Thriller Treatment

Name of our film; Routine. (may change at a later date)


Outline of ideas; Repetition of an OCD man's daily routine (wake up, brush teeth, leave house etc). This is repeated several times, getting slightly faster each time. On the last time, things have changed- The alarm clock is on the other side of the bed, the cereals gone (mans confused) He hears a bang, grabs a knife, but the knfie already has blood on it. This shot is followed by an over the shoulder shot, with this you can see a silhoutted man behined, he punches him, man falls to the ground, see's footsteps, then the killer looks down into the camera (masked).

What resources are needed? Two actors (and OCD man and a 'killer') only setting needed is a house (a bedroom, hallway, bathroom and kitchen) props include an alarm clock, cereal box, toothbrush, knife, front door and a mask.

Justifications in relation to genre; Will include affective and appropriate camera angles, editing and mise en scene whilst creating both tension and build up.

AS Coursework Thriller; Initial ideas

 This first brainstorm was created to get our first first few general ideas as to what type of Thriller our film would be, whether a phsycological, political, legal etc. We also started to think of engimas and maguffuns, along with a few storyline ideas.

The second brainstorn went into a bit more detail, we had chosen the type of Thriller we wanted to create (a phsycological thriller) and we started to think a bit more into our storyline, bringing up ideas we could use to create tension (used in most succesful Thriller openings- shown in earlier film annalysise) and ideas such as time and repetions were brought up. Along with the type of camera angles and editing we could use- a bit like a pre-treatment.

AS Coursework Thriller; The Brief

This particular bit of the coursework is 50% of the course. It entitles creating both the titles and opening of a new fiction film in the Thriller genre which has to last around 2 minutes.

Cliffhangers

-Cliffhangers are often, but not always, used in thrillers.

-They often feature a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shaky revelation.

-This can entice the audience to keep watching in order to see how the situation resolves itself.

-Originally named after the first movie cliffhanger in which the scene ended with an object literally hanging off a cliff.

Image shown above displays the cliffhanger (literally) used in the film; The Italian Job.

North By North-West; Hitchcock 1958

The "Crop Duster" scene

This particular scene in North By North-West features the main character of Thornhill being sent to meet a man who will explain why he has been mistaken for a goverment agent and, we beleive, help him. There are large amounts of tension created during this scene, this is made through a lack of noise, and through a number of 'unsuccessful' tension build ups (such as when he is waiting by the road for a car, but several pass by without notice).

'Red Herrings'

A Red Herring is the name given to a device in which intends to divert the audience from the truth or an item of significance. It can also work with other devices (enigmas) to create suspense.

The Difficulty Of Defining A Thriller

A common definition is -'Films of suspense that instil terror into the audience'

"The Thriller is a very difficult genre to pin down because is covers such a wide range of films' - Susan Hayward, Key Concepts In Film Studies.

'Enigma'

Within Media termonology, an enigma refers to a puzzle, something mysterious/inexplicable or a riddle/difficult problem. In Thrillers, this is commonly something which the protagonist has to try and find out or solve before the narrative is resolved and the film finishes.

Narrative- Structure, Formulas + Devices

e.g automatic use of 'continuity in editing'

-Clear establishment of cause and effect plotting which establishes character motivations and helps tell an interesting story which proceeds logically and steadily.

The 'Psychological' Thriller

The mind, conflict + past.


The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon anothers mind, either by playing decepting games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the others mental state. Sometimes the suspense comes from within one soliteray character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand that something has happened to them.

Suspence in Hitchcock's 'Sabotage'.

Sabotage- (1938) Hitchcock

How was suspense used in Sabotage?


-Clocks were used and constantly to shown, to show a sense of panic and excitment.
- Music sounded like ticking, to exaggerate the rush.
- The fact that the boy within this movie has been shown so much means we have been grown attached/to like him, which draws us into the movie as we don't want him to be killed.

Hitchcock's "Magumuffin"

(McGuffun or Magaffun) is a plot device that motivates the characters and and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story.


Alfred Hitchcock; "We have a name in the studio, and we call it the McGuffin.It is usually the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories, it is always the necklace and in spy stories it is always the papers".

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. 


Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, he came first in a 2007 poll of film critics in Britain's Daily Telegraph, which said: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." The magazine MovieMaker has described him as 'the most influential filmmaker of all-time' and he is widely regarded as one of cinema's most significant artists.


(sources; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_hitchcock)

'A History Of Violence' + 'No Country For Old Men' + 'Zodiac'

Analysis of 3 thriller movie openings;

A History Of Violence;
- Minimal amount of shots
- Lots of diegetic sounds
- Strong mise en scene via accents, location and costume- Very effective.







No Country For Old Men;
- Cool, calm atmosphere
- Large range of camera angles
- Voice over sets the scene
- Over shoulder shot when man attacks other man = sneaky, gives the audience a position of power as we know what is coming but the character doesn't.
- Man in shadow in the back of the car, creates a uncomfortable, dangerous atmosphere
- Rolling shot when man is being strangled makes the audience feels queezy and shows insanity.

Zodiac;
- Darkly lit with spotlights creating an atmosphere and drawing our focus (pulling focus)
- Repetion of actions create tension
- The killers face is concealed, creating a mysterious feel










In all three of these films, there is an essence of surprise that keeps the viewer ont he edge of their seats. This is created through a quick contrast between a beginning of slow, calm shots which are then followed by several quicker, more dramatic shots. The action/drama of each film starts pretty much straight away and really draws the audience in, mainly due to this element of surprise, but without it being jumpy and turning it into a horror movie. 

What to include in a Thriller

There are many different types of Thrillers, so it may be difficult to create a story of our own. It could include;

- different technology
- plot generalisations
- re-occuring themes/situations

Do films follow rules?

Some film makers claim that 'there are no rules' or that 'rules are there to be broken'

However, most would agree that there are certain conventions that mainstream films observe in order for them to be acceptable for the mass audience.

Preliminary Task - The Video

I believe that we completed this task successfully. Although some of shots are  little jumpy, we managed to use the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot, along with a range of camera shots and angles.
This has been good practise for when filimg my thriller, because i've managed to grasp a good idea of how to use final cut express, and what do when filimg next time i.e. time manage a bit better, plan locations beforehand, film each shot a little longer for editing.

Preliminary Task - What did we do?

There were 4 tasks that we needed to undergo to successfully complete our preliminary task;

1- Storyboard our shot sequence
2- Film our shots
3- Edit our shots on FinalCut Express
4- Upload the final sequence to youtube

After storyboarding our sequence, we went off to find a suitable location (an empty classroom with a hallway outside) whilst filming in the hallway, we had to redo several takes due to people walking past the camera or appearing in the background of the shot, but eventually after around 7 takes we got it.
All filming was going well, most shots being filmed only once or twice. But we soon ran out of time and only finished half our filming, this meant the people being filmed had to bring in the same clothes they wore on our first day of filming later on in the week.


During our next lesson, we went back to our location to find there was a class inside. We thought we'd have to leave filming to another day, but we managed to find another classroom that was near enough identical to the last one to film in.
After filming was complete, we uploaded the clips onto final cut express for editing. All went pretty smoothly, all though some of our shots were cut a bit short after cutting them down to size, making it look a bit jolty. This means when i film next, i will have to film a little before and after the actual shot to leave enough size for it to be cuttable and still smooth.

Preliminary Task - The Brief

For our preliminary task, we had to storyboard, film and edit a short sequence featuring the following;


-Person A walks towards door

-Person A enters through the door and crosses the room to person B

-Person A and B exchange lines

-Either person A or B exits room


It also needed to include the following 'film rules';

-Match on Action;
(when we see a character start an action in one shot and then see them continue into the next shot)

-The 180 degree rule;
(a basic guideline that states that two characters in the scene should always have the same left/right relationship to eachother. If the camera passes over the imaginary line connecting the two subjects it is called 'crossing the line').

-Shot/Reverse shot;
(when you have the camera on one character whilst they are talking and this switches from character to character depending on who is talking)

Denotations and Connotations

Denotations are a literal description of a object, concept or idea. For example, the denotation of the colour Red would be a particular wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. 

Connotations are what are associated with that same object, concept or idea. For example, the connotations of the colour red could be anger, violence, love, passion, blood heat etc.

Switching Focus

We can shift focus between the foreground and background, it's called Pulling Focus.

If the foreground AND background are both in focus, it's called Deep Focus (Audience can choose 

where they wish to look)

Source Code- Trailer

The trailer for the film Source Code is set at a completely different pace to the first two and a half minutes of the movie. The clips are fast moving, with each clip lasting no longer than around 2 seconds. This builds up excitement and draws the audience in, with each shot being of explosions, running or shouting. The fast pace is also due to the fact that the story line to the entire film needs to be explained in a trailer lasting only two to two and a half minutes. 
Analyzing the trailer in this way helps me to get an idea of how to build up drama quickly for the opening of MY thriller movie opening, as well as how to perfect the mise en scene etc.
  

Editing

There are two different types of editing;


Speed of editing- How long each shot lasts.
Style of editing- How one shot is joint into another.


Source Code; trailer
The speed of editing within this trailer is very quick paced. This is used to draw in the auidience, the sence of action that these fast clips give off help the viewer to feel suspence and anxiety towards the trailer. The clips are also shortened and speeded up to try and fit as much of the storyline into the two minutes trailer as possible.


Source Code; First 2.5 minutes
The pace within these two and a half minutes is a lot slower than that of the trailer, this is to show the characters dazed, confused mood as he's coming round from unconciousness. The shots help the viewer to relate to the character and feel like they too are slightly dazed. The pace quickens in sections to show the characters ever growing confusion. The shots following are a mix between mid shots and POV shots, the POV shots are the fast paced ones and show how the character is reacting to his surroundings and his changing emotions.

Mise en Scene - Casino Royale

We studied the use of mise en scene within the opening sequence of James Bon; Casino Royale. (shown below in link, embedding disabled)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epxYm3OouQA

There are two scenes within the opening of casion royale, one is a fight in a public toilet and one is a confrentation in an office. During the confrentation, half of Bonds face is in the light whilst the other half of him is hidden in the darkness, showing two different sides to him (metaphorically). The dark room along with the dark side of the face represents Bond's cool and calm exterior, whereas the brightly lit bathroom and other half of Bond's face represents Bonds true viceous, dangerous side. The light helps to define Bond's contrast of character. One is shown to be calm and colleted with a steady gaze and confident posture, whereas the other is shown as violent and frantic, with a jerky awkward movements combined with panting and strained facial expressions.

Storyboard; 'The Chase'

During the last few lessons we created a storyboard to something with the title of 'The Chase'. We then uploaded the pictures and edited it on Final Cut Express, before uploading to Youtube. This will be good practice for when we storyboard for our thriller opening.

Lighting, sound, framing and camera movement.

Over the past 3 lessons, we have been studying the different key terms within lighting, sound, framing and camera movements.

During our first lesson, we went over the differences between low key and high key lighting. The difference being that fact that low key lighting is created with key and back lights and is used to create a sharp contrast of light and dark, and high key lighting is made up with more filler lights to produce a softer, more realistic image.

The three main light sources are;


key light- brightest and most influential light
back light- makes image look more rounded, counteracts the key light
filler light- used to soften harsh shadows

Different angles will also be used, such as:

Under lighting- The main source of light comes up from below the object, which tends to give a distortion effect, therefore often used in horror films.
Top lighting- The main source of light comes from above, highlighting the features of a character.
Backlighting- The light source if behind the object. May create silhouettes.


Over the next lesson, we learnt how to specify and categorize different sounds. Whether it's onscreen or offscreen sound (whether you can see the source of the noise or not) diegetic or non diegetic sound (whether the sound is including within the film or added afterwards) parallel and contrapuntal sound (whether the sounds fits with the image or whether they contrast) and sound bridges (music that carries on into two or more scenes, to connect them smoothly).

With framing, we learnt 8 different terms ranging from close ups, long shots and over the shoulder shots. Then moving on to the movements of the camera, from fixed positions (pan, tilt, dutch tilt and zoom) to free form positions (track, dolly, crane, rolling, handheld and steady cam). Although, the filming needed within our thriller will not be likely to contain most of these free form movements due to the price tag that comes with using them. But all fixed positions will be available to use, althought zoom can look a little amateurish. Below is a sum up of the nine shot types;


Close up- view of neck and face.
Extreme close up- small section of object
Medium/mid shot- head down to waist
Long shot- whole of body is visible
Extreme long shot- shows vast area
Point of view shot- shot through the eyes of the character
Low angle shot- puts character in vulnerable position
Over the shoulder shot- looks over shoulder of character.

Welcome to my AS Media Studies blog.

This blog will chart the progress of my foundation portfolio. On it, i will include the details of my research which will help me create my thriller opening.