analysing thrillers

Anatomy of a Murder

The opening of the film uses cartoonised body and uses close ups on different parts off it. This is not very graphic and its quite simplistic which gives the impression that the film isn't going to be extremely violent even though it is about murder. We get an impression that it could possibly be quite light hearted. Also using the body it makes it clear that the film is going to be about people being killed as we are shown all the body parts seperately. This clearly links in to the title. The font they use is a white sans-serif font. This makes it quite informal which links into the sense that the film could be lighthearted. Using white subverts our expectations. White connotes to innocence and purity which is not something that is at all related to murder. However, it is written on a black/grey background which relates more to murder as black can connotes to death and danger. The music used is quite upbeat which is contrapuntal. It yet again subverts our expectations of a film about murder, it is quite disturbing that the music is so happy when the film is going to be about people getting murdered.

Se7en
The establishing shot of the film is a close up on the pages of a book. This suggests it will be quite a significant item in the film as it is an image used constantly throughout the opening. Also throughout the opening they use quite a few close ups on the hands which suggests they are also quite important. They are busy doing things and they grate off their own fingertips which adds a sinister mood to the film almost immediately. The music used goes really high pitched at some parts of the opening. This adds to the tension which is being built by the sinister images being shown. It is quite jumpy which adds to the impression that this film is going to be scary. It is parallel sound, we would expect this music to be used in a horror film. Lots of sharp silver objects are shown throughout the opening like the scissors and the needle. This adds a sense of danger and helps to build the tension, also the implements are very clean which could show that they are well looked after or that they are new either way they are going to do their job properly and professionally. Just like in Anatomy of a Murder they use white font on a black background. The white stands out on the black which juxtaposes, it gives the impression that innocence doesn't belong in the film and that purity isn't going to be shown. This emphasises the horror genre of the film.

Grand Prix
They uses a sound bridge right at the beginning of the film the lion roarign turns into the sound of a car reving. This instantly lets us know the film is about cars and racing. It also flows smoothly straight into the film which gives it a sense of continuity. The establishing shot of the film is a close up of the car exhaust. This confirms to the viewer where the reving sound came from. They also use close ups on the tyres and other parts of the car which shows that everything is new which makes it look like this is a professional race. One of the drivers is in a white tracksuit which gives the impression that this character is quite innocent and he will race fair. Compared to drivers in black tracksuits which could be implied that they will be more relentless to win. Yet again the film uses a white font on a black background(this appears to be a common feature of thriller films) which makes the writing stand out so all of our attension first of all is on who is going to be in the film. They clearly thought that telling people the actors and film producers was the most important thing to start the film with.

Sound and Editing used in Thrillers

Sound:

Sound is used in thrillers to help the audiences understanding of what is going on. Sounds are used to evoke characters feelings and emotions and get a response from the audience. It is also often used to symbolise both the protagonists and antagonists movements in the scene. By carefully using the sounds employed in the scene it creates the right mood and atmosphere and in the context of the thriller genre, helps to build suspense and tension.Thrillers are typically noisy and they uses lots of diegetic sound throughout the film. Common sounds include bangs, ticking and screams, they use these sounds to build tension and to create suspense. These sounds are normally heard by both the audience and the characters and they are normally very jumpy. Non diegetic sound is also used in thrillers. They sometimes use a steady drone which puts the audience at unease. Also as the action increases in the film and the tension builds the music speed up and increases in unison. Hitchcock used sound in a very new way than was typical at the time. For instance in Blackmail he demonstrates ongoing tactics, such as: withholding sound from the viewer to pique curiosity which is shown in the murder scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POMvKwfBVWo, there is no sound during the murder and we can’t see what is happening which leaves us wondering what exactly is going on. It subverts our expectations of a murder as we would expect lots of screams but we don’t get anything. He also exaggerates sound as a form of narrative emphasis and creating tension through both ambient noises and silence. Further, in a world where music was the dominant form of narrative accompaniment, he stripped music score away from his scenes and instead used the act of singing (and whistling) as a suspense device. Lastly, Hitchcock’s manipulation of human speech ranged from technical malfunctions of telephone calls to dizzied audio abstraction of the characters’ subjective thoughts.

Editing: 
To create tension thrillers use pace. Fast cutting can help to create suspense. The pace of the shots usually go in unison with the music. Cross cutting is a common editing technique used cutting between the victim and their threat. This sequence normally ends when the two individuals or groups meet in a final climax. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmptU7vEkNU . This clip from inception is an example of cross cutting. The editing creates tension in the film because we see the same character in two different places going through dangerous things in both places. His life is in danger in both places which creates tension for the viewer because we don't know if he is going to survive in both of the situations. Motivated cuts are often used in thrillers to make the audience want to see what happens next. A motivated cut is when a character is looking out of shot with an expression on her face that makes the audience want to see what she is seeing. This is a very good technique to use and an example of this is in the film The Silence of the Lambs when the women is looking at the board and it makes the audience want to see what she is looking at. 

editing

basic editing task is a task in our class where we have to make a 90 second short film including the following:

This is an example of a shot reverse shot:

A shot reverse shot is a technique used where one character is looking an another character and then that character is shown looking back at the first character. The 180 degree rule shows us they are looking at each other when they are talking.

Alfred Hitchcock

"Alfred Hitchcock is undeniably one of the most influential filmmakers to ever live. His auteur style and challenging film content/ experimental style are still studied by film scholars today. Throughout his lifetime, Hitchcock made over 50 featured films in the span of six decades. Known for his practical jokes on set and morbid fascination with black comedy, he made an impression on everyone he worked with. Here are twenty-three trivia facts about arguably the most important film artist to live."

Alfred Hitchcock's first ever films were silent movies. His silent films were called:

• The Lodger- (1926)- one of his earliest thrillers was "the lodgers"; this was a film about a serial killer- opening with the death of someone made in 1927. This would be something that audience were not desensitised by at this point as people hadn't seen thrillers like this.
• The Ring- (1927)
• Easy Virtue- (1927)
• Champagne- (1928)
• The Farmer's Wife- (1928)

In an interview  of Hitchcock he said how he created emotions without sound, and working with what he had. 

shotlist

180 degree editing rule

When filming you must not pass the 180 degrees line because it will disorientate the audience as when they go to look at one character from the other they will both look as though they are facing the same way. 

"In film making, the 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character will always be frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. If the camera passes over the axis, it is called jumping the line orcrossing the line." - wikipedia 

starwars analysis- how is evilness created?

How is evilness presented in this scene?

In the media text we are introduced by an evil establishing shot of the old man sitting at a table with the natural light of the city behind him, emphasising his “protagonist” character by showing him in a moralistic/ less evil light. From this shot we assume him to be a antagonist which soon deteriorates as the scene develops. To follow there is a low angle shot of Anakin landing his aircraft, connoting his superiority within the scene which could symbolise him being an antagonist/ protagonist of the scene. Within the beginning of the scene Anakin is represented as an antagonist which, deteriorates through the scene’s development. Anakin being an antagonist is signified through the lighting within the start, Anakin’s face is lit up with the lighting on his face which dims throughout the seem as by the end the audience see him with dim lighting which could be a connotation of the evilness building on him throughout the scene. Moreover, when Samuel L Jackson and the old man fight Anakin shows emotions of being distressed by this which connotes him to be an antagonist. Evilness is also presented through the respect Anakin has for the protagonist when he is knelt in front of him looking up to him in the end shot, as though he is begging to him. This shot ends the scene which a connotation that evilness has developed from start to end of the scene through the change in Anakin’s attitude towards evil. The two contradictory shots from the establishing to the end shot would juxtapose one another and heighten his change for the audience.

During the fight scene it becomes clear to the audience that what they’re doing isn’t significant is away from the outside world which is symbolic of the idea that what they’re doing is hidden, thus evil. Moreover, during the fight there is several close up shots to the faces of the characters showing the anger on their face/ evilness growing as they become angrier throughout the conflict. Towards out of the fight when Samuel L. Jackson is thrown out of the window an aerial shot is used to pan the vastness of the city which is an emphasis on the evilness of the man throwing him out into the city. As well as this the powerfulness of the man is connotated through how far he throws the man through the pan shot used to emphasise this. Throughout the fight the two characters use bright light sabres, the bright colours of the weapons against the dark scenery could connote evil and sinister.

When Samuel L. Jackson inflicts some sort of “spell” upon the older man, his face becomes old and withered, with non-humanistic characters; this connotes evilness as the character becomes something unusual to the audience, much like traditional evil characters for example the Devil. By the end when Samuel L. Jackson is out of the scene, it becomes apparent that the scene becomes a lot more fake, in that the scene is only lit up by artificial light which connotes fakeness, the authority the old man has is wrong, therefore the respect is wrong thus reflecting upon the idea that the two are being evil.

The sound within the scene is significant through the choice of diagetic and non diagetic sound. For example the old diagetic sound of the man’s voice is significance because it sounds non humanistic and “evil” through the extent of its deepness. The non diagetic however is significant as the music used is typical of “evilness” in the upbeat, fast yet horror style. Moreover tension is built in the fight scene through the use of the fast pace, creating excitement for the audience. When the man is thrown out of the window, an “evil” horror type sound music is used to emphasise the evilness that has just occurred within the scene.

Evil is presented is potent within this media text as the audience see it influence the actions of those involved in a negative way, presented through the mise en scene, camera angles, lighting and sound. Evilness is significant within Anakin and the old man “protagonist”.

codes and conventions

possible feeling a thriller could create:
tension
anxiety
uncertainty 
suspense
anticipation.

iconography:
cars
weapons
fast paste 
editslow 
lighting

themes:
assassination
crime
spies
terrorism
supernatural
events
mind games

characters:
stalkers
spies
assassins
psychotic characters
convicts

From this research our group can concur that for our opening we will need to include certain type of 
camera angles and editting in order to create a thriller. For example in order to create tension in our
thriller we will need to use quick jump cuts and low angle shots as well as dark lighting. Whereas to
create anticipation we will need to use long shots for the audience to feel suspense. 

typography

Above are some fonts that can be used in thrillers,usually used for the title of the film.  In the title sequence they also use quite simple/minimalist fonts for names in the opening,some of the minimalist texts are animated with the style of the movie.

Our group feels that the font above would be most suited to a psychological thriller as it is similar to that which is used in shutter island-

The block and bold typography is to the point and professional, which we would like to reflect on our thriller opening. 

Possible movie titles using the chosen font:

                 

Done by Prentice Johnson- This analysis of typography is going to be important throughout our choice of target audience and thriller type. For example when we get our research and choose the target audience it will alter how to the typography will look- for example if we were to use a thriller that was based on psychology we would be looking for font that is clear and block as this will reflect upon the mind and is what a person would expect to see for that type of thriller. Yet if you were to look for a horror thriller the font maybe more abstract in order to represent writing written in blood for example. This research will be a big part of our opening as the writing that is written on the screen throughout the opening will bring the thriller together.

Film Noir

What is noir?
Film Noir began in the 1940s and was one of Hollywood's original, artistic movements.

During and immediately following World War II, movie audiences responded well to this original,In 1946 a Paris retrospective of American films said that during the war there was a significant increase in popularity towards visually darker and more sublime films. It was then made that “film noir” ”or "black film" is a new type of Hollywood product.

Few, if any of the artists in Hollywood who made these films called them “noir” at the time. But the vivid co-mingling of lost innocence, doomed romanticism, hard-edged cynicism, desperate desire, and shadowy sexuality that was unleashed in those immediate post-war years proved hugely influential, both among industry peers in the original era, and to future generation of storytellers, both literary and cinematic.

To this day the debate goes on as to whether “noir” is a film genre, circumscribed by its content, or a style of storytelling, identified by its visual attributes. The debate — in which there is no right answer — is only one of the things that keeps noir fresh for successive generations of movie lovers.

Questionaire

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GP7AD1w5HYSk0TCMnl-6XSkVduOCIc3bCtbSBfzP0W0/viewform


We will use this questionnaire in order for our group to have an insight to what our target audience should be as well as analysing which people like which sort of thriller and openings. For example from our questionnaire we could find out that boys at the age of 10-15 enjoy horror thrillers the most, which will help us to classify our thriller opening.