Q1

A thriller can be in many made into many forms and this can be from a book to a film. What a thriller actually is is a fiction or drama based thing which contains a high amounts of aspects such as suspense and adventure.

There are a large number of thriller sub genres and these still contain all the conventional elements of a thriller such as a large number of the same shots e.g. close up and high angle shots but they however have their own aspects which make each of their sub genres individual to themselves. Examples of sub genres of thrillers are action thrillers which are thrillers which contain a large amount of action which is fast paced and while intertwining stunts for example which help to keep the viewers’ attention.  Whereas on the other hand a psychological thriller looks to exploring the subconscious and conscious and looks to confront people’s fears and psych which contrasts an action thriller greatly.

The thriller sub-genre which we chose was a spy thriller and the reason why we chose this was because we felt that this was a very popular thriller subgenre and the reason why we thought this was due to film series such as James Bond and Bourne which are two very popular spy series. Having people within our group that enjoy watching spy thrillers also helped to influence our decision due to the fact that we would have some form of knowledge on what looks good in a spy thriller and also help to give us inspiration from spy thrillers that we have seen ourselves.

In spy thrillers one main element that the viewer’s expect is to see characters’ who are both smartly dressed an also have power and representations of this can be seen in James Bond for example.

As can be seen in the image James Bond is wearing a suit which makes him look smart and also suggest both his wealth and power further reinforced by the car which can be seen in the backgound which is an old Aston Martin which is an expensive car. Not only does a suit suggest wealth and power but it also suggests intelegence which is expected from a spy as they have to be quick thinking and know how to solve problems at any time. Having James Bond in a suit also completely juxtaposes both James Bonds personality and his type of work that he does and the reason for this is because he essentialy a paid murderer which goes against the perception of someone in a suit and the reason for this is because someone seen in a suit is expected to be in a highly official job such as a solicitor or business owner fo example but this helps to mask the fact that he in fact a killer and works for MI6 which helps to keep the secrecy surrounding the charcater of James Bond.

In our thriller the antagonist wore a suit which helped to give off the feeling of the antagonist to be powerful and also have a high status. The colour of the suit that the antagonist was wearing was black which was very neutral and gave him a very low key look which helped to keep in with the mysteriousness of the opening as it didn’t make the antagonist stick out or look out of the ordinary which is what was needed as in real life a spy wouldn’t want to look out of the ordinary or attract any attention to themselves.


There are number of shot types which are usually used within thrillers and these are all used to give different effects in relation to a character or to give small amounts of information to the viewer for example. 


A very widely used shot amongst thrillers is the close up and the close is can be used to great effects. The reason why a close up is used is because this allows the viewer to see more detail of an object for example but on the other hand it can be used. To capture more detail on a person’s face and better capture their emotion which in turn allows the viewer to have a better understanding of a characters emotion and also help to create a better emotion. Not only this but close up can also be used to help create enigmas throughout a thriller and the reason for this is because they could show close ups of only parts of objects for example and this would in turn create enigmas’ for the viewer as they be asking questions to what the object that is being shown actually is. Having the viewer asking questions is exactly what you want in a spy thriller as it then allows you to throw in certain elements such as plot twists for example which allow you take your viewer by surprise and also keep them engaged throughout the whole of the film.

In our thriller we used close up but not to catch a characters emotion but to instead capture more detail of objects and also things the antagonist was doing. The reason why we did this was because it showed more detail in what both the antagonist and protagonist were doing and the reason why this worked was due to the fact that it allowed for the viewers to really get a sense of what the protagonist was doing e.g. preparing the gun and therefore helped to build tension and suspense as enigmas such as who is the antagonist going to shoot were created.

Another shot which is widely used throughout thrillers is the over the shoulder shot and the reason why this is used is because it allows the viewer to feel like they are within the action or scene. An over the shoulder shot can also be used to capture a characters emotion if for example the over the shoulder shot is taking place looking at the antagonist and looking at the protagonist.

In a large number of thrillers establishing shots play a big part. The reason for this is because they help to set the scene and give the viewer a small amount of information as to where the film is taking place at this moment in time. In spy thrillers there are mainly only two types of places where the film starts and these are either in very derelict places or very populate and busy cities. These are two very contrasting places and each of the establishing shots are used based on what is happening for example if the film is likely to start with a lot of action and gun fights for example the establishing shot is likely going to be of a busy city. In Law Abiding Citizen the film starts with this establishing shot and then goes straight into the action where Clyde Sheltons house (a character in the film) is targeted by some men and the small girl and wife of Clyde Shelton are killed.

Where as if it is a spy thriller involving the FBI and an interrogation is occurring then it is likely that an establishing shot of a derelict place will be used.

Unfortunately we didn’t use an establishing shot which I think was a weakness to our production and the reason for this is because audience weren’t able to get a sense of why or have any clue where the antagonist or protagonist actually are and the reason why this is a problem is due to the fact that it goes straight into the action instead of giving the viewer some information using an establishing shot which I feel made the opening ever so slightly confusing.

Editing can be used to great effect in thrillers and the reason for this is because they can help to build tension and suspense. The main techniques which can be used to do these two things are flashbacks and quick cuts. Quick cuts help to build tension as the closer the events of the film get closer to the action of say a gunfight for example the quicker the cuts of the film become and this helps to pick up the pace of the film. When flashbacks are used within thrillers they help to give the viewer information on the character having the flashbacks past and this helps to give the viewer information which can be pieced together which helps to build tension and suspense as someone could be doing something in revenge of what was done or happened to them in the past and the more flashbacks that are put in place the more the viewer knows that an event in the revenge of their past is going to happen which keeps the viewer engaged.

Costume

Costume is used to great effect within thrillers and what I mean by this is that costume is used throughout the film to suggest thing about the character and these things which can be suggested by using costume are power, type of job and also wealth. For example a character wearing a suit is depicted to have a lot of power and a good job along with being relatively wealthy. Whereas on the other hand someone wearing scruffy looking clothes and wearing a hoodie with the hood up suggests that they are weak and have a lack of money. The weakness comes from the hood being up and not wanting to be seen. When it comes to spy thrillers it is likely that both the antagonist and protagonist will be wearing suits which both suggest that they have power but sometimes the protagonist is put into costume wearing scruffy clothes and trying to keep themselves a low profile which goes with the spy concept.

Lighting

Within thrillers lighting is a big part. The lighting which is used within thrillers is usually low key and not too bright. The reason why this low key lighting is used is because it helps to not reveal too much such as a characters true identity and also helps to keep the mysteriousness within the thriller. Not only this but it can also be used to help show a characters demeanour, say the walk into a room and the room is dark then you could say that this character is both dark and mysterious and has more about them than meets the eye.  The sources of light which are used within some thrillers can be very minimal and could literally just be providing a small amount of light for the corner of the room which could help to build tension for a viewer as there is a sense of eeriness when there is very low light like this. Within our thriller opening the lighting which we used was only natural lighting when we were outside. For the shots which were filmed inside of Lui looking at the case files for example an unnatural light source from a light was used for these scenes. When in the editing stage we had to use a filter over our footage and the reason for this was because we felt that all the lighting was too bright meaning that it didn’t give the opening that mysterious feel that we wanted to give the viewer but with the filter we enabled ourselves to get the desired look we wanted. This filter was simply a grey filter.

Actors

Actors within spy thrillers are stereotypically men but there can be occasions where women are main characters within spy thrillers and this is one aspect which would oppose usual thriller conventions. The reason why women aren’t always used is because people take them as being weak even if they’re not as they are women who aren’t built and muscular like the main characters of most thriller films. The reason why they have their main characters as muscular is because this helps to reinforce to the viewer that these characters aren’t weak.

Props

Props play a big part in thriller and they are used to create certain atmospheres within a thriller. Some of the most common thriller props include weapons spanning from guns to a wrench, expensive cars and fake blood. All these props help the viewer to establish which is the protagonist and which is the antagonist but this isn’t always easy in certain thriller genres such as spy thrillers as normally both the antagonist and protagonist possess weapons such as guns.

Sound

Sound is used within thrillers to create certain atmospheres or elements such as tension within the film. The stylistic features of a thriller soundtrack which can be found within a thriller soundtrack include usually an orchestra and this is composed of string instruments which can be used to build tension and also create a sense of mystery also. On the other hand a heavy beat given from a drum within the orchestra can be used to create tempo and works really well alongside fast paced action. Along with these two aspects crescendos and build ups work well within thriller soundtracks and the reason for this is because they help to build up tension and then suddenly let the tension go as all the action breaks out. In films such as Bourne Ultimatum and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy the very conventional thriller soundtrack is used containing a number of crescendos alongside a string orchestra and a drum to keep the tempo where as our soundtrack on the other hand isn’t conventional and the reason for this is because we don’t have the standard string orchestra within our soundtrack and instead it’s a high pitched voice effectively taking the place of strings. The soundtrack does however contain a drum which helps to keep the soundtrack in tempo.

Narrative

Within a thriller narrative there are conventions that you can expect to see almost every time when watching a thriller. The first convention is that you will always see a hero and a villain and these will oppose each other and both have opposite motives for what they want. In Batman The Dark Knight Rises both a hero and villain can be seen and the hero is Batman with the villain being a character called Bane.

Some other conventions when it comes to characters in the narrative is that there is a dispatcher who is someone who send the hero on their way. The princess who is the reward for what the hero is doing but this character usually needs to also be protected from the villain and the hero is usually the person to do this. Finally there is someone called the helper and this is someone who gives support to the hero. In Ant-Man for example Scott Lang the character who is in fact Ant-Man has help from his friends when completing missions as without them he wouldn’t be able to do it meaning these friends who help him can be seen as helpers.

Within films there are a number of very important things and a number of these things come under a sub heading of mise-en-scene, within mise-en-scene there is setting, props, lighting, colour, costume and props. Within a thriller the setting can range entirely it can be city based like what can be seen in Bourne Ultimatum or a lot of it can be based out in the middle of nowhere as can be seen in the film No Country for old men.

Bourne Ultimatum gave us some inspiration within the opening of our thriller. The way in which it inspired us was with the files which can be seen of both the woman that Bourne is with and Bourne himself. The close up of the files enables the viewer to be focused on the files and therefore makes them ask questions as to who these people are and what they have done. This can be seen in our thriller opening and this is seen with the paper copy of the files that the antagonist is seen to have. To create more enigmas for the viewer we decided that putting dead on the protagonists file would create even more enigmas for the viewer as they are seen to be dead on paper but in actual fact they are still seen to be alive.

Within a number of thriller openings the length of shots is very short and the clip is kept at a fast pace. The reason why this is done is because it helps to create tension and keep up the fast pace needed to be able to create a somewhat hectic form of atmosphere. This can be seen in Dexter for example when the blood is seen both dripping onto the magazine and into the sink. These shots are seen for very little times so not to bore the viewer and instead keep their attention. When it came to our thriller we kept shots of the protagonist short and choppy and this was so that tension around the protagonist could be built especially when he can be seen with a gun.

When it comes to typography we figured that we should go with a simple typography  and this was so that it fitted our sub-genre of thriller. What I mean by this is that our subgenre is a spy thriller and this therefore  means that the protagonist is very understated and simple so that they don’t stand out from the crowd and make themselves known hence why we didn’t want to go with a very out there and stand out typography but more simple and understated. This is completely different when looking at a film such as se7en for example. This film has very complicated typography but this however fits in with the subgenre of the film and that is a psychological thriller and the reason for this is because it gives the film that edge that smooth and perfect typography doesn’t.

We used two conventional settings within our thriller opening and this was the woods and the antagonists house. The reason why we used the wood was because it is seen to be very off the radar and you are likely to not be found there hence why setting up a gun within the woods to shoot someone was ideal in our opinion. Due to a lot of tree cover within the woods we also thought that the lighting would be low lighting which is ideal within a thriller as it helps to create mystery and tension. The reason why we had the antagonist in their house reading through files is due to the fact that the viewer would see the antagonist to be safe as he is within the safety of his own home. This would then therefore take the viewer by surprise and capture their attention when they realise that the man who is supposed to be dead has just killed the antagonist. The lighting within the house however wasn’t as stereotypical of a thriller as the lighting within the woods was as it was brighter in the house.

The props seen throughout our thriller opening are seen to be very stereotypical of thrillers with a large amount of both violence and death/killing within them. The weapons that can be seen are in place to create tension within the thriller opening as weapons are seen to inflict pain upon people and the reason tension is created is due to the viewer waiting to see when they are going to be used. The use of the picture frame for example within the intertwined cut scenes was used to create mystery within the opening as the antagonist can be seen within the picture and this creates enigmas for the viewer which could include who is the antagonist and is someone hunting him.

Within our thriller opening we used a number of different types of shots and these were used for two reasons the first reason was because a large amount of detail can be captured using a close up and another reason was due to the fact that the close ups allowed us to conceal the identity of the protagonist and this was important to help keep the mystery within our opening. The idea of this was taken from No Country For Old Men and this was done to protect the identity of the man’s face who had been arrested by the police officer until he has killed the police office when he was calling the sheriff. The use of the close up helps to create tension and mystery around the characters identity and what they look like.

The editing of our thriller opening consisted of a large number of quick cuts. These are used so that the viewer can capture a certain amount of information and then piece all the bits together and this also helps to not make the viewer bored and keep them engaged instead. The cut scene in between each helped to break up what the viewer  was seeing as we wanted to create a slight sense of confusion for the viewer so that they couldn’t piece together exactly what was going on within the opening  sequence of our thriller as we didn’t want it to just be predictable and therefore boring.