Goodfellas (1990)

I want to imitate the way the lighting is used to create atmosphere in Goodfellas. A lot of the bar scenes used low lighting to create an underground, mysterious atmosphere.

After watching this film I think it would be a good idea to set our Thriller in the same time that Goodfellas was set because I think it will add to the dangerous, tense atmosphere we want to convey in the film.






In order to create this kind of lighting, we are going to have to shoot in a dark area and not use too much light.

I also think it will be better to use artificial light as a pose to natural light as it will create more of an 'underground' feel.

Title Research

After analysing these titles, we have decided like the way the titles are embedded within the diagesis of some of these films rather than being laid over the frames. We also think it's more creative using this method because the titles actually become apart of your story.


We are now going to have to look over the storyboard and see where we will include the titles.

Opening Credits Order

(NAME OF THE STUDIO)
Name of the studio that is distributing the film.
(NAME OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY)
Name of the production company that actually made the film or name of the investment groups or companies that financed a substantial part of the film.
(PRODUCER NAME) PRODUCTION or/and (director only) A FILM BY (DIRECTOR NAME)
Director's first credit, often "a film by XY or "a XY film".
STARRING
Principal actors, (Sometimes the stars' and director's credits will be reversed, depending on the star's deal with the studio)
(FILM'S TITLE)
Name of the film.
FEATURING
Featured actors.
CASTING or CASTING BY
Casting director.
MUSIC or MUSIC COMPOSED BY or ORIGINAL SCORE BY
Composer of music.
PRODUCTION DESIGN or PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Production designer.
As a variation some of the below may be noted:

• SET DESIGN
• COSTUMES or COSTUMES BY or GOWNS (older movies)
• HAIRDRESSER
• MAKE-UP ARTIST
• SOUND RECORDING (older movies)
• VISUAL EFFECTS DIRECTOR or VISUAL EFFECTS BY

EDITOR or EDITED BY
Editor.
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of photography.
PRODUCER or PRODUCED BY, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Producers, co-producers, executive producers, 'also produced by' (credited for various reasons according to contracts and personal scrutiny of the principal producer). Often, though, the name of the producer will be the next-to-last opening credit, just before the director's name is shown.
BASED ON THE BOOK (PLAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL etc.) BY or FROM A PLAY/BOOK BY (older movies)
If based on a book or other literary work.
BASED ON THE CHARACTERS BY or BASED ON THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY
If based on characters from a book or other media.
STORY or STORY BY
Person who wrote the story on which the script is based, gets "story by" credit, and the first screenplay credit, unless the script made substantial changes to the story.
WRITER(S) or WRITTEN BY
Screenplay writers.  If each works independently on the script (the most common system), they are separated by an "and". If more than two persons worked on the screenplay, the credits may read something like "screenplay by X & Y and Z and W" X and Y worked as a team, but Z and W worked separately.
DIRECTOR or DIRECTED BY
Director.

Brighton Rock (2010)

Yesterday I watched Brighton Rock on Film Four as part of their Great Directors Season.

The screen-shots here are taken from a scene where a fan is used to create a flickering light effect which creates suspense and mystery surrounding the main character, Pinky. The fan is placed in front of the light source so that as the fan goes round the light flickers on and off Pinky's face. This effect suggests to us as viewers that Pinky has two sides to him.

In our final piece I think that this kind of technique would be great to mimic, as our main character has two sides to him.

Another feature of the film I found really interesting was the use of sound combined with editing to disorientate the viewer. For example the film cuts from a man holding a gun to a woman, and then a man takes a photo of her and the sound of the camera is made louder so that it sounds like a gun.

Pinky sits in a darkly lit room as the fan creates flickering light over his face

Prezi about the Thriller Genre

Using the online presentation tool Prezi, we created a presentation about the genre of Thriller.

We have decided to upload it to the blog for future reference/ inspiration.

Thrillers on Prezi

Mirrors (2008)

Thinking back to the post about Black Mirror, I remembered watching this film a while ago, and I remember thinking that mirrors are a really good way to create really quirky and interesting effects.

For example the way they reversed the 20th Century Fox logo was a simple yet effective way to reinforce the narrative.

Response to Se7en

I just watched the video on Huda's post about Se7en and I really liked it.
I really like the dark lighting and the flickering images, and the way the director has chosen to go down the more symbolic route rather then clearly showing the actor's faces.
This kind of opening is just the kind of thing I had in mind for our opening.
There are some options on iMovie which let you create an old movie-style flicker effect but I think the best way to do this would be to insert very short clips inbetween the 'regular' clips. The short clips would be more distorted then the other ones.

Rear Window (1954)

It starts with a wide window, of which the first blind starts rolling up, and immediate fast paced background music plays. All three blinds roll up revealing the setting just like a curtain at a theater. We can see people moving around in opposite buildings on the pavement, or in cars which draws our attention expecting something to happen or explain the reason why this window's view is so important. This opening is interesting because it draws the audience in with the obvious violation of privacy into other people's lives. It doesn't introduce any characters which makes you curious of the unknown narrator and hints that he is hiding something. I would like to use this idea in my opening as i believe it interests the audience and creates mystery.

Strangers on a Train (1951)

This opening is rather plain, all that is shown is the credits in front of a background that introduces the setting of a train station with classical music playing in the background throughout. The credits end as a car comes into center shot of the area, introducing a character. It is plain but also a good example of how simple an opening can be to introduce the movie, setting and characters to the audience without giving anything away about the plot.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

It opens with an orchestra playing the drums and brass instruments, this creates a light, normal atmosphere but then starts the music starts to get louder and darker as the camera zooms into the band. It stops in front of a man who slowly picks up a pair of cymbals, and crashes them together. When it stops he holds them up and the a passage appears in front of them 'A single crash of cymbals and how it rocked the lives of an american family.'

This opening is interesting because of its use of simplicity and mystery, it reveals very little of the story and is hard to understand until the end. I would like to use similar aspects of this in my opening, because it creates suspense and intrigue.

Transsiberian (2008)

This film was on TV a few days back and I thought that the soundtrack was great in terms of creating tension and suspense.
This trailer gives a sense of what the music is like:

It starts off with atmospheric synths, strings, bells and cymbals and then drums are played once the action starts to come in.

When we compose our soundtrack I think that synths and strings would be good to include because they do create a sense of mystery and intrigue. I think that if we included drums then it would make it sound more like an action/adventure soundtrack.

The soundtrack wasn't the only interesting thing about this film. I really liked the way that throughout the film, Emily Mortimer's character takes photos which at the time don't seem that significant but then later on they are used as evidence. I think the idea of photos would be a good starting point for our opening.

SE7EN (1995)

The soundtrack used is very subtle but goes well with the scenery to create fear and suspense as you cannot see the persons face.
The handwriting used is also important and the way it comes on and off the screen. The things shown is abnormal and drags the audiences attention. The flashing words also catch the audience's attention.

At the beginning the hands give us a rough idea of what the film is going to be like.

Looking at the opening sequence of Se7en has made me think if I want to set my thriller opening like this. By this I mean using very obvious objects that suggest thriller or use less obvious objects that suggest thriller that's more discrete.

SAW I

I found the opening interesting mainly because of the way the text it set out in the beginning. The first text we see says 'twisted pictures' but the way it appears on and off screen is significant as it adds to the story line of torture. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAWK9V9Hk_A). Different texts continue to appear on the screen but this time with diegetic sounds coming from the scene whereas the text at the beginning had violent, screeching sounds. As you watch further you see that the the texts connect with the story. I like how they thought into the presentation of the credits I think it helps a lot with the audiences understanding of the story.

Barton Fink (1991)

Still working my way through the Coen Brother's movies. Just watched Barton Fink and I really enjoyed it. I know it's not typically classed as a thriller but I still thought that some aspects of it were worth noting down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK0WjWlVO9w&feature=related At 1.22 there is a rather unique shot where the camera goes down the plug hole into the drain. These kinds of shots appear quite frequently in the film. I like the way you become a sort of snake which is travelling its way through the drains. It's a different way of making the viewer the 'voyeur'.

I also liked the shots of the typewriter in Barton Fink. The sound of the keys being hit were emphasized to make it sound more dramatic. I think a typewriter would be really cool to include as part of credits to a film.

Black Mirror

Just started watching a series on Channel 4 called Black Mirror.

I thought the way the name of the show was presented was pretty cool: it says the name in distorted letters then the screen appears to crack over it. The image of the cracked glass is quite scary, particularly against a black background, and it makes you think of violence and the fact that glass can cut into things.

I am beginning to think that mirrors would be a good stimulus for the final video.

Blood Simple (1984)

I am working my way through some Coen Brother's films at the moment. The last one I watched was Blood Simple. I found the opening quite unusual as it takes place in one place and not a lot happens in it.

I liked the way diegetic sound is combined with the non-diegetic soundtrack in the opening. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCUc5TWdQCM) For example the sound of the windscreen wipers create the rhythm of the soundtrack and are made to sound like the drums. This slow steady beat also creates tension.

I also like the way the film shows the movement of the road-paint underneath the car. The dark lighting makes the shot more ambiguous, and suggests the fast movement of something like a bullet or a knife. (Later on in the film someone is shot)

Although I liked these two features I didn't really like the way we are thrown straight into the dialogue. I think that as viewers we should be given longer to take in the scene and get used to our surroundings. I found it difficult to concentrate on what they were saying and actually got quite bored.

After watching this opening I do feel that including dense dialogue straight away would not be a good idea. I definitely think that I will go down the more symbolic route, using objects and movement (similar to the road-paint) within the shots to subtly hint at the narrative.