Character development

For my thriller film opening, the main character is a teenage boy named Xander who becomes guilty of something serious. At the start of the opening, we see him covered in blood in his car while police sirens are in the background. This instantly shows that he is involved in something dangerous and possibly illegal. The goal is for the audience to question whether he is a bad person or if he made a mistake under pressure.

When the film cuts back to earlier in the day, we see him in his room worried because he hasn’t seen his parents. This helps show a different side of him. He isn’t introduced as evil but as a worried kid who cares about his parents. This makes him seem like any normal nice kid.

The phone call from the unknown man is important for his development because it forces him into a stressful situation. He doesn’t believe it at first, which makes it more believable and realistic. But when the caller proves it is real by mentioning the spare key under the doormat that is gone, the character becomes more panicked. His development in the opening moves from normal teenager - worried son - trapped and pressured - guilty and overwhelmed. This progression helps build the tension and makes the audience want to understand how he ended up covered in blood in the first scene.

One Media Theory

Todorov's Narrative Theory explains how a lot of film use a clear story structure. The story usually starts normally nothing happen, then something bad happens to disrupt it, and later the problem gets solved. This theory works really good in thriller films because thrillers focus on building tension and problems that you have to resolve within a set time.

In my film opening Todorov’s theory is gonna be used by starting after the big thing has already happened. The opening scene shows the main character sitting in his car covered in blood with police sirens in the background. This shows that something has gone wrong and makes the audience want to know what happened. The film then cuts back to earlier, when things seemed more normal.

The phone call from the unknown man is the main disruption in the story. This moment changes the main character’s situation and forces him to follow instructions to save his parents. The opening does not show how the problem is solved, which keeps the audience interested and builds suspense.

Using Todorov’s Narrative Theory helps my film opening feel organised while still creating mystery, which is important in the thriller genre.

Movie opening script

We haven't fully gotten all the details like exactly what there are gonna say but we mostly have everything and know what we are going to film and say for the most part.

Script:

Opening scene:
We show him in his car looking around frantically, breathing hard, and there’s cop sirens in the background.

Caller scene:
Then cut back in time he is in his room sitting down and he’s worried because he hasn’t seen his parents all day. He texts his mom “Hi mom, are you okay?” Then, he gets a call from his mom. He answers it and there’s a strange guy on the phone that says, “If you ever want to see your parents again, listen to my instructions.” The kid doesn’t believe it’s real, obviously, so he says, “how do I know this is real?” Then, the guy says, “you know that spare key you keep under the door mat?”. The kid checks and it’s not there. Then the guy says “Listen closely, if you ever want to see your parents again, follow my instructions. Check your mailbox, you will find the details there.”

Final scene:
For the last scene, we will do that the kid checks the mailbox and he looks shocked, but we don’t reveal what is inside.

Project idea

Our idea is that it starts with a teenage boy relaxing at home by himself wondering where his parents are then all of a sudden he gets a call from a random guy saying he has his parents and if he ever wants to see them again he has to do whatever the guy tells and him and from there the kid is just shocked and in disbelief.

For our inspiration we didn't really have much we were at first thinking stalker but didn't wanna do a stalker one so we found something similar and we landed on this idea that we came up with and we had got some inspiration and tips from our teacher helping guide us and we took her suggestions and modified them to how we wanted it, but she was the biggest other than her we didn't get much inspiration from many people or anything from online.

Group meeting #1 Reflection

Today I had a group meeting where we were in groups of 7 to 8 with people from our class and we got in a circle and talked about our project ideas and what we have so far. In my group I had Brianna, Brennen, Amilia, Abriel, Jade, and Sofia, the going around hearing what everyone was doing helped me get a better idea of what I wanted to do and at the time I wasn't to sure about my ideas and they were able to give me some good suggestions that I will actually use like how I should use a scary sound that build suspense like the sound from the jaws movie and gave me some ideas for some shots saying on how this bloody scene I'm gonna do I should get a close up of the person's hand and their reaction to further affirm how the person is feeling in that moment.

This is how my planning and process should go if everything goes according to plan which it will.

Week 1

-Research

-Think of ideas

Week 2
-More research

Week 3
-Production
-Create story board

Week 4
-Research about lighting
-Research on audio
-Start filming

Week 5
-Editing
-Make a company logo

Week 6

-Have most of the editing done

Week 7
-Final touches on editing make sure it came out good

Week 8

-If not done we finish this week
-All of it should be done so we can relax the last week

Key Camera Shots and Angles

These are some of the techniques i studies and research on so i could get a good understanding on which shots will be important to have for each type of scene, shots makes the biggest difference and its important to know how to use them properly so my film opening can be the best i can make it.

Low-Angle Shot

The camera is positioned below the subject and looks upward. This makes characters—especially antagonists—appear larger, more powerful, and intimidating.

High-Angle Shot

The camera is placed above the subject and looks downward. This makes characters seem smaller, vulnerable, or powerless, often used to emphasize danger or isolation.

Dutch Angle (Tilted Angle)

The camera is deliberately tilted to one side, creating a slanted horizon line. This technique conveys disorientation, psychological instability, or that something is seriously wrong.

Close-Up Shot

The camera frames a character’s face or a small detail very tightly. Close-ups reveal subtle emotions such as fear, realization, or shock, heightening personal tension and intimacy.

Point-of-View (POV) Shot

The camera shows exactly what a character is seeing. This places the audience directly in the character’s perspective, increasing immersion—especially during pursuit scenes or moments of discovery.

Over-the-Shoulder Shot

The camera looks past a character’s shoulder toward what they are observing. This framing builds suspense by partially hiding potential threats (such as a figure in the background or a reflection in a mirror) until the right moment.