Film Pitch

BY CHARLIE AND TAYLOR

SummaryA teacher investigates a ghost that can only be seen on video

footage .

. The film is a Mystery Thriller with horror elements about a

superstitious teacher at a school where some students have

recently gone missing.

. The protagonist sets up a camera and discovers a strange

creature in the school.

. The protagonist then tries to get to the bottom of the

disappearances and discover how to stop the creature.

. No one believes him especially his wife and when he tries to

prove it the footage is destroyed. His wife leaves him after she is

convinced he’s gone crazy.

. He becomes obsessed with the ghost. He can’t stop himself thinking about it and his wife leaving him so he kills himself.

Paranormal Activity

We were inspired by Paranormal Activity in the sense that the characters use a camera for footage. The film had a small budget of $15 000 which is very small, and made a gross of $107, 917, 283. The filmmakers made "The Marked Ones" with that audience in mind, casting mostly Latino actors and bringing some of the usually claustrophobic action out into the city streets. We decided not to chose the producer Oren Peli as he has only produced three films in his career and felt this wasn't strong enough for our film.

The Purge

The Purge uses surveillance footage

for its title sequence which creates a

suburban feel - a convention of

Thriller film genre. We feel this

approach is suitable in our title

sequence - to involve footage from a

camera in a suburban area (school)

using post production editing in final

cut pro if we are unable to get a

camera used for surveying. The title

sequence only includes an eerie

soundtrack in the same way we

would like to only use distorted music.

'The Purge' title sequence

designer

Aaron Becker is a designer and director of title sequences, as well as founder of Filmograph (previously known as Becker Design.)

He has a BFA in Visual Communication from Washington University in St. Louis. After working at Prologue Films in Los Angeles and Digital Kitchen in Chicago, Aaron founded Becker Design in 2010, which evolved into Filmograph in 2012. He has designed and directed main title sequences for films such as Insidious, Deception, The Purge, and The Conjuring, as well as television titles including Bad Robot’s Alcatraz and HBO’s Clear History. His main-on-end title sequence for the film Sinister received Title Design Finalist recognition at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival.

The Purge: Title Sequence

Insidious: Title Sequence

Title Sequence

The main character walks into an empty class

room to collect his camera. (first person)

He plugs it into his computer and plays the files.

The videos are recordings of the ghost lurking

around classrooms and corridors. Static effects

and camera angles keeps the monster from

being in full view.

At the end of the sequence the video gets more

distorted and then the title appears.

Title Sequence: Visuals

Distorted effects can be used to hide parts of the shot or to put

focus on certain areas we want viewers to look. The static can

also represent unease and the villain being unpredictable.

Title Sequence: Visuals

The transition effects will emphasise that this is footage recorded

by the character. It will make it seem more realistic and therefore

more threatening.

Title Sequence: Sound

The music for the title sequence will be the

instrumental version of Death Grips – Guillotine.

The sound is distorted and abrasive just like the video footage.

Eerie electronic rumbles build up tension.

Production

Produced by Blumhouse Productions.

. Founded by Jason Blum

. Blumhouse are best known for their Horror

and thriller films.

. For example: The ‘Paranormal Activity’

Franchise, ‘Insidious’, ‘The Purge’ and it’s

sequel ‘The Purge: Anarchy’

. Jason Blum has been nominated for an

academy award for producing ‘Whiplash’

. Budgets for their horror / thriller films

usually range from $15,000 to $9 million

which is low budget for US productions.

Director – James Wan

The film will be directed by

James Wan.

James Wan is an Australian

director that has directed films

such as the ‘Saw’ franchise,

‘Insidious’ and ‘The Conjuring’

He works a lot with DNA films to produce his movies.

Cast – Leigh Whannel

Leigh Whannell will be the main

protagonist in this film.

He is well known for being the co-

creator of ‘Saw’ (along with James

Wan) as well as playing the protagonist in ‘Saw’.

He also appears in Saw 2, 3 and 3D

and Insidious 1,2 and 3.

Most of the films he has been in have

been produced by Blumhouse

and/or directed by James Wan.

Cast – Shawnee Smith

Shawnee Smith will play the wife of the

protagonist

She is well known for appearing as a

main character in all of the Saw films

and regular cast member in the sitcoms ‘Becker’ and ‘Anger Management’.

She has also played smaller roles in films

like ‘The Shining’ and ‘The Grudge 3’

Timing

Aside from Halloween and late summer, the

beginning of January has proved in recent years to

be a prime season for horror films. "Texas Chainsaw 3D" opened with $22 million, while, "The Devil Inside"

(which, unlike "The Marked Ones" and "Chainsaw

3D," didn't belong to a well-known franchise),

opened at $33 million.

In conclusion we intend to release our film in January

to have a hopeful come back from our budget.

Age

What makes our film rated 15:

. Strong violence

. Frequent strong Language

. Substance abuse

The American equivalent to this rating would be R

Budget

$5 million budget

~$90 million gross

We think the film will be successful because the

director is well known for successful horror films.

The film isn’t part of an existing franchise so wouldn’t

make as much money as some other films, for

example Insidious had a $1.5 million and made $97

million but the sequel made $161.9 million from a $5

million budget.