MEST2: Film Pitch & Audience Focus Group

MEST2 Film Pitch

Title and tagline:
The title of the movie is "Transgression" and the tagline of the movie is "Their fate belongs to the hour".

Topic from brief (e.g. Modern-noir, Urban Life etc.):
The topic that we have chosen from the brief is Modern Noir.

Genre (and sub-genre if applicable):
For our 30 minutes film, we have chosen to make it a "Thriller" with a lot some slight emphasis of it being a "psychological thriller" where it is riddled with a lot of enigma codes and generally gets the audience thinking and hopefully ends with a cliff hanger that leaves the audience asking for more.

Logline – one sentence that sums up the film and hooks people in (25 words or fewer):
A psychological thriller that explores the division between reality and the false distortions through the eyes of dysfunctional teenagers.

Other successful films that are similar to yours:
Gone Girl, in terms of the mentally disturbed protagonist.

In terms of cinematography and actual filming styles:
House of Cards, different depths and variety of things being in focus/ out focus, foreground/background etc
Whiplash, use of colours and palettes
Run Lola Run, use of solid colour tint overlays which helps to drive the narrative and multiple personality or narratives of characters

Narrative structure for full 30-minute film – what happens and in what order (max 100 words):

The film will start with a bored group of teenagers going to their hangout place, where they invent a new version of spin the bottle, the objective of the game is to change your life within an hour if you have been chosen. They begin to play the game and the protagonist, who is mentally unstable gets chosen. With the hour he has been given he decides to invite a vulnerable and naive friend to join him, which she immediately does. The naive friend is unaware about what he is planning to do but continues to eagerly join him on their walk to the woods. This is where he brutally murders hers and disposes her body of. When the protagonist arrives back after an hour his friends ask where the naive and vulnerable friend is, he dismisses the questions and says she went home. Over the next 2 days people begin to grow suspicious, with Friend 2 starting to accuse him over her sudden disappearance. Despite this the group of friends decide to continue playing the game and when Friend 1 gets chosen, she is put under pressure by Friend 2 and decides to kill him before killing herself by self drowning in a river.  The scene ends with a suicide note stating “Gone for an hour”.
Main protagonist, their desires, the conflicts they encounter etc.:

The main protagonist, who is the killer, has a manipulative characteristic which he hides through his charisma and charm, it could almost be argued that he’s mentally unstable. He desires power and attention, something which he lacked before he brutally murdered a vulnerable friend. His killing gave him a sense of superiority, but it also adds onto his paranoia. He faces several conflicts such as one member of their friendship group getting suspicious about his sudden change in personality, as his lies increase and increase.  

Other characters and their role/audience appeal:

• Vulnerable friend (female): She’s quite naive and easy to manipulate. The quieter character of the group, her characteristics and tragic death will create some pity for her from the audience
• Friend 1 (Male):  Humorous character, he is quite lively and is the driving force of all their friendships
• Friend 2 (Female): She is quite reserved and laid back but pays attention to surroundings in quite a lot of detail. She is the character who gets suspicious, and her intelligence appeals to the audience.
• Friend 3 (Female): Close friend of the vulnerable friend, she is who kills the protagonist. It is quite surprising for the audience as her friendly characteristics contrast the crime she commits and her sudden decision of committing suicide.

Target audience for your film (age, gender, social class, interests etc.):

• The main target audience would be for young adults 15-24, hence the 15 certification of the film  
• I believe male and females would watch it, it has an appeal to all genders i.e. the friendship, the conflicts and the violence.
• Working class/middle class
• Those who are interested in thrillers with a psychological element to it, or who want an insight into the lives of teenagers with an interesting twist.

The three-minute extract you will make and where it would appear in the film:

The three-minute extract would appear about 5 minutes into the film. It will consist of the group of teenagers spinning the bottle and starting to play the game and the protagonist, who is mentally unstable (his friends aren't aware of this) being chosen. He is given “one hour to change his life”, and this scene will consist of a shots of him trying to kill the vulnerable friend after leading her on. The scene will end with the protagonist walking away, which will create a cliff hanger and enigma codes on what happens next.