Survey and Mini Pitch - Jasleen

My Survey 

In order to help my group and I think of ideas for the plot of our thriller opening, I created a survey that would help get an audience opinion on what we should consider to make our thriller as best as we can. I asked friends and family members to complete this survey. In total, 15 people completed my survey, of different ages.

The first question asked the person their age. The majority of people who completed my survey were between the ages of 15-25. 4 out of the 15 that completed the survey said their favorite genre of film was romance (and this turned out to be the most popular genre). Many people also said the story line is what attracts them to a thriller film, which suggested our group had to have a strong story line in order to attract people to our thriller. 78% of those who took part (11/15) said the story line was the most important thing to consider when making a thriller, and 14% (2 people) said the music was the most important. 

Furthermore, tension is obviously important in a thriller and most people agreed that the music was the main thing that creates the most suspense, while some also said setting creates the most tension, as these are the forms of a thriller genre. This helped our group because it enabled us to understand how we can create suspense in our own thriller opening (we need an eerie setting and tension filled music to create suspense). This also conforms to the conventions of a thriller.

One of the most important questions in my survey was 'What do you think is the best way for a thriller film to open?'. This was one of the most important questions because our task is to create the opening to a thriller. We want to make ours as best as we can, and by the results of my survey, the best way to start our thriller is in the past or by using flashbacks and jump cuts.

Mini Pitch 

Title: Why so serious?

My idea for our thriller focusses on an extraordinary man in the park where he is in a standstill whilst the world blurs past time, the man has an eerie presence about him as the camera closes in on him, you can see scars over his face with blood all over him, but as time moves on you tell it’s not his blood but the blood of someone or something, someone is following him he don’t see the person but can sense them like he has a sixth sense. As the person is in touching distance the man disappears all of a sudden leaving the follower angry and distressed 

Visuals and Sound: 

The film would open on a black screen, and you can hear police sirens in the background. Suddenly, a man appears on the screen. This man is standing alone amidst a park and the fog is partially covering is face. His eyes are red and it’s quite obvious he may be using a drug. The sound of sirens would be echoing in the background, making it clear he is hiding from the police. The camera has a close up on his face and the camera shows the audience scars on this man’s face. He’s standing in the middle of the park with the police cars driving around the park. While his head is whipping, flashbacks would be shown. 

The first flashback would be of this boy, his 3 friends and 5 other boys (drug dealers) sitting around a table in a second floor flat. There are drugs on the table. It would then cut back to the man holding his head and blood dripping from his hands. The sound of the sirens has got louder and you can now hear the voices of the policemen in the background shouting.

When he whips his head around for the second time, another flashback occurs. This time, the flashback shows a couple of men bursting in to his house with knives. These men were searching for this man for a long time with a deep reason. This may have been the reason why this man has so many scars on his face and an eerie background.

The third flashback has the police bursting into the house. They are shouting and flashing lights. The police think that they have been involved in something and tries to arrest them. These men shout to one another "run.... get out" and all the men try to escape. He then jumps out of a window and runs. It then cuts back to present time. The sound of the sirens and the policemen's voices are getting louder and louder and he feels the police getting closer and closer. He walks slowly and mysteriously off into the park just to find out that he’s being watched and followed. The screens then turns black.