Storyboard

Shot List

Shot:	Character:	Location:	Camera Angle:	Lighting	Type of shot:
1.	Sam (Homeless person who is the witness)	City Centre	high angle, low-angle	Ambient and natural	Tracking shot
2.	Sam	Underpass	Distorted/ tilt, low-angle	Non-ambient, with some daylight added	Close-up (medium)
3.	Sam	Street (in city)	Birds eye, high angle	Ambient	Extreme close-up
4.	Sam	(Ellipsis) Shed area – with wooden planks to create an inter-textual reference to ‘Essex Boys’ with the barred lighting	Close-ups with shots being shown through the wooden planks	Non-ambient	Panning/ close-up, point of view.
5.	Norma (female killer) and Sam and murder victim	Shed area	Rule of thirds, Sam – Wooden planks – Norma and murder victim	Non-ambient	Over the shoulder, point of view (Sam)
6.	Norma	Shed area	Worms eye	Non-ambient	Tracking shot
7.	Norma and victim	Shed area	High angle	Non-ambient	Point of view (Norma), close-up
8.	Sam	Shed area		Non-ambient	Extreme close-up (face)
9.	Norma	Shed area		Non-ambient	Close-up (face)
10.	Sam	Shed area	Rule of thirds	Non-ambient

       Action

1. We will film Sam walking around the streets in the city in an isolated area to suggest his daily life and that he is unsettled.

2. We will then alternate to him sitting in an underpass where there is graffiti and litter which suggests that he is then homeless. This will then familiarise the audience with his situation. A sound bridge will begin of a female whistling which then turns out to be the murderer later on.

3. We then alternate back to Sam walking.

4. Then an ellipsis will occur where it is now night time and Sam is settling in an isolated shed area.

5. Norma – the murderer – will then walk in near to where Sam is and a low angle will be used at her feet whilst she is walking like in the opening to ‘Kill Bill’ to suggest how ruthless and powerful she is.

6. We then use the shadows to imply that she is murdering someone and a scream will be heard.

7. Norma is about to drag away the body to hide them.

8. Sam then makes a gasp sound which alerts Norma, exposing where Sam is.

9. A close-up of Norma’s face will be used to suggest that she is looking directly at Sam.

10.  A rule of thirds shot will be used to show Sam in front of the wooden planks with his back to Norma, and Norma behind the wooden planks looking directly at Sam. The cliff-hanger is then whether or not Sam escapes.

Preliminary Task - Finished

Thriller Research: Kill Bill Opening

The use of black and white visually tells the audience that is is a Noir Thriller which then sets a grim and dull atmosphere thus emphasising the emotion of the character the camera is focused on. The birds eye view then makes the woman more vulnerable and powerless as she lays defensively on the floor. This then establishes character types by suggesting that she is the weaker one in this scene. Black and white is also significant as the woman appears to be dressed in a bridal costume and a white wedding dress signifies purity which is then contrasting to the harshness of the black. Along with the blood on her face, this is then the opposite of pure which is significant as it then suggests a lot about both characters in the scene by suggesting that they are involved with a criminal life.

The use of diegetic sound is then very effective as you hear slow footsteps which then - without knowing anything about this character - establishes that he is a brash, emotionless person who is the antagonist. A low angle shot is used in order to portray this to the audience as it suggests that he is powerful and detached from emotion through his slow walk suggesting he does not care and is in no hurry while he tortures the female character. The audience are then shown more about the male character when a close up is used suggesting furthermore that he is brash and bold by wearing gold jewelry. This is similar to Ordell Robbie in 'Jackie Brown' as both characters wear flashy jewelry which could be a representation of money as the history of jewelry show that it was a representation of nobility and only certain ranks could wear gold jewelry. This is then significant to this male character in the clip and Robbie as it suggests their wealth and how people may view them. They may fear them because they are of a 'higher rank' due to their costume which then shows their money through materialistic items. Tarantino then establishes thriller conventions by hinting to the audience that his hostile ways and flashy jewelry suggest a life of criminality by earning money through corrupt means.

The cliffhanger then appeals to the audience as this is the first sentence the woman speaks and it then leaves the audience asking more questions as it reveals the connection between the two characters. It also adds to the pre-conceptions of the male character as it suggests that he is ruthless by not caring about the female character and shooting her without any compassion.

Case Study - Jackie Brown

How Tarantino uses generic conventions in 'Jackie Brown'

Opening Scene:

The opening to 'Jackie Brown' uses the longest tracking shot in film which varies from different camera
angles in order to represent the main character without any dialogue. The costume already informs the audience that she works at an airport and the use of a conveyor belt then appears simplistic which may suggest that there is nothing much to the story of her life, however this is deceiving because we learn more about how she manipulates her job in order to smuggle money in for another dominant character.

The low angle shot suggests dominance which then challenges the conventions of thrillers by casting a female lead. In the 90's, in which it was released, statistics were low for women for example less than 9% of them were police officers. Also IMDb's 90's Top 100 films only had just under 20 films with a female lead role. However women were becoming more confident and independent making it more likely for women to be casted as the lead role with IMDb's current list showing over  30 top 100 films having a woman as the lead role. This angle is then significant because it visually tells the audience how independent and how dominant Jackie Brown was.

The sound is non-diegetic and is referencing 60's soul music in which was the time of change for races and ethnicity with protests allowing them to be equal. This then further suggests Jackie's dominance in that she is a strong female with all the male attributes for a leading role.

Beaumont's Death:

This lighting is an example of chiaroscuro lighting which is a generic conventions as it sets the genre as a noir thriller. This is similar to the opening of 'Essex Boys' where not much is revealed - representing a mystery - as it is too dark and grim. It then appears unglamourous, like the scene here. It also represents Beaumont's life of crime as the angle used makes the building appear long, like a prison with lined up cells.

This angle is used to show binary opposites of Ordell and Beaumont. Beaumont's back is up against the wall and he is not wearing a top which makes him appear more exposed and vulnerable thus making Ordell appear more authoritative. This then immediately establishes both identities by creating a distinct contrast through gesture.

The worm's eye view then makes the audience feel intimidated through the use of perspective as if we are looking up at them. A trunk is a generic convention of thrillers particularly in films such as 'Essex Boys' and this same shot is used in Tarantino's other films, 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs'. This then makes the space seem more enclosed thereby creating a claustrophobic feel which then helps to establish to the audience that these characters are dominant.

The use of costume is key as it connotes that Ordell is a bold and flashy person and the use of gloves suggest that he means business. It is also used to cover an identity which then implies that he is about to do something in which he wants nobody to know about suggesting that he is logical and methodical.

The 180 degree rule is not broken here due to the use of the panning shot. It is not used straight away as there is a vanishing point which then tricks the audience into believing he is driving away, but then we follow the car through a panning shot which adds suspense due to it being unexpected. Tarantino then uses the conventions of a thriller by using a place that is isolated and putting the victim into the trunk of a car so as to put them in a place where they are most vulnerable. A long shot is used to be metaphorical of Ordell's detachment from emotion as he has no empathy and the use of dark and gloomy lighting represents the coldness of him as he tricked Beaumont, only to kill him.

Melanie's Death:

This scene suggests male dominance due to Melanie aggravating Louis into killing her. This then suggests how short-tempered he is as he did it in daylight where he is exposed and everyone can see him. The difference then between Ordell is that he planned it strategically so that he couldn't be seen and therefore couldn't be caught. However, Louis did it out of anger and leaves Melanie to be found suggesting he has psychopathic tendencies, but also that he doesn't care which shows his detachment from emotion as he doesn't care who he kills as he has no sympathy.

Thriller Research: Essex Boys

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Initial Proposal for Thriller Plot!

Our group had suggested several ideas such as:

1) A homeless man witnesses a murder and he makes a noise which reveals where he is providing a cliffhanger.
2) A man is dreaming - based on memories of him and his girlfriend - and it suddenly changes to a nightmare and when he wakes up, his girlfriend is sitting at the end of the bed.

We then put it to a class vote and idea 1 was seen as more of a thriller and therefore gained the most votes.

We will begin with the homeless man walking around in places that suggest he comes from a poorer background. We will put them in wrecked and tatty clothes which then suggest the homeless aspect of his life and although this may appear stereotypical, it will best visually tell a story about the character for the audience to understand. Tracking shots will be used to show how the character never has a settled place and we will create a time lapse, alternating between him sitting down on bench with people walking past and him walking which will represent his day. This will be shot during the day so artificial lighting will not be used and we will experiment with dark filters when editing to suggest a depressing and dull atmosphere. Ellipsis would then be used and we will shoot when it is getting dark where the homeless man is settling for the night and will be hidden in the shadows of the artificial lighting. This will make it appear more atmospheric and mysterious. Our group is yet to decide how he notices a murder but we will develop this idea further into the planning. An idea we have suggested is that he falls asleep and is woken up by the sound of the scream and then witnesses a murder. The homeless man will then make a noise and reveal that he has witnessed the whole thing and it will end with a cliffhanger leaving the audience to wonder if he will escape or not.