Concept For Thriller Opening

1. CONCEPT
THE TITLE OF MY FILM:
[To be decided]
MY TARGET AUDIENCE:
The intended target audience that we are directing our opening sequence towards are people
between the ages of sixteen and thirty. The rating we intend on using for the film is R16.
THE 6-15 INSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS I WILL INCLUDE IN MY FILM ARE:
The institutional conventions we will include in the opening sequence include:
Dark logo design reflective of thriller genre and its general tone.
Non-focused-text text (black on white) to convey suspense and mystery. Starts as out of focus,
then into focus briefly before returning to being out of focus.
Low-key lighting reflective of general thriller conventions, relates to the idea of being unaware of
the unknown and the suspense it creates.
Warm colours, including reds, browns, etc. Red is a colour used often in thrillers symbolising death
which is important for the narrative the sequence follows.
Diegetic sound of the car whilst driving, the body in the trunk, bumps of the road, suspension,
radio, car door closing/opening, etc.
Ambient sound as second character enters car, gives a break from the narrative in the car and
suggests that the outside world is still operating and that the events occurring could be happening
right now.
Sound ranges
THE 6-15 GENRE CONVENTIONS I WILL INCLUDE IN MY FILM ARE:
Mood of the opening sequence needs to be mysterious and not give too much away to give the
reader a sense of obscurity from the narrative, whilst still keeping them entertained and intrigued.
Tone will imply mystery and obscurity of the character’s identities and background to add to the
suspense created during the sequence.
Narrative must be reflective of the thriller genre in its obscurity and dealings with ideas of the
unknown that is the underlying human fear. The characters, setting, mise-en-scene, etc must all be
mysterious and suspenseful.
Dialogue will be simplistic and unrelenting of the story line, while still offering enough for the viewer
to gain a taste of the narrative.
A PLOT SYNOPSIS:
An unidentified character drives through a city environment as the radio plays a news coverage of
a missing person report. The driver pulls up to the curb outside a derelict looking house, turning
down the radio to a dull buzz as a second character, also unidentified, gets into the car. The two
characters talk briefly, referring to a job well done and an object of importance located in the trunk
of the car. As the car drives over speed bumps a dull thump can be heard from the boot as the
suspension makes it move around inside, suggesting something heavy. The two men pull up in the
car and open the trunk to reveal a large object wrapped up in plastic, possibly a human body. The
two men struggle to carry the body towards the body of water they have parked in front of, before
weighing the body down and dumping it. The men then watch the body until it disappears, before
getting back into the car and driving away.
CHARACTERS AND NAMES (with detailed explanations about their purpose in the film and
their background/relationship with other characters):
Driver: the main character in the narrative. he drives the car in the street until meeting with another
man known as the ‘passenger’. The Driver has an implied relationship with the passenger that was
developed far before this scene.
Passenger: Has apparently done a job for the Driver beforehand and is picked up by him. The
passenger has had done a job with the Driver, but is never really revealed what this illegal job was.

2. PRACTICALITIES OF FILMING/CONTENT (examples - how realistic is your idea, will you
have any health and safety issues, how simple will it be to find actors/actresses and
locations with detailed comments):
We will not be together during the holidays which will leave a two week gap of work. Charles
Clatworthy has a car which may not be able to fit the low key lighting and dark mood of the scene.
The location of the scene will be pretty easy to find as it only needs to consist with a car and body
bag. But the filming while driving will be quite dangerous. So we will have to extra precautions
when filming while driving. One of the shots of Opening will have a person in a body, which could
cause harm to his body.