6 Initial Ideas

My group and I came up with six initial ideas for our opening sequence. These consisted of:

1.       A schoolboy daydreams of being a superhero but becomes a secret agent.

2.      A babysitter has her world turned upside down when a regular job reveals a dark secret.

3.      A 12 year old boy finds a stray dog that is revealed to be much more than a commoner's pet.

4.      A teacher's surprise is more than what she bargained for.

5.      An undercover spy must face her fears in order to save her family.

6.      A mysterious package is given to a courier which unveils a shocking power.

The two final ideas that my group and I narrowed it down to:

   INITIAL IDEA ONE:

 “A schoolboy daydreams of being a superhero but becomes a secret agent.”

Here, a lonely boy who lives with an abusive foster family daydreams about his dream career to escape all the pain. However, an epic secret concerning his biological parents, that went missing when he was twelve, shows that his dream job isn't as hard to attain as he thought it would be when he comes into contact with the last remaining family member that reveals his parent’s true occupation and mysterious past. With no friends, no means of contact and no protection from the old family foe, only a bag full of his father’s old weapons remain to protect himself, a bag full of weapons in which he has no idea of how to use. However, contact with a dying relative is achieved and the tables are turned....

The reasons as to why we chose this as one of our ideas was because it is in a school setting so therefore we have easier access to the set of our opening sequence as well as the various props we hoped to use. Another reason as to why we narrowed it down to this as a choice was because the storyline itself was interesting and met some of the genre conventions of an action thriller film such as the use of weapons and a potential threat on our main character’s  life. This will hopefully attract our target audience as there is a realistic edge to the overall storyline and hopefully we will generate some form of sympathy for our main character in the opening sequence. This shall hopefully keep the audience attached as a successful opening sequence is vital in order to have a successful film.

INITIAL IDEA TWO:

“A teacher's surprise is far uglier than what she bargained for.”

AJ is living the dream with a flashy car and a new career as a teacher. Young and ambitious, she hopes to get promoted to a position with more authority.  With the promotion under her belt and a successful Christmas work party over, life couldn’t get any better. However, all this comes tumbling down when a secret Santa gift leaves her mind reeling, therefore putting the chance of a promotion in jeopardy. Who would gift her with such an object of destruction? And what do they mean by the messages plastered on the lid of the box? With a planned confrontation of her secret Santa at the work place, AJ hopes to put this behind her. However, when no one from her department bothers to turn up, it finally sinks in. The stalker is serious. Only time will tell as the date for the stalker to reveal himself comes nearer, little does she know that with the identity revealed, the biggest battle of her life will begin.

         The reasons as to why my group and I chose this as our second initial idea was because of the fact that it explores more of the thriller component to our action/thriller genre. Another reason as to why we chose this idea was because it was interesting and because it also meets more of the genre conventions as it has more of a psychological edge to it and the contents of the box refers to the action component as well. This will hopefully keep our target audience watching as the events will build suspense, leaving the viewer’s anxious and wanting to learn more.