Treatment for thriller opening

We have decided to shoot the opening in the sub-genre crime/thriller, much like other thrillers of its kind. For example, like in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Leon etc. We aim to create a tense atmosphere which lends itself well to the genre. The way in which we will aim to immediately establish the equilibrium is through the setting. We will create the equilibrium by using music to build and tense atmosphere but without giving away the plot. The place we have haven chosen to shoot this opening is at Salhouse Train Station, mainly because of its deserted location, a convention used in many other thrillers.



Our film will begin with the first few shot of the station and the surrounding area to establish the location and enabling us to use a different camera shots such as long shots and worms eye view. Within these shot, running titles will be added discreetly so the viewer attention is not distracted from the opening shots. Throughout this opening, we plan to use a soundtrack, which fades in as the picture does which, by the low volume, sounds like it is being played out of shot or from a distance. Within these shots, a dark and derelict house is shown. This is the frame that we end the title sequence with. The camera then cuts to inside the house to a man sitting by a window which faces the platform. We plan to make the opening shots to set the scene last approximately 35 seconds long.

The character lives in the house alone. He is a recluse who lives in the run down house. He lives alone and is very socially isolated because he has recently stopped being involved in a gang in a scene of organised crime and corruption. Throughout the opening, we are going to have subtle clues as to his past (for example; a letter, the character stepping off the train and his intent) His house is next to the platform at the quiet station, its location is secluded, overgrown and the interior of the house is damp and dirty. There are bare wall on show and the floorboards creak as you step on them. The rooms are very bare with only essential such as his bed and a small television in his bedroom.

He is writing a letter and the camera focuses in onto an over the shoulder shot of the letter although the words are unclear on the page. When we cut to this shot, initially the music increases in volume; as if it is coming from inside the man’s room. From the over the shoulder shot, we cut to a frame of his hand turning off the radio- where the music is coming from. When the man clicks the radio off, it becomes silent. The sound of the click will be enhanced when we editing the film, which will provide a more noticeable contrast between the music and silence, making the atmosphere even more eerie than before. Another way we show the contrast between the inside of the house and the outside, as well as the soundtrack, is the lighting. Outside; we are only going to use natural light, which will contrast with the house, where there will be darker, more noir lighting.

From here, the camera then cuts to a view of the train tracks outside. The soundtrack remains silent until you begin to here the sound of the train along the tracks. This noise builds to a crescendo; however, we don’t see a train approaching because it is coming from the opposite direction. We chose to do this because by playing this trick on the audience, it adds to the build up the tension and mystery. This is the point at which the equilibrium is disrupted. It isn’t dramatic, but it is enough to change the atmosphere. The sound of the train approaching increases until it reaches the point at which the train is about to come it view. The camera remains still; focusing on the tracks, but at this point it cuts back into the house, focusing in on a blank wall, with a clock hanging on it. The camera remains on this point until the second hand then strikes the hour. We then cut back to a shot of the concrete floor of the platform. Onto this arrives the 2nd man in our opening. He is wearing distinctive boots, which is the first thing we see of him. The camera then cuts to a side-on shot looking across at the platform following his footsteps as he walks (like in the film ‘The Third Man’). The camera then stops, as does he from here, the camera then goes to a close up shot of his side where he reveals a weapon concealed under his jacket. The soundtrack remains silent. Also, when the camera focuses in, background is blurred- this is so the audience’s attention is drawn to the object.

After these shots in which the weapon is identified, this 2nd man continues to walk towards the house where the 1st man is located. The camera cuts back to the 2nd man walking towards the house, focusing on his feet using a low angle shot. From this point, in a series of 3 to 4 frames, the camera will keep cutting back and forth between the low angle shot and the 1st man in the house writing the letter, with the use of over the shoulder, high angle, medium and long shots of the man from behind, with the edition of a high angle close up shot of the 1st man’s hands and the letter as he writes.
Once the man reaches the house, the camera will then cut to a medium shot of the 2nd Man’s side, from his shoulder to his waist as he knocks on the door. We will then cut back to the high angle close up shot of the 1st Man as he stops writing and puts his pen down to get up and answer the door. The camera stays focused on this as ink begins to leak onto the page from the pen (like in the opening of ‘Don’t Look Now’ with the photo slide). The camera will then cut back outside for the final shot sequence which is an over the shoulder frame, in which the 2nd man is waiting at the door. As the man opens the door, we are going to see the reaction on the 1st mans face as he quickly goes to shut the door again, before the 2nd man pushes the knife forward, into his side. We then cut to the 2nd man grabbing the letter and in a close up shot we watch him set fire to it - suggesting to the audience the connotations and possible consequences of the letter, also making the audience wonder exactly what it could say.