Planning 1

We're all getting to the point where we are beginning to plan the Thriller Films. You will need to produce a PRODUCTION SCHEDULE in order to plan your shoots.

Here is an example of a Production Schedule. It will help you to organize your time, your equipment, your props and your responsibilities.

By the way, the deadline is REAL!!!

Friday 25th March 2011 at 4.30pm.

Font Analysis

These images are for use in lesson 11 when you are analysing fonts.

Who watches Thrillers?

For your coursework you need to consider closely WHO will be your target audience. Who exactly would watch your movie? Below is some information that should help you to understand who exactly watches Thriller films.

UK Cinemagoing By Genre in 2009.

Here are the figures for the suspense films released in the UK in 2009.

Here is some information about Gender and Genre

Answering the following questions should help you think more specifically about Thriller audiences.

1) How many suspense films were released in 2009? How many films were released altogether last year?

2) Action, animation and comedy account fro 52% of Box Office in the UK in 2009. Why do you think these genres are so popular?

3) why do you think Thrillers account fro quite a low proprotion of UK Box Office takings (4% in 2009)?

4) Looking at the 'genre by gender' diagram above, what information can be derived about Thriller audiences and gender?

5) Look at the age certificate for 10 of the films featured on the teaching blog. What does this tell you about Thriller audiences?

The Thrilling Omelette!

Look at this TV ad. Lighting, camera, editing and MES have all been used superbly to make this butter advert sinister!

THRILLER OPENINGS FOR LESSON 6

The following Thriller openings are intended for analysis in lesson 6. You need to study the content of the openings as well as producing a detailed analysis of the order, placing and timing of the titles themselves.

THE STEPFATHER (2009)

MARATHON MAN (1976)

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 (2009)

WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)

MEMENTO (2000)

SUSPENSE CLIPS FOR LESSON 1

JAWS (1975)

KILLERS (2010)

WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)

THE SHINING (1980)

INTERTEXTUALITY

Intertextuality is a term to describe the visual referencing between films. Quite literally, films 'borrow' from each other, and you may recognise certain camera angles, aspects of mise en scene, snippets of sound or methods of editing in some films that you have seen in others.

Below is the famous 'shower scene' from Psycho. Countless films have borrowed from this famous scene. See if you can spot the visual references in the clips that follow.

PSYCHO (1960)

SUCCUBUS (2010)

This is a student film that was inspired by Psycho. There are many intertextual references for you to spot.

THE STEPFATHER (2010)

WHAT LIES BENEATH CLIP 1 (2001)

FATAL ATTRACTION (1987)

WATCHING DOCUMENTARY

This is a fantastic half hour documentary about film title sequences. Here is a list of questions which you should answer and place on your blog. You can click on them to view more clearly.

WATCHING PART 1

WATCHING PART 2

THRILLER SUB-GENRES LESSON 2

Thrillers are commonly cross-genre movies. Here are some examples.

MOMENTO (2000)

Psychological Thriller

DEJA VU (2006)

Action Thriller

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT (2002)

Romance Thriller

WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)

Supernatural Thriller

ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998)

Political Thriller

A GREAT EXAMPLE OF A BAG SWAP

COLLATERAL (2004)

STRUCTURE OF OPENINGS LESSON 11

DISCRETE TITLE SEQUENCES

Discrete title sequences are separately edited sequences that stand apart from the film opening. They are stylised and heavily edited, and they support nearly all of the opening credits and film title.

SEVEN (1995)

ARLINGTON ROAD (1999)

ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998)

NARRATIVE FILM OPENING WITH TITLES

In some films the narrative starts immediately. We are introduced to locations, settings then characters. The key enigma may be introduced. However, running over this may be the titles. Here are some examples of a narrative opening with titles.

THE SHINING (1980)

PANIC ROOM (2002)

CREDITS OVER BLANK SCREEN

Some movies begin with titles rolling over a blank screen, often with sound effects or a sound track, before introducing image. the titles frequently continue to roll over the images.

DONNIE DARKO (2001)

DEAD CALM (1989)

FABULOUSLY STYLISED EDITING

Here are a couple of film openings that stand out because the editing is so stylised. This will take a very long time in post production if you wish to attempt anything similar so you need to be well planned!

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 (2009)

MEZRINE (2008)