Planning brief

Project name: They Follow

Medium/Format: Opening scene of a British thriller
Length: 2 minutes
Deadline: February 2017
Group members:
Tamia Mullaney-Downer
Tanika Singh
Neha Shahzad
Brief overview of content (approx. 50 words): A
psychological thriller based on a young girl named Emily
Wilson, who finds herself being stalked by a dangerous
cult with putrid intentions. Based in the dark abyss of an
eerie forest, Emily Wilson finds herself in drastic
circumstances where she has to choose between her
health and her life. Blood, sweat and tears are shed as
Emily tries to escape the grasp of the sadistic cult
members.
Target audience (age group, gender bias (if any),
socio- economic status and lifestyle profiling:
Age group: 15-30
Gender: All genders
Socio economic status: C2-E
There are scenes of a violent nature therefore this would
be inappropriate for a younger audience and wouldnt
appeal to older viewers.
Possible scheduling/publishing suggestions:
What comparable products have you researched?
The American horror The Purge
The British thriller Eden Lake

What is rationale behind this text? An isolated setting

to demonstrate Emily Wilson being the only subject of this
frightening fate. The desolate forest connotes isolation.
This suggests that the forest is a symbolic representation
of Emily herself.

What representations will be operating in your

text? Are these justified?
Gang violence- the extremity of this representation is that
fact that it is a cult rather than a regular gang. This
creates further tension due to the fact that a gang would
get bored eventually therefore Emily would have more of a
chance of escape and survival; where as a cult believes
that their actions are gods will therefore they will not rest
until their intentions are achieved.
How will you test whether the product is
successful? How will you check that is accomplishes
the intended effect? Questionnaires aimed at our target
audience: This will enable us to be able to relate our piece
on the popular aspects of thrillers this age group wants to
watch.
What generic codes and conventions will be
operating in your text?
Setting: A forest. This is influenced buy the setting in Eden
Lake which was an abandoned forest in the middle of
nowhere. This adds tension because the audience know
there is no help or safety close by for Emily.
What are the overt(obvious) messages incorporated
into the text?
Dont associate yourself in gang activity because the
result of this will put the individuals life in jeopardy.

If you are in a situation like Emily Wilson choose the

location of safety wisely. Emily winds up in a dark forest
she isnt familiar with and cannot escape the grasp of the
cult members.
Are there any (hidden) messages incorporated into
the text?
One of the cult members is her best friend who was
influenced by the cult. She finds where Emily is hiding in
the woods but pretends she saw nothing and carries on
looking. This highlights to the audience the message that
no matter what situation or choice a friend has made, it is
your true friends who stand by you.
Identify any resource constraints (time, money,
equipment, human resources) that might affect
your production and your hopes for your products:
Effective time management: Our goals, which we set for
ourselves, have to be realistic in order for the production
of a successful opening scene.
Equipment: Due to the fact we have many props
incorporated into our piece we need to order them earlier
on in case the shipment takes a long time.
Money: We want the most realistic props however the
higher the quality of the prop, the more money it will cost.
In order to make our thriller as scary as possible, we need
sufficient props e.g. Masks
Additional notes: