Thriller Ideas

Our group has decided to base our opening scene around a serial killer who murders people in the same way as other killers. We discussed how our main character would be really mysterious, and slightly eerie, so it builds tension throughout the scene. Some examples of films where the character copies past killers are; "Copycat" (1995), in this film, a female detective and a psychologist must work as a team to catch a serial killer who murders people the same way as past serial killers. I really like this storyline, as it makes the killer even more feared, as you know he is deranged, due to the fact he must know of other killers. We liked the idea of having a killer who bases their murders around other serial killers, because it means we can make the storyline more interesting, and it makes it more intriguing for the audience to watch. 

We need to make sure that, not only does the person playing the killer act shady and eerie, that they must also look the part in order for the audience to be engaged. An example of a film where the killer looks the part, is "Zodiac" (2007). In this film, a cartoonist, becomes obsessed with finding the zodiac killer, although an amateur, he uses all his skills and knowledge to try and track him down. In this film, the suspected killer looks very quiet and mysterious, although as he's quite big built, the audience get the impression that he could quite easily overpower someone. He also looks very scruffy and shady, which fits in with one of the ideologies of a serial killer. 

Our group has the idea of, a killer who is obsessed with Jack the Ripper. We chose this idea because, Jack the Ripper is such a notorious killer, and because their is such a mystery over who he actually was, that basing our opening scene around him, will make people want to watch it. We plan to stick lots of pictures and newspaper cuttings of Jack the Ripper around a room, to give the audience the sense that our killer is mad, and how dangerous he is, because he is obsessed with such a dangerous man. 
Our first group meeting went really well, as we where all really enthusiastic on the idea, and all inputted ideas which showed how the communication flowed well.