R+P Post 10: Reflections so far and looking ahead

There were contrasting ideas at the start of our project with the group struggling on agreeing on any decisive plan for the film. We decided to dismiss comedy, as it would have been too hard to do well, for we would struggle on making it funny enough for the comedy genre, so we would struggle connoting the genre well. In our group meetings we soon quickly decided that the action-thriller genre would be the best idea due to us as a group being fans of this genre. In order to make the genre more gritty and modern, we decided to incorporate a cyber-security as well and soon came up with our hacker plot line with the conspiracy organisation surveilling and following him to steal his USB stick holding information they want to keep secret.

Looking back, I realise that we should have planned group meetings earlier in order to not fall behind and have to catch up with our planning process due to spending too much time in getting an idea established that we all could agree on. Looking to the future, we will be sure to meet all the deadlines in order to ease the progress of our film and all give equal respect to each other in order to inspire a greater group working environment in which creativity is inspired.

R+P Post 9: Our script

There will be no script due to a group agreed decision that dialogue would only manage to lose the tense atmosphere we are wishing to create. There will be electronic-glitch music playing throughout as well as sound fx of footsteps, typing on a keyboard, phone ringing and the sound of a punch at the climatic part of the film opening sequence where there will be multiple quick shots to build up pace when the hacker protagonist is corned by the conspiracy organisation members. We believed that dialogue would run the risk of ruining the sequence, due to bad acting from the actors we decided to use, making the film seem less professional and loosing the qualities of edginess we want in it to stick to this gritty, cyber-security thriller genre that we wanted to stick to in order to gain that target audience we are trying to attract and impress.

R+P Post 8: Our opening sequence idea, to include sound and titles

Our film sequence starts with an opening set of a London skyline with our title '404' on the screen to show the location of the film, which will also be connoted by the non-diagetic sounds of cars and traffic that would be expected of the London setting. Then there is a black title shot with white electronic writing with the sound of someone typing for when the words 'a film 4 production' come on screen in a white text-like font. The electronic-glitch music will then be put on After this there is a shot of the USB the hacker is using to download some code, connoting the cyber-security genre well with another extreme close up of that USB stick to add extra emphasis to the USB's importance in the film. Next there is a montage of the character embedding code into the USB which he then puts into his pocket and deletes the file on his computer. There is then a scene change to the hacker on an empty tube carriage, walking off the tube with a sound effect of a tube on the train tracks, and walking in a London suburban street location. There are then shots of a surveillance worker for a conspiracy organisation watching CCTV of the hacker walking down the streets. After there will be three young men following the hacker from behind with a  footsteps sound effect being used. The hacker will realise he's being followed  with a focus grab from in front of him, where it shows his reaction from in front of the men following him behind. There are then multiple quick action shots of the hacker running away only to find more conspiracy workers following him pushing him underneath a park bridge, where the hacker manages to only punch one, a punching sound effect will be used, before being pushed up with brute force against the wall, where there is a shot of his phone ringing on the floor before there is a blackout with text up saying '24 Hours Earlier'.

R+P Post 7: Our film's title and plot outline

The name of our cyber-security thriller is called '404', for this is the name of the error code that pops up on computer screens when something is going wrong with the computer. It's a universally recognisable code that we thought would work well to connote our genre and our story following our main protagonist, who's a hacker.

The opening sequence follows the protagonist hacker, hacking at a computer in his bedroom to download a file onto a USB before deleting the file from the server. He then walks out onto a suburban London street, where we see him being followed by security cameras and a conspiracy organisation member surveilling him walking. Three members of that organisation start following him as he is walking down the road. The character then starts to run and runs into the park with the three men behind him chasing him down. Three other members appear in front of him and the six men corner him underneath the park's bridge, where he punches one of them before being pushed up against the wall with his phone dropping on the floor, which rings to phone him before there is a blackout and it says '24 Hours Earlier'.

Typing cyber security idea

R+P Post 6: Our chosen genre and how we plan to connote this

It was challenging trying to connote the cyber-security thriller genre due to the fact it is only a modern, hybrid genre that is difficult to find the definite conventions needed to be used to connote the genre well. However, we did seem to find many ways to connote the genre.

There well be non diagetic noises of typing when the titles are shown to connote the hacking and use of cpmputers expected in the cyber-security genre and the pixalated font of the titles will add to this cyber-security genre. The short, shakey shots throughout will build up tension and keep the sequence at a fast pace to make sure it's at the tense, fast pace expected of the action genre. The music we're using is electronic glitch music that suits the cyber-security genrr too and the lack of musiv with the first skyline shot will build tension connoting the thriller genre.

R+P Post 5: How we plan to attract/address our target audience

We found inspiration for our central character in our film to suit the action-thriller genre skewed to boys of 15-24 years old from the character Alex Rider from the film Stormbreaker. Just like Alex Rider our character is a young adult, who is tech savvy and competent in fighting situations. This would make the character relatable to the target audience of our genre, and the short conflict scene he's involved in at the end of the title sequence will also gain this tense atmosphere our target audience would be looking for from the action-thriller genre.


To suit our cyber-security thriller genre, we have included much reference to technology throughout the title sequence with use of an electronic glitch soundtrack with shots of computer coding and USB slots to show he is a hacker. The inspiration behind the font use and the tense black frame when showing the titles came from the show Mr Robot, for this would connote a techy vibe that would attract fans of this genre that we are trying to appeal to from our chosen genre.

R+P Post 4: Representation of social groups in our opening sequence

Our film opening sequence represents the middle class, young adult social group in a positive light on the basis that our main character, who's a 19 year-old hacker, seems to be independent and clever. This is shown by the shots of him downloading code and hacking, storing information onto his USB stick, a skill that only a few people have the ability to do. The character, however, is also going to represent the social group in a negative light by being rebellious as a hacker, but he is very inferior to those, who tracked down to find him and so sympathy can very easily be given to him by the audience when he becomes a victim of violence at the end of the title sequence. The fact that the character is rebellious will also be familiar for young adults and old teenagers represented as a social group and for our target audience watching, who can relate to him as a character.

The character will also be relatable with our target audience due to the fact that the hacking scene will be taking place in the character's bedroom at home and the clothes he will be wearing will be typical for old teenagers and young adults, i.e. tracksuit bottoms, a hoodie and a pair of nike trainers. This will show that despite the fact he is a hacker he seems to be quite normal and live in a familiar setting to most people, walking around London suburbia in a few of the shots.

R+P Post 3: Our production and distribution institution

Our Chosen Production Company

Film 4 is our chosen production company, for they are based in London and our film is London based. They also do a lot of low-budget films and 404 will have a low-budget. Due to this independent film focus it'd be perfect for our film.

Our Chosen Distributor

Studio Canal will be our distribution company, for it is based in the UK and has a history of distribution small, independent films, e.g. 'Attack the Block', so it suits our genre well and its history of films is similar to the film we are planning on for the opening sequence.

R+P Post 2: Our target audience

Primary Target Audience


The primary target audience for our film opening sequence are fans of the action-thriller genre skewed towards a young adult audience skewed towards boys. This is shown by the fact that the main protagonist is a 19 year old boy, who the target audience can relate to and this is important, for the opening sequence of the film revolves around this character.


Secondary Audience


Fans of Cyber-security and Techno thrillers comprise our secondary target audience. This is the similar type of audience as fans of one of the inspirational TV shows called Mr Robot. This is quite a modern, small audience, which is becoming more popular as time goes on shown by the success of the Mr Robot show, which has had a great critical success since it began early this year.

R+P Post 1: How we intend to work as a group

As a group, we collectively decided on when to have weekly meetings to work on our project, so as to fulfil two hours worth of group work per week when we were all free together, in order for us all to work as a team and contribute together when working on our project.

Week 1 

• Wednesday After School
• Friday Period 1 & After School

Week 2

• Monday Period 1
• Wednesday Period 2
• Thursday After School

Our meetings are held in our school's Media department, for working here lets us access teacher support and our group folder and when working here we are also able to use iPads, computers, pens and paper when planning our ideas and doing research.

We created a groupchat on WhatsApp, for this helps us be able to remind each other about group meetings and discuss ideas that we have after school hours. This constant contact that we could share eased a faster, more-productive planning process to allow our ideas to develop through better organisation.

To make sure our project continues productively, we have agreed to work by the following principles:

1. Listen to each others ideas with full attention and take aboard any teacher advice/support.
2. Come to meetings on time time with any required work as well as notify the group if a member cannot make the group meeting so we can reschedule.
3. Participate to your full potential and remain keen.