Music

Got the email back from mobygratis.com and our requests have been approved so the music for our AS Thriller coursework has been finally decided.
Here's the songs we requested and are using in our thriller:

Animatic

Here's our animatic, hopefully might give a better idea of the opening titles for our AS Thriller coursework

Analysis of Past Student's Work

Decus Et Tutamen

By Connor Dyer, Simon Moore and Mackenzie Baxter Moss

• Flashing shots at the start of different places and people – unclear of what's happening
• Peaceful setting then an unsuspected killer strikes!
• Flash effects creating panic and uncertainty
• Thin twigged crooked trees that look evil and foreboding, start spinning as the situation spins out of control
• Running through the woods, hand held camera effect creating more panic
• Point of view shot of the killer then he shoots and titles come up

Storyboard

The amazing storyboard to my AS thriller coursework :O

The script

[OWEN walking fast to booth, clearly tense about something.

OWEN enters the phone booth and tries to make a phone call but the number isn’t available.

OWEN clearly frustrated]

OWEN: Microphone needs to be just underneath out of view from the camera so the speech is picked up clearly  (frustrated and distressed) Come one work!

[OWEN forcefully puts down the phone, brushes hand through hair, he then rips a page out of the phone book]

(Camera zooms out, point of view shot from HENCHMAN 1’s view)

[HENCHMAN 1 is on the phone, on the other end of the phone we hear MR G his superior speaking on the other end]

MR G: Microphone needed so speech is clear The Hendermann deal is going through. It’s too much of a liability to keep him alive. Get rid of him. No evidence.

HENCHMAN 1 (hesitates and then answers): Yes, sir

(End of call)

[OWEN comes out of the phone booth. HENCHMAN 1 approaches him pretending to be an normal citizen so he doesn’t give away his true identity and cause panic]

OWEN: Have you got a phone, I need to make an important call

[HENCHMAN 1 looks in his coat pocket looks up (Reverse shot) HENCHMAN 1 punches OWEN]

Black shot (text: 24 hours earlier …)

Planning and formatting of titles

Media Studies (OCR)

AS Coursework G321

Robert Clack 12127

Candidate names and numbers

Ident

A Film by Group 76 

Main actor(s)

Other actors

Music by

Editing by

Director of photography

Costume designer

Director

'The Search Engine'

Analysis of target research

Reviewing Survey Monkey we found that most people’s fears were spiders, other animals (mostly types of birds) and death/murder. The survey and questionnaire also showed that the majority of people preferred conspiracy thrillers and the second most voted was Sci-Fi and political thrillers.

Our target audience as mentioned before was younger people aged 16-25, so we used questionnaires then later uploaded the questionnaire onto Survey Monkey so more people could answer. Survey Monkey puts the information in a database which you can make graphs, percentages etc on the collective answers.



The conspiracy thriller is full of fast paced action, in depth thinking and many opportunities to add twists and red herrings. Reviewing the surveys it was clear that our target audience wanted something that would make them think indepth and want to solve the enigma themselves so we decided as a group to create a conspiracy thriller.    

Treatment Sheet

Name of the film: The Search Engine

Outline of ideas
The idea for the coursework was that a young intelligent man comes across a memory stick which is left at a computer, the memory stick is encrypted and full of a secret government's hidden information. The protagonist is isolated and has no one they can trust as the mystery unfolds. Two different parties want to obtain the memory stick and will do anything to get that information.

What resources will you need?(include actors, props, settings)

• a phone booth
• office settings for the antagonist's office/evil headquarters
• 3 actors
• phone
• a yellow pages book for show

Justifications of ideas in relation to the genre:
The idea relates to the genre because of conventions such as suspense, the macguffin, a false hero, protagonist more powerful than the villain at the end of the film and the protagonist being doubtful in whom he can trust as the enigma unravels.
Thrillers are all about these conventions above, and hopefully come filming these ideas can further justified when they are finally represented.

Research for the thriller coursework

Conventions of the genre:

• mysterious phone caller
• weapons
• a secret organisation opposing threat
• sophisticated villain/antagonist
• resourceful protagonist
• suspense
• protagonist usually 'wins the day'
• flashback of an important character building memory or/and containing a clue to solving the mystery
• a false hero
• Macguffin
• fast paced action sequences

Research into real films of the genre: (other films watched, ideas, references etc)
Using The Manchurian Candidate as a model of a conspiracy thriller in the film there are elements including:

• a secret organisation working against the protagonist's efforts
• mystery phone calls
• weapons
• politics
• forms of science and High-Tech gadgets that haven't been invented
• a distant memory that holds an important part in the puzzle
• a young intelligent protagonist who comes across information that they shouldn't have 
•  fast paced action

Research into potential target audience:

The target audience we chose was people aged 16-25; because they are the age group that goes mostly to the cinema and of course we fall into that genre so making a film that would appeal to us and other people our age was what we wanted to create.

Looking into target audiences it was clear that different people or different ages like different types of thrillers, even different genders like different types of thrillers. For example a younger age group might prefer something more fast paced and bloody whereas an older audience might prefer more political and conspiracy type thrillers with little action but full of deceit and enigmas. Boys generally prefer action packed films; whereas girls might prefer something less action but something that will get their brains ticking. Who stars in the movie is also a factor as some actors are employed to attract a certain gender and also, depending on the actor, it could promote the film more because of their 'star status.'

To get an idea of what thrillers people like to watch we made a questionnaire which later expanded to an online survey on Survey Monkey. The questionnaire included questions such as: what was their favourite genre, last film they saw at the cinema and what they liked about it, if they would rather be the villain or the hero and why and lastly their worst fear. Hitchcock made films that explored many fears for example the fear of terrorism in ‘Sabotage,’ birds in ‘The Birds’ and the fear that someone normal can commit a murder in his most famous film ‘Psycho.’

Proposal as to how your project would appeal to the target audience and beyond:
This would appeal to the target audience (16-25) because of conventions such as fast paced action, scenes of suspense and that important macguffin. And maybe attract older audiences because of the mystery that surrounds the macguffin. What's on the memory stick and why does everyone want to obtain it? Guess you're going to have to wait for the opening titles for clues...

Organization of group

Before we start to do any work, as a group we discussed who will resume what role within the group. Colin and Ezekiel will do the editing, Luke resuming the role as director and myself - director of photography and script writing. 

Research of Titles

Before creating our own titles for the thriller we needed to research into film titles that can be considered as iconic. A good website which helped to research into this area was artofthetitles.com, it has loads of opening titles demonstrating different ideas and techniques that interested me and it has given me more ideas in what to do for my own titles.

In The Cut

• Titles appearing over the opening scene
• Opening shots showing the urban setting
• Titles appear alternating at the top of the screen and at the bottom
• ECU on protagonist
• 'When I was just a little girl' playing during the main titles; but piano is in minor key creating an abnormal/unsettling mood. Protagonist is dreaming, she begins to hum the song then the song continues non-diegetically in the background
• Sepia shot showing a flashback, the title of the film is then revealed almost as if the letters are bleeding

Seven

• There is an unsettling atmosphere which the music brings out with everyday sounds which are discordant and made into a musical score
• White non-focused, slanted and hand written like effect with some words in bold and others not
• Text flashes in and out
• Glimpse of unsettling images which are blurred and unclear adding to the eerieness

Panic Room

• Shots of New York, closer, closer the shots become until there is a close up shot of protagonist
• Embossed, large, and it capitals which are construction-like on side of buildings

American Horror Story

From the same creator as the 'Seven' title sequence and it includes same themes

• House noises and 'white noise' used to create the music, creates an eerie effect
• Point of view searching through the secrets of the house
• Dull dark colours
• Flashes of other and disturbing images
• Titles flash in and out showing actors names

Fight Club

“The opening title sequence was supposed to be starting inside the fear center of Edward Norton's brain. The electricity is like photo electrical stimuli that is running through his brain. These are supposed to be impulses, fear-based impulses. We are changing scale the whole time so we're starting at the size of a dendrite [and] we are pulling back through the frontal lobes, going through this black section where there are particles; we've left the brain and are going through the skull casing. This is inside the skull where Arnon's name appears, inside bone where apparently there is some fluid in, which I did not know. And then we pull out through this clogged pore. The first time we showed this to [Edward] he said, "My face is not that dirty." And I said that this was all based on actual photographs...of your skin." David Fincher

Mad Men

The opening title sequence features a graphic animation of a businessman falling from a height, surrounded by skyscrapers with reflections of period advertising posters and billboards. The businessman is presented as a  black-and-white silhouette. The titles are influenced by graphic designer Saul Bass's skyscraper-filled opening titles for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) and the movie poster for Vertigo (1958).

Reservoir Dogs

Perhaps the most iconic opening titles alongside Seven. Many other films have tried to imitate these iconic titles amateur like and professional. But of course this wasn't an orginal Quentin Tarantino idea, it was taken from the orginal Ocean's Eleven film.

Thriller Openings

An opening to an film is very important as it sets the style, atmosphere and hints of foreboding events to come. The opening scene helps to set the mood of the film, and to get the audience's interest. Here are some examples of film openings we studied in class:

Memento

Conventions: weapons, blood, sets up an enigma

Camera: close-up shot and shot/reverse shot 

Editing: poleroid reversing

Sound: Non-diegetic and includes a narrator

Mise-en-scene: blood, black and white colours, broken window

Brick

Conventions: dead body

Camera: handheld camera gives more of a realistic/personal perspective, out of focus making the mood unsettling

Editing: graphic match     

Sound: non-diegetic music, non-diegetic dialogue, sound bridge

Mise-en-scene: dark, lockers implying a school setting

Zodiac

Conventions: mysterious driver adding to more mystery, gunshots, enigma

Camera: long establishing shot, point of view shot so audience see through the character's eyes, shot/reverse shot

Sound: non-diegetic sound, diegetic music and dialogue within the film world

Mise-en-scene: fireworks, dark, nighttime

Survey!

As research for our thriller we created a survey for people to fill out to help give an idea what audiences look for in a good thriller movie and what their deepest darkest fears are, mawaaahh ha ha haaa!
If you want to be fill in the survey the link is:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LPVQQ65

The Psychological Thriller

The suspense in a Psychological thriller often comes from 2 or more character preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.
Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where the characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually , this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them.
Examples: Spell bound, Marnie

Brainstorm of thriller ideas

Thinking about our own coursework we decided as a group to brainstorm some ideas to get the creativity rolling! Here are some of the ideas we came up with:



Cause and Effective Plotting

This helps to establish the character's intentions which helps to reveal/tell an interesting story over a balanced amount of time and logically so the audience understands the story the way the film maker wants them to.

Sound and Film Music

Sound
Early films didn't include sound so there would normally be a pianist accompanying.
'The Jazz singer' (1927) was the first 'speakie' including synchronised sound.

"Wait a minute, you ain't heard nothing yet"

Sound bridge

Sound bridges are used to join scenes together and helps to keep logic to the scene, example from 'Once upon a time in the west'

Parallel and contrapuntal sound

Parallel sound: Where the sound matches the image example children playing on a beach happy sounding major chords

Contrapuntal sound: Contrasts the images, foreshadowing events like in 'Jaws' when the killer shark's about to attack in the opening of the film.

Off and On screen sound

Off-screen sound is when, for example, a background noise can be heard but what is happening can't.

And an on-screen sound is when we can see the action which the sound is coming from.

Film music

There are two types of film music, these are diegetic and non-diegetic.

Diegetic sound is when a sound is coming from within the source of the film, like a radio playing a song in the background, which both characters and audience can hear.

Non-diegetic music is what the audience can hear but the characters can not like a voice over/narrator and the music score.

Editing

Speed of editing helps to establish the pace of the film and the speed in which the action moves in. Determines the mood for example a action scene will have short second frames frequently changing the scene whereas to create a relaxed mood there will be less frequent scene changes letting the scenes last longer. There are many styles of editing these are:
A straight cut,
A fade out where the screen fades to black representing time passing,
A dissolve where one image is slowly brought underneath another,
A wipe cut where one part of the screen moves across to the other,
and a jump cut where the audience attention is brought into focus on something very suddenly.

Soviet Montage- Lev Kuleshov

Lev Kuleshov was among the very first to theorize about relatively young medium of the cinema in the 1920s. He argues that editing a film is like constructing a building, brick by brick (shot by shot) the building (scene) is constructed.

Around 1918 Russian director Lev Kuleshov did an experiment that proves this point. He took an old film clip of a head shot of a noted Russian actor and inter-cut the shot with different images to convey different meanings, therefore making logical links.

Mise en scene

Mise en scene translated means 'what is out into a scene/frame.'  There are 5 elements in Mise en scene these are:                  settings and props
                                          costume, hair and makeup
                                          facial expressions and body language
                                          lighting and colour
                                          positioning of characters and objects within a frame

Settings and props
Settings and props are used to reflect the atmosphere of the scene which the filmmaker wants to represent. Sometimes in contrast the settings and props could appear normal; which makes the setting more disturbing and effective as it's contrapuntal to what the filmmaker wants to convey.
Props play more of a part in the action than being just a object in the background, for example a gun on a table in an action scene which hints that it will be used.

Examples of settings and props in ...
A science-fiction film: set in the future, dark and gloomy weather, spaceship, advanced technologic objects, computers, futuristic ray guns/weapons, lasers and furustic transportation. 

A action thriller: modern day settings, underground car park, trains, phonebooths, villians' hideouts/headquatres, areas of corruption, banks, bars, abanned warehouses, cities, knives, ropes, ducktape and other weapons. 

Costume, hair and make-up
Costume, hair and make-up help to give us clues on what kind of person a character will be,  (e.g. the baddie or the hero) the genre of the film and it also helps to determine where and when the film is set.

For example a western will have: cowboy hats, checkered shirts, jeans, cowboy boots, frilly layered dresses for the women, leather or/and jean jackets, natural make-up, tight curls, blood, beards, scars, holsters and guns, corsets, spurs, head dresses, dirt and men with short hair.

A musical will have period costumes, lot of make-up, over the top bright clothes, sequins and 'colour coding.'

Villains are generally dressed in dark colours, black hats, disfigurement, scars, suits and ties etc.

In contrast the hero will have white hats and lighter coloured clothing and natural make-up to show innocence.

Facial expressions and body language

Facial expressions and body language helps to add to the mood of the scene to show if it's tense, relaxed or a scary moment.

For example if a character was frightened they would look wided eyed, bitting their lip, screwed up eyebrows, frowning, clasping on to someone, shaking and they would be jumpy.

If someone was angry they would have a tense jaw, be open bodyed, red in the face, tense stance, tense shoulders and form a fist.

Lighting and colour

Lighting and colour contributes to the mood of the scene and can foreshadow events in the near future.

In horror films there use of low-key lighting and shadows, whereas in a romantic film there will be high-key lighting and top lighting.

Positioning of characters and objects within a frame

Foreground

When the character is in the foreground it brings the character to the main focus hinting that what's happening in the background has less of an importance.

Moving

When a character is moving to a side in the scene it draws our attention as it would realistically.

Balanced

Characters/objects at either end of the scene

Unbalanced

Makes that side of the frame seem heavy, space suggests something is going to happen or another character is going to enter.

Diagonal

Makes the audience feel comfortable.

Gap

Shows the relationship between characters as well as emotional friction.

Pulling focus

Shifting the focus between the foreground and the background this can be used to show an argument.

Deep focus

Both characters are in focus, this lets the audience to choose where to look within the frame.

Camera

Types of shots
Panning: the camera moves slowly from one side to side on an fixed axis
Tilt: the camera moved up and down on a fixed axis
Crane: when the camera, is mounted on a crane, moves around a distance above ground level
Tracking: is when the camera follows the action, moving along tracks laid for that purpose, often pulling backwards from a scene
Ralling: camera moves diagonally, making the image askew, this is usually to represent drug-use, illness or disorniatation
Steadicam: piece of equipment, that the operator is strapped to a harness, which helps to keep the camera steady to get a handheld like effect


Long shot
When the objects/ person is in the background, example:



Medium shot
Normally this shot is at chest shoulder/ below shoulders, example:

 

Close-up
A shot which is shot at shoulder level, exmaple:



Extreme close-up
When the shot is above shoulder level, example:




Films often begin with a longshot or extreme longshot to show the setting. This is known as the 'general' or 'establishing shot.' Then we move in the 'particular' to show the protagonist which a close-up shot is used here.

Cliff hangers

Cliff hangers are only sometimes used often they are used in the climax of a dramatic scene of either a struggle or shock. Cliff hangers are mostly used to get the audience on the edge of their seats as they hang in the balance waiting to see what is going to happen next.

For example in North by Northwest



An on going struggle between the protagonist and the 'baddies' leads to the protagonist trying to protect and get him and his fair maiden to safety; but of course it's the movies this isn't going to be easy. As they try to climb down Mount Rushmore they are bombarded with bullets and the threat of falling to their death. The end of the scene they are both clinging on for dear life and then cut. The scene cuts them on a train and having just gotten married.

The basic point of the cliff hanger is to make the audience uncertain to the fate of the protagonist. Are they going to survive/get out alive? Will they catch the villain? Has the protagonist actually succeeded or was it all in the villainn's plan? 

Red herrings

A red herring is a device used to mislead the audience from an important clue in the mystery.
An example of a red herring is in Psycho, the red herring is in a form of a beautiful young woman, the audience are tricked into thinking that Janet Leigh is the main character at the start of the film before she is killed.

Red herrings in thrillers work with other devices to create suspense which helps to deep further depth to the mystery of the plot.

Enigmas

An enigma is a difficult mystery that needs to be solved.
In thrillers usually the protagonist has to try and solve this engima before the end of the movie and to help bring justice.
The best and latest example is 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' as one murder becomes a string of murders the murderer must be found before he kills another woman.

Normal openings to a Thriller

In class we looked at typical scenes that thrillers include as inspiration for our own thrillers and consider about maybe adding some of these in our own thrillers.


Scene setting: Sense of normality and a isolated vulnerable character which then creates the sense of foreboding
Point of view shot: The camera moving with an adding hint of mystery as we the audience only know as much and can see what the character sees
An introduction of discordant non-diegtic music: creating suspense as the viewer awaits to what will happen
People scared: Vulnerable people audience will identify with
And a element of mystery.

Suspense and Shock

Suspense
Suspense is when the audience are on the edge of their seats as we await to what is going to happen next. Will we be saved...Bang! This is suspense.
In Hitchcock's 'Sabortage' suspense is created when Verloc (the agent for an unnamed foreign country) gets his wife's younger brother to deliver a package for him for the time of 1:45 at a trainstation cloackroom, as the police are suspious of Verloc. So the younger brother goes and delivers the package, but of course, he is held up along the way by many obstacles. There is a constant reference to time, close-up shots of the bomb and the music mimacs the 'tick-tock' sound of a clock. We the audience are tense as we know when the bomb is going to go off but we're wondering 'will he deliver the bomb in time?' or 'will the bomb go off?'
Another example of suspense is the Silence of the Lambs in the scene where Clarice Starling is caught helpless in the darkness whilst Buffalo Bill lurks watches her and gets so so close. Will he kill her? Or will she kill him?

Shock

Imagine, the characters think that all the action and drama has come to an end. They're happy and hugging one another in joy that it's all over and parallel music matching the mood: only then Bang! Without warning a bomb explodes and kills them all, bit like Final Destination. Shocking revelations normally come at the end of the film as the audience are at ease as they think it's all over.

In 'Children of men' the protagonist goes into a coffee shop and buys coffee he then walks out to the street where he stops to pour some whiskey in his coffee then...Bang! With no warning an explotion happens at the coffee shop he has just been in.

Examples: The usual suspects, Se7en, The Sixth sense, end scene of The Ghost

Narrative- structive, formulas and devices

The use of continuity editing so the viewer can logically identify with the actions and the sequence of scenes flow smoothly.
Use of 'cause and effect' plotting which establishes  a character's motivations, it helps to tell an interesting story which then develops logically and steadily within the film. 

Review of the Preliminary Task

Reviewing the video there were bad points and good points about the video.
Bad points such as the strange storyline that people didn't really understand when they watched the video. And the continuity for example when Max opens the door with his right hand but in the next image he's opening the door with his left hand.
However there were some good points such as good ude of eyeline match and the 180 degree rule was not broken. the dissolve effect was effective to represent the magic transformation from Max to Ezekiel.

Room for Improvement
There is always something that could be doen more or done better for our video it was the shot/reverse shot, it wasn't used enough. So for the thriller a target already set is to use more shot/reverse shots.

Preliminary Task

Finally through all the sweat, blood and no tears the video is finished! 
Throughout the process we've had to change our idea and film and then edit. It's been a really good experience and we've all learnt a lot.


So enjoy!

The Macguffin

The Macguffin is a plot element that drives the story on, everyone has to believe it’s important. The main characters are willing to do, sacrifice, kill or protect the object to obtain/keep hold regardless of what the Macguffin may be.

Itself it is undefined and open to the audience’s interpretation, which isn’t important to the plot. Examples of Macguffins could be: money, power, survival, a potential threat (always in James Bond) or something completely unexplained.

“As to what that object is specifically is, the audience don’t care” – Hitchcock

It is the central focus at the start of the film, as the film gets on the Macguffin becomes less important as the struggles and characters develop. As the audience we come to love the ‘goodies’ and despise the ‘baddies.’  The Macguffin comes back into the story again at the end of the film but can be forgotten by the end as more focus is on the characters

An example of a Macguffin is in 'Notorious' the Nazi spies are hiding a something in the wine cellar which Cary Grant, the American spy, wants to find out what they are hiding. The Nazi's wife steals the key then gives it to Cary Grant who goes to inspect the wine cellar. When they are looking in the wine cellar the audience are in constant ponder of will they be found, or will someone go down there.

Master of Suspense: Hitchcock

Hitchcock is closely associated with the Thriller genre, his directing career began in the mid 1920s to 1976 he made 52 films in total. In 1939 Hitchcock got offered a contract by Hollywood which he accepted and from then on he spent most of his life based in America. Hitchcock cleverly publicized himself one of the ways he did this was he made a brief appearances in his films during the first few minutes. He also had his own TV show called ‘Alfred Hitchcock presents’ which he talked about his movies then he showed short films he had made. ‘Psycho’ was the most successful film Hitchcock made as it was a huge hit with the Box Office.

         

Known as the master of suspense; whose films came to be the benchmark for the ‘psychological thriller.’

“There is no terror in the bang only in the anticipation of it”

Based upon a childhood memory, there is the reoccurring theme throughout his films that feature an innocent man wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit, for example North by Northwest.

“If it’s a good movie the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what’s going on”

“Always make the audience suffer as much as possible”

“I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach”

“Under the strong influence of Alfred Hitchcock, thrillers often begin with a crime and the accusation of an innocent bystander. Were the accused to contact the authorities, no doubt the case would be promptly solved but instead the poor bystander runs from the law thus further jeopardizing life and limb.”  - Rick Altman

Examples; North by Northwest, Thirty-Nine Steps

“(in)... The Thirty-Nine steps... suspense films abandon both thrills and suspense when the falsely accused character finally reaches safety” – Rick Altman

Chuck Jones and the Rules

The Road Runner cannot harm or upset the Coyote except by going ‘Meep! Meep!’

No outside force can harm the Coyote, only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme Products.

The Coyote could stop anytime- if he were not a fanatic.

No dialogue ever, except ‘Meep! Meep!’

The Road Runner must stay on the road- otherwise, logically, he would not be called the Road Runner.
All action must be confined to the natural environment of the 2 characters- The Southwest American Desert.
All materials, tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from Acme Products.
Whenever possible, make gravity Coyote’s greatest enemy.
The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.



The Thriller

What is a thriller?

“The thriller is a very difficult genre to pin down because it covers such a wide range of films. Thrillers are films of suspense...that are suppose to instil terror into the audience” – Susan Hayward Key Concepts in Film Studies.

Examples of thrillers:

Psycho

North by Northwest

Point Break

Manchurian Candidate

Paranormal Activity

127 Hours

The Birds

Mission Impossible

Buried

Source Code

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

V for Vendetta

Phone Booth

Hide and Seek

Panic Room

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Seven

Types of thrillers

Type of Thriller	Examples
Spy Thrillers	Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, Mission Impossible
Political Thrillers	Manchurian Candidate
Conspiracy Thrillers	State of Play, S.A.L.T
Legal Thrillers	Rainmaker, Time to Kill
Psychological Thrillers	Psycho, Seven, Birds

Aspects of thrillers

“When you enjoy something, you must never let logic get too much in the way. Like the villains in all the James Bond movies. Whenever Bond breaks into the complex: ‘Ahh, Mr Bond, welcome, come in. Let me show you my entire evil plan and then put you in a death machine that doesn’t work’.” – Jerry Seinfeld (SeinLanguage 1993)

                                                    

                                                          

Conventions

Most agree that there are certain ‘conventions’ that mainstream films observe in order for them to be acceptable to the mass audience. But sometimes creativity doesn't come from following the rules sometimes rules are put into place to be broken. 

Examples:

Mysterious phone calls with no one on the other end of the line

Guns/ weapons

Sophisticated villains

A character always investigates a strange noise only to end up being killed

A young naive protagonist

Resourceful protagonist e.g. James Bond

Suspense

Hi-Tech gadgets e.g. James Bond and Mission Impossible

Fast pace actions scenes

A Flashback of a past memory

Protagonist usually succeeds and wins

Can’t kill children

Protagonist falls in love

A mystery that needs to be solved (enigma)

A curious character

A double agent/ false hero e.g. James Bond

Reason for conflict

MacGuffin

The Antagonist is always more powerful, at the beginning of a film, than the hero

Antagonist usually wealthy