Characters, costume and props

Characters- thriller planning

By Amber Mackenzie

Character 1- Eva

Mollae’s character Eva is the main feature in the thriller opening. Her personality is intended to be represented as shy and reserved in addition to anxious. Having the victim have characteristics such as these allows us to build upon these negative emotions displayed in scenes such as the kidnapping. We’re going to represent this through her fidgeting almost as a way of foreshadowing although the character will have no idea of the events about to take place.

In regards to costume, our goal is to establish comfort as she’s within her home. This provides the scene with realism. In order to do this she’s going to wear jeans, a top and a comfy hoodie. Whilst within her home before the kidnapping scene takes place, as oppose to getting ready to go out, she’s doing the opposite. She removes her makeup and takes down her hair. Doing this displays a sense of vulnerability as she will seem more exposed as a character further emphasising her lack of power, especially for the rest of the thriller opening. In regards to props, our idea was for her character to always have her phone with her so she can fidget with it to display nerves. In a way phones can represent security as we can contract others which can make her lack of security ironic.

Although our thriller is mainly influenced by “The Disappearance of Alice Creed”, the characters of Alice and Eva don’t have much in common. Alice’s typically dark features allow us to notice her maturity displaying her as a slightly stronger character. By contrast, our character is going to have lighter, softer features and no makeup displaying innocence and a softer natured character. This is intended to help the audience sympathise with her more due to her displayed lack of power.

In addition, throughout the film the audience learns Alice is a strong character, Eva is not and therefore her image and costume choices aren't going to be influenced by her as the rest of the opening shall be. 

The suitability of the character is in regards to how relatable she is. The basic outfit is something most people wear and her normality makes the audience feel bad for her. Due to the fact the character of Eva should then feel familiar, it provides a sense of realism to the film which would, ideally, make the audience more prone to emotion in the rest of the film. Due to the normality displayed by this character, the logistics are easy to create.

Character 2- the two kidnappers

The kidnappers provide an obvious dark element to the thriller opening creating drama in addition to intensity. Their emotions aren’t displayed yet they are replaced by their cold, dark expressions and clinical, accurate movement. The female kidnapper is going to be the more dominant of the two which we aim to establish through a shot of their shoes where she then leans over to double knot his laces displaying her need for specificity. In addition to this, she does most of the setting up. The male kidnapper most likely fears her.

Moving on to costume, both kidnappers are going to wear black bomber jackets with dark jeans and doc martins. The similarity of their costumes gives a sense of synchronicity as well as displaying them as professional which conveys to the audience that they are to be feared. The dark colours allow them to go by unnoticed as they’re most likely to blend into most crowded areas providing an ominous sense.

In addition, we intend for the kidnappers to wear black leather gloves as these are well known to be warn by dangerous characters by not leaving fingerprints adding to the fear of these characters. Furthermore, all the black provides the sense of metaphorical darkness.

In terms of logistics, the costume is easily achievable much like Eva's and accessible.

Essex boys

How does the extract from “Essex boys” use metaphorical space to foreshadow and represent morality?

By Amber Mackenzie

Essex boys is a very effective thriller in terms of establishing elements through using location, specifically metaphorical space.

In the shot above, there is light outside the car yet the inside is significantly darker. This may represent the darkness within the space he’s in. We get the image the darkness surrounding him may represent him at this point in time as a metaphorically dark character or may display his internal struggle and want to be in the light again as such. The cobwebs in the car create an unpleasant, unnerving atmosphere as they have connotations with the, commonly disliked and feared, spider. The cobwebs further entrap the character within the car. Furthermore, the cobwebs seem to dominate the steering wheel representing the characters lack of control due to disability to transport. On the contrast, they may display him being taken over by a more evil force, losing morality.

This shot is also effective in terms of establishment if morality through metaphorical space. The off-centre vanishing point disorientates the shot due to its peculiarity. It also makes the audience question where it leads as the character may which could represent his confusion within his life as he’s not sure where he’s going physically or metaphorically. The unpleasant colour palette is certainly displeasing to the eye, ugly and uncomfortable which displays morality. This is as it provides the shot with a bleak and hopeless sense. The fact the character is bent down implies a lack of power and control within his life making him seem smaller on camera displaying feelings of lacking importance. The shot is morally disorientating due to all of these features.

To conclude, the thriller “Essex boys” represents an unpleasant harsh reality of the morality within its characters. It does this through use of metaphorical spaces within its shots in addition to mise en scene above many more.