Below is a video of my group and I presenting our pitch to our media class. We outlined the features of our opening sequence and our ideas and research on our target audience:
Firstly, we did research on the main elements of Thrillers so that we can add these elements to my opening sequence. We found out that Thrillers use suspense, tension and excitement as it's main elements. They also heavily stimulate viewers moods. After this, we did research on Alfred Hitchcock who is considered one of the best filmmakers of all time and nicknamed "The Master of Suspense". We watched many scenes from Hitchcock's films to analyse the cinematography, editing and sound. I watched the famous shower scene from Psycho for inspiration. |
Initial Ideas
We then created our main character called Red. We started to make a profile of her so that we knew what kind of character she is. (notes shown below). We made note of how the opening sequence would start and end:
Genre: Psychological/Crime Thriller
Time Period: 21st Century
- Starts with her sitting in a bedroom, she lights a candle
- Drinks red wine, red lipstick is seen on the glass - listening to James Brown - It's a Man's World (Heard when the opening sequence starts and she is listening to it on the radio the she turns it down)
- Seen Reapplying red lipstick - looking in the mirror - has blood on her dress and hands
- Writes "RED" on the mirror
- Camera turns to a dead couple in bed
- She kisses man (ex) on the cheek with red lipstick left on his cheek then she caresses him
- Marks him off in her book (picture/name in the book - #6 in the book)
- She smiles and walks out of the room
- Sees another guy on her way out of the room
- She stops him and they flirt - She writes her number on his arm with red lipstick (e.g. 07912345678 Red)
The End.
Genre: Psychological/Crime Thriller
Time Period: 21st Century
- Starts with her sitting in a bedroom, she lights a candle
- Drinks red wine, red lipstick is seen on the glass - listening to James Brown - It's a Man's World (Heard when the opening sequence starts and she is listening to it on the radio the she turns it down)
- Seen Reapplying red lipstick - looking in the mirror - has blood on her dress and hands
- Writes "RED" on the mirror
- Camera turns to a dead couple in bed
- She kisses man (ex) on the cheek with red lipstick left on his cheek then she caresses him
- Marks him off in her book (picture/name in the book - #6 in the book)
- She smiles and walks out of the room
- Sees another guy on her way out of the room
- She stops him and they flirt - She writes her number on his arm with red lipstick (e.g. 07912345678 Red)
The End.
After this, I created a storyboard with six images, visualising our ideas and highlighting the important parts of the opening sequence. Also, adding where we would put the credits on the screen
We started to brainstorm what the sequence would contain in terms of cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and sound:
Cinematography: We will mainly use close up shots to show the details in the opening sequence such as, the red lipstick on the wine glass, the blood on her dress etc. We will also use medium and long shots.
Mise-en-scene: the room will have a radio, chair, mirror, bed, table and candle as the main props in the scene. We will use enigma codes to make the audience ask questions such as Why is she there? Why did she kill those people? Did she actually kill them? Why is she writing on the mirror with red lipstick? Who is she? We started to think about Red's costume and decided that we wanted her to look quite wealthy, pretty and neat - opposite to her messed up personality. Her favourite colour is Red hence why her "name" is Red. So she has many items in this colour (gun, knife, heels and lipstick).
Editing: We will use: jump-cuts to create thrills and show Red's swift movements as a criminal, low-key lighting to create suspense and show that Red is a dark character and eye-line match to show the audience what Red is looking at.
Sound: There will not be any dialogue as this will allow the audience to ask more questions. James Brown - It's a Mans World will be playing throughout - this will be irony as she is a powerful woman that does things that are not considered to be very 'womanly' and she is in her own world. We will use diegetic (the radio) and non-diegetic sound with this song.
Cinematography: We will mainly use close up shots to show the details in the opening sequence such as, the red lipstick on the wine glass, the blood on her dress etc. We will also use medium and long shots.
Mise-en-scene: the room will have a radio, chair, mirror, bed, table and candle as the main props in the scene. We will use enigma codes to make the audience ask questions such as Why is she there? Why did she kill those people? Did she actually kill them? Why is she writing on the mirror with red lipstick? Who is she? We started to think about Red's costume and decided that we wanted her to look quite wealthy, pretty and neat - opposite to her messed up personality. Her favourite colour is Red hence why her "name" is Red. So she has many items in this colour (gun, knife, heels and lipstick).
Editing: We will use: jump-cuts to create thrills and show Red's swift movements as a criminal, low-key lighting to create suspense and show that Red is a dark character and eye-line match to show the audience what Red is looking at.
Sound: There will not be any dialogue as this will allow the audience to ask more questions. James Brown - It's a Mans World will be playing throughout - this will be irony as she is a powerful woman that does things that are not considered to be very 'womanly' and she is in her own world. We will use diegetic (the radio) and non-diegetic sound with this song.
Below is our presentation: