Thriller Narrative Ideas

In today's lesson, we had a brainstorm to think of ideas for our thriller films - in the techno-thriller genre. We were given a basic plot line and had to invent a techno-thriller story around it. For example: 

"An interpreter overhears a plot to assassinate a political figure"

We thought that an interpreter would be involved in a business conference over Skype. The two business-men then disconnect the interpreter but actually only minimise his window. The interpreter then overhears the conversation that follows in which the two men talk of assassinating a political figure.

We thought that by including a modern high-tech communication tool such as Skype it would immediately set the film's time as being in the present day while most people, especially the younger generation, would recognise Skype and be able to relate to it.

"A detective investigates the disappearance of his niece who has been missing for 30 years"

We thought that the detective would decide to re-open the case as he sees his niece update her profile/status/location on Facebook, for example, and decides to investigate. He could then use gadgets such as Sat Nav's and his phone to find his way around.

Most of our ideas revolved around social networking and communication as it is quite original compared to gadgets such as guns, while people can relate to it as it is very highly used. It's popularity also makes it a good choice, shown by the evidence of recent films such as The Social Network.