Survey Analyses

 We created these surveys to find out what our audiences would want to see in the next film they watched not just about the thriller genre.  I suggested these questions because I wasn't that interested in what they looked for in the genre because these would usually be the cliche things like a fight scene with a car chase. I was more interested in what we could bring in from other genres the make the opening unique. This is why I wanted to cover what they have already seen then find out what they liked from that so that we could use those things in our film opening.

In addition to finding out about the the types of films they watch we wanted to find out about time zones. We made this decision because our original ideas were set in different time zones therefore the way in which would help us decide is see which time zone the audience prefer to be set in. This would not be the only factor deciding our film.

Our questions included age because this would help with trying to make the film relevant our audience helping them stay gripped and involved in the plot. Furthermore this would help with the character development because if the characters relatable he/she will be easier to connect to.

The Art of Flight

The art of flight was a great example of what an opening title sequence should be aiming to achieve. I choose this because it integrates the use of 3D motion and live action footage into one thrilling experience.

The reason I am looking at this aspect is because the text is equally as important as the actual footage in the opening sequence. This is because the text also provides information linked with the video helping the audience understand and follow the plot. The reason why I choose this video as an example is because the text is animated within the video instead of looking like it's place on the top. I want to take this aspect of 3D motion editing to help draw the audience in. I loved the way in which the text has been put into an almost ice effect because it helps me as a viewer understand the setting of the video and the purpose behind it which will be very useful when trying to push a narrative forward.

The use of these texts within the openings draw the audiences attention better when they interact with their surrounds for example in this opening the editor used a line vector to create a 3D interaction between the live footage and the text. This further adds to the overall feeling of 'epicness' that the director wanted to create because of the activity the snowboarder is about to undergo. These interactions can further foretell what the protagonist is going to have to deal with in the upcoming film. A great example of this is in the first set of titles when the logos chip of in space because further on in the film the snowboarders jump so high that they actually chip off the branches from the trees which is very similar to opening text. This is why I think its important to be researching these types of typography because of the impact they can have on the narrative. Lastly I want to be thinking about this while planning my shot because I want the text to be apart of this opening as much as the live footage.

Typography

Typography. In our opening we wanted to use the rules of typography so that if we wanted to have say a small paragraph to explain something within our opening we could still make this look attractive to the human eye. The idea is that the body of the text helps support the meaning behind it. 

• The four most im­por­tant ty­po­graphic choices you make in any doc­u­ment are point size, line spac­ing, line length, and font (pas­sim), be­cause those choices de­ter­mine how the body text looks.
• point size should be 10–12 points in printed doc­u­ments, 15-25 pix­els on the web.
• line spac­ing should be 120–145% of the point size.
• The av­er­age line length should be 45–90 char­ac­ters (in­clud­ing spaces).
• The eas­i­est and most vis­i­ble im­prove­ment you can make to your ty­pog­ra­phy is to use a pro­fes­sional font, like those found in font rec­om­men­da­tions.
• Avoid goofy fonts, mono­spaced fonts, and sys­tem fonts, es­pe­cially times new ro­man and Arial.
• Use curly quo­ta­tion marks, not straight ones (see straight and curly quotes).
• Put only one space be­tween sen­tences.
• Don’t use mul­ti­ple word spaces or other white-space char­ac­ters in a row.
• Never use un­der­lin­ing, un­less it’s a hyperlink.
• Use cen­tered text sparingly.
• Use bold or italic as lit­tle as possible.
• all caps are fine for less than one line of text.
• If you don’t have real small caps, don’t use them at all.
• Use 5–12% ex­tra let­terspac­ing with all caps and small caps.
• kern­ing should al­ways be turned on.
• Use first-line in­dents that are one to four times the point size of the text, or use 4–10 points of space be­tween para­graphs. But don’t use both.
• If you use jus­ti­fied text, also turn on hy­phen­ation.
• Don’t con­fuse hy­phens and dashes, and don’t use mul­ti­ple hy­phens as a dash.
• Use am­per­sands spar­ingly, un­less in­cluded in a proper name.
• In a doc­u­ment longer than three pages, one ex­cla­ma­tion point is plenty (see ques­tion marks and ex­cla­ma­tion points).
• Use proper trade­mark and copy­right sym­bols—not al­pha­betic approximations.
• Put a non­break­ing space af­ter para­graph and sec­tion marks.
• Make el­lipses us­ing the proper char­ac­ter, not pe­ri­ods andspaces.
• Make sure apos­tro­phes point downward.Make sure foot and inch marks are straight, not curly.

Survey Analysis

Advanced Survey Analysis

The first question we included within our new survey is what kind of Thrillers they had not seen recently, the least common that had not been was Psychological Thrillers which represents that Psychological thrillers are either always being watched or constantly being produced. Therefore my coursework group have to decided to create a thriller that is not produced often however an audience is still there to watch it and be interested in it.

The next question we asked was what audience were they so we could get a rough idea on who to aim our film towards, again are audience was people around 16-18 therefore our clip can involve more violent, graphical clips.

The next question we asked is how often do they watch this Genre of films so that we could get a rough idea when to release or plan to make our film for otherwise if it was to come out with another film of the same Genre it would not be seen by as big of an audience, as people would not want to see the same genre of film within so close distance of time. From the survey we learnt that people watch them mostly occasionally or once a month or every other month. Therefore people do not watch them on a regular occurrence.

We then asked what character do they normally relate to within the film, as if we change the generics of the most related to character are film will then be unpopular and will not get as big of an audience we need it to. Which in this case is the antagonist.

As my group and I have decided to base our thriller on war time it can be based in any time period as we could do a film based on future, present or past war. Therefore we decided to have a question that asks the audience which time zone they prefer the film to be in. In this case the most popular answer was present, so it is more than likely that we will base our film on a present war or our alternative would be to base it on past war as that was the second most popular answer.

 

Credit Katy Ward 

 

What am I Thinking/Group Brainstorm

Over the past few weeks we have been researching and developing an understanding of the thriller genre so we can either use the set codes and conventions or challenge them to create something slightly more original.

From the sequences that have been analyzed we have come to the conclusion that depending on the sub-genre of thriller the conventions applied can vary because different sub-genres have different objectives that need to be fore-filled so that the audience don't come out the movie unsatisfied or disappointed media that has been created. Due to the sub-genres being create by mixing two or more genres together we really wanted to play around with new ideas instead of just going for the obvious psychological thriller etc.

My initial ideas are a war time thriller based in WW2 because this is a always a topic easy to relate to. Furthermore from our research everyone wanted a psychological thriller however because we don't want to follow this typical idea of thrillers but could still include psychological damage within the opening sequence, which would have something recognizable to the audience. However this is just the opening two minutes so we may not be able to to get this point across.
My initial thoughts include a tracking shot following a single soldier while hes being shot at with the non diegetic music in the background which at the moment I'm thinking would be an up beat WW2 song like this "Run Rabbit Run".  I would like to use this idea because the two contrast each other however this may not build enough tension so it the music may fade with gun fire etc taking over, this could create an interesting mix of non-diegetic and diegetic sounds.

Mariella's ideas included a spy thriller an intense conversation between an adult male sniper and the leader of the group such as M.I.5. head or leader of a gangster group. The sniper would continue to tell whoever was on the other end of the phone about their little sister. Then the sister would take out the group therefore challenging the conventions. The soundtrack could include heartbeat and Bourne Identity style music.

Katy's ideas include Asylum within maybe set in a WW2 concentration camp focussing on the struggle of survival of the protagonist or maybe the decay of the characters humanity.

Creating a Survey

Survey One

 To find out what audiences want from a thriller in this day in age we decided to create a survey using survey monkey. Our first survey consisted of about five questions asking the user about what they look for in a thriller.  The response we got back was mainly about a psychological thrillers in which the protagonist is at the mercy of the antagonist. We looked at this feedback and thought to our self... "Why?" We didn't really understand why this was so popular and over used for the thriller genre. 

This is when we decided that we should crate a more specific blog so that we could get key information on what people look for in thriller. Our new set of questions have yet to be answered so we waiting to see how people respond to these new specific questions.

Survey Two

Death Note Opening

(The video above is the whole film because I could not find just the opening sequence online, I'm counting the opening as 00:00 to 01:54)

1. Many many production companys.

2. Credits in the centre of a black screen in a white font.

3. Dark clouds, camera appears to fall through them. clouds are symbolic of mystery and forthcoming darkness.

4. Thunder storm- prophetic fallacy (typical thriller convention)

5. The city of tokyo from above at night, low key lighting, darkness, mystery.

6. Low angle tilt up to a tall building, colour red symbolises danger

7. High angle shot of a book falling onto pavement, camera zooms into book, the words "death note" fade onto the book.

This opening has no real narrative, and does not introduce the main protagonists.

This opening, however, is really good because it is highly ambiguous, and mysterious, keeping the audience hooked on the film as they want to find out what is happening.

Credit to Mariella

 

Casino Royal Opening

Analysis:

Events in the opening sequence in chronological order

1. Black and white scene bath room scene - starts with high verisimilitude, starts with the minimal colours theme that continues throughout.

2. Barrel of gun - (the rest of the sequence is animated) in the centre the main protagonist bond stands strong. The audience knows right away that he is the main character. This idea is reinforced throughout as he is the only life-like (non monochrome) person in the whole opening.

3. Blood - after the gun shot, tells the audience that the main protagonist has won the fight.

4. Red black and white card symbols appear on top of the now red background. this links the opening to the title of the film ("casino") .

5. Some symbols form into circle type shapes, which look like flowers. this gives the opening a feminine touch, and ensures the opening animation appeals to all.

6. Strings of symbols look like blood vessels

7. Main protagonist appears in very low key lighting (B+W) sitting in a relaxed position. He is in control of the situation.

8. Introduction of guns. Lots of contrasting colours.

9.Fight scenes in three colours. Main protagonist always in black and white. Bad guy always in red/ yellow + green.

10. Protagonist always keeps showing up either in low key black and white or on posterised black and white.

11. Playing cards, flutter and fall as if they have been thrown into the air.

12. Gun shoot two holes before a 7 (of hearts) forming 007 (protagonists code name).

13. This changes into the screen off a computer with the number 007 on it.

14. Black and white posterised protagonist moves forward and comes into light, changing to lifelike form, re establishing verisimilitude, however it still has vey low key lighting, The image has had most of the saturation taken out of it, giving it an eerie look.

The music is an original high energy piece of non dietetic music.

Credit to Mariella 

The Dark Knight Rises

The representation of Ice within the sequence begin to build the movie up to be dark and mysterious and keeps the audience wondering. As it is a psychological thriller they use the codes and conventions in the style of Cooper's work. There is also use of macro footage, jump cuts, cutting up of newspaper, flickering of the camera to build suspense within the scene.

The use of dark colours within this shot shows the mystery within the whole scene as the colours of the scene are set to only black, white and red. This shot is very mysterious as is the whole scene as it is quite hard to predict what is about to happen and what is actually happening. The audience could assume that someone is working on detective work in a laboratory however the mystery stills remains on why the work is being done. Therefore the code and convention to keep the audience wondering and in suspense throughout the narrative has been keyed within this scene.

Within this clip shown, the glass has been broken or partly destroyed showing that there is a disturbance within the equilibrium. This could be giving the audience an insight into what is about to happen as well as they word 'warns' been magnified by the ice as well as the word 'gotham' which is the city Batman protects therefore leaving the audience in suspense that something has happened within the city.
Credit to Katy Ward

Moral Panic

Moral Panic:

Moral Panic is where the media creates and publicizes an issue that appears to threaten the social order within society. They can be seen as controversies that in which can lead to arguments and social tension. The Media usually make these so that it distracts the public from a bigger problem that is going on within the society

Target Audience of Thrillers

Psychological Thrillers: These types of thrillers are normally aimed at the age range 18+ years old. The reason for the age range being in the young adult part is that they normally include quite and lot of violence, as well as the psychological part of it may disturb younger viewers than what has been set.

Crime Thriller: They are usually aimed at both male and females, so therefore there is no stereotype to the film. The certificate that is usually given these types of films are 15 or above. However the typical audience for these types of films is middle age, so around 40, therefore the audience is both sex's from 15-40 years old.

Thriller: Normal thrillers are also aimed at both male and female, specifically not setting it to a certain sex. The age range in which these are normally aimed at are 15-19 years old.

Action Thriller: It can be ranged from adult to teenagers, however 15 being the certificate rating as there is violence as part of the codes and conventions of action thrillers.

Film Noir: This type of thriller is normally aimed at an older audience from 40-80 years old as they would have grown up in or near the era that the film is set in, however it could be set for the audience of 18+ if they were trying to interpret what the era of the film was like (educational purpose).

Non Stop Opening

In the opening sequence of Non Stop the opening shot is a close up however within the editing it has been blurred or  put out of focus not revealing the character sat in the car. The mystery in this shot immediately builds tension for the audience because of the questions raised. Questions are raised like: "Who is this character?" and "Where is this scene taking place?". These questions are raised because the audience aren't provided with an establishing shot straight away instead they have a blurred title revealing no information on the scene. This could connote that the protagonist doesn't know what's about to happen to him and is distorted due to his alcohol problem soon to be discovered by the audience. As the scene progresses eye line match is used between his drink and him to show this characters weaknesses. This is different to the conventions in most thrillers because the audience need confidence in the character and by presenting his weaknesses first the audience may not have the same confidence in the protagonist because they want to know that he has the correct skill set for the plot ahead. This could foretell the trust issue later in the plot between the people the protagonist is trying to save and himself because he is accused of being the antagonist by his own agency.

The use of slow motion exaggerates this weakness and pushes the idea that the protagonist doesn't want to get on the plane at all, this is further supported by the real time diegetic air traffic control mixed with the radio which contrasts to the slow motion. This is therefore creating a sense of slow releasing panic because the audio sounds much faster, when in fact is at normal speed. In addition to this build up of sound there is a constant diegetic sound of a planes flying overhead giving the audience information on where the scene is taking place. The following close up reveals a little girl that the audience can link to being his daughter which gives the protagonist something to fight for and the audience something to fear him losing adding to the tension built up by the music. I would like to include this in opening because it keeps an audience gripped due to them being able to relate to the protagonists feelings.

The use of rain in thrillers seems vital to setting the tone because it allows for more overlapping sound for building tension and further adds to the blue colour correction providing the film with the on edge blockbuster feel. In addition this film used blur to make the protagonist stand out but it may also link in with the protagonists drinking problem again showing his weakness. The use of extras to show the protagonists feelings is used near the beginning so that the audience know he has suffered heartbreak and is most probably alone therefore leaving him free to see other women adding yet another set of questions into the audience's mind. This idea is pushed forward when the protagonist ignores another character because he is distracted by these thoughts and the editing uses muffled voices to achieve this.

In these thrillers the power is never balanced its always shifting and this is one of the reasons its so tense because sometimes the protagonist is in control other times its the antagonist.
 

Bourne Identity Opening

This is the clip that I analysed

In the opening scene of the film Bourne Identity the film starts with the non-diegetic sound of wind and rain suggesting danger for the protagonist. This is use of danger is used throughout the thriller genre to ensure that there is tension in the film to keep the audience gripped.  However in most cases the protagonist is given the skills to deal with the danger given to him/her in the film but in this case the character is left helpless, which defies the conventions and is what I would want to include in my opening because it upsets the equilibrium without any major changes to the narrative.

Then opening then straight cuts to wide low angle shot of Jason Bourne in the sea. This shot is interesting because low angles are usually used to present the character as powerful however in opening Jason Bourne is helpless to the ocean and overwhelmed by its power because of how wide the shot is this means he requires help this could connote that although he may seem helpless he is in fact always in control, which is an idea associated with secret agents. The shot further connotes that he is in fact an agent because of the mystery behind him. This is because the shot doesn't show his face presenting this idea of mystery which is another convention in thrillers that can be used to create tension.

When the shot pans down into the boat the lighting is much brighter connoting safety for the protagonist. The characters in the boat are filmed with the camera shaking from above which could be a sign that they are at mercy to the sea and their lives are unstable also backed up by the fact they are playing cards which is a sign for luck. These characters contrast to Jason Bourne which means the audience has no idea what will happen if they come into contact. It is this uncertainty that adds to the tension.

When these characters first come into contact a shot reverse shot is used along with eyeline match between the protagonist in the water and the fishermen. This is used to show that the protagonist is about to receive help which is further shown in the fishermen's clothes which contrast to the dark windy storm and the black clothing of Jason Bourne, which may connote hope. In addition to this the non-diegetic sound increases in volume to tell the audience that something is going to happen. The music then reaches it's peak and the next shot focuses on Jason Bourne showing his military clothing before cutting to the titles.

The titles used came in muddled up before organising themselves which connotes military or C.I.A training further supporting the fact that the protagonist is an agent. The title being mixed up could further show that the plot or the characters fate is yet unknown creating more mystery. Lastly the font is military showing that the film is based around this concept.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw9DhUhUCeU

Thriller Films over time

Thriller Timeline

March 1922: NOSFERATU

It was an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula made by Bram Stoker, made by the F.W Murnau. The names of characters in the film had to be changed as they couldn't be the same as the ones made in Dracula. However it is seen as more of a horror than thriller because of the codes and conventions fit more within the horror genre, however thriller would be its sub-genre.

April 1923: Safety Last

It was the first ever real thriller film made that followed all the codes and conventions, so that it didn't fall into the sub-genre of thriller. It was directed and produced by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. It is considered to be part of the experimental part of Christian Metz's Genre theory. His theory was that  there are reoccuring expectations throughout the four development stages that can therefore be applied to genre; Classical, Experimental, Deconstruction and Parody. As it was the first Thriller film made every other Thriller film made afterwards had to have elements of the film otherwise it would not be considered in the Thriller genre.

February 1927: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

It was directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock. It is a film based on the most famous serial killer, Jack the Ripper. It also fits into Christian Metz experimental stage of the theory of genre. It was the first Thriller to based on a real life event.

September 1960: Psycho

It was also directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, it was a horror/thriller based on the 1959 novel 'psycho' by Robert Bloch which was inspired by the crimes made by others at the time. It falls into the classical stage as the time period in which it was created as well as that it is based on a novel.

April 1962: Cape fear

It was directed and produced by J. Lee Thompson and is classified as a psychological thriller. It is an adaptation made by James R. Webb from the novel 'The Executioners' by John D. Macdonald. It is looked on as a classical thriller because of the time period it was produced, as well as that it is based on a novel.

March 1973: Sisters
This film also fits within the classical stage of Metz's theory stage, even though it was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock; it follows the codes and conventions of mystery and suspense in which that others also follow,


November 1997: Alien: Resurrection
This film comes under the deconstruction part of Metz's theory stage as previous thriller codes and conventions were being made, however they mix within the codes and conventions of two other sub-genres; which are Sci-Fi and Action. This was to reinvent the genre making it something new so that the audience would not get bored of the genre.

October 2010: Vampires Suck
This film comes under the parody part to Metz's theory stage, as it mocks previous thrillers such as Twilight 'Hybrid'. It does this by following the codes and conventions of a thriller however includes high comedy throughout the film.

Survey

Survey

From the research of this survey i found out that my main audience were 16-21 year olds. The percentage of males to females was bigger however the amount of people who did the survey was odd so therefore the percentage of males may be bigger because of that. I found out the Psychological thriller was the main interest to my audience, so therefore i have decided to make a psychological thriller so that i can get the biggest audience i can. The Antagonist is the favourite character within the research of my survey so therefore i need to give the Antagonist the biggest plot twist or role so that i can keep the audience indulged into the film.

Credit: Katy Ward 

Death Note

Death Note - Japanese Opening Analyses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&x-yt-cl=84503534&x-yt-ts=1421914688&v=9geF32MCMgc 

(The video above is the whole film because I could not find just the opening sequence online, I'm counting the opening as 0: 00-01: 54)

1. Many many production companys.

2. Credits in the center of a black screen in a white font.

3. Dark clouds, camera appears to fall through them. clouds are symbolic of mystery and forthcoming darkness.

4. Thunder storm- prophetic fallacy (typical thriller convention)

5. The city of Tokyo from above at night, low key lighting, darkness, mystery.

6. Low angle tilt up to a tall building, colour red symbolises danger

7. High angle shot of a book falling onto pavement, camera zooms into book, the words "death note" fade onto the book.

This opening has no real narrative, and does not introduce the main protagonists.

This opening, however, is really good because it is highly ambiguous, and mysterious, keeping the audience hooked on the film as they want to find out what is happening.

(Credit to Mariella Devoil)

Analysing Texts

While at home I had to analyse a text from OCR on gender in Doctor Who. This was to help me prepare for my exam because I would be asked to analyse a text that I haven't seen before. This mean't that I needed to learn how to analyse effectively. This would further help me within my course work because I want to analyse four more thrillers to get a greater understanding of the codes and conventions that I could either break or use to pushy narrative forward.

To achieve an effective analyses of the text I had to firstly divide my page into four key sections labelled with the following:

1. Camera Angles
2. Sounds
3. Editing
4. Mise en Scene

These are the four techniques I will always look at before anything else in a text. I would then proceed to divide my page into key sections of the film or where I think theres a change that takes place. This will all allow me to effectively note down my ideas while watching the clip. Furthermore it will help me focus on certain aspects without spiralling off into other ideas that have no relevance. In addition to this, in my course work I will be able to focus on these four aspects and how I want my film to use them.

Thriller Genres and Sub-Genres

Action Thriller: An Action Thriller uses physical fights and chases to create suspense within the film. Most traditional Action films in this sub-genre will often have continuous motion and action including physical stunts, chases, fights, battles, and races. Often these scenes will contribute to the overall sense of danger that the protagonist is facing however the protagonist has always got the necessary set of skills to deal with the situation in hand. Examples: Die Hard, Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Bourne Identity.

Thrillers: Thriller is a genre that focuses on anticipation and suspense. The aim for Thrillers is to keep the audience alert, gripped and on the edge of their seats. The protagonist in these films is set against a problem – an escape, a mission, or a mystery sometimes set by the antagonist. No matter what sub-genre a Thriller film falls into, it will emphasise the danger that the protagonist faces. The tension with the main problem is built on throughout the film and leads to a highly stressful climax.

Film-Noir: Film Noir is not only a sub-genre, but rather a term for a distinct stylistic type of crime-drama or thriller that was popular throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The dark lighting in the film usually emphasises the black and white colour tone in the film which is linked with the film genre. The main character is usually a cynical hero who doesn't believe in the events taking place. Film-Noir relies on a narrative voice and various flashbacks to explain the intricate plot. Examples: Sunset Boulevard, The Maltese Falcon, Sweet Smell of Success.

Crime Thriller: Crime Thriller film is a sub-genre that incorporates the suspenseful aspects of a thriller with a crime film plot. This sub-genre's plot usually centres on a serial killer, murderer, robbery, or manhunt. As opposed to traditional crime films, the storyline focuses both around the criminal and the protagonist. Crime Thrillers use both action and psychological aspects to build tension and suspense. Examples: The Usual Suspects, The Fugitive, Jagged Edge.

Religious Thriller: Religious Thriller film incorporates religious themes, including religious questions, ceremonies, and objects. Though some films can revolve around a specific church, many Religious Thrillers include supernatural experiences not pertaining to a certain religion. Exorcisms, demon possession, and church cover-ups are typical themes of Religious Thrillers. Examples: The Devil’s Advocate, The Ninth Gate, The Da Vinci Code.

Psychological Thriller: In addition to the traits of a regular Thriller, a Psychological Thriller incorporates elements of drama and mystery film. The suspense in this sub-genre comes from the mind, rather than from a psychical threat. The protagonists in Psychological Thrillers must rely on their mental resources to solve the situation. Because of their nature, many Psychological Thrillers cross over into the Horror genre. Examples: Memento, Rear Window, Taxi Driver.

Science Fiction Thriller: Science Fiction Thriller incorporates hypothetical, science-based themes into the plot of the film. Traditionally, a Science Fiction film will incorporate heroes, villains, unexplored locations, fantastical quests, and advanced technology. These elements can be used in a Science Fiction Thriller to create anticipation and suspense. Often, this sub-genre will explore the “future-gone-bad” theme, including plots that revolve around alien invasions, dystopian scenarios, and super-diseases. Examples: Aliens, Inception, District 9.

Thriller Genre Research

The Thriller Genre:

A thriller usually consists of a battle between a protagonist, and an antagonist, caused when there is a disruption in the initial equilibrium. Then the story line has plot twists to further change the goal of the protagonist creating tension to lead to the climax of the film.

Conventions Of Thrillers Include: 

• Low Key Lighting is used to create darker shadow usually to create a darker grippy tone.
• Quick Cuts are used to create a fast pase for building tension. 
• Shadows are used for ambiguity leaving the audience with suspense.
• Tension Music Helps set the pase and create tension.
• Changes in Angle of Shots can be used to show things which are abstract or which character has more power etc
• Exaggerated Diegetic Sound effects help create and sell the story to the audience because everything in the visual world has to be exaggerated. 
• Montages can be used to show a variety of events necessary to the narrative in a short time.
• Protagonist at mercy of Antagonist helps with plot twists and to make the objective for the protagonist as hard as possible.

Character Conventions:

The protagonist is a brave courageous person who always has the necessary skills to complete the task at hand. This gives the audience a sense of confidence in the character.

The antagonist usually has a hidden identity which the audience will uncover as the film progresses. Often the character wants revenge on the protagonist because of a past event. This character is usually in control most of the film compared to the protagonist.

Cinematography Codes for Thrillers: 

Close up and extreme close up shots. Used to show emotion within characters that the audience need to connect with and feel sympathy for. They are further used to help the audience notice certain subjects  or link sequences together important for the narrative. 

Shots of antagonist are ambiguous. They often are cut quickly, have low key lighting to present the character as darker than the protagonist. 

Editing Conventions:

Jump cuts are usually used to fast pase decisions which push the narrative

Cross Cutting helps audience link the narratives together into a story

Sound Conventions:

Jumpy non-diegetic, tension building music.

Mise en Scene:

Dark often gothic setting

Low key lighting

Antagonist in dark clothes, Protagonist in everyday clothes

Make up and hair of antagonist often is warped and strange, Protagonist's is usually more normal.

Filmstoke (Often black and white in parts, or even grainy) 

Titanic Essay

In media we had to analyse the film Titanic looking at the use of binary opposition within the film to represent the two characters Jack and Rose.

In my essay I included the key terminology and used certain words to describe what I wanted to say about the scene effectively while wording it clearly making it easy to understand. In addition to these strengths I further clearly understood the key events in the video from the Titanic and understood binary opposites well from the text.

However I could of checked over my work more because my work includes a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes such as duplicate words "the the" which makes my work seemed rushed when it wasn't. Another improvement was my expression in some sentences wasn't clear due to either the sentence being to long or the phrasing wasn't correct. To improve this I could re-word my sentence or take it out and focus on another point.

Furthermore I could improve on my structure within my essay because I introduced a new point in my final paragraph not allowing me to expand on that point. Instead I should of had the point included earlier in my essay allowing me to include the idea but keep my structure. Another improvement is I could of focussed on different binary opposites not just poor and rich.

Overall I think I did well considering that I wasn't at my best due to illness I just have to proof read and construct my answer in a better way.

Representation with signs

So, my camera isn't working so I'm going to be doing a lot more typed blog posts to make sure that I'm up to date with my work output. 

In this blog I'm talking about the representation through semiotics. The idea of semiotics is to do with the meaning behind something within a scene and these meanings can trigger thoughts and links in the audiences mind which is very important when dealing with the genre of thriller. The way in which semiotics works is you have your signifier and the signified (which is the meaning) which then gives you your sign. Signs allow us to interpret the visual world. The sign itself is a polysemic which splits into three main parts. Firstly Iconic which is the resemblance the object has for example a product which has a brand. This is useful in setting a scene for example the director can input objects with a resemblance such as big ben or the statue of liberty to tell the audience where the scene is set. This will help me because it means I only have to require one shot of an object with resemblance to the place I want to set it instead of going to that place with may be unreachable for me. Another polysemic is symbolic which is when the audience recognise something within a subject because they have been tort what the subject is. An example of this is the Christianity cross which obviously means Christianity which we have been tort however a better example is the swatstika which means Nazis to most people because of Hitler stealing it and then using it as his symbol when in actual fact it's mean't to be a religious symbol within Buddhism denoting "auspiciousness". This is important within film making in general because by inserting certain symbolic signs the audience could be offended due to what they have been tort about the object. Finally indexical meaning which is when the audience can link certain events or ideas to an object, for example a gun or bomb can be linked with danger and death causing the audience to feel more tense while watching the film therefore helping the director achieving their goal when making a thriller.

The Male Gaze

The male gaze theory was introduced by Laura Mulvey, the concept of "The male gaze" is to do with how the audience reacts to what is presented on screen. Her theory is that the audience views certain characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male, in that the gaze clearly shows interest in the women that are being portrayed. For this audience reaction to happen the camera angle focuses on the "attractive" parts of a women's body. I found this interesting because some females may object to this kind of camera work but it is used more than I expected when looking at adverts and films. This closely links to the term 'Sex Sells' because on the magazine we looked at the way in which women  were Photoshopped to be perfect and pure.

 

Her ideology focuses on three different things:

• How men look at women
• How women look and portray themselves
• How women look and treat other women