Costume

The boss will wear a suit that is similar to the one in the picture below. The red in the suit is meant to invoke the feeling of danger.

One of the gang members will be wearing very casual clothes to show the clear differentiation to the boss in terms of status.

The associate should be wearing smart clothes but not too smart that it  looks smarter than Ted. This is also to show power and how he is high up, but not at the top.

Then the 3 police officers should wear police uniforms. We were thinking of having a police costume with the yellow jackets.

Shot List

1. Wide shot of warehouse with jeep driving in front.
2. Close up of door being opened.
3. Middle shot of characters coming out of the jeep.
4. Wide shot of unloading boxes.
5. Tracking shot of people carrying boxes into warehouse.
6. (inside warehouse) close up of boxes being placed
7. Low angle shot of Bill confronting employee.
8. Close up on slap.
9. High angle shot of employee on floor.
10. (outside) Wide shots of police cars.
11. Shot of police in car on walkie talkie ready for raid.
12. (inside) wide shot of an employee lifting the other off the floor.
13. (outside) Middle shot of police 'Go!'
14. Tracking shot of police raid.
15. Wide shot of door bursting open from inside.
16. Panning shot of 'wrong' warehouse.
17. Middle shot of police defeated.
18. Middle shot of Bill coming out of warehouse.
19. Tracking shot following Bill to the car.
20. Close up of doors closing
21. Wide shot of jeep driving off.

Props

Boxes - We need lots of boxes for the men to carry and for the set of the warehouse. We could get these from a removal warehouse. 

Trolley - We will also need a trolley for the boxes to make them easier to move and to make the set more realistic. We could find one of these around school or order a few off amazon.

Guns - We need guns for the police to be carrying and for the boss (Ted) to have strapped to him. We could get these from school or order them off the internet.











Walkie Talkies - We will need Walkie Talkies to contribute to the Police Officers costumes. We can get these from the drama department at school or order them off the internet.








Scales - Scales are important for the warehouse, this makes the setting much more realistic and believable. We would need to order these off amazon.








Baggies - Plastic sealable bags that drugs are carried in, this is important for the set to make it believable. We would be able to order these in bulk off the internet.
























Fake Money and Elastic Bands - Money would be a typical object found in this sort of warehouse therefore money would be very important to have, and lots of it. We could order this off the internet or just photocopy lots of money to use. We would also need lots of elastic bands to put the money into rolls. Elastic bands would also be doted round the warehouse helping to set the scene.

Passports/ Forms of Identification - Passports will be hard to get hold of so we will need to borrow the passports from other children in the school.








Cigarettes - Cigarettes will fit into the vibe of the warehouse, they could be in the pockets of the men or left on tables. We would have to buy these ourselves.













Cheap Phones - Cheap phones are typical of criminals and insinuate to the audience that the criminals know exactly what they are doing. We would have to buy these cheaply on the internet or from a shop.











Holdalls - The men will need to be carrying bags which look like they are full of extra props. We could borrow these from students in school or order them online.










Gloves - We will need the men to be wearing gloves whilst moving the boxes, black leather looking gloves would be ideal. This shows the audience that they men know what they are doing. We would most likely borrow these from a student or member of staff.





These props link clearly to the thriller genre. They are often associated with crime/ criminal activity. This will clearly show a link for our audience, making it easy for them to make the connection with a thriller. Our props used also provide strong connotations of drug use and drug dealing and therefore we can tell the story using the props rather than the dialogue which would be uninteresting for the audience.

Mise en Scene for our Thriller

We wanted is a white van for the 'drug' transport. Obviously we didn't want a large lorry  cause it would be too big for the scene we were trying to show. Fortunately our school catering service uses vans like this which has a large storage in the back. There are many movies that influenced us to use a van such as layer cake, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the Town.

We needed a warehouse or 'drug den' where the boxes will be stacked. We were first looking for a warehouse which was big and spacious like this one. Because in most movies drugs in boxes are kept in warehouses that look like this. Layer cake, Lock stock and two smoking barrels

However, our budget stops us from renting a warehouse for the day, because it costs too much. Instead we decided on a container at the back of our school which looks like this.









We realised this was actually better than a warehouse because it showed more of a small operation rather than a large one.

Thriller Storyboard

Films that influenced our Thriller

The Departed
Set in Boston, the Departed is about the state police force waging war on Irish-American organized crime, much like in our thriller where we have the police tracking the criminals working for Silk Road. This influenced the implication in our Thriller that the police have been onto the man in charge for a while.

We're the Millers
‘We’re the Millers’ isn’t a thriller but a comedy about smuggling Marihuana, a concept that is close to our idea. This film influenced the use of a comedic and farcical touch in our thriller. It also made us want to have a slight sense of the drug distributors looking unexpectedly 'normal'.

 

 

Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz is a hilarious parody of police crime thrillers. This film inspired us to have police as a prominent feature in our thriller with an action scene. This also made us want to do something comical involving the police in our thriller.

 

The Business

THE BUSINESS is an action packed gangster flick set in Spain's sun drenched Costa Del crime. Charlie, a young man, soon becomes one of the gang, and finds himself drawn into a flamboyant and violent world of organized crime. This inspired the idea of having a young gawky assistant in our thriller. The film also inspired our idea of having the don of the gang wearing a smart suit and the non-diegetic voice-over about his dream of a luxury lifestyle.

Thriller Timeline

1. Van arriving (0.00-0.03)
2. Door opening (0.03-0.05)
3. People Transporting (0.05-0.11)
4. Into warehouse (0.11-0.18) including cuts
5. Ted confronts (0.18-0.28)
6. Dude gets beaten up (0.28-0.43)
7. Police in cars (0.43-0.45) outside shots (0.45-0.55)
8. Raid, Go go go (0.55-1.00)
9. Shot of door opening from inside (1.00-1.03)
10. Empty warehouse pan (1.03-1.06)
11. Police confused + dialogue (1.06-1.14)
12. Ted & co. swaggering back to van with non-diegetic narration (1.14-1.44)
13. Van driving off into the distance and fade out into title (1.44-1.50)

This represents the time that each shot will be seen for in finished product.

Thriller Cast List

Cast List

Drug Lord - We chose Ted because of his age and appearance. He is old enough to be in a position of authority.






Gang Member - We chose Theo because he is the right age to be at the bottom of a drug organisation














Gang Member - Ollie was perfect because he is the right age to be at the bottom of a drug organisation














Head of police - We felt that Dave was the perfect person to portray the Head of the Police force because he is the right age and looks like he could be in a position of authority.



















Deputy head of Police - Jason was the right age and build to be a stereotypical policeman.















Corrupt Policeman - Ian is the right age and has a sort of sinister look the we felt would be appropriate for a corrupt policeman.

Presentation of our Thriller Plan

How to sell drugs - Inspiration for Thriller

Inspiration for our thriller idea came from numerous videos on vice. This includes "How to Sell Drugs" 

This video was something I found interesting and lead me to find out about silk road and police seizing the website. This video looks at a different aspect of selling drugs, rather than online like silk road. It has influenced our ideas on how to set up a realistic set for our thriller and giving us a real situation to base it upon. There are numerous other videos on vice which have provided us with information on drugs, which we have used on our website to educate ourselves further into the underworld of drugs.

The Mafia

The American Mafia is probably the most famous criminal society in the world, they control most of Americas organised crime and are still regarded as the most dangerous criminal organisation to date.

The Mafia contributed to the idea of an international crime organisation that is virtually immune to law enforcement and whose members are basically untouchable.

Analysing Trance - Poster

Woman is in the middle, this gives her power.

Two men behind the woman are facing different directions which suggest that they not on the same side.

Man holding gun suggests that the film contains violence.

Background symbolises the hypnotic state that the film puts the audience in, it also contains an element of confusion.

The pattern that the background has mimics a fingerprint.

The colours that feature in the background are also very common within the thriller genre and this is another sign that the film is a thriller.

Drug Lords that inspired our thriller

Most Powerful Drug Lords

Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar was said to be the most notorious drug lord of around the last 20 years. He was a Columbian drug lord and cocaine trafficker, head of the Medellin Cartel in Columbia. He had a short life, dying at the age of 44 after being shot by Columbian National Police in 1993. At the height of the Medellin Cartel's power they were smuggling 15 tons of cocaine a day, worth more than half a billion dollars into the US. He has an estimated fortune of $25 billion. 

"There can only be one king"
"Sometimes I am god, if I say a man dies, he dies that same day"
"There are two hundred million idiots, manipulated by a million intelligent men"


Khun Sa (“The Opium King”)

Involved in Heroin and operated in Burma. He is famed as the world king of heroin, producing almost one third of the worlds heroin supply. He lived a luxurious life until he died of natural causes in 2007. 

Ross Ulbricht

Ross Ulbricht

Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind Silk Road.



Ross was 29 years old, studying Physics and

Engineering from Austin, Texas. He ran Silk Road from his computer in a library using the free Wi-Fi.

He was the most unlikely criminal, described as being pale with dark hair wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  

Silk Road

 

Silk Road was seen as the best-known underground marketplace for the trade of illegal drugs online. Described by an FBI special agent as the  "the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet today". It was practically an ebay for drugs. It was operated as a hidden website which was only accessible using an anonymous browsing site called Tor.

 

Silk road was highly successful making $22 million in annual sales until it was ordered to be closed down as quickly as possible. In the beginning of October numerous arrests were made in conjunction with the website, including one man, Ross Ulbricht. The man who controlled the whole business.

 

 

Opening Sequence inspiration - Gulf Cartel

The Gulf Cartel is a criminal syndicate and drug trafficking organization in Mexico, and perhaps the oldest organized crime group in the country. It is currently based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas.
Their network is international, and are believed to have dealings with crime groups in Europe, West Africa, Asia, Central America, South America, and the United States. Besides drug trafficking, the Gulf Cartel operates through protection rackets, assassinations, extortions, kidnappings, and other criminal activities. The Gulf Cartel is known for intimidating the population and for being "particularly violent."
Although its founder Juan Nepomuceno Guerra smuggled alcohol in small quantities to the United States during the Prohibition era, it was not until the 1970s that the cartel was formed and shifted to drug trafficking — primarily cocaine — under the command of Juan Nepomuceno Guerra and Juan García Ábrego.

Cartel Logo

The Gulf Cartel inspired the idea of drug trafficking, criminality and the violence that comes with this business.

We also liked the idea of an international crime organisation.

Evaluation of Prelim Shoot

The prelim task was a very valuable exercise because it enabled myself and the rest of the group to familiarise ourselves with the equipment and terminology commonly used during a film or Tv shoot.
The objective of the prelim was to successfully shoot a scene and edit it.
We had to people acting out a scene and one of the most important things we got used to was the 180 degree rule and continuity.
The actors had to recite the same scene multiple times to make this possible.

Genres

A genre is used to classify a specific piece of artistic work, this applies to films, songs and paintings.
For example in film we have different genres:

Action
Adventure
Drama
Comedy

ThrillerSi-Fi

These genres are there for the audience to understand what type of film they are going to watch and what sort of storyline and content it will feature.
Genres mainly benefit the audience and are generally of no importance to the producer or director.