Thriller Advert

Wanted: Suspense, tension and excitement. If you're an escaped convict, private detective or just a general psychotic individual, you might just be perfect. All types of sub-genres are acceptable, whether you are mystery thriller, crime, psychological or political! Must include plot twisters, red herrings and cliff hangers. Lots of use of Erie, tense music, off screen sounds and the occasional creepy silence! The ability to make the audience think and create nail biting tension is required.

Brain Storming

Thriller Advert

                                         Advertisement for a Thriller film

Inquisitive directors and producers seek a plot that will keep the audience at the edge of their seats. Would you describe yourself as a misunderstood soul? Or maybe you are a psychotic individual, who seeks revenge upon those who did you wrong? Applicants with this description should apply immediately for leading roles. key ingredients to this genre include: suspense at every corner, red herrings in abundance, cliff hangers by the dozen and eerie music to make your skin crawl with anticipation. You must have the ability to keep your audience second guessing and remember that silence, if used correctly, can be incredibly effective.

28th September 2012-blogging and planning

Today we looked at making blogs. We did this by browsing through previous blogs from other students. Some of the blogs were not of an acceptable standard, others were excellent. The important things that must be included in our blog are:

• Images
• Text
• Final video
• Presentations
• URL's
• Mind maps
• planning and research etc

In addition to this, the blogs must have an easy to read colour scheme, be created using a wide range of technologies available and be updated regularly with lots of content. There must not be too much text.

This blog is not very good due to the lack of non-text content: http://darkgreenstuff.blogspot.co.uk/.

We also finished our rough plans for the project today. The original plan can be found here:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EXoUoAUC5eOI0yy3-1lKiNLsALALjBgeH7YchGx9jIsJCUgsmqi8tkM3-4pLvbButhic-fNPuomS8U5x7jdYwiHLTBXir8JuiO1H8BWREg6pOrRYvLGWC7-rxnYac6z-15GO9lYR90o/s1600/2012-09-27+10.22.25.jpg 

The finalized plan will be published on the blog at a later date.

All about narrative and how it relates to Thrillers

Story? Narrative? Plot?

• Narratives refer in some way to stories
• Stories are endemic to our lives

Where we see/hear stories

• TV
• Novels
• Films
• Adverts
• Newspapers
• Radio
• Internet
• Talk, gossip and chat

What is Narrative?

• Existed as long as humans
• Universal aspect of human race
• Impossible to discuss relevance to our existence
• Thriller plays around with key narrative ideas

Openings

• Important!
• Grab and hold attention
• Puzzle/enigma code
• VERY CONFUSING

Three act structure

• Commercial films follow this
• It orchestrates the way the story is told
• Many film and TV programmes follow it
• Three separate acts with a number of different scenes
• Beginning, middle, end

The Set up (the start)

• Where vital info is provided
• Includes main characters, basic storyline, location, style or genres of the film, present themes and set the rhythm and prepare the audience for the story to come
• Red herrings

The catalyst

• Normally within the opening 5-7 mins of a film
• Changes situation presented
• Sets  things going
• Could bee a specific action or a piece of info
• Raises central question of story, problem/situation needs resolving

Levi Strauss

• Binary  opposition
• Create meanings by establishing what something is not
• Understand the world through a system of power weighted oppositions 

A Thriller advert

Thriller 'Advert'

Do you enjoy a thrilling experience? Do you enjoy a puzzle? If so, you'll love a  thriller film.

Directed by some of the best directors and performed by some of the best actors, this complicated maze of adventure is sure to impress! A violent roller coaster of crime and murder leaves you with lots of questions. If, like society, you are dark and corrupt, then you will love this opportunity. You'll simply be amazed! This opportunity is open only to people who have a dark, flawed, mysterious past!

A slideshow analysis of LA Confidential

Thrillers-LA confidential

More PowerPoint presentations from Aidan Standish

Shutter Island opening analysis

Shutter Island opening analysis

The set up tells the audience that the setting is lonely and isolated. The audience would feel uncomfortable in that setting. It is a lonely island with almost unhuman characters residing there. We know it is not a nice place just from seeing the long shot of the island before the ship lands. This long shot gives us the impression that the island is very isolated. It also creates a sense of enigma as we do not know what is happening there. It is clear that the setting is an institution once we see the gates etc. When we meet ‘Teddy’, we know something is wrong as cops don’t usually throw up on boats! Teddy than proceeds to meet his ‘co-worker’. We find this odd as we usually expect cops to know their co workers. We also see handcuffs in Teddy’s cabin. We realise that something is not right and that he is not as he seems. This is backed up by the Chiaroscuro lighting. He clearly has 2 sides.

The set up reveals that there is an odd relationship between the two main characters. The fact that they only meet on the boat shows that there is some resistance between the characters. It seems the characters are on a mission to find a missing prisoner. The important thing is the ‘rift’ between them, their relationship is not quite right. It becomes apparent once we realise that Teddy is not a real cop and that there really is a difference between the two men.

The world is clearly not a happy place for those in the hospital. We know this by the way they are acting and by the fact that they are insane. It is obviously a dangerous place, judging by the fact that the hospital residents are handcuffed and chained by their feet. It seems unsafe however, whilst the residents are chained, there is little chance of anything bad happening.

The strain that may become part of the story later on is how the real police officers feel worried in the company of Teddy. This again reveals how Teddy is not quite right. The fact that he struggles to remove his gun also shows how he is odd. There is perhaps an enigma code.

The opening creates a huge sense of mystery and enigma. This is very important in Thriller films. The audience are constantly wondering what is going on. An example of this is when we see handcuffs in Teddy’s cabin. We wonder what they are there for. Is that just where he keeps them or has he, himself been handcuffed? Flashbacks are also used. These help to explain the story and are often used as enigma codes. In this case Shots of the water are crossed with shots of Teddy’s wife. Although we are told that she died in a fire, we know that something is a bit ‘dodgy’. Water is clearly an important part of the narrative.

Chiaroscuro lighting is often used in Thrillers, here it shows that Teddy has two sides buy making one side of his face brighter than the other. This is crucial in explaining that he is a flawed character. Two sides are very important in Shutter Island.

A few ideas for a Thriller film

A few ideas for a Thriller film

Thriller Narrative Techniques

Thriller Narrative Techniques:

• Plot Twists
• Multiple lines of action
• Flash backs
• Narrative retardation
• Red herrings
• Chases/Pursuits
• Miss-direction 
• Deadlines
• Enigma codes 
• Morally complex characters
• Making the audience work

Initial Plot Thoughts

During the very first lesson of brainstorming and ideas, we ran through many plot possibilities. This image shows one of our plot ideas, in brief, for a thriller opening.