Thriller Analysis:Snatch

Snatch (2000)

Director: Guy Ritchie

Writers: Guy Ritchie

Stars: Brad Pitt, Jason Statham,Vinnie Jones

Plotline

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.

Storyline

Turkish and his close friend/accomplice Tommy get pulled into the world of match fixing by the notorious Brick Top. Things get complicated when the boxer they had lined up gets badly beaten by Pitt, a 'pikey' (slang for an Irish Gypsy) - who comes into the equation after Turkish, an unlicensed boxing promoter wants to buy a caravan off the Irish Gypsies. They then try to convince Pitt not only to fight for them, but to lose for them too. Whilst all this is going on, a huge diamond heist takes place, and a fistful of motley characters enter the story, including 'Cousin Avi', 'Boris The Blade', 'Franky Four Fingers' and 'Bullet Tooth Tony'. Things go from bad to worse as it all becomes about the money, the guns and the damned dog!

Opening Title Sequence

Firstly it has the graphic match used in the diamond which I like as it allows not only the ellipsis of time but it also allows for another introduction to another main character. This is a nice camera angle/effect/piece of editing that I feel if I were to use it would work quite nicely. Another feature that I like is the introduction to each character, I don't feel it would b appropriate for my piece but it does build a story and an atmosphere for the rest of the film, giving you feel for what it might entail, a feature that I am keen to try and include in my thriller piece.

Thriller Opening - Research: Target Audiences

The target audience for most Thrillers is usually the age rating of the thriller itself. For example, 28 days later's target audience would be 18+ year olds due to the film being a 18 age rating. But then again each sub-genre would have its own typical audience. Studies show that younger people prefer Horrors to older people and older people prefer psychological films to younger people. I have three screenshots of the age of viewers for three different thriller movies with different sub-genres.

The Bourne Supremacy (Action)

The Usual Suspect (Psychological)

28 Days Later (Horror)

As a summary, I can know target my opening sequence towards older audiences by including psychological aspects like the usual suspects.

Resources used:

http://www.slideshare.net/CharlotteEmmaVicki/target-audience-of-thrillers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_%28genre%29

http://www.imdb.com/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/ratings?ref_=tt_ov_rt

Thriller Opening - Research: Questionaire

I created a survey on surveymonkey.com to gain insight into the public's opinion on the thriller genre. To ensure a fair set of results I made sure that different age groups answered my questionnaire. Here is the link I sent round to my participants:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BNJVBMV

Here are my results:

Summary

Due to my results I have decided to create a Psychological thriller opening using the same camera aspects as the opening sequence to the film Se7en. The title of this piece will be Doubt as that is the highest voted name.

Thriller Anaylsis: Mission: Impossible 3

Mission: Impossible 3(2006)

Director: J.J. Abrams

Writers: Alex Krutsman, Roberto Ocri

Stars:  Tom Cruise, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames

 Plotline

 Ethan Hunt comes face to face with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer while trying to keep his identity secret in order to protect his girlfriend.

Storyline

 IMF agent Ethan Hunt has given up field work to train agents instead, because he is seeing someone, Julia whom he wants to marry and live a normal life with. But his friend, Billy Musgrave, an IMF big wig informs that an agent he trained is being held by an arms dealer. Ethan decides to rescue her and does but because of a dead man's switch that was implanted in her, she is killed by remote. When Ethan returns, high ranking IMF man, Brassel chastises both Ethan and Musgrave for their actions. Ethan decides to go off book and bring the arms dealer in. But before leaving he marries Julia. After apprehending the arms dealer Ethan returns with him to the States but upon arriving they are attacked and the arms dealer escapes. Later Julia is abducted.

 Opening Title Sequence

This scene opens to the sound of the main character in pain. This is then greeted with the production companies name in the bottom right corner of the screen in the film's signature font. There is then a straight cut to Ethan Hunt. Throughout the scene there are many straight cuts between the unknown antagonist and the already known protaganist. The extreme close ups and handheld camera work during the scene increase in size the futher the sequence goes on. There is no score to this scene uhtil a gun is fired. The score is then included with high pitch violin notes for tension. When the tension drops only bass and percusion remains. When the gun is fired again however there is an immediate straight cut to a burning thread which sets of the title sequence set to the frachises famous score. The titles in this sequence are slowly increasing in size and are in the main font of the film. Due to the dialouge being the main source of sound in this opening sequence tension is built up. The dialouge also mentions events that appear in later on in the film implying that this is at the end of the film and perhaps foreshadowing a dark and in depth story.

Thriller Analysis: Saw V

Saw V(2008)

Director: David Hackl

Writers: Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan

Stars: Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Tobin Bell

Plotline

Following Jigsaw's grisly demise, Mark Hoffman, the final apprentice to the serial killer is deigned a hero. Meanwhile, Agent Strahm continues to track Hoffman while another group of strangers are put through a series of gruesome traps.

Storyline

 Jigsaw and his young apprentice, Amanda, are dead. But the grisly games continue. 5 supposed strangers find themselves in the midst of the big game, and believe they are in a survival of the fittest competition. Via his now infamous video linked doll, Jigsaw conveys the message that they should ignore their instincts, and ignore his advice at their peril. Meanwhile, agent Strahm wants to prove that Hoffman is an apprentice to Jigsaw, and pursues him as he continues his twisted games. What Strahm does not realise is that Hoffman is testing him all along, and must pass his test in order to stay alive.

Opening Title Sequence

 

The titles of the production companies appear in their signature animations (twisted pictures, lionsgate) and then the film's actual titles with the same fade in and out transition as a white shimmer travels across the letters. The text of the titles are 3D with shadows on an unclear but stained surface. They slowly increase is in size as the the dynamics to the score increase.
Seth Baxter, a convicted murderer released from prison on a technicality, awakens chained to a table underneath a pendulum blade. A videotape informs him that crushing his hands between the presses will release him. He does so, but the blade still swings down and cuts him in half, as someone watches through a hole in the wall. The set of the sequence is consisted of low key lighting, extreme close ups, fast panning camera and minimal ambient sound. The score to this scene mainly consists of SFX and quiet strings. Low piano notes are then included when danger is introduced. As the scene slows to an end the diegetic sound of the pendulum and blood fades out and we then are zoomed into the the main title of 'Saw V'.

Conventions Of A Thriller Film

A Thriller is a genre of film which follows a specific set of characteristics. Locations are often set in dangerous settings, like Detroit. The main protagonist is usually a man who is either familiar to danger or is new to the whole concept. The second is much more relatable by audiences and makes the film appear much more realistic which is what thriller films try to do. The film must have some aspect of danger or suspense to be called a thriller. Often theme of vengeance can be included into the movie - the protagonist could be out for revenge on the antagonist (or vice versa). The storyboard to a thriller film can be filled with plot twists and complex plots to add to the suspenseful nature of the picture.  The sequence in which the film carries out can go in any random order. For example, in Memento, there are two separate time lines both linked with each other - one going forwards in black and white colour whilst there is another going backwards in colour.

There are several sub genres of the thriller film:

• Horror - often a mixture of Horror aspects and Action (E.g 28 Days Later)
• Crime - usually centres around the criminal rather than the justice system (E.g Inside man)
• Action - scenes of suspenseful violence are often present (E.g The James Bond Franchise)
• Psychological - the clash between characters is usually an mental rather than physical one (E.g The Sixth Sense)

Thriller Anaylsis: Se7en

Se7en (1995)

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Andrew Kavin Walker

Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gweneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey

Plotline

 A veteran detective takes a rookie under his wing on his last case, to hunt for a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his method of murder.

Storyline

 The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopath "John Doe" sermonises to Detectives Sommerset and Mills -- one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderer's terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured but jaded Sommerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killer's modus operandi while the bright but green and impulsive Detective Mills scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer...

Opening Title Sequence

 

The opening title sequence to Se7en is full of diegetic sounds such as scratching as well as a random noted score which has been set to the scene (distortion and reverb effects are used for this - possible use of hexachords). Mass low key lighting used to give the start (and the rest of the film) a dark and chilling look. The main camera shots are that of extreme close ups and close ups of the film's unclear antagonist with straight cuts and fading transitions. The actually credits are hand written twice over in black and white and flicker on the screen to create tension with the screeching music.