PLANNING - Thriller Pitch

THRILLER PITCH

This is the pitch that we presented for the thriller.

PLANNING: Our Location

Our Location: 

We choose to do our main location starting from London Bridge to Tower Bridge. We chose this location because its very central and the area is really busy. 

This will give our film opening a more realistic and professional look. 

At the opening of the film, we will shoot in a small office (Tony's office), we choose to do the beginning of the film at the office because the character is studying something that relates to an important event.

Here are pictures at our locations:

PLANNING: Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro:

The Final Cut (Pro and Express) interface was designed around traditional (i.e. non-computerized) editing work-flows, with four main windows that replicate tried-and-trusted methods of organizing, viewing and editing physical tape or film media. The Browser, where source media files (clips) are listed, replicates the editor's traditional film 'bins' or stacks of videotapes. The Viewer, where individual media files can be previewed and trimmed, replicates the source monitor of older tape-based systems.

 The Canvas replicates the 'program' monitor in such systems, where the edited material is viewed. The Timeline, where media are cut together (assembled) into a sequence, replicates the physically edited film or master tape of earlier systems. There is also a small Toolbox window and two audio-level indicators for the left and right audio channels.

Both the Viewer and Canvas have a shuttle interface (for variable-speed scanning, forwards or backwards through a clip) and a jogging interface (for frame-by-frame advancing).

PLANNING: Soundtrack Pro

Soundtrack Pro:

Soundtrack Pro is designed to be used in combination with Final Cut Pro, both of which are included in the Final Cut Studio box set. It supports a 'roundtrip' workflow, in which Final Cut Pro sequences can be exported as small reference files that include scoring markers. These reference files are then dragged from Soundtrack Pro's Browser tab to the video pane. The video track includes thumbnails of the video at each scoring marker (not where there were scene breaks in Final Cut). 

Once the soundtrack is finished, it is exported as a mix (i.e. all the tracks are flattened together) and can then be imported into Final Cut. If the soundtrack needs to be changed, the Soundtrack Pro project file can be re-opened at any time, but the changes will only show up in Final Cut when the mix has been re-exported (to the same file).

PLANNING: Foley sounds

Foley sounds:

Foley effects are sound effects added to the film during post production (after the shooting stops). They include sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, crockery clinking, paper folding, doors opening and slamming, punches hitting, glass breaking, etc. In other words, many of the sounds that the sound recordists on set did their best to avoid recording during the shoot.

The boom operator's job is to clearly record the dialogue, and only the dialogue. At first glance it may seem odd that we add back to the soundtrack the very sounds the sound recordists tried to exclude. But the key word here is control. By excluding these sounds during filming and adding them in post, we have complete control over the timing, quality, and relative volume of the sound effects.

For example, an introductory shot of a biker wearing a leather jacket might be enhanced if we hear his jacket creak as he enters the shot - but do we really want to hear it every time he moves? By adding the foley sound fix in post, we can control its intensity, and fade it down once the dialogue begins.

PLANNING: Ideas for our thriller opening

My idea for the thriller opening: 

I first thought about doing a spy thriller because this type of sub genre makes the opening more exciting and engaging. The camera work is really important as it helps emphasis ordinary objects making them look very significant. 

In 'Seven' the director mainly focuses on objects making the opening more mysterious as the main character's identity is hidden but the focus on the objects gives the audience a clear indication about what the story might be about. 

RESEARCH: Film Audiences

Target Audience for thriller films:

It really depends on the kind of thriller film. Like all genres, there are sub-genres and to really give an accurate answer to your question you would have to specify what kind of thriller film.

Silence of the Lambs and No Country for Old Men are considered the two best thrillers in recent memory... and they're rated R. Their target audience was probably for the young male adults.

Meanwhile, there are those thrillers that are borderline horror films, such as M. Night Shyamalan films The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village. Since they're close to horror (and horror films target teenage girls), the demographic would be slightly different... probably younger and more female based.

And then there are legal thrillers (Fracture, Runaway Jury) and crime thrillers (Memento, Se7en) that target a more mature audience... and classic thrillers (any Alfred Hitchcock film) that are rated PG, but are intended for adults.