Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

After researching into target audiences for the thriller genre, it became clear that the majority of people who watch this genre are males who are under 35 years. For this reason, I think that we should aim our film at male teens up to late 20s.

UK Film Council
Firstly, I Iooked at the UK Film Council who are the strategic body for film in the UK and provides an interface between the Government and the industry.

The Film Journey
They suggest that we undergo a 'film journey' - the journey to becoming passionate about film that can be broken into a number of stages, equivalent to different levels of engagement with film.

For example:

1) Between the ages of 4 and 11, we approach 'film as entertainment' and mainstream films, such as Star Wars and Disney films, tend to be the most watched.



2) During our teenage years, we begin to look beyond the mainstream titles and choose films to represent and build on who we are so we approach 'film as identity'.




3) By early adulthood, we begin to conceive 'film as culture' and we look beneath the surface of the film and they become subject to our critical analysis while we continue to watch films that are out of our comfort zone in terms of what is 'accepted'.

4) The final stage is 'film as a career' where people move into the film industry and is often something these people have worked hard for.

Following the 'film journey' guidelines, I would suggest that we aim our film at teens and adults as our film would, possibly, be more alternative - based on the fact that it's an ecological thriller that includes mainstream elements such as conspiracy.

Audience Typology
The UKFC also presented a guide to the types of audience that a film could aim itself at:

1) Mainstream - who are likely to only watch the big, Hollywood blockbusters.
2) Mainstream Plus - who mainly watch blockbusters yet occasionally opt for a more alternative choice
3) Aficionados - have a wider, more adventurous mix of films and often view foreign titles
4) Film buffs - prefer films with a more extreme, esoteric and challenging subject matter rather than mainstream titles.

I concede that our film would fit into the 'mainstream plus' band as our film would contain mainly mainstream elements although there are alternative parts as well.

The Interpreter
This film (2005) is about an interpreter tries to bring down a larger organisation that is covering up an assassination attempt they are about to pull off which bears similarities with our film which is about a scientist who has to take on the larger entity of the government who are covering up the secret that global-warming is occurring at a faster rate than expected. I conducted some research into the opinions of people who saw this film and found that males preferred this sort of film to women.

This graph clearly demonstrates that this film was most popular with teenage males while males aged 20-29 also appeared to enjoy this film. For this reason we will aim our film towards the younger male population.

This chart shows the popularity of different genres for teens between 12 and 17 in the US. Although these statistics are for the US, we can still glean the information we need. This shows that when asked if they enjoy the Suspense/Mystery (Thriller) genre, 51% answered postively. This means over half of the teen population enjoy thriller films, making them the perfect target audience for our film.

Our Target Audience
To allow our film to look attractive for our target audience, we would have to tailor the props and costume to fit the demographics of this audience. For example, in the first scene we would have to use a drink that younger males would like, i.e, we would not use fruit juice or wine as they are predominantly drank by females, instead we could use whisky which is predominatly seen as a very male drink, as shown by this advert:

For our film, the story would revolve around the 'end-of-the-world' theme and the action rather than a love interest for one of the characters as this would not appeal to males. The use of technology in our film, such as the laptop, would tantalize the male population, especially teens, who are into technology while we would have to consider the sort of soundtrack we would want as we would need something to build the tension in the opening sequence but also something that would interest our target audience, a teen/late 20s male.

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution is a company that disperses a media product for audience consumption.

They can be approached with a film-pitch as they can distribute the film much more effectively than a filmmaker could on his own, while they can also offer funding towards the filming and editing process.

Usually films are distributed to cinemas - which is then followed up by a DVD release - or they go straight to DVD. We could start distributing our film by showing it at local, small film festivals where we could start to gain views and fans.

Seeing as our film is a thriller, drawing similarities with films such as 2012, we would want to show it at cinemas seeing as thrillers are very popular in today's society and as ours is predominantly a conventional thriller. Films like ours are usually high-budget so distributing them to cinemas is the quickest and easiest way to reclaim the money.

If we were to choose a media institute to distribute our film, we would want to choose one that can accommodate big production values and can distribute films across the world - as thrillers often require large investments but have the popularity to bring the viewers in and, hence, cover costs. Institutes we could approach include:

• Touchstone Pictures

Touchstone Pictures have distributed films such as Armageddon - a disaster thriller - which is similar to our film as both contain environmental threats.
Touchstone Pictures also distributed Enemy of the State (see above) - which contains the government conspiracy element - so draws similarities with our film as ours involves the government hiding a secret.

• Hollywood Pictures

Hollywood Pictures have distributed films such as Nixon - which contains the political element - so is quite similar to our film.

Both of these media institutes (which are alternate movie divisions of The Walt Disney Company) would be well-suited to distribute our film as they are able to fund the production values while they have the global presence to give our film a global audience. With one of these institutes distributing our film, we would be able to reach the wider, mass market that thrillers appeal to while they could also cover the heavy costs that thrillers often amass.

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 2

James Henson Social Groups

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Progress Update

26/04/2012
In today's lesson, we continued to edit our film - which was very nearly complete. After we realised the music was too tense for the start of the film, I looked to find a piece of music that held an ominous quality but wasn't as dramatic as our current soundtrack. I managed to find a piece called 'Quaker Underscore' - again I made sure it was un-copyrighted - which was exactly what I was looking for. The piece used repeated motifs to build tension and so held an underlying, ominous tone - which would reflect what was happening in the film as the student suspects there is something but is not entirely sure what. However, in contrast to 'The Ruler' (our existing soundtrack), it didn't climax and so wasn't as dramatic. 'Quaker Underscore' was mainly composed of electronic samples  - which reflected the technological aspect of our film.

So, after finding this piece of music, I set about putting it into our film. I was also able to overlap the end of 'Quaker' with the start of 'The Ruler', which created a smooth transition between tracks and, hence, was able to build the tension more greatly in the second half of the film. This was followed by 'ducking' certain parts of the track so that dialogue could be heard. And that concluded our film which was complete. We plan to use tomorrow's lesson to go over it, finely tune it, and make the transitions as smooth as possible.

Progress Update

21/04/2012

In Friday's lesson, I started to put the soundtrack I had found into our film. Although very rough, the soundtrack immediately made a huge difference and made the whole opening a lot more tense. However, we thought that the tension was possibly too great for the start of the film as the character doesn't know about the theory yet. This tense music did fit the shots after his discovery though, as he rushed to test his theory. We planned to look into this in Wednesday's lesson.


25/04/2012
After realising the soundtrack was too tense for the start, we set about putting the tense soundtrack into the second half of our opening (after he reads the computer file and makes the discovery). We also had to overcome a small issue where a transition near the end of our film refused to work. After realising that it was the overlaid text that prevented the transition, we had to edit the length of our title.

Voiceovers

Here, are the voiceovers I wrote for our film. These help to link the different scenes together.

"Have you ever been in a situation where you read something that could change the world forever… well, I have." - This links the interview scene and the scene where he finds the document, while the rhetorical question engages the viewer and builds tension.

"What I saw shocked me… and would change everything… but I had to be sure…" - This links the close-up reaction shot when he sees the top-secret document, and explains why he runs out (he wants to test this theory).

"My suspicions proved correct… but what could I do?" - This links the laboratory scene, with the shot of him walking down the corridor looking exasperated and unsure of what he can do, while the rhetorical question shows the man's doubt in himself.

Soundtrack for our film

I looked into finding some music to accompany our film. I started to look for un-copyrighted music that we would be able to use, while I felt the music needed to have a fast pace and build gradually to reflect the building tension in the film.

The song starts off with an elongated violin sound before a solid drum beat is heard. The drums get faster and tense, strained violins in a minor-key appear to create an ominous tension. The music then stops completely, creating an anti-climax, before a fast violin sound that raises in pitch grates against the listeners nerves and puts them on edge.

I felt this music created the right sort of tension for our film without making it seem too amateurish.

Progress Update

Friday, 23rd March 2012
Today was our last day of filming, and overall I think the filming process has gone smoothly. We filmed the last shots - ones which will link the different sections of narrative together - while we also re-filmed the shot of the scientist leaving the building, where he then looks into the sky as our shot from 21st had an issue with the sound. We will now start to edit our footage together as we are currently on 4 minutes of footage - double our limit.


I will now look for some music that we can use to add tension to our film.

Progress Update

Wednesday, 21st March 2012
The group and I felt that today was a very productive lesson - we were able to finish the scene in the library, start and finish the scene in the lab and we just have a couple more shots to film, so we are very much on schedule - as it gives us a few hours to edit the material. Charlie and I also resumed editing what we have already and now have a rough copy of the film.


While filming the scene in the lab, we managed to get a science technician to make some dry-ice which gives the scene a much more realistic feel. We also managed to film our time-lapse scene - which shows the scientist working on his theory - by slowly panning over the area and then fast-forwarding in the editing process. Once we really start editing, we will tidy it up and it should look very convincing.


We also filmed the scientist leaving the lab, by tracking him as he walked out before the camera goes past him, assuming the role of a POV shot, and then looking at the sky - where the film title will appear.


We also have managed to produce a rough copy of the film by putting the clips we have so far in order. We still have some shots to film and the editing needs precision and tidying up, but we do have a rough copy so we know vaguely what the final copy will look like.

Progress Update

Friday, 16th March 2012

This week, we have continued to film - managing to finish the first scene and start on the next shots. Progress has been steady, although once we became more comfortable with the camera we were able to speed up the process. We also managed to find some new interesting shots - such as a close-up of the chair falling - when we ventured off the shot-list.

We plan to continue filming, while we have started to do a rough edit in order to establish which shots work and which need to be either re-filmed or deleted.

Progress Update

Friday, 2nd March
In Friday's lesson, we filmed our first scene - where we see the scientist looking distraught and disheartened while he speaks to a cycnical therapist.

After sorting out what we would do and how to portray the situation of each character, we set about creating the the first scene. This process was made a whole lot easier due to the fact that we had created a shot list and so we were able to follow what we'd written and it ran very smoothly.

Progress Update

Wednesday, 29th February
In Wednesday's lesson, we tied up all the loose ends that needed doing before filming could begin. We then had enough time to sort out our 'dolly'. We would need this to shoot the pan around the government agent before he leaves his 'secret information' on it. The dolly would eliminate any bumps or shakiness that would be created if we filmed it hand-held. We decided to keep it simple and use a wheely-chair that we could mount the camera on and push it round the agent.

At first, we put the camera, which was on a tripod, onto the chair. However, the tripod did not sit flat on the chair and so a wobbly image was still produced. This led us to put the camera directly on the chair, however the camera was too low. Finally, we found that the best way to do it was to sit someone on the chair and physically push them around. This eradicated shakiness and bumps while creating a smooth panning shot.

Progress Update

Over the last few weeks, our group has prepared to start filming the opening of a thriller film.


We have discussed costume and decided that in the first scene my character is a therapist so I should look smart, therefore I will wear a skinny tie and an overcoat. This will give the character a calculated, sophisticated look which emphasizes the difference in social status between the therapist and the scientist whose life has been turned away and looks very scruffy.

In the following scenes, we go into the scientist's past. Therefore, we would need a scientist's costume for the scenes where he tests his theory and a suit for the government agent who leaves his work for the scientist to find.


We also created a prop and setting list. We realised that we needed tumblers, desk items, a briefcase, a computer and science equipment In terms of setting, we decided on one of the school science labs, the school library and one of the small media rooms as an office for the first scene.

Audience Profiling

After researching into target audiences for the thriller genre, it became clear that the majority of people who watch this genre are males who are under 35 years. For this reason, I think that we should aim our film at male teens up to late 20s.

UK Film Council
Firstly, I Iooked at the UK Film Council who are the strategic body for film in the UK and provides an interface between the Government and the industry.

The Film Journey
They suggest that we undergo a 'film journey' - the journey to becoming passionate about film that can be broken into a number of stages, equivalent to different levels of engagement with film.

For example:

1) Between the ages of 4 and 11, we approach 'film as entertainment' and mainstream films, such as Star Wars and Disney films, tend to be the most watched.



2) During our teenage years, we begin to look beyond the mainstream titles and choose films to represent and build on who we are so we approach 'film as identity'.




3) By early adulthood, we begin to conceive 'film as culture' and we look beneath the surface of the film and they become subject to our critical analysis while we continue to watch films that are out of our comfort zone in terms of what is 'accepted'.

4) The final stage is 'film as a career' where people move into the film industry and is often something these people have worked hard for.

Following the 'film journey' guidelines, I would suggest that we aim for teens and adults as our film would possibly slightly more alternative based on the fact that it's an ecological thriller but has elements of mainstream themes such as conspiracy.

Audience Typology
The UKFC also presented a guide to the types of audience that a film could aim itself at:

1) Mainstream - who are likely to only watch the big, Hollywood blockbusters.
2) Mainstream Plus - who mainly watch blockbusters yet occasionally opt for a more alternative choice
3) Aficionados - have a wider, more adventurous mix of films and often view foreign titles
4) Film buffs - prefer films with a more extreme, esoteric and challenging subject matter rather than mainstream titles.

I concede that our film would fit into the 'mainstream plus' band as our film would contain mainly mainstream elements although there are alternative parts as well.

The Interpreter
This film (2005) is about an interpreter tries to bring down a larger organisation that is covering up an assassination attempt they are about to pull off which bears similarities with our film which is about a scientist who has to take on the larger entity of the government who are covering up the secret that global-warming is occurring at a faster rate than expected. I conducted some research into the opinions of people who saw this film and found that males preferred this sort of film to women.

This graph clearly demonstrates that this film was most popular with teenage males while males aged 20-29 also appeared to enjoy this film. For this reason we will aim our film towards the younger male population.

This chart shows the popularity of different genres for teens between 12 and 17 in the US. Although these statistics are for the US, we can still glean the information we need. This shows that when asked if they enjoy the Suspense/Mystery (Thriller) genre, 51% answered postively. This means over half of the teen population enjoy thriller films, making them the perfect target audience for our film.

Our Target Audience
To allow our film to look attractive for our target audience, we would have to tailor the props and costume to fit the demographics of this audience. For example, in the first scene we would have to use a drink that younger males would like, i.e, we would not use fruit juice or wine as they are predominantly drank by females, instead we could use whisky which is predominatly seen as a very male drink, as shown by this advert:

For our film, the story would revolve around the 'end-of-the-world'  theme and the action rather than a love interest for one of the characters as this would not appeal to males. The use of technology in our film, such as the laptop, would tantalize the male population, especially teens, who are into technology while we would have to consider the sort of soundtrack we would want as we would need something to build the tension in the opening sequence but also something that would interest our target audience, a teen to late 20s male.

Title Research

After looking at Spider-Man 3 and Reservoir Dogs, I managed to find the conventional order of credits during the opening sequence which is as follows:

• [...] Presents
• A [...] Production
• Starring...
• Music By...
• Costume Designer...
• Edited By...
• Director Of Photography...
• Produced By...
• Screenplay By...
• Directed By...
• Title of the Film

Thriller Film Pitch Review

Today, we presented our film pitch to the class detailing our objectives and ideas for the filming process. We created a film as if we were interviewing each other an discussed plans for each area: narrative, mise-en-scene, character and setting.

For the narrative, Taylor talked about the main protagonist who appears looking dejected in a small, dark room talking to someone about his story. We drew inspiration from The Usual Suspects and decided to use this scene as present day. The rest of the film would depict the man's story and how he came to be where he is. The story will be about how the man was a scientist who discovered a hidden truth - that global warming is happening at a much faster rate than previously thought. He then investigates into it and becomes hunted by government agents who want the secret to remain hidden.

Ollie then spoke about mise-en-scene. The costumes would be simple, so for the scientist we plan to borrow a lab coat and goggles from the science department. For the present day the man needs to look dejected and as if he's been through a lot so we plan to make him look unwashed and a bit dirty with raggy clothes on. For lighting, we are going to use low-key lighting for the opening scene of the dejected man to emphasize his gloomy situation and turn of fortune.

I talked about the characters. The man we see first would be dejected and demotivated as he has been hunted down by government agents and caught. This would contrast to his flashback where he is seen as being highly motivated and enthusiastic about his quest. He is also a very courageous character as he is one man taking on a bigger, stronger force that is the government. Other minor characters would include the man the scientist is speaking to at the beginning and another scientist, possibly, who helps him in the flashback.

Finally, Charlie spoke about the setting. We decided we would need a small, intimate room for the opening scene to show how he is 'down in the dumps' while low-key lighting is used to emphasize this. We decided on of the smaller classrooms or offices would be fine for this. Another location we need is a laboratory where the scientist will run experiments to test his theory, which we thought we could use a classroom again with props or one of the science prep rooms. Lastly, we need a library where the scientist discovers this secret. We could use the school library or just a computer room and use a few books as props to replicate this.

Thriller Film Analysis

In today's lesson, we watched some extracts from Die Hard 4.0, The Interpreter and The Usual Suspects and analysed what we saw with a view to glean some inspiration and ideas that we could include in our own work.

While watching Die Hard 4.0, I was looking at the characters and their characteristics. For example, the hackers were young, as in early-twenties, as this generation is seen as being more technology-fluent. Another character that was interesting was the oriental woman. It was clear from the beginning that she was the main antagonist. She was very calm and controlled which was shown by the way she dismissed the sexual comment from the coffee-drinking character. She was also very cold as she showed no emotion even when  'Deactivated' appeared on her screen and it became clear that she had killed this huge list of people.

In The Interpreter, it was clear that the blonde woman was innocent and had been caught up in something much bigger. This was shown by her sharp intake of breath and scared facial expressions when she overheard the conversation on the phone. The audience are also unable to hear what was said which creates an enigma as we wonder what was so shocking. The repeated motif in the music also created tension while the fact that low-key lighting was used could suggest that she's in the dark about what is happening. It was also interesting the way that they used her turning the light on to reveal her location to whoever else is in that building. In terms of camerawork, a close-up was used of her swiping her entry card which shows that she's entering a secure location but that she also has a high enough position to gain entry.

In The Usual Suspects, the audience are unable to see the killer's face which creates an enigma as we wonder who he is and what the relationship between these characters is. The use of low-key lighting, again, created an ominous atmosphere - something we incorporated into our preliminary work. It was interesting to see that the killer was so relaxed, shown by him smoking a cigarette despite being about to kill a man, while the protagonist was equally relaxed even though he knew what was coming. This suggested that these characters possibly knew each other before. I also thought it was effective the way that instead of showing the man being killed, they cut to a wide shot of the area and just used a hyperbolic sound of a gunshot.

Thriller Narrative Ideas

In today's lesson, we had a brainstorm to think of ideas for our thriller films - in the techno-thriller genre. We were given a basic plot line and had to invent a techno-thriller story around it. For example: 

"An interpreter overhears a plot to assassinate a political figure"

We thought that an interpreter would be involved in a business conference over Skype. The two business-men then disconnect the interpreter but actually only minimise his window. The interpreter then overhears the conversation that follows in which the two men talk of assassinating a political figure.

We thought that by including a modern high-tech communication tool such as Skype it would immediately set the film's time as being in the present day while most people, especially the younger generation, would recognise Skype and be able to relate to it.

"A detective investigates the disappearance of his niece who has been missing for 30 years"

We thought that the detective would decide to re-open the case as he sees his niece update her profile/status/location on Facebook, for example, and decides to investigate. He could then use gadgets such as Sat Nav's and his phone to find his way around.

Most of our ideas revolved around social networking and communication as it is quite original compared to gadgets such as guns, while people can relate to it as it is very highly used. It's popularity also makes it a good choice, shown by the evidence of recent films such as The Social Network.

9-Shot Analysis

In the first two shots here, we can see the match-on-action of a door opening, as the first shot shows the handle being turned while the second shot shows the door opening and people walking out.

In the third shot, a long shot is used which shows the drug-user's perspective. The costumes of these people show that they are antagonists as they are wearing dark colours which suggests an evil capacity while the masks hide their faces which means their emotions can's be read. This also creates an enigma as we wonder what/who they are, which is a common convention of the thriller genre.

The fourth and fifth shots show another match-on-action of the syringe being dropped. The fourth shot shows the syringe leaving the drug-user's hand, while the fifth shot shows the syringe hitting the floor.

The sixth, seventh and eighth shots show our shot/reverse/shots and demonstrate our understanding of the 180-degree rule. The sixth shot is an over-the-shoulder shot looking at the antagonists while the drug-user speaks, the seventh shows the drug-user while the antagonists speak and the third is the same as the sixth but the antagonists have disappeared. This creates another enigma and also creates tension as the viewer wonders where they have gone. The 180-degree rule is demonstrated here as the camera always stays within the 180-degree arc.

Finally, in the ninth shot we can see where the antagonists have gone as they appear directly behind the drug-user.

Response to Preliminary Task

After reading through our comments, I felt that I agreed on the whole. For example, they suggested that the shot of the antagonistic figures was too long and could be clipped. I agreed with this as I feel we could have shortened this sequence to increase the tension and build excitement in the viewer. I was also glad that they noticed our use of lighting as this was one of the aspects that we were most proud of.

Overall, I feel this exercise has taught me a lot. We discovered that the flashing lighting we used really accentuated the eerie atmosphere that we were creating, while it also served to reflect the drug-user's state of mind. We did have one continuity error - the syringe changes hands - which could easily be avoided next time by filming these shots in sequence which would limit the chance of the actor changing what he's doing. Overall, I feel our group were well prepared as we were able to film as soon as we were ready and filming went very smoothly. Although, we did end up diverging from our original storyboard as we realised some shots would be hard to shoot, such as them walking up the stairs as there wasn't enough room, but this did help us to create an equally effective shot - when the antagonistic figures emerge from the room and walk past the camera, which reveals the drug-user who has also turned into one of 'them'.


In this task, we ensured that our film followed the 180-degree rule, during the dialogue between the drug-user and the 'other people'. This allowed the dialogue to be followed more easily and the audience understand what is going on as the characters always stay on the same side of the shot. Also during the dialogue, we used shot/reverse/shot. This meant the clip cut from a shot of the 'antagonistic figures' to a shot of the drug-user, and then back to a shot of the 'antagonistic figures'. This allowed the viewer to see both characters reactions. Finally, we used a match-on-action, when the drug-user drops his syringe. This helped the audience to understand the scared state of mind the drug-user is in as he has dropped his syringe in shock.

Thriller Film Examples

In our last lesson (25th November), we looked at a number of thriller films to try and identify some of the common conventions.

One film we looked at was Cape Fear (1962). This film is about a convict who has been released and starts to stalk the lawyer who had him put away. The clip we watched demonstrated how this film broke one of the conventions in that the antagonist was wearing white when usually they would wear black to symbolize that they are evil. There was also an interesting camera shot where it was a long shot and the convict was a long way away, so very small, yet he was in the very centre of the frame which was very ominous.

Another film we saw was What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). This film demonstated a common thriller convention which is to create dramatic irony - where the viewer knows what is going to happen but not when or how. There was dramatic irony when Blanche had thrown the note out of the window and her sister had found it. The viewer knows that the sister will not be pleased about this, as they know the character already, and so they wonder what will happen and when. This creates tension - a convention of this genre.

We also had a look at Fatal Attraction (1987). This film is about a woman who stalks a man and his family after having a one-night stand. This film demonstrated, again, dramatic irony as the viewer sees the woman watching in the shadows, as the man ascends in a lift to his car in a car-park. The viewer knows she has done something but are not sure what or if she's about to do it. This creates tension. It is then revealed that she has thrown acid on his car as the alarm goes off. We also learnt that the famous phrase 'bunny-boiler' comes from this film after the woman puts the family's pet rabbit in a pot, boiling for the family when they get home.

Finally, we looked at The Silence Of The Lambs (1991). This film demonstrated how the use of shadows can be effective. We see Hannibal loitering in the darkness through the use of a close-up where you can only just see him waiting to pounce on the woman. This film also built tension effectively as we see Hannibal reaching out for the woman and within touching distance, using a point-of-view shot from Hannibal, as she fumbles in the darkness.

Preliminary Task Research

In todays' lesson, we researched ideas for our preliminary task by watching other peoples work. This gave us an idea of what to do and also gave us ideas of what not to do.

For example, we realised that many people, when filming an example of match on action, film someone opening a door. Therefore, we thought it would be a good idea if we could come up with something original. A few ideas we came up with included throwing a rock at a wall, pulling a chair out, or switching a computer on.

We also thought that it may be a good idea to use different locations and/or costumes so that the film could be made more interesting, as many groups seemed to base their scenes around school and school life.

Research into Thriller Sub-genres

There are many different sub-genres within the thriller genre, each of which have it's own set of conventions:

Action Thriller

These often contain race-against-time, violence and an obvious antagonist. These films often contain weapons, explosions, and large elaborate sets/locations for the action to take place. These films often overlap with mystery thrillers and crime thillers, however these elements are usually not the main focus of the film. An example would be the James Bond films.

Crime Thriller
This particular genre is a hybrid of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses. Examples include Reservoir Dogs, Seven, Ocean's 11 and No Country for Old Men.

Conspiracy Thriller
These often revolve around a hero/heroine confronting a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes. For example, Enemy of the State.

Disaster Thriller
In these films the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes or nuclear disasters. An example is The Day After Tomorrow.

Erotic Thriller
These are a mix of erotica and thriller. It has become popular since the 1980s and the rise of VCR market penetration. An example would be Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

Legal Thriller
In these films, the lawyer confronts enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives. Michael Clayton is an example.

Medical Thriller
This genre involves the hero/heroine, who are often medical doctors/personnel, working to solve an expanding medical problem. For example, Coma.

Mystery Thriller
Suspense films where characters attempt solving, or are involved in, a mystery. A good example is Shutter Island.

Political Thriller
In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him. An example is In the Line of Fire.

Psychological Thriller
In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. For example, Phone Booth and Psycho.

Religious Thriller
In these films, the plot is closely connected to religious objects, institutions and questions. A good example is The Da Vinci Code which has led to a current boom in religiously orientated thrillers.

Supernatural Thriller
In which the film brings in an otherworldly element mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists. Sometimes the hero and/or villain has some psychic or supernatural ability. For example, The Sixth Sense.

Techno Thriller
A suspense film in which the manipulation of sophisticated technology plays a prominent part. An example would be The Matrix trilogy.

Eco-thriller
 In which the protagonist must avert or rectify an environmental or biological calamity - often in addition to dealing with the usual types of enemies or obstacles present in other thriller genres. This environmental component often forms a central message or theme of the story.


Horror Thriller
In these films, the conflict between the main characters is mental, emotional, and physical. What sets the horror thriller apart is the main element of fear throughout the story. The main character(s) is not only up against a superior force, but they are or will soon become the victims themselves and directly feel the fear that comes by attracting the monster's attention. An example is 28 Days Later.

Spy Thriller
This genre often involves the hero being a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. For example, The Bourne Identity.

Film Techniques

Match-on-action

In this extract of The Bourne Identity, there are a couple of examples of match-on-action. The first example I noticed was about 20 seconds in, and there is a close-up of the steering wheel. It then cuts to a long shot of the Mini turning right into the alleyway. The steering wheel is the start of the action and the car turning is the completion of the action.

Another example is after around 1:45 minutes and there is a shot of a car crashing into a yellow van. It then cuts to another shot from a different angle which shows the van toppling over. The car hitting the van is the start of the action, and the van toppling is the completion.

Shot/reverse/shot and 180 degree rule

In this extract from Enemy of the State, there is an example of both shot/reverse/shot and the 180 degree rule. After about 2.30 minutes, there are two men having a convosation on a bench. During this next sequence, only two shots are used which are close-ups of each characters face as they talk. However, these shots are used repeatadely to create a convosation. During this sequence, the camera always stays in a 180 degree arc, which is behind the bench. This means each character has his own side of the frame which avoids confusion for the viewer.

Analysis of Marnie Clip

Francois and I worked together in this task to analyze this scene from Marnie. I think we worked well together and managed to come up with some good ideas. We shared the workload so that we both wrote the script and both spoke over the extract. Originally, we were working on separate tasks but we decided to collaborate as we thought we would be able to achieve better results. 

The process started with us downloading a clip from YouTube and loading it onto iMovie. We chose this clip as we thought it demonstrated some good areas that create tension. We then wrote our script, recorded us speaking it and then uploaded the video to our blogs. One problem we faced was trying to record us speaking to time it with the clip itself. So we decided to practice speaking it in time with the clip so that it fit much better.

Conventions of the Thriller Genre

Tension:

·         Fast editing, quick cuts and camera angle changes add tension

·         Dramatic music adds tension

·         Use of shadow and lighting also adds tension

Crime, often serial killer:

·         Viewer doesn’t see killer until very late to add mystery  

Protagonist often has a weakness or is vulnerable:

·         Film title often is named after protagonists weakness, e.g. Vertigo

·         Antagonist often uses weakness to his advantage

Antagonist often drives protagonist deeper and deeper into an intricate plot where the protagonist eventually feels helpless and defeated:

·         Protagonist finds a way to defeat antagonist near the end of the film

Some thrillers use the theme of identity to create confusion and mystery:

·         Plot may revolve around amnesia, mistaken identity or doppelgangers

Mysteries or dramatic irony create tension:

·         The audience may not know the identity of the killer, e.g. Psycho

·         The audience may know the identity but the characters don’t creating dramatic irony e.g. Dirty Harry. This builds suspense and tension.

Reservoir Dogs Timeline for Title Sequence

My Favourite Title Sequences

 Lord Of War

One of my favourite opening sequences is from Lord Of War. This follows the life of a bullet as it is made, transported and finally shot at someone who is killed.

One aspect of this sequence that I like is the film that is reeling behind the credits. This is very interesting as it is a story in itself. It starts off very ordinary as the camera pans across the factory but the audience are taken by surprise when the camera zooms into the machine and starts to follow the bullet using an almost POV shot. I found myself being drawn into what was happening to the bullet as it is shipped, dropped and then loaded into a gun. We then follow the bullet until it strikes someone in the head. The bullet moves in slow-motion before the screen fades to black and the audience are caught unawares. Another interesting piece of camerawork is when the bullet is rolling as this disorientates the viewer.

Another aspect I like is the music. I thought Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth was a good choice as it such a laid back song. This is acheived because it is mianly acoustic so is quite simple. This juxtaposes against what we're seeing as we're watching a bullet capable of killing. There is also a link between this song and the Vietnam war as it was released around the same time so the theme of war is brought in straight away.

The titles themselves are also interesting as they are white and in simple block capitals. This makes them inconspicuous and although the viewer can easily see them the eye is not drawn away from the bullet. This is interesting as often filmmakers make the credits very obvious so as to show off the credentials.

Reservoir Dogs

Another favourite title sequence of mine is from Reservoir Dogs. 

One aspect of this sequence that I like is the use of simple camerawork. Similarly to Lord Of War it doesn't use a lot of different shots, however it differs because where as a lot of things are going on in the titles for Lord Of War, in Reservoir Dogs the camerawork is very basic. However I think this works well for the film as the rest of the film is very intricate and has a non-linear storyline. The sequence starts off with a camera tracking the group as they walk down the road. This shows that they are a team but also makes them seem ominous as they are all wearing smart black suits and black shades. Close-ups on each of the characters faces are then used to show us who the characters are. Again, the characters are shown to be ominous as they smoke cigarettes and their dark shades hide their eyes.


Another aspect I enjoy is the choice of soundtrack. George Baker's Little Green Bag is a good choice, in my opinion, as it is once again a very laid back song as the main element of the song is the bass. This has a link back to jazz which has always been a laid-back, 'cool' feel. This lures the viewer into a false sense of security and contrasts against the violence and language throughout the rest of the film.


The titles themselves are another aspect I found interesting. The names of the actors are displayed just as the close-up of their character's face is shown, this allows the viewer to recognise each character from the start. I thought the font chosen fits well with the film because it looks very vintage and classy like the Mafia would be. The colour chosen, yellow, is interesting and unusual as usually titles are displayed in white text. This could represent how the characters are not the stereotypical protagonists or how the film itself is not in a conventional linear format. I also like the film name title as it scrolls from the bottom of the screen and stops above the heads of the characters. This creates a nicely framed shot that shows the name of the film and the main characters.


Moon

 My final choice is the opening sequence of Moon. 


The thing I like about this sequence is the way the titles themselves are weaved into the camerawork so that they fit into the scene. Whereas most films have their titles almost pasted onto the screen, these titles fit along the angles and are woven into the clip. The fact that these are hovering in midair gives a feeling of weightlessness which links back to the setting - on the moon. What I also find clever is the way that these titles cast shadows on the walls behind them. This adds to the concept that the titles are actually in the scene. The clip ends with the title 'Moon'. This is again cleverly woven into the shot and the title is 'revealed' much like an eclipse. The shadow covering the title withdraws from the top and the title is made to look like the moon after an eclipse. This added to the 'floating' effect creates a very weightless atmosphere. The font used also reflects a space station which is the setting. It is in block capitals so looks very clean and ambiguous which reflects the baron atmosphere of a space station on the moon.

Another aspect I like is the camerawork. Throughout this sequence, slow cuts between  shots are used which creates a slow, lethargic feel which creates the sense of walking on the moon. It also creates a slightly ominous tone as if something is not quite as it seems which indeed turns out to be the case. One of the shots used is a zoom out followed by a pan. This shows the loneliness and emptiness of living on the moon. The sequence starts interestingly as it almost a prelude to the film. It is presented like an advert for this new HE-3 energy. This lets the audience know the background and the reason why this man is on the moon. I thought this was very interesting as it is quite original and seems rather out of place as it is the first thing we see.

Finally, I think the music creates a moon-like atmosphere. It is very simple with a piano repeating the melody which, again, creates an empty, weightless atmosphere. The fact that it repeats does create an ominous tone which is answered later in the film.