Brainstorming of characters and the potential story

The main character could be Spleen, who is a guy who suffers from schizophrenia, which makes him have two split personalities.

Spleens role:

Therefore one of the personalities is where he obtains a normal lifestyle and the other is more complex and violent, he has two separate states of minds and memories for each of the personalities. Each of his victims has a spleen missing and there doesn’t seem to have a particular reason other than it could be symbolic (something personal to him)

The second character could be called Adriana, where she is a secretary in a law firm. Therefore she is in a middle class profession.

Adriana’s role:

She has recently been engaged with the love of her life that she has been with around 4 months. This is Spleen but the audience will not know this. Neither does she till the end of the film.  During their relationship a lot of problems start to emerge such as her boyfriend coming home really late without a genuine reason and he does not remember where he was. Over a period of time she starts having doubts and begins to wonder whether her boyfriend is being truthful and faithful to her. She will begin to notice certain things and then she decides to search through his stuff when he is not at home and she finds a note that says I will kill you.

Jude is Adriana’s closest friend and they share everything with each other.

Jude’s role:

Adriana begins to talk more about Spleen and the problems they have and Jude starts to get worried about Adriana’s relationship and decides to speak to Spleen without Adriana knowing. The next day she is found dead and Adriana immediately receives this information and is invited to the scene of crime for her to give any clues that the police could find useful. Adriana is given a note by the police, which they ask her to assess and let them know if she finds anything familiar being best friends with Jude. When she gets home, she picks up the note and sees many unexplainable images such as drawings of Spleen and then she notices the original writing, which she seen before in Spleen coat.

We could also have more female characters those who are the victims of Spleen because of his violent side that makes him kill women. Usually ones that are in a relationship due to the fact he is in a relationship himself which is one of the few connections that police actually found, but could not explain the reason for it. Also we could have an inspector or a detective who could represent the criminal side and a professional insight and opinions from the killings, which will be the main information source for the audience.

Audience research on thrillers

I have done some research on potencial audience for our thriller from conducting a survey and finding out if people go to the cinema to watch films. What I plan to find out is what age groups watch thrillers and genders. As a result this gives me an understanding of the link between thrillers, age, gender and potencially class.

Target market research

What I have learnt from watching opening sequences:

After watching opening sequences of thriller movies I have realised that sound, mise en scene, locations, lighting and costumes play an important role for the elements of a thriller. For example if you shot a man in a suit with a rose in central London and in high key lighting, majority of people will say he is romantic in an upper profession and probably assume he is a good person. But where you place the same man with a rose in an alley way dressed in ripped and black clothes with low key lighting, majority people will assume he is dangerous and a bad person. This is due to the way in which representations are made of specific people and places so therefore there is a connotation attached to costumes, lighting, mise en scene and sound. As a result when we are filming and editing we must think about the way in which we present the footage in order to provide the intended result. For example when we want to create suspense, enigma and excitement we must choose the right location usually dark places are ideal locations such as a park. The sound we are using must be mysterious, creepy, concealed and be horror like in order to give the audience suspense, enigma and excitement. Therefore everything we do during production, pre production, filming and editing must be thought through thoroughly and we must always think about the opening sequences we have watched in order to produce a good outcome. Additionally fast paste editing with short lengths of tittles work well as the audience can stay hooked into the film. I have also learned that white text with black background work well for tittles and make a film look skilled.

In conclusion I plan to use these elements of a thriller that I have seen in the opening sequences I viewed particularly Se7en.




 

Forms and Conventions of thrillers:

Genre which follows specific devices in order to create a certain effect.

Music: The music used is usually tense mainly concealed. Starts of slow and then quickens the pace becoming dramatic.

Pace: The pace is usually quick and fast especially when there are loads of events. But it is slower where the protagonist is trying to figure out what to do.

Themes: Pain, isolation, revenge, obsession, love, passion, psychological, outcast, corrupt childhood, jealously, vulnerability etc.

Mystery: Enigma will run throughout the film and it is usually answered right at the end of the film. The antagonist or protagonist will work out plot in the end.

Mise-en-scene: To make the film look realistic thrillers are usually based in cities that contain diversity and culture so lots of action can take place. This is done so the crime committed can be seen normal. The costumes are mainly casual so the antagonist and protagonist can look like the rest of city where the audience cannot distinguish who is who. Therefore all characters are everyday people. Additionally the props used are usually knifes, guns and weapons.

Gender: Stereotypically the male is usually the main character being active and saving the female. Usually the antagonist is usually a male. The protagonist can be a mixture of female and male.

Brain storm of forms and conventions:

·         Enigma

·        Suspense

·        Violence

·  Blood

·        Darkness

·        Low key lighting

·        Crime

·      Guns

·        Weapons

·        Action

·        Protagonist and antagonist

·        Mystery

Opening sequence of Taken

This is Taken which is a Action thriller. This film starts of with the logo of the Distributor, which is 20th fox century. Then it moves on to a tittle which has white writing with a black background. This is precisely how Se7en and Frozen uses tittles. Through viewing the tittles in all three films and seeing how they are all presented (all presented in the same way) shows that using white text on a background makes the opening sequence of a film idealistic, skilled and factual.

The film moves onto a little girl who is opening a present meanwhile there is tittles in the shot as well. We can hear the girl laughing and voices with music in the back ground. As the film shows this girl the viewers can understand that she has an Importance in the film as it starts of with her. The music and editing creates mystery and suspense because we do not yet understand what relevance this shot has with the film. The tittles are still shown while we are watching the film (little girl). This allows the viewer to be interested in the film rather than being disinterested because there are so many titles being used. Therefore tittles are shown with the film making the viewer interested as well as providing inf formation When we are watching the little girl celebrating her birthday the fast editing of the mother bringing the cake makes us wonder if its an illusion or dream. We are reassured that it is a dream when there is an immediate transition from the birthday scene to a man opening his eyes and jumps as if hes just seen a dream. The sound also creates mystery and allows the us to wonder if the birthday is a dream or illusion as it is calm and enigmatic. The tittles are quite plain and written in white. We then see the man putting a photo on the table where the final tittle is the placed right next to the photo, which is the name of the film Taken. The fact that the name of the film is the last tittle is effective because we are able to focus on the name and watch the film trying to make a link, to the narrative. Also because the name of the film is put next to the photo we are being told something about the narrative that we yet do no know. At 1.33 till 2.00 the film has began with no more tittles needed.   

This is where I viewed Taken. Again this is the entire film but I only watched two minutes of the film to help me understand how they have created there opening sequences.

Opening Sequence Frozen

I have watched two minutes of the film Frozen since our film can only be a maximum of two minutes. Frozen is a psychological thriller whereas se7en is a thriller. This link below is the entire but i have only viewed the two minutes of the film. During the two minutes I realised that the film does not provide a lot of information about the production company, cast and crew. By contrast Se7en has a lot going on providing the production, cast and crew as well as using forms and conventions within the opening sequence. However this film only uses three titles including Anchor Bay Films presents, In Association with Bigger Boats and An A Bigger Boat/ArieScope Pictures Production. From there, there is close up  and extreme close up shots of a wheel turning and things attached to the wheel, such as the rope. This is done to make the viewers feel mystery and suspense and because it focuses on the wheel, this shows it has an importance for the future so it will help the narrative as they have focused on this. Alongside we are shown a mountain and a appear transition is used where we are shown another tittle which says Frozen. Therefore only four tittles are used including the tittle of the film. After we are shown the mountain through a pan and from there the film begins.

 

This films opening sequence is very different to Se7en where there is little information about the the production such as who the music is by, the editor and director and so on. Also the film does not necessarily grab the audience into the film within the two minutes. There also isn't a lot of elements of a thriller apart from the close/extreme close up shots of the wheel which creates suspense and mystery. Se7en creates mystery, suspense, enigma, excitement and a thrill through various ways. Such as music, editing, mise en scene sound and camera angels. In conclusion of making a comparison between the opening sequences of Frozen and Se7en I preferred Se7en and would like to create my opening sequence by using the forms and conventions used in Se7en of thrillers.

Opening sequence of Se7en

Opening sequences occur in the beginning of a product/film in which the product can present the tittle, cast, production crew or present everything all in the opening sequence. During these sequences sound, effects and editing can be used. I have decided to view se7en and analyse the opening to the sequence to understand how opening sequences work which will enhance my knowledge and help me create an opening sequence my self within my group.

Se7en does precisely what an opening sequence is suppose to do. For example it introduces the audience who the production company cast and crew is. Moreover it first says New Line Cinema Presents and it specifies whom the production company is. This is clearly doing what an opening sequence is suppose to. The video specifies who the director is which is also providing the audience more information about the cast and crew, which from there the video goes onto introduce the main character which is Brad Pitt. The audience instantly will recognise that he is the main character since he is a major well know actor. Through using Brad Pitt as an actor in the film, the movie would have already had an existing audience because fans will automatically want to watch the film. Additionally the opening sequence lasts for about two minutes and opening sequences main aim is to grab the audience into the movie from the beginning and within two minutes. The opening sequence to se7en has grabbed an audience this is because they have created mystery and tension through the shots they have used. For example we see book's, images such as the hand drawing, blades and carving. This creates a sense of mystery because the audience does not currently understand what is going on. This enhances a sense of thriller to the audience already through the mystery it creates. The tittles in Se7en fade in and out with the shots but some tittles are white with a black background. I believe this is done in order to make the film look skilled and proficient. The tittles don't last long making sure the audience does not get bored of whats going on. As a result the audience can stay hocked in not allowing them too lose concentration of the film by having to many tittles. Therefore the tittles lengths are short. As mentioned the tittles play a significant role in providing who was involved in producing the film Se7en. The music used in se7en is effective because it is suited to provide excitement and enigma. In addition the shots used within two minutes does not provide the narrative and neither does the music but the music suits the shots. This creates a sense of mystery as we do not know what is going on even with the music because all you can hear is creaky and concealed sound. The mysteriousness allows the audience to feel a thrill because the shots are edited so quick,that we aren't able to see whats involved in the shots sometimes. Se7en uses lots of jump cuts because there is so much going on in the opening sequence which allows the film to be continuous and flows well. It also uses cross cutting which also imputes suspense. The fast editing, music and shots used allows the viewers to feel suspense, excitement, enigma and a thrill so they are captivated into the film. These are usually forms and conventions used in thrillers.  

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task:

We have been asked to:

Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.

This task should demonstrate:

•             match on action

•             shot/reverse shot

•             the 180-degree rule

In order to complete this task we have created a storyboard and we plan to create our preliminary task  according to this storyboard.

Preliminary Task

Finished preliminary task:

When you view our storyboard and outcome of the preliminary task you can see that everything was not followed. This made us realise that when we get to the stage of filming and editing our actual product (opening sequence) again we may not be able to follow the precise storyboard because of some factors. This is due to factors like time limit, access and equipment. However we did have ambient sounds of people talking when the character walks towards the door. Moreover our shot reverse shot did not work really well and this taught us that the way in which we filmed was wrong allowing us to learn from this mistake. Also when we were filming we did not have a tripod which made it difficult for us to do a shot reverse shot. In general  the preliminary task was useful because we were able to practise using  Adobe Premiere Pro and filming.