Developments in the thriller genre

The genre of thriller has always adapted to meet the needs and demands of the audience. In the 1930s the popularity for the on screen 'gentleman detective' grew, featuring smooth witty men wearing fresh suits facing exotic adventures. In modern day the adoption of an exciting fast moving plot is deemed to be more enjoyable than a plausable storylines. The Bourne Supremecy (2004) is a modern day action thriller which presents the character as an action junkie who finds himself caught in a number of car chases and high energy fight scenes; a strong contrast to the characters of the 30's.

CGI is a development in film used for visual effects because computer generated effects easier to control than techniques such as making miniature models for effects shots or hiring more extras different shots. It alows un-imagineable shots with other technology capeable of being done. The use of CGI makes film making easier and to a certain extent cheaper as expensive sets do not need to be created.

Location of Shot

The locations of shot were chosen in the idea that they would create the feelings of fear and enigma. We also had the idea that we had a location that would bring up a sence of realisim, the use of this would fit in with the conventions of a thriller film. The use of the bathroom was a choice we made based on the connotations a bathroom can bring; audiences may think their bathroom is a comfortable and personal place to be in to do certain things. We wanted to turn this view on its head as our character in the bathroom is in the heaviest of distress and discomfort; making a huge step from realism to dramatic. We used two enclosed areas which would give the feeling of being isolated.

Dwayne Rapley Thriller Opening Sequence Evaluation

Dwayne Rapley Thriller Opening Sequence Evaluation

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Credits and Typography

The order of credits in an opening sequence is as followed:

The distribution companies name

Name of production company

Directors name

Main actor's name

Main supporting actor's name + two supporting actors

The movie title

Additionaly, the head of departments can also be included; mainly:

Casting by...

Music by...

Costume designer...

Editor...

Production Designer...

Editor...

Production Designer...

DOP...

Executive Prodcers...

Story by...

Screenplay by...

Directed by...

With the order of credits analysed the film opening we are creating will incorporate the main credits followed by the 'Editor'. We want the credits of the film not to divert attention from the visual therefore we will have the distribution companies name and the name of production company appearing against a black theme at the begining of the film. As we don't want the credits diverting attention we have also decided to make the font small and the effects subtle against the visual clips. The use of subtle credits also connotates secrecy and not wanting to be seen so would tie in well with the values of our thriller opening.

The typography of our thriller opening intends to create an enigma through its rough and edgy look.

Shooting Schedule

Planning / research of soundtrack and / or sound

On review of the thriller films researched, the soundtracks used help create a feeling. In the film 'Seven' for example, the non digetic music used creates a huge feeling of tension and danger. This is created as the music is edgy with alot of jumps and screeches. The music I have intended to use is called "red rum" by the widdler. This song that would be edited to fit the shots taken, is in the 'dubstep' genre, containg heavy base that resembles a heart beat and synthetic, electro sounds that give the peice an edgy style that we intend to use that gives a feeling of danger.
Digetic sound used will create a sence of realism and setting therefore the inclusion of sounds such as, running water from a tap and footsteps will be included and carefuly looked at.

Story board for thriller production

This is the story board the thriller production is based on. We understand that although we have a set idea on the verisimilitude of the locations being filmed, the prodcution may not fully refelect the storyboard.

We have decided that we will take away shots1,6,7, 12 and 18. This decision was based on wanting to make the thriller opening flow better and seem less of an action film with alot of short scenes. To continue making the thriller opening flow in a sensible, easy to digest way, certain shots will be made longer. Some of our intended shots were made impossible because of the location, this is evident in the bathroom scene, shots 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 25, 29, 32, 34 and 36 so the type of shots were altered.

We added another shot after #34 of another chacter running down an allyway.

Ideas for thriller title

From research we came up with five titles for our thriller that would represent it in the intended way. The group wanted the thriller name to bring up a sence of enigma and suspicion. The suggestions were taken into a poll to see which would be the most popular name:

1. Criminal conversation
2. The Resentment
3. Infiltrator
4. Acquaintance
5. Affinity

The votes varied however the majority of the vote were between titles two and five. 'Criminal conversation' is another word for adultery. 'Infliltrator' is defined as an intruder with hostile intent. 'Acquaintance' is defined as personal knowledge or information about someone or something. Affinity is defined as a natural attraction or feeling of kinship. 'Resentment' is defined as a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will; which would connotate our ideas of the thriller film in a very good way.

On review of our thriller title we were adviced to change the name from 'The resentment' to simply 'Resentment' as it is more gramaticaly correct.

Story board and planning for preliminary task

The story board and planning for the preliminary task had to include shot/reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule. During editing we were able to complete a finished piece of recording and get to know the software by fitting in transitions and effects.

Shot No. 1

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Camera pans from left to right slowly. Establishing shot. Fade to next shot

Timing (seconds) 4

Shot No. 2

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Camera zoom towards door. Long shot. Fade to next shot.

Timing (seconds) 3

Shot No. 3

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Digetic sound and action of door knob turn. Big close up. Fade to next shot.

Timing (seconds) 1

Shot No. 4

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, and transition: Door begins to open. Digetic sound of door opening. Long shot.

Timing (seconds) 2

Shot No. 5

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Door opens fully and character walks through. Mid long shot.

Timing (seconds) 2

Shot No. 6

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, and transition: Character walks towards chair. Digetic sound of walking. Tracking shot. Straight cut.

Timing (seconds) 3

Shot No. 7

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: High angle shot.

Timing (seconds) 1

Shot No. 8

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: over the shoulder shot. “I have the package”. Straight cut.

Timing (seconds) 2

Shot No. 9

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Over the shoulder shot “good are the planes ready?” Straight cut.

Timing (seconds) 2

Shot No. 10

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: over the shoulder shot. “Yes there ready to go”. Straight cut.

Timing (seconds) 2

Shot No. 11

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Sounds of door opening. Character opens door and goes through. Mid long shot. Straight cut.

Timing (seconds) 2

Shot No. 12

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Mid long shot. Character exits room and shuts door. Panning shot. Straight cut.

Timing (seconds) 2

Shot No. 13

Dialogue, sound, camera movement, special effects, action, transition: Wide shot. Tracking shot of character walking downstairs. Digetic sounds of character walking downstairs. Slow motion effect.

Timing (seconds) 4

Target Audience and Sub-Genres

Not all films appeal to all people. Even in the thriller genre the appeal ranges between audiences; this is because of sub-genres. Films such as 'The Sixth Sense' , 'Signs' and 'The Village', borderline on horror films, which horror films are targeted more towards teenage girls, so these horror thrillers would attract the teenage female audience. Crime thrillers and legal thriller's such as 'Se7en' and 'Runaway Jury' (Gary Fleder) target a more mature audience andd often focus on criminals dealing with a successful or failed crime and the suspenseful results. Disaster thriller's like, Deep Impact (1998) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004), are films that deal with some type of disaster, either natural or man-made; concentrating on the chaotic events in and around the disaster and seeing how the characters cope.Specifying the type of thriller film being created will help create a target audience. Defining a target audience includes breaking the audience primarily down to gender and age range. however additional factors may include: socioeconomic status, rural or urban environments, race, family status and interests (from political learning's, human rights and religion to simple past times.)

When the target audience is selected, the plan has to include why this has been done e.g. what makes the film unique to appeal the target audience. Endorsing marketable elements such as the sub-genre, concept, tone, subject matter, specialist interests, source material, attractiveness and additional elements will further attract the target audience.

Applying the knowledge of selecting a target audience and endorsing the marketable elements will help me better with my opening sequence. I would want to attract a wide range of audiences, but in the age group of 18- 25 in particular as this age group spend the most money on DVDs and in the cinema. The sub-genre of thriller i want to make is a drama horror, so primarily teenage girls would be more targeted. We could break down the scenes in our play even more to show a characters background and environment, implying the urban environment, race and socieconomic status. We could show this by doing such things as including shots of alleyways and digetic sound of a city; we could also show the safe environment the characters shown to be in with the impression of the location being clean and neat. We want to show the main character as an attractive girl despite her situation, the use of this will attempt to appeal to our target audience of 18 - 25 year old females.

Script for dialogue

Currently the opening will include an extract of a wedding pledge:

"Jennifer, is it your will to have this man to be your husband, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Is it your will to love him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others to be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

The use of the opening dialogue creates an idea of the themes involved in the film. In this case a theme of relationships is involved. The scenes that appear after the first dialogue contrast against eachother giving a sence of enigma and mystery to as what has gone wrong.

Unlike thriller films 'Layer Cake' and 'The Sixth Sence' currently we have planned so that the dialogue will not tell the narrative; instead it will add to the visual action as an anchor. This will be done partly because we have a concern that the sound quaility available will bring down the potential of the opening scene and the belief that the less we hear from the characters, the more the audience will ingage in on the settings and the characters features.

On review of other A level students media thriller opening, we have noticed that the use of little to no dialogue helps draw in attention and therefore bring in the target audience. This is done as a sence of mystery and enigma is raised as the voyer is un aware of the full situation. To fulfill this convention of the thriller genre, we have decided to reduce the amount of dialogue in the thriller opening to a minimum.

Commentary on Directors of Genre

Alfred Hitchcock (13th August 1899 - 29th April 1980) - Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning 60 years. He is still one of the most popular and most recognised filmmakers, with work still popular today. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker of all time, in 2007 Hitchcock was ranked #1 by film critics in The Telegraph's list of 21 greatest British directors. Hitchcock's films were said to have been so extensively storyboarded to the finest detail by a number of accounts; he was reported to not even bother looking through the viewfinder, since he didn't need to do! 'The Master of Suspence' directed films in his career credited in the top 100 thriller movies of all time such as: Physco (1960), Frenzy (1972), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) and Notorious (1946).

David Fincher (28th August 1962) - Fincher is an Academy Award-nominated American filmmaker and music video director known for his dark and stylish movies. Theatrical films included: Alien (1992) which won an oscar for special effects, Seven (1995), The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999) which brought up huge publicity in its time and was put in the top 100 films of all time and Panic room (2002) which created $92 million in the U.S box office, despite not being as successful as The game, Fight Club and Seven.

Opening Sequences

An opening sequence aims to:

• Establish narative context and characters
• Set up a sence of enigma / mysteriousness or question that will be answered later on in the film
• Set up a location, character and purpose (setting, who's in it and reasons.)
• Introduce credits and action

Three films were initialy assesed to figure out which ones were successful in creating a good opening sequence and why:

Se7en - David Fincher

In the two minute opening audiences see a mysterious character act in a way that would make people very cautious. However this character isn't clearly identified with the purpose and location not being clearly established. The shots shown are connotated with murder and brutality so the enigma is strong. There are frequent shots between credits and action which makes it partly successful. The use of close-up shots and focus shots make it possible to guess the narrative, however this is difficult. Disturbing "edgy" music is used, which attempts to make audiences un-easy yet drawn in.

The Usual Suspects - Bryan Singer

Similar to the first opening, this film includes a mysterious character with the camera never showing his face. This opening has more action as the mysterious character swaps dialogue with another character and then shoots him. Because of this, the narrative is more guessable for the audience. The purpose isn't clear however the location is made obvious with the establishing shots of a boat. The dialogue used raises enigma and also helps set the context of the film. The opening shot gives another clue to the narrative and the use of fire is a strong factor - cutting through the darkness.

Hostage - Florent Emilio Siri

Different from the first and second sequence the third opening sequence is all animation. Although no characters or purpose is established, the shots make us assume that the location is in a city. The way the shots are put together, it takes the audience through the city, with the titles appearing on buildings. The use of dark greys, blacks and reds bring up a feeling of mystery and enigma. Mise en scene suggests violence, guns and war. Because the sequence is all animated i think the opening is not effective enough to be a convincing thriller film.

Forms and Conventions of a Thriller

Films famously successful at fitting the forms and conventions of a thriller:

The Hitchhiker (Lupino 1953)

Psycho (Hitchcock 1960)

Vertigo (Hitchcock 1958)

Fight Club (Fincher 1999)

Se7en (Fincher 1995)

Pulp Fiction (Tarantino 1994)

The Godfather (Coppola 1972)

The Usual Suspects (Singer 1995)

The Shining (Kubrick 1980)

Sixth Sence (Shyamalan 1999)

The Dark Knight (Nolan 2008)

"My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film's story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it." Saul Bass 1920 - 1996

All the films above were successful towards being part of the thriller genre because they took on the conventions and forms. Any director of a thriller film will include these conventions deliberately:

• Build up to the action
• Creation of fear / apprehension / unserrling feeling / confusion / mystery
• Sence of suspicion between characters
• Hero / heroine seen in situations that threaten. Peril / danger
• Extrodinary events / behavior
• Hero(ine) in fallible
• Establishing mood and atmosphere throughtout the film
• Red Herrings
• Often theme of mirroring (reflections)
• Often include mistaken identity
• Flashbacks
• 
  
  Mazes & labarinths often used (real or psychological)
• Twists and unexpected turns
• Delay in showing the face of significant character, or action of an important event by first showing the hand of the character
• Audience are put in the position of voyeurs
• Killer/villan ensures hero(ine) through series of intricale moves

Forms and conventions of thriller film : Flight Plan (Robert Schwentke)

• Build up to the action - The director has achieved this by the use of flash backs, non-digetic music, use of mirrors which show more than one view and shot/reverse shots which helps the scene flow.
• Creation of fear/apprehension/anticipation - The director has ahcieved this by using disorienting effects with the camera, darkness (making the audience un-able to see clearly) the use of crows that audiences connotate with enigma and a realistic setting.
• Dark, shadowy atmosphere - Created by the appearance of shots being filmed at night.
• Establishing mood and atmosphere throughtout the film - This is achieved by the use of camera movement which gives the impression of pace speeding up. The scenes hold onto silence for long periods.
• Delay in showing the face of a significant character, or an important event by first showing the hand of the character - In Flight Plan a plane ticket is shown before the characters face with a focus shot, this proves important in the film.
• Morally ambiguous central character - In Flight Plan the flight attendents appear to have more depth in them
• Realistic settings to create a sence of 'the unusual' occurring within a normal setting - the action revolves around an airport and airplane
• Flashbacks - in 'Flight Plan' the use of flashbacks shows the uncertainty brought up
• Hero(ine) in situation of threat or struggle - the heroine loses her daughter in the plane
• Red Herrings - A character of middle eastern origin is suspected of commiting the kidnap
• Twists and unexpected turns - The girl has been said to have passed away
• Making and keeping the audience tense and on the edge of our seats - use of showing the characters nature before the twist and then turning our views against her. The use of non digetic music adds tension.

Forms and conventions of thriller film: Layer Cake (Matthew Vaughn)

• Build up to the action - The use of the voice-over without an visual pictures makes hightened to the opening.
• Creation of fear/apprehension/anticipation - The use of a calm, yet menacing voice over before the action brings in the audience
• Establishing mood and atmosphere throughtout the film - The use of lighting helps separate scenes and creates an undestanding of what is going to happen in the scene                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
• Morally ambiguous central character - use of voice over with no visual of character creates suspison
• Realistic settings to create a sence of 'the unusual' occurring within a normal setting - Created with diffetent locations. In the first scene a truck door is blown up
• Flashbacks - The use of flashbacks anchors the voice-over as the audience are able to gain insight to the context
• Twists and unexpected turns - Right at the start the door of a truck blows open
• Making and keeping the audience tense and on the edge of our seats - the use of the voice over creates an enigma and incite to the story so we are interested in what will happen