Treatment 2 (chosen coursework design)

Brief synopsis

product marketing for a new thriller film appearing in cinemas.

Genre

supernatural thriller - including stereotypical codes and conventions of supernatural thrillers, with dramatic ideas such as; paranormal activity, carefully chosen music choices to create suspention and common appearence of poltergeist girl.

Target Demographic

18+

working class

students may enjoy it, as well as horror fanatics

males and females may enjoy the movie

Brief overview of narrative

events using Todorov's theory:

Equilibruim: new family move into neighborhood

learn man is abusing his youngest daugher

as plot shows, we learn he sexually and physically abused his youngest daughter's twin sister, we learn she died

spirit of dead daughter returns to protect little sister

gets revenge by torturing and killing father, mother, older brother and sister

twins make a pact, and the spirit enhabits the body of her sister

together go on a silent rampage and begin killing paedophiles all over the country

Characters

Davis family;

Twins - Ellie (alive) and Carrie (dead)

brother - Jack

Sister - Annabelle

Dad - Jeremy

Mum - Margret

Paedophile - Edward Farlott

Sheriff - L.D. Cooper

Neighboring family - Wilson's.

Treatment 1

Treatment 1

Title: Chain Mail

Brief synopsis of production:

Produce marketing material for a new thriller film. Posters and DVD front, back and margin.

Genre:

Thriller hybrid:

• Comedy- horror: so including spoof ideas, mockery of deaths (black comedy/slapstick) films such as lesbian vampire killers, Shaun of the dead and the scary movie saga.
• Thriller: so including thrilling and gripping storylines, uses suspense, tension, excitement, terror and anxiety. With the use of the slapstick theme, use these to also create jokes and entertain the audience.

Target Demographic:

• 15+
• Working class
• Students
• For people who will understand and be entertained by the slapstick comedy
• Mainly males, but females also.

Brief overview of the narrative:

·        Events:

-typical teenagers using the internet within a set and stereotypical social group.

-ignore what seems to be a chain mail about a dead girl, and they do not forward.

-as the clock strikes 12, the girl comes back to life, to kill all those who received a chain mail.

-becomes a race against time to defeat the girl and send on the chainmail before it’s too late.

-the emotional setting is disrupted by a play on the theme.

-the equilibrium is restored.

-ends with the image of the girl going after the rest of the people who the new people forwarded the chain mail onto (ends with a similar scene to the beginning of the movie setting up the new equilibrium)

·        Characters

-group of teenagers: jock

                         Class clown

                         Popular girl

                         Boy in love with popular girl

                         Outsider

                         Other members of the school

How can the ‘thriller’ genre be defined?

How can the ‘thriller’ genre be defined?

Thrillers are a genre of film and television programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main components. A common subgenre is psychological thrillers.

Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods such as; a high level of anticipation, lack of expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, suspense, excitement, tension, and terror. Devices such as cliffhangers are used vastly. The cover-up of important information from the viewer and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although each subgenre has its own characteristics and methods.

Common methods in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, hostages, heists, revenge, kidnappings. More common in mystery thrillers are investigations and the “who is it?” technique. Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps, horror-of-personality, and obsession For example: the “Saw” films. A genuine thriller is a film that provides thrills and keeps the audience waiting at the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the character is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the threat is sometimes abstract or unseen. Thrillers with a crime-related plot mostly keep the attention away from the criminal or the detective, where they focus more on the suspense and danger that is created. The conventions of the thriller genre are to do with sound and editing. For example a quick cut, camera angle changes, music that gives tension and is passive when appropriate. it can be to do with lighting, especially the use of shadow. Mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller movies.

Thrillers are often hybrids with other genres - there are action-thrillers, crime-caper thrillers, western-thrillers, film-noir thrillers, even romantic comedy-thrillers. Another closely-related genre is the horror film genre. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations.

Example of thriller hybrids are Saw saga. They are a hybrid of psychological thriller and horror.

Phonebooth is a thriller that does not play to the typical theme of narrative conventions as it takes place in one setting. It avoids darkness and shadow etc. the one way to link it to standard conventions is to say that you hear and see the story from the killers point of view. It plays to other thriller conventions such as the bullet hole, and action pose. we are made to feel sorry for the male protagonist and that we are told a story with the use of flashback and quick passed editing. otherwise the this film is unlike most thriller movies and avoids the main conventions and may even not be classed as thriller but psychological thriller as it plays with your mind rather than shows you like a                            conventional thriller. Crime in this film is also reinforced by the setting as it is set in ‘typical’ New York City.

Half Light is a psychological thriller that is hybrid with a romantic genre. It plays to the conventions of psychological romance with the portrayal of a relationship, with the contradictory ghosts and trauma. The front cover shows the man adoringly looking at the female, which suggests a relationship and love, however the use of the cemetery reels us in and makes us question the film. The writing itself is made to look eerie and ghost like, which represents the horror thriller part of the film. The colour on the cover is rather dull and dark, which adds to the

horror portion of the film, and the use of

lightening reinforces this.

Amityville Horror is a hybrid of psychological thriller, horror and to some extent biopic. It fits the conventions of a psychological horror with the dull and dark imagery of the house. The word horror is also in the title, which insinuates the horror. We see it is biopic as it says based on a true story. It also reflects on the thriller   side as the horror side of a true story appeals to us as an audience, and lets us emphasise with the characters. The writing of the film is in red, which is suggestive of blood and murder, reinforcing the horror genre.

Ghostbusters is a typical hybrid thriller of comedy and action. It is typical of thriller conventions of a thriller with the cast as Bill Murray is known for his comedy films. The use of silly costumes and the cartoon ghost reinforce the idea of the action comedy hybrid thriller. Throughout the film, it offers suspense and thrills to entertain the audience, whilst still having them wanting more.

Batman Begins is an action thriller. It plays to the

conventions of a thriller by having the mysterious

protagonist on the front cover. The use of him looking

 away from us presents mystery. The action is

perceived from the action of the bats, as it makes

the cover look fast moving and in action.