Equipment And Prop List

The equipment we have decided to use are as follows:
Sony HDR-HC9E video camera: This is the video camera we will use to shoot our thriller opener
Tripod: This is what we will use to hold the camera on to maintain a smooth and steady image.
Gorilla Tripod: We could use this to record interesting shots such as from a branch of a tree which the gorilla tripod will enable us to do.

The props we have decided to use are as follows:
Car - Renualt Clio. This is the car we are going to use where the majority of our filming is going to take place near.
Weapon - A thick and heavy branch off a tree or spade. This is what we could use for the murderer to kill the victim in.
Mobile phone - We will use a mobile phone when Hope walks off after their argument and tries to look for help.
Educational text books - This what we used to indicate that the characters are still in education and tells the audience a bit about the characters.

Case Study - I Am Legend

Institution
Name: I Am Legend
Director: Francis Lawrence
Producers: Akiva Goldsman, David Heyman, James Lassiter, Neal H. Moritz, Tracy Torme
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date:
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Certificate: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Country where made: United States, Australia
Budget: $150,000,000
Box office returns: Gross revenue was $585,349,010
Awards: 7 wins & 17 nominations
Running Time: 101 minutes.



I Am Legend is based on the novel, also called "I Am Legend", written by Richard Matheson in 1957. Similarly to The Dark Knight and Four Brothers, I Am Legend is also packed full with action. This makes the film very exciting and there are only few scenes throughout the film that allow the audience to catch their breath back. Its genres consist of Sci-Fi which is indicated through the appearance of Alien-like creatures. Other genres that are made apparent later on it the film is the genre horror, as their are some frightening scenes including monsters you would expect to see in horror films and also the frequent use of shadow and darkness, which is a typical convention for horror films. The user rating on IMDB is 7.1/10, which seems to be a good score, suggesting that the film pleased the majority of people. It has scored as highly as The Dark Knight, but exceeds the score of the score of The Number 23 and only just tops Four Brothers. One user of IMDB comments "Outstanding, disturbingly well crafted film." This suggests that the film is very appealing to the audience, and that it must have really impressed the user as he states that it was "Outstanding". Alternately, another uses states "Legendarily Lame Science Fiction Remake!!!". This suggests that the film does not appeal to everyone and also that it is similar to other Sci-Fi films.

Technology
With technology ever changing and evolving with time, popularity of films have increased dramatically, mainly down to advertising. There are many ways in which the film can advertise including: banners on the internet, trailers on the tv and cinema, film posters in bus shelters and on buses, websites. As there is more technology when it comes to advertising, the general public's knowledge of the film will be increased. This may make more people come to watch the film in the cinema or purchase the dvd. New technology may have also increased audiences access of the film. For example, there are many ways in which people can watch films now days including: cinema, dvd, tv, ipod/itunes, streaming online (illegal). As there is easier access to watch films, and alternative methods to watch films, there will be an increase in accessibility.

4)Codes/forms and Conventions of the thriller genre:
The opening sequence is of news channel that is interviewing a Doctor about a new vaccine. Straight away, the audience gets the impression that this interview is very significant and important as it is featuring on the news. The effect of setting a theme through the use a news broadcast is often quite typical to feature in thriller films as it allows the audience to understand the situation and also to understand how important it is as it is making news broadcasts.
The first shot we see is of a deselect city, which is shown by and upwards tilt. Straight away, you get an impression of isolation which is a typical convention of thriller films. The sounds of flies could represent that that area is dead as flies feed of dead things. The sound of sea gulls also help to set the location as it could represent that the city is close to a sea, or that they are looking for food. There is no backing music, just sounds of wildlife and wind which really help to focus the audiences attention on the setting, as well as reinforcing the theme of isolation as no human life is being made apparent.
The opening sequence of I Am Legend is very similar to "No Country For Old Men", which is another thriller film that also starts with isolated scenes. This is the effect that my group have aimed to capture in our thriller opening sequence as it is very generic but very effective and powerful.
The next few shots also show parts of the city isolated city. This gives the audience a bigger idea of what has happened and where the location is. The fact that their is new human life in the city comes across as very odd and makes the audience think that there is something wrong.
The next clip we see is of a car speeding through the streets of the city. This is shown by the use of a helicopter effect which suggests that it could be a police helicopter, similar to the one off "The Dark Knight". We then see the main character who is the driver of the vehicle and who is holding a gun. The use of a gun makes the audience think that something is not right and also reinforces themes of danger and violence, similar to that off "Four Brothers", which is another generic feature of the thriller genre.

Case Study - Four Brothers

Four Brothers

Institution
Name: Four Brothers
Director: John Singleton
Producer: Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 30 September 2005 (UK)
Genre: Thriller, Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Certificate: Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language and some sexual content.
Country where made: USA
Budget:$30,000,000
Box office returns: Gross revenue was $92,494,381
Awards: 2 wins & 7 nominations. Won awards for Image Award and Breakthrough Artist
Award
Running Time: 109 minutes

Four Brothers is an action packed, adrenaline fuelled action thriller film with sub genres of crime, drama and mystery, which are similar genres of The Dark Knight. I think that the target audience for this film would be mainly males with an age range of late teens to early adulthood. I think this because there are many aspects of the film that would appeal to this kind of target audience. Repeating themes such as violence, crime and also scenes of sexual natures are generic conventions that would appeal to a male, early adulthood audience. The certification of this film is R (15 in the UK), which would also suggest a target audience of the range I have specified. The user rating of IMDB for this film is 6.9 out of 10. This is a similar user rating to that of The Number 23, but just beats it by 0.7. One user of IMDB reviewed the film as "How refreshing - a movie that actually exceeded my expectations!". This shows us that the film is something new and has a bit more about it that makes it stand out from other films.

Technology
With technology ever changing and evolving with time, popularity of films have increased dramatically, mainly down to advertising. There are many ways in which the film can advertise including: banners on the internet, trailers on the tv and cinema, film posters in bus shelters and on buses, websites. As there is more technology when it comes to advertising, the general public's knowledge of the film will be increased. This may make more people come to watch the film in the cinema or purchase the dvd. New technology may have also increased audiences access of the film. For example, there are many ways in which people can watch films now days including: cinema, dvd, tv, ipod/itunes, streaming online (illegal). As there is easier access to watch films, and alternative methods to watch films, there will be an increase in accessibility.

Codes/forms and Conventions of the thriller genre:

Four Brothers starts off with quite an upbeat, funky pop song that sounds as if it is being played on some sort of radio, (It turns out to be the car radio). The first image we see is that of 2 dice tied onto the car rear mirror. The dice show a number 2 on each dice. My interpretation of this is that altogether there are four dots, 2 from each dice. This could reflect on the four brothers that are the main characters in the film. We later find out in the film that two brothers are white males, and the other two brothers are black males. This could be what the dice are representing, 2 separate dots on each, but once added together make four, representing the four brothers. It is quite an unique and clever way that the film starts off, with the immediate relation to the four brothers. The first character we see is an old lady driving a car listening to the radio. When she stops the car the radio stops and the only sounds we here is the sound of wind. This has a very contrasting effect on the catchy, upbeat song just a few seconds ago, and the sound of wind embraces the audience that something bad is about to happen. We see the old lady walking into the shop by the use of a very interesting low angle, long shot. In the edge of the shot we see a car and hear its engine running. This gives the audience a feeling that the car has some significant in the film. IT also gives the audience the impression that the old lady is being watched, giving a mysterious vibe to the film, which is a typical convention of thriller films. The next few shots we see are in the shop, when the old lady is telling off a young boy about stealing sweets. This gives of signals of corruption in the area as a young boy is stealing. The next few shots, the audience gets a real understanding of the old lady's personality. She is telling off the young boy for stealing and teaching him the error of his ways and how stealing is bad and it has consequences. This shows that the lady is caring and trying to help the young boy. However, she is also playing a trick on the young boy, telling the shop keeper to ring the police, but she is just pretending to try and scare they boy and teach him a lesson. This shows the audience that she is also a fun character, that still shows traits of youth. One line the lady says to the boy is very powerful and really emphasises her caring character: " I happen to believe you're worth more. But YOU'VE gota believe it". This is very affectionate and shows the audience what a caring lady she is, and that she wants the best for the young boy. In contrast to her almost whispering advice to the young boy, in response to the boys answer, she puts on a more sterner voice and says " are you bullshitting me" and " Now I want you to head straight home, you shouldn't be out at this time of time anyway, ya' hear me?". This again makes her seem like she is trying to put her point across about how important it is to change his behaviour for the better, and that she isn't a push over. It also makes her seem like a motherly figure, and possibly that she has had similar problem with her children in the past, which later becomes unravelled. In these few scenes alone, it has enabled the audience to get a relatively deep understanding of the lady and the setting in a way because it gives the audience an impression on the way their society is.

The next few clips is when the action starts to kick in, and the film begins to share many conventions of thriller films. Two masked men burst through the shot window carrying guns, demanding cash. The use of weapons are often used in thriller films and emphasise the theme of violence and corruption. The lady is hiding from the gunmen behind a shelf but releases a gasp of shock after hearing the sound of a gun. This causes the gunmen to investigate the noise, find the lady and end up shooting her. The murder sequence of the lady consists of some interesting camera shots. It consists of one continuous shot, starting with a long shot of the shot, as if someone was looking at the shop. Next the shot zooms in slowly and then pans across following the path of the escaping gunmen. They are cheering at their success of robbing the store, which suggests they feel no remorse or guilt in killing two innocent people. This leaves many questions unanswered for the audience as to why two people would kill an innocent shop keeper and an old lady, could they have been put up to it? The non-diegetic soundtrack has a spooky and eerie feel to it with high pitched notes played frantically by strings, which is a convention of the thriller genre. The shot transaction is a fade out to signify the end of the sequence and introduces a new character and a new scene of a man driving his car, shown by a camera shot that is of the angle that would in the car in front of the mans car.
In contrast to the previous sequence, the title sequence is a bit more relaxed and generally has more positive imagery. I would class the soundtrack as music you would expect to here in a hotel lift, jazzy/lounge/blues music. This helps to set the tone of a quite calm and relaxed environment. As the audience, we get the impression that this town is new to the man, or he has returned after a long time, due to the frequent facial expressions and shots showing the man look around out of his window to see the scenery. The man is dressed in a leather jacket and has gelled back hair. This gives an impression that he is quite a cool, laid back kind of guy.
The credits are introduced on the screen by fading in and out at random positions. The font is BOLD and in capitals. It seems quite similar to military fonts which could reflect on the use of weapons and the theme of violence throughout the film. The text colour is in red and white. The colour red connotes thoughts of violence as you can relate it to blood. This could suggest that there will be blood in the film. Red also connotes imagery of danger, which could again be later revealed throughout the film. White has contrasting connotations such as peace, innocence and love. This could represent that the four brothers are loving at heart, and deep down just want to do what is best. In comparison to " The Number 23", which includes the theme of isolation, Four Brothers is quite the opposite, with the whole film about the brothers discovery how important family is and bringing them closer together. This is quite unusual for films of the thriller genre to end with happy imagery and a positive imagery, however it adds a nice touch to the film after the powerful, violent scenes previously in the film.

Four Brothers 1

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Case Study - The number 23

The Number 23

1)Institution
Name: The Number 23
Director: Joel Schumacher
Production company: Contra Films/Firm films
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: 23rd February 2007
Country where made: USA
Budget: $30 million
Box office returns: Gross revenue was $105,036,499
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Drama
Certificate: Rated R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality and language.
Awards: 4 nominations
Running Time: 98 minutes
2)Audience
The Number 23 is a thriller film, with sub genres of mystery, drama and aspects of horror As this is quite a diverse range of genres, I would expect that the films target audience is quite vast. From looking at the films genres, I think that the target audience would mainly be fans of horror movies as from looking at the film poster and trailer, the horror aspects stand out a lot, suggesting that this film is aimed for horror lovers. The user rating of IMDB for this film is 6.2 out of 10. One user of IMDB commented: "A well written thought provoking story". Another said "A below-average, washed-up wannabe psychological horror film". The film looks like it has achieved to please the minds of the majority of the viewers with an average rating of 6.2 out of 10, however there are some people that suggested that the film had too many flaws and the plot line was lost towards the end of the film.

3) Technology
With technology ever changing and evolving with time, popularity of films have increased dramatically, mainly down to advertising. There are many ways in which the film can advertise including: banners on the internet, trailers on the tv and cinema, film posters in bus shelters and on buses, websites. As there is more technology when it comes to advertising, the general public's knowledge of the film will be increased. This may make more people come to watch the film in the cinema or purchase the dvd. New technology may have also increased audiences access of the film. For example, there are many ways in which people can watch films now days including: cinema, dvd, tv, ipod/itunes, streaming online (illegal). As there is easier access to watch films, and alternative methods to watch films, there will be an increase in accessibility.

4)Codes/forms and Conventions of the thriller genre:
The title sequence of The Number 23 consists of an off-white backdrop of paper/parchment in which a lot of numbers appear in black. The numbers show some calculations, which could put forward the theme of working things out, e.g the plot and the mystery. There are also a lot of number 23's jotted about in the screen. This could suggest that this is a main idea and recurring event, that the audience would expect to see in the film. In contrast to the black and white, there are blotches of red stains, that look like blood, that smear across the screen. The fact that the red smears look like blood could suggest that the film is quite violent and brutal, which emphasises the sub-genre of horror. The use of parchment and the text's font is as if someone is typing them up using a type writer and when the blood is introduced it could signify that the person is going threw pain to write down the information, which could later be rectified in the plot. As the title sequence goes on, there is more and more blood up to the last point where the screen is full of blood and the number "23" appears. This could represent that the person using the type writer has died and the number "23" could represent the cause of their death, creating a lot of questions for the audience. The colour red really stands out in contrast to the more neutral black and off-white. Red also connotes thoughts of danger and blood. The non-diegetic sound track is quite eerie and features a lot of drums. The use of drums makes it seem spooky, possibly representing violence because years ago, drums have been used as war drums to scare the enemy. The range of dynamics also help build up a lot of tension by having soft music followed by dramatic loud music. The sound track sounds quite electronic and the use of sound effects and phasers give the track an almost sci-fi feel to it, which again builds up tension.


There are many aspects throughout the film that genre is utilised. The main example of this is the fact that the mysterious theme is slowly unravelled throughout the film. Throughout the film, many questions arise, that later become answered. This is a typical feature of thriller and horror films and keeps the audience interested and engaged in the film. The first shot we see is an establishing, followed by a slow zoom to Walter, who is sitting in his van. The use of the establishing shot is a useful technique of setting the scene and giving the audience a quick, simple and effective understanding of the location and situation. These opening shots show Walter in his everyday life, on duty as a animal control officer, about to finish his shift, the time is shown by a point of view shot looking at the radio clock in the van. A few minutes until he has finished his shift, he receives a call in from a women secretary who has a grudge on him after a Christmas work do. We then see a flashback, represented by rewinding very quickly. Flashbacks are typical conventions of thriller films and they act as a explanation of occurring events. A scene with his family at home shows summarises his life and shows the audience that he has a good, enjoyable life and gets on with his wife and son. This could act as a contrasting device as towards the end of the film, him and his family become more corrupted. The next scene, Walter is attempting to capture a vicious bull dog. An interesting shot used in this scene is the point of view shot of the dog behind the cage. The camera moving out from behind the cage signifies the movement of the dog as he confronts Walter. Walter gets bitten by the dog after failing to capture him and has a serious, deep wound to his arm. This could act as foreshadowing of events to come as blood is involved and Walter is very stressful. Another convention of thriller films present in the film is the use of fast paced editing when a action scene is involved. Fast paced editing makes the audience feel as they are in the situation as it is real time and everything is happening so quickly. It also helps show perspectives of other characters to give the audience a fuller understanding. Fast paced editing in action scenes also contrasts with slow, calmer cuts and editing in other parts of the film, which gives variation to the film and makes the action scenes seem more excitable.
Isolation is a key theme in this film and a typical convention of thriller films demonstrated by uses of long shots and the main character, Walter on his own a lot of the time. Walter, who plays the main character, gradually becomes more and more isolated as his mind becomes possessed. The isolation creates thoughts of being vulnerable and the audience may develop a fear of the character because as he becomes more isolated he becomes more Infatuated. Another convention of thriller films utilised in The Number 23 is the use of foreshadowing through means of the mysterious book. Foreshadowing is a device used that give hints and clues about things that become developed in more depth as the film unravels. There is also cases of red herrings when it comes to discovering what the actual number "23" is all about. The use of red herrings is to send the audience in the wrong direction so that there is a twist in final scenes of the film. This makes the ending a lot more effective and is a typical feature in thriller films and mystery films/TV programs. For example murder TV programs such as midsummer murders often use red herrings in a way that makes the audience believe that one character is the murderer, but in actual fact, later on in the program the audience discover that it is actually someone else who was less expected that was the murderer. It is a very effective way to end a film/TV program as it makes the audience think and possibly leaves them in awe.

Mise en scene

The Number 23 Photo 1

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The Number 23 Photo 2

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The Number 23 Photo 34

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No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men is a thriller film that was released in 2007, directed by the Coen brothers. We watched the ten minutes in class and looked out for typical conventions of thriller films included in the film.
The film is set in United States–Mexico border in 1980. The opening scene features a voice over of Sherriff Ed Tom Bell, and lots of shots of open landscape. This creates a quite eerie feel to the film already, as it is very quite and builds a lot of tension. The shot of the open scenery gives off the theme of isolation, which is a typical feature in thriller films. There is sound of wind in the background, which again promotes the theme of openness and also gives a spooky effect to the film. Apart from the outside noises, there is no non-deigetic sound in the first few scenes. This creats tension for the audience and allows them to focus on the storyline and it also makes the outside noises more noticable.
We are later introduced to the psychopathic murderer when he gets arrested by the sheriff. The look of the character gives the audience the impression that he has no feelings at all, and he shows no remorse after murdering people. The outfit the character shown in the mis en scene is all black. The connotations of black are dark character, and usually a bad person, in this case a murderer. The man does not really say very much, which arises suspicion and mystery about his character.
The first murder scene takes place in the police station. The sheriff has just come off the phone to another sheriff, raising questions about the oxygen tank occupying the man. Whilst the sheriff is doing this, in the background we see an unfocused image of the man untangling himself from the handcuffs. He successfully does this and then moves over to the sheriff. As soon as the sheriff puts the phone down, the man is strangling the sheriff with his handcuffs. There is a lot of blood spurting out of the sheriff’s body, which is another typical feature of thriller films.
A few scenes later, we are introduced to another character, a hunter who is shooting deer. He is dressed similarly to a cowboy. He shoots one deer in the back, but it does not die instantly so the man has to trace the deer’s steps and find the it. Whilst doing this he comes across another trail of blood and follows it above a rock face. Bellow the rock he sees three trucks and dead bodies with guns on the floor. This tells us that there has obviously been a gun fight which is a typical feature of a thriller film. The man goes down to get a better look. He searches the vans, possibly for goods, or for clues of what exactly happened. He cp,es across an injured, but alive man in one of the trucks. The injured man begs for water, but the other man practically ignores him and searches the rest of his truck. He finds a large amount of what appears to be drugs in the back of the injured mans van. This hints to the audience that the gun fight could related to drug incidents. The man then just leaves the injured man to die, which shows he is quite heartless. Another thing noticeable in this scene is that the man doesn’t really seemed to be shocked at all at the scenario in front of him, suggesting that he has scene death before, and he is not effected by it.

Thriller

Thrillers are films that include frequent overlapping sub-genres. They are normally filmed from two characters point of view, for example the “baddies” point of view and the “goodies” point of view. Along with this, cross cutting is used to distinguish a divide in the two groups, and also to allow the audiences to see what each group is doing at different parts of the film. The characters in thrillers are often characterised by the clothes, and look of them. For example if there is a man dressed in black who has a scar across his eye, the audience would presume that this man is trouble and possibly the bad character. Themes of thrillers are generally murder, terrorism, and loneliness. Thrillers can also include for-shadowning, this will build up the audiences tension and anxiety as it may give away hints as to what will happen at the end of the film. Many thrillers effectively use the contrast or light and dark. This also help sets the scene for the audience. Music also plays a big part of thrillers, with fast, uppasted music for energetic action scenes, and if something is about to jump out, generally the music builds up as the fright is about to imerge. Here is a list of the top five thriller movies according to imdb: The God Father, The God Father Part 2, Pulp Fiction, The Dark Knight, Rear Window.