The Pitch

Group members:

Daniel, Iuri, Lizzie, Victor

Chosen genre:

Police/Crime, Thriller

Title of film:

Playing Judas

Outline of Ideas:

Tagline of film:

Think outside the law.

Basic plot synopsis:

Detective Alex Hudson has a new Chief Superintendent. When his niece, Katy, is kidnapped and he is not allowed to investigate the case, he has no choice but to go outside the law to ensure it is handled properly. Hudson finds credible evidence that incriminates a fellow colleague, Harry Shaw, but Chief Superintendent Adams is dismissive as she thinks it’s simply a personal vendetta between the two detectives.

What type of characterisation will you have?

Detective Alex Hudson: Good cop, nice guy. Loves to do his job and do his job properly.

Detective Harry Shaw: Stereotypical ‘bad cop’. Not afraid to hurt others to get to where he needs to be, and very good at his job. Everyone knows it.

Chief Superintendent Adams: Alpha female. New head of department, obviously knows what she’s doing and strict about her rules and regulations, but is untrusted by some others.

Katy: Little girl of 11-14, Detective Hudson’s niece. Looks sweet, unassuming, and gullible. Kidnapped for ransom, kicking the whole plot off.

Describe Mise En Scene to be used or any visual motifs?

We’ll need to have lots of police-related props and costumes, meaning police badges, guns and holsters, and suits. Luckily our police officers are detectives and so usually wear plainclothes, meaning we won’t have to rent or buy full police outfits, but the actors will have to wear suits. We will also need a car and a girl’s backpack to set the scene for the kidnapping.

What are your ideas about cinematography/photography?

Due to the nature of the genre, we’ll need to have lots of fast panning and tracking shots for the inevitable chase clips. We’ll have lots of close-ups to establish the main characters and emphasise the significance of things that would, in a long shot, go unnoticed. We’ll have a low-angle establishing shot of Scotland Yard near the beginning of the trailer, too, to let the audience know where they are and what the main setting is. This will also introduce the genre.

Conventions of trailers/posters/film magazines you plan to reinforce or reinvent?

Our film trailer will hold the most conventions of a police/crime, thriller film. We’ll have our story being told by voiceovers from various characters throughout the trailer, and music to accompany it that increases in volume and pace to build the trailer to a climax. We’ll also have lots of close-ups of the main characters and significant objects to draw attention to who the viewers should be paying attention to. There’ll be lots of past-paced editing, as usually seen in action-based trailers, and, at the end, we’ll try and make the title transition from the climax, as in other trailers such as Inception.

What resources will you need?

(include actors, props, costumes and settings)

We’ll need many props for our trailer in order to make the police theme feel realistic. We will have to acquire fake guns, holsters, and police badges, as well as a girl’s backpack (to mark the scene of the crime). We will need two actors to play the protagonist and antagonist, and one actress to play the Chief Superintendent. We’ll also need a Katy, a small girl, to get kidnapped. All of the police officers will have to wear suits, as, luckily, Detectives aren’t supposed to wear police uniforms, and the girl will have to wear some sort of uniform to make her age clear. We will need settings such as Scotland Yard and an office/police station interior to film the majority of the scenes at.

Justification of ideas in relation to genre and recognisable film influences, also what is your Unique Selling Point?

Our USP is our female Chief Superintendent. Little to no police/crime thriller films have female main characters and, although our main protagonist is not female, the most powerful protagonist by status is. She is the commander of the situation and she controls who goes where, much to the male protagonist’s contempt. Our case-oriented plot, however, is very typical of police/crime films, as is the police department setting.

Second Choice: Heist

Third Choice: Urban Drama