Audience Questionnaire

The eight graphs below are the results from the questionnaire which we took. The results have helped us to review our research in much greater detail:

How old are you?

                                                    
















 What Film Genre do you Generally Prefer to watch?

Is dialogue and important part of the opening of an Thriller film?

What feature in a thriller mostly appeals to you?

Do you think that the conventions within a Thriller Film should be subverted?

What conventions do you expect to see in a Thriller film?

What gender would you expect the antagonist to be male or female?

What Plot would you most like for a thriller?

Prelim Task Video

Preliminary Story Board

Script for the Preliminary Task

                    


                       Int. Scene - Police Station

Detective Amandeep walks through corridor enters room and sits on a table opposite damian. Detective Amandeep begins a conversation with damian.

            DETECTIVE AMANDEEP

                    (demandingly)

                 Why did you do this

                 

                         Damian

                 

                    I had no choice.

            DETECTIVE AMANDEEP

                  (stressing the point)

                 There’s always a choice!

                  Damian

                     (desperately)

                 but you dont understand!

                  DECTECTIVE AMANDEEP

            Well now you have to suffer the

                     consequences.

The Ring Analysis

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement 

The opening scene begins with an establishing shot of the house, where the drama takes place, it then enters inside to the room where the two girls are sitting talking where a mid shot used. While the protagonists are having a conversation, there is a series of close up shot which displays their emotions at the particular time in the scene.


Sound

The sound used in the opening scene is non-diegetic, it is a conventional sound used for horror/thriller films as it helps to create a atmosphere of suspense and tension.

Editing

In the opening scene there is a use of quick cuts that seem to fill the movie in an unpredictable order, which makes the audience unsure of what will happen next, which builds suspense. 

Mise en Scene

In the opening scene artificial lighting is used which creates the atmosphere of a horror film which matches footage. Most of the props in the scene are ordinary things which the audience can relate to for example a close-up shot of a clock, although this is a ordinary object it can represent that the protagonists are running out of time. The protagonists in the opening scene are wearing school clothes which shows they are young, innocent and vulnerable and makes the audience sympathise with protagonists. The location builds up the suspense and creates tension,  which draws the attention of the audience, the t.v is a main feature throughout the opening scene. The long shot of the protagonist shows the contrast of black and white on the walls and the floors which portrays the contrast between good and evil.

Characters

The character which shown in the opening scene is a typical stereotype for a horror character this is because she is blonde and pretty, wearing white which makes here seem pure and innocent. She is quite young which makes her seem more vulnerable. As she is young it also makes the audience sympathise with her more.

Location

In the opening scene the establishing shot shows the location which is the house where the protagonists are based.

Narrative/Plot

Four teenagers die one week after seeing a strange video. The aunt of one of the teens (also an investigative news reporter) decides to look into the mysterious death of her niece. She retraces the teenage girls steps back to a cabin where she finds and watches a strange video and makes the connection between the video, their deaths and a strange phone call that happens immediately after you watch it where a little girl says "seven days" and hangs up. Now she realises she has one week to figure out the mystery behind the video, the creator of the video and to figure out how not to die.

Themes

There are several themes that run through the opening scene of ‘The Ring’ such as death and mystery.

Visual Style

The visual style in the film is very interesting because there is a range of effects used such as zoom, low lighting throughout the opening scene and the horror music. All these help create an atmosphere for a horror film.

Genre

The genre of the film is horror/thriller, we notice this because of the conventions used such as sound, mise en scene and lighting.


genre(s):  Horror, Thriller
director:  Hideo Nakata 
film cast:  Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani, Hiroyuki Sanada, Yuko Takeuchi, Hitomi Sato
distributor: ICA Projects 
running time:  96 mins

Panic Room Analysis

Genre 

The Film ‘Panic Room’ Fits in to the genre Thriller. One of the ways that this is shown is through the music in the opening scene.

Genre(s): Thriller

director:  David Fincher

film cast:  Hayden Panettier, JaredLeto, Forest Whitaker, Jodie Foster

certificate:  TBC

distributor:  Sony Picture Intl

Camera Shot/Angle Movement 

The shots and angles in the opening sequence of ‘Panic Room’ consist mainly of establishing and long shots. This is done to set the scene and show the audience where the film is based. Panning and wide shots have also been mainly included in the opening scene to show the large scale of the city.

Sound

Non-diegetic  sound is played during the opening scene of ‘Panic Room’. The sound used helps to create a sense of mystery for the viewer. The non-diegetic sound is a conventional sound for a thriller movie because of the way that the tension and fear is created through the music.

Editing 

The editing in ‘Panic Room’ shows continuous shots including wide shots and panning shots of the setting one after the other. This is done to display the scale of the city that the film is taking place in.

Mise en Scene 

The Mise en scene of ‘Panic Room’ does not fit into the thriller genre. the shots show images of city life which is done by using cars, taxis and billboards. The lighting used is natural which makes the shots seem more realistic.        

Characters
In the opening scene the characters are anonymous. And there is no hint to any character in the film. The only thing that connects us as viewers to the characters is the setting which is where the characters may live. It gives us an insight into there lives.

Location

The Location is shown in all the shots in the opening scene and are displayed as establishing shots. The setting shown is in New York. We know this because of the use of yellow taxis and the huge towering building. This may represent that the setting is an important and main part of the film. Because it dominates the majority of the shots.

Themes

Themes that are shown within the opening of ‘Panic Room’ are mystery, as not allot is given away in the scene. Other Themes included within the scene are reality because the scene gives a huge isight in to life in New York. However it does not show the reality of a specific person  or family. By doing this the the theme of mystery is still remains. 

 Narrative Plot 

We do not get shown an insight into what the narrative plot is however the music, camera shots and Mise en scene help to  show the genre of the film as they are conventional to the genre of a thriller movie.  

However the general narrative of panic : The story tells of a divorcee and her daughter who are caught in a cat and mouse game in their new york brownstone. Three burglars invade their home in search of money, resulting in mother and daughter being forced to hide in the panic room.

Saw V Analysis

Genre

‘Saw V’ is a thriller/horror. The convention used are things like a chains and torture equipment and gore such as the man being cut in half. 

Visual Style

The director in ‘Saw V’ uses darkness and the use of a torture chamber to create a disturbing and thrilling atmosphere. 

Camera Shots/angle/movement

There is range of camera shots and angels used in the opening scene. A use of ‘extreme close ups’ is used to show the expression of terror and shock on the victims face, ‘long shots’ are used to show the surroundings, there is also a use of ‘point of view to show the confusion of the victims face as he frantically looks around for a way out.

Editing 

There are fast transitions used to show panic and the way the victim is frantically and helplessly looking around. There is also edited credits that appear on screen. 

Mise en scene

The effects and props used such as dark lighting and torture equipment help to set the scene of a thriller/horror.  

Sound

Most of the sound is dialogue and screams of panic and desperation. The sound of the clock ticking is also used to heard this is a good technique as it creates the sense of panic as the man is trying to escape within 60 seconds.

Themes

The film is a horror/thriller and deals with mystery torture.

Characters:

There are only two characters in the opening scene one is a criminal who got a way with his crime this is the man who is on the death trap. The other character is a mystery and kept hidden by the shadows.

Narrative Plot:

The story Starts off with a man who is tied to a table which is a death trap. He is given the opportunity to escape in in return for crushing his hands in a machine. he is forced to do this by a mystery character who hides behind the face of a puppet.  

Location:

A torture  chamber in an abandon warehouse in an unknown location. 

SE7EN Analysis

Genre

The genre of the film ‘Se7en’ Thriller/Horror. 

The conventions of the film found in the opening sequence are gory images, the horror music and the close shots.

Visual Style

The visual style is how the director uses visuals to presents the genre (thriller/horror). The director in ‘se7en’ uses dark colours and gory images to suggest darkness and create disturbing visuals.

Editing

The opening sequence has several edits to create a dramatic scene to match the story such as quick changing transitions and blurred images, there is also credits included as text added to the scene in a horror font which again hints the genre. The pace at which the views and images change help to create a confused and disturbing atmosphere.

Camera shot/Angle/Movement

Most of the shots in the opening sequence were extreme close ups and there was little use of other shots. Most of the angels were ‘eye level’ and  had little variation.  

Mise en scene

Where there is no clear location this confuses the audience as too exactly what is going on although the props such as the razor blades photos and news reports of death suggests the film is a horror/thriller and is to do with a serial killer.  There is also a use of dark lighting which creates an unsettling atmosphere.


Sound

Disturbing music was played in the opening sequence to give it a spooky atmosphere. There is also a use of non- diegetic sound   (screeching and scratching noises) used for a dramatic effect.

Themes

A clear theme of the film is death as the opening scene shows photos of corpses and pages of news papers with reports about death, the lack of characters also suggests there is a theme of mystery. 

Character

Photos of unknown characters possibley 
victims of murder

There is an unknown character kept ambiguous throughout the opening scene however he is associated with objects to do with death such as gory images of corpses.  The only other use of characters is pictures of anonymous people. This creates a sense of mystery.

Locations

There is no clear location in the opening scene as all the shots are extreme close ups although there is evidence of it being in a darkroom (because of the photos being developed) or basement.

Narrative plot

The story starts with a man who seems to be obsessed with death as he has several images of corpses and seems to collect news paper reports of murder this tells the observer the mystery character is possibly a serial killer. He is also shown cutting the tips of his fingers which shows he is trying to cover his prints so he is not caught.