Targeting our Audience

15 Classification

strong violence
frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
portrayals of sexual activity
strong verbal references to sex
sexual nudity
brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
discriminatory language or behaviour
drug taking

18 Classification

very strong violence
frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)
strong portrayals of sexual activity
scenes of sexual violence
strong horror
strong blood and gore
real sex (in some circumstances)
discriminatory language and behaviour

Developed Idea

We did some more research and watched more thriller opening. This helped us to think of a new idea...
-Boy in room/flat
-Drugs
-Knock on the door
-Runs away

Thoughts

We decided to change our idea completely as our initial idea was much too complicated. We would have wanted to include too many setting and too many snippets of different stories to make it an effective opening sequence which would have been difficult to make feasible.

Progress

Me and Ali did a pitch presenting our initial ideas and we created a small questionnaire to gather our audience feedback. Our questionnaire wasn't filled in as we had concentrated more about the 'macro' of the opening sequence rather than the 'micro'.

Initial Ideas

Considering Titles

I read an article called 'The Inner Working' on Art of the Title and picked out some specific words and phrases I will need to consider for my titles in my opening sequence...

Similar topics and themes

Don’t necessarily have to be genre-specific

Transcend film genres

Graphic animation

Detail-oriented montage

Relevant close-up or overlapping imagery

Nostalgic influence

Situational type

Photomontage

Mechanical and the organic

Narrative

Technical

Elaborate

Abstract

Intricate

Animated

Microscopic and panoramic

Reference: artofthetitle.com

Titles

Domino

The neon titles contrast with the dark background which created a sense of excitement.

Contrasting colours may suggest diversity in the film.

The colours of the title and the colours in the shot are similar which makes the audience focus on everything, rather than just the title, which is rather unconventional.

The title helps to hide the identity of the character, making the audience want to carry on watching.

Rubicon

The corners are much darker, making the audience focus on the centre of the frame, where the most important piece of information is.

The crossword suggests the film is going to be based around a lot of clues which need figuring out. The highlighted words suggest some importance.

The drawn background seems quite simple at first glance, but actually is very detailed. This may give some indication to the audience about the story line of the film.

The eye carries on a theme from the crossword, almost suggesting a trail of clues are being given.

It also hints at the genre and sub-genre of the movie, before it's even begun.

There is a colour scheme which is conventional of title sequences.

Cinematography

COLLATERAL

Close up to show importance and to emphasise props such as glasses, he wants to be anonymous

Shallow focus used in the foreground to show importance of particular characters, focus is often in thriller to represent different factors

Framing is carefully used in this shot, the briefcase is in the middle, showing its importance. This prop is conventional in the thriller genre,. Associated with money, deals, weapons...

A two shot to show relationship between two characters. The type of shot that is used can be very important as it can help show the audience the relationship between characters.

An establishing shot helps to show how unnoticed he is to people


LIMITLESS

Close up, emphasises the importance of the banging on the door, makes the audience ask questions already, who is it? where are they?

Establishing shot, puts the audience in perspective. Similar to Collateral - the boxes and the briefcase.

The audience still doesn't know whats going on making them want to watch on.. moving in? moving out?

A tracking camera movement up the building - exciting. Also shows the class of the characters as the camera is finally revealing the penthouse.

Close up of danger - conventional

SWORDFISH

The ident has 'poor quality' shows that something is going wrong, danger? Both the other opening have portrayed danger, although not in this way.

 Close up of one character, very long shots, few editing, very important

Close up of dangerous props, conventional, shown in other openings

 Mid shot of a different character, camera movement off him very quickly which shows his insignificance, contrasting and emphasising john travoltas charcters' significance

Low angle shot promoting that he is weak

Mid shot, involving three suited up men - danger

Sound

COLLATERAL

-Diegetic sounds at the beginning in the airport

-Close micing of the brief case dropping to show importance, this is a convention of thriller

-When in the taxi it is used to show jumps in time

LIMITLESS

-A voiceover is used which is very conventional to the thriller genre

-It sets the story

SWORDFISH

-Diegetic dialogue

-Non diegetic, high pitched droning sounds - gives a sense of mystery

Editing

COLLATERAL

-Relatively slow throughout, allows the audience to take information in

LIMITLESS

-Slow throughout, although a fast zoom effect used on the streets of the city, which adds excitement and confusion

SWORDFISH

-Slow at the beginning but fastens up

-The slow editing at the beginning emphasised the action later in the opening sequence

Mise-en-scene

LOCATION

The location is very different in all three opening sequences

COLLATERAL

-Airport

-Familiar location to audience

-Known to have high level of security, ties in with thriller conventions - unknown identifications etc.

-More exciting and hectic atmosphere, this could disguise any business that goes on

 LIMITLESS

-Apartment

-Unknown location, gets the audience asking questions already - city, countryside?

-Empty, is someone hiding? Makes the audience cautious

-Very modern, up to date way of living

 SWORDFISH

-Unknown location

-Very much focuses on character

-Nothing is revealed

COSTUME

The costume are all very similar! A man wearing a suit is very conventional for thriller movies, it gives them a high sense of authority and makes them seem more powerful.

COLLATERAL

LIMITLESS

SWORDFISH

Thriller Analysis

Collateral
Limitless
Swordfish

Conventions

Narrative centres around crime

A protagonist and an antagonist

The title of a thriller may relate to a weakness

The narrative can present ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen

Camera work, sound, narrative, genre, mise-en-scene, lighting, costumes, actors, editing all help with a build up of suspense

Themes of identity are common, like mistaken identity or doubling

Reflection and mirroring, manipulation of perspectives and optical illusions are common

Enigmas are usually set up, often in the opening

Historical Development

Genre Research

CONSPIRACY THRILLER

v Includes heroes and heroines

v Stereotypically, journalists and armature investigators who are trapped in powerful organizations

v Protagonists cause bad events while the protagonists identify them and defeat them

v The organization is then usually ‘brought down’ by the protagonists

CRIME THRILLER

v Central topics include serial killers, murders, robberies, chases and shootouts

v The hybrid is designed to create extreme suspense

v Would focus on the criminal and leading events up to the successful or failed crime

DISASTER THRILLER

v The films would follow people fighting for survival after a natural or artificial disaster

MYSTERY THRILLER

v Relates to crime thrillers

v Focuses on the private investigator solving the mystery

v Audiences can take part to try and solve the crime too

POLITICAL THRILER

v Common themes are political corruption, terrorism and warfare

v Someone tries to gain political power while an opponent tries to stop them

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

v Plays with the audiences mind

v Film produces suspense because it reflects the main characters conflict being mentally and emotionally hindered

v Shows the thought process a character will go through

RELIGIOUS THRILLER

v The plot tends to connect to religious objects

v Some religious thrillers will unravel good and bad points of religion

v The good will overcome the bad, through a quest to finding out the truth

Dictionary Definition

thrill·er/ˈTHrilər/

Noun:

A novel, play, or movie with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage. A person, thing, or experience that thrills. Reference: Google

Description of Main Task

We have to create the opening sequence of a thriller film, including an ident and titles, which must last two minutes.

Preliminary Task

http://lizziesamuelsmedia.blogspot.co.uk/