Notes on Thrillers

Se7en and Thriller Notes

The original notes I did on the opening of Se7en, along with notes on Propp, Todorov, Enigma and Narrative Theory.

Rough Cut Feedback

Feedback

Feedback Part 2

Feedback Part 3

Feedback Part 4

Feedback Part 5

Feedback Part 6 and Supernatural Thriller Moodboard



Here is the audience feedback we recieved for our thriller rough cut.

Location Shot and Psychological Thrillers

Location Shots and Psycological Thrillers.


More location shots

Crime and Thriller Moodboard

A moodboard I have done of the subgenres - crime and action.

Original Storyboards

The Storyboard of our credits with our original time plan (albeit upside down) the storyboards were slightly faded and therefore have not scanned quite as well as hoped.

Pages 1 and 3 of our storyboard. Again slightly faded.

Pages 2 and 4

Page 5.

Initial Plan

Out initial planning in note form.

Generic Thriller Research and Crime Thrillers

Generic Thriller Research – key conventions of thrillers: characters, locations, themes, narratives and so on.

“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, heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror.

A thriller is a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

Common subgenres are psychological thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers. After the assassination of President Kennedy, the political thriller genre became very popular. Another common subgenre of thriller is the spy genre which deals with fictional espionage. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock. The horror and action genres often overlap with the thriller genre.

The aim for thrillers is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats. The protagonist in these films is set against a problem – an escape, a mission, or a mystery. No matter what sub-genre a thriller film falls into, it will emphasize the danger that the protagonist faces. The tension with the main problem is built on throughout the film and leads to a highly stressful climax.

The cover-up of important information from the viewer, and fight and chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although each subgenre has its own unique characteristics and methods.

In this genre, the objective is to deliver a story with sustained tension, surprise, and a constant sense of impending doom. It keeps the audience cliff-hanging at the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax.

Thrillers tend to be fast-moving, psychological and threatening, mysterious and at times involve larger-scale villainy such as espionage, terrorism and conspiracy.

“...Thrillers provide such a rich literary feast. There are all kinds. The legal thriller, spy thriller, action-adventure thriller, medical thriller, police thriller, romantic thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, religious thriller, high-tech thriller, military thriller. The list goes on and on, with new variations constantly being invented. In fact, this openness to expansion is one of the genre's most enduring characteristics. But what gives the variety of thrillers a common ground is the intensity of emotions they create, particularly those of apprehension and exhilaration, of excitement and breathlessness, all designed to generate that all-important thrill. By definition, if a thriller doesn't thrill, it's not doing its job.” — James Patterson, June 2006, "Introduction," Thriller

Common methods and themes in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings. .

More common in mystery thrillers are investigations and the whodunit technique.

Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps, horror-of-personality, and obsession.

Elements such as fringe theories, false accusations and paranoia are common in paranoid thrillers. Threats to entire countries, spies, espionage, conspiracies, assassins and electronic surveillance are common in spy thrillers

The primary elements of the thriller genre:

• The protagonist(s) faces death, either their own or somebody else's.
• The force(s) of antagonism must initially be cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
• The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character who cannot be put down.
• The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
• The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic/natural in their representation on screen.
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
• One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
• The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a physical level, but on a mental one as well.
• Either by accident or their own curiousness, characters are dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve.
  

Characters include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, characters with deep dark pasts, psychotic individuals, spree killers, sociopaths, agents, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more.

The themes frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.

The suspense 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.

CRIME THRILLERS –

Since we have gone for an Crime Related Thriller, I have decided to go into further detail on the crime genre.

Often the two overlap. However, pure crime films/novels focus on a specific crime or set of crimes, and solving the mystery or tracking down the criminal(s), with no or little violence but more drama throughout. Thrillers are usually fiction-based and fast in pace, while crime fiction tend to be more leisurely paced, dramatic and realistic. Crime thrillers are often based on the criminal rather than the police force (not always), the crimes used on these types of movies are often murdersor theft, also some crime thrillers are often psychological, emphasising how much the criminal is smarter than the cops (for example Inside Man, Seven.)

Generally, violence is also lacking in a crime film, be it a thriller or not, but this depends if the work is based on the mafia, where violence is intense.

Crime-thrillers, on the other hand, have more threat and suspense in them and may involve espionage (spying), frequent killings and other non-criminal conflicts (i.e., Heat). In crime fiction, the hero might be a police officer, or a private eye, who can still be tough and resourceful.

He is pitted against villains determined to destroy him, although, unlike in thrillers, not necessarily other people, the country or the stability of the free world.

The conventions of a crime thriller are:

• suspenseful account of failed or successful crimes
• features - murder/robbery/shoot outs/double cross/scenarios
• can glorify the rise & fall of a criminal - often based on real people
• set in a large crowded cities to provide the viewer with an insight into a secret world
• characters have an ambitious desire for success or recognition
• rivalry between binary opposite characters is strong
• many locations - seedy & interior settings
  

Different Personalties Among Characters in Crime Thrillers

• Immoral
• Megalomania
• Intimidating
• Materialistic
• Intelligent compared to inferior characters
• Street-Smart
  
  
  Codes Used in Thriller Films
• Slow camera movements
• Slow-paced edits
• Moderate/fast paced sound (high amounts of non-diegetic sound)
• Shots used to establish a location/scene (Establishing shot, long shot or dolly shots are used often)
  
  All of these aim to increase the tension and suspense in the atmosphere of the film and consistently do so throughout the film to keep viewers enticed in the film.

Thriller Mood-Board

Angel Eyes Analysis (Note Form)

Angel Eyes

Chiming music, with black screen for start of credits, fear of unknown? Chiming could be a old grandfather clock, the clocks are typically spooky. Could reflect an heartbeat. Makes it eerie and creates a tense atmosphere through the use of black, goes into fog.

Fog makes its eerie, and sight is restricted, therefore there is a tense atmosphere from the start. Eerie opera style singing, fog opens out into an car crash. Sound bridge. Fog edited to open up, and cover the screen, then the next scene fades in, which is of Police cars, Cracked glass and stopped vehicles. 

Someone has obviously been hurt, or is dead. could be opening up for a crime thriller? Night time setting. Non Diagetic Sound of the aria singing, which comes to a crescendo and the sight of the heroine. Not stereotypical? Female as the hero?

Close up of heroine, focusing on her eyes. Links to the title 'Angel Eyes'. Quick cuts, make it disorientating so you can't quite work out what's going on, it also makes the viewer feel like they are in the persons place, not typical of camera work? POV shots are slightly shaky and therefore disorientated and make it seem. Fade to white. Then skips a year. Fade shows a passage of time. Therefore it is an temporal edit.

Vigilante type character? Gets into a fight, but argues his way out of it. Dressed in a long brown coat, stereotypical of a good guy? Wet hair, suggests he has been out in the rain, which may reflect pathetic fallacy.

Cuts to woman on date, with her hair down, different to the way she looks as a police woman. Addition of non diagetic music, to set the mood of the scene, "I'm tired" suggests that she isn't the type of girl to want to date. Shows the difference between her home life and her work life. The shot of her getting ready for work sets up that she is on the police force and therefore going out into danger.

Over the shoulder shots between the two cops, and then a mid shot of Vigilante, and a close up on face, where there is a look of realisation. In the story she is the one who saved him.Walks in from the dark and then slips back into the dark.

Woman In Black Analysis

Notes I did on paper of the first 5 minutes

Continuity Evaluation.

Splintered Kin

Taken Analysis (Note Form)

Taken

This was harder to analysis than I would have believed, mostly because none of the action starts within the first 15 minutes. 

I did get. Home movie footage - with strange cuts and mechanical cutting noises. Grainy, to make it look old? makes it seem off? The soundbridge to a lonely man in dark room. Singles him out as important character, either good or bad? looking at picture of girl? girl in the video? Sounds he makes are enhanced to show the silence of his room. Simple title sequence, 'Taken'. Close up on the machine. Then close up on machine wrapped up, making sure it's wrapped properly, OCD tendency? 

Loud party music? Normality of party? makes the next sense more tense? Sad music to represent the feelings of Bryan? Sound bridge from party to his flat again.

Deja Vu Analysis (Note Form)

Deja Vu

Eerie music in the background, with freeze-frames, makes the scene longer, and therefore causes tension in the viewer. Quick cuts, with army people, shows an happy atmosphere. Boat, setting up the seen where no one can escape. All looks very happy, people smiling, but quite sad/eerie music in background, sets up idea that something is going to go wrong, setting up a happy atmosphere before the event makes the event seems much worse. Quick rhythmic cuts.

Credits flash, to bring your attention to them. Heartbeat sound, common in most thrillers, helps to make the scene tense by speeding up like an anxious heartbeat. Boat horn. Loud. Happy sounding music but in a minor key? Makes it sound off and slightly eerie? Close up on children. Child drops her toy. Typical Navy music, shows an happy time. Close up shots, of the boat. Shows that no one can escape.  

Long shot of bigger boat? Going to collide? Car with no one in it, and music going off “don't worry baby” meant to make us worry. Diagetic Music quickly cuts too Non Diagetic. All very normal, then quick cut to a shot of a bomb. Beeping, of bomb timer, suggests quick heartbeat? Explosion, Death, Screams. Music stops.

Slow, very minor key music. Shots of dead and injured people – severity of action. Typical 'good guy' character. Denzel Washington. Shot of 'official vehcile' could be American police? Shocked. Body language suggests calm, and control? Some slowed down frames. Eye-line shots to show what Denzel is looking at. A long shot of the scene to show all of the Mobile phone ringing on dead body. Cuts to helicopter sounds. Rain – pathetic fallacy. Links to music, which is in minor key. Sound-bridges. Soft piano music? Close up on evidence bag, and his badge suggests police.

Evaluation

Thriller Analysis

Se7en

Thriller Collage

Continuity Print Screens

Continuity Evaluation - 2011

Media Continuity Evaluation

The task was to film and edit a sequence of a character opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanged a couple of lines of dialogue. The task involved using different shots – Match-on-action and Shot/Reverse Shot. The task also needed an understanding of the 180 degree rule. Match-on-action is when a shot is shot at one angle then again at another, then edited together to provide a 'match' on 'action'. Shot/Reverse shot, is where two people are talking and to show each persons point of view, this shot is usually an 'over the shoulder shot', this usually draws in the 180 degree rule, stating that the camera can not cross a certain line.

In the task, using the camera angles was important, as it was necessary to show different angles to make it more realistic. In the task, the camera was shot over the main antagonists shoulder, giving us a view of the victim in a mid shot, which is a shot in which the character on screen is only shown  from the waist up.  This helps to show the body language and the expression, but is not as good at showing the expression as a close up is. In the task, because of the lack of budget, the camera shakes a lot, this could add to the horror of the scene which is unravelling.

Diegetic sound is used when the victim hair is pulled harshly in the form of a scream, and when she is being strangled in the form of deep harsh breathing, this adds to the sequence because it was the only other sound to be recorded. In the task, adding music and sound effects really helped because it added to the sequence and made it seem a lot scarier. Sound effects were added to give the scene a scarier feel.

In the task, planning costume couldn't really happen because it was a spur of the moment shooting, but when added clips were needed, it was easy to plan to wear the same clothings. The task involved mise-en-scene, this is the props used. In the task, a rope was not available, so the lanyard was used as a murder weapon, this adds to the spookiness as the lanyard is an innocent object which wouldn't normally be thought of as a weapon. Lighting couldn't really be controlled, but being in a light room added to the feel of the shoot by making it seem less ominous. A phone was also used to give the scene some realism, the victim was shown to be on her phone, before her 'friend' sat down, this gives realism as most teens would be on their phones.

Editing prove to be a bit of a challenge, but was completed quite well, trying to match the clips seemed to be harder than previously thought. Final Cut Pro helped to eliminate some of the worries as it was quite easy to use and easy to understand. Final Cut Pro had a good amount of features to use, and it was fun to play around with them.

The task went successfully, and the group worked quite well, as the 'victim' in the sequence I felt my input to the task was needed, also I was able to work quickly and quietly with the software, being good with computer technology it wasn't too hard to work out, as part of a team I feel I worked well, and the team as a whole worked well together. the team was able to get on with the task well and completed it in sufficient time, albeit a little slower than other groups.

All in all, the task went well, if more time had been available, more edits would have been used, and some of the shots would have been re-filmed. The advantages of doing this task were that it was a good preparation for the actual task, and gave a good insight into the camera angles. Some disadvantages were that it was shot very quickly and hadn't really gotten to grips with the cameras.

Feedback

What connotations does the title of the film ‘Splintered Kin’ convey?

Answers:

‘A broken family with problems’

‘Separated from family’

‘Broken family’

‘A fractured family relationship’

2. What codes and conventions of the thriller genre are conveyed through the opening sequence?

Answers:

‘Darkness and murder’

‘Mystery, death, killing’

Mystery, dark, location’

3. What narrative features are present?

Answers:

‘Death is shown as a narrative’

Mystery’

‘Death, a murder’

‘Murder’

4. How effectively do the camera angles and movement create meaning?

Most popular answer: 2/3

Most effective?

‘First shot was good’

‘Long shot’

‘When the victim is being killed’

‘Arial shot’

What camera angle/movement could be improved and how?

‘Steady the camera, too shaky’

‘Ariel shot’

‘Add more close-ups and panning’

1. How effective is the sound in creating meaning?

Most popular answer: 1/2 (we haven’t finished the soundtrack)

What is the most effective sound?

‘Trains/cars’

‘Cars, busy noises’

‘Traffic’

What diegetic and non-diegetic sound could be improved?

‘Cut out voices’

‘Stop talking when recording’

‘Lots of wind in the background’

‘Just add sound’

How successful is the editing of sound in the opening sequence?

‘No sound to edit, average’

‘Poor’

‘Quiet, voices leave it less effective’

 

2. How effectively does the mise-en-scene create meaning?

Most popular answer: 2/3

Best use of mise-en scene?

‘The tunnel setting’

‘Pictures/papers’

‘Pictures’

‘The phone call’

What is the most effective piece of mise-en-scene?

‘Google pictures’

‘The lighting in the underpass’

‘The tunnel’

‘Pictures/paper’

1. How does editing create meaning?

Best use of editing?

‘It was fast cuts’ (creates meaning)

‘Black and white’

‘After pictures/paper’

What edit is used in the most effective way?

‘After pictures/paper’

‘Black and white’

2. How are the characters presented? Did they fit in with the chosen Thriller convention? (Crime)

     

How are they presented in terms of Vladimir Propp?

‘Not very clear’

‘Good’

‘Victim, villain’

3. How effective is the location in setting the scene for our film?

    

Could the location be improved? ‘The noise’, ‘Yes’

What was effective about the location? ‘Bridge’ ‘isolated’

Does it help to create tension? ‘Yes’

Our Film Classification - 15

We chose the rating '15' because after reading the BBFC website to research the classifications for each rating. Having read the U, PG. We looked at classifying our film as 12a. However after reading the violence section saying "Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context." we felt that the film was too violent for a 12a. We then looked at the classification of '15'. "Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification." We felt that our thriller fell into this catergory as we did not dwell to long on the violent scenes. There were few references that could be called 'sadistic'. We had no sexual violence so didn't need to go up another rating. Therefore we left it at '15' feeling that was the best rating we could give it.

Filming Today

Myself, Zoe, Luke and Lucy went down to our location to film today having gotten out a camera. Unfortunately we weren't able to film as the camera turned out to be out of charge. We decided that we would have to find time soon to just touch up the few clips that are needed.

Soundtrack

Today in lesson, myself and zoe started to try and export the soundtrack to our film project, however we found that it was very difficult to transfer files from garageband to final cut pro, we spent at least 10 minutes trying to transfer it then finding that it seemed impossible began to rework it into soundtrack pro, which has a section for the video so you can see what the sound is like with the video. However there is a limited range of sounds that limit us to a smaller sound collection.

Script

Zoe has patiently put together our original script ideas for us, and here I have typed it up, keeping to a basic script form.

[Zoe and Lucy  walk into view of camera. Lucy staggers around. Zoe keeps a grip on Lucy, holding her upstraight]

Zoe: You always get me to pick you up when you're drunk!

Lucy: I know, it won't happen again - I promise!

Zoe: Too right it won't happen again, I'm never doing this for you again

Lucy: I wasn't my fault... I got carried away

[continue walking to underpass. Lucy starts patting her pockets searching for phone]

Lucy: Mum, I can't find my phone anywhere? It's gone!

Zoe: [sighs] Where did you last have it?

Lucy: [looks frantic] I thought I had it walking here, it might have fallen out of my pocket. [looks at the ground, fumbles for phone]

Zoe:  [Rolls her eyes] Look stay here. I'll quickly go and see if I can find it. But please stay here! [volume rises throughout speech]

Lucy: [shrugs] Okay.

[Mum walks off to look for phone, finds it then wanders back]

Lucy: [screams, and is dragged off screen]

Interviewing

Zoe and myself got the chance to interview some of the cast and crew of 'Defining Fay' I started to write the answers down, before switching to recording them. Here are the answers that I had written down.

How Different is it working on a short film to working on any other project?

Joe and David - "Not very different at all,  it has a smaller cast, the pay is different but the process is all the same, and in fact it is more enjoyable."

Does it get tiring repeating the same shot over again?

Joe and David - "It's just a job. You can handle 5/-7 times for a project like this. When working on a feature film you might do 1/2 of the scene months apart"

What's it like working with Sacha (the director)?

Joe and David - "We really like him, Directors vary some are really clear about what they want you to do, others concentrate on the technical stuff. Sometimes on a feature film, its you who gets shouted at by a director rather than the big stars"

What's the script like?

Joe and David - "The script is good, you only really go for a job if you like the script"

Do you find it easy to remember your lines?

Joe and David - "It varies on the writing, how long scenes are. If it is really good writing then it is easy to read. There is a big difference in writing especially on soaps as there are loads of different writers. You can also only retain so many lines."

Seeing an actual film set.

Today myself and Zoe had the chance to go to Suffolk One and watch the crew of 'Defining Fay' film 3 or 4 shots, which in all took around 5 hours. We had the chance to talk with the Director Sacha C. Damjanovski, the director, we got to speak with the producer - Mark, and we had the chance to speak with Joe Absolom and David Hounslow, two of the actors in the production. It was a very rewarding experience. We got to watch the director and crew set the cameras up, and how they aligned the shots together. Everyone was very friendly and very helpful, they answered all the questions we asked. We asked if they would need to come back and re-shoot if one clip wasn't right, and was answered by Sacha with "We unfortunately don't have the budget to be able to come back to re-shoot". So every shot they did had to be perfect. They had to take and re-take each shot till they were as close to perfect as possible. It was very interesting to watch, and amazing to see just how long it took for them to set it all up.

Setting up for the first shot

Myself and David Hounslow

Zoe and David Hounslow

Zoe and Joe Absolom

Myself and Joe Absolom

Setting the Camera up

Moving camera

DVD cover analysis

Editing

We edited the footage on Wednesday in order to prepare it the best we could for the rough cut showing we had today. Unfortunately I was in an exam for a little over half the lesson, so had to leave Zoe on her own to edit. When I came back, she had gotten on really well, she had added some transitions and the text. We had all of our text in the same font and with the same effect, so it wasn't over loaded. We then settled to sorting the soundtrack out, we managed to get some of the sounds in where we wanted and had some ambient tones going in the background.