The document provides details about planning and creating an opening sequence for a thriller film. It includes: 1) The opening sequence establishes the stalker villain who has secretly been obsessively tracking the main character. 2) The second scene uses dramatic irony by showing the characters unaware they are talking to their stalker, building suspense. 3) The discussion turns aggressive and the stalker strangles their victim, abruptly ending the scene to hook viewers.

1. HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO, TO PROTECT THE
ONES YOU LOVE?...THE WORLD IS A DANGEROUS
PLACE. TRUST. NO ONE.

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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