Thriller Conventions

In order for our opening sequence to fit the thriller genre the best, we will have to follow certain thriller conventions. We want to follow a psychological thriller genre, so to do so, we have been looking at a wide range of thriller openings and the following are various conventions which we have chosen to follow:

• One convention we want to use will be a complex narrative structure which deals with false paths, clues and resolutions. This will be useful as the audience will not be able to guess what will happen straight away, therefore allowing them to engage more with the opening, then leaving them to want more. The film Inception deals with this convention as it has many false leads and personally I couldn't make a solid guess onto what would happen next which made me sit on the edge of my seat. This is what I would like our opening sequence to do. Below is the end scene of Inception which portrays the complex narrative structure: 

• Another Thriller convention we will use will be that there is a crime at the core of the narrative. The crime will be the cult murdering young females which the detective is investigating. This will give our opening and if we were to film the entire film a main story to work with. Shutter Island deals with this convention as it has a patient who is supposedly murdered, however it allows other stories and leads to progress along side it, therefore fitting with the first convention of a complex narrative structure. 

• The Thriller convention where the protagonist has a fatal flaw will also be used in our opening sequence. In this case, the fatal flaw of our protagonist will be the death of the detective; his inability to cope with his daughters death and how he keeps having visions of her so he can't tell what's real. This is his flaw. Then if we were to film the entire film this flaw will be exploited by the antagonist later on. The film Black Swan uses this convention as the female protagonist develops a split personality which ends up with tragic consequences. 

• The last convention we decided to use was our opening dealing with themes of mirroring and symbols.This convention would be used by the use of the daughter's teddy bear and the cult (the people involved with the murdering of young girls) symbol they draw on their victims. The teddy bear will be carried by the daughter in the opening clip in the forest scene and then in the car of the detective as he carries it on him at all times as he is desperately clinging onto that small part of his daughter which he has left. Then the symbols would be used throughout if the film were to be filmed completely, these symbols would also be the anti-Christ symbol (as shown below) which carry connotation of sins and death which the cult deal with.

• Below is the trailer of The Da Vinci Code which deals with this convention of using themes of mirroring and symbols very well and influenced us to use it in our own opening. 

Lighting

The way we use lighting in our opening scene will have significant effects on the atmosphere in which we wish to create. Generally, the entire opening scene will be filmed outside therefore we will be using naturalistic lighting. However we still need to take into account: hard, soft, spot, back lighting as well as what time of day we wish to film at.

Soft lighting will be important in our opening scene as it allows the characters facial expressions to be clearly seen. This will important when filming either the detective and his reactions and feelings to have these visions of his daughter or showing his emotions when he is at her grave. Soft lighting could also be used when filming the detectives daughter in the forest, the soft lighthing will allow us to clearly portray to the audience how scared, sad and frightened she is.


Hard lighting in our opening scene will be important, especially in the forest scene because (as demonstrated in the image to the left) it doesn't show to audience clearly what is going on in the shot as they are unable to visibly see specific details; this depicts an unknowing and mysterious atmosphere. Therefore in the forest scene when the daughter seems to be running away, the combination of hard lighting and an unfocused camera shot will make the audience feel confused and slightly on edge therefore building up suspense and tension.


Naturalistic lighting, as shown in the forest image, requires no editing and therefore it, as the name suggests, its natural. It will also give our opening a more believable atmosphere which the audience can relate to. However we will have decided on the time of day, either in the morning, afternoon or night as each will give a different atmosphere. If we film the forest scene while the sun is starting to set it will create a eerie tone to the play which would match the action of the daughter running.

Props

Even though they are not the most significant part to our opening, the props we use will help add to the atmosphere of the opening as well as, if used well, to show to the audience different characteristics the character may have or used to identify the type of personality the character has.

During the opening scene, the detective will be carrying a bouquet of white flowers to be placed on his daughters grave. The reason for using white flowers is because they have connotations (like the daughters dress) of purity and cleanliness. Also, the white flowers could be linked to the daughter white dress to continue to emphasise her purity which, as the audience find out, was taken away from her. Therefore this will create a strong empathy for the daughter.





During the detectives flashbacks of his daughter in the opening scene, she will be carrying either by her side or in front of her a small teddy bear. The teddy bear carries connotations of child or young which the daughter was therefore making the audience feel sympathy towards her because due to the teddy bear they realise that she was only young when she was murdered. It also symbolises a personally belonging to the daughter, something which she kept close to her. The detective will also have the teddy bear in his car during the credit sequence which the audience should realise and therefore notice that, in a way, the detective is trying to cling onto the memories which he has of his daughter.


My character would also carry a new generation touch-screen smart phone. This carries the connotation of wealth, therefore implies that the character is a well paid detective. Also, as the phone itself is of the latest technology it implies that his work encourages him to able to access the internet, take pictures and be contacted easily. The camera or video recorder on the phone could also be used as an alternative way of filming to give a more personal approach.

Costumes

The use of costumes within our thriller opening will be very important as they will help individualise certain characters from others as well as carrying connotations into the characteristics of a specific character.

The character I am playing is a detective who has recently lost his daughter. Therefore I decided that a suit would be a suitable item of clothing to wear as it carries connotations of both sophistication and a higher status as well as being rather traditional detective clothing. However I would not wear a tie and have the top button undone to imply that my character, due to the death of his daughter, is now not as concerned about his perception from others.  Then either accompanying the blazer and shirt with jeans to portray a more casual look to continue the uncaring appearance and to  further show the affects of losing his daughter is having on him. I could also wear a long raincoat over the top which would fit the stereotypical detective trope, therefore this would allow the audience to immeadiatly recognise that my character is a detective without having to say any dialogue.


My character could also wear glasses as it also carries the sophisticated as well as the educated connotation. He could also interact with them, for example throw them down if he is angry or clean them to show a variation of actions. They could also be used for a different type of film shot, for example if my character takes them off the camera shot becomes blurry to show the characters impaired vision.


The detective suffers from visions of his daughter, a sign to the audience of his inability to deal with the death of her. If the daughter wears a white dress it carries the connotations of purity and cleanliness. As the daughter has died, she will be very pale, therefore the white dress would emphasises the paleness of her. Stains such as mud or blood will also show up more clearly as well, so the audience will be able to notice them straight away





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If the detectives daughter wears red shoes, it would provide a strong contrast between the white dress. Red is symbolic of, firstly, love which she had for her dad (the detective) and vis versa. Secondly, it also symbolises death which the daughter has suffered from.

Title Sequence Analysis

The opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important people involved in the production of the film. They are usually shown on a blank screen or static pictures or sometimes on top of action in the beginning of the film.

Common opening credits order:

1. Name of the studio
2. Name of the production company
3. (Producer name) Production and/or (director only) A Film by (Director name)
4. Starring (Principle actors)
5. Film's title
6. Featuring
7. Casting by (Casting directors name)
8. Music or Music composed by (Music composers name)
9. Production designer - set design, costumes, hair dresser, make up artist, sound recording, visual effects
10. Editor
11. Director of photography
12. Producer
13. Based on the book by
14. Based on the characters by/created by
15. Story by (person who wrote the story)
16. Writer(s) or Written by
17. Director or Directed by

Fonts Research

The type of font we need to use for our opening credits and title of our thriller film must be eye catching and different to the plain, standard fonts used for everyday documents.
To get some ideas of what type of font we could use, I found a website - http://www.madtuts.com/2010/02/85-famous-tv-movie-fonts/ that shows many different fonts that have been used for famous films.
I have selected a few examples from this website that are suitable for a thriller film and that we could think about using for our own film.

This is an effective font as it is original and looks like its being used for a thriller or horror film as it is in bold capitals and has a slight authentic look to it.

This font looks fairly modern and mysterious yet I think it's slightly too plain and boring for a thriller film.

This font looks as if it has been painted by hand yet still looks scary as it is bold and not every letter is perfectly in line.





This font looks more suitable for a horror film as it looks like the letters have been drawn using blood which gives a scary effect to it.

This font, in my opinion is the most suitable font for a thriller film as it is clear and can still be mysterious.

This font is simple yet effective as it isn't neat and isn't written with capitals. This makes the film seem like it's a thriller or horror as it has a scary element to it.

25 word pitch for our thriller film

'A fractured cop suffering from his recently deceased daughter becomes fixated on a cryptic investigation into the gruesome deaths of young females. Where's the truth?'

Opening of a Thriller film - The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is a completely different type of thriller compared to Black Swan. The whole film is filmed with a hand held camera and from each characters point-of-view which makes the film appear more realistic and believable to the audience. Whereas Black Swan is clearly a high budget thriller film which is focused around one character and is more of a psychological thriller.

The film begins with the opening credits rolling without any music in the background apart from the sound of a camera filming. This sound alone already helps to create a tense atmosphere. The distributor, Artisan Entertainment appears on the screen first however the titles are being shown to be moving and shaking as if they were being filmed themselves. The producer, Haxan Films then appears on the screen followed by the films title, The Blair Witch Project which is in a fairly small font which is towards the left of the screen. What follows is a short paragraph hinting about what the film is about.
This reads,
"In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland whilst shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found."
This is effective as a narrator has not been used so the audience have time to think about what is about to unfold.

The first scene is set in one of the students houses. One of the characters is using a hand held camera and starts to film and makes a close up of one of the other characters faces. This shot is blurred and not held steadily so the audience can tell it is from his point of view and that this character doesn't really know how to use the camera as he continues to change the focus and zoom. The main female character then appears to have the camera where she uses a close up to focus on the books she has which appear to be about the forest they are going to and peoples previous experiences in the forest. There then appears to be cross cuts when more characters arrive at the scene to show that a lot is going on and being prepared before they set off to the forest. Even though the opening to this film doesn't create as much tension as other thriller films at the beginning, it still makes the audience want to watch it as they want to know what is going to happen to the students due to the earlier paragraph they saw on the screen which makes it seem like a mystery.

Opening of a Thriller film - Black Swan

I chose the opening of Black Swan as my first film as it is a great psychological thriller and is exciting to write about as it is one of my favourite thriller films.

The film begins with the title sequence. The distributors, Fox Searchlight appears first on the screen followed by the production companies; Cross Creek Pictures and Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures. At this point, classical background music started to play. The title of the film 'Black Swan' is then shown across the screen in a large white font on a black background which makes it stand out. 

The very first shot is a wide angle shot which focuses on a ballerina who is about to dance under a spotlight. This shot also helps to establish what the film is about and who the main character is. The camera then focuses on the ballerina's shoes with a close up as she begins to dance. This is followed by a shot taken with a hand held camera which creates tension as it seems that the ballerina is being watched. There is then a 360 degree angle shot which focuses on the male and female ballerinas dancing together. The lighting also helps to create tension as the only thing the audience can see is who is under the spotlight as everywhere else in the room is pitch black. Most of this scene is filmed with a hand held camera for effect and as the music builds up and gets louder, the camera moves quicker and uses more close ups on the two characters to draw the audiences attention in. To end this scene, as the music fades the camera uses a reverse zoom to get the bigger picture as the characters disappear into the distance. The lighting then slowly fades out to mark the end of this scene.

Link to watch Black Swan online: http://tubeplus.me/player/72287/Black_Swan/

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Personally, I felt that by doing the preliminary task, I learnt many things in which we did successfully as well as things that we need to improve on for when we do our actual thriller opening.


Elements in our preliminary that went well:

• In order to experiment with the matched cut, we decided to do two in quick succession of one another. As shown by the video above, we also included a low angle shot on while the antagonist is walking through the first door to give the impression that he has more power within the scene at this point. This helped us to realise how to perform a matched cut as well as how it can be effective while filming. 
• When we filmed the antagonist walking through the aisle of chairs walking towards the victim, it built up the suspense within the scene as it, firstly, did not show the antagonists face therefore creating a mysterious persona and, secondly, showed the weapon by his side.
• As the antagonist approaches the stairs, the shot from under the stairs allowed us to film him from the waist down and emphasises the antagonists footsteps which continued to build the suspense. 
• The over the shoulder shot used while the characters were exchanging dialogue, the lighting was used for effect as when filming the victim it was hard lighting therefore enabling the victims emotions to be seen which, overall, made the audience feel sympathy. Then while the camera focused on the antagonist, the dim lighting made it difficult to see his face as well as his emotions therefore continuing to portray the ambiguity surrounding him. 

Elements in our preliminary which can be improved: 

• We noticed once our clip was on YouTube that the editing could have been smother as demonstrated when the antagonist goes to open the door, there is too longer pause showing his hand on the door. This decreased the fluency of the video. Therefore when we film our real opening, we will make sure to edit the shots more precisely allowing a more fluent opening. 
• When performing the pan shot to follow the antagonist when he first enters the hall, the camera was angled nor positioned so that the antagonist was not in the middle of the shot therefore making the focus on him seem insufficient. Next time, we will make sure the dolly/ tripod in which the camera is placed on is able to swivel quick enough so the whoever is being filmed is always in the middle of the shot, depending on if that is the intention.  
• We did not take Mise En Scene into consideration while filming as we did not have significant amount of time to plan it. But by not using Mise En Scene effectively we realised how it could be very useful when creating a believable thriller opening. Therefore when we come to film our real opening, we will allocate specific amounts of time to focus on getting the Mise En Scene right and using it effectively.  

Overall after filming the preliminary task we now know which elements we need to improve on, whether that be keeping the camera steady or more effective editing. It has also giving us an insight into how difficult it will be to film a thriller opening as well as the time needed to be able to put it together. 

Opening to The Usual Suspects

In preparation to when we have to film our very own thriller opening, we watched the opening to 'The Usual Suspects' to further research what needs to go into a opening.



The film opened with a sequence of credits identifying the actors, directors, producers etc involved with the film. However while this was going on the soundtrack was playing over the top and it created a rather tense atmosphere by a combination of the piano and a stringed orchestra. This set up the mood which the audience expect to be carried out through the film and it certainly was in the opening scene.

The opening scene began with a close up on a man, who appears to be injured as he is having to lean against a block to stand up, lighting up a cigarette. The close up was used so the audience can see the pain on his face and therefore feel sympathy for him. This is followed by when he drops the burning card onto the floor and it sets alight a oil path which reveals a man on the floor appearing to be either dead or asleep. However there is a strong emphasis on the fire aspect which implies danger and destruction which could be a main theme followed throughout the rest of the film.

After this, there is a long angled shot of a man (who we find out his name is "Keyser") dressed in a long black coat and a black trilby covering his face. This straight away creates a mysterious aura around the man (especially due to the low lighting used when filming him) and leaves the audience feeling weary of him. Also, the use of the high angle shot combined with the lower cutting rate gives the protagonist greater anonymity and makes his movements appear unnerving. The then quick cut rate back to a close up shot of the injured mans face shows his facial expression portraying sadness and almost as if he knows what's about to happen to him.

Throughout the entire opening Keyser is always filmed by using a low angled shot of his body but not revealing his face. The continues to build upon the mystery surrounding him as well as presenting him as a rather shadow like figure. The once the characters begin to exchange dialogue between them it comes across as a rather relaxed and almost friendly conversation as shown by how Keyser says to the injured man, "how you doing kid?". This also implies that the two are acquaintances and have met previously before but, like before, Keyser is still filmed with a low angle shot without revealing his face. This contrasts to the injured man who is filmed with a high angle shot to show that he has both less power and control over Keyser.However this atmosphere is then juxtaposed when Keyser supposedly shoots the other man after having a seemingly friendly chat with him, therefore this illustrates how the Keyser character is rather unpredictable making the audience become increasingly weary of him. But the audience are not certain if he does shoot the injured man as the camera uses a reverse zoom shot of the setting which is revealed to be a boat. This is followed by a close up of a fire on the boat which, yet again, increases the imagery of fire.

Opening to Pulp Fiction

http://youtu.be/lwusCDRiDwE

In this opening sequence you can see straight away the contrasts in characters. The man is sitting with his feet up on the bench smoking a cigarette whereas the woman is sitting straight and with proper posture. The woman speaks politely where in contrast the man swears and appears more aggressive. When the man asks for the coffee he shouts it at the woman and doesn't use his manners. He is like this in the opening sequence to show the audience that he is a ruthless character. a 180 degree camera shot is used during the dialogue. The irony used in the later part of the sequence is when the male and woman tell each other and have little cute names to call themselves. The next moment they both stand up screaming with their guns drawn.

There is suddenly a role reversal as the man who is coming across and ruthless is out shown by the polite woman who is screaming and demanding and swearing. A high angle shot is used to look up at the two robbers to assert their authority and power.

Story Board

Below is a summary of one of our ideas of what we will do for our 2 minute thriller opening.
The plot line is about a cult/covenant that are targeting females, but specifically younger females. The detective involved with the story lost his young daughter recently and is still grieving her. He also has multiple flashbacks of her either running away from him or what her body was like when she was killed. The case he is involved in is investigating the murders of the females but as the story progresses and he starts to unravel what really is going on, he finds out that the cult/covenant are responsible for the death of his daughter and the case becomes increasingly more personal to him.

Preliminary Task Storyboard

The storyboard of what we followed while filming our preliminary task:

In our preliminary task, we filmed a character walking along while the camera tracks him, he then approach a door where a match cut is used.

after the match cut the character walks to a 'victim' and they exchange dialogue with a 180 degree camera shot.