A thriller is a type of film that
can have a wide range of different sub-genres in the film for example the
thriller we created would be classed an action/thriller, there are lots of
different types depending on what is in the film because some films are classed
as psychological thrillers because they contain mystery. Horror/ thrillers
because they contain blood and gore. Action thrillers because they could
contain weapons etc…
Conventions of a thriller:
Narrative
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Thrillers are supposed to
create suspense and excitement for the audience.
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The narrative resolves around
the investigation of an enigma or the hero is the only person who can solve the
enigma.
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They mostly involve violence.
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If often reveals the workings
of particular institutions such as the police, the army or the Government.
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The thriller centres on
injustice in society but solves these wrongs.
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There will be a rational
rather than supernatural explanation of the puzzle.
Setting
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A thriller can be set in an
urban environment or a rural environment.
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They can be set in old
abandoned buildings or new city buildings.
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They are usually set over big
areas as there are usually chases.
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They can also be set in
abandoned buildings and asylums.
Characters
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A Protagonist - They are
usually a detective or someone on the run.
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An Antagonist - They are
usually a villain or a prisoner.
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A Damsel
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Villains - They are
usually English, Russian or German.
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Innocent victims/Bystanders
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Characters with dark pasts
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Psychotic people
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Terrorists
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Spies
The different Shot types that we used made the
film more effective because we had a wide range of different camera angles
(High and Low angle shots, Extreme close and long shots, mid shots and pan
shots.)The reason that we had lots of different angles was because we wanted to
make the shots quick so the more angles we had was more effective. A couple of examples of the
different shots that we used was extreme close ups, high angle and low angle
shots.
This is a shot of Alfie holding an
airsoft MP5 which is a small sub machine gun that is very effective in combat, these
shows that the soldiers are fully equipped and ready for the task. The shot of
the soldier holding the weapon is very good because the gun looks realistic.
The different extreme close ups of the weapons from both the soldiers and the
runaway this shows that the man is in trouble because the SWAT team are hunting
him down. This links to other Action/Thrillers ‘The Expendables’ because it
also shows different close ups of the characters faces and the weapons that
they are holding so we want to put a big amount of Action in the film but we
also want to put some mystery in as well about the runaway. Why he is there?
and what has he done?
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| Psychological/Thriller |
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| Horror/Thriller |
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| Action/Thriller |
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An Action/Thriller is a film that contains lots
of fast paced action which usually contains lots of weapons and gun based
fights the example I have chosen is ‘Sabotage’ because it has weapons and
powerful characters like ‘Arnold Schwarzenegger’ who has been in lots of
different action films that contain weapons.
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A Psychological/Thriller film is a film that
contains a mysterious feel to it like you have to work out a puzzle to
understand the meaning, the example that I have chosen is ‘Shutter Island’
because being on an island itself makes characters go insane.
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Finally a Horror/Thriller is a film that
contains a lot of blood and gore and is created to make you feel uncomfortable
for the audience and makes you not want to watch the film because it is a genre
that scares you to not watch it.
The use of Mise-En-Scene in the
film we used was the clothing of the characters for example we made the
protagonist look rough to make it look like the person has a hard life and is
going through bad times because they have ran away. The clothing of the
antagonists was dark because we wanted them to look like soldiers so they wore
black, trousers, boots, coats and balaclavas. The reason they wore this was
because we wanted them to look professional when completing a task.
Also in the Mes we
had the lighting, because it was a thriller and an army/swat based film so we
wanted the lighting to be dark so it didn’t give the identity away of the
soldiers which gives a mysterious effect because in some scene you don’t see
much of the soldiers in some scenes which creates tension because the man
doesn’t know that the soldiers are there until they are really close. The
lighting used for the protagonist that we used was bright lighting to shows
that he is clear and defenceless in the light against the soldiers who are
stalking in the shadows so the odds are against the protagonist.
The props that we used for the protagonist
were bottled water, canned food,
sleeping bag and a gun with bullets to shows that the man is always on the move
and has nowhere to go to this shows that he has moved for a reason because he
has been forced because of a problems that may have occurred. The props for the
soldiers that we used was army clothing, guns and a car the reason that we
wanted to use this was to make the soldiers look professional like they are the real deal because they turn
up in an expensive 4x4 with all the equipment for the job.
The sound that we used was a
non-diegetic piece that was played over the top of everything else. The music
that we had over the top we got Joe Main to make the music for us which was a good
piece of music that fitted the type of film. It worked well with the thriller
because the beat started off slow and built up the speed just like the action
in the film. The reason that we got Joe
to create the music was because he had familiar skills with the music
application on the Macs. We gave Joe information and details of the genre of
our film and the key points that our film was going to contain he took this
information that we gave him and he made the music which starts off slow and
then builds up creating the tension for example when the car pulls through the
gate and when the protagonist realises the soldiers are in the area looking for
him.
For the Editing we all knew a
little bit of information including the
tools on the Mac so we knew what we was doing, as team we knew what effects we were going to put into the film. I think that the
editing was a group effort because we were all giving pointers what effects he
should put in for example we saw another group add in slide transitions in
between their slides so we wanted to do a similar thing so we I went for a fade
to white effect that would flash on to the next slide to cut the shot and to
make it look like every time the viewer blinked it would change camera shot. This
worked effectively because the speed of the change of shot changed really fast
because we wanted the clips to be fast so it kept the audience on interests.
The Narrative of the opening the
idea of a deserted place gives a psychological effect because you don’t know
why the camera is there. When the camera switches and introduces the first
character it shows a man living rough like he has escaped but a mystery why he
has ran away. This makes the audience feel sorry for the man but then a swat
team pull up and then realise that the man isn’t innocent if the army/police
are after him as they search the area to find him. It suggests from the opening
that the film might be a psychological thriller because it has a sense of
mystery that is created with the fast cuts of the area the protagonist and the
SWAT team.
The Characters are introduced by one by one so
the opening starts with the protagonist not doing a lot in a small building
looking rough as the camera looks down at him to show that he is weak ( high
angle shot). After the shot it moves onto the soldiers together as a big group
to show they are powerful because they are being look up at with their weapons.
Then it moves onto different shots of the soldiers as they take turns leading
the group. For example a different always at the front directing the rest.
The film Titles that we used was an
inspiration from the film ‘The Lone survivor ’ where the titles go over the top
of the shots as the opening is introduced the reason we wanted to do this is
because it was a lot more effective than the titles on a blank screen. We introduced the
production company and the producer at the start because we thought they were
the most important. When it came to the actors we did the names over the top
when they were first shown in the opening to introduce the character and to
give the audience an idea who would play the part. Finally toward the end of
the opening we had the job roles of the people.
For example the Editor, Sound
creator and the camera operator to make sure that we covered everyone who was
involved in the production of the film. I think that the way we did the titles
worked because it kept the audience drawn to the detail whilst they were
watching the opening they would find out the actors and other information as
they watched the film. The use of the final scene when the soldiers look out
the window and see the man running in the dark to then go onto the titles ‘On
The Run’ in a rough torn text was very good because it shows that we know how
to time the titles correctly to make sure everything ran smoothly.
