Initial Ideas
Relapse (thriller)
The opening begins with the character is drawn to an abandoned house however, he does not know why. He trips over the door frame which triggers a memory of a past life where he is at a dinner party just as a toast is about to taken following the chime of a wine glass. He goes back to reality where the chime is on going leading to the beginning of the thriller.
By Evan de Roeper
Lost (psychological thriller)
Set in the present, the female protagonist reminisces of her lost child whom was taken from her at birth by a masked cult. With her memory of the events somewhat fragmented, she begins to recall small pieces of what happened but can't quite piece them all together to fit the puzzle. The protagonist then embarks on a journey to piece all the pieces together; to discover what happened, to find her child, and to find who has the answers...
The opening will begin with the protagonist in a coffee shop or other public area when they notice a masked stranger across the street from them. This triggers a flashback of the protagonist on an operating table, screaming. The opening cuts back to the protagonist in the street as they begin to walk to work. Throughout their journey to work they begin to recall more about the events. They notice the stranger again, triggering a more violent memory of them with the stranger in an operating room. The protagonist begins to follow the stranger but loses them along the way and returns to work. Music will stop when the flashbacks are on screen and then resume when the action returns to the present day.
By Elliot Stahlmann 5214
Initial Pitch
Below is our initial pitch where Evan and I presented the concept of Lost to a focus group. We received some feedback and will use this to improve the initial concept of the thriller opening.
Feedback and Response to Pitch
From our initial pitch and the feedback we received from the focus group it became clear to us that the concept of our thriller needs minor tweaks whereas the execution of the opening needs more focus. In terms of the concept we have decided that using a baby would be difficult to execute successfully and also hard to obtain, hence, we have decided to cut the child from our concept and exchange those scenes with scenes of the woman screaming and of scenery that the woman would remember. This is something that is achievable for us and can be well executed.
Notably, the group were unsure whether it would be easy to distinguish between flashback and the "present". As a result, we concluded that the music stopping and resuming was too jarring and so the music, we have decided, will need to fade in and out during the flashbacks where sounds of screaming and other diegetic and non-diegetic sounds can be heard. Moreover, we have decided that through editing, the flashbacks will have a flash transition to make it clear that we are viewing a flashback and also put the flashbacks in slow motion in order to capture the action.
In addition, to distinguish between flashback and the "present", when filming we have decided that we will film the "present day" scenes closer to the summer months so that we can capture as much natural lighting as possible. We will film the flashback scenes closer to winter where we will be inside, using more artificial light. The contrast of artificial lighting against the natural lighting will also help to set apart the flashback scenes from the "present".
Lastly, due to confusion with the title "Lost", we have decided to rename our thriller "Broken" as we feel this title is short but sweet and will captivate an audience immediately. It is synonymous with the theme of fragmented memory and fits well with a psychological thriller. From the outset, the title will raise questions for the audience - establishing a sense of enigma, something that is conventional of thrillers. Likewise, it is not a particularly positive word and will therefore help to create a dark tone and atmosphere to the thriller from the point of reading the tittle.
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