Pitch of Thriller opening idea

Narrative idea:
Our initial idea is to have lewis at the start in his darkened room staring at a wall of photos of girls, some pictures have their faces scribbled out and the photographs that have Bronte's face on have red circles around for the audience to acknowledge the significance of her character role. The camera will move round slowly showing glimpses of the photos. We will use mysterious, non-diegetic music to indicate creepiness and eery feel of the atmosphere and the music will intensify when a photo of Bronte appears on screen. By this point, the main character has not fully being introduced - you can only see half of Lewis's face enhancing the mysterious and uncertainity of the character.

This is an image of a wall of photograph that give a brief idea of the wall photos going to be included in our opening sequence. Unlike this image, our wall of photos will look scattered across the wall and will have red pen marks carelessly drawn on to create a stalkery effect.



The camera then jump cuts to Bronte sitting and waiting at a bus stop in the early evening, she isn't alone as there are other people at the other end of the bus stop, in order to create a natural environment. All are dressed up as it is Halloween and Bronte is waiting to get the bus to go to a party. Suddenly, you see lewis walking past in a suit and a briefcase smoking a cigarette. This is when the audience are fully introduced to the main character. He walks past and suspiciously glances at Bronte even though she is unaware. He keeps walking on, then lewis walks out the darkness and starts talking to Bronte, he then walks off casually.

It the cuts to a dark back alley and suddenly footsteps start getting louder and louder, it cuts back to bronte at the bus stop and she starts to hear the footsteps, however she takes no notice of them until they start getting louder. She looks quickly to her left and the couple have disappeared, she then slowly turns back to her right, and the masked man is sitting next to her, he smiles evilly at her...

Location:
The location will be at a bus stop in Cambridge at night time, to create a natural atmosphere on Halloween night. Filming in the evening as it begins to get dark will create a more spooky atmosphere that will help add to the approach of the narrative. The aim of this location is to make the location appear ordinary, therefore making the storyline appear unexpected.

Character/Actors:
The main character played by Lewis can be described as a psychological mentalist whose character role is to stalk Bronte. He appears to be very dark and mysterious and is unrelatable to the audience due to his psychological problems. He appears really suspicious and his actions are unpredictable. On the other hand, Bronte's character is innocent and harmless - She is Lewis's victim. Her character is very similar to the girl in 'The Shining' as she is very innocent and frightened by the behaviour of Johnny. These characters are binary opposites.

Opening sequence: We will need an establishing shot or a medium shot of bronte sitting at the bus stop to set the location.

Lewis' character will be introduced from two sides, the respectable business man and the psychologically challenged male. The location of his bedroom/picture room will also be set but only by a close up of the pictures on the wall, so this would be a set rather than location. for all the audience knows this room is set in the same area as the bus stop.

Genre:
Our thriller is most suited to the conventions of a psychological thriller. This is because the danger included is on mostly a mental level rather than physical as Lewis is a solitary character who can be viewed as a loner with mental struggles. He has a clear fascination with stalking people and death that helps explain the narrative of the movie. The opening suggests that the two main characters are going to be constantly playing on one anothers mind throughout the movie which is a convention of a psychological thriller. Additionally, the narrative includes confusion over what is real and what's not as one minute Lewis is dressed in a smart business-like suit, and then suddenly changes to wearing a mask. The conventions of a psychological thriller will be represented consistently throughout the opening.

Intertextuality/references:
Taking inspiration from 'The Dark Knight' we think our main character, Lewis has many similarities to the Joker. They both appear to have psychological issues and both their costumes are to act as a disguise. Likewise to the Joker, Lewis's behaviour will be unpredictable and villainous, meaning that both their character roles add a twist to the story line. Both characters bring a sense of dread to the scene and are oblivious to other character's thought and opinions.

Mise-en-scene
Costume:
Lewis will be dressed smartly in in a black suit, carrying a briefcase and smoking a cigarette, this is to create the impression of a smart business man, who appears safe and trusting. The briefcase is to make him look executive, responsible and successful, unlike the true personality of his character.
Fitting with the atmosphere, Bronte will be dressed as a black cat revealing that it is Halloween. The costume is to create a natural atmosphere of a Halloween evening. Jess, who will also be waiting at the bus stop as an extra will be wearing a wonder woman outfit to make the scene look more authentic and realistic that is is Halloween and that they are going to party.

Props:
Several props will be needed in our opening sequence:

• A brief case
  
• Cigarette
• lots of photographs of random girls and Bronte
• A mask

Taking inspiration from Donnie Darko, when Lewis's appearance changes from an ordinary business man to a masked psycho, it adds a surreal approach to the opening, as the audience are uncertain as to what is real life through the use of mise-en-scene.
Mood Board
This is our mood board for our thriller opening of images from movies that has given us inspiration and has influenced our location, narrative and mainly the types of characters that are going to include in our work. The images I have gathered are ideas that have influenced the ideas we have for our opening and the references we have taken from these thriller movies to assist the development of our work. Made by Bronte.