This document outlines the pitch for a short thriller film called "Missing". The plot involves a female photographer who goes into the woods for a project and encounters her friend Chris, who is revealed to have a sinister past of killing other women. Flashbacks show Chris murdering past victims. The ending is left ambiguous as to what happens to the female protagonist. The film is aimed at audiences aged 15-21 and will incorporate themes of mystery, suspense and drama through the use of technology like mobile phones and camera equipment.

1. Short Film Pitch
MISSING
Becker Watson, Dominique Bendelow, Michaela Boddy

2. Title…
We used www.dafont.com to get different
styles of writing for the title of our film. The
choice we like the best will be used on our
film poster.
The title ‘Missing’ gives a sense of unknown
to the audience based on our ending, which
is an open ending.

3. Concept…
We watched three main films to give us the ideas and inspiration for this film, which
include; Sweeney Todd, Psycho and Zodiac.
All three films are based on the idea of a serial killer with a main genre of psychological
thriller.
These films relate best to our short film idea because we wanted to try and make ours
a thriller, although we keep the truth of the ending hidden from the audience.

4. Narrative…
Plot/Synopsis
The film opens with different pictures of our main female character with her
boyfriend and with her friend, with the opening credits and the title on top of all
the images that are shown. Our main female character is going to Guisborough
Woods for inspiration for her photography project. She gets to the place in the
woods she wants to be, which is a secluded area, and she sees her friend Chris who
has took his dogs for a walk. Just as the female character sees him she receives a
text from her boyfriend asking “Are you ok?”, she hesitates and replies back with
“I’ll phone you in 10 minutes”. She then goes and talks to Chris, as they hug the
camera closes up on Chris’s face, he closes his eyes and we see a flashback of him
doing the same thing with numerous other girls and then killing them. We are
brought back to reality as Chris opens his eyes and has a sinister look on his face.
The female character is unknown to this change in him. As she tries to leave he asks
for one more hug, at which point his hand goes into his pocket to retrieve an
unknown object, the camera flashes back to Chris’s face with a sinister smile again
and the screen goes black. There is the sound of a struggle with leaves rustling and
twigs snapping then silence. We then see the images from the opening of the film
and the camera focuses on Chris in the background of every image, to suggest he
has some obsession with the female character. The sound of a phone ringing can be
heard, the image to the Woods returns showing the female characters phone on the
floor and her boyfriend phoning. The screen then goes black and the end credits are
shown.

5. Characters…
‘Victim’
Within our short film we are going to have a so called ‘Victim’. We
are going to make the audience feel like this person is a victim all
the way through, but also make them question themselves as they
consider the fact that maybe she isn’t the victim, but she’s also
another villain by cheating on her boyfriend. We leave this bit to
the imagination which also keeps people in suspense and makes
them want more.
‘Villain’
We also have the typical ‘Villain’ who is after the victim. We
will make the audience constantly feel on edge with the way
this character is portrayed in our short film. But towards the
end we make it obvious that everything may not be what it
seems, and we’re unsure of where the story ends. Although
this happens, we also make it known that he was previously a
villain which adds to the confusion of the narrative.

6. Mise en Scene…
Our film is set in a secluded area of Guisborough Woods,
(most likely in the snow, knowing our luck). This is seen
as a mysterious setting and gives the impression that the
main female character is, obviously besides Chris, alone.
The era of the film will be modern day, so
2011/2012 depending on when we start filming.
This will allow us to incorporate modern day
technology such as mobile phones, into the film.
Our villain, Chris, will be dressed in all black;
black jeans, black hoodie, possibly wellies,
gloves, maybe a scarf and a hat but he already
has black hair. Our female character will be For the majority of our film we will
dressed in normal winter/snow day clothes; be using the daylight provided,
wellies, big coat, hat, gloves, scarf etc. which will create a more ambient
and lively feel, although we maybe
need to use torches etc to create
low key lighting or to show facial
expressions with close ups. (We
would use the big lights, but there’s
no plugs in the woods).

7. Audience Profile…
Our film is aimed mainly at an audience of ages between
15 – 21 approximately and will also be for both male and
females. Although it may be more male dominated due to
more males liking thriller films than females.

8. Themes, Time and Technology…
The theme of time will be present within the
flashback, showing that it’s going back in time.
Technology will be present with the use of mobile
phones and the camera the main female character
will have.
Other themes present will be; Mystery, Suspense,
Drama, Thriller.

9. Animatic…
This animatic made on
www.goanimate.com gives a almost
overview of our short film. It doesn’t
happen like this in the film, we just had
to work with what we had.
http://goanimate.com/movie/00xKv73G0rR4?utm_source=linkshare&uid=02wp4V60mzI4