Analysis of Film Openings

During our media class we watched the opening of three thriller films. We did this to see what a thriller film opening should be like and what it should include to entice the audience to watch on and see more. A few elements that makes a thriller film more interesting to watch are violence, death, suspense, calmness then a sudden burst of action and a sense of mystery to the story line. I will be using most, if  not all of these elements in my own opening thriller movie to create suspense and shock that a good thriller movie needs to captivate the audience. The three films that we watched in class was Children of Men, Memento and A History of Violence. All three of these films openings created a sense of mystery, suspense, shock and cliffhangers which makes the audience want to keep watching onwards. In my next post I will be describing and analysing how and why these films make as a good thriller movie from there opening scene and how I will be interpreting that into my own thriller film to make it more interesting. 

Film Language

There are 5 main key elements which must be included in film language to make a great thriller movie. They are;

• Low Key Lighting

This is important as it creates shadows and silhouettes. Therefore we as the audience would see this person as an antagonist. It also creates mystery and suspense as to what is in the shadow. 

• Cliff Hangers 

These create mystery and suspense to the plot line. It also makes the audience interested in what they are watching and this will make them watch on. 

• Fast Editing

This creates a fast paced scene as if the editing is fast and choppy then the audience will get excited in what they are watching. 

• Antagonist and Protagonist

These characters are in most films made and creates the plot for the film. This is because you want to watch on to see if the antagonist wins or the protagonist defeats evil. 

• Sound

This will create the mood and the atmosphere of the scene and will make the audience feel a particular way as the music can either be parallel or contrapuntal to the scene. 

A MacGuffin, Enigma and Red Herring

A MacGuffin is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story but has little other relavance to the story. In the film Psycho Marion Crane steals $40,000 from her boss. This is the MacGuffin of the film as this story line is what gets the character, Marion crane, to The Bates Motel in the first place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3-GlvKPcg

An Enigma referes to a puzzle, something mysterious or inexplicable or a riddle or problem. In Thrillers this is commonly something which the protagonist has to try to find out or solve before the narrative is resloved and the film finishes. In the film North by Northwest the Enigma is that Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a George Kaplan but the mystery is who is George Kaplan and why do they want him?

A Red Herring is the name given to a device which intends to divert the audience from the truth or an item of significance. Can work with other devices, a MacGuffin and/or an Enigma to create suspence. The Red Herring in North by Northwest is that Roger Thornhill is being framed as they think he is George Kaplin however there is no George Kaplin and never was.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRfmTpmIUwo

Famous Directors

Alfed Hitchcock is a very famous thriller director and known for films such as;

Psycho in 1960

Rear Window in 1954

North By Northwest in 1959

Vertigo in 1958

Subgenres

There are many subgenres to Thriller movies. These include ;

• Crime Thriller-Hostage
• Action Thriller-The Godfather
• Phycological Thriller-Inception
• Conspiracy Thriller-JFK
• Mystery thriller-Flightplan
• Sci-Fi Thriller-Alien  

No Country For Old Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQNvn4eb8LQ

In Media we watched the first 5 minutes of the film No Country For Old Men. We watched and analysed this film so we could get a sense of what an opening sequence of a thriller movie should be like for my Media coursework. The director's, Ethan and Joel Coen, uses plenty of  techniques like lighting and camera angles to create tension and suspenion needed to make a great thriller movie. They use back lighting and low key lighting on the character Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem, when he is in the back of the police car and in the police station which creates a sense of mystery about him as you can not see his face so you can't judge his character for yourself. Moreover in the first 4 minutes you don't see his face as the camera is always shooting from behind him so you can't see his face therefore his facial expressions. I will be using these techniques in my own thriller movie to create a sense of

                             anonymity in my thriller movie.

Thriller Research

In my first lesson we looked at the Thriller genre as a whole and what things are included in a Thriller movie to add suspense and excitement which is the main emotions that the audience should feel when watching this type of genre.

Welcome to my first Blog post for my AS Media Studies Thriller video Coursework! For this coursework we will be planning, filming and editing a thriller opening sequence film complete with titles as well.