Thriller

A thriller is hard to define. Many films may seem to be a thriller but have other genre's.

• Snakes on a plane
• Source Code
• Bourne Identity
• Fatal Attraction
• Phone booth
• etc.

Susan Hayward said in a book entitled Key Concepts in Film Studies... "Thriller is a difficult genre to pin down because it covers such a wide range of films. Thrillers are films of suspense... that are supposed to instil terror in the audience." 

ere are various different types of thrillers including:

• Spy thrillers
• Political thrillers
• Conspiracy thrillers
• Legal thrillers 
• Psychological thrillers

Coursework Brief

For our coursework we have been asked to create the titles and opening of a new fiction film in the triller genre which should last a maximum duration of two minutes.
The coursework amounts to 50% of the whole course.

Cinematography - Use Of The Camera

In the early days of cinema a camera was connected to a tripod stand to record. This is called a fixed camera. This meant it created an effect like going to a theatre, it would all be shown from one position and constantly in long shot, so that all of the set and characters were visible to everyone in the audience.
   As techniques progressed, film makers began to try different experiments such as moving the camera around creating a range of shots. This eventually led to certain conventions such as the use of a close up used for showing facial expressions to convey emotion or focus the audience on a particular thing.

Camera Framing
When speaking about camera framing we focus on what we actually see inside the frame of the screen. We concentrate on the distance of the camera from the object or character and from what angle the shot is taken.

The different shots include:

• Close Up (CU)
• Extreme Close Up (ECU)
• Mid-shot (MS)
• Long Shot (LS)
• Extreme Long Shot / Establishing Shot (ELS)
• Point Of View (POV)
• High Angle
• Low Angle
• Over the Shoulder Shot (OSS)

Camera Movement

When the camera moves from a fixed position.

 These movements include:

• Pan - when the camera rotates from left to right or vice versa.
• Tilt - when the camera 'tilts' up and down.
• Dutch Tilt - when the camera 'tilts' on an angle to give a disorientating effect.
• Zoom - when the camera remains still but the focus is adjusted to move either towards or away from the object.
• Reverse Zoom - when the camera focus zooms in whilst the camera moves out or vice versa.

Free-Form Camera Movement

When the camera is free to move around the set/location.

These Movements include:

• Track - when the camera moves fluidly on a set of tracks in a certain direction.
• Dolly - when the camera is on wheels so can be moved in any direction.
• Crane - when the camera is placed on a large crane arm that enables it to move around the set with ease. It also allows the camera to move quickly between different heights.
• Rolling - when the camera moves diagonally, making the image askew.
• Handheld - when the camera is held in a hand and can therefore move in any direction. The result is usually a very shaky picture.
• Steadicam - when the camera is worn on a weighted harness to keep it still and balanced, whilst allowing the freedom of handheld filming.

Film Language: Sound

Sound
Sound adds an extra dimension to films and has been extremely useful and common in films for a long while. The first film with sound is known to have taken place in 1911, however it was only in 1927 that the Warner Brothers released the first feature film with a soundtrack, 'The Jazz Singer'. The reason it took this long while to apply sound to film is because companies didn't want to invest the large amounts of money needed for it to be applied. However the next sound film 'Lights of New York' impressed so much that sound film took off and the entire film industry started to make sound films.

Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Sound
The film as we see on the cinema screen is known as the diegetic world.

Diegetic sound is sound which is actually part of the film world we are watching. This can be dialogue, music or sound effects which come from a source within the film world. The music in this instance will be from a source in the film which we acknowledge could actually be producing music, for example a CD player or jukebox.

Nondiegetic sound is sound which we do not recognise as part of the film world such as a voice-over or background music.

Sound Bridges
You will notice that sound from one scene may often continue even though the image on screen has moved from one scene to the next. This is known as a sound bridge which helps to create a smooth transition from one scene to another as the film would seem very disjointed if the sound changed every time the picture on the screen changed. In this way the sound is said to be enhancing the continuity of the film.

Parallel and Contrapuntal Sound
Normally in a film the sound we here compliments the image on screen. For Example if were looking at children on a beach, we expect to be hearing happy voices and children laughing and appropriate music for that scenario. This is what is known as Parallel Sound.
However similar to the film 'Jaws', if you see children playing on a beach but hear sinister music in the background which signals the arrival of the shark, it is known as contrapuntal sound because the sound does not match what we are watching on the on the screen.
 

Eagles Path

This is a storyboard we created in class. The story is about the opening of a film called 'Eagles Path' about a family living in an isolated cottage, set in the highlands of Scotland. The film slowly goes from the opening/establishing long shot of the mountains and clouds above and behind the cottage. As the scene progresses we see a man outside chopping wood. However the story then turns as a rough storm approaches which eventually evolves into a hurricane heading towards the cottage and as the family try to escape the hurricane strikes and destroys the whole village. This is where the opening ends. The storyboard is shown in the video below.

Opening of Source Code (By Duncan Jones)

In class we watched an action thriller film named source code and analysed the opening. The opening 5 minutes of this film gives an idea of how the pace of the film is going to be and what it will consist of. The opening shot is a long shot which shows the whole city and this is accompanied by fast paced, tension music to build up suspense. We then see the train from an aerial view most probably filmed by a cameraman in a helicopter in the air. The shots switch back and forth from the train to the city, as it gets closer in to the train. The film then switches swiftly to the next scene which is when we see the first character.
   The first person we see in the film is a man on a train slowly awaking; he seems to look lost as if he doesn't know where he is. This shot is quite a long shot in duration and lasts for about 13 seconds which allows the audience to establish that this will be the main character. However after this the pace of the shots speeds up quite quickly as there are a series of different events that happen in quick succession, such as a lady spilling her coffee, a man opening his can of drink and a man complaining about the time these all followed shot after shot and made the main character question where he was and what he was doing there.
   The camera swiftly moves from shot to shot as it allows the audience to see the mans surroundings as he is seeing it. As he moves around the train to get a better idea of his location he is moving quite frantically and looks out of place due to the fact he isn't in his version of reality. Also when the man looks in the mirror he sees a different man to himself which builds more suspicion and confusion. The opening ends with the man and a woman who seemed to know him, facing each other and talking, when the train suddenly blows up and the scene ends.

I think this is an effective opening as it allows the audience to establish where most of the film will take place and also allows them to establish who the main characters are. The director has thought about this thoroughly and made sure every detail is correct and links with the next.

Casino Royale beginning - 'Mise En Scene' analysis

In this opening scene the director uses 'Mise En Scene' to show bond's characteristics by the setting, lighting and expressions and body language. The body language in the first scene shows the old man looking around frantically, looking slightly paranoid as if he feels something is not right. However bond's body language shows he is calm and collected and has got every aspect of the task at hand already planned out. The lighting in the first scene is dark and shows hardly anything which conceals what bond may be hiding. the facial expressions in the second scene are more angry and frantic to show the intense and violent atmosphere between bond and the person he is fighting. The body language from both of them shows the struggle to gain control of the situation but at the end bond is breathing heavy as a sense of relief and also tiredness from the fight.