The News Stories
In order to come up with some ideas for our thriller, we read several different news stories that Phil had collected over the last year. Of these, the ones which grabbed our attention were.
One Way Trip to Mars - A story about a future proposed one-way journey to the red planet. Many volunteers put themselves forward to take part in a Big Brother style reality television program.
Human Extinction - A scientific article which discusses the possible ways in which humans may become extinct and the repercussions of this.
Smash and Grab - A story about a 'smash-and-grab' style robbery which took place in an upmarket watch store in London. Five people smashed the windows, took as many watches as possible and left.
Ideas
We used the stories as inspiration to construct some narratives. We felt that it was important to explore and flesh out our ideas fully before making any decisions. We also felt that it was important to explore various different thriller sub-genres (Link to my blog post on sub-genres). We came out with several ideas.
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One Way Trip to Mars - Sci-Fi/Psychological Thriller
The idea
In the not-too-distant future, there is a proposed one-way journey to Mars in order to film a reality television show. Our protagonist is a middle aged, socially inept man who has dreamt of going into space since childhood. The contestants struggle with the destructive effects of isolation and slowly, our protagonist spirals into insanity and hostility with disastrous effects.
The film is a dark, psychological satire which attacks consumer culture.
Dark, tense music is heard. There are several shots of a dark, dirty bedroom as the credits appear across the screen. The room is vaguely lit by the light of a television screen. As we pan around the room, we see that it is dirty and untidy. There are also various pieces of space related items including multiple posters and toy models of famous historical spaceships and shuttles and a telescope. We eventually pan over to a man in pants and a vest sitting looking at a television screen, he inserts a DVD into a DVD player and it slowly processes. A public service announcement style video flickers onto the screen. It is of a man sitting at a desk enthusiastically advertising 'the holiday of a life time'. There are juxtaposing shots between the man's intensely concentrated face and the shot of the television screen. The man on the screen finishes his pitch by revealing it as the 'One way Trip to Mars'. As he says this, the bold title appears suddenly on the screen accompanied by a loud drone.
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The Title Sequence
Dark, tense music is heard. There are several shots of a dark, dirty bedroom as the credits appear across the screen. The room is vaguely lit by the light of a television screen. As we pan around the room, we see that it is dirty and untidy. There are also various pieces of space related items including multiple posters and toy models of famous historical spaceships and shuttles and a telescope. We eventually pan over to a man in pants and a vest sitting looking at a television screen, he inserts a DVD into a DVD player and it slowly processes. A public service announcement style video flickers onto the screen. It is of a man sitting at a desk enthusiastically advertising 'the holiday of a life time'. There are juxtaposing shots between the man's intensely concentrated face and the shot of the television screen. The man on the screen finishes his pitch by revealing it as the 'One way Trip to Mars'. As he says this, the bold title appears suddenly on the screen accompanied by a loud drone.
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Apocalypse - Disaster Thriller
The idea
A single mother tries desperately to protect her two infant children from the cruelty and moral injustice of a post-nuclear wasteland as they travel across England to reach a promised safe zone. They encounter a variety of increasingly malicious and sadistic survivors and are forced to use violence, immorality and cruelty in order to survive. By the time they reach the safe zone, they have become so twisted by the world around them that they are rejected and left to die outside the walls.
The film contains a strong social commentary on the moral degradation of modern society and it's effects on innocence (represented by the two children).
A woman suddenly awakes in her bed, sits up abruptly and turns on her bedside light as if she has just had a nightmare. All of the curtains in the room are shut, it appears dark outside - it could be night time. She looks around, seemingly reassured by her surroundings. Then she gets up slowly and starts to get changed. There are shots of her putting her clothes on first and then of her applying her makeup. When the process is complete, she walks over to the far side of her room and pulls her curtains apart. Outside is an a vast, decayed nuclear wasteland lingering ominously in the distance. She recoils in shock and we cut suddenly to a black background with the title.
The Title Sequence
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Smash and Grab - Crime Thriller
The idea
An enthusiastic young smash-and-grab robber works his way up the criminal hierarchy but his passion for his job begins to cloud his judgement as to when to stop. His heists and robberies become progressively
The Title Sequence
We are in a house, watching the seemingly normal wake up routine of one man. This routine extends to the point of getting changed, shaving and making breakfast. As this happens, the camera occasionally shows us shots of suspicious heist related items. There is a heavily annotated floor plan of a jewelry shop or a bank, mugshot photos stuck and possibly a handgun.
