MY MUSIC FOR COUNTERMINE

Analysis of thriller films opening sequences

The opening sequence of 'The Dark Knight', starts off with a establishing shot of the city, form a far distance in the scene, I could denote a mysterious figure standing on top of a tall building, this signifies to the spectators that he/she may be a important character and possibly a protagonist, however the characters identity was not revealed, which creates a sense of enigma, this conforms to a conventional thriller film because a typical thriller film is always restricted in order to create tension through enigma codes. It is important that a opening sequence should always creates tension or suspense so that the spectator are engaged in watching the film, for example in "The Dark Knight", not revealing the mysterious figure makes the spectators curious and wanting to know more and make judgement on the character. The idea that the character is shaded in low key lighting signifies that he/she is dark and evil, which conforms to the conventions of a typical antagonist.

The opening sequence in this film is not structured in linear narrative and it often jumps to different scenes from the film and introduces the characters. The purpose of this non-linear narrative, was to not reveal what the story is about, which creates a sense of enigma, this helps to build tension. However, when introducing the characters from the film, it immediately reveals the characters identity, which doesn't keep the conventions of the enigma codes in the film.

I think this trailer is not a ver good example of a opening sequence for a thriller film because ther is no tension building, which doesn't capture the spectators attension. The reasons why it doesn't build up any tensions was because it doesn't have any soundtrack playing. It doesn't have a sense of normality because it went straight into the action, for example the car chase/race. This would bore the spectators because the spectators doesn't know what is going on and is not getting involved. However, I think that it creates a sense of enigma because it doesn't reveal much to the spectators,which is a conventions of a thriller film.

Typography

Production log

26th January 2010:

To understand how important is the opening sequence is, within a film.

A opening sequence is important because from the first moment of a film, the spectators begins to get involved, the first few images that appears on the screen is very important, as they give us lot's of clues to what the film maybe about.

Spectators looks at characters to see how they are presented and make the assumptions about their characters.

To understand the purposes of an opening sequence:

The purpose of an opening sequence is to introduce the people who produce the film, for example the directors and others who casts in the film etc.

A opening sequence is also important because the spectators needs to understand which characters perspective, they are seeing. (The protagonist/main character)

What makes this a good thriller film opening?

There are lots of fast sharp noises when we see the train pass by, this is effective because it makes the spectators feel shocked, which makes it a conventional thriller trailer because it helps build tension.

In the first scene, I denote a long shot of a women's back in a train station, this makes the spectators feel curious of the character that first appear in the scene because it connotes that she is important and maybe the protagonist, this is conventional in a thriller film because it helps to create a sense of enigma.

The use of the long shot of the women in the train station also connotes that she is alone by herself and that she is vulnerable, this makes the spectators feel very uneasy and nervous for the character because it is dangerous for a women to be alone at night, which hints to the spectators that she maybe encounter some dangerous event.

The use of cinematography was used to represent thriller genre, for example I denoted the camera tracking towards the women from her back, this makes it suspicious as if someone was stalking her and is slowly approaching her from behind, this is conventional for a thriller genre because it is restricted, which helps to build up tension and suspense.

The title of the film appears 'Flight Plan', the typography of the title is plain and is not what was expected for a opening with lots of tension and shock from the sounds. However, it is suitable because the plain typography signifies the seriousness and the enigma in the film.

The music of this opening sequence creates tension, which is conventional in a thriller genre film.

However, the focus on the buildings is not very much exciting to watch, which gives a bad first impression on the spectators. But the constant focus on the buildings demonstrates the normality of the film, which is conventional in a thriller. It has also created a sense of enigma because it does not reveal any events of the story, this makes the spectators feel suspicious and curious about what it is going to happen because the soundtrack is hinting to the spectators that something is going to happen.

27th January 2010:

Today we have gathered together in a group in order to produce a production logo and we have explained and analysis on what the logo represents and finally we have created a mind map based on our target audience.

9th February 2010:

Today I have been focusing on the story boards based on the opening sequence of our thriller film. Our final idea is based on a girl, who is our main character and has been constantly tracked by a mysterious character but at the end of the film it gradually reveals that the girl is wolf underneath a sheep skin...

I have also participated in the audition, to play the part of the main character of the film. During the audition the other candidates took turns, each of the candidates were asked simple questions, this includes:

-What is your name?

-What is your age?

-What is your hobbies?

-What thriller films do you like?

After the introductions we were asked to demonstrates our acting skills, through our given scenario, for instance we were asked to point a gun at a enemy, to show your cold blooded ness and hatred like a true assassin.

I have also wrote the back story for the film (look at the group Blog)

10th February 2010:

This is our group story based on the opening sequence. The first few shot's of the train, dissolve was used to create a the fast pace movement of the train travelling. The sound effects of the train was added to make it seem more realistic, this idea was taken from flight plan.

(Zain was incharge of editing)

The soundtrack is called 'High Alert', I have chosen this soundtrack because it gives a sense of espyonage feeling, which we was trying to craete because our character is being tracked by someone.

I think that overall, the story was successful because we could tell what the it is about, through the illustrations. However, I think that the story board is too short, therfore I would improve it by adding interesting shots.

12th February 2010:

I have finished in producing the music tester, through using garage band, which is posted up in the group blog.

I think that the music production went well, since it was my first try in using garage band and I have successfully created it, which is my biggest accomplishment because I have also gained experience in using garage band.

I think that I needed to improve on he music in many ways, to make it follow the story line of the film.

20th of February 2010:

As a group, we had to reflect on our mistakes, for not filming over the half term due to communication problems and permissions for filming in the location.

So we had to plan out a schedule for our filming dates and what we are to accomplish on that day.

Meanwhile, I had also worked on the individual blog.

21st of February 2010:

Today, we had followed the schedule which we had planned out yesterday. So we have to film we decided as group that we should film at the nearest location first to make things more convenient for us, in Balham tube station.

In the Balham tube station, I would have to cast as the innocent girl, walking up the stairs.

We had also filmed varies angle for this scene.

Once we have finished, we had to upload the footages on to the final cut express.

Overall, I think that this is the first step in the project, which is a positive start, however I think that we are moving too slow as a group and we needed more filming done.

22nd of February 2010:

We then received our feed back from our teacher, on their opinion of the footage that we got from the tube station, yesterday.

And I had worked on the blog, while my group edits on the footage.

23rd of February 2010:

Today, we gathered as a group to discuss about our next location, where we see the innocent girl walk. And we have all agreed to go and film in Colliers Wood tomorrow.

24th of February 2010:

As we had planned we followed our schedule and travelled to Colliers Wood, where I cast as the innocent walking.

27th of February 2010:

Today, I worked on the music and the blog.

28th of February 2010:

Continued of music and blog.

1st of March 2010:

We had to return to Colliers Wood and re shoot the scene of the me walking in the parking lot, using proper camera and filming extra shots, which we could use to extend the film.

2nd March 2010:

I continued in making the music from garage band.

3rd March 2010:

I have managed to finish off the music.

5th March 2010:

We returned to Balham tube station, where we filmed in the tube of me entering the tube and out of the tube. I had also filmed a POV shot of me getting off the tube. (Normal girl form)

When filming me getting off the tube, I had to make sure that I got onto the the right carriage (the third to last), so that the director and the camera person would wait out side the exact carriage. The POV shot of me getting of the tube good but I kind of buckled when getting off the tube because I was concentrating on the camera and couldn't watch my steps, so the camera was not steady.

That day we had also planned to go to film in the Colliers Wood shopping center because the buildings and the escalators makes the location looks modern, however, there was a lot of securities, so it seems that we could not film in the shopping center.

8th March 2010:

Me and Kemisha try and experiment with live type, while Zain worked on editing.

While experimenting with live type, we were trying to look for a suitable font for our title 'Countermine', so we looked back into our group blogs, where we posted example of what our thriller titles should be like. Me and Kemisha wasn't sure on how to download the fonts to the live type program, so we used the fonts from the live type to experiment first.

When we applied different effects on to the title, I thought that 'Chalk', was pretty good because it paces with the movement of the tube in the beginning, like 'Flight Plan'.

Than we decided that we should apply for different colors, first we thought red would be appropriate because it links in with the theme of danger, murder kind of feeling, which associates with assassins. However, it didn't look suitable because it's a bright color, so we both tried using black, because it's a serious and a mysterious color, which suits the theme of assassin.

9th March 2010:

We had planned yesterday to meet early, before school to travel to Cannary Wharf to film in the location.

When we have arrived, we were not sure of where we could film, so I suggested that we should film in the Waitrose shopping centre, which worked perfectly because of the glass buildings and the escalators, which makes it look more modern.

I cast as the innocent girl, while Zain and Kemisha directed and film.

My role in acting out this role is to walk into the building and going down the escalator, all my act as the normal/innocent girl, looks very casual, which is what we wanted to make her seem like a normal girl. However, I would also think that walking casually doesn't give off the assassin feel, so if I was to redo the scene I would walk more faster.

10th March 2010:

I had brought in my assassin costume and I had manage to borrow a leather jacket from the drama department and high heels and leather gloves from Kemisha.

And we had to finish off the final scene of the assassin the in the security box:

I had contributed by filming a POV shot of me entering the through the door and casting as the assassin.

12th march 2010:

We needed some extra shots, so I had to change into the assassin costume and film me getting in to my assassin form, using close up shots, to make it restricted. For example there was a close up shot of my hand and the leather gloves, which capture the role of the assassin of being secretive and the slow movement of putting on the leather gloves demonstrates the idea of the assassin being a extremely careful and cautious person.

15th March 2010:

We had to return to the security box and re shoot the killing scene, with a different weapon because it wasn't very effective in using a tie to murder, so we had to change it into a black wire, even though originally we were planning to use a gun as a weapon, which is suppose to be more conventional.

My role in this is to cast as the assassin, it was kind off difficult when the director suggested that I should put on a sinister expression, when putting pressure into killing. So instead, I had to find my own way to interpret the assassin role, so I could act out the assassin my own way, to make it more effective because that way I could get into my role.

So as you could see from the short film, there was a close up face of me in the assassin scene, my face was expressionless because I believe that a killer machine, would have no emotions, which make it even more sinister In addition, I am pretty good with no expressions,which helped me act out the role as a assassin.

20th of April 2010:

Today, is the screening day, when we receive feed backs from audiences, mostly positive on the mise en scene and the soundtracks.

Prelim Task

The purpose of this preliminary task was to demonstrates the following techniques, this includes:

180 degree rule

shot reverse shot

match on action

eye line match

Analysis of past student's opening sequences

The Gardener is graded a level 4 (A), the reasons why it is a grade A is because it has it's cinematography skills is good, for instance the camera was steady most of the time and it has demonstrated a range of shots, for example at the beginning there was a tracking shot, which seemed like the gardener was being spied on, through the use of restricted shots it has also created red hearing and sense of enigma, which are all elements/conventions of a thriller film.


The mis en scene is also appropriate because it is set in a forest looking place, which is perfect for a thriller because it is isolated, which creates tension and suspense. This is also a generic convention of a thriller film.


The editing technique was also well presented because there is a wide range of transitions, for example I like the use of the graphic match, when the photo graph that was displayed on the board came to life and that we witness the victim trying to escape from the the gardener, there was a constant cross cut from the women to the gardener, which is effective because it hints to the audience that the two scene are related.











The beginning of the short film the music sound track was playing 'American Getaway',which is a cheerful soundtrack, this synchronises with the establishing shot of the suburban houses. This creates a sense of normality, which is a generic convention of a thriller film.

However, the lightings are bright(high key lighting, which suggests that nothing is going to happen because there is no tension or suspense to the film, which subverts the conventions of a typical thriller genre because a typical thriller film would often have elements of dark lightings, to create enigma in order to create suspense.


The scene of the house fades into the main character, who is in bed, this signifies that the he is the protagonist and is important in the story, this conforms to the conventions of a typical thriller film because most thriller films always starts to introduce the main character of the story.

There was a sudden silence in the scene, when the protagonist got off his bed, this creates tension and immediately this hints to the spectators that the protagonist is going to encounter some danger, which conforms to a typical representation of a thriller genre because the use of silence is way to create a sense of realism.




In the beginning of this open sequence, we first denote a establishing shot of a park and five male characters, the idea of the establishing shot was to demonstrate the sense of realism, which is a convention on a thriller genre film because it makes the film more realistic, which makes the spectators feel tense. The sense of realism in the beginning of the film is also demonstrated through the use of silence, which is also conventional in most thriller films because it builds tension, in order to gain attention from the spectators. (It is important to capture spectators attention in the beginning of a film in order to get the spectators engaged)


When the main character walks away from the other characters, there was a long shot of the character from behind, this connotes that he is a vulnerable character and is depicted as a victim because the use of long shot makes him seem isolated, which makes the spectators feel uneasy about what is to happen to him. At the same time, the use of long shot/tracking represents the conventions of a thriller film because the it the tracking shot make it seem like the character has been stalked and most importantly, as a spectator, we do not get to see the face of the stalker, which makes it restricted, this conforms to a conventions of thriller film because a typical thriller film always have elements of restrictions to create a sense of enigma in order to build up tension.


The use of the soundtrack is used to represent the thriller genre, for example the music starts to play when the character was all alone behind a building, which hints to the spectators that the character is going to encounter danger, for example maybe a stalker (tracking). The slow tempo of the soundtrack creates a sense of suspicion, which synchronises with the tracking movement to create a stalking effect. The tempo of the soundtrack starts to increase, when the character starts to run, which synchronises with the movement of the character and the pace of the editing, this helps to build up tension and to make the spectators feel confused from the fast pace of the music and the movements.

Analysis of Thriller Film Trailers

The trailer starts off with a birds eye view of a plane flying across a green land, this shot is important because it hints to the audiences that this film is a historical, political thriller. The idea of the birds eye view of the plane, was to make the plane look more dominant over the green land, which gives off a sense of invasion, this signifies to the spectators that the film maybe about war. This targets audiences who are interested in history or study history and maybe old age men's who fought in war.


The first shot than fades in to a long shot of the plane landing, the purpose of this long shot of the plane landing was to allow the spectators to get a view of the land. The low key lighting in this scene create a serious and gloomy mood, this fore shadows that bad events will occur, which makes the audiences feel curious, which is the main purpose of a trailer. The typography which states '1933', is centred in the middle of the shot, the purpose of this is to introduce the era of the film.


It than cut's into a over the shoulder shot/long shot of a crowd of people, the low key lighting in this scene is like film noir from the 1940's to the late 1950's. Film noir is a cinematic term primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime drama's, which signifies to the audiences that this film could be a crime thriller.


Than it cut's into a close up of a man (The lightings has changed), this connotes his importance in this film because it is the first close up shot of a character, which signifies to the spectators that he is our main character as well as our protagonist. The high key lightings in this shot, was to get the spectators to focus on his face expression in order to introduce more about his personality, for example in this shot his face expression seems serious looks a bit sly. At the background of this shot I could denote a man, who is wearing a black hat, the black hat casts shadows on his face, which makes him enigmatic and suspicious. It hints to the spectators that he maybe a antagonist because the colour black signifies evil. I could also denote a wall with measurements for criminals, this connotes to the audiences that our protagonist is in a police station, which signifies to the spectators that our protagonist could be a police or detective. This gives a sense of investigation, which is a convention of a thriller film.





It starts off with a establishing shot of a mountain with a distance building, the mountains is surrounded by mist and the low key lighting makes the whole scene looks eerie and mysterious, which builds tension because a mountain is a very isolated place. The chosen location of a mountain is not a very conventional setting for a thriller film because a thriller film is often set in a urban area like a city to create a sense of reality and normality.


It than fades into a scene, where I denote a long shot of the interior house, the house looks like a traditional Chinese/Japanese house because I denoted a sliding door and a fire torch. This hints to the spectators that this film is based on the Asian culture, which may appeal to audiences that are into martial arts or culture differences.


On 0:59, I could denote typography flying towards the screen like a flying star (weapon which a assassin/ninja use), which states 'betrayal', from this it signifies to the audiences that it is a action thriller and it contains rivalry relationships, which is common in a thriller film because it helps to create tension in a film.


The pace of the trailer also gets faster as the music gets louder, which synchronise with the action in the trailer. This makes the trailer more intense, which draws the audiences attention.






This trailer conforms to the conventions of a thriller film, for example there are sense of investigation, which signify that this is crime/mystery thriller. This could be represented through the characters, for example the narrator stated 'Detective William Sommerset', this hints to the spectators that he is our main character/protagonist. This conforms to the conventions of a thriller film because the spectators always see the from the protagonist perspective (restricted narration), which creates enigma codes and creates tension.

The ticking sound from the piano device to count the bars, continues to the next scene, signify that it is a race against time, which conforms to the conventions of a thriller film because the it helps to build up tension.

Seven Essay

Se7en Essay: ‘What makes a thriller film and how is this evident in Se7en? A micro/macro analysis of Se7en (David Fincher 1995)’

Introduction: In this essay I am going to analysis the film ‘Se7en’ through the uses of micro elements and macro elements to explore the conventions of a thriller film.

Institutional research: The film was directed by David Fincher (It was produced new line cinema) and was written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The release date of the film was in January 1996, UK ,in 2,441 theater, where it grossed $139.9 million on it’s opening weekend. It went on to gross $100.01 million in North America and $227.1 million in the rest of the world for a total of $327.3 million.

From this piece of evidence we could tell that this film is a success because it's budget is $30 million and it had made a increasingly high amount of profit.

The film was generally well-received through critics and currently 84% rating at ‘Rotten Tomatoes’. Gary Arnold, in Washington Times, praised the cast: ‘The film ace in the hole is personal appeal generated by Mr. Freeman as the mature, Cerebral Cop and Mr. Pitt as young, head strong cop. Not that the contrast is inspired or believable in itself. What gets to you is the prowess of the co-stars as they fall out sketchy character profiles.

Shelia Johnson, in her review for the independent, praised Freeman’s performance: ‘The film belongs to Freeman and his quiet, carefully detailed portrayed of the jaded older man who learns not to give up the fight’.

The critics, frequently praises the actors that cast in the film, which indicates that most part of the success (Box office: 29^th place out of 250) was through the actors. For example, the audiences may have been interested in Brad Pitt or Morgan Freeman, which encourages audiences to watch the film.

Audiences: The film ‘Se7en’ is targeted at adults/older teenagers as their primary audiences, for example the DVD stated that it is for 18+ and most importantly the film is classified as a crime thriller, which is a mass appeal.

It is classified as a crime thriller because it possess the conventions of intrigue and enigma codes, for example the equilibrium of the film revealed where the death of a victim took place and immediately the body of the victim was in the scene, this is an example of an enigma code and intrigue because it makes the audience think what happened. This is also created through the restricted narration which also gives a sense of investigation and theater of the mind.

The film ‘Se7en’ may also be targeted at male audiences as their primary audiences because both protagonist are males (Mills and Sommerset), this represents that males are more dominant at the time in 1995. The main women character in the film known as Tracey is a victim in the film and another women who is a prostitute was murdered because of ‘Lust’. This demonstrates that women’s are stereo typed as being a sex object, seen as maternal figures and vulnerable, which is conventional in a crime thriller film.

Narrative: The narrative structure of the film is linear, this is shown throughout the film (week), which gives it a sense of normality/reality. It is also shown through the bad whether conditions, because it has rained throughout he whole days in the film, which links the scenes together, which is also one of the main conventions of a thriller film because it signifies to the audiences that negative events may occur latter on in the film. The use of linear narrative is deliberately used because it explains clearly to the audiences about the story plot. It is also linked in with the thriller genre because it’s structure is a linear narrative, which is also a form of restrictedness because the audience would not know what is going to happen in the future or what had happened in the past, which creates a enigma code and may also build up tension, which is a convention of a thriller film.

There are also a constant use of restricted narration in the film for example, in scene number 6, when the police located the criminal and is on a mission to capture the criminal. The camera shots in the scene was restricted because we did not get to see what the characters point of view (i.e.: eye line match was not used) and that the editing of the camera cuts is fast paced, which is deliberately used to confuse the audience but is also used to represent the confusion in the situation.

The interior lighting was very weak, which made it difficult for the audience to see what is happening, which creates a sense of enigma and suspense and is a example of iconography in a thriller film.

A close narrative is used in the film, for example the investigation has come to the end and they have arrested the criminal, which is the goal of the protagonists and most importantly Mills gets his revenge on the antagonist.

However on the other hand it could be argued that it is a open narrative because not everything at the end is tidy, for example Mill’s wife was murdered by John Doe and in order to show his ‘wrath’ Mills shot John Doe with his gun, which means that the murderer took the easy way out and as for Mills he would have to suffer all the pain and to repent for killing a murderer. (not a happy new equilibrium, which subverts the conventions of the Holly wood theory/Todorov’s theory).

Omniscient narrative is mostly used near the end of the film, for example when Mills and Sommerset was in a different scene because Mills went to reveal the box, however we knew what was within the box before Sommerset does because the camera cut’s to John Doe when he reveals that he had killed Tracey. However, even though we knew what was in the box labeled fragile, the camera remained restricted, for example the camera does not show what was in the box, which is creates theater of the mind. Even though it is a omniscient narrative, it still creates a enigma code because restricted narrative was also used so it the audience would think if it’s the truth that John Doe murdered Tracey. Through the enigma codes the audiences would than become more passive, which allow audiences to participate in the investigation.

The two main protagonist includes Mills and Sommerset, even though they are both protagonists, they both have different personality, for example Mills has a fiery. I could denote that through the plasters on his face, which signifies that he puts his life on the line when it comes to his job as a police (serious) and that he maybe rash at the same time he always carries his gun, signifies that he is violent and maybe a danger. We could also tell that he is short tempered through his dialogue/verbal codes, for example he swears a lot, especially near the end of the film, this connotes that he has come his limit, for example he killed John Doe. He is also into dogs, for example when we was saw him arrive home he interacted with two dogs, this signifies that he is a caring person and also that he is a loyal person because dogs are a symbol of loyalty.

Near the final scene when when the camera kept using shot reverse shot (close up) of him having a conversation with John Don, there was cross bars over both the antagonist and the protagonist (except Sommerset), this signifies that Mills might be in the same position as John Doe.

Sommerset, on the other hand is more calm and in controlled, this could be denoted when Tracey chooses to talk to Sommerset over Mills (announced that she is pregnant), through this event this could also connote that he is trusted and easy to get along with. He is also a tranquil person, for example when he was invited to dinner, he put down his gun before he sits at the dinner table (Tracey dislikes guns, which signifies that he respects her.)

In the final scene John Doe wore red T-shirt, which signifies that he is stained with the blood of the victims and it's a symbol of him as a dangerous person.

In the scene when he investigates the death I could denote that he wears a long coats and a hat, which is a conventional costume in a crime/mystery thriller, especially when it comes to detectives.

Genre: This film is classified as a hybrid genre because it is a crime genre but at the same time it could be a example of a psychological thriller, this could be denoted when Mills went to investigate the death of the first victim, the word ’Greed’ was stained on the floor (Blood). This connotes that the antagonist is purposely leaving clues for the protagonist, in order to play mind games with the protagonist. This is an example of a convention in a psychological thriller.

It could also be described as a crime thriller because it has characters such as the police and the forensics, who are most likely to be the protagonist, which gives a sense of investigation and enigma code, for example when in the scene 6, there was the police force that located the area of were the criminal might be. In the scene there was a lot of restricted narrative, through the camera because we as the audience would only see what the characters see (point of view shot), which builds up tension and the of the dramatic music (non-diegectic sound), also creates tension. Eye line match was also used in the scene, for example when there was a sudden scream, when the camera was focusing on the polices (asynchronous sound), we immediately focus on their frightened face expressions of the police, which creates tension (cheap surprise). The camera eventually cuts to the a different scene, allowing the audience to see the victim remained living (horrific sight). This could be a example of it subverting the conventions of a thriller because a conventional thriller don’t usually allow the audiences to view horrific scenes (this is more conventional in a horror film) because a thriller film usually plays on with the audiences mind (theater of the mind).

In conclusion, I think the film ‘Se7en’ is a crime thriller because it included many conventional element, such as the linear narrative, which gives it a sense of reality and that the whole story was set in a city, for example at the first scene there was a establishing shot of the city, which gives it a sense of normality and that it is conventional in most thriller films. However on the other hand, it could be argued that this is not a conventional thriller (challenges the ideology) film because the new equilibrium is not a conforming to the Todorov's theory of a happy ending, for example the tragic death of the wife leads him to despair and to push him to make a rash decision to revenge the death of his death was all due to John Doe's manipulation, which indicates that the antagonist has won against the protagonist. In addition it also subverts the conventions of a thriller film because in most thriller film there would be only one protagonist.