Creating Suspense

We have changed our initial idea to an alternative we feel has more suspense. Instead of a couple in the scene together, instead there will just be a blunt shot of the murder having taken place. The action of  the killer turning towards the camera, acknowledging the photographer's presence however will still remain as this is, I feel, crucial to the suspense aspect.

Another idea I had was to have the usual situation of the camera being played about with, but when he/she witnesses the murder, the screen could fade to black as they literally see that person being killed. Their voice could be the only thing you hear, along with omniscient music. We could create a strong representation of fear in this scene. When the screen returns, they could have run away and are checking through their photos, as in disbelief. Here, they could find one which shows they were seen. I think this would create an ideal thriller setting.

The First Idea

Our initial idea for the opening of our thriller film idea was to follow a seemingly ordinary character who was in fact a killer ( revealed at the end) but instead we have changed it to a similar short story line with a twist. We intend to show two people, presumably a couple, with the main protagonist taking photos of them unknowingly. An alternative to this could be with a video camera, in the same shaky style as films such as The Blair Witch Project to create realism. After this privacy invasion, it will be shown that the girl has in fact stabbed her boyfriend- this would be unexpected in hope to add effect for the fact there would be no initial suspense. To conclude, we plan to have the actress for her turn towards the camera direction  and wave- this would be the realization to the photographer that they are in immense danger.

As a group, suggestions have been made for using the UEA's field as our setting, but I feel we could also create a seemingly normal atmosphere in an abandoned urbanized part of the city, if the atmosphere isn't noticeably busy, or even a overhead bridge. For this, possibly the top open storey of a car park. I also think that the camera holder could die in a way that we don't presume as soon as he is spotted; for example, if he/she retaliated by fleeing in the opposite direction, they could get hit suddenly by a passing car, or instead, escape but be covered in blood- this would lead viewers into wanting to find out what happened to them if they looked guilty of a murder.