The Script

EXT- woods- Evening – lighting is low key high contrast

[TOVIA walking through the woods looking calm as she makes her way through a short cut home. She does not know anyone is following her until she gets a feeling that someone is watching her]

[TOVIA keeps turning her head and looking around anxiously as through trying to see if anyone is following her]

(Heavy breathing and sound of feet moving faster as tension is built up)

[TOVIA starts walking faster and keeps looking around her]

[TOVIA stops to look around her and she looks scared as her eyes look left and right]

[TOVIA resumes walking fast and then stumbles slightly whilst looking around her]

[She starts to carry on walking fast and looking slightly nervous and panicky then she stops again whilst looking around her looking scared]

[TOVIA starts to walk back slowly then stops and looks down and she sees the dead body behind her on the floor]

[Tacking shot of dead body and close ups]

TOVIA’s face shows shock and horror as she looks straight at camera]

[Cut to black]

[Title sequence]

Vladimir Propp was a russian critic who examined hundreds of old folk tale stories, and studied to see if they shared the same structures and styles. He identified 8 Character roles and 31 narrative functions;
1. The Villain
2. The Hero
3. The Donor- Who provides an object with some magic property
4. The Helper - who aids the hero
5. The Princess - Reward for the hero and object of villains schemes
6. Her Father - Who rewards the hero
7. The Dispatcher - Sends hero on his way
8. The False Hero

A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers and bonds of irresistible desire often leading them into compremising, dangerous and deadly situations.

These Character types are still used in many narratives today and the character roles and there functions are applied in media today. The most common are hero's and villains. Typical thriller character roles are, Police Chief, The Criminal, The Damsel in Distress, etc.

Narrative Theories
Narrative theories help define conventions and devices used in the organisation of story into a sequence.
Claude Levi Strauss
Claude Levi Strauss studied narrative structure, and paid close attention to binary opposition. He said binary oppositions are sets of opposite values, which reveal the structure of media texts, etc. He looked at the deeper themes not just the order things occur. The main binary opposition in most things is good and evil.
For example, in science fiction films we can identify binary oppositions such
as:
Earth Space
Good Evil
Humans Aliens
Past Future
Normal Strange
Know Unknown

In thrillers, the binary oppositions are important because they help to distinguish each character and the role they are playing ;the usual binary oppositions in a thriller are city/country, detective/criminal, hero/villain.

Tzvetan Todorov
He was a Bulgarian Structuralist Linguist, he suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium or a status quo where any potentially opposing forces are in balance. Then usually there is a disruption to the equilibrium, some event effects and creates a chain of events. The whole film is then set out on solving this disruption by resolution and regaining the equilibrium or a new one.


For example, in the beginning of Face Off, john Travolta and his son were at the carnival, happy and showing a strong bond between one another, Nicolas Cage then comes and spoils this equilibrium by shooting John Travolta but killing his son instead, an enigma is created and the audience want to know what John Travolta is going to do in order to solve the disruption and gain revenge.

Roland Barthes Enigma Theory

Barthes said that all narratives share some structural features that are brought together in different ways. He said there is more than one way to read text or television programme etc; he said this is because every time you see something you can see it in a slightly different way. Barthes enigma code is saying that film, television programmes and posters make the audience question something and intrigues them in to view it. For example, murder mysteries do not often show the killer so this makes the audience question who the killer is and creates questions in their mind. Its saying that the narrative establishes then you solve the mystery, disruption etc.

Examples of Roland Barthes enigma theory

For example in face off when Nicolas cage stands up and you can see a silhouette of him standing at the top of the hill, with a rifle laid out in front of him, this creates suspense and mystery and questions the viewers mind as to who this person is and who he is planning on shooting, also as his body is silhouetted you immediately know he is the villain, if he wasn’t and you could see his face you would be lead to believe that he is going to kill for the right reason, for example when soldiers and defending their territory.

Also in se7en, in the title sequence an enigma is created, as you see the hands of a killer and the lots of disturbing images, it creates enigma as you do not see his identity, as the audience want to know who he is and what he is doing and this makes the audiecne more involved.

AS Student Thriller Openings Analysis: Love-Links

To begin the thriller opening there is a medium close up of the lane sign, establishing and familiarising the viewer to the surroundings, closely followed by a low level tracking/pan shot of someone’s footsteps walking fast to show there in a rush and on edge about the situation, then there is an extreme long shot showing the area and location of the house with someone walking towards the backdoor suggesting he doesnt want to be seen or he isnt welcome at the home, then there is a jump cut to a medium close up/ over the shoulder shot of te hooded person looking at a photo of a young couple with a rip between the people suggesting the hooded figure is the male who has recently broke up with his girlfriend.

Then there is an extreme close up of the photo being blown off shot by the wind which indicates that the love they had for each other has now gone closely followed by a low angle match on action shot of him breaking entry into the girls house through the back door, followed by an extreme close up of a gloved hand picking a knife out of the holder, the glove is a huge indication that he is going to kill somebody and doesnt want to leave any traces of his DNA behind followed by a tracking a low level tracking shot of him walking through the kitchen door then a match on action/ tracking shot of him walking up the stairs.

Then there is a jump cut to a close up of his ex-girlfriend doing her make up in the mirror followed by a shot of her lip-gloss falling to the floor, quickly followed by a shot revealing the hooded man’s identity and showing a fast paced shot of him suffocating her , with a three fades to black to create suspense, then there is a point of view show of the danzel in distress struggling to move and gasping for air with another three fades to black to show the woman is fading in and out of consciousness and slowly shutting and opening her eyes, then there is a silhouette shot of him stabbing the woman, in the chest then her head falling towards the ground to signify her death, then there is a fade to black then to the victim sat on her chair followed by seven ellipsis shots showing the pool of blood slowly running through her top, followed by the title scene `love links'.

The sound used in the first few scenes is mainly diagetic such as the swooshing of wind, the footsteps of the killer, the swoosh of the blade on the knife being pulled out of the holder and the noise of the door being shut, although there is also non-diegetic music playing throughout which is fore grounded, in the shots in the bathroom when the victim is getting ready to go out there is music playing from her docking station, and as the man reveals his identity and grabs her there is a beating sound highly fore grounded to represent the heart of the woman being held in hostage, also as she is coming in and out of consciousness she you can hear her taking huge breaths of air trying to regain her strength, then as the ellipsis shots are taking place there is a high key musical piano tune to represent the death and sorrow of the victim, then sounds of sirens are slowly being fore grounded as the fade to black then the title scene is displayed.

The titles are in serif font and are red to represent/ portray the blood running down the victims top and the danger and vengeance in the eyes on the murderer, and the titles are slowly faded in as the scenes are playing through in small text and a white serif font so they don’t distract the viewer from watching the opening but they are there if you want to know who’s stars in the film.
To conclude the production of the student thriller analysis was good, there were a wide range of difficult shot types used such as the low level tracking/ pan shot of the murderer walking round the corner, looming closer to the house of the victim.
Untitled from louis andrew pring on Vimeo.

Face Off Thriller Opening Analysis (1997, John Woo, Touchstone Productions)

Faceoff Thriller Opening Analysis

Faceoff is a thriller which was set in 1997 Los Angeles, the first few opening minutes of the film is very confusing and mysterious as you would expect to see in a thriller genre, for example the opening credits begin with serif writing which connotes the sharp and cunning aspect that you would expect to find in most thrillers.

At first the camera lens is out of focus and fast paced tracking through horses on the carousel towards the carousel with a blue lens and a slight black and white tone, pulling out the blue highlights in the bright and colourful fairground ride yet also hiding the natural greens and portraying them as grey dark tones, then the lens slowly tracks and focuses on john Travolta and his child meanwhile there is a background non diagetic tune which is slowly foregrounded as the tracking shot speeds and then is back grounded as the pace slows again.

There is then a fade to a long shot of the carousel with children playing and having fun, whilst the sepia tone is still fading the green fields to a grey tone, there is then a swooshing sound and the camera jump cuts to an extreme close up of the scope of a sniper rifle then another jump cut to Nicolas cage throwing the cover which has been hiding the sniper in to the bushes, then there is a fade to an extreme close up of Nicolas taking a drink through a straw which shows the viewer that he is not under any pressure or in a rush to shoot his victim.

The tune then becomes foregrounded and the camera tracks upwards to show a shot of Nicolas looking through the lens of the rifle aiming for his victim, then there is a reverse shot showing john Travolta in the cross hairs of his scope, Nicolas then hesitates and there is another shot of Nicolas looking distraught, which is followed by a shot of john lifting his son up in the air and hugging him, then Nicolas has another sip of his drink almost having second thoughts whilst he sees john and his son, then the camera tracks down and shows Nicolas put his hand on the trigger and shoot john as he is sat on the carousel with his son falling to the floor, then there is a upwards tracking shot showing three balloons floating up into the air, which strongly suggests the representations of the souls of john and his son, then there is a shot of john holding his dead son in his arms, which is followed by a shot of Nicolas cage in disbelief. Then there is another sepia toned fast paced shot of the horses spinning on the carousel.

Throughout the opening there is a role of credits which are shown as motion overlays, for example when the credit of john travoltas name is shown at first john is foregrounded and Travolta is back grounded then they slowly switch roles and john is then back grounded and much smaller as Travolta is foregrounded and much bigger.

Then there is an orchestral tune slowly being foregrounded whilst the camera tracks down john travoltas wall of his skyline office showing all of his awards, then there is a focus switch blurring the background and focusing on the gun on his table. Then there is a montage of clips from the head office showing people busy taking calls and walking back and forth as the camera is switching back and forth to see him taking his gun and putting it into his holster like he is preparing to hunt down the killer, then there are some digital information about Nicolas cage and two close ups of his head side and face on to show his profile and familiarise us with what he looks like.

To conclude the thriller opening for face off is similar to any thriller opening we have watched, it is very tense and mysterious fitting its genre.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdblink/vi553059609/

Se7en Analysis (1995, David Fincher, Warner Bro's)

Se7en
The first few scenes in the thriller opening se7en the camera angles, sound and mise en scene all add to the suspense and mystery you would expect to find in a thriller genre the first sound heard in the film is the background rumbles and sirens from the streets outside. This is used to give the audience an idea of where the film is located. Also, the siren of a police car represents the nature of the film and how it is about Crime and policemen. You can also hear mumbling of other people who are not in the same building as what is being seen, giving the impression that the walls are thin and therefore the area is quite poor in comparison to some other estates.

Morgan Freeman's character makes very little sound in the opening clip, the occasional noise of using an object such as washing the pots. This can give the audience the idea that his character is quite withdrawn and thoughtful, as at the crime scene he lets the other detective do the talking.

When Brad Pitt's character arrives on scene, he is heard before he is seen. Their dialect is also very different between Pitt and Freeman. Morgan's speech is better pronounced and softer in comparison to Pitt's. He also has a more common voice in comparison to Freeman.

The regular tick noise of the metronome, is clearly there to represent something in the film, and will become more important later in the film.

The opening credits are loud, low pitched music, giving a sinister sense to it. The sounds are of classical instruments. The pace of the song picks up as the credits progress and at the climax, there is spoken words and then a loud rumble finish, which goes with the thriller genre style.

camera angles, looking at the opening sequence, there are a lot of low angle shots on the main characters. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are shown in positions of power as they are the main characters and they are the characters who are on the 'good side'. There is also high angle shots, one of which is on a victim who is laying dead on the floor, this shows him in a position of weakness because he is dead.

Another shot that is used quite frequently is a long shot, this is so that the audience get to see the surroundings of the characters and to establish the setting of the scene. this helps the viewer to understand about where the characters are and helps them get an idea of the period of time it is set in.
shot reverse shots are used between Morgan Freeman and another the other detective to show the conversation and this is good because it shows not only the person talking but also the reaction shot of the person listening, this helps to see the relationship the two characters have.

At the end of the opening, there is lots of jump cut shots and this gives effect because it makes the viewer a little confused about the situation but it also gives a slight insight into what will happen at the end of the movie.
To conclude Se7en is a action/ thriller film starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, they are both detectives solving a murder committed by a serial killer. the mise-en-scene in Se7en includes the costumes, sets and locations for example Morgan Freeman is wearing a stereotypical detective costume smartly dressed with a trench coat and hat, this clearly shows quickly that this film will be based around solving murder mysteries and other crimes whereas Brad Pitt has a typical maverick style detective costume this is a leather jacket and more casual clothes. These two characters are quite miss-matched, pairing them together creates conflict between the two characters adding an element of drama to the film.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdblink/vi2901673241/