Thriller The Genre

Thriller (genre)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A common theme in thrillers involves innocent victims dealing with deranged adversaries, as seen in Hitchcock's film Rebecca (1940), where Mrs. Danvers tries to persuade Mrs. De Winter to

leap to her death.

 

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements.^[1] Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror. Thriller films tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.<sup>[2][3]


Above is the Wikipedia definition of a thriller. As we are now doing an evaluation and I have been writing up previous evaluations of style models I thought it would be quite effective to look back and see how we have adhered to the genre, as this is also a question in our evaluation. Wikipedia above states that thrillers use suspense and tension, this was something blatantly seen in all style models and something we really wanted to strive to achieve. To do this we had to use music and editing, stocato to legato can transfer the piece in seconds and we used this to our advantage. Quick cuts can also alter the suspense as the pace evokes tensions. Although we subverted the "fast paced" part if you look at our piece as a whole, the climax of our piece is extremeley fast paced and would not have the effect if we didnt create the anxiety and uncertainty leading up to this to allow for surprise.</sup>

The music of this title sequence instantly sets the mood and atmosphere with its fast tempo. The changes in tempo switching from stoccato to legato with alterring volume convey a certain atmosphere, keeping the audience wondering. The audience is first shown a black screen with white lights which creates mystery and is also ironic as the film is called red lights. .

The use of black on white seems simple but works for this genre as it keeps it mysterious and bland allowing the audience to think not much is going on, letting the content have a bigger effect.  In this sequence the font of the titles is quite plain but with a variety of effects the audiences attention is drawn to the writing and its movement.

The black and white effect used also by Saul Bass adds to the eerieness and allows quite a lot of suspicion and curiosity as we are hidden from the colour of what is happening. The black screens make it seem dark and mysterious and allow the content to have more of an impact as it contrasts better.

 The colour red connotes danger so these red lights let the audience know that there is danger or violence involved and foreshadow what is going to happen. The consistency of the colour scheme and now splash of red becomes striking and effective.

The suspense has been built up throughout the title sequence by the crescendo of the music and the fast paced cuts. As the music fades out and it cuts into a plane flying ready for the film to start making the audience question what relevance the title sequence has and ensuring they are on edge for the duration.

Analysis Red Lights

The music of this title sequence instantly sets the mood and atmosphere with its fast tempo. The changes in tempo switching from stoccato to legato with alterring volume convey a certain atmosphere, keeping the audience wondering. The audience is first shown a black screen with white lights which creates mystery and is also ironic as the film is called red lights. The use of black on white seems simple but works for this genre as it keeps it mysterious and bland allowing the audience to think not much is going on, letting the content have a bigger effect. In this sequence the font of the titles is quite plain but with a variety of effects the audiences attention is drawn to the writing and its movement.
The colour red connotes danger so these red lights let the audience know that there is danger or violence involved and foreshadow what is going to happen. The consistency of the colour scheme and now splash of red becomes striking and effective. The black and white effect used also by Saul Bass adds to the eerieness and allows quite a lot of suspicion and curiosity as we are hidden from the colour of what is happening. The black screens make it seem dark and mysterious and allow the content to have more of an impact as it contrasts better.
The suspense has been built up throughout the title sequence by the crescendo of the music and the fast paced cuts. As the music fades out and it cuts into a plane flying ready for the film to start making the audience question what relevance the title sequence has and ensuring they are on edge for the duration.

Analysis Red Lights

The music of this title sequence instantly sets the mood as it has a fast tempo and seems quite scary. It begins quite loud and constantly changes tempo switching from stoccato to legato while also changing volume, this will keep the audience on edge and wondering what is going to happen. The audience is first shown a black screen with white lights which creates mystery and is also ironic as the film is called red lights. It then becomes apparent to the audience that these white lights are shown continuosly throughout the sequence.

These lights then tuen into the titles which are shown in white writing on a black bakground the whole way through. This seems simple but works for this genre as it keeps it mysterious and not too colourful and happy. We have used this idea for ours by having the titles flashing up in white writing on a black screen to add to the tension and unease of our target audience. In this sequence the font of the titles is quite plain but they appear and disappear randomly with different affects added such as one word at a time going and fashing on and off. This puts the audience on edge and works with the horror/thriller genre as the audience don't know what is going to happen next.

The whole sequence is in black and white which make it mysterious as the audience don't know why. It also adds to the eerieness as bright colours woukld make it seem more happy and would deteriorate from the titles and the close ups of different things shown. We used this idea in ours to a certain extent, we did use colour but added effects to make it darker as we thought this worked better than just using black and white for our title sequence. In this title sequence the black screen is also shown all the way through with close ups of different things appearing all the time.

The red lights that appear while the title of the film is being shown are the only thing that is in colour. This again adds mystery for the audience as they will stand out and they will want to know what significance these red lights have in the film. It will also make the title stand out as the title is 'red lights'. The colour red connotes danger so these red lights appearing may show the audience that something bad is about to happen.

At the beggining of the sequence little is shown and it is always close ups but throughout there are more and more things shows and there are the whole of thing shown so it becomes more apparent to the audience what is happening and what the film is going to be abouut. It also becomes lighter towards the end with more white being shown rather than black adding to the mysteriousness.

The sequence ends quite suddenly. The tension has beein built up by the crescendo of the music and the fast paced cuts and the audience are in suspense and mystery wondering what is going to happen. The music fades out and it cuts into a plane flying ready for the film to start which contrasts with the rest of the sequence as it seems quite normal sanf this is now in colour rather than black and white.

Analysis Cape Fear

Once again I have chosen to analyse a title sequence by Saul Bass. He excels in this genre and his techniques are something we attempted to interpret in our piece.
The title sequence begins with moving water that seems tranquil yet disturbed as there is waves rippling through the water yet it seems peacefully. There is then an eagle swooping that is blended in, probably with opacity, over the water. The bird of prey contrasts against this still moving water making it seem unsettling. The music works really well with the piece as although the movements are quite simple and dont seem particularly dangerous the audience is aware both can kill you and this is reflected in the music. The deep low tone of the music is combined with harsh striking noises that make the atmosphere more tense. The simplistic white font as is used in many of Saul Bass' pieces works particularly well as the content and footage is dark allowing the text to serve its purpose and stand out without taking over the scene.
The incorporation of the eyes like in Storm Center make the audience anxious as we can only see the eyes, this makes the audience concentrate very deeply on the eye movements and the pupils which are stuttery and dilated. The looking around of the eyes makes the audience feel like they should be expecting something and cautious of what is about to happen, the music adds to this feel. The darkening of the water and contrasting titles takes the audience focus away from the eyes and bird of prey and the change in music seems more calm, however, this allows for the suspense to be built again with the music and the character to be revealed behind the waves of the water.
The movement of the water becomes the most effective part of this piece as it is consistent and seems quite hypnotising but then as you feel settled with the water something appear behind it to knock you off guard. There are many connotations that could be drawn from this, we could question what is distubring the water or is it to connote that all is not as it seems and it is not rippling water there is more to it. The music works well in this piece as there is a consistent rhythm which can convince the audience into thinking there is just rippling water on the screen but with the addition of trumpets and a little high melody added over the top the suspense is built and the audience is prepared to see something, when the character is shown behind the water not much is seen adding mystery and an uneasy feel.
There is a running theme of mystery in Saul Bass title sequences and I think this is the most effective part of it. You never quite know what to expect and are always questioning why things are happening, these questions are more than likely going to make you carry on watching the film which is the main aim. The use of opacity consistently reminds us there is more to what we are seeing and the limited view of the eyes allows for the audience to look more closely into what is going on.

Analysis Storm Center

After a black and white Columbia logo, the title sequence begins with an open book of text in black and white. Titles begin to appear in white contrasting against the black and white of the shot and black writing on the paper highlighting the name. The use of fading and opacity to the blinking eyes works particularly well as the movement and face so close is not expected after the bland text. We used this in our title sequence as we thought opacity was a brilliant effect and way of creating atmosphere. The layering of the book of text, face and a title gives the possible connotation that there is more to things than meets the eye and is lots going on. The jerky movements of the eyes looking around arouses suspicion and anxiety to the audience. The audience wonder what the character is looking at as his dilated pupils look scared, causing the same effect for watchers.
The jerky and unnerving music with the spooky droning undertone that has sharp and harsh noises over the top causes the audience to be consistently on edge. The dwelling of the boy looking around over the book causes the audience to possibly lose interest but the sudden change in music and igniting of the page in flames is likely to shock the audience who have been concentrated on quite a plain scene. The black and white effect of the fire shows it not to be red and connoting danger but rather the audience focus on the movement of the flames and how it is destroying the pages, nearing the boys face. The characters eyes are now fixed creating more anxiety, the page fully ignites in flames and the audience is left questioning what this connotes and what has happened to the boy, what the relevance of the book is and why they are being burnt.

In my opinion this does everything a title sequence should do and is so well constructed. The effect of black and white manages to not dull the shot but rather create more mystery, the layering of the pages of text with the face and then the flames is a combination of brilliance. The title sequence is so simple yet so effective, the variety of different interpretations various people could get from that simplistic few minutes is extraordinary. The eye movements and flames evoke a range of emotions amongst the audience and this does exac

Analysis Se7en

The title sequence for the film Se7en is said to have rejuvenated title sequences. After an unsuccessful first practise at title sequences we decided to focus on the horror/thriller genre and after watching this title sequence we were sold.

The music begins suddenly as we see a book on the screen, focusing we see movement behind the book as our attention is suddenly distrated to "New Line Cinema Presents" which creates an uneasy feel as we are unsure of the movement but have just been directed to a different area of the screen. It is clear within seconds that this title sequence is uncomfortable and possibly confusing. The text is fairly bland leaving the audience curious of the fairly blank first shot. The atmosphere changes at we see the first title, the screen goes black and white writing flickers on the screen fading to reveal a picture of hands. The title shot makes the audience feel uneasy as it is a contrast to the fairly light shot we saw first and the uncomfort of the flickering words leaves us on edge. The screen going black makes the audience wary of what is going to be revealed when the title goes.
The cuts now speed up and we see very close up shots shots of what looks like a revolver, we are now being introduced to the types of props that this title sequence incorporates and it is clear violence is involved. The violence of the props is not exaggerated and it is possibly the subtlty that makes it more unnerving as it makes for a creepy atmosphere and constant curiosity. The absence of dialogue also adds to this effect. The consistent title cuts are the only thing that is consistent in the title sequence, the music gives a steady tone but sound effects like screeching are added at alterring moments creating anxiety and an uneasy feel. The cut to the razor blade and finger with grubby fingers and the scraping of skin starts to introduce a gruel edge to the sequence.
Throughout the title sequence a lot of the shots are quite confusing and the audience is unaware of what is happening in them, this makes the audience watch more carefully which adds more effect to the quick shots of gruesome things such as a doll. We are never revealed to the character who we see carrying out the tasks which creates more mystery, instead we see shadows and close ups of the fingers, it is suggested the character is male due to the lack of hygience and the props associated with the character. The looking through books and writing make it seem as though something is being planned and throughout the title sequence we question what is being planned.
The links between the doll, the razor and the book with words crossed out revealing "pregnant" and "smell" give a worrying effect to the audience as this could connote death to a child or pregnant woman if using the previous links. We also see "fantasizing" which could be inferred as what the character is doing as he plans. At around 1:15 the tempo of the background music speeds up as does the cuts and we see flashes of red onto the dull muted colour scheme, suggestion our previous suspicions of danger and violence. Pictures of people and gruesome torturing pictures reveal that the man could be planning torture and that is why we are seeing blunt and possibly harmful tools juxtaposed with people and planning with writing and media. There is one line of dialogue at the end of the title sequence which is a harsh and shouting voice which links with the other violent things we have scene.
The title sequence creates constant anxiety as we see the character planning something and doing certain tasks, this leaves the audience asking what he is doing and paying more interest to the screen which makes the introduction of more violence effective on the audience. The lack of dialogue and consistent close up shots throughout create an unnerving and uneasy effect on the audience as the lack of knowledge and mystery of the character leave the audience in the unknown. I think the most effective part of this title sequence is the mystery and this being consistent throughout, we are constantly questioning what is happening and this makes for an effective title sequence to make people want to watch the film. The unusual but effective just use of mise en scene and props works well with the violence of the film by foreshadowing it but with subtle references and not giving much away.

The story so far... Mid-Editing

SO FAR
We have edited our title sequence to our first rough draft in two days, pretty quick turn around.
We have constructed just under 2 minutes of footage where you see a girl walking to a house and a person inside the house waiting for her. There are constant jump cuts from the girl walking to the perosn walking round the house, there are also shots of the person in the house burning pictures of the girl which makes it seem as though she is walking to danger. We have played around with opacity and crossfading to show the two journeys and show how the girl is vulnerable, with props, and in danger which the audience know and she does not creating an uncomfortable effect. We have consistently kept POV shots around the house to see props clearly and give background for the girl alongside setting for the film. The frequent use of cutting creates uncomfort and confusion which we hope will make the suspense towards the climax at the end more effective.


TO DO
We are going to continue editing our title sequence and tweaking certain things to make it the best it can be. We are considering deleting some footage as it will be more effective regarding suspense for the climax if it is more concise and the footage is relevant, with no repeated footage. We also need to find some sound to fit the piece and we are going to use www.incompetech.com to find some copyright free music that creates an eerie atmosphere.

Planning/Into action Conventions 2

Horror/thriller research.

• After watching various title sequences for horror and thriller films we have found that there is often few characters involved and the setting is usual rural or urban and very isolated to make it seem deserted and hard to escape from. We have only included one character in the sequence that you can see and the second character is not visually revealed.
• We found that there is a lot of POV shots to make the audience see what is happening from the characters eyes whether this be the antagonist or protagonist. This can make the audience feel more involved and connected to the film possibly making it more scary. We used this effectively by having one character all POV shots.
• There is a running theme of the audience knowing things that the characters dont which creates more involvement and suspense. We used this in our title sequence as the audience are aware of the person in the house and the character approaching is not.
• Props are essential in the title sequence as it is unlikely that the drama or violence is going to commence at this point as there will be a large build up to this in the film however there is often use of props such as knives to connote and foreshadow the danger to follow. We have decided to use scissors, pins and fire for this reason.
• Low key lighting is effective in creating an uncomfortable atmosphere as you cannot see everything that is happening and the audience is on edge as to what may be hiding.
• We particularly liked how some films didnt incorporate the titles into the film but rather had a black screen seperate with writing on. We have used this in our title sequence as it makes it more unsettling and dark.
• There is frequent use of zooming to things of relevance or things to distract the attention of the audience. We decided to zoom to various pictures on a picture board to make it as though the audience are looking like the character is and zoomed in on the girl to show her vulnerability on the photo.
• Jump cuts are consistently used in our favourite style models. We found the use of jump cuts makes you constantly wondering what is happening and at times confused, but we liked this effect. We used lots of jump cuts from the two characters to signify journeys they were both on and creat and uncomfortable unnerving effect.
• We found there is often little sound in the title sequence and the sound that there is is very subtle. This creates a certain atmosphere as it is not overpowering but still significant.

Risk Assessment 2

DARKNESS
We are filming most of our footage in darkness which may cause hazards such as falling
To resolve this we are going to try and do as many of the shots in daylight and add an effect later to make it darker. The shots we are going to do in darkness will be cleared of all objects that could cause a hazard and a torch will be used to provide lighting.

FIRE
In one shot we are burning a picture which causes an obvious hazard and possible injury.
To resolve this we are going to do this scene near a sink with water in so there is a quick way to put the fire out if it becomes out of control. As a prop we are using gardening gloves for the person who is in the house to add mystery and these are fire resistant.

SHARP OBJECTS
We are using pins to attach photos to a board and scissors to cut a picture up, which could cause injury.
To resolve this we are going to use the gardening gloves appropriately to avoid injury.

THE WATCH

After watching a few examples of title sequences we saw a particular one that used the sound of a watch ticking throughout which created consistent suspense and mystery. We decided this would fit well with our concept as the person is waiting for the girl and he is waiting for her so we are going to use close ups of the watch face and maybe speed them up to emphasise the time period and use the watch as the theme throughout the piece. We have decided that at the end of the piece there is going to be lots of quick cuts from the watch to the girl to the watch to the person and so on with a fast pace so that the pace is increased along with the suspense to create the climax of the door opening.

Planning Camera shots 2

Close ups

• The girls props and outfit to show her character
• Close ups on the photos to set the background and show what the "person" is paying interest to
• We are going to use close ups of photographs and pay particular attention to the hands of the person and the gestures they are doing to make the person seem more intriguing

POV

• The "persons" watch to emphasise the title of our piece which is Waiting. This suggests the person knows she is coming home and is waiting for her where as she is oblivious
• The rooms that the person is looking round so it does look as if we are looking with them and seeing what they are

Long shot/establishing shot

• We are going to get some long shots of the house with possibly the person walking round from the back so the scene is set and it is obvious it is a house
• Long shots of the girl walking home so we see what she is doing before we concentrate on who she is

Medium shot

• Medium shots of the setting in the house and the girl walking home will help the close ups and long shots flow together more and be the middle part to the intricate and establishing shots

Split Screen?
We have added a split screen to our two previous projects and have pretty much mastered how to do it and have found it always gets commented on positively whenever we include it. In this genre, thriller, we can use the split screen to emphasise how the two people are going to come to meet and this is going to bet the climax that the tension/atmosphere/suspense is built up to.

Planning Mise en scene 2

One of our main aims is to present the characters through mise en scene and visual techniques rather than dialogue which can be easily cheesy and change the atmosphere to one less desirable.

We hope to portray the girl as young and vulnerable possibly even stereotypical as this makes the girl less specific and more relatable to a wider audience.
Possibilities:

• Skirt - feminime
• Bracelets - teenager?
• School bag - young
• Smiling with little make up - vulnerable/angellic?

The "person" isnt going to be seen as this is the whole point of the title sequence as to why this person is in her house what he is going to do and what is going to happen when she gets to the house.. which will be revealed in the rest of the film.

The props in the house will be things like looking through drawers where there will be items such as jewellery or stereotypical girly things.. maybe looking round her room at figurines of ballerinas or posters of boybands showing she is just a normal girl. There is to be close ups on photoframes to set some background for the girl, mostly pictures with family members to make her seem more vulnerable.

Ideas

Thriller
IDEA ONE:

• A girl walking home through woods (shelf woods) and someone is watching her whilst she is walking through.
• Use completeley POV for the person who is watching so it is mysterious
• Do long shots of woods for a range of shots
• Increase pace towards end as though getting chased

Problems: Everyone in the whole entire world (slight exaggeration) does someone getting chased through a woods - orginality.


IDEA TWO:

• Someone searching for someone in a crowd stopping in slow mo on certain people
• Could be someone getting chased through a crowd or someone who is lost
• Use close ups of certain people to give off certain atmosphere

Problems: Not much opportunity for a variety of camera shots and limited to what can do as needs to be consistently in the crowd, could be misleading.



IDEA THREE:

• Someone is in a girls house as she walks home from school
• Cuts from the girl to the person in the house increasing suspense and making it seem like a journey reaching a climax
• Dont come to a  final climax as this can be the beginning of the film
• Use the silhouette of the person and POV shots for mystery
• Search through things such as drawers and looking at photo frames
• Use lots of mise-en-scene with the girl to show her character visually
• End with the girl opening the door

THIS IS SUPRISINGLY THE ONE WE WISH TO PURSUE SO HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE NO PROBLEMS!

Change of plan!

In the later stages of editing and after recieiving feedback from our peers me and Beth decided we wanted to totally start again with a new title sequence.

We decided to get our feedback verbally as it allows us to ask the person to expand or explain what they mean and possibly means they will give more detail as they arent having to take time to write it down

Top Feedback Quotes

"I thought the content was hilarious"
"The beginning part about destiny and fate is a bit too serious for the content"
"The links back to bad luck and misfortune show consistency"
"The concept is quite effective"
"The titles need to be all in the same font with same colour and size"
"The poo and wee is grim"

From our feedback and watching other peoples title sequences we realised that comedy is quite a hard genre to try and work round as everyone has different senses of humour and it is quite challenging to demonstrate skills when editing. The content and concept are too specific when doing comedy as half of the class thought the content was funny and the other half thought it was inappropriate. We have decided to attempt another title sequence and use the thriller genre with the intention to use a more effective concept with editing skills.

Things to consider for the next one:
- titles in the same font and style
- consider the concept more thoroughly taking audience into account
- plan a shooting schedule and use a storyboard more effectively so enough shots are taken and it flows

Pitch

We have faced a lot of decisions in the editing process whether it be to change the music or add an effect which we have found hard to decide whether to do or not as one little thing can change the whole tone of the sequence. We have taken to our peers to help us with these decisions and most recently asked the group next to us to watch what we have done so far and comment on what they thought could be improved. They mainly said that the editing needed improving inparticular fading and adding extra effects to make it seem more funny and modern. We asked them what they would think to a split screen and they thought this would be a good idea as our footage exceeds the time limit and it adds a bit of variation. We have decided to add a split screen where the screen splits into four and we see a zoom on each indivual piece regarding the cat and it ends in us seeing the cats poo. We also decided to do extreme fading in certain bits where he is trying to get his deodrant can to work as this adds more comedy value. We are continuing to edit our piece to its full potential but do not want to interrupt its concept of a journey with too many split screens or effects.

Music problems!

As you can see from the previous post we were planning on using a cover of Alanis Morisette's song Ironic as the backing music for our title sequence. We recorded this song after asking our friend to sing it with a piano and also recorded another song she thought would fit our piece. After putting it with our title sequence we pitched it to various members of our class and many thought that the music didnt fit. As the genre is comedy and the material is funny the dull toned song doesnt fit with the tone throughout the visual material. We have now decided to add a cover by a band we know singing Mardy Bum by Arctic Monkeys which still has a little ironic undertone to it but is more chirpy and fits with the pace of the title sequence. We have also added a definition at the beginning of our title sequence which says what fortune is in the dictionary, this is to set the scene for the title sequence and give it a definitive opening which might be difficult otherwise. We have added an alarm tone to the end of the definition to set the title sequence into motion and it works very well. Music - done.