Concept plan for AS Media thriller opening

1. CONCEPT
“Hollow Oak”

2. Title
• THE TITLE OF MY FILM (what is
it called and why – justify your
choice?):
• Hidden Oak. We chose this
because it relates to the plot
and the setting of the film. It
represents how the main
character is hidden away, and
how he is hiding a girl in his
house, as he has been doing for
a long time now. Oak comes
into play because he is isolated,
out in the woods.

3. MY TARGET AUDIENCE
(check brief for details):
• The target audience will be for teenagers aged
15-18, but that is not to say we want to make
something that only people aged between 15-
18 will enjoy. There would need to be a level of
maturity to understand what is happening, and
should be appealing for this age group. The
film itself would have an R16 rating.

4. INSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTIONS I WILL
INCLUDE IN MY FILM ARE
(with detailed
explanations):
Logo: This would include things
such as logos for our film company,
Sound track: For the soundtrack,
we are hoping to use an orchestral
song. We would like to use a song
that is simple, but dramatic. I think
this would be effective, as it would
contrast with the scenes that are
shown, as they are all disturbing. In
a lot of films peaceful music is
played in suspenseful scenes,
which actually cause the scene to
be even more unsettling, and this is
the sort of idea/feeling that we
would like to replicate. An
alternative to this is to have a song
playing, but create one that is more
based around different sound
effects.

5. THE GENRE CONVENTIONS I WILL
INCLUDE IN MY FILM ARE
• Enigma: An Enigma is a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence
or situation, and this is what we are trying to represent in
our thriller opening. We will do this by not revealing what is
happening in the scene until the last possible moment, and
even then a sense of mystery and confusion will be created,
as what is happening is not fully explained. We are aiming to
film lots of different fragments and edit them together to
show different scenes, and create a feeling of distortion.
• Iconography: Iconography symbolic representation,
especially the conventional meanings attached to an image
or images. Some examples of iconography we would like to
include would be things like shadows, photographs, Low key
lighting, Trees etc.
• Sub-genres: One main sub-genre that we would like to focus
on is the Crime genre. Overall, if we were to make this film as
a whole, it would be a crime investigation thriller, similar to
something like ‘Silence of the lambs’ or ‘Se7en’. We would
like to do this because it is an interesting genre that is not
limiting, and gives us a lot of room to explore different
possibilities. It also means that we can create an original plot
and idea that hopefully not many other people will be doing.

6. Genre conventions cont.
Themes
• Themes we would like to
explore, would be themes such
as isolation and obsession. We
will show this in aspects such
as the plot, the setting and the
shots/scenes we will film. The
theme of isolation is
represented because the main
character is isolated from
society, and it helps create
suspense and drama.
Obsession will also be
explored, because the main
character is displayed as
psychotic and possessive,
which is evident as he has a
girl, Sarah, trapped in his
house.
Character types
• We do not know the name
of the antagonist, as it helps
add to the mystery and
enigma that is represented.
However the antagonist is
clearly psychotic, neurotic
and paranoid. The
Protagonist’s, Sarah,
character type is not
revealed in the opening
scene.

7. A PLOT SYNOPSIS
• The plot revolves around the antagonist, who is a captor/murderer, and how
he has captured a new victim, Sarah. The scene will start with an establishing
shot of the forest/, and then different fragments will be shown. These will be
things like pictures scattered on the ground, shots of journals, pictures of
Sarah (Bianca Escobar-Flaunty) on walls, newspapers strewn around the
room and shots of the antagonist(William Owen) doing things such as
scratching his hands, picking off scabs etc.
• We will see him doing these things, being hunched over desks, checking
windows, drawing curtains, as it shows his insanity and paranoia. These
fragments will be shown as well as the opening credits. As one or two
shots/scenes are shown, they will be followed up with a brief moment of
credits. Our aim is to not have a big scripted opening scene, but to do
something that complements the opening credit sequence, while also
dropping clues and creating the mood for the rest of the film.

8. CHARACTERS
AND NAMES
The main antagonist does not have
a name, but he is a man who is
highly psychotic and paranoid. His
purpose in the film is a large one
because he is playing the main
character, and throughout the film
he is being searched for, by
investigators/police force. This
character helps to make the film a
thriller because of the enigma,
suspense and action that he
causes. His relationship with the
other character, Sarah, is not
deeply explored, he does not know
her personally, but for some reason
he has been abducting girls that fit
her description, brown hair, pretty
etc. and was drawn to her. In this
film their relationship is one of a
kidnapper and victim, and there are
no romantic feelings between the
two.

9. PRACTICALITIES
OF
FILMING/CONTE
NTWhile I think our idea is very original and
at times may be difficult to pull of, I
believe that it is attainable and realistic. As
far as health and safety issues go, there
should be none, we won’t be filming in
dangerous locations, the main health
issues would be scenarios such as a
member of our media group becoming
sick and not being able to help with the
filming and if this was the case, we would
have to reschedule. It is easy for us to find
actors/actresses as we only really need
two people, and since we never see their
faces, it is possible for other people to fill
in if need be, but only if this did not affect
the continuity of the opening. Luckily a
member of our group, Bianca, owns a
property that has lots of trees, which
looks like a forest, and is perfect for the
setting of our thriller opening as it looks
very isolated and isolation plays a big role
in our opening.