Thriller Comparisons 2

The things that all 3 clips apart from silence of the lambs have in common is that each of the characters is being followed at some point during the opening sequence of events which must mean that this is something that is important or successful in a thriller.
There is also a difference from the DaVinci code and the other 3 clips because in the DaVinci code we are shown who the villain is when he shoots the gun but in the other 3 movies we are made to wait to find out the identity of the villain because they are either in the shadows or are in the distance and unrecognisable to us.

Call sheet

Revenge call sheet
Director:Matthew Atkinson    Emergency mobile:07854758942
Producer:Matthew Atkisnon
1st AD:None
Location:15 otter way
Set:House. Description:Shots of both actors walking into the house and then one man sees another man pop up in the window. Actors involved:Scott Pope, Jake Beal and Simon Scorer
Set:Outside of house. Description:Varied amounts of shots of them walking down the street to the steps where one dies. Actors involved:Scott Pope, Jake Beal and Simon Scorer

Crew Call:Matthew Atkinson
Cast Call:Scott Pope, Jake Beal and Simon Scorer
Date:13th of April 2013
Weather:Sunny
 

Cast shots

 These are cast shots of scott who plays the protagonist in the thriller

 These are cast shots of Simon who plays the antagonist roel in the thriller

 These are cast shots of jake who plays the helper role on the thriller

The theory my thriller follows

The theory that I think applies to my thriller is propp's theory, he argued that, whatever the difference between stories and fairy tales, they all share the same internal structure.
I think that my thriller follows this theory because the story has a clear and definitive hero which is the character that dies in the thriller and it has a clear villain which is of course the person who kills the hero in the end. The helper in the story is the other person who walks away from the house with the hero as they are being followed by the villain.

Evaluation script

Evaluation script Media

In what ways does your media product, use develops or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I realised that certain aspects of my opening to my thriller would have to be similar to that of someone established in the thriller industry and I chose to use conventions that the director Alfred Hitchcock used, I studied him and his thrillers and saw ways that he used these conventions and I tried to put those into my thriller while trying to make my thriller have its own identity in the industry. The ways I think that I used these conventions was I used suspense in my film rather than surprise which Hitchcock did in most of his films I also used small sharp cuts from shot to shot to build suspense. But I used slow motion to make the dramatic parts of my thriller more intense and dramatic to the audience. I think these conventions helped to give my thriller its own image rather than a copy of a Hitchcock film

How does your media product represent certain social groups?

I feel I have used the stereotype that people assume teenagers to be in my thriller for example reckless which is shown by the gambling at the start of the opening as the titles come onto the screen, also rude which is shown by the small amount of language that is used in the opening to my thriller and I think I have shown them as being rebellious which is a common assumption that teenagers are rebellious in my thriller the teenager is being rebellious against the law by committing a crime.

What type of media institution might your product is distributed by and why?

I think that my thriller would be distributed by Studio Canal who distributed most of the films that Alfred Hitchcock made during his career as a director. I think that they will distribute my product because it is similar to that of a Alfred Hitchcock film in most of its conventions which I mentioned  earlier in my evaluation and it also has its unique conventions that make it different from his films which are also mentioned earlier in my evaluation.

 

 

Who are the Audience?                                                                        

The audience for my thriller are people between the ages of 15-22 in the A and B social groups because I think that some of the language involved in my thriller is too mature for people under the age of 15. And I think that the A and B social groups will be able to understand and follow the storyline from the start to the finish of the thriller because they have to make the link between the opening shots of them playing poker and the fact that the person dead is the one who won the hand at the start of the thriller which may be a bit more complicated for someone lower down the social ladder to make that connection between those 2 sections of the thriller.

 

What my screening taught me?

What my screening taught me was that some of my shots were 2 long for example before the screening I had 1 long shot of my 2 actors walking away from the house and after showing it to my audience they gave me the feedback and I have now broken down the walking parts of my thriller down into small shots of different angles so that the viewer doesn’t feel that one shot is there for 2 long.

Also I found out from my audience that they thought my thriller needed more dialogue or music and afterwards I added the song to the start and more suspense style sounds such as the heartbeat which I thinks builds tension and make my thriller better than it was before I also added slow motion to give it a dramatic effect and so the audience know that that part is important in the thriller.

 

What have you learnt about technology in the process?

I have learnt that the sun affects the way that people are seen on the camera and this caused me too have to refilm all of the parts of the actor by the window to make sure that he was visible from the start of his section to the end. Also I learnt that the macs can work at times and other times choose not to work which I overcame by saving my project a lot and making sure that I didn’t lose any of my work on the thriller’s editing. Also I learnt that burning my project to a DVD would take a long time and that I would have to allow for this time when trying to budget my time so that I could hand my project in on time.

 

What I have learnt from doing my preliminary?

I have learnt from my preliminary that certain shots work for a thriller and that some do not I think I found out that close ups worked in my preliminary and I transferred that across to my real thriller which I used when the actor is opening the door which is a similar shot to the one that is used in my preliminary, also from my preliminary I learnt that certain editing effects would work well in my thriller and I used the letterboxing effect in both my preliminary and my actual thriller because I believed that it worked well in both and therefore I used it. What I also learnt form my preliminary was that I didn’t want much dialogue in my thriller because I thought that I could build suspense by not using dialogue because I think the dialogue in my preliminary was not very good. Also the preliminary was very good in it taught me that certain things I would have tried to do in my thriller wouldn’t work and therefore there was no need to put them into my storyboard because it would just be changed when it came to filming and editing.

 

What would you do differently if you could do it again?

I would choose a different actor to play the role of the person who dies because I feel the way that that person acted it was not very good because they did not portray any emotion or facial expression in the filming despite being asked to do so and I feel that limited how good my thriller could be and him not doing so I think damaged the quality of the thriller because if he had acted it better than my thriller overall would have benefited from that. What I also think I would do differently is the location because I think that if I had a different location I could have maybe chosen somewhere that was a bit more gloomy and dark instead of the place that I did film in because it was quite bright and open and after thinking about it next time I would want a gloomy and closed area because I think it would suit a thriller more than where I filmed my thriller. What I would also do differently is that I would try to avoid using the macs because they gave me problems because they kept crashing and made me lose some of my work on thriller and then I had to spend extra time replacing what I had lost when it crashed but I did find a way round this and it was to keep saving my project so that I could limit what I would lose when it crashed.

Copy of Questionaire for focus group

1. What did you enjoy about the opening ?
2. What did you think was the best part of the opening?
3. Why did you think that this part of the opening was strong?
4. What did you think i need to improve about the opening of my thriller?
5. Why was this weak?
The analysis of what they gave me.
From the feedback that i got from my target audience i found that they liked the way that i included lots of different transitions to try and make the audience confused. They also liked the way that i used lots of different angles of my 2 actors walking so as no to have one very long shot which would make my opening boring and predictable but with cuts from angle to angle there is a sense that anything could happen after one of the cuts. A weakness that they told me was that the fact that with no dialogue for large parts of the opening i needed to put more sound effects and music into the opening so it is not completely silent at times in the opening.

Target Audience

I have identified my target audience to be people from the A and B group of the class system because i feel that my thriller is a pschycological thriller and will need to be thought about and i feel that the A and B section is the best section of that classification for my thriller. The age group i think that my thriller should be aimed at is 15 and above because i think that the film will be too complex for people under the age of 15 and there is swearing in the start of my thriller and that language is not acceptable for people under the age of 15 in my opinion.

Filming

The problems that I had with my filming was that the first time that I filmed I filmed on a sunny day and because I filmed outside for most of it if I had to reshoot some of the scenes and shots. This happened to me after I found out that there was glare from the sun on one of my actors faces and it was blacked out and couldn't be seen which was bad because I needed his face to be clear for the audience to have any chance of understanding the film opening. With filming on a sunny day also I had to refilm the parts outside which meant that I had to shoot the whole outside part again which took me a long time but in the end it worked out. I had difficulty in getting the actors because the only time I had to film was during school so I had to work round the actors and film in 2 parts when 1 of my actors had a lesson. Another problem that i had while i was filming was that the wind was very strong and it came up quite loud on the computer when i came to editing the footage that i got. But i overcame it by turning outside noise down on the computer and that made it easier for me to do things with the video and adding sound effects that make the video more suspenseful.

Copy of letter sent to homwowner

Dear Mrs Atkinson                                                                             15 otter way
                                                                                                           Royal Wootton Bassett
                                                                                                           Wiltshire
                                                                                                           SN4 7SH
Hello Mrs Atkinson I am an A-level student at Royal Wootton Bassett academy and I am studying media studies and for my production part of the course I have to create an opening to a thriller movie and I think that your house and surrounding areas would be perfect for my film opening. I am writing to you to ask your permission to use the premises of 15 otter way, which you own. A fast reply would be much appreciated as I am hoping to film my media thriller soon.
Yours sincerely Matthew Atkinson

Star Theory

Star theory
Star theory is a theory that a star is an image created on an image and is not a real person, they are shown to be someone else who will be a better image for an institution to make money, they show this by advertising, magazines and music videos.
Lots of institutions give their star a unique selling point which makes their star stand out form others that are out there.

Thriller Comparisons

Thriller comparisons

The DaVinci code (Ron Howard) The opening sequence has slow music which builds up to a climax when the DaVinci code title comes into shot; the title has a blue tinge to it. There are also fast cuts showing a man running it goes from mid shot to long shot as the camera tracks him while he is running through the shadows. There is also a long shot showing a man stalking the man who is running it is in the shadows so the identity of the man is a mystery which builds suspense for the audience. Whilst they are running past the camera there are what look like distressed paintings which matches the feelings of the man running past the painting. We are then introduced to the villain after we see a close up of a gun which then moves to his face as he removes his mask. We then see the man take the shot from a low angle and we also see the man on the floor looking up at the gun.

 

Silence of the lambs (Jonathan Demme) At the start of silence of the lambs there is a long shot of a woman coming over a hill which gradually moves into a mid-shot. There is low music in the background coming from string instruments. The lady is running and the audience don’t know why there is a slight emphasis on the woman’s breathing which makes me feel as though she has something on her mind that is making her more tired than usual. We then see a establishing shot of a dull grey big building which tells me that this place or scene will be negative because of the connotations that go with the colour grey. We then see the woman creeping round corners as if she is expecting something or someone to be on the other side of the corner but there isn’t anyone and then a blurry figure comes into the background as he starts to talk he comes into shot.

 

Strangers on a train (Alfred Hitchcock) The start has background music that is high pitch and stop start which builds tension. The first shot we see is the back of a man’s head it then moves to people talking in a room the man talking then drops his pipe in anger. The next part shows a man walking and being followed by a woman she then stops and talks to someone and then after that we see a shadow of a man in a hat at the top of a stairwell in the distance, It then gets built up with the music.

 

Eyes wide shut (Stanley Kubrick) Mid shot of a man with a long shot of a man following him, the music in the background is piano notes from both ends of the piano also the sound of footsteps is emphasised to show the pace that he is walking. The man then gets jumpy as he tries to get a taxi and gets more and more jumpy as he keeps getting rejected by those in the taxis.​

Similarity's/Differences

Has low music played with mostly string instruments which is similar to Silence of the lambs it builds suspense and then the climax to the music comes when the title appears on the screen.
The beginning shots of the characters running in both the DaVinci code and silence of the lambs are similar. But the difference is one is running from a stalker the other is running on assault course.


The DaVinci code is similar to the start of eyes wide shut because the opening scene shows the characters being stalked by another person in the opening sequence.
The differences to the 4 clips are that each clip has different instruments making the music at the start but it all sound or creates the same effect upon the audience that are watching.

Questionaire

Questionaire

Below is the link to my survey to find out what people expect and want from a thriller.
Please take the time to take it!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/S3MRSGD

Auteur's Audience

Auteurs audience

The audience for my auteur Alfred Hitchcock is people who enjoy pschycologicaly thrillers which is people in the upper class or in the A or B section of the socio demographic model because these classes are people with qualifications and high status jobs which means that they can follow the story despite it being complex and pschycologicaly hard to follow. Hitchcock also uses clever camera movements and angles which keep the audience on the edge of their seats at all times he also uses clever dialogue around words like he does in blackmail where he uses a knife as the centre of the dialogue. His films are complex and so are not for those on the lower scales of the socio economic scale because they are less likely to be able to follow the story lines in Hitchcock’s films because their education is not as good as those on the higher scales. As a film innovator, Hitchcock showed us that diverse cinematic techniques could be transformed into a powerful storytelling language. Every montage in the movies or music videos reminds us how Hitchcock made frenetic editing mainstream

Auteur study (Alfred Hitchcock)

Auteur study

Alfred Hitchcock

He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres.

He pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. He framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. His stories often feature fugitives on the run from the law alongside "icy blonde" female characters. Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of violence, murder, and crime. Many of the mysteries, however, are used as decoys or "MacGuffins" that serve the film's themes and the psychological examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual overtones. Through his cameo appearances in his own films, interviews, film trailers, and the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he became a cultural icon.

Birds

There are countless images of birds in nearly all of Hitchcock's films. Some of the most prominent are listed below.

Psycho - The film begins in Phoenix, Arizona and a Phoenix is also a mythological bird. Marion's last name is "Crane." Norman practices taxidermy as a hobby and his favorites are birds. Norman describes Marion's eating behavior as "eats like a bird".Vertigo - Gavin's last name is Elster, which is German for Magpie.The Birds - The film's plot revolves around birds attacking Bodega Bay.To Catch a Thief - Hitchcock's cameo is that of a man on a bus holding a bird cage with a bird inside it.Sabotage - the front for the bomb maker is that of a bird seller and the instructions for the bomb are in the base of a bird cage.

 

Hitchcock preferred the use of suspense over the use of surprise in his films. In surprise, the director assaults the viewer with frightening things. In suspense, the director tells or shows things to the audience which the characters in the film do not know, and then artfully builds tension around what will happen when the characters finally learn the truth.

Mothers

Mothers are frequently depicted as intrusive and domineering, or at the very least, batty, as seen in Rope, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, North by Northwest, Psycho, Shadow of a Doubt, and The Birds.

Thriller Mind Map

Thriller mind map

​

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer’s moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and or terror. Thrillers tend to be adrenaline rushing.

 

Conspiracy thriller: In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only s/he recognizes. Film examples: Awake, Snake Eyes, The Da Vinci Code, Edge of Darkness

 

Crime thriller: This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses. Film examples: Seven, No Country for Old Men, Silence of the Lambs

Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. Characters, either by accident or their own curiousness, are dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve. Characters are not reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies, but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. At times, the characters attempt solving, or are involved in, a mystery. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.

 

Political thriller: In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.

 

Erotic thriller: A type of thriller that has an emphasis on eroticism and where a sexual relationship plays an important role in the plot. It has become popular since the 1980s and the rise of VCR market penetration.

Editing

Editing

Editing controls text progression, picture relationships, rhythmic relationships, time relationships and space relationships.

Editing should be analysed in 2 ways;

Speed

Style

Editing style;

Straight cut

Fade out

Dissolve

Wipe

Jump cut

Panning goes from one side to the other from left to right. A tilt goes up and down



What is a film?

A film is a series of moving images to form a story which can be both silent or have sound can be both short and long with the purpose to entertain and inform you of information. A film can have many genres from comedy to thriller. And can have varying budgets from small to multi millions.

What you need to do before starting your movie?

Secure funding

Get all the staff/cast

Script

Location and a set

Film equipment

Special effects

Advertisement

Director

Rehearsal

Film equipment

Camera angles

Lighting

Location

Timings

Type cast- as a certain character

Editing (picture/sound)

Promotion

Premiere

Sequel????

Make advert?

Sound and Cinematography

Sound

Today in media we learnt about sound in media clips and the way that they can make the audience feel whilst watching certain genres. For example we watched a clip about a man escaping after being caught under an avalanche with a broken leg and in the clip they emphasized his breathing to show his exhaustion with the position he is in and the exhaustion of having to climb out of the one and only whole that he can find. Also in the clip as he escapes from the hole a piece of music comes on showing that his journey has just begun to get out of trouble and that his journey will be a tough one, the music shows this by it being the sort of music that has connotations with quests like Lord of the rings. We also looked at 2 other clips they were from Last king of Scotland and Slum-dog millionaire.

Sound effects

Dialogue- All the words and c=vocal expressions of the actors

Cinematography

Cinematography

Close up, Long shot, Point of view, Birds eye view, Worms eye view, Mid shot, American shot, Can be a combination of different shots, Full shot and Crane shot.

Framing

Cameras distance from the subject and the camera angle in relation to the subject and the point of view

Distance

Extreme long shot, Long shot, Mid shot, Close up, Extreme close up

Angle

High angle, Low angle

Point of view, Objective, Rule of thirds

Key terms

Movement

Pan (whip pan)

Tilt

Dolly/Tracking shot

Zoom (in and out)

Crane

Steadicam/Handheld

(Aerial shot) Flying cam