Final Thriller Idea

My final idea for our opening thriller film will be based on 'Chain Mail'. The opening will begin in an empty room with dimmed, spooky lighting whilst a teenage girl is on her computer looking through her Facebook page. A pop-up of a chain mail appears on her screen, with a bold, large font saying "If you don't pass this on to your contact list within the next 30 seconds, you will die in 24 hours". Having seen plentiful chain mails before, she deleted it without a concern. Having done that, she soon after receives a phone call from a strange, deep voice on the phone exclaiming 'You shouldn't have deleted that'. She hung up straight away, very confused. The same message pops up on her screen again which she deleted for the second time slightly more anxious now. She goes into her kitchen and boils the kettle to make herself a coffee (noise of kettle creates suspicious atmosphere). The phone rings again with the same voice on the phone saying 'you shouldn't have deleted that'. The girl hangs up straight away and exits from her Facebook, worried. However, the same message pops up again on her home screen of the computer which really startles her this time and she begins to get frantic. She takes a sip of her coffee and the phone rings for the third time. This time round the voice on the phone says 'I warned you, You shouldn't have drunk that' and the line goes dead.

 

A possible title for this thriller could be 'You shouldn't have deleted that' as it is a recurring line the caller says which the audience becomes aware of. Another title could be 'Ctrl Alt Delete.' which creates more suspicion but already suggests a computer is involved. 'The Caller' can also be a possible title idea too.

Group Members for my thriller

For my short thriller film, I will be working with Charlie Horne and Lucie Stafford to create a final piece. They are both pupils in my media class. The reason the three of us have formed a group is because we all work well together, sharing our own individual ideas to eventually come up with our final idea. We also cooperate well together and each put in our own input and feedback on different ideas that are discussed within our group. We each originally came up with different ideas but we combined some of them and finally managed to get our final idea for our thriller.

The Art of The Title Sequence

The Art of the title sequence can include a variety of different things in a variety of different layouts. It can include the name of the film and can give an understanding of the tone or atmosphere of the film.  There can also be narrative information and characters can begin to be introduced. Moreover, the art of the title sequence will also give a sense of the films genre and the actors, directors and production company names are introduced. A location is also established.

 

There are 4 different types of title sequence used in most Hollywood films such as :

 

Discrete - A discrete title sequence is like a mini film before the actual film to help get the audience into the mood of the film yet not to reveal the storyline of the film. It can also give you an idea of the tone and the genre of the movie. A 'discrete' opening sequence is also often animated and includes a lot of editing work. For example, the girl with the dragon tattoo or Spider man.

 

 

 

Traditional - A good example for a traditional title sequence is Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Even though there is a slightly stylised element in form of the grey lines moving through the screen, we have a black background with white titles in front. A second example would be the sixth sense title sequence in which sound and font is used to create the tone of the film.

 

 

 

Straight into the film - The type of opening is a film that goes straight into the storyline and does not have an extra title sequence. An example of this is the film scream which goes straight into the story with no titles at all and the film directly goes into action. This type of title sequence is far less commonplace and is most likely to be seen un action or horror.

 

 

The stylised opening sequence - A stylised title sequence is a combination of straight into the film and discrete. The opening of the film starts straight into the action and then followed by a 'discrete' title sequence. The best and most famous example for this type are the James Bonds openings such as Skyfall. This type of opening is often used in stylish action films such as Mesrine.

Thriller Ideas

Thriller Newspaper Articles

http://www.itv.com/news/2013-07-04/timeline-madeleine-mccanns-disappearance-in-2007/ 
 This is a newspaper report displaying a timeline to show the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and what has happened since with the storyline. On a family holiday in Portugal in 2007, Madeleine's family went for dinner, leaving her 3 children in their room alone with no sitter watching them. They claimed they went up every half an hour to check the kids were alright. However, once arrived back to their hotel room after finished dinner, their daughter Madeleine had gone. Since the disappearance, police reports have been made, plentiful searches, tourists claiming they saw her the night she went missing, The McCann parents questioned by the police, book about their story has been released, the review of the missing girl is now an investigation. Madeline has still unfortunately not been found. 

This could be altered and made into an opening of a thriller film. A family of 5 are on holiday in London somewhere for the weekend celebrating a birthday. The night of the fathers birthday they all went out for an early family dinner and then the parents took the kids back to the hotel and put them to bed. They went down to the hotel bar by themselves leaving their children alone in their bedrooms. After celebrating alone, and after a couple of drink they went back up to the rooms. No one is around when they make their way up, its almost silent in the hotel, with some mysterious noises in the background. A child runs out from behind a wall and screams with laughter giving the parents a shock. This all anticipates something bad to happen. Once arrived at the hotel room, they notice the door has been left slightly opened. Finally they realize their little girl has gone, just as the lights in the room flicker, connoting something serious and frightening has happened.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2817691/Monsters-sea-Three-Britain-s-notorious-female-criminals-living-seaside-resort-town.html
 This newspaper article is about 3 of 'Britain's most notorious female criminals' being spotted in the same district. Maxine Carr and Baby p's mum, Tracey Connelly were both spotted in the same town. Kidnapper Karen Mathews has also been spotted in the same sea side resort. Distress and fear has been raised that the tourist destination has been used a dumping ground for ex-criminals. This has caused residents to find it peculiar that all 3 women are living so close together.

This can be made into the opening of a thriller sequence. it can begin with 3 different shots occurring on the screen at the same time of 3 different women committing a different crime and then all being arrested. The title of the film appears which then leads on to a sub heading stating its a century later. The same 3 women are shown to be released from prison, all living in the same, almost deserted, sea side resort. The few local resident seem aware of them when they're noticed on the street and tend to keep their distance. The women seem to act as if they don't know who each other are. It then becomes clear to the audience they in fact do know each other, and they know each other very well. These 3 women have plotted a scheme to make this resort their own; no body else will be living on it apart from them. This could be an unrealistic thriller based on different ideas and schemes they all have and work together to make this plan happen.   

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2817565/Woman-sexually-assaulted-teenagers-wearing-Scream-horror-masks.html
 Finally, this last newspaper article discusses a report of a 22 year old women who was sexually assaulted after being dragged down to the ground by 4 men wearing 'scream' masks and dark clothing on the evening of Halloween. Luckily, the brave women managed to fight them off. She was pushed to the floor which lead her to a state of shock and was extremely distressed.

This could be recreated into a thriller film stealing some ideas from this article. The opening will begin with a women walking down the street after a party slightly drunk in the dark. She gets into a cab which is playing quiet yet spooky music but nothing to suspicious yet. She gets out the cab a few houses away from her own so the driver doesn't know where she lives. She begins walking down the road when a dark figure quickly runs behind her; she hears but doesn't see it so continues walking. The wind increases along with other strange nigh time noises. She walks faster picking up her pace as she gets more anxious. There is a continuation of weird noises which makes her nervous as she is alone so she starts running towards her house when she sees a dark blurry figure walking towards her. She jolts and turns around to go the other way but bumps into someone. When she looks up she sees a person in a 'scream' mask looking down at her.

Binary Oppositions

Examples of binary oppositions - 2 things that are total opposites but are linked in some way

Fight Club Scene

• Man vs Women
• Black vs White
• Good vs Evil
• Young vs Old
• Strong vs Weak
• Rich vs Poor
• Hero vs Villain
• Humanity vs Technology
• Truth vs Lies
• Light vs Dark
• West vs East

     1.  Fight Club Film Scene:

Starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton

The two men in Fight club are the same person yet played with completely different characteristics. Brad is depicted as the more masculine, stronger, muscular and more powerful character who follows the typical male stereotype. Ed Norton is presented with a weaker and more vulnerable persona in comparison. The low angle shot of Brad Pitt displays him as the more superior character and emphasises on his authority and dominance. The high angle shot of Ed Norton signifies he Is the more feeble and tenuous character. Additionally, Brad is characterized as more confident which can be seen due to his bright coloured shirt in contrast to Ed's dull, plain grey t-shirt.

    2.  The Long Kiss Goodnight Film Scene:

The female character Charlie is first introduced as a timid and anxious housewife, dressed in unflattering clothing. She appears to have to no makeup on showing she is all natural signifying her purity and innocence. She is evidently weak and seems afraid as the man who turns up at her house pushes her against the stairs. She also attempts to protect her daughter by shouting at her to warn her. In the next scene of this film that Charlie is seen in, she has straight away changed her persona. The slow music and filming of her in the shower already depicts her as more confident with herself. Moreover, she also appears to use sex as a weapon with a new and more drastic hairstyle, along with heavy makeup unlike before. She is presented as a more powerful, more masculine and a more outgoing and brave character now. Charlie also throws away a torn picture of her family suggesting she is trying to shut away her personal life to avoid getting distracted and vulnerable again.

   3.   Comparisons and Contrasts of the 2 films

Ed Norton, the weaker character in Fight Club, compares to the weaker character of the girl in The long kiss goodnight. Brad Pitt, the stronger character in fight club compares to the changed and strong persona of Charlie later on. The scene from Fight Club is centred around men and the power they have over each other. It also highlights the stereotypical male characteristics portrayed by Brad Pitt, such as aggression and strength to achieve what they aim for, using violence as a form of manipulation. In The long kiss goodnight, it shows that women are who seem to be vulnerable, can easily transform into a more masculine figure showing their dominance which would be classed as a countertype for women. The 2 men along with the 2 women all show binary oppositions in their opposite characteristics. There is a key difference between the characters in both films in their actions and dialogue to represent the difference yet also similarities in genders.

The Long Kiss Goodnight

What is a thriller?

What you would expect to happen in a thriller

There are many different norms and characteristics that would be expected to occur in a thriller film. thriller is a genre of literature, film and television programming using suspense. tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewers mood, giving them high levels of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline rushing, rousing and fast-paced. A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant pace. The keeps the audience excited and awaiting what's going to happen next as the plot builds to a climax. a thriller is commonly a villain driven plot, whereby he/she presents impediments that the protagonist must overcome. 

Sub genres of thrillers

Common sub-genres are psychological thrillers, crime thrillers, erotic thrillers and mystery thrillers. Another sub genre is the spy genre. Further sub-genres consist of conspiracy thrillers, legal thrillers, political thrillers, supernatural thriller and techno thrillers and comedy thrillers. 

The plots of these sub genres

Comedy thrillers is a genre that combines elements of comedy and thrillers and a combination of humour and suspense and action. Conspiracy thrillers is when the hero/heroine confronts a powerful group of enemies whose true extent only s/he recognises. Crime thrillers are a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime/s. Erotic thrillers emphasises on eroticism and where a sexual relationship is involved. A legal thriller is a suspense film in which the main characters are lawyers and employees. A political thriller is where the hero must ensure the stability of government that employs him. A psychological thriller includes a conflict between the main characters which is mental and emotional, not physical. a supernatural thriller brings in an otherworldly element mixed with tension and plot twists. A spy genre is when the protagonist is a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government. A techno thriller is a suspense film in which the manipulation of technology plays an important role.

Examples of films that belong to these sub genres

Examples of a comedy thriller are Mr. and Mrs. smith and Bang Bang. Awake and Snake eyes are examples of a conspiracy thriller film. Along came a spider and The killing come under the sub genre of crime thrillers. Examples of an erotic thriller are Chloe and Sea of love. Runaway jury and The client are examples of a Legal thriller film. The man who knew too much and White House Down are examples of political thrillers. Shutter island and The collector are films that are of the sub genre psychological thrillers. Skyfall and the tourist are film examples for a spy thriller. What lies beneath and unbreakable are supernatural thriller films. Lastly, Jurassic park and The net are examples of films in the sub genre techno thriller.

Plot synopsis of Mr and Mrs Smith

Mr and Mrs smith: John and Jane smith are a standard married couple, living an ordinary life and working normal jobs according to each other. they both attend marriage therapy as their desire for each other has calmed down since they got married. However, in actual fact, John and Jane are both secretly skilled assassins working for different firms, both exceptional and matchless in their field. They are both hiding their actual professions from each other. When John and Jane are both assigned to eliminate a man called Benjamin Danz, nicknamed 'The Tank', they come into contact with each other during the job and uncover the truth. Both proprietors assign one Smith to eliminate the other. They both have the decision and, must choose between their personal and professional lives. 

Plot synopsis of awake

Awake tells the story of a man encountering heart surgery whilst undergoing a phenomenon called 'anaesthetic awareness', which causes him to be awake yet paralysed during the whole operation. As a variety of obstacles appear, his wife must make life changing decisions while battling with her own personal drama.

Plot Synopsis of Along Came a Spider

A young girl, Megan, is kidnapped from a school by one of her teachers who has been disguised for the past 2 years whilst planning this kidnap. She turns out to be the daughter of a senator, and the kidnapper called Mr Soneji, soon makes a call to a detective police officer, named Alex Cross, whose partner died eight months ago, involving him in the kidnapping. A secret service agent that failed to protect Megan at the school decides to help him Cross. However, not everything is what is seems, and many surprising and unexpected twists follows as the two attempt to catch the spider.

  

Plot Summary of Chloe

Catherine, a doctor, and David, a professor, seem to be the perfect couple. They are happily married with a talented teenage son and appear to have an idyllic life. However, when David misses a flight and his surprise birthday party, Catherine's long simmering intuition's rise to the surface. Suspecting infidelity, she decides to hire an escort to seduce her husband and test his loyalty. Catherine finds herself  'directing' Chloe's experiences with David, and Chloe's end of the bargain is to report back, the descriptions becoming increasingly graphic as the meetings multiply.

 

Plot Synopsis for Runaway Jury

Wendell Rohr is a torts lawyer taking on the gun lobby. Rankin Fitch is the jury consultant for the Defendants and between them, the battle is for the hearts and minds of the jury. However, there is someone on the inside. Nicholas Easter is a juror with a girlfriend, Marlee, on the outside. They have a past and appear to have their own agenda too.

Plot Synopsis of White House Down

Capitol Policeman John Cale was denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer. Cale didn't want to let down his little girl by revealing the bad news to her so he takes her on a tour of the White House. Unexpectedly, there's an explosion inside the White House and the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation's government falling into chaos and with time running out, it's up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.

Plot Summary of Shutter Island

It's 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. He's been pushing for an assignment on the island for personal reasons, but before he becomes suspicious on whether he hasn't been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal to downright sinister. Teddy's shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals "escape" in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.

Plot Synopsis of Skyfall

When Bond's latest assignment goes awfully wrong and agents around the world are exposed, MI6 is attacked forcing M to relocate the agency. These events cause her authority and position to be challenged by Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. With MI6 now compromised from both inside and out, M is left with one ally she can trust: Bond. 007 takes to the shadows - aided only by field agent, Eve  - following a trail to the mysterious Silva, whose lethal and hidden motives have yet to reveal themselves.

Plot summary of Unbreakable

This suspense thriller unravels as the audience is introduced to David Dunn. Not only is he the sole survivor of an awful train-crash that killed 131 people, he doesn't have a scratch on him. Elijah Price is an obscure and strange character who approaches Dunn with a seemingly far fetched theory behind it all.

Plot synopsis of Jurassic Park

Large advancements and improvements in scientific technology have allowed a mogul to create an island full of living dinosaurs. John Hammond has invited four individuals, along with his two grandchildren, to join him at Jurassic Park. However, will everything go to plan? Especially when one of the parks' own workers attempts to steal the dinosaur embryos, and has to shut down critical security systems in the process. It's now a race for survival with dangerous creatures roaming all over the island.