The document proposes an idea for an individual pitch film assignment in the horror/slasher genre. The proposed film would follow a young female student in modern England who is stalked and psychologically tormented by an unknown antagonist during her exam week. Key conventions of the slasher genre like masked killers, vulnerable young protagonists, and ambiguous motives would be featured. The document outlines the plot, how it meets genre conventions, narrative enigmas, ways to make it less cliche, and priorities for camerawork, costumes, props, locations, editing and sound. Inspirational film clips from Halloween and Scream are also referenced.

1. Assignment 26:
Individual Pitch
By Abdullah Khan

2. Horror/Slasher

3. Films within the sub-genre include:
• Halloween
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Friday the 13th
• A Nightmare On Elm Street
• Psycho
• Scream
• Maniac
• Hatchet

4. Conventions of the slasher sub-genre:
• The antagonist is usually psychotic and is both equipped with a physical weapon and mask.
• The lighting in the film is usually quite low key to reinforce tension and enigma.
• The antagonist is usually represented without weaknesses adding to the initial fear.
• The protagonists are usually a young and are represented as vulnerable when juxtaposed with the
feared antagonist within the film.
• There are often many sequels to slasher films, with the return of the antagonist however the
quality of each progressing film usually decreases as well.
• The killer has usually suffered both psychologically and physically in the past, resulting in his
current psychotic state.
• The killer is usually masked and presented as sexually ambiguous however typically the audience
assume that the person is male.
• The locations and setting are usually a creepy houses, summer camps, streets, high schools,
colleges and even neighbourhoods in general.

5. What will happen in our film:
• A young female in modern England is stalked by an unknown antagonist in her neighbourhood during
her exam week.
• The protagonist character will be in a state of fear and paranoia as a result of regular sightings of the
antagonist.
• The assumed protagonist will be exposed as they would be both psychologically and physically
vulnerable, as others will not spot the antagonist that she is seeing in order to help her.
• The masked antagonist will be sighted regularly, harming the protagonist psychologically.
• A weapon will be visible in a later sighting to signify a physical threat and make the character very
vulnerable.
• Others will not be able to help her as they do no believe her, having investigated themselves they
conclude that she is suffering psychologically from the stress of exams however still having a benevolent
and therapeutic approach towards her as they sympathise with her situation.
• She looks to authorities for additional support however they are also unable to find anyone.
• The character begins to question her own sanity as she starts to believe she may be seeing thing,
compromising with the views of the people around her.

6. How we are meeting our conventions:
• The antagonist will be equipped with both a weapon and a mask to reinforce the convention.
• The protagonist will be a young and vulnerable individual, a typical convention of the genre.
• There will be an element of low key lighting to recreate a sense of mystery.
• The film will attempt at being will very enigmatic and engaging for audiences.
• The setting will be in streets and a typical house in a quite neighbourhood.
• The antagonist will be represented without weaknesses, helping to recreate fear.
• The antagonist will be suffering psychologically as a result of past experiences however as a result
of the short run time audiences will not be given an insight in to the back story.

7. Narrative Enigmas within our film include:
• The fact that the protagonist is stalked by an unknown antagonist creates enigmas as audiences want to
know more about the back story of the character.
• The audience of the film will wonder if this antagonist is within the mind of the character as an illusion
or actually a physical psychotic threat that is clever enough not be seen by anyone other than his
assumed victim.
• Audiences will wonder if the character is suffering as a result of sheer stress or as she assumes, there
being an actual psychotic threat.
• The audience will want to know the goal of the antagonist as he is only presented with a weapon
towards the later sightings, initially leaving audiences questioning his sheer motive.
• The character will have a flashback of the antagonist with a weapon, the weapon will however have
blood during the illusion, further creating enigmas as viewers will start to think that the protagonist
may actually be suffering psychologically rather than physically, only then to be surprised.

8. To make our film original and less cliché we:
• Our character (the protagonist) is both vulnerable physically as well as a psychologically as the
threat is prevalent for the character in both perspectives.
• Weapons will not be the main ignitor of fear but rather the situation of the protagonist as she is
stalked by an antagonist with an unknown motive and others around her do not compromise.
• The film ‘Halloween’ has a similar approach with Michael Myers being the psychotic stalking
antagonist however in terms of context it contrasts as our film is set during exam week and
focuses on the sheer stress experienced by the students/characters of the film rather than a
typical day of college or summer camp where a group of friends come across a physical threat e.g
‘Scream’ or ‘cabin in the woods’.

9. Our main targets in terms of having effective Camerawork,
Costume, Props, Location, editing and sound include:
• We wish to have all types of camera shots in order to surprise the audience and give the
film a clever look rather than a disposable, typical viewing.
• The costume for the antagonist will need to be original, having a black outfit with a
white mask is however suited to the idea as the contrast in color would help the
antagonist stand out.
• The editing will need to have a combination of frequent cuts to help engage the viewer,
reaction shots of the protagonist and screen time manipulation of the antagonist as the
three elements will combine to form an effective film, therefore will be prioritized.
• Props will need to be realistic as during the flashback sequence the blood on the knife
will need to look real and the weapon itself needs to look that way.

10. Inspirational clips from films:
• Halloween: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXrhObXq42o
• Scream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKukhIw5eY