'Why "thrillers" thrive.'

-Thrillers are successful as they give the audience thrills during the film, resulting in them jumping and kept on the edge of their seat, keeping their full attention on the screen.

-A thriller gives the audience an experience called ‘shake-ups’ that gets your heart racing and full attention.

-Audiences pay to see thrillers as they are able to give the viewer an adrenaline rush, which some people are addicted to as it gets their heart racing.

-Thrillers are able to give the audience an experience that no other film can give you.

-They are so unpredictable that viewer doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, they are glued to their seat dazzled by the screen itching to find out how it’s going to plan out.

-Thrillers use a special technique where they use a vulnerable character that they make the audience fall in love with and become attached too, before they become endangered. They then make you feel like you are a part of that person so you put yourself in their shoes. This gives the viewer a real sense of danger, even though they are in fact just sitting in a chair.

-Thrillers are good at showing you what’s going to happen without giving it away, this is when the unexpected appears and shocks you.

-The big screen is really clever at making the thriller seem like we are in great danger as we feel we’re a part of the film. However our subconscious kicks in and we are aware that we are sitting in an arm chair, safe and secure.

Analysis of a previous Longroad thriller

It begins with an establishing shot of both characters and the location, the creepy music also establishing the genre. We see a point of view shot of the murderer looking in on the girl undressing through the window. It then becomes obvious to the audience that the man is aiming to make contact with the girl, this highlights her vulnerability, playing the cliche female role. There is then a classic match on action shot as the girl opens the door. It then follows her actions as she gets ready to get in the shower, as she switches on the radio, a gentle background diegetic sound is added to the creepy non-diegetic music playing throughout. The fact she is in the shower also portrays vulnerability and sexualises her as a female character. It then cuts to a hand held camera outside the bathroom door as the murderer draws closer to her, it appears she has heard something as it cuts to a reaction, close-up shot of her in the shower. As the murderer shuts off the power, the soundtrack mirrors the darkness by turning silent as she breaths heavily to build a sense of disorientation for the audience. The darkness is then relieved by a candle being lit as she looks frightened and confused, the murderer comes up behind her wearing a mask to ass mystery. As she screams, the light flickers on the murderer. It then fades to her in the bath with blood all over her.

Criticisms:

-In the reaction shot as the murderer comes closer to the door, there is bad continuity in the shot after the reaction shot as she seems to have forgotten anything happened.

-Also, I feel as she looks around the room with the candle, it is unrealistic for her to be standing by the mirror for such a long time, a better way of doing this would be her walking past the mirror and perhaps a glimpse of the murderer in the mirror as she walks past so the suspense is all the more effective.

-I feel too much happens and not enough mystery is with held. The murderers physical form should remain hidden in the opening and also, it is ineffective to kill off the main character right at the beginning.

Taking lives soundtrack

the music for the opening sequence was made to try and sound 'acoustic' and 'folky' which bodes well with the setting of the opening sequence. the orchestral sound implies suspense and mischief. the sound fades out when the characters speak so dialog can be heard.

Pitch Feedback from Andrea

Some of your locations sound like they have a lot of cinematic potential and I think it will be important to take photographs of it whilst you are filming.
I think my overall feedback would be that your idea needs fleshing out a little more and you need to think about how you will visually communicate the genre in which you are working.
Start off with looking through the list of thriller generic conventions and think about which ones you want to explore and how you intend to do this. It might help you to focus your ideas.

Remember that the point of a thriller is not to terrify but to draw your viewer into the narrative subtly.

Good work so far, keep going.

Shot list

Establishing Shot: At the beginning we will use an establishing shot to introduce our characters and location. The camera will then pan round the forest at an 80 degree angle to reveal the location in which the thriller set.

Over the shoulder shot: This will be used when the dog becomes distressed and the charecters, discuss the situation.

Reaction shot: This will be used as the characters reaction to both the dog playing up and when it runs off. This will lead to the audiences realization of the troubled situation. We will also use this particular shot when the characters discover the creepy location to reiterate their frightening dilema.

Mid shot: This shot will be used regularly throughout the film to illustrate the storyline. For example: at the beginning where we zoom in on the well and of perhaps the characters.

Long shot: This shot will also be used to show the well from a distance and also when the stalkers silhouette is on the hill.

High angled shot: This will be used as the camera looks down into the creepy well to create a sense of disorientation.

Low angled shot: This will be used as we look up onto the man on the hill, this will clearly illustrate the characters vulnerability.

Point of view shot: When we look down into the well, as we look around the forest and as the dog runs off.

Close up: we will use this as we flicker from images. To build up suspense and tension.

Blog advice from Andrea

(DONE)1. Analysis of student thriller
(DONE)2. More than one detailed analysis of real thriller openings
3. Practice soundtrack for your thriller
(DONE)4. Practice soundtrack for Taking Lives intro
(DONE)5. Production company logo
6. Definition of thriller, outline of different sub-genres and hybrids.
(DONE) 7. Analysis of examples of political, psychological, action thriller and crime thriller
(DONE)8. Initial ideas post
(DONE)9. Final idea post - for pitch
(DONE)10. Influences and the thriller generic conventions you intend to explore
(DONE)11. Mood board
12. Research into other films of similar sub-genres
(DONE)13. Props list - with illustrations
(DONE)14. Details of costumes - with illustrations
(DONE)15. Location report - where you intend to film, if it is a public place then you need to consider the logistics of filming there. If it is private property you must seek permission from the owner.
(DONE)16. Complete shot list
(DONE)17. Completed storyboard
18. Test footage with a full explanation as to the technique you were testing and how successful the test was.
(DONE)19. Details of when you intend to film (dates, times and places), who is responsible for bringing what props etc, what actors are needed and who is in charge of ensuring the actors are informed of times and locations.
(DONE)20. Practise titles, consider the job titles and the names you wish to include. Do some research into titles. Look at Saul Bass as an industry expert in title sequences.

Initial Idea for our thriller.

We have decided on a creepy location in which to set our opening, it is in Cheveley Park Stud at the ruins of a castle surrounded by woodland. We have decided to split out group into two actors and two cameramen. We thought it could begin with the characters walking their dog in the woods, then upon arrival at the castle grounds, the dog starts to play up and bark. This confuses and worries the two characters as their dog is normally an animal of pleasant manor. They try to figure out whats distressing the dog, so they attempt to head back. On their journey home they begin to hear noises all around e.g. sticks breaking, leaves rustling etc. The dog becomes so frightened that it runs off, forcing the two characters to follow. The dog leads them to a creepy underground well.
We will illustrate this basic plot with flashing images of the bars of the well, branches of trees, a shadow etc. to suggest this storyline so as not to reveal too much to the audience. It will start with creepy music whilst establishing the location to portray the genre of the film, it will then go to the characters playing diegetic upbeat music through hand held speakers. then as the characters start to realise their frightening dilema, the upbeat music slowly fades into the creepy music we heard at the start.

Example of Thriller Opening

I found this to be a great example to use for the opening titles of a thriller as it fits in with the conventions of a thriller. I find it very

Logo Creation

This is the production log that we have created and edited on Photoshop and then added it into Final Cut so that we could edit it. We decided on 'storm productions' as we felt it fitted in with the thriller theme adequately.

Thriller Pitch

This is a combination of our ideas, we have put together various pictures from Google that encapsulate our thoughts and ideas for this project. We have chosen various creepy, shadowy images to portray the atmosphere. From this task we have decided on the creepy location of the ruins of a castle in Cheveley Park Stud.

Analysis Of The Shining.

Music/Sound: the music is fundamentally erie. it contains sound effects that are reminiscent of people screeching which indicates there is a horror style element to the movie, and a trumpet sounds. there is also a "pingy" sound effect throughout the sequence which further adds to the atmosphere.

Camera Work: the sequence starts with a flyover camera angle of a lake which fades to a overhead sequence of a car driving down a road in the forest.

The actual opening sequence does not introduce any main characters as such, but does introduce the location of the mountains. This can be seen as being far away from everything, where anything can happen. And judging by the music, things aren't all happy. We see and follow this car as it goes in and out of this mountain pass, through the valleys, with this amazing back drops of massive mountains and cliff edges, which also adds to the feeling of being away from most life.

Editing: The way in which the credits roll up is very classic as the names scroll from the bottom of the screen right up to the top. This is all happening while the live action following the car is going on. This is a typical way of showing the credits as it conforms to normal conventions of film.

Vertigo Analysis

It begins with a close-up of a heavily made up womans eyes, then her lips, this illustrates, how Hitchock is objectifying her as not a whole person, but a broken up Voyeurism. The music also portrays the mystery of what is to come. As the camera goes back up to her eyes and is tinted red, you immediately want to know why her expression has changed and why she looks so scared. The mysterious spirals coming out from her eyes add yet more mystery and gives an 'edge of the seat' effect.

The next part of the opening reflects on the title of the film as it is all shot at a height. This scene is obviously where the protagonist' fear of heights originated.

Vertigo, opening example

Deadlines of project

-rough-cut deadline, end of lesson Monday the 1st of March
-Shooting deadline, February 24th, second lesson
-Final cut deadline, End of lesson, Monday the 8th of March
-Draft writing deadline, end of lesson Monday the 15th of March
-Final writing deadline, March the 22nd

Conventions of a thriller

Some of the conventions of a thriller are:

-Location (familiar places create a false sense of security e.g. an abandoned building)
-Lighting (shadowy, Dark lighting, film noir/ neo-noir)
-Complex narrative (flashbacks, not Linear, the speeding up and slowing down of time)
-Mystery (enigma, web of intrigue)
-Voyeurism (objectification of women, pleasure of looking)
-Suspense (music, sound and silence, edge of seat)
-Fear of the unknown (This is what seperates the horror genre from the thriller, the villian often wears a mask or make-up to create mystery)
-Identity (no identity, stolen/ mistaken, obsession, doppleganger)
- Potagonist (flawed hero, in danger, fear in which is exploited by villian)

A classical thriller depicted women as an object of pleasure and as vulnerable 'damsels in distress'. Nowadays, women are seen as more powerful strong figures who are occasionally the flawed hero which is traditionally the role of the male.
Suspense and the fear of the unknown are some of the most important factors to a thriller as this is what makes it exciting to watch.

Preliminary task

Definitions of Key Terms

Establishing Shot: An establishing shot sets up, or "establishes", a scene's setting and/or its participants. Typically it is a shot at the beginning (or, occasionally, end) of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place.


Close up shot:a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly in television and film.


Match on Action: Is when you cut during action to another camera angle but showing the action from the same point in time that you left it from the previous shot, this is important to continue the flow of the scene.















Reaction Shot: Reaction shot is a term used in motion picture production and cinematography referring to a basic unit of film grammar. It is a shot which cuts away from the main scene in order to show the reaction of a character to it.


Long Shot: A long shot shows both characters in the location. This informs the audience of the characters positions relative both to one another and their surroundings.


Shot reverse Shot: Shot reverse shot is where one character is shown looking at another character, this other character is often not in the screen, the shot will then move to the other character who will be facing in the opposite direction, as both characters are represented as looking in the opposite directions it gives the impression to the viewer that both characters are both looking at each other.










This is often used to represent a conversation, and is used during continuity editing. it then draws away from the emphasis of the transitions and is represented in a linear, chronological and logical match, this is known as an eye line match and is used to give the viewer the impression of carrying on the conversation.