In my opening film sequence, in the 2 minutes given to me, I aim to position the audience in a position of unease and discomfort; it being essential that a strong connection between the protagonist, a criminal, and the audience is formed straight away. This connection will be formed by the pickpocket being a “gentleman thief” and a relatable, charismatic character. Moreover, the protagonist's struggles with poverty will also be emphasised to evoke a sense of pathos in the audience towards Billy Burke. Pathos increases the audience's attention to a film because it strikes up plenty of emotions in the viewer and allows them to reflect on what they would do in the situation too, putting themselves in the character's shoes.
My film follows the story of Billy Burke, a sixteen year old gentleman thief, who picks pockets to earn money to provide for himself, being from a very poor background. Billy Burke is the modern incarnation of his great, great, grandfather, Billy Burke, who was an actual criminal, who was known to “respectfully” carry out his crimes, by distracting his victims and then stealing from them, not resorting to violence. Billy Burke is eventually found out, and sought after by the police. I am planning on leaving my opening film on a cliffhanger, as the opening film is supposed to be suspenseful so that the audience are instantly gratified and do not have to wait long for action. Billy Burke we be addressing the audience directly throughout the film, breaking the fourth wall, I have decided to do this because it will allow the audience to build up a connection and sense of respect for the character quickly as the audience are allowed to have an insight into Billy Burke's perspectives on why he steals and commits crimes. I am using this technique, because although the genres are different, I have taken a lot of inspiration from the film Alfie (1966) . Lewis Gilbert uses this technique to perfect effect I believe.
I aim to target an audience of people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five due to the fact that I believe that it is mostly this bracket of ages that watches crime films and the film being made by a sixteen year old director would make this film invariably more relatable to people of similar ages. The opening does not target, however, any certain religion or race because my film I believe targets all people, except certain age groups. Firstly, it is a crime film and therefore it is naturally going to be a 15, so young children would not be suitable for seeing this film. The older generations possibly could find it harder to relate to the protagonist, the protagonist being a sixteen year old.
To conclude, I have researched in detail many films that involve the act of pickpocketing and watched them to get a clearer idea of how to demonstrate this particular skill in my opening. These films include, Pickpocket (1958), Gangs of New York (2002), Ocean's Eleven (2001). Moreover, I have also watched videos of master pickpockets analysing many different pickpocketing films, to increase the realisticness of my film.
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