Alfred Hitchcock says that the audience feels a sense of safety in our subconscious, so it’s fine to imagine ourselves in dangerous situations, and that we thrive on thrills, which thrillers provide. He says that combining the more exciting thrillers, the more they will thrive. Alfred Hitchcock believed that we, as consumers, watch thrillers to escape from everyday life. What do you believe? I believe the reasons why thrillers thrive were based on the storyline itself. In this essay, I wished to understand the structure of a storyline, how to successfully create a script that would influence the audience exactly how it should be and why- of course – thrillers thrive. and I finally have gotten the chance to understand that in a physical and a more hands-on approach. The purpose of scriptwriting is to create the main concept of your video production in written form. It provides a predetermined look at what will be said and what scenes will be shot to match the overall message you’re trying to portray. The most important rule is tell a story; and a good one at that. Can you imagine what a major motion picture like The Shining or Shutter Island would have been like if they hadn’t created a script first? The context of the characters, the plot, and the dialogue were all planned out for movies like these before any filming even started. Everyone was able to grasp what was required of them throughout the process, from the actors to the producers. Your company must develop a clear understanding of what you want to say in your content before adopting scriptwriting for video production. You can follow the picture that is produced by this written concept from beginning to end. Keep your target market in mind. Prior to even starting the scriptwriting process, you must decide who and how you will advertise your video too. I learned all of this during my observation with Professor Krakowski of CCNY. Being able to determine how to frame your message’s context and what should be said generally. To put it simply, before beginning the scriptwriting process for video production, you must identify your target audience. Most moviegoers undoubtedly do not consider the collaborative process every time they sit in a theater or at their computer, but any watcher who has really stayed to the end credits can speak of the importance of the required teamwork. It is challenging to pinpoint precisely which aspect or which team member is the most crucial in this multifaceted type of communication. The most important—and frequently undervalued—player in a movie is the screenwriter. During my Interview with a fellow classmate of mine, Edwarne Woodley-Gift, I learned of her liking or more of love with gory horror and psychological films. She became the first individual I had ever met that 1. Loved watching gory movies for fun and 2. was a direct effect of a successful psychological thriller film. See, the screenwriting was the key that made her fall in love, and it is because of that effect that influenced her to continue consuming these films. To further your understanding of what I know, below are the transcripts of my active Field Observation and Personal interviews. I hope to see you soon.

Observation

I was invited to attend Professor Krakowski’s online lecture on Zoom @10 am while I was on the train coming to school for my 11:00 am physical class. His course was named MCA: Screenwriting Workshop 1, 32300; Synchronus. This course examines the fundamental principles and forms of narrative storytelling and their expression through the screenplay format. Emphasis is placed on the elements that create drama and conflict, and particular attention will be given to visual storytelling. The course will also examine the similarities and differences between the short and long narrative forms and compare various storytelling models and strategies.  I will observe this course under the consultation of film producer Dr. Andrzej Krakowski Ph.D under the Film and Video Production and MFA Film Program. The goal here is to understand an in-depth look at story, structure, and more while also understanding how to use description, dialogue and setting to develop a story’s character or narrative. I will construct a visual representation of what I observe throughout this course while also answering any questions that I might have within the duration of the class.

I initially emailed Professor Krakowski to appear during his lecture at around 10-11 am, 2 weeks ago, yet I hadn’t received a notice within those days therefore I remained uncertain. An email to me on the 23rd of November, a Wednesday, the day of his course approving of everything and inviting me. Becasue, I got it the morning of, I wasn’t prepared to be honest however, I got to the school quickly got myself together and found a seat nearby the elevators on the seventh floor of my college, The City College of New York, where I would usually wait for class to begin with a separate professor. I logged in on Zoom and arrived to see dark screens. I introduced myself to the class after being 30 minutes late to the lecture.  Professor Krakowski then explains that everyone is on a 15 minute break, as the class is almost 3 hours long, and they were expecting me @10 am in the morning… nonetheless he welcomes me and continues. Time had passed and after the fifteen minutes were up, class resumed its original course. Today’s class was for the students to present their “storylines” which can also be described as “the plot”. Below is my observation.

Key: (_) are my personal thoughts on this.

– A student named Alexis Jeffries begins to present her preprepared storyline.

(Insert Photo 1)

“He brushes his hair and teeth”. Alexis Jeffry’s begins her storyline.

The professor asks what is a scrunchie as Alexis explains the rest of the class laughs, while on mute.

– [ I think the professor asks the students to create a plausible scenario to a story called a “storyline”)

Casey is her main character in her story line.

– [  I think Alexis has a few gaps in her story line. There are a lot of flashbacks that disrupt the story. First, I don’t know

Diana Sanchez asks a question.)

Jacob (last name) Asks: “Is Casey suffereing from paranoia and ptsd?”

Alexis: I wanted to convey Isolation and being out of control in your life, finding control anywhere you can

Professor asks a Question to the class is that clear?

Diana: I understand

– [ Does he hallucinate the man in the beginning, does he not know where he is?)

Professor: for me this is a story of descending into madness, and what is tricky in situations like this, that you have to make it believable and yet you create two realities and you have to somehow let us know, without being in your face, which reality is the real one otherwise the audience will be very confused, otherwise the audience believes he is just descending into madness, what you show is what you want the audience to know.

Professor: Now I don’t know which is real and which is not. Because I see one thing but question the possibility of another. Placing your audience in the context or where in the developing context. Are we following the protagonist. Do we know less or do we know more?

(Alexis explains how she wanted to convey that the ex of the main character, Casey, sees a dead person on the ground and knows that he might’ve been hurt by Casey because she knows he has mental issues)

Professor: At what point do we know that she is the ex?

Alexis: when we see her approach the main character Casey and demands that he leave her alone and stop following her.

Professor: Would the story be clear if it was her who began the story? Just a thought.

(Alexis’ storyline is pretty close to a treatment. (Describing the dialogue however, she should’ve used a bit more dialogue. In such a way the reader could understand a little more clearly. She’s close to having a treatment here for a short film.))

Professor: What do you want the audience to feel when it comes to the protagonist? Do you want us to believe him, hate him, like him?

Alexis: I wanted the audience to Find him sympathetic, he finds a job, his coworkers don’t like him and he suffers from ptsd. Until, the ex approaches him and demands that he stop stalking her, following her around. You describe this man’s convulsions. He appears in the next scene working in apart of the group that moves to a different location.

The professor gives his feedback to Alexis…

(He explains that there’s A bit of confusion lies in her story line said the professor. They begin to breakdown the scenes in Alexis’ storyline. He advises to keep the first scene that establishes his home and fixation of his wife. The second scene he advises to break it into two parts: one of his colleagues would then come to Casey and asses what they must do for work that day at work, he sees his ex, the colleague breaks away. Casey’s jealousy acts up when a man approaches his ex. First he observes how this man converses and he finds happiness however his human side kicks in and he feels empathy and regret for the now convulsing man and begins to help him. Third scene now shows his obsessions over his ex.)

Professor: At what point Do we realize that Casey is crazy? Witnessing a man descending into darkness.

The professor proposes a what if: What if the scene changed where we (as the readers) actually see Casey kill a man and his ex, seeing him holding a dead body and then breaking him out of his delusions

Professor: Any thoughts? (To the class)

Diana Sanchez, a student: suggests that Alexis shows clues to contribute to Casey’s declining mental state such as: hallucinations and drugs or a manic episode.

Professor: that is a good idea. You just organize your timeline, at this point Alexis must over write it and see how she can compress it.

(Yesterday they saw a film “She said” about Harvey Weinstein and how two journalists broke this story. It is a very important subject matter. The professor said he had a different reaction to it then his wife did. She focus on the plot, he focused on the structure and in that he explains what compressed scenes were.Compressed scenes: dialogue reveals what the camera doesn’t show and they show a scene that the dialogue isn’t about. He suggests that Alexis should use that more.)

Professor moves on the next student to present…

Jakub Dejko is next to present… his storyline is broken down in 5 parts

– Exposition Act 1

– Rising Action Act 2

– Climax Act 3

– Falling Action Act 4

– Resolution Act 5

(His is much more organized)

Everyone is silently attentive as Jakub explains his work in more context. ( His work is screenshotted below)

Professor breaks his silence. “One technical thought”, he says. You assume because of the action that the boyfriend brings more questions then answers. A can of worms that might not be necessary. Jakub must decide whether the protagonist’s sight is truly declining to the point of blindness or is it a matter of glasses.

Questions such as: who is her boyfriend? How did they get together and when?

Professor: It might be more interesting if you’d make the protagonist a young child at the mere age of 12. Make her support system in her family collapse and show that. This concept of needing glasses drives the storyline. It’s a Good thing for the storytelling when you have an object to drive the storyline. This can then lead to a more realistic understanding of the daughters behavior. She’s nearly blind and cannot see. Then Jakub would show the daughter’s behavior like pouring a glass of water but missing the entire cup, spilling it on the floor…

( I think that jakub should also show her breaking her mother’s glass cups or plates when she meant to place them on the table to physically show the daughter physical health decreasing.)

…”The mother outlandishly reacts instead of drawing conclusions which will lead the daughter to find her own solution since her mother refuses to recognize the reality of her daughter’s behavior. The daughter tries to find the father, which isn’t easy, then the father finds her and the story furthers into the next chapter.The protagonist needs to find her solution to get to her glasses and the only person who could help is her father. Remember the 5 dap-views. ( I do not know of this). If one is missing from the plot then the whole story collapsing.”

Alexis: I’m curious to why the father who is absent is suddenly in the characters life?

The professor sugggests a minor difference in plot. what is the mail she gets from her father wasn’t the first time and whenever the mother finds these letters, she hides them or disposes of them however way she pleased: burning or ripping them.

(I think that Jakub should show the mother finding these letters after they are opened and read by her daughter. She would read the context of them, hide them in a shoe box or drawer in her bedroom where she keeps the rest of the letters, crying in regret. Maybe early in the plot the audience would witness the beginning of the mother’s spiral into alcoholism. Maybe the source could be the divorce from her ex husband or something as serious as past traumas.)

The professor suggest that a shift in plot where The father left the household because of the wife instead of the daughter being the reason, that way you have a supporting character.

Jakub agrees with the fathers personal development without his family off screen: when he is finally financially stable enough to have his daughter around: buying a new home or apartment for he and his daughter and where he picks up his daughter from school whenever the mother is too drunk to pick her daughter up.

Alexis also suggests that an easy way to find the father since the plot suggests a connection  between the two, would be in a common place they would hang out together in absence of the mother.

Professor: The story is about the father daughter love. Professor says he loves a challenge. Who will challenge him in the interpretation of the plot? … “Who needs coffee?” Says the professor after a long pause in dialogue. After a good laugh the professor suggests that Jakub should straighten out the logic in his plot and commemorates him on his successful attempt at a plausible and organized storyline.

Professor: Whose storyline would they discuss next week?

(“Georgia” an absent student however, her classmates came to her defense correcting the professor that she had already presented last week. Professor excuses his mistake and continues to assign students: Xing Wu, Vincent Tulley , Rennee Thomas and Diana Sanchez are said to present the following week.)

 

Now an interesting film is being presented to the students.

• (I cannot see what’s happening, the screen is black and nothing is happening. I turned off my WiFi connected to the phone, and yet nothing appears yet. I reconnected and nothing appears.) I then came to the conclusion that, they were on a second break @11:30 and that explained the dead silence. Slow me.
• The Students and professor come back from their break and the professor continues to present a 2022 short film, Diabel,  (about 19 minutes) directed by Jan Bujnowski. The professor found this on the internet made by a film student.  https://youtu.be/1zIyJjnhH9s
• He instructs the students to watch and examine the film to later discuss as a closing of the class.

My interpretation and observations of this film is below.

Key: () are my personal thoughts

The film begins with a close up of the moon and shadowy clouds.

A man’s shadow appears through a window followed by many other characters carrying on unbeknownst to the audience watching and a watcher ( a white male mid 40’s+) is seen in the next clip looking through these characters through their windows.

Diabel translated into Devil in the CC’s

A fireplace with crackling flames in one scene and a burst of a broken electrical current in the next to symbolize the introduction of our three characters.

“Die, you demon. Go away, leave us alone.” said the old man, carrying his backfiring barrel rifle putting it away beside him, on his left side, away from his wife on the right of him.

(The language sounds Slavic, Russian maybe.)

The “fallen Angel” as the Devil character calls himself is seen. The scene changes. The next character is seen in his home, naked with only a blue brief underwear and a gold stained cross attached to a gold stained necklace. The next scene cuts to the same man in the morning pumping gas at the station. He looks away and sees two children, one boy and the other a girl. He lifts up the pump and proceeds to fake shoot at them. (I think he’s playing cop. Playfully shooting at them to make them smile). He is interrupted by their mother. ( I think that she believed this behavior was inappropriate to show children).

He is now driving his car Listening to a podcast of the news on Poland. He is now watching from afar a man old woman who seems to be praying at a post. (Maybe a memorial of a dead person). He follows her as she rides her bike back home into the rural forest. He waits. It is now sundown and she leaves her home on her bike. He enters her home, strips off his clothes and into his costume of being the devil. She comes back home, he places a spark off. She walks into the next room that is behind the man. She doesn’t speak ever. There is another man, limped head, who is dead now. (It appears he’s been dead for a couple of days. I noticed his limp head, therefore, rigor mortis a phenomenon that happens after death had already occurred and passed giving the time of death more than 36 hours prior to the current presentation and introduction.)

“Do you want to talk to him one more time?” Said the Devil

She finally speaks saying “he deserves to suffer”.

(After the conversation with the old woman furthers, she seems to have a more compassionate attitude toward her husband from her previous statement.)

She touches her dead husbands stoic hands where the flies once were but were scared of the woman’s movements. “Tell him I forgive him, Everything”. The man closes his eyes once more and acts as though he speaks with the man. He finally seperates from her and can be seen in the next scene walking in the distance by the orange sky as the sun sets.  The windows of the different people’s homes and a woman sees something offscreen that then makes her close her curtains and the film ends.

After a discussion of the film. The class is saluted with a happy holiday to the upcoming thanksgiving and everyone disperses.

(What I got from the film: The main character is an middle aged man, living poorly in Poland with his poorly kept small space. His need of money from any source he could find, he breaks into homes belonging to older couples he stalks. He dresses up in a Devil costume to trick these older women and men into signing a “contract” in exchange to divert them from descending into hell when they die. This contract is to symbolize a “selling of the soul” or “contract with the Devil” which allows him to extract money from these people. The soul is symbolized as one’s money, which can lead to our own personal downfalls; hell is the ultimate downfall. Older generations believe in heaven or hell and therefore are more susceptible to believing this man’s ploy. One interaction with the woman he targets changes his entire perception of his actions and the actions of others. The main character heals a severed link, created by death, between the woman and her late husband. This interaction then allows him to find a reason as to Why would he continue this behavior? Was it solely because he was poor and needed the money or was it something else?)

I stay back to ask a question and further assess my thoughts. I asked the professor of a previous term that I wasn’t familiar with enough. The term “treatment was used earlier in his lecture. What is treatment? He explains. And further explains the beginning to the end of the concept of the class.

 

Questions Answered.

Transcript between Professor, Andrjzek Krakowski and I at the end of this lecture.

Me: What does the term “treatment” mean?

Dr. Krakowski: A film treatment is a summary of a film or television show, often used in order to sell the project prior to a full script being written.

Me: What do the students do in the duration of the course?

Dr. Krakowski: Well, The course is 6 weeks long each semester, 4 in total, ending in a sum of 2 years. First the students are exposed to lectures and PowerPoints. Then they learn about the concepts of the basics of screenwriting. In the entire fall semester, students must now comprise their thesis’. Later they will shoot a short film of their work they’ve worked on, at the end of semester.

Me: How do you create a successful writing piece?

Dr. Krakowski: You as the writer must begin with a simple logline, which is the idea or entire concept of the plot.  A logline should swiftly convey what a screenplay or writing piece is about, including the main character, central conflict, setup and antagonist. This would always be in the beginning of the script. The Storyline must always flow and must be written in a logical sequence to begin the wiring of the script. From the beginning to the end it should make sense and the audience should always understand the plot.

 

Personal Interview

Ironically enough, I am not a frequent horror film viewer simply because I don’t like them; for personal reasons of course. I like the writing behind psychological thrillers because remember.. there’s a difference. So to better understand the behaviors and attitudes between a frequent and non frequent viewer, I sat down with a fellow classmate of mine named Edwarne Woodley-Gift. Ms. Gift is an Islander from St. Kitts, a small island located on the eastern part of the carribbean, and she watches horror films and continuously watches. According to Ms. Gift, she loves them because they prove a gory sense of pleasure to her. I then informed her of all the different effects one goes through when they watch these films and funny enough she never knew. Points for me I guess? The transcript between Ms. Gift and I will be presented below.

Transcript

Interviewer: Hello Ms. Gift and Welcome to this interview

Ms. Gift: Hello to you to. Its good to be welcomed, than you!

Q: Question for you Ms. Gift, Have you watched Horror films?

A: Yes

Q: Have you watched psychological thrillers?

A: What’s the difference?

Interviewer (Me): So, psychological thrillers deal with the psychological aspects of fear, while a horror film deals with those fear-inducing elements that are more corporal: mortal danger, imminent death, and so on.

Ms. Gift: Oh, so psychological thrillers are more of the mind play than more physical fear?

Interveiwer: Yes that is basically it.

Q: What do these characters or plot provide that make you fancy horror films?

A: Well, I think film is unique because its a different character and you’re at a different place in your creative mind. Horror films to me provide pleasure because I get to see what creative ways these characters will physically carry out through the film, you know?

Q: What began your love for horror films?

A: I felt like what drew me to this genre of film was the vulnerability the characters express like, yeah you can predict some stuff that might happen in the future of the film, but like, its their vulnerability that they can portray… how well they can play a game or how long they survive through out the film… how open they are to being manipulated by something out of their control or in their control but don’t realize it.

Interviewer: Damn that’s deep, I wasn’t expecting that…

Question: Why do you like these movies?

Ms.Gift: Everytime I watch those films, yeah I feel like I want to piss my pants but, its really not that bad like, I feel really good after I finish watching all the death and blood and heart racing action it gives off. The visuals.

Q: Do you know the behaviors and attitudes that happen while you watch a film? maybe that can connect to why you like horror films?

A: What do you mean?.. like do you mean when people get scared they jump and squeal or keep kicking their feet?

Interviewer: Yes! Yes! basically yeah, there’s a phenomenon aka “a behavioral response and psychological reaction that happens”, When you watch a movie, your brain gives yourself a break and doesn’t use the motor areas because your body is relaxed. However, your brain may keep those motor areas on while watching a scary movie. This is what causes you to jump out of your seat! That is why you keep watching these films and voluntarily seek out frightening experiences in pursuit of enjoyment because that is what these films do to you.

Ms.Gift: Oh really? I had no clue that’s all happening in me while i watch it, that seems weird but then again it happens when we sleep too so, i take it back not that weird.

Interviewer: Yes its really weird and interesting isn’t it? That fact that I can finally say I know something interesting that’s academically inclined is fun. I feel smart.

Q: lastly, Do you think the creators of these films are what’s key to these horror and psychological thrillers films?

A: Of course, without the writer how else will I understand the plot? The plot is supposed to be the back bone of any and every film  nothing less and nothing more. I feel like they hold the ideas and we as the consumers or audience is what experiences these ideas.

Interviewer: Alrighty, thank you so much Ms. Gift and have a great evening.

Ms. Gift: Thank you so much. Bye.