Thriller Film Openings

 Hello again! Now that my partner and I have chosen the thriller genre, we need to continue our research. The first order of business is to analyze 3 film opening of three thriller movies. I have decided to analyze Taken, Se7en, and Gone Girl. I chose these due to them being amazing movies, and also two of them being examples used in the genre research post.

Taken:

   
The opening of the movie Taken sets up Bryan Mills, an extremely skilled ex-CIA agent whose main priority is protecting his daughter. The film almost immediately creates emotional stakes by showing how protective Bryan is and the pure innocence of Kim. This creates a connection with the audience, which is quickly manipulated when Kim travels to Paris and is kidnapped by human traffickers, which introduces the main idea of the film.

In order to create a sense of urgency and panic, the opening is extremely fast-paced, uses handheld camera movements, and non-diegetic music during the kidnapping scene, which is essential for the thriller genre. Furthermore, the opening also uses close-up shots of Kim holding the phone when hiding, while Bryan can hear everything, which builds suspense, establishing the main goal of the movie, which is rescuing Kim.

Se7en:

   

The opening of the movie Se7en show disturbing images of a serial killer preparing his notebooks by cutting photographs and obsessively writing down his thoughts and plans. The audience never sees the killer's face, creating a mysterious effect and establishing that the film is a psychological crime thriller related to the investigation of murders committed for the seven deadly sins. 

The opening is made to be uncomfortable through the use of low-key lighting, extreme close-ups, and rapid jump cuts. The music and glitchy cutting represent chaos and instability of a sense of craziness, while the numerous religious images create a theme of morality which will become a main idea of the film.

Gone Girl:

   

In the opening of Gone Girl, we are put inside a man's head, looking down at his wife Amy as he has a silent conversation with himself about what Amy is thinking. His description of Amy and her thoughts creates unease about their marriage. The contrast between the beautiful, peaceful setting of Amy's removal from the surface by Nick will leave the audience thinking that it’s likely his relationship with Amy is very complicated and somewhat dangerous. Once Amy goes missing, this feeling will play a major role in creating mystery within the movie.

This opening is very slow-paced, has low-key lighting, and controlled camera shots, which creates a calm but uneasy setting that surprisingly builds tension rather than action. The opening also heavily relies on narration and sybolism which is extremely common within the thriller genre and also super important for the movie's progression.

Thriller Target Audience

 Target Audience

Hi again! To continue my research, I decided that it would be important to figure out the main target audience seen throughout the thriller genre. Although I already went over it slightly in one of my previous posts, I want to go more in-depth in this one. It is important that my partner and I figure this out since the target audience drives everything we do, from clothing all the way to editing.

The main target audience for the thriller genre is normally people aged 16-45. The majority of these people are attracted to this genre because they enjoy suspense, mystery, tension, and conflict. They also prefer fast pacing and plot twists due to their liking of films that involve crime, danger, and sudden twists.

Most of the time, thrillers attract both men and women. But, depending on what type of thriller the film is, the scales tend to shift. For example, thrillers that involve more action will appeal more to male viewers, but psychological thrillers tend to appeal to both sides equally and even sometimes appeal more to females than males.

When marketing for thrillers, companies tend to use darker colours, intense music, and crazy visuals in both their trailers and posters. The target audience for the thriller genre tends to enjoy the mystery and urgency that is found in these films.

Here are some examples of posters:

Portfolio Project Schedule

Schedule Time!

    Hello again! Immediately when this project was assigned I knew I would need to make a plan in order to keep my partner and I in check. To complete this, I see a timeline as the best fit as having everything planned out to dates is perfect. It is extremely important to complete this first in order to not fall behind

Breakdown

To begin with, I need to break down the project into its major components.

1. Initial Research

• Research and analyze film opening sequences in my selected genre.
• Research and analyze film credit sequences in my selected genre.

2. Planning

• Create the idea for my project.
• Create a script.
• Create a storyboard.
• Find actors and people to work with.
• Find location and times for filming.

3. Production

• Film scenes.
• Record any foley or voice-overs that we need.

4. Editing 

• Edit all our footage.
• Create title and credits.
• Re-record any scenes, foley, or voice-overs that are needed.

5. Revisions

• Review the video with a partner.
• Show the video to family members for advice.
• Take any advice received and re-edit or film any parts of the project.

6. Critical Creative Reflection

• Research information needed in the reflection.
• Create the reflection.
• Edit and review the reflection.

I have around 2 months to complete this project. I want to stay on track with my timeline and hopefully end a week before the due date in case of any delays and additions that might be necessary.

Timeline

Week 1 (1/16-1/23)

• Begin research.
• Movie openings
• Movie credits
• Begin planning
• Plot
• Script

Week 2 (1/26-2/1)

• Finish plan
• Storyboard
• Locations
• Actors
• Times for filming

Week 3 (2/2-2/8)

•    Production
• Begin filming project
• Record foley and voice-overs

Week 4 (2/9-2/15)

• Production
• Finish filming
• Finish any foley or voice-overs
• Editing
• Commence editing 

Week 5 (2/16-2/22)

•   Editing
• Finish first cut
• Start the second cut

Week 6 (2/23-3/1)

• Revision
• Compare both and choose the best
• Editing
• Edit chosen version to perfection

Week 7 (3/2-3/8)

• Creative Critical Reflection
• Brainstorm ideas for reflection
• Research topics for reflection
• Film and edit

Week 8 (3/9-3/17)

• Wrap things up
• Revise everything and edit anything if needed
• Submission
• Post links for reflection and project ( Submit to Cambridge)

I really hope I can stay on track so I don't feel rushed and allow my partner and me to produce the best project to our ability. I know this will be a challenge, but we can do this!

Portfolio Project Genre #2

 Genre: Comedy

Target Audience:

Comedy films are made to appeal to a large audience, but mainly focus on teens and adults. This genre is mainly for people who want entertainment with a mix of humor.

Genre Conventions - Content:

The content of this genre is built mainly on situations, characters, and dialogue. Main themes found in comedy films are relationships and everyday struggles. The main focus of comedies is to entertain, so they prioritize comedy over crazy, complicated plot development.

Genre Conventions - Techniques:

Comedies most of the time use bright lighting and basic camera techniques to keep the audience's attention with the actors and hilarious timing. Editing and sound are key for humor due to them allowing the film to land jokes effectively and emphasize dialogue, which is super important for this film genre.

Institutional Conventions:

Comedies are made by both big and small companies. Marketing focuses on funny trailers, recognizable actors, and extreme scenes. Posters heavily rely on bold colors, which grab the audience's attention.

Examples:

Two productions that are essential if you are looking into the comedy genre are The Hangover and Superbad. The Hangover was such a big hit due to its amazing cast and hilarious situations. Super Bad, on the other hand, relies heavily on teen humor. 

The Hangover (2009)

Superbad (2007)

Portfolio Project Genre #1

 Genre: Thriller

Target Audience:

Thriller films' target audience is normally teens and adults who like suspense and tension. This genre is enjoyed most by people who like a sense of mystery, danger, and crazy plot twists.

Genre Conventions - Content:

Thrillers, most of the time, are based on crucial moments that base off of crime and danger. The main themes that are explored in thrillers can be survival, deception, and obsession. The main idea in thrillers is that they have a main mystery that gets unveiled slowly as the story moves on.

Genre Conventions - Techniques:

Without pacing, editing, and sound, it is impossible for thrillers to create suspense. In order to build tension, thrillers also heavily rely on low-key lighting and tight framing. Music and sound also play a major role because they can increase anxiety in the viewer.

Institutional Conventions:

Thrillers are made by a variety of different companies, both big and small, and mainly rely on budget and scope. Marketing for thrillers is mainly focused on creating suspense, with trailers being made to reveal enough information to grab an audience's attention without giving away the plot. Posters are usually made with darker colors in order to intensify visuals.

    Examples:

Two movie productions that represent the thriller genre are Se7en and Gone Girl. Se7en is focused on crime and psychological decay in a dark investigative plot. Gone Girl mainly combines both mystery and tension in the audeince.

 Se7en(1995)

Gone Girl (2014) 

Transition Time!!!

 Hello! The time is finally here... The Cambridge Portfolio Project, aka the final boss. All the time I have dedicated to this course has led up to this moment. At this time, I am being flooded with many different emotions… I am scared for whats to come, I am excited knowing that I will enjoy these coming months, but most importantly I am confident that I will be able to complete this assignment. Now in order to have us ready my teacher gave us a short but impactful lesson introducing us to the project. We were shown example opening of what and what not to do accompanied with note taking on the guidelines of the project.

For the film opening, one approach I would like to explore is developing context. I feel like this is perfect, as developing context can be effectively implemented into any type of genre, expanding the options I have to choose from. It also just seems like a perfect fit for any opening as most openings strive to develop context.

Although my group is not entirely sure on what to do another approach we would like to take is the use of lighting. I feel that lighting can make or break any film opening. It is such a powerful tool that can take our project to the next level. As it can be useful for various different elements such as introducing character and making the opening visually appealing.