The pitch for my thriller film opening

1. By Amelia Bourke

2. From my research I have learnt a great deal. I have learnt a lot more about
my target audience and how to draw them in, I have learnt about what
makes a thriller film popular as well as how to construct one using effective
music, editing techniques, camera angles and costume and props.
Researching things like thriller film openings have inspired me to
incorporate some features into my own work to make it more relatable but
at the same time I wanted to keep it realistic. If there is one thing I have
learnt and heard the most is that you shouldn’t overdo it. With the help of
Pinterest I have put together boards to also inspire me for costume and
titles as well as researching past students work to try and get some ideas of
what they did to be successful.

3. During my work I have found out a lot more about my target audience
for thriller films, for instance the typical age group who enjoy thriller
films and also what draws them closer to this genre and what simple
things appeal to them. For example:
-Overcomplicated plots aren’t good
-Plot twists are the best part of a thriller
-Try to avoid clichés
-Suspense
To achieve some of these examples I will have to be careful how I use the
4 technical codes in my work so that it doesn’t clash with anything. After
further research into my audience thrillers tend to be aimed more
towards males so I figured I would make the film opening more
masculine but at the same time suitable for all. In terms of class there is
no particular audience so I free to use different stereotypes of class if I
choose

4. After researching my genre I have learned that many thriller film openings
don’t give a lot away, they leave it a mystery in order for the audience to
carry on watching while continuing to build the pace. So my idea for my film
opening is to not create too much of a narrative but still keep things
interesting with creative shots and a good soundtrack that keeps the
audience on edge. Setting is also important so I want to be able to film in
quiet isolated places to build a background for the characters as well as to
make the audience ask questions like:
-why is the character there?
-Why are they alone?
-What has happened?
-What is going to happen?

9. I didn’t want to overcomplicate my narrative or overdo my film opening by
including too many characters. So for this reason I have just decided to use
myself as the only character so I can focus most of the shots on scenery
instead of having to worry about balancing a number of shots between
several different characters. I will be used for some of the shots and have
special effects makeup on my face in order to create a bit of a plot starter
which also enables the audience to ask questions about the character like
what happened to them and how did she get here?

10. With my film being a thriller a lot of my filming will be done in isolated
places where there isn’t much risk however I will be filming near a motorway
so there are obvious dangers there with road safety and the constant
awareness of filming the public and thinking about their privacy. As I am in
isolated areas noise won’t be too much of a problem but equipment will be
used to prevent any background noise. Filming from heights is also an issue
but I would be careful not to damage any filming equipment. I do plan on
using SFX makeup but none that will cause offense to viewers or members
of the public. Any places that are owned I will have to gain permission to
film there so I am not breaking the law.

11. Relating to the thriller genre my costume will just be dark coloured
clothes with a hoodie and a scarf to cover up my face to give a
mysterious effect to the character on screen, for this I will just use my
own clothes as it is nothing special. However for makeup I plan to create
a burn mark on my face which I have practiced and I will re-create this
using paint and wax which I already have at home so I don’t have to go to
great lengths to get the materials I need.