Script - Flashback

-Desk lit by lamp, hands shown assembling gun and putting gun into waistband of trousers. Walking out of room

-Man walks down the road to gangsta's house. Taps a gun in waistband of trousers.
looks at the house - POV whilst looking at house
-Whilst man is walking towards house cut back and forth to other gang member sitting in arm chair and man walking to house.
-Man picks the lock on the front door of the house, as man walks into house he pulls out the gun and starts to search for the gangsta.
-When man opens the door to the gangsta screen goes black, gunshot sounds, goes back to the man standing there staring at the gangsta dead in arm chair.
-Flashback scene - black and white, as flashback goes on screen turns more white, then bang to leave title on black screen, consists of opening sequence sped up in reverse.

Presentation Feedback

• Add a video to show our inspiration - inception

• Change our blog so that it says green screen not blue screen

• Establish the final location - if green screen state what is going to replace the green

• Since we are doing a crime thriller we need to think about mise-en-scene including props, lighting, costume, make-up(for bullet hole, blood)

production logo

our pitch for thriller film

Narrative description:
Crime goes wrong, it escalates with two gangs getting involved, small group (3-4 people) tries to take them on and resolve the crime. Opening sequence is infact the final scene, man has just been shot looks like it is the only other person in the room, but was someone else - then flashback to the beginning.
opening sequence - credits with gunshot into first scene then flashback with title appearing on screen.

throughout the film it seems like a gang war however at the end of the film it is revealed that the small group of people have resolved the crime.

Subgenres:
Mystery Crime thriller
Mystery conventions:
Suspense films where characters attempt solving, or involved in, a mystery. Examples of these films include, Memento, Fightplan, The Number 23 and Shutter Island.
Crime Conventions:
This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders,robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses. Some examples of crime thrillers involving murderers include, Seven, A Perfect Murder, No Country for Old Men, Firewall, Hostage and Silence of the Lambs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXkUzf1et4
link to our inspiration - inception, it is our inspiration because it uses the final scene as the opening scene.

Characters:
Simon Manfield - Main character, gets framed
Roger Cooper - Dead guy

Suggested Locations:
Green screen?
Alex's house

thriller soundtrack

 

Our soundtrack for a thriller

Analysis of sound in Thriller opening sequences: Catch me if you can, Surface and Se7en

Catch me if you can

The opening sequence of 'Catch me if you can' involves a unique soundtrack which consists of many effects and techniques to enhance the experience of the film. First of all it begins quietly then gradually gets louder this is to attract the attention of the audience and keep them engaged. It also slowly becomes more hectic which could represent the film as he is constantly having to change his identity and location. Towards the end of the opening sequence there is a climax where the sound goes really loud and dramatic but then suddenly goes quiet and back into the main tune to keep the audience engaged. All the sound is non-diegetic because the opening sequence features no actual people.

Surface


The opening sequence of 'Surface' mainly involves ambient sounds to create the mysterious atmosphere of the film.


Se7en

In the opening sequence of 'Se7en' there are percussion instruments which help to give a loud and powerful sound attracting the attention to the audience and giving it an upbeat feel. Also the percussion sounds give a feel of a machine because of the repetitive nature and loud sounds. All of the percussion involved is non-diegetic sound.        

Analysing a past students work - u1-31

Video:
We think the video from group u1-31 falls into level 3, the criteria for this level is;

• Holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
• Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• Shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
• Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;
• Using titles appropriately.

Research and planning:
We think that the research and planning from group u1-31 falls into level 4, the criteria for this level is;

• There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
• There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
• There is excellent work on shot lists, layouts, drafting, scripting or story boarding.
• There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.
• Time management is excellent.

Comments and criticisms:

• The narrative was unclear from the opening scene - good implementation of thriller conventions
• They use a creative title sequence which make good use of transitions.
• It has a clever sound track and sound effects which help to create atmosphere.
  
   

Psychological Thriller analysis- The Shining, The Sixth Sense, Silence of the Lambs

textual analysis - memento

Comparing the two thriller opening sequences, "Fight Club" and "Se7en"

During the opening sequence of Fight club there is the credits showing the audience the director and the actors in the film. As the credits roll, it shows the brain at a microscopic level which throughout the credits rolling "pulls out" to show the characters face through the sights of a gun, which is in the characters mouth. As this happens there is a soundtrack (non-diegetic sound) which gives tension before the film starts indicating to the audience something drastic maybe happening (when the camera gets to the sights of the gun, the credits stop). At the point of the camera reaching the sights of the gun, looking at the character with the gun in his mouth there is a voice over from the narrator (non-diegetic sound) and then some dialogue (diegetic sound) once this begins the camera "jumps" to a side view of the gun in the characters mouth and the dialogue continues. At the end of this shot there is some mumbled sound from the character with the gun in his mouth, for obvious reasons, which then leads to another voice over. The camera then "jumps" again as the gun is removed from his mouth and shows the character on the floor with the other towering over him. Again more dialogue follows.

Fight club opening sequence

The conventions of a thriller film in this opening sequence are:
Crime - which the character may or may not be able to fathom his way out of.
Confusion - why is this happening/what is it about?

During the opening sequence of Se7en, it shows a male sitting in bed reading a book, he puts the book down and takes off his glasses and places them on his bedside cabinet, which the camera jumps to a close up of him placing his glasses. He places them in front of a metronome. The camera follows his hand up to the metronome and he starts it, the camera stays on the metronome for a few seconds before jumping to a shot where it zooms in at a steady pace on the male in bed. With the ambient sound of dogs barking and the metronome ticking it shows him trying to get to bed, the camera then jumps to a closer view of the metronome and slowly zooms in, the camera then jumps back to the male in bed and then to the metronome, each time zooming in slightly more to give it continuity. After which the credits roll and show a series of events, pages of a book turning, cutting finger tips with a razor blade, writing in a book, cutting pictures and negatives, during which a sound track is playing building tension and giving an eerie feeling that something mysterious might happen. At the end of the credits there is ambient sound of police sirens as two people wake up in bed and the male then leaves.

The conventions of a thriller film in this opening sequence are:

Mystery - during the credits as whilst watching the credits you want to know more about what is happening.

Crime - during the credits you get a sense that a crime is going to be committed/has already been committed

Confusion - what is the connection between the male in bed and the couple waking up?

A theme of identity -  the male on his own in bed maybe the protagonist/antagonist (the same with the male in the couple).

Both of these give a sense of Mystery and Crime as most thriller films do. However with Fight club the credits are at the beginning and illustrate the crime and beginning scene from the start, but with Se7en there is a scene then the credits which then leads into a different scene which builds confusion as there is the scene with the male in bed, snip-its of something happening during the credits and then the scene with the couple in bed, all within the first 3 minutes of the film, this brings added confusion to the audience as whilst watching it they are constantly trying to connect the first 3 scenes (including the credits scene).

By Jake Barrett

Comparing the opening sequences of 'The Dark Knight' and 'Inception'

The thriller genre consists of these main themes: tension, excitement, mystery and suspense. Within both of my chosen films these techniques are expressed and utilized.

Firstly looking at the opening scene of the latest in the 'Batman' series; 'The Dark Knight' the title sequence is very quiet and has some slight ambient sounds, this helps to build tension and and suspense for the audience. It also matches one of the conventions of a thriller opening sequence which is that at the core of the narrative a crime (often murder or assault) is in progress. In this particular scene there is a series of murders and an armed robbery which immediately draws the audience in because it is dramatic and exciting. Another way in which it follows the conventions of a thriller opening sequence is that the antagonist is introduced and it also initiates his personality because it shows the intricate plan of the robbery and how he used everyone to kill each other leaving just him at the end of it all. The shots in the sequence also follow the conventions because the firths hot that is seen is an establishing shot which tell us that it is in a city (Gotham). There is also a lot of handheld shots which help to engage the audience and make it feel like they are really there in the scene. Here is the opening sequence of 'The Dark Knight' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0

Secondly looking at the opening scene of one of the highest rated thriller films of all time; 'Inception' we can see that straight away at the beginning during the title sequence the soundtrack is loud and engaging which follows the conventions of a thriller opening sequence. The first character we see is the protagonist and is shown at his weakest by being washed up onto shore and then is later carried to the antagonist. This follows the thriller convention of 'a protagonist who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist'. It is not explained why he has washed up onto the shoreline within the opening sequence however this is often another convention of a thriller opening sequence because they usually have quite complex narrative structures, with false paths and clues to resolutions. It then soon goes into either the future or past (not clear) showing the protagonist and what his personality is like and his profession as it explains in the dialogue. The camera angles of the sequence are quite slow paced this is because the scene hasn't got much action in but is more narrative orientated, this can sometimes be another thriller convention as thriller mainly focus on the story rather than action  (in some cases it may differ). Here is the opening sequence of 'Inception' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXkUzf1et4

The similarities of the two opening sequences are that they have similar camera shots such as they both have establishing shots which are quite dramatic but help to show the location of the scene. Another similarity is that they both have an introduction of the antagonist however in the 'The Dark Knight' the villain is explained more thoroughly through the dialogue of the fellow crooks. But another key difference would be that the villains identity is never shown in the opening sequence of 'The Dark Knight' as he wears a clown mask which uses the conventions o f mise-en-scene to add illusion and mystery whereas the antagonist's identity is shown in 'Inception' giving less mystery and intrigue. Another similarity within both opening scenes is that the conventions of mise-en-scene with the use of props; within both films their are characters carrying guns which creates tension as this relates to killing or danger because they are lethal weapons. However looking at the title sequence there is a very distinctive difference with the fact that in 'The Dark Knight' there is little or know sound to add suspense and tension whereas in 'Inception' the title sequence is very loud and engaging which is on completely the opposite scale to 'The Dark Knight'. Another difference is that in 'The Dark Knight' the convention of having a complex narrative structure isn't fully clear that it is in use in the film however in 'Inception' immediatly the film within the first three minutes has a flash back which is another convention of a thriller and so having a complex narrative structure unlike ''The dark Knight'. 

By Alex Breeze     

evaluation

Above is our story board for the preliminary task.

From doing the preliminary task we have learnt how to make our product flow and how to use different camera angles effectively for example: close ups, hand held (at 0:28 it works really well), POV (0:20) and establishing shot. We have also learnt the importance of continuity because in some of our shots we made it so that one of the characters was walking but then in the next shot suddenly back to where he started, however we did fix these problems with the use of Final Cut and so now it runs smoothly.   

The difficulties we faced was trying to fit everything in the short time we had, as due to the absence of one of the members in our group we were delayed in our filming process and so had to have kess time in the editing process as a result. We also found using the area provided to be quite dificult as there were other students wanting to walk through the corridors and so some shots we could not use due to there being continuity errors. There was also a problem with props because we were initially supposed to be using a blunt plastic knife from the caffeteria however there weren't any available so we had to use a pen. This doesn't matter that much because we had made sure the camera doesn't go close enough for the audience to realise its just a pen.   

The sound used in the video is diegetic and are ambient sounds to make it seem more realistic and effective for the audience. We also have no non-diegetic sound track because we felt it'd be best not to have one. The reason for this is because that with out a sound track the audience doen't know what will happen and so adds more suspence and tension.
In the editing of our project we used Final Cut where we put in jump cut tansitions to add tension towards the end of the video as it increases the pace of the scene and so makes it more dramatic.
The camerawork was mainly used on a tripod to give it a smooth a even finish. However there were several shots done whilst holding the camera to give Point Of View of the murderer and make it seem that the audience are actually there in the scene. We used several establishing shots to identify the postioning and distance between the two characters. There is also a panning shot (0:41) which helps to give the audience information on where the attack happened and what direction killer went in after. All of the various shots we used have helped to make our preliminary task look more proffessional and smooth but also has taught us the importance of each camera angle.
The lighting within our product is naturalistic this is because we wanted to make it look more realistic and so help the audience to be consumed by the film.