Statement of Intent

 This is my statement of intent for my crime documentary opening. This was made by all group members.

Sub-genre (crime)
Stalking, murder	Because it is an interesting sub-genre of crime thriller
Topic
A girl is being stalked by an unknown individual who seems to be terrifyingly obsessed with her
Primary Target Audience
Demographic: Teenagers, Young adults, Couples	Because relationships can get really complex. At that age, you feel a lot of emotions such as jealousy or obsession, hence people of these age groups would be drawn to this documentary
Psychographic: True crime enthusiasts, Thrill seekers, Curiosity-driven people	We think these groups will be most drawn to our documentary because its main mission is to track down an elusive criminal
Message (Dominant Reading)
Unhealthy obsessions and excessive possessiveness can drive a person to commit unspeakable crimes against the innocent	Because this issue affects people our age, our documentary aims to warn others, raise awareness, and make it clear that such behavior is unacceptable and dangerous
Characters
Protagonist: A teenage girl, living an ordinary life with her boyfriend, until she becomes the target of a stalker Boyfriend: Victim of the stalker’s violence Stalker: The antagonist with a hidden identity, driven by jealousy and obsession to kidnap the boyfriend
Representations (groups, places, events)
Groups: Teenagers, Young couples Places: Girl’s home, School, Public Events:	We have easy access to teenage actors, teenager issues, teenager dramas, etc, making it more authentic and relatable.  These places are familiar environments to teenagers, making danger feel closer and more real to the audience. These places are also easy and free to access.
What will be the hook? (The mystery that keeps audiences watching)
The question of “Who’s stalking her? Why are they willing to go this far? How did this all start?”, along with the shocking package of her boyfriend’s finger.

Research

 This is my research for my crime documentary opening.

Worst Roommate Ever (2022)

Documentary Opening 1: Worst Roommate Ever
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	Based on the thumbnail and title, I expected that the lady in the thumbnail is a sort of crazy psychotic roommate, who committed crimes against her own roommate for her benefit/out of hatred or jealousy.  The close-up photo of the girl is very similar to a mug shot, due to the bare face, blank expression and flash, making her look pale and in bad condition. This implies that she committed a crime and was captured by police, which tells the audience the crime was serious. The text used for the title is a simple, all white, all caps font that is easily readable and keeps the focus on the arrested lady. It's a typeface used in many thriller or crime movies/documentaries, thus conforming to genre conventions. I expect to see the roommate’s victim talking about her experiences with the crazy roommate and how the crime went down. I also expect picture inserts of the people involved to build the story and provide context. These are common conventions of crime documentaries.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I think the target demographic are young adults, adults, and parents. I think this media text appeals to them as the main victim and narrator is an adult woman who has a son. In this way, these audiences are represented, therefore making them more prone to watch the documentary out of interest of relatability. But somehow, this may appeal to students as well, as most college students share dorms with school mates, or go searching for a roommate. This documentary can highlight experiences of having roommates, which students with a roommate can find relatable. As for the target psychographic, justice seekers come to mind. In the thumbnail, it showcases the mugshot of the “worst” roommate, meaning she has already been arrested, showing “justice” has been served. This can encourage justice seekers to start watching.  - Hand-held: Hand-held camera movements make the shot shaky, therefore making it look more “human”. It also adds suspense as the main girl explains and unravels the story. This reveal of information and shaky movements adds energy to the shot, making it impactful as the opening scene. These all hook the audience and keep them invested. This camera movement was used in the introduction of the main victim and her situation, which could help add more emotion to the scene.  - Inserts of people involved: Pictures of the victim, her son, and the roommate were constantly added to give context and to reveal information. It also made the story seem more personal, and it reminds us that these are real people who were involved, making it more realistic. By showing pictures of, for example, her son, it allows the audience to ask more questions about how he is involved, making it more interesting and hooks the audience. - Jump cuts: Skipping ahead makes the scene feel rushed, like there's a sense of urgency, which can keep the viewer on edge. By skipping ahead information that's too detailed or irrelevant to be in the opening, we can focus on the key information needed to hook the audiences. - Unsettling music: The use of unsettling non-diegetic music was a nice touch to add suspense and to give the audience context about the type of situation these people are in. By playing scary music, we know that the roommate did something terrible/committed a crime against these people. This also builds the mood and setting, making it more immersive for the audience as they feel more emotion.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not? What would you include from this opening in your opening? Why?	No, not really. While the case itself is interesting and unique, I wasn’t too drawn to the documentary as the opening scene was somewhat boring. It didn’t have that fear factor that I usually prefer to see in crime documentaries and some shots of the victim walking and of her house felt like low budget production and bland to me. While I’m interested in finding out what happens to the child, I feel like this opening is too boring to keep me invested. I’d probably include the photo inserts of family, friends, people involved, the victim, etc. This is a basic element of a crime documentary that I could implement in my opening to provide context, more information, and to show the contrast between the victim now, and the victim then.

What Jennifer Did (2024)

Documentary Opening 2: What Jennifer Did
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I am expecting that Jennifer was seen as a sweet girl by people around her, but she did something horrible that no one would expect. If not that, I also expected Jennifer would change from a sweet innocent girl to an angry, rebellious and dangerous person. Jennifer being split in half — one side smiling and one side with a straight face tinted red — shows that she has two sides to her: what people think she is and what she actually is. The red side looks like a mugshot, as she has a straight face with a blank background. We can then assume she committed a crime and has been arrested for it. Based on the title, we can tell that this documentary is going to discuss what crime Jennifer committed. The font is bold, white and simple, which is a convention in thriller films, which usually contain crime and dark themes in them too. The bold font brings focus to the title, emphasizing what exactly Jennifer did. I expect to see people being interviewed, talking about how they used to know Jennifer, what she was like, how much of a nice person she was, etc. I’m also expecting to see old pictures of Jennifer when she was a cheerful teenager.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	The target audiences are probably teenagers, students and young adults, people who are similar in age with Jennifer. Jennifer was living with her parents and appeared to be young, meaning she could represent these age groups. For the psychographic, curiosity-driven people are targeted just by the title. The title already implies Jennifer did something, which only begs the question “What did she do?”. This is how they get hooked and continue watching. - High Angle: High angle shots of Jennifer in the interrogation room shows that she is vulnerable and weak, especially as she is dressed in white, connoting innocence. This shows that she is a victim, or at least pretending to be. If the audience didn’t know better (from the title), they would think she is the victim. The way they portray her in the thumbnail and in the opening is very contradictory, which will grab attention and keep watchers intrigued. This high angle is from a CCTV camera, which is a cliche in this genre. However, it is very appropriate for this scene and situation, making it an effective camera angle to portray Jennifer without making it not immersive due to the cliche. - Mis-en-scene: Blood in the crime scene is used to show violence and danger without showing explicit gore such as dead bodies. Blood has connotations of loss as well, as Jennifer and everyone else deals with the loss of Jennifer’s parents. This drastically sets a tense and uneasy mood within the audience. It is also used for shock value, to shock the audiences to keep them engaged. It is also very realistic as blood in crime scenes is a very raw reality.  - Glitch: The glitch effect added at the beginning of the documentary on Jennifer adds a creepy effect and connotes the distortion of truth. This subtly tells the audience that Jennifer is lying/ foreshadows that she is lying. This creepy “broken” effect makes audiences feel the suspense in the documentary as it is out of the ordinary.  - Camera shudders: The non-diegetic sound effects of camera shudders along with the pictures of evidence/the crime scene mimics officers following protocol by taking pictures of any clues. This visual storytelling puts the audience in the police’s shoes. This makes it more realistic and also an immersive way to reveal information to the audience about the crime scene/setting.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not? What would you include from this opening in your opening? Why?	Yes, I would. I’m a very curious person so I’m invested in what Jennifer actually did and how long until she is suspected as the perpetrator. Additionally, the production seems high-budget and the visual storytelling is engaging, so I’d continue watching. I’d include the 911 call as it’s a good way to add emotion and drama into my opening. Additionally, I like the way they presented evidence using the camera shudder sound effects and white straight cuts to mimic flash. I’d probably use these to make my opening more dynamic and not flat.

A Deadly American Marriage (2025)

Documentary Opening 3: A Deadly American Marriage
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I expect that either the wife or the husband will kill their partner. I’m leaning towards the wife killing the husband, as he is smiling happily in the thumbnail while she is doing a little smirk which could connote an ulterior motive, or that she’s not as happy as he is about marriage. I expected that the wife would kill him because she had enough of being in an abusive/unhappy marriage. While the photo of the couple on their wedding day itself is very happy, it contradicts with the title of the documentary which can connote that the couple isn’t as solid of a couple as they seem, which gets audiences interested. The font, once again, is very simple, all capitals, bold, and white, which is a very common typeface to use for this genre. It allows the audience to easily read shocking titles, and also connotes seriousness, which lets the audience know what genre of documentary it is. I expect to see police CCTV footage of interviews of the killer’s side of the story, them lying about the altercation. I expect the killer to cry while explaining, followed by discordant music and the title card.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	The target audience are probably adults in their late twenties and above, those who are already married or able to get married as they are represented in this documentary, and have similar experiences in marriage. Additionally, I think this documentary is targeted towards Americans as the documentary talks about American marriage, how it's not the “American dream”. Americans will find this representative and interesting. True crime enthusiasts are also targeted, as this documentary covers a real gruesome murder case where stories conflict, and it uses investigative storytelling. - Establishing shot: Using an establishing shot of the house at night as audio of a 911 call plays. This shows where the call is coming from, providing context to the audience. The house in the establishing shot represents family; how a family is broken up due to this situation. - Lowkey lighting: During the interviews of the people working on the case, lowkey lighting was used to build suspense and set the mood. All this makes the audience feel uneasy. It also made the production look very high-budget and professionally done. - Flashback: Flashbacks of two kids being interviewed about their father’s death being shown after long takes of two teens/young adults tells the audience that the kids being interviewed are the same people shown earlier. This also provides context to the audience. All this encourages audiences to piece information together to keep them hooked. - 911 call: The raw authentic audio of the real 911 call the wife made puts the audience into the time right after the crime, inducing fear and worry. It also makes the audience see the perspective of the call operator who received the call, making it more immersive and making audiences more curious. Even though this is a cliche, it is still effective to make openings more dramatic to hook viewers.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not? What would you include from this opening in your opening? Why?	Yes, I would. The conflicting stories and inconsistencies make me want to know the real truth, giving me incentive to continue watching.  I would include the 911 call cliche. Even though it's overused, it's a staple in the crime documentary genre which still works effectively to dramatically introduce the crime and crime scene. Another thing I’d like to include is lowkey lighting as it makes production look more high-quality and it builds suspense.

Can I Tell You a Secret? (2024)

Documentary Opening 4: Can I Tell You a Secret?
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I expect that there are going to be themes about trust, betrayal, and hidden information. Relating this with stalking, I expect blackmail to be a big part of this documentary, where a stalker blackmails a victim to make the victim do as the stalker pleases. The image of one woman staring at her phone with a confused/surprised face connotes that there is shocking information being sent to her e.g. a stalker’s threats. She is standing in the safety of her house, yet outside behind her is very dark. This creates a false sense of security and shows how danger is closer than you think, highlighting her vulnerability. This hidden threat preying on this girl gets the audience interested to watch. She is standing alone, connoting isolation and how she might feel like she cannot reach out for help. It can also imply secrecy and privacy in general. The hues used are very cool-toned, creating a tense atmosphere that makes audiences uneasy. The title is once again in a white, bold and simple font. This shows formality and seriousness; how the danger is not to be taken lightly. Since she is looking at her phone, I’m expecting digital evidence such as screenshots, text messages, and social media posts. This can just be added as an insert, or close up shots of phone screens could be used. I also expect the opening to be slow and suspenseful, including discordant non-diegetic music to add emotion and to set the scene, making audiences more immersed. Again, I’m expecting she’s being blackmailed by a stalker.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I think the target audience could range from older teenagers to middle-aged adults. This documentary seems to cover social media and how technology keeps the stalker connected to all its victims (hence the symbolism with the glowing cables), and most people who use technology and social media are Gen Z and millennials, therefore they are represented in this documentary which makes them more interested in watching it. Specifically women may be more targeted here as the victims are multiple girls. True crime enthusiasts are also targeted as this documentary explores the victims perspectives on crimes. - Close-up shot: Close up shots of a phone sending suspicious and taunting texts brings focus to it and also highlights its importance. Since the audience gets to have a close and personal shot with the private text messages, it feels immersive as they peek into someone’s personal life.  - Owl: Owls are excellent symbolism and mis-en-scene to use. Owls have wide and sharp eyes, are able to turn their necks up to 270 degrees and have silent flight. Due to their abilities, an owl can represent a watcher/observer, as they can follow you where you go silently. This could be symbolism for stalkers who do the same. Additionally, in folklore, owl calls at night are known as bad omens that bring danger. This is a cultural code. Audiences can take the shot of an owl as foreshadowing, making them feel tense as suspense builds up. - Jump cuts: Skipping ahead makes the scene feel rushed, like there's a sense of urgency, which can keep the viewer on edge. By skipping ahead information that's too detailed or irrelevant to be in the opening, we can focus on the key information needed to hook the audiences. This documentary uses this cut when showing the victims. - Breathy diegetic sound: Loud breaths in near-silent scenes forces the audience to focus on the breaths. The breaths show the presence of a person, which could be a stalker in this situation. This creates tension, especially if the stalker was hidden. The type of breath can also be a good acting choice, as it adds emotion to the scene (e.g shaky breath to represent fear or sadness).
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not? What would you include from this opening in your opening? Why?	Yes, I would. I wasn’t expecting multiple victims at first, so it was an interesting surprise to find that out. This got me hooked, as I’m really interested in how mass-stalking and mass-blackmailing was even planned and carried out. Were there multiple stalkers, or just one mastermind? Questions like these make me want to continue watching.  I really like the breathy diegetic sounds used to reveal the presence of another person as I feel like that would be a nice creepy touch to add to induce fear and shock in the audience. While I also love the owl symbolism, it would be very hard for me to film an owl in Bali. I think I should also find other things that have similar connotations and symbolism as owls that would be easily accessible. I like the technology/online aspect of it too, which I would try to incorporate to appeal to teenagers.

Can I Tell You A Secret?Can I Tell You A Secret?

Lover, Stalker, Killer (2024)

Can I Tell You A Secret?CanI Tell You A Secret?

Documentary Opening 5: Lover, Stalker, Killer
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I expect that there will be a person, who’s the victim's lover, turned stalker, then killer due to heartbreak. I expect jealousy, obsession and anger to be common themes in the killer/stalker’s motive. The thumbnail uses some type of coding overlay over a close-up of someone's face. His facial expression seems pretty neutral, making me think that he is a narrator, or someone working on this case. The coding/computer overlay connotes that this case is digital or technology related, perhaps cyberstalking. The title is very straightforward and in a bold, white, all caps font. However, this thumbnail looks like a missing person’s documentary, similar to the movie Missing (2023). I think the lack of red text, scary visuals, dark colors, and lowkey lighting is what is making this thumbnail subvert these genre conventions, especially in a murder documentary. This gives audiences a movie that is different and not too cliche, however is still apart of the stalking/murder crime documentary genre, which can give audiences new interesting media texts (not boring them). I expect to see people working on the case; interviews, evidence collection, sharing their personal experiences with the case. These are all genre conventions. I expect to see typing, searching for evidence online, screenshots of cyberstalking taking place, text messages, etc.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	The target audience are adults aged 18-45, thrill seekers, especially those interested in true crime and are curiosity-driven. The complex emotions of jealousy and obsession or any other emotion behind the crime along with the mature themes of stalking and murder could be too disturbing for younger audiences. Additionally, the victim is an adult with kids, so parents may feel represented and could sympathize/relate to the documentary, making them more interested in watching it. While I think that is the main target audience, I feel like teenagers may be targeted too due to the technology/social media aspect of it, as teenagers use social media and digital/online platforms in their day-to-day lives. - Off the shoulder angle: Off the shoulder shot reenactments of the stalker following a woman and her kids lets the audience see both the victims and the stalker from the stalker’s position, letting them see from the stalker’s point of view. This puts them in the stalker’s shoes, making it more immersive. Additionally, it creates discomfort as we watch the stalker watch the victims (making them feel like bystanders), making it more suspenseful as this shot suggests secrecy and the feeling of getting “hunted”. This is good content for thrill seekers in the target audience.  - Bloody footprints on the snow: While the thumbnail of this documentary looked very technology-related, the visuals in the opening contain bloody footprints, which aligns more with genre conventions. The white snow symbolizes innocence and peace, which is sharply contrasted by the red bloody footprints, implying danger and violence. This contrast can connote a loss of innocence. These connotations create a sense of unease and fear in the audience, making them feel as if they’re in the crime scene. This further builds tension about the case and its mysteries. Additionally, audiences will ask questions like “who stabbed who?” or “why did they stab them?” to themselves, getting them hooked and invested in the plot. - Fast-paced montage: Quick montages of evidence, interviews, news, etc. builds tension quickly as the audience has lots of information to take in. This not only introduces them to the case, but also creates a sense of urgency as the audiences see how quickly the case has escalated. The quick switch to other pieces of information and shots of this case keeps viewers on edge as adrenaline increases, and also reflects the possible unpredictable nature of this case. This is shown at the very beginning.  - “I’ve never seen a case like this before”: The very overused dialogue of a detective, police man/woman, or any person working on the case. Them acting like the case is the craziest they’ve ever seen, pushes viewers to continue watching, as it implies more interesting and shocking things will be revealed as the documentary progresses, usually with a big plot twist or turning point. This will give audiences more incentive to continue watching, and also helps grab their interest. However, due to how much it has been used in this genre, this line became more of a cliche. Now, when someone in a documentary says this dialogue, audiences take it more as exaggeration or a technique production companies use to make audiences watch more. This, unfortunately, makes it less immersive as audiences snap back into reality.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not? What would you include from this opening in your opening? Why?	Yes, I would continue watching this as the plot seems very interesting and has a nice mix of real-life events and online events. The deadly love-triangle plot is also something I’ve never heard of before, and I’d like to know more about how all this went down. Lastly, I want to know more about the lack of crime scene, body, evidence, and how they managed to solve the case. I love this opening! It’s a good mix of scary reenactments and informational interviews. I especially like the reenactment scenes of the stalker following the victim, the stalker POV shots and the dolly/tracking shots. It really gives the feeling of another person’s presence, and it adds that uneasiness that I’d like to showcase in my crime documentary. I also like the discordant non-diegetic music and sound effects, as it creates that fear factor. I aim to replicate the feeling of getting stalked as closely as possible in my documentary opening, so my audience will be immersed and feel the suspense.