Universal Studios would be a suitable producer for the film based on their experience with psychological thrillers like Psycho and Red Dragon. As one of the "Big Six" film companies and a subsidiary of NBC, Universal has the financial resources and promotional synergy across television, radio, and theme parks to produce a high quality film and widely promote it. The film's story of government mind control and a man gaining free will draws inspiration from successful psychological thrillers like Shutter Island and Inception, and Universal's experience could help the film achieve similar success.
2. Universal Studios
We think that Universal would be a suitable company to produce our
film. The company has already produced other psychological thrillers
such as Psycho, considered one of the most definitive and influential in
the genre along with other thriller films such as Red Dragon and Spy
Game which are both critical and commercial successes. The success
of these films show that the company is familiar with the psychological
thriller genre and should be enthusiastic about creating another hit
project out of a similarly styled film. Because of their experience with
the genre they would be able to style and market our film in a similar
way that was effective previously.
Also, Universal is considered one of the “Big Six” film companies and is
a subsidiary of the major conglomerate NBC which means they would
have a large amount of money, technology and crew to invest into the
production to ensure it is of a high standard and achieve a lot of
commercial attention. Because it is part of a conglomerate industry it
means that synergy can be used in the marketing of the film, meaning
the companies television channels, radio stations and theme park
resorts could potentially be used to promote the film, dramatically
increasing audience awareness and word of mouth about the film.
3. Universal Studios
NBC Universal Inc. is the
conglomerate brand that
owns Universal Studios.
Universal itself has 3 subsidiary companies
which have divisions of their own: Universal
Animation Studios, Focus Features and
Illumination Entertainment.
„Universal Studios was founded on April 30th 1912, as Universal
Film and Manufacturing Company, and is now currently owned
by Carl Laemmle, Pat Powers, Mark Dintenfass, William
Swanson, David Horsley, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel and
Jules Brulatour. Currently their headquarters are in Universal City
California, but they do also have 4 other base locations in
Florida, Hollywood, Singapore and Japan. Universal also has
divisions in television, home entertainment and theme parks and
resorts.
4. Our Film
Our film is set in an alternate reality (year 2020) in which one worldwide
government are literally using mind control on the public in order to prohibit free
will and keep the nations ignorant from the worlds dark past. This is enforced
through the daily distribution of a pill to every citizen on the globe, but when a
normal young man is involved in a robbery, he becomes free from the mind
control. Almost immediately he begins to experience psychological effects
including headaches, blurred vision and premonitions. Declared a fugitive, he
soon becomes the victim of a manhunt. With the new ability to think for himself
he must reveal the secrets the government is hiding and attempt to understand
the premonitions he sees before it is too late.
The film would be suitable for Universal Studios as it is similar in style and draws
inspiration from many other films of the psychological thriller genre including
Shutter Island, Inception, Memento and The Machinist which were all successful
films. With an adequate budget, crew and marketing campaign which Universal
Studios could provide, our film could easily achieve the same sort of success
and would appeal to the same target audience as these films.
5. Conventions and Audience
We have done a great deal of research into the psychological thriller
genre, film trailers and the target audience ensuring we incorporate many
conventional features into our planning, production and editing including:
A pre-written script that allows us to develop the plot and the dialogue and a
production plan that ensures we have an organised and structured filming routine
meaning we will meet deadlines and be able to improve our directing skills.
High standard filming equipment allowing us to create a professional looking trailer
that will draw in the target audience.
Good use of close-up and tracking shots to represent the psychological state of the
protagonist, this is frequent in many psychological thriller films and will therefore be
conventional in our trailer.
Emphasis on the use of pills within the narrative which relates to themes of mind
control and mental well being adds to the conventions and will appeal to the fans of
the genre.
We will use a range of distorted music that relates to the narrative for the
soundtrack, escalating the tension and making a more exciting experience for the
audience.
Low key lighting will be used to relate to the dark nature of the storyline and also to
the key themes and conventions of psychological thrillers.
6. Conventions and Audience
Because our target audience does not consist of only one particular group or
type of people, it means we have a wide range of people to appeal to.
Due to scenes of
violence, our film would
probably receive a 15
rating meaning the
complex plot and mature
themes would appeal to
the cinema viewers who
would all be over this
age.
Like many psychological thrillers, ours will consist of
complex plot aspects that relate to moral questions
concerning real life affairs. This means the target
audience would likely be well educated and intellectual;
which is the same for several Universal films.
A brief outline of the
narrative of the film will be
explained in a series of onscreen text shots which is
a conventional trait for a
trailer and will also intrigue
the target audience who
will be enthused to see the
narrative resolved.
Because the film will
also conventionally
include a lot of
intense sequences of
action/ conflict, the
target audience will
also consist of thrill
and adrenaline
seekers. This will be
promoted in the trailer
through the increasing
fast paced editing and
previews of action
sequences to draw
the audience in.
