Thriller Pitch Presentation John Glen, Georgia King, and Rosie B

Narrative Our thriller trailer is going to be first person based narrative, from the point of view of the male protagonist. We researched into existing thrillers and found that a common theme and story is identity. This then inspired us to use this stereotyped convention. The thriller is based around a man (Protagonist) who has lost his identity, and wakes up in hospital unaware of previous events, the only clue is the dream of standing over a ledge, this implies a suicidal aspect, that provides unanswered questions for the viewer. Unaware of who he is, he goes out seeking answers, to end up in an isolated room, where he is entranced by a television that provides clues that may help him to find his identity.

Costume, Lighting and Props

Costume - The scene opens in a hospital, therefore we found it necessary for the protagonist to wear a hospital gown. Once leaving the hospital a sense of normality is restored through the costume as he will be dressed in 'normal' clothing.

 Lighting - The light within the hospital will be almost painfully bright to create a clinical feel. When out of the hospital, lighting will be restored to 'normal’. Once in the room with the television the lighting will be darkened and the only light source will be the television, this creates a juxtaposition between the two lightings and therefore setting.

Props - In our piece we will only be using one main prop, this is the television. It is the focal point of the dark room and creates an anxious atmosphere due to it being quite old and static. Other props in our piece include hospital lamp to reinforce the opening setting and a projector as a backup in case the television does not work as well as we hope.

Characters and Actors

Characters - Our piece will only consist of one male protagonist, he is a young man who has forgotten who he is, his confusion leads him to the television where he is exposed to horrific clips and images.  We chose to include only one person as we thought this would give a better sense of isolation tying in with our theme of lost identity.

Actors - The protagonist will be male as this is a conventional aspect of thriller that we feel is vital for our thriller trailer. As males are often seen as more heroic as a protagonist than female whom are seen as more vulnerable.

Location and Setting Location - The location for the hospital scene, is actually going to take place in the nearby hospital Addenbrookes. Rosie's mum works in a hospital this may help us get access to the hospital. The dream sequence is going to take place at a ledge to ensure safety of participants. The final location is a classroom in college for the room with the television, as this is easy to access and easy to alter the settings.

Setting - We are going to be using three settings in total. This includes a hospital room, a dark unknown room, an outdoors location and on top of a building (which will be filmed on a small ledge for safety)

Sound, Camera work and Editing

Sound Ideas - Although we have not entirely decided on an appropriate sound track, we have discussed ideas of having a heartbeat throughout, to show the mood of the protagonist and we are also going to have a static noise to enhance the idea of mystery and uncertainty. From looking at past students work we have decided to keep dialogue to a minimum as we feel the alteration of music and dialogue looks and sounds very unprofessional due to a lot of background noise that is present a lot of the time.

Camera work Ideas - Although we have not finalized our ideas on camerawork, we have decided on a few shots that we would like to include. These are a number of close ups of the protagonists eyes whilst he is watching the television as well feel this is an effective way to show emotion. A few point of view shots in the eyes of the protagonist whilst he is watching the television so the viewer knows what the protagonist is watching, and also a close up of the protagonists face at the beginning to show him waking up and a sense of realism as to where he is.

Editing – we are going to do most of the editing post production As we are doing a flashback we need to make it clear that the emotions linked to the flashback are painful frightening and harsh by having a abrupt cut to black just before the protagonist is about to step over the edge. This will be followed by a sudden close up of a bright hospital light shining down the camera, this is to imply that the protagonist has been taken back to reality. The sequence of the television clips allows us to add credits with each individual clip, this will be edited in post production.

Target Audience

In order to know what conventions to use throughout our thriller trailer we needed to establish a target audience. We are not quite sure what specific audience we would like to attract, however we have thought about aiming it at 18-35 both males and females, as males are seen to appreciate thriller convention based films more than females. Despite this the male protagonist may appeal to the female audience also. Young to middle aged people value fast moving, tension filled thought provoking thrillers more than other target audiences this is a key aspect that drew us towards this age group.