AO-Genre Analysis

Thriller
The genre that we have decided to do is thriller, this is because we find thriller films to be more interesting and grip the audience in a better way. There are a lot of sub-genres for thrillers, the four main sub-genres are:
Crime Thrillers- a combination of crime and thriller films, which are usually focused around the suspense of the crime, and its success or failure. The psychological aspect of the film is not focused on in the narrative as much as the physiological aspects. e.g. Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992)
Action Thrillers- action thrillers normally contain a lot of violence, and are focused on that fact that there is a race against the clock. These films also contain a large amount of guns, explosions and large action sequences. e.g. The Transporter (Leterrier and Yuen, 2002)
Science Fiction Thrillers- a combination of science fiction and thriller films, which normally as a fantasy element to it. e.g. Sunshine (Boyle, 2007)
Disaster Thrillers- the conflict made in disaster films are usually because of a natural or a man-made disaster that happens, like hurricanes, floods or a nuclear disaster e.g. Earthquake (Robson, 1974)
Psychological Thrillers- this involves a lot of emotional and mental conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist, they are often resolved with violence. e.g. Phone Booth (Schumacher, 2003)

Phone Booth (Schumacher, 2003) - the main conventions throughout the film is that there is a lot of mystery surrounding the film, and this is key in trying to create suspense- which is the reason for the audiences interest in a psychological thriller.

Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) - the main theme throughout crime thrillers, are the connotations of crime, and what that comes with. Like guns, death and the police. There also tend to be a large amount of violence in crime thrillers. These conventions of crime thrillers are used in Reservoir Dogs, for example, one of the earliest scenes has a man with a bullet wound, and is bleeding.

Conventions in a Thriller
Usually in thrillers there is the hero (the protagonist) type figure that is portrayed, this figure is normally played by a man, because of their mental and physical strength. Men are also used a lot because they can easily play an ‘anti-hero’ especially in crime and action thrillers. E.g. Jason Statham in the Transporter (Leterrier and Yuen, 2002)

However, these roles can sometimes be played by women, because of their sexual presence. E.g. Rachael McAdams in Red Eye (Craven, 2005)






Villains in thrillers are normally played by men, as they are seen as the more menacing and aggressive sex. Men are also seen as the villain because they are seen as more deceitful and going against the law. The villains that are portrayed in thrillers usually have some sort of mental health issues, which is their motive for their illegal acts. E.g. Kevin Spacey in Seven (Fincher, 1995)









Thrillers are conventionally located in outskirts, and derelict areas, where there is hardly no-one around- this is used to create an eerie feel to the film, and create more mystery. These areas are usually were the antagonist is located, and is seen as a type of ‘hideout’ for the antagonist.

Iconography for thrillers is usually symbols that connote death and have a certain link with murder or a crime that has/is about to take place. These types of iconographies are seen through symbols, such as knives, guns, blood, police (sirens).

For the opening sequence of our film, we are looking to have the villain dressed in a long white coat (like a doctors), and the protagonist dressed in ripped/torn clothing, that is ruined.


The main connotations with colour that are used in thrillers is, red suggest blood, and death, it can also be used as a warning or danger to a character. Black is also used, to set the mood of the thriller, for example a scene shot at night will create a different atmosphere to one during the day, creating an unnatural feeling surrounding the film.

The types of fonts used could be styles that are gothic, and that connote fear and danger to the audience, for example:

JM Genre Analysis - Thriller

Films in the genre of 'Thriller' are those that contain a great deal of tension and suspense and promote intensity throughout the narrative.. There is more information on the conventions of the Thriller genre in my previous post entitled 'The Thriller Genre', but the main points are that there is often many twists in the plot, and the tension builds greater towards the climax of the film. Most often in the Thriller genre you will see one main protagonist and an opposing antagonist whose conflict is the basis of the narrative. There are often many stock characters who will state their allegiances to either the protagonist or antagonist and subsequently aid them in the conflict.

Thriller Sub-categories
There are many sub-categories in the Thriller genre, that can be used to refine the conventions of certain films. It can be said that some films fall into more than one of these sub-catergories; creating sub-category 'hybrids' if you must. The sub-categories mentioned below are the most pre-dominant and common sub-categories of Thriller.

Action Thriller:
In this sub-category there is often a large amount of violence and an obvious antagonist. There is often a lot of guns, explosions and an elaborate setting and sequence of events to allow the action to take place.

e.g. The Bourne Identity (Liman, 2002)

Crime Thriller:
In this sub-category the audience is often given a suspenseful account of successful or failed crimes. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects and central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and 'double-crossing'.

e.g. Seven (Fincher, 1995)

Disaster Thriller:
In this sub-category the main conflict is provided in the form of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane, or a man-made disaster such as a nuclear disaster. It is common to find in this genre that the actual disaster itself replaces the traditional antagonist.

e.g. Deep Impact (Leder, 1998)

Psychological Thriller:
In this sub-category the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is mainly mental and emotional rather than physical, until the unltimately violent climax.

e.g. Memento (Nolan, 2000)

Sci-Fi Thriller:
In this sub-category we see the usual conventions of the Science Fiction genre crossed with the thrills of the Thriller genre. The usual narrative of 'Sci-Fi' would be ficticious, but unlike the Fantasy genre the events are usually possible within the laws of nature.

e.g. 28 Days Later (Boyle, 2002)

Conventions of a Thriller
The main protagonist of a Thriller film is usually portrayed as either being a hero or 'anti-hero'. The 'anti-hero' will often appear in Thrillers that are based on Crime, the 'anit-hero' usually breaking the law in order to acheive their goals, although as the narrative postions them as the protagonist we sympathise with them. An example of this would be Clint Eastwood in 'Dirty Harry'(Siegel, 1971).



Although these characters are often portayed by a male, there can sometimes be females playing these roles.

Once again the anatagonist of a Thriller will usually be played by a man. This is because more often then not the antagonist ina thriller film is a villain, and men are seen as the more sgressive and menacing sex. Their motive would usually be a profit of some sort, which is usually obtain through illegal acts. Another popular situation is for the villain to be mentally ill or looking for revenge. An example of a villain in a thriller is Heath Ledger in 'The Dark Knight' (Nolan, 2008)



Thrillers can be located in a range of locations, mainly the outskirts of a city or on derilict land in order to help create tension and mystery in the narrative. The main locations of Thrillers would be the 'hideout' for the antagonist, a place in which the protagonist aims to go, in order to confront the antagonist.

Connotations of colour in Thriller is centred around the colour red, which connotes death and blood. It can also connote danger when seen, or could be used as a warning to characters. Black is another common colour in the Thriller genre and is used in order to heighten a sense of mystery.

Iconography of the Thriller genre will often be centred around weapons and other object that are use to commit crime. For example guns and knives. Infact the iconic use of a 'Smith & Wesson Model 29' in the film 'Dirty Harry' (Siegel, 1971) caused a huge rise in demand for the gun amongst American gun owners. Other iconography of Thrillers is anything that relates to death, such as blood.

AO- Technical Analysis- Seven (Fincher, 1995)

Shot by shot analysis
The film opens on a CU of a book, with a man turning the page- slightly blurred vision
Cuts to a black screen with production credits on, in a stylistic font- the writing is small and white
A cut to a CU of a pair of hands that are drawn on a piece of paper
Cuts to an ECU of hands turning a screw
A cut to an ECU of a piece of equipment or machinery opening
Cut to an ECU of a hand pulling down on a lever
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name (same style writing as before)
A very quick cut to a black background with a white circle and some writing
Cut to an ECU of fingers holding a razor blade (this happens several times in a row)
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a hand putting a piece of paper in water
Quick flash of writing on a black background
Another quick flash of a Polaroid picture of a died person
Cut to a black screen with the title of the film ‘Seven’
Cut to an ECU of a hand (with a plasters on fingers) opening a box
The text ‘Seven’ comes up over the top of this shot, in the corner
Quick flash of numbers written on a wall
Cut to a CU of a hand opening a book
Cut to a CU of a hand pulling a piece of paper through a machine
Cut to a black screen of a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a hand writing on a piece of paper, the same hand writing is put on top of the other one, so it looks like two hands are writing
Cut to an ECU of writing that has been turned upside down
Cut to a red background, with a CU of a Polaroid picture of a man- this also has a red-wash to it.
A black cross then flashes over the picture, and then disappears
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a pair of hands, using scissors to cut a piece of camera film
Cut to a CU of hands, using scissors to cut a piece of a Polaroid picture
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a finger (with a bandage on it) sticking some cello-tape to a piece of metal
Cut to a CU of hands, using scissors to cut parts of a photograph of someone
Cut to a CU of a hand lining up a picture on a piece of paper
Quick flash of some writing on a black background
Cut to a CU of writing, saying ‘in god’
Cut to a black screen with cast members names
Dissolves into a CU of a Polaroid picture of a man, being stuck to a piece of paper
A quick cut to an ECU of scraps of newspaper, with text and writing
Cuts back to the Polaroid picture of a man
Cuts to an ECU of a page turning in a book, you can see the shadow of a hand, through the page
Cut to a black screen with cast members names
Flashes of writing and lines come up
Another quick cut to writing on a wall, before cutting to cast members’ names on a brown screen (still in the same font as before)
Cut to an ECU of a finger smudging pen over some writing on paper
Cut to an ECU of a pen highlighting words on a piece of text, about pregnancy
Cut to a ECU of a book turning a page, writing then flashes over the top of this
Cut to a black screen of cast members names
Writing then flashes on the screen, on a brown wall
Cut to an ECU of a pen highlighting words in a text
Another pen is faded over the top, so it looks like there are two pens writing
A quick cut to an ECU of a piece of camera film being cut with scissors, cuts back to the pen highlighting
Cuts to a CU of drawing of a man, and I line is put through the man with a pen, most of this shot is taken up by a black screen, which has more crew members on
The CU of the man then cuts to another CU of the man, but his whole face has been covered in pen
This shot then flashes, with a red-wash and the screen is also turned red
Cut to an ECU of a pen writing on a piece of paper
Cut to a split-screen, one half a ECU of a pen writing on some paper, the other half is ECU of a hand dipping a photograph in water, in a red-room (red-wash)
The red-wash continues to the next shot, an ECU of camera film being put onto some paper, the red-wash then fades out
A jump cut to an ECU of a photograph being put onto the same paper as before
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Cut to a ECU of a hand (with a lot of bandages and plasters on they’re fingers) pushing something down
Cut to a black screen with production credits
The same hand is seen again in the next shot, a CU of the hands pushing something down onto paper- as before
Cut to a CU of a page turning in a book
A CU of a piece of machinery then fades over the top of the book, but then it cuts to an ECU of a hand holding a camera film, in a red-room (red-wash of the shot)
Cut to a CU of a book full of photographs of people, the page is turned over and there is a picture of a man with something impaled in the back of his head
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Cut to a CU of an opened book
Then back to the black screen with the production credits
Cut to a ECU of a pair of hands, that damages and cut, smoothing out a piece of material
Cut to a ECU of a page being put over some photos
It then cuts back to the damaged hands, smoothing out a piece of material
Cut to a black screen of production credits
Cut to a CU of an open book
Cut to a CU of a hand turning the page in a book
Cut to ECU of damaged hands threading a piece of thread through the eye of a needle
Cut to a mid-shot of the ceiling, that fades away from the top of the screen to the bottom
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Dissolved into a ECU of a hand sewing a piece of material with writing on it
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Cuts to a panning shot of a book-case (the books look old and not looked after)
Cuts to a CU of photos of two dead people
Cut to CU of a book with pictures in it, this then fades away as a hand turns a page in another book
Cut back to a CU of those two pictures of dead people
Cuts to a black screen with production credits
Cut to a CU of writing, and a hand cuts out the word ‘god’ using a knife
Cut to a panning shot of the book-case
Cut to a black screen with production credits, the writing is shaking
There are then very quick cuts to end the opening credits of the film



Effect of sound on the sequence
During the opening sequence of the film there is no dialogue, this adds to the mystery and suspense of the film. There is music in the sequence, which creates tension surrounding the visuals that are seen throughout the opening sequence. There is not much music to begin with, but as the sequence goes on, the music builds up, and its intensity is built up. More layers of music are added, so that they create more of a harsh sound, and can make the audience edgy about what is coming up later on in the film.

What i have learnt from the analysis
I feel that the opening two minutes for seven is an excellent opening to a thriller film, this is because of the mystery that is created around the montage editing at the beginning. There is a lot of suspense that is created around whatever this person is doing and why they are doing it. The conventions of a thriller film are in the opening to this film, and are not only shown through the visual aspect, but also through the music. This music creates the whole mystery and sets the tone for the rest of the film. The mystery of the film can also be created by the fact that no characters are seen throughout, and there is no dialogue. This opening sequence to the film could be very useful to our film, as we are looking to have a montage at the beginning of the film, and the techniques used in this one are very effective.

JM Technical analysis of 'The Number 23' (Schumacher, 2007)

When it came to choosing a film to analysis, I took into consideration the genre that we had chosen for our film opening. For our film we were looking st doing a psychological thriller, so having seen 'The Number 23'(Schumacher, 2007) previously I knew that it had a good opening sequence.
Technical Analysis
The film starts with the 'New Line Cinema' logo, before a blank parchment effect fades in, upon which some text appears, with a type-writer style font. After this different text appears and disappears on different parts of the page. After this, the cuts stop and a scolling effect is instead used to reveal more and more text. The number 23 is repeated over and over again in the text, and the screen eventually shows 'The Number 23' in the middle of the screen, but this text is in red as opposed to black which has previously been used. An effect of blood soaking into the page is used to cover the text, before it cuts to more text. From here on the text that comes up on the page is surrounded by repeated '23's. This makes the text difficult to read along with the cutting rate, which progressively speeds up. The text on the screen are stats from history such as 'There are 23 letters in the latin alphabet' and all the stats in the passage are connected by the number 23. Further into the scene there are blood spatters appearing around the text, and blood trickles across the screen. As well as this some of the text is now turning red, having appeared originally in black. Again the cutting rate increases and different distance shots are now being used, for example and Extreme Close-Up magnifies the text to fill the screen. Throughout the scene the soundtrack is just music and no dialogue. This music has deep bass, contrasted with a high tone brass instrument, the notes being very jumpy up and down a scale. Another effect is now used on the text, with what appears to be permenant marker some of the text is now crossed out or underlined. After this the blood soakes the whole screen, turning it red. Different shades of red are used to expose a large '23' before it fades to an establishing shot of a house on the outskirts of the city.

What have I learnt from this analysis?
Although this isn't the most visually spectacular opening sequence, I do think it provokes a feeling of suspense and mystery early on, which is key to wether or not the audience will think initially. The mystery surrounding the number 23 means that the audience will want to continue watching the film in order to find out the significance of 23. When I first watched this film I thought the use of historical statistics that kept me gripped for the rest of the film, as it gave me a feeling that the film had relevance in the real world. Furthermore, the lack of dialogue meant that I was filled with a bigger sense of mystery. However, this involves very little camera work, and therefore would not be very useful to our film, but some of the effects and text manipulation could be useful.

Feedback #1

Some interesting ideas. Make sure you include images/stills in your posts where possible to communicate your ideas development visually.

Don't forget deadline for technical analysis is tomorrow
CF

Group- Idea

Our basic idea at the moment is; the main character wakes up tied to a chair, in a room where the walls are covered in polaroid photos. The antagonist comes into the room, but says nothing before the scene ends.

We are thinking of having a short montage before this. Another idea is that the antagonist threatens the main character with a needle.

AO-The Horror Genre

The horror genre is usually a fictional genre, that looks to scare or terrify the audience. Horror films intend enforce fear into the the audience- normally involving death for characters in the film.

Horror films would normally have everyday experiences mixed with supernatural and unreal events, which are usually the focus of the horrorfying experience, including mental illnesses- associated with evil and ruthlessness. Horror films are associated with grusome and surreal stoy lines, looking to create suspense and frighten the audience.

Notabale horror films include; The Phantom Of The Opera, Frankenstein, Night Of The Living Dead, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Masacare and The Saw sequel.

JM The Thriller Genre

Films that are classed under the genre of 'Thriller' are those that contain suspense and promote intensity; as well as a high level of anticipation, extreme expectation, uncertainty and anxiety. 'Thriller' films have many interchangable catergorisations, with similar features and characteristics.
If the entire genre of 'Thriller' were to be defined under strict terms then the main aim and goal of these films would be to provide un-relenting thrills to the audience in order to 'keep them on the edge of their seats'.
The tension in a 'Thriller' would be provided by the main character(s) being placed in compromising positions of action, mystery or danger. The life of the main character(s) is threatened, usually because the they are oblivious or unsuspecting of the dangerous or potentially deadly situation that they may find themselves in. The plot itself will usually be based upon conflict between characters or an outside force (e.g. the government)
The genre of 'Thriller' often has many hybrid sub-categories such as 'suspense-thrillers' (e.g. Phone Booth), 'action/adventure-thrillers' (Die Hard), 'sci-fi-thrillers' (Alien) or 'crime-thrillers' (The 51st State)
Another closely related genre to 'Thriller' is the 'Horror' genre. Film such as 'Saw' can be percieved to be a mix of the two genres, having the suspense and tension of a 'Thriller' and the gore of a traditional 'Horror' film.
Frequented themes of a 'Thriller' are that of terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit and love triangles resulting in murder. The characters that often appear in films categorised under 'Thriller' are the police, criminals, stalkers, assasains, psychotic individuals, fugatives, terrorists and menaced women.

Group- Genre

Our genre is going to be thriller- we have looked at different openings and already have a starting idea.