Creation of enigma What questions will I raise that the audience will want to answer?

Question 1

The first question that the audience may want an answer for is ‘What happened to the main character’s feet?’ Elisa from our group plays the main character and she has had an operation, she was recovering as we were filming which is why she wore bandages on her feet. She is also wearing flip flops so it will be less painful when she is walking, particularly up the stairs.

At first Elisa thought that maybe she shouldn’t walk up the stairs as she was wearing bandages instead of socks however after our group discussion we agreed that this would reinforce psychological thriller because it will make the audience wonder what had happen to the character’s feet, whether she self harmed or hurt herself while killing her first victim. The audience may also wonder how painful her feet may be.

Question 2

The second question that the audience may want an answer for is ‘Who is the girl lying down on top of the stairs?’

The answer to this question is that the girl is a friend of the serial killer, her name is Marissa Castillo and she is the serial killer’s first victim. This emphasise a significant theme of psychological thriller which is murder.

Question 3

The third question that the audience may want an answer for is ‘Why did the serial killer leave the dead body on top of the stairs?’ When the main character finishes walking up the stairs she casually steps over her friend’s dead body as if nothing happened. This may also get the audience to wonder whether she acknowledges the body or is too lazy and just leaves it there. This makes the audience want to know what is going on in her head or wonder if there are more bodies lying around her house.

Question 4

The forth question that the audience may want an answer for is ‘Where did the blood come from on her hands?’

We used fake blood to represent the mind-set of the character because her role is to kill people. At first we see the blood dripping on her hands as she turns pages and writes something down in her journal. She then goes to the toilet to wash her hands but as she is washing her hands she seems calm. This raises other questions for the audience about the blood which are ‘Why does she seem calm about the blood? Or ‘Why doesn’t she acknowledge it?’

The audience may also wonder if the blood came from the murder that she had accomplished at the beginning of the opening sequence.

Question 5

The last question that the audience may want an answer for is ‘Who is the girl in the mirror?’ At the end of our opening sequence Ivy Blue is seen washing the blood off her hands until she

looks up the mirror. When she looks at the mirror she not only sees her reflection but also sees another person. With our teacher our group and I discussed that instead of the extra character to be an orphan that the main character meets in the bathroom she can be a mysterious reflection of the serial killer instead. This makes the opening sequence more effective.

In real life if someone sees someone else in the mirror they would feel frightened. When the unknown character appears the main character doesn’t react which raises another question for the audience which is ‘Why isn’t she scared?’ or ‘Is this normal for her?’

In our discussion we agreed that the unknown character could either be a ghost or the real serial killer which is why that in the opening sequence we keep the audience guessing.