A2 Film Pitch

 

https://youtu.be/nKPGE2p04OU

Own film - Initial ideas

Target audiences

                                

Target audience for crime thrillers 

 

Demographics - Demographics are quantifiable characteristics of a given population

 

Psychographics - Personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles of media consumers.



The range of audiences who watch crime films varies dependent on the type of film it is. For example, more intense and action full crime films, such as Bad Boys and Snatch appeal typically to a much younger audience. In comparison, crime films which are less action packed and instead focus more on a gripping, intellectual storyline would also appeal to an older audience, such as Get Carter and Hidden. . However, this is not the case with the thriller genre as thrillers specifically target a younger audience through use of action and suspense. The typical crime thriller audience member would be 18-30.

Crime thrillers also have the ability to appeal to both male and female audiences for a variety of reasons. Female audiences would be able to enjoy and appreciate the emotional struggles and typical “damsel in distress” storylines. In contrast, a male audience would favour the presence of action and violence in crime thrillers and also the intensity of criminal behaviour. Crime films are more typically aimed at males but still can appeal to a female audience.

Crime thrillers also have the ability to appeal to various social classes.  This is because typical crime thrillers have characters from all classes and they are represented within the productions in different lights. For example, working class people are presented to struggle with money and this is often the reason why they can turn to lives of crime and criminal behaviour. Furthermore, the middle class is often represented by the officers themselves who usually have families that are in some way involved in the story and finally the upper class is represented by those involved in criminal activity that have made large amounts of wealth from the criminal activity, such as drug kingpins. These representations mean that crime thrillers appeal to all classes as they have relatable characters at every level of production.

My target audience member is a male represents a middle class person who fits between the 18-30 bracket. This means he is likely to enjoy the crime thriller genre because he would like the presence of violence and also the suspense created by the film. Furthermore, my target audience member would also be able to gain an insight into the struggle for money of the working class because he is in a financially stable position himself.   

 

 

 

 

Zodiac trailer research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEvnwKFUnI0 - Zodiac trailer

 

Zodiac

Establishing shot – Immediately sets the scene for the film by alerting the audience of the location of the film. However, non-synchronous sounds of police sirens and the sounds of fireworks being replaced by gunshots immediately build suspense.

Quick cuts and fades to black – Gradually builds the tempo of the introduction to further signify the suspense of the film. This means that the eventual climax of the trailer will be more shocking to the audience because of a prolonged build up.

Slow motion – Addresses the presence of a weapon and shows that the woman who is in the car has been shot dead as well as giving the audience enough time to see there is a silencer attached to the weapon, implying the Zodiac is murdering people in a silent fashion and will not be caught. The shot also shows a small glimpse of the Zodiac’s face so audience members begin to speculate who the killer could be, further raising the suspense.

Change of pacing – Mid way through the introduction there is a change in things such as the background music and the fades to black change to dissolves to decrease the sinister values of the trailer by not leaving the audience unsure. There is also more focus on the main character of the production, with slightly humorous undertones as well as less fear on people’s faces in close-up shots.

Dialogue – There is no presence of a voiceover man in the trailer because it is a much more modern work. This means the emphasis on dialogue and character performance is greatly increased as well as non-diegetic sounds playing a key role in setting the tone for the film. The presence of edgy music as well as intense character performance promote the insecurities of the police trying to catch the killer while the light-hearted music and laid back character performance change the tone of the film.

There are many similarities between the introductions of Seven and Zodiac, such as changes of pacing. Despite both having this change they are used very differently in each of the two films. The change in the Seven is used to place greater importance on the action of the introduction and draw attention away from the two main characters focussed on in the first part of the sequence. Zodiac does the opposite, where the attention is drawn away from the action and placed on the endeavours of the main character. Furthermore, there are also lots of differences in the two pieces. Zodiac’s establishing shot is of the skyline and shows the audience where the film is based whereas Seven does not show where the film is based and makes the sequence more edgy initially. Finally, there is also a clear change in structure of the sequences because of the time gap in when they were made.

The much earlier made Seven still used a voiceover man whereas Zodiac solely focussed on dialogue and sound effects with background music throughout the intro.

Seven Trailer Research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YV2_TcCoE - Seven trailer

Seven

Flash cuts – Seven uses white flashes as cuts that happen quickly in order to quickly change between shots of an open window, a container with a hidden window and a body. This is done between the 7^th and 10^th seconds of the production to give an audience an insight into the mystery of the film by leaving a lot of questions unanswered and the quickness of the cuts means the course of the film is still unknown.

Close ups – There is a large number of close ups used in the trailer of Seven and this helps to highlight the expression of the characters. A key example is the eye level close up of Morgan Freeman, where he shines a torch at the camera. This emphasises that they are desperately looking for the killer and also shows his face in a very confused and uncomfortable manner, potentially because he is fearful for his own life.

Establishing shots – There is a lack of establishing shots in the opening sequence to further promote the elements of questioning the introduction. Even the location of the film is left unknown in the early stages of the trailer.

Voiceover/Narrative – It is clear that the production was made in 1997 because the outdated convention of a voiceover man is present. The voiceover man has a very deep voice and his tone presents an edgy nature to the trailer. Furthermore, the voiceover presents a use of binary oppositions between the two officers through “looking for a way in” vs “looking for a way out” showing the contrast in positions of the two main characters, adding another conflict into the production.

Changes of pacing – The trailer presents the dynamics of the introduction with a change in pacing part way through. There is a shift from a large emphasis on dialogue and character information in the first half, changing to a large amount of action and the presence of guns and violence to show the intense side of the story.

Cast names and Title – The title and cast names are presented through the use of the voiceover man. This is a demonstration of how star power is used in order to attract people to watch the production who would want to see the likes of Morgan Freeman. Furthermore, leaving the title to the end of the sequence keeps people curious what the production is about and makes them more likely to remember the production’s name.

The Girl on the Train trailer research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoEE1i0CX8 - The Girl on the Train trailer

The Girl on the Train

Background music – Light piano music is atypical to the dark presentation of the film. This helps to promote confusion on behalf of the audience because they are unsure of what theme the film is based on until the woman’s disappearance and the introduction of the new character.

Cuts to text – Breaks from the action to inform the audience that the scene they are watching is in the past tense, this symbolises that the events that took place will have a big impact on the narrative and draws attention to what is happening to ensure there is no confusion.

Gaps of silence – Presents a sense of unknowing throughout the entirety of the narrative as the audience is left in suspense and can consider what is going on. This leads to increasing curiosity and highlights the lack of information given by the trailer.

Slow motion/small jump cuts – Introduce the lead woman character who witnessed the disappearance of the woman. Makes her a key part of the production and the change in tone of music to a slower and more dark style further presents the disappearance to be of key importance in the narrative.

Random cuts – The production cuts to random, unexplained scenes which lead to further questions being asked by the audience who are unsure what may have happened in the film. There is also the question of whether the scenes are from the past or present because there was no flash forward from the original cuts of “one week ago”.

 

Changes of pacing – Like the changes I found in other thrillers, including Seven and Zodiac, the narrative changes pace in the middle of the introduction. This introduction changes pace like Zodiac does to place emphasis on the main character, in this case presenting her reliance on alcohol and how this could change the reliance of what she is saying.

Film & production company names - Brainstorm

Film name brainstorm

Lust

Unhinged

Kidnap

Love me

Animosity of love

Infatuation

Darkness of love

Amare

Amavi

 

The hostage

Production company names

Midnightstar

Blackstar
Blackness
Darkstar
Darkness

 
Nightfall

Duskiness
Evening
Eventide
Gloom
Nightfall

Nighttime

Obscurity
Twilight

Darkness

Hoursstar

Dawn
Hour
Dead of night

Dimstar
Dusk to dawn
Nightshade

 

 

Thriller research - Mood Board

When researching film titles, we designed a brief mood board to analyse a vast range of thriller films and make comparisons of conventions. For example, the large presence of red in the film covers is something that I will use in both my magazine poster and front cover to appropriately show the thriller genre. Furthermore, the large emphasis on the main image and lack of text is something i will use in my film poster, ensuring the main image maintains focus and is centre of attention.

Thriller - Initial ideas

Thriller – A play or film with an exciting plot which promotes fear, typically involving crime or espionage.

Initial ideas:
Low key lighting
Tapping into fears
Rollercoaster of emotions
Fast editing
Mystery
Pacing changes
Action
Justice
Loud dialogue
`
What makes us scared?
Heights
Blood
Strangers
Night
Enclosed spaces
Criminals
Weapons
Violence
Darkness
Death
Weapons
Loss of control

Sub genres:
Comedy
Disaster
Psychological
Chiller
Espionage
Political
Romantic
Survival
Crime

Thriller - Title Research

Own film poster - AS

Own film poster

 

 

Main image - This is main image is larger than in my magazine cover and takes centre stage. This is because the sole purpose of the poster is to advertise my film so the main actor is the key part of the poster

 

Strap line - The name of my film is key in demonstrating what the film is on the magazine so is placed in front of the main image. It is a bigger part than in my magazine cover so is bigger and more outstanding.

 

Subheadings - These are main parts of the poster that tease the audience about what they can expect from the film and begin to build the main character as the hero

 

Character names - Located in a small band at the top of the poster, informs the audience of who is in the film and can also attract the audience, as they may want to watch the film because of who acts in it

 

Background - The use of a dark grey gradient background was used in my magazine poster because it allows the main image to clearly stand out alongside the strapline and subheadings, making it eye-catching