HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO, TO PROTECT THE ONES YOU LOVE?...THE WORLD IS A DANGEROUS

PLACE. TRUST. NO ONE.

I am making a thriller opening in media to conclude a term of research and on the genre of thrillers in the film industry, and the aspects that are included in this genre. My thriller will include crime and murder with motive, which is a key

aspect in this genre. Thrillers are often very dark and creepy, another trait I have included in my opening which will establish the mood and theme for the rest of the film. The purpose of my research and planning, was to create a film that fits in with the thriller genre, following codes and

conventions included in thriller films.

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Dramatic Irony is used a lot in thrillers, when the audience knows exactly where the threat is and the characters in the thriller don't. This convention will be used in my opening in the second scene with the shadows seeing as the audience are aware that their friend is stalking them, where as they are clueless. Another convention that I will use is gloomy

red lighting in the first scene. The red light connotates hate and danger, and the darkness creates a suspenseful

atmosphere because this person is working in the dark, which makes the audience begin to doubt their sanity.

GENRE ELEMENTS

The purpose of an opening sequence is to hook the audience and make them begin to start asking questions. My opening will achieve this by only revealing half the story

behind the first murder. Why were they angry with this person? Why are they following them so closely? To protect them? If so, from what?

The very first scene is dark and gloomy, creepy like the stalker who is the main villain. This sets the expectations for the rest of the film very high. The first murder

is committed here, meaning that there is more to this in the rest of the film. It establishes the lengths this stalker will go to, and their motivation is very powerful.

Set in modern day, two friends lead a fairly normal life style. Or so they think. One of the friends is secretly obsessed with the safety other. They have photos of this

person in various places from every single day, as if they are tracking them through their every move. They become obsessed with keeping them from others, killing

people who come into contact with the victim. However, when an argument turns nasty, their mission takes a dark turn.

PLOT SUMMARY

The camera will slowly pan across a wall, covered in pictures of someone in different situations like walking in a crowd on getting into a car. It is the same person, but not posing in any of these

photographs. This makes the audience think that perhaps whoever has taken these pictures is stalking this man for some reason, establishing that this character is obsessive. As the camera pans across the

room over to a table, a person is stood over it with their back to the camera as it approaches them. this makes the audience feel like they are slowly sneaking up on them, creating suspense as they draw

closer to this person who is busy working away. The shot will then cut to a close up of their hand which is writing something down quickly, like its an emergency and they are in a hurry to go somewhere.

Once they finish writing and leave, the camera lingers on a time and location that has been written down as the person has walked away. In the next scene, the shot begins with a view of the floor, and

will tilt up to see a wall with the shadows of two people, and throughout this scene there will be quiet classical music playing in the background to establish a calm and peaceful atmosphere.

The person from the previous scene, the stalker, will arrive to talk to the character who was already there. It is clear from their features that this is the person in the photographs, and there is dramatic

irony when the audience realizes that they have no idea that they are talking to their stalker, they just seem to be good friends. The discussion these two people are having will become increasingly

aggressive, and the more this happens, the louder the music will become to build up the intensity of this scene. The taller shadow will then strangle the shorter shadow, and the second the shorter shadow

drops to the floor, the music stops entirely, like the life ending abruptly. The shadows will always be filmed in a mid-shot, so the audience will be focusing on the interactions between these two people.

The taller character will walk away calmly, which leads into the title sequence.

OPENING SEQUENCE

RESEARCH

In a recent survey that my audience sample of 10 people aged 16-17 took, they said that they would most like to watch a mystery/horror thriller, which is why I have made the opening suspenseful. The suspense building up to the first murder sets the expectations high for the rest of the film, meaning that the opening sequence has served is purpose and hooked the audience.

A target audience is required to estimate who we are going to try and sell the thriller

to. A target audience gives us an idea of what age the audience will be, so that we can give

the correct certification for this film.For my thriller, I think that it will be most popular among 16 and above, males and

females, and due to violence it is not suitable for those under this age.

From asking a target audience of 10 people aged 16-17, I found that everyone in this

group liked suspenseful style thrillers, that contain deaths and chase scenes. From this I

know that this will be a successful thriller with this particular age group.

TARGET AUDIENCE

With modern technology and social media, marketing and advertising will be an easy way to spread the word about this new thriller. For example the film Sharknado,

despite being a ridiculous film, became a viral hit without much advertising except from social networking sites. This proves that social media is the most effective way to advertise for a film and make sure everybody hears about it. With the great enthusiasm

of this target audience, merchandise opportunities are endless. T-shirts, posters and accessories are all highly profitable in the market with the audience we want to sell

this to.

Thriller TV shows are becoming increasingly popular, such as The Killing and Sherlock, so this makes my thriller a good opportunity for a new thriller series to become

developed.

A unique selling point of my thriller, is the unexpected motive behind the actions of the killer. A stalker is a common factor in a thriller, however they are usually doing it with intention to kill someone in the first place. My thriller is unique because this killer is

trying to protect their target, however when they fail, their motives turn dark.

MARKETING

Costumes are used to establish a time period and enhance characters, communicating the era and culture of this location for the film. It also shows us the status or occupation of a character, before they even speak. Having the correct costume is very important to the

opening of a thriller because it gives the audience some idea of who these characters are, but leaves out enough information to make them curious.

Thrillers are usually set in the modern day, as one of the aspects of a thriller is that they have an unbelievable event happening in a normal situation. Therefore, I shall be using casual, modern clothing as my costumes, seeing as this would indicate that these people are normal people that the audience can relate to, and put the audience at ease. The fact that the audience recognises this as their own familiar environment, enhances the shock

factor when the situation builds up to the following horrifying events.

Of course, in the opening it sets up the creepy factor, but after the title sequence the first shot will be life as normal for the other characters in this film, friends of the first victim. This has a contrasting effect and puts the audience at ease after the shock of the opening sequence. Dramatic irony will be effective here because the audience are aware of what just happened in the opening sequence, but none of the characters in the next scene do.

COSTUME

WHAT LOCATION WAS PREFERRED?

As you can see from my results, thriller viewers preferred this film to be set in a city, or a built up area. This was useful to me in my planning because I knew what location would be preferred and most watched. Research like this was important, to ensure the success of my film.

My film will be set in England, in a built up area of a city. This again, sets my film into the thriller genre, because

most thrillers are set in cities or built up areas.However, in my opening specifically, there isn’t much

information to indicate this. My house will most likely be the most useful filming location, due to the layout being

useful for the desired shots in the first scene.

In the second scene, a screen may be used to cast shadows more clearly, so the audience may be able to see what is

going on. Depending on timing, this could be filmed in one of the drama studios at school, using the lighting there to

create more visible shadows.

FILMING LOCATION

Divergent, The Imitation Game, Gone Girl…These are the names of the most popular thrillers to come out in the past year. With so much diversity in the thriller

genre, there is something for everyone’s taste with mystery, action, or even supernatural thrillers.

Mystery and crime thrillers are some of the biggest thrillers to make money in the box office, meaning that my thriller will have a huge chance at being the next must-see

movie.

GREAT SUCCESS