Research - Film Openings

Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/billion-dollar-brain/

The opening of ‘Billion Dollar Brain’ is focused on introducing the main character of Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) to the audience.

The electronic voice over is important because it tells us a bit about the plot of the film.

This has been achieved with the use of extreme close up shots of Palmers face to see his expressions when talking on the phone. This is in order to tell us that the phone conversation is important to the plot of this film.

The opening shot uses slow panning and zooming in with the focus on Palmer also to highlight that he is the main character.

A dissolve transition is used to blend the opening prologue scene into the opening credits and soundtrack. From the harsh brass and percussion music, this suggests that the film is to be dramatic and perhaps a thriller. The percussion creates tension and suspense as we can tell that there will be a climax to the music and therefore a tense climax in the film.

There is imagery of the protagonist with a woman and holding a gun, this foreshadows events that will occur later in the film, as well as a shot of Palmer behind bars.

Finally, the credits dissolve into the last shot we see in the opening of this film. The camera uses a mid-shot, tracking shot of Harry Palmer in a taxi, being driven towards a building; this long shot is used to set the scene. Also the same electronic voice over is used as in the first scene, and from this the audience can assume that this voiceover will be present throughout the film.

Dreamcatcher (2003)

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/dreamcatcher/

The tense and haunting music that is presented to the audience before any imagery, allows us to understand the genre of film before we know the plot. Immediately with a dramatic climax in the music it is clear that the film will be a thriller.

The first shot shown is of a bird’s eye view of an almost supernatural looking landscape, and then lots of different snapshots of nature imagery are faded into one another with a medium speed editing.

The editing of this film opening is all in black and white.

As the soundtrack speeds up and climaxes towards the end of the opening scene, the imagery transitions also speed up

Research - Film Audiences

Film audiences

The Global audience - wider audience (world-wide), however films aimed to maximize global gains may be broader, but can sacrifice logic for political safety and can even, counter-intuitively, keeping non-white actors away from leading roles’. Animations, physical comedies and famous actors are easy to market to global audiences who may not be able to speak the same language.

The National audience

Age - U (suitable for all), PG (parental guidance), 12 (suitable for 12 years and over), 15 (only suitable for 15 years and over), 18 (suitable only for adults)

Niche market - The subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact.

…

When making a film, Generic conventions are important for the production company and film-makers because they allow them to produce a film which is likely to appeal to the target audience they are aiming their film at to go and watch it.

The following statistics, taken from the UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook 2008, give a picture of audiences for film in the UK.

• Films in 34 different languages (including English) were released in the UK in 2007.
• Hindi was the foreign language with the greatest number of film releases - 52.
• Less than 1% of screens are in rural locations.
• London had the highest number of screens (21.7% of the UK total), followed by the Midlands and Lancashire.
• Only 7.3% of screens were dedicated to 'specialised' (non-mainstream) programming, with 0.3% showing South Asian films.
• Minority ethnic groups were over-represented among buyers of cinema tickets, rental films and pay-per-view, and under-represented among buyers of retail DVDs/videos.
• Disabled people were under-represented in the film audience, except as buyers of retail DVDs/videos.

The usual target audience for Thriller films is 18 because they tend to include lots of disturbing images of violence and cover disturbing psychological issues such as mental illnesses.

The age certificate will be 18 if the BBFC think a particular film could risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. Where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context.

Juno re-make storyboard

These pictures are our storyboard for the juno remake. We drew the pictures that we are going to shoot and we wrote what camera angle we are going to use. When we finished out storyboard we went out to shoot the re-make.

Thriller/suspense sub-genre descriptions

Action: a story that often features a race against the alarm clock, lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist.
 

Comic: a thriller played for laughs, whether through a spoof of the genre or wisecracking interplay between the protagonists.
 

Conspiracy: a thriller in which the hero battles against a large and powerful group whose true extent only he recognizes.
 

Crime: a story focused on the commission of a crime, often from the point of view of the criminals.
 

Disaster: a story in which Mother Nature herself is the antagonist, in the form of a hurricane, earthquake or some other natural threat.
 

Eco-Thriller: a story in which the hero battles some environmental disaster and often has to also fight the people responsible for creating that disaster.
 

Erotic: a thriller in which sex plays a major role.
 

Espionage: where spies used to battle enemy spies but now battle terrorists.
 

Forensic: a thriller featuring the work of forensic experts, whose involvement often puts their own lives at risk.
 

Historical: a thriller taking place in a specific and recognizable historic period.
 

Horror: a story generally featuring some horrible villain in which fear and violence play a major part, complete with lifelike descriptions.
 

Legal: a thriller in which a lawyer confronts enemies outside as well as inside the courtroom, generally putting his own life at risk.
 

Medical: a thriller featuring medical employees, whether battling a legitimate medical threat such as a world-wide virus, or the illegal or immoral use of medical technology.
 

Military: a thriller featuring a military protagonist, often working behind enemy lines or as part of a specialized force.
 

Police Procedural: a crime thriller that follows the police as they work their way through a case.
 

Political Intrigue: a thriller in which the hero must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.
 

Psychological: a suspenseful thriller in which the conflict between the characters is mental and emotional rather than physical until a violent resolution.
 

Romantic: a thriller in which the protagonists are romantically involved.
 

Supernatural: a thriller in which the hero, the antagonist, or both have supernatural powers.
 

Technological: a thriller in which technology is central to the plot.

Horror sub-genre descriptions

Child in Peril: involving the abduction and/or persecution of a child.
 

Comic Horror: horror stories that is either spoof horror conventions or that mixes with dark humor.
 

Creepy Kids: horror tale in which children often under the influence of dark forces  begin to turn against the adults.
 

Dark Fantasy: a horror story with supernatural and fantasy elements.
 

Dark Mystery/Noir: inspired by tough detective tales, set in an urban underworld of crime and moral uncertainty.
 

Erotic Vampire: a horror tale making the link between sexuality and vampires with a realistic story and violence.
 

Fabulist: in which objects, animals or forces of nature are anthropomorphized (given human characteristics) in order to deliver a moral lesson.
 

Gothic: a traditional form depicting the encroachment of the Middle Ages upon the 18th century Enlightenment filled with images of decay and ruin, and episodes of imprisonment and persecution.
 

Hauntings: a classic form centering on possession by ghosts, demons or poltergeists, particularly of some sort of structure.
 

Historical: horror tales set in a specific and recognizable period of history.
 

Magical Realism: a genre inspired by Latin-American authors, in which extraordinary forces or creatures are in real-life settings.
 

Psychological: a story based on the disturbed human psyche, often exploring insane, altered realities and featuring a human monster with horrific, but not supernatural, aspects.
 

Quiet Horror: subtly written horror that uses atmosphere and mood, rather than graphic description, to create fear and suspense.
 

Religious: horror that makes use of religious icons and mythology, especially the angels and demons derived from Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
 

Science-Fiction Horror: SF with a darker and more violent twist, often revolving around alien invasions, mad scientists, or experiments gone wrong.
 

Splatter: a fairly new, extreme style of horror that cuts right to the gore.
 

Supernatural Menace:, often featuring ghosts, demons, vampires and werewolves.
 

Technology: undertaking the expanding domain of computers, cyberspace, and genetic engineering.
 

Weird Tales: inspired by the magazine of the same name, a more traditional form featuring strange and strange events.
 

Young Adult: horror aimed at a teen market, often with heroes the same age, or slightly older.
 

Zombie: tales featuring dead people who return to commit mayhem on the living.

Romance sub-genre descriptions

Chick-Lit: often humorous romantic adventures of single working women in their twenties and thirties.
 

Christian: romances in which both hero and heroine are devoted Christians, typically focused on a faithful courtship, and mentioning sex only after marriage.
 

Contemporary: a romance using modern characters and true-to-life settings.
 

Erotica: also called “romantica,” a romance in which the bedroom doors have been flung open and sexual scenes are described in direct language.
 

Glitz/Glamor: focused on the rich and famous selected people and celebrity-like characters.
 

Historical: a romance taking place in a recognizable historical period.
 

Multicultural: a romance centered on non-Caucasian characters, largely African-American or Hispanic.
 

Paranormal: involving a supernatural element, ranging widely on science fiction/fantasy aspects such as time travel, monsters or psychic abilities.
 

Romantic Comedy: a romance focused on humor, ranging from peculiar antics to a amusing relationship.
 

Romantic Suspense: a novel in which an admirable heroine is against an evil force (but the romantic aspect still maintains priority).
 

Sensual: based on the sensual tension between the hero and heroine, including sex scenes.
 

Spicy: a romance in which married characters work to resolve their problems.
 

Sweet: a romance centered on a virgin heroine, with a storyline containing little or no sex.
 

Young Adult: written with the teenage audience in mind, with a suitably lower level of sexual content.

Research on a mystery thriller 'Memento'

Genre- a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

Sub-genre- a subdivision of a genre of literature, music, film, etc.

The difference between a genre and a sub-genre is the fact that genre is the theme or type of a piece of media, ie. a book or film etc.  Some examples of genres are horror, comedy, romance, thriller, science fiction, documentary, animation, drama, action, adventure, fantasy etc. A sub-genre is a secondary genre which is generally less obvious but still has themes and ideas in the piece of media. Sub means branched, therefore sub genre further defines it. For instance Rock is a genre and a sub genre would be pop rock, a different style but also is in the same category.

Thriller sub-genres

• Action                 
• Supernatural chillers
• Mystery
• Science Fiction
• Disaster
• Techno
• Conspiracy                                                                                                                                                          Film makers/ producers think of the genre of the film before investing on it because it allows them clean investment opportunities. It also makes the film making a lot easier due to its range of generic elements. And the marketing allows to target appropriately.

Today my task was to research mystery thrillers and one that I have looked briefly is called Memento.
The definition of Mystery is any truth that is unknowable except by divine revelation.  

10 mystery thrillers

• Inception
• Rear Window
• The Usual Suspects
• Se7en
• Memento
• North by Northwest
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Third Man
• Chinatown
• L.A. Confidential

Sub-genres of Mystery/Crime

“The difference between thrillers and mysteries that there’s a puzzle in the mystery. If you can disentangle it, it will lead you to the answer.”
–Jean V. Naggar, agent 

Amateur Detective: a mystery solved by an amateur, who generally has a profession/connection to the crime.

Child in Peril: a mystery involving the abduction or harassment of a child.

Classic Whodunit: a crime solved by a detective, from the detective’s point of view, with all clues available to the reader.

Comic (Bumbling Detective): a mystery played for laughs, often featuring a detective who is unskilled (but often solves the crime anyway).

Cozy: a mystery that occurs in a small town or in a single home where all the suspects are present and familiar with one another, except the detective, who is usually an eccentric outsider.

Courtroom Drama: a mystery that takes place through the justice system—often the efforts of a defence lawyer to prove the innocence of his client by finding the real culprit (offender/criminal/problem).

Dark Thriller: a mystery that undertakes into fear and graphic (realistic) violence of the horror genre.

Espionage: the international spy novel, it is based less on action than on solving the “puzzle”. It is less focused on the traditional enemy spies than on terrorists.

Forensic: a mystery solved through the forensics lab, featuring much detail and scientific procedure.

Heists and Capers: an “antihero” genre. It is told from the criminal’s perspective of an execution crime or a planning.  
                                                                                          
Historical: a mystery that takes place in a recognizable period of history, with emphasis of the setting.

Inverted: a story in which the reader knows “who done it,” but the suspense arises from watching the detective figure it out.

Locked Room: a mystery in which the crime is told to be committed under impossible circumstances but eventually has a rational explanation.

Medical: generally involving a medical threat (e.g., a viral epidemic), or the illegal use of medical technology.

Police Procedural: when police officers solve crimes from real-life procedures.                   

 Private Detective: Focused on the independent snoop-for-hire, these have evolved from tough detectives to the more professional operators of today.

Psychological Suspense: mysteries focused on the details of the crime and what motivated the person responsible for the crime.

Romantic: a mystery in which the crime-solvers fall in love.

Techno thriller: a development from the traditional thriller mystery, with an emphasis on high technology.

Thriller: a suspense mystery with more action.

Woman in Jeopardy: focuses on a woman put into peril (danger) by a crime, and her struggles to defeat or outsmart the person behind her struggle.

Young Adult: a story aimed at a teenage audience, with a hero detective generally the same age or slightly older than the reader, pursuing criminals who are generally less violent but often just as scary as those in adult mysteries.

Memento is considered to be the best mystery thriller of all time, it is directed by Christopher Nolan. The plot is about a Guy Pierce who stars as Leonard Shelby, a man with short-term memory loss who hunts to find the person responsible for murdering his wife. The movie is told in reverse order, starting at the end and finishing at the beginning. The colour sequence is in chronological order, the sequence starts in black and white and then smoothly goes on to colour.

One thing that I particularly like about the film is the fact that it begins with the protagonist's wife already being dead and the audience finds out at the end how she died. I  think that Group 7 should definitely incorporate this idea into our thriller to make it different to the other thrillers.

Now that I have looked at various thriller sub-genres I particularly like the romantic thriller and I believe that, that could be the sub-genre for my thriller opening however I am aware that it is very hard to  successfully make it into one. Which is probably why there are few romantic thrillers in cinemas. I have chosen to do the romantic thriller sub-genre because I absolutely love romance, romantic comedies etc. and that is what appeals to me than the others.