Our Initial Ideas

We have already refreshed the memories of the other group members about our thriller ideas, as we had previously presented them to the whole class but we wanted to make things clear again. I talked about my ideas of the taxi driver —human taxidermist— and the psychopath looking for a dead body in the forest. Ellis told us about her idea of a sadistic commentator of a football match and a killer with human limbs in the fridge, while Myles highlighted his idea of a couple in a hotel confronting the appearance of a terrorist. 

After giving it some thought, we decided that we particularly found Myles' idea appealing, as it was simple but effective, and could leave the audience with a very strong feeling of tension. The original idea for the opening sequence was to show a couple, presumably in their twenties-thirties, relaxing in a hotel room, lying in bed and talking, when they suddenly start hearing noises that connote danger. They panic and after a few seconds of uncertainty, the woman gets under the bed and the man hides in the cupboard. The terrorist comes in and drags her out of the bed, while the man looks at everything —we are planning to include some shots from inside the cupboard, from his position— without taking the initiative to help his partner.

I personally liked the idea because of the truthfulness of seeing the man in a helpless position in which he is not doing anything to save her from danger. It is something that would surely happen in real life because of the overwhelming fear that this person would experience, but which is rarely represented in media texts anyhow. Moreover, the use of sound would build enough tension for the viewers to feel engaged and be willing to keep watching the scene or the film.

So far, we have been advised by Katie to consider other variations of the initial idea, as it has some flaws like why the terrorist only takes the girl and doesn't search any further. We have been told by Mike, too, that the idea would be much more compelling and visually attractive if we filmed the whole scene from under the bed, with a proficient choreography of steps and objects popping into the frame. This feedback is worth considering, and we will have to decide sooner than later!