Thriller Sub-genres

Different Genres of Thrillers:

• psychological
• Sci-Fi
• Spy
• Horror
• Comedy
• Romantic
• political
• religious
• Fictional/Factual

The ones that inspire me most out of the ones i have listed would be; Horror-thriller as i feel they would work well together in a movie. The suspense of a thriller mixed with the deep gore of a horror would balance out the great atmosphere.

News and current affairs events:

From 'The Sun' I found a story about - Mother Fiona who 'Suffocated her two toddlers'

It's about the mother strangling her two toddlers to death and putting them in sports bag in her car boot. She then walks into the police station and tells the police that she had killed her children. Clearly she had a psychological problem.

How this can be put into a thriller:

- Film a car that is driving madly across a road to present the woman's mental problems

- Can have props such as a black sports bag and have half of it open showing a dead baby(fake)

- Have a woman looking really crazy saying 'i killed my babies'

News And Current Affairs Events:

Man pleads Guilty of Chopping up a man's body parts and spreading them around Hertfordshire!

A Real Life Jigsaw Killer!!

I found this story on the www.bbc.co.uk/news website, i found it ideal to base a thriller on as it contained murder and gory details.

I would use this information in my Thriller by ellaborating on the detail of how he killed his victim. The background of his crime would help create quite a long story, and even use mystery and twists.

Title Sequence Analysis of 'Panic Room'

Panic Room opening sequence:

We are first presented with the production and distribution companies:

• Sony Pictures Entertainment Company
• Columbia Pictures
• A Hofflund/Polone production

The were accompanied by the background of buildings in New York City. Moreover the actors, writers, directors, producers names and the film name were also presented in front while having busy scenery in the background. Although they were set in front of New York settings, the titles were tilted, hence showed that they looked like apart of the city.

The fonts on all these names appeared bold, silver and sharp to present the information clearly. They also had a sense of masculinity and seriousness. Furthermore the non-diegetic music that played low notes on brass and string instruments. There were also low drones and upbeat violin notes which accompanied in the background. It contributed to build up the suspense.

This opening falls into the category of :

- Discrete title sequence because the scene starts after the opening title.

Title Sequence Analysis:

Panic Room:

Whilst watching the opening sequence of Thriller, Panic room. I closely analyzed the features the clip showed. It gave information such as:

• The production Company: Hofflun/Polone
• Columbia Pictures
• Title
• Editors:
• Producers:

This opening sequence helped us to see where the film was set, which was New York City, we know this specifically by the appearance of famous landmarks(Time Square, Empire State Building). Staring Jodie Foster, Forest Whitiker and Kristen Stewart. We do not see any of the main characters in the opening sequence, this made it a "discrete title sequence".

Music Plays a big part in adding seriousness to the mood, it gets a lot more dramatic after the title "Panic Room" is shown, whilst more bass instruments are introduced.

Deep toned music, which seemed to be string instruments was the theme music of the opening titles, this gave us a dark and mysterious mood to what the film could be like.

The entire clip is pretty regular, and nothing major seems to happen from beginning to end, only large white font shown through out the city. The writing is all in block capitals making it seem bold.

Title Sequence Analysis-- Panic Room

The Production Company and Distribution company for Panic room is Columbia Pictures and Hofflun/Polone. They are introduced right at the start of the clip just before the opening begins to play. Columbia Pictures is the first thing you see on the screen and then when the title sequence begins we see the production company Hofflund/Polone. The purpose the presentation of the production companies could be to one of two effects; to make audience aware of the fact the film is about to start, so to begin to quieten down and also to advertise the fact that they are the production and distribution companies and can not be mistaken for anything other than what it is.

The information that was included in the title sequence is:

• The Production Company
• Distribution Company
• Scene in which the film is set or will start in
• Important Actors/Actresses
• Title
• editiors/directors,directors, producers.

Throughout the opening clip we are shown a discrete title sequence which is in silver block capitals, which could represent sterile environment or cold emotions. The fact that the title sequence is discrete allows for the audience to see the scene which is being set, which appears to be in New York City. You can see this by the large buildings, the yellow taxi's, the busy city below and the empire state building.

There is a lot of non diagetic sound during the the opening title sequence which is majorly Orchestral sound, with violins and other instruments being played which could seen to represent a heartbeat getting louder and at a faster pace. This create a sense of worry and anticipation for what may be to come in the film.

Photo Analysis

This picture was taken successfully because it presents the theme 'Claustrophobic'.

The girl appears to be looking down and putting her hands on the walls to portray her fear of the limited space and feeling constrained. Moreover, the blur gives an extra effect to portray a sense of panic and disorientation which makes the picture seem realistic.

The camera, shot this picture at a low angle of the girl to make her look vulnerable, weak and powerless. Hence making it effective to present the theme clearly.

Creating the sense of speed in a photo:

Speed:

In the Photo above, my group and I tried to portray the feeling of speed, we created this using a still camera.

The photo shows two cars, unfocussed. This blurred image shows the car in motion and gives us the sense of action. Including the background being blurred adding to this effect we were successful in showing speed through this photo.

Photo Analysis

In this photo i wanted to capture the image of 'Spikes'. I felt like this image was the best picture to represent Spikes that me and my group took. In the picture it focus' on the spike on the railing in the forefront of the picture and has less focus on the other spikes. This picture also blurs the images in the background to give a a sense of what is most important in this image. The fact that the railings are zoomed in on also enhances the importance of the railing as it has no obstructing features in the view.

Thriller Sub Genres

There are many Genre's under Thriller such as:

Political Thriller
Crime Thriller
Fantasy Thriller
Psychological Thriller
Action Thriller
Comedy Thriller
Disaster Thriller
Spy Thriller
Conspiracy Thriller

At the moment i think 'Action Thriller' such as the example of the 'Collateral' inspires me because i think the short clip instantly grabbed my attention and think that more actions and upbeat sounds makes viewers aware of the suspense and tension within the scenes. Also action thrillers seem to be a popular sub-genre that most of the population favour in which i think i have been exposed to the most, hence the reason why it inspires me.

Analysis of the clip 'Collateral'

'Collateral'

Collateral looks like an Action Thriller and it started off with Vincent wearing a grey suit and glasses. The mise en scene portrays a serious side to this character because of the formal attire. The colour gray seems laid back and the glasses present a sense of coolness but bring questions into the viewers mind on why he dressed in this way. Also he is the one focused on by the camera and it shows that he is in a public area like a transport terminal around a lot of people. The camera shoots him at close- up and a big close up so we can identify his facial expression and body language. During these shots, the sound of people talking and footsteps are heard in the background which gradually become loud and echo. This indicates a busy and noisy area that can lead to a shocking event later on. However we assume that his footsteps are the main ones that we hear and we find out that his pace is slow.

We then are presented with another man who wears black walking past people in the same setting that Vincent is in. He too is in focus by the camera and this drags the reader’s attention to the two characters being displayed boldly on the screen. The camera shoots this character close-up to allow the viewers to see his facial expression. Moreover, we hear footsteps in which the main one is his too, but we can also distinguish between Vincents footsteps and the other character because this character’s footsteps are at a fast pace.

Coincidently, the 2 men in focus bump into each other and drop their black brief cases in front of them. From seeing the facial expressions on the character wearing black, we assume that he may be involved in something sinister therefore building up the suspense on what may happen next, therefore builds up the climax of the scene. After the brief apologetic conversation between the two characters we acknowledge that they have picked up the wrong brief cases creating tension and making us eager to find out more. Editing showed a match cut to make the viewing smooth and provide that we see all the actions.

How is suspense created in the film ‘United 93’?

United 93 sustained suspense throughout the film but it began subtle and gradually built up to create an impact. This was clearly a political thriller consisting of terrorism on American planes but the main plane focused was United 93 which did not reach its destination : Washington DC.

Firstly, the use of Middle Eastern characters speaking in Arabic and reading the Qur’an, may have brought a stereotypical view about the theme of this film which maybe one way to start building the suspense. However the subtitles that we are provided with allows us to understand what is presumed to happen.

During the scene of the 4 Muslim characters getting ready to get into their 1st class seats on the United 93, time is made shorter to sustain the suspense by shooting close-ups of the characters but the others boarding the plane. The significant fact about why the director filmed the passengers talking to their families beforehand is to throw hints on what might happen so it makes the audience wait anxiously.

Moreover, we feel a sense of anticipation when one of the terrorists approaches the cockpit door and the audience expect that he would attack but he changes his direction and goes into the toilet. This at first makes us feel anxious but then relieved. After a bit, another terrorist takes a black bag and goes into the toilet to wrap a bomb around his waist. This gives us a huge scare and shock and from this point we know what may happen which makes us nervous.

After the terrorists take over the cockpit and kill some passengers, the passengers on the second class wait worriedly and we get an insight of how they feel from the close-ups of their faces. Therefore make us sympathetic and feel the same tension with them. We see the speed of the plane increasing from the positions of the passengers. This creates tension because we don’t know if it’s close to crashing or not, hence creates suspense.

Moreover, when the passengers took down two of the terrorists and brake into the cockpit room, we would have expected that the plane and everyone in the plane would be safe. The final scene only shows us the passengers and the terrorists’ hands on the wheel fighting to control the plane. During the moment of the two characters struggling for the wheel, there is a build of suspense and nervousness. Unfortunately our expectation fails and the plane crashes.

Media Skills Audit - Editing

We used the programme ''Final cut Pro''

The template of 'Bait - Tutorial' was used to edit the scenes and give us a taster of editing.

The process consisted of:

- Opening one of the clips from the browser and put in 'in' and 'out' points by using the keyboard. [ i = in, o = out]
- After this, I dragged what I wanted on the timeline at the bottom.

- I used different techniques such as the 'Razor' tool which allowed me to cut off actions that i did not want in my final piece and timeline.

- Getting the feel and hang of editing, I managed to build a sequence on the timeline.

Using Final Cut Pro we were able to edit clips, using bait tutorial.

Firstly we learnt how to open a movie clip from the browser, appearing on the left side of my screen. The next skill we used was "in and out" to chose specific parts of different clips. We then dropped clips into the timeline, which can be attached to other clips. Another tool we used, was "razor tool" which deleted parts we did not want on the timeline. We learned how to build a sequence on the timeline, using overlapping helped to create a match cut.

Skills Audit- Editing and Filming

We used Final Cut Pro to learn how to use editing, the clips we edited were from BAIT Tutorial. We did this by:

• Opening a clip from browser and put in and out points which cut the clip being shown
• We then dragged the cut clips onto the timeline
• Started to create and build a sequence on the time line
• After building a sequence i learnt how to use the Razor tool which helped to make the clip run much more smoothly and look less glitchy.

Analysis of Thriller Clip-- 'The Shining'.

In the opening clip of The Shining we first see a large seemingly never ending river with towering mountains either side. We then see and follow a car which is driving up a mountain towards what looks like a rather menacing and inhospitable location in comparison to the position they are currently in and driving out of, which is in light with plants and greenery surrounding it. Just this view that we see within the first 20 seconds due to the use of Mise en scene shows a representation of what the film may entail e.g. driving to into darkness could symbolise the dark and threatening events that are to unfold. As you watch on you can see that the once pleasant surroundings that the car is in slowly almost unnoticeably changes to more cold and ominous surroundings such as a more dry, dirt track road giving a sense of foreboding. At the end of the clip we are made aware of the destination of the passenger(s) in the car, which is a large dull brown malevolent building in the middle of a reclusive mountain. This also adds to the sense of fear and already makes the audience feel anxious of the events that are to come.

Editing is used as effectively as sound but in a much more discrete way in which the audience may not even realise is happening. For example editing is used to create the slow paced mood that we are faced with in this opening clip of The Shining and by doing this automatically is able to create a sense of suspense and worry about the upcoming events in the film. The slow paced editing also makes it seem as though the passenger(s) in the car are currently at ease and gives a sense of irony as the audience already realises where the car is entering is not a place to go, with danger looming ahead but the driver however seems to not realise this.

The use of Camera movement, angle and distance also helps to enhance the effect of this opening clip of the Thriller film, The Shining. Constantly, throughout the clip the camera is tracking firstly over the water at a low angle creating a sense of unease of what is to come, which is shown by the river that has no end. The Camera then tracks the car from a birds eye view which makes the audience aware of the focal point in the scene and allows them to realise what the purpose of the opening is about, noticing that the person/people that are in the car will be and remain the main characters in the film and will be in consequence part of the portentous events that lay ahead. The use of the camera tracking the car also is very useful to another effect. It makes it seem as though the camera is 'stalking' the car alike a bird of prey keeping close eye on its next meal, the car. This makes the audience watching feel unnerved and in anticipation for what may happen next.

Throughout the clip we also see that there is a constant use of sound such as sound effects and musical score. As soon as the opening scene begins we are hit with an almost orchestral sound with low and heavy drones, which sound as though it could represent stepping into something that you do not want to be apart of; Gives the sense of fear and foreboding. Slowly after about a minute of increasingly loudening drones as the car gets ever closer to its destination a low hissing sound seeps in around the droning, creating a sense of ambiguity and worry until eventually the drones disappear and are replaced with the sounds of scratchy violins and screeches which sounds similar to an animal in pain. This causes furthermore apprehension of where this car is going and the reasons as to why it is going.

Thriller sub genres and inspiration.

There are many kinds of Thriller sub genres some of these include:

• Medical thriller
• Political thriller
• Conspiracy thriller
• Crime thriller
• Horror thriller
• Action thriller
• Psychological thriller
• Religious thriller
• Spy thriller
• Supernatural thriller

Particular Thriller sub genres which are inspiring me at the moment are Psychological Thrillers and Supernatural Thrillers. I am interested in these thriller sub genres because i feel that it has the ability to captivate audience in a way which other sub genres may not for example by demanding a intellectual response to be enjoyed on a higher level than for example Action Thrillers. I also feel that supernatural thrillers are particularly interesting because it is easier to create an ominous effect which is often linked with creating a sense of suspense

How is suspense created in 'United 93'?

United 93 is a political thriller in which unravels the events of the terrorist attack of 9/11. The film follows the journey of the forth plane that was hijacked on this day, but unlike the other planes did not reach its destination, the White House. Suspense is built throughout the film in various ways proving to be very effective at capturing the audiences full attention and leaving them feeling anxious to find out about the events to come.

One key way the film is seen to create constant suspense in a subliminal way is by the constant use of sound. During the entire course of the film there are bassy sounds and drones which may reflect the forthcoming doom and also heighten and manipulate the anxiety which the audience feel. For example when the passengers are preparing to try and overtake the hijackers the tempo and volume of the bassy drones increases representing the fear and apprehension of what is to come.

Another way which suspense is created in a very easy way is the fact that the film is based on true events, this creates a much stronger link with the audience who already know the outcome of this event but still hope for another outcome. This is due to the effective ways suspense is used, as it should be predictable but manages to make it all seem new and fresh.

definition of suspense: The build up of tension using sound and action.

What is Suspense?

Definition of Suspense:
The growing feeling of excited anticipation of an approaching climax which creates raising questions on the audiences minds about what might happen.

Definition of suspense: feeling of uncertainty or Anticipation leading up to an event or action.