The thriller genre can overlap with the horror genre as they are quite similar to each other. The horror genre has more blood and gore in it, where as the thriller genre is more about getting the audience involved and trying to figure out things in the narrative. A few examples of thriller films would be: 'Seven', 'Memento', and 'Saw', as all three of these films get you thinking and trying to solve the clues as the narrative goes on. The thriller genre like to gradually build tension and keep suspense They also leave the audience in uncertainty, with them on the edge of their seats wanting to know what is going to happen next.
Due to the thriller genre being very large, it has let the genre open up into sub genres such as:
Crime thrillers
Psychology thrillers
Mystery thrillers
Spy thrillers
Conspiracy thrillers
Relationship thrillers
Crime thrillers normally focus on the criminal and then the detectives and police trying to figure out who has committed the crime. The crimes which have been committed are usually or armed robber, murder, money, or having a hidden identity. An example of a crime thriller is 'Witness', 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Untraceable'.
Psychological thrillers are usually about the protagonist and what they are going through. In these thrillers it can involve a lot of drama and mystery, and you are always thinking about what is happening as they focus mainly on the mind of the characters. Psychological thrillers usually draws in the audience and has a hold over them, as they normally have a personal feel due to the first person narrative. An example of a psychological thriller is 'Se7en' which we were extremely influenced by and also 'Psycho'.
Mystery thrillers are one of the most popular types of thrillers as they are well known. These types of thrillers normally have someones identity revealed or a crime getting solved. They normally include police officers and detectives who try to solve the mystery. Mystery thrillers sometimes make the audience feel like an omniscient viewer as they might find out information before the protagonist, which can build tension.
Spy Thrillers are normally where the protagonist is an agent within the government. They usually include a lot of action scenes, shoot outs and car chases due to all of the chase scenes. They also have an aspect of science fiction due to the gadgets which gets used.
Every genre has codes and conventions in order to
represent the mood which they want to portray. The thriller codes and
conventions are quite similar to the horror codes and conventions as the two
genres can link over to each other. The thriller codes and conventions are represented
through camera angles, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. In order to create a feature film, mise en scene of the film making trade, such as music, script, costumes, camera angles and framing, are used. These are only a few examples of film codes. It is the way they are used that helps us understand which characters are playing each role in the story. The directors use the mise en scene so they can encourage us to like or dislike a character and also help us to understand how important each character is in the story. Mise en scene is very important in a film as the little details such as lighting, camera angles, props and music set the mood which they want to convey. In a thriller the lighting is usually dark and has low lighting, as this connotes a creepy and mysterious atmosphere. An example of a film which does this is 'SE7EN' in the opening, when a lot of close up shots of the villain planning his victims death. Also throughout the film low lighting is used for effect such as when one of the detectives are in the library trying to find research.
A lot of different camera angles get taken when doing a film. They often switch between different shots in a thriller to make the viewer seem uncertain about what is going on. Low angle shots can be used for villains for example to show them as powerful and dominate, whereas the high angle shots can be used for a victim to show innocence and vulnerability. Another convention is extreme close ups on important object, props or face expressions within a movie. This helps the audience to focus on a certain thing which connotes that it is an important moment in the film. the film 'SE7EN' uses alot of extreme close up, close up, and mid shots in the opening of the film. This is because it is showing the important props within the movie, and this gives you an inside of the film.
The third code and convention is the editing. It gets edited so there is fast and slow paced editing, this makes the movie more exciting, and can cause a disorientated effect. When editing you can also use flashbacks, these are used quite a lot in thriller movies. An example of a movie which does this is 'Menento'. They use flashbacks to show important parts of the movie, which makes the film make sense later on.
The final code and convention is the music which gets used. It can either be slow or fast paced. It normally is quite and slowly gets built up to create tension and suspense. In a lot of movies they use instruments such as pianos and strings which creates a tense atmosphere. In the opening of the film 'SE7EN' they start off by having slow paced music which eventually gets built up to create tension. The codes and conventions in every thriller film are important as they help set the scene and atmosphere, and they also help establish to thriller genre through camera shots, editing, lighting and props.
We had to analyse a thriller film, and we have chosen to analyse the thriller/crime film 'SE7EN'. We chose to definitely analyse this film because after we watched it we were extremely influenced by it. We thought that the film was incredibly successful because of the narrative and opening. We thought that they had a good effective opening, which made the audience start to guess, question and figure out things straight away.
The opening of se7en starts with a low angle shot that’s a close up shot
of a book that being opened with the credits of the production company ‘New
Line Cinema’. With Se7en being produces by ‘New Line Cinema’ we can tell that
the film is going to be very good as this company is very successful with past
films that have been very popular. The beginning font is very rough and
scratchy which ties in with the thriller genre. Also with the font looking
distorted and distressed it gives the audience an idea that the film has got
something to do with a murder. Then there are many different shots used ranging
from extreme close ups which helps us focus on the characters/objects which may
become significant during the film to high angle shots which show the victims weakness. Then
the movement of the arc shot shows disturbance within the status quo. Then
there is a tracking shot of the books and this shows that he has took his time
to plan and organise what he is going to do as it is a very long shot.
The montage of shots includes a black and white filter of picture of someone’s
hands, which looks like a plan to torture someone.
Moreover jump cuts to add a sense of disorientation along with the fast
paced editing between shots heightens the suspense. This is insightful on the
viewer as it also makes them feel uneasy and scared. The actors 'Morgan
Freeman' and 'Brad Pitt' and directors names are given in the same style and
flash on and off screen quickly which shows the audience the film more as they
are well known actors. Furthermore the cleaver use of the change from shots to
the black screen adds uncertainty which also gives a variety of different film
to entice the audience and make it more interesting for them. As the title is
shown it is a white scribbled font which is flashed onto the screen, then they
use the effect of zooming to bring the title closer to use and to make it look
bigger and it now stands out. At the end of the opening sequence of se7en there
is a shot of a person, which we assume is a victim, and there is a red filter
over the lens which this symbolises hate, violence and death, these are the
common themes of a thriller. However it also could connote blood which can show
the audience that the killer may be insane and have no emotions at all.
The music has been added in afterwards, you can see this because there
is no diegetic sounds within the opening. The non-diegetic music that has been
chosen is very distorted with screams as this adds to the suspense to the quiet
drum beat in the background and this can add disruption to the rhythm of the
drum beat. The non-diegetic music then ends with a backing track saying ‘bring
me closer to god’ this represents that people are going to die.
The mise en scene that is used throughout the opening of se7en has made
a massive impact on the genre of seven because it uses a variety of many
different props and this adds to the crime theme, for instance: the prop of the
razor blade used with the close up of the ‘killers’ hand shows that the killer
is fearless and that he is very clever and can do anything and may harm others.
Also the use of religious symbols and the reference to the seven sins shows the
meaning of the film and that the deaths of the victims have a lot more to them
than just random people he is choosing to kill, this gives a real twist to the
film.
For our third analyse of a thriller we have chosen to analyse 'Hostage'. We chose to analyse this film as we felt like the credits were done well as they are different and original compared to a lot of thrillers. This influenced us to be creative with our credits and do something original which would link to out thriller 'The Last Chapter'.
The opening of the thriller ‘Hostage’ starts off
with the credits. It is an animatic all the way through it with buildings, skyscrapers,
people, guns and roads within it. The first credit is the production company which
is ‘Stratue‘ which is in blocked, capital red letters, which stands out from
the black dull background. The credits appear quickly and slowly zoom into them
as they come closer towards the screen. The
bold, red colour connotes negativity suggesting violence, death and danger to
the audience which also suggests to the audience that it is a part of the
thriller genre.
The first image which is shown is an image of a
location/city which is shown by an Ariel shot. This three second shot is very
effective for the first opening shot as it helps set the scene and gives the
audience an inside of where the film is going to be shot. The following shot is
then a long shot which gradually gets closer by zooming into it. Within this
shot there is another credit which is the producer say ‘A film by Florent Siri’.
This credit is on a brown brick wall which is done with white bold capital letters
which makes it stand out from the dark dim background setting. I think this is
effective as it ties in with the theme of the film. It is followed by several
different shots including tilt and tracking shots which look around and view
different buildings from different perspectives which also helps the audience
to grasp the setting.
Throughout the opening of the film there are many
credits which include the producers, directors and actors names which are all
done in the same style, font, and colour and are shown on buildings, walls,
guns etc to give it a continuous theme throughout. All of the credits are done
in capital black or white colour with the opposite colour as the background
which makes them stand out. This suggests to the audience that the names which
are being shown are great significance. The only credit which is different is
the title ‘Hostage’. It begins with the middle letter which is ‘T’ and slowly
zooms out whilst turning landscape. It is in capital bold, large, red letters
which stands out from the dark background, which is an aerial shot from above.
The two red thick lines above and below the title makes it stand out and catch
the audience’s attention, making them realise that it is the title. The title
is one of the key credits within the opening as it lets the audience have an
inside of what they think the film is about, as the title usually sums the film
up within a few words. It is also a lot larger and bolder than the rest of the
credit which also catches the audience’s eye. I think that they have done this effectively
as it is at the beginning of the opening (25 seconds) making the title have a
lasting memory in the audience’s mind.
Finally, they use non-diegetic music within the
opening which starts off quite quietly and gradually builds up. It is an orchestra
which have different sounds throughout it. The main instrument you can hear is
the beat of the drums which builds up the tension by it creating a mysterious atmosphere
towards the audience. I thought they used the non diegetic music very effectively
as the drums stop when the title is shown, and a high pitched sound comes in
which makes the tension decrease then suddenly builds up again when the next
credit come up.
Overall, I think that they have done this opening
very effectively as they have used effective credits which are continuous
throughout the film, which also stand out all the time, making the most
important one the most dominant ones.The non diegetic music is also effective
as it increase and decreases the tension throughout it, making the audience
keep interest in it
For our thriller opening we decided to look into a few different directors which produced different thriller films. We were influenced by three different directors which were David Fincher, Christopher Nolan and Pierre Moral.
We have decided to look in to the director of Pierre Morel as we have analysed the film 'Taken' which he directed.
Pierre Morel was born on the 12th of May, 1964. He is a French film director and cinematographer. He spent a lot of his years in cinema school, where he studied different types of films. He then became a famous director who is mostly known for directing 'Taken', 'District 13' and 'From Paris with Love'.
We have decided to look in to Christopher Nolan in more detail as he has directed thriller movies, and our AS coursework is about the thriller genre. We were influenced by him as he has directed the film 'Memento' and we have watched and analysed this film.
Christopher Nolan was born on the 30th July, 1970. He is a British- American film director, screen writer and producer. He has directed many films over the years, but his most popular and well known films are: 'The dark knight trilogy', 'Inception' and also the thriller film 'Memento'. He was nominated for the BAFTA award for his film 'Inception' and also won AFI awards of 'AFI screen writer of the year' for his film 'Memento'.
We were influenced David Fincher because of his successful films such as: 'SE7EN', which he directed in 1995. Due to use being influenced by this film for our opening we wanted to research more into the director of this film and see what other films he has done.
David Flincher was born on the 28th August 1962, and is an American film director who is mostly known for his success in thrillers such as 'SE7EN', 'Alien 3' and 'The Game'. He has received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his film 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' in 2008 and 'The Social Network' in 2010 made him win the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Best Director.
We chose to analysis a second film, which was 'Memento'. We chose to do this as we were also extremely influenced by it when thinking about our opening of our thriller as it is a psychological thriller. We were influenced by this due to the Polaroid pictures which are used throughout the film. We thought that the Polaroid pictures would be good for the photos of the five victims, when we burn each one of them after the killer has killed them. We also thought the pictures would be a good effect for our credits.
Most of the opening scene is an extreme close up shot where you can see the Polaroid picture and little of the dark blurry background, and it also has a bit of a hand in the shot. The hand suggests that it is the protagonists hand. The picture has a man laying down dead on the floor with blood around him, every time the picture is shaken, the image on the picture changes. The lighting of the picture keeps changing, which is making it more difficult for the audience to figure of what it is. Due to having most of the opening of the pictures, this suggests that it play an big and important role throughout the film. By using an extreme close up shot it blocks our view from anything else and makes us focus just on the picture, A mid shot is then used when you can see the Polaroid picture and the body of the protagonist. A close up shot it used when the protagonist has the camera in his hand and taking a photo, this is then followed by a close up shot of his face. This reveals his identity and shows that he is the main character of the film, and the film will revolve around him. By using a close up of his face it lets the audience see his reactions and emotions.
There is then a close up shot of objects such as: blood, bullet, glasses, and back of a head of someone being shot with blood around them. All of these close up shots connote importance and that they suggests that they will be important parts throughout the film. A low angle show is then used which connotes importance and power. Close up shots are used once again of the objects, however they are going in reverse, which suggests that the film could be in reverse order. This lets the audience have an clear understanding of the murder and helps them understand the film. The final shot is an extreme close up of the protagonist face, going from his mouth to his eyes.
Throughout the opening, they have used low lighting, as this implies a typical thriller film. By having a low lighting setting it can cause a shadowy effect sometimes. The darkness suggests a mysterious and curious atmosphere, which can make the audience feel unsure and unsettled, and memento uses this effectively.
In the opening of memento they use slow paced music which are strings which helps set the atmosphere as it is quite mysterious, which makes the audience feel uncomfortable and unsure about what is going to happen throughout the film. This type of music is used a lot in thrillers as it can build up tension before the film has even started and make people feel on edge. The music dies down when on the objects and then builds back up with a heartbeat sound when the close up shot of his face is used. This builds up tension and makes the audience wanting to watch the film. Non- diegetic sounds are used, for example the Polaroid picture getting shaken the sound of the camera, the shouting of the man getting shot "what?". These are all used to help build the tension of the film. The sound of the bullet going across the floor creates a scraping and screeching sound which can be unnerving. Also the loud bang like sound of the gun shot builds tension as this gives you an inside of the film.
In memento they don't use that much editing as most of the clip is the Polaroid picture which takes up at least one minute, and they do not want to confuse the audience anymore as the film is in reverse. The title and credits are very simple as they are in a light blue font which appear over the Polaroid pictures which are red and white, this makes the font stand out. The title of memento are in capital letters which makes it clear and the colour blue connotes coldness and sadness which also links in with the slow paced music which can also connote sadness.
For our credits we would like the font
colour to be red and black as it connotes death, dark and evil. It also
symbolises the thriller genre. The font style which we are thinking of is a
thin but slightly long which has a disorientated effect. We are thinking of
having the credits long and stretched out because of the serial killer dragging
out each one of his deaths due to the planning and stalking. Also because we
think it is original and unique.
We planned carefully on how we wanted the credits to look and how they could link in with our opening thriller. We decided to use the Polaroid picture theme to show a continuous theme. We got a piece of square paper which we tea stained to show it being old and have a decaying effect, which we slight scrunched up to add to the effect. We used fake blood to do the writing, which we thought looked effective as it represented blood. We also spreaded a bit of the blood around the tea stained paper to add to the effectiveness. We filmed it hanging on the same rope as the pictures of the victims were hanging, so it had the same setting and atmosphere which it created.
The first credit which we used in our opening
was the production company ‘New Line Cinema’. We choose to use this production
company as it is very popular and well known due to the many different
successful films which they have presented. We chose to put it straight away on
our opening as most films tend to do this.
Our second credit which we used was the staring credit. This had the three main people who stared in it such as: Matt who is the killer, Fliss who is the 4th victim and Tonicha who is victim 5 and who the film is set around as she is 'The Last Chapter' of the film which is why our film is called this.
Our third credit was the directors, which was us two, Laura and Gabby. We decided to use this credit as in every film they show the directors names as their names play an important role in the credits. For example if it was a famous director such as one of the three which we researched about a lot of the target audience would watch the film as they are well known. If i director is well known and has produced many successful films this makes people most likely watch the rest of the films which they have directed and produced.
Our final credit was the title of out film which was 'The Last Chapter'. We decided to put this credit near the end of the thriller opening. This was because the last scene shows the 5th victim walking in a park whilst getting stalked by the serial killer. We put the credit just before this scene as it explains to the target audience that she is the 5th victim and the final victim, meaning it is the final chapter to the story and her life.
We are going to use non-diagetic music for the opening which will be at a slow pace which will create a tense atmosphere to the audience leaving them questioning what is going to happen throughout the film. The non diagetic music will keep increasing and decreasing throughout it depending when we want to build up tension and when we want to decrease the tension. We are going to create the music using a new software to us which is on the Mac computers called 'Garage Band'. This will let us use a range of different instruments which will have a variety of different sounds which will help us create an effect piece of music which will fit with our footage.
Also there will be diagetic music in the opening which will include the natural sound such as when the 5th victim is walking through the park, the opening of the gate; the snapshot of the camera when taking the picture of the 5th victim in the living room; the noise of the matches being lit.
We are going to have a little bit of dialogue which will be when the 5th victim is walking down the park. The 5th victim will be on the phone having a normal conversation with a friend, but has a feeling someone is watching her so she freezes. Her dialogue will be a response to her friend on the phone asking if she was okay and she responses by saying "Im fine, I just thought I heard something".
New Line Cinema is an American film company, which has a large studio. It was founded by Michael Lynne and Robert Shane in 1967. The first full length film which they featured was action thriller film called "Stunts" which was released in 1976. After they released they produced many other successful fins in the thriller and horror genre such as: 'Friday the 13th', 'SE7EN', and 'Destination'. Apart from thriller and horror films, they also produced some comedy films such as 'Sex in the City' films, which have also been very successful.
We have chosen to used this production company as it is one of the biggest production company's. It is well known by most people who enjoy and know about successful films as it has been running since 1967. We thought that we should use New Line Cinema production company as the have made many thrillers such as "SE7EN' which we were influenced by and it would make our film a success as many of their films have already been. Due to SE7EN being very successful, we thought it would be a good opportunity for us as we have a similar narrative as we have a serial killer who kills 5 victims one by one, planning and dragging out each one of their deaths. We thought it would be the perfect production company to make out film successful.
To replicate the genre of our film which was thriller, we had to come up with a range of suitable title names which we could use. One of our possible title names were "She is the one". We thought about this name as it reflects our film narrative which is about a serial killer finding his last victim which is a vulnerable girl.
However we also had another name in mind which was "The last chapter", which we chose to use for our opening title name. We chose to use this title instead of the "She is the one" because it explains our narrative, as it is about the 5th victim throughout the film and it is her last chapter of her life. Also because with each one of the victims they all have a different chapter in their lifes where they have all done similar things that link them all together for them to be the victims.
We are going to uses different props in our thriller such as:
Photocopier- serial killer to photocopy information
Pictures- Of 5th victim (Emily)
Books- For killer to read and plan his murder
Pencil/highlighters- to circle/highlight important information in the books
Killer= black coat, gloves, hat, hoodie to hide his identity, and keeps the audience guessing
Rope- Tie up 4th victim
At first we were going to use these props, however we decided to change some of our scenes as it would be too long for a thriller opening. We decided to get rid of the photocopier scene as we felt like we did not need it anymore, as our narrative was clear enough. So the props which we eventually used were:
Polaroid pictures of the five victims on a rope- We felt like this was a good prop to use as it meant it would explain our narrative, as three of the pictures were already burnt, and after the serial killer killed the 4th victim, he burnt the 4th victims photo.
Matches- The matches were a vital prop in our opening as they were used to burn each one of the victims photos after the serial killer as killed them. The burnt photo represented the end of their life.
Books- The books were all scatted around the front rooms large table as we felt it would look effective. It showed that the serial killer is planning on how to kill them, and is doing a lot of research into different ways of killing each one of the victims. He circled the important and key parts in each of the books.
Rope- The rope was used at the beginning of the opening, where the 4th victim was laying dead by the pool. The rope was used to tie up the victims legs and arms to give it a dramatic effect and to add to the tension.
Killer- The killer wore a black coat which had a hood on, which he had up at all times, dark trousers and trainers. He had these dark pieces of clothing on so he could hide his identity and keep it a mystery to the audience, to keep them guessing throughout the film. We felt like we did a good job of hiding his identity, however if we had to do it again we would add gloves and try to hid his face more when in the scene of him doing the research on the table.
The camera was a significant prop within our thriller as it helped the serial killer capture photos of each one of the five victims everywhere they went which help him make a collage of photos of them.
These pictures are the pictures which the serial killer has searched for a taken so he could have a collage of photos of the victim. This shows that he has been stalking the victim everywhere she has gone to link back to our narrative.
This photo shows that we used the matches to burn each one of the Polaroid pictures after he killed the victim, to show it is the end of her life.
For our opening we have a variety of different places where we want to film for our thriller opening such as: Felicity's pool and drive, Victims living room/garden, Gabby's garage and Gabby's back room where the serial killer does all of his planning and research on how he is going to stalk the five victims.
Our first location was shot by felicity's pool where the 4th victim was already dead. We thought this was a good place to film as it is the 4th victims house, and it shows that the killer has stalked her to her own house, which represents our narrative.
Our second location is Gabby's front room. This is where the serial killer is planning on how he is going to kill the final victim. We thought this would be a good location to films it had cream walls, and a big brown table. We thought the brown table would be a good prop in the room as the killer could spread out books and pieces of information which he has collected. We thought the candle would look effective, as the room is dark due to us turning off the lights and the bright flame is lighting up the information. This makes our atmosphere more tense.
The third location is Gabby's garage, where the serial killer kept the pictures of the victims and burnt each picture as he killed them. We used this room as it was a brick garage which gave it a cold atmosphere which added to the tension. The props around the garage were objects such as unwanted items and hammers, which fitted in with our narrative, as they could be used as a weapon. The door where we hung the pictures, we felt like this was good as the door was small which gave it a sense of confusion, and because it was also dirty and scratched. We used a variety of different shot in here such as; close up of pictures, zoom, and long shot.
The forth location is Gabby's house, where we used her gate and her patio for the serial killer to stand, as he has stalked the 5th victim home. We felt like her gate was a good setting as it meant we could do a match on action shot which looked effective as it showed continuity. We also thought steps going up to the patio would be a good place to film as it meant we could do a high and low angle shot making the serial killer seem powerful as he walked up to the patio. Her patio looks in onto the living room where the serial killer could look in watching the 5th victim, and take photos of her to add to his collection. We felt this was a good shot as we could do a long shot which zoomed out from the killer to see the whole setting.
The final location was Arnold park. We felt like this would be a good place to film as it is quite realistic as the 5th victim is walking through the park to get home, whilst the serial killer is up on a hill hiding behind a tree. We felt like we could use a variety of different shots to make it look effective such as a long shot to see her walking, a low angle shot looking down on her from the serial killers view and also a point of view shot from her angle, where she is looking around. By using this shot it made the audience have a sense of what she is seeing and feel more involved. However, in the end we did not think the quality of the filming was as good as the rest of our thriller, so we thought it would be best to take it out.
We watched the film 'Se7en' and straight away we wanted to do something along the lines of this film as the opening of it inspired us due to the different types of shots ands images they used which kept us guessing.
Our narrative is about a serial killers who has 5 victims which are all girls as girls are known to be the vulnerable ones. The killer has 5 polaroid pictures of each one of them on a rope hanging in a garage. He plans to kill the girls one by one by planning how to do it in the library by looking through books and stalking the girls. Our opening starts off with the 4th victim laying by the pool dead, and the killer walking off, goes back to the garage where the polaroid of pictures are and burns the 4th victims photo, which represents her death. Then the rest of the opening is set on the 5th victim. He stalks her and has a collection of photos of her.
After our opening we are going to show a couple of seconds of our narrative which will include dialogue. This will let the audience have an idea of what is going to happen throughout our film, and is taking a clip out of our opening, which will be where the 5th victim is waking down the street and the serial killer is watching over her, taking photos.
In our thriller opening 'The Last Chapter' we are only going to have four characters. We are only going to have four characters because we are only filming the first two minutes of the opening, which doesn't reveal to much of the narrative. The four characters are:
Serial killer- Matt Allwood
4th victim- Felicity Saunders
5th victim- Tonicha Spencer
Gabby's family- Living room scene
The serial killer is introduced near the beginning of our thriller 'The Last Chapter' as he is the main character within our thriller, as the narrative revolves around him killing the five victims. He first gets introduced when he is sat by a wooden table where he has just killed the 4th victim and is now planning on how to kill the 5th victim which is his last victim. This shows that he is quite secretive, which also gets connoted by the lighting being a low lighting with a candle lighting up the books and pages of information, which suggests that people do not know that he is in there or what he is doing. The costume of the serial killer also shows he is secretive as his identity is always hidden and never revealed.
The 4th victim was the first person to be introduced right at the start of the opening thriller, as she was the victim which got killed. We used a lot of high angle shots as she was laying down on the floor as she was tied up. By using the high angle shots it made her get represented as being vulnerable and innocent.
The 5th victim didn't get revealed till later on in the opening as she was the final victim to be killed. However, we gave the audience an inside of who the final victim was going to be by the Polaroid pictures being in the correct order of how the serial killer killed them. We used a high angle shot when she was walking and talking on the phone, which was from the serial killers point of view as it showed him following her and watching over her which made her look vulnerable. We also did a hand held point of view shot from her angle as it made her look confused and worried as she felt she was being watched.
We decided to use Matt for the role of the serial killer, as he is quite a tall guy which makes him look dominant and intimidating. We thought by using him it would convey a typical villain which would look realistic. Due to him being the villain we wanted to present him in dark colours such as blacks, so we got him to wear a black coat which had a hood on it which instantly created an evil nature. This draws peoples attention to him as black usually connotes evil, dark, scary and unpleasant. This suggests to the audience that their is a darker side towards the society and that people are unaware of bad things which are happening around them. The coat having a hood on it hides the serial killers identity, as he does not want to be recognised which can mean that he is local to the community and is known. This shows that the community might know him and teases them as there perception of the person they know may be wrong.
For the victims, we decided to use five girls. This was because we wanted it to look as realistic as possible and knew the best way to convey this would be to have girls. Females are usually portrayed as the victims in films as they are normal the vulnerable, sweet and innocent ones which is the stereotypical female. These stereotypical features were portrayed by the high angle camera shots looking down on them making them look vulnerable. If we did not follow the stereotypical characters then we may not have conveyed our thriller to the best of its ability. All of these girls were dressed in their normal clothes as we wanted it to look realistic. To the audience they looked like typical teenage girls who go out with friends and enjoy themselves and have good social life's. We also had stereotypical teenage girls as we wanted the audience to be able to instantly be familiar with the social group and know how they act. Due to the serial killer stalking the girls it showed the audience that he was a lived a lot closer to them and know their lives. This shows that stalking can happen to anyone, especially teenage girls due to their vulnerability which interests the audience more due to the apprehension and tension which is being created.
We have looked at many different types of thriller films, such as 'SE7EN', 'Memento' and 'Physco'. There are also some other thriller films on the mood board below which have all been very successful.
The target audience of the thriller genre is usually the age rating of 15 or 18. It depends on what the narrative of the film is, and how much violence and inappropriate language is being used.
For our film we have decided to use an age rating of 15 as
we are aiming our film at older teenagers. This means that only those who are
15 and over will be able to watch it. We have chosen to aim it towards the age
rating 15 plus so we could include taboo language, violence and inappropriate scenes
such as a murdering scene, which is a possibility in our film.
We felt that the age
rating 15 was a good rating to choose because teenagers are the type of
audience who go to the cinema and are interested in thriller movies as they
have plenty of time to watch them. We thought that teenagers would relate to
our film more as we have a teenage actor playing the victim role. We also think
that it would be easier to aim our film to teenagers as we are teenagers
ourselves, and we would enjoy watching it and we felt like we could relate the
film to other teenagers so they would find it appealing.
As part of our media coursework we got set an assignment
where we had to create a short clip to show that we could use different camera
angles to show our skills and also to show our editing techniques.
·Match on Action- This was one of the difficult
actions to achieve, as it is all about timing and being precise so it will be
able to flow efficiently when edited. This shot shows continuity editing
because you have to put two different shots together. We used this shot when
Abbie is pulling down the door handle to enter the classroom, and the shot
after it is her walking through the door into the classroom, as shown on the
images.
·Shot reverse shot- Our shot reverse shot action
was filmed after the match on action shot. It is normally used when filming two
characters (Abbie and Ellie) having a conversation. However it always has to be
on the same side as the 180 degrees angle. We felt like this was a simple and
easy shot to achieve.
·180 Degree Rule- The 180 degree rule is used
when doing the shot reverse shot. When two people are having a conversation the
camera should be on the same side on the imaginary line as shown on the images
from our preliminary task. It means that the camera should not pass the
imaginary line because if it does it makes the scene look unusual. However some
directors will purposely break the line of action for a specific reason for
example if they want to create a disorientated shot.
Welcome to Laura Murphy's and Gabby Tempest's AS Media blogger account.
We will be putting all of our AS media coursework on here.We are studying the thriller genre and we will be exploring many different types of thrillers and creating our own opening of a thriller. We will also be putting on information, pictures and videos.
Below are a list of possible camera shots and movements which we could use when filming our opening of our thriller opening.
Camera Shots
Establishing shot- this is usually used on an opening of a film so you can see the location and where it is set. It is usually an exterior shot.
Long shot- This usually follows an establishing shot, it lets you see a characters from head to toe. This lets the audience see the characters costume and if they have any props. It also lets you see some of the location or environment which they are in.
Mid shot- This shot usually follows the long shot, which lets you see the character from waist upwards. you can see some of the facial expressions as it is closer than the long shot, and you can also see the body language which is being used such as hand gestures. This lets you understand what a character is doing.
Two shot- This shot has two characters in the shot. It lets the audience understand the characters relationship, and it is usually a mid shot to you can see their facial expressions and body language.
Close up shot- This shot is when you can only see the characters head and shoulders, with little background. IT lets you see the characters emotions. IT is also used to get a close up of an object such as a knife. This connotes that the object is very important.
Point of view shot- This shot is usually a close up shot from the characters point of view.
Extreme close up shot- The shot focuses on the character, usually of their eyes. This builds up tension as you cannot see anything else but the thing your filming. It normally does not feel natural, as you cannot see any background.
Camera Movements
Tracking shot- This shot is normally going backwards or forwards on a tracking smoothly, it draws in the audience and makes the feel involved. It normally makes the audience think it is coming towards an end and that something is being resolved.
A side way track- This follows movement of a character or object, and it keeps up to pace with this. This shot would be good if it was a chase scene.
Tilt shot- This shot goes upwards or downwards. It is used for height ad to connote power. It is normally a point of view shot which follows what the character is doing.
Zoom shot- This is where the camera stays i one place and you just have to adjust the focus on the camera. It is the same as the tracking shot.
Arc shot- This is where it is a full or semi circle , it lets you see the reaction of a character and it draws in the audience as it circles the drama.
Crane shot- This is where the camera is attached to a crane. It is used a lot in action adventure films.
Panning shot- This shot moves from left to right but stays in the same place. It is normally on a tripod.
Crime thrillers normally focus on the criminal and then the detectives and police trying to figure out who has committed the crime. The crimes which have been committed are usually or armed robber, murder, money, or having a hidden identity. An example of a crime thriller is 'Witness', 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Untraceable'. 
Psychological thrillers are usually about the protagonist and what they are going through. In these thrillers it can involve a lot of drama and mystery, and you are always thinking about what is happening as they focus mainly on the mind of the characters. Psychological thrillers usually draws in the audience and has a hold over them, as they normally have a personal feel due to the first person narrative. An example of a psychological thriller is 'Se7en' which we were extremely influenced by and also 'Psycho'.
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