Collage and Mood Board of Thrillers

Powerpoint of different representations-Luke Burnip

Power point of different representations from St Peters RC Comprehensive

Font of titles analysis

When a thriller film is made they must all have different types of font in their film and the font in the film must more importantly match what the film is suggesting.
Here are some examples of fonts in different films.

 In Shutter Island, the opening credits are designed in a bold flashing font to try and generate a type of fear factor to the audience. The font is also in a bloody red colour, meaning the font may be relating to a feature in the film.

However in the opening titles of Se7en, the titles are designed to look very flashy and sketchy. This is because the font and writing in the opening sequence is never still which is also a lot of the time the same case in Shutter Island, this suggests that both films are going to have a twisted storyline and plot.

History of our film Genre

The Crime thriller film Genre is one of the most successful in the film industry. One of the most common reasons for this is that Thrillers generally keep the audience on the edge of their seats as plot builds towards a climax. Here are some other reasons why people watch thrillers.

1.) Tension which causes your heart to quicken and you become more alert.
2.) Being able to experience danger without actually being in danger. 3.) The unknown aspect of most thrillers is quite exciting. 4.) Often you feel a bond with the characters more. Than say you would a comedy movie.5.) Action, suspense, anxiety, drama all of these things are hard to turn away from.6.) Often (not always) they have complex story lines and can be challenging to follow, so as a viewer you are always guessing what is going to happen next.7.) Usually have clever endings that maybe you didn't see coming. If I don't figure out the ending of a movie before I am halfway thru especially right up to the end that's great and often times. Thrillers will have such endings. 8.) Often thrillers are about subject matters the average person would never experience so that is or can be exciting to watch.

Some examples of other Crime thrillers are, No Country for Old Men, The Usual Subjects and The Long Good Friday. 

Bullet Boy representation

In these first two shots from Spectre, the characters are planted just to the left of the middle of the shot. This has been done to allow some free movement to the cameramen. The shots are also coated with music and laud noises from the public, by this I mean that the shots are based in the day of the dead festival in Mexico so the characters are clearly hustling their way through busy talkative crowds. This would also back up why they are all wearing skull masks and clothing relative to death.

In this final shot from the film Spectre, the character James bond climbs towards a roof of a building, with this comes a stoppage in sound in the way that the crowds noises get more and more silent as he concentrates on his target and moves in. Now in this shot Bond is placed at the bottom of the shot to show that he is lying down to be able to take out the target (villain). What is also noticeable is that the air is a bit smokey this has been done to add a musky, dangerous feeling to the scene for the audience watching.

Momento storyboard comparison-Luke Burnip

In our groups we were tasked with making a storyboard for a scene in the film memento. After we made the storyboard we gave it to another group and they proceeded to film the scene by using our storyboard as a basis. I think it came out okay, the mock scene followed the storyboard very well and and it managed to get all of the shots we put in our storyboard. The only thing that i would change is to make the mock scene less blurry as sometimes it is hard to make out what is happening in the scene.
The point of this task was to see how clear our storyboard. If the result of it came out well then we know we are doing it right, alternatively it is a way for us to see what we are doing wrong and what we could change before our opening sequence. We can apply this into our opening sequence so our storyboard is clear and easy to follow when we are filming.

Representations of characters- Kareem Lyew-Sang

This is a screenshot from the opening scene of the dark knight (2008) of the joker played by Heath ledger. Here the joker is made to look abnormal, strange and insane to the audience. This is shown in the scene through the use of hair and make up. For example the black around his eyes adds a scene of darkness to his character and makes look more menacing if you look him in the eyes. Also the use of the red on his lips and over his scares as emphasis to the area on his face making the audience look and wonder why he has those scares. His hair also helps to do this as it is not pampered and looks messy and dirty which adds to the unhinged look also the green hair linking with the idea of clowns which links to his name as the joker. In this scene it is a close up of the jokers face which makes you really focus on how crazy he is.

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This is a screenshot of the banker that chooses to retaliate against the robbers. Here he is shown to be upper class and high up in his job through the clothing and is also shown to be someone who is willing to fight back. For example his suit is clean and looks as if it has been ironed which tells the audience that he is high up in his job and is a upper class citizen. He is positioned in the centre of the screen as if he is demanding attention from the audience and from the robbers in the room. Also the use of the shotgun suggests that he is ready to commit violent acts in order to protect what he owns. 

This is a screen shot of a pair of robbers who are apart of the crew of robbers that are robbing the bank. They are shown as average robbers in the way they are dressed and the way they act but the mask on their faces gives of a commical effect. Also the way they are positioned suggests that the robber behind has another agenda also the way his arm is raised ready as if he is about to the other robber. 

filming Locations-Alex Fox

This location shows the film is a crime thriller because the shot is in the middle of what looks like a desert. This is because the director is wanting the audience to not know why the shot or character is in the desert because it looks very silent and deserted, this might also be in the film as a location because the desert can be used for many different things such as meeting points, in this case murders but also mysterious events. We could use a location like this in our opening sequence to show where the assassin meets with the hacker to collect information or just were he places his victims.  

           This location shows the film is a crime thriller because the trucks that are down on the desert floor look abandoned, this makes the audience want to know what has happened to them to make them to end up where they are. This location is effective because it is abandoned like the first location. We could use a location like this as a crime scene. 

This location also shows the film to be a crime thriller, this is because the location has been made to look mysterious to the viewers. This scene is similar to the last one but was filmed in a different area of the desert. It shows that it is a crime thriller because the location looks suspicious and bleak. This would be able to be used in our OS as the way the cop finds a crime scene or victim.

 This Location shows the film being a crime/mystery thriller because the area of where it is shot is built up and made to look very intimidating. This is because in films with the crime thriller genre, the police or good guys are quite often made to look very powerful. We could use this type of location to be a base for the police/cops in our OS. 

This locations is showing the film to be a crime thriller because it shows the prospective of a getaway car. This location also suggests crime because of where and when it has been set, by this I mean that the shot has been taken at night in a location that looks 'dodgy'. We could use a location like this in our OS to show the prospective of either the hacker or the assassin.

 This location is showing that the film is a crime thriller because the character is standing outside a housing area while looking very suspicious. This also looks to be a criminal minded location because the character is looking to be waiting for someone in the night, which normally happens in many crime thrillers. We could use a location and shot like this in our OS to show the hacker and assassin exchanging information.   

Hair and Makeup-Luke Burnip

I think that these two screenshots are great at showing the crime thriller genre because each of the characters faces are done so it looks like they are criminals. Both these screenshots do this because the hair is done to give it a greasy sight to it, as if to show that the characters know that they are criminals and they do it intentionally. This shows the narrative because with the hair and makeup the characters are clearly defined as criminals so it is obvious that they are going to do something bad. This being said, all the characters are have very different hairstyles, with some having facial hair and some having stubble. This shows that they all have their separate characters even when they are together. I think that the hair would work in our opening sequence because it clearly shows the characters which is what we want in our opening.

 The hair and makeup in the film reservoir dogs is typical of that of what you'd expect from a crime thriller film. They have make up that makes them look like they spend a lot of time outside due to their criminal activities. Their hair is done in mainly a gelled back style that makes them look professional and intimidating in what they do. I think that that we can use the makeup in our opening sequence for the hacker to make him look pale to show he doesn't leave the house that much.

In no country for old men the hair and make up looks very average for the context of the film. Most notably (in relation to our narrative for the opening sequence to our film) is the hitman. He looks very normal. His hair is straight and long, possibly in an attempt to fit in. His make up makes him look like he has been outside for a long time (because of his job as a hitman). I think that this fits in very well with our opening sequence because of the fact that the hitman is so normal looking with dark clothes that makes him look very subtle, which is something we'd also like to get across.

Different types of thriller films with there directors and filming locations - Alex Fox

Shutter Island is a thriller film starring Leonardo DI Caprio that was released in 2010.  It used many different locations for filming around the USA and had a large budget for creation. Some of the following locations were used to film the film:

Peddocks Island, USA

USA Acadia National Park, USA

Medield State Hospital, USA 

Boston, USA 

Whittenton Mills, USA

Nahant, USA

Hull, USA 

Hyde Park, USA

The film had a budget of $80,000,000 and entered the box office as one of the most watched films for its opening weekend. The film was produced by paramount pictures, Phoenix Pictures and Sikelia productions and was directed by Martin Scorsese.

Another thriller film is Jason Bourne (2016). This film is the most recognisable out of all three of these films, the film made the most money and used the most money to be created. However this film used many different locations to be filmed by the production team. Some of these were the following:

Santa Cruz, Spain

Las Vagas, USA

Berlin, Germany

Iceland

London, England

Rome, Italy

In the Box office the film was very successful because the film made one of the biggest profits on record. The film was given a $120,000,000 budget and was produced by Captivate Entertainment, Double Negative, Kennedy/Marshall Company, the Pearl Street Films and Universal pictures.  

No country for old men is a thriller film that was released in 2007 staring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin and was based on the novel created by Cormac McCarthy. The film had many different filming locations such as:

 Marfa, Texas, USA

Desert Sands Motel USA

Las Vagas, USA

Big Bend National Park, USA

Albuquerque, USA

El Camino Motel & Restaurant, USA

 In the box office the film was not as successful as was hoped as the film only made just over $1,000,000. However the budget of the film was not as much as others but was still a good size of $25,000,000.

The film was created and produced by Paramount Vantage, Mirimax and Scott Rudin Productions, the film was also directed by Ethan Coen.

Directors

·         David Fincher ·        Christopher Nolan ·         Alfred Hitchcock ·         Ethan Coen ·         Quentin Tarantino ·         David Lynch ·         Roman Polanski ·         Martin Scorsese

                   

·         Warner Bros ·         Universal pictures ·         Paramount pictures and vantage ·         Lionsgate ·         New line cinema ·         Miramax ·         Legendary Pictures

Alex and Jordan other crime thrillers

At the start of this opening sequence there are several jump cuts, which lead into an establishing shot of what looks to be a desert. The director has also added a panoramic view and voice over to the the opening scene. many of these shots are also long shots.


In this opening scene/sequence the producers have put many effects to lighten up the film. To start with though, the film starts with the camera at a medium panoramic shot showing the victims of a murder. The scenes also has music and sound effects over the events that take place, this music is also a good match for the film seeing that they are both in the crime genre of thrillers.

In the opening of drive there are many different editing techniques but the main ones used are match on action shots and audio based transmissions (L-Cuts). This is because there is no speech from the main character and for the l-cuts when the car is traveling through the city.

The girl on the train research-Kareem Lyew-Sang

the girl on the train is aimed towards a more adult audience who is into movies that make them think and are into mysterys. The film seems to be targeting a B tier demographic as it is targeting people who really want to think and be intellectually challenged while watching a movie. People in the Btier are more likely to be into this type of film as it isn't basic and has layers to it. The Psychographic of that this film seems to be aiming towards is the succeeders as they base brand choices of self reward and quality. This film advertising to be of quote high quality with the complexity of the plot and also could provide self reward with finding out what actually happens at the end and solving the mystery.

The point of this task was for us to learn about the different kinds of audiences that go to see certain types of films. I have learnt that movies tend to attract certain demographics and psychographics depending on the kind of film it is. For our opening sequence we will make sure to put some good thought into our target audience and what demographic and psychographic we are aiming for so we can adjust our opening sequence around this.

Audience Research -Luke Burnip

Deepwater Horizon

For this thriller the audience is aimed at people of all classes and ages. This is because it is a drama with action that most classes and sexes can appreciate. The film is aged at a younger audience because of the fact that it has action and this generally appeals to a younger teenage to middle aged audience. The Psychographics of this film are wide. Many classes can appreciate this genre because not much academic background is needed to understand the film. In addition to this it is also a drama which widens the audience to people such as woman and older people because there could be a plot that they would appreciate.

 This poster is very eye catching and it does this by having a big oil rig that it taking up half the poster, the way that it is eye catching is because it exploding and there is lots of fire and smoke that give the poster a sense of mystery and action which adds to its thriller genre. The title of the film "Deepwater Horizon" is in bold writing to make it eye catching. Underneath the title it says "based on a true story". This is positioned underneath the title so it is more likely to be read and it also gives the film more of a realism even when it hasn't been watched yet. This poster looks like it is aimed at the younger audience because it has explosions and fire with an exploding oil rig. Lastly the studios that produced it and the cinemas that it has been played in are in bold writing showing that the film is official. This means the audience will see that it is official and thy are more likely to watch it.

This screenshot from the trailer depicts a oil rig being discovered under the sea. This dark screenshot gives the trailer a sense of mystery. It is intriguing for people who like the mystery element of the thriller. This appeals to more then just the younger generation as it give the sense that the film is going to have a developed plot.

This screenshot focuses more on the action side of the trailer. It is still aimed at the audience from the last screenshot but gives the impression that there is going to be consequences in the plot that could potentially threaten the main characters. The use of the bright colours and the characters expressions show that they have been through a lot and promises that the audience, no matter what age or class, will become emotionally invested in him.

  This screenshot from the official website shows two characters from the film staring at something. This appeals to the audience as it makes the bright scene from the film mysterious because it makes the audience wonder what they are looking at. This website appeals to most audiences because in my opinion there is no class that it is aimed at due to its colours and apparent plot.

The quotes that the social media chose to use was calling it "inspiring". This appeals a lot to an audience that would appreciate this kind of thing, this could include upper class people who have time to watch a film and want to be inspired and emotionally moved, which is not something you'll typically associate with the lower class.


From the research i have done on this task i have found out that the different types of media used in preparation for the actual piece of media is very great. There is lots of advertising used to persuade the audience to go and see the film using trailers and social media.
I can apply this in my opening sequence by finding out the types of things that the audience want to see then using that as in inspiration and apply it to my final piece it. This will make the result pleasing to watch and of a higher quality.

Typical synopsis - Alex Fox

Inferno



This film is targeting an older audience. This is because the film is a mystery thriller, this sub genre is one that is mainly viewed by the older aged audiences. I also say this because the film is also described as having a crime factor, this also tends to get the older ages in to watch.

This film is using both demographics and Pyschographics for their aims to their target audiences. In terms of demographics the film is trying to put itself up in the categories of A, B and C. These are people like bankers, people in higher management, and office superiors.
The film also uses pyschograhics for the target audience. I would say that Inferno is trying to target the 3 categories which are resigned, succeeds and aspires. This is because the film seems very civilised.

This Poster has been designed to bring people in to watch the film. Firstly the poster shows that Tom Hanks is in the film.
Secondly the name is bold and sounds powerful. This makes people want to know the meaning of the film so people will go and see it.


From these posters for inferno I have learnt that the way that posters and films are made is one of the main contributes to who watches the said film.

After saying this I think that in our media project we should as a group create the opening sequence to a audience. This means that we could get the OS in a better position.

Thriller opening-Luke Burnip

0.37- Columbia Pictures
0.42-Marvel Entertainment/Laura Liskin production
0.51-Title (Spiderman)
0.59- Toby Maguire
1.06-Kirstin Dunst
1.07-James Franco
1.13-Alfred Molina
1.18-Rosemary Harris
1.24-J.K Simmons
1.35- Donna Murphy
1.39-Supporting actors
1.42-Supporting actors
1.46-Casting
1.50-Music
1.54-Costume designers
1.59-Visual Effects designer
2.02- Film editor
2.07-Production Designer
2.11-Director of photography
2.17- Co-Producer
2.21-Executive producers
2.26-Executive producer
2.32- Producers
2.37-Based on
2.40-Screen story
2.48- Screenplay
2.55-Director

There are 27 titles. They are titled with the production company first to give it a sense of being an official film. After that there is the title of the film so the audience know what they are watching. Most importantly there are the names of the actors, the first one starts with Toby Maguire ( the main character of the film). This makes the viewer want to keep watching because it has a big star in the name and it means the film is more likely to be good. After that it has more actors in it to show the other lead roles and the supporting actors. Then it goes through all of the different producers and directors who might not be that well known but still have a vital role. Lastly, the main director is at the end of spiderman 2. This confirms to the viewer that it is worth watching and gives the director a sense of importance as he is the one shows right before the film starts.

The two title sequences are very similar in the sense of layout. As well as spiderman, Se7en also starts with the production company then goes on to list it's main actors (which are normally high profile).  They both then go on to show the different producers and directors. The only thing that sets them apart from each other is that the director of the film of spiderman is at the end whilst in se7en the director is near the beginning.

I think that se7en was more effective for a thriller genre because it had a darker theme then spiderman which gives off the thriller aspect a lot more. There was a lot more darker colours and the background images fit the theme a lot better.

They both fit the themes within the context of the theme (for example the colour scheme being red to suit spiderman's suit) but for the actual thriller aspect Se7en have darker colours, pictures and font that suit a thriller genre.

Seven Timeline

Se7en

In total there were 26 titles that were shown. The most important title that was shown (David Fincher, the director), this was shown at the beginning and the end. Also the most important titles are the ones you see at the start of the movie when they have solo names. Most if the actors, supporters, directors of costume, photography and music. The first thing that they mentioned was the production company, this makes sure the company gets credit and also makes the film official. Most of the gender of the actors-actresses are male. Also the title    of the film comes at 0.24 after Morgan Freeman, this is because if the audiences sees a high profile actor before the title they are more likely to keep on watching.

Memento evaluation-Kareem Lyew-Sang

In our pair we had an attempt of making a story board for the film memento and then had another pair attempt to film make our storyboard to see how effective it was. One thing I felt went well with our storyboard is that we had a lot of detail which made it easy for the other group to interpret. Another thing I thought went well is that we included how long each scene lasts. One thing i thought we could improve is that we could of been more descriptive.

The point of this task to help improve are skills in creating storyboards so that we can apply those skills to our opening sequence storyboard. I have learn't that we we have include lots of detail when creating a storyboard not just of whats in but of whats actually happening in each scene and how it should be done. For our opening sequence we will make sure to be very descriptive in the description of each scene so it is easier for us to understand and film.

Jaws- Binary Opposites

Jaws Binary Opposites from St Peters RC Comprehensive

Pros and cons of Narrative theories- Kareem Lyew-sang

Binary opposites

Pros
One pro to do with binary opposite narratives is that they are basic and easy to follow. Which is good if you want audience to enjoy the film without having to think too much about it.

Con
The bad thing about binary opposite narratives is that they can end up being too basic and therefore end up feeling boring. Another problem is that there are not many layers which could make the film feel bland.

The Equilibrium theory

Pros
Some pros to do with Equilibrium narratives is that they are easy to follow and they help show the characters of and get the audience to connect with the characters involved. Also the fact it starts of happy and then things start go wrong can add some good suspense.

Con
One con of this narrative is that unless done extremely well can be far too easy to follow and can feel bland and boring if not done right.

The Enigma code

Pros
Some pros of the enigma code narrative is that it always keeps the audience thinking therefore keeping them interested in the film at all times. Also it tends to draw in the audience and makes the audience establish a connection with the film.

Con
One con of this narrative theory is that if drawn out too long before anything substantial happens it can get boring and cause the audience to switch off.