Thriller Questionnare, Miss Georgiou

  Questionnaire Outline:

1.     How old are you?

2.     What gender are you?

3.     What age certificate do you expect a thriller to be?

                                    12        15       18

4.     What interests you to watch thriller films?

Adverts         Posters       Recommendations

5.     What do you expect to see in thrillers?

Main characters killer and victim   

Flash backs

Blood

Death

Conflict

Fight scenes

Chase scenes

Other

6.     Do you enjoy thriller films that have a sequel to continue the story?

7.     What types of sounds would you like to hear in a thriller film?

Tension building

Sound effects

Loud music

Silence

Other

8.     What characters would you like to watch in a thriller, and why?

Male

Female

Villain

Victim

Group of people

Psychotic

Other

9.     What type of setting would you like to see?

Forest       

Abandoned house      

Old basement        

Park

School

Other

10.                        Would you enjoy other sub-genres to be used? If so, which ones?

Psychological thriller

Conspiracy thriller

Crime thriller

Disaster thriller

Supernatural thriller

Other

11.                        What would you like the purpose to be?

To scare

To create paranoia

Enigma

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questionnaire Outline:

1.     How old are you?

2.     What gender are you?

3.     What age certificate do you expect a thriller to be?

                                    12        15       18

4.     What interests you to watch thriller films?

Adverts         Posters       Recommendations

5.     What do you expect to see in thrillers?

Main characters killer and victim   

Flash backs

Blood

Death

Conflict

Fight scenes

Chase scenes

Other

6.     Do you enjoy thriller films that have a sequel to continue the story?

7.     What types of sounds would you like to hear in a thriller film?

Tension building

Sound effects

Loud music

Silence

Other

8.     What characters would you like to watch in a thriller, and why?

Male

Female

Villain

Victim

Group of people

Psychotic

Other

9.     What type of setting would you like to see?

Forest       

Abandoned house      

Old basement        

Park

School

Other

10.                        Would you enjoy other sub-genres to be used? If so, which ones?

Psychological thriller

Conspiracy thriller

Crime thriller

Disaster thriller

Supernatural thriller

Other

11.                        What would you like the purpose to be?

To scare

To create paranoia

Enigma

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What would you like the purpose to be?

 

 

Group Narrative, Miss Georgiou

Individual Ideas:

Deanna

There is a child having a nightmare and she dreams about being in a park on a swing, playing happily before he killer takes her away. I would set this in a
de-tatched house and a park which is surrounded by forest. I would use cinematography for example a high angled shot to portray the child as the victim and music & sound effects to build suspense.

Ayesha and I (similar idea):

Our ideas for the narrative that i would like to create were inspired from, the lawn mower scene in the thriller Sinister because of the director's use of editing styles, Inception because of the surreal imagery and camera angles and also the thriller movie Orphan from the 1960's because of the trailing blood in the water.

Our thriller clip will be based on a stalker who is obsessed with a young women and would even kill her and himself in order for them to be together "forever".

In order to create low key lighting a paddling pool will be purchased an d a blanket will be covering it as well as a torch being used.

to make blood ketchup will be used to trail in the water to create a more realistic,gruesome effect.

Our intention is to film the clip in a dark place in order for the low key lighting needed to be more effective as well as parallel sounds to add emphasis to the things that take place in the thriller clip.

Group Narrative:

Characters:

• Killer


• Victim


• Victim's younger Sister
Settings:
• River setting
• Bedroom

The clip will begin with two sisters running  running through a forest looking for their lost dog, then the younger sister falls over and hits her head making he unconcious and then she later finds herself on the ground with blood on her head.
Whilst she is unconscious she imagine's a stalker trying to drown her sister which will leave the audience feeling confused when they realise that there is evidence of events from the young girl's dream when she becomes conscious, then the clip will end suddenly leaving the audience wondering ether the older sister was drowned or wether it was actually just a figure of the younger sister's imagination.

Vladmir Propp, a Russian critic, active in the 1920's, published his morphology of the folk tale in 1928. while the Soviet cinema was producing excellent films, Propp was essentially interested in the narrative of folk tales.
Folk tales were similar to

Opening Scene Analysis, Miss Georgiou

Halloween:

The purpose of an opening in the thriller genre is to give the audience insight into what is going to occur in the thriller; by using a range of such as camera angles, sounds and editing. These all contribute in the development of a thriller film from the opening scene because the opening scene of a thriller film plays a key role in making the audience feel either scared or paranoid etc. Opening scenes in thriller films usually contain main characters who by using facial expressions are able to set the scene for the audience. The location of the opening scene is also vital because it makes the audience aware of the possible things that may occur as the film further progresses which in the audience creates a fear of the unknown.

Camera angles:

The Opening sequence begins with the camera zooming in to the house which indicates that as the film progresses, the house is always going to be a very important part of the storyline, this is conventional to the thriller genre as in most thriller films, there is always one or a few key elements in a film that will be in the film, this also gives the audience the idea that something negative will take place in the film.The camera also then focuses on one particular part of the house which is the living room;giving the audience watching the film the impression that whatever is going to take place would occur in the living room, the camera zooming in slowly to the living room causes the audience to feel weary of what is due to occur as the film progresses.

Narrative:
 The opening scene also begins with an anonymous character that heads upstairs after he pulls a knife from the kitchen drawer. The audience would automatically assume that the person is anonymous because the face and body is nnot shown i the opening scene, the footsteps and movement of the person are the only things that are revealed which indicates to the audience that the person with the hidden identit may be a murderer.

Editing:
The scene includes a jump cut from the stairs to the bedroom when the girl is sitting in front of the dressing mirror brushing her hair; causing the audience to feel sudden panic unsure of what is going to happen next. The jump cut is used in this part of the opening seen to insinuate that something such as a murder would take place in the bedroom very shortly.

Sounds:
The pitch of sounds in the fim clip creates tension in the minds of the audience because the sounds are relatively high pitched in order to emphasise on the fear that is created in the opening scene. The sounds are mainly non-diegetic as there is music to accompany the opening scene as well as diegetic sounds such as: footsteps, talking and the sounds of doors creaking and closing. These all make a heavy impact on the audience causing them to panic and feel startled at the slightest noise in the opening scene.

Characters:
The identity of the killer in the opening scene is very deceptive as it leaves the audience uncertain of who the murderer is; the impact that this has on the audience is that the audience then engage more in the film in order to find out what is next to occur in the other scenes. A new character is then introduced (a young boy) that was not in the scene at the begining and this character s introduced with the same knife that was used to kill the girl in his hands.



In conclusion the camera angles, sounds and character would all be vital in the opening sequence of my thriller fim because these each play important roles in the quality of film produced. By using appropriate camera angles for scenes, emotions such as fear, trauma and panic can be felt from the intended audience of my thriller film. Sounds are equally as important because the audience should be able to sense what is about to happen in a movie without necessarily watching the film at the same time just by sounds that have been used.

Research Into Sounds, Miss Miller

Along Came The Spider(2005):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPbDFxXU_74

Diegetic Sound:

Sound which is part of the film for example, dialogue and music from a radio. The sound can be on or off screen.

Non-Diegetic Sound:

Sound that is not part of the film for example soundtracks.

The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening.  We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are  represented as coming from outside the space of the story events. 

On Screen Sound:

You can see where the sound is coming from.

Off Screen Sound:

You can hear the sound but cannot see where it is coming from.

Parallel Sound:

When the sound you hear in a film is what is expected for example children laughing whilst playing.

Contrapuntal Sound:

Is when the sound does not match the expectations of you are viewing.

The clip from the film Along came the spider begins with both diegetic and non-diegetic sound; diegetic sound because of the speech from the main character  when he says through the FBI piece of equipment "This is our man" this is supposed to make the audience feel as though they are on the same page as the FBI agents as they feel anxious to see what will happen and wether the criminal will be arrested or caught. Non-diegetic sound from the soundtrack makes the audience feel a sense of danger approaching,which is conventional to the thriller genre because thriller films are supposed to make the audience feel like something unexpected can always occur at any given moment. The sounds coming from the flying helicopter and moving car are also examples of diegetic sound as  these sounds are expected from the film because there is visual evidence of where these sounds are coming from.

The villan in the scene begins to shout when he realises that the woman he is with is an undercover agent which is is an example of parallel sound because the shouting is expected from what is occurring in the scene.

An example of On-screen sound is when the car starts to skid on the road because the audience is able to see where the sound is coming from which enhances the fact that the car is falling off the bridge.

The sound becomes contrapuntal when the other FBI agents are running after the car that is falling off the bridge because the sound is quite upbeat which could be in order for the audience to feel slight confusion as they are not completely sure of what is going on in the movie.

Through research into sounds, I have been able to gain an understanding on how sounds are a vital part in the development of thriller films as they are able to convey emotions that should be felt by the audience and also bring effectiveness to each of the scenes in the films.

Research Into Thriller Conventions, Miss Miller

Thriller Conventions:

Thriller conventions include mise-en-scene, cinematography and iconography. These particular features contribute alot to thriller films because they add alot of emphasis in the mood or theme of the movie.

The clip that i have chosen to analyse is from the film Casino Royale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9fyOFefirQ
The positioning and facial expressions of the characters sitting around the poker table show that there is a lot at stake and whoever loses the game will be affected, the effect that this has on the audience is that the audience are anxious whilst the game is going on because they are unsure of the meanings behind the expressions on the characters faces.
The music in the scene is parallel because the background music of suspense matches the intensity of the facial expressions on the characters faces.

Low key lighting is used in the scene of the clip which is conventional to the thriller genre and contributes to the the spooky mood of the clip which is because the audience is unsure of the occurrences about to happen.

A close up shot is used on the main characters opponent so that the audience would get the chance to imagine what is going on through is mid during the game of poker.

In conclusion this will benefit me in making my thriller film because all of the conventions that i have mentioned are used in thriller  movies contribute in making a successful film that viewers will enjoy,I can also use these features to make a thriller film of high quality and standard.

Research into the history of thriller films, Miss Georgiou

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements.Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements.Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements (Wikipedia).

1920's -1930's:

In 1926, a man called Alfred Hitchcock made his third thriller film, his thriller films were usually silent because in the 1920's and 30's film directors did not have the technology that we have today to create thriller movies. The thriller movie that he made is called The Lodger which was based on the theme of Jack The Ripper. The next film that Alfred made was in 1929 and it is called Blackmail; this movie was very popular in Britain as it was his and Britain's first ever sound film. This shows how the thriller genre gradually developed over the years from the 1920s-1930's. There were various directors in Britain who also produced very successful thriller films such as: Walter Forde, Victor Saville and George A.

1940's:

In the 1940's, Hitchcock continued directing thrillers, two of the films that he created were very successful and he received an Oscar for one of the films he directed called Rebecca, this shows the development of the thriller genre as it was being received so well by the nation and other countries around the world that awards were being won by thriller actors and directors.

Rebecca was played by Joan Fontaine who was an academy award winning actress for her roles in both Rebecca and another one of Hitchcock's movies called Suspicion.The development of thriller movies paved the way for alot of actors and actresses like, Joan, Ethel Barrymore, George Brent and Burt Lancaster.

1950's:

In the 1950's thriller movie audiences were introduced to new directors such as Henry Hathaway who directed the movie Niagra which starred the very honoured Marylin Monroe. In this thriller film Marylin played a character who plots to kill her husband.

Other films were Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly in 1955 and Charles Laughton's The Night Of The Hunter, a film aboout a preacher who victimized two young children with a secret.



1970's-1980's:

In this time period the very famous Steven Spielberg had created and directed TV thriller movie called Duel which starred Denise Weaver, Jaqueline Scott and Eddie Firestone, it was about a business commuter being persued by the driver of a massive trailor tractor.

Thriller movies in the 80's included Dressed To Kill, Blowout and Body Double. This is conventional to the development of the thriller genre because it shows how the thriller film movement became so well known worldwide and made a massive impact on the television and theatre industry over the years.

 

1990's-Present:

 Jonathan Demmes released The Silence of The Lambs in 1991. David Fincher bough se7en which is about a serial killer who conducted the 7 deadly sins and in 2008, the thriller film Funny Games was released.

 

 How will this research benefit me in the making of my own thriller film:

The research that I have carried out about the history of the thriller genre will be conventional to the thriller movie that I am creating because this will help me gain more insight in what features that the directors of the films that I used in order to make their films as successful as they where.



This chart shows a box office report of the best selling thriller movies of in terms of ticket sales in cinemas.
The chart shows that Saw 3 was the best selling thriller film, this would be because of the editing styles used and as the previous films were also very successful, the thriller audiences woould have highly anticipoated the premiering of this film.
The lowest selling film was The town, this film may not have been as successful as other types of thriller films because the actors used may not have been as popular as others and may not have been the usual faces that are seen in a thriller film.
I think this research can benefit me in the development of my thriller film because I can analyse aspects of "the town" that were not successful and make an effort to avoid repeating these things when making my own thriller film, I can also use the positive aspects of Saw 3 to produce a successful film.