Rope

Unknown

Summary
A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.
The movie structure mostly follows the Classic Hollywood Narrative because the movie is linear, it shows a beginning middle and then an end. But it could also be shown as following Todorov's theory of  equilibrium – disruption – resolution – new equilibrium. The movie is fine at first then it goes wrong because there is conflict with no one knowing who he is and they people try to kill him but he kills them then and it ends by him remembering his identity and everything is brought to a new equilibrium.


The trailer displayed all the key elements of a captivating thriller in order to engage the audience and foreshadow what would be happening in other scenes of the movie.




 The McGuffin provides the basis of the story but the viewers are only in the main character - Liam Neeson. This links back to the importance of a trailer because without one then the audience would not show such interest in the movie.

Key scenes of tension:
• Film has essential characteristic of a good thriller - moments of high tension.
• e.g. The hospital scene reaching for scissors leading to murder.
1. Soundtrack effective – disorientating sounds
2. Use of close up.
3. Fast editing leading up to the escape.
4. Analyse the scene in the Flat.

The Club Scene
This scene is effective because:
• Loud booming soundtrack – disorientating  and threatening
• Screen dark – only shadows – indistinct – the viewer shares the main character’s confusion.

In this film White Western people are portrayed as the dominant group and the immigrants are the subordinate group we know this because they are frightened of being deported and they have very low paid jobs. This archetype represents ethnic minorities and it is a negative representation of the opposing race.

This is an interview of Liam Neeson talking about the film.

"erm it might be interesting to play someone who is confused all the way up until the last 20 minutes of the film" - 1:50. This reflects on Todorov's theory especially in the 'disruption' faze.
                                                                                                         

How to Film a Thriller

There are certain thriller conventions that are very common in a thriller, all these techniques of camera work is what makes a thriller what it is. These are listed below:

* reverse shots
This shows the character and then what the character sees. Thrillers can be quite hard to keep up with so this helps the viewers keep up to date with what the full surroundings are.

* fast pace shots
Fast pace shots build up suspense when something bad is about to happen. It keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for a climax to build.

* non-diegetic music/sound
This creates tension AND suspense by using sinister music, this could be associated with death, misfortune and fear.

* extreme close ups
This usually creates curiosity because the audience aren't usually familiar with their identity.

* point of view shots
These shots are used to make the audience feel like they are part of the thriller, the viewer is put in the same situation as the character. This causes a "thrill.'

* diegetic background sound
When diegetic sounds are included it makes the scene more realistic as nothing is left out. Seeing as this thriller above is shot outdoors, the sound of nature was recorded; the scenes feel more natural.

* dark lighting
Dark lighting is usually associated with "scary" things, even being in your bedroom in the dark makes your heart beat a bit faster. This is why directors of thrillers love to put their characters in dark scene
* tracking shot

* high-angle shot
This shot is used in thrillers to make the character look isolated, weak and vulnerable. The minute they are put in a high-angle shot is when the audience know something bigger and stronger could attack them. This then makes the audience get emotionally attached to the character and

* hand held camera shot
The technique has been used to heighten tension and give realism to countless films and television programs. 

Titles (thriller examples)

After the IDENT use a FADE IN. 
The titles should then be in the following order:
(1) 'Your Production Company' Presents
(2) A Film by 'One name - usually the director'
(3) Starring or With
(4) Male star
(5) Female star or other way round
(6) Title of film - or could be at the end
(7) Also starring - 2/3/names - each on seperate title
(8) Then 3/4/5 of the following - you choose - each on seperate title
Editing
Music
Cinematography or Director of Photography
Casting
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Script
(9) Then Producer(s) - can be more than one
(10) Always finish with Director - one name, usually the same as A Film By ...
(11) Could put title here
Remember to use LiveType and try to make titles interesting. They can be either over black or superimposed over your film. Space them out over the two minutes of the film.Give the audience plenty of time to read the titles. 
(12) Finish with a fade out & fade music out


Seven Trailer
At the beginning of the trailer the production company was shown so it indicates to the audience where the movie has come from and if it is a universal ident or an independent ident. The red writing corresponds with the red cross shown in the thriller. Rather than the title being written in words it was written in numbers which gave a visual effect because we remember the word 'Seven' more. The associations with red could be the devil, blood, danger or hell so it gives a sinister effect. The words are jaggedy and the uneasy text shows us the thriller will not be peaceful so the words give a good insight to the movie.

Studio Idents

'The Birds' (1963)

Psycho

Past Student Thrillers

I knew this was a thriller due to the non-diegetic sinister music, the low key lighting, the prop of a gun gave a thriller effect because you would associate it with death and danger. There were also quick cuts and changes in the angles of shots. I would give this thriller a 4/4 because it held suspense, engaged the audience and had a good use of camera shots and thriller conventions.




This thriller opening shared the same qualities to the previous thriller but rather than having tension music at the beginning, it started off with happy non-diegetic music. It was only towards the middle of the opening that things started to build suspense which actually created more effect because at one point it was so cheerful and all of a sudden tension started to grow which catches the audience off-guard. I would give this thriller a 4/4, it could've been better if there was a little bit of dialogue just to engage the audience a bit more.




This thriller was not as effective as the other two because there was no depth, the same location was used throughout and the quality was not good enough to engage the audience. It is very basic so I would give this a 2/4 although techniques were used effectively like the close up when the girl was on her phone and the jump cuts when she was walking.

Blog Post 1 - Thriller Conventions

Thrillers usually contain these aspects: fast pacing, frequent action, resourceful heroes which are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger who have to over-power a villain with more power. Traditionally they are men but more recently women have more frequently become heroes. e.g. Lucy, 2014. Although she wasn't a hard man accustomed to danger she was just an ordinary person who was drawn into danger by accident. This characteristic can be used in thrillers also.

A thriller is a villain driven plot which usually takes place in exotic settings and use devices such as: suspense, red herrings and cliff hangers. Although they differ from mystery stories because of the two types of plot structures. In a thriller, the hero must thwart the future plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened. A murder mystery would be spoiled by knowing the murderer's identity whereas in a thriller the identity of a murderer / villain is typically known all along. Thrillers occur on a much grander scale than Mystery Films: the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments. Danger and violent confrontations are standard plot elements of a thriller. The climax of a mystery is when the mystery is solved, a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others.

A flexible genre can engage an audience through a dramatic rendering of physcological, social and political tensions. Hitchcock said thrillers allow the audience "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like." Not only do thrillers encourage different types of tensions but there are different types of thriller such as: legal thriller, spy thriller, action-adventure thriller, medical thriller, police thriller, romantic thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, religious thriller, high-tech thriller, military thriller.

But this wide variety of thrillers have one thing in common. They are thrillers because they all "thrill."

North by North West

One of the most iconic thriller scenes is the crop duster scene in 'North by North West.' In order to understand the thriller genre further I had to analyse the editing used in that specific scene.

When watching the scene started off slow with a medium shot of Cary Grant deserted in a remote field waiting for a bus. Seeing as very little was going on in that moment it gave the effect of a calm and steady scene. 

In the next scene we see a car appear in the very back of a wide shot and a man comes out of the car then stands at the other side of the road. As they stand parallel to each other we are a shown another wide shot that portrays both men and everything in that setting including the long dusty road. This tells the audience that they are stranded and are vulnerable to anything, this vulnerability links in with the next scene.

 They eventually engage in a conversation with another medium shot to accompany this. So far all the sound is diegetic until this man leaves the scene.

Suddenly, we hear non-diegetic sound which does not fit in with the calm atmosphere then an airplane comes above Grant creating an over the shoulder shot. As the plane comes down towards the man, the speed of switching scenes becomes more frequent: short cuts. While Grant is running away there is a tracking shot so the tension intensifies and takes the audience on a little journey.


It makes the audience almost feel like they're in the situation too, the speed of switching scenes is very rapid and it's parallel to the timing of a heartbeat maybe Cary Grant's. 

Genres

A genre is a category of media products that are identified as being a similar form/type such as action, adventure,drama, romance, comedy (black), suspense, and even epics and westerns, and they often take a denunciatory approach toward warfare. For example: Grease and Hairspray may come from different generations but they are both identified as musicals because musicals include key qualities such as singing throughout and performing. These two musicals both include the same key qualities so they are identified to the world as the same genre which is musicals.

Sub-genres in Thriller movies:
The thriller genre can include the following sub-genres, which may include elements of other genres

Action thriller: In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist.

Conspiracy thriller: In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes. 

Crime thriller: This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. 

 Disaster thriller: In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster. 

Drama thriller: In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and involves a great deal of character development along with plot twists. 

Erotic thriller: In which it consists of erotica and thriller. 

Legal thriller: In which the lawyer-heroes/heroines confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives. 

Medical thriller: In which the hero/heroine are medical doctors/personnel working to solve an expanding medical problem. 

Political thriller: In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him. 

Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. 

Spy thriller (also a subgenre of spy fiction): In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. 

Techno-thriller: In which (typically military) technology is described in detail and made essential to the reader's/viewer's understanding of the plot. 

Religious thriller: In which the plot is closely connected to religious objects, institutions and questions.