Section 1: The Thriller Genre

What is a thriller?
A thriller is a film that uses methods such as violence, music and unanswered questions to make you tense and build suspense. These films often try to scare you or make you jump. They can also be quite violent and are mostly aimed at older audiences, usually 15+.
There are lots of sub-genres of thriller including:

• Conspiracy thriller
• Crime thriller
• Legal thriller
• Medical thriller
• Psychological thriller
• Supernatural thrillers
• Techno thrillers

Thrillers are often based around 2 main charcters; the 'hero' and the 'villain', but there are often other characters associated with each which allow twists and more detailed plots to the films. The characters associated with the hero are often their family (such as wife or children), and these are often used by the villain to gain an advantage over the hero (for example, in "Phonebooth", the villain threatens to kill the 'hero's' wife to make him do what he wants, and in 'Taken', the main character's child is kidnapped which makes him go after her.)
 There are often twists in the story, and these are often put in when you think something is about to happen, usually when you think the hero is going to be successful (e.g in "Seven", the killer turns himself in and you think they have succeeded, until he says there are two more victims)

Codes and Conventions

• CK Chesterton- The Transformed City: Set in modern times and mainly in urban, built up areas, and 'transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary'
• Northrop Frye- The Heroic Romance: The hero is nearly always a normal person but are forced into strange circumstances and are forced to act differently because of it. 'Moves in the world in which ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended'
• John Cawelti- The Exotic: similar to 'The Transformed City', but it introduces unfamiliar situations, objects, settings and characters
• W H Matthews- Mazes and Labyrinths: originates from Greek mythology. It can be both literal and metaphorical. Often involves puzzles that the hero has to solve, or mazes they have to get through
• Pascal Bonitzer- Partial Vision: The audience only see so much to build up suspense and make you more interested in the film. There are questions that are left unanswered to make you watch the rest of the film and sometimes what you don't see is just as important to the film as what you do.
• Lars Ole Saurberg- Concealment and Protraction: deliberately hiding something from the audience and then delaying the predicted outcome, so even though you may know what's going to happen, it makes it more interesting if it takes longer and seems like what you think may not happen.
• Noel Carroll- The Question/Answer Model: the audience are presented with a question, and tension and suspense is built when the answer is delayed. A battle against the odds is more interesting and makes a better film than a 'sure thing'. The morally right outcome increases the interest of the audience as they don't know if it will end 'morally right'

Section 2: Reasearch Into Examples of Comparable Media Products

Jaws
Narrative Structure

• The opening scene is on a beach, there is a party going on
• It starts to focus on two people, showing they are important and will have something to do with each other.
• It's night time
• The two people it's been focusing on seperate from the group and go off together

Thriller Codes and Conventions

• 'Concealment and Protraction' Two people seperate from the group and builds up the tension, you know something is going to happen to them.
• 'Partial Vision' You know something attacks the girl, because she is dragged under water quite violently and can't escape, however, you can't see what, and the person with her also can't see as he is too drunk, so this partial vision for both the audience and one of the characters.

Camerawork

• Lots of midshots and longshots
• Goes underwater at some points, shows the point of view on whatever attacks the girl
• Camera constantly switches between two characters (shot reverse shot)
• Camera crabs along the beach and stops on one person, showing their importance to the scene.
• Extreme longshot when she is in the water to show her insignificance compared to sea. Also makes her seem vulnerable
• Camera and music go together and build the suspense

Mis-en-Scene

• Low-key lighting all the way through helps build the tension and darkens mood.
• The objects and chearacters against dark sky make them look like silhouettes, can't see them properly and could mean they are in danger.
• Rails could represent dange; they are leading them into danger, where the girl dies.
• It also gets darker the further away from the group they get, represnting growing vulnerabilty.
• Woman taking her clothes off could be her 'stripping away protection' and growing more vulnerable.

Sound

• Tense background music (also a 'theme tune' represented with the killer)
• 'Underwater' sounds (diagetic) in opening scene
• Tempo gets faster and builds the suspense. When it is fully built up, you expect something to happen but it cuts away to a contrasting mood of a beach party.
• At the end of the scene when she is getting attacked, she rings the bell but nobody can hear it

Editing

• Editing very basic, mostly cut aways

Graphics

• Very basic like 'Silence of the Lambs'
• Bold text
• Font colour is white, makes it stand out more on dark background

Silence of the Lambs
Narrative Structure

• The main character is well known
• She stands out in the elevator because; she is the only woman and she is wearing completely different clothing.
• At the end we wonder what she is looking at, and music t starts playing to make us think about what it might be, and makes us want to know more.

Thriller Codes and Conventions

• She is in the woods, which is a perfect place for something to happen, as you can't see much. It's also misty and makes you think something might be out there. This is also part of the 'Partial Vision' convention, as you can't see much.
• At the end of the scene, she looks at the camera, but it doesn't show what she is looking at, this is part of the 'Question and Answer Model'

Camerawork

• The camera tracks her through the woods
• There are also lots of close ups of the main character, which also allow you to see the trees and mist in the background.

Mis-en-Scene

• Opens scene in the woods, and it begins to get quite misty.
• It follows a woman running through the woods but doesn't make it clear why at first (you eventually find out she is doing an obsticle course)
• We are told where the woods are; they are in a very remote area 'near' a town, so away from civilisation.
• At first, the woman looks like she is running from something, as she occasionly looks around and looks back, like she is checking for something or someone. She also looks as if she has been running for a long time.
• The mist could be covering something up
• She is shouted but turns around, which shows no threat. You also find out she works for the FBI at this point.
• There are signs nailed to a tree, saying 'Hurt', 'Agony' and 'Pain'. These are things you would expect to see in a thriller.
• A change in setting shows she is in a training camp, as you can hear guns going off and see other people running.

Sound

• Atmospheric (non-diagetic) music. You expect it to build up to something
• When it opens in the woods, you can hear wildlife (diagetic).
• Eventually you can hear gunshots near the training camp.

Editing

• Fades in at the beginning.
• It is very slow paced and the editing matches the music

Graphics

• Very simple
• Stand out
• Bold

The Dark Knight
Narrative Structure

• You are introduced to the two main characters (the villain first and the hero a bit later on). You are also introduced to other characters that work for the police that have some significance to the film.
• When you are introduced to the villain, throughout the robbery you can tell he is a very intelligent person, beacuse of the way the plans of the robbery go together so well (e.g the robbers are killed off one-by-one until it is only the villain left so he gets all the money. And the way the villain walks the last robber in front of a wall and says something about a 'bus driver', after he has said this, a bus drives through the wall and kills the other bank robber.) The way he plays mind games with the victims of the bank robbery and the other bank robbers also says alot about how his mind works and his personality.
• When the hero is introduced, you are also told a lot about him (he has a butler and a large room filled with cars and computers, which suggests he is very rich.) And the way he wears black and fights also shows he an be quite a dark, aggressive person, even though he is doing the right thing.

Thriller Codes and Conventions

• 'Partial Vision' You don't see who the bank robbers are as they are wearing clown masks.
• 'Concealment and Protraction' It deliberately doesn't show you who the robbers are, and it doesn't tell you why they are robbing the bank, which makes you want to know. When they eventually reveal something, they only say they are working for 'The Joker'. This makes you want to know who he is, why he is making them rob the bank and why he is called 'The Joker.' However you eventually see who you assume as the joker, because he is described to wear make up, and somebody wearing make up is revealed at the end.
• One of the bank robbers remains silent until the end of the scene where he states 'I kill the bus driver', which also links in with the 'Question and Answer' as there is no bus at the time he says it.
• 'Modern City' you can tell it's in a city because it's very busy and has lots of tall buildings.

Camerawork

• Uses of lots of close-ups, especially on the masks to make them seem more dark and eerie, it also makes them seem more sinister. It never shows the faces, and at one point it tracks one of them from behind as he doesn't have his mask on.
• The close-up at the end of the bank robbery on the Joker makes him seem very scary and threatening, as you can see all the scars and make up on his face, he seems quite unnerving. 

Mis-en-Scene

• The costumes of the bank robbers make them quite scary, as they are dressed in suits but with clown masks on. All the masks have different facial expressions and make up on them. This could tell us about the personalities of them, as one of them has quite a serious face but doesn't talk much and gets on with his 'job'
• The fact that at the end, he puts a fake grenade in the man's mouth that lets off smoke to make him scared, lets us know about the characters personality, but also adds to tension as the camera zooms in and you expect it to explode.

Sound

• Non-diagetic music during bank robbery is very tense, but quiet. It does build up as it gets nearer to something happening though. When one the robbers is shot, the music gets faster, more instruments are introduced and it gets a lot louder.
• Diagetic sound is all to do with the robbery; guns going off, cars and sirens.

Editing

• Basic but in time with everything that's going on. Mostly just cut away, but every time something of importance happens in a different room, it cuts to that.

Graphics

• There aren't any titles of the film or actor. The only graphics are the ones at the start giving the name of the production companies. These are very dark and complex which suggest a lot about the film, which is also dark and has a complex story.

Casino Royale
Narrative Structure

• It starts out following somebody who looks tense, and keeps looking around for someone.
• It introduces you to the main character 
• It explains a bit about his character as he is calm, and when he talks he doesn't raise his voice or react violently. However, imbetween these shots, it shows you the opposite side of his character, as it shows him having an incredibly violent fight and drowning somebody. 

Thriller Codes and Conventions

• 'Question and Answer' You don't who the person at the start is or why it's following them. You also want to why he looks around like he's looking out for something.
• 'Partial Vision' You don't know how the main character got into the room as it doesn't show it. You also don't know why he is there

Camerawork

• Uses lots of close-ups to show facial expressions.
• Uses shot reverse shot before dialogue even starts and shows the back of a chair. This suggests somebody has been hiding there waiting for the person it's been following.

Mis-en-Scene

• Low key lighting and black and white camera darkens the mood. It also makes it seem more mysterious.
• The characters introduced are dressed well, this suggests that they have money and have a successful job.
• It says the place in the intro is 'Prague' which shows it is in an important city
• The way the main charcter gets into the room without anybody noticing suggests he may be in some sort of secret service, which is revealed later.

Sound

• The sound is mostly diagetic, and is mostly city and factory noises.
• When the opening scene is over and the titles start, the film's theme song starts
• The lyrics of the title song are representative of the film and characters, as it mentions a lot about killing, which is a theme throughtout the film.

Editing

• Fades in but then just cuts away

Graphics

• The title scenes have very complicated graphics that represent the film (it shows cards, poker chips and money, which is part of the film as part of it is a poker game).
• It uses a lot of colours and complicated designs and animation to make it interesting to watch while the theme song is playing in the background.
• Some of the animated characters are also representative of the characters (the one in the black suit is the main character) 

Seven
Narrative Structure

• You are introduced to the main character and are given a strong impression of his personality by his flat; everything is tidy and extremely organised, showing he might like to be in control; he has a single bed which shows he lives alone; he grabs things off his table like a gun and a badge, which shows he is in the police; and he has the metronome when he is trying to get to sleep, which might be to drown out the noises of the city, which he hates.
• It introduces you to the other main character, and alos lets you know about his personality. For example, when they are walking down the street, somebody walks into him and turns back at them aggressively, this suggests that his character isn't very calm and will lose his temper very quickly, which is the opposite of the other main character, who always seems calm and in control.

Thriller Codes and Conventions

• 'Transformed City' You know it's in the city because you can see the buildings and hear the noises of the city going on. You can also tell it's New York because of things like the yellow cabs and skyscrapers. The police cars also say 'NYPD' on them.

Camerawork

• Camera looks like it is creeping up on the main character as it is looking through a small gap at him and moving around to him very slowly.

Mis-en-Scene

• The rain helps add to the effect of the darkness and gloominess of the city.
• Low key lighting and lots of shadows make it more mysterious and covers things up more, making you want to know more.

Sound

• Music is very creepy, builds the mood and tension well, lyrics suit the theme of the film being around religion.
• There is heavy rain (diagetic) in the background on a lot of the scenes.
• You can hear the cars and sirens of the city, even at night
• Metronome gets louder and louder as the city does

Editing

• Opening titles a montage of what seems like random images, however, they have an importance in the rest of the film.
• Very quick paced, some images you can't really see what they are
• Images often jump around the screen so they are quite distorted and hard to see what they are.
• Sometimes, it cuts from text to an image and back again very quickly, so you can't see the image properly, which makes you want to know what it is and why it was shown in the opening credits.

Graphics

• Font of the title looks like it has been scratched onto the screen (could represent the murders, as the the 'sin' is often written in this way)
• The titles also jump around the screen like the images
• The font is quite creepy and eerie, which suggests a lot about the film.

Red Eye
Mis-en-Scene

• Start seems to be a montage of random clips, but it all links together when a wallet is stolen that belongs to a specific character
• Pictures at the start show the main character and show things about her personality; she is successful and intelligent
• Wallet has initials on it, which shows that it is important
• During the phone call you learn he is the main character's dad
• She mentions she is taking the 'Red Eye'
• Drawn to the character in the airport who protects the women from verbal abuse.

Narrative Structure

• It is fast paced
• Follows a woman who is clearly important in her job, as somebody rings her asking for help with customers, and the customers are also asking for her.
• All the images form the beginning eventually link together. At first they seem like random images of a wallet getting stolen and people packing fish in boxes, however these two images are eventually linked together.

Thriller Codes and Conventions

• Concealment and Protraction sort of understand a bit about the start of the film after the characters are introduced
• Partial Vision wallet stolen but you don't see who by
• Set in a city
• Makes you use your brain more often

Camerawork

• Lots of mid-shots and close ups
• Lots of shot reverse shot
• Often sound starts before image associated does
• Switches between the people involved in the phone call

Editing

• Simple editing
• lots of cut aways
• Montage
• Fast paced
• Dissolves

Graphics

• Simple and stand out
• White writing, easy to read on a black background
• They zoom out and fade away
• Title of the film is in a different colour to contrast from other graphics. It's red aswell, because the title of the film is 'Red Eye'

Section 3: Brainstorm of Content and Classifcation of film

These are some of our film ideas. We had trouble thinking of ideas because of limitations of what we could do. Eventually we settled on the idea of a film about a kidnapping beacuse it wouldn't be too hard to film, and beacuse it meant we could use things like story to build suspense and make a good thriller opening.



In a certificate 15 film, you will expect to see some quite strong violence and some strong language, but not as extreme or as frequent as in an 18 film.

We have chosen to do our film as a 15 because it allows to focus on more of a story and psychological method of building up tension and making an interesting thriller.

 Our film fits into the thriller category because it has some quite violent elements, and it's based around a kidnapping which is probably aimed more at older audiences, as most films about kidnaps aren't below 15 (for example, "Taken" was a 15 in cinemas).

Section 4: Audience Research

Questionnaire

1. How old are you?

Under 15     15-18    19-21    22+

2. Are you male or female?

Male    female

3. Do you watch thrillers often?

Yes No

4. What is your favourite type of thriller?

Supernatural  crime      disaster psychological other

5. What do you think builds suspense most effectively in a thriller; if other what do you think is the most effective?

Sound/music    lighting   setting    characters    other

6. Which font do you most associate with a thriller?

Thriller thriller thriller thriller thriller

7. Where do you prefer thrillers to be set?

Indoors outdoors

8. Would you prefer the hero to be male or female?

Male female

9. Would you prefer the villain to be male or female?

Male female

10. Do you like not being able to guess what’s going to happen?

Yes No

11. Do you like thrillers to have a realistic/believable story?

Yes No

12. Do you like thrillers to be more psychological and story based, or more based around action?

Story Action Either

13. Do you like the hero to be an ‘ordinary’ person?

Yes No

14. Do you like the villain to be an ‘ordinary’ person?

Yes No

15. Do you like there to be more than one hero?

Yes No

16. Do you like there to be more than one villain?

Yes No

17. Would you like the villain to stay alive?

Yes No

18. Would you like the hero to stay alive?

Yes No

19. Do you like cliff-hanger endings?

Yes No

20. Would you watch a film about kidnap?

Yes No Maybe

Questionnaire Results

1.                                                             Are you Male or Female?

This shows that most people interviewed were male, so it will gender biased

2.
                                                         How old are you?

This is a chart to show the age of the people we interviewed. This clearly shows that most people asked were of age 15-18, so it will be quite biased towards that age group.

3.                                                     Do you watch thrillers often?

This shows that most people asked do watch thrillers often, which mean the results, will be more effective as they know what is in a thriller and will probably be right for questions like things about creating tension.

4.                                               What Sub-thriller genre do you prefer?

This shows that most of the people asked prefer supernatural thrillers, but we can’t base ours on supernatural things as it would be too complicated. However, most of the others prefer psychological, so ours will be psychological

5.                                         What builds suspense most effectively?

                                           

This shows that most people asked think that sound and music build suspense most effectively, so when editing and filming, we will try and use sound to build tension and suspense.

6.                                              What font do you associate with a thriller?

This shows that most people prefer the font ‘Pulse Sans’, so we will either use this font or one similar to it.

7.                                                       Where do you prefer thrillers to be set?

Most people said they would prefer thrillers to be set outdoors as it creates a more tense atmosphere, our thriller will be set in and out of doors so it will please all of the target audience.

15.              Do you like there to be more than one hero?

The people we asked in the survey were divided by this questions and 15 people wanted there to be more than one hero but another 15 people didn’t want there to be more than one hero, therefore we will have to decide rather than taking the opinion of the target audience.

16.                            Do you like there to be more than one Villian?

Most people said they would like there to be more than one villian in the thriller this is largely due to the fact it wil create more suspense.

17.                                   Would you like the Villian to stay alive?

When we asked this question there was divided answers and only 5 people wanted the Villain to die, this is unlike most target audience and they mainly want the Villain to die that the end of the film.

18.                    Would you like the hero to stay alive?

The people we asked this question to, mainly wanted the hero to stay alive this is largely due to the fact the hero would be the main character and in films the main character rarely dies.

19.                                      Do you like cliffhanger endings?

The majority of people we asked didn’t like cliffhanger endings because they sometimes don’t like waiting for the sequel to be released as it is normally a long amount of period they have to wait.




20.                                       Would you watch a film about Kidnap?

The majority of people we asked would watch a thriller about kidnap as a thriller set around kidnap, is full of twist, turns, suspense and you never know whats coming next.

Section 5: Treatment

Treatment:
A woman comes home from work in her car. She pulls up on the drive and gets out of the car. She's looking around like there's somebody following her or there's something there. She walks towards the door and unlocks it slowly, walking in, checking behind her as she does and closes the door. She locks the door and double checks, then switches on the lights. She then turns on the TV and goes into the kitchen, still looking uneasy and nervous. She turns the oven on and gets food to prepare out of the fridge when the phone rings.

 She picks it up and there is no answer. She hangs up the phone and goes to walk away when it rings again. This time she seems angry but nervous when she answers it the second time. There is still no answer so she puts the phone down. There is a knock at the door. She answers the door cautiously,but there is nobody there.She grabs her keys and storms out the house, upset, not even locking the door. She gets back in the, puts her seatbelt on and starts the engine. She looks into her rear view mirror and freezes.Fades out and credits start.

 The husband comes home about an hour later on the phone to work with a briefcase in one hand, and a pile of files under the other arm. He walks around the house looking for his wife whilst still on the phone. After a few minutes, he hangs up the phone to work and tries to call his wife. A mysterious voice answers, stating that his wife will be fine if he does as he is told. He is given an address and is told to go there and smash up the car and outside of the house, but don't hurt anybody if they confront him or go with the police if they show up. After arguing for a while, a threat from the kidnapper makes him concede and he makes his way to the house. He picks up a brick that is on the floor nearby and approaches the car. He hesitates and sighs, then throws the brick at the car window. The alarm goes off and he picks up another stone on the ground next to him. He then throws this at the main window of the house.
 The light has come  on on the top floor of the house and you can see a silhouette of a woman on the phone and crowd has gathered behind him. He elbows another car window to smash it. Sirens can be heard in the background. His phone rings. It is the mysterious voice again. The voice congratulates him and tells him to run.
 He hangs up and runs away from the sirens. After he has escaped after a few close run-ins with the police, his phone rings again. This the time the voice gives him another address and tells him to kill the man in there, and that if he does, he will get his wife back. He argues saying he won't and can't. He defies for a few minutes until a threat to harm is wife is made, and he reluctantly agrees.
 He makes his way to the address, looking anxious and angry. He gets there and knocks on the door. He is greeted by a strange man who asks him to come in and offers him a drink. He goes in and sits down n the couch, and tries to explain that he has been sent there to kill the person who lives there. The strange man doesn't seem scared, but just tells him to do it quickly if he is going to kill him.
 He says he doesn't want to kill him and makes a deal that he will disappear if he gives him £3000 to leave with. The strange man leaves and a couple minutes later, the phone ring. He answers it and the strange voice gives him an address and tells him to go there to get his wife.
 He quickly leaves and gets to the old house where his wife is supposed to be. As he walks in, he notices a chair with his wife on it facing away from the door. He runs to the chair and sees that his wife has been killed. As he cries, the door he came in through closes and the strange man who he paid to leave approaches him, holding a knife covered in blood. Fades out and there is a slashing noise.

Section 6: Character Outlines and Shooting Script

 Character Outlines:
Ste:
Early 20's and married to Kate. He pays more attention to work than Kate although he means well. He is the hero of the film, normally he is quite shy and avoids confrontation, but when Kate is taken, he will stop at almost nothing to save her.

Kate:
Also early 20's and married to Ste. She is a loving wife who also has a demanding job, and isn't happy the way Ste puts his job first. She is the kidnap victim but doesn't understand why.

Kidnapper:
Mid-to-late 30's. He is a mysterious and quiet person, and loves to be in control. He tries to cover his face most of the time and won't tell Ste the reason for kidnapping Kate. You never find out his name or any background information about him.

Shooting Script:
It opens with a longshot of the house and slowly pans across it. There is then a cut away focusing on the drive, this shot is static. The next shot starts off with nothing in it, but then the wheel of a car slowly drives into the shot and then stops. The camera then zooms out slightly and shows the driver stepping out of the car but not showing their face, and then follows their feet as they walk to the door. the next shot is from behind the person who got out of the car, still not showing their face, as they walk towards the door. As they put their hand towards the door it cuts to an extreme close up of the key being put into the lock. There is a mid shot from inside the hall to show her walking in and putting her hand up towards the light switch; it cuts to an extreme close up of her turning the light on. There is then a midshot form inside one of the rooms showing her side on as she walks through to the kitchen. There is then a low angle shot from inside the kitchen as she walks in and turns on the lights. It then follows her as she puts her phone down on the worktops and walk towards the window. It then cuts to a shot from the outside looking in on her as she stares out of the window. A bang is heard in the house and a close up shows her facial expression. A shot at the end of the corridoor then shows her walking down it towards the front door. It cuts to a close up of the phone ringing, and then an extreme close up of the screen saying 'unknown number'. The camera then zooms out and shows her picking up the phone and starting to answer it. There is then a close up side on, showing the phone, as she answers it and says 'Hello' a few times. After there is no answer, it goes back to a midshot as she puts the phone down and starts to walk away. Then the phone rings again and there is another close up of the screen saying 'Unknown Number'. There is then another mid shot as she warily walks towards the phone. The shots as she picked up the phone before are repeated, but she is more frustrated as she answers the phone this time. There is then a loud bang at the door as she hangs up. It shows a close up of her face, and then a mid shot of her storming out the house. As she reaches for the keys from the wall, it cuts to an extreme close up of her hand grabbing the keys and then another mid shot of her walking outside the house. As she walks towards the car, it cuts to a shot from inside watchng her walk towards the car and open the door, like there is somebody in the car. It cuts to a shot from the front of the car showing her pull the seatbelt down, and then an extreme close up of her putting the seatbelt on. It then cuts back to the backseat of the car, and there is a close up of the mirror, as she looks in the mirror she screams. Titles start.