RESEARCH - Analysing student film opening

Student film opening:

The student film opening I am analysing in terms of sound,editing, mise en scene and camera is called "THE SHADOW". The title seems very interesting as it suggests there is something prodigious in the film. A thriller contains elements of excitement and the title certainly sells it.

The opening starts with a plain black background with scrolling text introducing the story to the audience. It is shown for approximately 19 seconds and I think it needed a bit more time so everybody could read it properly. Nevertheless, it is an interesting story to begin with, it brings excitement and action. 

The story shown is "the story of Ninja and Ninja Assassin, a clam member has faced a situation where his brother has been killed by order of an elder, the shadow ninja shall never forget and shall bring his revenge to the Shadow Clan."  

 Next shown is the distribution company ident, in which are the company that provides the budget of the film. The sound portrayed are the use of violins and soft drum beats to slowly build the suspense. It is calm and soft until it builds up at 00:20 seconds.

 This is the production company, in which organises its use of budget, organization of staff, distribution and marketing. The sound/music here is the same as mentioned above in the previous image. 

 Next, there is a close up of a persons foot and then the camera slowly tilts upwards. This is the main character, in which is introduced to the audience. The use of the colour black signifies darkness and stealth ability. The story of the film is about a ninja, in which a ninja's ability is to use stealth, in which the shadows shown in the shot inflict the individuals skill. The first title sequence is shown as a discrete title sequence, the director is mentioned first as this is common in many movies. Unless the main character is very famous (E.G. Arnold Schwarzenegger), then he will be shown first. The use of lighting in this scene relfects on the title itself "The shadows". The additional lighting is brilliantly constructed. It is edited very good, the title sequence ("Directed by Gaaron Clarke") blends in with the background, it fades away into the darkness after a few seconds. The sound/music here is lifted from a slow tempo calm music, to an upbeat exciting fast tempo with drumbeats combined with violins. This brings excitement to the scene. 

 A mid shot is now shown of the ninja putting on his mask (mise en scene) which shows his character is a ninja. The background is still dominated by the colour black which represents darkness. The use of the mask relates to the colour black as the ninja tries to hide his identity. The names of the characters are also introduced.

 Here is a mid shot of the ninja showing off his training skills. This brings the action side to the opening, in which brings agitation to the audience. This will keep the audience on wanting to see more of the ninjas ability. The mise scene used are the choice of weapons, it is seen here that a nun chuck is used. A nun chuck requires great skill to use in real life, so it shows that the main character here is a very skillful one. 

 Next is an establishing shot which is shot in black and white so it doesn't ruin the use of black and white throughout so far. The establishing shot is also a panning shot in which the movement of the camera moves horizontally. The graveyard shows the audience that there is death related to this story, not just one death, but hundreds. It suggests that there is violence in this film, which also brings suspense and tension to the audience. Teenagers love violence from my experience.

 Near to the end of the opening, more cast members are introduced, in which this title sequence is a stand alone type. The sound/music has now slowed down, when the ninja is training, the music is very intense but now it has slowly relaxed. I think the editor showed his understanding of where appropriate music is meant to go.

 
 The title is the last thing that is shown. It is shown in a stylish manner in which is well edited. The colour red may represent the blood and violence due to all the training the ninja has done. 







Overall, this piece of work has inspired me in many ways. The use of editing is brilliant and the context in which the music has been put in was near perfect. However, there was not enough type of shots used in opening, more close ups could of been used. I will take this research into account when I edit my thriller. 

RESEARCH - Film Audiences

Our target audience for our thriller film will be 15 to 25.
We chose this age group because of  out thriller content,  including footage of extreme violence, the characters using weapons such as knifes, blades, steel nails, wooden planks and hammers which would not be seen in films that were targeting people of a younger age. The tension and suspense would appeal to the young adult and teenage audiences.

Our thriller will target the male segment from our age group as males are most likely to watch thriller films as they prefer films with more action, horror, violence and tension.
We chose males as the main target not because males would be able to relate to the antagonist but because, the genre we choose would not appeal to women, since women would probably prefer romantic films etc

RESEARCH - Film Opening (2/2) Wrong Turn

Wrong Turn.
This is the opening of the horror thriller Wrong Turn, the first in a sequence of three films.
It begins with the titles, a introduction of the production company behind the film, 'Summit Entertainment' and 'Constan tin Film'.
The scene begins with a wide establishing shot, showing us the scenery and seemingly where the film will be set possibly.
Low key orchestral music is used to create a sinister, ominous feel in the scene and the audience is immediately informed that something bad will happen right from the beginning of the film. The orchestral music then comes to a sudden halt which creates more tension then suddenly begins again when the action comes, the mix of the fast paced orchestral music and the change into a higher key furthers the suspense of it..............
The opening then continues with the titles,which is a bit similar to the opening of Se7en  introducing the director, Rob Schmidt then the stars, Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emanuelle, Chriqui etc
Similarly to Se7en, the  music is starts of low and gradually goes into a crescendo and the images, props and locations between the flashes of the actresses/actors names that hint the audience on what may be seen in the film and what may have happened or will happen. At the very end the very end of the opening, the orchestral music changes key and ends with really high, ringing notes that show the audience that something suspenseful will happen.

RESEARCH - Genre and Sub-genre of Thrillers

Genre is a categorical form of films with similar form and at times content and technique

Sub-Genre is the subdivision of a genre, different genres inside a genre. E.G. The sub-genres of comedy in a film could be: mystery, supernatural, thriller, crime etc.

The thriller that inspires me the most for our Thriller opening is musical/comedy/horror.
This inspired me because it's rare to find thrillers which are both comedy and/or musical. I think it would be easy for my group to do this as finding a location would be easy, we could film a lot of it near the school location while it's dark which gives it a more suspenseful feel, they have various ideas we could alter to our liking etc
Musical comedy thrillers also inspired me because of the juxtaposition in a lot of them, how in one minute, you can go from laughing at a scene to it suddenly becoming fast paced and making your heart race.
I think the film would be aimed at 16 - 30 year olds both genders, the horror of it would appeal to the male audience segmentation and the musical to the female segmentation.
A example of this would be Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Elm Street.

RESEARCH - Film Audiences

Film Audience:

When a piece of film is targeted at a specific age group, it is known as a film audience or target audience. For a film to be successful, it must provide features that will attract its targeted age group. For example, from my own experience, teenagers love the fear factor, which is an element in thriller/horror also. A film must provide the fear factor in a thriller/horror otherwise it will be classed as a very poor made film. If a film is however very excitingly good, teenagers would go around telling other friends to watch it, and the list goes on. This will make a film successful as more people would go and watch the movie therefore creating more revenue.
         When a production company creates a new film, the reason for making the film is to create money, therefore their target audience will be the age group who are most likely to buy the product. Target audience is the marketing stage of the production, in which the way the product is advertised is very important. For example, a thriller movie poster is put up around a care home of eldery people. This is very uneffective as this is out of their target audience range, the production company wants to attract teenagers therefore putting up a poster where mostly the eldery are at, is not such a good idea. Putting the posters around somewhere like the public transport, buses, near colleges,schools and shops seems more efficient as teenagers are spending most of there time at these places.

An example of a poster, the title "THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH ESTER." is written in block capitals to express the meaning of the title. If it was written in normal writing it would not look as effective, the block capitals looks more eye attracting. The word "something wrong" gives the audience the knowledge of something unusual about the girl portrayed in the poster. A thriller mainly evolves around suspense and a clever puzzle to solve while you are watching the movie. It usually contains twists that makes us think. The girl in the poster is the first thing we see as it stands out more than the rest, it takes up 90% of the poster. The girl has shadows on her eyes portray her evilness to the audience, and a cloth wrapped around her neck looks unusual. The title itself, "Orphan" makes the audience think twice about the girl, in which orphans develop in a different way as non-orphans do, therefore makes it interesting.

As you can see, the poster has many elements which target its audience, the audience is for teenagers over 15 years and over. It is a mystery thriller movie.

RESEARCH - GENRES&SUB GENRES

 Genre is the category in which a film belongs to based on typical pattern of conventions that the audience may expect to see, included in the film. Typical thriller conventions might include eerie/creepy music, creaking doors and miserable weather conditions to create a cold, chilling, on-edge atmosphere. A sub genre is a film that belongs to one particular genre but borrows conventions from other genres of films. There are many different types of thriller sub genres such as political, romantic and horror hybrid thrillers. The most inspirational thriller sub genre for ideas of my groups future thriller opening, are physiological thrillers. One of the most inspirational for me is 'The Butterfly Effect' starring Ashton Kutcher. The main target audience of the film may be young people aged between 15-29. This may be because of the young good looking actors and the period of time of the leading protagonists life, in which these aged people may be able to identify with.

In the opening of 'The Butterfly Effect' there is a range of cinemotography, mise en scene, sound and editing that creates a dark and chilling atmosphere.This is inspirational to me as I like the idea of keeping my audience on edge while watching my thriller opening. I'd like to create a eerie, 'don't know what to expect' atmosphere, full of suspense. The Butterfly Effect does this, which is why it inspires me when thinking about my own thriller opening. For example the use of diegtic sound of heavy breathing and whispering along with high pitched music in the background, increasing in pitch and volume is something I will take in to consideration as I like the  chilling effect it gives.

In this screen shot, I like the use of the lighting. Its very dark and creates a sense of mystery and tension for the audience..

RESEARCH - Thriller Sub-genres

There are many different genres which include Comedy, Romance, Horror, Fantasy, Adventure and Action but our main focus today is Thriller. I will be looking at the different sub genres linked to the thriller genre.

A sub-genre is when a genre lies in within another genre, it is the combination of two genres.

-Conspiracy thriller is when a hero tries to overcome a powerful organisation for example, the film JFK (1991), in which the conspiracy of his assassination. A hero in the movie would try and solve the situation.

-Crime thriller is usually when in a film, the story follows up the lives of an individual or group who commits a dangerous crime, for example, The Taking Of Pelham 123 (2009). Some of the crimes include murder, robbery, shoot-outs, and hostages.

- Disaster thriller is when there is conflict between an individual (or group of people) and natural distasters. An example is the film 2012, in which a family tries to survive a combination of earthquakes, hurricanes and extreme weather.

- Mystery thriller is when a detector tries to solve a puzzle of mysteries, in which may include trying to figure out clues of a crime. The plot of the story is usually intelligent and has many twists. An example is Shutter Island (2010)

-Political thriller is usually when a government hires a hero to stop an enemy from doing any damage that may effect the governments status. These may include the hero to stop future murderse from happening and World Wars. An example is The Contender (2000).

-Psychological thriller is the genre that relies on mental and emotional behaviour. There is a lot of conflict between an individuals feelings and this may create suspense to the audience. The story may build on an individuals mentality characteristics and how they think, which this makes the film more suspenseful. An example is Red Eye (2005)

-Religious thriller is a genre that has elements of religion (e.g. Christinaity). The film itself usually shows the good and bad side of the religion, and how it may have an impact on the individual. There may be puzzles to solve in the film which may lead to answers from the individual. An example is The Ninth Gate (1999)

-Supernatural thriller is when a film portrays a character which has abilities that is logically impossible in the real world. They usually use special abilities to overcome conflict from the opposition. These films provide fantastic visuals in terms of editing. An example is The Dead Zone (1983)

-Techno thriller may be considered as a genre that exaggerates on the main technology we have today. For example, human robots are considered as real pedestrians which have a brain. The film that has a similar story to this is I-Robot (2004)

My favourite sub genre movie of thriller is "The Matrix" in which is techno thriller. My reasons for this is because of the editing of the movie, it will well constructed and has great visuals for our eyes to see. The idea of time travel in the movie is very original in terms of the plot itself.