Planning Characters - Miss Miller

Thriller films need characters so the audience can build relationships with them and identify more with the film's storyline. The audience must be interested in the narrative of the film; this would be very difficult to achieve without characters.

Ex-fiancée/Bride/Killer
The main character of the sequence is the killer. She is female, and it is implied that she has an emotionally unstable background. This would explain her homicidal tendencies. Furthermore, her age is unknown, and she always wears her wedding veil. This maintains her hidden identity, creating an enigma - the audience do not know much about the killer. The audience then builds a relationship with the character as, because they hardly know anything about the 'bride', they are engaged with the character and the narrative so they can find out more about them. Our sequence will in turn be made interesting by this enigma surrounding the killer's hidden identity and the audience will therefore be intrigued by the sequence.

Ex-fiancé/Groom/Victim
The main victim of the sequence is the male ex-fiancé/groom of the killer. He is approximately 20 years old, as indicated by the year of birth in the photo album. He is an ordinary man with a normal background. His ordinary nature is relatable to the audience, which increases their relationship and the sympathy that the audience has for the character. The victim is also portrayed as weak and coward-like through the implication that he left his wife-to-be for no reason, therefore maintaining the conventions of weak (in comparison to the villains) victims. Our sequence will be made interesting by this character because it is uncommon to see an adult male victim in a thriller film, due to the convention of women being portrayed as weak. This may increase our female audience rate, as the female character in this film is portrayed as the stronger person. Furthermore, the audience may also relate to the character if they are married/engaged/in a relationship.

Extras/minor characters
There will be extra/minor characters in the opening sequence. Firstly, the parents of the ex-groom will play a small but important role in the sequence. They are shown both in the photo album and in flashbacks and it is strongly implied that the ex-bride killed them. This sets the frightening, intense mood for the opening sequence. Secondly, there will be extra characters as photos in the photo album and some in flashbacks. These characters will help set the atmosphere for the narrative, as some flashbacks will involve the [failed] wedding. The characters will make the story more believable and interesting, so the audience will feel more connected to the opening sequence.

The main characters are not very conventional in relation to gender, however, the killer is mentally unstable and had a[n implied] troubled upbringing - this is conventional to the thriller genre. Also, the killer uses an ordinary kitchen knife to kill her victims. Additionally, the victim is weaker than the killer, despite the killer being unstable. These elements of the character are typical to thrillers and therefore emphasise the opening sequence's genre. This planning has been helpful in preparation as we now know how we want our characters to come across in the sequence.