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We have been given a task to create a thriller opening. After we found out what are task would be immediately we began to come up with ideas. Eventually we decided to make a film about a serial killer. This comes under the sub genre crime thriller. The serial killer will be Jordan, he will be on his way to his next victims house.

We created questionnaires to gain full advantage of the film, it will help us understand what are target audience should be and what they want. Meeting their needs is very important so this was very important to do. We made three different questionnaires:

• ·         General
• ·         Specific
• ·         One on one

We will meet the conventions of a thriller by creating a tense environment and suspense. We will use scary music and we will use red font to represent danger in our titles. The themes of our thriller will be obsession, revenge, danger and loneliness.

The mise en scene is very important in our thriller because we wanted it to be as normal as possible, we wanted our thriller to relate to reality so that it appeal to more people.

Camera and lighting

• ·         Dark lighting to show a spooky effect
• ·         Camera angles
• ·         Close up
• ·         Over the shoulder
• ·         And from behind to give a creepy effect and build up suspense, as if something was behind

Music

We are going to create our own piece of music, we want it low in volume but impactful. We do not want it too loud as it will draw our audiences attention rather than them concentrating on the film opening itself.

Moodboard

Proposal Review

Today me and Bobby presented our Presentation, unfortunatley Jordan wasnot able to make but everthing went well and we were given good feedback, now we have to focus on turining our idea into reality.

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Meeting 2

.Discussed who was doing what
.Gave everyone responsibitys
.Created a schedule for our filming and editing

Meeting 1

.Discussed what we wanted the thriller opening to be about
.Then we shortlisted two ideas from all of our ideas
.We then as a group chose one idea

General Questionairre

General Questionairre

I handed this questionairre out in Bromley. Around 14 was given out, equally between men and women. I found many different bit of information, like many people who watched films were between the ages of 21 to 30. Action films were the most popular, aswell as comedies. Reasons put for action films is that they enjoy the fast pace action that happens, whilst reasons for comedies were generally along the lines of sitting back and having a laugh with their friends. Around 8 of the people went to cinemas, the majority 1-2 times a month, with one of them going 3-4 times a month. Around half the the participants admitted to downloading and pirating films, whilst the other half rented or bought theire films.
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- What gender are you?
Male/Female


- What age group are you in?
11-18    19-30    31-40    41-50    51-60    60+


- What film genre do you enjoy watching?
Comedy     Romance     Thriller     Horror     Action     Sci-fi     Other

Please explain why:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


- Do you go to the cinema often?
Yes/No


- How often do you go to the cinema per month?
Less often     1-2 times     3-4 times     5-6 times     7-8 times     9+ times


- Which method do you take to watch films?
Rent     Purchase new     Purchase pre-owned     Download/watch online     Pirate

specific questionaire

Specific Questionairre.....

I done this questionairre in Bromley, to get an idea of what people liked in there thriller fims. I handed out 12 of them, and in all cases, every one had watched a thriller film atleast once in their life. The age of the films they watched correlated with the age they were; for example, older people watched films such as Psycho, whilst younger people watched films such as Saw.
Responces to "what makes a good thriller" was a mixed bag. One responce stated "it must be attention grabbing, and hook the viewer into it so they keep on guessing whats coming next". Another responce i got was "it has to be scary". With the reponces to the opening sequence question, i got "something that'll get me interseted in the film without giving too much away"
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- Have you ever watched a thriller genre film?
Yes/No
If so which ones?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

- What is your favourite Thriller sub-genre?
Action thriller Comedy thriller Crime thriller Psychological thriller Other


- In your opinion, what do you think needs to be included in a film to make it a good thriller?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

- What would you expect from the opening sequence of a thriller?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

One on One interview

Me:  Okay so first of all what do you expect from a thriller film?

Interviewee: I expect to be kept on the edge of my seat. Not knowing what is going to happen but wanting to know. I like to have to use my imagination and try to work out who is the killer etc. For example some thrillers give away the killer at the start but I prefer to try and work it out myself.

Me: Some thrillers are in black in white, but some are in colour. Which do you prefer and why?

Interviewee: Well it depends on when its set, for example a Jack the Ripper thriller always seems better in black and white to me, as its puts you in the mood of that time. However depending on how graphic you want it to feel, then maybe colour can express this more.

Me: Do you think that a good soundtrack makes a good thriller film?

Interviewee: I think that it adds to the atmosphere, it can build up to an event happening and put you on the edge of your seat. By the music changing, you can tell that something is about to happen that is important in the film.

Me: So what do you think a good soundtrack for a thriller would consist of?

Interviewee: A mixture of music. Some soft gentle music for intimate scenes or family scenes. Building up to more dramatic louder music (drums etc) when something is going to happen. Something dramatic will happen, such as a murder, an accident.

Me: Do you like an open ending, or a closed ending?

Interviewee: I personally prefer an ending that is resolved. However if I really enjoy the film, I don’t mind an open ending, because then it leaves it open for another part of the film. A sequel.

Me: Thank you for answering these questions, it will really help.

Collateral Movie Trailer

this is a example of a Micheal Mann film. It is probably his best peices of work and the film opening is incredible. What makes Collateral's opening such a great one is that Micheal Mann does not reveal too much.
The camera focuses on Tom cruise, as a audience we dont get the feeling that anything is wrong. By observing Tom Cruise we feel that he is dressed probably for a business meeting. We also see a range of camera shots in the airport , i believe that the director is trying to show us that everything is normal. At the same time we also are shown a taxi and Jammie Foxx. The director does not show us any relation between the two different scenes.
What i particularly enjoyed about this Thriller opening was the use of sound in the airport. We hear loud footsteps and the camera is focused on the the two people Micheal Mann wants us to focus. It is as if he wants us to think that these Two people are the only people in the airport, this represents the dominance they have on there surroundings. Once they collide and the breifcases hit the floor the music becomes alot tense and fast, i think the director is trying to show the significance of this meeting on the rest of the film. The sound of the briefcases hitting the floor was very loud and once again i think it is because of the importance.
The use of sound was very impressive and i wish to use similar techniques in my film opening.

Case Study on Director 'Michael Mann

February 5, 1943 was a huge day in Hollywood, It was the day that Michael Mann was born. Michael Mann is one of the most notable directors in films today. He is known for films such as Collateral, Miami Vice and Heat.

Michael Mann grew up in Chicago Illinois and later moved to London to study at the London Film School. After graduating he started to work on commercials however he later realized that this was not the right thing for him at the time. He then returned to America and immediately started to work on 17 days down the Line. The documentary 17 days down the line was the first step of his career and led to him be given the opportunity to write four episodes of Starsky and hutch.

Starsky and hutch was very popular at the time and it motivated Michael a lot as the majority of his films later on had some relations to cops and crime in America. He then began to work on a t.v. show called Police Story.

Since then Michael Mann has worked with some of the best actors in Hollywood such as will smith, Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Leorndo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

As well as action thrillers Michael Mann is also noticed for his remake of Muhammad Ali Life. This was one of his best pieces of work and also launched Will Smiths career too great heights. 
Micheal Mann is known for always having great thriller openings which is why i chose him to analyse. His thriller opening are very engaging and he is one of the best at what he does. he famously known for not revealing to much in thriller openings. this is very important and it plays a huge part in his success. what is does is make the audience want to watch more. he also uses flashbacks in his thriller opening,he uses this technique in 'ALI'. Both of these techniques are very useful and must be used in the correct ways.

Vertigo Opening Scene

Thriller Openings Vertigo

Vertigo

The opening scene of vertigo is very interesting and rare scene. In my experience in watching film I have never come across such as opening to a thriller. Just the first two minutes alone have an impact and effect on the viewer. It makes them either confused or makes them wonder what lies ahead in the film and what they expected may not necessarily be what is about to happen. The woman’s face could portray danger as her eyes are moving side to side. This may be because there may be danger around. The director has intentionally made us as viewers think about that. He/she has purposely made the surrounding of the women pitch black to tell us that the only thing we should concentrate is on the women’s face, the director also place the credits on the women’s face just to keep our attention.

The camera angle the director used in this scene was a close up of the women  but the camera was zooming in more  to the extent that we were not able to see all of her face, till it became a extreme close up. I believe the reason the director did this is because he/she wanted us to concentrate completely on her eyes.

Towards the end of the scene the director suddenly changed the lighting to red. This draws more attention from the reader and the tension in the scene increases immensely. The colour red grabs everyone’s attention as it represents intense, passion, aggression. This is probably why the director used it. The colour red I think represents the danger the women sees. We also see that the women’s eyes become wide open as if she is shocked or surprised.

SEVEN OPENING

Seven opening analysis

The film opening I am analysing is seven, the reason it is called seven is because it reflects the seven deadly sins. Seven has been known to be one of the greatest thriller openings of all time. It was a very powerful opening but it does require allot of concentration as it can be confusing. The use of techniques is the reason as to why this opening has been so successful and for many years it has been an influence and example for other film openings.

The director shows us limited amount, this was very great to see because in many other thriller openings the director usually gives too much away in the beginning which ruins the rest of the movie. By doing this the director builds up tension and alot of suspense. It makes the viewer want see more and draws them in.

The thriller opening uses techniques such as not focusing on something for too long, the director does this by changing the background and adding a plane black background for the credits.

The usage of sound was very effective and it delivers a creepy and an uneasiness mood to the movie. The director deliberately does this by using digetic sounds. The director also uses other sounds such as squeaky and ticking sound, as if it is was a type writer. When the director believes he has shown enough to the audience he makes the sound becomes faster, this  builds up tension and makes the viewers heart beat faster. This is very effective and keeps the viewer concentrating and makes sure that they are able to anticipate more. The usage of sound was very important but it was clear the director wanted us to concentrate on what was on the screen.

I believe that it is very interesting that the person we see in the opening is using pens, and books. This gives us the impression that he is creating his own story. This gives a strange impression on the viewer and gives the impression that he is psychotic. We also see him Cutting pictures and highlighting the words pregnant, intercourse, transsexual. We also see him draw a line over the boy’s eyes. I believe that the director was trying to show us that this man is in control which builds up the tension, as this is not just someone committing crime for money or revenge but it is someone who we think does it for pleasure.

It is very strange to see this person cutting parts of skins with a blade and playing with a needle and thread with blood on it. It is here where we see bandages on his hand, this again gives an impression that this man is psychotic and loves pain.

We also see him cut out the word God out of a dollar note, this gives us the sense that this person is against god and almost enjoys doing devilish things.

I think that this was a great thriller opening I it has also been a great influence for me and my groups thriller opening. 

Thriller Openings/Ingredients

Ingredients of a thriller opening

I believe the two most important ingredients of a thriller opening is the amount you reveal and the idea behind the story. The reason I say this is because what is needed for a great thriller opening is suspense, you need to show the audience something they did not expect which has relevance to your story. It’s like a poker game you must show your opponents enough to keep them thinking and when they least expect it you reveal your winning cards. A thriller opening is made by suspense it must build up tension and it must be more entertaining and effective than other thriller opening, the most important thing is to make the viewer want to see more.

Once I was told that our task is to create a thriller opening I was very excited but at the same time I was quite nervous as I wanted to create a very special piece of work and as it was my first time studying media studies I knew that I might have been a bit behind in experience. Immediately after leaving the lesson I started researching thriller openings. I was inspired to create this idea by the likes of Michael Mann, he has been a great inspiration and I have researched and observed many of films to help me and my group with this task. The next lesson when I returned to lesson I was able to have great impact in my group and lesson and it was clear to everybody I meant business.