Main Influences

Collectively, we were all influenced by different films - these influences were then worked into our own production. These influences varied from camera angles, to characters, to plot lines; however it's safe to say each of us were inspired by different things.

These are some of my personal main influences;

The Book of Eli

Refer to my brief analysis of the opening scene of 'The Book of Eli' to further understand my reasoning. . .here. 

For me, 'The Book of Eli' influenced the camera work of our production greatly, especially the opening scene. The panning of the dark, still, gloomy forest sparked my mind into planning my idea of a thriller, and in the end inspired us all into deciding that the setting would be a forest of some sort. The smooth slow panning created suspense and tension within me, and we therefore attempted to re-create this within our own production. The close up of the body created variation in the visual depth of the shot, making it a very eye catching moment.

Another aspect that influenced me greatly was the eerie non-diegetic sound, it was calm yet suspenseful. Again, we have included this type of music within our own opening to enhance the eeriness of the forest, and the circumstances to come.

As you will notice in the trailer below, the figure is wearing a gas mask. Although I had already intended to introduce the idea of wearing a gas mask within our own production, this further confirmed that it would be a good idea. The inability to identify this figure as an actual person is very un-nerving, and makes the viewer automatically uncomfortable with this character; this is what we wanted to achieve within our own thriller.

The Book of Eli - First Scene

Predators (2010)

Predators was another film that influenced my vision of how our production would be. Again it's another film set in a forest, symbolising imprisonment and isolation. However the main influence was upon our choice of camera shots and angles. The low angle shot within the Predators trailer created an illusion of stars in space, disorientating the viewer; I really liked this effect and we therefore tried to recreate it in our own production.

Watch the trailer here.

Donnie Darko

I can safely say that Donnie Darko was my main influence. Donnie Darko is one of my favourite films, it has such a strong ability to make you think for yourself, and work things out independantly. I really like the fact that it's not putting it all on a plate for you, and spelling it out; you have a part in understanding this film. I would love to be able to effect our audience to this extent. 

I find this psychological thriller a perfect representation of it's given genre, it twists and warps the mind as well as raising your pulse. However it goes against normal thriller conventions regarding setting, normally you'd expect a thriller to be set in a woodland or a prison etc, but in this case it is set in an 80s sub-urban town. This setting is very unusual, it gives the viewer a false sense of safety, and the later strange and violent happenings are therefore brought closer to home.

Our characters and back story were very much inspired by this film. Our character Rhys was based loosely on the aloof Donnie Darko - an ordinary looking teenager, but with a dark secret regarding his mental health, controlled by a physical manifestation in his mind - Frank the bunny rabbit.

Frank is a great character for a psychological thriller; he is mysterious, frightening, and makes us as an audience unsure as to whether we should trust him. Initially, Frank is presented as a figure of Donnie Darko's imagination, yet later in the film this is strongly challenged; this confuses the viewer greatly. I wanted to include this in my plan for our thriller, and therefore designed a character that would mirror these qualities - the lady in the gas mask. Also the way Frank is visually represented, being dressed as a large rabbit would normally trigger a positive response within the viewer, yet his disturbingly distorted face creates a darkness; we now perceive him in a negative light.

I was inspired to mirror the confusion and responsibility of independant thinking within our own production, and I've attempted this through little hints within our opening regarding the reality of the lady in the gas mask - she's said to be in the mind of Rhys, but how is she causing such physical harm?

Again, Donnie Darko (for me) was the greatest inspiration and influence upon our own thriller, and I just hope that ours is half as effective, and psychologically teasing as this brilliant film. I will be posting a case study on Donnie Darko soon.