Action Thrillers

The definition of a thriller is this:

• Thriller is a genre of film that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror. Thriller films tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced.

When combining a thriller with an action film you substitute some of the suspense creating elements with more violence and fight scenes thus combining the two genres to create one combination. Such films that have done this very effectively is The Dark Knight. 
The threat is constantly visible in the form of the villain, The Joker, which takes the element of implied danger out of the equation. Instead an "adrenaline-rush" mood is created through this seen threat rather than through suspense and tension.
However this is not to say that there aren't scenes where it is extremely tense which is why i feel The Dark Knight is one of the best action-thrillers to take influence from.







Another fantastic film that is an excellent example of an action thriller is Looper. The plot is about hitmen that are hired by mob bosses from the future. These mob bosses send anyone they don't want in their coorporation to the past where they are assassinated. This seems like a perfect plan as the bodies are undetectable in the past. However there is a catch; when you become a hitman or "looper", you assign yourself to a contract meaning that you yourself may be sent back from the future and you have to kill yourself.
Already you can tell from the plot that this is going to be an action packed film with the connotations of gunfights between hitmen and mob bosses. Yet there is also a factor of uncertainty as the loopers are always on edge, not knowing if they'll kill themselves that waking day.
The complex plot allows these factors to blend seemlessly into one another.

Finally, the last film i will be taking influence from is the "Jason Bourne" series. Within this series, ex agent is being constantly hunted from place to place by the company who used to work for. However he has no recollection of why he is trying to be killed when all he wants is answers.
The use of well choreographed fight scenes, and suspenseful situations such as "a phone call while in the crosshairs" cause this film to be a gem of an action thriller. Overall what the director has achieved is a dark nightmarish world for the main character "Jason Bourne" filled with army issue snipers and pistols, heists and a riveting plot line that causes the audience to grip their seats. The threat is mystertious as it seems that everyone wants to kill Jason, creating a huge amount of tension right from the start, 
The main lesson i will take from this film are to really put thought into choreographing fight scenes; it adds another level of drama and when a brawl doesn't look like its been obviously choreographed,

Shot list of Reckoning

Number	Cut	Shot Type	Visual Content	Sound	Lighting	Actors on screen
1	Fade to black	-	Ident	-	-	-
2	Fade in	ECU	Radriar’s hands caressing a locket/ picture	Sound of wind blowing, slow sombre music used	Natural lighting- shot in the middle of the day	Tristan
3	Straight cut	LS	Girl walking down a dark street	Sound of her footsteps heard, diegetic sound of cars.	Battery lights used just to brighten the surroundings	Francesca
4	Straight cut	ECU	Hands continue to caress the locket.	Music getting louder	Natural	Tristan
5	Straight cut	MS, tracking shot	Flashbacks of girl walking down the street getting darker	Diegetic sound slightly muted, only her footsteps and breathing heard	Low key lighting	Francesca
6	Straight cut	LS	Girl walks past an alleyway, two hands grab her into the alleyway out of shot	Music stops, all sound is dimmed and a slight ringing is heard before she is grabbed.	Battery lights used to light her from down the street	Francesca
7	Straight cut	ECU	Hands clench over the locket	The sound of screams and punches being thrown are heard.	Natural	Tristan
8	Straight cut	CU	A struggle that is difficult to see	Sound of punches and muffled screams	Natural, very dark lighting	Francesca, Joe
9	Straight cut	CU	A hand flopping to the floor while two out of focus people run off	Sound of a knife unsheathing, screams stop.	Low key lighting,	Francesca, Joe
10	Fade to black	LS slowly zooming in	Our hooded main character looking out over a city	Narration begins, music of heavy booming drums used at the start of every fade	Natural lighting, filter used for brightness.	Tristan
11	Fade to black	MS to over shoulder shot	Main character closer looking out over the city	Narration continues, music grows louder	Natural lighting, filter used…	Tristan
12	Fade to black	LS	Man in a glass box on the side of a building	Narration continues; talking about the “scum of the earth”	Upward lighting in box to create shadows	Tristan
13	Fade to black	LS	Man in glass box grabbed from behind and dragged out of view of the camera	Narration temporarily stops after “it is my quest to purge this earth…”	Upward lighting in box used	Tristan, joe
14	Straight cut	MS tracking shot	Main character walking down a darkened street, hood up	Faster paced and angry music kicks in.	Low key	Tristan
15	Straight cut	Long shot	Shows a well lit alleyway with three muggers smoking and drinking	Diegetic sounds of the muggers conversation and background noise	Low key	Joe+ extras

16	Straight cut	MS	Radriars torso is out of focus and the muggers are in focus. They stop and look at him.	Music starts to grow louder	Low key	Tristan and Joe
17	Straight cut	MS	The main mugger straightens his hood and approaches radriar	Small amount of dialogue, music continued	Low key	Tristan Joe
18	Straight cut	LS	Camera switches to the muggers POV, Radriar has his head lowered	Music dims slightly, diegetic noise is dimmed	Low key	Tristan Joe
19	Straight cut	LS	Camera angle moves behind the muggers as they approach Radriar asking for his wallet	Dialogue from the muggers	Low key	Tristan, Joe
20	Straight cut	CU	Radriar raises his hand, the muggers are still in shot but out of focus	Music dims further	Low key	Tristan, Joe
21	Straight cut	MS	Muggers look confused, stop briefly then go towards him again	Music is gone now and background noise is drowned out	Low key	Tristan Joe
22	Straight cut	CU	Radriars hand flickers and two of the three muggers fall to the floor unconscious	SFX of a bass 'pulse' used. Muggers grunt in pain	Low key	Tristan joe
23	Straight cut	MS	The third mugger backs away on his knees as Radriar approaches him	Epic and dramatic music kicks in as the mugger backs away	Low key	Tristan joe
24	Straight cut	MS	Camera switches to the back of radriar approaching as the mugger begs for his life	Musiic grows louder as the mugger begs for his life	Low key	Tristan joe
25	Straight cut	CU	The mugger stops backing away and asks “who are you?”	Music reaches a climax then dies down very suddenly before the question	Low key	Tristan joe
26	Straight cut	ECU	Camera focuses on Radriars eyes which are red and demonic	Music goes very quiet for the final scene	Low key	Tristan joe
27	Straight cut	CU	Radriars hand produces a flick knife	SFX of a knife unsheathing used	Low key	Tristan joe
28	Fade to black		Black screen with the words “I am Radriar” on it.	-	-	-

Ident Research

Optimum Releasing
This is the ident for optimum releasing. I like this ident as its very stylish and modern, this is shown through the use of bright "electric"-style colours and the use of editing. Initially you don't see the ident, you only catch flashes of it which grabs the audiences attention. Then as the effects fade out, the full ident is shown in bold. The use of bold white text on a black background also emphasises the company's name, as does the layering of the words with "optimum" being on top of "releasing". I would like to create something like this for my ident however i think this may be quite difficult as there are many effects used in the sequence to make it look technical and modern.




Freemantle Media
Freemantle media is another ident that i like a lot. It is simplistic yet eye-catching with the use of an insignia that is unique to the company. The style of this ident is very artistic which gives insight to the type of company Freemantle media is. The use of bold, white text on a dark blue background emphasises the ident itself making it even more memorable. As well as this the word "Freemantle" is in bold emphasising the company's name so people will remember them in the future. I would like to create an ident like this; simplistic yet stylish and very unique.




Pathé
I feel that Pathé's ident is very eyecatching and i of similar style to Optimum Releasing's; Initially you can't see what the ident is causing the viewer to focus on the images unfolding in front of them. Then as the letters fall into place the word "Pathé" is seen and the audience now knows who is producing this film. The use of shadows in this ident is very intriguing as it makes the shot seem "full"  rather than bare with a word on the screen.
 I like the style of this ident as well as it is very artistic with its use of colours and imagery. It looks like an ident that did not need a huge amount of editing, just some interesting lighting, filters and effects.

My favourite of the three is Pathé; it is stylish, interesting and most of all, simple. For this reason i will take influence from these styles of idents, mainly Pathé, in trying to create my own, unique and individual ident.

Actors

Actors
The person who will be playing Radriar is called Tristan Carman. I chose Tristan for a couple of reasons:

• His build is great as he has very broad shoulders which give him an air of strength about him. As well as this they fill out the jacket part of his costume very well.
• He has a very deep voice which is fantastic to listen to for narration and makes him sound very wise.
• he is a good physical actor and i think he will perform well with choreography

Although he looks fairly young, in most of the scenes you wont see much of his face as it will be covered by a scarf and hood. As well as this some make up will be used to give his skin a grey/blue tint so he appears cold and inhuman.


The actor who will be playing Maria is called Francesca Forrestal. I chose her for these reasons:

• She is an absolutely fantastic actor with lots of experience and enthusiasm which will be lovely to work with.
• She has a great piercing scream that is very haunting and will be used to great effect in my piece.
• She is of a very slim build which makes her appear delicate. This is useful for Maria's characterisation as she is supposed to seem helpless and weak.
• She is quite young looking so it will look as if she could be a daughter of somebody's.

Finally, the person who will be playing the main mugger is called Joe Kelly. I chose him because of these reasons: 

• He has a fairly strong accent that is perfect for his character.
• He has great physicality in the way he walks that creates a sense of danger about him.
• he is quite tall which will create a great contrast between him and Radriar and it'll be even more interesting when we see the power balance shift from the mugger to Radriar.
• He is quite athletic and knows how to move well which will be helpful in the fight scenes.

Characters

Characters:
Radriar:
The main character in this film is Radriar, previously Robert Adams. We learn through narration of his backstory; how he took his own life to end the eternal torment of losing his daughter to gang violence. Yet he was faced with a choice in purgatory, either spend his afterlife roaming the underworld for salvation or return to earth to seek revenge and rid the world of those who destroy and kill.
Once he has returned from purgatory Robert Adams is known as Radriar The Harbinger of Salvation. To show his journey from purgatory one of Radriars props will be these contact lenses that make him appear not human.
I am basing this character off of a number of influences. In terms of films, one of these influences is Paul Bettany who played the Guardian Angel in the film Legion.

In Legion Paul Bettany plays an angel, rebelling against a wrathful god in order to save humanity from eternal damnation. His character is mysterious, intriguing and very violent. However his mannerisms make his violence seem purposeful and righteous which is what i am hoping to convey in my thriller opening in the fight scenes.
Another influence i am using is actually from a video game called Prototype.
In this game the protagonist (in the left of the photo) is Alex Mercer.
A normal guy who wakes in the basement of a genetic engineering corporation's headquarters. As a plague hits Manhattan where he is located, he discovers he can shape shift to survive as more and more people become infected.
I like this character as he relates to Radriar very well. They are both out for revenge as they have both lost something. In Alex Mercer's case its his humanity. As well as this they were both normal men before this life changing event happened.

For Radriar's costume i want it to be something dark and almost militaristic. Thus i have chosen these items of clothing for him to wear;




Each of these pieces of clothing add to radriars overall image. The hooded leather jacket, black jeans and dark boots will create an air of menace about him. Coupled with the coloured contacts, Radriar will look extremely threatening.
Yet underneath this dark, violent exterior is a crisp, ice white shirt where he will keep a locket/ picture of his daughter. This will represent his pure cause that is encased in his murderous exterior.
Along with these items of clothing, a facescarf and gloves will be used to cover Radriars hands and face so that only his eyes and a small portion of his face can be seen.




Maria (The Daughter):
Maria is going to Robert Adam's (Radriars) daughter. We don't see too much of her as she sets up the cause for revenge. She is just a normal school girl but unfortunately whilst walking home early from a party, she is grabbed, mugged and eventually killed for screaming and struggling. These scenes are shown as flashbacks in Radriar's mind.
I based this character on Ophelia Lovibond's role in London Boulevard. In London Boulevard she plays a women named Penny; a somewhat naive and fragile girl who seems to get herself mixed up in the wrong crowd. I think this relates very well to Maria as with this character i want to convey a fragility and helplessness which makes the murder appear a lot worse.
For her costume, as she is only in one brief scene, she is going to be wearing jeans, a leopard print coat and an interestingly designed shirt. Similar to this: ------------------------->

This will allow the audience to infer that she has come back from a party of some sort and that she is on her way home to safety but she ends up getting attacked.
One of her props will be handbag, which the muggers will steal, and a phone which she will use to make her final phone call.


Main Mugger
 When Radriar goes to seek revenge on those who killed his daughter he finds one of many gangs that he will meet in the film. As the narration ensues there is going to be a leader of the pack of muggers who will mock and aggravate Radriar which will eventually result in their demise.
I did not know of any suitable characters in films that can relate to this character however his character is not developed very much in the two minute opening.
For his costume though he will be wearing items of clothing similar to this:
He will also be wearing trainers.
Props for the mugger will include cigarettes and a fake knife.

Location of "Reckoning"

Location

• The whole trailer is based in the city of London so an urban setting is going to a be a necessity. 
• To reflect the character, his personal setting must be extremely humble to the extent where he is pretty much living in squalor. 
• One location that is going to be used for the killing scene is the Telford Avenue estate as it has great architecture for what im trying to create. It is also reasonably dark and fits right in with the themes in my opening.
• this is the estate that i will be filming at. You can just see on the left side of the picture, the alleyway that i will be using as well.
• Not many props will be used except a locket or memorable object, possible blacked out contact lenses to make the main character seem other worldy and some fake knives for the assassination scenes.

I will also be filming at Thrale road as this is a an interesting location to use with a large alleyway that is perfect for the style of film I'm trying to create

this is the location that i will be shooting at. The estate will be used for the fight scenes and due to the roads versatility, as it has so many different aspects to it, i will be filming the other scenes at different locations along the road. 

This location fits very well with my film as it is an urban thriller. The industrial style buildings, tall walls and shadows created by the lights give a sense that everything is closing in on our main character and that he is trapped. This is why i have chosen these locations.

Narrative of "Reckoning"

Narrative

• The scene will open with a scene of a pair of hands holding a locket or some other object that can hold a photo. Maybe even a significant pendant of some sort something that will remind our main character of his loss.
• As the hands slowly caress the object a narration will begin. The scene will sharply cut to flashbacks of a girl walking down a dark streeet. As she walks past an alleyway she is grabbed by leather gloved hands. The sound of punches being thrown and muffled screams is heard as the locket is caressed more. The sound of a knife is heard unsheathing (ie the clink of metal on a sheeth) and the screaming ends. (SFX used in this scene)
• Most of this scene will be implied and the audience wont see the killing as it takes place. The scene will end with an arm flopping to the floor (possibly with a small amount of blood on it) as two figures run off quickly.
• Scene will then cut to our main character, as narration continues, looking out over the city with from a tall building/ high point. The narration continues as he looks out over the city; "the scum of the city roam this earth, tainting it with their lowly lives..."
• As the narration hits a key phrase such as "it is my task to purge this world..." the scene will cut to a glass box with a figure standing in it. The figure is grabbed by a pair of arms out of the view of the camera, implying another death. To show a change of time, this scene will be filmed later when it is slightly darker.
•  The scene will then cut to our main character walking along a street and into an alleyway. He's approached by some muggers (3 people, Joe Kelly as the main mugger) who proceed to taunt him and ask him for his wallet.
• Radriar raises his hand, the sound effect of a pulse of bass is used. Two of the three muggers fall unconscious and the main mugger falls to his knees in pain. The use of this sound effect will imply that he has been given some sort of power.
• The lead mugger is on the floor obviously in pain and he asks "who are you?". From a low angle shot Radriar approaches and looks him in the eyes. As he does this the camera cuts to an extreme close up of Radriar's eyes. We see they are slightly red (contact lenses used) showing how he's not human. 
• The camera will cut to a close up of Radriars hand as a switchblade is produced. The blade flicks open and the camera cuts to a black screen where the final exclamation of "I am Radriar..."is heard
• Scene will end with an out of focus shot of a figure walking away and blood dripping onto the floor. 
• Possible later events are the main character searching for and taking down the gang that killed his beloved. 
• He will lay waste to everyone in his path, may also find someone similar to himself and join forces with himself.

Pre-Production film proposal

Style and tone

• In my two minute opening i am hoping to create an atmospheric, dark and gritty action thriller. I have decided to call it Reckoning as the main character has an interesting backstory that becomes apparent in the opening.
• To create tension during the "action-filled" scenes the pace of editing and "cuts" is going to be quite fast as this causes the scene to develop more rapidly.
• The period of the piece is in present day London  set in one of the more densely populated parts of London  However i plan for it to be in a somewhat slightly deprived area to create a dangerous air in the opening.
• A fair amount of the film will be shot when dark. Luckily it gets dark earlier in winter so staying out late in a dangerous area will not be a problem.
• The colour palette of the film is going to quite dark with minimal vibrancy. I hope to create this using certain filters on the provided editing software.
• The main characters face will be hidden for most of the opening until, after unleashing some chaos or something similar, his face will be revealed.

Character:

• Initially the character is going to be called Robert Adams, a perfectly normal name that invokes no questions. However after Robert took his own life to end the sadness and anger he was put in purgatory where he was given a choice; redeem himself by seeking revenge on the scourge of the earth and meet his beloved in heaven or eternal damnation. When back on earth he is now known as Radriar as he leaves his old life behind.
• I've decided that the name of the character is going to Radriar as it sounds unique and almost medieval. It will fit with his back story as the audience finds out that hes been to purgatory and back through the narration. 
• I thought it'd be necessary to give the main character a title, something that sounds slightly pious such as The Redeemer or The harbinger of salvation. 
• In terms of age i would like him to be in his mid to late twenties as i'm trying to appeal to an audience of mainly 16-30 year olds. This means he still has his strength and vigor and can fight with fervor.
• The voice of the character is mainly heard through narration so the actor who plays him need not have a deep and harrowing voice.
• His image will mainly be depicted by his costume:

as you can see i want the main characters identity to remain pretty much a mystery to the audience so a hood is going to be necessary. Im also planning for his weapons to be fairly ornate as if they were not made for killing. 

As well as this he is going to come from an extremely humble background and may live in abandoned houses etc.

Titles:

The word "Reckoning" is often synonymous with the word "judging". The premise of the film is that our main character's daughter or love was brutally torn from the earth by gang violence. Racked with sorrow and anger our main character is set on tearing down the vile gangs that roam the streets. We find out its not just for revenge but also so that he can meet his beloved in the afterlife as well. As the film progresses many people are judged and supposedly sent straight to hell for their sins. Thus i decided to call it Reckoning as it has a somewhat disturbing air about it (similar to the sound of Stalin's "purges").

I plan to use a number of sound effects: 

• I will need the sound of a knife unsheathing and a "whoosh" as the main character jumps off a building.
• Im also going to use a soundtrack to create a tense and scary mood. This music will mainly be ochestral as it adds to the religious themed aspect of the film and i feel it glorifies the killings. The use of epic string music and choir will make the killings seem righteous.
• Finally a voice over will be used to explain the characters back story, purpose and his overall feelings. Plus it adds to the main characters mystery as the main character never speaks, or at least not much at all.

Over the course of the past few weeks i have learnt a great number of things about media studies in general and about more specific items within media studies.

The first thing i learnt about is story boarding. Essentially a story board is a sequence of pictures that are used to describe narrative flow in the film. It is also used to show where the camera is pointing and to show the movement of a camera in a scene. For example if in the picture a panning shot is used then an arrow along the bottom will depict the direction of the camera's movement. After learning about the basics of storyboarding we decided to put it into practice. We were given a task to create a two minute short film and we drew up a storyboard for that. At the side of each picture, which describe how the story flows, a short amount of dialogue is written so that other elements to the scene that aren't visible in the picture, are shown; For example a piece of music or sound effect.

After learning how to create a story board we were taught how to use a camera and tripod and how to create different "shots". We learnt how to create long shots, mid shots, close ups and also different techniques such as shot reverse shots, the 180 degree rule and others.
After we had finished filming our two minute short film and began editing the film in Final Cut Pro. We  looked up some tutorials and learnt how to cut clips together, crop clips, create fades, sounds effects, add in music and many more.
Finally after all this work we produced our finished product;

Certification

For my film i am hoping to create a trailer for a action thriller. In this category violence is a going to be a key aspect of the film to create suspense and keep the audience engaged and interested in the film.

Violence

"Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification."

This quote is from the BBFC, i feel that it applies to what i'm trying to create as i have taken influences from trailers of films like Memento which is a 15. I have also taken influence from some game trailers as although they are not specifically film, they use numerous angles and interesting effects to create emotive trailers. 

One of these games is dante's inferno, which is rated 18, and i'm aiming to use a similar style of violence but make it much less graphic and obvious so that it can be classified as a 15.

In my trailer i plan to have minimal dialogue aside from a narrative so swearing and colourful language will not be an issue.
For these reasons i have decided to rate my film as a 15.

Survey results and comments

From this we can see that most of the people who answered this survey on thrillers are very young in the 17 or younger category. This will give me insight as to what my certification may be; it seems that from this information that my certification could be a fifteen as those who answered were in that age category.

Most of the people who answered the survey also appear to be male. Assuming that those who answered my survey have very similar tastes, then i think that they may want to view a thriller that is also leaning towards the action side of the spectrum. However it is fairly close with the amount of people who answered so the amount of action, violence and gore will be limited to appeal to a wider audience.

From this question it is clear that those who answered the survey prefer psychological thrillers to thrillers with more blood and gore. This may bring the certification down depending if other aspects are limited along with the amount of violence on screen; E.G. colourful language, drug abuse etc.

In the survey i also asked what thriller films they had seen and enjoyed recently. The results were good with titles ranging from Heathers to Moon. Most of the titles had the certification of either 15 or 18. 8 of the films were of 15 certification and 5 were 18's.

What i've learnt so far

Over the course of the past few weeks i have learnt a great number of things about media studies in general and about more specific items within media studies.

The first thing i learnt about is story boarding. Essentially a story board is a sequence of pictures that are used to describe narrative flow in the film. It is also used to show where the camera is pointing and to show the movement of a camera in a scene. For example if in the picture a panning shot is used then an arrow along the bottom will depict the direction of the camera's movement. After learning about the basics of storyboarding we decided to put it into practice. We were given a task to create a two minute short film and we drew up a storyboard for that. At the side of each picture, which describe how the story flows, a short amount of dialogue is written so that other elements to the scene that aren't visible in the picture, are shown; For example a piece of music or sound effect.

After learning how to create a story board we were taught how to use a camera and tripod and how to create different "shots". We learnt how to create long shots, mid shots, close ups and also different techniques such as shot reverse shots, the 180 degree rule and others.
After we had finished filming our two minute short film and began editing the film in Final Cut Pro. We  looked up some tutorials and learnt how to cut clips together, crop clips, create fades, sounds effects, add in music and many more.
Finally after all this work we produced our finished product;

Audience Theory Notes

Two Step Flow(1920's)

• Known as the Hypodermic theory
• This theory suggests that the audience is passive. They are not actively thinking about the content, the information is just being injected into them like a hypodermic needle.
• Many kids of young age may want to replicate activities seen on screen as they may look appealing. However if this is a fight scene then they may try to replicate a fight. Thus we must certificate films so that this risk is cut down greatly.

By the 1970's a theory known as the Uses and Gratifications effects model. 

• This theorized that the audience was active and engaging with the material. 
• They described their audience as either a cognitive audience, affective audience, tension release/ diversion, personal intergrative or social intergrative.
• Cognitive: The audience is thinking about the content they see on screen E.G. trying to solve a mystery in their heads from information given in the film.
• Affective: The audience in this are watching the film mainly for escapism. They enjoy something vicariously.
• Tension release: Mainly appeals to the teen audience. Many teens like to feel a physical drama throughout the film that causes a release of tension from their lives. Known as visceral excitement
• Personal integrative: This audience likes to relate to the protagonists situation.
• Social integrative: This audience likes to integrate socially with the situation. I.E. James Bonds' world of fast cars, action and women.
•  

Thriller Definition

Thriller Definition
Thriller's . This is which focus on fear and action movies which focus on exhilaration. Thrillers are often hybrids; Horror-Thrillers, Crime-Thrillers, Private eye Tales, Courtroom and Legal Thrillers, Action-Thrillers and more.

Alfred Hitchcock is a master at utilising this technique. One prime example of this is in the film North by Northwest; He creates a huge amount of tension and suspense with minimal pugilistic action. He relies on mystery to allow the audience to make their own assumptions of what is going on in the film.
In Thrillers the instead of someone elite. This means to the main character
heightening the suspense.

Ordinary heroes are frequently put against villains who want to destroy your country. Often just one person or a small group of characters. A genuine Thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single minded goal- to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the edge of their seats as the plot builds towards a climax. , crime or the detective in the crime related plot, focusing more on the suspense and danger that is generated

Notes on camera angles, lighting and sound In Films

Taxi Driver

Camera Angles and general notes:

• First thing we notice is that everything is from the main characters perspective.
• Before we have even seen what the character actually looks like, we get an extreme close up of his eyes developing an odd intimacy with the character even though we have no idea who he is.
• As the camera switches to a view from the characters point of view, we see all the lights are blurred creating the impression that time is passing slowly or even mild delirium. Later we learn that he cant sleep nights so the merging colours may be a result of this.
• As he goes in for a night driver license we learn he is 26, will work "anytime, anywhere.". From this we guage that he isn't religious as he says he'll work any holidays.
• He doesn't have any family, wife or girlfriend etc.
• We also learn that he used to be in the marines up until May 1973.

Lighting and Colour:

• The lettering that first appears is red on black creating a sense of unease or danger. Possibly foreshadowing events in the film?
• We see a well lit smoky intro which is very atmospheric, creates the idea of obscurity and furthering the idea of unease.
• As we get the Extreme close-up of the eyes, the ambience is a deep red with occasional flashes of bright white light.
• As we see the front window shot, the audience notices that all the colours have blurred and merged into one. Like a pallet of paint from an artist.
• Low natural lighting during the interview creates a dark mood and sense of uncertainty throughout the scene.

Collateral

Sound

• Sound bridge of an airplane engine cuts the silence and sets the scene.
•  As the black screen switches to  a view of a busy airport terminal the sound changes as well to the hustle and bustle of an airport terminal.
• We see the main characters and hear their footsteps, showing their significance within the film
• As they collide we hear a "whoosh" as their bags drop to the floor showing that they are also an integral part of the film.
• The bags are exchanged between the two main characters and some tense, non-diegetic music kicks in. The fast paced beat creates tension.
• The setting changes to a garage however we only can tell its a garage by the sound of machinery, engines and general conversations; we get no establishing shots, only close-ups of parts of cars.
• As the the music, beat and chatter grows in volume, it is suddenly cut off by the closing of a door and we are introduced to a new character. This symbolises how his surroundings seem to be closing in on and oppressing him. 

Drive

Coulour and Lighting and Camera Angles

• we see the main character lit from behind, this makes him appear shady and shrouded in shadow
• The colour scheme is mainly dark with hints of blues and oranges.
• As the use of backlighting continues it becomes clear  that the main character has no company. He is alone, isolated only with shadows for comfort 
• The opening shot is a dark city scape instantly sets the location of the film
• The use of minimal and low-lighting creates a tense feeling about the opening scene
• Background colours are contrasted by the electric pink lettering of the actors names.
• The opening shot is from below the main character creating an air of dominance about him
• We notice that he is working nights and we see where he works through the many panoramic shots of the city street much of this is from his perspective
• Unfortunately due to copyright embedding of the clip is disabled. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpXQS5gaAw

Fishtank

Camera angles and Colour in-brief

• Opening shot is a mid shot of the story's main character, however we don't know what she looks like as she's bent over panting.
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• As she straightens up the camera angle switches to a mid shot from behind her. As she looks out the window a dark silhouette is created.
• As the main character picks up a phone and starts to call someone, she is out of focus and the camera is focused on the estate. This is a very clever way of using an establishing shot as it is from her point of view.
• The use of deep focus keeps the naturalism as well as shifting the focus of conversations.
• The lack of a tripod and lots of hand-held camera work makes the movie seem like a documentary following.
• The colour scheme of the film is very bright contrasting the swearing and vile conversation.

Children of Men

• Sound bridge of a news report informs the audience about the death of a man named Diego Ricardo as the screen is black.
• The camera then cuts to a view from the Television screen's perspective and we see many people gathered in what seems to be a London Café.
• We are introduced to the main character as he shuffles his way through the crowd that has gathered to watch this news report.
• The camera switches to a view of the TV from the main characters perspective and the news report continues to inform about the death of the worlds youngest man.
• After ordering a coffee the camera now follows the main character out of the coffee shop and the camera gives a panoramic view of the busy London street, establishing the location of the film.
• As we see the main character start to unscrew a bottle of alcohol and begin to put in his coffee, the camera swerves to give a view of the shops on the pavement. 
• Suddenly, as the the screech of car brakes, engines and horns subside, a huge explosion cuts through the silence.
• The camera is then manoeuvred towards the explosion in a hand-held manor creating a sense of tension as the audience feels as if they are running to see what has happened.
• throughout all of this the colour scheme is extremely drab and grey creating an air of depression and sadness about the film opening.

A Short Commentary on Three Film Openings
The first film that I'm going to be talking about is "The Dark Knight". The opening scene in this is fantastic in my opinion; It sets the scene effectively, sets the pace of the movie and allows the audience to foreshadow some of the events that may take place in the movie.The very first camera shot is a Panning Shot of a city, which we later learn is Gotham City where the rest of the movie will take place. As the camera zooms further into one of the buildings you see some glass shatter and two figures appear in the window. After firing a grappling hook, the movie cuts to a long shot of another figure with his back turned and slowly zooms into a clown mask he is holding. This gives the audience the idea that this person is particularly important. As the opening scene progresses a lot of dialogue is centred around a villainous person known as The Joker. From this we can tell that this villain will be an integral part of the film. As the people enter a bank in clown masks and armed with guns the audience understands that violence is going to be a common theme in the Movie.

My Second film is Jaws. A fantastic opening scene which starts with a long shot of a girl running towards the sea. As she jumps in the water the camera angle changes to give the viewer an idea of location; A serene beach. The girl begins to swim into the distance and the camera adjusts to a mid shot of the girl so the audience can see what she looks like. As the camera angle pans to view her from under the water it gives the impression of something watching her. Couple this with the entry of tense music and the scene changes from being calm to having an air of danger about it. Finally as the camera zooms into the underwater girl the music reaches a crescendo the women screams and is dragged around the water in fits of pain. From this opening scene we know that the unknown predator will make another appearance in this film.


My final film is Trainspotting. It opens with a shot of a high street pavement and as two pairs of legs hit the ground and start running. A narrative starts telling you what you should choose in life. As the shot is reversed the camera zooms up to introduce two characters. we see over their shoulders that they are being chased by security guards and CD's and DVD's are falling out of their clothes. As they are chased further a car hits one of them and his name is introduced, Renton. After this the scene cuts to an impromptu football match which then introduces all the other characters as the game is played out. From a camera angle looking up we see someone foul one of the players and protest that he didnt do it. We see a title next to his name, Sick Boy. As the football match is played out and other characters are intoduced, the scene changes to a bare and destitute house. Renton is in the middle of the floor and as he collapses we hear the narrative say he chose heroin.

My Media

Hello there,
my name is Conor Tottenham and this is my first time ever writing a blog. So, a little about me and what I like; well, frankly anything. In terms of films i am a great fan of all the genres, I recall going through phases of watching classics over and over again. However more recently I've noticed that I like horror films a lot more. Although watching "The Shining" was a harrowing experience, I felt somewhat exhilarated by the suspense and fear it had instilled in me.
I do watch a lot of TV, probably too much. I watch programmes like Family Guy, The Walking Dead, Board walk Empire and many others. I also spend a lot of time on youtube watching videos. As well as using my computer for Youtube i play a number of games on-line with my friends. I play: Alien Swarm, Team Fortress2, League Of Legends, Mine-craft and Dawn of War Dark Crusade.
I have to admit I'm not a big fan of reading so I tend to avoid it if i can (a skill which will get me nowhere in life, I know) but I do like reading certain magazines such as PC-Plus or Wired and on occasion, New Scientist. As well as these hobbies I also play guitar and saxophone and i like to listen to music.