The Usual Suspects

I decided to watch the opening of the usual suspects as this is another film that i really should watch as it is such an iconic thriller. Firstly the music really adds tension and suspense to the proceedings especially witht the use of the strings. The fact that the whole thing tasks place on a boat makes it seem very eery and scary. it is sooo isolated and alone and the fact that there are people unconscious or dead all around makes it look like something big has happened. The flames makes it a very shocking opening and also cements the fact of hell and the devil which is a big theme of the film. the out of focus background also adds suspense because you can't quite see everything. There are still things that you can't make out and it makes you feel like something else could jump out at anytime. Something big could happen. The use of the film noir style where you cannot see the whole oif the characters face is very effective. It shrouds the character in mystery as we no nothing about him and it makes the audience relucytant to trust him where as the other guy you can see all his face. The fact that the chracters no each other aswell instantlty forces the audience to start asking questions about what is going on and how these two no each other. It instantly gets you intrested in the story. The other part that i think is really effective about the opening is the way that the camera shows stills of the surrounding when the gun goes off as this helps to really show how alone the character is and how isolated everything is. the use of levels also helps to show who is really in charge because one of the chracters is higher to show his dominant position.

Endings of thrillers

Another thing that i decided to research was the endings of thrillers and the way they build to the final climactic moment. I noticed that thrillers will go one of two ways really. They will either build up to a big climactic moment where everything comes down to this one point. The 'will they make it moment' that happens in a lot of the more action thrillers like James Bond or Die hard or something like that where you are on the edge of your seat wondering whether he will save the girl or beat the villain. On the other hand in the more psychological thrillers you tend to be led down a path with little clues here and there about what is going on and then they will put in a massive plot twist. For example M. Night Shyamalan sixth sense you have the massive twist at the end when we find out that he is a ghost, or in se7en when you find out that he hasn't turned himself in and that he had it all planned out to make sure that Brad Pitt killed him to make all of the seven deadly sins. This tactic of the plot twist i think is a better way of doing it because it gives the film to different contexts. The first time you watch it tyou don't no what is going to happen and you sit there being thrilled with your heart in your mouth. However once you no what is going to happen and you watch it again it gives a whole different meaning to the film as you sit there seing all the clues along the way and kicking yourself for not guessing how it is going to end.

Typical Characters

I have done some research about the typical characters that you are likely to see in thrillers. Usually the main protagonist is a man. I think the reason for this is because the typical audiences of thrillers is male and that men want to empathise with the man character and be like them for example every man wants to be James Bond and the women go to see James Bond to see him because he is attractive. Another reason is because a lot of thrillers use the typical story template of a women in trouble and the man trying to save her. The typical fairytale of a damsel in distress and a night in shining armour saving the day. This will heavily influence me for when the group come to decide on a plot and characters because we will need to decide whether we are going to conform with the code and conventions and have a male lead or whether we are going to go against that and decide to have a female lead like in some of the new thrillers such as The Eye with Jessica Alba.

007

Spy Thriller-"Thriller or that which thrills; spec(slang or colloq.) a sensational play(cf. shocker) 1896 Pall Mall Mag 'Full blown detectives...the sort you read of in thrillers!"-Oxford English Dictionary

Another type of thriller genre is the spy thriller. Every spy thriller needs big drama, fast cars, gadgets and espionage and the James Bond movies are no exception. In essence what happens is someone belonging to some secret agency solves a large problem using any of above components. when the Bond movies first came out their was a buzz about the whole genre what with features like The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Prisoner and Get Smart and books like The Ultra Secet and Pearl Harbour: Warning and deception. There was definately money to be made and Pineapple studios cashed in, becoming the home of the double agent. It is the second most profitable film after Harry Potter. They still produce Bond films today; films such as Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
I think Bond was a big hit with audiences because he's a a daring, hansome character who many men wish they could be and whom many women wish they could be with although he also has a dark side; his willing ness to kill with ease and slight missogeny. These human touches help the vewer to really connect with the character but also show that he isn't just two dimentional.

Cassino Royale, 2006

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Starring: Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench and Eva Green

The movie starts in black and white. A man took a lift to his office. A lot of silence while this happens. Odd camera angles make us feel ill at ease. There is no music at this point; It's quiet, too quiet. The man got to his dark office, looked around and saw Bond waiting for him in a chair. The man sat at a desk down and half opened a draw. There is a close up on the draw, there's a gun inside. Because their wearing trench coats it resembles a 60s black and white movie. They exchanged dialogue and then the scene cut to a fight between Jamese Bond and nameless villain. The new scene is a good contrast to the dark office. They're fighting in a white tiled public toilet so the villain must be really out to get James. Ergent music.
Cut back to office. The office worker pulled out the gun that was in the drawer and bond explains that he'd already removed the magazine. the man thinks that Bond isn't there to kill him because double agents(people who've killed at least twice) are the only people that MI5 would send but then again if Bond killed his associate then he could've been sent to deal with this man to be given a chance at double 0 status.
Cut back to Men's toilet fight. James Bond seems to overwelm villain. The villain has dropped his gun and lies motionless
Cut back to the office. We've concluded that this could be Bond's second kill. He dispaches the office worker
Cut back to toilet fight. As Bond turns to pick up his gun the villain starts to sturr. He grabbs his gun(camera become the eye of the barrel) but befor he can shoot Bond does the classic turn and shoot that starts the title sequence.

Intro of Sleepy Hollow

I looked at this because i think it is a good example of a thriller that has a lot more scope than most genres. This is following on from the point me and Yolande made in our blog about thriller sub genres. Sleepy Hollow is a horror thriller which includes a bit of romance between Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp's characters as well as the Crime which the headless horseman comitts throughout the movie.

Title: Sleepy Hollow, 1999

Directed by: Time Burton

Staring: Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci

The first titles seem to almost swim into existence like a halucination and disapear like smoke. That and their cold colour let you know that one of the big themes in this will be ghosts or the paranormal. Also there are string instruments playing which seem to be hurried. May be there is an emergency. The scene starts with someone writing a will and testiment and cuts between that and what looks like dripping blood as the music plays out. It turns out that the blood is not blood but wax used to seel a letter which makes you think that even though it's only wax, the presentation of it suggests something more gory is to come. It also shows you that this is a period piece. Hardly anybody seels letters with wax anymore. In the second scene the writer of the will and testiment is riding in a cariage. The night is dark, foggy and a strom is starting to break. Lightning tears across the night sky. The dark night is horror mes en scene and by this point we are expecting something to happen. There are lots of close ups on the tense faces of the driver and rider. Shwing!(onomatopoiea) The rider peers outside of the carriage to see the headless driver's body lolling forwards.

Box Office Figures

I regularly read Empire magasine for the film reviews and interviews and stuff and have reacently noticed that they put in the box office figures for that month so i thought that i would talk about them. Ba ck in december 2006 the Us Box office had one thriller in it at number 5 which was the covenant which grossed $22.2 million in four weeks. In the Uk box Office there was only one thriller film which was children of men which grossed £2.98 million in 2 weeks. This shows that back in 2006 there were people going and wanting to see thriller films. In January 2007 there were three thriller films on the US box office the departed grossed $75.1 million in a month and in the five weeks it was released it grossed over $102million. The second highest grossing film was Saw Vl which grossed $59.4million in just 2 weeks and in third place was the prestige which grossed $39.1 million in three weeks. In the Uk box office that month the departed grossed £9 million in 5 weeks and Saw Vl grossed £5.6 million in 2 weeks. Fast forward to September 2008 and there are still 3 thriller films in the US Box Office top five. Hancock is number one with $164.1m in 2 weeks third was Wanted which grossed 112.5million in 3 weeks and finally Get Smart which grossed 202.1million six weeks. In the Uk Box Office Hancock was number one again grossing £16.7 million in 2 weeks. Prince caspian was third with £9.6 million in 3 weeks and wanted was fourth with £7 million in three weeks. This shows that there still is a really big market for thriller films and that the audiences are out there and waiting to watch thrillers. This also shows that there is a very wide audience of thriller lovers and it is not just the 18-25 year olds that enjoy thrillers but most adults do. Not only that but it also shows that more people are now going to the movies as the films are grossing more money.

Seven

I decided to watch seven this week and i have reviewed the opening. The sound is really simplistic with a lot of dark shadows all over the place. All the people are in very old looking suits and the silence at the begginning with the feint siren as detective somerset is getting ready makes it seem really scary as it is soo quiet it also helps the detective to seem really alone. the way they keep the policemen in the dark is very film noir. You never get to see his face you are totally focused on Brad Pitts character. The town is also really clever as it looks really grubby and old and the pathetic fallacy as it is raining. Also as they walk down the street you really get a sense of the two characters in the may Morgan Freeman walks and is uninterrupted whereas Brad Pitt keeps walking into everybody. The colours used for Morgan Freemans house are very drab it seems like all the colour has drained from his house in the same way everything has drained from his life and he just wants to give up. The mise en scene of the opening seems very dark and sombre as if something big is about to happen but none of the characters no it yet. The music of the begginning is really confusing and when teamed with the images it just makes you ask loads of questions about what is going on and what are all the pictures and notebooks about.

One Hour Photo

Another thriller that i have watched the opening of was One Hour Photo. The opening sequence are really clever especially the way that the words fade in and out like on a photocopyer.The use of the machine noise and the music makes it seem very eery and the black on white is very simple and stylistic. The still shot on the camera really helps to add suspense and it really gives you the sense that something horrible is about to happen. The wide shot in the interrogation room makes it also feel really impersonal. The close ups of the chracters face also help to make the viewer feel really awkwardand none of the shots tilt or pan which makes them seem very much like photos. The use of the non-diegetic sound building to the camera flash also really helps to add suspense and the silence also makes robin williams character feel very alone and it makes you feel very uncomfortable. The mise en scene seems very clinical and clean. When i watched the film i originally felt really sorry for robin williams character but after watching the film and watching the film again it made me view it in a whole different light and it actually really creeped me out.

Film Noir

Created in the 1910's- 20's, film noir saw the merging of the german expressionism and the italian neo- realism. Two very disimilar ideas but merged to help start the ideas of film noir. The idea was used to help show the inner darkness and feelings of characters not just in the actor, but in the suroundings.

The ideas and influences for the movement was seen in the developments in theater, photography, paintings. these influences may be why people refured to it as painting on screen The idea wasn't originally suited to places like america but was embraced by the europe. However this changed in the 1940-50 when the film noir seemed to take over the american screens and therefore the films of the world. The term was first used by a french critic Nino Frank in 1946 and thus the name was born.

Film Noir was often used in films that had a rather dark tone to them. Often the followed a murder story of some sort. Film makers found that these were films that drew in audiences and were cheap to make due to the lak of needing to touch up of try to enhance the lighting on set and in the editing. Therefore they were made in abundance, and in a space of a decade the craze of film noir as over. However it influences can still be seen in fil today.

Film makers like Billy Wilder double indemnity 1944 directed one of the first big time noir films. One of the most iconic is Touch of evil 1958. A thriller to use a lot of the ideologies of the film noir was a film called Odds Aginst the Tommorow 1959 directed by Robert wise. An all time classic film made after the film noir craze but heavily relied on some if its ideas was Taxi Driver directed be Martine Scorsese 1976. Staring thriller icons such as Al pucino and Jodie Foster. Michel Mann is another director who has frequently used film noir influences in films like Heat. Most recently The dark knight directed by Christopher Nolan. All these films that i have mentioned above are classed as thrillers and all have paid homage to the movment of Film Noir. Its important influence is improssible to deny.

Defining the Genre

I have found a quintessential guide to a classic thriller in the library. this is what the story line is for most thrillers in the same way you could right about what happens i n a romantic comedy.

A relatively innocent character who normally avoids commitment and dissociates from conflict in life is abruptly caught in the snare of a menacing conspiracy. The character is completely bewildered and wants nothing more than to return to the normalcy of everyday life, but a powerful antagonist is committed to killing the main character in order to achieve a goal that threatens not only the protagonist, but the community at large. The protagonist, spurred by uncontrollable panic, runs to escape the antagonist, yet soon discovers that not only is escape impossible, but that there is no help forthcoming from supposed friends or trusted institutions. Instead, the protagonist must act alone by acquiring the strength of self sufficiency and out-maneuvering the antagonist in a battle of wits until, in the final confrontation, the protagonist defeats the menace by attacking the antagonist's vulnerability and exposing evil. Having changed from an avoider of conflict to a self-sufficient person, the protagonist now must face the larger world with a keenly sharpened vigilance.

Neil D. Hicks (2002). Writing The Thriller Film The Terror Within. California: Michael Wise Productions. p135.

This is really interesting as it shows what happens in the classic thriller film. this is really helpful for when we begin to come up with our story-line for a thriller as we will have this to work against to make sure that we are fitting everything in and that it is a thriller film.

Memento

I watched the opening to Mento and thought that it tlooks like a really good thriller. The titles are really clever in the way they fade in and out. it is all very simple and plain with very ominous sonuding music that really helps to build suspense. You desperatelt try and figure out what is going on in the picture and the harder you try the more that it fades. The shots that are used are very film noir a lot like in Sin City particularly when he wakes up in the hotel room and Guy Pearce is narrating. The Mise-en-scene is very dramatic with the blood and the beard of the character immediately makes him untrustworthy. The diegetic sound of the photo shaking adds drama and the scream of the man is very chilling. Another clever thing about the opening is the way the camera cuts to extreme close ups of the objects like the blood and you never get to see the full picture. It is really clever the way the action moves backwards. Immediately your mind starts asking questions about what is going on.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=J_VRZJf91nw

Today was the editing stage of the prelim exercise. i enjoy working with final cut pro and found this quite easy and really ebjoyable. the hard parts of the lessons was the match on action shots. The shot of Taio walking into the classroom was very difficult to get it too look right from botht the sides of the doors. The other hard part was matching the panning shot of Taio crossing the room and the POV shot of him saying his line to me. Sadly we found out that we didn't really have a proper panning shot because the only one that actually worked one of our people was in the shot. This meant that we needed to do a little bit of swapping around but other than that the finished product does look good. There was also one shot that i was a little dissapointed in. I had the idea to put the camera inside the lost and found box and then have it looking up at me while i rummaged through it but it didn't quite turn out the way that i had hoped. It still looks good but not as good as i had hoped that it would.

Preliminary Exercise

Today we actually filmed the prelim exercise. it was really enjoyable and we had our storyboard all ready to go and so we just had to follow it off. we had a little trouble at one point because we wanted to use a pan shot to see the person come in but sadly we had to use match in action. This wasn't difficult to do it just meant that we had to go back and film a couple of things again to make sure they worked. the hard part of the task was we wanted to film a POV shot and i needed to hold the camera because i was the actor being used. we decided not to use the tripod as then it would be more realistic because you are always moving. This also is the way the POV shots are done in Peep Show so i think this was the right thing to do. The hard part was trying to think how i would follw somebody walking towards me. would i pan up to keep there head in shot or wood i keep it level. Another thing that i found difficult was the continuity. Because w e did it in a classroom with peoples stuff in we had to make sure that no one came ina and picked up there stuff or moved it so this was a problem as the lesson drew to a close.

Preliminary Exercise

Today we got the cameras from our lesson and had a little play. The school has got new cameras since my GCSE project but they are basically the same as the cameras we used. It was nice to mess about witht the cameras and just have a little practice before. The hardest part i found today was making sure that the tripod was level so that the shot looked ok and that it wasn't on a slant. I was more focused on trying to get Yolande and Christian to have a go so me and Taio took a back seat. They have never used the camera before so we needed to make sure that they got to try everything and to make sure that they knew what to do.

Thriller Subgenres

A thriller is generally is a fast paced, action packed drama with quite resouseful characters. Although it can be catagorized very easily it usually includes more than one genre, which becomes the subgenre. in order to make a good Thriller it must contain suspense, clifhangers, puzzles. As long as you have these elements a Thriller can be set practally anywhere like, an exotic setting, rural areas, deserts, polo regions etc.

The general characteristics of a thriller varies like mystery stories, crime/mass murder, terrorism, assassination. They mostly deal with quite big issues, there are usually mysteries to solve and suspense is held until confrontation; in the plot there is usually a twist in the plot.

Sub- genres

• sci-fi thrillers (I, Robot), A thriller where technology ahead our time plays a large part
  
• Action thriller (The Matrix) Usually
  
• Conspiracy thriller (Enemy of the State)A violent confrontation of a hero in front of a group of enemies.
• crime thriller (Righteous kill)
  
• Disaster thriller (The Day After Tomorrow)
• Eco-thriller (The Day After Tomorrow)
  
• Erotic thriller(Basic Instict)
  

Christian and Yolande

Match On Action

This is used to explain the cutting between two different camera angles but continue showing the action in the scene at the same point in time. Without this, you will find that your work will not make sense. This could be the difference between continuity editing and dis- continuity editing

Continuity editing

For our preliminary exercise we were introduce to some media terms. One of these was continuity editing, which is basically editing a clip so that the appearance of the scene stays the same and nothing seems to magically appear or disappear. For example if a bag is on a table in on shot it needs to stay on the table for next.

Video form http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NoiVAPY_ww

In the first scene the laptop remains on the girls lap after every cut. This is an example of continuity editing.

Group

The Begginning

We are group one. In our group their is Jack Perry, Christian Graham, Yolande Bramble-Carter and Taio Rene-Lawson. Taio and I did the GCSE media course and have some minor experience of using the cameras as we made a soap opera opening sequence last year. Christian and Yolande are brand new.