Initial IdeasAdam Richards, Robyn Collier, Joe Bowman & Tristan Hale

Basic Plot

The film is about a crazed psychopath who is involved with a string of murders of young girls. Our protagonist, a father of one of the young girls, is out to discover who this mad man is and why he is doing this. However, we soon discover that the man man is in fact, the protagonist in a plot twist.

Narrative

Our opening sequence will take place towards the end of the film. We have chosen to do this because this is conventional within a thriller film and creates the initial suspense to keep the audience interested in the rest of the film.

Target Audience

Our initial idea for a target audience consists of both genders aged between 15-20.

We have chosen this because the victim, as a teenager, allows the audience to relate to our target age range.

In addition, our target audience will be interested in thrillers as we will be aiming to use conventional techniques included within modern and more historical thriller films.

Our sequence must also be appropriate for our target age range.

Plot Line1. The ident.

2. The woman running down a flight of stairs in terror.

3. Non-simultaneous crosscutting shots of the antagonist cleaning up a crime scene this is also an ellipsis as the cleaning shots are based in the future but interlink later in the narrative.

4. The woman running away escapes outside.

5. Cross-cut back to the antagonist cleaning up (finds ripped sleeve).

6. Assumed protagonist approaches her to help.

7. Cross-cut back to the antagonist cleaning (picks up blooded weapon).

8. Flashback of attack on woman.

9. Title sequence.

Sub genre/Hybrid

We have chosen not to create a hybrid for our thriller genre opening sequence. This is because it is risky and we could lead towards a different genre rather than a thriller film itself. Also, we have more knowledge on pure thrillers rather than hybrid thriller films.

We have also chosen at this moment not to use a subgenre because, although we are including themes embedded within our pure thriller idea, our personal research has been focused upon pure thriller conventions and history.

Location

Ideally we would like to have part of our sequence take place indoors however the availability is key to whether this will be possible.

If not, we have some ideas of local outdoor areas which we also think will fit our opening sequence just as well.

Part of the sequence we wish to be outdoors anyway and so it will not be difficult to adapt if the indoor shots are not possible to make.

RepresentationsConventionally, pure thrillers often have a teenage girl as the victim, as their young age and gender are stereotypically represented as weak and powerless.

The antagonist will be wearing a dark costume because stereotypically in thriller films and other genres, dark clothing connotes a malevolence within a characters persona and are often antagonists.

Also the antagonists’ face will remain hidden throughout the opening sequence as conventionally, the antagonist’s identity is not revealed until the climax of the film. This creates suspense and mystery for the audience within the opening sequence to keep them gripped.

The protagonist will be wearing a lighter coloured costume to connote his benevolence and allow the audience to recognize that he is a protagonist.

IdentOur ident starts off in pitch black, with no other visuals. Suddenly, there is a surge of power as the lift starts to move. Light shines through the door spaces as the lift passes through each level. The lift “dings” as each level is reached. The generator sounds as the lift stops. The lift doors open and the ident name is revealed. We have chosen to do this theme because it matches the conventions of thriller idents. An example of this is with our colour scheme, which uses very bright white on a deep dark. The ident also has a small area of mystery surrounding the elevator as people wonder in suspense what is happening and why, much like a Thriller, so our ident represents Thrillers

(Ident name will be decided at a later date)