Research And Planning

The Conventions Of The Thriller Genre

There are a number of things that should be included in a film if it supposed to be a thriller film. These are called the conventions of the genre. These include Lighting, there should be a good amount of low key light in a thriller movie ( Dependent on what type of thriller it is). This is because, in some circumstances low light can really help to create the feel of a movie. Music is also a key factor because, lets face you can't have happy sing along music in a thriller movie. Take the music from Jaws as a classic example. All good action thrillers should have some aspect of crime in it, I mean James Bond would be rubbish if there where no bad guys. Thrillers should also have blood in them, apart from really old movies there is always blood in a good gun fight. There should also be a good car chase in a thriller movie. In my opinion the best ever car chase in a movie was in the film James Bond Casino Royale, when Bond roles his Aston Martin DBS.

The History Of The Thriller Genre

The thriller genre has been around since the first cinemas where invented in the early 1900's. Over the years, there has been hundreds of thriller films produced by some more UN-known directors, to really famous people such as Alfred Hitchcock. His first film was "The Lodger" (1926). He has produced films such as a "North By North West". In every film that Alfred produces, he is always in the films but he never has any lines to say and is always a person who just stands in the background. He never gives himself an important role in any of his films. He also produced films such as "Vertigo". Alfred Hitchcock only ever produced thriller films. 

The thriller genre has evolved a lot over the years from really early films such as "Vertigo", right up tho modern day films such as "Children Of Men". Thrillers have been helped by technological advances such as pyrotechnics and CGI. Pyrotechnics never really existed when films such as Vertigo where made, but now, in most cases, it is easy to put in an explosion here and there. Also, CGI can bee used in almost any situation, e.g. when someone has been shot. Sound effects are also a lot easier to create now, this includes things like gun shots, which would have been dubbed in about 30 years ago, which now can be created with the use of blank rounds.

A lot of thrillers are based on things that happen/happened at the time when the film was made. This always changes as time goes on, this is one way that the story lines for thriller films have evolved over time. Especial political thrillers because, provided they are set in modern day, have to keep up with political issues.

Thriller movies, strangely originated from books and ancient poems such as "Epic Of Gilgamesh" because ancient literature used similar narratives and techniques as modern day thrillers use now. So we actually have to thank books for a lot of great thriller movies that we watch at the cinema. There are many different denominations of the thriller genre such as philological thrillers. It is these Physiological thrillers which where exploited by Alfred Hitchcock. This could have been because there was very little in the way of pyrotechnics back then.

Non-thriller analysis

Juno

1) State the production and distribution companies. How are they introduce? What purpose do they serve at the start of a film?

Fox Starlight Pictures - Introduced when the animation starts in the title sequence.

Mandate Pictures - Introduced when the scenery changes for the second time.

Mr. Mudd Pictures - Introduced at the same time as Mandate Pictures

2) List the information that is included in the title sequence :

Names of the production companies e.g. Fox Starlight Pictures and names of the actors/actresses e.g. Ellen Page.

3) Where exactly is the films title placed?

The films title is paced near the beginning of the sequence, right after the names of the production companies has been shown.

4) Time line - enter the start and end times of the opening sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence along the line.

0:00 - Start

0:05

0:10

0:15 - Fox Starlight Pictures

0:20 - Mandate Pictures and Mr.Mudd Production

0:25 - Jason Reithman

0:30 - Juno

0:35

0:40 - Ellen Page

0:45 - Micheal Cera

0:50 - Jenifer Garner

0:55

1:00 - Jason Bateman

1:05 - Allison Janney and J.k. Simmons

1:10

1:15 - Olivia Thirlby

1:20 - Casting by Mindy Marin and Kara Lispon

1:25 - Costume designer Monique Prudhomme

1:30 - Music by Mateo Messina, songs by Kimya Dawson

1:35 - Music Supervisors Peter Afterman and Margaret Yen

1:40 - Co - producers Jim Miller, Kelli Konop, Brad Van Arragon

1:45 - Dana E.Glauberman

1:50 - Production Designer Steve Saklad

1:55 - Director of Photography Eric Steelburg

2:00 - Executive Producers Joe Drake, Nathan Kahane, Daniel Dubiecki

2:05 - Produced by Leanne Halfon, John Malkovich, Mason Novick, Russell Smith

2:10 - Written by Diablo Cody

2:15 - Directed by Jason Reithman

2:20

2:25

2:30 - End

Limitless

1) State the production and distribution companies. How are they introduced?

Rogue Pictures - Introduced at the beginning of the opening credits

Relativity Media - Also introduced in the beginning of the opening credits

2) List the information that is included in the title sequence.

Bradley Cooper, Robert Din Niro, Abbie Cornish, Directed by Neil Burger, Screenplay by Leslie Dixon, Co-producer Bradley Cooper.

3) Where exactly is the films title placed?

The films title is at the end of the title sequence just before the very end where the main actor/actress's names are show on screen.

4) Time line - enter the start and end times of the opening sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence along the line.

0:00 - Start

0:05 - Relativity Media

0:10 - Rogue a relativity media company

0:15

0:20

0:25

0:30

0:35

0:40

0:45

0:50

0:55

1:00

1:05

1:10

1:15

1:20

1:25

1:30

1:35

1:40

1:45

1:50

1:55

2:00

2:05

2:10

2:15

2:20

2:25 - Film title Limitless

2:30 - Film title Limitless

2:35 - Names of cast a crew

Once Upon a Time In The West

1) State the production and distribution companies. How are they introduced?

There are no Production companies or distribution companies stated in this opening sequence

2) List the information that is listed in the title sequence;

Sets and costume by Carlo Simi, Edited by Nino, Baragli, Director of Photography Tonino Delli Colli, Production manager Claudio Mancili, Production Supervisor Ugo Tucci, Produced by Fulvio Morsella, Executlive producer Rino Cicogna Directed by Sergio Leone.

3) Where exactly is the films title placed?

The films title is not placed in this opening title sequence

4) Timeline - enter the start and end times of the opening sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence along the line.

0:05

0:10

0:15

0:20

0:25

0:30

0:35

0:40

0:45 - Sets and costumes by Carlo Simi

0:50

0:55

1:00

1:05

1:10

1:15

1:20 - Edited by Nico Baragli

1:25

1:30 - Director of photography Tonino Delli Colli

1:35 - Production manager Claudio Mancini

1:40

1:45 - Production Supervisor Ugo Tucci

1:50

1:55

2:00 - Produced by Fulvio Morsella

2:05

2:10

2:15 - Executive producer Rino Cicogna

2:20

2:25 - Directed by Sergio Leone

2:30

2:35

2:40

2:45

2:50

2:55

3:00

3:05

3:10

3:15

3:20

3:25

3:30

3:35

3:40

3:45

3:50

3:55

4:00

4:05

4:10

4:15

4:20

4:25

4:30

4:35

4:40

4:45

4:50

4:55

5:00

5:05

5:10

5:15

5:20

5:25

5:30

5:35

5:40

5:45

5:50

5:55

6:00

6:05

6:10

Sherlock Holmes

1) State the production and distribution companies. how are they introduced?
A Warner Bros Picture, Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures, Wigram Production.

2) List the information that is listed in this tittle sequence;
Directed by Guy Ritchie, Screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg, Screen story by Lionel Wigram, Michael Robert Johnson, Produced by Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, Dan Lin, Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson where created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and appears in stories and novels by him, Executive Producers Michael Tadross, Bruce Berman, Co-Prodcucer Steve Clark Hall, Director of photography Phillipe Rousellot, Production Designer Sarah Greenwood, Editor James Halbert, Robert Downey Jr, Sherlock Holmes, Jude Law, Rachel Mc'adams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Kellie Reilly, James Fox, Hans Matheson, Geraldine James, Casting by Reg Poerscout Edgerton, Music Produced By Hans Zimmen, Lorne Balfe, Music by HAns Zimmen, Costumes Designer Jenny Beavan, Visual effexts supervisor Chas Gannet.

3) Where exactly is the films title placed?
The films tittle is shown at 1:40 during the title sequence.

4) Time line - enter the start and end times of the opening sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence at each end of the line and plot the sequence along the line.

0:00
0:05
0:10 - Directed By Guy Ritche
0:15 - Screen Play By Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg
0:20 - Screen Story By Lionel Wigram, Michael Robert Johnson
0:25 - Produced by Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin
0:30 - Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson where created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Dyole and appears in stories and novels by him
0:35 - Executive Producers Michael Tadross, Bruce Berman
0:40 - Co-producer Steve Clark Hall
0:45
0:50
0:55
1:00
1:05
1:10

Thriller Tittle Sequence Analysis

Se7en

1) Who is represented in the opening scene? Is this representation positive or negative?

It is unclear who is being represented but whoever it is who is being represented, is not represented well. It is not clear what he is doing, however, whatever it is that he is doing does not look good. For example we see him slicing skin of the tops of is fingers with a razor blade.

2) What do the titles look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?

There are titles in this opening. The titles are written in a font that looks hand written and they do not stay still on the screen, instead they move around the screen. Titles symbolise the thriller genre because of how they look sharp and constantly moving around the screen.

3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do each of these technical areas let you know that this is a thriller genre?

The camera shows a number of things which include a man slicing the tips of his fingers with a razor blade. You also see a needle which looks like it is being pulled out of his finger. The Music in the background is quite fast paced, it's not particularly scary but it is very fitting for what you can see happening. you also hear sound effects, such as the sound of the razor blade cutting skin. You can also hear the sound of the felt tipped pen running against the paper. After the part with razor blade, you can see that the man has plasters on his fingers.

4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller genre? How?

Yes, because there is a very scary feel in the opening, particularly when we see the man take out a razor blade. It is unclear what the story is in the opening although whatever it is, it defiantly feels freaky to the viewer. There is a definite and clear feel of a this film being a thriller genre

5) Which production company made the film? How might this effect the content of the film?

This film was made by Checchi Gori Pictures. For over 50 years, Chechi Gori Pictures has been the best producer for high end Italian and International cinema. They do anything from Drama to Heartwarming comedy. This is important because they are not known for producing thriller films this made Se7en quite a risky film to make.

6) What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?

Considering the film is a thriller, and the name is seven, maybe it is seven murders that happen. And there would be an investigation into them when the detectives would discover something freaky or maybe even supernatural.

Vertigo

1) Who is represented in the opening scene? Is this representation positive or negative?

There are three people in the opening scene, two police officers and another man who we assume is a criminal. The two police officers are shown as being brave and heroic as they chase the criminal across the rooftops at night. However the criminal is represented as being scared because he has resorted to running across rooftops to try and evade the police.

2) What do the titles for each opening look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?

The are no titles in the opening to "Vertigo"

3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do each of these areas make you know that this is a thriller genre?

The camera does not do much to show the genre except that it shows how high they are which gives a scary feel. The sound is exactly the sort of music that you would expect, it is very ominous and scary sounding and it gives you a feeling of fear. There is not really any editing in this opening except that they make it seem really high which also implies fear to the viewer. The costumes give the viewer an idea of the genre because of the police uniform.

4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller genre? How?

It does because you see the police officers and the fact that they are chasing a criminal across the rooftops. Also, one of the police officers falls of the roof and dies when hitting the ground, this is important you would expect someone to die in a thriller film.

5) Which production company was the film made by? How might this effect the content of the film?

Vertigo was produced by paramount pictures. This is important because paramount, at the time, had not produced many thriller films therefore the public would have had no idea of what it would be like. This would not really have any effect on the content of the film though.

6) What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?

I think that the film will involve a main character who has a fear of heights because the word vertigo means when someone has a fear of heights. I think that this person will do something which changes the course of the film. And the film will end with the main character getting over their fear. 

 

Jaws

1) Who is Being represented in the opening scene? How are they represented? Is this positive or negative?

In the opening scene for Jaws, there is a group of young people who are sitting on a beach. This is more of a positive representation because they are only having, they are not doing anything wrong.

2) What do the titles look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?

There are no titles in the opening of Jaws

3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is a thriller genre?

The camera and editing do not do much to show that this is a thriller genre but the sound and mise-en-scene does. The sound builds up rite until the point when we first see the shark. The mise en-scene does as well because the sea look ominous and a little bit threatening to the viewer.

4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller film? How?

There is not really much of a narrative in the opening, it is only some kids on the beach.  

5) Which production company was the film made by? How might this effect the content of the film?

The film was produced by Universal pictures. this is important because universal pictures are famous for producing thriller films, after jaws, they produced excellent films such as Children Of Men.

6) What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?

I think that the shark will probably do a lot of damage, maybe kill some people and it will eventual be captured or killed in the end of the film.

Panic Room

1) Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are the representations positive or negative?

There are two women represented at the end of the title sequence, they are talking about the measurements of a house. The representation is positive because they seem to be happy about the house.

2)What do the titles for each opening look like? Does it tell you that this is is a thriller genre?

The titles are shown as being part of the city skyline, they are in between the buildings. They look very large when compared to the buildings in the city.

3)Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?

The camera moves slowly across different sections of the city skyline, this give a frightening feel to the opening sequence. There is also music playing in the background, this music is very dark and ominous feeling which tells the viewer that the film is a thriller genre. The titles have been edited into the clip, they are reviled slowly which give the clip a scary feel. The opening sequence is shot in a city, the parts of the city that are included in the clip are often dark and dingy, this gives the viewer the idea that the film is a thriller genre.

4) Does the narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre? How?

The is not much of a narrative of narrative in the opening scene of the film, it is just titles and names of the film crew being shown.

5) What production company was the film made by? How might this effect the film content?

The film was made by Columbia pictures, this is important because they have produced a number of thriller films over the years so panic room could have been influenced by some of their past creations.

6) What do you think happens in the rest of the film? Give a brief description.

I think that the women at the end of the opening sequence are talking about buying houses, therefore a think that one of them will buy a house. Because the film is called panic room, this could refer to a room in the purchased house. May bee it is something to do with robbers.

Thriller title sequence analysis 

Children of men

1) Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?

The opening scene takes place in London, where there are only middle aged people. These people are represented as being scared and frightened. This is because of the death of a young boy who was described as the youngest boy in the world.

2) What do the titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller genre

This opening scene does not have any titles or credits

3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?

The camera shot shows the facial expressions of the people in the coffee shop, this is important because they look very scared and frightened. Sound is used because there is dark and grim music playing in the background. There is also an explosion at the end of the scene. Editing is used because fog is used which would have been created by the pollution from all the cars and buses, this gives the scene a depressing and grim feel. All of the people in the opening scene are over 18 years old and they are all wearing warn down, old clothes. this gives the idea that London has became a ruined city.

4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller film? How?

The narrative in the beginning builds up the tension through ought the opening sequence. One reason for this is that a man walks into a coffee shop where there are people staring at a television screen in horror as the news is playing. This tension is built up until it is released when there is an explosion in the coffee shop that the man just walked out of. And at the very end of the opening sequence, after the explosion, a woman walks out of the shop, holding her right arm which has just been ripped off by the explosion.

5) Which production company was the film made by? How could this effect the content of the film?

The film was produced by universal pictures, this is important because they are a huge company who are known to produce excellent films (mostly action films) this gives "Children Of Men a very large chance of success.

6) What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?

I think that humanity will be saved by some miraculous scientific breakthrough. There will probably be one small chance that they have to survive.

Still Frame Analysis

In this still frame Leonardo De Caprio Is dressed as a federal agent, along with his assistance, who is actually his Psychiatrist. This still supports the fact that the institute they are going to is off-shore because they are on a boat in this frame. This still also gives you an idea of the era which this film was set in because they are wearing old fashioned hats and trench coat. This Still frame sets the tone for the whole film really because the sky gives a really dark feeling to the whole frame. This theme of horrible weather continues throughout most of the film, this is pathetic fallacy. The is a very low key light on the two men this also puts a dark feel on the film. They are dressed a federal agents, this ties in a crime aspect into the film. These things are all conventions of the thriller genre.  

Questionnaire

1. What Gender are you?

Male           Female

2. How old are you?

10-14     15-19    20-25      30-35    40-45      46+

3. How often do you visit the cinema?

Never     Once a Week       Fortnightly       once a month        once a year     other

4. What sub-genre thrillers do you prefer?

Political thriller      Disaster thriller       Psychological thriller     Crime thriller    Conspiracy thriller

Supernatural thriller     Other (please state) ...........................................

5. What types of Iconography would you expect to see for a thriller movie?

Weapons      Blood      Death     Car chase      Police (e.g. F.B.I)    

6. How much information should a film opening contain?

No information      The title      The title and main actors    title, main actors, production company

title, main actors, production company, crew names

7. What type of shots catches your eye?

Scenic shots      outdoor shots      indoor shots     other

Nine frame

This is the nine frame structure of the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Vertigo". This image shows His love of using spirals because there are quite a few in this image. There are frames where the colour has been made red, this is important because this can give a rather freaky and scary effect to the opening of this movie. Judging from these nine frames, i would think that the rest of the film could involve the person who is included in the opening to this movie.

Planning

Moodboard

This is a moodboard which contains iconic imagry from thriller movies. This was use full because it helped to give us an idea of what sort of iconograohy should be included in our opening.

One thing we had to do for our final piece was to create a production company to include in the credits of the opening scene that we would create.

This is the design for the logo that we created for our production company to go at the beginning of our clip. The word production would normally show up but in this example it is on a blank background. The name of our production company is JLSN productions. We called it this because JLSN are the initials for the first letter in our names. We used a target in our logo because the movie is called target. I like this logo because it is a simple way adding our production company into the credits. It also has a good variety of colours which would make it easier for an audience to recognise in the future.

The two initial ideas as to the story line of our movie where both a political thriller. We decided to go with our idea of a corrupt dictator from an UN-specified country is being driven to a secret suburban location where a sniper awaits his arrival. without any knowledge that there is a killer nearby, he proceeds to the building when a gun shot is fired and his guard gets him back into the car and they drive away at high speed. That is the plot for the opening of our movie.

There were some props needed to film our opening. These props included a car (Chrysler 300c) and a pretend sniper rifle. There where also some basic costumes used such myself (I played the shooter), Anthony Lorenz Valencia (The Dictator) and Brian Smith (The Body guard). I had to be dressed in all black clothing to imitate what an actual assassin would be wearing. Anthony was simply told to dress smartly, this to make him look important. And Brian was asked to where a white shirt, Black tie, black trousers and black shoes. This was because these are the sort of clothes you would expect a body guard to ware. The car which we used, we chose because it looks like the sort of car that a rich dictator would own.

There was no script needed in our clip because there was only one line said throughout the whole clip. That line was "Acquiring target", said by me playing the shooter.

When editing our clip we used the software final cut pro on apple macs to do any necessary alterations to the clip. We used the software to do cuts between different shots using the cut tool (which looks like a little razor blade). we also used the software to make the whole clip black and white. We did this because we feel that it gives the opening a much more sinister feel. It also makes the clip feel a little bit old fashioned. We used the software to dub-in noises such as a gun fire. We also added music to the clip to make the clip seem more professional. 

When filming our opening the only real health and safety issue was filiming the car approaching the building which did involve standing in the road for a few seconds, however the car we where filming was the only car on the road at the time. Apart from that there where no other health and safety issues to worrie about when filming.   

Talent Release Forms

These are the talent release forms the two actors who where in our video.

Story Board

This story board shows the basic idea of how our film will be done and what shots it will contain. For example there is a shot where the camera is pionting down the scope onto our actors head just before the shot fires.

Action Script

Shooter : Looking out of skylight, wiating for car to come into view. ( Music playing quitely )

Car : Car drives down street ( Inside shot ) ( Music playing quietly ) 

Shooter : Takes gun out of case and loads it ( Slow motion ) ( Music playing quietly )

Car : Outside shot of car aproaching ( Music playing loudly )

Shooter : Takes aim on the car ( Music playing loudly )

Car : Outside shot when pulling up ( Music plays loudly for rest of footage )

Car : Car stops and driver opens door for the target ( Inside Shot )

Shooter : Camera shows target in the cross hair and fires and misses

Target : Hearing gun shot, runs back to the car, protected by the driver (Outside Shot)

Shoter : lowers his gun

Car : drives away at high speed.