Thriller movies are known to promote a high level of high suspense, a high level of anticipation, heightened expectation and a nerve-wracking tension. The location is key, as it needs to coincide with the plot. Without an element of stereotypical fear, the audience many not engage in the initial planning of the film. For our thriller opening sequence, we will have to plan the location in accordance with the effectiveness of audience preference. Not all thriller films are set in abandoned houses, haunted houses or buildings, the remaining are set in everyday locations such as cities. We decided it might become too complex and time consuming if we were to set our opening in these locations. Also we may come across difficulties with the background noise when editing. A typical location for our thriller would be a museum. Museums already have a sense of supernatural activity that connote with the location. There are many floors in the museum and this is perfect to stage a chase within the plot of the film. Due to the location of the museum, the sense of unexpectedness and fear would be easily conveyed more after dark.. Most of the famous thriller movies were set in big cities such as New York, an example of a thriller film set her is "Sin City". Thriller films set in cities are more likely to feature an element of action, such as a car chase or a gun fire compared to a film set in a rural area as a city is more densely populated and the audience are more inclined to engage in the movie. Thriller films set in cities are a great way for the audience to empathies with the characters as they are in a familiar surrounding Some thriller films are set on isolated islands which are sometimes fictional, or very rural areas. Films that have been set on a fictional location often include supernatural activity or a supernatural attack on humans. An example of a thriller film similar to this is "Jaws", which was set on a fictional island called Amity. The purpose of a fiction location is to surprise the audience which the type of behaviour there. This is done to make the storyline more believable; if the location was factual, the audience may feel an element of misconduct. Many thriller movies have been set in locations such as the woods. A lot of these films are physiological thrillers, which are made to startle the audience and build up the tension and suspense so the audience enjoys it. Films shot in this type of location are usually dark and eerie which make the film mystical and more intriguing. An example of a psychological thriller filmed in the woods is "The Blair Witch Project". The Woods are seen to be an alarming location as the audience is unconscious of the activity in the woods. This locationmakes thriller more enjoyable as the audience are unsure of what is going to happen next. Films in this location often have a murder or someone goes missing as the main part of the storyline. I am going to be analysing the thriller-drama film The Shawshank Redemption. This is the first screenshot I took of the opening sequence and it shows two men walking towards the camera, with lots of other men around them all wearing the same clothes. This indicates that the film is going to be set in a male prison. Also the background noise of all the men talking and walking is very quiet as there is a voice over of one of the main characters who is walking towards the camera. This shows the audience that he is important in the film. The next screenshot is at a different camera angle, this time it is of a midi shot, showing only the top half of the character but also showing a lot of the background too. In this shot it shows all of the men in the yard looking up at a tower because there is a siren going off. At the moment it doesn't indicate what this means to the audience yet, it could mean danger but none of the characters are moving urgently. In the third screenshot it shows a bus driving on a road quite fast, it is going towards a large building this could either be the prison or something else which will be later introduced. In the background there are also other inmates walking in a straight line along side two guards. The sky is grey, dull and cloudy which can annotate anger and sadness. At this point the dialogue has finished and has been taken over by sad music, mainly played by violins. In this shot the camera angle has changed to a crane shot, this time it is a crane shot. This is where the camera is on a crane and is able to get to shoot really high angle shots. They have been able to get a birds eye view almost of the prison and it shows all of the inmates walking in the same direction. There is also some more dialogue over the music, of someone speaking through a microphone telling everyone to walk towards the main gate. In this shot it shows the same bus from the previous shots driving towards the same gate that all of the inmates are walking towards. There are two armed guard standing on top of the gate, the guns are a sign of a thriller film. This can also mean that the prison has high security and that there might be lots of action in the film. Also the music has gone quiet again and the same voice for dialogue has come back, this time mentioning someone called Andy again. The next shot shows some men all cramped inside of the driving bus. They are all wearing suits or smartly dressed. This could mean they have come from court and are now new inmates are the prison. The voice over introduces the character at the back by telling the audience what crime he had committed and how we was known from the outside to now in prison. The camera also gradually zooms into the characters face, showing his sad and confused expression. In this screenshot is shows the men in the yard again, but also focusing on one of the main characters. People around him are clapping and it is unclear why but I suppose it is aimed at the men on the bus. All of the inmates are allowed to run about, smoke be loud and hang round in groups. This could mean that the prison isn't a high solitary one and that the inmates are not the worst of the worst. Also the main character is seen to be running in the opposite direction to everyone else, and points and smiles at someone. This next shot then shows one of the main characters jump up onto a platform and four other inmates follow him, they all look over and down at all the other inmates. They have been showed as the bigger/more important people in this shot. They stand as the gate opens for the bus to come through and at the moment there is no dialogue just the sound of the inmates cheering and whistling. In the final shot it shows the bus coming through the gates and being faced with five guards lined in a triangle. This can be seen as intimidating to the incoming inmates. Also all of the other inmates are surrounding the gate and are shaking and banging the fence. It then cuts to two officers running down some stairs with guns and getting into position, pointing their guns towards the big crowd, being prepared for anything that could happen. This can indicate the scene including action and violence.
After we presented our presentation to the class, we got some feedback from our peers and teacher. Some of the comments were constructive criticism and some were positive. They gave us this feedback so that we are able to edit and improve on our opening sequence and to help make sure that the audience understands the opening sequence thoroughly.
Peers: - A lot of our comments were positive which means we wont have that much extra to improve on, our peers thought that our presentation was well detailed, we gave good explanation and they were impressed with the amount of research and thought that went into the presentation. - Others thought that the narrative for the opening sequence was unclear or what will happen after the film. - Some mentioned that it will be difficult to show the teenage girl being possessed and that we will need to research the correct ways on how we are going to be able to show the teen as being possessed. - Some of our peers comments mentioned that they liked how we included a video in our presentation all about the importance of music within a scene and what difference it can make. - Finally some peers mentioned how they liked the idea of some of our camera angles and shots, for example our idea of putting the camera on top of the bottle or replacing it so that we are able to get a good look of all of the cast. Teacher: Our teacher mentioned some similar comments to our peers, mentioning how detailed and well thought our presentation was also she liked how we included a video too. She also mentioned that we will need to research other film and other scenes to look at how they were able to make it look like a character was possessed, and to make sure that it comes across clearly. Another thing she mentioned was that we desperately need to start casting our roles to people so that we have all that ready and prepared also this will make it easier to start planning too. Many large film institutions produce thriller films, such as Warner Bros and Lionsgate.
Warner Bros are one of the most popular institutions producing films of every genre. Warner bros is an American film corporation, and is located in New York and California.Thriller films are one of the many popular film genres produced by these institutions. An example of a thriller film produced by Warner Bros is Ocean’s eleven and Ocean’s twelve. These films are very famous as actors such as Brad Pitt and George Clooney star in them. Warner Bros has made various thriller movies that then result in a sequel. This shows that they are very successful at making films to suit the genre. This institution is very experimental with the types of films they produce. Lionsgate is a Canadian Film Institution. It started off in Vancouver opened a Head quarters in Saint Monica California as of 2007. Some of the most popular films by Warner Bros generated a $41 million opening weekend which was the largest in Liongate history. They have produced several successful thrillers and dramas, however their horror films are not as popular. Lionsgate is also the most successful independent film and television company in North America. Some of their successful Thriller Films include: Saw 3D, Cabin In The Woods, Rambo and Th Hunger Games. Analysis of Thriller Sub-Genre Opening Sequences
A subgenre is a subcategory within a particular genre, for example, Rom-Com, which is of a romance genre, although it has many conventions to also say it is a comedy, an example of this subgenre film would be ‘This means war’ or ‘Friends with benefits’. I’ll be analysing 3 different subgenres from 3 different clips from students’ past work. Reflection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LKBaxc1Tsw&safe=active One of the subgenre is a crime thriller, this opening sequence is called ‘Reflection’ which relates to the story line very effectively. This subgenre is represented through the use of micro-elements such as cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound and edit. For example, a close up camera shot of a male character closing the door in front of him looking directly into the camera conforms that it is a thriller, as you can see a clear expression of his face that connotes a bad event is to occur, however, this also conforms it’s of a crime genre too as the male character is a police officer, although he seems like an antagonist. Mise-en-scene is also used as a representation of crime/thriller as the use of props and performance conforms this. For example, the mirror in the kitchen shows a reflection of the ‘Police Officer’ going through the woman’s drawer without permission, this of course is a suspicious behaviour of a police officer which shows that this is a thriller genre as police are usually the one’s to solve crime, not create them. Non diegetic music is also played when the police officer closes the door, the music is slow paced and quite spooky, it helps build up tension and creates confusion for the audience on whether the police officer is an antagonist or protagonist. This conforms the subgenre crime and thriller as at first audiences will think that a crime is going on as a police officer shows up at a woman’s door although the thriller starts coming along when the door is shut and the music starts playing. Long duration takes of the police shows what he’s doing around the house whilst the female character makes him a hot drink. This shows the audience that he’s up to something as he’s looking around things that is an invasion of privacy. This conforms that it’s a crime/thriller as it is a crime to invade people’s houses without permission. Pathogen: - http://www.youtube.com/watchv=E7A0FUvzM4&list=PL426C4E4F7D73EE3A&index=5&safe=active An example of a different subgenre is medical thriller, this opening sequence is called ‘Pathogen’ which audience can assume that it is a type of virus or disease. Cinematography represents the subgenres as we see a tracking shot of a few dead bodies lined up on the floor with white sheets over them, this creates an enigma for the audiences as they will wonder what could have caused this. This however, doesn’t conform that it’s medical, as it looks more like it could have been a crime scene, although it does conform thriller as it’s thrilling to the audience. Props are also used to represent the subgenre, like for example, we see a shot of a sign that says “Mask up” on a door, and behind that door we see a dead body covered in a white sheet. This conforms the idea of it being a medical thriller as the dead character could have died from a contagious disease or virus, which is why people entering the room must wear a mask to prevent themselves from catching it. Micro element sound is rarely used in this clip as we only hear non-diegetic music and nothing else. However, although we don’t hear much except from the music, the music strongly conforms that this clip is of a medical/thriller genre as it’s a sharp and eerie soundtrack. We hear sharp sounds within the music that can make the audience think of sharp objects used to operate the body with. Edit plays a big part in representing this subgenre as the effects used in the opening sequence clearly conforms the clip being a medical thriller genre. For example, we would see very quick and flashy shots of blood and cells which has to do with the human body, which relates to the whole genre. Firewall: - http://www.youtube.com/watchv=UP5ZBp4Pxr0&list=PL426C4E4F7D73EE3A&index=17&safe=active A third example of a subgenre of a thriller would be technical thriller, which has to do with computing, secrecy and agents. This subgenre was represented by the use of cinematography, we see a tracking shot of the computer wires which conforms the fact that it relates to technical. Mise-en-scene micro element is also used by props, for example, we see a written letter to the president, and an agent bringing the president into a safe setting. This also conforms the subgenre of it being technical as this has to do with secrecy and agents. However, this gets the audience thinking of how a computer hacker can have relevance to the President, this could conform the thriller genre as it’s more serious than any other computer hacking schemes before. The non diegetic music in the background whilst having shots of the computer, wires and keyboards on screen conforms that it’s a technical thriller as the music sounds techno-like, a simple song that could easily be made on the computer which has relevance of what they’re trying to show us. |
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November 2016
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