Because my two film idea's are slightly different genre's my target audience age and interest will be slightly different, however most of it is the same.
My films will in the BBFC 12 or 15 , depending on which film i choice to create, ('The Book' - 12, and 'She waiting for you' - 15) Meaning my target audience will be aimed at teenagers and young adults. Also of both genders (Male and Female) However i do want my films to also be aimed at a slightly older generation (20-30's) As i want either film to be able to entertain a wider audience range, as i think both stories will entertain a slightly wider age range. On the JICNAR scale this will be categorised as C2DE. My audience will also be a mainstream audience fit into all different stereotypes who just like watching action packed film's full of interesting story lines (Or if i select "She waiting for you" Enjoy getting scared, and enjoy tension.)
Im going to show 10 people from my target audience my pitches ( Im showing 5 people 'She's waiting for you' and 5 people 'The book') and ask them these questions -
-Would you come see my film?
-Why?
-What do you think of the narrative of the film?
-What would you change about the narrative?
-Whats Good about the narrative?
- Does it fit with the genre?
-Would you include anything else? Is anything you think should be added.
Hopefully from the answers i get it will help me decide which film idea is best and what i will create my final product around. Im also going to ask different people (For example i will ask a boy who is aged 15 and likes playing football, then i will ask a girl aged around 22 who likes Musicals.) This is so i get a wide range of opinions and answers and making sure my films will attract loads of different people.
Feedback for 'She's waiting for you' -
(Video)
(Interview with Alex Ball - wouldn't be filmed or recorded.)
Would you see my film? - yes.
Why? - It seems really interesting , Like the use of dark lighting to set the atmosphere of the film.
Would you change anything? - No.
Does it fit in the psychological thriller genre? - Yes, but i'd say it linked more with horror or, could be turned into a horror film.
Would you include anything else? - Maybe more about the story however, i like how you've left it at a cliff hanger. It makes me want to see what else happens.
(Voice Recording.)
Feedback for 'The Book' -
(Video)
(Voice Recording)
(Voice Recording)
(Interview with Nisha Sharma - Wouldn't be films or recorded.)
Would you see my film? - Its not my type of film, however i like sound of the story so i would come and see it to find out what happens.
Why? - It seems really intriguing, and i can imagine so cool twists are going to happen.
Would you change anything? - maybe the idea of her getting given a book and maybe say she found it hidden in her loft.
Does it fit in the drama/ thriller genre? - Yes, it could link more to thriller. It depends what happens to her.
Would you include anything else? - No, Maybe in the pitch talk about what will happen when she reads the book, but apart from that, No.
Here is a pitch of my two idea, that i would send show to a film company to see if they would publish and give support on making my film, and to an audience to see if they will watch my film.
These don't hold much detail as i want people to want to see the film and know what happens, as its just a 30 second teaser to get audience's excited. (These are not the actors i will use or props.)
All of the detail about the characters and plot etc.. is on another post titled 'Initial Idea's'
1. Plot Summary - 'She's waiting for you'
2. Plot Summary - 'The Book.'
The genre i am looking into is Thrillers, However i want my films to also be a Psychological thriller. I would like my film to be relatable in a way where its the audience's fear of something happening to them like being followed at night time, being scared to go into a grave yard, feel like you are being watched.
Thriller films are usually based around Good and Evil ( like Strauss) At the beginning of the film, there is peace that has been disturbed by something or someone which leads to a chain of bad things happening. The aim of the main character is to then restore piece. The main conventions are low key lighting creating a dark mysterious atmosphere. mise-en-scene is a big old fashioned house which is in a wide open space. Using a young woman as a victim and being the main character, however usually ends up being the 'final girl.'
I have two brief story lines for my film. i will choose one of them once I've done some research to my target audience, asking which one they think is best.
Film Idea's -
My first idea is based around a girl named Georgia aged 18. She doesn't have a dad so the mom is a single parent, however she died soon after she was born. The film will start when in they she is 18 years old and is living with her aunt.The sister is looking through some old photo boxes when she comes across a hidden box, which holds pictures of another baby, a birth certificate and information on where she is, she soon discovers she has a twin sister called Elise. She becomes obsessed with finding her other sister and when she does, its the biggest regret of her life.
Narrative (Equilibrium, Dis-Equilibrium)
The twin sister is locked away in a hospital, she has been there since the day she was 2. Their mom sent her there because she was born with an upside down cross ( sign of the devil ) on the lobe of her ear, and the mom was convinced her little girl was possessed. The two daughter where inseparable in the first few years they were born, the one little girl (Elise) was different too the other, and every photo taken of her came out blurry or has weird orbs around her, and every night the young girl Georgia used to cry saying Elise scared her and someone was in the wardrobe. The mom decided to take her away to hospital and on the way back she died in a car crash, but no evidence of another car crashing into her was ever found.
(Equilibrium) Georgia is 18, and is looking for cute baby photo's of her and her mom to stick on her wall when she comes across a hidden box.(Dis-equilibrium) Inside the box there is baby photo's of her, Elise and her mom, The strange photo's of her sister, She finds birth certificates and a piece of paper with her and location on it. Georgia goes to find Elise and finds nothing wrong with her and takes her home. But what Georgia does know is that Elise isn't as normal as she thinks. As days pass by more and more weird paranormal things start happening to Georgia. This carries on until Georgia discovers that Elise is planning to take revenge on Georgia and live in life she never got to live.
My other idea is also going to be a Thriller, however it will also have sub-genre's like fantasy drama. Very much like the film 'Lucy'
My Second Idea -
My second idea is based around a book. The plot of the story is, a girl called Esther gets given a book by a random lady in the street. When she decides to read this book she notices this book is about her entire life, The rest of the story is based around whether she will read the book till the end.
Narrative (Equilibrium, Dis-Equilibrium)
(Equilibrium) Esther is a normal 19 year old and is looking at the stalls on a market in her town, She comes across this one stall, separate from all the others. On the stall is an old lady selling books, Esther goes over to this stall and the lady hands her a book, She says its for her with no charge. Esther take's the book home and starts reading it. (Dis-equilibrium) As she reads it she realizes this book is about her life, she carries on reading it till it gets to the day she brought the book off some woman. She decides to carry on reading little bits of the book, however every bit she reads something more distressing happens to her or her family. She reads it up to her age of 30 and gets so distressed by the book and all the things that happen to her she rips all the pages out from the day she got the book. The next day Esther has disappear and no where to be seen. When she destroyed the book, she destroyed the rest of her life.
Derren Brown is a British illusionist, mentalist, trickster, hypnotist, painter, writer, and sceptic and is from London, and ages 43. ( His website derrenbrown.co.uk/)
I want to look at Derren Browns work, and try and feature his style of magic into my trailer. He looks into things like Ouji Boards and how the mind works, he looks at psychological things and what scares us and why. All his work and episodes have a purpose and usually a twist revealing all the things that scare us are caused by us, and we make ourselves scared. Another reason why I'm looking into his work is because he does things that can happen in the real world, and what is peoples worst nightmare creating a very personal effect experiences on the audience, which is what I want to do in my trailer.
I've picked two films that genre is thriller, Im looking at these as i want to make a film trailer like these.
The Pact -
Director and Writer - Nicholas McCarthy
Cast - Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Mark Steger
Genre - Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Distributors - Entertainment One, IFC Midnight (Theatrical) and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (DVD)
Producers - Preferred Content
Plot - Nichole Barlow comes to San Pedro with her daughter Eva to attend the funeral of her mother. She calls her estranged sister Annie to help her to resolve pending businesses, but Annie is too traumatised with the bad treatment spent by their mother and does not want to return to their childhood home. Nichole convinces her sister to come and she arrives to the funeral. However, Nichole goes missing and Eva stays with Nichole's cousin Liz. When Liz also disappears, Annie claims that supernatural events happen in the house but she becomes the prime-suspect. The open-minded detective Bill Creek assumes the investigation and realizes that there is something weird in the house. Meanwhile Annie summons the medium Stevie believing that the ghost of her mother is responsible for the vanishing of Nichole and Liz. But the woman warns Annie that there is a great danger in the house. Annie decides to go further in her investigation and discovers dark secrets from the past of her family.
Analysis -
The trailer shows this plot very well and clearly, with out giving too much away, It first shows 2 minor characters (Annie's sister and her daughter, the story line is based around her.) talking on webcam. This is a short 20 second shot and with use of captions sets the theme for this film.
These set the atmosphere for this film, with the use of a little girl asking her mom "who's that behind you?" This gives an audience sense of tension and adrenaline, and shows who the audience may of thought is the main character gets killed off almost at the start, which has been seen in other horrors and thrillers.
Then the protagonist is introduced, Annie. She is shown riding in on a motorbike which tells us she is a tough/bag girl, which is subverting the stereotype and conventions of a lot of thrillers as they are usually preppy, ditsy girls who are usually the main. She sticks to this as we see through out the trailer she is brave , confident and goes back to face whatever is in the house.
However it does follow the representation of a stereotypical thriller film by using a young woman as a victim and being the main character.
The other main cast in the film is a man, who is revealed at the end in a slight plot twist. He isn't shown in the trailer as it would give too much away in the film. However he also follows the stereotype of a male main character in a thriller or horror as being the villain.
The trailer overall use's the code and conventions you stereotypically see in thriller and horror films, For example the low key lighting creating a dark mysterious atmosphere to the film and the non diegetic sound effects like a heart beat which something scary happens or when text comes up. The background and fonts and editing on them is the same as what is used on other big thriller and horror films. Also the muse-en-scene is a big old fashioned bungalow and the protagonist is alone in the house which is in a wide open space. All the camera shot are a mixture, there a close ups, long shots, panning, zoom/reverse zoom and a lot of cuts which help show how fast things happen in the film. The editing is in continuity which shows the story line but doesn't give to much away.
Lucy -
Im looking at this film, as im interesting in sociological side to thrillers and interesting storied like Lucy.
Director and Writer - Luc Besson
Cast - Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman
Genre - Action, Sci - Fi, Thriller
Producer - Canal+
Distributor - Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures International.
Plot - It was supposed to be a simple job. All Lucy had to do was deliver a mysterious briefcase to Mr. Jang. But immediately Lucy is caught up in a nightmarish deal where she is captured and turned into a drug mule for a new and powerful synthetic drug. When the bag she is carrying inside of her stomach leaks, Lucy's body undergoes unimaginable changes that unlocks her mind's full potential 100%. With her new-found powers, Lucy turns into a merciless warrior intent on getting back at her captors. She receives invaluable help from Professor Norman, the leading authority on the human mind, and French police captain Pierre Del Rio.
This film is mainly an action film, however parts of it are in the thriller genre, and follow some of the conventions but with a twist. 'Lucy' who is the protagonist of this film is first seen as the damsel in distress, being taken by some people and being put in great danger. Showing her as vulnerable and being a victim.
It then changes to the 'final girl convention' seen in many thrillers where she becomes the confident brave one, who defends herself until the end.
The camera shots used in the trailer are mainly medium close ups of Lucy, but showing everything that is happening around her, while the editing cross cuts between her and a man and a voice over of him talking about how the human brain works, and that you can only access 10% of it, apart from Lucy. Its also edited like its in fast-forward showing the audience that a lot happens in this film. The use of non diegetic sounds also helps show this.
Even though this films isn't completely based around the stereotypical thriller the aspects of a thriller is what i want to do my film around.
