Evaluation

Question one:

Our task was to plan, shoot and edit the opening for a new thriller movie. It had to be unique, not a remake of a classic, and fit the typical conventions of a thriller. The age category we were aiming for was 15 years and above. We went for this age range because it didn’t limit us too much. Being a fifteen we could have used mild references to violence, where as an age such as a 12 would limit you on showing this. A thriller tends to turn the normal into the unexpected. This can be done in many different ways, for example; psychologically. Thrillers inject the viewers with a sense of fear and mystery without turning into the horror genre. For example, the lacks of gore in thrillers help keep them in the genre. However, there are many sub genres in the thriller genre so the conventions can change dependant on what it is supposed to fit. The main features of a thriller are suspense, mystery, mild or strong violence, a thick plot, things being left out and as I have said before; making the ordinary extraordinary.

In the first two minutes of a thriller it is important to establish key parts of the narrative as well as important characters. By creating a narrative you can hook the audience in because they want to find out what happens next, like in a good book. The narrative can be set up by using camera shots, sounds and mise-en-scene.  By using camera shots that reveal key things or hide certain aspects deliberately it can create a captivating narrative. For example when we did shots from the embankment we made sure that it was at an angle that deliberately stopped you seeing the body.

Sound can trigger certain feelings or emotions which also help to build a narrative or mise-en-scene.  For example, in The Dark Knight they use high pitched strings. This creates tension, especially when it gets faster because it is an eerie sound. The audience then associates that whenever this music comes on that something is going to happen. We tried to achieve this sort of effect by playing the echoing music with the edgy drums to create a mystery feel to the piece. To gain inspiration for the thriller opening I looked towards one of my favourite directing teams; the Coen brothers. I watched their beginning to No Country For Old Men for ideas for camera shots, sounds, editing etc. I also looked at another of my favourite directors Quentin Tarantino for editing and shot techniques. The opening to No Country For Old Men affected our thriller opening because we liked the idea of the isolation and normality to it. The wide open shots and the police car on its own really emphasised how desolate it was and this was something that came forward in our work we feel.

 As for Quentin Tarantino, his influence came across in the form of the titles. We used our trade mark freeze frame with colour change for titles which has its roots from Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.

The panning out shot when Barry walks away from the body also helps to add the feeling of isolation because you can see all the surrounding countryside and how small he is compared to the expanses.