2. Our influences:
When first researching thrillers, we came across a genre called ‘Physiological thriller’. We took
inspiration from this concept and adapted it to fit both our original idea and the typical ideas of
a thriller. For example, when looking at the Francis Lawrence film ‘I am Legend’ we took
inspiration from the protagonists isolation
as loneliness and we adapted his characters
persona to fit the protagonist of our thriller
Theo Grey.
Also in the Lawrence film, the main male
character is shown in the location of a
previously busy town that has now been
destroyed post apocalypse, we also adapted
this in our film as we used the location of a
high street that is recognisable to our target
audience as the familiarities of shops and
adverts became an immediate recognisable
feature.
This style of thriller is attractive for our
audience as it cerates as eerie mood and
forces them to put themselves into the role
of the protagonists therefore creating empathy and a rapport between the character and
viewer.
3. Target audience
The target audience for ‘I am Legend’ would also be similar to ours as the
predominant male character would be similar and relatable to the age and
gender of our stereotypical target audience.
Also our main ‘Theo’ would be liked by the target audience as he’s a new
actor and therefore the audience experiences the situation through his eyes
for the first time. This therefore means that the actor, James Ginn, will be
recognised purely for that role and therefore the audience, who are likely to
be young adults, and they believe that they are getting a personal new
character in which lives in a modern and developed world similar to theirs.
Finally, our character would be attractive to the audience as he has a military
background and therefore has immediate sympathy from the viewer as people
will roles within the forces and held in high prestige within society.
4. Conventions of a thriller
There are a number of conventions which apply to thrillers, for example, when editing
and directing a thriller film, you must consider all elements including editing,
cinematography, sound and mise en scene. A director must thoroughly consider these
elements before making his thriller as the audience will only be attracted to the film if
it seems realistic and fits the codes and conventions of a thriller
Cinematography: we needed to ensure that we used familiar shots and complex shots
in order for the audience to recognise our genre of thriller. For example, we used close
up to show the reflects the emotions of the main character, wide shots to show the
audience the location and tracking shots to create the illusion that the protagonist is
being watched
5. Sound: a soundtrack is necessary to create an eerie sense and build tension, also we decided
not to use dialogue as it will make the thriller seem unprofessional
Mise en scene, we gave the protagonist
a military style outfit to fit the
conventions of a stereotypical
adventitious male thriller character
Editing: we used rapid editing to reflect the fast pace of the characters life, we used
continuity editing to make it look realistic and believable for the audience
More conventions of a thriller
6. Our unique selling point
The U.S.P that would most sell our thriller is the unusual location; by placing it in a busy town it
apposes the stereotypical location of a thriller that you would expect to see in a house or creepy
location.
We decided to make out thriller
in a recognisable and normal
location is it meant that for the
directors it was easier to make
the setting eerie as it would
extremely juxtapose the normal
bustling and busy town and thus
forth in parallel the audience can
picture themselves in the position
of the protagonist, this is
appealing to the audience as they feel sympathy for the character and put themselves into the
situation and therefore are want to find out the conclusion of a film.
This idea would be effective as it means our brand ‘GPM Production’ can francize the thriller and
make multiple sequels or prequels to the film and the main character will become
globally famous so
‘Universal Pictures’ can sell
merch or converge with other
brands such as Apple, to fund
the later films
7. Teaser poster:
Our teaser poster depicts an empty
road which has clearly been left
isolated, this therefore fits the
style and theme of our final idea
as our main character is also left
isolated in an empty world.
Disjointed font fits the dystopian
Society that the protagonist is
Living in
Empty road reflects the isolation of
the protagonist
Informs the audience of the release
Date
The fact that the picture is of a road could suggest that theirs something waiting at the end or
that the broken world can be escaped, this is also suggested in our thriller as the last scene of
the opening shows a hanging phone that’s ringing and therefore the audience are unaware of
what's approaching for the character next.
This is appealing for the audience as they are unaware of what's going to happen and therefore
want to continue watching as it entices them. This is reinforced by the caption on the poster
which state “You though it was over”, this again entices the audience as they don’t know what's
going to happen and consequently want to watch on.
8. Our final poster: Stereotypical
male
character of
a thriller with
survival
instincts
The name of our thriller
in bold white lettering
helps the audience to
see the title. The harsh
lines of the font also
create a eerie and tense
sense.
Hidden face
creates a sense of
intrigue for the
audience
Stereotype of a film
informing the
audience about
elements of the film
such as directors or
editors to help
influence them to
see the thriller.
Tagline ‘you thought it
was over’, the pronoun
“you” makes the
audience feel
personally involved
and therefore more
desired to see the
thriller
9. Our social networking
We decided to use Instagram as our main
social network as it appeals to our young
target audience who will be familiar with
the format and regularly check their
social network
Also it allowed us to upload photos so
that our audience could experience the
progression of our thriller with us and
therefore feel more persuaded to see
it when its released as they have
experienced the creation of the thriller
with the producers
We also used twitter, this is a social network that allows you
to post regularly to your followers in 140 characters or less.
This again appeals to our target audience as they are young
and often check their social networks, also media such as
photos or videos can be uploaded so that our followers can
keep up to date with the progression of our thriller
