Final Film Plot

The film begins in a greyish colour at a war zone with troops advancing under enemy fire. The commander gives the order to advance through a smoky forest and the main character's friend, Matthew, gets hit by grenade. As they head through, he runs to him but it's too late and he dies in front of him. The gunfire fades out and so does the scene.

The next scene is in normal colour and present day in front of the commander. The main character, Mark looks shaken up and the commander tells him he's in no state to continue his service and to go home and spend time with his girlfriend while he gets over losing his friend.

Since after his friends death, Mark had been experiencing flashbacks of him and he imagines he's having conversations with him regularly. This false representation of Matthew tells Mark his girlfriend, Lisa, is cheating on him. He tries to forget about it but he himself has been noticing she has been acting different since he's returned from war.

He finally confronts Lisa and she admits to cheating on him with one of his best friends, Thomas while he has been away at the army. It's at this point he storms out the room and heads upstairs to pack his bag. He begins by just packing his clothes but on later inspection notices other stuff such as rope and knives. This is when Mark says out loud, “ What, I didn't pack these!” and Matthew speaks to him and says, “I know, I did”. He tries to remove them but eventually, after they keep reappearing he leaves them, as it is no use.

He leaves the house and pushes his girlfriend out of the way as she tries to say she's sorry. He yells “It's over” before slamming the door.

The next scene shows her on the phone to Thomas warning him and telling him to watch out because Mark knows and he's not himself. Thomas hears something while on the phone and turns round to his fridge/mirror and finds a note saying “that's the problem with best friends, they know all of your fears. Scared of the dark?”. After he reads this the lights go out and he hears running. The door shuts before power returns.

Scared and on the phone to Lisa the whole time, Thomas tells her what he has witnessed and only Mark knows about his embarrassing phobia of the dark. Lisa rings Mark and confronts him about it, this where he tells her he's been sleeping while this has been going on and hasn't been anywhere near Thomas before hanging up. He goes back to sleep and has a weird dream with him and Matthew in it. In the dream, Mark and Matthew plant a letter in Thomas' house before turning off the light and rushing out through the front door. Matthew talks to Mark and Mark tells Matthew all about how he's struggling to cope. He tells Mark, “Thomas will pay, I'll see to that”. Mark then wakes up and finds the words “Die. Suffer. Pay” repeatedly carved around where he was sleeping and looks at his hands to find them bloody/muddy ( this depends on location as to whether he sleeps in a house or sleeps rough in the wilderness).

Stuff like this continues to happen until Thomas becomes enveloped in fear. When a final note says, “I'm coming for you soon”, seeing this he runs from his house only to be ambushed in an alleyway and suffocated with a bag until he passes out.

He regains consciousness and is tied up in his own bathroom where Mark, with a slightly different darker voice says, “Scared of drowning too, wasn't it?”. He looks over to see a bath full of water and Mark laughing. He looks terrified at this point and begs him to stop, but Mark just laughs harder and says, “Let's see how long you can hold your breath for?”, before dragging him over and pushing his head under water. At this point, Lisa runs in and pulls him off. He turns to her, and he says, “Oh god Mark, what's happened to you?” before backing away. He throws her to the floor and she hits her head, losing consciousness. He then moves back to Thomas, who is coughing and spluttering, and hits him in the side of the head knocking him out.

The next scene shows Thomas looking out of the car boot as it is opened, and Mark drags him out. He sees a forest and Lisa tied, and on her knees blindfolded. He is forced on his knees next to her. Matthew says, “Since you had no problem choosing between me and her, let's see how easy it is for you to choose between you and her. One of you dies”.

Thomas manages to break free and hits Matthew who falls to the floor. He then frees Lisa and they run through the forest away from Mark. He catches them up and pins Matthew to the floor, hitting him over and over again. Meanwhile, Lisa is screaming “Stop it! This isn't you!”. He has memories of the four of them (Him, Lisa, Thomas and Matthew ) This somehow seems to wake Mark and he releases Matthew. As he does this, Matthew screams at him, “Finish this, finish it you coward! If you don't I'll get them when you're sleeping , you can't stay awake forever!”. He replies with, “I know” and we see him walk towards an edge by the river. We see Lisa watch him, then look to Mark to check he's okay. We hear a splash , and when the camera pans Mark is gone. The film ends with the camera cutting to the side of the river where Mark has been washed up. It ends on a close up of his face and his eyes fling open, where he gasps before it ends. 

Conventions of a psychological thriller

After analysing several trailers of our chosen film genre, psychological thriller, I can now establish the generic codes and conventions of this genre.

• Tend to have a heavy focus on the unstable emotional states of character, whilst bringing in elements of mystery and thriller.
• Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their enemies, and more reliant on mental resources.
• The suspense of psychological thrillers tends to come from two or more characters preying upon one another’s minds. This is either by playing deceptive games with the other or by trying to demolish the other’s mental state.
• There is often a back story to the film, this being the history before the start of the film. This deepens the psychological element of the film as it means the audience is able to get a better understanding of the character. It can reveal his/her intentions and how their past has shaped the present.
• There are common themes which can be seen in psychological thrillers: reality, perception, mind, existence/purpose, identity and death.
• These help shape the characters personalities.
• Dark and sinister music used to create tension.
• Films are most commonly certificated 15 or 18.

Individual Group Plot Redraft

Mark, a man in his early twenties, is returning home after serving in the army for four years. When him and his best friend, Jack were younger, there was an incident that took place where they had been out for the night and were driving home, when Jack ran a man over in the street. Mark was passed out at this point, due to being heavily drunk. Jack sees this as an opportunity to blame the accident on Mark, by placing Mark in the drivers seat, making him believe it was his fault, making him feel guilty for something he hadn't done. He decided to join the army, as a way of getting away from this. However, experiencing death first hand, and the events of war, this has a great effect on Mark.

   Mark has several flashbacks to his time spent in the army. His time spent serving in the army had a great effect on his mental state, and as result he was sent back home. We see Mark walking down the street, where he appears to be seeing a flashback. He bumps into another man bringing him back to reality, now appearing startled, and a little confused.

   Mark had returned home to his girlfriend, Claire, who had not seemed to be acting her usual self. A couple of days after returning home, Claire tells Mark that when he had been away, she had been having an affair with his best friend Jack. This angers Mark, after Jack already causing such a big impact on his life already, this finally caused him to want to confront Jack and get his own back. Claire is concerned by Mark's reaction, as this very much out of character, and so rings Jack to explain what has happened and tells him to be careful, worried about what Mark might do.

   Mark breaks into Jack's house the next day, where he finds his journal. On the date in which the accident happened, Mark writes, “I know what you did” repeatedly on the page. Jack returns home to find this his journal has been moved, to find the message. This concerns Jack, leaving him in a paranoid state. Not feeling safe in his own home, he makes his way up stairs to check if there is anyone in the house. Jack sees nothing and so returns downstairs.

   Odd behaviour continues to happen, for example, he will receive a  phone call at the same time every night, but when he answers no one appears to be on the other end of the phone. At this same time, Jack will also receive text messages with the same message as before, “I know what you did”. The time is significant as this is the time in which the incident occurred.

   Mark now takes this to a further level, where he tries to confuse Jack by changing the times on the clocks, this being the same time he received the messages and phone calls. Each time, Jack will change the clocks back to the right time, however, they continue to read the same time. This continues to happen, Jack now is in a very vulnerable state, making him doubt himself and start to think he is becoming forgetful and confused. He walks into the kitchen where everything seems to be like when he last left it. However, soon after, he turns around to notice a message written on the fridge saying “Don't worry, your secret is safe with me”.

   It is at this point when everything comes to much for Jack. Mark's plan had succeeded. At the appointed time, this time all the clocks went off in the house. This creates an exaggerated chaotic sound, and it is amongst this, we Jack finally breakdown. Jack is stood in the middle of the living room, with his hands on his ears shouting, “Make it stop!”. It has finally got the better of him, he now feels the guilt he should have felt years ago. Mark wanted him to know what it felt like to be damaged by the ones you love, the ones you had always trusted.

Individual Group Plot

Mark had been in the army for two years and during this time has witnessed his good friend die in battle. Mark finds this difficult to deal with and as time goes on, begins to feel more and more guilty, believing he should have done more to help his friend at the time, although completely out of his hands. This eventually becomes to much for Mark, so is sent home as he can no longer deal with what has happened.

   Mark returns home to his girlfriend, Claire. On his arrival, he is greeted with more bad news from Claire. Here, she tells him that whilst he has been away, she has been having an affair with his best friend, Jack.  As expected Mark doesn't take the news too lightly, angering him tremendously. Although this was expected, Mark still appears to be acting out of character. Concerned of his reaction, Claire phones Jack to explain what has happened, and to be careful, worried what Mark might do. Already in a depressed state of mind, this news has made matters even worse.

   Mark gets increasingly angry, he can't believe his best friend would go behind his back in such a  way. Mark wants to get his own back, wanting Jack to understand how it feels to be hurt by someone you have always trusted. In order to do so, he decides to break into Jack's house, where he begins tormenting his friend. At first, he does this subtly, for example, misplacing items in the house, leaving lights on and doors open, to confuse the man. Jack begins noticing these things, starting to believe there is someone in his house.

   This unusual behaviour continues to take place, leaving Jack in an even more paranoid state. Jack has lost all sense of safety, even in the confines of his own home. The behaviour gradually gets worse, when one day Jack walks into the kitchen to find a message written on the fridge. It's at this point Jack decides he needs to face his fears, this being Mark.

   The message leads Jack to the woods, where he meets Mark. Here we see Mark's rage and anger reach it's height. He torments Jack even further, tying him to a tree whilst blindfolded. Mark confronts Jack, trying to play tricks with his head. It is at this point, Mark has a realisation. He has a flashback, which causes him to realise what he has been doing. We now find out that the side of Mark that had been tormenting Jack, was in fact his alter ego, however he was unaware of this in his natural state. Now, rather than killing Jack, he shoots himself instead. The audience will hear a gunshot in the trailer, but it won't be revealed to the audience who is shot. Mark was horrified with his behaviour, unable to face the fact he could damage the lives of those closest to him. He doesn't like the man he has become. As a result, Mark kills himself, while Jack escapes the dark torment.

Individual Plot Second Draft

The film begins where we see a middle-aged man, who is a reclusive, isolated to the confines of his own home. We see him go about his everyday life as normal, alone yet content. For this reason, the film takes place nowhere other than his home. As the story develops, unusual things begin to happening around the house, the lights switching themselves on, doors opening themselves, and finding objects in places they weren't originally placed. The man doesn't think any more of this, thinking he was just being overly suspicious.

   However, this odd behaviour around the house continues yet gradually getting worse. One afternoon he answers the door to his neighbour where they have a brief conversation. The man happens to mention he hasn't seen his neighbour in a long time, and much to his surprise the neighbour replies saying he had spoken to him the previous week and had acted out of character, so had come round to see how things were. This confusion starts doubting the man about the other occurrences, making him believe he has just become forgetful.

   The man returns to his kitchen to find the mornings post open, which he had no recollection of doing.  While doing so, he comes across a note on the table which doesn't seem familiar to him. He then walks further into the kitchen to find the magnets on the fridge reading a message. This is a hidden message, within it a date seeming oddly familiar to the man. At this point, the man is now convinced there is someone in his house trying to confuse him, leaving him in a paranoid state.

      Tension and momentum increase as the man becomes more paranoid and noticing more things out of the ordinary. As time goes on, the audience then see the man looking into a mirror, where his reflection doesn't appear to be him. It is now revealed to the audience the peculiar behaviour was a result of his alter ego, the person seen in his reflection. The man had  witnessed his partner get killed, leaving the man distraught, unable to deal with what happened. With the difficulty of dealing with this, he blanked it from his memory, and so it is through his alter ego he would vent these feelings, while being unaware of them in the natural state going along with life as if nothing had ever happened. These feelings being so strong however, he was no longer able to hide his feelings behind the alter ego.

   More odd behaviour is happening, but now a lot worse. The time that appeared in the message, is in fact the time at which his partner's death occurred, this being a prominent memory. The alter ego begins making the man feel guilty for his partner's death, making him feel it was his fault for not doing anything. The alter ego starts tormenting the man, one way in which he does so, is by confusing him by setting the clocks at the same time as that in the message, acting as a constant reminder. It starts playing with his mind, making him feel responsible. It eventually sends the man crazy, now convinced  it was his fault. After now having done such permanent damage to the man's mental state, we then find out it wasn't his fault, but in fact the older sister. This ends the story, leaving an innocent man in such a state for something that was completely out of his hands.

  

Individual Film Plot

The film begins where we see a middle-aged man, who is a reclusive, isolated to the confines of his own home. We see him go about his everyday life as normal, alone yet content. For this reason, the film takes place nowhere other than his home. As the story develops, unusual things begin to happening around the house, the lights switching themselves on, doors opening themselves, and finding objects in places they weren't originally placed. The man doesn't think any more of this, thinking he was just being overly suspicious.

   However, this odd behaviour around the house continues yet gradually getting worse. One afternoon he answers the door to his neighbour where they have a brief conversation. The man happens to mention he hasn't seen his neighbour in a long time, and much to his surprise the neighbour replies saying he had spoken to him the previous week and had acted out of character, so had come round to see how things were. This confusion starts doubting the man about the other occurrences, making him believe he has just become forgetful.

   The man returns to his kitchen to find the mornings post open, which he had no recollection of doing.  While doing so, he comes across a note on the table which doesn't seem familiar to him. He then walks further into the kitchen to find the magnets on the fridge reading a message. This is a hidden message, within it a date seeming oddly familiar to the man. At this point, the man is now convinced there is someone in his house trying to confuse him, leaving him in a paranoid state.

   Tension and momentum increase as the man becomes more paranoid and noticing more things out of the ordinary. As time goes on, the audience then see the man looking into a mirror, where his reflection doesn't appear to be him. It is now revealed to the audience the peculiar behaviour was a result of his alter ego, the person seen in his reflection. The man had  witnessed his partner get killed, leaving the man distraught, unable to deal with what happened. With the difficulty of dealing with this, he blanked it from his memory, and so it is through his alter ego he would vent these feelings, while being unaware of them in the natural state going along with life as if nothing had ever happened. These feelings being so strong however, he was no longer able to hide his feelings behind the alter ego.

After discussing our individual film plots as a group, we decided we would draw all of our best ideas together into one. To do this we decided to all write a new plot of our own individually, to then choose the best idea to adapt for the trailer plot.