Preparing for Coursework - DAY 1 - MOOD BOARD

SUB GENRE:

CRIME THRILLER

PSYCHOLOGICAL

SUPERNATURAL

Since quite a number of people I know are making psychological thrillers, I decided to do something different - CRIME.

We started the day off by talking about our up-coming coursework... Our thriller film opening. I decided to work on the mood board for my project. My initial ideas are of dark nightmares, symbols, and crime. I think that it would be great if I can manage to show my audiences that the film is a thriller without showing violence or blood in the first 2 minutes of the film, but instead, use different conventions to allow them to come to the conclusion. In class, I gathered some relevant pictures in order to remind me of my ideas in the future. However, the meaning and conventions have not yet been refined. These are just records of my initial ideas.

(Process in making the mood board in Photoshop)

(Actual mood board)

The story would be about a problem child who constantly walks through a labyrinth in his dreams, and a crime investigator who was given the job to track down a serial killer. With his psychic powers and voices in his head, he helps his guardian seek justice.

But how can I make all these details noticeable? Firstly, I know that I will have to show the most important information to the viewers in less than two minutes. One has to be the Child's nightmare of fumbling through the dark maze, and another, to introduce the investigator's character.

I got this opening idea from Universal Studios' 'Balto: Wolf Quest' (Balto 2), an animation I have watched long ago. Although not a thriller - or a live film, even, I find it quite fascinating.

The first scene of Balto II shows Balto the wolf chasing after a raven in a nostalgic - void location. The purplish atmosphere and the fog helps viewers question the realism of the scene. Ice are not usually indigo, and the sky is not usually purple either. The buffered movement of the raven furthermore indicates that this is a dream, since crows glide smoothly.

An ice wall suddenly forms in front of Balto. This suggests an important challenge occurring later on in the film. By setting a barrier as such allows the dream to communicate with the viewer that there is danger waiting for Balto, the protagonist, to overcome.

At the end of Balto's dream, an important sign shows up for less than a second - a split second before he wakes up. In my opinion, I think that this is the most important detail of the dream, even with so limited screen-time. The sign shows a symbolism of something yet to be revealed, but is known to the viewers to be of importance, for it shows up right at the end. Viewers automatically remember this and put it at the back of their mind. 

Over all, the dream gives viewers the sense of melancholy and nostalgia. Nothing ends well in a nightmare, and it tends to be easier to remember when you wake up. When you try to run in a nightmare, your leg tends to get heavier. You also get more tired trying to run than running itself. The dream summarizes the whole idea of the story such as the challenges the protagonist needs to face.

Therefore, my main character would be trying to get away from his dream too. That is why I have chosen the concept idea of 'getting' out of a 'maze'. The blindness of the dark paths serves as a challenge for the child protagonist and at the same time, reflects the investigator's struggle to solve this murder case...

Until a sign shows up.

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Intended color palette: Blue, Dark Blue, Green, Warm colors for room but dark ---> High contrast.