Conversation in Thriller

Coursework - Criticisms of my current plot

After doing further research into the genre I found that my current plot was quite ineffective due to:

-Narrative: The time focussing on the detective's family could be lessened to show that they're minor characters as the plot will revolve around the detective himself like other crime thrillers such as: 
This also emphasizes on their status as the crime victims. In the film Zodiac (2007) , the victims who are alive have a very small amount of screen time (prior to being killed.). 
-The lack of tension:
- This could be created by using restrictive narrative ranges where the audience will know more than the main character 
 -Sound can also be used to create this
-Vague and weak backstory with small links : What petty crime did the suspect commit?, why is he desperate?, why is the detective so unsympathetic with him?, 
 -The audience should be informed of this context in some way!!

Character:-If the antagonist has super powers, will that make the film seem too unrealistic and divert the theme away?
                                 

-SCRIPT: -What will the characters say?
                 -Will the dialogue have significant meanings (foreshadowing, giving information etc...)
                    

"Alone" opening storyboard (1st draft)

 Outlines:

-introduces the detective and his family

-Shows him leaving to work/interrogation

-Shows interrogation progress

-Reveals that his family has been murdered

This draft was unused since it would be significantly time consuming (likely exceeding 3 minutes) and some scenes were unnecessary/could be interpreted in a more convenient way.

For example: Instead of filming his entire family, a photo of them could act as a better representation. 

Putting the death of his family in the opening could also end up leading the film into a completely different from a crime thriller about revenge into a psychological drama about overcoming the 5 stages of grief.

Even though it wasn't the best story board, I decided to to continue some ideas which I will incorporate into my 2nd story board and eventually the final product!

Early Coursework concepts

 After researching the various sub genres of thriller and their conventions, I decided on making a crime/supernatural thriller. I thought it might be interesting to combine crime investigations with paranormal phenomenons. At first, me and my friend brainstormed a lot of ideas such as:
- a street noodle vendor who uses the flesh of her victims as noodle meat but it surprisingly turns out very tasty 
-a haunted "Look Thep" doll (realistic dolls which became a big trend in Thailand last year), 
- a teen comedy-esque house party that turns out with an unrestricted narration-style murder scene. (the characters don't know about the murder!!!)
-A detective who is cursed by his suspect and finds his family dead and has to investigate his own case. 

In the end, we went in separate ways as both the haunted doll and detective concepts would look captivating in practice. The two also have a strong hint of Thai horror, involving the use of black magic and supernatural themes. 

Coursework: Moodboard and key concepts

EXPLAIN: concept, insp, name origin thx

Today in class we started planning for our coursework (An opening credit following the conventions of the Thriller genre). After turning towards the path of making a crime thriller, I immediately thought of the "Hardboiled Detective" Trope (those people  that wear Trench coats). 

One of the fears held by many people in our society is experiencing the loss of a loved one. The film's plot is based on a loving father-cop/detective who loses his family through an incident he had no direct involvements in. This will allow the audience to engage more with the film's concept as it is highly relatable. 

Since the movie takes place in 2000s Thailand, I then wanted to give it's western origins a twist by adding something very prominent in Thai horror and thriller movies:-The Supernatural. The antagonist would curse the protagonist with Black magic after losing the interrogation. This plot might make the movie sound unrealistic and take away the serious essences of a crime thrillers.

TITLE: 

Conventionally, thriller film names are often very minimal consisting of 1-3 words. Although this maybe, the word will bear significance in terms of the film's plot.  For Example: Taken is about an ex-CIA agent who's daughter gets kidnapped (or taken).  I came up with names such as ALONE (as the protagonist loses his family) and HELPLESS (the irony of having being entitled a role to help society, only to be hindered by it). In the end I went with the title "ALONE" because it focuses more on the plot of my film of a loving father losing his family, eventually having to become alone. From the title, the audience can immediately guess the film's plot. Although, both alone and Helpless sound like horror thriller titles such as "Scream" which can be quite misleading to some.

Bridge of Spies opening Analysis

"How is meaning created in this clip through the use of the 4 micro elements"

Film: Bridge of spies (2015)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Drama/Thriller


What do we learn?
-It takes place in the cold war era during the 50s
-The situation must be serious as people from a government organization are getting involved
 >This is also emphasized by the camera's quick pace etc
-There are many doors throughout with connotations such as:
     -Revealing something: the opening of the door reveals both the US agents and Rudolf Abel
     -Communication: As the name implies, there were spies for both the USA and the USSR during the Cold war, constantly contacting their governments and sending away the enemy's information.
-Abel is hiding something which the audience does not know and has a secretive personality
-Abel is alienated and seen as an outlandish character due to his appearance and the way the micro-elements are steered towards him.

Camera

The audience is informed of this film’s context via a panning shot of the streets. From the shot it can be clearly shown that the film does not take place in the modern era due to the style of vehicles and people’s clothing. the pace of this panning movement is also quite rapid, suggesting that the situation is unstable. This then continues with a zoom to one of the car’s plates that says “US government” , informing the audience that these people are a part of a government Organization (THE FBI)  who have arrived in order to pursue their answers. It also gives an implication that they must be finding an enemy/defector of America’s rival nation- The USSR. Henceforth, the car stops very roughy, reflecting the hectic situation and foreshadows the ruthlessness of these people in upcoming events.

The chaotic situation of the cold war is echoed through the constant use of track shots throughout this clip. This is seen in the part where they run out of the car and into Abel's apartment. The Camera's motions are very similar to the way the agents run which allows the audience to be able to put their feet into the Agent's shoes and show empathy. During a Track shot, it is also quite hard to focus on the surrounding atmosphere within the scene as everything is palpitating, whilst similarly in a hectic situation, people will find it hard to come up with ideas and solutions. This paints the chaotic state of society during the cold war in very a clear way for the audience.

Editing

Another meaning made through the micro-elements is the concise yet careful nature of the agents whilst commencing on the operation. This is done via editing techniques and cinematography. The Cinematography used conveys a strongly chaotic and rash mood. This can be evident in the frequent usage of Track shots (when the agents start running) and also the lack of stabilization in the camera as it is always moving, even in confrontation scenes, illustrating the rashness of the agents in this clip. In contrast to this, the pace of editing is completely different as there is a small amount of changes in the sequence. Even though the Agents work in a rash and concise manner, they are quite careful and observant, not being too reckless since their job is to work for the US government.

Sound

The FBI Agents are painted to have the upper hand of the situation due to their higher quantities and the use of diegetic sound. Once they enter Abel’s Apartment, the loud noises of their footsteps dominates the vocal range of the opening and have more vocal roles than the other characters which shows the high amounts of power they possess. Voices and sounds are normally used to establish  power and authority as it gives people the right to order and dictate others around. The high amount of sounds also acts as an intimidation mechanism towards the suspect/Abel to show that the Agents should be feared due to the power they can exercise.

Mise-en-scene

Although this maybe, Abel is given a highly prisoner-like attribute. After he opens the door, he is put in the middle of the screen composition but is completely surrounded by FBI agents via the use of a 2-shot. This adds emphasis on his status of being trapped by his enemies, unable to escape from their grasp. Later in an over-the-shoulder shot, he is the only character with highlights in contrast to the agents who are engulfed in a blanket of shadows. The scene highly resembles a police interrogation where someone is guilt of wrongdoing, with the light mainly focussing on them, causing a feeling of alienation. Apart from this, the excess light enables the audience to see his worn out facial expressions , leading to their feelings of empathy. 

Later on, Abel’s secretive nature is shown wider to the audience with the use of an unrestricted narrative range. He asks if he is able to clean his palette or else “the paints will get ruined otherwise”. Whilst he is about to wipe off the paint, Abel picks up a piece of paper from his ashtray, hides it in the napkin and proceeds to smudge it with dark blue paint. The audience is uninformed of what may be on the paper, only knowing that this piece of evidence is now gone, showing that Abel is concealing something from the agents and the audience themselves. It also metaphorically represents him surrendering to the agents as he can no longer escape since dark blue is a colour associated with authority. 

The Chase (2016)

    This was a mini project done to portray the conventions of Thriller sub-genres:
-Psychological
-Action
-Supernatural
-Spy/espionage
-crime
-Film Noire

For this one, we focussed mainly on Psychological and Supernatural thriller. We were paired up into groups of 3-4 people and my group included Ryu and Bing. Together we discussed our concepts. Bing suggested that the plot could be about a victim running  from a ghost in an empty hallway and ends up dead.

Location: 
We chose the English department corridor for our setting due to it's interior layout. The lockers create a feeling of depth which gives an effect of the victim running away from her fears in and endless path. Since it was filmed during lesson time, there were small amounts of people which created a very lonely atmosphere, something which is commonly used in Psychological thrillers . For example: the movie "scream" takes place in an isolated estate, surrounded by farmland. This setting is often used to create a sense of helplessness and fear towards the viewers. 

To exploit the theme of Psychological Thriller, we deliberately chose to film the opening at a wall full of portraits. They can be used to symbolize the Main Character's inner feelings towards the audience and makes the atmosphere look quite eerie as they may also feel like they are being watched.

Lightning:  Many of the scenes in this short film are shadow dominated to create various effects.
 1.Foreshadowing: In the very first scene, the MC is walking through a hallway engulfed by darkness which acts as a foreshadow to future events.
 2. Anonymity: The ghost's face is not directly shown, giving a sense of curiosity to the audience as they want to see it's appearance. 
 3. Tension: Shadows are used to cover the paths giving a sense of isolation and helplessness 
















Cinematography: A wide selection of camera techniques were used to reflect the conventions of thriller movies including:
- POV (point of view) shots: Enables the audience to see from the character's perspectives making it more fun
- Track shots: Emphasizes on panic
- Shakey-Cam: This technique suggests tension and engages the audience the movie due to it's action-packed nature. It is often used in scenes involving escape. 
- Establishing shot: Informs the audience of the CONTEXT and setting
- Eye-line match:
- Low angle: Shows the difference in power status
- Close up: 
- Midshot:

(these are also referred to within the story board)

Editing: Filters were used in order to give the effect that the short took place right before a sunset, reflecting the conventions of thrillers that take place after opening hours or when everyone has left. Ryu then added sound effects such as the screaming and footsteps.
-Sound: Diegetic (heard by the characters): Footsteps, Screaming, 
        Non-diegetic (not in the film realm): the BGM, 
-Glitch Green screen: At the very end of the short, Ryu used a screen glitch effect, which was edited in the program Adobe After Effect.


Characters:   We also followed the conventions for the character's costumes. Usually in a supernatural thriller , the protagonist is dressed in a casual and neat way which gives an impression that they're average citizens, implying that events in a thriller can happen to anybody.

The Ghost/ antagonist completely contrasts this with a more untidy fashion. Entitled to the role of the ghost, I deliberately covered my face with hair to give the short film a more menacing feeling. This also gives the antagonist a sense of anonymity and imbues the audience with curiosity. Furthermore, the antagonist wears more worn out and untidy fashion which makes them standout and become more easily identifiable.

1. The Process
I drew up a story board for the short film's plot.

2. The "Alternate ending"

This was an unused plan that we produced but was ineffective practically. After the protagonist was killed, there was going to be a high angle shot of her lifeless corpse, tricking the audience that it's over but suddenly, the ghost's hand appears over her face as the camera starts shaking. The film then zooms out as the ghost makes a "you're next" gesture to the audience.



 The Finished product

Subgenres of a Thriller

SUBGENRES are smaller divisions of a big genre.

1.Action Thrillers

Eg: The Dark Knight, Taken, The Bourne Ultimatum

2.Psychological Thriller
Eg: The Shining, Black swan, Shutter island

3.Supernatural Thrillers

Eg: The Sixth Sense, The Conjuring

4.Spy/Espionage thrillers

Eg: The Manchurian Candidate, Bridge of spies, Spectre

5. Film Noire

eg:Kiss me deadly, The Third Man, Chinatown

6.Crime Thrillers  

I focussed on this subgenre the most since I will use it for my coursework. 

Eg: Zodiac, Se7en, The Departed

apart from the ones mentioned above, there are others such as "eco-Thrillers" where the threat is related to the environment or "Conspiracy Thrillers".

The Conventional Credits of a thriller

The credits of a film are usually presented in a very specific order.

1. The film company's and studio's names
2. Main stars/actors of the film
3. The Movie's title
4. Co-stars
5. Casting Director
6. Costume Designer
7. Music Director
8. Film Editors
9. Production Designer
10. Director of photography (people responsible for cinematography)
11. Film Producers
12. Film Writer(s)
12. The Director

The Conventions of a Thriller

What is a Thriller?
A Thriller film genre well known for it's excitement-filled plot.

Narrative

Thrillers usually begin calmly with typical events such as family gatherings, dates etc.
Something then occurs to trigger the spark in tension. This 'Something" is usually disruptive to the equilibrium as said in Todorov's Theory (death, murder, assassinations, attacks). 

-For example in the movie Zodiac (2007), we see a couple out on their date on the 4th of July. The atmosphere then changes when the Zodiac Killer makes his appearance.

-In some cases, this "tension" fluctuates. In the 1979 film "Alien" the first tense moment is when the Face hugger attaches itself onto Kane. This then lessens when the audience finds out that they are able to remove it from him and that he remains almost unharmed. After a happy event where the crew are having their dinner, the alien unexpectedly reappears, bursting from Kane's chest. Prior to that Kane nauseates to the point where his crew has to hold him down.

The tension then increases, accompanied by other devastating events (further deaths, more chaos...) reaching a climax. The protagonist(s) must deal with this disruption either to cease it or give in. 


Characters 
 Protagonists

Antagonists

Themes

Psychological

Political: -Ideological clashes: Bridge of spies is set during the Cold War, a battle between 2 ideas
               -Laddaland is about a father's financial struggle under the capitalist system, forcing him to move to the countryside and live in a haunted village
               

Crime: This can range from murders to terrorist attacks, which the plot will revolve around.  Examples include Zodiac (2007) and London has fallen (2016)

Societal fears such as: -Terrorism
                                     -Non-Human organisms
                                     -A.I domination
                                     -War
                                    -Other threats to the human race such as GLOBAL WARMING (represented in 2012)
The Future:  Children of Men is about the human's race's extinction and takes place in 2027. 
This theme has diverse results since no one is certain about the future, film writers are at their freewill to dictate the plot. 
       

Settings 

This was the house used in the filming of the opening
 of "Scream". It is located next to fields of plantations
emphasizing the feeling of being isolated and helpless.

-Isolated places 
-Mansions
-Abandoned property
-Urban areas
-Sacred places 
-Schools
-Dark places
-Lakes/The ocean

Iconography

-The appearance of the antagonist in the film: -Not directly revealed. In Zodiac, we do not see the Zodiac Killer's face at the very beginning. This is often done to create tension as the plot revolves on finding out his true identity.
 -Accompanied either by loud music or silence 
-Diegetic sounds of breathing
-Music: -used to convey the characters emotions or sometimes inner feelings. 
           -creates the atmosphere and mood of a scene.  EG: fast and loud music is used in tense scenes such as approaching the antagonist to add further tension.
-Jump scares which are made to appear unexpectedly when the audience thinks nothing will happen. 

Filming techniques

 -Close-ups: -to show significant props eg: the watch in Zodiac
                    -To convey the emotions of the characters more thoroughly    
-Track-shots  : Conveys Panic in a POV that the audience can empathise with.
-Canted Angles: -Emphasizes on the violence in the scene and gives it a dramatic effect .
-High amounts of camera shots used per scene:


In the action/thriller movie Taken 3, there are 15 shots of the protagonist (Liam Neeson) climbing over a fence.

-Dramatic usage of hi-lights and shadows

For effects such as:
-symbolism
-tension
-creating an unsafe atmosphere  


-"Jump cuts": making an unexpected switch from 1 scene to another. a.k.a not revealing every piece of information.
  This creates suspense, tension and maintains the audience's curiosity throughout the film.

Zodiac Analysis

ZODIAC (2007)

Director: David Fincher

Writers: James Vanderbilt, Robert Graysmith

Main Stars: Jake Glylenhaal,Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo

Main genre: Thriller
Subgenre: Crime/Historical (it's based on The Zodiac killer, who was prominent in the 70s)

Crime thriller plot conventions:
Serial Killer>>Calm>>victim>>Investigations>>Another Victim>>Tracing the killer>>Closing in on the killer>>The killer is murdered/arrested>>Movie Closure

Zodiac, however challenges these conventions strongly because:
1. The Zodiac Killer's true identity was never known, even after a 40 years.  Along with that, he was never caught in the film.

2.There is no equilibrium at the start, contradicting Todorov's Narrative theory. Zodiac starts off with a murder on the 4th of July.

3. The Investigators are never in control

Zodiac also incorporates both restricted and unrestricted narrative ranges

-UNRESTRICTED: the audience knows and sees more than the characters 
The victim killings
The killer never got caught
The film takes place somewhere between the 60s-80s. 


-RESTRICTED: The characters and audience learn the story at the same time
Details of the case
Arthur Leigh Allen is one of the suspects
The complicated nature of the investigation.
The Zodiac killer's anonymity as his  face is kept hidden during murder scenes implying that both the audience and the investigators do not know of his true identity.

CHARACTERS

The use of Micro-elements in Zodiac

Sound

In the opening, the desensitized and sadistic nature of the Zodiac killer is revealed to the audience. This is created through the use of diegetic sound. In the opening scene, the Zodiac Killer can be seen taking the life of 2 victims on their honeymoon on the 4th of July. Once the two are allegedly shot, he walks away as the radio's music becomes louder, contrasting the drastic situation with lively tunes. One of the victims survives and rolls to the back seat of his car in desperation while the music lyric's go "rolly-poly" . The victim perceives it as a live or die situation, contrasting  the Zodiac Killer who sees it as something reminiscent of child's play through the use of diegetic music.

Cinematography

The high angle shot used in this scene of the Zodiac killer taking the life of another victim creates various implications and meanings.

Why do we enjoy watching scary films?

1.Aristotle's (384-322 BC) theory of "Catharsis"

Catharsis is defined as: "the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions."

We are drawn to watching these types of films because it releases our pent-up feelings of aggression. This also acts as a coping mechanism for us to deal with negative thoughts, by watching them.

2. Dolf "Roller coaster" Zillmann's EXCITATION TRANSFER THEORY!

An easy way to explain this theory would be a roller coaster ride. There's a gentle ascension and suddenly, you're in mid air!-that's the climatic part of a horror film, then you get off that ride alive. 

A couple from the stock photo realm enjoying their day out.

Here we see the Excitation Transfer theory in action:   

 1.The ride usually starts off gently like a plot of a horror film, nothing could possibly go wrong right?

2. There are then changes in pace/direction/dimension ie: the ride going upside down, which reflects the rising tension. Our level of adrenaline which is usually released in times of fear/anger increases too.

3. The ride comes to a smooth end which is also known as the "I'm alive" stage! The people go through a reassuring moment.

 in short: By experiencing negative and scary imagery, we intensify positive feelings once the negative one is removed.

eg: People will be happy if a very dislikable villain such as Prof. Umbridge from the Harry Potter series is defeated/killed.

3. Glen D Walters (PSYCHOLOGIST)

there are 3 primary factors of a horror movie:

In this scene of the Thai horror movie "Laddaland" the ghost is arranged in the background giving the audience a strong tension of fear. An unrestricted Narrative range is also used as the characters do not acknowledge the ghost's presence at this current moment. (we as the audience know more of the plot in this type of narrative)

1.Tension and suspense: This is done by the use of   Narrative, Micro-Elements and information manipulation.

2. Relevance: The fears which are exploited by the movie have to be relevant to the audience, convincing them to believe it. 

eg: The fear of artificial intelligence and robots dominating human life is portrayed in the Terminator series. 

3.Unrealism: The audience must be able to know that the films aren't real, allowing them to feel safe.
Real fears=Real consequences

Our fears and the films that portray them

Many films are made to reflect the fears that people have.

People's personal fears

-Spiders: Arachnophobia (1990)
-Clowns: IT (1990)
-Capitalism: 
-Child abuse: Chappie (2015)
-Declining Health (of oneself or others):




Societal fears:
-Immigration: The good lie, District 9
-Terrorism: London has fallen,
-Disorder: The Purge
-Environmental Crisis: Al Gore's "An inconvenient truth"
-Our safety: Contagion (2011)
-Dominance of A.I and Robots: Terminator (1984), Deus ex Machina
-Resource Scarcity: Mad Max, The book of Eli
-Financial Crisis eg: The Great Depression:Laddaland (2011)


The significant characters of some films are often used as metaphors for others too. 

Dracula is a metaphor for the capitalist system. This is because he is a member of the middle-upper class who drains away the life of others, reflecting how capitalists drain away the health and wellbeing of their own workers. You could also say that he symbolizes the spread of STD's. When Dracula sucks one's blood they can become vampires, like him.

"Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks." -Karl Marx  




Xenomorphs from the movie Alien are made to ressemble phallic objects. The way that they reproduce is by implanting "face huggers" onto the hosts. From this, an infantile version of the specimen bursts out of the host's chest which kills them in the process. Later in AVP:Requiem, it changes to the method of releasing eggs directly into the host's body. This then emphasizes the fears of pregnancy by using the Alien's appearance and it's breeding characteristics.


Godzilla, a very iconic and well known character was made as a metaphor for the use of Nuclear weapons. Contextually, Godzilla was born because of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 along with a H-bomb testing later. In the early films, he was painted as a destructive monster, reflecting the destructive nature of Nuclear Warfare. 

Cinematography analysis from the movie "Heat"

           Cinematography is a key essence of movie making and is often used to portray certain themes or create empathy from the viewers towards the characters. We were tasked with analyzing 8 types of camera shots from the film's opening.


1. Big close up

Purpose: To interestingly reveal a character’s identity and show that they have a significant role. (Other bank workers do not really get this close up treatment in the beginning.)
-To thoroughly convey the character’s emotion to the audience.

Effect:-Black Background foreshadows negative events (he’s also looking towards it) and suggests the anonymity of the character 

- Creates sympathy:We see his face in close detail showing  quite a nervous expression about his upcoming actions


2.Very High Angle

Purpose: Gives the audience a surveillance camera-like view of the scene, settings and also props. 




Effect: This allows the audience to be informed about the context of the scene easily and what’s going on.


3. 2-Shot
Purpose: Establishes the relation between the 2 characters
-Used to foreshadow the bank robbing ( The man in the coat looks around to survey his atmosphere before putting on his mask)

Effect: One of the armed robbers looks back at the security guard to assure that the situation is optimal to cause aggression 

-The guard also seems to be looking away showing his ignorance for the events that are about to occur (robbery!)

4. Panning (from 1:00-1:04)

 Purpose: Informs the audience of sudden events in the scene
-Conveys violence and brutality both through camera panning (which is very fast) and also actions (punching etc)



Effects:The panning that occurs during this scene creates a strong sense of tension. It is significant because it completely changes the mood of the scene. 

5. Long shot

Purpose:- gives the audience a good grasp of ongoing events

-Shows the character’s power statuses

Effects:-shows power differences. The armed robber is standing and running whilst other characters (bank workers) are crouching for the sake of their safety. He is now even giving them orders, emphasising on his authority.

6. Track Shot                                                     Purpose: Gives the audience a unique perspective

-they are able to see his facial expressions and emotions in this face paced scene 

-This also gives a view of the background, adding context 

Effect: -The camera is quite palpitating which conveys a panicked mood

-It also goes for an equal pace with the running man suggesting that the audience should show sympathy.

 -fear and anxiety maybe conveyed from his expression and the camera’s pace.

7.Over the shoulder

Purpose: -The editors may have chosen to use this to convey empathy to the audience. We are given the character’s POV as he faces a horde of police cars. 

Effect: -The Audience is imbued with a sense of empathy towards the character as he aims sharply.

Moreover, by using this angle the audience can feel as if they are dragged to be a part of the film itself. 

-It also emphasizes on his precision.

8.Zoom

Purpose: Possibly to divert the audience from the characters and to the collateral damage caused on the police car

-Can also be interpreted as an “eye line match’ from the gun bearers to their targets.

Effect: This may metaphorically show the collapse of justice as police are often used to connote with it. But now, their vehicles have been damaged and many cohorts lost.