

Eve Walcott
Eve Walcott is one of two main female characters in our thriller opening, she is the victim of the original Murder. she is a stereotypical 50's women, she works in a factory and the reason for her murder is unknown. She is murdered by the protagonist in our opening, Henry Lime. She was murdered on the 22nd of january 1953.  When creating the character of Eve Walcott we took inspiration from the femme fatale character from the famous noir thriller  'once upon a time in america'. The female femme fatale in this film was also named eve, we saw similarities as both female characters are murdered early on in the film, and from the murder, other deaths occur due to the loss of this character. For example in my thiller opening, Eve is murdered first and then Sophie. The two murders are related, due to the murderer being the same man.

Eve walcott (my thriller opening)

Eve (Once Upon A Time In America)

Henry Lime 
Henry Lime is the main antagonist in our opening, he is the murderer of Eve Walcott.  The male character murding the female character is a stereotypical convention of a thriller, we thought adding this in would easily establish the genre, where as in other situations we would challegne conventions to make it unique and interesting. The murder of 'Eve Walcott', which happened in the 1950's, Henry was never charged for, resulting in the case being dropped, and turning into a cold case. This cold case inspired a modern day copy cat killer. Who then murders sophie, out of pure chance. To fit with the genre of my film being a noir thriller, we took inspiration from The third mans 'Harry lime' when creating the character 'Henry Lime'. Other than their character traits, one being a murderer and the other not. They share the same antics, of hiding in the shadows and being an enigmatic character, keeping a sense of mystery around their character to the audience. Henry Lime is played by Matthew Butcher. 
 

Henry Lime (my thriller opening)

Harry Lime (the third man)