Research: Thriller Intro Analysis: Pulp Fiction

Research:Past Student Work:Perception

The first sequence incorporates multiple shots, panning around the girl.  Although this creates a 'creepy' effect, it could be seen as disjointed due to the short time at which each shot is maintained.  The shot switches before we have a real chance to view it/ take it in.  

I like the way a reverse effect is used on the third scene,  adding to the creepy feel.  Also with different (brighter) lighting with a subtle sepia effect used to show a different time frame.  However, he appears to be walking backwards, it would be more effective to film in real time/forwards, then apply a reverse effect to ensure continuity.  This is because he puts his hand on the wrong side of the door handle when trying to walk backwards.

A heartbeat sound affect is used to aid transition from one scene to the next.  The shot flashes to black before each new scene, this means we can't tell what is going to happen.  This concealment of information is a key thriller conventions.  Due to the sudden nature at which she is up close to him, audiences are startled and a tense atmosphere is created, this is affective in thrillers and adds to the air of suspense. 

I like the way piercing and sharp music is used as she is opening the door, gradually getting louder and climaxing as she touches the door handle.  The music suddenly stops, followed by complete silence.  This adds emphasis and ensures maximum concentration on the subject of what is about to happen. 

Research: Thriller Openings- Team 7 productions- The Therapist

The opening sequence shows a young adult walking through the woods.  Mise En Scene is looked at, we can guess his age and social 'group' due to his shoes.  The bright colour of them could suggest innocence of a brightness to his character.  This gives us an idea to his character but conceals the rest of his body to add an element of mystery from the outset.

The next shot is of the boy's whole body, and over the shoulder (front on) shot which tells the audience that he is being followed, but the character does not know.  This technique of dramatic irony allows the audience to be emotionally involved in the story and understand completely.  It also adds an extra twist because we feel different emotions to him, we are scared for him but he is oblivious.  This technique is narrative retardation, because information is held back from the character. The man is wearing all black and his face is hidden.  Team 7 productions took into account Mise En Scene whilst creating this scene, the black clothes suggest a dark or evil element to his character and has very negative connotations.  This ensures that we don't trust him and we associate him with danger.  

Towards the conclusion of the opening, scenes cut in and out with the transition of a black screen.  One scene is of the family in bright lighting with a red glow, to induce happy and peaceful emotions, the scene then rapidly cuts to a dark shot of them in the woods.  The boy's facial expression in the dark scene is riddled with panic and distress.  The way one scene cuts from the next creates stark contrast and the happy juxtaposes the dark and evil.  We can see just how happy he is in one scene, resulting in the emphasis of just how bad his situation is, in the dark scene.  By seeing the good, this enables us to see the bad in a more severe light due to the contrast.

The sound effect of a heartbeat is used to good effect, creating suspense and adding an extra dimension to the atmosphere; one of tension and mystery.  Music is barely used in the thriller opening, I think it could be more effective if more was used to mark the character's emotions and to highlight the panic that he feels.  For example, music with clashing notes could be used at a high volume to form a more suspenseful atmosphere.  The silence used in certain scenes is effective because it allows for added attention to be payed to footsteps and other diegetic sounds which (by themselves) create tension.

Research: Mise-en-Scene

Created with Padlet

Planning: Flashback Location and Shots

Research: The Prestige

Camera:
There were close up on the hat sitting in leaves as thought its been discarded. This gives a odd establishing shot as it makes the audience confused of what is happening.
There are lots of low angle shots looking up at the magician as he is the most powerful character on screen at that time.

Sound:
The narrative over the top is a man telling a story although you don't realise until the end that it is a man in court reciting what had happened and the scene was a flashback.
There is a big build up in music (crescendo) then suddenly when the magician gets trapped in the water tank the music suddenly stops (tacet)

Editing:
There is CGI used when the lighting is generated. This makes the magic trick seem more impressive.

Props:
All the costumes are very smart you can see from the audience that they are in a upper class places as they are all dressed in suits and dresses.
Also you can tell that Michael Caine's character is in court as everyone around him is in robes and the judge has a hammer.

Lighting:
Very low key lighting whilst the magician is performing which is very juxtaposed compared to the high key lighting in the court.

Research: Our Survey

Please take our survey below, Thank you :)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VT98HZ5

Planning: Filming Dates

Filming Dates: 
Flashback at the park: Filming on the 17th of November, meet at Rattlesden pavilion at 2:45pm.
In the outhouse: Filming on the 24th of November, meet at Molly's house at 2:30pm.
Argument between Man and Daughter: Film on the 24th of November.
Newpaper Articles: In school whenever we have time.

Research: Past Students Work - Sinful

Created with Padlet

Research: Past Students Work - Perception

Thriller Directors

Research: Thriller Openings: The Prestige

Research: Thriller Openings: The Prestige

Created with Padlet

Research: Se7en

Research: Thriller opening: Se7en

Created with Padlet

Research: Target Audience

Created with Padlet

Created with Padlet

Research: Analysing Previous Student Openings

Sinful:

Sinful is a past student thriller intro made by Amy and Laura. The start of the thriller opens with a slow motion panning shot of a swan on a lake (because of the amount of time the shot is focusing on the swan it creates an enigma code), this along with the greyscale effect makes us question what relation the swan has with the film. The credits are intertwined throughout the intro of the thriller film. The Mise en scene of the first character we see suggests evil due to the black clothes which have connotations of darkness, the hood also conceals the face which can symbolise his personality and leads to us believing that he is not trustworthy as his identity is hidden from the audience and adds to the level of mystery. Furthermore, the music is slow and eire adds to the connotations and feelings of suspense and mystery. The music builds up in pitch with clashing notes which creates tension, the volume of the music also increases as the barn is approached which suggests that we are leading up to a major plot event.

I rate this thriller intro: 7/10

Behind the Net Curtains:

Behind the net curtains from backdoor productions. The start of the thriller opens with a panning shot moving from looking at a tree to looking at the house which becomes the centre of attention to the viewer. We are then moved in to a closer shot of the house looking through the net curtains (hence the film name behind the Net Curtains), we see an old woman behind the net curtains and begin to question what role she has to play in the film. The next shot moves us to inside the house with 4 shots of the old woman making a cup of tea, they make use of 3 different camera shots (first looking up, second and third shorts are close ups). We are then moved on to seeing the old woman squeezing and manipulating meat this makes us question if she is to be trusted or not. This is then followed by shots of the old woman vigorously cutting up cucumber, and then a very close up shot of the old woman eating a tomato followed by a shot of her picked out bits from between her teeth (this shot is very effective and ‘grossing’ the audience out and building on the question is she the innocence or the evil in the thriller opening). This if followed by more shots of the old woman cutting up vegetables etc. We are then moved into the living room in a shot where the old woman walks past a photo of what we can presume was her and her husband (likely deceased), she returns to face the photo down, which again brings up the question of what is going on and is she the evil within the film. This is followed by shots of the old woman sitting on the sofa (we are positioned behind her) we see her completing a cross word, then see her laughing and again the audience has to ask the same question on what they think of her. In the final few shots of the thriller opening we see that the old lady has just been used as a red herring and that she is the person who gets killed.

I rate this thriller intro 8/10

Condemned:

The opening shot of Condemned starts with a shot of a dripping tap, It has diegetic audio of the dripping water and has been slightly slowed down to add to the emphasise. In the next shot we are positioned above the bath and we look down into it to see it full of water with a drowned girl there is the continued audio of the dripping water. These first shots were very lit up with lots of white, signifying purity where as in the following shots it is much darker, signifying evil. The man we see is wearing a long brown coat that hides his identity and adds an element of mystery. We are positioned in several shots following this man around different streets and into a park in the middle of the night, which also helps to hide his identity. There is a narration voice that is non-diegetic, it is the voice of the man we are currently seeing, we feel like that he is directly talking to us about his life (narration is an effective way to quickly build up a characters profile along with the physical and visual elements. In the following shots he is sat on a bench with time passing fast (Fast motion). The music throughout the thriller intro starts when the man enters the intro, it is relatively calm music but it signifies time passing.

I rate this thriller intro 7/10

Ricochet:

The opening shots of Ricochet start with scene settings shot with a complex what sounds to be irrelevant non-diegetic narration. In the shots following the beginning we are introduced to what we can presume is the main character, he is dressed in all black, that suggests that he is not to be trusted. In the train station there is the use of non-diegetic sounds such as the heart beat, which suggest fast passed etc. The music that backs Ricochet is eerie and relatively slow passed. The key elements of Mise En Scene is the fact that the characters that we presume to be the ‘evil’ and ‘bad’ characters of the thriller opening are mainly dressed in black.

I rate this thriller intro 7/10

Research: Target audience

Who is your target audience?

• Define them
• Age 
• Interests
• Media use
• Media knowledge
• Why this audience?

How will your film appeal to the target audience?

• Narrative 
• Characters 
• Actors
• Mise en Scene

Our target audience is 18-30 years old.  This is because many people will be able to empathise with the girl going missing as they will either have children or younger brothers and sisters.  Our thriller intro will also appeal generally to the female gender, due their mothering instincts which allow them to use their bond/attachment with their own child to understand the mother’s situation.

The interests of our target audience watch a reasonable amount of TV and listen to quite a lot of radio. This is why we are including a radio broadcast to appeal to the target audience as they can relate to hearing the news on the radio. 

Generally the individuals in our target audience use a wide range of media, such as Facebook, Twitter, mobile phones, radios and TV yet they are still at the age that can relate to having a diary and using newspaper articles. Because they have lived in the ‘pre technology’ era.

Planning: Storyboard

Molly Baker:
This is our story board this outlines our narrative, seeing as hardly any of us could draw we decided to use photos to outline the story. I feel Eddie and Alex got a little bit carried away as I ended up with a frog on my head... However this does give you a good idea of what is going to happen