My Idea for a Thriller

Initially I had trouble trying to think of a good thriller story. 'Time' seemed an interesting concept so I thought of what I could do with 'time'. I had an idea which didn't focus on the actual storyline as much as it did the concept of the video: The whole thriller could be timed for some reason from start to finish of the thriller (e.g a bomb is counting down throughout the thriller and the characters have some sort of goal they need to achieve). This idea intrigued me because I could see a lot of opportunity for interesting editing, such as close ups on the timer at the very beginning and at the very end of the thriller. I associated bombs with police crimes and ransoms and thought maybe the story could be about a police officer trying to save a loved one, such as a wife or child, and having only a short amount of time to do it. Then I thought of ways of making the thriller particularly interesting so decided it needed a cliffhander: a close up of the clock counting the last few seconds at the very end of the thriller but cutting to the credits at 3 to leave the audience wondering of the policeman solved the crime in the end.

My idea is similar to rush hour where the characters have to save a kidnapped daughter who is forced to wear dynamite for a ransom against her father.

Thriller Opening Analysis: Cape Fear

Conventions of an opening sequence to a Thriller

Traditional title sequence. 


-Sixth Sense: We simply see the names of the cast, crew and production company on a black background. This gives the audience a moment to settle down and anticipate the film. Since the title itself is intriguing, this successfully creates suspense for the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyCqv7ReKz4

Straight into the film with titles at the top. 

-Reservoir dogs: We go straight into the film where the main characters are talking around a table in a diner. Later when they're all walking the actor's names appear with shots of the actors. This puts more emphasis on the individual characters as opposed to just the film in general.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Xi3ioasik

Discrete.

-Cape Fear: The titles appear over a long sequence showing water and various ominous images over it. This indicates that part of the film happens around water without giving away the plot. The images that appear (the eagle, the teeth, the eye, the drop of blood) all conjure up a feeling of being hunted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCTdL1Yf6DE

Stylised.

-Diamonds are Forever: Abstract images such as cat's eyes, diamond necklaces and female silhouettes are cut together very surreally to captivate the audience with a charming strangeness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPeSPB68i2c

Different Kinds of Thrillers

 Crime thriller

Focusing on crime, this genre is usually from the criminal's point of view where they try to escape the police. There is usually more emotional depth here than in action thrillers.

Psychological thriller

Made particularly famous by Alfred Hitchcock, this subgenre a lot of the conflict is mental, rather than physical. The protagonist has become involved in a dangerous situation which literally threatens their sanity. They must use mental prowess to overcome their opponent, whether the battle is inside their own head or it a battle of wits.

Comedy thriller

Usually a thriller that mocks politics or other prominent features of society. Or can be a parody of other thrillers.

Action Thriller

Tends to focus more on the action rather than the narrative, depth of characters. Generally touch on mostly superficial issues, such as sex rather than love or violence rather than personal issues.

Conspiracy Thriller

In this subgenre the protagonist must confront a large, powerful organization whose threat only he sees. Usually he must do so alone.

Disaster Thriller

In this subgenre a (usually) natural disaster is taking place, and the antagonist is either trying to stop the disaster, the extent of the disaster, or just save themselves before time runs out and the disaster has run its course.

Mystery Thriller

This is a subgenre of both mysteries and thrillers. It differs from a regular mystery by being much more fast-paced, with the protagonist on the run and the threat of another crime serving as the “ticking clock.”

Romantic Thriller

This is a subgenre of both thrillers and romantic novels. The plot line follows a typical thriller’s tension, suspense, and excitement, but a main element is the growing relationship between two characters.

Spy Thriller

It’s hard to call this a genre mash-up when spy novels almost have to be thrillers. At any rate, this subgenre focuses on the high adventures of field agents. It is usually set against the backdrop of some war.

Supernatural Thriller

In this subgenre otherworldy elements are introduced, usually as an antagonistic force, but just as in the romantic thriller, the plot line and feel or distinctly that of thrillers. Some characters may have psychic abilities and other supernatural novel elements may be present.

Techno-Thriller

This genres is a cross between near-future science fiction and thrillers. Cutting-edge technology plays an important role, either as something to obtain, or working for or against    the protagonist.

The Thriller Genre

The genre of a film is the type of film it is, judging by the characteristics it shares with other similar films. This can be a comedy, romantic comedy, romance, thriller, psychological thriller, horror, action, historical... Films in the same genre might share a similar storyline, similar editing techniques, and similar kinds of mise-en-scene.

In the thriller genre there are also plenty of sub-genres (e.g romantic thriller, psychological thriller, horror thriller...) Though thrillers generally share similar characteristics; such as guns, chases, fear, victims and offenders; little things can make a big difference between sub-genres. For instance, crime thrillers such as The Departed or Reservoir Dogs have certain elements such as guns, criminals and police while psychological thrillers such as Black Swan tend to have surreal aspects or give a closer study of the human mind. Then of course there are films with both crime-thriller and psychological-thriller aspects, such as the film Trance.

Quentin Tarantino, my favourite thriller director

In each case, a thriller is a film that 'thrills' its audience. This is usually using fear, suspense and/or  intensity. There is usually a protagonist who is hunted, chased or threatened by a villain. The 'villain' can have different forms such as an actual person who means harm to the protagonist or maybe something more abstract like a part of the protagonist's mind, as in Black Swan.

The thriller genre was especially made famous by movie Director Alfred Hitchcock, 'the master of suspense  thrillers', who began shaping the modern-day thriller with his early silent film The Lodger (1926) about Jack the Ripper. He was famous for making a signature cameo appearance in his feature films.
He would often place an innocent victim (an average, responsible person) into a strange, life-threatening or terrorizing position, in a case of mistaken identity (e.g. The 39 Steps), misidentification or wrongful accusation.
He used various cinematic techniques and also specialise in visually-expressive motifs. One of his most famous works is Psycho (1960)famous for the shower scene which created a huge impact on its audience at the time because of the montage in the shower sequence accentuated with composer Bernard Hermann's screeching violin score. He is also well known for the dolly-zoom shots in Vertigo (1958), or the heightening of anticipation with the long pull-back shot from inside a building to the outside and corss the street in Frenzy (1972)

Movie Poster Evaluation: Trance

Trance

Elizabeth is placed further forward than the men, which signifies that she has power over the other two men. The fact that she is between them shows how she is stuck between them, she is not particularly on either of the two men’s side. They are all very close together which shows that all three characters have a very close relationship around which the movie revolves. She is looking at Simon (left), which signifies that she has a closer relationship with him.

The two men are looking in opposite directions. This implies that they are on the lookout and are feeling defensive. They clearly have some kind of competition, which is implicitly over Elizabeth.

The background has bright colours and a circular pattern which symbolizes the hypnotic state. This signifies that the story has elements of hypnosis, showing that the movie is quite psychological. The circular patterns also resonate an idea of fingerprints, putting the audience into the mind-set of police work and crime. The fact that Elizabeth is presented as bigger than the other two men establishes her power and implies that she probably hypnotizes them and has power over their minds.

The gun that Frank is holding is a phallic symbol, showing how dominant that character is. It also signifies that he is the most violent and bloodthirsty of the three. It also categorizes the film as a thriller. The tagline, ‘Inside the mind. Outside the law’ gives an indication of the general direction of the film and how crime and hypnosis are linked in the story. ‘Inside the mind’ signifies that it’s a psychological thriller and ‘Outside the law’ signifies it being a crime thriller.

Movie Poster Evaluation: Children of Men

Children of men

 

The blue colouring is commonly used for science fictions and based on what the heading says about ‘The year 2027: the last days of the human race’ tells us that the film is set in the dystopian future. ‘No child has been born for 10 years, we must protect our only hope’ is powerful because of the devastating idea of the human race coming to a stop. The softer colour on Clive Owen’s face contrasted with the darker colouring of the rest of the poster signifies clearly that he is the good guy and puts the audience on his side.

The red colour of the lettering symbolizes blood being spilt, giving the audience a sense of fear and signifying that there are some horror elements in the film.

The broken glass gives the feeling of destruction and wreckage showing that in the film the film has lots of action that is destructive, signifying that it is a thriller. The broken glass also shows us how broken society is in the film.

 The low-angle camera shot symbolizes that Clive Owen’s character is the hero of the film. His expression is very forlorn and serious, reflecting on the hard work he has to do to try to make things right. It also tells us that he is the type of hero we need more than the hero we want.

The picture of the bleeding world also signifies that the film is about the harm inflicted on the planet. The bleeding represents how we’re ‘bleeding’ the world of its resources. It tells us that the Earth is ‘in pain’ in the film, which signifies that nature is unbalanced, presumably by human activity.