Thriller Pitch

Structure to Thriller Openings

Recently in a lesson we studied different types of openings in thriller films, there are three main types of film openings for thrillers.

1. One type is a narrative opening, where titles run throughout the opening

this is probably the most popular opening and common type to use in a film. It is normally introducing the characters in the clips but with the titles running over it, it is the most basic of all the openings. some examples of this are films such are,

• Stepfather
• Casino
• A touch of evil
• The taking of Phelam 123

 2. Another type is a discreet opening

What makes an opening discreet is the through how the titles are represented on the screen, it shows that the film is not normal and that the opening doesn't have anything to do with the films story line. An example of this would be the opening to the film se7en.  The opening to se7en has its own separate music which is only used in that part and in no other part of the film.  Only close-ups and extreme close-ups were used which shows that the character has got psychotic problems, this is also obvious by the actions he is doing. The shots that are used for the opening are through the characters eyes, we know this because we see close ups of someone writing and performing tasks such as cutting things. The camera angle is also from the angle of someone’s eye.
  

3. Titles over a blank screen, followed by the narrative opening. 

An example of this type of thriller opening is from the film Donnie Darko. It starts with the text being shown ona  black screen, and we are then faded into a dark scene, sound effects are also used also including the sound of  the weather. This type of opening is very slow and dramatic and builds the tension very very slowly.

Thriller Audiences : Research

Answering the following questions should help you think more specifically about Thriller audiences.

1) How many suspense films were released in 2009? How many films were released altogether last year?

a total of 503 films were released in 2009 and 31 of them were under the suspense/thriller genre

2) Action, animation and comedy account fro 52% of Box Office in the UK in 2009. Why do you think these genres are so popular?

the total amount films released for comedy and action were 57 and 99 respectively. this accounts for almost 37% if total gross. the high number of films released under these genres explain its high grosses also along with the animation genre, another factor explaining there high gross is there huge and wide age appeal.

3) why do you think Thrillers account fro quite a low proportion of UK Box Office takings (4% in 2009)?

the reason they accounted for the low percentage is probably there limited age and audience appeal and the low amount of films released

4) Looking at the 'genre by gender' diagram above, what information can be derived about Thriller audiences and gender?

 the audience for this genre is about equal but it more female targeted

5) Look at the age certificate for 10 of the films featured on the teaching blog. What does this tell you about Thriller audiences?

there mainly targeted for adults due to there 18+ certifications and this could impact them by denying them the gross from younger cinema goers

Prelim match cut

This is our anamatic prelim we done using jelly babies. The idea was to have a chase scene where someone is cornered and then hurt in a corner. We used the 180 degree rule where you only film from one side so it does not confuse the viewer. We used final pro to edit the clip together, and soundtrack pro to do the music.

This is the prelim cut where we are in it instead of the jelly babies, it is not totally the same as the anamatic prelim, however we improvised in some parts and went against our plans because we had better ideas, as we believe this is the best way to work and not stick to a linear structure as a lot of great movie scenes are done on improv, especially with the dialogue. We also didn't want to do the basic standard work that we was told, we thought it would be more creative and unique to create a chase scene that then lead to people entering a room, instead of having a boring slow video where someone enters a room and talks, which was the instructions. So we took it upon ourselves to try and make an exciting chase scene and show off our camera and editing skills in the process. We edited the clip with final cut pro and with only using one camera we tried to make it look like it was all done in one scene and not repeated which was very difficult and hard to pull off for only our second time editing.

Here you can see how precious our editing is. We editing two different shots to match each other, when one of the characters jump on the stairs we edited the other shot to match the moment his lands.

Here you can see we entered text in our clip. We done this by using LiveType then importing it onto Final Cut. We also added a fade effect so that it looks smooth when it comes on and goes.

Here is where we recorded a separate piece of filming but we only used the sound. We edited the sound into our clip so that it matches each other, We had to preciously match the two pieces together because if they wasn't the sound would of came on in the wrong place and not have made sense when watching it.

Fonts

Fonts

When creating your title sequence you will have to think carefully what type of message you want to be sending out.

There are two different types of fonts:

Serif and San serif. They both give two different impressions to a film when creating a title sequence.

Serif	Sans Serif
Traditional Highly educated High class	Casual Educated Middle class
An example where this is used is in the Times newspaper.	An example where this is used is

I have analysed two different types of film posters.

Serif font is used in this poster. The letters are in capitals because the film is set in the past. Also the capital letters enthuses that the film is about military, also shown in the costumes the characters are wearing. The capital letters and the characters shown in military uniform also show that this film is all about being organised, like the title, bold and simple.

 Sans serif is used in this poster. The text is big and bold which shows that this is important. The text is easy to read and also stands out. The sans serif also shows that the character is casual, less educated. The capital letters also show the character is brave and strong. Also the curves on the letters show that the character has a soft side, also the women in the picture shows his got a soft side. 

Structure to Thriller openings

We have recently looked deeper into the structure of Thriller openings.

There are 3 basic structures which are followed that are noticeable from film openings.

1. A narrative opening with the titles running throughout.

A few examples of this type of opening are the following films:

• Stepfather
• Casino
• A Touch Of Evil
• The Taking Of Pelham 123

 

2. A discrete title sequence

An example of a discrete title sequence is from the film Seven. There are many reasons why the opening to this film is discrete. The way the text is shown on screen shows the movie is not normal. The music used is only used for the opening which means they specifically made it just for the opening. Only close-ups and extreme close-ups were used which shows that the character has got psychotic problems, this is also obvious by the actions he is doing. The shots that are used for the opening are through the characters eyes, we know this because we see close ups of someone writing and performing tasks such as cutting things. The camera angle is also from the angle of someone’s eye.

3. Titles over a blank screen, followed by the narrative opening.

An example of this type of thriller opening is from the film Donnie Darko. Once the text is shown we are faded into a dark scene, sound effects are also used also including the sound the weather.

I have also added a fourth style of a thriller opening which I’ve called ‘stylized editing’.

An example of this type of opening is from the film The Taking Of Pelham123. The shots and cuts used moves according to the beats of the song, also when the pace of the music slows down the shot goes into slow motion revealing a close up of a main character.