The document discusses the development of an opening sequence for a film about gang violence and revenge in London. It describes how the sequence will begin with scenes introducing four main characters. It then shows three girls having a sleepover that is interrupted when one of the girls, Shannon, is kidnapped after answering the door. She is grabbed by a disguised man, put in the trunk of a car, and driven off as the credits begin. The document discusses how the group collaborated to develop the storyline and chose realistic everyday locations and conventions like lighting, music, and character archetypes to create suspense and intrigue audiences.

1. Treatment
As 18-year-old Lamar tries to come terms with the life he’s taken of young schoolboy, he
now intends to make the choice of coming out of gang life for good and settling down to
become a responsible father. However, he is now is up against the family who have
taken the situation in a completely different direction and seek no other than Revenge.
This teen drama covers the life of teens growing, living and making choices in the mean
streets of south London where there is only two roads. The good and the bad, while
some struggle to keep on the straight and narrow and become successful people of the
future, others are pulled into the hard life of trying to survive the streets.
In terms of the direction of our film, we intend to produce an interesting opening
sequence that portrays and emphasises ‘Revenge’ in the best way possible. We also aim
to leave the audience in total suspense and anxious to want to find out more.
By our opening sequence we aim to entice our audience by setting up a realistic scene in
which they are familiar with and most probably been in themselves. This will
immediately give them a feel as if they are in the film and allow them to think about
dangers that can easily happen in our everyday society through unfortunate events
taking place by members close to us. It also allows our audience to think about choice of
friends, boy/girl friends and whether they are really who they appear to be or a person
who can put you in danger or at risk.
Our opening scene was suppose to begin with a flashback of previous events the
character 'Lamar' has found himself in, including the most recent one of all, the death of
a young boy who he killed. This would have been shown through a range of pictures
shown at medium pace and intense background dialogue to portray the different
pictures.
However, we decided to begin our opening sequence with the pictures of four main
characters which appeared on screen in a circular motion alongside background music
that matched the speed of the motion. After showing the pictures of the four characters
the camera is focused on a close-up of the television whereby the audience can see a film
taking place. All of a sudden, we are introduced to a mid-shot of three girls screaming.
They are in their pyjamas and headscarves and look as if they are having a sleepover or a
girly night in. Due to the fright, the girls are seen talking to try and overcome it. Luckily,
the doorbell rings and ‘Shannon’ leaves the room to collect and pay for the food.
However, as she opens the door she is surprised by a disguised man staring right back at
her who immediately grabs her, puts her over his back and carries her out of the drive
way. This is where the audience is left asking a number of questions about who this
particular person is and the reasons behind her being kidnapped. As she tries to scream
and shout for her friends to hear her or for some type of help, she is out of luck. This is

2. the point whereby we are introduced to another disguised male who has the boot ready
and waiting for her to go in this mysterious car. This gives us the impression that this
event was planned by group of people who are likely to be seeking ‘Revenge’. Once she is
in the boot, the scene gets intense as the males run back into the car and the engine
begins to rev. As the car speeds off into the night the background music fades in slowly
and the credits then appear.
Our group decided on the storyline by coming up with a number of ideas that eventually
came together as one good idea. We did this by simply taking different parts of
everybody’s idea and putting together, what we believed worked well. We also made
various changes and replaced good ideas with better ones. Our decision making process
was carefully deciding on what worked effectively from what didn’t and what would
make the opening scene interesting in order to engage with our audience. Throughout
all the different processes that the film has to go through, it is likely that there will be
more changes that will improve the opening sequence and film as a whole.
The feedback from our questionnaires and interviews helped us make various decisions
such as the choice of characters and the scenes we chose to include, in order to build up
tension or intensity.
Although young characters were going to be used, we ensured that we stuck to this idea
so that young people could relate to the characters. This however, doesn’t mean that
people of an older age can’t watch the film; as watching it will benefit them in being
aware of the lives of the young generation and understanding things from their
perspective. According to our target audience, a film that builds up tension is much
better than one that gets straight to the point which is why we chose to start off with a
fairly light hearted scene, that made people jump and unaware of what was going to
happen next.
Our scenes are set in everyday places for example in a house and on the road. We have
chosen these particular locations as they are easy to get to and they fit in well with our
opening sequence. If it were to be set in another location such as a hotel, it would bring
away the whole atmosphere that we aim to come across as realistic to our audience. The
house scene (in the bedroom) creates realism, as it is common for young girls to be
having a sleepover at their friend’s house chilling, playing music and eating snacks.
Other parts of the house shown consisted of the stairs and the front door which
decreased in lighting as danger became closer. When shooting outside, we chose to film
in the night whereby a mysterious setting was created and there is a serious tone.
Our opening sequence conforms to the thriller conventions in a number of ways such as
lighting, sounds, music, characters and editing used. By the use of dark lighting at the
highlight of the opening sequence, it creates the idea of the film being a mystery. Rather
than using background music throughout, we used it only for the beginning and ending
of the opening sequence. As for the other parts of the opening sequence, there was
dialogue between characters and exaggerated noises such as screams and a car engine

3. which are common within thriller films. By the girl screaming, it evokes endangerment
and desperation to seek help. The contrast between the main male and female
characters shows the stereotypical view of how men are portrayed as being strong and in
control and women as vulnerable and sometimes under the influence.
To conclude, I believe we made a successful opening sequence by introducing ideas that
will hint to the audience what the overall film will be about. Although, we had a number
of good ideas, we chose the best one that would be the most effective and portray
conventions of a thriller film. We also took into consideration the views of our target
audience and what interests them. By doing this, we feel as a group that they will be
satisfied and be enticed by the opening sequence.