Case Study: Jackie Brown

Initial Thriller Thoughts

Our thriller idea was about some sort of transfer deal going wrong, between George and a group of people, and somehow he gets beaten up over it. When we had the class discussion about all our ideas, I liked the thought of reversing the roles, and having myself in it as part of the exchange to bring in a female audience since it was just going to males before. Therefore I was thinking that George does the deal with me and few people that are with me, but it was actually a set up to back stab him. And the following was our plan, but seemed too complicated, so we went another route.

Locations: Anglia Square graffitti area, St.Stephens street, underground passing, and George or Liam's house (depending on who's garage is better)

Characters & Costumes: Myself, Liam, George, and a couple people to participate as numbers against George. Myself and the couple of people on my side will be dressed in business attire(blazers), and Liam & George will be in casual clothes(jeans and hoodies).

Inspiration: The movie "Essex Boys", and the tv drama "The Returned".

Shots	Characters	Location	Camera angle	Lighting	Camera movements
1	George	Behind a house	Long shot to allow audience to discover George's vulnerable state.	Natural, dim, cloudy day	panning
2	George	same as above	Close up of him laid on the ground.	same as above	zoom out
3	Nature, Liam, George, (2 other people)	Anglia Square car park	Over the shoulder of George observing us.	same as above	Pan & tilt
4	Nature, Liam, George, (2 other people)	same as above	Low angle of the group, then worms eye view	same as above	Pan & zoom out
5
Cliff hanger

Current & Final Idea

After a great deal of discussing and consideration, we decided to go with a different idea entirely. Liam came up with a more classic interesting simple idea that included the whole group. The idea we're going with now is three friends (a boy, and two girls) go back to my house, my parents are away, and a creeper (boy) who is conspiring with the guy friend of mine to take advantage of me and the other girl, is awaiting our arrival to my house, where the betraying will happen.

Locations: Liam's house (garage, living room, inside a car) We would like to film this at night but we may have to reconsider that idea depending on what we are able to see.

Characters & Costumes: My whole group (myself, Liam, George, and Emilie) We want to show distinct appearance between the three friends. I will be wearing bright colors (tie-dye), Liam will be in all black (specifically with a hoodie and leather gloves), Emilie will be in generic winter attire (sweater/jumper, knitted hat), and George will be in all black as well (in relation to Liam).

Inspiration: "Essex Boys"

Shots	Characters	Location	Camera angle	Lighting	Camera movements
1	Liam	infront of the house	close up of his shoes	at night with ambient light	panning
2	Nature, Emilie, George	same as above	vanish point & worm's eye of the car arriving	same as above (headlights)	panning & zoom out
3	same as above	garage	long shot of 2 people getting out	(inside car light)	Pan & zoom in
4	Emilie or Nature	inside the car	long shot of her staying in the car	same as above	same as above
5	George and Nature or Emilie	living room	over the shoulder	computer light	zoom in
6	Nature or Emilie	living room	high angle then low angle searching for torch	ambient phone light	panning & tilting



7	same as above	inside house	medium close up	torch	tracking shot
8	Liam, Emilie, Nature	garage	long shot of Liam picking girl up out of the car	torch & car lights	zoom in
9	Liam and Nature or Emilie	same as above	close up of girl being dropped and dragged around a corner	same as above	panning
10	George and Nature or Emilie	same as above	over the shoulder of girl backing up into George	same as above	zoom out
Cliff hanger	same as above	same as above	medium close up of relization and George aggresively slapping the torch out of girl's hand	same as above	same as above

Case Study: Essex Boys

Possible Thriller Locations

I think these locations, though they're simple, are perfect for a thriller at night and possible in the day time if at the right pace. They display generic thriller conventions because they are claustrophobic, unoccupied often, and very intimidating with the right lighting.

The underpass scenes in Fabrice Gobert's "The Returned" is where this man has attacks his victims, and further explains visually why it's a good thrilling location. It's narrow and claustrophobic where very dodgy things can occur.

The following images were inspired by "The Returned".

The main character looking out the bus window as the bus drives away would be a great tension moment to really grab the audience, and also a possible cliff hanger.

These streets are by my house, but this setting can be found pretty much anywhere at night.

Independent Viewing: 3

Wanted 

Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov

Released: June 12, 2008

A frustrated office worker learns that he is the son of a professional assassin, and that he shares his father's superhuman killing abilities.

Awards

Academy Awards, USA 2009

Nominated Oscar	Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Chris Jenkins Frank A. Montaño Petr Forejt
	Best Achievement in Sound Editing Wylie Stateman

Screen Actors Guild Awards 2009

Nominated Actor

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture Jophery C. Brown Norman Douglass Nick Gillard Martin Hub Eunice Huthart Rick Le Fevour Alicia Skirball

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2009

Nominated Saturn Award

Best Fantasy Film

BET Awards 2009

Nominated BET Award

Best Actor Common For Street Kings

BMI Film & TV Awards 2009

Won BMI Film Music Award

Danny Elfman

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2009

Nominated Critics Choice Award

Best Action Movie

Empire Awards, UK 2009

Won Empire Award

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Superhero

MTV Movie Awards 2009

Nominated MTV Movie Award	Best Female Performance Angelina Jolie
	Best Kiss Angelina Jolie James McAvoy
	Best WTF Moment Angelina Jolie

Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA 2009

Nominated Golden Reel Award

Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film Wylie Stateman (supervising sound editor) Harry Cohen (sound designer/sound editor) Ann Scibelli (sound designer) David Stanke (sound editor) Ann Scibelli (sound editor) Margit Pfeiffer (sound editor) Jon Title (sound editor) Hector C. Gika (sound editor) Branden Spencer (sound editor) Jeffrey Wilhoit (foley artist) James Moriana (foley artist)

National Movie Awards, UK 2008

Nominated National Movie Award	Best Action/Adventure
	Best Performance - Male James McAvoy
	Best Performance - Female Angelina Jolie

Teen Choice Awards 2008

Nominated Teen Choice Award

Choice Summer Movie: Action Adventure

Reviews

• User - c_p_c (USA) "Not a bit of substance...but, who cares? When the film ends you will realize how simple it is and how ridiculous it is about 75% of the time, but you won't care. The film makes up for every flaw by smearing the screen with mind-bending stunts, unique filmography, and breathtaking visuals - yes, Ms. Jolie is one of them. It will be painfully obvious that all the simple plot details were just the framework and the real substance of the film lies not in its intricate story, but in the execution of its stunts and action."
• User - whlrguy (USA) "To The Extreme. An abundance of profanities and over the top action sequences that are beyond extreme fill the screen in a dizzying array of visual adrenaline. Holding you in a tight breathtaking grip with its interesting visual techniques, humor and acting. I definitely recommend this deliberately humorous, action packed, violent, profane, to-the-extreme film to be seen on the big screen."
• Wanted may not be some super original but it doesn't need to be to astound an audience. 

"Wesley's Breakdown" clip has a great range of camera shots, and has a really good combination of dramatic diegetic and non diegetic sounds. The sound and the close ups are key for the tension in this clip, and the acting from the main character is strong which captivates the audience. 

In these two clips of the same scene "Vipers vs. Van", the action is carried out in such an extravagant way that forces the audience to glue their eyes to screen so that they don't miss a single second. It is so exciting because of the diegetic sound; the wonderful shots from various angles. The audience is able to see everything and ultimately feel as much anxiety over the situation as the character. The zooming at 1:28 is so effective in resembling the pulsating from all of the adrenaline. The flip of the car at 1:43 is astonishing, and a classic perfect moment for slow motion.

Independent Viewing: 2

Limitless

Director: Neil Burger

Release Date: March 8, 2011

With the help of a mysterious pill that enables the user to access 100 percent of his brain abilities, a struggling writer becomes a financial wizard, but it also puts him in a new world with lots of dangers.

Awards

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards 2012

Won ASCAP Award

Top Box Office Films Paul Leonard-Morgan

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2012

Nominated Saturn Award

Best Science Fiction Film

Golden Trailer Awards 2012

Nominated Golden Trailer

Best Graphics in a TV Spot 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Buddha Jones  For "More".

People's Choice Awards, USA 2012

Nominated People's Choice Award

Favorite Drama Movie

Teen Choice Awards 2011

Nominated Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie: Drama
	Choice Movie Actor: Drama Bradley Cooper

World Soundtrack Awards 2011

Nominated World Soundtrack Award

Discovery of the Year Paul Leonard-Morgan

Reviews

User - Vaughn Fry (USA) "Limitless in intrigue and excitement at breakneck pacing. Enough cannot be said for how amazingly brisk and refreshing the production comes across. Nearly every scene has at least some artistic appeal. ...Thanks to the mind-altering plot, Limitless is one of the fewer movies where extravagant transitions make sense. ...Limitless has such a breathtaking pace that you aren't going to find the time needed to nitpick. Some of the action at movie's end is resolved with little plausibility, but it's too much fun to attack. At least the title of Limitless offers some truth in advertising."

User - arnaultmorisson (USA) "A reflection of the shallow American dream. Limitless could be named deep-less as it emphasizes on the mediocre rise of a middle-class loser into the sphere of money (bliss) America. ...The movie tells you one thing; you can't succeed in America without cheating."

User - sjabbo (Norway) "Incredibly shallow."

User - paperback_wizard (USA) "It opens your mind. The tagline for this movie is "What if a pill could make you rich and powerful?" I prefer a line from the trailer: "How many of us ever know what it is to become the perfect version of ourselves? ....Watching this movie may not change your mind, but it will certainly open it."

The Guardian (Peter Bradshaw) - Enjoyable, fast-moving stuff on the whole, although a "murder" sub-plot appears to get lost in the edit, and some of the comic possibilities are overlooked.

• The Guardian's comment is a dull opinion of the movie, suggesting that it's nothing special, which I have to disagree with. Yeah the film left quite a few things unanswered and was a pretty shallow idea, but it was done so well that neither of those things matter. Limitless isn't a standard big blockbuster film. It has an artistic edge that is just so interesting to watch. I love that it uses reverse chronology, which I want to use for my thriller, because it's a great way to unfold the story with a disoriented perspective. I feel that this is especially successful because the audience is almost forced to be engaged in the film to see how the scenario got how it was, and the audience feels compelled to actively connect the dots. Whereas with a traditional story that is laid out for the audience is basically a go ahead for the audience to passively piece things together, or even not at all. The special effects are really cool, and just adds to the limitless idea so perfectly. In a way, the audience is subjected to feel envy towards the main character, which is great because part of having a hold on the audience is to grip their emotions. This movie opens up audience's imagination and is ultimately an awesome ride.

In the "Subway Fight" clip, the soundtrack sets the tone for scene and the action that occurs. It has a animalistic vibe to it that can remind the audience of being in the wild of a jungle. The way the flashbacks are transitioned to adds to the speed that the character feels while on the pill, so the audience gets a point of view perspective. This scene is just so well put together from the lighting to the short clips of multiple angles. It's not only a great action clip, but it's also funny because of the idea of actually being able to use something I've seen on TV in real life.

The "Pill Effect" clip is absolutely amazing, and not something the audience gets the privilege of seeing in every movie. It is such a psychedelic effect, which is a risk to take, but because of the story line, the movie can get away with it. Again, the music is flawless, as the sound of the guitar truly adds to the idea of being on drugs.