deja vu pitch

2. A female detective, following her parents’ murder,
investigates a serial killer case, that she’s already dreamt
about.

3. A female detective is haunted by flashbacks of her parents’ deaths during
nightmares. One particular night she dreams of a case, one that bares similarities
to her parents’ murders. She wakes up the next day and discovers that she is
investigating the dream that she had the night before – a serial killer case (which
later is revealed to be the same murder that killed her parents)
Teaming up with her fellow investigator, she must solve the case before anyone
else is hurt. But as she gets closer and closer to cracking this case, another set of
clues, in the form of some kind of gang symbol, throws her in a different
direction.
Links are made she find the true meaning of the symbol, and with the final
murder comes the discovery of the serial killer’s true identity: her fellow
investigator.

4. Harriet Bailey
• Lead female detective
• Parents dead- became detective to get justice for them
• 20 years old
• Film from her perspective
• Propp’s character theory: protagonist
Marco Taylor
• Fellow male detective -eventual serial killer
• 27 years old
• Main characters best friend
• Propp’s character theory: sidekick / false hero / antagonist
Superintendent Gates
• Chief constable of the precinct
• Assigns case
• Is there in opening
• Propp’s character theory: Princess’ father/quest maker - he’s the one who sends the
protagonist on the quest for the princess (which is in this case is solving the murders)

5. Montage shots (dream): Parents murder
-Marina/harbor
Waking up:
Bedroom:
-little furniture within mise-en-scene (to focus attention on character)
-natural lighting
Murder scene:
Hotel room
-simply set up & little within the mise-en-scene (in order to focus on murder)
-lit darkly

6. The crime scenes is going to feature a symbol- the signature of the serial killer.
All the symbols we found link to death, but we chose the first one because it is more subtle
and mysterious than the other two and it will fit with the film’s tone/mood more.

7. • Strong, bold, impacting
font connotes
masculinity, a
conventional theme of
the thriller genre.
• Black encodes mystery
and darkness two
themes/conventions of
the thriller genre.
• The font style resembles
the symbol key to the plot
of the film
• We chose this font over the
other two as it suits the
film more. Whilst the first
font is too masculine we
felt the third wasn’t
appropriate for the genre.
• The font has
connotations of
medieval times and to a
certain extent, the
horror genre
• However it isn’t clear
enough for the
audiences viewing- they
wouldn’t understand in
the short time it’s
shown.
The actual title of the film itself, will only be revealed once the opening ends – after the crime
scene and murder is shown.

8. Target audience: 15-30 year olds (mature viewers)
• Using characters within this age range will make it more relatable for the audience.
• The crime thriller genre uses real life scenarios as a convention in order to make the
audience relate.
• Having an intense and mysterious plot, with several twists, grips the target audience
and intrigues the viewer – making them relate and want to solve the murders along side
the protagonist.
• The primary target audience is more likely to be men as stereotypically the violence
would be more suiting. However it is possible than that females would be interested as
the female gender is significant in this media text.

9. • Key lighting – We will use this type of lighting during our close up shots
(e.g. when the detectives arrive at the crime scene), as this technique
allows the audience to clearly see the expressions and features of the
character, and therefore relate to how they feel in a certain scenario. In
our opening it will be used to show the panic and fear in the protagonist.
• Under lighting – This type of lighting will be used in our montage shots
of the dream aspect as it will create an eeriness around the characters
within the shot. Using this particularly in the blurred memory of the
parents’ murderer, will allow large amounts of the character to be in
shadow forms and therefore mask his identity.
• Low key/background lighting – We may decide to use this type of
lighting in the few long shots we use (e.g. bedroom scene) as it creates a
sinister and mysterious theme from the dark tones. This will therefore
relate to the disturbing and unsettling dream out protagonist had just
had.
The lighting used is obviously important for any film/opening as it helps define the
genre – in our case a crime thriller – as well as providing a successful viewing
experience for the audience (making them feel as if there were there).

10. Using distorted and sinister music in the background of our scenes will allow the audience
to interpretate the genre of the opening (thriller), and make them unsettled/gripped to
what is about to happen.
• During the dream concept the audio will be louder than in the other scenes. The audio
will jump around a lot, to match the type of shots used (montage). Again, as the dream
shots get more intense, the music shall crescendo (gradually get louder within the shot)
to add mystery to the developing storyline.
• Only when the protagonist arrives at the scene will the music get noticeably louder than
throughout the other shots. This will add tension and suspense to what she will find
before it is actually revealed, and add dramatic effect when the close up shot is used.