Final Aims and Intentions

Learner's Name: Michael Quigley-Smith
Word Count: 495


I will be making a psychological thriller with striking visuals and an unstable sense of reality, channelled through the protagonist to create an unnerving drama containing the suspense and mystery elements of crime shows, targeted at millennials.

My programme will jump between reality and dreamscapes, the latter indicated by extreme mise-en-scene, such as block-colour lighting and Dutch camera angles, which will disorient the audience, offering them a unique viewing experience. During a scene where the main character is running from something unknown, there will be rapid editing and handheld camerawork, creating tension, while the next scene will be in binary opposition, with a still camera, maintaining audience interest. ‘Reality’ will be depicted in a more standard manner, with less extreme mise-en-scene. This visual contrast between the two worlds will allow audiences to know which world they’re in, although the separation may not always seem so obvious to create a restricted narrative, which will appeal to crime show audiences.

The main character is haunted by his dreams; he is experiencing residual trauma from both his past and his failure to catch the loose killer. This representation of an unstable mind adds to the narrative, but also increases awareness of mental issues. This is also a familiar character archetype for crime genre fans. The protagonist will have a partner, which is recognisable following Steve Neale’s genre theory, but the reality-bending elements of the programme will be a unique selling point, appealing to fans of psychological thrillers with its visuals and distorted narrative. The show’s director is a woman, an underrepresented demographic for directors, the representation of which is relevant to current celebrity culture

The show will be shown on ITV at the later prime-time slot of 9pm on Sundays, which is post-watershed, so the horror elements need not be censored by the network, but there is still a large viewership. ITV is a private broadcaster who had huge success with Broadchurch, a show that took the crime genre and used it to make something different. This show also aims to take familiar elements of the crime drama genre and add a twist to them; in this case adding psychological horror elements.



My magazine product will be linked to the audio-visual product through both visual style and content. Stylistically, the strong red lighting prominent in the audio-visual piece makes up the background image of the double-page spread, an image from the show itself. Content-wise, both the show and the magazine article focus on the reality-bending tendencies of the former. The magazine also focuses on the female director, which showcases diversity in its representation of women. The magazine article’s headline is a reference to the Queen song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, which is a pop culture staple that will help bring in more of my millennial target audience through convergence. The magazine’s footer has social media and website links, which demonstrates convergence with online platforms. The front cover of the magazine will have a more pastel pink colour scheme, demonstrating luxury.