Thriller Pitch

For our thriller we had the task of pitching our thriller to our teachers we were acting as a potential production company who were interested in producing our film. We had the task of informing them about our film, and trying to persuade them to produce it.

This pitch featured key information such as plot summary, target audience, tagline, and audience appeal amongst other key areas of our film.

Below is the key information for out pitch:

I was absent for the pitch of our thriller, so was unable to participate, therefore our film was fully presented by my partner for our project. Below is the footage of the pitch:

Taglines

For this lesson, we were focusing on the tagline aspect of our thriller film. Taglines are advertising and marketing tools which creates a thought within the viewer, which is used for dramatic effect. This gives the viewer a brief idea into what the film is about, and entices them into going and viewing the film. It often sums up what happens in the film without spoiling any of the plot.


Some examples of some famous taglines are:

The Bourne Identity
"He never asked to be Bourne"
"He was the perfect weapon until he became the target"

Inception
"Your mind is the scene of the crime"
"The dream is real"


We have thought of a couple of taglines for our film which are:
"What if those who swore to protect you broke their promise?"
"When living in fear is the only option"
We chose these because we think that it entices the viewer into wanting to watch our film, but also gives them a brief idea about what our thriller is about.

BBFC Age Ratings


The BBFC age regulations are age restrictions set by the 'British Board of Film Classification', which is non-government organisation. Their purpose is to censor films, deciding what is and isn't allowed to be shown in British cinema, DVDs and even video games, making them suitable for the target audience. Examples of their restriction logos are:

Our film would most likely be a 15, due to the nature of our film as it involves complex material which only a mature audience would understand. The key theme is the government and psychological testing which is being exhibited, so wouldn't be suitable or would appeal to a younger demographic. 15 is around the age in which teenagers start taking an interest and finding out about the government, so I feel that this would appeal to most of them, but would also appeal to a lot of adults who enjoy thriller films.

An age restriction of 18 would limit the viewers seeing the film, and their also wouldn't be excess  nudity or violence in our film, as it is more psychological and thought-provoking, and it isn't a horror film so wouldn't warrant an 18 rating. There would most likely be adult language involved in the film, so the 12/12A rating would also be ruled out, therefore the 15 rating is suitable for our film.

Distribution Companies


Distribution companies are companies which is responsible for the marketing of a film, and organising when it is going to be released They are also responsible for the marketing of the film, so will create film trailers, and organise when and where the film will be advertised such as the internet or on television. Film distribution companies spend between $3.5 billion - $4 billion a year in the United States advertising films, in order to attract viewers into their film and therefore earn more money from it. They also decide on the format which the film will be released, deciding which cinemas it will be distributed to, any which countries it will be played. It will also decide whether the film is worth the risk to be aired in cinemas, or whether it will be a straight-to-DVD film. The distributor will determine which platforms the film will be released on, such as DVD Blu-ray or Netflix. In some cases, film distribution companies will also be responsible for the subtitling or "dubbing" of a film, if it is to be shown in a foreign country.

Ingredients of a Thriller


The "thriller" genre is a specific type of film which uses the key components of suspense and tension to excite the viewer. They are typically films which involve issues which are not normal in everyday life, such as 'Taken', which deals with the problems a father does as he tries to hunt down his daughters kidnapping. The suspense comes from the many intense gun fights in the film, and the ordeal the father goes through, with the audience wondering whether he is ever going to see his daughter again. This type of film is exciting to the viewer, as it is something that almost everybody watching the film has never gone through and will most likely never go through, therefore creates excitement for the viewer.


Another very famous example is the film 'Memento', which deals with a man who has amnesia and is trying to find out how his wife died. The suspense comes from the strange order of the film, which starts at the films climax, before making the sequence of events beforehand become clear to the viewer. This is a very famous and critically acclaimed film, due to the change in narrative of the film.




Thriller films typically use very suspenseful music, such as string instruments, to create a very high-pitched, uneasy tone for the viewer. This creates suspense as the viewer starts to anticipate that something very bad within the plot is going to happen. The music used is crucial in creating a successful thriller film, as music is a key theme in creating feeling within a film, and can set the tone of the scene.


Thriller films usually range from the age ranges of 12, 15 and 18, as the audience is generally a mature audience who will understand what is happening, and due to the sometimes gruesome or complex plots, which children will not like or will struggle to understand.

Planning our Thriller

We started off the lesson by deciding to plan the title of our film, and then start the storyboard plot for our film. For our title we decided to use the simple terms "political illusion", and then decided to spice it up using 'thesaurus.com'. We ended up with the brilliantly named "Constitutional Mirage". We chose this because it sums up the point of our thriller, whilst also sounding good as well.

We started to get to work on our storyboard, and started writing out what was going to happen in a couple of our scenes, as well as describing which shot types we would use. Unfortunately we came to the conclusion that we are unsure on which camera shots we will be able to shoot at our location, so will scout it out before adding anymore to our storyboard, so we can establish which shots we will use.