Planning Characters - Miss Miller

Planning Characters

Characters are important in any film as they carry out the narrative and give the audience a clearer understanding of the scenario.  The planning of characters before producing our own opening thriller sequence is imperative so that all of the group understand the image we want to create and also the different characters and personlaities we want to display in our production. Characters help to build a relationship with the audience as they can relate to what is happening in the film.

We have planned to include 6 characters in our thriller sequence. This includes 2 main characters (Myself and Kane). I will be acting as the antagonist and Kane will be acting as the victim. Then 4 other characters that will act as our friends. These are Maisie, Beck, Stacey and Billy.

Character Roles:

Bettie (Antagonist)

I will be playing the role of the antagonist in our thriller sequence. I will be represented as a typical 16 year old girl who is a student out for a walk with her friends. For the majority of the sequence until the attack I will be acting as a normal girl who does usual daily activities such as hanging out with her friends and walking the dog. This is conventional to the thriller genre as I will be able to build a relationship with the audience. This is due to me typically being the same age of the viewers and living similar lifestyles as our target audience is stereotypically the same as our characters. We have made sure of this so that the audience can relate to the characters and imagine themselves being in their situation, this also heightens the shock elements for the audience as they can imagine how they would personally feel if this was to happen to them. Also the audience are shocked as they have built a trusting relationship with my character as they believed that I was so similar to them, therefore when I reveal that I am the antagonist they will be shocked that they have been fooled. However my character is also unconventional in some ways to the thriller genre. My character being a teenage girl and also being the antagonist is unconventional, this is because the audience would expect the antagonist to usually be male and of an older age because of their strength and power. However my group planned that by using this unconventional element that it will heighten the shock and surprise aspect of our piece as this is not what they would normally expect. We think by having my character as a regular teenage girl that it will help engage with the narrative as due to their young and vibrant personalities it will make it seem more interesting and compelling.

Kane (Victim)

Kane will be playing the role of my victim in our thriller sequence. Just like my character Kane will be represented in exactly the same way. As he is presented as a friend of mine he will live a similar lifestyle and have a similar personality. This is because we want the audience to have a sense of familiarity in the sequence and notice that the group are good friends, this is so that when everything is revealed they are also more shocked that I would murder my own friend. Kane being the victim is unconventional to the thriller genre as the antagonist is usually male and the victim is usually female. We planned by having the gender of the characters the opposite way round it will make the audience more suprised when they find this out which is a conventional element of thriller films. Kane is a young boy which will make the audience who is also of a similar age be able to relate to him and build a trusting relationship with him. This is also a good thing as when the audience witness Kane in danger they will start to feel fear and sympathy with him. Also due to the familiar age the audience would be able to imagine themselves in that situation therefore the impact on the characters will have a harsher impact on the audience as they could imagine themselves in that situation.


Characters Before & After Pictures:

Bettie:

Before                                                                                          

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

After:

Kane:

Before:






















                                                                            After:

In conclusion I believe that our characters challenge the conventions of the thriller genre by having a male victim and a female antagonist. We expect the male to have more strength and power and to usually be the antagonist who focuses on a weaker and more vulnerable female however we have challenged these conventions to hopefully make a unique thriller with an interesting narrative which will hopefully intrigue a wider range audience to create a successful opening thriller sequence.