Character Research

Characters play a huge part within any genre of film and create a direct link with the audience allowing them to embrace and appreciate the film's action.

To decide on the characters we wanted to include in our Thriller film opening we watched other Thriller films and looked at the characters that are typically included.

Alfred Hitchcock - 'Psycho'

Norman Bates is the main character in 'Psycho' at first to the audience, he appears to be an average male, who lives with his mother in the motel they own together, this view is completely altered when the audience realise his mother doesn't exist and is only a figment of his imagination. His mothers death has lead him to become almost schizophrenic and in an unstable mental state. The way the director has concealed the 'real' character of Norman Bates by masking his real identity creates suspense, mystery and uncertainty with the audience ultimately adding to the 'thriller' atmosphere the film has.
Mark Romanek 'One Hour Photo'

Seymour Parrish is the main character in 'One Hour Photo' he's a shy and soft-spoken middle aged man who works full time at a department store as a photo technician. He is portrayed as an average man who is often dismissed by others as being a harmless. However many people don't realize is that Seymour Parrish is a troubled man under his 'average' exterior, concealing a horrific past which has resulted in his introverted personality. He becomes obsessed with one family in particular stalking them and develops a wall in his home completely covered in photos he has stolen from them.


Both of these characters have acted as inspiration for our own Thriller opening, particularly Seymour from 'One Hour Photo' as his character almost exactly echoes the villain we are hoping to create. This 'villain' character is based on the idea of a 'stalker' who is becoming increasingly obsessed with a young women, and like Seymour he takes many photos of her and displays them in his home. It would seem that the idea of deception and deceit makes a character more believable, so it seems it may be an effective idea to have the villain as a character that the audience would never suspect, ultimately adding to the suspense.

The main inspiration for our film came from 'One hour photo' we were inspired particularly by the part in the trailer where the character is looking at the wall of photographs. We have used this idea and adapted it to suit our thriller storyline with the stalker, making the shots more dark to create tension and a sense of danger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOvY76XFkcg

-Lucy Everitt