Continuity editing example

This is our example of continuity editing where we use various camera angles, the theoretical rules such as the 180 and 35 degree rules. We chose to use all diegetic sounds and using an editing program we removed all the background noise that was extremely loud. We believe that using diegetic sound in such environment (school) is more effective because it emphasises every movement of the character as well as the camera. This preliminary task has allowed me to understand how to use the camera in the scene where the victim is interrogated (main opening sequence) because the use of the 180 degree rule will allow my group to not confuse the audience, as well as make the scene have much more flow.

Se7en Reshoot

This is our reshoot of the opening sequence of the movie Se7en. Surprisingly, even without all the equipment like the metronome we were able to give the opening our own unique style which can be seen as a somewhat parodical, however we still tried to make it suspensful through the use of music and camera work. The music used is the original version with a few cuts here and there to make it more parallel to what is on the screen. There are no diegetic sounds as we believed it would reduce the suspense in the opening.

Storyboard

Storyboard

This storyboard is a simplified version of what the opening sequence will look like.

Treatment

Treatment

The opening sequence begins with a scene from a point of view of a camera in the top corner of an interrogation room looking down at a teenage boy who is clearly traumatised, has dirty and ripped clothes and is staring into the wall in front of him. The room is very bright and the camera zooms in on the boy's face rather slowly, however as it zooms in there is a low chatter from the outside of the room. As it gets closer, there is a complete change of scene from the room to a flashback of the boy running in a gloomy and scary forest and something is clearly chasing him. The audience can witness this scene with a medium shot that is on the eye level with the character who is running. The camera will be moving backwards as the character is moving forward. The scene is changed back to the room after 2 seconds of the boy running and the camera is still slowly moving towards the boy's face as the noise of the chatter increases. The flashback occurs again, after which there is a cut to the interrogation room yet again. This occurs multiple times until the camera extremely zooms into the boy's eye, the chatter is extremely loud and there is a loud bang of the door. At that moment the camera angle changes to a medium shot which captures an investigator walking into the room. At that moment there is silence. As the investigator sits down, the camera changes to an over the shoulder shot from behind the boy and the investigator asks "So, what happened?" As the investigator finishes the sentence the camera changes to a close up of the boy's frightened, dirty face.

Questionnaire conclusion

Conclusion

Overall, the target audience questionnaire has helped me understand the needs of the people who will watch my movie. I've learnt that the male audience enjoys suspense which is a crucial information because now I know to create suspenseful enigmas which will appeal to them. Also, now I know that James Bond, who is courageous, brave and strong, is an iconic character within the Thriller movie industry. This information helped me because now I know that at least one of my characters must be brave and strong and will be able to fight the evil.

Also, the fact that the female audience has clearly stated that thriller action movies are not for them helps me because I now know that if I want to appeal to a wide target audience there must not be much action within the movie, instead, as suggested by the audience, I should create enigmas and suspense.

Furthermore, from the questionnaire has helped me to see that our target audience is extremely varied, from a 18 year old girl who enjoys sports to a 17 year old male who would rather stay at home and create videos. This allows me to understand the needs of our audience, for example in the exhibition of our product I know understand that selling the movie on CD/Netflix will appeal to audiences like Emily.

Target Audience Questionnaire

TA Questionnaire

Josh,  Male, 17

1. What do you enjoy doing outside of school/work?: I'd say I'm a creative minded person, who in spare time creates videos on the platform called Youtube. Nevertheless, I often go to cinemas with my friends to watch new outcoming movies.
2. Do you enjoy thriller movies? If so, why? I do enjoy thriller movies because they bring a lot of suspense which makes me feel like I'm inside the movie and I'm usually able to have a connection with the main character.
3. Do you enjoy the sub-genre of horror/mystery in thrillers? If so, why? The sub-genres of horror/mystery are very calm and suspenseful which makes them extremely enjoyable. They make me feel like anything can happen at any given moment.
4. Who is your favourite character from any thriller movie? The most iconic character when I think of thriller movies is James Bond who, throughout the years, has brought the audience a tremendous amount of action.
5. What is your favourite quality in thriller movies? The suspense is what makes the thriller movies successful as it keeps the audience at the edge of the seat.
6. Do you consider the movie "The Sixth Sense" successful? Why? I've seen this movie a while ago, however I remember that it used a lot of dark lighting which built up the suspense just how I like it, therefore yes, I think it was successful.

Emily, Female, 18

1. What do you enjoy doing outside of school/work?: I often enjoy outdoor activities such as cycling, netball or badminton, however I sometimes enjoy sitting down on my couch, watch a good movie and forget about the world.
2. Do you enjoy thriller movies? If so, why? Thrillers are not my favourite genre, however I would watch it with a group of friends at a cinema.
3. Do you enjoy the sub-genre of horror/mystery in thrillers? If so, why? I enjoy mystery movies, therefore thriller movies with mystery sub-genre are much better than action thrillers like James Bond.
4. Who is your favourite character from any thriller movie? I haven't seen many thriller movies, which means that I haven't got a favourite character.
5. What is your favourite quality in thriller movies? Thriller movies are only good when they create a lot of enigmas which cannot be answered instantly as it makes me think what will happen next.
6. Do you consider the movie "The Sixth Sense" successful? Why? I haven't seen this movie, but I have heard the name of this movie quite a lot which suggests to me that it is successful

Movie opening proposal

Typography analysis

Typography analysis

Typography is the way in which things are written. Essentially, the font. To begin with, in the opening titles of the thriller movie "Se7en" the typography is especially specific as it may seem hand written or even scribbled onto the shot which gives the video a spice of horror due to the fact that scribbling is associated with mental asylums which resembles the typography in "Se7en". 

At 1:24, for example, the writing "Edited by" is very unclear because the writing is overlayed by itself which gives it a sense of uncertainty which makes the audience not know what to expect from the movie, therefore they will be more likely to watch it.

Such movie is aimed at the demographics of mostly adult males with psychographics who enjoy a bit of horror and mystery because the typography foreshadows some kind of mental asylum-like setting which connotes jump scares, however also a little bit of action.

Music Analysis

Music Analysis

Spectre opening sequence

Music within any movie creates the mood for a certain scene which, with aprropriate usage and understanding, can appeal to the correct target audience making a movie more enjoyable or even relatable. In the opening sequence of Spectre, the music at the beginning is quite slow-supposingly even calming(which contridicts the entire idea of the movie)- yet that is done by the producer purposely as it creates tension! "How?" You may ask. It is deeply thought out by the producer to keep making the audience think what happened, what is happening and what might happen and through this use of calm music it makes the audience wonder what might happen due to the fact that they expect guns, explosions and violence from Spectre. This appeals to the target audience because they want to find out why it's so calm- maybe even too calm! 

As the opening sequence progresses, a person begins to sing calmly, until the 45th second where the music gets more exciting and the singer brings up his tone a little bit to emphasise the flames within the video. This allows the audience to relate this movie to the previous James Bond movies, due to the minor excitement that those sounds create.

Overall, music brings in everything into movies, including: mood, tension, comedy and many more aspects.

Target Audience Profile

Lighting analysis

Lighting analysis

Lighting is one of the most important aspects within the thriller genre due to the amount of suspense, excitement and all different kinds of emotions that it creates. However, how do different types of lighting affect the shot?

In this first image, we can see that the subject is in the left middle of the shot and the background light is coming from his right onto his face. This emphasises the facial expression of the subject which is clearly angry and revenge-seeking. This adds suspense to the shot because the audience can see that the character is serious; even though the gun is not highlighted the audience knows that the man can fire at any given moment. Will he shoot?

The lighting in this shot is diffenent and gives a completely different meaning to the character's intention. The low key lighting from the left onto the character's face creates a huge mystery especially that his face is painted. It creates a small enigma in the shot: What is he hiding? This is extremely effective due to the fact that this kind of lighting not only creates mystery, but also empowers the character due to the source of the ligh being low.

This image is completely different to the other two- the source of the light is visible and is far behind the character which creates visible rays of bright light. This connotes something heavenly and makes the audience see the character as pure. This kind of lighting is usually used to foreshadow to the audience that the character has good intentions.

Mood board

Inception opening sequence analysis

Inception opening sequence analysis

Inception opening sequence

The opening sequence of this movie begins with a medium shot of the main character. This is effective due to the fact that the main character is Leonardo DiCaprio which allows the audience to create links between different movies that were starred by DiCaprio, for example the Titanic which has been a completely different genre which means that Inception might appeal to a wider target audience who have watched Titanic (Drama/Romance).

Throughout the opening sequence there are a lot of medium shots whilst the characters have a dialogue (diegetic sounds) which denote that the characters wear suits which connotes that they are posh or are businessmen. The medium shots are used because they do not give away too much, for example if the shots were long shots then the audience would be able to see much more of the mise en scene which possibly could give away too much for an opening sequence.

The diegetic sounds are also important because they allow the audience to see where to sound is coming from, therefore they are more willing to believe in the plot of the movie because they feel as if they were there. This is effective because the audience will be on the edge of their seat from the beginning of the movie which means they will be more willing to watch it until the end.

Lastly, the lighting within the opening sequence is very dull and dark- this connotes mystery, sadness or even horror of some sort which makes the audience more engaged due to the fact that they wonder what kind of mystery it is. 

Overall, all aspects of the opening sequence have some sort of meaning which appeal to the target audience of the movie to make sure that they watch until the end.

Thriller movie ideas

Thriller movie ideas

My first idea for a thriller movie will be "Dead Man Walking" which will be a thriller with a sub genre of action. It will be an action packed, full of suspense and excitement movie where the protagonist is a retired FBI agent and has become the most known criminal in the whole of UK. Car steals, stunts and fights will be within the movie to give it a spice and make the audience be on the edge of their seat throughout. Can the FBI catch the protagonist?

My second idea for a movie is "Silent Forest" which will be a combination of a thriller with a mystery sub genre. The narrative will be based around one mystery- the "Forgotten Forest" which has had a reputation of never letting out those who dared to go within its depths. A group of friends will try to conquer the forest and find out what supernatural fenomen causes this mystery. It will be a slow paced movie, with some dynamic scenes to make sure that the audience doesn't fall asleep whilst watching it.

My third, and last, movie idea is "Time's ticking" which most likely will be a thriller movie with a sub genre of disaster. The plot will be very entertaining as scientists will try to figure out what is causing the earthquakes that are killing many people and destroy buildings in London. Every day multiple earthquakes occur and the citizens are in danger. How many people can the scientists save? Time's ticking.
This movie will contain many special effects to make the earthquakes as realistic as possible, therefore the audience will believe in the plot line.

Hermeneutic and Proairetic codes

Hermeneutic codes

The hermeneutic codes are associated with creating enigmas within a movie.
An example of a "HER" code occurring in a movie is within Star Wars, where one of the main characters (Darth Vader) at the end of the movie explains that he is the father of the main character. This was an enigma for the entire movie.

Proairectic codes

The proairetic codes are small enigmas or mysteries that occur in a movie multiple times.

An example of a "PRO" code is when, usually in thriller/action movies, there is a non diegetic sound, therefore the audience doesn't know why who or where the gunshot was and what is meant. This creates a tiny enigma and makes the viewer stay on the edge of their seats. An example of such enigma would be in the movie Split when the killer comes behind the car and the camera moves away from the victim so the audience doesn't know what happens to him until the killer gets in the car.

Thriller sub genres

Thriller sub genres

There are many thriller sub genres which are used to give movies the appropriate theme, for example in the James Bond movies the sub genre is action. Action within thriller movies bring in the aspects of explosions, excitement and back-to-back fights, therefore the target audience for such movie would be the demographics of young, male, adults who seek a break from their day-to-day school or work life.

However, thriller movies also have many different sub genres such as:

• Conspiracy thrillers: Usually the protagonist will, alone, fight a big organisation to help the government,
• Crime thrillers: This thriller is self explanatory since within this sub genre the narrative is all about crimes and most likely have something to do with the law enforcement.
• Disaster thrillers: Plot is usually the same- disaster happens, protagonist tries to fix it. 
• Mystery thrillers: It differs from a regular mystery by being much more fast-paced, with the protagonist on the run and the threat of another crime serving as the “ticking clock.”

Many other sub genres include: legal, medical, political and supernatural thrillers.

Conventions of thriller movies

Conventions of thriller movies

What are thriller movies?: Thriller is a movie genre consisting of action packed, mysterious, full of suspense and anticipation plot in which the protagonist is constantly in danger which keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. An example of such movie is Taken where the main character is in unwanted danger which he has to fight throughout the film, using: guns, cars, fists and knowledge.

Codes and conventions of a thriller movie: The protagonist is usually someone with not so boring life which is related to some kind of criminal acts, danger or the law enforcement. The main character will be associated by the audience with someone who can get out of an oppression or danger quickly; he should be able to overcome danger quickly, yet not always flawlessly as that will reduce the tension within the movie.

The convention of the movie plot is somewhat similar to an action movie due to the amount of excitement, anticipation, suspense and even sometimes uncertainty.

Within the James Bond movies the protagonist consists of the codes that are associated with a main character in a thriller movie, as he is an unbeatable agent that constantly fights "bad guys" throughout. 

It is also known that within the media industry in which thriller films are created money is being carelessly spent on blowing up cars, just like in the Fast and Furious movies where the convention of action is being fulfilled by car stunts and explosions which make the audience feel more tension as to whether the protagonist will come out of danger alive.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

Whether you are wondering how thriller movies are made or what they actually are, you've come to the right place. 

Hi! My name is Matt and in this blog I will be uploading my development of a thriller opener weekly. Throughout this course I am extremely excited to find out all the ways in which media products are created- all the camera angles, ways of creating tension and many more! Hopefully, you will find this blog either useful or entertaining! Also, thanks for viewing my blog :)