We thought it was important to do some re search on the content, style and feature of the films openings to identify techniques and incorporate the features into our short thriller opening sequence.
Different sub genres of thrillers have different openings it’s very important that the opening sequnence engages the audience into the story line. Opening sequences highlight the sub genre and what the movie is about. As I researched in more depth I realised that the opening sequences of the two main sub genres if thrillers; action and psychological. The opening sequences of thrillers are normally very vague and intense most of the time the audience is left to their own imagination. Action In action thrillers the scene starts with fast paced music in the background, jump cuts the actors are normally doing something interesting this keeps the audience want to keep watching. The scene is shot an unknown location and the opening sequence if very vague, which keeps the viewers on edge. The special features used connote to action. For example, the character is holding a weapon, which connotes to danger and action. Psychological Psychological thrillers start of with dark lighting and intense music the camera movement is normally very slow and with slow cuts. The opening sequences of psychological genres are normally very intense to keep the audience hooked. The content is very vague within the scene and the story unravels as the movies continue.
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As part of our research we decided that it was important to know the definition of suspense, as it is an important technique used in thrillers.
What is suspense? Suspense is the build up to a state or feeling of being excited or anxious. Suspense is the uncertainty of the future, which develops from unpredictable events. It is an important technique used in thrillers as suspense makes the audience keep watching and creates an emotion attachment between the viewers and characters as they feel a mix of emotions towards the situation. Alfred Hitchcock We then decided to do some research on “the master of creating suspense” Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director and producer born in 1899; some of his most famous and successful movies were pyscho, vertigo and the birds. He was more focused into creating psychological thrillers he would do this by in co-operating frame shots to make the audience feel high anxiety levels, fear and sympathy for the characters in the scene. He would also involve twists with in the science and create unexpected endings. Alfred Hitchcock would link a psychological clever view on violence, murder and crime and how it would affect the characters in a psychological way to really connect the viewers with the character Alfred learnt that to do this he would have to position the camera at eye level so the audience could feel the same way. How Alfred created suspense I was interested in how Alfred Hitchcock created famous movies and how he created suspense so I decided to do some further research into how he created suspense as it would be helpful for when we make out thriller opening sequence because suspense is a key technique.
As part of our blog work I decided to look at some opening titles on films so I did some re search on the romantic thriller Mr. and Mrs. Smith. A title sequence is a way that films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound. It typically includes (or begins) the text of the opening credits, and helps establish the setting and tone of the program/film. It may consist of live action, animation, music, still images, and/or graphics. ![]() The title on the opening of the film Mr and Mrs Smith a film which stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a bored upper-middle class married couple surprised to learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other. The font on the text is very sophisticated and plain which is unusual for the film as it’s a mix between romantic and comedic which would stereotypically connote red and bright colours. The positive about these opening titles and background is that it doesn’t give too m much away to the audience and leaves them waiting and wanting to find out more to continue watching this gives off enigma to the audience. The titles don’t give the audience any idea of what to expect. The text is professional and the same on each clip this give the audience a sense of maturity and a unisex film as the colour stereotypically doesn’t connect to certain gender. Narratives help us to decode media text. Tzvetan Todorov Todorov is a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He is the author of many books and essays, which have a significant influence in anthropology, sociology, literary theory, thought history and culture theory. Todorov stated that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
Below is a PowerPoint slide that i have found on Google, this helps to define what tomorrow theory was and the theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium. ![]() Some film plots that use Todorov theory and also prove it are: Shrek 1 1. Shrek lives happily 2. All fairy tale creatures are sent to Shrek's swamp 3. Shrek meets Donkey and together they got to lord Farquad. He says Shrek must rescue a princess if he wants his land back 4. He rescues the princess 5. He falls in love with the princess and they live happily ![]() Finding Nemo 1. Nemo lives happily with his dad 2. Nemo is captured after being dared to touch a boat 3. Marvin (Nemo’s dad) realises Nemo is missing 4. Marvin meets Dory and together they look for Nemo 5.They find Nemo and live happily again This is the most common theory which film plots stick to and use. Vladmir Propp Propp studied various Russian fairytales, and discovered that there are always 8 main character types present. These are: |
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