Plot Development

In class we decided that in order to avoid confusion about the names of our characters we managed to come up with and agree on the following character names:

Girlfriend: Mia
Boyfriend: Brett
Ex-Boyfriend: Dean
(Girlfriends) Best friend: Elena

We also decided to elaborate in detail on the how we want to portray these characterscharacteristics in our video. So taking Propps theory into account this is how we decided we wanted render are characters; Mia (Hero), Brett (Damsel in Distress), Dean (Villain) and Elena (Dispatcher).

We decided that our chase scenes and various shots will be filmed in a city like area such as London since this is one of the location conventions of thriller movies. Since the Mia’s boyfriend gets kept hostage, Holly came up with the idea of a place named ‘Cold Christmas’. This follows conventions because when a person is kidnapped they are usually placed in an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. The creepy atmosphere of the location creates a horror aspect to out plot which is often used as thriller sub-genres. It will have huge contrast from the busy streets of London to a more creepy and lonely location, which follows Strauss binary oppistions. This could also be used as one of the suburban areas we use as are USP.

Our plot follows Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of disrupted equilibrium which mostly all films follow, especially Hollywood blockbusters.

EQUILIBRIUM – Boyfriend proposes to his girlfriend at a party!
DISEQUILIBRIUM - The boyfriend gets kidnapped unexpectedly at gas station.
EQUILIBRIUM -The girlfriend goes in search of her boyfriend and has to go through clues and obstacles in order to find him.

The 5 stage pattern structure of our plot will be:

1) A state of Equilibrium at the outset – Brett proposes to his girlfriend Mia at a party. Everyone is having a good time which sets a very blissful atmosphere.
2) A disruption of the Equilibrium by some action – The happy engaged couple pull into a gas station, when she goes to pay Brett gets kidnapped unexpectedly.
3)A recognition that there has been a disruption – Mia turns around seeing him be dragged into a car after Brett screams her same continuously.
4) An attempt to repair the disruption – Mia goes in search of her boyfriend and has to go through clues and obstacles in order to find him.
5) Reinstatement of the Equilibrium – When Brett is saved.

Although this is how the plot is structured initially in our trailer it will be represented differently because the majority of the shots used in our trailer our not going to be in chronological order. Instead it will be the highlights of our plot without giving away the story too much, in order to keep our target audience interested and want to watch our product.

Possible Locations:

Cold Christmas

Areas of London