Synopsis Of Our Thriller Film

Synopsis

My group and I discussed the theme, plot and narrative we wanted in our thriller then Tamas wrote out our first draft. We discussed this, and decided it needed more adding to it, so we all highlighted the points that needed to be adapted and this is our final synopsis:

In our thriller, we have decided to adopt a theme inspired by the soundtrack of our opening sequence; Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Of course, though, our thriller would not be a romance drama; we would rather incorporate it with ideas from classic thriller films such as The Godfather. Our thriller would, therefore, take-on a sub-genre of ‘mafia/ gangster’. We would also use some narrative-related ideas and twists that were inspired by The Godfather, such as the switch of protagonist from an old boss who is replaced by a new, young boss. We have also been influenced by the use of narrative in Chinatown, how the narrative develops slowly and things gradually unfurl, and the twists keep coming right until the very end. This is something that we would have liked to achieve in our thriller. Another narrative feature that we would incorporate into our thriller is the idea of a continuous change of protagonist. First of all, in our opening sequence, the audience meets one important looking character (Patrick Callaghan) and may immediately relate to him as a protagonist. However, in the sequences after the opening, this character isn’t heavily featured, but rather another crime boss (Colin Glover) is introduced and is the centre of attention. He, then, is the first real protagonist. However, he is killed quite early, thus inducing a change of protagonist to his son (David Glover). He, though, is also killed and so there is another change in the protagonist. This time Susie Callaghan becomes the protagonist. However she too is killed, so at the end of the film the audience is left with Patrick Callaghan as the protagonist, as it was at the very beginning. This cycle of protagonists is an important concept in the film as by the end of it all the audience realises that there is really no-one in the film that they can relate too, because the characters are all so corrupt, unlawful, twisted and eventually dead as a result. This concept was partly inspired by narrative features in Sin City, where there is also a constant switch of protagonist, however in a slightly different way. The concept has also been influenced though by the film noir genre, in which the corrupt and unlawful character was really invented. Some of our scenes in our opening have also perhaps been influenced by the film noir genre, as our opening is filmed at night and includes several examples of chiaroscuro lighting.
Our opening sequence reveals what the audience will most likely assume to be a murder and the disposal of the body, and also introduces them to the four characters that they are likely to assume to be behind it. However, in the overall synopsis, these events only take place quite late on in the film, around about two-thirds of the way through. The chronological opening of the film would be something entirely separate, and would have Colin Glover as the protagonist. However, David Glover, who is quite a background character in these early sequences, starts to become more and more influential in various events surrounding the family. As does Susie Callaghan, who is slowly introduced as a femme fatale, and strangely (as they belong to two separate crime families who hate each other) her and David seem to be starting a relationship. However, while these two characters, David in particular, become more dominant, a major twist occurs as Colin Glover is murdered, seemingly by the Callaghan family. At this point, David steps up into his father’s place as boss and also as the main protagonist. Also by this point, David and Susie appear to be in a fairly serious relationship. However, this later turns out to be completely false as David is merely hoping to get closer to Patrick Callaghan and avenge his father, while Susie, being a femme fatale, has trapped David and eventually leads him to his death, and the downfall of his family. This is when the audience realises that the dead body we saw being disposed of in the opening sequence was David. Furthermore, we find out that it wasn’t the Callaghan family that killed Colin Glover but rather another family that had framed the Callaghan family, given recent feuds between these families. However, the Callaghan’s had realised this as a time of weakness for the Glover’s and used Susie as bait to lure him to his death. Another twist that is uncovered is that a further motive behind the murder of Colin Glover for Susie was that she has a lover who is the boss of the family that killed Colin Glover. Also due to this, Susie then attempts to murder Patrick Callaghan, in order to shift power of the city in favour of her lover, and also because she has always blamed him for her father’s death. However, Patrick Callaghan is wise and finds out about this. First, he has her lover killed, and finally he executes Susie. This is another shift of protagonist and a case of moral ambiguity, as Patrick Callaghan ends up as the main protagonist and seemingly the good guy, whereas he was the bad guy at the beginning.