Detail on Target Audience

Our thriller film is going to be a psychological thriller, following the story of a mentally ill young man. Our opening sequence is therefore aimed at mainly young women, late teenagers and especially young men. This film will also aim at older adults, but mainly younger people due to the main characters being involved are of the rough same age.

Men will be targeted more than women because the film will feature some violence throughout and this appeals more to men generally than it does to women. Also most of the characters included in this film will be male, therefore the film becomes quite a manly film.

Target Audiences

Most thriller films are rated 15 or 18 certificate, so are not very suitable for the younger viewers. However due to there being many different types of thriller films, they can cover all aspects and appeal to many different audiences.

The horror/thriller type films tend to be for the younger male/female generation and so forth; due to there being many strong powerful scenes involved. Whereas crime thrillers are usually aimed at males (due to the violence involved, which mainly appeal to them more so over women) and people of a more mature nature. This is because of the realistic mysterious story lines invloved.

Sub-Genres

Thrillers usually contain sub-genres, to make a different type of a thriller. Some of the thriller sub-genres are:

A Drama Thriller
This type of film is the mix of both the drama genre and the thriller genre. For instance the film will include getting to know a character more deeply and possibly watching as they develop emotionally or psychologically. Drama thrillers tend to be a bit of a slower pace.

A Crime Thriller
This type of thriller, will contain many characteristics found in crime films. Therefore the film will probably, create alot of attention about an account of a crime. They also mainly emphasize on the action taking place of the character/s mental state/s, because these thriller films mainly follow the story of the criminals involved.

An Action Thriller
This type of film would be a thriller film that would consist of the normal violence, guns and general mayhem found in action films. An example of an action thriller is Bourne Supremacy.

An Erotic Thriller
As well as being a thriller film, these type of films also included the erotica genre. Since the 1980's these types of films have become very popular, and include the likes of: Dressed To Kill, Color of Night, Eyes Wide Shut, In the Cut and many more.

Thriller Actors

Samuel L. Jackson

Jackson was born on 21st December 1948. He is an American film and television actor. His most known films are Pulp Fiction (where he recieved several award nominations), Jurassic Park, Goodfellas, The 51st State and many more

In becoming involved as an actor, Jackson firstly became committed to the Civil Rights Movement, which introduced and moved him on to acting in theatre and then in films. He is one of the highest grossing actors at the box office, where he has appeared in over 100 films. Here is a filmography of the thriller films Jackson has appeared in:

• The Exorcist III (1989)
• Sea of Love (1989)
• A Shock to the System (1990)
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Assault at West Point (1994)
• Kiss of Death (1995)
• A Time to Kill (1996)
• The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
• Hard Eight (1996)
• One Eight Seven (1997)
• The Negotiator (1998)
• Unbreakable (2000)
• Changing Lanes (2002)
• No Good Deed (2002)
• Basic (2003)
• Twisted (2004)
• Cleaner (2007)
  

Kevin Bacon

Bacon was born on 8th July 1958 in Philadelphia. He is a film and theatre actor whose most memorable pieces of work are in Apollo 13, Friday the 13th, Footloose and many more. Bacon has been nominated for Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

He was the youngest of six chidren, and at 16 he joint the Pennsylvania Governors School for the Arts. The next year he left homw and pursued his theatre career in New York, in a production at the Circle in the Square Theatre School.

Bacon has appeared in mainly comedy themed films over the last four decades and is regarded as one of the best actors to never recieve an Oscar nomination. Here is a filmography of some of the thriller films Bacon has appeared in:

• Criminal Law (1989)
• The River Wild (1994)
• Wild Things (1998)
• Stir or Echoes (1999)
• Hollow Man (2000)
• Trapped (2002)
• In the Cut (2003)

The 180 Degree Rule

This rule is used to minimise confusing the audience. The 180 degree rule is mainly thought about in shots of two people conversing to one another. It is done by placing all the cameras on the same side of the line of action. A line of action is a path which your subject is traveling along or an imaginary line between two character who are interacting.

For example if two people where filmed having a conversation from different angles (i.e having an over the shoulder shot of both characters and including a two shop) the line of action would run through each of the characters. The cameras would only shoot from one side of the line as shooting a piece from the other side will disorientate and confuse the viewers.

Here is a diagram of The 180 Degree Rule:

Thriller Directors

Wolfgang Petersen


Wolfgang was born on the 14th of March 1941. He is a German director and is most know for the thriller films Troy, In the Line of Fire, The Perfect Storm and many more. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Das Boot.

From a young age Wolfgang was always interested in directing and began directing plays at Hamburg's Ernst Deutsch Theater in the 60's. He studied theatre in Berlin and then went on to attend the Film and Television Academy, also in Berlin. His first film productions were during his work on the German Crime Scene TV series Tatort.


Wolgang's Filmography

• One or the Other of Us (1974)
• Die Konsequenz (1977)
• Das Boot (1981)
• The NeverEnding Story (1984)
• Enemy Mine (1985)
• Shattered (1991)
• In the Line of Fire (1993)
• Outbreak (1995)
• Red Corner (1997)
• Air Force One (1997)
• The Perfect Storm (2000)
• Troy (2004)
• Poseidon (2006)

Stephen Spielberg

Stephen Spielberg KBE was born on 18th December 1946. As well as being an American director, Spielberg is a screenwriter and film producer. Spielberg is mainly a science-fiction fanatic but has directed and been involved with many different genre films. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's list and Saving Private Ryan. Three of his films (Jaws, E.T and Jurassic Park) broke box office records at their times.

From Spielberg's teens, he created and directed his own amateur adventure films. At the age of 13 he won an award for a 40 minute war film entitled "Escape to Nowhere". In 1963, he wrote and directed his first independant science fiction adventure called "Firelight" which was shown in his local cinema.

Stephen's Thriller Filmography

• Duel (1971)
• Jaws (1975)
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Analysing the Opening Sequence of Se7en

The film Se7en was released in 1995. The director of the film is David Fincher and it stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as the main characters.


Titles

The titles scene in this opening sequence creates a very un-nervy feeling. This is mainly accomplished through the sharp small movements of the words on the screen. This is also accompanied with the high pitched sounds playing in the background. The words in the titling sequence are written in white. The colour white is used to create a strong impact on the audience because it stands out very clearly against the black background. The titles are written in a font style that looks like somebody's handwriting. The font style adds to the mysterious feel; this is because it looks as if someone has written the titles themself - therefore the audience is subconciously concerned of a creepy connection bewtween a mysterious person involved in the play and the titles.


Shots

There are many shots used in this opening sequence, including a piont of view shot, a low angle shot and the piece begins with a big cose up and several close ups.

The big close up and close ups are used to look at the character Morgan Freeman plays, to try and connect the audience to his character and how he feels from the off. It forms a very early intense feel. This technique is a great way to introduce a character, because we feel like we are looking into his thoughts and can understand him clearer.

There is also alot of medium shots used in this opening section. An example is right at the beginning, where Morgan Freeman is tidying about in his kitchen. The effect of the medium shot here empkasizes the smallness of his flat and gives us a glimpse of his hostile environment. As well as this, getting an insight of what where he lives looks like, gives part of his character away and consequently allows the audience to make small judgements of the character.

Another shot used in this part of the film, is a two shop. Within the two shop is an interaction between Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. The are having quite a heated conversation because Morgan Freeman's character does not fully trust the other character. The shot here helps to stress the intimate conversation.


Movement

At the start where we are introduced to Freeman's character, a ped up occurs. This shot helps to slowly reveal the character as the camera moves from his lower half of his body all the way up to his face. This way we get to know what the character looks like a bit more intimately.

A tracking shot is also used when the two main characters are walking down the street. This technique helps to show how busy this town is by the ammount of people that are spotted in their short journey. This technique helps to show how hard it must be to solve a crime in this town let alone a murder, by the audience witnessing a small busy sample of one street.


Sound

When we are witnessing the character in his cramped flat at the beginning of the scene alot of non-diegetic noises are heard. This is used to make the audience understand that this character is never really properly alone, as he is surrounded with noises/sounds even when he is on his own, in his most relaxed area. Some of the sounds heard are quite loud and you could easily imagine that he would hear disturbing noises in the comfort of his own home. However, even though all these noises are happening it does not seem to effect Freeman and his character continues normal tasks without being inluenced by the noises heard. This could show that he has been in these situations far too much and that these sounds are not abnormal to him.


Mise-en-scene

-to be continued-

First Preliminary Task

For our first attempt of creating a short piece of footage, we were told to get into groups of three and produce 'a journey'. My group consisted of Mattie, Ellen and myself.

We began by discussing ideas we could do, and brainstorming any aspects we could incorporate into our piece. After our discussion we clarrified that we shall film a journey of myself running to a toilet, in need of going to the toilet.

We began the filming with a medium shot aimed centrally at a cart. Mattie then walked across the shot where he chucked a piece of rubbish into the cart. I then popped my head out of the cart and quickly scooted out of it. Our short film then chaged to a high angle shot. The shot was looking down onto the cart and specifically filmed the section where I jumped out and ran off towards the toilet. This high angle shot made it seem as if my character was being watched and this was confirmed with my jittery, rushed movements.

The next shot was a worms eye. It filmed myself running along the corridor and over the camera. This was a great contrast to the high angle shot used just before and showed my character's movements from a different perspective. Next to this shot we created a few medium shots. The first of many consisted of myself running past a centrally positioned male toilet door. The next was a same positioned woman's one, where my character run inside it, and run back out again after making many girls screem in the toilet. The final medium shot, also the final shot altogether was where my character finally made it into the correct toilet and pushed a person urinating out the way to go to the toilet. These medium shots helped to gain a little comical element to the film, through them centrally showing the genders of each of the toilets; and my own character running past or in them.

Past Students' Example

During our media lessons we have watched a number of past students' examples of the task we have to undertake, of making an opening sequence to a thriller film. We watched a few previous examples of these including End of the Line.

End of the Line, was a very interesting sequence. We witnessed, as the audience, a business man exiting a building in central London; where he subsequently walks along street and ends up being mugged by another character half way along. The mugged character has know idea of this yet and walks off, as normal. The 'mugger' is then seen meeting another character to hand her what he has just robbed.

The media students involved in this film used a range of very well executed shots. They used a few close ups in quick succession, of the business man's face, to convey the rushing of the character - this was also implyied through some of the shots including a clock in the background, which in one shot drifted in and out of focus.

This group also included a high angle shot that allowed us to watch the business man exit the building and walk off into the streets of central London. This high angle technique showed the area of where this is situated to the audience to gain a first pre-judgement of what could occur in this area. As well as this the high angle shot seem like the character is being watched as a person could easily be standing on a bridge looking down at him, or it could be the use of a cctv camera watching his moves.

End of the Line's most memorable shot for me was the speeding up of the London Eye. This was a fantastic techinque in representing the passing of time, because you witness the London Eye moving much faster than usuall, and because where the 'Wheel' is located we can see the change in the sky from night to day (visa versa). This was also a good idea because the London Eye is relevant to the opening sequence due to the fact that the opening sequence is set in Central London.

Analysing the Opening Sequence of Momento

The film 'Momento' is directed by Christopher Nolan. It was released in 2002 and stars Guy Pearce.



Titles

The film begins with an opening title sequence. During the sequence, the text fade in and out of shot slowly on a black background, with a few words at a time. Also throughout this piece, eerie music is playing in the background that seems to cresendo.

The colour blue is chosen for this beginning section. This is because the colour is very prominent against the simple dull black background. As well as this, the blue text initially emits a cold, sinister feeling - which becomes more powerful as the titles continue. This is very relevant to the film, due to Momento being also 'quite cold'; and its a great early hint to what the film is like and how the film may unravel. As the words fade into the background each time, the shade of blue becomes a darker blue to just add even more to the mysterious vibe.

The text is displayed in the centre of the screen in a regular bold font style. This makes it very hard not to miss the vibrant colour. The style can suggest that what will happen in the film could happen in normal everyday life, making it even more spooky for the audience.



Shots/Movement

After the titling sequence the first shot we are exposed to is an extreme close up. This extreme close up is of an ambiguous picture. Due to the audience not knowing what the picture is, it immediately creates suspision. This suspision is increased even more when we are sat staring at the photo for quite a while, as we start to believe that the picture must be pretty important if we have been looking at it for a while.

After this scene there is a piece shot in black and white. This black and white effect helped in this case to imply we was watching a flash back. We instinctively relate black and white shots to the past or old things that have occurred so it was an effective way of emphasising this point. This scene is shot looking down on to a character in a hotel room, by using a high angle shot. This shot helps to show his close environment, because the room looks even smaller from this technique, his vulnerablilty and confusion. As well as this, it conveys the feeling that the character is watched at all times, even in the comfort of his personal rooms(i.e. hotel room. as he lays on his bed) because it acts like a cctv camera keeping an eye on him atall times, or a better example being watched like they do in the big brother house.

To end the opening sequence a long shot is produced. This long shot helps to give the reader a rough idea of where this action is taking place. Also the audience can create a pre-judged feeling of the area, which is a bit of a hint to the film's story.



Generic Themes

From the beginning sequence we can conclude that this film may include sub-genres. It is clear that action will play a role in this film from the start, due to the sequence containing a murder and the use of a gun. It is an unusual beginning because of the piece being played backwards and it puts the audience straight into the action with them near enough witnessing a murder they know nothing about. Already the audience are trying to firgure out the relationship between the two people.



Sound

The scene includes some narration which instantly grabs the audience into the film, because it seems like the character is talking ditectly to them. Especially as the narration is the first bit of real verbal information we get. Additionally, the sequence contains many diegetic and non-diegetic sounds throughout.

The diegetic sounds consist of the camera snap and also where the character was flapping the photo. These sounds create a very sinister feeling. Keys are also heard in the opening sequence. All of these sounds help the audience to connect with the character more, in the sense of that we are hearing what he is hearing - so it is as if its like we are there, in the situation.

The non-diegetic sounds included are the background music that seems to be played on the violin. This music consisted in the beginning sequence creates a strange tense feeling which seems almost old fashioned like.



Mise-en-scene

The clothes which are worn by the man who we witnessed being murdered, is wearing a worn suit. The fact that this man is wearing formal clothes, gives the audience the impression that this character is an important person, making the audience believe the incident they have witnessed is one of a lot of importance.

Other mise-en-scene aspects of the opening sequence include the black and white scene in the hotel room, I discussed earlier in the shots section; which could portray a memory of the character. Also the black and white technique helps to emphasize the fact that the character seems to move about alot as he is in a hotel room.

As well as this the unclear photo (I also have discussed in the shots section) produced at the beginning of the film makes the audience think; mainly due to the footage being played backwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMTnXpL61N8