My Thriller

AS Thriller on Prezi

Eastern Promises

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

Here is a link to a clip from Eastern Promises.  This clip is an intense fight scene.  We will aim to have our fight scene in a similar yet less extreme style so that acting is not an issue.

Some results of my research

By looking at similar Thriller films to mine on the Internet movie database I can find who may be attracted to my film most. For instance Eastern Promises:

	Votes	Average
Males	62,163	7.8
Females	7,496	7.8
Aged under 18	339	8.0
Males under 18	300	8.2
Females under 18	38	6.2
Aged 18-29	42,905	7.9
Males Aged 18-29	38,463	7.9
Females Aged 18-29	4,303	8.0
Aged 30-44	21,451	7.6
Males Aged 30-44	19,044	7.6
Females Aged 30-44	2,244	7.8
Aged 45+	4,851	7.6
Males Aged 45+	3,957	7.6
Females Aged 45+	853	7.2
IMDb staff	14	7.9
Top 1000 voters	618	7.3
US users	19,014	7.9
Non-US users	45,290	7.8
IMDb users	79,013	7.8

 Here there is a mainly male audience with a main popularity in the under 18' male catergory.  From this I hope mine would be similar.

Here are some of the results from a survey I carried out on people that are within my thrillers target demographic.

1. Age: 16
2. Gender: M
3. Occupation: -
4. How do you prefer to watch films? Cinema
5. What is your Favourite genre of film? The Prestige
6. Recent films that you have watched? Paul
7. Identify some thrillers you have viewed? The Prestige, Leon
8. What do you expect to see in a thriller? Suspense, Fights
9. Do you think that it is important that Britain has a film industry? Dont know
10. What attracts you to a film? Trailers at the cinema.  Actors (Simon Pegg)

1. Age: 17
2. Gender: F
3. Occupation: Student
4. How do you prefer to watch films? Cinema
5. What is your Favourite genre of film? Rom Com
6. Recent films that you have watched? Paul, Black Swan
7. Identify some thrillers you have viewed? Psycho
8. What do you expect to see in a thriller? Mystery, sinister, Justice,
9. Do you think that it is important that Britain has a film industry? Probably
10. What attracts you to a film? Directors (Danny Boyle)

The results i found suggested that for my target demographic, I would want to aim my film at a Cinema going audience and have distinct unpredictability within the storyline.  If my film were to have unpredictability, the negotiatable audience may be more interested and want to see the film more.  Also characters of similar ages would help the viewer to be able to relate to the characters in the film because the viewers will have a better, more accurate idea of the emotions, actions etc. 

Questionarre I made to use for my research

1. Age:
2. Gender:
3. Occupation:
4. How do you prefer to watch films?
5. What is your Favourite genre of film?
6. Recent films that you have watched?  
7. Identify 3 thrillers you have viewed?
8. What do you expect to see in a thriller?  
9. Do you think that it is important that Britain has a film industry?
10. What attracts you to a film?

Thriller research

The demographic for my thriller is most likely to be males between the ages of 16 and 24. The main character from my film is around 16 or 17. This allows an audience of this age to relate to the character well.

The social classes of the characters in my film are not clear.  The setting however, suggests a poor working class background. Because of this i believe that a more working class audience would be attracted to my film.
All of the actors used in my thriller are white British people. Because of this it is likely that my thriller will attract a mainly, western, white ethnicity.
Films that may relate to my own are:  Leon, because of the relations of drugs to the father who is murdered.
Eastern Promises, due to the fight scenes.

A typical image of someone from the target demographic would be a 16-24 year old British male who lives fast and for thrills, of a working class background.

Leon - Conventions of a thriller

In the 1994 film Leon there are many conventions that make it a stunning example of a thriller film.  These are present throughout the film.

Immediately conventions are used.  Extreme close ups show two characters in conversation restricts our awareness of who they are leaving us 'in the dark'.  One character smokes a cigarette, a classic thriller convention giving a serious and sinister image.  Another classic convention is that of a spiral staircase.  These are conventions because they obscure the literal view of things on different levels when they can or may still be heard.  This creates an unnerving atmosphere.  Also they can represent distance, disorientation and confusion. In this scene in the hotel, high angle shots are used to show the main man in danger as vulnerable and as if easy prey for the 'hunter'.  Later in the film after the first scene in the hotel, there is yet another spiral staircase.  Here a young girl sits at the top of the staircase smoking a cigarette.  This creates a contrast between the apparent innocence of a young girl and the fact that she is smoking which connotes the complete opposite.

From the first scene we are aware that drugs are heavily involved in the motivations of some of the characters within the film.  This is a classic motive for a thriller film because of the stereotypes of drug dealers.  How Leon is different is that the criminal drugs related dealing situation is put into the context of a family and them suffering the consequence of the involvement in such things.

Leon is revealed as a hit man early on in the first scene however, in the second scene he is shown as a kind man with slight immoralities (stealing milk).  When he saves the girl from the murdering gangsters he shows yet even more compassion to the girl who he has sympathy for.

Leon is represented as an excessively organised person who does everything systematically, he also appears not to be social around people which almost suggests some form of autism.  It is frequent to have a significant character who has an unusual mental state, for example in Phsyco where Norman Bates has a split personality disorder which leads him to commit murder.

Thriller opening film timings

Film	Average shot length in seconds	Number of different shots	Titles
Taxi Driver dir. Martin Scorsese 1976	4-20	9	Blood red on a black background.
Nikita dir. Luc Besson 1990	5	20	Blood red on a black background
Leon dir. Luc Besson 1994	2-14	28	White on a black background.
Momento dir. Christopher Nolan 2000	1-2	17	Blue against one long opening shot.
London To Brighton dir. Paul Andrew Williams    2006	2-3	31	White on a black background.
Red Road dir. Andrea Arnold 2006	1-10	32	Blue and white on a black background

 

From this It appears that generally thriller openings have a large number of shots that change every few seconds and also a large number of shots.  The opening titles all have greatly contrasting colours to show the title.  Depending on the the degree of violence or sinicism I may choose to use red titles for my thriller opening.  I shall try and replecate a similar number of shots within my thriller opening.

How does Hitchcock use binary opposites to create suspense in the 1960’s Thriller, Psycho?

Hitchcock uses binary opposites throughout the film Psycho.  Binary opposites, in this context, are things that are opposites and also have other connotations.  In some cases, they are used to represent morals such as right and wrong.  Another example is wealth and poverty.  They are also used to emphasise points or situations.  Hitchcock uses them extensively and effectively in the film Psycho to create suspense.

Immediately in the opening we see a wide open long shot panorama of Phoenix, Arizona.  The shot eventually cranes in towards an open window where the camera enters a dark room.  This in its self presents an opposition from the outside world and the public as opposed to the secretive darkness that fills the apartment.  Inside the apartment there is a couple who are having an affair.  This is yet another binary opposite of morality against love.  Also, the couple discuss their relationship.  This creates an opposition between the respectability of a relationship in marriage and family against the affair that they are having.  This in turn creates suspense as Marion is struggling between right and wrong.  She is not happy about her situation but does not know how to get out of it.

When Marion is at work at her office there is a distinct opposite between the wealth of the outgoing customer and the much lesser wealth of the workers, Marion and the other staff member.  In the same scene there is another opposite of the intellects and desires between Marion and the other office worker who seems simple and content with her life whereas Marion is not because of her affair and struggling relationship.  This opposite emphasises how Marion is not content with how her life is.  She does not want to spend the rest of her life with little money, an unhappy relationship and the guilt caused by her affair.

Another binary opposite used by Hitchcock is white versus black.  In the initial apartment scene we see that Marion is wearing a white bra.  White is a colour that represents goodness and purity and this encourages the audience to see Marion as an essentially ‘good’ person.  This changes later on, after the office scene where she is faced with a moral dilemma.  Should she put the money in the bank or just keep it for herself? Having been given money, £40,000, to put in the bank, she takes it home instead.  There is then a scene where she changes her clothes and moves the money into her bag which she takes with her as she sets off to make her escape.  When she is shown changing, she wears a black bra which signifies how she has changed and how she is now a criminal who has lost her morals, respect and goodness as a woman.  This builds suspense as she leaves the city, as does the hurried manner in which she changes at her place.

Marion leaves the busyness of the city and heads for isolation.  This opposite represents the transfer from good to evil that she has made.  The isolation connotes that she has done wrong and that people in the city she lived and worked with were good.  This also suggests that Norman, the man who runs the motel where she stops off, is also on the wrong side of life and may be evil.  The character of Norman Bates is also representative of the binary opposite that is connoted by the stuffed birds of prey.  This is the concept of predator and prey.  Marion, although this does not appear so to begin with, is prey to Norman being the predator.  This is also true on another level within Normans mind.  His split personality suggests that his personality is prey to his Mothers personality.  Most of the time he appears to be a nice person, but the darker side of his personality is perhaps caused by his mother.  This creates further suspense because we fear for Marion, now that she is in the company of Norman.

In conclusion, all of the binary opposites that Hitchcock uses move from safety, security and goodness to opposites which imply danger and vulnerability, for example when Marion leaves her family and job for isolation and a less certain future. The police man emphasises the increasing vulnerability Marion faces as he follows her when she leaves the city.  This builds an atmosphere of suspense which makes the intense murder scene sinister and gruesome.

Film Noir and 'The Third Man'

Film Noir and ‘The Third Man’ (1949)

How does the third man use film noir conventions?

Film Noir

Film Noir is a type of film/genre of thriller that came from post second world war.  This was a time of great depression and socioeconomic collapse.  These were originally American gangster films (about the 1940’s).  Film Noir tends to have a mood of bleakness, fear and paranoia.  The characters within film noir generally encounter a degree of moral conflict creating a difficult situation.  Flashback and mystery are often involved and a narrator tells the tale as a twisting plot unravels.  Femme Fatale is used in this type of film.  This usually links directly to the moral conflict often present.  Film noir derives from German expressionist paintings and artwork.  The contrasts for example show this.  Conventions of film noir include heroes and corrupt characters, often villains.  Moral ambiguity is often present and so is the concept of femme fatale.

Femme Fatale is where a significant character (a woman) is ambiguous in that they are deceptive because they use their sexuality and innocent appearance to exploit what they want within a situation.  They are generally good looking and confusing to the viewer of the film. 

Extreme lighting effects are used to exaggerate extreme moods.  This lighting creates great contrasts.  Chiaroscuro lighting is a main feature of film noir where light appears to be coming only from one source that is often not natural.  The films in the film noir genre are black and white; this makes the Chiaroscuro lighting even more obvious and crucial to the genre. 

Codes and conventions of a thriller

Conventions of thrillers generally have a suspicious and unusual beginning creating something that is to be discovered throughout the rest of the film.  Thrillers often use flashback to confuse the viewer making for a more interesting film.  Spiral stair cases are also stereotypically found in thrillers, these can be seen as symbolic of aspects within the film because of their distance and hidden floors.  The Third Man uses most of these conventions within film noir.

The Third Man

The Third Man is a Film Noir mystery Thriller directed by Carol Reed.  The Third Man uses Film noir conventions excessively.  For example it begins with a lone man in an unfamiliar place that he does not know.  Also, the animalistic appearance given to Harry, showing him as if vermin within the city and the sewers below.  This creates an ideal level of corruption to create a complicated plot for the film.

Chiaroscuro lighting is used throughout the film.  For example when Harry escapes and disappears down the sewers.  The lighting hints to the viewer that he has gone through what is discretely a sewer entrance but it is not easy to make out.  The lighting adds a hint of suspicion to the entrance and the reflection of light off the cobbles creates scattered light giving definition to what otherwise would be a bleak shot.

The film is set in Vienna.  There are many shots of empty alleyways with only the main character present.  Also, the sewers of Vienna symbolise the state of the city and the socioeconomic climate.  The rain slicked stone cobbled alleyways in the film and the gloomy dank, dark and disorientating sewers are all classic conventions of the film noir genre. 

Anna is a significant character in the film as she feels for Harry even though he is clearly evil.  There is no perfect femme fatale in The Third Man; however Anna possesses some of the qualities.  She is independent and attractive.  She is morally ambiguous in that she loves a man who is evil and being chased by the police and what seems to be everyone.  Anna uses her innocence as a victim to try and get what she wanted from the situation.

Despite the atmosphere killing music The Third Man uses unusual camera angles to show obscurity of situations; Or to show the drunken state of Holly Martin.  These angles give expression and make the viewer feel physically part of the situation and therefore making the film brilliant from a media perspective.  The atmosphere gained from these shots presents for an uneasy atmosphere, perfect for film noir.

The film ‘M’ uses a child character to represent innocence in the film, The Third Man also uses this when the child rolls his ball accidentally in amongst an argument about the suspicions that Holly Martin has of the supposed death of Harry Lime.  This creates juxtaposition between the innocence of the child and the sinister situation making both of these sides seem more extreme.

I used mainly…

http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

‘Identity’ opening scene analysis

‘Identity’ opening scene analysis

The film opens on a black screen as you hear a recorded voice of Malcolm Rivers.  This cuts to close up shots of what obviously is evidence for a multiple murder case.  This has shots that cut quickly from one to another, all of close ups of the psychiatrist, Dr Malick.  The audience are not aware of the names of the characters at this point making both the recorded voice and the psychiatrist a mystery. This creates ambiguity which is typical of the thriller genre.  The close up shots of Malick also prevents us from seeing his full figure adding to the ambiguity.

The sounds in the opening scene are of mainly dialogue of the recorded voice and the un-nerving sound of a storm raging outside, however there is quiet background music which adds to the sinister tone of who we assume is the murders voice playing on the tape machine.  This adds to the already confusing situation and enhances the atmosphere.  The recorded voice sounds almost childish which juxtaposes with the murderous image the evidence portrays as well as the repetitive and angry tone in the recorded voice.

The Mise-en-scene in this scene contains of just piles of evidence, notes and tapes surrounding Malick on his desk.  None of these things are shown in shot for long before cutting to another shot.  This obscures the viewer’s knowledge of the situation creating the sense of unknown.  Some of the Mise-en-scene is only shown when flashes of lightning light up the room Malick is in building tension within the scenario.  The colours in the scene are limited to light, and dark.  These colours contrast and this, in my opinion symbolises good and evil.  There is a strong Key light from the evidence its self which is the only light in the room.  This light’s Malicks face slightly suggesting that there is much more to be discovered and brought ‘into the light’.

Public enemies opening analysis

Public Enemies (2009) Opening scene film analysis

The film opens with a blank screen.  The date of what is to happen in the film is shown, then a brief explanation of the date and situation of some of the main characters in text.  The font is plain but in almost a military style making a very serious opening.  There is also very little dialogue in the opening scene and this means any explanations of situations have to be figured out by the viewer.  This makes them think and be curious of what might happen next.

The sound of marching footsteps is heard before the camera cuts to show a line of prisoners marching in the typical striped uniform.  The camera shows both long shots and close ups of the prisoners.  One is shown lying dead on the floor by a guard; this shot its self possesses a tense atmosphere.

The camera cuts directly to a close up shot of a car pulling up outside the prison.  A man appears to be taking a prisoner into the prison.  The camera cuts back to the prisoners, now being inside the prison, sewing.  Music creates tension as the camera shows the prisoners discretely pass round guns to each other that they have taken from what was thought by the guards to be just thread for sewing.  The camera focuses on the box with the guns in it, at first this confuses the viewer but all becomes clear when it is opened.

This opening is bound to directly interest and excite the viewer from the very start.  

This Film relates more to the sub-genre of an Action Thriller than a stereotypical thriller film.  Because of my target demographic that I am targeting for my thriller, If my film were to have similarities to this in terms of filming/action style it would be more popular within my targeted demographic.

The Prestige analysis, Christopher Nolan, 2006


Camera frame, movement and angle
The film opens with a shot panning across something that to the audience seems completely random. This creates a curious atmosphere. Next the shot cuts to black before a close up of birds in a cage and a character explaining a magic trick. Film cuts between this trick with a bird and another trip with a human. A similar trick on a different scale.

Sound
A voice is heard, of a magician explaining a scenario. This is shown in parallel with an equivalent/similar act of a different scale. Tense music is apparent in the background. The electrical flashes and the tense music suggest almost certainly that something is to go wrong. Voices are not kept separate to faces (unknown). Therefore the film is relying on the confusion created by the immediate situation.

Lighting
A dark stage adds to the uncertainty of the act shown simultaneously with the trick with the bird. This shows that one trick has a sinister side, and the other does not, adding suspense.

Editing
The camera cuts to black after the first shot. And then directly cuts between the two tricks.

Representation
The film is set in the Victorian times when magic was of great importance because it bought wealth to those who mastered it. Innocence of a child is juxtaposed by the idea of a more sinister concept of a certain magic trick.

Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene is of foggy woodland with top hats strewn across the ground. Confusing to the viewer. Next, cutting to black and then the simultaneous magic tricks. One trick on a dark stage and enormous electrical equipment which in those days would be out of this world. Below stage a sinister scene of what appears as the death of the magician. However it is all unclear. The scene fades out.

Narrative structure
The narrative structure is of a man who is explaining the composition of a magic trick and its difficulties.